Happenings 12/15 - 12/21

We had a very fun and busy week last week as we tried to get everything ready for Christmas and making an excursion to Chicago for the weekend.

We got all of the packages mailed for our family presents by Wednesday with a sigh of relief. Having to do all of that early can be stressful but once it is all sent, things calm down a little. (I even got my calendars ready in time with only a few late nights. A first for me!) I worked on Tuesday, doing several things that needed to be done before the university sort of closes down for two weeks and also finished an article that I have been working on and submitted it. The days that the university staff have off were increased this year to save some electricity costs, and they also lowered the heat to 50 degrees in the building. Since I plan on working during the two weeks of Christmas and New Year's, I'm hoping I can stand the lower temperature.

Monday morning I took Claire and Rachel down to Paris, TN to the Nissan dealer to get an oil change and new tires on our van. They finished in about 90 minutes, and the girls did pretty well. One reason I went there is that they have a nice area to wait in, with nice seats, a TV and kids toys, and that worked pretty well as we waited. When we drove off, the tire pressure monitor that is on our computer showed that one of the tires was losing air, and when I stopped to look a little down the road, one was leaking. So I drove back and they fixed it by replacing an o-ring in the valve. They said they had replaced another one like that, but it is rare that two tires have the same issue. So then we were on our way again, and made it back home in time for Rachel to take a nap and for Claire and I to work on making some cards for her storytime leader and our neighbors.

We had an ice storm on Monday night that was kind of strange. It only turned to ice on the roads. When we woke up in the morning, the roads were totally white with ice, not snow, but the grass and trees and everything were still their normal color and weren't covered in ice. I went to work and the roads weren't really slippery, and I heard later that it was classified as sleet. The other schools were all closed for the day. (Katey came over to get Claire to go "sledding". It was pretty funny to watch. Bridget - Katey's mom- would run a few steps and then sling the sled down the ice and the girls would fly! Who needs hills for sledding. They had a great time and were outside almost all day with a couple breaks for lunch and to warm up.) Tuesday evening I picked up the missionaries for dinner, who were out walking from an appointment because they are not allowed to drive in snowy or icy weather. They are both new to Murray, so it was nice to get to know them.

On Wednesday, for some reason, they didn't have school again even thought the roads were clear. So storytime for Claire was cancelled. I took the girls to my office first to pick up a box that I was using to mail a package, then we went to the post office to drop it off, and then I discovered that one of our other tires was going flat, so I went to a local tire store and they tightened a nut around the valve and fixed it right up for nothing. I was a little worried about these tires at this point, but they were fine after that.

We got all packed up for Chicago on Wednesday night and then left as early as we could on Thursday -- about 7:45 -- because the weather report showed a storm hitting Illinois in the later afternoon. We figured if we could make it to Chicago before the storm hit, it would be fine, and it turned out that way. The drive for us is about 7 hours, but it is 6 hours of straight freeway, making it an easy drive. We stopped a couple of times to eat and get gas, and pulled into Chicago around 3:30. We checked into the Hampton Inn downtown, and it was a great hotel for us. We had reserved a suite for $99, not sure if it would be an actual suite or one of those bigger rooms that they call a suite. But it was great -- it had one bedroom off the living room and kitchen, and the couch pulled out into a bed and they provided a crib. So it worked well for the girls sleeping and us sleeping. (This was one of the many "too good to be true and when is our luck about to run out" happenings on our trip.)

It was cold there, and the storm hadn't hit yet. We wanted to go to the children's museum and started to walk there, about a mile from our hotel. But it was slow going with me carrying Rachel and J.J. walking with Claire. About the time we were ready to catch a cab after 3 blocks, I spotted a trolley go by that said "Free trolley" and it stopped just ahead of us and we hopped on. It took us right to the children's museum at Navy Pier. We had debated about eating at an italian restaurant before going to the museum, but decided to see what they had at the pier. Turned out there was a place there so that Claire could eat what she wanted, spaghetti and meatballs. The museum has free admission every Thursday night, which worked out well for us, and since bad weather was on its way, a lot of people who might have normally gone stayed home it seemed, because there weren't a lot of kids and families there. It was a fun place, and both girls had a good time. (Two more bouts of good luck)

When we left, we caught the trolley back to our hotel and went to bed. The next morning, we all went to the complimentary breakfast downstairs even though we were scheduled for brunch at the American Girl cafe later. I wanted to make sure I had enough and 9:30 is late for the girls to eat, so we ate there. The snow had fallen overnight, and it was snowing a little bit when we left to head to the American Girl store. It was a mile away, and we walked. The temperature had warmed with the snow, but the worst part was crossing the crosswalks on all of the streets as we walked up Michigan Ave.; many of the curbs were filled with wet slush. Claire's feet were "frozen" but she trooped on. (By the time we got back to the hotel, I really thought I was up for the bad mother of the year award because Claire little toes and edges of her feet were bright red and totally frozen. I thought she had a touch of frostbite because I brought the wrong boots. Luckily after a couple of hours, the color returned to almost normal and they were somewhat warm.) We made it there and walked through the huge store they have with all of the dolls. We made it to the cafe after passing the doll hair salon and doll hospital, and we sat down after Claire and Rachel picked out their dolls to borrow for brunch. Again, very few families were there because of the weather, or maybe because the dolls and cafe are pricey. We had a nice brunch, and the food was good, but I was glad I ate a big breakfast earlier because what they served wouldn't have filled me up, especially after carrying Rachel there. It was a fun brunch and we sauntered through the store again, checking everything out and then we left and caught the bus for the majority of our trip back to the hotel. (Claire loved just looking at all the dolls and we made it out without making any purchases - against all odds. She was very good, not begging or putting up a fuss. I know these dolls are pretty and well made and everything, but I have a hard time paying $90 for a doll - I will probably eat those words one day) Even though her feet were cold, Claire loved to walk in the snow that was piled on the sidewalk. When we got back, we put Rachel down for a nap and I went for a walk around downtown, and that was fun because I love walking around big cities, and only New York and Chicago really have that big, big feel. Just a couple of blocks from our hotel was the river that goes through town (Claire was sure penguins lived down in the river since it was so cold and there were pieces of ice floating in the river) and near the river are two buildings that are circular. The bottom 10 floors are spiraling parking garages, and you can see the cars backed up along the edge which has no wall -- only a cable. It is wild looking, and then the apartments all have balconies that surround the rest of the floors.

While Rachel was sleeping I went with Claire to the indoor pool, but that didn't last long because Claire didn't have her floaties. But she stayed in a little while with me, but I got cold and she did shortly after that and we got out. When Rachel woke up, we walked to Macy's -- formerly Marshall Fields -- and made our way to the FAO Schwartz store on the 5th floor and then up the 7th floor where there is a large Christmas tree that goes up two floors. (We tried to go see Santa in Macy's, but after waiting for 45 minutes and moving about 20 feet in a line where we were not even maybe 1/3 of the way there, we gave up and decided we would see Santa somewhere else.) We went up the 8th floor where you could look at the whole tree, and then went back downstairs and rode the subway one stop back near our hotel, then walked to a pizza place and had deep dish pizza that was tasty. We walked back to the hotel and with everyone tired went to bed pretty early.

Saturday we didn't have big plans so after breakfast we went to the Lego store, and Claire spent some time building things, and I decided that if I could trade someone jobs for a month -- this was a "conversation question" provided in a little box at the American Girl brunch -- it would be with the people who get to build amazing, giant Lego things like they had in that store -- a dinosaur, the Sears Tower, Darth Vader, etc. For only $200, I could have bought a Lego Taj Mahal or Eiffel Tower, which have an age suggestion as 16+. J.J. said instead of the age, they should just put "Nerd" there. She's right, but the nerd in me thinks it would be cool to put those together.

We made our way back to the hotel and packed up our things and checked out around noon after eating leftover pizza from the night before warmed up in our kitchen. We hit the road and only stopped twice, once for dinner, and got home around 8:00 that evening. We really had a good time and enjoyed the trip. (I loved going and getting my "big city" fix for awhile. I miss New York and this was as close as any other place I have been. It just is energizing and exhausting at the same time.) It was fun to be there in the Christmas season, but we would probably do more if we went in the summer, which we will probably do sometime. I watched the Las Vegas Bowl that night and didn't have much hope the first time BYU tried to kick afield goal instead of going for it on 4th down. I believe conservative play gets inside the heads of the players so that they don't play as hard. Bronco needs to start playing to win.

Sunday we had a little Christmas program (The primary sang the first song and Claire belted it out! I was so proud!) before the high council speaker talked, and then I spent time with that high councilman because he is the stake financial clerk and I had some questions. In the afternoon, we had a simple dinner and then the young single adults came over in the evening for their home evening. I look forward to them coming over because they are fun to talk to and listen to.

That's it for the week! We love you all and hope you have a Merry Christmas!