Life is good

Chicago part 1

2007-08-06T20:08:00.000-07:00

My Chicago trip expanded out to include not only my 17-year-old niece, Kendra and her 17-year-old friend, but also my other niece (Kayla - 15) and my two boys (Alex - 12 and Daniel - 10). Alex turned 13 the day after we got back but I don't really want to talk about that. The shock of suddenly being the mother of a teenager is kind of freaking me out.

So the first rule of travel is never let someone else make part of the plans. I allowed my niece to arrange for the flight into Chicago while I took care of the hotel. We both decided to get a hotel by the airport so I got a nice hotel not too far away from O'Hare. Problem is, we flew into Midway. Yep, we definitely need to work on our communication skills.

The other problem was that the flight was at 7 AM. That means, of course, that you have to be up there by 5:30 at the latest, which means leaving my house by 5 AM. Those who know me know how much I love getting up in the morning.

Rather than pay $17 a head for a shuttle over to O'Hare, we opted to ride the train. 3 HOURS later (yes that was 3 HOURS) we finally arrived at O'Hare and caught the airport shuttle to the hotel. Never have I been so glad to be in a hotel. We were exhausted.

The kids swam in the pool while the teenagers (no Alex wasn't a teenager yet) took off to see what they could see. We were out in the suburbs so I figured that they couldn't get into too much trouble. Well, they got lost. After numerous calls and consulting with the front desk, they finally returned. Next time, they are going to be stuck in the pool with the kids.

Monday we were up and back on the train by 8 AM. We dropped Kendra and her friend off at the Robert Morris college in downtown Chicago and then we were off. I had ordered these things called Go chicago cards. Basically gives you access to 25 different attractions around Chicago. It was wonderful.

We started out with a trip to Macy's to pick up the cards. Now I am really a country girl (although I'm almost a suburb girl now - the towns are expanding). I have never ridden a public bus. Seriously. Even when I was in college in Minneapolis. So we ended up walking to Macy's. About 7 blocks. Yuck. Then we walked to the Sear's Tower. About 12 blocks. That was enough for me. I opened up the transit map, consulted the post on the corner, and we caught a bus to the next attraction - Shedd's Aquarium. Would have been one heck of a walk. But I must admit, once I started riding the buses, I couldn't stop. We tooks buses everywhere. Even if it was only a couple of blocks. We even CHANGED buses a couple of times. We had 3 day passes so we had unlimited rides. I must say, I'm rather proud of myself for figuring out the transit system.

The Sears tower was huge. The elevator ride up took about 2 minutes - which is kind of freaky in itself. Now heights don't bother me at all, so I really enjoyed being up there. We circled the top a couple of times and then headed back down.

The Aquarium was almost a disappointment. I've been Underwater world at the Mall of America and the Great Lakes Aquarium up in Duluth as well as SeaWorld in Florida so maybe I've been spoiled. It started off pretty cool. We wandered around looking at all of the fish in the big tanks. Then we wandered downstairs for the dolphin show. It was the saddest thing that I've ever seen. Yes, I realize that it probably will never be as nice as SeaWorld, but come on. I would have rather have just looked at them in the tank. We were packed in like Sardines for about 20 mins waiting for the show to begin. the show only lasted 15 minues. The kids felt the same way. The only saving grace of the Aquarium was the SpongeBob show. If you have never tried 4-D, run out and find a show. The whole auditorium is rigged so that you interact with the show whether you like it or not. For example, SpongeBob runs into a JellyFish at one point. As he gets zapped on screen, our seats vibrate in the audience. As a dolphin surfaces for air and lets out a big blast, the audience gets misted. The effects were a lot of fun and the kids were very entertained.

After the Aquarium, we headed over to Navy Pier to take a SkyLine boat tour. It was very relaxing and the city was pretty cool looking from the water. Sad to say, other than the other boat tour that we took, it was the only time that we were really on the water. We finished out the day by eating at Charlie's Ale House and catching the train back to the airport.

So far, the Chicago Go cards were working out wonderfully. The kids picked and chose what they wanted to do (I vetoed a couple of things) and we did them. Really made me feel good to say yes, sure, we can do that. And to not have to fork over the cash at each attraction was an added bonus. The only major detraction was the train ride that we took at the beginning and end of each day. Thought about moving to a hotel nearer to downtown, but the price difference was enormous. and none of the hotels that were even slightly in my price range had a pool. If you are traveling with kids, you need a pool in the hotel. End of discussion there. So yes, we got tired of riding on the train, but to tell the truth, it wasn't that bad. The trains were clean, not too loud, air-conditioned, and except for a couple of rare occasions, not all that crowded. To me, it was definitely worth the bother.

Sweet home Chicago.

2007-07-23T20:10:00.000-07:00

So I'm heading to chicago next week. My niece Kendra called me and begged me to chaperone her and her friend. They are attending a seminar at the University of Chicago and need someone to fly down with them and to stay with them in the hotel on Sunday night. Then they are off the the seminar and I get the hotel to myself until thursday. How cool is that?

My only question is - what do I do while I'm there?

new shelter

2007-07-09T19:54:00.000-07:00

So my husband called the company that sold us the original shelter and was told "yeah, we don't cover that." Figures. So how much would you think that a new cover would cost? $250 was the price quoted. We only paid $400 for the whole thing so you can imagine how excited we were at the prospect of another $250 meal for the 4-legged idiots.

my absolutely wonderful husband came up with a new solution for the shelter. He bought a plastic tarp for about $25 bucks. It doesn't reach all the way to the ground but should provide better shelter than the bare ribs. Then we covered the sides with chicken wire. HAH! Take that!

My husband and I poured our drinks and watched to see how well the chicken wire was received. The 3 wandering in and out and all around the shelter but couldn't find anything but chicken wire to sink their teeth into.

Yes, I must admit, we definitely enjoyed their frustration. Was almost as good as when we installed the electric fence. They kept breaking wires trying to reach through the fence so we ran a strand of electric around the whole perimeter about 2 feet off the ground. Hooked up the fencer (the electric box) and waited to see what would happen. The looks of surprise were priceless.

horses and their eating habits

2007-07-06T11:29:00.000-07:00

So I got these three horses. Mac is a 1/2 thoroughbred, 1/2 Arabian 4 year old gelding. He is personality plus. Blue is a large 7 year old pony of undetermined parentage. He is the brains of the outfit. And Belle is a yearling quarter horse filly who is dumber than a bag of hammers.

My husband and I labored in the heat a couple of weekends ago to build them a wonderful shelter so that they could get out of the hot sun and the theoretical rain. It is one of those half-circle shelters with the ends open, allowing for maximum air flow. We were very proud of ourselves. Little did we know...

While the ribs of the shelter are made of metal, it is covered with a canvas-like material that is apparently counted very high in the list of delicacies for horses. Yep, they chewed the sucker completely off the ribs.

Bastards...

Proud mom

2007-06-13T14:14:00.000-07:00

Bit of bragging here. And it is the kind of bragging that you will have to take my word for as I have no real proof. Other than I KNOW.

Read this article in the star and trib. Toward the end (in blue) my son Alex is mentioned although not by name. People have been calling to see if it is him. The kid did good:

New Prague will group the gifted so teachers can challenge them
Teachers will train this summer for the district's new gifted and talented program.
By Emily Johns, Star Tribune
Last update: June 12, 2007 – 10:58 AM

In an effort to better reach its smartest students, the New Prague School District is starting a new program for gifted and talented kids this fall that will group each grade's brightest students together for the entire school day.
Unlike popular "pull-out" programs, which take gifted students from class a few hours a week for enrichment activities, the New Prague program will focus on "clustering."
That means highly gifted students in grades three through eight will be put in the same class. That way, teachers will have a "critical mass" of gifted students and can offer more challenging work to help the kids learn.
District officials say such a structured program is long overdue in New Prague, and it's only possible now because the state has started offering financial help. They say it's a way to make sure the district's brightest students aren't shortchanged.
Gifted students' "problem is the mirror image of a kid with learning difficulties," said Stephen Schroeder-Davis, a consultant who worked with New Prague, and curriculum specialist for the Elk River School District. "The standard, grade-level, normal, average pace is too slow. ... If you cluster the kids in a class, it allows them to work and challenge one another and it gives the teacher a significant critical mass of kids that are likely to meet an extra challenge."
The very brightest
The New Prague School District hasn't had a formal gifted and talented program for years. Instead, teachers worked on a case-by-case basis to try to challenge their smartest students. New Prague Community Education also offers some enrichment activities, according to Colleen Cardenuto, the district's curriculum and assessment director.
Now, the district has assessment and identification procedures in place. They can pair teacher recommendations with results from state tests and aptitude tests to pick out the gifted kids.
The program this year will start with a very small number of highly gifted students, which amounts to about the top 2 percent, Cardenuto said. That's three to six students per grade in each elementary school, or from six to 12 students a grade at New Prague Middle School, according to Schroeder-Davis.
Not only will that make sure the district can afford the program, Cardenuto said, but it will make sure the program runs smoothly before the district expands it.
Learning to "differentiate"
Dozens of district teachers will spend two weeks this summer learning about "differentiation," or how to teach to students' differing abilities.
According to Cardenuto, they'll learn lessons such as how to teach a lesson on multiplication to a class but make it more complex for a few students.
"To sit through a lesson when they already know the answers," she said, "it gets boring for them and we're not moving them forward. Basically, differentiation is saying, we know that these kids know the multiplication facts. Here's an activity that will extend their learning."
So how gifted are the top 2 percent? According to a slide show given by Schroeder-Davis to the school board, these students could be academically ready for first grade by age 3, and most read before kindergarten. In high school, gifted students can have the ability to pick up one year of high school in three weeks.
According to New Prague Middle School Principal Tim Dittberner, the gifted program will serve students like one at the middle school now: A seventh-grade boy who is already half done with a ninth-grade geometry course and will finish calculus by the time he goes to high school.
"I think that part of the population, nationally, has been ignored," he said. "We're looking at kids that are not being challenged right now. ... We want to serve all students."

Firefly/serenity

2007-06-12T07:40:00.000-07:00

So I've been obsessing about the TV show Firefly and the tie-in movie Serenity lately. I love the characters and the dialog. Just a typical fan watching a good show, right? The thing that makes this weird to me is that Firefly went off the air in 2002 (I think) and Serenity the movie came out in 2005. Never saw them. Didn't become a fan until about 2 months ago. There is probably no way that the characters will be reincarnated in any way, shape, or form - a fact that makes me very sad. But that is life, right?

So imagine my surprise when I was just wandering around the web and found that there is going to be a special showing of Serenity on June 23rd, proceeds to benefit Equality Now. June 23rd is girls night for me and some friends. Figured it was fate that Serenity would be playing on girls night benefitting a woman's charity. Odd how life goes sometimes, isn't it?

Weirdly positive lately

2007-06-04T16:33:00.000-07:00

Okay so I have been accused of "pollyanna-ing" up stuff at work. And I know that generally I am in a good mood most of the time. But lately, I've been extra positive. Stuff that used to get ot me just doesn't bother me any more. So my question is, what is causing this? Age? Drugs? Some weird substance that is being put into the water? Alien possession?

My husband is away on a golfing trip. Leaving me alone with the kids and work. Not bothering me a bit. I think he was a little freaked out when he called me tonight and I said that I hoped he was having a good time. Very unlike me.

So anyway that is the story behind the title of my blog. Later on, it might switch to Life is terminal. But that will be the subject of a future topic.