From Illinois

A few pictures from Illinois I didn't take very many photos but here's a few I did take. The B&B we were at was in an old jail. You ate dinner in the cells naturally we thought this was perfect for photo opps.
Here we are having dinner in a cell. Left to right... Dawn, Janelle, Chris (I just met her this weekend) and Dawn's mom.

All locked up. Left to right back Heidi, Mandi, Laura, Dawn and Tammy. Front Janelle and I.
Janelle in some kind of passthru.
And here Laura and I are doing escapee poses naturally everyone else is looking normal.

Had a great time, Mandi is a great hostess thanks for having us.

Boston Photos

without furth ado here's the promised pics from my boston travels...

This place cracks me up. It's a place where you go to wash your dog. I didn't go in but from the window it looks like you might put them in a front loading washing machine. Although they did have little shower like stalls too.

This is my client's office. This photo isn't the best I should take one from the front of the building but I was at the gas station and I noticed I could see the office so I snapped this.
I love these! Boston has all these tunnels under there city so that the highway doesn't cut through town it runs under it. They always remind me of some hokey britsh movie I watched once where zombie's chase people out of the tunnel.
I would be reminsce not to mention these. Dunkin' Donuts is on like every corner in Boston actually from my last hotel window I could see two that were right across from each other. And they sell these in set of 3 and we all know I love SPRINKLES!
I had dinner at this cute little diner. I loved it.

Oh these are the sexy cheesey robes in my hotel room. How hot are these. Come on you know you want one?

And now for some bus ride photos most of my photos were dark as it was getting late when I rode the bus. But this is a sign I saw on the bus. 6 mph? Why not 5mph or 2? It seems so odd to have a 6mph sign and why is it that only the bus must go that speed?
Here's the bus. I snapped this from across the street as to not look to touristy.
Cambridge Square this was a happy accident photo. I love that it mostly looks bw but the signage.
Harvard - ivy league building don't look than much different than regular state colleges.

Hi Honey's I'm Home!

Back home again. I spent 10 hours on planes and in the airports yesterday how freaking fun is that? One bizarre thing was I was on the 5pm flight from Boston to Atlanta and there was an 8pm flight as well and both flights were delayed and were boarding at the same time, heck if I had known I would have booked the 8pm one and gone shopping before going to the airport. Oh well.
I passed my airport time away working, talking on the phone, napping, and reading (yes that's right I said reading). In fact read an entire book yesterday - another gold star for me this week. I think that is some kind of record for me. I never read books books. I don't even think I've ever read an entire book in a day before unless maybe you count One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish or something like that. The book I read is called a Less Ordinary Life - I'm not entirely sure what compelled me to get this at the library last week as all the other books I got are boring ones to reference for work, or crafty things and such. It's not exactly that great of a book either as I know very little about the indian culture and I needed a glossary for some of the words but anyhow there you have it another "first" this week.
Who knows what today's "first" adventure will bring. Tomorrow I'm off to Illinois (Quad Cities area) for the weekend to see some friends Jay is coming as my driver and I'm sure he will find something to entertain himself with maybe he will find himself on a John Deere tractor adventure - I guess I better pack him a camera. Look out Tammy, Mandi, Dawn, Laura and anyone I forgot here I come!
Happy Friday to All!

I rode a city Bus!

There's a first time for everything and today was the first time I rode a City Bus (I wish I could upload my photos but I don't have my camera cord so you get the wordy version). Sure I've rode school buses and shuttle buses and even park and ride buses but until today I'd never ridden a bus in the city where you have to tell the driver where you want to get off and ring the bell.
But with a little bit of planning today after work I took the #71 bus into Harvard Square. Lucky me I planned it to the minute and didn't have to wait at the stop. This wasn't my orgininal intention though as I had all these grand intentions of reading my book I brought while waiting for the bus like I always see people do but oh well. So I hopped right on and paid the driver it's $1.50 in case you wondered and you need exact change. Well we traveled right into Harvard Square which should take about 2 minutes but in traffic it's more like 15 minutes but I was able to check things out while we rode so that was fun.
I got off at the Harvard Station which I think is the end of the line for #71 but I don't really know. If you wanted to you could pick up the train here and go someplace else but I'll save that for the next adventure. I wandered around the square for a while I found this groovy little store called the Black Ink and I picked up some goodies for a few people and I got a few fun ideas they even had some cool crafty supplies (I however don't have room in my suitcase which is probably best for my wallet). - Those of you on my post card list watch your mail as I'm no longer going to buy those 3 for $1 Postcards I have a who new concept coming to your mailbox you will LOVE it!
I wandered in and out of some assorted other shops a place called Curious George, Urban Outfitters, the Harvard Co-Op and a handful of other shops none of which are fabulously memorable. FYI I'm happy to report that people that go to Harvard also enjoy a good Polka dot as they had some special Polka Harvard Gear I guess even the elite and super smart know about Polka! I also started to wander around part of the Harvard Campus before it got dark and I was worried I might get locked out of the parking garage. So I sucessfully found myself to another #71 bus stop this time one that goes out to Watertown it wasn't even the same one. I wanted to shout "Look at me I can ride the bus!"
I got to wait at the stop just long enough to pop my book out and read a few pages. This time the bus was super busy so I got to stand and ride. FYI if you've ever seen me walk you know I don't seem to have good "inner balance" and I've been know to stumble over air so I'm sure the bus regulars were like why can't this women just stand there. But I didn't fall over so it was a successful ride. When I got close to my stop I got to ring the bell to get off (more smiles and cheers).
I went to pay on the way off and wouldn't you know like an idiot I had pulled out a dollar bill a quarter and some kind of money from England because it didn't want to get my Brit money. I felt like a complete idiot and fumbled around in my purse for my wallet and when I found it I realized I never zipped my coin purse and all the coins had spilled out. So I fumbled around some more feeling even dumber by the second. But THANK YOU #71 Bus driver - he was all cool about it and sweet about me being goofy and just let me get off - he even gave me back my British coin. So there you have it my very first every city bus experience. Even though I felt like a goof in the end it was actually very convienent and good experience as parking in Harvard Square is a huge pain in the rear.
Oh and since it's Tuesday here's my Tuesday 10.
10 Tips from Katie on Riding City Buses:
1. Pre-plan.
2. Know where you are going street names and stop names. If you can't memorize them all just know you on stop and off stop.
3. Take a book just in case you have to wait.
4. Know the number of the bus you want to take some stops have more than one bus picking up and dropping off.
5. Make sure you have exact change.
6. Or get a bus card - big bus stations, airport other sell these.
7. Have your money ready.
8. Push the yellow strip on the sides of the bus when you want to get off.
9. Practice good balance with a steady stance when stand riding.
10. Thank #71 Bus Drivers who let you off when you can't find your money.

Yum Yum!

So far this week I haven't seen much of Boston but I venture into Whole Foods to get some dinner and stuff for this week where I stumbled upon this...

Let me just tell you these are delish! And they are hand-made, organic and they support the arts! How freaking cool is that! Perhaps tomorrow I will venture out and do something more exciting than visit the grocery store.

Lost in Milliewalkay!

finally made it to my craft room!

You don't have to grow up...

City Park. Fountains. Swings. Slides. One boy. One girl. Smiles. Giggles. No worries. Enjoying Moments. Ahhh the good life.

I need kitchen appliances!

I need a new dishwasher and a kitchen sink. I went to start the dishwasher and it didn't run. Seems to have bit the dust. And that silly kitchen sink I've been meaning to replace for a while but I can't decide if the counters should be replaced too or not (they are an icky shade of blue). It's a bummer we used those Home Depot gift cards on that fancy vaccum earlier this year or whenever it was.

The Giant Bean!

I've wanted to go see this in the daylight for several years but we never quite get to the Bean when I'm in Chicago unless it's dark out. But finally this time we made a special point to fight the traffic and go see the bean.

This is not a picture of the Bean but rather a building near the stock exchange.
Here we have Jay and I in the bean. I'm in pink, Jay's in gray.
Here I am next to the bean.
Underneath the bean. This is a very cool angle if there hadn't been like 15 people around I probably would have laid down to take a picture.
And one more of the city in the bean.

Bass Pro Shops and Reds vs. Cubbies

Yesterday was a fun filled day. We drove from Milwaukee to Chicago and stopped in Gurnee at Bass Pro Shops, neither Jay nor is really outdoorsy but we like to see the critters and we always think we might like to take up camping or boating or something. They had these really cool albinio fish in with their 80 lb bass and a 4 ft something or another.



Oh and we took a little break next to this buck. We also shopped in some of the other stores although I think we spent all of $10 in the shops.
From there we checked into our hotel which was very nice. We left for the game around 5 thinking it might take 1 hour to go the 12 miles to the park and ride. HELLO! We could not have been more wrong. It took 2 hours to get there the interstate was gridlocked and when we got off we hit all sorts of traffic on the side streets. So we got to the park in ride just in time for the last shuttle to Wrigley right after the game started. We had a good time although I wish that we had gotten there a little sooner so I could see the park before it was dark and because I really haven't a clue how my camera works in the dark. Here's a few of the snaps I took. I think this is Phillips striking out.

And here we have someone pitching to Griffey I like that you can see where the ball is.
Oh and Keppinger I love his socks. This was right before he scored. I'm not sure why most of these are blurry I'm sure I had something on the wrong setting.
Jay and I - once again I'm looking dorky.
Oh and I love this. There's seats on the buildings and homes across from the park??? I'm not sure if you can get the just from this photo but those are bleachers on those buildings. How cool is that.
And the famous Wrigley Field sign. I wanted to get a photo of Jay and I in front of it however there were all these random people standing in the way. Oh well.

Baseball Game or Sausage Race??

We had a terrific day in Milwaukee today. Miller Park is very nice, however for me it was more about the Sausage race than the baseball game. I could not wait for it to come!

Here's the mascot Bernie Brewer he has this little slide he goes down when the Brewers hit a homerun. Here he can't wait for the homeruns. Jay and I see how nice I can center the photo.

Griffey striking out. :(
Cecil Fielder (remember him) this is his son whose name I don't know - who also struck out. :)
Today we got extra lucky and it was a sausage race relay where the big sausages hand off to little sausages. Italian Sausage signing some autographs. I love the sausages. In fact most of the pictures I took today were of them.
Chrizzo he has good form but that hat is not very aerodynamic!
Brat is talking smack during the pre-race.
Brat is off to an early lead. That silly sombarro is really holding back Chrizzo.
Mini Brat left the other sausages in the dust. he is quite the sprinter. Sadly the reds lost pretty badly but I did get a souvenir sausage and magnet for my fridge. Until tomorrow from Wrigley Field....

On the road again!

yes that's right I got home last night around 11 and this afternoon I arrived in Wisconsin for our Reds Baseball weekend. Our free room is very nice it's some kind of suite with a kitchen you can't beat that! :D We ate at our favorite Pano Charo's restaurant that we found last time we were here. Our favorite server Jim waited on us again too! Food was again wonderful Jay and I shared a chicken/rib combo yummy! We didn't do much sightseeing as we got off to a late start so I could go see the eye doctor this morning.

I haven't taken a single picture yet though what the heck is up with that? Tomorrow I will have pictures to share I'm sure. Hopefully the Reds will win!

Bostonian Adventures

First let me start by sharing some observations I've made in my recent adventures. Here's the first one I noticed the other day driving into town. Yes you are reading that right? It's a Chevy Malibu School Bus. When I saw it I immediately wondered if they were putting the kids in the trunk or something? I'm all for using low gas alternatives but having your school bus in a 4-door compact car? Someone should really buy this school district a mini van or something that can at least comfortably sit more than 3 kids?

Next let me tell you this place cracks me up sorry the picture is not so great but just in case you can't read it it says - "A Whole Person Pharamacy". Apparently because I get my drugs at walgreens I must be a "half-person". I can't but help to wonder what the hell Johnson Drugs Marketing Department was thinking.

And now for some funness! I met Dawn for dinner and a little book shopping tonight. Here we are reading scrapbooking books (note the titles how ironic is it that Dawn and I will NEVER buy these books?)

And here we are in the parking lot.

Til the next adventure.

Tuesday 10 - 10 Katie Habits and Pet Peeves

Stephanie was blogging about her pet peeves so I thought I would blog about my pet peeves however I don't have 10 as I guess I'm not a peeve person. So here's my habits instead.

1. I kick off my shoes almost immediately when I get in a building.
2. I tend to make creative messes.
3. I like to drink half a bottle of water and then switch to a newer colder one.
4. I reach for the ponytail holder first thing in the morning.
5. I turn the channel in commercials and often never finish whatever was on first.
6. I drive with my foot in the dash.
7. I tend to put hard plastic items (pens, my cell antenna, key chain) in my mouth. Its almost like I want to taste it.
8. I chew sugar free gum.
9. I eat sugar gum ( see why I get sugar free).
10. I collect thing in my purse I put them in and never take them out.

You'll never guess what happened....

My flight was on time! This makes two in a row!

However not exactly having the best of evenings though. First Hertz seems to have lost my reservation only probably the 90th time this has happened I fully intend to write them a hateful not as my corporation doesn't get that good of deals from them and quite frankly I'd rather switch to someone who doesn't lose my reservation.

Then enroute to my hotel which is out in burbs I run over a dead skunk and my car is reaking (that will show Hertz fortunately it's worse on the outside than the inside. Then I get to the hotel and check into my room which vaguely smells of nursing home and stale cigarettes (ick). I called the desk and they told me that I'm pretty much stuck with this room.

So since i have to make the best of the bad situation I took my stinkin car to the nearby shell mart and picked up some supper and some air freshern. And i'm happy to report my room and car now smells like a strawberry shortcake doll.

Well need to get my ironing done so I'm ontime tomorrow.

New Adventures starting tomorrow...

I'm off to Boston tomorrow I started a new project this week and it will require travel to Boston for the next 6 weeks or so. I originally wasn't looking forward to the trip but now it's kinda growing on me. I'm excitied to see parts of the city I haven't seen before, meet new people, and rak up some more travel miles (wehoo!). I've never been to Boston in the fall either so I'm hoping for great weather, reasonable traffic jams, and pretty foliage oh and maybe a tad bit of good travel luck!

Today I need to get my business stuff packed, work in the yard getting it "winterized", grocery shop so Jay has something to eat, pay mid month bills, get some presents I made gathered up and mailed out, get my new contacts from the eye doctor (ekk he closes at 1!), scan those layouts I cranked out last night, oh and maybe enjoy 5-10 minutes of being home.

Oh and by the way :motorized screwdrivers" = "electronic screwdrivers" I wasn't sure what the heck it was called - they have nothing to do with anything you drink though!

Wednesday 5 - 5 Things Recently Repaired

Jeanne you are so right I forgot all about the Tuesday 10 although since it was a holiday Monday I didn't really know any different so today I have a Wednesday 5!

I've been fixing things in the last few days I'm just a regular ol'handywomen.

5 Things Recently Repaired

1. The Garage Door Knob
2. The Leaking Facet
3. A Motorized Screwdriver (is this what this is called?)
4. A Wiggly Toilet Seat
5. My Printer

A wedding...

Congratulations Russ and Courtney - aren't they the cutest.
And look who was standing right in front of Julie and I? Wade and Heather I think it's been something like 9 years since I've seen them.
Julie and I with the Jay's not quite sure why I'm looking so freaking goofy.
Julie and Jason swing dancing. Not such great lighting on the dance floor.