The view from my chair

After work I was sitting in my yellow, very weathered looking Adirondack chair on my patio.  I was struck by the moment--and that moment was exactly what I needed.

Moments of calm, peace and unexpected beauty always captivate me.  You never know when they're coming. So I guess they're God's happy little surprises.

I was working on my new, beautiful laptop (there may be a forthcoming post professing my love) with my feet up on the fire pit and i looked up.  It was quite spectacular, the view from my chair.

In that moment, looking up at this enormous pine tree that I see everyday; a view from a chair that I should have experienced many times before ... was just so new.  I marveled how the world changes from a different perspective.

I've gotten a lot of perspective in the past month.  From the very frivolous---reference above my sleek and sexy new laptop compared to old trusty that is three times as thick.  To the very serious--interviewing an amazing woman who suffered through horrible things that gives me nightmares every time I go back to her story.

Also a reminder of the perspective that I'm an outsider looking in, knowing the price is too high to find the warm feeling of acceptance that used to be natural.

So sitting in my chair, I was took a moment to reflect on how the world changes depending on where you sit--literally and figuratively.

And I reminded myself that while I had poor turn of luck that made my week horrible, bit of bad news  destroyed a week for someone else.

I guess perspective also comes with a healthy dose of gratitude.

To sleep or to watch TV ... that is the question

I write to you, gentle friends, laying in bed, typing happily on my laptop.  I'm pondering watching The Fellowship of the Ring until I fall asleep or skip the middle man and just go to sleep.

The beauty of all of this?  I'm on vacation.

Woo-freakin'-whoo.  I've had a horrible three weeks.  And a pretty sucky month in general.

I've discovered the old adage of when one door closes another one opens also lends way to when you're trapped in a burning building and all the doors are stuck, if you break a window the whole house might combust.

But I can put all of it behind me and out of my mind and enjoy my time away from the rest of the world.

I'm planning on sleeping in.  Wrapping presents.  Watching television and lots of internet videos.  I'm fairly caught up on all the blogs I read, so I'm going to continue reading my 600 page book ... you know the kind, those heavy things made with paper.

I'm also going to write.  Here and hopefully my book.  Watch for posts. Over posts, and lots of catch up work with my photos on flickr.  I'm going to be dangerously close to not making my goal of more posts than last year.  I'll have to do some real soul searching as how to remedy that with a good conscience.

There's also a lot of filing and cleaning I've been neglecting and accumulating since last summer.  It may be dull but if I get some of that done I'll add years to my life.

If I can have one wish for this vacation other than warm weather and that it would never end...  I wish that this stuffy nose will go away ASAP and with it the groggy, headaches and no energy that has been accompanying it.

You know you have a problem when ...

Four days away.  SO MUCH INTERNET TO CATCH UP ON.

Anything but Maple Nut

It snowed again.  So I must remove the snow.  I'm sorry ... talking about weather again.  How uninteresting.  I swear I won't do it again ... at least not any more this year.

Day two of vacation ... it's 12:18 ... and I'm not dressed.  Darn.  I ate breakfast, had coffee, two episodes of Curious George and one of Martha Speaks in honor of Sarah and brother Ben.  I have to finish wrapping presents today ... something I've been saying I'll do for at least the last week.  I don't know why it's such a pain this year.

My thumbs hurt.  And it has nothing to do with the fact that I cut my thumb right through the nail.  That's actually not painful at all--as long as the nail doesn't separate or rip.  Thank you inventors of nail glue--bet they didn't dream that I'd one day use it as a band-aid.  ANYWAY my thumbs ache for no reason I can think of.  They hurt so much that it's painful to pick up my water bottle, coffee cup, dish soap.

I guess this means I don't have to do dishes!

So my big ponder today was what to eat for lunch.  I'm having leftover jambulya for supper and that doesn't leave much else in my fridge (beyond hunks of squash and cranberries that I have to find some way to use).  I have the last bit of my Irish Beef Stew leftover ... but I'm so sick of it (be proud, I resisted the urge to use all caps).

I made it about a month ago and froze half.  Even freezing that much I ate leftovers for at least a week.  And when the last bit was gone ... I probably did a happy dance.  It was good.  Not the best, but tasty.  After a week though ... it made my eyeballs nausious.  And I'm a person who cannot eat the same thing two days in a row, the same cereal, flavor of coffee, soda ... etc, etc.  I blame my father and his ever-loving Maple Nut Ice Cream and unwilliness to try something new (that doesn't include any of the following salts: garlic, seasoning or celery).

But over the weekend I thought I had enough time between the first week of stew and now.  So I pulled it out and had it as a quick supper.  The first night it was good ... by lunch the next day my eyeballs were threatening to barf all over the kitchen.

With very little options (perhaps popcorn? PB&J or maybe a pizza??) I came up with a brilliant idea.  I made my nearly famous fried potatos and then heated up the stew, drained some of the excess liquid and BOOM! Irish Beef with peas and carrots over fried potatos.  I think even my dad would be proud.

A KoL Note, brief because I don't want to be that person .... Crimbo is so uninteresting this year.  And the lag makes it so tedious to get through the adventures ... for very little drops.  Maybe Jick & Co. will whip out something fantastic (I just hope I don't miss it), but ususally ... it's something I look forward too ... and there my KoL tab is sitting, neglected.

And lo she is dressed before 11 a.m. (by two minutes)

It is 11:02 and I'm watching my second episode of Curious George, drinking my first cup of fantastic coffee and contently reading (and laughing hysterically) dooce.com.  Ah the complete joys of vacation.

I have a confession that I'm not quite sure is so secret.  I LOVE PBS.  And all the children's shows that go with it.  Well, not all ... I'm not a huge fan of Barney or Super Why.  And I can only watch Sesame Street through flipping or if I'm in the right mood.  I think my love of PBS is because it opened my eyes to the world of imagination and learning. My favorite parts of Mr. Roger's Neighborhood was when he watched how something was made and the Land of Make Believe (it devastated me when I realized Mr. Rodgers was the voice of King Friday and others).

I've never grown out of PBS.  I enjoy their adult programming: cooking shows, home improvement, the occassional Broadway presenation and the like.  But I just can't shake those children shows.  Is it the cartoon aspect (oh yeah, I still watch Saturday morning cartoons--love me some Care Bears and Jane and the Dragon) or is it that these shows focus on the best value of entertainment--making the impossible or improbable happen every time--because they can and it's more fun that way. 

To that end, I've discovered Curious George.  I never was much interested in that little monkey as a kid (the books).  But he's so entertaining now.  On the show George and The Man in the Yellow Hat have two homes.  Their primary residence is in the city and they have a country home for weekends and summer. 

At the country home, one neighbor kid calls George a City Kid.  I am absolutely convinced that he DOES NOT KNOW GEORGE IS A MONKEY.  (Sorry for the caps ... it's from reading dooce).  For the record, as far as I can tell, all the other residents recognize George is a monkey. 

And what a cute little monkey he is.  So darn cute ... which is mostly why I watch it.  The narration is clever and so is George.  Monkeys often find ways to take completely normal situations, get into trouble and then must be clever to get themselves out of trouble--even after The Man in the Yellow Hat tells George to be a good little monkey.  I try that with my monkey-who-thinks-he's-a-kitty George.  I can't tell if it works.  But then again, I suppose it doesn't work too well with Curious George.

This is the life

This week I took vacation. It’s been my first summer vacation since 2004, longer if you don’t count the summers I worked throughout college.

It’s been such a fabulous time. My plans have been flexible and I’ve loved everything the week has brought me.

Saturday, I went to Jenny’s pond party. It was a super windy afternoon. But even though I didn’t go swimming and I got a sunburn, I had a wonderful time with Jenny and Kriston.
Sunday was such a nice day to weed and work in the garden. Plus I got to watch Robots. But I got a little too much sun and didn’t drink enough water on Saturday so I was sleeping by 9 p.m.

Monday night we had a campfire and stayed outside until midnight. It would have been longer, but I got cold even in pants and sweatshirt.

Mom was having way too much fun playing in the fire. She sent sparks flying all night—I have the burn marks and three holes in my pants to proved it. We missed a Big Bang Theory marathon (two whole hours!) but it was still worth it.

When we got in MASH was on, so we watched that. I tried to stay awake to watch South Park, but probably only got five minutes in and I fell asleep.

I was quite tired after this late night session. I didn’t perk up until around 4 p.m. Tuesday. I still enjoyed our visit with my aunts Joannie & Diane. Diane lives in North Dakota so it was especially nice to see her.

Wednesday I braved the spiders and looked at all the stuff I have in storage so I could make my shopping list.

Tim also came over Wednesday and Thursday, which was awesome. We lamented about how old we’re both getting and how much easier it was before the real world was looming so close (or smack dab in it, for me). That’s a whole other post entirely.

He and mom tag teamed me into buying a dinette set for $35—complete with ugly chairs. Oh well, he also helped us load and unload. Later in the afternoon after Timmy went back home Mom and I went shopping. Got lots of good deals—a beautiful chocolate brown living room chair for $80. I spent around $250 in total, but saved maybe more than $500.

Friday was a lovely lazy day. I sat outside reading and writing. I had a chance to watch a couple of old favorite shows—including bits and pieces of every soap I watched as a child/teen.

All in all my vacation was the best I could hope for. Great friends, family and weather. It’ll be an adjustment to go back to a normal sleeping pattern—especially going to bed before 11 and getting up before 8!!

NYC Trip: A brush with semi-fame and the Endless Wait

So we got up at 6 a.m. or some other ungoldly hour. We hailed a cab and got the slippy, sliddy experience of whipping through traffic. When we reached the studio there was two lines, we were about in the middle of the first one. One line was for people who had tickets and the other was for walkins. Finally the doors opened and we got to go in. We had to go through security and then wait some more. I’d say we waited for at least 1 hour and 45 minutes. But I’m not sure anymore. It was forever. We were tired and you couldn’t bring beverages in, so we were without coffee.

It was so good to finally sit in the studio chairs. Gelman came out and welcomed us. Told us how important we were (which I think they should have been telling us all along when we were standing in line like cattle) and he taught us how to clap loud and when to clap.
The guest host was Jeff Probst. (Yay!) and the guests were Diane Sawyer, some guy teaching us how to live green and Avril Lavine. It was cool how Kelly came to the audience and talked at each commercial break.

As we were leaving we saw Avril get in her car and be hassled by the paparazzi. We walked back to our hotel and stumbled by Avril’s hotel. They barricaded the streets from all directions to let her get in with some peace.

We window shopped a little, then went back to the hotel to rest. We did a little shopping on 51st Avenue and ate lunch at Familia’s Famous Pizzeria. Then we stopped at Ben and Jerry’s. I had a chocolate cheesecake and coffee.

Our matinee was A Year of Magical Thinking. It was okay. Probably better as a book. We were exhausted, so I guess I’d need to see it again to give it a fair shot (hopefully in my home, on pbs, with popcorn and a blanket).

As we were walking around between the shows we walked by half the cast of A Chorus Line. Whoo!

We ate supper at Pigallea’s and I was craving red meat so I had a skirt steak with fries and steamed veggies. The pear/bleu cheese salad looked amazing, but that steak hit the spot.

Company was pretty good. It had some twists I didn’t see coming.

We walked back to the hotel, happy to sleep.

Thursday we woke up, ate, went to the airport, waited, flew, ate, waited, flew and came home. To Grey’s Anatomy. Whoo.

NYC Trip: Yummy food, Lots of drinking

Today we walked down to Central Park, and it started to sprinkle. So we hopped in a carriage and took a 30 minute ride through the park. Below Left: A view of the skyline from inside Central Park.

We walked to Radio City Music Hall, but were about 45 minutes to an hour early. So we went into a couple of the stores near by, then to eat. We got turned around in the basement of Rockefeller Center and were on the wrong block and had to walk around to get back to Radio City. Below Right: The stage at Radio City Music Hall where various award shows have taken place.

The tour was pretty interesting. I enjoyed learning about the architect and why he made the design choices he did. We met a Rockette, went into their dance studio and saw their costumes throughout the year.

Then the group was going to head down to Statue of Liberty. I was tired and Michelle was cold, so we went back to the hotel instead. We warmed up, rested and made phone calls back home.

We wandered out for dinner, just up the street by the Gershwin Theatre, where Wicked is. We ate at Azalea’s, which was so yummy. I introduced Michelle to the wonderful world of Moscatos. The one we had was a Moscato Trentino, a red dessert wine.

We walked to the next Theatre and watched A Chorus Line. This musical was good, but the storyline really didn’t catch me that much. The dancing was pretty awesome too. (Not to mention Larry (aka: Tyler Hanes, pictured below) was HOT!!)

Afterwards we walked to Broadway and decided to go to Caroline’s to see a show. We got $30 off our cover charge (how, I’m not quite sure, prolly cuz it was rainy and icky and they wanted to get people in). We had our two drinks. I had a Razztini and a Corona w/lime. I was lementing that I probably was spending twice as much for drinks as everyone else and wishing I’d just order two cheap beers. But when we got the bill, the rum and coke people were charged separately for their mixer and booze. So, I spent ONE DOLLAR more than them. And I was satisfied.

The host was Brian Kennedy from SNL, and he did an amazing job. I could have listened to just him. We lost count of how many comedians actually performed. I’d guess at least 15-20. Five were pretty bad, and I’d say about five were fair to average. The rest were really good and excellent.

My favorite joke was “My daddy is a pilot, but that doesn’t make me think I can fly airplanes. Just because your daddy was president didn’t mean you make a good one.” Or something to that effect. So funny! I got yelled at for laughing at it though, I think my table might have been leaning to the republican side. I wish I remembered who said it, so I could properly attribute it. But whoever did, rocked.

I think we got back to the hotel around one or two. So we had to scurry on to bed since Regis & Kelly was tomorrow!

NYC Trip: Such a Great Day

This was the day we were supposed to go to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty, but the ferries weren’t running. On the news this morning they said New York area received 7.5 inches of rain, something that happens about once in 15 years.

It’s still drizzling, so we go to a Rite Aid to buy a new umbrella and then walk to the Museum of Modern Art. The special exhibit was called Jeff’s Wall, a photography collection of a vast array of things. It featured flooding areas, a dirty kitchen, and migrants under a bridge to a windy day surprising business people.

There were a lot of familiar pieces at the MoMa. Andy Worhall’s Soup collection, the Three Musicians, and I got to stand and marvel in front of Starry Night.

After that we went to the NBC Experience store and I bought a Studio 60 mug. A nice guard in the underground section of Rockefeller Center showed us the way to get to some delis and we choose a world buffet kind. I had cold pastas, including a salad with fresh mozzarella, basil and tomato.

We walked up Fifth Avenue, visited Trump Tower, hit Tiffany & Co. (the diamond floor was awesome!) and went in FAO Schwartz.

After all of this window shopping we went to our bakery down the street. We got the plain cheesecake and a black and white cookie. This went great with the coffee in the lobby. The cashier was either amused or annoyed that we all ordered the same thing.

Michelle and I picked a restaurant on Restaurant Row. I had a bowl of minestrone soup and a portabella and Parmesan salad. Then we finished walking the 10 blocks to the Nederlander Theatre to see RENT.

I wish I could more completely describe how I felt watching this musical. Part of me wishes I wasn’t so hooked on it. Because, being obsessed with things is just what I do, so how special is it? Anyways, I was nervous that I would like the musical as much as I enjoyed the movie. They are, after all, different from each other. The stories are the same, but told in different ways.

The set was a mix of blue and purple. To the right was a platform where the life support meetings took place and under it, was the orchestra. There were two tables in the middle of the stage, above them and to the back was a catwalk-type platform with a stairway leading down. To the left was a doorway and above it a collection of bizarre metallic sculptures (for lack of a better word).

A young man named Angel showed us to our seats, toward the back of the orchestra level. They were very good, we were to the left so the whole stage stretched before us. I was on the aisle, and had an unobstructed view of the stage.

Soon, the Mark began shooting without a script and we were swept in. Michelle leaned over and asked who the “guy in the maroon coat” was, since he was such an excellent singer.

When Today 4 U started, she asked who the woman in the Santa coat was, because she was an awesome singer and dancer. I leaned over and told Michelle that she was Angel, that guy in the maroon coat with the great voice.

At intermission, I clarified for Michelle who was dating who, who used to date, who was gay and who had AIDS. She saw the song Goodbye Love and asked if Mimi was going to die. I didn’t answer.

At Without You, I started tearing up. By I’ll Cover You, the reprise, I stared crying. But then I felt a jab, and I saw Michelle had joined me. Afterwards I practically floated back to the hotel and could hardly calm myself enough to fall asleep. It was such a great day.

NYC Trip: It's Raining, It's Pouring

Today is our Jane Marx tour, insight of Manhattan from a resident and history buff. Maybe a more accurate title would be historian, scholar, etc. Looking out from our 10th floor window I can see it’s raining. But because we’re this far up, I can’t see how hard.

Down at ground level, as we’re getting on the bus, I see its not raining too hard just sprinkles—big-drop sprinkles. As we start moving Jane points to the left and says we have the café with the best New York cheesecake right next to our hotel. She tells us to go there and order a plain cheesecake and black and white cookie. She takes us towards Central Park, points out big buildings, various shopping places and professes her hatred of Starbucks.

We hit the edge of Central Park and Jane tells us about John Lennon and Yoko Ono, showing us their apartment—an entire floor. We run out quick, in the rain, to see Strawberry Fields and Imagine.

Jane tells us the history of the city, celebrity happenings and local lore. How Central Park is man-made to look natural, bedrock, landfill and how many homes Tom Hanks may own. Viva la democrat, down with chain stores, etc. etc.

Our next stop out of the bus was St. John the Divine, which is under construction. We see the pretty floor and hear a choir rehearse. Leaving the Cathedral, there’s an inch of water on the steps and fierce winds. Hold on to your umbrellas, folks!

Soon we took a break for lunch at Katz Diner. It’s the place where the famous When Harry Met Sally scene took place. Jane taught us how to be real New Yorkers and order. Step up, know what we want, and tip generously. We ordered a Pastrami sandwich on rye with mustard, knish and chocolate egg cream. The knish was interesting. Jane said you’d either love it or use it for cement. The inside was the consistency of cement all right. Knish is made of potatoes and other spices and someone said sometimes meat. It was kind of sticky and creamy and had an odd sweet aftertaste. The chocolate egg cream had the mouth feel of a root beer float. I’m not sure what it’s made of, Jane mentioned chocolate syrup, seltzer and has never seen an egg.

Just down the street from Katz is the Seinfeld Diner. Leaving after lunch we ran through about 2 inches of rain on the ground.

Next, Jane took us to the financial district, we saw Wall Street and the Bull. In a couple of miles, we began to see effects of 9/11. Blacken buildings and construction to rebuild. We go into St. Paul’s the only building in the area not touched by the imploding buildings. It was a solemn experience seeing what now is the history of this building. It was such an odd juxtaposition of beautiful design with the arches, painting and chandeliers against the exhibits of chain link fence memorials, pots they fed the relief workers with and table of prayers and religious (not all Christian) symbols seeking solace, peace, understanding and hope.

We drove around the block and saw ground zero, then splashed into Winter Garden observatory area. Jane told us about the construction and recovery since that day what buildings needed to be taken down, how hundreds of body parts are being discovered every day as they remove levels of these buildings.

Cycling back we go through Harlem, see Bill Clinton’s office, Columbia University and a general waterlogged New York.

The bus drops us off at the Marquee Theatre in the Marriot Hotel for Drowsy Chaperone. This play is kind of like theatre for beginners, the narrator introduces each character, outlines the plot and points out cliché events of storytelling. The players do the same thing, turning to the audience making declarations of intent, history or feelings. The play was enjoyable, it was fun seeing all the different set changes and stage mechanics of the changes.

On the way back to the hotel, we were somewhat disoriented. We were going in the right direction, but nothing looked familiar, except that it was wet. A gust a wind broke my umbrella and there was no way to avoid the puddles.

We got back, wet from feet to knees, not to mention dripping hair. There was a about an hour before we had to meet Marilyn for supper, so we changed our clothes and I blow-dried my hair. We tied our shoes to the heater so they would blow dry a little and then wrapped our feet in plastic bags so the residual wetness wouldn’t make our socks soggy.

Marilyn took a group of about eight to Ruby Foo’s on Broadway, It was a Chinese place with a beautiful décor. The walls were adorned with gold and red baroques and golden Buda’s all around. Everyone ordered something different and we shared. I also enjoyed a ginger mojito. Very yummy.

NYC Trip: Up, up and away!

We left from the university parking lot a little after 7:30 a.m. Michelle and I travel with two others. Michelle added a couple of extra people to the trip at last minute and found it would be $800 more to get them in our group for tickets, so she purchased four separate ones. So, we ended up being separate traveling mates from the group.

I have to say this was quite nice. We had a 40 minute ride to the airport (instead of three hours on a bus) then after a fairly short wait, we flew to Detroit and connected to our flight to Newark Airport. Now I pretty much have no concept of time. I think we got in around 3 p.m. We ate in their little holding area (we hadn’t had any lunch) we had to squeeze together and wait for a table for room with seven people. That area was packed, and we were kind of surprised to see so many people who weren’t eating. It really wasn’t a comfortable place to be, yet everyone flocked there.

We ate, Michelle and I had a yummy chicken sandwich with grilled onions and french fries. It looked like a lot, but after scarfing it down, we found it was just the right amount.

The rest of the group went down below to more comfortable chairs and less crowded areas while Michelle and I waited for the group. When we found a monitor that we could see (the one on our level was faded or the sunlight made it unreadable), it said they were on-time, then landed at 4:30. I was started to get worried about where they were. What a start.

Finally they came out and everyone got their bags. The bus came, we loaded on people and luggage. We traveled through the Lincoln Tunnel, crawling through the first half.

The sights outside of the city were interesting. The growing buildings, juxtaposed against stacked apartments. Then there was a castle-like structure, almost surrounded by a moat that we saw was a library (with a German or Polish looking name).

After some time we were actually in, traveling through the maze of tall buildings. I noticed spanish grafiti below the ramp that we passed through. We got to the hotel, got our room keys, jumped out and jetted up to our room. Only to jet back down and do a walking tour of our four block area: Rockefeller Center, Times Square, TKTS booth. We passed the NBC Studios, got in the way of the locals and marveled at the lights.

After the tour we broke off into a group of six and went to the Stardust Diner. That’s where the hopeful actors and actresses sing on tables between serving your food. It was a short wait to get in, and after talking to others in our group they were discouraged by the line down the street and didn’t go.

I ate the Captain Video—which was a grilled chicken breast sandwich with avocado, salsa and the usual burger fixings. For dessert I had a pecan tart, a little dry, but still good. Our waitress was a cute blond who was sweet and chatty—and a pretty good singer (and not all of them were good singers).

I think we got back to our hotel at around 11 or so. We really weren’t too exhausted, probably running on the thrill that we were in New York City and the trip ahead of us.

Vacation

I was reading through my first posts and realized that I did more "daily" on the spot blogs. I tend to enjoy them the most. Sometimes it's hard to think and write and come up with a post that's well written with a good subject. While it's something I do still strive for, it limits how much I post.

So here we go!

This week I took off work. It's my first week of vacation since Spring Break 2005. I'm not doing anything spectacular, but it's still nice to sleep in, watch some television, and just have the freedom to do what I want and not think about reaching a million dollar goal or worrying about deadlines.

And how do I start my week of vacation? I'm woken up by a phone call at 6:43 a.m. Please note my usual wake up time during work is 6:45. Yeah, not so happy.

Since Thanksgiving is this week, I'm helping get the house ready. Mom's family comes over so there's about 40 people over. (It's usually 60, but some aren't coming this year).

We're listening to Rent as we clean, so that's nice. Poor mom though, she has to listen to me sing.

Yesterday the CDs I ordered on Friday came in the mail. I was so excited to get it, listen to it, look at the liner notes. I love listening to a cd for the first time. Hearing the composition, harmonies, melodies, lyrics ... all the different beats and instruments. So far so good. Mark is the lead on each song and there's one featuring a duet with Mark and a woman (I need to investigate this a little more).

I fell completely in love with Blink182's last cd when I listened to it the first time. Most CDs I have to listen to them a couple of times to really like them. There aren't many instances where I love it the first time around--only Rent and Let Love In from the Goo Goo Dolls.

I did have an urge to listen to it ... which I'm doing right now ... so that's only a good sign.

I saw on PBS yesterday that snakes can climb trees (you know, slither up). That has me completely creeped out ... I always banked on in case of an apocolpyse or nightmare-ish snake situation I would climb a tree or hit high ground ... now all those plans are out the window.

San Francisco Fun

Here's a quick list of what we did...more stories and details will come later--after I finish the Cases paper.


Friday, March 11
Culture shock
Walk down Market Street
Trek up Haight Street
Wander around the Vistors Center
Seek refuge in the library (Harry Potter in every language!)
Ate supper at Palestine Burger place: Garden burger (or some such yummy thing)
*Warmest day of the year*

Saturday, March 12
Asian Art Museum
Ghiradelli Square
Fisherman's Wharf
Ate at Ghiradelli Square: Warm cookie sundae
*Sunny*

Sunday, March 13
Walked to Buena Vista park
Golden Gate park
Haight-Ashbury shops and sights
St. Patrick's Day parade on Market Street (beads from hot fire fighter)
Museum of Modern Art
Ate at Minnie's BBQ: Texas Ribeye Sandwhich with sweet potato fries
*Sunny*

Monday, March 14
Tour of Alcatraz
Fisherman's Wharf: Pier 39 and Pier 41
Ate at Pier 39 restaurant: Clam Chowder in sourdough bowl
*Sunny and breazy*

Tuesday, March 15
Legion of Honor
Lunch at the beach
Frolicking in the Pacific Ocean
Drove past Golden Gate Bridge
Palace of the Fine Arts
Exploritorium
Ate at Estella's Sandwhiches: Ham, bean sprouts, avocado spread, lettuce, tomato, etc on wheat with fresh carrot juice
*Sunny and warm*

Wednesday, March 16
Wine Country Tour
--Viansa
--Madonna
--Kirkland Ranch (Lamar *drools*)
drove over the Golden Gate Bridge and through Berkley
Ate at Lori's Dinner in Ghiradelli Square: Burger with sauteed mushrooms with jack cheese
*Sunny, high of 73*

Thursday, March 17 ~St. Patrick's Day~
Bay Cruise
Pretzal at the Wharf
Chinatown
North Beach
Saw Lomard, the Crookedest Street
Rode the Cable Car
Ate in North Beach at an Italian restaurant: Penne with grilled mozz cheese, roasted eggplant and portobello mushrooms
Guinness at an Irish Pub on Haight Street
*Warm, but overcast*

Friday, March 18
Aquarium
Pier 39 and 41
Ghiradelli Square
Rode the BART
Ate at Fudge House: Caramel/Chocolate Apple
Seafood Stand on the Wharf: Crab and Shrimp cocktail
Ghiradelli Square: A Very Berry Sundae
*Rainy, but comfortable*

Slept at the airport (if you take the word sleep lightly)

Left at 7:20 Saturday morning, plane was delayed 50 minutes due to flight crew rest period
Got into Minneappolis (saw snow) at a little before one
Left at 3:30 for Milwaukee
Got into Milwaukee at 5:30ish
Kerry's aunt picked us up and made us supper
Returned to Green Bay at 9:30

It was awesome!

More details to come!