Taking Time to Smell the Roses

Over the weekend I attended Publishing University in Chicago, which I have covered in my other blog Write Formation. The weather was wonderful in Chicago, with a warm sun and surprisingly calm winds. But I didn't get to enjoy any of that since I was inside the conference rooms. So when the weather here was so beautiful on Monday, cabin fever got the best of me. I packed up my water bottle and my camera and headed to the Missouri Botanical Garden. Being alone gave me a lot of time to think about all the things I had learned at the conference, and what items might be practical to put into use with my own company. So I wasn't totally goofing off. At least, that is my story and I'm sticking to it! Here are a few of my favorite shots from the day.

The Security Breach

As I intimated in the last post, my trip home from Canada was rather exciting. All six of us arrived at the airport at the same time since Jill and I were only leaving thirty minutes after the rest of our group. Canada international travel is somewhat interesting as you have to clear customs there before heading into the United States. That was fine with me as Jill and I only had 50 minutes to make our connecting flight in Chicago, which would have left no time to go through customs there. Jill and I checked in with the AA agent at the counter, using Ted's credit card to check the two bags. We figured since we were arriving in St. Louis before the guys, we could go ahead and collect the luggage while waiting for them to arrive. The agent gave us the receipt for the luggage and then our boarding passes. Next stop was with an employee of the airport, who scans the boarding passes and advises you about how many checked bags you have listed. First clue that something was awry is that the gal told Ted he had checked one bag, which he had not. Jim was advised the same thing. Jill and I, however, were told we had checked no bags. In looking at the baggage claim receipt, we saw that the AA agent had checked the bags through LaGuardia with Ted. I am assuming that was because we used his credit card, so she just attached it to his ticket. A minor inconvenience, but no biggie. Rather than go back out and try to correct this, we just let it go. But alas that was not all the AA agent had screwed up.

When we arrived at the next employee who would scan our boarding passes before sending us on the customs area, Jill was ahead of me in line. She had just gone through when I happened to glance at my boarding pass to make sure I gave him the one from Montreal to Chicago, and not the one from Chicago to St. Louis. My boarding pass said James Wolterman on it! Jill's said Ted Spaid! So not only had the agent sent our bags to New York, she was sending Jill and me there too! It is important to note that both Jim and Ted had gone through these same two airport employees, and nothing sent up a red flag to them that four boarding passes had been issued in the names of only two people. It would have been interesting to me to see how far I could have gotten with the incorrect boarding pass. Since the custom agent looked at my Chicago to St. Louis boarding pass and didn't say anything, I am thinking he would not have noticed either. I think the only time they would have seen that anything was wrong is when they determined that Jill and I had the same seats as Ted and Jim.

But instead of pushing our luck, we went back out to the same AA agent, not bothering to wait in the long line again. I figured since she screwed up we shouldn't be penalized for it. When I pointed out her error she said, "Oh really? I just figured since you were traveling as a group it wouldn't matter." You didn't think it would matter that you put the boarding passes not only in the wrong name, but on the wrong flight?!? She tore up the incorrect passes and gave us new ones. We proceeded without further incident through customs and down to our gate. Coincidentally, our flight was leaving from the same gate as the flight to New York so we were able to sit in the gate area together.

Their flight ended up being delayed, which meant that our flight got moved to a new gate. It didn't matter as the plane we were waiting for was also delayed. By the time it deplaned and we were allowed on, our connecting time in Chicago had shrunk to ten minutes. Of course we fretted about this on the plane and our flight attendant had absolutely no sympathy for our plight. I was keeping my fingers crossed that the new flight would depart from the same concourse we would arrive at. But that was not to be - we arrived at the end of H and the St. Louis flight was departing from the end of G. Having barely made our 40 minute connection through the same configuration on the way to Montreal, I figured we were just out of luck.

When we landed we pleaded with fellow passengers to allow us to get off first (we were in the 10th row so that helped), and most of them were very kind. One other man from our flight was headed the same direction. We took off, running like O.J. Simpson through the airport. I didn't run for long as the blisters on my feet quickly let me know they were having none of that. I did walk very fast though, keeping Jill and the flip-flap of her flip-flops in my sights. As we neared the gate they were just beginning to call the names of the standby passengers. I am sure three of them were cursing the fact that we showed up just in the nick of time. We had middle seats, one behind the other, near the back of the plane. I plopped in my seat, for all the world sounding like one of the contestants on The Biggest Loser. I was just hoping I didn't smell like a homeless person. Just as I was beginning to breathe a little easier, a ruckus began across the aisle.

That side of the plane had only two seats per row, while my side had three. An older man was sitting in the window seat, but the aisle seat was empty. The flight attendant noticed, and was going to put someone in the seat. The man told her she could not, as he had purchased both the seats. Assuming he meant someone was still coming, she proceeded to place the other standby passengers in empty seats. When the aisle seat remained empty, she asked the man about it. "I tried to tell the AA people inside the terminal that I bought the seat for my granddaughter, but her dad picked her up in Chicago and she wasn't finishing the last leg of the trip with me. But they didn't want to hear about it."

"So she isn't joining you?"

He glared at her. "Didn't I just say that?!?"

"Then I am going to put someone in this seat."

"The hell you are! I paid for that seat and no one else is going to sit in it!" The attendant went to the front of the plane and came back with three other attendants, and the poor woman who had been sold the aisle seat. I said to the woman next to me, "Man, I would hate to be the poor person they sit next to him." "I know, he is going to take it out on her", she replied.

The attendants explained to him that his granddaughter was a no-show, and as such they could resell the seat. He told them they could go ahead and sell it - after they gave him his money back. This was something he would have to take up with AA, they told him. They said if he had put both tickets in his own name, then he could have taken both seats. (That would not have worked out well for his granddaughter, now would it?) By now the copilot was joining the fray, as the man told them it was a bunch of shit that they could sell the seat twice, and this is why they are going out of business since they don't treat their customer right. Finally he was advised that he could either get off the plane and talk to AA inside the terminal, or he could sit down and be quiet, but they WERE putting someone in the seat next to him. He wisely chose to stay in his seat, and the woman sat down beside him. To his credit, he turned to her and said, "Nothing against you ma'am. They sold this seat twice and that just makes me so damn mad!"

The remainder of the flight was blessedly quiet, and we arrived in St. Louis right on time. And I guess I got some good blogging material out of all the excitement.

O Canada!

Jim and his partner had a business trip to Montreal last week, so the wives tagged along. Because the lighting representative who was paying for the trip for the guys booked their flights, Jill and I had to take care of our travel arrangements separately. We were able to get on the same flights as them going out, which meant traveling from here to Chicago and then on to Montreal. Coming home they were flying through LaGuardia and Jill and I had to go through Chicago again. More on that later...

St. Joseph's

The lighting conference put us up at a hotel in downtown Montreal, and it was a great place to stay. When we arrived on Thursday we met up with everyone else in the bar for cocktails before loading up onto a bus to go to the lighting manufacturer's plant outside of town. We learned about their lighting fixtures and had a nice dinner there. Friday the guys headed off to an all day seminar so Jill and I took the hotel courtesy car (nice!) up to Oratory St. Joseph's, which is located on the top of a large hill. It has over 100 stairs to climb to get to the top. (If you are really into it, you climb on your knees so that you feel the pain and suffering of Christ.) No knee pads were provided, so we walked the steps instead. The gardens contain large statues of the Stations of the Cross, and you can also tour the basilica. It was strangely stark inside compared to other basilicas I have visited. Unfortunately the day was pretty gray so my pictures are not as good as I would have liked.

Stations of the Cross

The basilica

After all the walking and trudging up and down stairs, we found a fun little cafe in the area and stopped to have lunch. From there we walked to Mount Royal, which is a park said to be larger than Central Park and designed by the same landscape architect, Frederick Law Olmsted. While they tell you that St. Joseph's is located in Mount Royal, that is a filthy lie. I wish I would have worn a pedometer so that I would know how many miles we actually walked to get to the park. It was a hilly road as well, so the next day in addition to blisters on my feet, my calves and shins were killing me. So much for thinking I am in shape. Anyway we walked to the overlook pavilion in the park, which is the highest point in Montreal. I'm told you can see all the way to the United States from there. I wouldn't know as the sky was so socked in I could barely see the river. The building on the grounds was pretty cool, and offered a welcome place to sit down. Following our stop we still had to hike through the park and then head down a couple hundred steps to get back to the street level and find our way to the hotel. On the plus side, it waited until we were nearly back before it began to rain.

The pavilion at Mount Royal

View from the lookout at Mount Royal

That evening the lighting company took us on a dinner river cruise. Again the view of the Montreal lights from the river is probably outstanding - unfortunately it was pouring down rain on our three hour tour. The weather started getting rough, the tiny ship was tossed...Not really, but we all sang the song anyway. Thank goodness for the glass covering. We stayed nice and dry once we were on board, and it was a fun trip anyway.

On Saturday we had an open day so the four of us along with the lighting rep and her husband toured Old Montreal. We took the Metro, which was pretty fun. They have what is called the Underground City, which is essentially a huge mall underground since their winters can be pretty harsh. Old Montreal is really interesting due to its history. Notre Dame Cathedral is beautiful and we very much enjoyed seeing all the old architecture. You definitely felt like you were in another country at that point. In case all the French didn't make you feel that way earlier. We wrapped up the day at a French Bistro, which was amazing. Sunday we headed back to the U.S. The trip home had its share of excitement, and I'll write about that in my next post.

Notre Dame

Montreal City Hall

Our Lady of the Harbor

On the Move

Sunday afternoon we drove over to Chicago to pack up Katie's apartment and move her home. We pretty much had everything packed by around 9:15 that night. In this apartment building you have to schedule the elevator when you are moving things in or out, so we had it set up for Monday afternoon from 2-4. Katie's two roommates will be moving out later. We also scheduled a local moving company to help us load up the Penske truck we had rented. By late Monday morning we were ready to go, so we walked over to Target to pick up a couple of things and then went out to eat. After that we retrieved our car from the hotel parking lot and went to pick up the truck.

The movers showed up right on time, and the truck was loaded in less than an hour. Of course they have a two hour minimum, so we lost out on that deal. I tried to tell the scheduling lady that we only needed two guys, but she insisted we needed three. Now I see why she said that...While the guys were moving stuff, Katie and I cleaned as much as we could considering the other two girls still had all their stuff in the apartment and would dirty the kitchen and bathroom again. I feel bad leaving the rest for them, but we had no choice in the matter with Katie's schedule.

The good part about getting the truck loaded early is that we were on the interstate headed for home by 3:30. Unfortunately, that is still rush hour in Chicago. I would not live in that city for love nor money. I am SO happy we don't have to take Katie back there in the fall!

On this end, I hired Simple Moves to unload the truck on Wednesday and move everything to the basement. There is no way we could accomplish this alone, with Jim's bad knee and all. They were done in a little over an hour, and also moved a gargantuan television from the 3rd floor out the door for me. Yay!

Today we put Katie on the plane to Prague, via Chicago and Madrid. Her 5 week international marketing class begins on Monday. There are 14 students and 2 instructors going. They are staying in a hotel that provides breakfast each morning and includes full laundry service (when can I move in???), and they will do their class work there as well. Classes are held all day Monday through Wednesday, and until noon on Thursdays. They will be able to travel around on the long weekends. In addition they are working with a Prague based marketing company on an Oreo cookie campaign. Apparently Oreos are not big sellers in the Czech Republic, and they want to change that. The trip sounds amazing!

Whirlwind in the Windy City

On Wednesday I drove over to Chicago in preparation of moving Katie home on Thursday. Her last final was Wednesday afternoon, and her check-out time from the dorm was set for 11:00 Thursday morning. The thunderstorms in St. Louis had made it impossible to get a good night's sleep Tuesday night, so I was a little concerned about being tired on the drive. And about whether I would be driving into the storm we had just experienced. But I popped in a surprisingly good book on CD, and fortunately only encountered rain as I got to the outskirts of Chicago.

After checking into the hotel, I drove the car several blocks away to park in the garage next to her dorm, hoping to simplify the move out process. I gave Katie a quick call, hoping she might have gotten out of class early, and getting no response I walked back to the hotel. Just as I reached the building Katie called to say her phone had never rung, but she was in her dorm room. So I trudged back to the garage, stopping to retrieve the additional four plastic containers I had brought for her to pack additional belongings in.

Several girls from the floor popped in while we were boxing things up, and it was interesting to hear them talk about the school year, and particularly their roommates. It seemed everyone had the same complaint about girls who have poor personal hygiene, who never picked things up, and apparently cooked and then never did the dishes. Katie had the same problems with her roommate.

We finished packing her up by 4:30, so we went to grab some supper at a nearby pub. Then we went to my hotel room to surf the web and watch American Idol (my guilty pleasure, not hers). Thunderstorms rocked my world again early Thursday morning - great, another day of driving tired! I checked out of the hotel at 8:30, and hadn't really considered the fact that I would need to carry my overnight bag, my laptop and my cooler all the way back to the parking garage. At least the rain had stopped by then, although it was very gray and the city was socked in by fog. I dropped my stuff in the car, and luckily was able to snag one of the two boxes on wheels available for moving stuff. I was informed by the security guard at the desk that since it was not officially "move out" day, the other boxes had not been brought over yet. Hmmmm....They know kids are moving out because they sign up for check out times, but it is not "move out" day? Oh well, I had a cart so life was good. Katie had to come down and sign me in, and we made the first of three trips to the 19th floor. We found a way to take the wheeled box from the elevator, down a hallway to a different elevator and up to the second floor of the parking garage where I had parked. That was awesome as it had begun to rain again. We managed to squeeze all the stuff into my car (fortunately we had removed the center two seats prior to me making the trip), and were done by 10:00. No problems with check out and we were on our way by 11:20 and home by 4:30.

In the fall Katie will live in an apartment with two other girls from school, so we won't have the dorm rules to deal with. I hope they have an inside elevator from the garage there, as that helped a lot. Now I just have to figure out where we are going to store all her stuff for three months.

Twenty-Five Years Ago

At this time 25 years ago I was about to give birth to our son, Andrew. He arrived 10 days past my due date at 9 pounds, 5 ounces, and has grown into a remarkable young man. It is unbelievable to think that he is now 25, married and settling into his career as an engineer. In a lot of ways it does not seem like that much time has passed by. His life has mirrored ours in some ways, meeting his wife in college, getting married following graduation, and then taking a job far away from the families. Patterns...

We spent the weekend with Katie in Chicago to look at apartments for next school year. Saturday morning it was pouring, in the horizontal format customary for Chicago with its high winds. No sense attempting the use of an umbrella unless you wantedto end up like Mary Poppins. But we managed to see 5 different apartment complexes on Saturday and one on Sunday. I can sum up the experience in 2 words - sticker shock! Having said that, the apartments are gorgeous with stainless appliances, granite counter tops and nicely appointed bathrooms. They each have a 24 hour door man, fitness centers on site, outdoor lounging areas with nice views of the city, business centers, and other amenities. Because we are only looking on the near south side, the construction is all fairly new and up to date. Hence the pricing. A lot of the decision-making process hinges on whether or not the 2 other girls who claim they want to be in the apartment actually sign on the dotted line. If it ends up that we just need a one bedroom unit for Katie, then we can go with a 9 month lease somewhere and be done with it. From what we learned, signing a lease effective 9/1 will pretty much guarantee that the rates will be lower. The big moving date in Chicago appears to be in April, for whatever reason.

When we weren't looking at apartments, we enjoyed just hanging out with Katie. She has matured so much since she has been in college this year, and it is fun to listen to her discuss her plans and dreams. I'm so happy that it seems she picked the right college in the right city.

April Fool's Day

Remember when you were a kid and you couldn't wait to make up tales to tell your friends and parents, barely containing yourself until you could shout "April Fools!" I miss those days...The only thing that came close today was a post on Facebook from Pudd'nhead Books stating that they had been bought out by a conglomerate, and then listing all the changes they would be making. It was pretty funny, once my internal "April Fool" gave a shout-out.

I'm really happy to say goodbye to March and all the crappy weather it brought this year. Let alone being depressing with all the cold, gray days, it was a hideous month for our composting business. Every year I forget how stressful it is to get through the lean months, hoping that we don't have to lay off any employees. It's disconcerting to be responsible for feeding other people's mouths. April is off to a glorious start, weather-wise and business-wise, so I feel we have turned the corner. Hope that doesn't make me an April Fool after all.

We are heading out tomorrow to Chicago to be with Katie for Easter. We need to begin looking at apartments for her to live in next school year, and this weekend worked out for all of us. It is a happy coincidence that I will be able to deliver her Easter basket in person. I have a couple of fun items in there this year.

Our wonderful house/dog sitter will keep Kirby company at the house while we are gone. He loves Kaya, and the feeling is mutual. Everyone should have a good weekend. Happy Easter!

Fleeting Freshman

We just put Katie back on the MegaBus this afternoon. Her friend Ji from South Korea was on the bus from Columbia to here as she attends Mizzou, and is traveling to Chicago to spend a few days with Katie. Unfortunately Katie's schedule Mondays through Wednesdays is jam-packed, but other friends from Webster Groves will hook up with Ji as their time allows.

Katie now has only 45 days left in her freshman year. That includes weekends and the fact that she doesn't have school on Thursdays or Fridays, so her actual classroom time is much less than that. It seems like only a couple months ago that we headed off to Chicago for orientation. The time has truly blown by for us, and for her as well I think. If she did not have such a bizarre roommate, she would have loved every minute of it. She enjoys the excitement of Chicago and the challenge of her classes. And I'll brag for a moment and mention that Columbia College nominated her for membership in the National Honor Society, which is reserved for students in the top 20% of the school possessing a 3.4 GPA or greater. For the first semester she received a 3.9 as she got an A- in one of her classes.

She is taking a few classes at Meramec Community College this summer as she wants to free up her schedule at Columbia to take more classes in her major of Marketing Communications. She is working with the different department heads to see if she can minor in Asian Studies, but since that is not a designated minor (or major, for that matter) they are trying to determine if that is possible. I give her props for pushing for it as she very much would like to work in China when she graduates, which is why she is taking Mandarin Chinese. She is already considered a sophomore due to the classes she took in high school, and she is set to graduate in three years. That is awesome, and one of the many reasons we are willing to help her study in China in 2011.

Last night we took Katie and her best friend from high school to Tucker's for supper. Maggie is studying pre-med at St. Louis University and working at the hospital as well. She is a bright, motivated young lady and very much like a second daughter to me. It was a fun meal, listening as they talked about what they have liked about college so far and their plans for the future. They have grown so much since high school graduation!

Next weekend Jim and I will go over to Chicago and look at apartments with Katie for next year. She is done with the dorm and all the shenanigans that go on there. I believe she will have two roommates; one is a friend from high school and the the other is her Chinese tutor. We will be looking at three bedroom units, if we can find one within the budget. An added bonus is that we will get to spend Easter with Katie. I'll be taking over an Easter basket for her as this is something I've done for her since she was a baby. Some things shouldn't have to change...

Shop 'til You Drop!

Jim is in Chicago with wife number 4 (I have all of his motorcycle buddies numbered. I, of course, remain wife number 1) attending a motorcycle show. They went over yesterday and closed the exhibit hall down last night, and will be there all day today and tonight. They did squeeze in time this morning to have breakfast with Katie, delivering to her the chocolate orange cookies I made for her and the quesadilla maker she got for Christmas but couldn't fit in her suitcase when she returned from break. Somehow she convinced them to take her to Target so she could buy some things that are too heavy for her to carry back from the store. That's my girl! I would have loved to have seen those two guys traipsing through the store with her. I have to admit that it is a pretty cool Target. It is huge - two stories with a parking garage attached to it. As my husband told wife number 4, who is from Lawrence, "You're not in Kansas any more Jimmy!"

I decided to do a little shopping myself today. I headed off to the Galleria with my list in hand. Had a new battery put in my Seiko watch, which was a Christmas gift from Jim many, many years ago. Picked up a new tube of my lipstick at Sephora. I buy all my other makeup at Target, but for some reason most tubes of lipstick make my lips crack. Katie turned me on to Dior lipstick and it works well for me, I guess making it worth the King's ransom they charge for it. My daughter, of course, is a frequent shopper at Sephora. She wears much better makeup and underwear than me. Sigh...

After I checked those two things off my list I headed to Macy's. The guys at ORMI got me a gift card for Christmas, so I wanted to use it before I lose it. I don't have as much luck shopping at Macy's as I did at Famous Barr. They don't carry the petite line of clothing that fit me so well. Since I had no one waiting for me I took my time trying on lots of clothes. And might I just interject that one could do a whole blog posting on conversations overhead while in a dressing room. Here is just a taste...a man followed his girlfriend into the dressing room so he could give his opinion on the dresses she was trying on. They went back and forth on whether she liked the first dress. She hated the bow, and he said he would just cut it off. The second dress she really liked, and when she asked his opinion he said he REALLY liked it. She told him he was supposed to be looking at the dress. I can only assume the girls were popping out of it and that is what captured his attention. Oh to have been in a dressing room that had slats I could peer through!

Anyway, I particularly wanted to get a winter pants suit, and I thought I would have luck on the clearance rack this time of year. Apparently I waited too long, as all the suits were more of a spring weight. So I settled for a classic grey herringbone, and the pants are lined so they will work most of the winter. I also had a few tops I had selected to go under a couple of jackets I already own. When I went to pay, I handed the clerk the gift card and a discount card I had received in the mail. "You can't use the gift card and the discount card", she told me. Apparently the only way to get the discount was to use your Macy's card. No problem - the suit was a little more than the gift card anyway. Nope - the computer wouldn't accept it. So I told her to ring up the suit separately, using the gift card. Then I used the coupon on the blouses. Ridiculous! But a good shopping trip nonetheless.

Catching Up is Hard to Do

It was fun spending nearly five days in Chicago with Jim and the other people we know from the ASLA. Our hotel was very nice and less than two blocks from Katie's dorm. We had a lot of great food, and I enjoyed the walking, biking and boat riding that we did. Coming back to reality sucks, though. There is so much to catch up on with work. Darn - I hate when work interferes with play! Because I'll be playing again this weekend (a friend and I are driving down to Table Rock Lake Friday to stay at her parent's lake house for the weekend) I have to kick butt and take no prisoners before then. Jim will be off on a motorcycle adventure, so we have someone coming to stay at the house with the dog again. That means I have to clean the house, particularly the guest bedroom and bath, before she gets here.

Around all that, I am finishing up my book. There are a couple of last tweaks that my designer is working on, and then I'll be ready to get quotes for the printing. I really can't determine my pricing until I know what the printing is going to cost. It's the old chicken or the egg syndrome. You need to have the price on the book before you go to print, but you can't price the book until you know what the printing charge will be. There is quite a learning curve in producing your first book. I just hope all the curves result in a nice, straight bottom line.

Take Me Back to Chicago

Jim and I are back in Chicago again, this time for the annual meeting of the American Society of Landscape Architects. Jim will be doing the meeting thing while I'll be doing the town. His partner and wife came along, so I'll have Jill to goof off with. We flew in today and took the train from Midway Airport to the city. We are staying at the Hilton on Michigan Avenue, a first for us. Ted and Jill did the Priceline thing and ended up with a corner room on an upper floor with views of the Chicago River and Lake Michigan. While we are on the top floor of the Hilton, we our room is on the back side with a view of 8th Street. It is quieter than our Michigan Avenue views have been at the Best Western, and we do have two bathrooms in our room, which is unusual to say the least.

We walked through the various parks along Michigan Avenue this afternoon, ending up in front of the Hilton to catch up with another co-worker. As I was calling Katie to let her know we were in town, here she came walking right in front of the hotel on her way back from class. She ended up going to Gino's East with us for pizza. Afterwards we walked her back to her dorm as I had brought her a basket of special cookies along with a bag of other goodies.

Tomorrow the Jill and I are going to try to take a river cruise as neither of us has ever done that.Katie doesn't have class on Fridays so I think she will join us.

More tomorrow...

Bean There, Done That

We are just home from a couple of days in Chicago, where Katie registered for her first semester of classes at Columbia College. There are multiple days of orientation, but Tuesday was one of two choices for students majoring in marketing or photography. As Katie went off to have her picture taken for her i.d., we grabbed our orientation backpack and a provided muffin and juice. As Jim doctored up his coffee, I jockeyed around the masses to grab the last table. A woman and her son quickly asked if they could join me at the table. As there were five chairs, I said that would be great. What a great way to start the day! It was very interesting to share the table with them. Michael is in the same major as Katie, and is minoring in photography, which is one of Katie's hobbies. Lynna is very personable, so we were soon chatting like old friends. They are from the Chicago area, so it was fun to get their take on Columbia. We spent the day together, except for the time period when Michael and Katie were separated to register for classes.

Katie was able to get into all the classes she had selected, so that was great. Rumor going around was that a lot of the required courses were already filled. We were happy to find out that it was not true, at least in her case. Because there are still orientations going on in early August, and I was wondering what those kids would do.

As we sat through the presentations geared towards the parents, I was excited to find that my original impressions of this school seem to be true. The level of creativity offered by the teachers, majors and college in general is truly inspiring. And all with the goal of building a portfolio to assist in job placement upon graduation. Every parents dream! I think Columbia is a perfect fit for Katie. The big disappointment in the whole day was that there were no dorms open for viewing. We had heard from a friend of Katie's who went to orientation last week that you needed an appointment to see a room. We had tried unsuccessfully to obtain one. While we saw a room back in 2007 on a campus tour, it wasn't in the building Katie was placed in nor would I remember specifics even if it had been. The online virtual tours are cool, but you can't get a feel for dimensions. So much for shopping for storage containers ahead of time!

Though all of Tuesday was taken up with the orientation, we did have time Monday and Tuesday nights to walk around the downtown area. Chicago is such a vibrant city, even in the evening. Jim especially wanted to see the "Bean" as he had only observed it in pictures. Katie and I had walked to Millennium Park when we were in Chicago in 2007. Bean there, done that.

The next trip to Chicago will be move in day August 29th!

Chicago is so NOT My Kind of Town

Katie and I left for Chicago at 10:00 Friday morning so as to avoid rush hour traffic. Here and there. Figuring we would be heading into town while everyone else was heading out, I thought our timing would be pretty good. We arrived at the outskirts of the city around 3:00 to find the northbound traffic snarled to a stop. It took another hour and 15 minutes to arrive at the hotel, where I gratefully handed off the car keys to the hotel personnel for the weekend. After a little rest in the room (little being the operative word as the kids in the next room were waging a battle of Star Wars proportion), we decided to try a pizza parlor advertised in the shopping guide located in the room. Katie checked the reviews online, and people agreed it was THE place to sample Chicago style pizza. Arriving at 5:45 we were told there would be a 45 minute wait for the two of us. It seemed to be our day of being in the exact same location as everyone else. After 20 minutes we were advised to order our pizza so that it would be ready for us when we were seated. In 50 minutes we were seated at our table, where we received poor service and a pizza that arrived 20 minutes later. So much for the order ahead theory. The pizza was good, thankfully, and we were happy we tried it though we both prefer a thinner crust on our pizza. Facing 30 mile per hour winds (they don't call this the Windy City for nothing!), we struggled to make our way back to the hotel. The heathens in the room next door kept up WWIII until after 12:30, so I was not very perky the next morning as we readied ourselves for the tour at Loyola. The winds had not abated, and coupled with the gray skies overhead led to a less than idealistic day to be hiking around. Warm, comfortable coach buses shuttled us to the campus, located about a half hour away, but after that it was all on foot. Grateful for the fore site to pack my hooded down jacket and gloves, I marveled at the teenage girls tottering around in their high heels and skirts, anxious to impress. It began to rain and then sleet as afternoon turned to evening. By this morning the snow combined with the winds off the lake turned the downtown area into a blizzard. Following a 30 minute wait for my car to arrive from the valet, we trudged through ankle high slush to toss the luggage in the car so we could return home. If this had been my decision on where I wanted to go to attend college, the weather this weekend would have definitely settled things for me. There is no campus or program good enough to convince me to attend college in Chicago. Why weren't we looking at colleges in Florida, for crying out loud? Oh, that's right - it's not my decision.