Man, am I a bad blogger, or what?

I know, I know, forgive me for I have sinned, it's been like 6 months since my last blogging. I can't even believe that - the time has really flown.

Don't know if I should do catch up or start fresh. Hmm. Okay, quick recap from July to now.

On July 11, 2009 I drove from my home to Boonesboro, Maryland with a friend to go to an author signing at Nora Roberts' bookstore. It was incredible! We drove 11 hours to get there, stayed the night, went to the signing and came back the next afternoon, driving another 11 hours. It's the most spontaneous and crazy thing I've done for myself but I blame it on the cancer. I decided after going through that that if I wanted to do something, I was going to go do it NOW. Tomorrow might be too late.

So I got the pinnacle of autographs - LINDA HOWARD. She NEVER signs anywhere besides RWA conventions, and the only reason she was signing at Nora's bookstore was due to the RWA being held the next weekend in Washington, D.C. They are old friends and I'm sure she invited her up for the time before the conference. Whatever the reason, I got the one autograph I would have killed for! I spoke with her for quite a time (I am her number one fan) and she was funny and nice. I was pretty funny, too, and I know I made an impression because she mentioned me to an author friend at the conference the next week. Here's the pic of us together at the signing:


Love that chemo-curly hair. I lived with that crap till about November, when my hairdresser cut the last of it out.

Also got a signature from Nora Roberts, of course, but I already had hers from 2005 when she came to Champaign, IL for a signing. I went to dinner with her and others from our online community and bought her a couple of giant margaritas. She is so funny and smart, she is a delight to hang out with. But this trip was all about capturing the elusive Howard. Here is the Nora pic:


And lastly, got Stephanie Laurens as well. I love her work with one exception - I hated the book that she wrote about the Cynster parents. If you are a Cynster addict, you'll know that the father of the Cynster clan had cheated at one point and produced a son with another woman. I found it incredibly hard to read this "prequel" after reading all the children's stories. To read that they were so happy and so forth, but to find out later that he cheated on her...well, not quite a romance, IMHO. I wrote Stephanie after reading it, telling her my problems with the story and asking for an explanation. She gave a somewhat lame one, saying that who knows what motivates the characters and she had no control over them. It was total crap. But her overall body of work is great, and I do love everything but that one, so I was happy to get her signature and this picture:



Inbetween arriving at the bookstore and the actual signing, we went to see the Antietam Battlefield. I love history and I couldn't pass up this chance. (I did pass up Fort Necessity the day before when we drove by it, and I still regret that.) The battleground is impressive and you can't help but feel sad and introspective when you think of all the dead.



At the end of July my daughter, my grandkids and I went up to see my second daughter in northern Illinois. They hadn't seen her new house and we spent the weekend. Went to Galena, Illinois for some shopping, hung out and had a weiny roast in their backyard. On Sunday we went to the local swimming pool and really had a great time. For a small pool they had an incredible slide:


So July came and went. August brought my daughter's birthday and the Decatur Celebration. The granddaughter got a hug from a wandering pig and was thrilled:


Doug Wilson from Trading Spaces was the Grand Marshall of the parade. When he went by I yelled out for him to come and re-do my living room - he said, "I'll be right there!"


My grandson started football for the first time and was actually pretty good. I had a good time watching his practices and games.

The granddaughter started soccer and was a star at the practices...the actual games, however, were not her thing. I had to bribe her with promises of lunch out or whatever came to mind to get her out on the field in the wet and cold. Probably not going to do that sport again.

Went to the State Fair, as usual. I wanted to check on personnel that I had assigned to work the 911 Booth in the Fire Marshall's tent but that isn't why we went. I have been going every year since I was very young. It was one of my father's favorite things and everytime I walk through the gate, I think of him. I took the grandkids along and we milked the cow in honor of my vet son.


Most important event of August - we acquired a new doggie, a Golden Retriever that we call Riley. He is a sweetie and fills a place in the house I didn't even know was empty.


September brought the Farm Progress Show. We had the Mobile Command Post there and I went out to check that everything was working, walking around the show with a mobile and checking reception. Here's my new ride:



My son was Grandpa Joe in the local community college production of Willy Wonka. He did a great job and it kept him occupied although he was hospitalized for a couple of weeks in the middle of rehearsals. Just routine lung function issues, but still worrisome. I like it when he's engaged and involved, so this was perfect for him. He had a great time, too.

With school back in session, we went to school carnivals and open houses - both grandkids are at the same school and doing well, for which I am thankful.

I attended my annual conference in Oakbrook, Illinois in September as well and had an incredible time. We went to the movies at Yorktown Premium - a theater with dinner and drinks available. LOVE IT! Saw The Informant!, the Matt Damon movie that was filmed in my town over the last summer. I spent the entire movie attempting to locate the local sights. I'll have to watch it again just for the content.

On the Tuesday night of the conference, we did our usual Karaoke thing - Sal's Pizza has a young and fun crowd and they love it when I do my Eminem and Kid Rock songs. Hard for them to believe that I listen to that and know the words.

Martin and I sang together on our usual - Man of Constant Sorrow - from O Brother Where Art Thou?



October brought more events including the Washington Wizards appearance at my daughter's high school. The grandkids had a great time watching and I watched them as the daughter worked. Kind of like the Harlem Globetrotters Lite.

Halloween came and went - granddaughter as Snow White, grandson as a SWAT team member. My son wore this to his engineering job:



On the first of November I received another job. In addition to my current job, I'm now the manager of the Emergency Communications Center. Due to city cutbacks and early outs, my friend took advantage of the opportunity and left. So now I get to do two things and get paid for one. How great is that?! Sigh. On the other hand, November brought my 55th birthday, so I can now retire at any time with a pretty good pension. I'd like to stay for another 4 years, but if I can't take it anymore, I can leave at any time. It's a great feeling.

November also brought the Beatles Rock Band. OMG. I am having so much fun with it!! My kids play the instruments and I get to sing all the songs of my youth. So funny to know all the words to songs that I haven't heard in forever. We are playing it quite a bit on the weekends when everyone is around. Even the grandkids are getting into it - they know some songs from recent movies (the Bee Movie used Here Comes the Sun at the end) and from listening to songs on my iPod.


As part of my new 2nd job, I've expanded community activities. The personnel participated in the police Thanksgiving Basket event - giving baskets of food to deserving families in the area. We had an excellent time.

The next week we participated in the Salvation Army Tree event. We went to breakfast, then to Walmart to shop for our angel tree recipients. Last, we helped with Shop with A Cop and had a really rewarding experience.

On the home front, I took the grandkids to the Children's Museum in December to have breakfast with Santa and to make gingerbread houses.



The next day we had lunch with Santa on the train, and then went to a reindeer ranch nearby. Later in the month I took the grandkids to the annual police bowling party.


Christmas came and went - harried, hurried but satisfying. We held our usual family New Year's Eve party and had great fun playing games and waiting till midnight.

Last event of 2009? Bought a new car on the 30th. The deal was just too good to pass up, although I loved my "old" car and would have been happy to keep it. Sigh.

So now you're more or less up to date. I'll try to post regularly so these long run-on posts won't happen again. I said I'll try. No promises!

Las Vegas - Day 6

Today was fairly low key regarding classes. We attended sessions in the morning and were scheduled to work as volunteers through the lunch meeting. When we went to the volunteer/registration counter to sign in, we were told that we weren't needed...that the election of officers for the group was not going to require more than a few people and that they had that covered. Hooray! We didn't want to do it anyway, so this allowed us to eat and get out of there a whole lot quicker.

After the crazy lunch of a lasagna piece with a blanched carrot and string bean on top (really, that is what it was!) and a strange cookie-crust custard thing, we grabbed my son and husband and took off.

We went to the Stratosphere to ride the rides. Seriously. If you've ever been to Las Vegas, you'll know the Stratosphere is on the north end of the strip and towers above the landscape. About ten years ago, at another conference at the same hotel, I went with my daughter to ride the Big Shot on the top of the Stratosphere. Back then there were two rides on the top - the Big Shot and a roller coaster than curled around the top. I would never in a million years have done the coaster. I mean, come on! It was insane to think about it. Here's some footage of the coaster from YouTube:



But the Big Shot just goes straight up and straight back down. You start on concrete, you land on concrete if the worst should happen. Seems better, somehow, than going in a circle around the outside edge of the top of the building and if you fell, it'd be straight down to the street. Here's a sample of the ride from YouTube:



It goes up so fast, it's insane. I had forgotten that part, however, when I agreed to go again with my son. It is one incredible rush and my son, who had never been on the ride, yelled as loud as he could. Didn't help, but made him feel better.

To make it worse, he wanted to ride their newest ride, Insanity. Here's how this one goes, once more courtesy of YouTube:



And there's more - they have one more ride but neither one of us had the guts to go on it. It's called the X-Scream and it is insane. Here it is from YouTube:



It just dangles right out over NOTHING. NOTHING. No way would I ride that thing!

After the fun of the Stratosphere, we headed back to our hotel for the conference banquet. The DH didn't want to go, so only my son, my co-worker and I went. It was the WORST banquet I have ever been to. The food selection was incomprehensible. It still don't understand who make those choices. The meat was beef with small rolls to eat it with. That was pretty normal. Next to it was a Louisiana "station" with white rice, red beans, shrimp to be cooked and some kind of crazy chicken sauce thing.

The "fresh vegetables" were actually roasted carrots, zucchini, cherry tomatoes...it was so strange! No dip, nothing to eat with them.

The dessert, rather than a collection of cakes/pies, etc. was the only bright spot. But if you didn't like it, you were out of luck. It was one thing only - bananas foster. Vanilla ice cream with a rum-based banana laden sauce on top. It was good, but the other stuff was blah. Needless to say, I didn't stay long. We ate what we could and went out for one last "fling" at the casino.

I won $33.00 on slots, so I quit. That leaves me down about $30.00 for the trip. Not bad, really.

We went to bed early due to the long travel day the next day. Didn't help. It took 14 hours to get home in total. Yep. One layover, one delay and an hour car trip at the end.

Guess I won't complain. I was happy to be back home. Traveling is fun...returning has its own charm as well.

Las Vegas Day 5

Today we had labs - those are sessions that are hands on with the software. I love those. I learn so much more by doing instead of being lectured. I was happy that these particular labs covered problem areas of the reporting software and I learned a number of tricks - some useful, some not so much. Doesn't matter, I still would rather have a day of hands on than a day of sitting still.

For dinner my co-worker, my son and I went to Tom Colicchio's Craftsteak restaurant. In case that name isn't familiar he is the head judge on Bravo's reality cooking show Top Chef.


The restaurant is beautiful. All wood and metal.



We all decided to eat from the Spring Tasting Menu. For $60 per person, we had a huge dinner served family style.

The first course was:
Shaved fennel salad
Grilled quail, vincotto
Buffalo mozzarella, red pepper caponata
Persian cucumber, lemon vinaigrette

Main Course was:
Prime Beef Flatiron
Grilled Angus Skirt Steak
Diver Sea Scallops

Side Dishes:
Yukon Gold Potato Puree
Sugar Snap Peas, Ricotta Salata
Roasted Shiitake Mushrooms

Dessert:
Chocolate melted cake with vanilla bean ice cream
Rhubarb Crisp with Vanilla bean ice cream
Carmelized Monkey bread with Banana ice cream

The entire dinner was possibly the best food I have ever eaten. I have never had quail and it was wonderful. My favorite thing was the Angus Skirt Steak. It melted in the mouth. Next favorite was the potato puree. Unbelievable.

This restaurant has just become my favorite place in Las Vegas to eat.

After dinner we walked over from the MGM where the restaurant is located to the ESPN Zone in the New York, New York casino/hotel. Bought a few things for the grandkids and returned to the MGM to leave.

Back at the hotel I resisted the urge to gamble again. I'll play tomorrow night (our last night here) for a bit, I think. We'll see.

Las Vegas Day 4

Today sessions began and I attended all day.

After "work", my son and I went to the Paris hotel. We went up the Eiffel Tower to the top and looked around and took pictures for about a half hour. It's not as high as the real one, but it is still pretty high up there. Here's the proof:


The real reason I wanted to go to the Paris was to go to Le Notre, the pastry shop in the corridor between Bally's and the Paris. Yum yum. It was late in the day so the case is not as full as I have seen it but here it is:


These are the ones that I bought:


They are so rich, we shared each one of them, but they are fantastic.

After that, came back and I finally got to do some gambling. Played craps for about two hours and ended up losing it all. Hit the slots and got quite a bit back, so as of now I'm only $67.00 down. Could have been worse!

Las Vegas Day 3

Conference didn't really start till later in the day, so I, the son and the husband went out to do a few things.

Went to the M&M Store and the Coca-Cola Store to buy some totally useless junk for several family members.

Went to the Luxor to find Egyptian items for the son, only to find out that they aren't selling that stuff anymore. WTF?! The last time we came here (like 5 years ago) they had a huge gift shop of just stuff from/about/relating to Egypt. What is the point of the whole pyramid thing without accompanying crap?

Went to Mandalay Bay for the son and went through Shark Reef, a huge aquarium thingy. Lots of fish, sharks, etc. to see.

After we went everywhere we wanted to, we came back to the hotel where I had to work the conference registration desk for two hours. It was hectic, but the time went quickly. Once that chore was over, we went to dinner.

After that we went to see Penn & Teller. Their show is based here at the Rio and it was really good. Before the show there was a jazz duo playing on stage and I looked at the bassist really hard - I just knew it was Penn playing. The man at the piano asked all the audience to go up onstage and look over a wooden box there and to write our name down on an envelope that was there. So we did.

Later in the show they sawed the box in half with a woman in it and used the envelope for another trick. I don't want to explain too much 'cause the show is good and you should go see it.

After the show was over, both Penn and Teller were in the lobby and let everyone get a photo with them, signed autographs, etc. I asked Penn if he were the one playing on stage before the show and he admitted that he was. Cool!

Finally went to bed - long day.

No gambling yet, but hopefully soon.

Las Vegas Day 2

So I got my chance to go to the pool...where the software company sales people managed to get me falling down drunk. Okay, maybe not that bad, but I had a number of yummy drinks that were totally deceptive. Didn't really feel all that bad at the time, but about an hour after I left the pool area I was pretty well hammered.

Stayed in the room mostly that evening and felt like an idiot for being a lightweight, drink-wise.

New resolve - practice more!

Viva Las Vegas!

Okay, the title was a bit much, but I'm here. It took all day and two planes, but I'm here. By the time I got to the hotel, it had taken 12 hours to get here from leaving home. Blurgh.

The place is a lot different than I remembered from last time. More hotels being built, different way to pick up rental car at McCarran, more people. Or maybe that is my inner old person speaking up. It just seems crammed to the gills with PEOPLE.

I had also forgotten that smoking is allowed in the hotel. Yuk. I hate the smell and I hate the lingering stench that permeates everything.

The rooms I booked for myself and a co-worker said they were "Premium Suites". Okay, but they are just a tad bit bigger than a regular hotel room. Certainly adequate but not exactly luxurious. I should have known for the price. It does have a more than adequate view, however, of The Strip. I tried to take photos but they didn't exactly capture all the color of the lights. Here are two:



And speaking of price, the conference folks have done everything but offer to pay for airfare to get people out here. After arriving last night I'm wondering why. The place seems to be booming with business. All I've heard is that this is the least attended conference since 9/11 and that the organization is going to have to eat a lot of fees, etc. You couldn't tell it from the jam packed casino/lobby/restaurants here.

Well, today is Mother's Day, so I've asked for and been granted two hours at the pool to just lie around. I'd better go get those two hours before someone decides they'd rather go to another hotel to gamble.

Getting Ready

I'm off work today to get ready for the Las Vegas trip. I'll be traveling tomorrow (Saturday) so today is a trade-off.

A bit of dilemma regarding clothing. I'm figuring that the conference center will be kept quite chilly if past experiences hold true. So I'll need a bit warmer items for day, but once conference time is over I know I'll be outside, wandering the strip, drinking, etc. I need less warm outfits for that.

I'm thinking that I'll wear my longer capris for the conference with a knit shirt and over-sweater. Then I can change the capris for shorts and ditch the sweater for after. Does that sound like a plan? I'm trying to stick to one suitcase for clothes and a smaller one for shoes, toiletries, etc. The airline is going to charge me $50.00 for two suitcases but I can't do a whole week with less.

That is the plan so far. Now I need to go try on everything to see if it all still fits. I had the cancer+20 (like the freshman+20) added last year but I think I've gotten rid of all of it now. Still I have enough doubt to want to check while I can still go pick up a few things if necessary.

Excitement and the usual nervousness is setting in. I love traveling but as a born worrier I always anticipate something going wrong.

Saturday Fun

My mother wanted to go shopping yesterday in a nearby town that houses an outlet mall. This is a big deal, you see, 'cause we don't have nothing like that near our hick little ole town. The extra special draw that gets people to go 45 miles to shop is the Coach outlet store.


If you love purses - and I KNOW you do - this is the place for you. I was there about a month ago and bought myself two new purses. I'm not embarrassed to say that I spent about $200.00 on them...but they retailed for about $600.00. (Income tax money, don't you know, and I deserved them for last year. Yeah, I'm still using that excuse and plan to use it all through 2009, so stay tuned.)

Anywho, Mom saw said purses and wanted one for herself. Her condition - any purse she would buy had to have a shoulder strap. I don't do the shoulder strap - I usually wear a small backpack for trips (this is the last one I bought):


...but it really isn't a good size to hold my Kindle, so I bought two tote-type bags although they are "tote" in style only. Not huge, just big enough to hold the Kindle and wallet without feeling stuffed. Here's an example (I couldn't find my exact purse but this is the same size/style):


So the hunt for a suitable bag that had a shoulder strap was on. We had all the sales associates helping and eventually we settled on one that looks like this (couldn't find a pic of the exact one she bought, but this is close):


Just imagine a shoulder strap instead of the smaller strap. She ended up being extremely happy with her purchase, and I was glad to take her there...she bought me a Coach umbrella as a thank you. Wasn't that nice?


I plan to NOT turn it inside out like I did the previous cheapo umbrella...I HOPE. This one is a bit too expensive to replace, so I'm gonna have to be extra careful.

Then we hit the Carter's kids clothing store.



After perusing the racks, we ended up buying waaaay too much for the granddaughter/great-granddaughter. Here's an example of one of the outfits we bought:


Again, it's not exactly the right shirt, but it's really hard to show you the right one since it seems that outlet outfits just aren't photographed and posted on the web anywhere for me to steal and post here. ;p

After spending too much, we headed up to Champaign to shop at Birkenstock Concepts. Mom wanted to see new styles. We both are Birkie people due to feet problems. I mostly wear Birkenstock Footprints and she is straight Birks. We saw a few new interesting styles, but nothing that made us go wow...until we looked at their Finn Comfort shoes. They are built the same as Birkenstocks as far as the cork footbed and the fact that the footbed can be replaced. She loved them and bought this pair in two colors:



After spending more money there, Mom and I headed over to pick up the grandkiddies from their father. He lives/works in Champaign, so it worked out for me to pick them up this weekend since I'd planned to be there anyway. Once we had them in the car, we decided to go eat. First choice was the Original Pancake House on Springfield Ave. I let Mom and kids out so I could park since it had started to rain and Mom is not really a great walker anymore. I get inside to join them only to find out they have a 45 minute wait. What? On a Saturday at 1:00 p.m.? Sheesh - a popular place, I guess.

I would have waited any other time, but a 3 and 6 year old are NOT great waiters. I knew they'd already be tired and cranky from being at their Dad's house - he lets them stay up late and so forth, so I wasn't going to risk that kind of wait.

Instead we went down the street to Famous Dave's Barbeque. We actually had an enjoyable time. The kids were really well-behaved (not that they aren't normally, but we have had tantrums and other issues in the past) and the food was great.

After eating we headed back home to Decatur and I let the kids watch Betsy's Kindergarten Adventures in the DVD player - they love that show and were good as gold all the way home. That is definitely noteworthy. No fights, no arguments between them - I was definitely happy with how the day went.

I'm spending more time with my mother than I ever have, for good or ill. The reason is mostly that her health is deteriorating. It's a slow progression but it's age, her weight and other issues. So of course I'm worried about her, but I also want to spend time with her while I can. I don't think I did that as well as I could have with my father (he died in 1980) and I have always regretted that.

Anyway, another weekend down. Next weekend it's Quacker Duck breakfast at the Children's Museum, then the Vet Med Open House at the University of Illinois for the kids. I can't wait to go in the school again as my son's class picture will be up on the corridor wall. I haven't seen it yet - they don't put it up till after the class leaves, and the last time I was there I forgot to look for it! I'll take a picture of the picture and post it once I have it.

Week after next I have a business trip and I am really looking forward to it. Lots of "me" time with other adults, drinking, gambling boat visit, should be fun.

Let the good times roll.

New Trip Added!

Forgot to mention that last week the boss decided that I and a co-worker need to go to training in Nashville, Tennessee in July. So that takes care of every month from April to October except August. Looks like Boston will have to be then. What a hardship...NOT!

Trips, Trips, Trips!!

The trips I mentioned a few weeks ago are now closer to reality. Yesterday I booked the flights for Las Vegas for the May conference. YAY!! Adult beverages shall abound and now that I'm more comfortable playing craps, I shall attempt a table or two while I'm there. Won't be as much fun as if I were going with just my co-worker (taking the husband and two sons along) but it'll still be fun. I have made myself a promise to drink myself into a stupor every day and I intend to hold myself to that. No, I'm not an alcoholic, I just want to reward myself for the seven months of Hell from 2008 when I didn't feel like walking, let alone drinking anything.

The Penner-Ash Winery near Portland, Oregon

Today I booked the Portland, Oregon flights for June. I'll be taking my oldest daughter and my two grandchildren out to visit my veterinarian son. Won't be a lot of drinking on this trip...hold the phone! I forgot! He lives in the heart of the Willamette Valley wine country and on our last trip we did some winery hopping. Penner-Ash (pictured above) was a favorite stop. Do you think it would be wrong to take a 6 and 3 year old winery hopping? I can bring along some juice boxes and they can pretend it's wine. That would be a fun role-play, don't you think? And you really can't get drunk just tasting so they won't be in any harm, right? This is shaping up to be a plan!

Drinking aside, the purpose of the visit is to let my daughter and grandkids see where he lives, his work, etc. They haven't been to visit before so it should be fun. This will be my 4th trip in about 3 years. I miss him and it's fun to go out there. It doesn't hurt that there is an outlet mall about 20 miles from his house. Not a cheapy one like we have around here, this has Tommy Bahama and other high-end stores. There is also a very nice mall nearby as well. He lives in the heart of Intel country and the upscale yuppie population have made the area a very nice place to visit.

We're also going to do some boring kid things, too, live visit the Portland Children's Museum and the Oregon Zoo. There is also talk of a trip to the coast to visit another child's spot the Pelican Brew Pub in Pacific City, Oregon. Okay, that last one could be a kid's dream! It's right on the ocean. Last time we took our beers outside and drank them with our feet in the ocean and watched a number of people surf. A kid would like that, right? Must remember to take along extra clothes - I can see the grandson jumping in.

Last but not least we'll either go up to Mt. Hood and eat lunch in the Timberline Lodge (the exteriors were used for the hotel in The Shining) or go up to Mt. St. Helens and let the kids take a look at the destruction the last eruption caused. We've been there before, on the west side while visiting some of my husbands relatives in the area, but I want to go to the Johnston Ridge Observatory on the east side and see the mountain close up.

It's a lot to fit into 3 1/2 days, but we'll make it. And there is no schedule, so we'll do what is easiest for the kids, I'm sure, before we do anything for the adults. We can always go into downtown Portland, too. There is an Illini bar there that my son goes to when he's not on call on the weekends to hang out with fellow ex-patriot Illini and have a few. We watched the Illini in the final four there a couple of years ago on a visit. Lots of fun, and they gave out Illini prizes, too. Gotta love those alumni.

Anyway, I have trips in April (conference in Peoria, Illinois), May (Las Vegas for 7 days), June (Portland, Oregon), September (conference in Chicago, Illinois), October (conference in Springfield, Illinois) and possibly one more trip with the family in August to Boston. I am a traveling fool, and I like it.

Happy 200th Birthday Abraham Lincoln!

Abraham Lincoln has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. Mr. Lincoln practiced law as part of the judicial circuit that included most of Central Illinois and specifically Decatur, where he tried cases in the Macon County Courthouse. You can't go anywhere in Central Illinois without finding some connection to Mr. Lincoln in most towns.

Living only 35 miles from his home in Springfield, Illinois, going to visit it was a yearly destination for my family when I was a child and, as I got older, for myself and my friends. I must have visited his home in the neighborhood of 100 times or more. The things I could tell you about how that area has changed since then. The house itself was always revered, but the surrounding neighborhood was full of gift and souvenir shops for a very long time. I remember parking right in front of the house to go in to tour it. This photo is from before my time, but it shows the disregard for the house with the Pepsi truck parked in front:



Then something wonderful happened - the National Park Service took over the house in the 1980s, bought out the entire area, and has restored other houses in the neighborhood to their original state from Lincoln's time. The streets are correct, the landscaping correct. It is now a joy to behold. Here's a picture of the home as it is now:



Nowadays I take my grandchildren and any and all visiting relatives, work vendors, friends, etc. This last weekend, however, was special.


February 12, 2009, is the 200th birthday for Abraham Lincoln and the entire state has been abuzz with events (an 1860s Ball, a showing of the play Our American Cousin which was what the Lincolns were watching when he was killed, etc.) and special showings/readings and so forth for the past six months. I knew that I would take my grandchildren over this weekend so that they could say that they were part of the festivities when they got older.

We started at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum:



What a great job they did with the Museum and Library! It only took about 20 years and continual political footballing for it to get finally constructed, but it is a wonderful place. It follows Lincoln's life from the time he was a boy to the time he was shot. It is very interactive and has something to please even the most techno of visitors. I was there the day after opening day and many times since (like I said, grandkids, visitors, etc.) and with the gallery area always having a new exhibit, I am never bored.

We then headed down the street to the Old State Capitol:



This is the place where Lincoln gave his "House Divided" speech in the Representative Hall, where he tried many cases before the Illinois Supreme Court and also where he borrowed books from the State Library. On Saturday they hosted area choirs, allowing them to sing spiritual music from Lincoln's time in Representative Hall. There were people in period dress all over, and they gave us pink lemonade and cookies as we toured.

After that we went over to the Lincoln-Herndon Law Office:



This is the only remaining building where Lincoln maintained a law office with his partner, William Herndon, from 1843 to 1852. The building has been restored and has the original Springfield post office on the ground floor.

From there we traveled out to the tomb in Oak Ridge Cemetery:



Lincoln was interred in this tomb long after his death...in fact, for a few years after his death he was kept in a different vault, waiting for this tomb to be completed. His body was the object of a kidnapping plot before he was finally able to be put to rest here. The attempted kidnapping plot and the saga of his burial are the subject of a wonderful book by Thomas Craughwell entitled "Stealing Lincoln's Body".

On this day, though, it was more of a time to pay respect. I took the grandchildren into the tomb before the ceremony began so we could view his "sarcophagus" - a misnomer as he is actually buried six feet under the monument in solid concrete (again, read that book to get the details).

Going back outside, a combined choir sang The Battle Hymn of the Republic and Amazing Grace to honor Mr. Lincoln.

Although the grandchildren are only six and three, I know they got something from the experience. The three year old told me that she enjoyed visiting Mr. Lincoln and was especially pleased when I bought her a prairie bonnet earlier in the day so she could look like the lady in the period dress inside the capitol. The six year old surprised me with some very sage questions - he was really paying attention and that is what I wanted. I want them to enjoy and respect the history of the United States, and the special connection all of us feel to Mr. Lincoln as he lived so close by.

Happy 200th Birthday, Mr. Lincoln - I'm glad we got to be part of it!

As Scarlett once said - Tomorrow is Another Day

So the other day was an abberation...thank goodness not the norm. I'm feeling pretty good today. Went out at lunch to go to the bank and about froze my you-know-what off. 15 degrees for the high. Nothing but fun in the Midwest in the winter.

On that note, started to plan this year's trips. Going to Las Vegas for a work conference, so that doesn't count. I'm definitely going to take my daughter and grandkids out to see my son in Oregon during June, I think/hope. Haven't made the final decision on that. Also want to go to Boston at some point, probably in July. Then the next work conference in Chicago in September, again that doesn't count, but it does figure into the schedule.

Also want to take the grandkids for a weekend camping trip, and that does count.

Hope I can get it all in...I've decided life's too short to wait.