Almost spring?

When I went out grocery shopping this morning, the temperature was 61 degrees! Unusual for February, but I'll take it. However, when I took L to pick up her new glasses after school, the temperature had already dropped to 45. Maybe spring isn't as close as I'd like to believe it is.

Interesting night

Andy and I went to the Field Museum tonight for one of its members "Behind the Scenes" events. We enjoyed a light dinner and drinks at a reception before the program began.

This woman is the collections assistant, mammal preparator and scientific illustrator at the Field Museum. This is the area of her lab where she does the drawing.

These are some of her drawings that were made for various publications.

Andy takes a look through the microscope.

Her job includes cataloging all the mammals that come into the museum and preparing the study skins and skeletons. She also takes DNA samples for the researchers. Here is one of her volunteers stuffing an opposum. Pretty cool and a little gross. The girl next to her was skinning a rabbit.

This was a table of skins and skeletons they had on display in the room where we had the reception.

This is (was?) a North American River Otter.

Sad day

Cindy and I made the drive to Virginia, Ill., today for Aunt Nora's funeral. There was an hour of visitation followed by a graveside service and lunch.

This photo of my baptism was one of the photos the family chose for the memory board ...

... and this one from our wedding. Me with my godmothers - and I just realized they're in the same position as they were in the baptism photo!

Despite the circumstance, it was good to see my cousins again!

I was the guest book register for Cousin Wanda's wedding and it was at the church where the funeral luncheon was held. I had Cindy take a picture of me recreating my duties that day.

I saw this display in a truck stop on the way to the funeral - pocket knives that look like little pistols. They also had pocket knives shaped like bullets. Lots of things to get L suspended from school.

This was an interesting find at a thrift store we stopped at along the way. I did not buy it.

Taking back the car

Andy was up early this morning to drive the Cruze back to the kids at college. He was planning on taking the 6:10 a.m. train back to Chicago but it was delayed because of flooding in Kentucky. Three hours delayed! This was the photo he sent me when he found out he'd be spending the entire morning in Champaign.

The good news is that he got to have breakfast with E at Bob Evans. He said it took two phone calls to wake her up. I had to leave for my aunt's funeral before Andy made it home.

Empty Bowls

The girls went to the high school's Empty Bowls fundraiser last night. L was a little miffed that she picked out a big bowl, the one on the left, and they only gave her a tiny bit of soup. They told her she could come back for more, but she wanted more to begin with. Mayu picked a bowl with a pretty swirl design inside. Afterward, they both went to ice skate at the local rink with a boy L has been chatting with in chemistry class. Hmmm. L says they're just friends.

One of a kind

RIP Aunt Nora (Jan. 26, 1936-Feb. 22, 2018). So many funny memories of her and Mom. They were quite the pair. This picture was taken last June during their last visit. Aunt Nora was too ill to travel to Mom's funeral and called me later to tell me how sorry she was that she missed it. I love this line from her obit, "She often reminded her family and friends that her mission in life was to embarrass her children." Pretty sure that was mission accomplished.

Sample?

Not sure why I got this or where it came from, but a sample of Axe body wash arrived in the mail the other day. Surprisingly, it's a full-size bottle.

Teriyaki chicken

L decided to make dinner the other night and recruited Mayu to help her. She made teriyaki chicken.

Despite burning my pan (which eventually came clean) ...

... it turned out pretty well.

More practice

L was doing so well learning to drive in the Malibu. Now she has to adjust to the feel of the new car. She does like that her phone connects to the radio so she has her favorite tunes while driving. Here she is driving in the rain - a new experience for her.

Movie and dinner

What a crazy long line for L and Mayu to wait in before seeing "Black Panther" with the youth group yesterday. Fortunately, our wise youth leader purchased tickets in advance!

Since the girls were busy, Andy and I went to a local restaurant that has been around forever but we've never been to. The beer, atmosphere and service were all good, but we weren't big fans of the food. They specialize in Creole cooking and the jambalaya Andy had too many onions for him. He even picked the red onions off his salad.

The girls had dinner with the youth group after the movie. L had the meat-lovers pizza (an option the youth group leader said she chose just for L!) and Mayu had a sub sandwich. L loved the movie; Mayu said she's not a big fan of action movies.

Pretty snow

Such a pretty snow we got yesterday afternoon. It won't last though as temperatures this week are expected to warm up.

All-American lunch

Andy, L and I took Mayu to White Castle today for lunch. We had been telling her about the sliders and decided it was time she needed to try them.

Had to get a picture in front of the sign. I'm not a big White Castle fan, but I do like their onion rings.

33 cents?!

I don't need any more necklaces but when you find a couple on clearance (that rang up lower than the marked price) and have a $10-off-a-$10-purchase coupon, it's hard to leave the store without them. Total purchase: 33 cents.

Strep and glasses

Mayu hasn't been feeling well for about a week so after school today L and I took her to a local immediate care facility. We had to drive back home and get her passport; her school ID didn't count as official identification for insurance purposes. We drove back to the facility and she was able to be seen by a doctor. L, though, had an eye doctor appointment at 6:20 p.m. so Andy came to the immediate care facility when he got home from work and was able to take Mayu home while I took L to her appointment. Turns out Mayu has strep throat so she was given a 10-day supply of antibiotics. None of the doctors spoke Japanese, but they were able to print out instructions in Japanese.

L's prescription changed a little but it was time for new frames so she settled on these pinkish ones. They match her hair.

She should have them in about two weeks.

Valentine's Day

Our Valentine's Day started yesterday when I baked some cupcakes. When I get bored, I bake.

And L was surprised at school with a vocal valentine from her friend, A, that arrived during lunch.

L made treat bags with candy for all her friends and Mayu packed up candy for her Japanese class.

Little boxes of candy I got for the girls. Today was a late-start school day so they met friends for breakfast at Denny's.

Neighborhood's best

When I was running out the house today to pick L up from school, one of the neighbors was stopped by the garage as her kids climbed our snow hill. "It's the best one in the neighborhood," the mom said. It is pretty big. I saw a kid use his sled on it over the weekend. I assume he was on his way to the sled hill and just couldn't wait to get there. It does make it a little tricky when pulling out of the garage. Hopefully, it will be gone by the end of the week if the weather warms up as predicted.

Just chillin'

Snow & the Auto Show

We woke up to this ...

... about 3 more inches of snow. Enough already!

Mayu went with a friend so see the Japanese students leave O'Hare and when she got back we went downtown to the Auto Show. We had free tickets from the local Chevrolet dealer and when we bought the car yesterday, they gave us $20 for parking so it was a free day out for us!

This was Chevy's Camaro commemorating 50 yeas of Hot Wheels cars.

Andy is partial to convertibles.

This was a Blackhawks car that visitors could register to win. Look at the grill - it's the Chicago skyline - and the Blackhawks logo is on the headrests.

Mayu liked the red cars best.