Hibachi birthday

The church friends were gathered at New Star Chinese Restaurant last night celebrating our friend, L's, belated birthday with a hibachi dinner.

The three women at the end of our table were celebrating a birthday too. I was expecting some flames but this was a tad excessive.

The dinner came with salad, soup, grilled vegetables, fried rice, noodles and our choice of protein. I had the steak. So much food. I brought home enough for two lunches.

My friend, M, surprised me with a thank-you gift for helping out with the kids' Connect (sort of Sunday School during worship) for the year. The teachers were recognized in church the Sunday after we returned from Jamaica so I told her I didn't think I'd make it to church that Sunday. It's a $10 Target gift card which I'll put to good use.

Meanwhile, Andy stayed downtown after work to go to a Latvian event with his co-worker, R, and a few others in the office. R's mom made her delicious ham/bacon buns. I'm jealous Andy got them and not me.

Laying bricks

This was my attempt at an artsy shot of the Chicago common brick going on the exterior of the museum addition.

It's really moving along fast.

Glad I didn't go into a construction career. This hard hat is doing nothing for me.

This was taken from the second-story window into the interior of the addition.

Random moments

All dressed up for a wedding on Memorial Day weekend in Virginia. They look so nice.

L on Memorial Day getting acquainted with a horse at Fort Wilderness.

And winning an award the next day for generating the most sales leads in the second quarter for the resorts team.

Here she is with her friend, J, who she met years ago working for Journeys in Lombard. He's since moved to Florida and works for DVC too.

The peonies are really late to bloom this year. This one is trying to bloom, but not quite there.

Mahjong Memorial Day

Memorial Day was the perfect opportunity to try out my new mahjong set!

Allison and Pat came over for mahjong and dinner. Even Andy played. I'm trying to become more familiar with the game so I can go to Allison's mahjong gatherings starting next month at her church. Later in June, we're hoping to host a basic mahjong lesson for my friends who are interested. We played two games and Allison won both.

Deterring the cats

I need to pay more attention when I'm geting puzzles that they will fit on my puzzle board. This one didn't so I had it (I thought) covered up with enough things overnight that the cats would leave it alone. They did not. I woke up to pieces strewn about the living room and dining room and the puzzle edge all torn apart. That's when I grabbed a tablecloth and put over the puzzle. Now, they're laying on the tablecloth.

The next morning I woke up to the tablecloth and half of the puzzle on the floor. Hmmm.

So then I tried covering it with the tablecloth and anchoring it down at at corners. They still sit on it but hopefully won't knock it off the table.

By some miracle, there are only three pieces missing.

Wings, donuts and bargains

Andy and I kicked off the Memorial Day with dinner of wings and a beer at a local happy hour Friday. He had to go to church to set up everything for the Saturday donut-making operation so we didn't have time for a real dinner.

Saturday I arrived at church for the start of my 5:30 a.m. shift coating and bagging donuts (while simultaneously filling the empty, but necessary, runner role). It was opening day of the Farmers Market season. Andy did the first captain shift and was in by 3 a.m. so he went home and slept while I worked my shift.

So many donuts! My shift ended at 8:30 and by then I was hopped up on coffee and sugar so it was time to hit some yard sales with Allison and search for bargains!

Neither of us had much luck. Allison did find some really cute Starbicks cup Christmas ornaments and I found these handmade greeting cards for $1 each. Hopefully next weekend will be better.

My first blue jay

I've had this bird feeder for almost a year and the other day was the first time a blue jay stopped by. Those feathers are beautiful.

And the bird's close-up. I googled to see whether it's a boy or girl but apparently they look exactly the same to the human eye - monomorphic. I learn something new every day.

Jamaican magnet man

The little Jamaican magnet man I won playing Bingo is hanging out on my work computer.

I came back to work Wednesday and the outside walls of the addition were up. Construction is moving along quickly. Exterior brick will be going up soon.

Pokémon at the Field

Andy and I went downtown last night for the Field Museum's opening of the Pokemon Fossil exhibit. It's the first time it's in the United States and will travel around for five years. There was quite a long line to check in.

How cute is this nametag?

And these tickets! I thought they'd let us keep the tickets, but they did not. That's why I take pictures of everything.

Opening remarks. There were so many people there.

We went into the exhibit right after the remarks. The blue is what isn't real, the red is real. This shows a Pokemon, made up, next to a real fossil it resembles.

I'm sure this exhibit would be more meaningful to B. I was a bit lost but did explain how Pokemon evolve to another guest.

The food was Japanese and tasty. I did have to pass on several of the "tar tar" appetizers.

We walked through the gift store but didn't buy anything.

Yay! A picture with Pikachu!

We were driving home and it was still daylight. When did that happen?

Sitting pretty

Piper enjoys having the windows open. She's probably been looking for her friends from next door. Their dining room window is across from our kitchen and sometimes their cats sit there too.

Piper's latest, favorite sleeping spot is Andy's office chair.