Jury duty

This was my view today from the third floor of the Cook County Criminal Court Building's jury room. I sat in the jury room until about 2:30 p.m. before they let us go. I was never called to a courtroom. They gave us an hour and a half for lunch which, in my opinion, is way too long. I just bought a bottle of water from the vending machine and ate leftover lasagne when I got home.

Here's the big payoff for my civic duty - $17.20. At least it wasn't snowing so the drive was easy.

Sunday surprise

Cindy left early this morning. L went to work and Andy and I went to church.

That afternoon, Andy and I went to our friend's annual holiday open house featuring a smorgasbord of Swedish foods. She sets such a pretty table but we're not adventurous enough to try the foods (lots of fish) so we made a bee-line to the back porch where she served ham, scalloped potatoes and Swedish meatballs.

We were surprised when we came home to see that we had delivery of a large parcel and that L had already opened it. The parcel was from Mayu and her family. L is holding a pretty fan Mayu sent us.

So many presents - towels, snacks and candies.

The cards (one from Mayu and one from her mom) were very sweet (and musical!) Her mother would like us to visit! I'd love that.

Shopping and lights

L took the ACT test this morning and when she was done we went to Woodfield Mall. This picture doesn't really show how crazy it was, but it was crazy. And those people with strollers ... ugh. Hire a babysitter.

From there we went to Brookfield and had dinner at the Brookfield Ale House. Food was good, service was slow. They brought us our dinner but we had no napkins or silverware. L's order was wrong. We did end up getting Andy's beer for free. Not sure whether I'd go back there.

Last stop of the night was Brookfield Zoo for its Zoo Lights. My plan was to eat an early dinner and get to the zoo by 7ish. My plan didn't work. We didn't get there till almost 8 and it closes at 9. We paid $14 for parking and didn't see one animal.

The light displays were nice though. We also saw some ice carving.

At least the zoo tickets were complimentary from a friend at church.

Sisters in the city

Cindy drove up yesterday for her annual Chicago shopping trip and this morning we took Allison along. Our first stop was Macy's and here we are, very cold, waiting for the Christkindlmarket to open.

First things first, get our spiced wine in a souvenir mug.

Looks like Cindy wants my wine!

So many German pyramids to choose from ...

... one of my favorite booths - the lighted paper stars. They had some new colors this year. Allison had to be back in the burbs for an appointment so after she left, Cindy and I did a little more shopping before crashing for an hour or so at Andy's office.

On the way home, we waited for the CTA's holiday train. It was decorated inside and out with lights and garland. An elf was handing out candy canes. It was so crowded.

Cindy got photobombed!

A view of the outside of the train at our Austin stop.

We even got our picture with Santa!

Mantel decorations

I think I finally have the mantel decorated the way I want it. We decided to forgo the lighted garland this year in favor of flameless candles.

I've had this nativity set for probably 15 years. In all that time, the only broken part is the robe of the third king. I glued it back together the best I could.

Bought this wreath a few weeks ago. I added the cardinals. It also has large jingle bells on it, but they're hard to see in this picture.

This is L's contribution - a wire brush tree farm.

A few more candles.

Another Broadway win!

What are the odds? I just won the "Miss Saigon" theater lottery and yesterday I won the lottery for "The Play That Goes Wrong." I won the first time I entered. It started its Chicago run last night so maybe not a lot of people knew about the lottery? After "Miss Saigon" Andy thought he would appreciate a comedy.

Good seats - orchestra level, Row S.

Waiting for the show to begin. Andy thought the play was hilarious. The two people sitting next to me were laughing hysterically the entire time (making it a little hard for me to hear, but whatever, glad they enjoyed it). It had its funny moments but it was a lot of physical humor like "Three Stooges" and "Monty Python" which just isn't my thing.

I did like the Duran Duran references throughout the show and at the end they played "Girls on Film."

'Tis the season! We saw this truck with a menorah on its roof drive by as we were walking to the theater. It was even playing Hannukah songs.

New ornaments

Andy and I brought this ornament back from our Hawaii trip in March.

We got this ornament on our family trip to Hilton Head Island in August.

And these three I bought at a craft show in November:

A lantern,

a fox we think kind of looks like a cat,

and a waxed origami star. And the two stars I received in the church's Advent-ure gift exchange.

Custom order

Our church secretary bought one of L's fleece blankets last year but her daughter liked it so much she took it home with her! So, she asked L to make her another one - Packers on one side and White Sox on the other - that she plans on giving to her daughter as a Christmas present.

Cardinals are back

The snow finally melted enough that I could move one of my bird feeders. When I put out some feed, my cardinal couple was back.

Women's Advent-ure

The women at our church gather monthly for a breakfast and after a few of us admitted that mornings just don't work for us, they planned an afternoon appetizer and wine party in the afternoon! I brought Lit'l Smokies wrapped in tortillas with Mexican seasonings and Pepper Jack cheese.

Lots of yummy appetizers, good cheese and wine.

A couple of pictures taken by a friend.

Our happy hostess is at left. Her house was decorated everywhere for Christmas. She's a huge Disney fan and even had a Disney tree in the dining room.

She had the Mason jars L made decorating her dessert table. And the cranes L made were hanging above her kitchen sink.

Lots of socializing.

That's the Disney tree!

We had a $5 ornament exchange and I got two paper ornaments. They're very pretty.