Weekend Update

~ I spent too much money Friday night at the Woodfield Mall on things I don't need but will thoroughly enjoy. Whilst there we ran into masses and masses of Ask-A-Ninja 'Doesn't Matter'. In explanation- Hannah watches this video podcast called 'ask a ninja'. A recent one was on things lethal to humankind- and ninjas in particular. A certain substance called 'doesn't matter' is the most lethal thing in the world. He then explained about matter, anti-matter and 'doesn't matter'. The ninja says that malls, and most of the junk they sell are made totally of 'doesn't matter'. I agree. How many sunglasses shops, bath-body-makeup stores, clothing shops catering to 12-25yo stick people are in Woodfield Mall? Doesn't Matter! This trip and the unplanned stop at our own local mall last week will be quite enough mall-ing for a long while.

~ The Adler Planetarium is awesome. really. It looks kind of homely in a stately-but-outdated way sitting out on a peninsula at the far end of the Museum Campus in Chicago. It's been there since 1975, so just how cool could it be? What I didn't know is that the vast majority of it is underground or only visible from the lake side of the building. We spent much longer there than I would have thought going through the exhibits and playing with the multitude of hands-on stuff.

~ We rode the water taxi to Navy Pier - thanks for the tip, Kate. The breakwater was covered with seagulls. Some of the birds were bright green. They were the ones who swam in the Chicago River last St. Pat's day when the city dumped dye in the water to turn it green to celebrate. They looked pretty odd. I'm surprised some animal rights group hasn't gotten wind of this and protested.

~ Navy Pier is also made of mostly 'doesn't matter'. It was fun anyhow. It would have been better if I hadn't had to shun the sunshine b/c of the antibiotics I'm taking. The weather couldn't have been nicer. The exhibit of stained glass from historical Chicago buildings was great, and nice to find a cool and darkish place to counter the bright, hot day.

~ Had the best Pad Thai I'd ever eaten at a place called "Big Bowl" in Schaumburg. Riding the Metra to and from the city was a good choice for us. You get to see things from the tracks you never see while driving. Our train went right by the Shriner's campus. Brought back some memories there.

~ Fencing tourney was instructional for Hannah on Sunday: 17 months of casual fencing maybe twice a week does not prepare one to go against opponents who have been fencing for 3-5 years 3X a week with Olympic caliber instructors.

~ But now, it's Monday - the house is a mess and I have a dr.'s appointment. Back to being Cranky