I spent the memorial day weekend hosting a little fuzzy visitor from the UK - he wasn't really big, but he has a big job. He is travelling around the world, raising money for worthy charities. Right now his charity is the helicopter ambulance guys - the ones who go to really bad emergencies and take folks to the hospital fast so that they (hopefully) don't die.
His name is Mr. Tonsilpus, and he has his own website and Facebook and everything.
I volunteered to show him around my part of the world (Chicago and suburbs), and he showed up at my office on Friday night, ready and raring to go. Unfortunately I still had some paperwork to work through, so he gave me a hand with that before we got to go home for the evening. Here he is, checking out my baby Lime Tree in the livingroom.
Equally unfortunate, the Monsoon Monster was still pouring torrential rain on my area, so we really didn't get to do much but sit around the house and play with Kili the cat. Kili gave him the once-over, then ignored him.
Saturday dawned rainy and wet and nasty. Again we were thwarted from any outdoor activity, which was a bummer. I decided to give Mr. T a guided tour of my sewing/crafting area (formerly my daughter's bedroom).
He seemed really interested in my quilting, and it occurred to me that he might enjoy having a little quilt of his own to travel with, since it can get kind of cold overnight in those post offices all around the world.
We picked out some nice fabrics and I put together a "T-sized" quilt for him. (I really, really screwed up with the binding. I'm not used to working with such small pieces, and the corners just would NOT lay flat for me. It's embarassing, but time was at a premium and after the 4th rip&redo I gave up on perfection.) He supervised.
Sunday was again cold and rainy and impossible. In fact, at one point I heard a noise outside that sounded like a train in my front yard. There wasn't a visible tornado, and the sirens never did go off, but it scared me some for sure! Later in the day I thought Mr. T should have at least the opportunity to go outside for a LITTLE, so we grabbed an umbrella and went out for pizza for lunch. (How much more "Chicago" than that can ya get?)
Deep Dish Stuffed Pizza from Giordanos. Mr. T perused the specials menu, but we ended up with a spinach & mushroom stuffed pizza.
Our nice waitperson let me take his picture with her (and the pizza!)
Sunday night we watched a couple of movies - one of them was the Blues Brothers (original), a Chicago classic.
Monday morning dawned bright and sunny. After a nice breakfast and a stroll through my little container garden, where Mr. T inspected my pea plants, we drove into the city of Chicago proper to see the sights.
From where I live, the easiest way to the downtown area is via the Eisenhower Expressway, which turns into the Congress Expressway when you get into the downtown area (right before it stops being an espressway and turns into Congress Parkway) The expressway, all 8 lanes of it at this point, goes underneath the old Post Office building. The building appears to be deserted - many windows are smashed out. Sad. I was always so impressed by this building as a child.
Mr. T said he'd like to see some of the places where they shot the movie we'd watched, so we went down to Wells St., under the "L" tracks.
Then we went over to Daley Center Plaza. Yes, that is the building where the Bluesmobile ran through the plate glass window. There were some kids playing in the fountains and we stayed a bit to watch them.
Mr. T also got his photo taken in front of the Picasso statue-sculpture-thingy.
Directly across the street was a place we remembered well from the night before - the place where the "Bluesmobile" met it's end - directly in front of the County building. Of course, we HAD to get a photo there!
We tried to find Wrigley Field, but the traffic was just wretched. So instead we took a short drive past Buckingham Fountain, which was on and working (but blocked by traffic!).
and then North up Michigan Avenue
And then a cruise through Lincoln Park and past the zoo - couldn't stop, no place to park! On a bright shiney warm day like this, when everyone who isn't a retail worker has the day off, it's hard to navigate through the fun places to go/see!
So as night began to crowd in, we headed back home for a nice little barbecue in the back yard (Mr. T stayed indoors where smoke and FIRE couldn't get at him!) and then the next day back into his Tyvek travelling sack and off to his next destination!
Bye bye, little fuzzball - it was fun!
His name is Mr. Tonsilpus, and he has his own website and Facebook and everything.
I volunteered to show him around my part of the world (Chicago and suburbs), and he showed up at my office on Friday night, ready and raring to go. Unfortunately I still had some paperwork to work through, so he gave me a hand with that before we got to go home for the evening. Here he is, checking out my baby Lime Tree in the livingroom.
Equally unfortunate, the Monsoon Monster was still pouring torrential rain on my area, so we really didn't get to do much but sit around the house and play with Kili the cat. Kili gave him the once-over, then ignored him.
Saturday dawned rainy and wet and nasty. Again we were thwarted from any outdoor activity, which was a bummer. I decided to give Mr. T a guided tour of my sewing/crafting area (formerly my daughter's bedroom).
He seemed really interested in my quilting, and it occurred to me that he might enjoy having a little quilt of his own to travel with, since it can get kind of cold overnight in those post offices all around the world.
We picked out some nice fabrics and I put together a "T-sized" quilt for him. (I really, really screwed up with the binding. I'm not used to working with such small pieces, and the corners just would NOT lay flat for me. It's embarassing, but time was at a premium and after the 4th rip&redo I gave up on perfection.) He supervised.
Sunday was again cold and rainy and impossible. In fact, at one point I heard a noise outside that sounded like a train in my front yard. There wasn't a visible tornado, and the sirens never did go off, but it scared me some for sure! Later in the day I thought Mr. T should have at least the opportunity to go outside for a LITTLE, so we grabbed an umbrella and went out for pizza for lunch. (How much more "Chicago" than that can ya get?)
Deep Dish Stuffed Pizza from Giordanos. Mr. T perused the specials menu, but we ended up with a spinach & mushroom stuffed pizza.
Our nice waitperson let me take his picture with her (and the pizza!)
Sunday night we watched a couple of movies - one of them was the Blues Brothers (original), a Chicago classic.
Monday morning dawned bright and sunny. After a nice breakfast and a stroll through my little container garden, where Mr. T inspected my pea plants, we drove into the city of Chicago proper to see the sights.
From where I live, the easiest way to the downtown area is via the Eisenhower Expressway, which turns into the Congress Expressway when you get into the downtown area (right before it stops being an espressway and turns into Congress Parkway) The expressway, all 8 lanes of it at this point, goes underneath the old Post Office building. The building appears to be deserted - many windows are smashed out. Sad. I was always so impressed by this building as a child.
Mr. T said he'd like to see some of the places where they shot the movie we'd watched, so we went down to Wells St., under the "L" tracks.
Then we went over to Daley Center Plaza. Yes, that is the building where the Bluesmobile ran through the plate glass window. There were some kids playing in the fountains and we stayed a bit to watch them.
Mr. T also got his photo taken in front of the Picasso statue-sculpture-thingy.
Directly across the street was a place we remembered well from the night before - the place where the "Bluesmobile" met it's end - directly in front of the County building. Of course, we HAD to get a photo there!
We tried to find Wrigley Field, but the traffic was just wretched. So instead we took a short drive past Buckingham Fountain, which was on and working (but blocked by traffic!).
and then North up Michigan Avenue
And then a cruise through Lincoln Park and past the zoo - couldn't stop, no place to park! On a bright shiney warm day like this, when everyone who isn't a retail worker has the day off, it's hard to navigate through the fun places to go/see!
So as night began to crowd in, we headed back home for a nice little barbecue in the back yard (Mr. T stayed indoors where smoke and FIRE couldn't get at him!) and then the next day back into his Tyvek travelling sack and off to his next destination!
Bye bye, little fuzzball - it was fun!
