Note-You probably could use the PLAIN microwave popcorn, but my Grandma always popped it on the stove, so that is what we do. One of those tradition things!
out 1/4 cup unpopped popcorn
Look how excited she is these are almost ready! Her Mommas girl, no doubt! Meanwhile, Honey is stirring quickly to get the popcorn coated before the candy cools too much.
Because I have nothing else to do (ha), I have set a challenge for myself. I read on a couple of photography websites that people had challenged themselves to 365 day picture project. They talked about it sparking their creativity, having to come up with &/or look for a picture project daily. I thought this sounded like a great idea because I can always use something to spark my creativity! But…365 days seems a bit overwhelming. So, I am changing mine to a 31 day picture project. I will start small and see how it goes from there!
That being said, I actually got to spend most of the day today playing with my camera. HOT DIGGITY! (That’s for you Sean.) I learned a lot and had a GREAT day. Heather came and we played more! Here are some pics.
All morning, I had pondered what to use to take pictures of…then Elise got the Play-Doh out. It answered my question!
Then the snow started falling again!!!! So, again, I took advantage of the opportunity!
Sean, the picture to the right is for you. As I was taking pictures out of Tommy’s window, I saw the cars in the “South 40” as you called it. Couldn’t help but capture a picture of the truck for you. Just in case you felt the need to drive to West Philly to play 3 card Monty again.
It is really strange how different the snowflakes are today than yesterday. Yesterday they were fat, fluffy, flakes. Today they were mini icicles. They were not shaped like what we think of as “snowflakes”.
With all of the rain, there were lots of frozen drops.They were great to take pictures of!
Well, I have accomplished day 1. Thirty days to go!
I took the opportunity to take some pictures this morning while it was snowing. I don’t get to take many pictures of snow, so I had no idea I could actually get the individual flakes (using the macro filters).
Then you have Roosty, who kept crowing at me while I was taking pictures. He doesn’t like me very much, that is probably because I threaten to make chicken and dumplings out of him if he flogs me. So far, he has stayed away…but that could change.
Disclaimer: This post is for those of you who love useless information. If you don’t enjoy it, there won’t be much you can learn from this one.
For those of you who don’t see me while I am at home doing those never ending mundane tasks…laundry, dishes, cleaning, picking up TOYS, etc…you don’t realize how much I love my iPod. It’s nothing fancy. It’s too old on which to watch movies or tv shows. It’s strictly audio. That’s all I need. It saves my sanity on most days. While I do love music, and listen to it quite a bit, it is the podcasts and audio books that save me. I put one ear phone in and leave the other ear uncovered (just in case the kids are killing each other…). I can be in my own little “adult conversation” world and it is fabulous!
Heath and I (yes, after much negotiation, I talked him into listening to one audio book, now he is hooked!) have several series we listen to on audio books. They are great…but I listen to them faster than we get our monthly credit for new ones. It is the podcasts that fulfill the rest of my time. Here are some of my favorites (I get them all from iTunes…and they are FREE!!! Go to the podcast tab at the top of the page.)
I am sure there are more wonderful ones out there, I just haven’t found them yet. If you know of more, PLEASE share!
For those of you who enjoy photography as I do, I have found a website that has neck straps of different lengths and patterns. I have ordered one…and am anxiously awaiting it’s arrival! I am really thinking it’s a good thing and wanted to share it with you! Visit PhatStraps and you will see what I am talking about. They are a little more expensive than a regular Nikon, but they are longer. I have wished I could put my camera across my torso, rather than hanging from my neck. I couldn’t find a strap long enough to do that comfortably, until now!! I will let you know how it turns out!
Michael, Here is what you asked for…plus an extra. Enjoy!!
What a wonderful weekend we have had! Wonderful family (who are my friends), 3 of us with cameras (which means LOTS of pictures!), Broadway in Chicago (Dreamgirls), sightseeing (although the building tops were never visible due to the fog), geocaching (5 found!), laughter (oh so much laughter!!), great food (Chinese in Chinatown, pizza, Thai, Garrett’s Popcorn)…need I say more?
These are pictures from all 3 cameras. If the pictures were taken by Heather or Carolyn (Heather’s mom), I watermarked it.
Buffy called the building in the last picture “Corn on the Cob”.
At the Hershey’s store, there was a chocolate machine. You chose what candy you want and choose your container. This is what we chose to start with, then we spun the wheels… 
…and we ended up with a bucket full of Rolos! (We had happy kids when we got home!!)
Our hotel, just blocks off N Michigan Avenue.
Ummm…let’s take a look at it and see if we should take another…
Left to Right: Leanne, Carolyn, Heather, Buffy, Brenda
Puppet Theater on the sidewalk in the Theater District.
Clock at Old Marshall Field’s on State Street. It was installed in 1897. It became infamous to Americans when Norman Rockwell drew it for the cover of the Saturday Evening Post on November 3, 1945. Read more history of Marshall Fields.
Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park
What trip to Chicago is complete with out at least 2 of these? Garrett’s Popcorn and Pizza Due were a must on our list. We discovered Star of Siam (Thai), which was delicious and then dinner in Chinatown was fabulous, too!
As we were eating at Pizza Due, we noticed this on the wall across from our table. With Sewanee (University of the South) being in Franklin County and my kids’ school being on the Domain of the campus, I thought it was really neat. Here is the article:
“Scrawny, little Sewanee. All of 300 students. Who seemed to pick the year 1899 to bellow, “We ARE the University of the South.”
Sewanee won 12 games that year. All of them. They scored 322 points to 10 for the opponents. Auburn, alone, dared to score all 10. And lived to tell about it.
Like a daredevil motorcyclist, making passing runs at a suicidal leap, Sewanee took Georgia 12-0; Georgia Tech, 32-0; Tennessee 46-0; and South-western, 54-0.
They floorboarded it. Won 5 games in 6 days on a 2,500-mile barnstorming screamer.
They fell like this: 12-0 over Texas in Austin, Nov. 9; 10-0 over Texas A&M in Houston, Nov. 10; 23-0 over Tulane in New Orleans, Nov. 11; 34-0 over LSU in Baton Rouge, Nov. 13; 12-0 over Ole Miss in Memphis on Nov. 14.
And indeed they rested.
But that must have made them nervous. They went back home to Tennessee and took it out on Cumberland, 71-0.
1899. Maybe you didn’t know football existed in the South then.
In that year 1899, when Sewanee was burning the biggies, we were tapping the first heat of steel from the new open-hearth plant in Ensley, Alabama. This was Birmingham district’s first commercial steel plant. It was an historice year.
We were known as Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company then, in the South. The company moved from Tennessee to Alabama in 1886 and put together the type of mining, coking and iron manufacturing facilities it would take to finally pour steel in commercial quantities. On Thanksgiving Day in 1899.
And on the first day of the 20th century, we made our first commercial shipment of steel. To a customer in Connecticut.
We and Sewanee were having our moment in 1899, in our own separate ways. But ironically, our histories crossed in the middle of that century.
In 1857, when the Sewanee Mining Company was about to become known as Tennessee Coal & Iron Company, U.S. Steel’s predecessor in the South, we donated 10,000 acres of Tennessee Mountaintop land upon which a university would be built.
And that would be The University of the South. Still known as “Sewanee” throughout the Southland.”
Willie’s Wheels
Heather brought along a tiny Little Tikes car of Williams. As we went around Chicago, we took pictures of it. Gave us another mission to accomplish and many confused stares from passers by. We got used to the stares and strange looks
…and kept taking pictures!
We successfully found 5 geocaches in the Loop Area of Chicago. We were very excited with each one. Carolyn and Ryan had never “cached” before, so they were also very excited to see what we had been trying to describe them.
These were two of the three that actually had a log to sign.
To get a “smiley” for the cache at the Chicago Tribune Building, we had to take a picture of one piece of the over 150 stones that make up three sides of the building. There are stones from all over the world and each of the 50 states. To see more stones or learn of the history of why this is, visit Tribune Tower Rocks.
As we were walking around the building, we heard a horrible sound and felt the ground under us shake. We walked around to the front of the building and this is what we find:
Heather and Carolyn (both being ER nurses), went to make sure the 2 in the car were alright and I called 911. The passengers were fine and once paramedics got there, we went on our way, but it sure ended our night with excitement!
The last cache we found on Sunday before left was at Cloud Gate or better known as “The Bean”. To log this cache, it requires a picture of us with our GPS in the reflection of the Bean. This is our log.
Buffy and Ryan in Millennium Park.
We rode the Red line to Chinatown for dinner Friday night. We went back Sunday morning to walk around when the shops were open. We found a bakery and bought some 
goodies to enjoy. It was so different from what we think of as a bakery, but it was yummy!
