Weekend Update
Friday we finally got back to D&D after a month off for various reasons. It was nice seeing the crowd again, though our host is apparently fighting off a new sickness, looked to be just a cold that was kicking his arse.
Saturday, mjwmeyer came up, and her, Kat, Noel and I headed downtown to the Museum of Science and Industry for the Glass Exhibit. We got a bit of a late start, and didn't end up getting there until around 1. We spent pretty much all afternoon at the glass exhibit which was full of very cool things. Kat had called up and been told that the museum closed at 5:30 (we asked because you could reserve a glass exhibit showing at 4:30 despite them saying the museum closed at 4). We were of course still chased out at 4, so she gave someone an earful and we may get a set of general admission tickets out of it, we'll see.
Since we were out early, we headed over to the Lincoln Park Conservatory to see the pretty flowers and plants. I still love the fern and moss room, it's amazingly peaceful especially when it's cold outside. THEY closed at 5, just a smidge too early for the poor wedding party that showed up right at 5 hoping to take pictures inside. Ah well, that still left them plenty of park to work with.
We made our way home after that, and spent some time just hanging around and introducing Mary to the cats. Noel decided that she was finally wiped out - apparently after spending a week at GAMA, the museum is taxing, heh. Kat, Mary and I headed over to Famous Dave's for some good meat, and eventually brought a brisket salad back for Noel - I do love their brisket. More good conversation ensued, and eventually midnight rolled around and I was compelled to return Mary to her weekend hosts (who apparently were still up playing computer games anyway, heh).
Sunday was another recovery day for Noel. Kat and I slept in, did some cleaning, watched some TV, went to Carabas for dinner, then spent the evening at the Harrahs Casino Joliet trying to win lots of money. I won a baseball cap and a portable weather station, does that count? Still, I ended up even for the evening, which is always better than losing. :)
Monday was back to work, then kittykatkatja and I headed down to Heaven on Seven in Naperville for their Hot as a Mutha dinner event. fractalsphere wrote an excellent write-up of the event, which beknatok organized our group for. It was also attended by Deusinnomen, uofirob, his new fiancee wickedlyobvious and 911sc. Rounding out our group were the three wimps aimee_darling, ferretiger and bornwildnfree, who all decided to order off the regular menu rather than burning out their intestines with the rest of us. :) Perhaps they were the wise ones, Jarrow isn't kidding when he says that the soup was Liquid Napalm! Taking more than half a spoonful at a time was practically impossible - I made it through about 2/3 of the small cup of soup, most of us didn't make it that far... except for Rob who finished, and Kat who finished hers AND most of Jarrow's! *grin* Honestly, other than the soup, my only real problem was the fact that it kinda burned on the way back out the next morning. Future attendees be warned! My favorite dish was the Goat Taco, followed by the Peppered Tenderloin, and nothing was anywhere near as hot as that soup - assuming my taste buds weren't just surrendering! *grin* I made it all the way through to the end, and then my stomach rebelled before desert - there was so much food, I was full! I had to take it home, had it as an after-work snack. Quite tasty I must say, and I rarely like cannoli (either that or I'd never had GOOD cannoli, which is always possible). Thanks again to Andy for keeping us on track!
This week is cleaning to prepare for deusinnomen's birthday. Should be fun. :)
Saturday, mjwmeyer came up, and her, Kat, Noel and I headed downtown to the Museum of Science and Industry for the Glass Exhibit. We got a bit of a late start, and didn't end up getting there until around 1. We spent pretty much all afternoon at the glass exhibit which was full of very cool things. Kat had called up and been told that the museum closed at 5:30 (we asked because you could reserve a glass exhibit showing at 4:30 despite them saying the museum closed at 4). We were of course still chased out at 4, so she gave someone an earful and we may get a set of general admission tickets out of it, we'll see.
Since we were out early, we headed over to the Lincoln Park Conservatory to see the pretty flowers and plants. I still love the fern and moss room, it's amazingly peaceful especially when it's cold outside. THEY closed at 5, just a smidge too early for the poor wedding party that showed up right at 5 hoping to take pictures inside. Ah well, that still left them plenty of park to work with.
We made our way home after that, and spent some time just hanging around and introducing Mary to the cats. Noel decided that she was finally wiped out - apparently after spending a week at GAMA, the museum is taxing, heh. Kat, Mary and I headed over to Famous Dave's for some good meat, and eventually brought a brisket salad back for Noel - I do love their brisket. More good conversation ensued, and eventually midnight rolled around and I was compelled to return Mary to her weekend hosts (who apparently were still up playing computer games anyway, heh).
Sunday was another recovery day for Noel. Kat and I slept in, did some cleaning, watched some TV, went to Carabas for dinner, then spent the evening at the Harrahs Casino Joliet trying to win lots of money. I won a baseball cap and a portable weather station, does that count? Still, I ended up even for the evening, which is always better than losing. :)
Monday was back to work, then kittykatkatja and I headed down to Heaven on Seven in Naperville for their Hot as a Mutha dinner event. fractalsphere wrote an excellent write-up of the event, which beknatok organized our group for. It was also attended by Deusinnomen, uofirob, his new fiancee wickedlyobvious and 911sc. Rounding out our group were the three wimps aimee_darling, ferretiger and bornwildnfree, who all decided to order off the regular menu rather than burning out their intestines with the rest of us. :) Perhaps they were the wise ones, Jarrow isn't kidding when he says that the soup was Liquid Napalm! Taking more than half a spoonful at a time was practically impossible - I made it through about 2/3 of the small cup of soup, most of us didn't make it that far... except for Rob who finished, and Kat who finished hers AND most of Jarrow's! *grin* Honestly, other than the soup, my only real problem was the fact that it kinda burned on the way back out the next morning. Future attendees be warned! My favorite dish was the Goat Taco, followed by the Peppered Tenderloin, and nothing was anywhere near as hot as that soup - assuming my taste buds weren't just surrendering! *grin* I made it all the way through to the end, and then my stomach rebelled before desert - there was so much food, I was full! I had to take it home, had it as an after-work snack. Quite tasty I must say, and I rarely like cannoli (either that or I'd never had GOOD cannoli, which is always possible). Thanks again to Andy for keeping us on track!
This week is cleaning to prepare for deusinnomen's birthday. Should be fun. :)