Bronze Marshmallow Orchids

*Saturday evening I braved the interstate highway destruction zone around the Chicago suburbs to sit in on my first FOM meeting. Wound up heading into a restaurant that was a stone's throw from both Brookfield Zoo and Loyola Medical Center. It was a place called Chef Shagri-La. Had never heard of it before, which is really no great surprise. Got there in an hour and change, despite IDOT's best attempts to route me directly into Lake Michigan. Anyway, this place is one of the best crossover places I have ever seen. It's like a Chinese restaurant and a tiki bar both teleported in from another dimension and were merged into one when they rematerialized. I knew that there was a lot of commonalities back in the day between Polynesian and Chinese restaurants, but this is that taken to the nth degree. But it actually worked. It wasn't overbearing or distractingly chaotic. It just worked. So, I had gotten the directions, Mapquested the route, and even tweaked it to fit my needs. Got there with no problem, and even a bit ahead of schedule. This is what led to my first problem. I had posted to the FOM message boards to get directions and see what time people showed up. The directions were good, but the '7:30 or so' time frame wasn't.When I got there, there wasn't an FOM member to be seen. This got the Boss keyed up. She then asked (and rightly so) if I either had any contact info for anyone I was supposed to be meeting, or knew what any of them looked like. I had to plead ignorance on both counts, regardless of how incredibly logical having just such information would have actually been. Then came the attempt to relate to the staff just who it was that I was looking for. That didn't go over so well. The owner knew of the group, but not much more. In the end, I wound up having them set a table for 8, just hoping that someone would show up soon. Half an hour or so later, I was into a mai tai and feeling pretty darn ignorant while being one of two people sitting at a table for eight. Thankfully, about that time the first few FOM people showed up. From that point on, things went really well. Got to talk about barges, goats, and pie for a couple of hours with some really fun people. Next time, I do intend to try the hot and sour soup, too. I am really looking forward to being able to get together with them again as my work schedule allows. Doesn't look like it's going to happen next month, but at least I'll keep posting on the message boards.

*Got up enough steam this past weekend to go after the yard a bit. Got the maples in back trimmed up so that I can walk under them without banging my head on any branches. Got the yard mowed. Decided that with the running pattern Gracie has established with the neighbor's dog, it would be pointless to try and plant anything along the fence line. Invested a few bucks in some seeds for the perennials I'd like to get going out front, but haven't got them in the ground yet. Funny as it may sound, Menard's was all sold out of the hoe I wanted. Guess I'll have to try my luck with hoes at Lowe's. Hoes at Lowe's. Hmmmm. If that doesn't sound like a low budget porn movie, I don't know what does.

*Yes, I still like gin. I still find it to be quite enjoyable mixed with ginger ale. I am thinking that it doesn't really agree with my meds, though. Took me quite a while to get to the point today that my head felt like it was completely attached to the rest of me today (and no, I was not hung over). If I was to read the warnings for that stuff, I'm pretty sure that it would say that alcohol is a no-no.

*Almost time to once again go get my teeth scraped by my hottie of a dental hygenist.

*Went out to Ikea the other day in order to make use of a gift card I had that had been hanging around since Giftmas. I had been thinking of getting one really big display case from one of the antique stores in Rockford, but thought it may be better to get a couple three smaller ones, just in case I decide to rearrange things downstairs. So, it was off to Bolingbrook on a drippy gray Monday afternoon. I had managed to do some online research before we went though, so I had a pretty good idea of what I was looking to buy before we got there. Getting to actually see the different cases in person was a good idea though. I walked out with two identical display cases and a light set for each one. The Boss got a wok and some tealights. And even though it has happened every single time I have purchased things from Ikea, I have yet to actually learn that very little of what they make actually fits in the Boss' Escape. Thus, after manhandling two 90 pound packages that were mostly glass all over the back of her car in an attempt to get the hatch closed, we settled on tying the door down with twine. There were also crossed fingers that we wouldn't hit a bump and send the whole mess spilling out of the back of the car and into the road. We did manage to make it home without any incidents and after an evening of assembly and rearrangement, I now have two lit glass display cabinets in place in the lounge. Should be a good home for some of my rarer and more delicate pieces.

*Four days off and the paperwork is now in a neater, but only minimally smaller, pile than it was before.

*Almost $300 later, the basement is secure from rain water. Hopefully. Turns out that the sump pump that we had was on it's way to the great sump pump heaven in the sky. Now, there's a nice new green one in there. And it works all the time, instead of just occasionally. Yay.

*It is turning into a really nice day outside. Makes perfect sense that I have to be into work at 2 today. Guess I should go take a bike ride while I can.

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