Neon Golf

I'm continuing to chronicle Mason's Spring Break. We've had a great time together.

On Friday, Mason decided that she wanted to go play mini golf. The closest one to us is in Norridge - Putting Edge. It's a psychedlic, black-lighted, 19-hole, glow-in-the-dark course with a little Chuckie Cheese added for good measure.







Mason held her own, finishing 3 over par. I didn't break any course records, but was lucky to finish at 3 under par :) We played some video games and some skee ball. Mason won enough "tickets" to get herself a stuffed turtle.



~ Max & Mason

Garfield Park Conservatory

Recall that I had mentioned that Mason had only received less than an "A" in one class last quarter? That class was Science. So, yesterday Mason and I went to the Garfield Park Conservatory for an extra credit assignment.

It's actually a very interesting place, especially if you're into plants :] We're talking all kinds of plants, some with very historical value. There are few plants that were on display at the Columbian Exposition, the Worlds Fair that was held in Chicago in 1893. Not just decendants of those plants, but the actual plants and trees themselves (although they house some decendants as well) that makes them over 105 years old.

Mason's assignment was to take notes and report on a new exhibit about Sugar from the Sun. The exhibit details how a plant uses air, water and light to make sugar. We saw oranges, pineapples, mango, papaya and banana plants. Of course we took some pictures and will upload them to Flickr. I'll post some here later today as well.

It was good to do something indoors, since our weather here is still more like Winter.



Hopefully its warmer and sunnier where you are ;)

~ Max & Mason

Nothing Too Exciting

Mason spent most of her day with her friend Nikki. I have no idea what they did, except for some bike riding and hanging out at Nikki's house. They went to a movie tonight, and she should be back home around 10:00. She has the camera, so maybe she'll take some pictures.

Here's another good shot she took at Tony's Finer Foods the other day.



~ Max

Mason's Spring Break

I thought I'd chronicle Mason's 2008 Spring Break - not sure if it will be exciting, but at least we'll have a record of it.



After I got back from the gym, Miss Mason and I went to the Petco. Mason has a couple of mice, Mylie and Lola, who would like a larger pet condo - Mason picked out an extension for the critter trail. Next, we went to Michael's Crafts. Mason has a project due that involves painting on canvas - this is the only place to buy those things (this is the third one we've had to buy this year). Next, we went to the NEW Tony's Finer Foods to do some grocery shopping and some picture taking. I know, not the most thrilling way to spend a vacation day, but I don't really remember most of my Spring Breaks being that thrilling either, and I got over it!

Here are some good photos that Mason took at Tony's.







More are on Flickr.

~ Max & Mason

So Much For Spring Break!

On Thursday I met with Mason's teachers for conferences. Everything is going well; all "A's" except for a "B" in Science - but Mason is sure she'll get that up before the end of the year.

On Friday, we got hit with another snow storm! At least we aren't in Wisconsin, they got a foot of snow in some places, we only got 5". Not a great way to start a Spring vacation. I don't think the Cardinal in the picture below is thinking that Spring is off to a good start either.



We were planning on going to visit some friends who live in Indianapolis, but sadly, those plans were cancelled because my friend accepted a new position that has caused them to move back to Chicago - tomorrow! So, we will be sticking around. Mason's very torn up over this, she was really looking forward to the road trip. We had planned on bringing Daisy and staying with our friends for about 3 days. Even though it was just Indainapolis, Mason really had her heart set on going away.

So, we have a week to make some fun without going too far from home. Tonight I tried to "find" some things to do, but she wasn't really listening. I'll try to come up with something tomorrow.

~ Max

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Ah, St. Paddy's Day - a sure sign of Spring! Next we'll be singing about Peter Cottontail, but for now, for today - everyone is Irish!



Actually, since yesterday was Palm Sunday, St. Patrick's Day was officially moved to March 15 this year (officially, if you believe that the Catholic church is in charge of this holiday)and that's the day the Chicago River was dyed green and the parade marched up Michigan Avenue. We skipped the downtown festivities because we had a prior engagement (plus, after several days in the upper 40's and even 50's, the temperatures dropped to the low 30's - factor in the cooling lake "breeze" and not even some Irish Whiskey in a cup of Starbucks would keep you warm). Mason and her friend Kali had a date with the judge - as in music.



Mason and Kali won a gold medal in the Solofest. They did a simple piece, "America The Beautiful", but did it very well - and the judge agreed.

Chicago is known for it's Irish heritage and culture. The Mayor's name is Daly, it was mainly Irish imigrants who, in the 1860's, dug the tunnel 60' under Lake Michigan to pump fresh water from the unpolluted part of the lake to the city, and it was Patrick and Catherine O'Leary's cow who started the Chicago Fire.

Some more interesting facts:

♣ There are 34.7 million U.S. residents who claim Irish ancestry. This number is almost nine times the population of Ireland itself (4.2 million). Irish is the nation's second most frequently reported ancestry, trailing only those of German ancestry.
♣ There are 4 places in the United States named Shamrock, the floral emblem of Ireland. Mount Gay-Shamrock, W.Va., and Shamrock, TX, were the most populous, with 2,623 and 1,841 residents, respectively. Shamrock Lakes, Ind., had 162 residents and Shamrock, OK, 125.
♣ There are 9 places in the United States that share the name of Ireland's capital, Dublin.
♣ Some areas in Ireland are known to receive 90 inches of rain each year, which accounts for the brilliantly green grass that has earned Ireland the nickname the "emerald isle".
♣ The first St. Patrick's Day parade took place not in Ireland, but in the United States. Irish soldiers serving in the English military marched through New York City on March 17, 1762.

An old Irish recipe for longevity:
Leave the table hungry.
Leave the bed sleepy.
Leave the bar thirsty.

Slainte

~Max & Mason

Spring is Welcome Here

The only snow to be found are the mounds left in the parking lots of Home Depot and Target - Mason calls them "glaciers" and they do sorta look like glaciers.

Thursday, Mason took Daisy for a walk and took some nice photos. I really liked the one of the melting snowman.



It was considerably colder today than the past couple (we had a high of 52 yesterday). Today it's about 36 degrees F and I can only hope that we've seen the last of winter.

I've finally decided to "let go" of a lot of stuff. You know the "stuff", items that haven't been touched for the past umpteen years. Things that have been moved in boxes several times but never opened. Jenny's old clothes and furniture that only meant something to her. I'm ordering a dumpster this week and plan to start some serious Spring cleaning. I plan to donate many items to charity and particularly animal and women's shelters here in the area. I'll also be selling some things on Ebay. The goal is to get the house in shape to sell it this summer. I've probably held on a little too long, but now I think I'm ready to move on. Mason will be disappointed. That will be difficult to deal with, but I'll manage. I'm just doing the best I can.

~ Max

17 Years Ago

Today would have been our 17th wedding anniversary. Jenny and I always liked it when the anniversary fell on a Saturday; we could spend the whole day together and then go out for a nice quiet dinner. We were married on a Friday, but hey, we were in Mexico =D.






I found some more pictures that need to be scanned and uploaded, so I'll probably do a little of that this afternoon. Other than that, not much going on.

I miss her as much today as I ever have.

The Big Race (Iditarod Part 2)

I had a blast watching Mason's 7th grade class compete in their mini-Iditarod. I took a lot of pictures and posted them to Flickr. Fortunately, Mason had to write an essay for the project, so she was able to "kill two birds with one stone" and we can publish it here.

If you didn't read part one (and see the cute huskies), click here.

The Iditarod IDU by Mason Rose

“Mush” I say as we start the race. The dogs run and we see the finish line ahead of us.

Every year we have an IDU week. IDU stands for Interdisciplinary Unit. An IDU is when you stay in one room for basically the whole day. You use almost all the subjects to finish the project. The real Iditarod Race starts in Anchorage and ends in Nome. It’s a sled dog race in the freezing cold weather. Now we had to build a sled and then race it around the block (not your ordinary block, more like a double block). I like IDU week.



On the first day we spent about three periods planning outdoor ideas. Every time something went wrong, we held a short team meeting. I couldn’t explore the course because I was in my Italian class when the rest of the team mapped it out, so the team had to tell me about it. Noah drew our blue prints for building the sled, and then we looked them over as a group. We made many changes to our wheels.



We worked very hard on our sled throughout the week. We attached the axels to the bottom of the base platform of the sled and then attached the wheels to the axels. We had to cut out some room from the base so the wheels had enough room to make turns. Everyone pitched in and helped with everything. Noah drew our moose logo, Maddie and I painted and Ryan and Kathryn screwed in the side antlers. Friday was race day and we still had a few problems to fix.





I’m glad we did a test run because we discovered some problems that needed fixing with our sled. One big problem was turning. There wasn’t enough room for the wheels to turn a full 90 degrees, the wheels rubbed against the sled. We had to fix the axels and cut out more room for the wheels so that we could turn more easily. Thursday we took the sled for a test run around the course to make sure everything was running smoothly for the big race. We had to make sure that our “dogs” could pull hard enough and I needed to know that I would be able to make the turns.



Friday was race day. We were well prepared and were scheduled to start at 9:15. I couldn’t wait to race. I knew we were going to do well and our sled would not fall apart! Shortly after the start, our wheels began to squeak very loudly, but we kept going. Everyone on the Moose Team did their best and most importantly, had fun! I thought I did pretty well with the mushing and steering; and the “dogs” pulled really hard and fast. Everyone, including our sled, survived the race.

I’m excited that I learned how to use power tools! If I were to do it over, I would once again improve our wheels and make it so our axles wouldn’t squeak. Everyone on our team had a great time and as a result of this project, we all learned some new things. We made a good team; after all we finished in six minutes! Working together with the same group every day, for an entire week taught me a lot about teamwork and accomplishing something as a group. Go team Moose!

Mason now has a cold (or maybe the flu), but she is fighting through it and has another two days of ISATs. I'm starting to get sick as well, but so far it's just a sniffle and a sore throat - taking plenty of vitamins and doing the best I can to sleep through the night (but that never happens).

~ Max & Mason

Just Who Is Casimir Pulaski?

If you don't live in Chicago (or another major city with a large Polish population), you probably haven't heard of Casimir Pulaski. Here, Pulaski is honored with a city and state holiday - giving many employees and kids the day off from work and school.

from Wikipedia

Casimir Pulaski Day is a holiday observed in Illinois on the first Monday of every March to commemorate Casimir Pulaski, a Revolutionary War cavalry officer born March 4, 1747 in Poland as Kazimierz Pułaski. He was a Polish soldier. He is known for his contributions to the US military at the time by training its soldiers and cavalry. The day is celebrated mainly in areas that have large Polish populations. Chicago has one of the largest Polish populations in the United States. This is a separate holiday from the federal holiday, General Pulaski Memorial Day, which commemorates Pulaski's death at the Siege of Savannah on October 11, 1779.

After getting home from a few midday meetings, Mason greeted me at the door and said, "I'm bored, so let's go bowling."

"Sure, let's go." I replied; and away we went.





We go bowling two or three times per year - and Mason reminded me that this is only her second time bowling without the bumpers in the lanes instead of the evil gutters :D. We rolled a couple of games and even managed to get a few strikes and spares. Mason and I each got strikes when the head pin was *Pink* - this was pure bonus, because that meant that we won two free games, yippee!


Today, back to the ole grind. Mason has ISATs all week, she doesn't seem too concerned - and she shouldn't be, she'll do just fine =).

We had fun, maybe we'll do this more often.

~ Max