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 Happy Anniversary to us! |
June 26-29, 2007 Chicago Trip Despite my purse being stolen on the way there, we ended up having a very nice vacation in Chicago with Gabi, Tracey and Dave. Our first day there happened to be our third wedding anniversary! On that day, we toured Millennium Park, walked the Magnificient Mile, and had drinks on the 96th floor of the Hancock Building, overlooking the city. We then proceeded to take a boat tour along the Chicago River where we learned about the different architectural styles of Chicago's buildings. |
 Pete with the rest of our traveling companions: Dave, Gabi, and Tracey |
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On Day 2, we attended a baseball game at Wrigley Field (Pete had an excellent time) and toured the neighborhood where Gabi grew up, concluding at the Chicago Brauhaus for an authentic German dinner. |   Pete's concentration is intense. |
 A beautiful city -- from afar |
Day 3 took us to Adler Planetarium, and Day 4 was spent at Navy Pier and at the Taste of Chicago festival. The Taste of Chicago was extremely crowded, but really fun, with live music and hundreds of food vendors. Some time after the event was over, I tried to remember all the things I tasted, but I may have forgotten some. These are not in order, and keep in mind this was lunch, leaving the festival to go to Navy Pier, then coming back for dinner.
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 A beautiful city -- up close Want to view all 404 pics? Click here. |
| June 23, 2007 Identity Theft We left for our Chicago vacation today. We loaded the car with audio books, my crochet project, crossword puzzles, and a cooler with food and drinks and headed east. I called my parents from my cell phone and told them this was going to be a great trip, and I was already having lots of fun.  Within five minutes of realizing I had left my purse at a rest stop off I-80 in Nebraska, we turned around and returned to the rest stop. It was too late. The purse was gone, and no one had turned it in to lost-and-found. We searched all around the rest stop, including the trash cans, and used Pete's cell phone to call my cell phone which had been in the purse, but to no avail. The information center attendant gave me the phone number for the Nebraska State Patrol, and I called and reported that my purse had been stolen. Pete and I then made a list of everything that had been in my purse. In addition to my cell phone, the thieves got several of my (our) credit cards, a deposit slip containing our bank account number, our debit card, my social security number, my driver's license, about $42 cash, plus a lot of things that would be unimportant to a thief but were valuable to me, such as a favorite photo of Pete and me, my best lipsticks, my calculator, my small notebook containing notes and ideas I had jotted down, etc. Luckily, they did not get my house keys, because I had left them at home. Pete and I spent several hours (frequently on hold) calling all the credit card companies to report the cards as stolen and to get them de-activated. So far as we know, the theif was only able to make two fraudulent charges before we reached all the companies.I can't tell you how sick I felt for the next couple of days, thinking about how my ID could be sold to crime rings who specialize in stealing identities. They could take out loans and get credit cards in my name, commit crimes and give the cops my ID, etc. I could hardly sleep at night. We decided to delay our vacation a few days so we could return home and take care of a few things, such as re-establishing our bank account, get myself a new driver's license, and use the internet to research what else we could do to protect my credit against fraud. We signed-up for a fraud protection program as well. I am going to create reference page listing the steps we took to protect my credit from identity theft, so if this ever happens to any of my friends, it might be useful to refer to. |
| Bicycling -- Summer 2007 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Best Things About Bicycling
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June 9, 2007 Sorry for the poor photo quality, but this was taken with a cell phone in a dark place! Pete and I went out downtown with Linda, Tracey and Luis. We started at the Wynkoop Brewing Co., where we had drinks while we waited for a table, then had dinner (Pete had a buffalo burger, and I had a divine grilled portabello mushroom sandwich that I would highly recommend), then proceeded to Fado Irish Pub for more socializing. There was a group of young 20-something guys who arrived at Fado's in a limo at the same time we arrived. They attracted our attention because they were all wearing animal costumes. The guy dressed like a butterfly told us that they were celebrating one of the guys' 25th birthday, and the idea had been to "get wild," hence dressing like "wild" animals. (I put quotes around "wild" because the costume rental shop had supplied some of them with characters from Winnie the Pooh and a few other equally "wild" animals. :-) ) Luis bought a round of shots for them. I kept trying to get Linda to dance with one of the drunk guys, but she was too sensible. Tracey dated Luis about two years ago when he used to live in Denver, then he moved to Houston. They got back together about six months ago, and it's going so well that in a few weeks, Tracey is moving to Houston with him. Luis was in town this weekend for a business trip, so it was a great opportunity to get reacquainted with him before he whisks Tracey away. Tracey, we'll miss you, but we're happy for you! |
| May 20, 2007 Pete and I took a wonderful, luxurious Caribbean cruise! Our ship departed from Miami, so we started our vacation by checking out the South Beach nightlife, and then visiting the beach the next day. Our opulent ship, the Carnival Valor, then took us to the Cayman Islands, where we snorkeled in warm, clear water and saw tons of fish, plus stingrays and other aquatic flora and fauna; Roatan (part of Honduras), where we took a bus and boat tour and learned about the history and culture of the island; Belize, where we snorkeled again and had a brief visit to the port; and Costa Maya, Mexico, where we hiked at a Mayan ruins site. (Click here to see more photos of our excursions and time at sea.) While the excursions were fun (especially Grand Cayman, which was my favorite), I absolutely loved my time on the ship. Our state room (hotel room) was bigger than I had expected, and it was awesome to have someone else make your bed and leave you chocolates every day. I worked-out at the gym twice; they had really nice strength-training and cardio machines, and the view of the ocean while you were working out was incredible. It's a good thing I learned where the gym was, becasue the casual cafeteria had soft-serve ice cream available 24 hours a day which I definitely enjoyed my share of! The formal dining room, where we had our evening meals, had excellent, gourmet food, top-notch service, and an elegant ambiance (heightened by the many fellow diners dressing-up for dinner). As you'd expect on a cruise ship, there were pools and hot tubs to enjoy, alcoholic beverages to partake of, and shops to visit. We attended the theater performances every night; sometimes the show was choreographed dancing, other times a comedian. Other highlights included tea time (tea with finger sandwiches, assorted desserts and live classical music), the Captain's Welcome cocktail party (I guess there's enough college kid left in me to appreciate free cockails), and a "chocolate extravaganza" buffet. There were also professional photographers onboard, and Pete and I got a very nice portrait taken. All in all, it was an absolutely wonderful time! |
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 Honey December 24, 1995 - April 27, 2007 |
Sadly, our beloved pet Pomeranian, Honey, reached the end of her life this month. After my mom's heart attack in March, Honey had been staying with Pete and me, and she died in our house. During her last year, she suffered from bronchomalacia, a lung disorder in which the small branches of her bronchi collapsed, making it difficult for her to breathe. I took her to a respiratory specialist, but after undergoing an endoscopy, her problem was determined to be inoperable. Her specialist said that having her lose weight (up to 6 pounds) would be the single-most beneficial thing we could do for her, so we put her on a diet and she did lose two pounds. She was also put on higher doses of prednisone and a cough suppressant (but they didn't seem to help much). The last month of her life was especially difficult for Honey, as well as for the whole family, as she struggled for each breath. Her death was devestating, but we were all glad that it meant an end to her suffering. Her remains were cremated. Although I was grief-stricken at her death, I know that the vast majority of her life was full of fun and good times. I'm sure that few dogs received as much spoiling and affection as Honey. She loved performing tricks (her piece de resistance was jumping through a hula hoop) and earning praise and treats. She was passionate about food, and would sometimes jump up on a kitchen chair in order to check-out the food on the table (until someone would shoo her down). She loved people, and although she would bark when someone came to the door, it was only a few minutes before she would seek petting from the visitor. She was a beautiful, very photogenic dog, who always had a smile for the camera. Strangers would often tell us how cute she was when we went on walks. She was a fabulous communicator, too. When her food or water dish was empty, she would find me, jerk her head in a "follow-me" gesture, and lead me to the dish. Then she would look at the empty dish, look up at me, look at the empty dish, look at me, until I remedied the situation. When she wanted a treat or some petting, she would sit up and beg (moving her arms in a "please-please-please" motion). When a family member would come home, she would drop everything to leap to the door to greet them, energetically wagging her tail as if to say, "I'm so glad you're here!" and offer herself for petting. I loved her very much. She will be greatly missed. |