Hats, Hotdogs and Baseball

On Monday, we had tickets for Monday's Cubs game. Here's the old scoreboard at Wrigley Field.

You can see we got there early to watch Batting practice. The bleachers weren't even full yet. It was free Cubs road hat day, sponsored by Old Style Light. The first 10,000 fans got hats.

Don't we look cute?

Here's Andy stylin' the double hat look.

Cubs didn't win (is that anything new?) but we had a good time.

Here's our Fanfoto...

It's not the clearest shot (pretend you've had a few and it will look just fine), but at least I got it off the website! These things are more expensive than ordering wedding photos! (Please ignore the giant "PROOF" across the middle!)

Maybe next time, I'll have a win to blog about.

A Quckie Cause

On Thursday, June 29, the Appropriations Committee of the U.S. Senate will recommend next year’s funding level for the National Endowment for the Arts.

Why do I care? First of all, I'm an art teacher. It's much easier to do my job with supplies. Second of all, I hardly received funding for supplies this year. For 850 students, less than $.75 was given per student for art supplies. For next year, will be a little better, but not by much. Help me get this amount increased. Every little bit helps.

Currently, the NEA is funded at $124 million, which is far below its levels of the mid-1990’s. The House has approved an increase of $5 million for next year. While this is a positive step at a time when many domestic programs are actually being cut, it would still not provide enough to keep up with inflation.

If the Senate approves and insists upon an increase of $10 million, the NEA would be able to support more arts institutions and programs in communities across the country. And remember, every dollar of NEA funding leverages about seven additional dollars from other funders, making it an extraordinarily productive investment for the federal government.
Please take just two minutes to contact your Senator. Those of you from Illinois can especially make a difference, Dick Durbin is on the appropriations committee. If you don't know your Senator, just type in your zip code and the site will tell you. This link provides you with a fully customizable letter that you can edit as you wish. You can click and paste...you don't even have to think if you don't want to!

Go to http://capwiz.com/artsusa/issues/alert/?alertid=8870476 to help make a difference.

Thank you in advance!

Food, Fun and Ravinia

On Friday, I headed up to Ravinia Festival with some friends. It was good times! Keb' Mo' and Bonnie Raitt were playing. They really sounded awesome!

Here's Chris, waiting for the music to start...



Theresa, just enjoying Fat Bastard Wine. (Yes, it's a really the name of the wine. And quite tasty too!)

Sarah, made fabulous deserts...

Don't let the green fool you. They were pistachio pudding with lady fingers, whipped topping and heath bar crumbed on top. So yummy!

Andy and Adam, both enjoying their respective deserts.

Yes, Adam opted for Miller Lite, rather than the real desert...

It really was a great evening. The day was perfect, although it got a little chilly after the sun set. We didn't even hit too much traffic!! We definitely have to do it again!

More Meat!

For Father's Day, I decided to take Jack to Fogo de Chao. I figured he likes meat, so game on! We ended up going on Monday to avoid the crowds. He loved it!

Here's Jack enjoying his meat:

Father/Daughter Picture--

Here's another pic...very off-center, but look who is at the table next to ours...

That's right, Scotty Pippen! For those of you non-sports fans, Pippen played on the Chicago Bulls during the 1990's and endless championships. Not that I'm a major fan, but it's still exciting to have a celebrity sighting at lunch! And for those readers who care, Scotty is a total carnivore. He didn't even get up to look at the salad bar. He walked in, ordered a drink and fliped his card for the meat!

I had a good time, and Jack seemed to like the concept. Happy Father's Day, Jack!

Woo-Hoo!

Schools out for the summer!!

I get a few days off and then I'm teaching summer school. I'm looking forward to it...half days, a different subject matter... then a month off before I go back to my regular job!

And for the record, the purple lion remained stuck to the celing even on the very last day of school!

Ode to the Crab Rangoon Man

So, today sucked. For reasons that needed be published ('cuz let's face it, I don't want to get fired). The purple lion stuck to the celing didn't even cheer me up (Lion Watch Day 21). But I survived.

After I got home, I said to myself: "Screw cooking dinner. I want crab rangoon!" And so I did. I headed down the street to China King and ordered take out. They now have fruit smoothies that are fantabulious! I added a little rum to my pineapple and coconut smoothie and felt much better about my day.

Then I got to thinking, I miss the Crab Rangoon Man.

Who is the "Crab Rangoon Man", you ask? Well, back at Augie, after a night of drinking in the district a cart would appear. It was a man with assorted Chinese food. The crab rangoon were amazing!! Forget the Magic Mountain or TBK. For me, nothing could cure the drunken munchies like the crab rangoon. (Come on, Augie people, you know you love him too!)

I wish that I could find a Chinese food place open late in Chicago for just such a reason, but until I do, I miss you Crab Rangoon Man!

Jimmy Dean has the best ideas

Our team is in charge of breakfast for the staff tomorrow morning. I headed to the Sara Lee Outlet for some yummy, yet cheap baked goods. While looking for some muffins, I looked up an noticed an unfamiliar product that totally cracked me up! (The lady who worked there must have thought I was crazy taking a picture of it with my camera phone!)

What cracked me up was not the combination, because let's face it, who hasn't thought that this was a good combination, but the fact that it was both, "New and Improved!" and "On a Stick".

It makes me wonder, what was the improvement? Was it the stick? I have to say, I do love a good bagel dog (which I can also get at the Sara Lee Outlet). Is this the a.m. equivalent of the bagel dog? And for that matter, why doesn't my bagel dog have a stick?

I was not brave enough to buy them and have a try, but if anyone else is ambitious (I have a feeling that Chris and Mike are going to make it their mission to try them), let me know how they taste!

Lion Watch

Day Fourteen...

The purple lion from the 5/18/06 post is still stuck to the celing.

I'm still amused by it.