Vacation?

I am back at work after just finishing up a week long vacation. Here is a rundown on what I did with my time off. Just to save you some time in case you don’t want to read this whole thing, I lead a boring ass life these days.

Saturday 4/7 – I had a busy day ahead of me so, I got up early enough to hit the gym. After that, I grabbed a quick lunch and was off to Glenview to the Kohl’s Children’s Museum to celebrate my nephew A.J’s 4^th birthday. Joyce was working so, I made the trek by myself.

I must say I am jealous that they didn’t have stuff like this when I was a kid. The place is a childs paradise with so much stuff to do it can tire out the most hyperactive kids on earth. I enjoyed some White Castle burgers there as well as some kick ass egg rolls. After awhile I had to take off as I was meeting my Mom, Lou, my brother and Joyce (She was meeting us after she got out of work) at Vic’s in Oakbrook.

Since, Easter was a bit of a mess this year, my Mom was gracious enough to take us out to dinner the night before. My Cousin Kristie is eight months pregnant and was hosting a small dinner in Plainfield but seeing as I had to be in the city to celebrate the day with my in laws a trip out to the end of the earth was not in the cards.

So, we all met at Vic’s. Vic’s is an Italian restaurant which is becoming one of my favorites. I don’t like a lot of Italian places as I have been spoiled by my own families cooking. However, Vic’s is damn good. I got the gnocchi in Vodka sauce which they throw in some of their homemade sausage. The gnocchi is homemade as well and it is a mouth watering delight. I topped it all off with some bread pudding for desert. I left the place with my pants un-done but it was worth it.

Sunday 4/8 – It was Easter, a holiday that is lamer then a double bill of Dave Matthews and Hootie and Blowfish. I had to make a couple of stops. First, Joyce and I were off to St. Ferdinand’s to meet her family for church. I am about as religious as your typical counselor at Planned Parenthood, but out of respect to Joyce’s family, I make the trip each year. After getting brainwashed for an hour we head off to eat.

We ate at a Filipino restaurant I can’t remember the name of somewhere on Belmont. It was pretty good, as they had a buffet. I had some beef stew type of dish that was killer. After eating we went to my brother in law Alan’s house to check out his newly remodeled bathroom. Since we are getting ours done we wanted to check it out to see if we should use the same guy. It was pretty nice so, Joyce decided to give the go ahead to have ours done.

After leaving there, we were off to Bridgeview, to my Aunt’s house to grab some desert with my Dad’s side of the family. I grabbed some brownies and a cupcake and played some 500 rummy. My Uncle Dan schooled us big time and we were off to home so I could get my Soprano’s and Entourage on.

Monday 4/9 – Joyce and I had some major errands to run. I had rented a car so, I had to return it at Midway. After that we were off to our accounts office to retrieve our taxes. Our account is actually Joyce’s Uncle Roger whose office is all the way in Rodgers Park. It is a bit of ride but worth it as he has done a great job for us.

After getting our taxes Joyce and I went to the Bagel on Belmont for some lunch. The Bagel has been one of my favorite lunch spots in the city ever since my brother took me there years ago. I got a matzo ball soup and a corn beef sandwich that both rocked. I also hit a used record store in the area and picked up some 50 cent LP’s (the cost not the artist) to add my growing collection.

We eventually got home and we were off again to Sherwin Williams to pick out some paint as we were painting our kitchen. Joyce went with baked clay as the color which is kind of like an orangeish red mix. We got two gallons and we were off to the gym. After putting in some time on the treadmill we headed home for the evening.

Tuesday 4/10 – Tuesday was the only day of the week I was doing something fun with my vacation. I was going to the Cubs game. It was cold out but, I dressed for it and was on my way. I was meeting my friend Tony, there. I parked my car at Midway and took the CTA to Wrigley. As usual I went with out tickets with the intention of getting some from the box office. Sure, enough I was able to get tickets six rows from the Cub dugout for face value.

I then went to the Raw Bar, my usual Wrigley meeting spot to wait for Tony. After he arrived we had a couple of cold ones before heading into the park. We had just great seats and sadly watched as the Cubs got beat 4-2 by the Astros. After the game Tony and I again hit the Raw bar for a couple more and wait out the train crowd. Eventually, we made our way to the train and I headed home for the evening.

Wednesday 4/11 – Joyce had to work so, I was left in the house by myself. It had snowed that morning so, any outdoor work I wanted to get done was not going to happen. So, I instead went to the gym and grabbed some lunch.

Once, I got home I started to prep the kitchen for the painting job. I got all the crap out of the kitchen and moved into the Family room. I started putting down newspaper and taping some of the edges off and brining the ladder in from the garage so we would be all set to go on Thursday. After Joyce got home we ate dinner and I got my Lost on before falling asleep on the couch.

Thursday 4/12 – The painting began in earnest. Joyce had taken Thursday and Friday off to help with the project. Most of the day was taken up with the task at hand. We took a break to hit the bank my Mom works at as I needed to sign some papers there. Other then eating dinner we spent most of the day painting the kitchen.

Friday 4/13 – At long last we finished up painting and we cleaned up and moved everything back so, our kitchen is now functional. We both were pretty wiped after that so, we just relaxed and grabbed some dinner.

Saturday 4/14 – Joyce was back at work, so I was again left alone to man the house. I got up and got my allergy shot and hit the gym. I then got home and finished up some small kitchen tasks like hanging some pictures and stuff. I settled in to watch the Cubs game and wait for Joyce to get home. We settled on Les Brothers for dinner and split a skirt steak which was very good.

Sunday 4/15 – Joyce and I got up and hit the gym. Then, we went and got some Culvers for lunch. After that we were off to Home Depot. We had to pick out all the materials for or bathroom remodeling project. So, after looking at tiles and water faucets for what seemed like a week, I was ready to buy a gun. After spending eternity there we were off to Menards where we purchased our whirlpool tub.

After dealing with all that, we made another trip to Sherman Williams to pick out a paint color for the bathroom. We then hit an Italian grocery store and grabbed some pasta to cook for that night. We finally got home, cooked dinner and settled in for the Soprano’s and Entourage.

All in all it was a productive if not relaxing week off. I don’t have another vacation until August so, it is back to the grind for awhile.