Sunday after church I went to the Field Museum (see sidebar for link) to see the Pearl exhibit. I never realized that natural pearls are so rare, and I saw a film about how cultured pearls are made. I resisted buying anything in the museum shop. What I really wanted wasn't for sale. I don't think Dame Elizabeth Taylor (I hadn't realized she had that title) really wants to give up the necklace she lent to the museum for this exhibition. Let me tell you about it, anyway. There are several medallions of square-cut rubies surrounded by a double row of diamonds. These medallions are connected by strands of pearls, and there is a HUGE pear-shaped pearl pendant as the center piece. The necklace is the third slide here.

HOORAY! Let the rain and snow come! My new (hopefully dry) skylights are installed! After many days of weather delay, we had a clear day today, and I didn't even have to burn a vacation day because I still had some PTO (Personal Time Off) left for this year. These skylights are raised about a foot at the top to increase the pitch. It's nice to be able to see the sky again. There was moisture in between the double panes of glass on the old ones, and I haven't really seen the sky through them for several years. I still have to find someone to do the cosmetic things on the inside (drywall and painting), but that can be done any time. I am safe from the elements, and that's the important thing right now.

I just discovered that I have a Bacon Number of 4.

I was in the Trinity Players production of The Secret Garden (1999) with Zach Gray
Zach Gray was in Time Served (1999) with James Handy
James Handy was in K-9 (1989) with Pruitt Taylor Vince
Pruitt Taylor Vince was in Trapped (2002) with Kevin Bacon

Maybe it doesn't really count because The Secret Garden was live theatre, not a movie. Oh, well, it's fun anyway.

Gee, I wonder if Kevin will ever call on me to vouch for him if he wants to cash a check?

I considered going to the Field Museum to see the pearl exhibit and the chocolate exhibit Thursday, but just in time I remembered that Thursday is free day and every little kid in the city would be on a school excursion. Did a little shopping, starting to think about Christmas. Bought some wrapping paper and bows, a few boxes of Christmas cards, some Christmas stamps and a package of clear address labels. I'm not usually this organized, but I'm trying to follow the suggestions of FLYLady who says to pretend you're going on a three-week cruise starting the first of December, so of course all the Christmas stuff has to be done before you leave. That may not be so far from the truth, with Will and Donna and their girls overseas and with Rick and Diana and their kids leaving for Arizona in mid-November, if all goes according to their plan.

Jim was on vacation this week, and we went up to Lake Geneva, Wisconsin yesterday on our (almost) yearly fall excursion to snoop around in the shops and eat lunch at Popeye's Restaurant (not to be confused with the fast food chain). This is the second time we've gone up there on a rainy day. Next year, I think we should plan it for a week earlier or a week later. Lake Geneva has a greater variety of types of shops than Long Grove does. There's an Irish shop where we found a book about the making of the movie The Quiet Man. I got a paperweight, a bottle of Cinnebar cologne, and a malechite pendant to go with some earrings I already had.

Two suspects have been arrested in connection with the D.C. sniper case. Let's just hope the law enforcement people keep their mouths shut, follow procedure to the the letter, and that the media doesn't screw things up.

Two glorious vacation days stretch before my eyes, and from the weather forecast, it doesn't look like I'm getting my skylights replaced either day. My goal is to do just enough things that are somewhat useful so that I don't feel like a total bum, but still relax and have a good time. Let's see, what shall I do......? Any ideas?

Ow-w-w! Note to self: take aspirin before bed on dance class night.

In spite of the fact that it was a testimonial to Murphy’s Law (Whatever CAN go wrong WILL go wrong), Lutheran Choir of Chicago’s Fifth Annual Fall Festival of Song on Saturday was quite a success. Our guest conductor, Weston Noble was a real charmer, and his Director’s Workshop about bringing emotion into music with natural text accents was very informative. We were really fortunate to have Cindy, our accompanist from last year, and she really got a work-out. The event was at Charlie’s church, St. Peter’s in Arlington Heights. The people at the church took care of the meal this year, and it was very nicely done. We once again had a HUGE Festival Choir of over 200 singers.

But the event was not without a few problems.

The Monday before the Festival, we found out that two choirs backed out, one for scheduling problems, and one because they originally thought they had more people participating than they did. Unfortunately, these were two of the choirs that were scheduled to perform in the evening concert, which meant that LCC had to add two songs to its performance. Not really a problem. We did two of our signature songs, the St. Olaf arrangement of Beautiful Savior and Randall Thompson’s Alleluia in addition to Mendelssohn’s Psalm 100 (in German) and Ain’t Got Time to Die, which we had already planned. Of course, the printed programs had to be re-done. But since we weren’t having them professionally printed this year, that wasn’t as big a deal as it could have been.

After Monday’s rehearsal, our director Andy had to take his infant son to the hospital, and he was still there on Saturday. They say it was “an allergic reaction to a virus,” whatever that means. He is expected to recover, but may still be hospitalized for awhile longer. Floyd stepped in to direct LCC in three of its songs, and we had Weston Noble direct us in the Alleluia. Jerry and Ev picked up Mr. Noble at the airport.

I wonder if Don Oberg, looking down from heaven had anything to do with the SNAFUs? After all, the Fall Festival was his conception.

The new skylights were supposed to be installed Monday, and I had taken a "floating holiday", but it turned out the contractor's supplier could only locate one of the two that were ordered, and that one was the wrong one anyway. We'll try again next week.

Went to Long Grove with Jim. Lots of candles and flowers in the shops. One shop had a lot of Baltic amber jewelry, so I got a pendant necklace to go with the earrings I bought when I was in Copenhagen.

The phone rang at three a.m. Tuesday morning, and, as one might expect, it was not good news.

After several days of training to do my job when I move to my new position, my friend from another department decided it wasn't for her. That really surprised me. She's very bright and intelligent, but I guess she hasn't had much accounting type experience.

Nothing is as constant as change. Diana and Rick will be moving to Arizona, probably by mid-November. I'll miss the grandkids, but now I'll have an excuse to go see the Grand Canyon.

8:30 a.m. seemed a little early for a Saturday haircut appointment, but one can get a lot accomplished by not sleeping in on a crisp, sunny fall day. Got my hair cut, and I feel so well groomed. I was scheduled to do it last week, but had to cancel due to the Great Basement Clean-up Project and also the Piano Tuning Project. Bought several boxes of the 39 gallon blue recycling bags at the Jewel on Irving Park (the store near me is always out). Got the oil changed in the Cavalier. On schedule, for once. Found THREE dresses on sale at Sears, and took the two that needed hemming to the tailor. Also got a shirt for Chuck---in Steinmetz colors (forest green and silver).

I went to WalMart to scout out the possibilities of how to spend by $20.00 gift card. My company gave everyone involved in Customer Service a gift card for Customer Service Appreciation week. We also got free ice cream on Monday and free cake on Friday. Bought a liquid soap dispenser to replace the cracked one in the kitchen which I had temporarily fixed with duct tape. Bought a dozen tulip bulbs to plant when the annuals die out in front of the house. But I didn't use my gift card. I thought I might get the DVD of Kate and Leopold, but maybe it will come down in price in a few months.

It's only 3:15 p.m. right now, but it is getting ominously dark. Chuck may be barbequeing ribs in the rain later. Oh-oh, here it comes. Big, fat noisy drops. I'd better get the towels out to put under the skylights. Everyone pray for good weather on Monday. That's when these leaky skylights are scheduled to be replaced with some that will be at a steeper angle and will hopefully not leak. Water where it shouldn't be drives me nuts. According to Chuck, that's not a drive, it's a putt.

Steinmetz won! 50-12

Every Woman should read the 0ct 10 post at Blogatelle.

That said, I will address something to parents. I am fine. I was not harmed. My next door neighbor was sick. I was seven years old. As a child, I don't think I could have carried out some of the things recommended for adults.

My neighbor asked me to get him a glass of water from his basement bar (the Cubs game was on his TV on his porch). I went in through the basement door and he went in through the kitchen door and went down to the basement where I was still looking for a glass.

He exposed himself to me and asked me to lick him, something I was not about to do (I knew nothing about sex, but I knew plenty about germs, and I knew that boys peed through that thing). Then he pulled down my pants and licked me. I thought that was really weird (which, of course, it was, at least for him in that situation). I said I heard my mother calling, and I left. He didn't prevent me from leaving. I TOLD MY MOTHER.

I'll never know how much it cost my mother to hire a lawyer. As a single parent, with no help from my father in the matter, I'm sure it was considerable. She didn't ask for monetary damages. Her only request was that he be required to go for psychiatric counseling. I hope it helped.

The washing machine just buzzed. I have had a buzzing dryer for many years, but the washing machine I bought in January is the first one I've ever had that reminded me of the end of its last cycle. I really like it, because I know that even though I'm not doing many of the things I ought to do this evening, at least I will have clean jeans to wear on "casual Friday" (not that every day isn't really casual. It's just that on Friday you can wear jeans with your polo shirts or whatever).

Don't neglect your own physical needs; a little pampering would do you good.

That's from my horoscope for today. Not bad advice on any day. But after that last few weeks it is particularly apropos. What I need right now is some pampering and a bit of solitude. Isn't it fortuitous that Chuck is at a Steinmetz High School football game right now? Of course, I know his loyalties will be divided, being a Schurz High School graduate and a Steinmetz High School employee, but I'm sure he'll work it out. I thought I would have time to rest this week after breaking my back clearing out the basement for the cast party last week (a huge success, by the way), but here the real world intruded. Monday was LCC rehearsal. Tuesday evening I had to finish the September Cabinet Meeting minutes and dash to dance class so I could once more act like a klutz and and also so I could give the minutes to Joanie to duplicate for Wednesday's meeting (although I will admit that Miss Geri was very encouraging and singled me out to say that I was doing very well). The meeting came around extra fast this month because last month's meeting was delayed by a week to avoid having it on 9/11. Last night's meeting was mercifully short and controversy free, and I probably ought to be working on The Echo (the church newsletter) this evening, but I think I'll let it slide for a day or two. I need rest. I need a glass or two of wine. I need to play.

Do what you love.....

David is a professional musician. His primary instruments are piano and cello, and he is studying vocal pedagogy. As he left the party Sunday evening, I thanked him profusely for playing piano for a good portion of the evening. Everyone sang and had a great time. He waved me off, saying, “It’s what I do.” I protested that some folks don’t like to bring their work to a social occasion. He said, “But, you see, I never work.”

One thing I seem to have more of than anything else is books. I really must let go of some of them. Here's a unique idea for tracking the progress of a "released" book through the rest of its life.

Well, I'm ready for the party. With a lot of help from a friend the basement has been transformed into Jenny's Bistro, complete with a freshly tuned piano so I won't be embarassed if "perfect-pitch David" sits down to play (which is my hope). I should have taken a "before" picture, but I would have been too ashamed to show it to anyone. Anyway, the upstairs just needs a quick "blessing" later today and I can relax until 6:00 p.m. when the guests should start arriving. Now, if I can just manage to get the dozens of "rummage sale" boxes up to church over the next week or so......

Good results from the blood test I had on Monday. Total cholesterol: 173.

I called two of my customers who are located in Louisianna, not for business, but just to see if they were ok after Hurricane Lili hit. Fortunately, the folks I spoke with were spared. The one girl said she'd never, ever seen such a wind. It was rated at a "2" and she doesn't ever want to see anything more. She said there were trees uprooted all over her neighborhood. The other girl was almost in tears that I had called. I didn't think it was such a big deal, but to her I guess it was. She was fine, too, but one of her neighbors had a tree fall on their front porch.

Yesterday I confirmed something I have suspected for years. Men are visually impaired. There is something in their gene structure that blocks out images of dust, dirt and clutter.

The cast party for Finian’s Rainbow will be at our house on Sunday. The last time we hosted the cast party we shoved all our junk to one area of the basement and depended on our guests, with a little help from selective lighting, to suspend their disbelief and pretend there was a wall behind them instead of a pile of junk. Actors are good that way. Since that time we have added a pool table in the area that had previously been used for eating and socializing, and I have been forced to attack the junk pile so we can have a little space for some chairs and tables. And I’ve been attacking it so vigorously that I missed LCC rehearsal Monday because my back was killing me.

Chuck actually stood in the basement yesterday in the harsh light of a bare light bulb and said, “I don’t know why you think you have to do this. It looks fine. There’s plenty of room.” Ugh!

I heard a rumor at lunch today, that the powers that be in my company are trying to sell the building we currently occupy. They are looking at properties 5-10 miles northwest of here. Darn. One of the main attractions of this job was the fact that I could leave for work at 7:45 a.m. and still have time to get a cup of coffee to bring to my desk before starting work at 8:00 a.m. Gone, too, will be the days when I can run home and do a few quick chores at lunchtime. Sigh. I sort of figured they would do something like this. There is so much unutilized space in this building. It can't be cost efficient.

The rumor was just confirmed by our janitor facilities engineer. He came to hang a string in my co-worker's cubicle to monitor the air movement due to her complaint about an uncomfortable breeze on the back of her neck. He said, "Maybe you won't have this problem in the new place." Ah, the trials and tribulations of the indigenous cube drone.