Photos – Page 27 – Not Content to Crawl

Employee Holiday Luncheon

Posted onDecember 25, 2014December 27, 2014

I decided to go into work on Monday since the office would be closed Wed-Fri this week and we were only working a half day on Tuesday.

At 11:30 am everyone headed over to a local steakhouse for the company’s annual holiday luncheon. This year it wasn’t nearly as long as last years because instead of waiting until after lunch, they did the grab-bag during lunch. Plus less people participated in this year’s grab bag. Our owner gave us a little talking to, calling us grinches, but the reason (at least for me and a few others) we didn’t participate is that 90% of the gifts are bottles of alcohol. I told the owner’s wife I’d love it if they could do a non-alcohol swap and then I’d participate. I think it would encourage more creative gifts too. There were a little less alcohol related gifts this year, but that’s because the owner put in two gifts of his own, one of which was a crockpot (and selected two non-participants to go in on the grab bag by way of selecting cards from a deck and picking the two people with the highest suit).

Lunch was better this year too. I had steak both years but this year it was filet and it was very tasty. I recall the baked potato tasting weird before so my boss and I both asked if they’d substitute it for rice pilaf instead which they did. So that was nice. Everyone received two free drink tickets and some people also visited the bar for additional lubrication, so people were in high spirits once things started wrapping up around 2:15 pm. I got a few hugs and a lot of Merry Christmas wishes. It made me happy to be working some place where I like my coworkers.

In addition to a nice Christmas bonus check, the owner gave everyone insulated cups with the redesigned company logo on them.

Logo intentionally not show for privacy reasons

He explained how as a child he learned from his father how important drinking enough water is to one’s health. This has always been a challenge of mine personally, thanks to my bladder condition, but I have been making a bigger effort to drink water and he’s definitely onto something because I’ve been feeling pretty good lately.

I headed to Target afterwards to pick up Trivial Pursuit Hints.

I’ve never been a big fan of Trivial Pursuit, but between a 50% off Cartwheel offer and a $3 Hasbro coupon, it only cost $5. Plus it seems easier than the traditional Trivial Pursuit games. I plan on trying it at my parents’ house on New Years Eve.

Last Weekend’s Christmas Stuff

Posted onDecember 20, 2014December 20, 2014

Last weekend we finally put up the Christmas tree. Joe and E did the heavy lifting by getting everything out of the garage, putting the tree together, and adding the lights. I added garland, and then on Monday finished it with ornaments. I really wanted to do a green, silver, and red theme this year with the ornaments I had gotten on clearance after Christmas last year, but it turned out I didn’t have enough white lights and it would look strange with multi-colored ones, so it’s a hodge-podge look again.

(Target had a Cartwheel offer for 40% off holiday lights yesterday and today, however, so I got two packs of 300 white lights for next year so I’ll be prepared.)

Saturday evening we drove out to Aurora to check out their festival of lights. It was a cute display done at their local zoo that you drive through. I’m not so sure E was that thrilled with it, but he didn’t complain because he’s a good kid like that.

Cosley Zoo Lights

Posted onDecember 1, 2014

Saturday Brother # 2 and his girlfriend (hence forward known as R) came over so we could all go to Cosley Zoo to check out their zoo lights. It’s not too impressive, but it’s close, it’s free, and it was 50 degrees out so that’s a win in my book. I just wish they’d decorate the trees and other areas instead of just putting up animal-shaped lights and calling it a day. They could make it a little nicer, plus it would be easier to navigate through some of the otherwise very dark sections of the zoo.

After getting back home we ordered pizza and played some games (Pictionary Jr. and Uno Attack). Then Joe, E, and my brother decided to pay Call of Duty online (my brother brought his PS3 and hooked it up to the TV in our loft so he could join in). I took that opportunity to introduce R to the rats which she enjoyed. She actually commented on how much she likes their tails which is funny because even I wasn’t so keen on them at first. She got to hold and pet Marshmallow briefly once he calmed down. He also stayed on the bed which is unusual for him since he usually spends all of his out of cage time trying to get off the bed. Before that I had put Milo and Gizmo on the bed and she was able to pet both and give them treats. Gizmo, being the most friendly and outgoing one, eventually jumped onto her shoulder. It was cute.

It was nice being able to get to know R better. My brother has been dating her for like two years, possibly longer, at this point and I only see her once in awhile at my parents’ for holidays. After dinner they usually slink off to my brother’s room so our discussions are always brief.

Carol Stream Haunted Tour

Posted onOctober 31, 2014

I stumbled across a list of homes in nearby Carol Stream who decorate nicely for Halloween so Saturday night we decided to check them out.

I’m only going to write about the two homes I actually liked since the others were not that impressive, but feel free to check them out in the link posted above.

1102 Idaho St, Carol Stream, IL 60188

I really enjoyed the pirate theme, especially how they used the blue rope light to represent water.

371 Canyon Trail, Carol Stream, IL 60188

There was so much going on at this home that I didn’t know what part I liked more. Very very cool, and they have their own Facebook page. They also go all out at Christmas too!

I took some videos of all the action.

Itsy Bitsy Spider

Creepy Skeleton Guy

Racine Zoo, Pizza, and Kenosha

Posted onOctober 27, 2014October 27, 2014

Saturday we decided to visit Racine Zoo since it had been four years since our first and only visit. I knew from checking their site that they were doing their own Boo at the Zoo, but I didn’t know that meant the zoo was opening an hour later than usual. The Boo at the Zoo hours are listed as 10-1 but they didn’t close at 1 pm so why would I expect the opening time be any later than 9 am like usual? No wonder we got parking directly in front of the zoo at almost 9:30 am. I’m just glad we were “running late” and didn’t have to stand around a full hour. I also don’t understand why when we first approached the ticket window the girl asked if we were there for Boo at the Zoo; when I said no we were still told they weren’t opening until 10 am. Sooo… why did it matter why we were there?

Since the zoo is right on Lake Michigan we walked down by the lake for a bit to kill some time. By the time we went back to the zoo to stand in line there were tons of kids in their cute little costumes impatiently waiting to get in.

Unfortunately the zoo is even crappier than I remember. Sure, it’s small, but what makes it crappy is how spread out everything is with not much to see. They raised their admission prices (although we got in free due to a reciprocal deal with our local zoo) yet haven’t done anything in the last four years to make the zoo more appealing. Maybe they can’t afford to add additional exhibits (though they definitely have the space), but they had even less animals on display than four years ago. The fennec fox exhibit was gone and there were like three kangaroos in the spot where I swear there were many more. Look, one of them was even dead and rigor mortis was already setting in!

I kid, I kid! He was just enjoying a little nap.

The thing I loved most about this zoo last time we visited was how the meerkat and penguin exhibits were designed. The meerkats are just funny little guys and I got some pics of them peering up at us.

I was disappointed to see the penguins were off exhibit which was ironic considering the fact that the zoo’s idea of decorating for Halloween was to paint penguins on some pumpkins around the park.

That was the extent of the decorating and it was super disappointing. We ended up visiting for only an hour and that’s only because we spent a good twenty minutes watching the lion cubs playing, which was the only redeeming part of our visit.

The photos would have come out better had I not been shooting through dirty plexiglass with some crazy reflections, but what can you do? As soon as we walked away all the little cubs got right up against the glass too. Figures! We walked back over but I couldn’t get any photos because all the kids were crowding around where they were hanging out, but I did get a nice up-close pic of the lioness.

We headed over to Wells Brothers pizza for lunch and really enjoyed their crispy thin-crust pizza, then to Harbor Park in Kenosha just to walk around a bit. I thought this sculpture was rather cool.