Nine Dollars a Pack

This is it, people! I promised the Chick that when I got home from this trip, I would be a smoke free mother. While in the Windy City I bought my last pack at the hotel. It cost me nine dollars. The math says 45 cents a smoke. Yikes!

I have been away from blogging this week due to travels and having the cruddy laptop with me. Plus I forgot the wireless card at home. At least I think it's at home. While being gone a few interesting things (or at least interesting to me) happened.

• Spent some time with Adventure Girl. We went to the Tom Skillings' Tornado Seminar. I now know far more than I ever thought I would know about tornados. At some points, the speakers started to sound like Charlie Brown's teacher....
• Went to a couple of great restaurants: Carnivale for Peruvian food and Tuscany on Taylor. Both great places. Had yucca... still don't like it, but the paco paco and the sangria were great. Had veal with a white wine sauce, squares of gorgonzola and asparagus. Yummy!
• Spent time with Baby Sister and her gang of boys. Baby Sister convinced me to open a Facebook account. Not sure how dedicated I will be and Chatterbox said, "Mrs.. I am shocked you have a facebook!"
• My major project for this trip went great!
• I've slept in seven different beds in two weeks. Fell out of bed number six when the wake up call rang me awake. Have a carpet burn and a nasty bruise on my knee. Feel pretty goofy about it. My uber boss says it has happened to him when he has travelled. Felt goofy but better after that.
• Going home tomorrow. Hope the BugMan remembers to fetch me.
  

The Little Black Dress

Well, Soda Chicky and her friend Chatterbox left earlier this evening to attend the Bat Mitzvah of Flying Monkey. The girls looked stunning. Far too grown up for a couple of fourteen year olds heading to synogogue. The Chick is wearing "a little black dress" with spaghetti straps, an empire waistline with rhinestones at the waistline. Looks better than it sounds. I put her hair up in a chignon bun and she had black hose and some sweet slingback shoes. Chatterbox had on a similarly designed dress in a lovely shade of fuschia.

They will return late tonight after having way too much fun. These events usually mean a bag load of stuff comes back with the party goers. Monogrammed sweatpants, socks, photos, things that light up and glow in the dark. We spent less on our wedding and honeymoon combined. And we went to Europe for two weeks!

The big worry early on was whether or not Chatterbox would be able to break her Ramadan fast before the food was served tonight. (This is an eclectic group of girls.) Fortunately, the sun set before the service was totally over. They will party with no hitches.

When did they get so grown up, though?