Fine Dining at the Depot

About once a week we like to head on over to our favorite little diner, the Depot. It's just east of Oak Park in the city, about five or six blocks from our house. In the summer, we like to ride our bikes, and we've walked down once or twice, too. In winter (especially winters like we've had lately), we drive, thank you.

The city cops love the place, as you can see from the exterior shot. And the inside is perfect. But most of all, the food is top-notch. The skinny guy leaning against the grill is Robert, trained-chef and co-owner. His menu is all comfort food, like pot roast sandwiches, meat loaf, blue plate specials and really good soups.

They're often served by Reed, the young waiter with the ice scoop and glass in his hands, who is also an artist and musician in the area.

If you come to see us, and stay any length of time, we'll probably end up here sooner or later.

Inauguration Eve/Day!

Well, yes, we got a little carried away on the eve of the big day--Kinda let our hair down, or out for a stroll, or let the cat drag it around, or something.

And then Lori and the girls from the library dressed up in style for Inauguration Day. They must have had a ball there that day, doncha think?

El Matador

Like a knight of the round table, donning his armour with the help of his trusty squire--no, that's a little too lofty... Like an aging matador, preparing for his greatest challenge, the evil toro El Diablo--okay, wrong hemisphere. Like Kid Shelleen (Lee Marvin in "Cat Ballou", all sobered-up and ready to take on his evil brother, Silvernose the gunfighter) being suited-up for a showdown with the help of his trusty Indian friend, Jackson Two-Bears, I prepare to battle double-digit sub-zero temps with the help of my trusty helper, Miss Lori.

Before any pictures were taken, we began with long-underwear, not one, but two pair, flannel-lined jeans, cotton socks and then wool socks on top of them, a long-sleeved t-shirt, a long-sleeved and lined shirt, and a wool sweater. Then snow boots, of course.

And now the finishing touches: (1) the hood, (2) the neck cowl, (3) the stocking cap, (4) the parka, (5) the scarf, (6) the inner gloves, and (7) the outer gloves.













All to do battle with the worst a Chicago winter can throw at me.


































Actually, by the time I got to the L, my neck was sweating profusely, and my butt itched but I had so many layers on that I couldn't scratch it.






Best of all: January is more than half over!

Welcome to My World: A Video Entry

Snow, and then more snow, and then more snow, and then frigid cold, and then more snow, and then sub zero temps, and then more snow, and then...

January in Chicago this year, like last year, is a seemingly endless stretch of snowstorms and freezing weather. Tonight, it's going down to near zero and we're expecting another inch or so of snow, then tomorrow our "high" is going to be 10, with another 2-3 inches coming.

After shoveling the inch or so that fell between my last shovel-event at midnight last night and this morning, I thought I'd take some pictures to share with you all.

First, here's the front of the house, looking buried but potentially toasty inside. When it's like this, it's hard to believe that we ever actually sit on this front porch, isn't it?

This ice sculpture was created by water dripping from our neighbors' gutters--theirs are apparently way worse than mine in terms of being clogged up. I did clean mine back in June or July, but we got hit with so much rain and snow right after the leaves came down that I never was willing to trust the ladder in the late fall. So, we're crossing our fingers and hoping for periodic thaws.

Here are the pathways in back of the house--it's really piling up back here. And behind the garage is this 4.5 foot tall mound of snow from the driveway.

Finally, a sympathetic look ay my barbecue grills and our deck fireplace/planter. It's true that one day, mere months from now, we'll be using these again, but I can't think about that now.

Quarters!

Sam and I finished our ten-year project to collect all 100 state quarters (P and D for each of the 50) on January 2. We started in 1999 when he was eight years old and I was 43, and completed the collection in 2009 at ages 18 and 53.

New Year's Day

We got up the next day around 9:00, and Lori and Marlis went to get a massage from 10-11:00. From 11-12, we loaded up the car. Then at noon we met in the dining room for brunch, another massive buffet.

I had scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, hash browns, a fried chicken wing and a biscuit with gravy (pictured here). I can't even remember all the stuff others got, as I apparently wasn't paying much attention to their plates.

After eating, we got on the road and were back at Glenn and Marlis' house by 2:30, and our house before three.

We rested and watched football for a little while, then fixed a mess of Hoppin' John with Polish sausage and slaw for our good luck dinner.

And so another year begins.

New Year's Eve, Part 3

And so we come to the shank of the evening, time to say goodbye to Ol' Man 008 and hello to li'l 009.

First, we had to decide on our party "looks." It took a few tries for Lori and I, but I think we got it right in the end. Sue and her gang had fun playing table drums, and then the big moment came. I recorded the countdown, but it was pretty standard stuff so I won't post it.

I did do a little video panorama of our part of the Great Room, and that is posted here--down at the bottom.

Marlis took some Happy New Year calls from their yung'uns, then we danced some more--until about 12:45.

Being pooped out, at this point we headed back to our rooms. I got into my Happy New Year jammies, then Lori went right to bed. I watched one more "Honeymooners" episode, then I couldn't stay up any longer, either. Tomorrow was another day, and another blog entry.

New Year's Eve, Part 2

In the Great Room, we stopped to have our picture taken in front of the fireplace, then went to sample the hors d'oeuvres--several kinds of shrimp, cheeses, veggies (both fresh and deep fried)--and had a couple of drinks.

We met our table mates for the evening. That's Sue and Skip in the first one, and Sue's brother Dennis and his wife Karen in the next. They were also from the Chicago area, and we had a great time with them all night. They were all very good Democrats.

The lodge generously provided us with sombreros for the Fiesta! -themed event, but mine was too small.

We had dinner at 8:00. It was a massive buffet with more shrimp, crab legs, prime rib, fajitas made to order, plus tasty taters and other vegetables and spectacular desserts--I even ate one.

At about 9:00, our group of four went back to our rooms to rest up a bit for the late night action. Lori, Glenn and Marlis all took naps. I watched a "Honeymooners" marathon on WGN.

Between 10:30 and 11:00, we all met back in the Great Room at our table to begin the death watch for 2008.

More coming soon!

New Year's Eve, Part 1

We picked up Glenn and Marlis at about 1:30 Wednesday afternoon--they were feeling pretty puny, but they were game. We headed out of town on I-55, then picked up I-80, listening to jazz and vocal standards, then blues on the XM radio. A scant 2 hours later we arrived at the Starved Rock State Park Lodge, where we checked in and checked out the view from our room--look, honey, we can see our car from here.

A few minutes later, we all went down to the lobby, commandeered a table and chairs, and proceeded to play a card game until about 5:45, whereupon we went back to our rooms, changed into more formal wear, admired ourselves in it, then headed down, past Debbie and Susan at the front desk, and on to the Great Room.

More soon!