my first mojito of the year

we went to chicago this weekend with mig and denise. he was there for a conference and the three of us went to join him and have fun.

it was only saturday that we had to enjoy, but we packed it in with some stuff.

we went to the nation museum of mexican art. it was awesome to see all that art, paintings and sculpture from as far aback as 1521. amazing stuff. you have stuff from dia de los muertos, crosses, art on immigration, the plight of mexicans, religion, spirituality and even a santana song playing as part of a piece. it's very well done and tasteful. i really enjoyed seeing art that was several hundred years old.

we slipped off to chinatown. we got a glimpse of it, but wedecided against stopping, thinking it was going to be too much. someone in the group said the thought of too many asian women would have been unbearable, so s/he was glad we kept going.

so we took a drive downtown, saw people, faces, expressions, cars honking, urbanization, crowds, trains, buses, taxis, more people. then we stopped in the old town area, which is one of my faves. you have a quiet, almost woody area in town. we stopped by st. michael's, the buddhist temple, then walked around neighborhoods dawn and i had walked through before while on previous visits. we saw the cute littel yellow house we'd seen several times before.

then we took a rest at laura's place, dressed and we were off to national 27. there i had my first mojito of the year. it was accompanied by a piece of sugar cane. yum. i had almost forgotten the taste of a mojito. we ate some nice food then the music started. we had to leave somewhat early, but denise wanted to sneak ina dance. we i joined her. my legs were wobbly and my hips uncooperative. it's not like dancing tejano music. still, i kept up and sweated up a bit before we left.

the followinig day we picked denise and mig at union station (they were staying in elgin with his sister). as we descended the stairs (which sounded oddly familiar to me), dawn says, these stairs, they came came out in "the untouchables." then it all came back to me. it was the train station/baby carriage scene where the bad guy pushes the baby carriage down those stairs, forcing costner to come out of hiding. he slides, catches the baby carriage before it tips over, then aims and shoots the bad guy. i stepped a certain way as i ascended the steps and yes the sound was the same. very nice.

and now we're back and it's super reality. jim's off for the week and rick is leaving tomorrow. nervous? perhaps a tad. crack the whip? oh yeah. no mild-mannered asst. news ed. here. ha ha