The Sewing Mom

A friend of ours was visiting us a while back and we got to talking about a time we’d all been together in Chicago. It was around this time of year and, while we were living in a southeast suburb of Chicago, he had flown in for business. It was a beautiful week and the list for Chicago things to do so we decided to meet him at Navy Pier to start off our touring adventure.

Our daughter was about 3 years old and the three of us drove our car to Navy Pier where we met our friend and his co-worker. There are so many fun places to see in Chicago that we focused on the Navy Pier area and then toured the Sears Tower.

Navy Pier is full of things to do, including the giant ferris wheel, arcades, an Imax theater and many restaurants to choose from. We became very adventurous and took a high speed boat tour of the harbor. We froze our butts off even though it was a beautiful day, it’s easy to forget how much cooler it is when you’re out over the water, especially in the spring months. We still had a blast and remember laughing through the entire boat ride because the wind was so cold. It was a lot of fun though and I highly recommend it.

Now that we live in the south and I’m not working a full time job, I’m thinking it would be fun to accompany my husband on a couple of his many business trips. I’ve recently been looking at sightseeing tours and things to do in San Francisco for the next time he travels out west. I love China Town and I know my daughter would have so much fun riding the cable cars.

I just found out that if you sign up now for the Trusted Tours & Attractions newsletter you’re automatically entered to win a $150 iTunes gift card. My daughter could sure download a lot of songs with that!

Where are you going on your next vacation?

The Sears Tower was awesome too. It’s always amazing to me how far you can see from the observation deck. On a clear day, which it was when we were there, we could see four different states; Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin. It really was breathtaking. We recently found the photographs we had taken and the certificates we received for “surviving” the elevator ride up to the top.

Tags: Chicago tours, Trusted Tours and Attractions

I’m trying hard to get back into some sort of routine after being gone, but there just seems to be so much on my plate right now, mainly dealing with my daughter and preparing for her move up to middle school (junior high) next year.

Last night and tonight she is practicing hard on her baritone.  She is trying out tomorrow for the 7th grade honors band for next year.  It would certainly be exciting if she qualifies!  If not, I’m sure she will at least be placed in the symphonic band which she would also enjoy.

For tryouts, she has to play several scales and also do some sight reading of music.  I’ve been working with her on both, mainly to build her self confidence.  She started out last night in tears, but by the time we were done, she was so much more comfortable.  She’s been playing her instrument for two years, so it really was just reassuring her that she was capable of doing it.  I think she now knows that she is indeed capable.  I can’t wait to hear how tomorrow goes.

In the mean time, I’ve been trying to catch up on my EC dropping.  I’m trying, but not always successfully.  It seems that EC is running somewhat slowly and causing issues with my computer.  I keep having to pause while things load on sites, even the simplest blog is taking a while to load.  So, if I didn’t return your drop, I do apologize.  I will keep trying.

Tags: band tryouts

I should say, calling all mother-in-laws that are as clueless as mine! I’m not actually sure there is another one out there that is nearly as clueless as mine, so let me just clarify, this post is about MY mother-in-law!

Several years back, my husband’s siblings all got together and got my mother-in-law a cell phone. For the first couple of years, she simply didn’t use it because she couldn’t figure out how it worked. The family felt it would be useful because she did a lot of babysitting and walked everywhere she needed to go and felt that if something should happen, she would be able to call for help. In theory, this was a great idea. In reality, she couldn’t figure out how it worked and most of the time, left the house without the phone.

This past Christmas, while she was visiting, I took her cell phone (yes, she actually brought it with her), cleaned it, set the ringer, checked her voicemail, and reviewed all of the buttons with her, again. Unfortunately, she still doesn’t understand how it works. There are many days when she refuses to leave her house because she thinks she might miss a call, even though we’ve explained time and time again that she can take the cell phone with her. She also can’t figure out how to check her voicemail, so it’s pretty pointless to leave her a message. It’s been somewhat frustrating for all of us.

I’m going to talk to my husband about getting his mom the Jitterbug cell phone. The phone has large buttons and is very simple to use. It comes with 24 hours customer service. She could just press a button and be connected with a real person (other than me) that can tell her how to answer her phone or how to dial it. I think she would welcome the idea of being able to really use her phone and not be afraid of all the technology.

Do your elderly parents have trouble using a cell phone?

Tags: Jitterbug