Melissa's Idea Garden

My Malayan Sun Bear Photos Are Published

2008-07-05T12:41:51Z

This morning I woke up to an invitation to include my Malayan Sun Bear photos in an article on the Serious Underestimation of Wildlife Extinction Rates.

A wonderful way to start my day!

Chicago...Day 2 Fireworks!

2008-07-05T03:58:01Z

Well, we saw the fireworks. Actually, they were a bit disappointing. They started about 15 minutes early and lasted for about 10 minutes. As we were walking home, we saw other fireworks in the distance...maybe we attended the wrong show....

Because things had ended so early, we treated ourselves to a 30 minute horse carrige ride. It was absolutely wonderful and made Katrina's night.

For photos of our evening, you can check out my Fireworks Set on Flickr.

It is hard to take pictures of fireworks, but my camera has a fireworks setting, I had to try it out...It was fun and some of the effects were very cool!

Chicago...Day 2

2008-07-05T01:12:26Z

First a couple of moments I forgot to mention yesterday. We ordered Deep Dish Chicago pizza for supper! They sure make it different here...and one piece is a meal! I would never say that back home. A corn meal deep dish crust. Then comes a layer of cheese, then veggies or whatever toppings, then the sauce. It was about an inch thick and it was awesome!!!! Also, as it was our first night here at the Sofitel, we were surprised with trays of milk, cookies, chocolate covered strawberries and bottles of water from Norway. Very neat!

Last night Katrina, Jack and I watched the fireworks from our bedroom windows. It was cool, even though we couldn't see them completely for buildings. Tonight we are walking to Navy Pier to see the big firework show.

Today we got up a bit earlier than planned. I told Jack that we would try and leave by 9. Well, at 7, I was still in bed, thinking about getting up when a knock came at our door. Jack couldn't believe we were still in bed. He thought it was 9! He had just woke up, looked at the clock on his computer (which said 8 a.m. because it is on East Coast time). Instead of subtracting an hour, he added an hour and viola...it was 9!!!! He got up and dressed quickly, let me tell you.

We spent about an hour waking up, then headed to McDonald's for breakfast.

]]> After breakfast, I grabbed us a cab (it was easy peasy) and we headed to Shedd's Aquarium!

What an amazing place! I took 208 photos, but in the end, only 38 of them made the cut for you, faithful reader. It is really hard to take pictures of critters underwater and behind glass. But some turned out okay and a couple turned out really well. You can check out my Shedd Aquarium Set at Flickr.

We were at the Aquarium from 9-2 or so. Our Go Chicago Card was awesome. We arrived a few moments before nine and the line for the aquarium already had about 100 people in it...and no I am not kidding! But we got to go to the doors marked 'will call'...a special interest for those with the Go Chicago Card. We were in touring in no time...

After the Aquarium, we met Daniel at the Sears Tower and proceeded up to the Sky Deck. Again, our Go Chicago Card moved us ahead in lines. And the view was awesome. The last few pictures of my Flickr set are from the Sky Tower. Check out the tons of people at A Taste of Chicago....amazing! Then we came back to the hotel. Daniel and I ordered Chinese and I walked a couple of blocks to McDonald's for the kids' dinner.

We came back to the room and laid out our plans for tonight and tomorrow. The kids and I are going to see the fireworks tonight. Daniel just isn't that interested in seeing them, plus he was to be well rested for our adventures tomorrow. Having flat feet keeps him from joining us with a lot of things.

Before I head off, I am going to share a couple of my favorite photos from today here:

This little guy was just so clear and colorful!

This lizard has his eye on dinner!

Emerald Tree Boa

Eating? Yawning? Breathing? Make a guess and I will tell you the answer.

Spider Crabs - 2 or 4?

Dolphins jumping!

Well, time to leave for the fireworks. Several people have left me comments and sent me emails. I will answer as soon as I can!

Chicago....Day 1

2008-07-04T01:04:02Z

Years ago, I started a tradition of keeping handwritten journals of our vacations. As I have said, we love to travel and it was a great way to keep up with fun things we did and have them to review later. Now, I can do the same on my blog and the whole world can have the joy of reading what we have been up to...

So for today... Katrina and I hit the Goodwill this morning. I had forgotten to pack her a jacket and the evening temperatures here are going to be a bit cool (plus, it is the windy city and we had some wind today). While at the Goodwill, I also found each of us a patriotic shirt to wear for tomorrow! I couldn't believe I was able to find one for each of us the day before the Fourth of July.

We left for Chicago around 12. I volunteered to drive in...whatever was I thinking? But our Garmin GPS directed us right where we needed to be. There was a bit of traffic of course, but we survived and I didn't cause any accidents:)

Our hotel is something else. The valet ran away with our car (which we are leaving parked for the duration). The bellboy helped get our luggage to our room. The concierge wasn't at her desk when we arrived, so she made a special trip upstairs to our room to introduce herself, give us some tips and give us four complimentary days worth of internet hookup....unfortunately, we had already paid to hook up by the time she came to see us...grrrr....

]]> Daniel ordered Chicago Deep Dish pizza because he felt like since we were here, we should definitely sample that. Katrina and I found directions on google maps so we could head to Shops at Northbridge to get our Go Chicago Passes. On the way, we passed a Ghiradelli shop, a Hershey Shop, the Chicago Historic Water Tower, Water Tower Place, a Disney Store, Neiman Marcus, Macy's and many more. It was easy to spot the tourists...we were all looking up at the tall buildings and consulting maps to figure out where we were.

After we secured the tickets, Katrina and I marveled at some art work along the sidewalk:

We also listened to some fun tunes on a saxophone and watched a 'Tin Man' (guy painted in silver) do the moonwalk.

We took a couple of photos of the Historic Chicago Water Tower and the Water Tower Place Mall (which I have been told is a primo place for shopping).

This picture of the Water Tower would have been better if the trees and people weren't in the way! But it was the only way I could get a photo of the whole thing.

Then here is the Water Tower Place full of great shops and the Hancock Center in the background.

A closer view of another side of the Chicago Water Tower.

You can notice in the below picture that the combination of shorts, wind and shadows had Katrina a tad on the chilly side.

And then we stopped at the Hershey Store. Katrina just had to go in and see the 10 lb candy bar that was on display...As we walked in the door, we were greeted by a gentleman handing out chocolates. We were surrounded by the sights and smells of chocolate. We saw children going about with Hershey Factory Worker hats...well, the hats were free, but after watching the fun, I went on and paid for Katrina to get an id and a bucket of chocolate.

Here she is turning the machine wheels that will make the chocolate fall down into her bucket...and if you look closely you will be able to see a lady buying a huge bottle of chocolate syrup in the background. The gentleman who was manning this fun time, did an excellent job and really made the whole event fun and memorable for Katrina and for other children.

Katrina told me she didn't know we were coming to the beach. That's because she saw this view from our window...waves, water to the horizon...sure does look a lot like the ocean.

Another view from our window is a large church next to an apartment building with a pool on the roof. This church was probably built early in the 1900s...it is weird to see the smaller buildings interspersed with the really tall ones.

And here you can see some green rooftops on the apartment buildings next to us.

More pictures will be coming soon. Now we are settled in and will see what we can see of tonight's fireworks from our windows. There are more fireworks tomorrow night at Navy Pier and we plan to go see those.

Have a lovely Fourth of July!

A Picture of Jack...

2008-07-04T00:50:48Z

When he returned from Go Tell Camp with his bible under his arm.

Jack had a wonderful time and is already excited about going next year.

Please Lift Up My Bloggy Friend...

2008-07-03T13:02:20Z

I have a bloggy friend, named Nikowa, who writes on her blog, Knowledge House Academy. She is suffering from the untimely loss of her 46 year old mother. This is a situation where like Heath Ledger and Anna Nicole.

Her mother was prescribed too many medications by the same doctor that had interactions and led her mother to take her own life. This is not just something that can happen to celebrities, it can happen to our moms, dads, brothers, sisters, brothers, friends, us.

Please stop by and visit Nikowa. Offer your words of comfort and support. And maybe, her situation can help you or someone you love before it is too late.

I Love to Travel...

2008-07-02T20:40:04Z

...and that is what has helped to make hanging out in Illinois so much fun for me. I am hoping some of Daniel's and my love for travel will rub off on them.

Tomorrow we will be leaving for Chicago, apparently along with 2,999,996 other people...oh well, at least there will be plenty of opportunities for 'socialization'!

While there, we will be staying at the Sofitel Water Tower. Daniel found this place through Expedia.com and chose it for location and rating. It looks very posh (I am always worried I will stand out in some way as not posh enough when Daniel picks places like this). We are hoping for a high up room with a great view of the fireworks (which if I have figured right, there will be fireworks Thursday night, Friday night and Saturday night! The kids will be in heaven!

On Friday, the kids and I plan to spend the day at Shedd's Aquarium. Not sure if Daniel will join us as it isn't his thing, but we are very excited about going. And my favorite reptile will be there too! We purchased the Go Chicago Card and we will be using it to go to Shedd's Aquarium.

]]> On Saturday, we will use our Go Chicago Card to take either the North Side Tour or the Gray Line South Shore Tour. We will try to take the other tour on Sunday morning.

Saturday afternoon I want us to visit the Navy Pier which seems to be Chicago's Fisherman's Wharf. There are rides that we can ride courtesy of our Go Card... that Go Card is a great deal! We used it when we visited San Francisco years ago. And I am not getting paid for this, just wanting to share a way for you to save money when visiting big cities. Anyway, we can ride the Ferris Wheel, the Carousel, and the Wave Swinger Ride. We can also play Adventure Golf and maybe ride The Lighthouse. The downside is that our tickets make it so we have to go there before 5:30 pm...oh well, it will still be fun.

I am trying to talk Daniel into a Fireworks cruise on Saturday night...

Sunday afternoon, we are going on the Spirit of Chicago Sunday Brunch Cruise. When we get back, we are going to use our Go Card and visit The Sears Tower Sky Deck

We will also use our Go Card to visit the Museum of Science and Technology, probably on Monday.

Monday evening, we head back to Bloomington.

I am not sure, but I think we are going to need to take a nap after our busy time in Chicago.

I haven't decided if I will take my computer with me or not...but either over the weekend or next week, I will share pictures of our visit. And maybe some video too!

I hope all of you have a wonderful Fourth of July weekend!

Netflix Rocks (because they listen)

2008-07-01T14:27:31Z

Two years ago, I signed up for Netflix. DH prefers to own the movies he watches, but there are lots of movies out there that you don't find at the local stores. Plus the whole idea of having movies arrive at my home in my mailbox and being able to choose from thousands of titles was very enticing to me. I have to say, I am enjoying Netflix, even though Daniel refuses to watch any movie with me that I get from there. It goes against his principle...though he will watch movies I borrow from the library, go figure!

Anyway, we have gotten lots of use out of Netflix. The kids and I have found tons of documentaries that we have used in our homeschool studies. I have introduced them to some of my favorite television shows from when I was a kid (Wonder Woman and Star Trek). I have watched movies I have never heard of and shared some Disney classics with them - The Love Bug, The Cat from Outer Space, The Shaggy Dog (the first one) and more. About 6 months ago, I learned about profiles. I set the kids each up a profile and now they go in and pick the movies they want to watch. I get to set the ratings limits. It's awesome. Now when a movie under my profile goes back to Netflix, it picks the next one in line from my profile. If Jack's movie goes back, then he gets sent the next under his profile. This is awesome and a great time saver. I was going in and having to manipulate my list based on whether I had a movie lined up for me or for the kids and manually move things around. I was soooo happy to find the profiles feature.

]]> About a month ago, Netflix sent round a letter saying that beginning September 1st, they were doing away with profiles. WHAT!!!! Their letter said this would help them to provide better service. I couldn't figure out how that would be...So I called and politely lodged a complaint. I told the very nice person I spoke with that we used the profiles a lot and I was really disappointed that they were being removed. I told him that I realized they probably wouldn't change their mind, but I felt it important to let them know how I feel.

Yesterday, Netflix sent round another email that they will be keeping profiles. Apparently, I was not the only one unhappy with this change. It is so awesome to have a company that actually listens to its customers! Thank you Netflix!

And if you have been thinking about joining Netflix but haven't been sure, I just want to say, go for it! The company is responsive to customers, they have 24 hour phone customer service (real people here) and they have more movies than you ever have time to watch! And no, they are not paying me to say any of this! But when a company shows that my opinion matters, I want to share that with others!

Book Review: The Grand Scheme by Kathy Herman

2008-06-28T11:55:05Z

I recently read and reviewed Never Look Back by Kathy Herman.

Because I wanted to see what happened to this family and these characters, I ordered the follow-up book, The Grand Scheme. Kathy has an amazing way of writing an inspirational book that isn't preachy yet gives the reader wonderful examples about how to live the life of a Christ follower. She addresses tough issues in this book - envy and anger being the two top ones. And as if it wasn't enough for her to write a story that will inspire you in your Christian walk, she writes a story that includes mystery, suspense and real world issues. And she creates characters that you really care about and will have emotional responses to.

I recommend you checking out Kathy Herman's Phantom Hollow Series. I believe you will really enjoy it. And, if you find yourself liking her style of writing, don't stop there, Kathy has written several other books...in fact, I am eyeing the Seaport series to enjoy next!

Happy reading!

Movie Review: The Invisible

2008-06-27T02:12:14Z

Tonight, I was surfing through the 5 million channels and actually found a couple of movies that looked interesting. I chose The Invisible because it was listed as a suspense movie and it looked like it was a supernatural story. Reminiscent of Sixth Sense, Dragonfly, and Ghost, this story is about the thin line between life and death and our ability to walk it. This is a story about redemption, love, and understanding. I really enjoyed it and I recommend it to anyone who likes the movies I mentioned.

Video: Check Out This Sensible Idea For Helping with Rising Food Costs

2008-06-26T23:54:41Z

Watch this video from National Geographic. It shows a senisble idea that is being considered to help cut back on food costs. How do you feel about the proposal? Personally, I am all for it!

Video: Check Out The Toilet of The Future...Already in use in Japan!

2008-06-26T23:43:27Z

WOW! This toilet exudes pleasant scents, provides cover up sounds, checks your blood pressure, tests your urine and more! Check it out with this video from National Geographic

Video: Spinning Skyscraper...This is just weird!

2008-06-26T23:36:11Z

I heard about this the other day. Check out the video on National Geographic. I suffer a bit from motion sickness when I am a passenger in a car...I can't imagine what it would be like to be in this building!

My 21 Hours Alone and 'Knee Knews'

2008-06-26T22:49:03Z

Well, I took Kayley and Katrina to Kayley's house about 7 pm last night. Katrina wasn't thrilled about going. She was having a missing mom moment, but I told her she really needed to go because I had a long day ahead on Thursday and that she wouldn't want to be tagging along with me. She called about nine o'clock and said her ankle hurt and that Kayley wanted Katrina to give away one of her Care Bears to her sisters baby and Katrina didn't want to do that. After I talked to her a few moments, she said goodnight and went about her business. Between 7 and 9:30, I did dishes, made a list of things I needed to do, got the trash and recycling together, answered emails and watched a little television. I went to bed about (9:30 and read a book until about 11.

Today I was up at 6. I took Katrina's goggles to her at Kayley's house before driving to Bedford for my knee MRI. I was quickly checked in and after filling out questions about metal in my body and past surgeries, I was ushered back to the MRI trailer. I thought I would have to put on a hospital robe, but I guess because it was my knee, I got to lay down in my street clothes. My knee was placed on a padded thing. I was given headphones that were tuned to the radio station of my choice and was told it would take 25 minutes for the MRI to be complete. During that time I was not to move. I was also given a little bulb thing that I could squeeze if I needed to be brought out of the 'tunnel'. I didn't have to go all the way in, which I was grateful for. I can see how it would be very hard for a claustrophobic person. I listened to the songs and tried to ingore the itch under my nose and the fact that I felt like I was going to sneeze and the fact that my right arm was falling asleep on me.

]]> When I was done, they pulled me out and let me go. I headed to the local library. I had heard they had redone the library and put in a coffee shop. I was thinking Starbucks...silly me. There was a canister of tea, a canister of coffee and then some things to choose from like: biscotti, trail mix, cheese danishes. You paid the librarian, she then gave me tokens to put in the token jar (not sure why they do it that way). When I got to the library, I had to wait for about 25 minutes because it was only 8:35 and the library didn't open until 9. They have a lovely garden and I enjoyed sitting in it and playing solitaire on my DS lite.

I worked on My What Color is Your Parachute Book for awhile. Some interesting things are coming out. Working in an attorney's office, working for an employment agency, working on a newspaper or for a book publisher, working in a museum...these are some of the top things that came out of my work today. About 10:30, I packed up and headed to the Nissan place in Lynchburg for an oil change and tire rotation. That took about 40 minutes. While there I played some more solitaire.

Then I heade to Givens, a local bookstore that serves sandwiches, pastries and coffee. I got a venti chai, a yummy portabello mushroom sandwich with onions and tomato and lettuce on french bread, some tortilla chips with spicy bean dip and a to die for almond cookie. I read, ate my lunch and waited for my mom. She had a 12:00 Dentist appointment and didn't think she would be able to eat when she was done, but wanted to come meet me. She got there a little after 1 and we visited until a little after 2. I had a Mexican Spiced Mocha...that was tasty too. And I have had more caffeine today than I would normally have in a week. After our visit, I headed to Forest for my Dr. Appointment.

His words after talking with the MRI reader were 'basically, you have arthritis and your knee is full of junk...' Basically, the bones that come together in my knee are rubbing together and slightly out of joint. There is 'junk' (torn cartilage, bone dust or chips, that sort of thing). I have an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon in August. It will probably involve suctioning out the junk and then there are a couple of therapy options from there. My doctor told me I would probably need knee replacement surgery due to the arthritis, but they usually don't do that on someone so young. I am thinking...hey, I want a working knee while I am still young enough to enjoy it!

I stopped by CVS and picked up a couple of prescriptions, then I headed to get Katrina and Kayley for another night of fun.

Not the worst or best way to spend 21 hours alone, but it was productive:)

Movie Review: The Simple Life of Noah Dearborn

2008-06-25T15:39:28Z

My most recent Netflix movie was The Simple Life of Noah Dearborn. In fact, it is finishing up while I am typing this...

The description from the Netflix envelope:

"Small-town farmer Noah Dearborn (Sidney Poitier) lives an uncomplicated existence till shady developer Christian Nelson (George Newbern) tries to usurp his family's land. Nelson will do anything to take Noah's property, including hiring a shrink (Mary-Louise Parker) to have him declared insane. What Nelson doesn't anticipate is Noah forming an unbreakable bond with the doctor that proves stronger than anything the land baron can dish out."

This is a story of how we think our modern way of life is best and how our 'meaningful helpfulness' can be very misguided. It is also a story of the corporation versus the 'little guy' and the 'little guy wins'. Sidney Poitier still does excellent work! If you want a movie that will warm your heart, I recommend this one.

This movie is PG and it is excellent. I give it 5 stars!