Super Chicago Saturday

Saturday we slept in late AGAIN! Gotta love Lynn & Em's place! They have a 2 bdrm/2 bath condo, and we love the way the second bedroom is made. It is on the inside wall & doesn't have any windows. However, the top of every wall is open about 2-3 feet from the ceiling. So you get filtered light. Nothing direct from a window. We'd been offered the master bedroom for our use, which was sweet of the girls. It has a huge tub & a TV you can watch in bed. But we ended up spending most of our time in the kitchen getting & eating food & drinks. So we were always at the counter bar area or the couch watching the bigger TV. What we loved about "our" bedroom the most, though, was that secluded feeling that kept the light out. It felt great to just sleep in without any light coming in. Sleeping was real cozy! The only downside...if you can call it that...is the fact that you lose track of time sleeping so much. So it wasn't unusual waking up around 10 a.m. CST, which for us was like waking up around noonish since we were used to EST. BUT we aren't complaining. Hubby & I both couldn't think of a time when we were able to sleep in for so long so often. Oh yes, we did get up to take "the boys" for a walk (Em & Lynn's greys). I should say HUBBY did because he was more of a morning person, and I'm sure part of it was that he didn't want to wait for me to try & wake up & get myself dressed. I'm too slow for him. You know guys...throw on a shirt, slip into jeans, and they're good to go. Definitely not as easy for me. Factor in trying to put my contacts in, brush my hair, etc & you'd be waiting WAY too long, according to Hubby. But hey...I love him anyway. I traded him the walk for preparing the boys' food & making him a pot of coffee. So I THINK we may have evened out. No matter what, it was sweet of my Hubby to walk the boys without me.
After taking the boys out, sleeping, taking the boys out again....we went over to Starbucks for another cup of coffee. It's been pretty cold here. Lows were in the 40s. Freezing to a Floridian. We jumped back on the green line & headed back to Oak Park. Hubby had said yesterday that he REALLY wanted to get into the Unity Temple...to see it & hear more about it. So we bought tour tickets. They are only $8, and the docent was a very knowledgeable woman. I was so tempted to ask her if she was an architect now or in a previous life, or possibly even a professor at a nearby college. She was very thorough.
Another strong glimpse into Frank Lloyd Wright's work & life. He loved this little temple. He called it his little jewel box & felt it was his best work of all his religious buildings. He began the design in 1905 to replace the Unitarian Universalist Church that was lost in a fire. As you go into the foyer, look on the wall behind the display of t-shirts & bags for sale. You will find gold-plated nails children pulled from the rubble after the fire of the original church. These nails were given as keepsakes to the people of the congregation. One woman donated hers back to the church upon her death, and it is the one hanging in a frame on the wall.
The church had only a very small budget, so FLW was confined to that budget for rebuilding on the narrow lot & so close to the street. There was also the need to build it in such a way as to its use in a variety of functions. It is currently used for public gatherings, such as musical performances. So FLW built the temple (as the people asked it to be renamed) between 1906 & 1908 for the cost of $60,000. He mainly used reinforced concrete slabs, formed by pouring a mixture of Portland Cement & crushed red granite. Pea gravel or crushed stone aggregate added texture to the exterior roof, floor & walls. His use of concrete helped him stick to within his budget, & it made him one of the earliest to use poured-in-place concrete. (Personally this part of FLW's preference is not one that I like about him. I understand why he used concrete & how it was supposed to be more modern for the times, but I find concrete to be rather bland.) FLW used art glass in doors, windows, skylights & in the light fixtures. He used natural oak in the wood millwork in the window frames, doors, in bands around the concrete areas, & in the organ screen, which is a beauty in & of itself. Much of the furniture was designed by him, but wasn't intended for the temple. He did design church pews for it, but they were never built. A simpler & less expensive set of pews was chosen, again probably due to cost.
On the outside of the temple, the words "FOR THE WORSHIP OF GOD AND THE SERVICE OF MAN" are carved. The temple has two distinct areas. One is for the worship of God & the other is called a meeting room, to be used for social occasions. The two-story social room has a huge hearth & fireplace. The bottom had kitchen, study and classrooms, and balcony classrooms are above. Reopened galleries offer views from the main level through upper clerestory windows.
There's so much more to tell about the Unity Temple, even as simple as its form is. But there is nothing like going to experience it for yourself.

After Hubby & I enjoyed the tour, bought a book & a CD to go with t-shirts from the day before, we headed out on a walk around town. We'd visited inside the township's library before heading in for the Unity Temple tour. Now we headed behind the temple for a few blocks & over to another section south of the loop. There we ate at a simple family restaurant called George's. It had a mixture of all-American & Greek food. Try the gyro pita! The sauce was on the mark! Then we discovered K9 Cookie Company, "the bakery & boutique for discerning dogs", voted best bakery for dogs in Chicagoland. Of course, we just couldn't resist taking homemade doggy treats back to our "furry nephews" back at the condo. We also bought extra to take home to our own furry "relatives" who always expect SOMEthing upon our return. The boys here LOVED them! You can find them at k9cookiecompany.com if interested.
Then we headed "home". We debated going down to Grant Park. We really wanted to see the fountain at night. But we discovered that part of the Loop was closed down for renovations. So we decided to stay in & ordered pizza (Pat's Pizzeria, 628 S. Clark, (312)427-2320..."not affiliated with Pat's Pizza at 2679 N. Lincoln Avenue"). Their saying is "we think our thin crust is the best in the world", and if you like crispy, credit-card-thin pizza like Hubby & I do, this is the place to order. (By the way, a relative owns the one at Lincoln Avenue, though they parted ways. It ALSO has fantastic pizza!) Be sure to try the garlic bread, baked with mozzarella, while you're at it, too!
Tomorrow: Sunday...time to head home... :-(
But we enjoyed this so much. We hope to be able to come back soon & discover more of Chicago. With over 9,000 restaurants ALONE to try, there's still a lot of adventure left!
~sher

Flying in...

Everything went like clockwork on Monday! YEAAA!!! I used some comp time I had coming to me so that I could leave right on time as my students were leaving. My hubby picked me up outside of school. For ONCE I actually had all of my suitcase packed & ready for him at home so that all he had to do was pick me up. And for ONCE I was on time! I was so proud of myself!
So we shot right over to the airport. We flew out at 3:50 pm ET, which come to find out is an excellent time to fly. There were "no lines-no waiting". I even had time to hit the potty (quite necessary for a teacher's bladder at this time of day), & time for each of us to grab a Starbucks & some extra magazines. Not too long of a wait to get on board. We were almost afraid...or I should say IIII was almost afraid we wouldn't get a seat together, but we did.
Here's something truly embarrassing to admit. I've flown before, but not very often. I can probably count on one hand how many times I've flown anywhere, and most of those times have been since my hubby & I married. This time for me was a bit unnerving, and I don't know why. I can only speculate that it's because I was tired. I'd been up until 2a.m. to make sure my lesson plans were "perfect" while I was gone. I am one of those teachers who has to type out each day & leave specifics. I've just had so many subs over the years who just don't "get" or follow the plans that teachers leave. So I feel like I have to spell it all out. Fortunately... & possibly wisely...I've learned to type a basic framework or template that I copy & use over & over again. But this week in particular has been so busy & stressful. In fact, the day after we return from Chicago, the state & the county are coming in to visit our classrooms. Supposedly two teams of 3-4 people will be coming in to observe us at 15 minutes each visit. So yeah...nervewracking. I've told myself...PROMISED myself...that I wouldn't let it bother me. I'm ticked enough that our schools are held accountable for the results of ONE test, which we don't even do to our students. Could you imagine grading a STUDENT on ONE test & telling the parents whether or not they pass or fail based upon that one test alone? Even with FCAT, there are possible exceptions for the students, but none that I see for the schools. So when you work for a "focus" school (read that as an "F" school), the one test pass or fail is what you get.
So possibly my flight jitters were due to all of the above. I flew up here to Chicago to visit our same friends back in June, and the same thing happened. I teared up. I mean, I got so emotional on these two flights that I feel downright silly. This time I actually had a tear streaming down my face & felt like blubbering like a baby. But I didn't. Having the Love of my Life there actually helped. I realized a bit later I was gripping him rather tightly. I just couldn't help it. I wonder if anyone else acts so silly... Some turbulance didn't help.
Finally, though, we landed safely. It was fun & felt adventurous to find our way on our own from Midway on the Loop to our friends' home in the Clinton area of Chicago. It was just beginning to get dark. Outside the window was a stunning full moon. Creeping through the Loop system was a bit romantic & a bit gothic. The shadows & lights made typical buildings look like staged sets.
We arrived at the Clinton stop & found our way down the wheelchair ramp to the street level. As we looked around, we found our friends staring back at us diagonally across the street corner. It was wonderful seeing them again! Emily is my artist friend. You will find a link for her work in my fav sites. Her partner, Lynn, is a pharmacist, for lack of a better descriptive term. I say that because I know she works or has worked as a regional director for her company & I'm not so sure what all her job entails, except a lot of smarts. Em & Lynn are both champions of animals. We met through BAGA (Bay Area Greyhound Adoption) in Tampa. They have & foster greyhounds, as we do. I also appreciate them for being more laidback like Hubby & I are. While they enjoy friends & the arts, they're more easygoing & fun to hang out with. I don't feel like I have to run around all the time when I'm with them. They know how to enjoy good company & a good glass of wine now & then. Lynn makes a mean glass of sangria coupled with champagne. My fav! And so sweet of them to have that on hand for our stay. I keep telling them they've spoiled us. They even had a gift card ready ahead of time for us so I could enjoy my Starbucks while here & while at every street corner! ha! I've lost count on how many are in Chicago, but I now know of about 4 within a couple of blocks of E & L's place. Two are in the works.

Tomorrow: First day of Chicago
~sher