When last we left yr. humble narrator, he was dragging badly from not enough sleep but still very happy to have made it to the sneak preview of Serenity the night before. Friday evening was enjoyable, though. datahawk came over, and pizza was ordered. We hung out, watched some TV, and generally relaxed. I went to bed around 10, but takaza and Data stayed up until ridiculous hours of the night chatting, which is cool. I admit that when I woke up at 1:30 and saw Dan wasn’t in bed yet, I had the same pang of jealousy I get when I’m at conventions, that Dan is out having fun without me. Then I realize that I’m too damn tired to move from the bed, and it’s hard to have much fun when you’re face down on the table snoring 🙂

I was up early on Saturday and enjoyed a mellow morning of surfing around on my laptop, playing some Ratchet and Clank, and enjoying the quiet. Once Dan got up at about 11, it was time to start moving. The original plan was for us to visit rolliebear up in Milwaukee, then head down to McHenry to have a nice Mother’s Day dinner with Dan’s mom. We got to Milwaukee a wee bit later than expected (Sorry Rollie!), and proceeded to get a nice tour of the city. As we were driving around Dan’s mom called, saying there had been a death in his extended family, and that she would be in Rockford for the rest of the weekend. Rollie offered to make some tasty homemade pizza for dinner. Yum!

Our travails took us to The Spice House, where I gleefully (finally) spent the gift certificate that Rollie was so kind to give me last Christmas. From there it was over to a nifty little Italian grocery, then to Alterra Coffee, which is every bit as great as I’ve heard it is. Then it was back to Rollie’s place for some nice company (and plenty of time to snuggle and play with his dog Kira, who is simply adorable!). The pizzas were outstanding, and it was with regret that we took our leave at around 10 for the long trip back to Chicago.

On Sunday I finally pulled my bike out of the garage and put it to good use. I did a short, six-mile out-and-back along the North Shore Channel Trail (up to Touhy and back). The fact that I was pretty winded after that tells you how badly out of shape I am, but I’m working to fix that. I hope to do more bike riding now that the weather’s better, but maybe in a day or two – 1. It’s raining outside right now, and 2. Man, but butt is sore! I need to get a better seat for that thing. Dinner was a quick run up to Charcoal Delight, thereby negating any good that might have come from my ride. I have discovered that I do enjoy the canonical Chicago Hot Dog, though.

So tonight I’m hoping to stop by the gym near us (finally!) and check out their facilities and rates. Looking ahead, we’re going to help Synicism (aka jimcyl) celebrate his birthday with dinner on Wednesday, and on Saturday I’ll have the fun of helping to re-organize the Midwest FurFest storage locker. I’m not looking forward to that much, but it needs to be done.

Time to wrap up a few things before heading home!