And we’re back! Takaza and I spent the last few days down in St. Louis visiting with my parents and my sister’s family. We had a very enjoyable time, and Christmas was lovely. We visited Soulard Market (though many vendors were closed for the holidays) and got lost (willingly) in downtown St. Louis. Mostly, though, it was just fun to spend time with the family.

The trip down was a bit unpleasant, as we were leaving Chicago in the throes of a snowstorm. Things were much better after we got south of Joliet, but the 40 mph crosswinds between Bloomington and St. Louis made driving difficult. The drive back was a lot more pleasant, though. We detoured into Alton, Illinois on a quest to find Pietown Stompin’ Grounds (visited by Alton Brown in Feasting on Asphalt 2: The River Run) only to find that it was completely closed and out of business – but the website is still up? Bah. We instead stopped for breakfast at Forgettable Family Restaurant #2,341 and then hit the road north. We detoured onto I-39 from Bloomington and came across the nifty wind farm near Mendota, Illinois. Dan took a bunch of pictures – for some reason, I found the sight fascinating.

And here we are in a new, but short, week. Dan has gone off to work; he works today and tomorrow, while I don’t have to go back until next Monday. Hooray! I shan’t be idle today, though. We have a ton of preparations for our New Year’s festivities, starting with a huge shopping trip this morning. I’m making four pans of lasagna, and Dan will be cooking up about twenty pounds of chicken tonight. We’ve got a bunch of other cooking to do, so we’ll be busy today and tomorrow. After that, it’s off to party!