OK, I seem to be backsliding in my journal entries. Something to work on, I reckon. In the meantime, here is yet another bulleted list of what’s been going on since my last entry.

• Thursday, July 29: Had dinner with daveqat, jimcyl, and linnaeus at The Hop Haus in Rogers Park. the main excuse was to pass flyer for Rocky Mountain Fur Con to Dave, but the company was excellent regardless. The food was…whelming. Like Leona’s (which owns the Hop Haus), the food was plentiful, somewhat expensive, and overall pretty average. A decent beer list helped, though.
• Friday, July 30: Takaza and I didn’t do much that night, but we did have the adventure of attempting to trip Buddy’s nails. In case you’re wondering: he’s not a fan. At all. It eventually took a rodeo hold and a belt improvised into a muzzle to get the job done, and I think everyone involved was somewhat traumatized. In the future, maybe we’ll wait until we have him on tranquilizers for thunderstorms before we try that again.
• Saturday, July 31: It was Linnaeus’ birthday! We had lunch with Linnaeus, roho, and genet at The Firkin in Libertyville, and true to their roller-coaster variability of food quality, most of the meals were merely adequate. Again, the beer list is excellent, and the company was extremely enjoyable so we didn’t much care. Afterward we adjourned back to Roho & Genet’s for a pleasant afternoon and evening of video games, chatting, and imbibing. We had a great time, as always.
• Sunday, August 1: We did nothing. It was great!
• Not much notable the next week, but on Thursday, August 5, I stayed home in the morning to supervise the belated 11-month warranty work. It was mainly a lot of patching nail pops, etc., but they also repaired some tiles in the parlor bath and replaced a pipe under the kitchen sink. It was notable that I talked to the painter as they were wrapping me up and he quoted me $150 plus the cost of the paint to paint our stairwell and upstairs hallway, and for another $50 (plus paint) he’d do the parlor bath. Um, wow. We’ll be having some painting done sooner than later, I think.
• Friday, August 6: Both Dan and I wanted to go out, so after consulting with a cow-orker, I chose Medusa Grill and Bistro in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. It was a really good call – the saganaki was very tasty, and the various grilled meats we had were divine. Of special note was the house-made gelato and the “chocolate eclair crepe” which was every bit as decadent as it sounds.
• Saturday, August 7: I was raring to get some stuff done so I showered early (waking up Dan – oops) and drove into Grayslake. I had to drop off my glasses, which were getting stress cracks in the lenses (due to poor quality, which apparently the lab that we are required to use under Dan’s insurance is known for). I should have the glasses back in two weeks or so – good thing I still have my old pair! I walked next door when I was done and after poking around a little bit, I made something of an impulse purchase, though I’ve been wanting one for a few years now: a new bicycle. I’m hoping to use it to improve my overall stamina, and maybe enjoy some nice bike rides once the weather cools off a bit.

  We capped off the evening by having some fun planning our trip to Michigan this coming weekend: we’ll be taking the Lake Express ferry from Milwaukee, WI to Muskegon, MI, spending the night in Grand Rapids, then driving down to Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti to hang out with the Furry Connection North crew and attend an FCN staff meeting. We had considered making last-minute plans to attend IndyFurCon, but we both agreed that after Anthrocon we’re both burned out enough on conventions that we’d prefer to wait until Midwest FurFest for our next con.

• Sunday, August 8: After enjoying our dinner at Medusa in Lake Geneva on Friday, we walked past an interesting-looking restaurant at the other end of the block called Simple Cafe. After doing a bit more research and finding it to be a breakfast/lunch joint focused on local produce and products, we made arrangements to have brunch there with Roho, Genet, aureth, and jenwolf. I had the steak and eggs, which was quite tasty, and Dan’s pancakes were transcendent. What a great meal. We’ll definitely be going back! I spent the rest of the day bumming around the house and working on the Midwest FurFest website. I’ve just about got some new forums whipped into shape, but I’m working with daemionfox to put the finishing touches on it before rolling it out.

So there you have it – all caught up! We were woken up at 4:15 AM this morning by a nasty thunderstorm rolling through, followed quickly by a trembling dog attempting to climb into bed with us. I’m running slightly sleep-deprived today, but not too badly. We’ve got a busy week coming up, and some fun travel this weekend. I’m looking forward to it!