It's a pretty good Thanksgiving weekend so far. I worked through Wednesday ( which was an early day) then Beth and I took off for Michigan that night. Dinner on Thursday was at her sister Pam's. Ric & Nickie, Ryan, Sam, Stephanie & John, Julia, Pam & Marve, Mom G, and Beth and I all had a very nice dinner. Everyone else went to Chicago the next day to visit the Shedd Aquarium except Beth & me, because Beth didn't feel up to a 2-1/2 hour drive, walking around all day, then another 2-1/2 hour drive. We took Mom G home with us instead on Friday. We had somewhat of an ordeal getting two new tires on the Saturn at Sears right before we left, including "OK Mr. Knight, you're all set" after 2 hours, when I could see the car hadn't been moved from where I parked it. Today we went to see "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets," which I really enjoyed. I wonder who will play Dumbledore in the next movie since Richard Harris has died. Bowling was next. I had one of my best games (182) followed by struggling in the next (114) and a near average (138) in the third. Beth is still able to bowl around the baby (85-104-120), but maybe not for much longer.

Beth had another ultrasound today with an OB/GYN specialist in Fort Wayne. We didn't get any new pictures to keep, but the doctor did tell us he was 70% sure that it was "outdoor plumbing." We have another appointment with him in December, at which time he says he'll be able to give us a guarantee (don't paint anything, he said this time), but for now it looks like we'll have a little boy.

This past week I spent two days in Chicago with a group from work going to the Pack Expo. An exposition of packaging machinery may not sound really exciting to some, but there was a LOT of really cool stuff there. It was at McCormick Center, so you know it was huge. I was looking mostly for powder filling and ampule handling equipment but I also found a heat sealer that I plan on buying next week. After the first full day of walking around looking at machines, the group headed for the hotel, which was an adventure in itself. I was the only one in two miniwan loads who knew how to get around in Chicago, but do I get to drive or even ride shotgun? Noooo. Anyway, we were looking for the W Chicago Lakeshore hotel, which is on Lake Shore Drive, but the driver thought it was called the Lakeshore Hotel so that's what we were looking for and trying to call information for a phone number...no luck. Anyway, we drove around in big circles around Lake Shore drive, Ontario Street, Lincoln Park, and Michigan Avenue trying to find the place, even stopping to ask directions at this other hotel before finally figuring out the correct name of the hotel about 3 or 4 loops later. It turned out to be the one we had stopped to ask directions at. Then of course, my room (and one other guy's) wasn't ready, which puzzled us since it was about 7 pm. It took so long for them to get the rooms ready the gave us two free drinks at their bar, which was staffed by three people, one of whom looked like she must have been the house call girl, which was fitting because the room itself looked as though they were expecting me to bring a hooker there. Black ceiling, lots of wicker, shutters going into the bathroom, big fluffy bed with lots of pillows, etc. We all went to the Chicago Chop House for dinner, which has been voted the best steak house in America 3 years running. The wait for a party of 9 was 2 hours, but if we were a party of 4 and a party of 5 it was only an hour, so most of us went across the street to the Hard Rock Cafe for drinks and appetizers, bringing a cell phone so another guy could call us when the table was ready in about an hour. He called us before the drinks and appetizers had arrived. We tried to cancel the order but it was too late. I ran over to help get the table because I hadn't ordered a drink, but the others stayed to pay. It was about $45 for scarfed nachos and gulped drinks. Nobody wanted to stay out after dinner so we went back to the hotel and retired. (Up to that point, being in Chicago with 8 other guys from work had reminded me of being in a port of call in the navy)

Beth's been feeling a little stir crazy lately, what with being home sick for so long (She had a double ear infection, sinus infection, and pharyngitis until about 4 or 5 days ago) and me working so much. Last weekend I spent full days at work both Saturday and Sunday so we didn't have much of a weekend, so Friday night I took her to Fort Wayne for dinner and shopping at Babies R Us. Yesterday we had a men's jewelry party (for men to buy Christmas presents for their wives...not men's jewelry!) which went pretty well, about $300 in sales. She has another party today, 8 this month altogether, I think. We bought the van to pull the camper next spring. It needs a trailer hitch and new tires, otherwise it's really a nice vehicle. And this year I couldn't bring myself to pay any attention at all to the World Series. Just didn't care.