Of cow horses, museums and loogies

It's a quiet evening here in DeKalb.

Julie's sitting across the dining room table from me, playing "Pull Tabs" on Facebook and asking me if I'm blogging. Her kids have all gone out for the evening (although Hailey just got home a bit ago from a mixer at her high school), and she and I just had a scrumptious dinner from Dairy Queen.

Yes, I said Dairy Queen. No, it's not what she originally planned to have tonight: Julie originally planned to cook chicken, corn and potatoes on the grill, but since the family had other plans tonight, it was just her and me. No sense in grilling that much food for the two of us, so after hanging out at the house for a bit until we were both hungry, we went out for a quick bite.

It's been a good visit. My love is back at work, although she hates working where she works with a passion. I wish she could find something else, a job where she didn't have to get up at 2:30 in the morning, something a bit more 9-to-5. I know she's put out a couple applications. She'll get interviews, I know...she's too good not to hire.

Speaking of interviews, I have one back in the 'Burgh next week. Not gonna say anything more about it yet. Just wish me "luck".

So it seems that the "CowHorse" teasing is (mostly) a thing of the past. We've found something new to tease me about...

Last Sunday, we (as in the whole family: me, Julie and all the kids) went into Chicago to visit the Museum of Science and Industry. Since we became members of Pittsburgh's Carnegie Museums, there's a great program that gives us free admission into virtually any science museum in the country. All seven of us got in for free...yes, free. It was a bargain, and the membership almost paid for itself.

We got there about 45 minutes before the museum opened, so we walked around: We went over to Lake Michigan and wandered around the grounds. As we were waiting on the front steps, I wanted to get a family photo. I had everyone pose (something silly was the order of the day), and then took a shot.

Well, I wanted to be in the picture as well, so I figured I'd mark the spot where I stood, have Julie's oldest son (who's pretty damn good with a camera, let me tell you) take a picture of us with me in it, and Photoshop myself in place later.

Only thing was, I didn't have anything to mark my spot, so I...well...

Earlier in the trip, Julie and I were talking about hocking loogies. (These are some of the highbrow intellectual conversations we have.) I figured...hock one of those bad boys up, drop it on the ground and that'll work.

Seems I didn't take the wind into consideration...and it landed right on my shoe.

The laughter was uproarious. Her youngest son, Cory, never laughed so hard. He was almost crying.

I just stood there, looking down, staring at the wad of phlegm on my shoe and couldn't help but to break into laughter as well.

So when you look at this not totally complete mash up...

...and you see me with one shoe on, you'll understand why.

Gods, it was funny. The whole day was just good.

So forget about how I can't tell the difference between a horse and a cow...because I can...and just remember to take the wind in consideration before you let your next loogie fly.

Hey, if you can learn from my mistakes, then I've accomplished something. ;)