Since we had a three-day weekend, Mer and I decided to go and see family. Sonotmu and Jojo had new (kitty) family members and my sister, her husband, and the World’s Cutest Niece just moved to South Bend from L.A. It would be a busy weekend, but we figured we could go to Chicago and then go to South Bend on the way home. As an added bonus, my sister not only was willing to cook a nice dinner, but she wanted to invite our college friend, Jen, and her husband, Dan, to dinner as well. We would get to see 5 family members and 2 friends in one weekend!

We left for Chicago after work on Friday, so we got to Sonotmu’s place about 10:00 Chicago time. We were introduced to the 2 new family members, Maine Coon cats Aethelred and Boudica. No, you are not misreading the names, and yes, they are strange. They are both names of ancient English royalty. I’m not sure two stoic Mainer cats would approve of such high-flung names, but since they run the household they have to accept their responsibility to rule. Aethelred is still a kitten and Boudica is a gorgeous 3-year-old female cat. Aethelred also has the New England trait of having “double paws” – he has 6 toes on his front paws instead of the normal 4. Just to be different, he has 5 toes on one rear paw and 4 on the other. Sonotmu demonstrated the Maine Coon trait to fetch – he would throw a string and Aethelred would pounce on it and bring it back (with a very real bounce in his step). It was awfully cute.

Boudica is still a little shy, so we did not see too much of her. Here, she shows off cool orange eyes just for Jojo.
Maine Coons are big cats – Boudica is at least 15 pounds, and Aethelred will be even bigger. What pretty cats.

As always, Jojo’s ferrets were very entertaining. They are strange creatures.

Saturday we lounged around and listened to Car Talk and Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me on the radio. This was a favorite way for me and Mer to start Saturdays when we were in Chicago. In Ohio, Car Talk is on at 10:00 instead of 9:00 and Wait, Wait is on at 1:00 instead of 10:00, so you can’t lounge through both shows. We then took a nice walk into Andersonville to my favorite breakfast place, Ann Sather’s. I got the world’s best cinnamon rolls and a new addition to the menu, a breakfast wrap. We had a nice walk back (we walk along the back streets and go through a really nice park) and over the next few hours we all took naps. This got us ready for the evening entertainment that often comes out in the Riordan (Chicago branch) household: games.

Sonotmu and Jojo have a LOT of games, and none of them are normal. They are usually strategy games and usually for two players. Jojo introduced me to Dvonn, another abstract German game. She smoked me in the first game – I was the first player to not have any pieces left on the board at the end. I made a nice comeback by winning it the second time I played. Meanwhile, Sonotmu in a fit of delirium challenged Mer to a word game. In this photo she explains that “abliguration” scores so many points that a new field of mathematics is needed to keep track of her score. We ordered pizza for supper, and it was really good, but Sonotmu explained that this place has a hard time getting the order and/or address right. This night was true to form – the pizza delivery guy called to tell Jojo that he was outside the building, so she went down to meet him. He wasn’t there. She told him as much, and it started a small argument that Jojo finally won by pointing out that she lived at the address and he did not. It turned out he was one block away. After supper, we had a bizarre experience of playing a trivia game from 1984 that Jojo had never even opened. It was like opening a very strange time vault. The colors of the pieces were VERY odd – sort of pastel, but not really. The game was a trivia game, but the premise was that you were colonizing the universe and proving your worth by answering Earth trivia. The trivia ranged from easy (name the author of Cat-in-the-Hat, with a hint of “Doctor _____”) to very difficult (This architect built most of London, no hint – Mer knew it). I won the game on a multiple choice question that I just guessed at – it had something to do with a famous Spanish architect. The great part is that when we went to my sister’s house she had a poster of this architect on the wall which Mer pointed out and I still did not recognize it. I clearly deserved to rule the universe.

The next morning we left Chicago (after Sonotmu introduced me to one more marble game, which he beat me at 5 games to 4) and headed to South Bend. We passed the very full parking lots near Soldier Field (the Bears were playing in a couple of hours), and you could smell the tailgaters’ food from the highway. We got lucky with the weather – there was a light ice storm during the night, but the roads did not freeze. So, the trees were pretty, but we got to South Bend just fine.

We were welcomed to Sister’s house by her, her husband, and World’s Cutest Niece. WCN is a very happy baby, who is almost one year old. We will miss her birthday party because of a CVCA function, so it was really good to see her now. Sister’s husband is a visiting professor at Notre Dame, so they are staying in the house of a professor who is in London for the spring semester. It is a nice neighborhood, and a pretty house. We spent much of the evening in the family room, where the “fun land” was set up for WCN. Fun land was still new, so it is not clear if WCN is buying the marketing yet. Fun land looks an awful lot like a playpen that allows Sister a chance to get other things done. Still, marketing has never lied or exaggerated yet, so I’m sure it is much fun.

WCN and Dad had a nap soon after we got there (it was nap time, after all). Mer and I chatted with Sister and watched football on TV. WCN soon returned and was naturally the center of attention. Dad woke up about an hour later, and soon our friends showed up. Sister had made a very good meal of lasagna rolls, salad, and garlic bread. We ate (WCN had applesauce) and then went back into the family room where we talked and laughed and half-watched football. I was by far the least educated person in the room (except for WCN) – two doctors, two lawyers, and Mer with her Masters degree. Sister had also made a very good chocolate raspberry cake, which we had with ice cream. I think my January diet suffered a setback. WCN went to bed, but we continued to chat and laugh until almost 10:00 – fairly late for me! 🙂

We had to leave early the next day (about 9:00) since we had to put in a couple of hours at school (an English teacher’s work is never done). We had the same lucky break – the trees were covered in ice, but the roads were okay. We got home (via school) just fine. We hope to get to South Bend every 4 to 6 weeks or so while Sister and company are close.