Whirlwind Trip to the Windy City

Coming to you LIVE from the Palmer House, Chicago, Illinois:

Woody has wanted to go to Chicago to see the play Wicked for as long as it has been running here. When the 'Cane Sisters' (www.canesisters.blogspot.com) decided to do our annual hurricane reunion trip to Chicago, he started saying, 'I wish I could go with you.'

When he called me from Birmingham last month and said that they were discontinuing his treatment to give his body time to rest, I decided that we were not going to put off doing things as a family. Life is too short to be saying, 'I wish we would have .....'

So before he arrived back home that day, I had been on the trusty Internet and purchased four tickets on Southwest and four tickets to Wicked.

It just so happens that tomorrow is Emma's 10th birthday. So we are having a special celebration.

I did not tell anyone that we were going. Yesterday at 6:30 a.m. I assembled everyone in Emma's bedroom and sent them on a scavenger hunt all around the house looking for clues. The last one ended at Emma's suitcase where a note told them to be at the airport for a 5:45 flight.

We arrived at the hotel last night about 9:00 and wandered down the street for a late night snack. If I can ever get the girls up this morning, we're headed out to the parks nearby and then to the Science and Industry Museum. We have reservations at the famous Shaw's Crab House at 6 and then the play at 8. Going to pack as much as we can into our two days. We will be back Sunday night around 9.

It's a beautiful day in Chicago, how may I help you?