Studio of Exhaustion from Diligent Service

That is what I am going to rename the West Wing, a room I added onto my house several years ago.  That, or Hall of Fulfilling Original Wishes.

My SO and I traveled this past weekend to Milwaukee, where (among other things) we visited the Milwaukee Museum of Art and viewed the Summer of China exhibit which features the Qianlong Retirement Garden.  Each building and pavilion in the garden is named, and these two struck me as the epitome of what a retirement garden should be.

It was a technology-based weekend:  we met up with a friend of my SO's with whom he reconnected on FB; the I-Pass doodad made traversing the Tri-State a breeze; detours were overcome by the GPS; the Internet helped me locate local yarn stores, including one that was open on Sunday; texting enabled us to meet up with my son for lunch; etc., etc., and so forth.  We are soft.

Crossing Indiana on our way there, my SO swears he saw a sign for "Snapping Beavers" campground or golf course, with a picture of a beaver wearing a turtle shell.  Alas, Google was unable to confirm this, but "Snapping Beavers" became the phrase of the weekend.  The kilt-wearer with a jackalope sporran (look it up) only added to the mirth at Irish Fest.  (Yes, there were many kilt-wearing men at Irish Fest even though - according to Wikipedia - kilts are actually of Scottish origin and were co-opted by the Irish at the beginning of the 20th century.  Copy cats.)

I can't believe what a relaxing weekend we had.  When I am in charge of our vacation plans, I have an agenda that must be followed in order to see everyone and do everything planned.  Since this was my SO's trip, I was just a tag-along, and that's what I did.  I had never met the FB friend, and neither of us had met her husband, nor her brother and his partner, but the six of us spent a companionable Saturday, eating (Blue's Egg - highly recommended for breakfast), shopping the Third Ward, and "doing" Irish Fest.  Sunday was more eating (Beans and Barley - also highly recommended), the museum, and visiting with my SO's brother and his wife.  The latter expressed disappointment we had not stayed with them, but since that would have involved sleeping in twin beds under Mickey Mouse comforters, I was perfectly happy with the Crowne Plaza in Wauwatosa.

Choosing the hotel and arranging to meet up with my son on our way home were my only responsibilities for this weekend getaway, so it felt like a real vacation to me.  And I needed that.  I'm taking today and tomorrow as vacation days as well, before easing back into the work world.  NOT looking forward to that.

Update

• I went to the pet supply store and bought a big ass litter box for my big ass cat.  Seriously, this thing is so huge you could bathe a toddler in it.  And yet, its footprint is no larger than the tray I had under the old litter box.  And, miracle of miracles, Princess Fern has accepted it.
• The pet store I frequent serves as an adoption point for cats for Animal Control.  When I was purchasing the new litter box, there was a kitten at the store, all black, about four months old, CRYING.  OMG.  Even though Princess Fern is leading me down the path to a catfree household, I had to flee the building.
• Unfortunately, I fled to the store next door, Tuesday Morning.  It's like a brick and mortar eBay without the bidding.  I don't stop there often, but when I do, I usually spend $50 without trying.  This time I came out of there with a glass pitcher, four skeins of yarn, and a meat grinder.
• I don't know if I have mentioned it here, but I don't care for my family doctor - the last time I went to see Dr. W, I had classic signs of diverticulitis, but because I also had a bladder infection (with no symptoms - they just automatically check when I show up), he refused to believe I could have two infections at the same time, so I had to finesse him into prescribing an antibiotic that would work on both.  I wanted to divorce him, but stay in the same multi-location practice, but did not know how to do that without feeling awkward.  Now I don't have to worry - he is changing locations.  Unfortunately, the doctor I want to go to also changed locations, albeit to a different one than Dr. W, but she is not that far away.
• Where I work, we have a chat tool called SameTime.  Initially, I was reluctant to use it, but have since discovered it is very useful.  Yesterday, however, I had NINE chat windows all going at the same time, flashing on my tool bar every time someone responded.  It was like command central.  Today just the idea of using SameTime makes me feel nauseous.