This past weekend I went to Chicago to visit my best friend from the University of Dallas, Deb Conn, along with her husband, Craig, and her two daughters, Allison and Colby. Of course, they don't live in Chicago as they are way out in St. Charles. . . . a much calmer, suburban (almost rural with creeping urban all around) area. But I always make Deb go into Chicago at least once during a visit. This time I specifically requested a trip to the Sears Tower because I was interested in the photo ops it presents (see my trip to the Cairo Tower in Egypt down in the July entries on this blog) and the panoramic view was better than the first time I went years ago when pollution was so bad. Then there is Millenium Park of which I'd seen a news program focus on it recently so I had to go there. And to round out my day, I went to a belly dance class taught by Jasmin Jahal at her new studio on Milwaukee Ave . . . wow, my feet were killing me after the long hike from the underground parking garage near Millenium Park to the Sears Tower and back . . . then I wanted to dance on them!! I had blisters on the ends of my toes and the balls of my feet from wearing my clogs without socks. What a day!! The whole trip was lots of fun . . . a good active touristy day and a couple of nice days just for visiting and running around with family activities. I hope I can go back soon before the girls graduate from high school!!!

Saturday morning we went to Colby's soccer game (Colby is number 4 but you can barely see the numbers on their jerseys) for awhile before we dashed off to pick up Allison after volleyball practice . . . we spent most of Saturday dashing back and forth before we headed to the mall for shopping and a movie (The Forgotten). After which, we had a easy Saturday night in with Chinese food and watching "Mean Girls"

Deb hanging out in the kitchen and trying to be polite about my insistence on photo ops! 

Ducks on the Fox River just down the hill from Deb and Craig's house in St. Charles, ILL 

My first Aida Nour costume! Photo credit goes to RAM, the photoartist (Houston). I first performed wearing this costume at the Raqia Hassan workshop (Houston/April 2004) but, I didn't find a shot that I liked until I danced in Bahaia's Friday night HOT workshop (Austin/August 2004) with Tamra-Henna (CA). OK, I'm very picky about what photos I allow to show up on the web . . . particularly when I'm wearing a costume. And now that I've been working on my weight, I've gotten even pickier! So my weight is dropping and I'm feeling better but I still have a bit of a way to go on my journey for better health and a slinky costume . . . but lycra is helpful at all levels!

Here's a shot of the Dallas skyline from the northeast side of the City . . . not far from where I live. For all of those people that swear Dallas is flat . . . I beg to differ! And this is a much nicer part of town because it has trees! OK, laugh, but those people in the far northern suburbs are living in ex-cotton fields . . . I laugh about all the MacMansions in cotton fields where they complain about the "wildlife" invading their landscaped yards and swimming pools!  

So here I am in Dallas for so many years and I'm just now getting around to wanting to document through photos this place for which I have a great fondness. It is a frustrating place at times, too crowded with too much traffic (put that in perspective considering my trips to Cairo!) and impatient people hurrying to places for which there is not much reason to go sometimes. But I still find it fascinating! OK, so I'm not living so much in the fast lane anymore as I think about simplifying and slowing down, but there are still places around town I want others to see through my eyes. So over time, I plan to wander around with my Sony cybershot and post them on this blog. One thing I really want to do is go up in Reunion Tower (that tall thing downtown with the lighted ball on the top . . . you can just see it peeping over the horizon in the above photo) and take some shots of the surrounding skyline and buildings. I did this while in Cairo and think it makes an interesting slideshow . . . oh, now I guess I need to put that into a gallery on my photoblog . . . more work to do! I'm also thinking I should go up in the Sears Tower while in Chicago in a couple of weeks and do the same thing! So many projects . . . so much fun! I hope for the best on all these different endeavors and know it will all be slow to build. Hope you come back to check out the results periodically! Cat . . . .

Here's a buffalo I spotted in a field down the street from EDS . . . some life . . . eating grass and walking around in a nice big field all day . . . 

These plants are enjoying a nice pleasant August day in Arkansas! It has been a cooler than average summer all over the Southwest (I live in Texas!!) and it has been just as unusually cool further north . . . OK, Ft. Smith is maybe only about 200 miles further north but it sure can make a difference in weather patterns during some times of the year.

Some of the blooming plants in my mother's garden . .  

Bill holding the illusive Smoky . . . he was a bit of a wild thing when he moved in with my Mom . . . the cat, Smoky, . . . not my brother, Bill!!! hahahahah! . . . you can't see my brother's long hair and beard because Smoky is hiding it!! 

A quiet shot of Root Beer (Rootie), my brother Bill's cat . . . just moved home to Arkansas and getting used to a new home and a slightly hostile resident cat, Smoky . . .  

Root Beer and Smoky having a disagreement . . . Smoky doesn't like Rootie yet as you can tell 

Root Beer lounging in the back yard. .  

Smoky in the backyard . . . 

I might have mentioned before that I like RED . . . this is my second red car . . . and, hopefully, not my last! 

Another shot of my car . . .  

Back view of Mom's house with my car and my brother, Bill's truck . .  

A view of my Mom's house in Ft. Smith, Arkansas 

A view of my Mom's house in Ft. Smith, Arkansas