Planes, Wine, Melee!

Watching landscape go by, like credits on a movie screen...
I am in Illinois now, but by the time you read this, Frank will be in Ohio working for the Air Force. The overnight flight was, as usual, uncomfortable. The unpleasantness was exacerbated by Frank's dry skin and, in my case, being in the middle seat, which always makes me cranky. At hour three of five, I started counting all the songs that have to do with planes on my ipod out of boredom.

Here are some of my favorite air travel-related lyrics. Can you name them without looking at the links?
1) "Out of the farmlands and into the grid/ the plan of the city was all that you saw"
2) "Out on the tar plains, the glides are moving/all looking for a new place to drive"--OK this is not a plane lyric, but it feels like it's about airports.
3) "I got me a pilot, she's going my way/if she's got wings, if she's got wings"

Happy Birthday!
Last night, we went to a restaurant called Villa Verona. This Italian restaurant sits in a little house in Geneva, and they make great Italian food.

Dino, our waiter, buttered us up by singing "Happy Birthday" to me because he did not think I was 21. He was lying of course but it still felt good!

Melee!
One of the traditions we have when Frank and I come down is playing "Smash Brothers Melee" while drinking a nice red wine. Melee is a game where you fight rounds with four other players, and it's an incredibly fun game to play with friends and family.

We all have our favorite players. Mom always plays Princess Peach, who floats very well and has a wicked kick. Frank always plays Kirby, a pink cream puff that can inhale other characters and take their powers. My favorite character is Jigglypuff, who is a pink jiggly-puffy creature that can sing other characters to sleep.

Of course, none of us really know what we are doing and just press buttons until we find something that works. That's part of the fun of the game. This is also why my fingers hurt today when I type.

Hincapie!
The Tour de France has started! While the lack of Basso and Ullrich is very unfortunate due to Operation Puerto, there's already a lot of excitement in this year's race. Thor Hushovd won the prologe but was cut badly by an oversized cardboard hand in today's stage, and Hincapie is in yellow (only the fourth American ever to wear the Maillot Jaune).

Well, back to baseball. The Cross-Town Shootout is happening in Chicago, and I am obligated to pay attention so that my parents let me watch the Tour coverage later tonight. In the yearly shootout, the White Sox and the Cubs play each other in a seven game series. Baseball takes forever to play!

Happy Holiday Weekend!