Downtown
11-16-2002, 7:07 p.m.

Downtown...

November 16, 2002

I got to leave work a little earlier than I thought I could on Friday, which gave me time to run and errand before I went to the airport. I had gotten a notice that I had a package at the post office that had to be signed for, and well, you know of my aversion to the post office. Still, I knew that it was something I had ordered from Canada (a christmas gift for one of my friends that read this, so I won't say what it is, hehe), and so I wanted to go get it. I still managed to get to the airport half an hour early, and then Tonya's plane was delayed about 20 minutes or so, so I spent that time walking up and down the stairs... hey with all the food I knew we would be eating this weekend, I figured any extra exercise would be a very good thing, hehe. The time went quickly though and Tonya was there before I knew it.

I was so excited and happy to see her coming down the hallway. I can't believe how much I miss her in between visits, and I was so very glad to get this visit. We waited for her luggage, which was very quick im coming and then we headed to my house to drop her stuff off and pack a small bag for the night. We wanted to get downtown early so that we would have time to do fun stuff. We got down there pretty fast considering the time of day, and while I did get turned around at one point, which I always do when I go downtown, we found the hotel and settled in. The room was really beautiful, and the view was spectacular.. you could see the lake, and Navy Pier, and it was really breath taking. The whole hotel was really nice, and I am glad that we got this chance to spend the evening there.

We decided that we wanted to go the Navy Pier first, so we bundled up and headed out. It was about a 4 block walk, so it was pretty close... but boy, it was windy and cold. We were walking into the wind too. We were happy to get there and be able to warm up a bit. I had told Tonny that I would go on the big ferris wheel with her (ugh), because it really is an experience and although it scares me, I usually get through it without much problem. Well, this time was a little different.. I never went on it before when it was so windy and when we got to the top our car was swaying in the breeze... man, I am not ashamed to admit that I was soooooo scared. I tell you, I really was scared, but finally we got to the bottom, and I really am glad that we went on it so that she could say that she's been on it, but man that was tough.

After the Ferris wheel, we went inside, and started walking through all the shops, just looking at everything, and then we stopped for dinner. We had a great evening just hanging out there at Navy Pier, and neither of us really wanted to leave, but I did want to show her other stuff.. well the walk back was even more cold and windy, so by the time we got back to the hotel, Tonny wanted to go in and warm up.. we sorta stayed there the rest of the evening.. we had stopped for water and snacks, and we just sat and stared at our view, watched movies and chatted the whole night. We had a great time, and again, I am glad that we did this. It is something I will remember when she is sooo very far away.

The whole time, we both kept saying that we wished that Jen and Cory were there, and we really did wish that. It was different somehow without them, but it was still good, and we still had a great time. I just think that it would have been a little special if we could have done this together. I am glad that we didn't let that take away from it though, even though it would have been so easy to do so. We are used to being a foursome, it's almost strange when one or more of us is absent. I guess that is something we just need to get used to, since it just isn't feasible to think that we can always do everything together.