Chicago in Janary....
Chicago in January might not be for us. This weekend was the second time we have headed to Chicago for a January getaway and the second time it has ended very badly.
Ben's uncle Jim owns a condo in Schaumburg that is sitting empty since he moved to California, and he offered it to us for the weekend. Patti, Paul, and Bridget came to Indiana to stay with Gracie and Luke while we were gone. The kids had a great time (so did the grown ups!)
We spent Saturday shopping at Woodfield Mall and Ikea, eating the perfect deep-dish pizza at Giordano's, and seeing the movie Juno. Unfortunately, when we arrived back at the condo to change for dinner, we had a bit of an unpleasant surprise. Although Jim had set the furnace before leaving town last month, it had not been running. At noon the thermostat said 40 degrees, so we turned it up and headed out for the day. We returned hours later to this:
The increase in temperature had caused some frozen water in the pipes in the master bathroom to burst. The water leaked through the living room ceiling and caused all of the drywall in the ceiling to collapse. The fire department had been called to the residence by a neighbor and they had broken in to shut off the water and secure the condo. Ben and I were shocked and felt completely horrible. We know realistically that we didn't cause this to happen and that it would have happened in a couple of days on its own since the weather is supposed to be warmer this week, but .....
After some frantic phone calls to multiple members of Ben's family, we finally talked to Jim. He was completely calm and understanding and even tried to apologize to Ben that this had so abruptly ended our weekend away. We were very impressed with his reaction.
Ben and I briefly discussed getting a hotel room for the night, but decided that the situation was enough of a buzz kill that we just wanted to head back home. We stopped for a light dinner and hit the road about ten p.m. It had been a really long day by the time we arrived home at one.
One more thing to share-
I put Luke to bed on Friday night and walked back downstairs to visit with Patti and Paul. When I came back upstairs a bit later, Luke had somehow fallen asleep half on our bed, half on our nightstand. We were so amused that he could sleep in such a position! For the second time this month, I had to grab my camera for a picture of Luke sleeping:
Ben's uncle Jim owns a condo in Schaumburg that is sitting empty since he moved to California, and he offered it to us for the weekend. Patti, Paul, and Bridget came to Indiana to stay with Gracie and Luke while we were gone. The kids had a great time (so did the grown ups!)
We spent Saturday shopping at Woodfield Mall and Ikea, eating the perfect deep-dish pizza at Giordano's, and seeing the movie Juno. Unfortunately, when we arrived back at the condo to change for dinner, we had a bit of an unpleasant surprise. Although Jim had set the furnace before leaving town last month, it had not been running. At noon the thermostat said 40 degrees, so we turned it up and headed out for the day. We returned hours later to this:
The increase in temperature had caused some frozen water in the pipes in the master bathroom to burst. The water leaked through the living room ceiling and caused all of the drywall in the ceiling to collapse. The fire department had been called to the residence by a neighbor and they had broken in to shut off the water and secure the condo. Ben and I were shocked and felt completely horrible. We know realistically that we didn't cause this to happen and that it would have happened in a couple of days on its own since the weather is supposed to be warmer this week, but .....
After some frantic phone calls to multiple members of Ben's family, we finally talked to Jim. He was completely calm and understanding and even tried to apologize to Ben that this had so abruptly ended our weekend away. We were very impressed with his reaction.
Ben and I briefly discussed getting a hotel room for the night, but decided that the situation was enough of a buzz kill that we just wanted to head back home. We stopped for a light dinner and hit the road about ten p.m. It had been a really long day by the time we arrived home at one.
One more thing to share-
I put Luke to bed on Friday night and walked back downstairs to visit with Patti and Paul. When I came back upstairs a bit later, Luke had somehow fallen asleep half on our bed, half on our nightstand. We were so amused that he could sleep in such a position! For the second time this month, I had to grab my camera for a picture of Luke sleeping:
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