Hello... is there anybody in there?

Just nod if you can hear me... is there anyone at home?

The answer to that in a bit...

We wanted to take advantage of some things, like the kids being on break and Julie having Tuesdays off and our membership to the Museum of Science and Industry and a nice day and the fact that we'd be heading into the city allowing us to make some deliveries. We had Girl Scout cookies to deliver to Comer and Children's.

I know that I said that I could easily walk away from Children's and never ever have to go there again... except for delivering Girl Scout cookies. NOW I don't have to go back. It was tough for me to look at that building and not think about what transpired inside the confines of it. I didn't go inside, Julie did, but just making the drive and sitting outside was enough. I was seeing the windows (from the outside) that I spent many hours just sitting staring (and praying and thinking) out of. The windows along hallways that I waited and paced as I waited for Emmah's various scans and tests to finish. Windows that I spent hours alone nervously waiting on the procedures that Emmah had to endure and the windows with Emmah as she recovered from said procedures. It was hard for me to go to Comer too, but for an entirely different reason, one that I've already expressed previously in this blog.

Anyhow, it was Comer first, then the museum, on to Children's and then dinner to feed the walk weary.

By the time we made it to the museum after the Comer delivery it was approaching lunch, but the last thing we wanted to do was go right in and eat, so we went to a see a few things first eventually making our way to eat. Lunch was had and we pressed onward but not before a stop to the facilities.

If you've been a "regular" here at the blog you should know that there isn't much that is off limits to discuss. I always view it as reader beware... I'm not making you read this. Anyway, having said that, you should know that bodily functions are sometimes a favorite subject, after all, we all have them.

Now Ana is at an age that she's finally figured out that the toilet isn't just some seat in the bathroom (akin to the chair in the family room) and that's where we are supposed to "go". This age is quite the quandary in that when she's awake, she knows what to do, but napping is always a risk for wetting something... a blanket and the couch or a blanket and the carpet. So I try to make sure that she's in a pull-up before she drifts off in the afternoon. We also make sure that she's in one if we're going to be on the road. I know this sends a mixed message when she announces from the back that she has to go and we tell her that she can go in her pull-up. It always seems that the urgency for her need to use the potty is directly proportionate to how inconvenient is for us.

Example you ask?

Okay... we're on the road and there's nowhere to stop and she refuses to go in her pull-up. We're in the middle of the Celebration for Emmah at the school and same deal... refusal to go then too. On the flip side of that is we will be at home and I will have her in one because we're approaching the napping hours. She has full access to a toilet... two in fact... and for no other reason than being lazy, she pees. Drives us crazy.

What does any of that have to do with the museum... not too much really, but there was a moment during lunch that Ana needed to go... but more on that in a bit.

As we made our way around the museum, we made our way to YOU! The Experience exhibit. It's fairly interactive, for those who haven't experienced it first hand. Many things to see and do. One of the things that we stumbled upon was a game called Mindball.

Mindball is a game that, as it's name implies, you use your mind to play. You sit across from each other at a long table. On the table sits the "game". It consists of a tube with a ball in it and two "goal" circles. You sit down and put a headband with some electrodes on it and it's that headband that reads and measures your brain activity. The more relaxed you are, the better. You move the ball towards your opponent the more relaxed you are. In other words, the better you are able to shut it down mentally, better than your opponent, the better chance you have to move the ball to the goal. What it measures is Theta and Alpha brain waves, and it shows that activity on some monitors.

We watched several pairs of people go (literally) head to head. Some the ball just moved quickly to a goal, some it would start and stop and then reverse, some would go back and forth. Jake and Nick wanted to try their hand at this game as did Julie and I. After waiting, Jake and Nick were able to sit down and strap on. Let the game begin!

They sat down putting the headband on their heads, put their heads down the table and basically shut down their brains. Watching the monitors show the real time activity, it confirmed and explained a lot... as in why they are the way they are... as basically their respective Theta and Alpha brain waves were just short of flat-lines. The game started with the ball moving half way towards Nick, but then the ball stopped... and by stopped I mean STOPPED! (The technicians try to move things along by distracting them by making noises or talking to them. In some of the people, this would cause a big spike in the wave activity. In the boys, it barely registered as a blip) This how it stayed... until the worker/technician said that he needed to call it a draw cuz it was taking too long. He added that was the longest one that he's seen 'cept for a set of twins. Lights are on...

Then is was our turn (Julie's and mine) to sit down and strap it on. Before sitting down, I had a concern go through my brain as to whether or not the band was going fit around my pumpkin of a head. It did, but only on the last few strands of Velcro. So there we were... I knew secretly that Julie wanted to beat me... and she had to know that I was looking to beat her. I'm far more competitive than she is in general, but it's always something "special" when you're head to head with the old spouse... and I mean that from both sides. I play a fair game of boggle, but Julie more often than not prevails. She won't play chess with me. So we know and understand our limitations. This was going to be different though... this was a mind game. As Julie and I sit there, the technician prattles on about how a woman's brain has been scientifically proven to always be "on"... men on the other hand... well never mind. Let's just say that this explains A LOT between men and women. I think it's fairly obvious as to the reason that men have developed the ability to "tune out". Needless to say, and much to Julie's dismay, I won.

So they finally kicked us out at closing time and we made our way to Children's. Booooo! Then is was on to something to eat.

A favorite place of ours (Julie's and mine) was My Pie, but they closed the one on Clark the one that was literally blocks away from Children's. They moved to Bucktown... Damen near Fullerton. So we made our way over to there only to find no place to park and basically a carry out joint. This wasn't going to work... so it was decided to head on over to Connies on Archer. It was there (during conversation) that it came about the events that unfolded during that post lunch pit stop. Julie took the three girls to the family restroom and I stood outside the men's room while Nick and Jake did whatever they had to do. Julie proceeded to tell me that when Ana pooped, she (Julie) was shocked as to the size of said poop. See try as we might, our kids aren't slaves to fiber and pay the price from time to time pooping out clumps. This was the case with Ana this particular time. As she (Ana) stood there admiring her work... she couldn't help it notice and remark that it looked like a pine cone.

Looks like another artist in the making.

KEIYH