Visiting the North Pole

Well really not the North Pole. More like the Ikea in Shaumburg, Illinois, but I told Leilani I was going to the North Pole to visit Santa. I spent the whole day on my own, out and about doing some Christmas shopping. People think I'm crazy that I drive 2 hours down to Shaumburg just to go to one store. But I love Ikea. I wish we had one here.

I got a wooden train set and ring-stacker for Leilani. And a plush basket of fruit and vegetables for the shopping cart that her Grandma is getting her for Christmas. Ooh... and a duvet and shams for me. (It can't ALL be about her, right?)

Oy, visiting Illinois is always an experience. On my way down, I missed my freeway exit because I was thinking about food. Yep. That's right. Something's wrong with me. I ended up having to go about 20 minutes out of my way just to turn around and go back because the on and off ramps are so spread out. Not to mention I had to pay 2 extra tolls. Grr.

On my way back up, my car started to over heat. And like I said before, Illinois is sparse with its off ramps, so the next chance to get off the freeway was almost two miles away. So this meant I had to pull over onto the shoulder to add coolant. This is something that I normally would not fear in Wisconsin, but Illinois drivers are INSANE so I was terrified. And that's no joke about the drivers, they're ranked among the worst in the country. As soon as you cross the state line, it becomes a derby. Example: It's 55 mph on the freeways down there. I was going 65 mph and cars were flying past me. They must have been going at least 80. At the very least. And not just one or two, but the vast majority of cars. That's insane. I saw a cop car going about that speed and cars behind it were keeping up with it like it was the normal thing to do. I guess the theory is that they have to pay tolls to use the freeways there so they can drive however they want. Flippin' insane. But back to the point... I was pulled over on the shoulder and just finishing putting coolant in my car when a really nice man pulled over and offered me assistance. I was just closing my hood when he got out of his car and started walking over, so he quickly realized that I was done. I thanked him and said I was just adding coolant. What a nice guy.

Once I got back into Wisconsin it started snowing like crazy so the freeway backed up like a parking lot so I had to weave my way back home on surface streets. It took at least an extra hour to get home. My poor little car's driver-side windshield wiper isn't working right so I had to look out through a 5 inch strip of clean window the whole way. Yikes.

What a day.