Why I Oughta...

Thanks to my mate Russell, I'm now the proud owner a a Pixar wall calendar that goes right along with my annual University of Illinois calendar.  I got in the office on Monday and I think these went up on Wednesday, so let's mark it as the sixth. Here's all the posts showing the epic wall calendar updates from last year . On the left is A Bug's Life art and on the right is a snow scene showing Green and Sixth Streets.  Here's a close-look of the title of the page below.  What is most interesting to me is that this 'place' is so foreign to me.  I've been gone 15 years (with mostly annual visits for Football games), but the amount of development that has taken place on Campus along Green Street is pretty amazing.

Looks like tonight is your chance to get a look at the new Elmhurst Downtown Plan and provide some input.   According to the City's site , there will be both some review of the plan/open house followed by a presentation at 7:30 pm. What is the Elmhurst Downtown Plan? The Elmhurst Downtown Plan will serve as the City’s official guide for land use and development in the Downtown area over the next 10 years. It will act as a “road map,” detailing a long-term vision and policy agenda for important issues such as land use, parking, and circulation. Ultimately, the Plan update answers “What should our Downtown look like in 10 years and how do we get there?” The consulting firm that the City of Elmhurst hired has posted the draft plans on their site, so even if you can't get to the meeting tonight, you can still check it out here .

Add this front/back to the Coaster Collection here on the blog.   It was just late last month when I posted the Ted's coaster featuring a John Wayne quote .   This is the second or third time that we've been to the brewery and the beer and food were great.  I got the wings - and have added them to the [YES] column for my new app (more on that later.  Maybe.  Just maybe.) and we shared the hot pretzels, which were delicious.  We drank a flight of beers including one cider and the kids misbehaved as they always do at restaurants, amirite?!?

Nat gave me a pair of pajama pants on Christmas Eve as part of her/her mother's annual Christmas Pajama tradition.  I have some pretty strict requirements as it relates to pajama pants.  I don't like fleece ones.  I don't like thick ones.  I don't like cuffs on the legs.  I like a thin pair of pants.  I won't wear them if they're more like sweat pants for the most part.   So, when she gave me this pair, it was perfect.  They were thin, but they were also from this line called Twenty Eight & Main.  The 28 is from 1928 - the year Mickey Mouse debuted.  And the Main part is from the iconic Main Street USA in the parks.   Here's the pants on the Disney Store .  And here's all the items from the 28 & Main collection .    The tags are pretty cute and old-fashion'y.  I'm not sure any 'discerning gentleman' would every find himself in a pair of pajama pants with a vintage Jungle Cruise logo on them, but let's not nitpick

Man-o-man.  The train was packed this morning and the office was full of people when I arrived at 815 am today.  Either people had cabin fever and wanted to get back to their regular schedule or people are like me and fired up to get started.  Let's sell some HR software, amirite?!?! Here's the view from my office back in late November on the first snow .  Looks pretty similar. Aside from the lack of glisten in the eye of all the little people buzzing around getting ready for Christmas.  Now, the people in the photo above are just mindlessly milling around trying to get to their first cup of coffee to get the year started right.

...And thanks for all the fish. And - frankly - for the hospitality for my family on and off over the past few weeks.  We're glad to get resettled, but I'll admit, I'm a bit sad about leaving this place. At our current place, we rarely walk Maisy, rather, we just let her out into the back yard to 'do her business'.  But on Hamilton Lane, I put her on a leash and walked her down the block a few times a day.  And the best time was always at night when it was quiet and we could take in the lights of the neighborhood. Thanks to the Inn Keepers at Hamilton Lane for welcoming my nomadic tribe with welcome arms.

Due to there being a general disdain for any kind of potato chip in our household, I wasn't able to add these Rebel potato chips to the list of Michigan products that I'm now willing to purchase on our trips up to Coloma.  That list includes some soap, ice cream, hot dogs and sugar.  But I did, give it quite a long thought and wondered if I could sneak it by the Warden. These are made in Wyoming, Michigan which is just outside of Grand Rapids.  Maybe next time?

As they were moving out, I came across this poster from one of my 2006 fundraisers when I was a Village Trustee in Frankfort.  Hard to believe that we're coming up on the 10 year mark of this time in my life.

Welp...we did it.  365 days.  365 posts.   As Neil Steinberg says:  everygoddamnday .   Here's last year's NYE post . And frankly, it felt nice to flex those blogging muscles again here on my own personal property.  So, what's my 2016 resolution?  I'm going to keep at it here on 'Why I Oughta', but I'm also going to pledge to undertake another project: the Should I get the Project.     2015 was a fine year.  If we find our house and get in it and end our nomadic period, 2016 will be even better.   Here's the post I wrote exactly a year ago today .

You know the feeling.  You just wrassl'd the alligator that is putting your kid into the shopping cart only to find out that the strap to keep them in there is broken.  The fine folks at Meijer have solved that problem with this crazy smart design.  See the red clip on the right?  It is a retractable belt that plugs into the left.   There's no way these can get caught in the seat itself and snap/break. Smart thinking, Meijer.  Oh...this isn't the first smart thing they're doing:   they have 'open out doors' on their bathrooms .