Happy belated Turkey day! Hope everyone had as lovely a Thanksgiving week as us.

Thanksgiving week started off on Sunday when we ran in our school's Turkey Trot -- a 4.1 mile run through some narrow, windy & rocky trails. Marc won the race and brought home a 9 lb turkey, while Shuwen was just happy to finish. We worked hard on Monday & Tuesday to get as much done as possible and to get ready for the trip to Chicago. Even on Tuesday the flights were already all backed up due to bad weather in Chicago, so we did not make it into O'Hare until after 11pm. We were pooped!

Fortunately, we have been able to get a good amount of rest since. Eric & Jane had already been in town since Friday and had been helping Mom out in the kitchen, so there was practically nothing the rest of us needed to do -- except eat!

Turkey day started early for us & Dad as we took part in the Lincoln Park 8K, which benefits the Greater Chicago Food Depository. It was a cold and windy morning with some beautiful, light flurries. Racing north was the most challenging with the head wind and snow blowing into the face, and it was incredible how much warmer it felt once we made the turn to run back south. Marc did well, coming in 4th overall, but was a little disappointed in his result. Perhaps he is still recovering from the NY trials. Dad did well too, coming in 4th in his age group, and 432nd overall (out of 3150 finishers), in 38:44. Shuwen made her target of an 8:30 min/mile pace and finished in 41:14. The results are here.

The turkey was already in the oven by the time we got back to Hyde Park. Phil & Al arrived around 1pm, Marc & Shuwen worked on a crossword puzzle, while Mom, Eric, Jane and Dad worked hard in the kitchen. The meal was spectacular! We started with caviar on blinis and white wine, followed by steamed mussels. For the main meal, besides the very juicy & tender Turkey and stuffing/dressing, there were brussel sprouts, sweet potatoes, waldorf salad, 2 types of jello, and 3 different types of pies! A few of us fell victim to post-Thanksgiving meal comas, while others took walks or sat around chatting/ playing games. Amazingly enough a number of us were actually hungry again by 10pm while watching Phil & Eric engage in an intense game of dominos (played under a far more complicated set of rules as introduced by Al).

We have spent much of the time in Chicago, around the dining table during meals, working on our respective laptops, and playing games (dominos, scrabble, some computer games). Tonight we will get to go to the Opera to catch "Julius Caesar". This will be a first for Shuwen who has never been to an opera and she is looking forward to it. Dad has to figure out how to work his very convoluted entertainment & TV system to record the Kansas-Missouri game, otherwise Al might very well decide not to join us at the opera!

~ Shuwen & Marc