We're back

[mommax3]

from our midwestern vacation. Travis and I spent a week in downtown Chicago (right off Michigan Avenue, the "Magnificent Mile"!) by ourselves and it was so much fun. He had a course to attend during the day, but he got an hour and a half for lunch and was done by 5 or 5:30 each day, too, so we were able to see a couple of shows (The Lion King & The Vagina Monologues -- two VERY different theatre experiences! ) and eat at some wonderful restaurants. He enjoyed his course and thinks it will be helpful as he prepares to take his oral boards in about six months. Best part is that the Air Force paid for the hotel, our mileage to get there, and some of our meal expenses.

After we left Chicago, we picked up the kids from my mom's in Indiana and headed to southern Indiana to spend some time with friends. On the way home, we stopped at Six Flags (in St. Louis) and had a blast there -- but horrible storms moved in just as we were leaving and we saw two trees snap in half right in front of us as we left the hotel! 8O

We got home yesterday and Travis is back at work today, and on call tonight, but all in all, it was a great trip. I haven't posted a whole lot about his situation at work, but while we were gone, some events transpired that we HOPE will lead towards one of the doctors he works with being replaced. Our fingers and toes are crossed.

The best part of our trip was that it barely reached 70 the whole time we were in Chicago! It sucks for them, but I knew it would be hot and miserable once we got home, so I relished the cooler weather. AND the lilacs were just starting to bloom there -- the pool area at the hotel was surrounded by them -- it was the first time I have smelled lilacs since we moved to Texas, six years ago, so that was a neat thing for me.

Thanks for letting me bask in the memories -- now, back to the mounds of laundry that we brought back with us!!!!

Sally

Welcome back, Sally!
Sounds like you had a fantastic trip. I love lilacs too. They are truly one of my favorite parts of early summer.
Don't get lost in the laundry.

[Rapunzel]

I'm glad you had fun! Now I am dying to know what happened at work while your husband was gone....

Welcome back, Sally. Glad you had a great time and were able to have some fun with hubby alone.

I've heard alot about the "Vagina monologues." Is it supposed to be raunchy or humorous or both? I read in the paper that there is a two man show from Australia called the "Penis Puppeteers" and they actually contort their little willies into all kinds of poses. ICK!

[mommax3]

Ditto on the "ick" :!: The Vagina Monologues was humorous AND raunchy (but not too bad -- lots of language and scenes that were similar to Meg Ryan's memorable one in "When Harry Met Sally", but moreso) but mostly filled with so much political correctness that it pissed me off. I think it could have been A LOT funnier than it was and it would have been nice if more of the monologues dealt with universal experiences for women, instead of only ONE monologue about birth, and that was not even from the mother's perspective, and certainly more than just a casual mention of periods, and how about the loss of virginity (nothing on that) -- but of course there was a long monologue from the perspective of a woman who is a prostitute for females only, and another from the perspective of a woman who is having multiple orgasms for the first time.... and there were offerings that dealt with homosexual experiences, rape, and childhood sexual abuse, which are all valid....it just didn't seem like it reflected the experiences of most women, but maybe I don't know as much about women as I think -- I am just a hick from the midwest/Texas, after all.

There were some funny monologues that were about hair and names for "down there" that really made us laugh -- I guess I wanted more monologues like that instead of the ones that had a "message", or at least I would like to realize the message on my own, without it being obviously (and patronizingly!) shoved down my throat.

I am glad I saw it but the PC stuff left a bad taste in my mouth -- there was a lot of anger under the surface of a lot of the monologues and the attitude that women should be more aggressive about their sexuality, like the stereotypical male is -- like that is something we all admire?????

I may just be getting old or WAY too conservative, but they kind of lost me when they instructed all of us in the audience to turn to our neighbors and call them a C*** (this was supposed to take the shock value out of the word and render it useless as a verbal weapon used against women) -- I was sitting next to a teenage girl with multiple piercings. Luckily she and I were in silent agreement not to participate in the namecalling.

My husband liked it better than I did, which I guess is a good thing......I think!

I think Jenn saw this a while back in San Antonio -- when things calm down for her, I would love to hear her opinions. I don't know how much the play varies according to what the actors bring to it, (experiences, personal politics) either.

Sally

[houseelf]

A hearty welcome back, Sally. I hope that the boys enjoyed being with their extended family.

I just realized that considering Travis' line of work, you could probably write off the cost of tickets to the Vagina Monologues on your taxes as a professional/educational related expense.

Kelly

[mommax3]

Yeah, I can just imagine that typed up in triplicate and presented to his commanding officer! They actually knocked gynecologists quite a few times in the play, but he took it well....

Sally

[Auspicious]

they kind of lost me when they instructed all of us in the audience to turn to our neighbors and call them a C*** (this was supposed to take the shock value out of the word and render it useless as a verbal weapon used against women) -- I was sitting next to a teenage girl with multiple piercings. Luckily she and I were in silent agreement not to participate in the namecalling.

They would have definitely lost me there! I hate audience participation and I hate that word (and I've never bought into the idea of reclaiming a word this way). The two combined would have done me in.

I have not seen this play but I did read the book and I have to say I really loved it. I can see how I would feel at least a little differently if I were contemplating these issues as part of an audience instead of alone, though.

The version of the book I read had a foreword by the playwrite, though, and she explained a lot about her perspective and experiences and how she came to write the play (she was molested as a child and is a lesbian and is pretty pissed off--you picked up on all that) so I think that helped sort of adjust my expectations before I ever got to page 1 of the actual text. I don't think it was her intent to write an overview so much as to delve into the less-discussed aspects vagina-ownership. And I thought a lot of the stories were really poignant--especially the woman who had a bad experience as a teenager and never told anyone about it and thereafter just avoided men and sex altogether and shut down that part of herself, and the person who accidentally injured her vagina in a fall as a girl and the troubles that caused and how that affected her later attitudes about herself.

When they get to the part in the book where she describes having the whole audience chanting "C***!" though, I thought to myself "I am so glad I'm reading this instead of seeing it."

[DCJenn]

Hey all-

I'm sitting here because the Spurs just won the NBA Championship, I live downtown, and therefore all of SA is in my front yard. Or perhaps it only seems that way.

Anyway, Sally- welcome back!!!

I really enjoyed the monologues but there were several people who walked out of the show. (umm, hello- you're seeing a show called the Vagina Monologues, exactly what do you think they're going to talk about...) I agree that there are some uncomfortable moments in the play, but really, I think the whole point of the the play is to get people to think about the female exerience as a whole and unfortunately, for a lot of people that's not such a great experience.

Sally- you're probably a whole lot more sophisticated than the average person- and you've seen the seemier side of the female gender (think Fort Hood...) So I"m not surprised you found it excessively PC- but think about all of the good old boys who were dragged by their wives to see the show- I guarantee that the thought never occurred to them that perhaps that 'little filly' next to them had some thoughts she never discussed!

Loretta Swit was our celebrity and she was great. She brought a certain maturity to the whole thing, and I think people responded well to her.

and as for the C-Word. Never used it, never will. I prefer the T-word, myself!

Jenn

So, this has me wondering about the "Penis Puppeteers" that ThuVan mentioned. (hehe, laughed just typing it the name of the show). Do you think they have an audience participation piece where they have everyone turn to each other and call them a "dick"? You know, so that it can't be used as a verbal weapon against men?

(I know, the C-word is way different and certainly *way* more derogatory....)

[Phoebe]

Sally- Glad you are back. We missed you!

Jennifer

Glad to hear that you had a good trip Sally!

I recently saw something on a free preview of HBO. Their series Real Sex had a story about "Penis Puppeteers". They are some guys from Australia that were out of work and have now got something like 12 different touring groups around the globe! They were doing things that looked very odd, but somewhat funny?! They claimed that it wasn't painful...can't say that I was trying any of their moves though....