On, Wisconsin!

I'm back home for a week. My real home that is. The land of cheese and football know as Wisconsin is beautiful in the summer. Not nearly as melty as Florida or as wet-gym-sockish as Tennessee. It's good to be back.

Above, I have two curious items. On the left, Wilson's own chai tea concentrate. Now, I was an early adopter to the whole chai tea latte trend. My friend Sarah clued me in back when we were both substitute teaching and skipping out between classes. Back then chai was a strong drink, heavy with spice and not for the weak willed. Children would flee from it in terror. As word got around, more and more people wanted to try this magical brew. Unfortunately, those who stepped up to the challenge were often scared off. Yet they craved the cool-by-association attention they could earn holding a cup of this magical concoction. Alas, chai has become a victim of its own popularity, losing it's once universal awesomeness by cutting back on flavor.

The good people of Wilson's in Racine, WI, have not given up on chai and have remained true to their caffeine laden values. Every time we visit the area, a visit to Wilson's is assured. We generally clean them out of however many half-gallon jugs of chai they have prepared for take-home sales. This quart bottle won't even make it to the airport.

Next up is a Tyrannosaurus Rex as featured in How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight? This, although super ninja awesome, is not coming with me either. It is a gift. "But penguin_poet," you may say, "how in the world could someone rack up enough cool points to receive such a wonderful gift?" The answer to that is simple. You have to be my niece.

Making her Penguin Postings debut, it's: Charlotte! She beautiful and well worth the trip. I only wish that Monkey-Girl could have come along with me to meet her.

Rest assured; I have checked. She's got monkey toes.