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Got kinda caught up in a torrent of rants and neglected to mention what Dan and I did during the rest of his week off. Considering that Dan doesn't get any more vacation time until next June, it was important that we got to do something fun even if we had to stay in Sioux Falls to do it. Only problem is that I'm in a stupid flare again and can't quite remember everything, but I'll do my best.....

On Tuesday, we decided to hit the zoo, hence this cute shot Dan got of a zebra on a roll. It was a cloudless 90 degree day, so we applied the bug spray/sunscreen liberally. And I had plenty of batteries for the digital camera.

Only problem with touring the zoo in a wheelchair is that most of the fencing comes up to about eye level, making it difficult to get photos or sometimes even for me to see the animals unless I got out and stood up. Luckily, Dan was more than patient, both with pushing the chair and with taking pix for me when I couldn't get a good shot. Many of the animals were hiding away from the heat; can't say I blamed them.

The Sioux Falls zoo is much tinier than the one I was accustomed to in Denver, so many fewer animals, and some areas are being worked on, creating a lot of dead ends, but I did see some cool things. Like the tiger fanning the air with a paw that was bigger than my head, the wolf who popped out of his hideaway to check us out, the giraffe who posed for pix, and the baby gibbon. I also liked the atrium full of flamingos.

I was really surprised that as hot as it was, I didn't get the usual sun-sickness type of symptoms (at least not right away). I think the Imuran must have something to do with that. I also didn't get any rashes or excessive photo-sensitivity.

That evening, Dan's parents wanted to take us to dinner, and we agreed to try someplace different, an Italian restaurant called Carino's. I'd never been to one before, but I found a gluten free menu for them on the internet. Was hoping they'd be as good as Carraba's, an Italian chain I used to go to in Denver (there isn't one in Sioux Falls, unfortunately).

Was feeling adventurous and ordered something with a cream sauce, chicken scallopini. I'm supposed to avoid high-fat dinners, but I hadn't had access to a gluten free cream sauce in almost two years, and I figured the fat content would be lower anyway since the chicken wouldn't be breaded (normally it is). And instead of spaghetti, I had green beans.

It was awesome! I wanna go back there again someday and try some of the other gluten free dishes. I can even have ice cream with caramel sauce there (if I share it with someone else, naturally).

On the way out of Carino's, all the activity (and sun exposure) of the day caught up with me, and I felt like I might faint. But Dan got me out to the car before I fell over or anything, and we went straight home. Don't remember what I did the rest of the evening; we probably watched stuff on DVD.

On Wednesday, we had planned to go the Indian restaurant for supper, but I was too wiped out to go anywhere, so we watched "Waitress" on DVD. I really enjoyed that movie. It was quirky and sad and funny; the only downside was that it made me really hungry for pie, heh heh.

On Thursday, we decided to hit the cheap theatre while "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" was still playing. Awesome flick! I was laughing harder than anyone else in the theatre, particularly at the gratuitous male nudity, which in my mind sorta makes up for all the gratuitous female nudity I've seen in other movies.

Friday was when we finally made it to the Indian restaurant. Dan had his usual Lamb Vindaloo, but he ordered it even hotter than usual, so I'm surprised he didn't catch fire, heh heh. I had Lamb Rogan Josh, which has a a tomato/onion sauce with cinnamon, cardamom and clove, and the usual basmati rice, mango lassi (a yogurt drink) and the chick pea bread appetizer with dipping sauces.

Also during the week, I finally got back to using up my iTunes gift cards! I haven't finished sorting the downloads out to make individual CDs, but I shall soon. And I'll post a list of this year's downloads at some point in case anyone's curious.

Well, those are the main highlights. Getting a migraine; gotta stop.