The outside possibility exists...

I was headed into the Carpenter Road Meijers today when a small handwritten sign made me stop short in the driveway and page Alexis. While I waited for her to call back, I pulled into a spot, and pulled out again, rolling slowly past the sign to confirm before I got us both too excited.

I read her the sign: "4221 Ellsworth Road. IHOP"

IHOP. We have had no IHOPs in all of this time. We like IHOPs. We mark their existence on maps of frequently traveled routes (Exit 29 on the way to Chicago) so that we may use it as a haven in this trudging pilgrimage.

I gleefully assumed that the letters I.H.O.P. could signify nothing other than the pancake house itself. Alexis, however, was more cautious.

"It could stand for something else," she said. "Maybe it stands for the International Hut of Poison."

I had to admit it wasn't impossible.