Ramblings from Chicago

mid-life crisis

2005-05-07T12:55:00.000-05:00

yes, they exist, and i am having one. 35 is early, yes, but i have never been one to do anything on a normal schedule. don't have much to say about the crisis, though, except that i have been missing my 20's lately. don't feel like telling you about it here, though, and you probably aren't interested anyway. how nice is this? i never really enter things into my blog, and when i do, i am full of depression and complaints.

i miss my friends. i also miss (god, i can't believe this) columbus. i miss ohio. there! the cat is finally out of the bag. i think that i just miss what is easy and familiar. i will probably go to columbus in august - coldplay is going to be at polaris, and i must go! tried to get tix last weekend for the show last night in chicago, but they sold out in 20 seconds. can you believe that??!! i was so disappointed.

am going to read and take a nap now. might have a happier post later.

accomplishing things

2005-04-17T12:17:00.000-05:00

am feeling bouyant today because i am beginning to tackle some things that i have put off for a very long time - like paying off debts and losing weight. both are sucky, but it feels good to know that i, we, will really benefit from it in the long run. the process is hard, though. we are restricting our leisure activities in order to pay more to our creditors (thank god there are a lot of free things to do in chicago when it is warm), and i have been forcing vegetables down my throat in a way that i never have before (yuk!). the next thing that i have to do is motivate myself to get into the gym every day. this is the hardest thing in the world for me because i hate exercize, but we have a pretty good gym right in our building that is free to use. how crazy am i for not taking advantage of it? am going to see a nutritionist soon, and i am working on getting off of some of the meds that i take that have caused me to gain a lot of weight and not be able to take it off again. wish me luck!

we are going for a little picnic at the lake today, i think, if M ever gets out of bed. i think he stayed up very late watching terrible steven seagal movies, so he is still conked out at 12:10pm. so i am off to make potato salad. hmmmm.....just thought of something. potato salad is good because it has veggies in it (mine does anyway - i use a non-traditional recipe), but it is bad because of the dressing and its evil ability to make you eat a huge amount of it. maybe i should rethink this. urg... this getting heathy thing is most unpleasant!

congrats, bill and joe on your new crib!!!! can't wait to see it in person - it's completely adorable in the photos :-) perfect for you too.

another pretty spring day

2005-04-09T12:14:00.000-05:00

it's beautiful outside today - lots of sun, high thin clouds, birds chirping. this is chicago at its best. the city seems so inviting when the weather is good. i can't wait for the trees to have leaves again, but the flowers have popped up about 5 inches from the ground! we're having a picnic by the lake tomorrow. love having a lake 4 blocks away from where we live. nothing new to report other than nice weather. snooze...

stuff

2005-04-02T21:31:00.000-06:00

just finished the fifth harry potter book. i have been obsessed with them for about a month now, and i read all five, one after the other, and just pre-ordered the sixth one, which will be released in june or july. i never wanted to read them, but my boss insisted that they are fabulous, and she was right. anyway, i have been reading just about every minute that i am not at work, so no blogging. not that i ever do it regularly anyway.

am empathizing with bill - i have to start studying for the lsw exam soon. i have decided that i definitely don't want to stay at this job for more than 18 months or 2 years, so I want to start racking up licenses and certifications. i already have 7 months of supervision, and i need 18 for the lcsw, so i have 11 more to go, and then i am going to take the lcsw test and start looking for another job. it's not that i hate this one - it's just that i have been feeling very angry about certain aspects of it and the agency lately. for example, there are no strict professional lines drawn between staff members, so i end up having to listen to people with BA's in english tell me how to work with clients - and they think that this is ok because the state of illinois and my agency will let anyone practice and call themselves a social worker. it drives me absolutely mad! i have also learned that i want to be an administrator. i don't really like clinical work afterall. i want to design and run programs, create agency policies, and manage people and money. aside from taking the lsw exam, i am thinking about getting a cadc (ccdc in ohio) - not because i want to do drug counseling (i hate working with addicts, and drug counselors are generally pretty wierd), but because i want it on my resume. i recently learned that it helps for getting admin jobs in chicago, even if it is unrelated to the services that agency provides. and that makes sense - there are a lot of addicts out there, and every agency serves them in some capacity, so it's important to learn about it, even if you don't want to work directly with clients.

what else? oh i don't know. there are things - i just don't feel like writing about them. more later.

On vacation

2005-03-19T11:26:00.000-06:00

I am on vacation!!! Yeehaw!!!! I need the break - work has been crazy. It's getting close to Spring now, and some of the shelters and warming centers close when it gets warm, which means that there isn't enough room for everyone to sleep, and we are on a mad dash to find housing or alternative shelters for everyone. lots of other stuff going on too: the video was released that i was in, and people keep telling me that they saw me on tv (this is kind-of a fun thing :-) ; we had our 12th annual art auction last night, which was really nice, but getting ready for it was wild; I had to evaluate my student and get her written grade report done for U of C; lots of people have been on vacation, which adds to everyone's workload; and we have several annual reports due in April that we have been trying to finish. Whew! I started my vacation yesterday and am off until the 28th, and i am over the moon about it! The agency has a very generous vacation package - 15 days in your first year (soon to change to 23 after we merge with another agency) and 25 days from you second year onward (this will go up too after the merger). this is nice because you can take a week off every three months. oh - speaking of the merger - we have been working on that non-stop as well because it is supposed to be finalized in April.

other stuff: I turned 35 on the 15th (I am middle aged now - hahahaha!), and my birthday was great! I got two cakes, balloons, presents, free lunch, and singing and dancing at work, and Michael and I are having a party at a great Irish pub on Sunday. Our friend Barbara is coming for a visit from Columbus on Monday, and we are really excited about it - we miss our friends terribly. I hope that the weather is decent. It has been a bit warmer and sunnier lately - in the 30's and 40's with lighter winds. With any luck, mother nature will be in a good mood next week and give us some nice sunny weather so that we can enjoy romping around the city. we don't have very many specific things planned; we will let her choose things when she gets here, but I know that Michael wants to take her to the top of the Hancock building and to an exhibit at the museum of science and industry. other than that, who knows? i am just happy to see her and to have 10 days to sleep in!

what else? well, that's probably enough for now. i am going to have some lunch now and then start cleaning the house and doing laundry to get ready for Barbara's visit. I am either way too tired or disgusted with the thought of using my time off to clean after work, so the house looks like a bomb went off in it. this is going to take awhile. more later.

up way too early on a saturday morning

2005-03-05T06:42:00.000-06:00

it's 6:30 on saturday, and i should still be asleep, but i am up with the birds today. i conked out at 5:00 yesterday (intending just to take a short nap) and never woke up. now i have had too much sleep! i feel very groggy and spacey this morning.

finished the first harry potter book and loved it. am going to pick up the second one today while we are out. i am taking Michael to a bowling alley today - he's never been and wants to try it pretty badly.

can't think properly in order to note any interesting events from this week. still have crappy weather, so stuck in the house all the time. will write more later when head feels better.

this week

2005-02-26T08:07:00.000-06:00

the last two weeks have been really stressful for us at work. the clients have been exceptionally needy, and several people who already graduated from the program became homeless again. thus, i have extra people coming to me for help, which essentially expands my caseload on top of some new administrative responsibilities that I was given as well. we also have tons of big merger stuff going on - i don't think i ever mentioned this merger, did I? well, we are sucking up a smaller agency, and if you have ever worked at a place where a merger was happening, you know that it is really complicated, creates a fuck-ton of extra work, and is very stressful - especially if the people that you are taking over are resistant. we had a big staff meeting yesterday with the agency that we are acquiring, and there was so much tension in the room! some of their people really hate us, and we are all worried about their ability to be on our team and do things the way we do them. some of them are incredibly resistant. i am on the committee that is responsible for "zippering" the two agencies' programs, and we are not really getting anything accomplished because there seems to be a lot that that isn't being said, and the anxiety and territorialism that we are all feeling is getting in the way. anyway, it has helped to make the last two weeks hell.

on top of extra needy clients, a merger, and new administrative duties for me, we have had a lot of other crazy things going on - some good, some not so good. clients are fighting with each other and filing grievances against staff members (which i now have to handle - it's one of the new things i was given to do - being the grievance solving person); a number of people are going on vacation in March; we have a HUGE portfolio due in 3 weeks that will influence our funding (last year, we were ranked 7th out of 200 agencies, and i am responsible for a huge chunk of the portfolio materials); my supervisor's mother is dying; and the documentary film crew came to the agency the other day during a huge community event that we have bi-monthly. they did interview me, and it will be shown on wednesday at a big luncheon that the mayor is hosting for his staff and a ton of people who are working on his 1o-year plan to end homelessness. it is going to be a local tv station as well. i should eb excited, but i am too busy. will send copies, if you want to see it.

how have we handled all of this stress at work? a bunch of us went out and got stinking drunk on thursday. i don't normally drink, and i haven't actually been drunk in about 8 years, but i needed that! this weekend, i am going to sleep and read and be a lazy bum. off to do that now. bye!

long time, no post

2005-02-20T14:02:00.000-06:00

i finally decided to log on today and give an update on life in chicago. i am terrible about blogging because it's a bit of a pain in the ass - sometimes, i just don't have anything to say. also, i have a new game obsession - it's called bejeweled 2, and once i start, i usually end up playing for hours before bed. not every day, though. i have been reading a lot lately, too. last week, i read "a tree grows in brooklyn," and, this week, I am reading "the devil in the white city." it's about the construction of the world's fair in chicago in the 19th century and a serial killer who was at work at the same time. it's history written like a novel - very good stuff. next week (although I never planned to ever read this book), i am going to read the first harry potter book. i have never had any interest in the hp books, but my boss insists that they are spectacular and brought me a copy to work the other day. i guess i will give it a try.

what else? the weather is terrible, but that isn't real news, is it? the winters in chicago are always miserable. right now, there is yucky freezing rain falling, and the sky is gray. i can't wait for spring!

here's a sesame street thing for bill: we go to lunch at this little diner about 2-3 times a week, and the waitstaff now knows all of our names (although we don't know how - they must hear us say them) and brings us our favorite drinks as soon as we sit down. it's so sweet. we just noticed the other day that they have a photograph of david bowie in the diner and that he filmed an ad for audi at the diner. i have lost my traffic cop friend, however. they replaced her with a very somber woman who never smiles or says hello :-(

interesting news on the work front: mayor daley is coming to the cafe for a publicity thing, and we are going to be in a documentary about the successes of the 10 year plan to end homelessness. one of my clients was chosen to be highlighted as a success story, so i will have to prepare him for the interview and sit with him while he is filmed and, perhaps, be interviewed as well. my 15 minutes of fame! hahahaha! i am more excited about the daley thing, however. can't wait to get a photo with him and an autograph. mr. big machine politics in real life!! love him!!

things a little better with the boss. told her in that chat about being an overachiever that it isn't what she says to me that hurts - i can take almost anything that anyone says to me. it's the way that she says them that stings so much - and she does it in front of other people - so i feel humiliated. she was truly sorry, i think, when i told her, and she apologized several times. now, whenever she is snappy, she e-mails an apology or calls me into her office to apologize. so, progress has been made - she is aware of her bahavior and is taking steps to be more careful about the way she talks to me. now if only she would do that with the rest of the staff...

some other big news: our friend barbara is coming to chicago for four days over spring break, and we are thrilled! we don't have any specific plans for her visit, except to take her to renaldi's for pizza. hopefully, the weather will be a little better. too bad spring break isn't two weeks earlier - the paddy's day parade is on the 12th, and i really wanted her to be able to see it.

what else? cats are fine. i am having a significant birthday in march - i am going to be 35! according to actuarial data, i am expected to live to be 70 years old based on where i was born, the year that i was born, and some other things. thus, my life will be half over. this is not sitting well with me. wish that i could be 20 again but know what i know now and have all of the self-confidence, self-esteem, etc. etc. that i have now. *sigh* anyway, i have decided that I am going to have a birthday party for myself, since no one has ever had one for me. am going to celebrate middle age! woohoo!

that's all for now. could write more but want to read. will try to update more frequently.

work thing

2005-02-02T17:53:00.000-06:00

here's a question that i need some remarks on: what do you do when your boss is an extremely tightly wound, anxious person who worries about EVERYTHING (and tries to micromanage everyone who is not in upper management because of it), blows everything out of proportion, analyzes your potential deep-seated psychological issues and then decides exactly what is wrong with you and uses it as a way to explain every facet of your behavior that she doesn't like (and refuses to believe that she is wrong), interrupts and talks over you anytime you open your mouth, cuts you off midsentence with a curt "i can't talk about that right now" or walks away while you are speaking, makes you cry, suggests that you see a therapist, intimidates and alienates both staff and clients, and generally makes everyone around her feel like they need xanax in order to get through even one hour of the workday?

this is my boss, and i have to meet with her on friday to talk about being an overachiever and where that might come from because i produced a report that was too detailed (i used SPSS to analyze some survey results), and she said that she only wanted a short, one-page summary typed with Word.

and what do you do when you are someone who is compulsively open and honest and has a habit of revealing way too much about what you think and feel, which has probably contributed to her need to discuss my "problem" with overachievement? why is doing the best that you can do a bad thing, especially when you are just starting your career and are trying to establish yourself and make a good impression? why do less when you can do more? Help :-(

laughed my ass off today :-)

2005-01-27T18:43:00.000-06:00

we had that dumb talent show tonight, but it actually turned out to be quite good! the range of talents was amazing and hysterical. here are some examples:

1. my friend becca and our director of training (margaret) did a duet for which margaret played "are you lonesome tonight" by elvis on the recorder while becca sang the words in a horrendous opera voice. i laughed so hard that i cried!

2. becca also did a duet with the executive assistant. they whistled "eye of the tiger"

3. the housing specialist balanced two forks on top of a toothpick that was wedged into a hole in the top of a salt shaker

4. the associate director read dr suess stories in a kooky high-pitched granny voice

5. the assistant chef trainer played a hand drum. she is awesome!

6. a client played the acoustic guitar and sang two really good songs that he wrote

7. the volunteer coordinator read a poem in french

i was supposed to read some extraordinarily bad, but funny poetry, but i was back at the doctor today because of that horrible sore throat that i have had now for 26 feckin' days! she thinks that i might have mono. UGH! she gave me a Z-pak, though, which might do the trick.

anyway, the talent show was a great laugh, which we all needed - especially the clinical services team. we have been working on a huge report for HUD this week and were nearly mad by 5:00.

going to finish some work now and play a game before bed. thank god tomorrow's friday :-)

you aint' never seen winter until you've seen Chicago winter!

2005-01-22T12:46:00.000-06:00

Yesterday, there was a report on th news about some city in north carolina getting one inch of snow and drivers sliding all around and passersby remarking about how awful and frightening the weather was. pssshhhhttt!

When I woke up this morning, i discovered that the storm that started last night hadn't stopped and had dumped over a foot of snow on the ground. It's almost one o'clock now, and it is still snowing heavily, blowing and drifting into massive piles, and I can't see across the street from my kitchen window. I just came back from the grocery - i should've stayed in, but i was out of smokes - and I am soaked, not only from snow, but from sweat from trying to climb over huge piles of snow. It is up to mid-thigh! I have never seen a winter like this before. OMG! and the wind! the snow is blowing so fiercely that you have to stop and turn your back to it because the snow blinds you and you can't breathe or walk. It is probably just short of "blizzardous" (don't think that'a a word, but oh well). bought a movie and lots of cheesy magazines to read while we wait this out. Michael, unfortunately, had to go to work this morning, and he has to work tomorrow as well. yikes! if it is too bad tonight, he will have to stay in a hotel - it's that bad outside! Please, please, Mother Nature - I beg you - please make this go away :-(

what the fuck?!

2005-01-18T17:17:00.000-06:00

there are some insanely nasty germs in Chicago this winter! I just got over strep and an ear infection last week, and I have another sore throat and body aches today! my immune system must be crap, because I can't seem to get well. Tonight, I am going to make chili and put every single fresh and canned vegetable in the house into it. maybe the vitamin punch will help. I hope so - I can't stand this.

I looked at a two-bedroom apartment in our building today. our place is so small - we reallly need more space. Most of our things are still in boxes because we don't have anywhere to put them. the unit was sizeable, which i liked, and it had two baths, a dishwasher, and a storage room, but it was very long and narrow. i would feel like i was living in an aerbus. some others are opening in the spring, so maybe we will like one of them better.

not too much else going on, I guess. It's too cold to go anywhere, so we haven't done anything interesting. have a day off tomorrow, so i might go take a little nap. more later.

one more thing

2005-01-11T17:57:00.000-06:00

i know that this is unbelievably pathetic, but i am bummed out about the breakup of brad pitt and jennifer aniston. they are both just so darn likeable, and i thought that they were a great couple. no particular reason for sharing that; just felt like it.

feeling better

2005-01-11T17:53:00.000-06:00

am almost over my sickness now. had a scare last night when i came home from work after my first day back in a week, and i had a searing pain in my left ear and in the left side of my throat. swallowing was excrutiating! i worried that i had tried to do too much too soon, but 3 advil and 2 tylenol (the pharmacist said that it was ok to do this) sorted it out. today, i feel much, much better!

that dumb talent show is in two weeks, and staff are encouraged to perform. what am i going to do??? i have no talents! two of my co-workers are doing a funny duet: one is going to play some sad elvis song on the recorder while the other one whistles along and inserts a spoken word section. can't wait to see that! hahahahaha! must think of something to do, but what? any ideas? it has to be something funny. if i am going to make a fool out of myself in front of all of my co-workers and dozens of homeless people, it has to be intentionally funny!

hmmm...not too much else to report today. not much going on, i guess.

wretched sodding weather!

2005-01-09T12:44:00.000-06:00

we chicagoans (still a little wierd to call myself that) have done a fairly good job of digging ourselves out from under the massive amount of snow that mother nature dumped on us last week. it snowed, and snowed, and snowed for days - nonstop. we also had skin-slicing wind coming off of the lake, and frigid temperatures. today, the main roads are finally clear, and the temperature is up a bit, so the snow has started to melt. actually, it started to melt yesterday during the whopping 1 hour of sunlight that we had, but then the temps dropped again, and it all froze. thus, the melting that is happening today is really a re-melting of yesterday's slop. don't ever believe anyone who tells you that chicago winters are not that bad. they are horrible! and from what i have heard from native chicagoans, it is only going to get worse. february is the worst month, they say.

ventured out of the house for the first time in six days yesterday (not counting the trip to the hospital). we went for soup at panera and then took a walk to the video store, which resulted in choosing some really bad movies. "wicker park" is a waste of money (so disappointing! movies are always set in NYC or LA - boring - and i was excited to see a good thriller set in chicago, but it was crap). we also rented "open water", and it was dumb too. am going to watch "little black book" today. do not have high hopes for it, but it might surprise me. i hope it surprises me.

anyway, i was going crazy in the house, so i decided to try to go out, but i think it might have been a mistake. i feel a little worse today - more congestion, and i am exhausted. this sickness refuses to go away. i am miserable :-( am going back to work tomorrow, and i hope that i will feel well enough to get through the day.

signing off now. i need my bed and my blankie. more later.

strange kitten

2005-01-07T04:19:00.000-06:00

here's a quirky thing about cracker: we bought her one of those fishing pole toys - you know, they have a little pole, a long string, and some sort of toy on the end that the cat is supposed to chase and attack. she broke the toy off of the end of it and has begun to do something very odd with the remaining pole/string part: she picks the string up with her teeth and drags the toy around with her everywhere. EVERYWHERE. when she eats, she puts the pole behind her bowl and the string inside the bowl while she chomps on her food. she puts it in the water bowl while she drinks, too. a minute ago, i watched her pull the toy into the litterbox with her while she used it. she then covered up her mess and pulled the toy back out with her and back over to the food bowl. yuk! she also likes to pul the toy into the bathtub and onto the furniture using the most difficult methods imaginable. for example, she doesn't simply jump onto the couch with the toy in her mouth. instead, she jumps up onto the arm first, which causes the pole to get stuck in the space between the arm and the cushion. next, she spends 20 minutes jumping up and down off of the arm and batting the toy with her foot until she dislodges it, which, inevitably, makes it fall on the floor again. she does this over and over until she finally gives up and pulls it into the bathtub.

here's another thing about her: she ripped a hole (bugger!) in the lining of the box spring on our bed and curls up in there. it's a nice new house for her. i found three balls and a mouse in there the other day...

she's the cutest baby! a total imp, but very sweet, and i love her lots :-)

have been very sick for over a week. went to the hospital last night because i was coughing up blood and my throat was on fire and nearly swollen shut. yikes! learned that i have strep and an infection in my left ear. am now taking the most enormous amoxicillin pills known to man and a bunch of syrups and pills for coughing, body aches, congestion, and other yucky things. i have missed a whole week of work. thankfully, i have a very cool boss who told me to take as much time as i need to get well. am very bored - daytime television is unbelievably bad! but can't sit at computer for long. hence, lack of posts. will be better at writing when i feel better. am up at 4:14am because i can't stop coughing. thought i might write something to let you know that i am still here.

have smeared vicks all over myself, and am not coughing as much. might try to go back to bed. more in awhile.

yes

2004-12-28T18:35:00.000-06:00

will not buy cheese.

all is well

2004-12-28T18:33:00.000-06:00

got everything sorted. won't go into details, but i guarantee that it wasn't anything nearly as bad as you must have been thinking that it was. i exaggerate when i am upset. anyway...

christmas was nice. gray and snowy, just like it should be on christmas day. we played games, watched movies, ate too much, and hung out in our pj's all day. it was lovely. no tree this year, though. the cats would have wrecked it! especially the baby. she's an imp.

cats are well, work is fine, going out to dinner for new year's. don't know where though. we wanted to go to a cute little italian place that we have been wanting to try, but it is going to be closed. thought about going downtown, but it's such a hassle (long train ride, and it's only a whopping 18 degrees outside with frigid wind - bad, bad, bad time to stand on train platforms). don't feel like getting gussied up either. will find a cozy neighborhood place instead.

what else? am trying to think of some new year's resolutions. could use the standards: quit smoking, lose weight, but they are so boring, and i don't feel serious about either one. would be a waste of two good resolutions. hmmm... maybe i will resolve to visit a city that i have never seen, like las vegas (cheesy, yes, but you have to go once in your life) or los angeles (gotta go there once too). maybe we will go to new york - i don't know - but we can finally afford to travel a bit, and i get a lot of vacation days, so we should go somewhere. we are going to ireland in september; i know that much. hopefully, we will get to go to london and paris on this trip too. maybe i will give up cheese. it's killling me - i know it!

off to the store. more later.

sorry

2004-12-23T07:54:00.000-06:00

forgive the delay in writing posts. am going through a crisis right now, so blogging hasn't been a priority. am having serious problems with michael - dealbreaker kinds of problems. may be slow to get posts up until resolved, if it can be.

7 day week and other stuff

2004-12-19T21:49:00.000-06:00

we're having our holiday party for our guests and alumni tomorrow night, and i am the chair of the committee that puts it all together, so i had a seven-day week this week. despite me assigning duties and deadlines to everyone, one person who is a key player in it all (the guy who solicits donations of gifts) couldn't get his shit together, so i had to do 10 times as much work. i spent the whole weekend wrapping presents that another team member rushed around to buy with donated funds. it's done, though, and i hope that tomorrow goes smoothly.

saw ben moore last night. he is in town with his wife and some friends from ohio. we went for drinks downtown (which is a horrible place to go out, btw. it's good for shopping and pricey dinner, but not for drinks with friends. gotta go north for that). but they are staying downtown and were too tired to take a train ride uptown, so we stayed in the loop. it was great to see him.

went to one of our favorite irish pubs in lakeview after that and saw a terrific band that played a mixture of irish favorites and orginal stuff. the singer is from the north of ireland, and he has an amazing voice! i asked him if he would consider performing for a non-profit, and he said yes. woohoo! can't wait to organize that gig. the only thing that sucked about the evening at the pub was that there was a pub crawl going on, and 150ish students from DePaul crowded in, all wearing stupid santa suits. michael and i tried to drive them away by blowing cigarette smoke at them (none of them smoked) and Michael blew guinness farts at them (yuk!), but it didn't work. they stayed for almost 2 hours before moving on! this is a pub where regulars go to have quiet drinks with friends, so we felt like our turf was invaded. stupid santas...

what else? i think i might have tendonitis or bursitis in my left wrist. woke up around 4:00 this morning with excrutiating pains shooting through my wrist, and i can't bend it backward or sideways. must have that looked at asap. hope it isn't arthritis. sometimes my left elbow hurts too, and my right knee hurts in the morning as well. i am an old sod. sigh...

off to have a bath before bed. nighty night.

not feeling holiday spirit

2004-12-14T18:07:00.000-06:00

friend becca and i were talking at lunch today about the lack of holiday spirit that we both feel this year. then found out that bill is feeling the same way. BTW: thanks for the card, bill! so sweet! must send me your address - i have one for you too but haven't gotten around to asking you for your address.

so, no holiday spirit - music doesn't help, lights aren't helping. we have no tree or presents. i wonder why this is happening? so yucky.

not much going on. cats are finally getting along. Yeehaw! i decided on friday that i was going to reclaim our bathroom and told those bitches that they had to work it out themselves. and they did. happy about that :-)

more later. am obsessed with new yahoo game that i discovered on saturday - have been waiting to play all day.

mosa is gutting me

2004-12-09T20:28:00.000-06:00

sorry about the lack of posts - have been trying to get mosa and cracker aquainted, and it's been disastrous! i know that it is supposed to take awhile for an existing cat to accept a new one, but mosa is hissing and growling like you wouldn't believe - even at us. just a few minutes ago, she jumped on my lap and smelled cracker on my shirt and growled and lunged at my face. it scared the shit out of me. i feel so torn, and so does michael. we love cracker so much because she is exactly the kind of cat that we want to have: incredibly loving, playful, sweet, friendly - doesn't growl, scratch, or bite us like mosa does - and we are strating to wonder if we shouldn't have adopted mosa in the first place. but we feel INCREDIBLY guilty about thinking about giving her back. however, we can't tolerate her meanness, especially toward a helpless 5-month old baby cat. what should we do?

can't write about what's been going on - although it's interesting stuff - because i am consumed by my feelings about these cats.

wrong about something

2004-12-05T14:05:00.000-06:00

yesterday, i wrote that nutro and eukanuba are the two best cat foods; however, i did more research today and found out that eukanuba is not so good afterall. it is made by the iams company, which is a subdivision of P&G (blech! - evil corporate giant that tests products on animals). both iams and eukanuba brands are made with meat by-products (heads, intestines, eyes, etc) and corn, which are very bad things to ask your poor kitty to injest. also did more research on nutro and found that it is fabulous: no by-products or corn, privately owned company that is committed to animal rights, etc. woohoo! glad i bought that for cracker yesterday. i am going to now have to get some for mosa and mix it with what is left of her old food until she gets used to it, and then it is nutro for her too!

just brought cracker home, and she is adorable! she is very loving and cuddly! she is in the bathroom now, which i feel bad about - she's all alone in a strange new place - but i don't want mosa to feel like she has been cast aside, so i am trying not to spend much time with cracker for now. if michael was home, i could, because he could be with mosa, but he won't be home until tonight. thus, i am going to try to just go in there every now and then to check on her. mosa is pissed off! she hissed like crazy at the baby, and hissed at me when i tried to pet her. she's hiding under the bed now. poor girl! has anyone else introduced a new cat to their home? how did it go? any tips?

new baby

2004-12-04T19:07:00.000-06:00

we didn't think that we were going to be able to adopt cracker because someone else filled out an adoption application before we did. however, when we went to petsmart today for mosa's bath, the adoption specialist (maggie) told us that the people never called her back when she left a message for them saying that they were approved. thus, carcker is coming home with us afterall :-)

she has a bad respiratory infection right now, so she will have to go to the vet for antibiotics and stay in the bathroom for 5 days so that mosa doesn't get sick. she is also filthy and smelly from being at the pound and the anti cruelty society, so she needs a bath. the groomer offered to clean her up for free (woohoo!), so she will be soft and cuddly when she comes home tomorrow afternoon. we got to spend some time with her this afternoon, and she is incredibly friendly and snuggly. she let me hold and pet her for a really long time, and she climbed up on my shoulder and perched there while we talked to maggie. what a sweetie!

poor mosa. i felt so bad for her today and cried in the store when i saw them drying her with a towel after her bath. she looked so miserable! she hated the dryer and fought the groomer, and somehow she managed to cut her foot on the cage. poor girl. she deserves lots of love tonight. i knew today that i love her, even though she can be very evil, because i sobbed like a big dork when i saw how unhappy she was. she looks beautiful, though. very shiny and smooth. but i am not going to put her through that again for a long time - 6 months maybe - since cats bathe themselves so well. i wil have to have them cut her nails, but i won't make her get wet and bubbly again.

anyway, off to have a nap. it's been a long day, and when i get up, i have to scrub the bathroom and get it ready for cracker.

oh, BTW, i had a conversation with a coworker yesterday who used to work for a pet food company, and i got the scoop on what constitutes good food. the first 3-4 ingredients should be meat and rice and/or meat and rice meals, and they should contain absolutely no meat by-products. store brand food is terrible, and so is iams, which surprised me. the two best are nutro and eukanuba. thought all the cat lovers would be interested.

more later.

Talent show

2004-12-02T19:18:00.000-06:00

I have a client who is constantly coming up with crazy events to plan at the cafe. within the last three months, she has asked me for approval for and help with planning the following events:

1. A Hawaiian karaoke night

2. A talent show, complete with real live talent and modeling scouts and agents

3. A winter ball for which we all dress up in tuxedos and puffy white gowns............ and invite mayor daley.

I nixed the karaoke and winter ball without hesitation, and i was tempted to say no to the talent show too, but my boss likes the idea, so i had to say yes. the trouble with this is that she is not able to plan the event herself, so i have to do it for her. of course, having talent scouts and agents is not not going to be possible. can you imagine what would happen if i called some agencies and asked them to send reps? hahahahahaha!

so tonight i will begin making plans. i can't do it at work - i am WAY too busy. am going to try to have fun with this. hope she doesn't try to make me sing at this thing - i sound like a bag of cats. we are all supposed to participate, but i don't have any talents. hmmm... what to do?

yellow bird

2004-12-01T17:46:00.000-06:00

first thing that popped into my head... trouble with titles again

stayed home yesterday because i didn't get any sleep on monday night. the mister went out and got drunk, and we had an argument when he got home at 3:00. i don't mind that he went out with friends, and i don't mind him having a reasonable number of pints (2-3 is reasonable to me unless it's a special occasion), but i do mind him going out without telling me. he does this every now and then, and it makes me frantic because i always think that he is dead in a ditch somewhere. i will be expecting him home at a certain time, and he doesn't show up until hours later, and he is always completely, sickeningly drunk. yuck! he argues that irish men never tell their wives when they are going out for pints; i say that american women don't tolerate that sort of thing. it's a matter of common courtesy, right? if you are going to be late, you call to let people know so that they don't worry about you. am i being wierd? culturally insensitive?

am going to try to do something fun this weekend. will look in the reader to see what's going on. i definitely want to try this little italian place called angelina, and seeing the holiday decorations downtown would be fun. there is an ice rink at millenium park - i wonder if it is open yet? maybe i can get michael to go skating. anyway, i refuse to work at home this weekend.

just got back from the library. must go poke around in my new books.

this and that

2004-11-29T18:37:00.000-06:00

i was just thinking that this blog has turned into a bitch site for me. i never intended for it to be, but it just seems like i don't have anything but complaints lately. today is no exception. the question that i am wrestling with now is: "should i write about what i am inclined to write about given the day that i have had, or do i try to come up with something positive?" hmmm...

hmmm...

hmmm...

errr...

positive...

hmmm...

well...

ummm...

i have ten toes?

oh, sod it!

pleasure thwarted...temporarily

2004-11-28T09:34:00.000-06:00

it was pissing rain all day yesterday, so the alien was spared her trip to the groomer until next saturday. will have to wait until next week to get a little of my own back when she gets dunked in soapy water. hee hee hee. that's so bad, isn't it? to enjoy the thought of my poor pussycat being drenched and coated with thousands of bubbles when she hates and fears them so much? still feeling a little salty over that mini mauling that i got the other day, obviously. she has been trying to make it up to me, though, so i am starting to thaw and play with her again. BTW: grooming at petsmart (bath and nail clipping) is $50.

application for the new baby is still pending. she has claws, which is great - she might need them for awhile if mosa decides to be an ass about her becoming part of the family. what are plastic nail covers?

should stay home and do laundry today, but i think that i might go to a movie instead. there is a theater on clark that shows nothing but indie films, and there is one from england (can't remember the name right now) that i have been wanting to see. when you visit, we have to go to this theater; they show no less than 6 different indie films at any given time, and it's in a cool neighborhood with lots of other fun things to do. better still, it's across the street from renaldi's :-) just learned yesterday that chicago has more indie theaters than "hollywood" theaters. strange that, but kinda cool. our only AMC is downtown.

used peapod for grocery shopping the other day. how cool is picking out groceries on the internet and having them delivered to your door??!! am going to keep using that for sure. discovered overstock.com this weekend too and love it. got a nail gun that was originally $149 for $34. also got a leather toolbelt for $20 and an electric razor for $45. yeeehaw! so ended up doing some christmas shopping afterall ;-) here's a must have item: go to Bed, Bath, and Beyond and stock up on Sqush pillows. they are fabulous.

really rambling a lot this morning. have more to say but will do it later in another entry.

bad cat

2004-11-27T07:43:00.000-06:00

how often are you supposed to get a tetanus (sp?) shot? i have a masssive bite on my left arm from that sodding beast that we adopted. she was sleeping on my lap yesterday, which is fine, but my legs were crossed, and one of them went completely nimb and had begun to throb. thus, i attempted to move the alien, and in response, she latched onto my arm with her teeth and began to CHEW on it - and would not let go... like a fucking pit bull. i now have small holes in my flesh, and my arm is very sore. should i go to the emergency room for a tetanus shot and antibiotics? will have to check on the internet. bollocks, bollocks, bollocks! am glad that this wretched creature must endure a bubble bath and toenail clipping today. will enjoy that, I will. i don't want to give her up (michael keeps suggesting it) - i just want her to stop biting. am going to have to do some research and talk to the vet.

here's something else. we went to petsmart yesterday to get a carrier and food, and they have the most adorable baby for adoption! she is 4 months old, and her name is cracker. she's gray and white with big eyes that are a strange mix of smoke, green, and brown. i filled out an adoption application on the spot. we totally fell in love with her! we want a friend and playmate for mosa, and the adoption specialist told us that it is much easier for a cat to adapt to a baby in the house than to try to get along with an older cat. we have to keep them in separate rooms for awhile until they get used to each other, but we are hoping that we will end up with a change in mosa's behavior because she won't be alone as much and, therefore, wired when we get home. and we may end up with at least one cat who is sweet and loving (she chose us yesterday, not the other way around - not the case with mosa). anyway, will keep you posted, but if you have any tips, throw em' at me.

Thanksgiving day

2004-11-25T20:26:00.000-06:00

just got home from dinner at the cafe and am feeling stuffed but not very happy. I really miss my friends and wish that i could have been with them for the holiday. michael is at work, and i miss him terribly too. michael also has to work on christmas eve and the day after christmas, so we won't be able to go anywhere. i wanted to go to ohio, but we are going to have to stay in chicago. BIG ALERT AND HINT TO FRIENDS:

SOUTHWEST AIRLINES IS HAVING AN INTERNET FARE SALE FOR MIDWESTERN CITIES UNTIL DECEMBER 16. YOU CAN FLY BETWEEN COLUMBUS AND CHICAGO MIDWAY FOR ONLY $39 EACH WAY. WOW!! ROUND TRIP FOR ONLY $80! HINT...HINT...HINT... could come for a visit to chicago before christmas... ***big sad puppie eyes and sniffles***

Must go shopping tomorrow for a carrier for the alien. she is going to the groomer on saturday to get a bath and have her nails cut. they are seriously going to have to muzzle and restrain her. if they don't, she will maul them. can't wait to hear how she reacted to being put in a tub of bubbly water (she hates water and is afraid of bubbles) and under a big hair dryer. must also get the new U2 cd. have been excited about that all week. love vertigo! should buy x-mas presents on the biggest shopping day of the year, but want to buy goodies for self instead ;-) am going out to dinner tomorrow night too. woohoo!! michael is taking me out to make up for not being able to be at home for thanksgiving.

am going to read a good british mystery now while dinner digests. hope you had a good turkey day!

First snow in Chicago

2004-11-24T19:22:00.000-06:00

Walkin' in a winter wonderland...

Snowed for the first time this year in Chicago today. It was a very heavy, wet snow that only stuck to the cars and sidewalks, but i was excited nonetheless. I think that snow is so pretty, and it always makes me want to drink cocoa, read a good book, and snuggle with my blankie. Downside to today's event was the wind and rain that came with it for part of the day. The wind was so strong that it nearly blew me and a friend over as we walked to our favorite place for lunch. And we got DRENCHED! Did see a funny snow related thing on my way home tonight: Remember how I told you that Chicagoans are fanatical about snow removal? Well, I saw snow truck plowing streets that were only wet - no snow on them at all - and dumping enough salt to melt Antarctica. hahahaha!!!

not doing anything for thanksgiving this year; Michael has to work, so i am not going to cook or go anywhere. i could go to the cafe, but i don't think that i can go there and be allowed to have a good time. the clients will hound me like crazy - they always do - and it will ruin the evening. blug. will probably take a really long nap, read a new book, take a bath, and watch a movie. not happy about being alone on my favorite holiday, but it can't be helped. it will prbably be heavenly to have time to be lazy!

what else? hmmm... can't think of anything right now. bye!

not everything about chicago is good

2004-11-18T20:17:00.000-06:00

tonight i am feeling raw because i can't find silence anywhere - not even at home or the library. big cities like chicago are busy, noisy places where you constantly experience sensory overload, and it tends to wear you down after awhile. i suppose that growing up in chicago would desensitize you, but i think that newcomers probably all feel like they need a few days in the country every now and then. i grew up in a city, but it wasn't one like this; things settled down at night, and home was a quiet place where you could go to shut the world out. i found that in columbus too. but i don't have it here - no matter where i go, i hear voices, trains, buses, airplanes, cars, music, fighting, buzzing, beeping, honking, crackling, screetching, and barking - often all at the same time. my office is right next to the el tracks, so you can imagine what the noise is like in there! planes going into and out of o'hare fly right over our building (we don't live near the airport, but we are close enough that they are still working on gaining altitude when they get to our neighborhood). bus stop in front of the building, crazy old drunks shouting in the street - ugh.

this is not a nice entry. whining way too much. must stop writing now.

knackered

2004-11-17T20:07:00.000-06:00

am so tired tonight! yesterday, i went to work at 8 am and worked until 5. not such a big deal - do that all the time. but i stayed afterward to paint my office. Michael helped, so it didn't take as long as it would have if i did it alone, but it still took until 10:00. went home, had some dinner, and went to bed at midnight. got back up at 5, was at work by 7, and worked until 7:30. did two presentations today. blug.

had thai food for the first time ever today and hated it. big disappointing lunch. didn't have the heart to tell my boss that it was revolting, though. she really loves it and wanted me to like it so much. am going to have to find excuses now every time she wants to go there. should have just been honest. gave leftovers to co-worker when she wasn't looking.

what else? watching the osu v. michigan game at my favorite irish pub on saturday and going out for steaks with michael on saturday night. looking forward to that. yum!! am going to buy scratching post, new toys, and big kitty funhouse for the alien too. might stop her from attacking me.

must rummage around the kitchen for some dinner now. am starving and want to go to bed soon.

Funny

2004-11-14T19:11:00.000-06:00

got this from a friend in oregon. very funny! it's called "Fuck the South." Enjoy!

Fuck the South. Fuck 'em. We should have let them go when they wanted to leave. But no, we had to kill half a million people so they'd stay part of our special Union. Fighting for the right to keep slaves - yeah, those are states we want to keep. And now what do we get? We're the fucking Arrogant Northeast Liberal Elite? How about this for arrogant: the South is the Real America? The Authentic America. Really? Cause we fucking founded this country, assholes. Those Founding Fathers you keep going on and on about? All that bullshit about what you think they meant by the Second Amendment giving you the right to keep your assault weapons in the glove compartment because you didn't bother to read the first half of the fucking sentence? Who do you think those wig-wearing lacy-shirt sporting revolutionaries were? They were fucking blue-staters, dickhead. Boston? Philadelphia? New York? Hello? Think there might be a reason all the fucking monuments are up here in our backyard?No, No. Get the fuck out. We're not letting you visit the Liberty Bell and fucking Plymouth Rock anymore until you get over your real American selves and start respecting those other nine amendments. Who do you think those fucking stripes on the flag are for? Nine are for fucking blue states. And it would be 10 if those Vermonters had gotten their fucking Subarus together and broken off from New York a little earlier. Get it? We started this shit, so don't get all uppity about how real you are you Johnny-come-lately "Oooooh I've been a state for almost a hundred years" dickheads. Fuck off.

Arrogant? You wanna talk about us Northeasterners being fucking arrogant? What's more American than arrogance? Hmmm? Maybe horsies? I don't think so. Arrogance is the fucking cornerstone of what it means to be American. And I wouldn't be so fucking arrogant if I wasn't paying for your fucking bridges, bitch.All those Federal taxes you love to hate? It all comes from us and goes to you, so shut up and enjoy your fucking Tennessee Valley Authority electricity and your fancy highways that we paid for. And the next time Florida gets hit by a hurricane you can come crying to us if you want to, but you're the ones who built on a fucking swamp. "Let the Spanish keep it, it’s a shithole," we said, but you had to have your fucking orange juice.The next dickwad who says, "It’s your money, not the government's money" is gonna get their ass kicked. Nine of the ten states that get the most federal fucking dollars and pay the least... can you guess? Go on, guess. That’s right, motherfucker, they're red states. And eight of the ten states that receive the least and pay the most? It’s too easy, asshole, they’re blue states. It’s not your money, assholes, it’s fucking our money. What was that Real American Value you were spouting a minute ago?

Self reliance? Try this for self reliance: buy your own fucking stop signs, assholes. Let’s talk about those values for a fucking minute. You and your Southern values can bite my ass because the blue states got the values over you fucking Real Americans every day of the goddamn week. Which state do you think has the lowest divorce rate you marriage-hyping dickwads? Well? Can you guess? It’s fucking Massachusetts, the fucking center of the gay marriage universe. Yes, that’s right, the state you love to tie around the neck of anyone to the left of Strom Thurmond has the lowest divorce rate in the fucking nation. Think that’s just some aberration? How about this: 9 of the 10 lowest divorce rates are fucking blue states, asshole, and most are in the Northeast, where our values suck so bad. And where are the highest divorce rates? Care to fucking guess? 10 of the top 10 are fucking red-ass we're-so-fucking-moral states. And while Nevada is the worst, the Bible Belt is doing its fucking part.But two guys making out is going to fucking ruin marriage for you? Yeah? Seems like you're ruining it pretty well on your own, you little bastards. Oh, but that's ok because you go to church, right? I mean you do, right? Cause we fucking get to hear about it every goddamn year at election time. Yes, we're fascinated by how you get up every Sunday morning and sing, and then you're fucking towers of moral superiority. Yeah, that's a workable formula. Maybe us fucking Northerners don't talk about religion as much as you because we're not so busy sinning, hmmm? Ever think of that, you self-righteous assholes? No, you're too busy erecting giant stone tablets of the Ten Commandments in buildings paid for by the fucking Northeast Liberal Elite. And who has the highest murder rates in the nation? It ain't us up here in the North, assholes.Well this gravy train is fucking over. Take your liberal-bashing, federal-tax-leaching, confederate-flag-waving, holier-than-thou, hypocritical bullshit and shove it up your ass. And no, you can't have your fucking convention in New York next time. Fuck off.

not so good at some things

2004-11-14T19:05:00.000-06:00

went to work today to help paint. thought that i would love painting but gave up after 10 minutes because it made my arm sore. still love the idea of painting and like painting objects other than walls, like furniture. must now paint office because i decided to paint a patch while i had the roller for the hallway, but the colors don't match like i thought they did, and now i have a BIG spot that is a completely different color. hope my boss doesn't get mad at me! will buy my own gallon of paint and stay late one night. my office is medium-sized, and i only have to do 3 walls and the ceiling. if michael helps, it shouldn't take long, and one gallon should be enough. might do that tomorrow. yikes!

didn't do anything else today. am meeting michael at 10:30 for a late dinner at renaldi's. Yum!

Talked to elizabeth for awhile tonight. she is doing well and has been hired full-time at her job. Yippeee!!! Great news!!! :-) very happy for her. hopefully will get to see her at christmastime - hope to see all of my columbus peeps at christmas! Must arrange one of those group dinners that i used to plan every month. will ask boss if i can have 23rd off tomorrow so that i can spend 2 days in columbus before going to youngstown. uh oh. just thought of something... what will we do with the alien while we are away? i know that cats are very self-sufficient, but i don't want to leave her alone for 4-5 days. that would be mean. will have to see about boarding her. don't think we can bring her, especially if we fly.

what else? nothing, i guess. should iron some clothes before going out but don't want to. am having one of those nights where i don't want to sit around and do nothing, but i don't want to do anything either. does that make sense? hate that. oh well. will think of something to pass the time until renaldi's. bye!

saturday in chicago and the alien

2004-11-13T19:25:00.000-06:00

had a pretty nice day today. the mister and i got up early and decided to go out for breakfast at a little corner diner called the uptown snack shop. we had eggs, bacon, ham, sausage (lotso pig), pancakes, toast, and coffee (we were starving) and it only came to $14. pretty cool, eh? we love that place; it's really sort of old fashioned, the people are nice, and we can smoke. i go there for lunch with coworkers at least twice a week, and for two of us, the bill is usually about $6. Love it!

what else? went shopping, but didn't really buy much. the shops were unbelievably crowded, and i started to feel pretty salty after awhile. thus, in order to preserve my good mood, i decided to leave with only a white shirt for michael and some new gloves. then i rented some dvd's and went to get my hair cut. now i am going to watch a movie. not sure which one yet - i usually get one for me, one for michael, and one that we would both probably like. but today i got 4 - three for us and one for me. guess i will probably watch the "girly" one. forget what it's called, but it is extremely cheesy brain candy. sometimes you need that.

now a word about the alien - since she's mentioned in the title of this blog. FREAK! one word. sums her up nicely. did some sort of devil-to-the-core-thing a few minutes ago. was running around the apartment doing that puffy tail and arched back thing, and, without provocation or warning, scrunched down low to the carpet, jumped on all four legs (in the scrunchy position) in a north-south-east-west maneuver, then stood up on her hind legs and clawed at the air with her mouth hanging open and her ears flat on her head. maybe we have a ghost or something. think i should have the vet give her an MRI or PET scan or something...

surprising discovery

2004-11-12T19:54:00.000-06:00

went to a training seminar today at the university of chicago for new field instructors and learned that their program is pretty much exactly like the one at osu. in fact... you won't believe this one bill... i think osu's program is actually better. My student is so unbelievably underprepared. I also learned that a great number of their students come into their program being nearly illiterate! can you believe that???!!! And U of C ranks higher than osu?! unbelievable!

discovered another surprising thing today too. COTA has a better bus system than CTA does. I had to take the train and two buses to the university, and the buses took bloody forever. they never come when they are supposed to, and then three come at the same time. this happens consistently on every route in the city. what up with that? this is chicago, people, not east bumblefuck, mississippi!

kinda crabby tonight. don't know why, though. nothing happened to make me this way.... unless you count being attacked by a maniacal fuzzy killer alien cat as soon as you walk in the door... what to do?

gonna play around on the internet for awhile now. may write more later.

one more thing

2004-11-11T20:26:00.000-06:00

might just have to give the cat a new name afterall. her previous parents named her mosa, and we decided to keep the name, despite wanting to call her ripley. i thought that it wasn't fitting, however, because she didn't seem like a badass. i was sorely mistaken...

our cat is an alien. and i think that she has a neurological disorder because she is so incredibly strange... and a bit violent. she always does evil cat tail swishes, bites if you touch her at the wrong time (but you can't ever really tell when the wrong time is), runs around sideways with her back arched and tail puffed up, and pounces on people. i am just waiting for her to spit acid blood and implant chest bursters into us while we sleep... sigh...

this and that

2004-11-11T20:15:00.000-06:00

not too much going on this week, i guess. work is as busy as usual, except that i now have a second person to supervise. i guess that means work is even more busy. luckily, this person is extremely capable, so he can pretty much just work away on his own with little guidance. my student, on the other hand, is new to social work, so she needs lots of help.

we are having our anniversary dinner in two weeks, which is an amazing event. we turn the agency into an upscale gourmet restaurant, and a famous french chef is coming in to prepare a nine course meal. wish i could afford a ticket! it's a big fundraiser for the agency, so we have lots to do in order to prepare. this weekend, i am going in to help re-paint some of the rooms and the hallway. fun! i love to paint. should be out exploring the city, but the mister has to work all weekend, and i don't really want to do anything by myself - it isn't as fun.

anyway, must go. want to write more, but too tired.

bad blogger

2004-11-08T22:51:00.000-06:00

have been very neglectful lately, but i have had a terrible 1 1/2 weeks! yucky training seminar that went badly, dealing with a-hole clients, feeling disgusted over that fucking yeehaw being re-elected, wishing friends would visit, etc., etc. have just not felt like writing at all. don't feel like it much today either, but if i don't do it, i might stop for good.

so here's what's going on in chicago post-election: everyone is disgusted and grumpy, and no one wants to talk about it at all. seriously, if you bring it up, you will definitely hear "let's not talk about it; i can't stand it." it's like the whole day just never happened. the only person whom i have heard say anything is mayor daley, who slammed the democratic party for being too focused on pleasing people in washington, forgetting their roots, and allowing the republicans to use their grassroots tactics to steal bazillions of votes. i can't talk about it anymore - it's too depressing.

what else? might go to ohio for christmas if i can get the 23rd off. we get christmas eve off, so i guess we could go friday, but i want to leave thursday so that we can have time to fly into columbus and visit friends before going to youngstown. if i can't get the 23rd off, and if michael can't fit travel into his schedule, we may just stay home. i don't know - i just want to see my friends... wish they had money to blow on weekends to chicago.

gotta go now. cat just jumped on laptop. can't reach keys very well. she's a dummy.

oh bollocks

2004-10-26T19:17:00.000-05:00

didn't work

test

2004-10-26T19:15:00.000-05:00

just trying something

http://www.osu.edu

check out my schedule for the rest of the week!

2004-10-26T19:12:00.000-05:00

Wednesday: Guest meeting 8 - 8:30
Client appointment 8:30 - 9:30
Client appointment 9:30-10:30
meeting 11:00 - 12:30
Lunch with co-worker 12:30 - 1:30
client appointment 1:45 - 2:45
performance review and meeting with supervisor 2:45 - 4:00
teleconference 4:00 - 5:00
client appointment 5:00 - 6:00
6:30 go home and collapse from exhaustion

Thursday: Meeting downtown 9 -12
Lunch 12 - 1
travel on el back to uptown - hours
Client appointment 3:00 - 3:45
client appointment 4 - 5
client appointment 5 - 6
case notes 6 - 7
7:00 go home and collapse from exhaustion after 10 hour day

Friday: Back downdown for another meeting 9 - 11
travel on el back to uptown - hours
lunch 12:30 - 1:30 (hopefully)
rest of day - client appointments and catch-up

Next week: so many meetings downtown and elsewhere that there is no time for meetings with clients.

my schedule is nuts. and i am supervising an msw student from the university of chicago on top of it all. must develop better time management skills...

am very tired now but still have to prepare for tomorrow. will try to write again later.

staples can

2004-10-23T22:57:00.000-05:00

told you i would be giving these dumb names. couldn't think of anything, but can of staples-brand spray air can sitting on the desk, so "staples can" it is....

nothing much to say about anything specific; just felt like talking. everything is fine, but i feel very tired this weekend. i had to work at our drop-in center today, and i could barely stay awake. i have been working a lot of overtime, which i must stop doing. it isn't required - i just have way too much to do and not enough hours in the day.

we decided to keep mosa's name (it's on her veterinary records and microchip), but call her mrs. cat at home. hope she doesn't get confused. she is such a neat cat - i just watched the way she uses the litterbox, and she is very dainty and ladylike about the whole thing. she doesn't kick litter around, and she covers everything up very well so that you would never know that she was there.

am bored now. wish the video store wasn't so far away; would rent something. might just go to bed. might have something more interesting to say tomorrow.

new family member

2004-10-22T21:40:00.000-05:00

we brought our new kitty cat home wednesday night. she's a doll - very sweet and snuggly. she sleeps between us in bed and always curls up next to us on the couch while we watch tv. her previous parents named her Mosa, and so far, we haven't changed her name. the original plan was to re-name her ripley, but she isn't a bad ass, so the name doesn't quite fit. we then thought about "elliot," but that doesn't seem right either. tonight, michael called her "mrs. cat," and i like it. it's sweet and made me giggle. so i think she might become "mrs. cat."

i have to work tomorrow and should be in bed right now, but i don't want to go to sleep. i'm glad that i won't have to work very many weekends - i am dreading it. i like having weekends off. better try to sleep anyway. more later.

duran duran

2004-10-19T21:07:00.000-05:00

am feeling mighy excited this evening! have just seen a little news story about duran duran's new album/video/possible tour and am really looking forward to getting the cs and seeing them live. it's the original lineup from 20 years ago when i worshiped them and covered my bedroom walls with photos of them from every magazine that i could get my hands on. *sigh* Simon, Nick, Roger, John, and Andy. Brit pop at its finest.

had a rough day today. had meetings from 8:30 until 4:30 without a break except one hour for lunch. and my computer is doing this wierd thing where it repeatedly turns itself on and off over and over and over again all by itself, and we don't have a proper IT person to fix it. thus, i can't do my job properly, and i am very frustrated about it. ugh.

off to have some dinner.

new pet

2004-10-16T23:31:00.000-05:00

we filled out an application this afternoon to adopt a cat from the anti-cruelty society. if we are approved, our new friend will get to come home on tuesday or wednesday. her name is mosa, and she is a 4-year old tabby cat whose family abandoned her when they moved to an apartment building that doesn't allow pets. this disgusts me. you wouldn't give away a child if a potential landlord told you that kids weren't allowed in the building, so why would you give away your cat? people suck.

speaking of sucky people: just read about a horrible bumper sticker that bill saw today that said "vote the bible." UGH! the mixture of religion and politics in the usa is really getting out of control, and i am scared. the implications are huge. more on this later. i am too upset to write anything more about it right now. hope you sped up and gave that old cow the bird, bill!

ok. one more thing before i go read for awhile. jim tressel needs to get rid of justin zwick. he is an idiot. this season is so embarrassing! is anyone else wondering why they aren't making better use of santonio holmes? he has clarett-like talent, yet they keep giving the ball to lydell ross, who is a good guy but not the best player. *sigh* not looking good for the michigan game, and it is very likely that i will be red-faced at my party next month.

sesame street in chicago

2004-10-16T12:46:00.000-05:00

We have a favorite place to get pizza called Renaldi's. It's near the corner of broadway and diversey - i wish they had a website so that you could look at their menu and see how fabulous everything is. anyway, i always have a sesame street experience when we go there. we are considered regulars now, so we get special coupons in the mail, and when we go in, the waitstaff knows who we are and brings the mister a guinness and me a harp. they also know that we always get a 12" a la garbage pizza. we went last night, and i thought of bill. he loves sesame street experiences too. so this one's for you :-)

we're going out now to adopt a cat. i want to get a female, and i am going to name her ripley, after sigourney weaver's character in the alien's movies. woohoo!!!

church bells

2004-10-13T18:26:00.000-05:00

we live next door to a huge catholic church, and they ring bells every day at 7:00a, noon, and 6:00p. at first i thought they were pretty, but now i hate them. the thing that i hate most is that they play "america the beautiful," and i typically think that patriotic songs are trashy. they also play this messy song that makes me want to poke my eye out with a pencil. it's all random bell ringing with no sensible rhythm at all. blech.

something i observed today: ohioans speak a wierd language. chicagoans are midwesterners too, but they don't use all of the silly phrases that ohioans use. linguistics are fascinating, and i had a fun conversation with a native chicagoan about some of the things that she hears me say. more on that another time.

had the most magnificent pasta in the cafe at work last week. am craving it now. it was penne pasta with sun dried tomato and garlic pesto. i asked the chef to come and live with us. when you visit, you'll have to try the cafe. it's very yummy.

am having a cheeseburger for dinner again tonight (**sigh**) - but no mushroom soup with it. then early to bed. i should watch the debate, but i cannot stand the sight and sound of dubya. nothing is going to change my vote anyway, so why torture myself? anyway, i have to go to work early tomorrow to compile stats for the Chicago Department of Human Services. fun, fun!! ;-)

one more quick thing

2004-10-12T20:44:00.000-05:00

i always reread my entries, and i noticed that i have a lot of typos in them. i do know how to spell and join words properly - i promise. just wanted to throw that out there.

hmmm...can't think of a title for this one

2004-10-12T20:13:00.000-05:00

i suck at coming up with titles for things. i could never think of titles for papers in college and grad school, so i would inevitably give them an incredibly dumb ones and be embarrassed when i turned them in. i can't think of subjects for e-mail messages, questions for qiz games, titles for blog entries, or log-in names. so from now on, i am going to title my blog entries the first thing that pops into my head. don't be surprised if you see titles like "banana" or "pop goes the weasel" or some other such nonsense. i really am horribly non-creative.

so here is a secret fear: being dull and non-creative in front of people. for my halloween shindig at work, we are going to make cards, goodie bags, and decorations for the kids who are recovering in the burn and oncology units at cook county hospital (ER is set at that hospital). the only scary thing that i can draw is mr. evil toast, and no one will know who he is (obviously, because he came from my own wonky brain) or think that he is funny. i will have to put him on my website so that you can see what he looks like, and if you are wierd like me, you will laugh. but my co-workers and clients will probably think that i am loopy, and the kids will just think that i am a complete dork. i can just hear them saying "who the hell is mr. evil toast?" just who is he, you ask? he is an evil piece of toast sent by satan to destroy things. he carries a pitchfork and has big teeth and six feet. what am i going to do? i can't draw anything at all - i am not kidding. nor can i make spiders out of pipe cleaners or ghosts out of kleenex and rubber ball. mine always rip. **sigh** oh well, i hate kids anyway.

i had mushroom soup and a cheeseburger for dinner. this is a very bad combination - do not try this...ever. the contents of my stomach are sloshing around violently, so i must sign off. need to read my british detective novel before bed, too. early day tomorrow - and lotso meetings. bye!

a new thing to try

2004-10-11T22:59:00.000-05:00

am inspired by bill. will try to add something every day about something that i have observed in chicago. here goes:

there are bazillions of pigeons living here. i like pigeons well enough, and i feel guilty about being annoyed with them because burt loves pigeons, and i like burt. if he were real, and i could talk to him, he would disapprove of my occasional attempts to scare pigeons by chasing them along the sidewalk. the homelss men who hang out in front of aldi's tell me not to "mess with their meat" when i do it. i think the mayor hates pigeons - there are signs all over that say not to feed them. if you do, you have to pay $500.

here is another thing that i have noticed: there is a real sesame street-like "in the neighborhood" type of thing going on here. when i walk to work every day, a police officer who directs traffic on the corner says hello and good morning, and i say it back. we giggle and wave, and i go on my way. i introduce myself to store owners in the neighborhood and shake their hands too. they recognize me and say hello when i come in. how cool is that?

i observed a big thing today too, but i can't tell you about it. it's a once-in-a-lifetime thing. will email you about it if you ask (and i know you).

beddy-bye time.

tv commercials

2004-10-11T22:29:00.000-05:00

one exceedingly good thing about living in chicago is that i am spared the unbelievable number of stupid local commercials that riddle the airwaves in columbus. don't get me wrong, we have a few done by used car dealers, but they are actually rare. most of our ads are national, and we seem to have fewer commercials during our shows, which is a very good thing. however, while i don't have to see fred ricart, i have been victimized by menards hardware store. they have this incredibly irritating theme song that i have been singing for six bloody weeks! now that's an earworm! must move on to another topic - it's close to bedtime, and i need to try to put menards out of mind or i will be up for hours singing that song. ugh!

what else? friend bill has a blog, which i am excited about because he always has interesting things to talk about. will enjoy looking at it regularly. however, i am envious. he knows how to add links and team members and other stuff that i am clueless about. must learn how to add extras to my blog. tried to add a photo the other day but couldn't figure out any of the instructions. part of the problem is that i never read instructions - i hate them and have no patience for that sort of thing. anyway, will learn some secret tricks from the mister and have cool stuff soon. distracted by the west wing now. more later.

having a lazy weekend

2004-10-09T18:50:00.000-05:00

sometimes i need that - we all do. i feel a bit silly, though; living in such a great city and not taking every single opportunity to get out there and do something. but i have plenty of time - i live here now. i had a very tiring week at work. i have more work than i can finish in a day, although my "to-do" lists help immensely. i am supervising a student now and am excited about it, and i am planning a halloween party for our clients, which will be a lot of fun.

am reading some good british mysteries in my spare time, but i should be working on my research project. am going to get in big trouble with my co-author if i don't start pulling my weight! will try to do some tomorrow, i think.... if i am not too tired.

don't feel like writing anymore. not much to say. suck at this blogging thing.

some things

2004-10-05T18:05:00.000-05:00

have been ordered by friend bill to be diligent about writing. plbbbb! is what i said to that! a girl can only do so much in a day! am knackered after work each day and want to watch lotso tv because new season has started, but have been doing a few things lately that are interesting....

went to millenium park last saturday, but couldn't stay long because badly misjudged autumn weather in chicago and nearly died of exposure to sneaky canadian winter blasts. co-workers snicker at me periodically when they hear me talk about love of colder weather. apparently, winter here is indescribably (sp?) wretched. but this description comes from sun lovers, so i might think it's splendid. it has gotten much chillier, though. it was 28 degrees this morning when i got up, and we live four blocks from the lake, so the wind was rough. chicago is a very windy city, but that isn't why it was nicknamed "the windy city." does everyone know the truth behind it? will tell you if you ask. has nothing to do with meteorology. interesting fact: failure to eradicate every molecule of snow at first sight has brought down two mayors. seiosusly! chicagoans are fanatical about snow - they hate it like no one i have ever met. mayor daley rocks, though. they call him "mayor for life." he is also very, very good about controlling the city's rat population - and he hates litter. anyway, have gotten way off subject. went to park, and it is pretty - what we saw of it anyway. there is a very cool piece of sculpture that looks like a martian hat near the opening. will put pictures on my website. has lots of sculpture, flowers, an ice rink, a cafe, personal stories from people all over the globe mounted on big plaques - it's nice. will wear ididerod-type outfit for next trip and see whole thing.

what else?

hmmmm... guess that's all that isn't very ordinary, actually. have been to favorite irish pub many times. will be going to a play called "belfast blues" that looks very good. it's all irish nationalism, family tragedy, and beer. should be quite good ;-)

have started working on some committees and will attend first meeting for committee that i will sit on as part of the continuum of care system. the COC is a bunch of org's that are working to implement the chicago 10-year plan to end homelessness. i am on the mainstream resources committee. they have a website, but i can't remember the addy.

clients? YOWSER! some of them are.... interesting.... let's leave it at that. love em' all, though.

anyway, forgot other things that i was going to write about. will try to rememeber and write more later.

oh! i know one. am going to the chicago marathon this weekend. should be fun ;)

also, have lost 5ish pounds. Woohoo!

ok. must do some work. bye!

not too good at keeping up with this

2004-10-01T20:05:00.000-05:00

i wanted to try to write something every day, but i am too bollixed after work every night. had a significant week. entire management team was out of office, and i had to run things. it went really well! am quite proud of myself. love my job, love chicago.

political race is yucky. ugh. can't wait for it to be over. please no more dubya!

want to go read now. if looking for an interesting book, pick up "momentum" by mo mowlam.

will be making website soon. look for photos.

homer simpson

2004-09-22T21:47:00.000-05:00

was going to write about something else, but saw funny commercial starring homer simpson and decided to write about him instead. however, have nothing of value to say about homer. i realized tonight that he is funnier than i thought, so maybe i will start watching simpson's reruns. can't concentrate. am watching new law and order and am not able to think of things to write. will try tomorrow.

oops

2004-09-21T17:57:00.000-05:00

just reading over old posts and realized that i forgot to talk about fun things that we plan to do as promised. so here are some upcoming fun things:

1. buskerfest. this is where street performers from all over the world come to chicago to compete for title of best street performer and get pocket change.

2. adler planetarium. want to look at deep space. might be a bit interesting.

3. visit little shops all along both clark and belmont. tons of unique places that you can't find in smaller cities and towns.

4. visit hancock tower at night. 1000 feet tall. yikes!

5. attend numerous "halfway to paddy's day" events at irish pubs. have guinness and harp for $2 per pint - and they are european pints, not those crappy american things.

6. hosting osu v. michigan party at johnny o'hagans on day of game. inviting all of my workmates, some of whom are from ohio, others from michigan. should be fun. michael believes have been infected with horrible disease because of perverse college (only osu) football obsession. it's all maurice clarett's fault...

7. estrofest. big rocker chic music festival. am not rocker chic myself, but new friend at work is a drummer and want to see her band.

8. see a bunch of plays. dozens to choose from each night - productions of all sizes. lots of great small theaters with great shows about clever things. love theater!

9. try to get tickets for bette midler. long shot, but want to try.

10. see blue man group. sexy...

11. eat breakfast at bongo room. stomach growling just thinking about it...

12. take cheesy double decker bus architectural tour. architecture in chicago is fabulous!

13. world music festival. people from all over world come to perform.

14. chicago book festival. oooh... a day where the whole city celebrates books. really looking forward to that.

15. chicago marathon. not running. but will have to volunteer because workmates are, and agency is getting money for participating.

that's about all for now. that will keep me busy until december, when i am sure that i will have a new list of things to do and report on. will keep you psoted :-)

getting a cat

2004-09-21T17:18:00.000-05:00

am probably going to the pound this weekend to adopt a cat (or two). we weren't allowed to have pets at our last two places, but everyone has pets in chicago. property owners cannot get renters if they don't let them have pets. in columbus, renters who have pets can't find apartments anywhere. so, i think i might get an older cat, because no one ever wants them, and i am the biggest sucker in the world for things that no one else wants to love. michael is too. might get two, actually, because wouldn't want her to get lonely. plus, it would save two from death. will decide when i get there. will be nice to have a cuddly creature to love. do not like children, so this is a good alternative. wish i could have some horses and a whale, but don't think i can fit whale in bathtub.

getting better at doing this frequently, but sometimes do not have much to say. suppose that's why i called it ramblings from chicago. oh, here's something... nevermind. will talk about it later. too many letters to type and want to check out cable that was finally installed today. Yippee!! food network, hgtv, bbc. more later.

you can write comments on these blog entries, in case you didn't know. would love to hear from you.

it's a beautiful morning :-)

2004-09-19T10:47:00.000-05:00

the sun is out, the sky is deep blue, the breeze off of the lake is crisp. **sigh** very happy in chicago. am going to the oceanarium at shedd aquarium to visit sea creatures today (i think). michael's sister has been visiting from ireland for 2 weeks, and she is going home tomorrow, so what we do today will depend on her. but oceanarium was the plan when i went to bed last night.

i am going to create a website when we get the internet sorted out. then you can see pictures of all of the places that i have, and will, talk about in the blog.

the mister just woke up, so we are going out on the balcony to have a smoke. not too much else to say this morning.

About the new job

2004-09-18T22:09:00.000-05:00

It's very cool, but i am a clod because i am still learning. you know how that goes. my co-workers are all very nice and most are liberal/leftist. four of us are from ohio. it's funny how many people in chicago are from ohio, actually. i meet them everywhere. it's like when i moved to columbus - i kept meeting people who were from youngstown. there seems to be a wierd established migration path that everyone is following. and those who leave chicago tend to go to california and the pacific northwest. interesting, that.

anyway, job is good. office is nice - like it lots, except for where my window is: right next to the el tracks. yikes! the noise is unbelievable - all day long. oh - and the air conditioning doesn't work. it does in most of the other offices, but not in mine. i have a fan, but it doesn't help much. thankfully, fall is on the way! yeehaw! looking forward to that - it's bloody hot here.

what else about the job? hmmm... more on that later. want to write about fun city stuff now. see next (actuallylast) post. I wish that they displayed these in order of first written to last instead of the other way around. they do them newest to oldest, which means you are reading everything out of order!

Chicago Fun

2004-09-18T20:15:00.000-05:00

fun, fun, fun city! can't wait for everyone to visit! here is what we have done so far: (and what we plan to do soon)

1. eating lots of terrific food. there is a great italian place in the neighborhood where i had lobster ravioli with a light sage sauce that really blew my hair back. it was delicate, flavorful, and surprisingly light. the cappucino is made by an italian immigrant who began making them in his father's restaurant when he was 8 years old. yum! We have also had that orgasmically good pizza that i have told you all about a bunch of times. elizabeth was here last weekend and had it with us - ask her about how good it is :-) Have also had hot dogs from byron's. it's a famous hot dog place, and the dogs were dripping with fantastic chili and gooey cheese. fucked up a shirt but good on that day... also had dinner at berghoff's one night. it's a really famous chicago restaurant, but i wasn't very impressed. the restaurant is pretty, and the staff is great, but i don't like german food. where else? great falaffel sandwiches at a place called alma pita - i have that for lunch at least once a week. and a few great meals at the agency that i work for (they have a cafe on site). just munching my way across the city. so many great choices!! we eat out almost every day.

2. went on a boat tour of the city and saw fireworks at navy pier. chicago's skyline is gorgeous, and we have a great view of it from our balcony. elizabeth has pictures of the boat tour - she was here when we went. they have fireworks at navy pier every saturday night, which i love, so i was happy to see them. overall, navy peir is a pretty cheesy tourist attraction, but it's charming at the same time. i kind of like it.

3. Went to the beach and the lincoln park zoo with elizabeth. the zoo is free! but 1/4 of their exhibits are domestic animals. oh well, it's still pretty, and there are lots of wild fizzy and slimy creatures for all to see. The beach is four blocks to the east of us. we can walk there anytime. love that! BTW: for baseball fans: wrigley field is 6 blocks south. anyone like the cubs?

4. shopping - god, it's great here! the mag mile is so easy to get to from our apartment. the bus stop is right in front of our building and drops you off right in the heart of it. Yvette: prada, kate spade, armani, everyone, everything. you are going to pee your pants! hahahaha!

5. Johnny O'Hagans. My watering hole. owned by two guys from the north of ireland. lots of irish immigrants. love it!

off to have dinner now. chinese just arrived. more later.

Settling In

2004-09-18T12:13:00.000-05:00

ok. this is why you haven't heard from me:

living in a huge city actually forces you to slow down. it's true! it takes forever to do everything because there are so many people wanting services, and you have to walk everywhere (even with train and bus service because they usually drop you off several blocks from where you have to go). with that in mind, SBC never showed up for their appointment to install dsl, phone, and satellite disk. we are very pissed off about it, so we call a local company that everyone in the buidling seems to use called rcn. rcn brings modem that controls cable, phone, and internet and it works for 2.5 hours and then dies. we call to have it fixed, and they have no appointments for 2 weeks and are going to charge us $45 plus $36 for every 1/2 hour that the fucker is here. WHAT??!!! so we tell them to disconnect it altogether and pick up their junky equipment. so without communication devices yet again. call sbc back and ask for internet and phone. they get the phone squared away, but don't send internet stuff for another 1 1/2 weeks. have that finally. yes!!! but not for long... get magical call from comcast (cable company) and agree to go with them for cable and internet because very salty with sbc. they arrange to come next day, but never show up. what the fuck is with these people? the mister calls, and they tell him appointment is for september 22, so now using sbc until 22nd. will then have cable and internet from comcast (hopefully) on 22nd and phone from sbc. hate all of this very much...

Finally! A new entry from Chicago

2004-09-18T12:00:00.000-05:00

So we have had a terrible time with getting phone, cable, and internet service in Chicago. I made arrangements to have all three connected before we left Columbus, but it didn't work out at all. In short, it has taken 3 weeks to get the phone and internet set up, and the internet is temporary. Still no cable. Long story; will tell it later. First, let me tell you about moving!

This is going to be a long one, by the way...

1. It took 13 hours to load the truck! We were supposed to leave columbus at 10:00p after sleeping for 8 hours after loading the truck in the morning. didn't happen! we left at 3:00 AM! after stuffing the truck, throwing shit away, and leaving things behind. I had no sleep, so i was bollixed, and we only made it to sprinfield when the sky opened up and dumped an unbelievable storm on top of us. plus, the alignment in the truck was fucked, so we had to stop at a hotel and get a room. slept for about 3 hours before check out time and got back on the road. Terrible alignment meant slow driving (u-haul blows), so we didn't get to chicago until about 5:30, which meant that we missed getting our keys for the new apartment. UGH! Luckily, the management office told us that they would leave our keys in the apartment. however, we had to ring the maintenance man to let us into the building, and he was at dinner when we arrived. sat around for an hour feeling extremely cranky and doubting my decisions, hating the world, and wanting to punch the mister for yelling at me for accidentally ramming the stupid misaligned truck into a hedge.

Found the maintenance guy (it's 6:30ish now), get the keys, and find out that we have to manuever the truck through a skinny alley to back it up to a service door in the rear of the building to unload it. alley is as wide as a saltine, and neighbors were screaming at me for blocking both alley and parking spaces. fuck, fuck, fuck! what to do? Sod it! leave truck in alley and go up to 6th floor (was told by apartment locaters that it was on first floor, but they lied) to see new pad. Yikes! it is miniscule and on the sixth floor! am feeling very shitty again... go back to truck and decide am too tired, hungry, and depressed to unload. plus, it is 7:00 and almost dark. get maintenance guy's permission to leave truck in front of building and go to day's inn for the night. not looking or feeling good right now...

have no clean clothes, toothbrush, hair products - all buried in truck. have to buy all of it before stores close. find ugly things at tj maxx but wear them anyway because i smelled like a warthog. have pizza at favorite little italian place on diversey (bright spot of evening) and fall into death-like slumber for 12 hours.

day after arrival looking much brighter. feeling better and ready to conquer all. this is all about being in chicago, afterall. the city is what matters, not where you lay your head at night (within reason, of course. could/would not live just anywhere). but apartment looks much better after sleep and time to think rationally. it lets in tons of light - there are big windows in every room. we have a balcony with a great view of downtown, and our neighborhood is really cute. find helper, and truck is unloaded in about 4 hours. hurrah! apartment looks like bomb went off in it, but we were in, and we could finally get rid of that sodding truck!

more on settling in in the next one..

the final countdown

2004-08-24T13:23:00.000-05:00

who sang that cheesy 80's song? i know it was some glam-metal band that sucked - they all did - but since i now have it stuck in my head, i think i might like to know who created that piece of trash... anyway, this message is called "the final countdown" because it is the day before we move to chicago. yippee!! but i still have a fuck-ton of things to pack and the truck to sort out. u-haul wants to give us a 26-foot thing that will be way too big. when i was 9 years old, i wanted to be a truck driver when i grew up (i was inspired by "b.j. and the bear" and that eagles song - you know - "take it easy"). but i am a social worker now, and i am not at all interested in driving a big ole' scary truck - especially on the dan ryan expressway! there is a bright spot in the day, though. I am meeting my friends for dinner tonight, and i am really looking forward to it. i am sure that we will have a lot of laughs, which i desperately need right now. off to pack.

Did I mention that moving sucks?

2004-08-20T18:08:00.000-05:00

It has been raining for 2 days, so i can't do any dumpster diving at Pier One for boxes, which means that our apartment continues to look like a bomb went off in it. I can't pack anything without the boxes, so i feel stuck and frustrated. the mess is driving me mad too. hope the rain stops before our yard sale on sunday... what else? can't get a u-haul truck, so we have to use penske, which is waaaay more expensive. pissed off about that! i don't know; i don't really have anything but complaints today. just wanted to vent a bit. not an enjoyable read at all.

Not quite there yet

2004-08-19T17:02:00.000-05:00

I am actually still in Columbus right now, but I am using the computer to change our address, connect utilities, etc., so I thought I would just create a blog before I left too. Moving sucks, by the way. I have already smashed a finger, stubbed a toe, and bruised about 25 body parts. I can't wait to get this all done!