Ewwwwww.....

Ok, I'm not sure why I'm posting this, but I saw it on another blog I read and couldn't let it go by without comment. Check these out:



In case you didn't catch it...yes, they're plush toys designed to introduce kids to the wonderful world of potty training. Eww.

Mmmm.....cookies

It's Girl Scout Cookie Time, and though I've completely missed it for the last few years, this time I've crossed paths with some enterprising Girl Scouts on 2 different occasions. And I caved in and bought some cookies. The first time was at our favorite neighborhood Mexican restaurant, and the second time was today at the bank building that houses my Starbucks. Apparently since they were off school thanks to Pulaski Day (it's an Illinois thing), they set up tables in downtown office buildings. Way easier than going door to door like I did when I was that age.

Ok, I'm hungry....time for some cookies.

Getting Rid of Junk.....that somehow, lots of other people want

I'm a fan of Freecycle, which if you haven't heard, is basically a free local email group where you can post offers of stuff you want to get rid of, and respond to others' offers and free stuff. As I continue with my massive house cleanout project, I post things that I don't want anymore and would feel guilty throwing in the dumpster. And I usually get lots of responses. When I first joined, I was more interested in getting free stuff, but now I'm motivated by the desire to actually see the back wall of the closet for the first time in years, and then to create space for this tiny little new person who's going to have lots of stuff. Tiny stuff, but lots of it, I imagine.

So, I think I look a lot more pregnant than I did a week ago. Or maybe it's just an optical illusion created by the horizontal stripes I've worn for the last 2 days in a row. I'm not a good judge of how much I'm showing at this point; it seems like a lot. But to someone who isn't aware of my new status, I probably look like I just ate waaay too much Valentines candy. Which I did, but that's beside the point.

I just realized that the 2 of us have never had a portrait taken, at least since our wedding 7 years ago. I'm thinking that maybe we should, before we become the 3 of us. Maybe on Sunday, if both of us are having a good hair day!

My street this morning...

Ok, I have to admit, it was pretty. Though not so much through the
windshield.

Will winter ever end?

I was officially sick of winter a couple of weeks ago, during our last snowstorm. So I was not thrilled to hear we were going to get another dumping of snow last night. Usually when I awake to everything coated in white, I'm like a kid again, excited that it snowed, even though I'm not going to go sledding in it and there's no possibility of a snow day. But today wasn't like that, and the snow only represented a potential sloppy mess that would require me to wear boots and lug around extra shoes. We've had so much snow this winter that it will be a long time before it all melts, but I'd settle for sunshine and dry pavement.

Ok, enough whining about the weather. I did choose to live in Chicago, after all. But around here, complaining about the weather is as ubiquitous as snarled traffic or Starbucks.

Update

It's been a really long time since my last post...I keep thinking about it but never have gotten around to it. :) Anyway, I'm sure everyone who reads this knows by now, but we're expecting our first child this July 24! So far everything is going along well. So that's pretty much been consuming my energy of late. That, and our massive clean-out-the-house endeavor that we're in the middle of. Anyone want some free books? !! Sometimes it seems like we're not making much progress, because lots of the progress isn't visible (in closets and such). We are probably also going to replace the carpet in the bedrooms because it's in worse shape than I though (now that we're moving furniture around that was cleverly concealing the stained areas). So, more stuff to do! But we're really excited about this summer!!

Weather

It's a sad, sad thing when 20 degrees starts to feel warm---compared to the last few days of single digits. When we woke up on Saturday morning, it was 6 degrees outside. By yesterday, our kitchen sink pipes had started to freeze because they're on an outside wall; despite our best efforts to keep the water running, keep the cabinets open, heating the room, etc., the cold water slowed to a trickle. But now it's back...at least for now. We need to get the condo manager to do something about that one.

Also in the single-digit temperatures on Saturday morning, we got a flat tire. We called AAA and sat there for a very long time waiting for them, though that was much better than changing a tire in that weather! Not that we could have anyway; it turned out that we don't have any tools in the trunk. Whoops! So we had an unexpected major expense last weekend, too---we replaced all 4 tires at once. The traction on snow is much better now, thankfully.

One sort of amusing thing that happened this week was that downtown by the train station the wind took my hat right off my head, and sent it sailing for almost a block. I would've given it up for lost, except that it got stuck on a fire hydrant (after skipping through a puddle), so I went and got it. I'm very picky about hats, so I'm glad I don't have to buy another one!

Living in IKEA

It's been a while since I made regular trips to IKEA; I can safely say that we have plenty of furniture by now. Maybe too much, even. But I'm still a fan, even though I haven't been there in a while. And I couldn't pass this up: a guy who convinced an IKEA store to let him live there for 6 days while his apartment was being fumigated. This is also the same guy who visited all 171 Starbucks in Manhattan in one day. I think he's a comedian/filmmaker/performance artist/etc., so this will probably buy IKEA some free publicity, as if it needed it.

The videos are hilarious, by the way.

Mental lapse of the day...

This all happened in a matter of a few seconds, but I got a huge laugh (at myself) out of it:

In the kitchen at work, I reached up to get a mug out of the cabinet, then reached down to fill it with water in the sink. I noticed I was starting to get very wet, then looked down to see I was holding the mug upside-down. HA!!! Note to self, always make sure the cup is right side up when filling with water. Or, in general, watch what you're doing. :)

Have a great day, and don't forget to laugh at yourself!