ewww

I guess when you're in Walgreens 3 times in 24 hours, the odds of finding a weird product go up. (I keep having to go back because W. is sick.) So, this is really gross:

Chicken Poop chap stick. (Contains no poop.) I was tempted, but I didn't buy it.

Photos

I thought I'd share some of my favorite scenic photos that we took during the past year. I'm hoping to add some photos of people at some point.

Scenic Shots 2006

Airborne

I sat next to someone on the train who was coughing the entire way home. Eww! I'd better not get sick. I've had my fair share of illness this winter. I need to take some Airborne (it's this fairly gross tasting but surprisingly effective herb+vitamin supplement that dissolves in water like an Alka Seltzer and is supposed to jump-start the immune system). I highly recommend it. Who knows how well it works, but whenever I get exposed to sick people or start feeling sick, it at least makes me feel like I'm doing something.

free stuff is cool

We perused the Abt Electronics store last night, just looking at all the fancy plasma screen tvs, appliances, and personal electronics that we'll never be able to afford. We've been looking into getting an additional power cable for our Bose SoundDock (awesome Christmas gift!) so we can more easily move it around (the cable is threaded through the back of a bookcase), and I stopped at the service desk to see if they could order one. Well, several minutes later, the guy reappeared and plopped one down on the counter. We asked how much, and he said "free-ninety-nine." I thought he said $3.99 at first, which is crazy because Bose.com was asking $50+ shipping. But then it registered that he was giving it to us. That totally made my day! I guess the service dept. sign, "The answer to any reasonable request is YES!" was an understatement. Then we went out to dinner at Benihana, which was almost "free" since we'd just saved so much cash.

Update: yay, giant tax refund! I knew that Shady Guy would come through! He sat there for an hour running numbers different ways on some things to come up with the best scenario for us. He's one of the top-tier tax preparers at our tax place, and he's worth every penny that we pay him.

drumroll please...

We're getting our taxes prepared tonight. We've got a tax preparer that we call "shady guy" because he seems to know everything and gets us a huge refund each year. Our tax situation has changed every year for the past 5 years (working in 2 states/starting school/buying a home/ending school/stock sales/capital gains/etc.), so we don't even try to do it ourselves. We have a tradition of going out to dinner afterwards. Though we might go home and eat leftovers if we don't get a refund this time. Oh, the suspense...

breakfast

What's the difference between a cupcake and a muffin? Muffins aren't good for you anyway, so I don't see the difference. Both are high in calories. And they make chocolate chip muffins, and muffins with sugar coating. Is it just the bread vs. cake texture? (I just ate a cupcake for breakfast and I'm trying to justify it.)

Funny Chicago Tradition

Something about Chicago winters that I find to be funny is the concept of "dibs" on parking spaces. During the winter, people work hard shoveling out their on-street parking spaces, and don't particularly want to share those spaces with someone else when they leave. So, they put lawn chairs, barricades, planters--anything--there to reserve the space until they return. The even funnier part of this, is that it actually works, and the city lets them do it.

let it snow

I had to be at home anyway today, waiting for a repair person. But I am so glad I didn't have to go outside today. It keeps snowing and snowing. This picture is from yesterday, when we already had a few inches of snow. It doesn't seem like much plowing or shoveling is happening out there, so it's pretty messy. A friend of mine drives a snow plow for the tollway...today is probably a very busy day for him.



I just heard a plane fly overhead, which is somewhat surprising given that so far more than 750 flights have been cancelled and everything is delayed. The 40mph winds are pretty scary. Glad I'm not flying today.

fire hazard

My "duh" moment of the day-- a closet light bulb + duffel bag on the top shelf = fire. Or at least, melting plastic and smoke. Whoops. At least I was standing right there.