Tuesday, May 10, 2011

You know, 'cause they hold the up the house and all.

Lots going on this week with getting things ready for our new tenants/roommates to move into the second floor of our house. Definitely excited about it, but there's quite a bit to do so I'm guessing I won't get around to blogging til Thursday-ish. 

In other house-related news, this is a (brief) list of things that NEED to be done around here and I'm trying to organize it into order of importance:

  • beams in the basement
  • heating/cooling
  • dryer issue
  • insulation
  • re-doing the electricity
  • appraisal
  • garage 
  • hot tub shack demolition
  • tilling
  • weeding
  • storm doors
  • drywall
  • cats
  • scrap pile removal

What do YOU think is most important? I'm thinking it's the support beams in the basement. You know, 'cause they hold the up the house and all. No big deal :P

'Til Thursday! :)

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Shiikaago Shorts

I'd like to introduce you to a little side project I'm starting called "Shiikaago Shorts". It is yet another blog that will be made up of snippets that I find too...boring...is probably the word, (or perhaps less detail oriented sounds better 'cause who wants to willing read something that is described by the author as boring?) to be made into actual blog posts here since I like to use this as an arena to expand upon the inner workings of my sometimes mentally unsound mind. 

I plan on posting to Shiikaago Shorts daily, ideally multiple times a day, since it will be short and similar to a tweet or status update. Though why not just post my snippets as status updates? Well, that of course, sillies, is because I have a Facebook reputation to uphold and if my "friends" knew I think about things like squirrels eating plastic cups and squeaky hardwood floors then I have a feeling I wouldn't have so many "friends" anymore :P

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Today, for only the second time here in Chicago, I actually got hot outside.

You know that saying, what a difference a day makes? Completely true for the difference between yesterday and today. The weather was finally starting to wear me down and two nights of coming home after dark made me feel like I had little to no free time, even though my entire life when I am home is nothing but free time, but that's besides the point :P I got off at 6:00 tonight, got a lengthy Target shopping session done, and made it home just as the sun was setting. It felt good :)

Lately, Boyfriend and I have been trying to make a habit out of working out on a regular basis. We both have...expanded...since my arrival here in The Prairie State and we've been making a conscious effort to rid ourselves of the extra squishiness we've accumulated, hopefully in time for Summer :) I've heard that summers here are beautiful, although they are notoriously humid, a weather condition I am definitely not accustomed to in my desert-like hometown. I fear for the health and safety of my hair. Haha. Humidity is a girl with a Hungarian Jew-fro's worst enemy. Ideally before then I will have learned how to properly wrangle my mane. 

(This is completely off topic but I just made some vegetable dumplings and dipped them in some hot dumpling sauce Boyfriend bought at the Asian market the other day and their scent is still lingering in the air though they are long in my tummy and it's making me want to eat the whole bag. Curse you, portion control!!) 

Back to the previous paragraph's original subject matter: working out. More often than not, Boyfriend and I go out running in the morning. I'd love to leave the house around like 10:30-11:00 but unfortunately Boyfriend also suffers from extreme procrastination issues like myself. Which only further validates how ridiculously similar we are, haha. Today, for only the second time here in Chicago, I actually got hot outside. Granted I was running and that most definitely attributed to my raised body temperature, but still,  I was hot. I almost was unfamiliar with the feeling since it's been so long since I experienced it. The only other time I've felt hot outside was a few weeks ago when a freakishly warm 85 degree day arrived as the precursor to a most epic thunderstorm. I don't know how I feel about Chicago being warm. I had become so accustomed to the frigid temperatures and frequently cloudy skies that they had become my new norm and I learned to embrace them. 

Everything about Chicago is changing now that Spring is slowing emerging. I've never seen the city with foliage. Well, that's not entirely true. I was here for a whirlwind 42 hours in September but it was such a speedy trip filled with so many (unbeknownst to anyone at the time) life changing events and experiences that I forgot to take in my surroundings. Since my arrival in December, Chicago has been a vast, FLAT (which is something I still am learning to deal with), desolate landscape that was sometimes covered in snow. Now it's a vast, flat, colorful landscape as the trees are beginning to get their leaves, plants are returning from their winter hibernation, and bulbs are shooting up their beautiful flowers (primarily tulips and daffodils, which grow wild on the side of the freeways highways here!). The city has completely morphed into something almost unrecognizable to me. It's a welcome change and I'm slowly going to adjust to warmer temperatures, and by warmer I mean today it was 62 degrees. 

Moving to the Chicagoland area was something that I never could have anticipated myself doing, especially not in the middle of Winter. But here I am. And there Winter went. And I survived it. And now Spring and Summer will bring with them so many new experiences, such as finally getting to explore this city, hopefully with the tour guide assistance of the girls :P I asked them what they want to go do this summer, since I'll be with them for about 11 hours every day, and the only thing they could come up with off the bat was that they wanted to come to my house, haha. School lets out one month from today. 

I've got a lot to accomplish in the next 30 days, including mustering up the motivation to go running without Boyfriend since our schedules will conflict during the week. And with only two weeks until we leave for Hawaii, I need to try to get my squishiness in shape so I can confidently lay on the beautiful beaches and know that I look great :)

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Dear (real) Spring, please come quickly

I haven't felt much like blogging lately. That makes me a little sad. I really want to make this a daily, or near daily, habit. Blogging that is, not being sad :P I just haven't felt very social for the past week or so and not that this medium of communication is the same as having a direct conversation with someone, it is still me talking in essence. I haven't even been talking to Boyfriend much the past couple days, though I suspect that may have more to do with the 59" Plasma, 3D TV that was delivered on Monday, haha. 

This week, and by week I mean since like Sunday, has been a little rough weather-wise. And while it's not at all enough to make my pack up my incredibly happy life here and move back home to the hot little valley in Southern California from whence I came, it is definitely creating a bit of homesickness in me. 

Last night the little one had a softball game that I was attending. Before we left the house I asked her if she wanted a jacket, but she said no 'cause the weather was nice and she was wearing a long sleeve shirt under her uniform. I should have known better than to trust Chicago weather, but alas, I am a newbie here and still don't understand the inner workings of this Mid West metropolis. No less than half an hour after the start of the game did the temperature drop considerably. And by considerably I mean it went from about 60 to 35 with the wind chill factored in. 35! In May!! I still haven't even been able to plant my bulbs and flowers and seeds outside yet because the official last frost date is May 15th. I thought that was a ridiculous over-exaggeration until I experienced last night. Dear (real) Spring, please come quickly.

I'll try to kick this anti-social sentiment and blog more soon :)