I just realized that if I threw in one more post this month, I'd be up to NINE posts for the month -- a record for this year! (That's pretty sad... :)) So here ya go:
Happy Halloween!!
And that's pretty much all I've got for now. But hey, I made it all fancy for ya and everything... I mean, it must've taken me 50 whole seconds to color every other letter of that phrase orange. I spare no effort for you guys. ;)
See you in November!
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Monday, October 25, 2010
Some random stuff...
Happy Monday, everyone! Normally I wouldn't be quite so chipper on a Monday, but this is my LAST WEEK of work!! (Oh my gosh, I just realized that in a week, I'll be able to sleep past 5:30 on Monday morning... I. Can. Not. Wait. :)) And then we will commence with the mad dash to pack up and move... the next few weeks are going to be veeeeery interesting...
Craziness abounds at the moment, so here are some random thoughts that I plucked from my discombobulated mind:
Hey, look at that -- I managed to post 8 times in a month again! Who's impressed? Anyone?? Anyone at all?? No? Just me, then? Okay...
So is it silly that since Rachel mentioned the Trader Joe's near our temporary apartment, that I'm even MORE excited to live there for a little while? 600 square feet? Ha! Bring it on... :) Seriously, I've wanted to visit a Trader Joe's for the longest time -- I read a bunch of healthy living/food blogs and people are constantly mentioning the various items they've bought at Trader Joe's. And I'm always like, "why can't we get one of those HERE??" What, because Whole Foods started in Austin, they've got a monopoly on the market market? (Yes, I DID say the "market market"...) By the way, a quick internet search for "Trader Joe's Austin" brought up a "petition to bring Trader Joe's to Austin." So I'm not the only person who wishes there was one in this city...
I just realized that I have yet to tell the harrowing tale of the Ugly Naked Tourist: When we were in Chicago last week, we stayed in a hotel with a view of the hotel across the street. The morning that we left, I noticed there was a meeting room on the third or fourth floor of the hotel, and a bunch of people were gathered around a conference table (looking rather bored, if you ask me). We went to breakfast, came back, and they were still there... an hour later, STILL there. I was starting to feel really sorry for these people stuck in the seemingly endless meeting. So right before we checked out, I decided to look out my window once more and see if they were still in the meeting. The rest went something like this:
Me (Running from window and covering my eyes): EEEEEEEWWWW... EWEWEWEWEWEWEW!!!
Rick thought perhaps the guy was under the impression that his window was tinted, but when I told Eric about it, he said it was probably some weirdo exhibitionist. Which, I think, makes it even worse, because apparently he was standing there HOPING some unsuspecting girl in the hotel across the street would notice him. Ughhh... ick...
And oh yeah, those people were STILL stuck in that meeting... :)
Craziness abounds at the moment, so here are some random thoughts that I plucked from my discombobulated mind:
Hey, look at that -- I managed to post 8 times in a month again! Who's impressed? Anyone?? Anyone at all?? No? Just me, then? Okay...
So is it silly that since Rachel mentioned the Trader Joe's near our temporary apartment, that I'm even MORE excited to live there for a little while? 600 square feet? Ha! Bring it on... :) Seriously, I've wanted to visit a Trader Joe's for the longest time -- I read a bunch of healthy living/food blogs and people are constantly mentioning the various items they've bought at Trader Joe's. And I'm always like, "why can't we get one of those HERE??" What, because Whole Foods started in Austin, they've got a monopoly on the market market? (Yes, I DID say the "market market"...) By the way, a quick internet search for "Trader Joe's Austin" brought up a "petition to bring Trader Joe's to Austin." So I'm not the only person who wishes there was one in this city...
I just realized that I have yet to tell the harrowing tale of the Ugly Naked Tourist: When we were in Chicago last week, we stayed in a hotel with a view of the hotel across the street. The morning that we left, I noticed there was a meeting room on the third or fourth floor of the hotel, and a bunch of people were gathered around a conference table (looking rather bored, if you ask me). We went to breakfast, came back, and they were still there... an hour later, STILL there. I was starting to feel really sorry for these people stuck in the seemingly endless meeting. So right before we checked out, I decided to look out my window once more and see if they were still in the meeting. The rest went something like this:
Now where was that conference room? The fourth floor? I think it's somewhere near that guy with the towel... wait... what is he doing with that towel? Wait, wait WAIT -- what's underneath the towel??? Is he... is that guy... no, don't move the towel! Don't move the towel!! Oh nononononononono...
Me: Nooooooo...
Rick: What's the matter?
Me: Uhh, is that guy standing in the window across the street naked???
Rick (after a cursory glance): Yup.
Rick thought perhaps the guy was under the impression that his window was tinted, but when I told Eric about it, he said it was probably some weirdo exhibitionist. Which, I think, makes it even worse, because apparently he was standing there HOPING some unsuspecting girl in the hotel across the street would notice him. Ughhh... ick...
And oh yeah, those people were STILL stuck in that meeting... :)
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Aaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh! Part 2...
(Random thought: I don't know WHAT is out in the Austin air today, but I am feeling extremely allergic to something right now... And a frantic search through my bag has turned up nothing but benadryl, which I can't take during the day because I'll fall asleep... Although if this keeps up for much longer, I may have to make an exception...)
Anyway, back to the subject that is taking up the majority of my brain space at the moment: moving to Chicago!! So far, it looks like the plan (what there IS of one) is to commence with the moving process right after Eric's wedding, which is going to make for an extremely busy couple of weeks. (Sheesh, Eric, couldn't you have gotten married at a time that was more convenient for me?? ;)) We've already signed a lease on a temporary apartment downtown, where we'll stay while we continue to condo-hunt and wait for our house here to sell. I'm reeeeaaaaallly hoping it will sell quickly. And I'm not just saying that because I'm anxious to get settled into a permanent residence (although I am), but also because our temporary apartment is about 600 square feet...
And honestly, I'm not sure I've EVER lived in a 600 square foot apartment. My first apartment was about 1000 sf, I think -- although it was a two-bedroom and I had a roommate. And when Rick and I were first married, I think our apartment was about 800 sf? Maybe 900? Anyway, this extreme, immediate downsizing should be interesting... The bedroom doesn't even have a door... which, I just realized, means I can't throw Riff out when he's being annoying in the middle of the night. Oh boy... this is going to be veeeeeery interesting...
The good thing is that this apartment is in a great location that we're already pretty familiar with, so I have my Argo Tea/Starbucks locations mapped out already. AND there's a Whole Foods in the building, so grocery shopping will be easy. And really, if you have groceries and coffee, what more do you need?? (Maybe a winter coat... yes, definitely a winter coat...)
I'm going between panic and excitement right now -- I mean, in less than a month, most of our stuff will be in storage, we'll be living in a tiny little downtown Chicago apartment, and a REAL winter will be unleashing its freezing cold fury upon us... and while I'm slightly freaking out over the planning that still needs to be done, I'm actually more excited than anything else. This is going to be a huge change for us, and I'm looking forward to seeing how it all unfolds...
That is, if anything CAN unfold in a 600 square foot apartment... :)
Anyway, back to the subject that is taking up the majority of my brain space at the moment: moving to Chicago!! So far, it looks like the plan (what there IS of one) is to commence with the moving process right after Eric's wedding, which is going to make for an extremely busy couple of weeks. (Sheesh, Eric, couldn't you have gotten married at a time that was more convenient for me?? ;)) We've already signed a lease on a temporary apartment downtown, where we'll stay while we continue to condo-hunt and wait for our house here to sell. I'm reeeeaaaaallly hoping it will sell quickly. And I'm not just saying that because I'm anxious to get settled into a permanent residence (although I am), but also because our temporary apartment is about 600 square feet...
And honestly, I'm not sure I've EVER lived in a 600 square foot apartment. My first apartment was about 1000 sf, I think -- although it was a two-bedroom and I had a roommate. And when Rick and I were first married, I think our apartment was about 800 sf? Maybe 900? Anyway, this extreme, immediate downsizing should be interesting... The bedroom doesn't even have a door... which, I just realized, means I can't throw Riff out when he's being annoying in the middle of the night. Oh boy... this is going to be veeeeeery interesting...
The good thing is that this apartment is in a great location that we're already pretty familiar with, so I have my Argo Tea/Starbucks locations mapped out already. AND there's a Whole Foods in the building, so grocery shopping will be easy. And really, if you have groceries and coffee, what more do you need?? (Maybe a winter coat... yes, definitely a winter coat...)
I'm going between panic and excitement right now -- I mean, in less than a month, most of our stuff will be in storage, we'll be living in a tiny little downtown Chicago apartment, and a REAL winter will be unleashing its freezing cold fury upon us... and while I'm slightly freaking out over the planning that still needs to be done, I'm actually more excited than anything else. This is going to be a huge change for us, and I'm looking forward to seeing how it all unfolds...
That is, if anything CAN unfold in a 600 square foot apartment... :)
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Comfortability, revisited...
So Faisal, the Master Aficionado of Comfortability Extraordinaire (aka MACE... and yes, I DID spend several minutes coming up with an acronym), sent me a message last night to inform me of the fact that a baseball commentator had used the made-up word "comfortability" on the air, thus, apparently lending credence to its so-called "right" to be a real word. Much like Pinocchio wished to be a real boy, comfortability wishes to be a real word. (Shut up, Singing Cricket... you can wish upon all the stars you want... it won't change anything...)
Just a few weeks ago, my friend Nick posted something on his Facebook wall about how he'd heard a sports commentator use the made-up word "physicaling." It was used in the sentence, "Right now, South Carolina is just out physicaling Georgia." (Perhaps that should be hyphenated? Out-physicaling?) I only mention this to illustrate the fact that many sports commentators aren't exactly English-language experts. (Perhaps a few are, who knows. But they're certainly not the ones using "comfortability" and "physicaling." ;))
I, being a nerdy kinda girl, have many language pet peeves that probably roll right off the backs (or off the ears... or eyes, depending on the medium...) of most English-language speakers. Comfortability and physicaling aside, there are quite a few words that are commonly misused that tend to drive me crazy. (I suppose I shouldn't let such things bother me... :)) There are the easy-to-miss-one-letter-on-the-keyboard words like choose and chose and lose and loose (although I've seen them interchanged so frequently that I have to assume some people don't realize they're different words...); and then there are the "you should know which ones to use by now" words like then and than, your and you're, and there, their and they're. (Really, you should KNOW which ones to use by now...).
And then there's the Me vs. I Conundrum, which I've become even more acutely aware of since joining Facebook. People love to post pictures of themselves with their friends/family/dogs/whoever... and it is very rare that I see a correctly captioned photo. Almost everyone -- even people who are decent writers -- will caption a photo with something like, "my dog and I," or "Joe, John, Jimmy and I." It seems that, after years of hearing the "so-and-so and I" format (who didn't have an English teacher who drilled that into their head??), we've become too scared to use "so-and-so and ME," even when "me" is the proper word. You wouldn't say, "here's a picture of I..." You'd say, "here's a picture of me." In the same way, the proper way to caption a photo would be, "my dog and me" or "Joe, John, Jimmy and me." This is ME. Not, "this is I."
Okay, I'm getting too nerdy even for my own taste... I want to push myself into a locker and call myself "teacher's pet." I should obviously shut up now. Right after I let the MACE know how wrong he is... (And, by the way, I am hoping I didn't make any mistakes in this post... because no doubt someone... SOMEone... will feel compelled to point them out to me... :))
I'm off to post some Facebook pictures of my cat... and me...
Just a few weeks ago, my friend Nick posted something on his Facebook wall about how he'd heard a sports commentator use the made-up word "physicaling." It was used in the sentence, "Right now, South Carolina is just out physicaling Georgia." (Perhaps that should be hyphenated? Out-physicaling?) I only mention this to illustrate the fact that many sports commentators aren't exactly English-language experts. (Perhaps a few are, who knows. But they're certainly not the ones using "comfortability" and "physicaling." ;))
I, being a nerdy kinda girl, have many language pet peeves that probably roll right off the backs (or off the ears... or eyes, depending on the medium...) of most English-language speakers. Comfortability and physicaling aside, there are quite a few words that are commonly misused that tend to drive me crazy. (I suppose I shouldn't let such things bother me... :)) There are the easy-to-miss-one-letter-on-the-keyboard words like choose and chose and lose and loose (although I've seen them interchanged so frequently that I have to assume some people don't realize they're different words...); and then there are the "you should know which ones to use by now" words like then and than, your and you're, and there, their and they're. (Really, you should KNOW which ones to use by now...).
And then there's the Me vs. I Conundrum, which I've become even more acutely aware of since joining Facebook. People love to post pictures of themselves with their friends/family/dogs/whoever... and it is very rare that I see a correctly captioned photo. Almost everyone -- even people who are decent writers -- will caption a photo with something like, "my dog and I," or "Joe, John, Jimmy and I." It seems that, after years of hearing the "so-and-so and I" format (who didn't have an English teacher who drilled that into their head??), we've become too scared to use "so-and-so and ME," even when "me" is the proper word. You wouldn't say, "here's a picture of I..." You'd say, "here's a picture of me." In the same way, the proper way to caption a photo would be, "my dog and me" or "Joe, John, Jimmy and me." This is ME. Not, "this is I."
Okay, I'm getting too nerdy even for my own taste... I want to push myself into a locker and call myself "teacher's pet." I should obviously shut up now. Right after I let the MACE know how wrong he is... (And, by the way, I am hoping I didn't make any mistakes in this post... because no doubt someone... SOMEone... will feel compelled to point them out to me... :))
I'm off to post some Facebook pictures of my cat... and me...
Monday, October 18, 2010
Soon to return...
We're leaving Chicago this afternoon, after a much-too-quick condo-searching expedition. We also had the chance to hang out with Dave and Faisal this weekend -- I hadn't seen either one of them in... years? I think? A really, really long time, anyway. And I'm still amazed by how much food Dave manages to eat... I think he may have four stomachs... like a cow. Yeah. Dave MIGHT be part cow. Just sayin'... :) And we got a chance to see Faisal's new place in the city (getting to it was quite the adventure -- perhaps when I have more time I can describe our journey in detail), which has an AWESOME view and tons of light. As someone whose mood is directly affected by sunlight, I was impressed by the amount of luminosity. However, I didn't spend enough time there to comment on the comfortability... maybe another time...
We found a few condos we're very interested in, so now we have millions of little details to work out so we can figure out when/what to put an offer on. It seems to be complicated, judging from the phone calls Rick has been making this morning... but hopefully in another month or so, we'll have a solid plan in place...
I'm always sad to leave Chicago, but perhaps this time it'll be sliiiiightly easier to get on that plane back to Austin, since I know that the moment I get back home I'll be hard at work getting ready to move. (Cleaning... so much cleaning... so... much... cleaning...)
See you back in Austin....
We found a few condos we're very interested in, so now we have millions of little details to work out so we can figure out when/what to put an offer on. It seems to be complicated, judging from the phone calls Rick has been making this morning... but hopefully in another month or so, we'll have a solid plan in place...
I'm always sad to leave Chicago, but perhaps this time it'll be sliiiiightly easier to get on that plane back to Austin, since I know that the moment I get back home I'll be hard at work getting ready to move. (Cleaning... so much cleaning... so... much... cleaning...)
See you back in Austin....
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Aaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh!!
That would be the sound my brain is making right now, as it attempts to wrap itself around the inevitability of the busyness that abounds. We've got an impromptu condo-searching trip to Chicago planned for this weekend, which means I have to pack tonight... but we also have two realtors and possibly a mover (? I can't remember) coming by on Tuesday, Wednesday and possibly Thursday next week. Which means I also need to clean the house at the same time I'm packing, because I obviously can't clean it this weekend, and I won't have time on Tuesday before the realtor shows up. Fortunately, the house doesn't need to be immaculate at this point -- we're not actually showing it to people yet -- but it still needs to be presentable. I'd hate for a realtor to go into my closet and see the dozens of shoes thrown haphazardly on the floor, or to see all the junk mail that has piled up on my kitchen counter...
Our awesome Chicago realtor has some places lined up for us to see on Saturday. (By the way, if anyone is in the market for a place in Chicago, I HAVE to refer you to our realtor. She's like a Chicago Real Estate Superhero... she tromps through foot-high snowdrifts in boots with four-inch stiletto heels and maneuvers her SUV through the streets like an Indy driver... and then she double-parks and doesn't care who sees. She also finds EXACTLY the kinds of things you're looking for, so you don't waste any time seeing places you'd never think of buying. Oh, and I think she's a triathlete or something... because even though she's shorter than I am, I wouldn't want to make her mad if I met her in a dark alley...)
So tonight we're ordering pizza, throwing some stuff into suitcases, Windexing the bathroom mirrors and vacuuming the house. I should probably also throw out the junk mail and try to organize my shoes. And then some time between trying to remember to pack dental floss and showing my ID at the airport check-in counter, I have to sleep, make oatmeal and work for a few hours. But, if I emerge with my sanity intact, I shall be rewarded with Chicago rush-hour traffic on the way to the hotel... wait... that doesn't sound like a reward. Okay, if I survive THAT with my sanity intact, I shall be rewarded with Starbucks coffee in the shop next door to the hotel. Yeah, that sounds much more rewarding... :)
And can somebody tell me why I'm still writing when I have so much to do?? :)
Our awesome Chicago realtor has some places lined up for us to see on Saturday. (By the way, if anyone is in the market for a place in Chicago, I HAVE to refer you to our realtor. She's like a Chicago Real Estate Superhero... she tromps through foot-high snowdrifts in boots with four-inch stiletto heels and maneuvers her SUV through the streets like an Indy driver... and then she double-parks and doesn't care who sees. She also finds EXACTLY the kinds of things you're looking for, so you don't waste any time seeing places you'd never think of buying. Oh, and I think she's a triathlete or something... because even though she's shorter than I am, I wouldn't want to make her mad if I met her in a dark alley...)
So tonight we're ordering pizza, throwing some stuff into suitcases, Windexing the bathroom mirrors and vacuuming the house. I should probably also throw out the junk mail and try to organize my shoes. And then some time between trying to remember to pack dental floss and showing my ID at the airport check-in counter, I have to sleep, make oatmeal and work for a few hours. But, if I emerge with my sanity intact, I shall be rewarded with Chicago rush-hour traffic on the way to the hotel... wait... that doesn't sound like a reward. Okay, if I survive THAT with my sanity intact, I shall be rewarded with Starbucks coffee in the shop next door to the hotel. Yeah, that sounds much more rewarding... :)
And can somebody tell me why I'm still writing when I have so much to do?? :)
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
And THIS time, we mean it...
If you're one of the three or four people who've been reading my blog for a few years, you will recall that back in 2008, we were waiting anxiously to hear about a job in Chicago. And it was taking a long time. Like a REALLY long time. In fact, I wrote a day-by-day recap of the whole ordeal. Everything was held up in human resources, apparently... and I, being curious, delved deep into the jungles of Costa Rica to search for the person in charge of this slow-as-molasses department:
Just as I suspected. A tree sloth...
Well, recently, Rick and I got to experience round two of the Great Chicago Unknown. I kept it off the blog this time, since I know there are a few people where I work who read the blog now and then. And I believe it's generally frowned upon, when you're employed, to talk about how you hope to be leaving your job soon to move across the country.
But the cat's out of the bag and the dog's out of the grocery cart and the coffee has been poured out of the carafe (yeah, I have no idea where "the cat's out of the bag" came from -- why was the cat IN the bag to begin with???), so I can finally say this:
WE'RE MOVING TO CHICAGO!!!!!!
I shall return with more details soon... :)
Well, recently, Rick and I got to experience round two of the Great Chicago Unknown. I kept it off the blog this time, since I know there are a few people where I work who read the blog now and then. And I believe it's generally frowned upon, when you're employed, to talk about how you hope to be leaving your job soon to move across the country.
But the cat's out of the bag and the dog's out of the grocery cart and the coffee has been poured out of the carafe (yeah, I have no idea where "the cat's out of the bag" came from -- why was the cat IN the bag to begin with???), so I can finally say this:
WE'RE MOVING TO CHICAGO!!!!!!
I shall return with more details soon... :)
Wednesday, October 06, 2010
Crazy cat lady...
I told Eric I was going to blog about this to make him jealous, so here we go: I made butternut squash soup for dinner. Yuuuum. Although Eric should be happy to hear that it was NOT Basil Leaf butternut squash soup (which I think is more of a pear-sweetened soup with hints of cinnamon), but rather a savory, curried butternut squash soup, with black beans and garbanzos thrown in for good measure. I was surprised by how good it turned out, actually -- I didn't have a recipe, so I just kind of guessed at what might taste good. Fortunately, I made some good guesses. Even Rick (who gave me a, "did you put curry in this? I don't like curry..." when I gave him his bowl of soup) ate every last bit. (So I guess the curry wasn't THAT bad?? ;))
And on another topic entirely -- apparently I am the crazy cat lady. No, I haven't brought another cat home -- still only two little furballs in my house -- but I DO seem to keep taking pictures of them. But c'mon -- they're so photogenic:
Yes, I went for the black-and-white setting on my camera... the mood was not unlike that time I was arrested in Albania and had to pose for the mugshot:
Yeah, don't ask about THAT night... (No, really, don't ask, because I have no idea why Albania was the first country that popped into my head, OR why I'm having delusions of being arrested there... and can I just ask -- WHAT is going on with my hair??) Sigh... I seriously need some focus in my life so I can write about something coherent for a post or two... Although I'm definitely living up to my "random tangents" moniker. So I'll just take what I can get for now. :)
And on another topic entirely -- apparently I am the crazy cat lady. No, I haven't brought another cat home -- still only two little furballs in my house -- but I DO seem to keep taking pictures of them. But c'mon -- they're so photogenic:
Yes, I went for the black-and-white setting on my camera... the mood was not unlike that time I was arrested in Albania and had to pose for the mugshot:
Sunday, October 03, 2010
Brrrr... sort of...
I am loving the weather here today -- sunny, not a cloud in the sky, and the high was only about 75 degrees. In fact, when Rick and I headed out to the Domain around 11 this morning for brunch, it was almost (ALMOST) cold... it was definitely a bit chilly. I mean, maybe not like Montana "coat-and-scarf" chilly:
And definitely not Chicago "coat-scarf-hat-gloves-I-wish-I-had-something-to-cover-my-face" chilly:
(Chicago "I-wish-I-had-something-to-cover-my-face-I-guess-I'll-use-my-scarf" chilly:)
No, it was not THAT chilly here today... but it WAS close to long-sleeved shirt weather. In fact, for a few minutes this morning, as we walked around the Domain to waste some time before our table at the Steeping Room was ready, I was actually wishing I'd brought a sweater. (This wish dissipated once we'd walked a mile-long lap around the shopping center... I warmed up pretty quickly...)
The weather inspired me to buy some fall-scented candles on the way home, which are now lit and filling the air with waxy pumpkin pie/apple cider smells. I love when there's finally a detectable "change" in the seasons here...
Now I wonder what the odds are of a white Christmas this year? Hmmmm... I can hope... ;)
And definitely not Chicago "coat-scarf-hat-gloves-I-wish-I-had-something-to-cover-my-face" chilly:
(Chicago "I-wish-I-had-something-to-cover-my-face-I-guess-I'll-use-my-scarf" chilly:)
No, it was not THAT chilly here today... but it WAS close to long-sleeved shirt weather. In fact, for a few minutes this morning, as we walked around the Domain to waste some time before our table at the Steeping Room was ready, I was actually wishing I'd brought a sweater. (This wish dissipated once we'd walked a mile-long lap around the shopping center... I warmed up pretty quickly...)
The weather inspired me to buy some fall-scented candles on the way home, which are now lit and filling the air with waxy pumpkin pie/apple cider smells. I love when there's finally a detectable "change" in the seasons here...
Now I wonder what the odds are of a white Christmas this year? Hmmmm... I can hope... ;)
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