Too long...

Oh, Blog -- why have you been so hard to keep up with lately?? Here you sit, sad, neglected, lonely... while I go about my day, shuffling through random tasks and accomplishing what needs to be accomplished... and yet, day after day, there's a nagging feeling hiding somewhere in my brain... a feeling that I'm forgetting something -- something I was supposed to do... what could it be??? Ah yes -- update YOU, Mr. Blog.

Well, today's your lucky day!

As usual, I shall resort to my fall-back format and present a series of random thoughts:

I didn't even mention my birthday, which was almost a month ago. (What? You mean I've been THIS age... uh, let's say 29... for an entire MONTH already??) Rick and I met Eric at Chicago Cut for dinner:

I think this was the first time since I've moved to Chicago that Eric has had some free time on my birthday -- he's a busy guy... very in demand. But if he has a chance to attack a decent steak, he's going to take it. :)

And Eric is about to get a lot MORE busy, because my niece is due to arrive pretty much any day now. SO excited!! :) Eric can tell Connor all about how awesome it is to have a sister. (Right Eric? I'm sure you've already told him that sisters make life better... right? Of course I'm right...) And this means that I'll have to start upping the number of Christmas cookies I make every year... oh, how terrible. It's not like I love baking or anything... :)

Speaking of Christmas -- I am really not ready for fall to arrive, but September is approaching rather rapidly. Chicago has been pretty cool most of the summer -- we've had weeks where the temperature barely broke 70 degrees for days on end. We've had nights dip into the 40s and 50s... I've actually considered pulling out a blanket to keep me warm when I'm watching TV on the couch at night. (I have resisted, however, because -- it's AUGUST.) So it's been hard to get into a "summer" state of mind. The next couple weeks look like they'll be more typical, as far as August weather goes, so I'm hoping to get sick of the warm weather... that way, I'll welcome the arrival of cooler weather, and be happy to shift from "t-shirt drawer" to "sweater drawer."

Faisal wasn't able to join us for my birthday, so we went out for Pakistani food the next week. And as is now my habit, I had to buy some burfi for dessert afterwards. Riff got a little curious about the plastic box on the counter... and I can hardly blame him, because it was a plastic box filled with deliciousness:

Nope. Sorry, Riff. I'll give you catnip and cat treats and even the occasional bite of chicken... but you can NOT have my burfi...

So I'm working on a new project for the next few weeks. This one is more writing-intensive -- I have to write a few chapters for a book -- with a little bit of editing thrown in. I spent the morning brainstorming ideas for my introductory chapter... too bad they don't want stories about a crazy cat, because I have lots of those...

Well, I'm off to find lunch and take care of other random, non-specific things... I hope everyone has a great week!