We're going back next week. Any recommendations for us? I love Chicago food. Heck, I just love Chicago. I'm so excited to be going back.
Picture is borrowed from here
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Chicago, That Toddling Town
We're going back next week. Any recommendations for us? I love Chicago food. Heck, I just love Chicago. I'm so excited to be going back.
Picture is borrowed from here
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Excited
This is a pic of the building we'll be living in. I don't have any pictures of the interior yet. I know the outside doesn't look like much but the inside is nice and I'm having a lot of fun planning our move here.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Better News!
My brother called me today. He is out of the hospital and doing well besides being stunned to wake up in the hospital with no recollection of how he got there. I was happy to talk and joke with him...something that this time last week I was afraid I would never get to do again.
Toxic Waste
In my second bedroom, I have several Rubbermaid containers crammed full of papers I refused to go through properly before my last move. I used to be so organized it would make you sick. Somewhere along the line, all that organization deteriorated and I began stuffing papers in boxes and pushing them into the closet when company came. One box turned into two, then three, and so on. I am making a true effort to go through these boxes now and eliminate what I don't need to keep (which is harder than you would think) because seeing these containers every day creates such a mental clog for me, you don't even know. I don't want that negativity following me to our new place.
Going through each of these containers is like opening a bad memory time capsule. Among the many scraps of paper and notions, I have discovered items like propaganda from every time I joined Weight Watchers, the program from my college graduation ceremony (I will keep that one), letters I started and never finished and, last night, all of my receipts from 2006. Yes, really. For the life of me, I can't figure out why I held onto some of the items I'm discovering. I did find a knitting needle I was looking for but, three years after the fact, am I curious to know that on April 30, 2006 I bought a six pack of Coke at Walmart? Not in the least. Thank God for Axl. I am so grateful to have someone in my life who sees all these little hangups I used to have and gently guides me past them. I can't tell you how happy I'll be to have this clutter, both literally and figuratively, out of my life.
Going through each of these containers is like opening a bad memory time capsule. Among the many scraps of paper and notions, I have discovered items like propaganda from every time I joined Weight Watchers, the program from my college graduation ceremony (I will keep that one), letters I started and never finished and, last night, all of my receipts from 2006. Yes, really. For the life of me, I can't figure out why I held onto some of the items I'm discovering. I did find a knitting needle I was looking for but, three years after the fact, am I curious to know that on April 30, 2006 I bought a six pack of Coke at Walmart? Not in the least. Thank God for Axl. I am so grateful to have someone in my life who sees all these little hangups I used to have and gently guides me past them. I can't tell you how happy I'll be to have this clutter, both literally and figuratively, out of my life.
Monday, May 4, 2009
Binge and Purge
I didn’t receive an update on my brother over the weekend. At last report, the doctors were planning on moving him out of intensive care and into his own room. I will continue to post updates on his condition as I receive news about him. Thanks for all your interest and kind words.
On the home front, I don’t think I’ve mentioned yet that Axl and I have been looking for a place together. Last Tuesday night, I found an ad for an amazing apartment. Downtown area, two bedrooms, exposed brick walls, furnished washer and dryer, central heat and air, furnished dishwasher, they pay water/sewage, pets allowed…all for $510.00 a month. Here, that is an awesome deal. Axl pays somewhere around $600.00 for his current apartment plus utilities. He has no amenities (no central heat or air, no dishwasher and no washer or dryer). In my case, I pay $550.00 a month plus utilities. I had to provide my own washer and dryer and I don't have a dishwasher. I have central heat and air, which I'm grateful for, but I live in a sketchy neighborhood (that keeps on getting sketchier) further out in the city than I would like to be. We hoped to find a two bedroom place with all the amenities we wanted that would allow our pets without some exorbitant fee. We thought we'd have to compromise on one of the amenities for sure but Axl and I went to see the place from the ad on Wednesday and it turned out to be as good as the ad said it was. Now, it is ours. We are both a little ill at ease that this place at this price has to be too good to be true. We worry that we’ll move in and find that the current renter and property manager have been lying to us and that the place is filled with rats or ghosts or some such thing. That’s negative thinking but around here apartments like this one rent for $700.00 – $800.00 so we’re wondering what the catch is. Pushing those thoughts aside, we immediately began packing and planning. I have managed to sell some furniture I won’t be using on Craigslist (finally) and Axl has done quite well at Craigslist now too. I guess it just takes some patience. Besides Craigslist, I am finding I wish I had better options for the stuff I don’t want to take with me to the new place. For instance, books. The most popular used bookstore here offers a pittance for your used books. I took in a stack of popular titles in great condition and received .75 a piece for them. If I donate them to Goodwill or Salvation Army they’ll only end up in a pile of ancient memorabilia and, while I shouldn’t be so picky about what happens to my discards, that just doesn’t seem like a useful enough purpose to me. I signed up for PaperBack Swap and I feel a little better but it makes me think about how much garbage there is out there. It's easy to get bogged down with material stuff.
On the home front, I don’t think I’ve mentioned yet that Axl and I have been looking for a place together. Last Tuesday night, I found an ad for an amazing apartment. Downtown area, two bedrooms, exposed brick walls, furnished washer and dryer, central heat and air, furnished dishwasher, they pay water/sewage, pets allowed…all for $510.00 a month. Here, that is an awesome deal. Axl pays somewhere around $600.00 for his current apartment plus utilities. He has no amenities (no central heat or air, no dishwasher and no washer or dryer). In my case, I pay $550.00 a month plus utilities. I had to provide my own washer and dryer and I don't have a dishwasher. I have central heat and air, which I'm grateful for, but I live in a sketchy neighborhood (that keeps on getting sketchier) further out in the city than I would like to be. We hoped to find a two bedroom place with all the amenities we wanted that would allow our pets without some exorbitant fee. We thought we'd have to compromise on one of the amenities for sure but Axl and I went to see the place from the ad on Wednesday and it turned out to be as good as the ad said it was. Now, it is ours. We are both a little ill at ease that this place at this price has to be too good to be true. We worry that we’ll move in and find that the current renter and property manager have been lying to us and that the place is filled with rats or ghosts or some such thing. That’s negative thinking but around here apartments like this one rent for $700.00 – $800.00 so we’re wondering what the catch is. Pushing those thoughts aside, we immediately began packing and planning. I have managed to sell some furniture I won’t be using on Craigslist (finally) and Axl has done quite well at Craigslist now too. I guess it just takes some patience. Besides Craigslist, I am finding I wish I had better options for the stuff I don’t want to take with me to the new place. For instance, books. The most popular used bookstore here offers a pittance for your used books. I took in a stack of popular titles in great condition and received .75 a piece for them. If I donate them to Goodwill or Salvation Army they’ll only end up in a pile of ancient memorabilia and, while I shouldn’t be so picky about what happens to my discards, that just doesn’t seem like a useful enough purpose to me. I signed up for PaperBack Swap and I feel a little better but it makes me think about how much garbage there is out there. It's easy to get bogged down with material stuff.
Friday, May 1, 2009
Good News!
My brother came to yesterday and was able to have his breathing tube removed. He cussed one of the nurses when she gave him a shot and today he was asking for coffee (which he's not allowed to have yet). We're not out of the woods but, still, this is terrific news.
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