About the last four weeks

I've been putting off writing an entry because I've been busy and there's a lot to cover, which of course means the task just gets more daunting as the days go by. This entry will probably be longish but more like a summary than most entries.

Lent is almost over but my hike/pic-a-day is not. Everything just kind of fell apart a couple days before the cruise when I was running all over the place dealing with parking tickets and shopping for clothes (not my favorite activity). I seemed to barely have time to sit and relax, let alone take an extra walk. Then it was back for a second round of running around with my sister and her boyfriend helping them get ready for the cruise.

Then there was the cruise itself - yes, there was a fair amount of walking on beaches and on board and yes, a ton of pictures were taken. I read "The Wordy Shipmates" by Sarah Vowell and stared at the waves a lot. Colin enjoyed running around the ship with the younger members of our group, even after he injured his ankle which is just now back to normal after wrapping it, icing it, and taking medicine for it constantly. We got really sunburned on the first island, Grand Turks, despite sunscreen, where we also did a bit of snorkeling, swimming, but mostly walking on the beach where we spotted a few crabs. I got a hat that I liked - black with "1492" on the front (Columbus may have landed first on Grand Turks but who knows) - but then I lost it. We didn't do much at Puerto Rico (we've both been there before) though we ventured on shore to a pharmacy for shaving cream and aloe then walked over to look at the outside of the fort. I'd given Colin a haircut before the cruise (just sent it in the mail to Locks of Love yesterday) and he shaved off his beard and mustache before getting much sun so he wouldn't look really weird. I'd been to St. Thomas before but didn't remember much except that was where the awesome snorkeling was. This time we went to an aquarium / zoo type thing where I fed a stingray and we saw tons of lizards lounging everywhere. We weren't able to visit the last scheduled island because the seas were too rough but an extra day at sea was fun - especially swimming in the pool while there was lightning (there was a glass roof). That's the short version of the cruise story.

After the cruise it seemed I needed a week just to veg - though I met with Ashley and we walked around downtown Chicago the Thursday after the cruise. The next day we had dinner with Susan and her boy (highly *don't* recommend the bbq place in Ravinia btw). I don't even remember what I did the rest of the time that first week back - there was laundry and some research done. The next week (last week) we picked up Emily and her Welshman from the airport and got to hang out with them a few days (I did taxes the day they went downtown) and then it was off to Houghton for Becca's wedding!

The wedding went very smoothly and it was fun hanging out with people I'd never met before, especially her brother's wife. I think I played "maid of honor" quite well, juggling flowers, ring, veil, and Becca's sanity. The weather was quite warm and we ate at the Library (a restaurant) both nights. I was exhausted after the day of wedding-ing and took a three hour nap - before sleeping almost ten hours Saturday night. We also got to see Laura and help her move her fish from her dorm room to where she really lives. The drives were nothing exciting - I read the entire "The Sign of the Four" (second Sherlock Holmes novel) out loud. We even got to arrange to meet up with my aunt and uncle who live in Appleton but were in Oshkosh celebrating my aunt's mother's 89th birthday.

So that brings us to the beginning of this week. It's been quite warm (75 right now!) and I've done some apartment hunting since our lease is up end of May and today is mostly chores such as seeing if I disassemble and reassemble the turn light blinky thingy on my car (I got it off just fine ... but just can't snap it back in place), dishes, less than half the laundry (there's a lot and I should do more in the next day or so but there's only so much drying space in the apartment), and dinner. Time to get back to that and hope I can find some time to do a little research too before shopping with Colin after work.

Ack craziness

Yesterday and today have been so hectic. I am so sick of clothes shopping but I've finally got everything set for the cruise. Laura and Nathan are here, currently parking their car at Colin's office..

Last night I cut Colin's hair - got enough to donate and we're not sure if the length it's at right now is good or if I should take more off. Pictures will come later, during the cruise.


I got only a picture of a sculpture at an odd mall yesterday but today it was even busier and no chance to snap a photo on a walk. I'm bummed about it, but what can one do when packing, cleaning, dealing with stopped up toilet, running errands, and needing a car blinker fixed ...

Downtown HP again

Today I realized I needed more than a cocktail dress after I tried on all my shorts and only found one real pair that actually fit. I have hiking and running shorts so it's possible I could get by if I don't find any before the cruise, but I'm going to need some for the summer anyway.

I went to one of the thrift shops downtown - which was having a huge sale. I found a dish rack (and a spice rack that won't work - the holes are too small for the bottles we have). It's a pretty nice one and it was only 4 bucks. But I ran out of time browsing the clothes. Didn't see anything really though. However, there's a lot of clothes and there's a huge sale tomorrow morning - fill a paper grocery bag full of clothes for ten bucks. If I don't find anything, there's the other thrift shop in town and then I'll head to T J Maxx. Yes, I'm a cheapskate.

Oh, and the photo is of the war memorial downtown next to the train tracks. It's like the local Vietnam War Memorial. I'll also include a picture of the whole thing instead of try to describe it, but I wanted to include the details which are more interesting.

Ooo I made fettucine with asparagus and salmon! Very tasty and not difficult to make, especially if smoked salmon is used. I highly recommend it - and so does Colin.

Giraffes spotted roaming free in Chicagoland

It seems that I never quite get to walk where I plan to and it's mostly due to the simple fact that it's winter and people in Chicagoland get reeeeally lazy. I tried two different nature parks and there was no way I could have hiked in them. The first there was no place to park because "roadside" parking is allowed for those who use it - but it's a narrow road with heaps of snow on both sides. The second was actually more of a marsh and there was a sign warning to stay on the path but I had no way of telling what was path and wasn't keen on getting my boots soaking wet or worse. So again, I walked along a boring sidewalk, where I saw a hornet's nest and a pond full of geese and ducks. But the statue of the giraffe and baby giraffe in someone's backyard takes the cake today. Or should I say a piece of the brownie in the oven that smells amazing?!

Today was a day I simply didn't want to get up. I wasn't overly tired nor was I feeling miserably sick - I just didn't want to get up. But I did. And then I did genealogy research until lunch, and then after the "walk" I went to Target with the half-hearted goal of looking for a "cocktail dress." Well, no success there, but I saw they had swimsuits and I realized that it's been maybe 10 years since I bought my last one. So yay, my first real bikini! The one I've had forever is technically a tankini. What better time to get myself a new swimsuit? :)