On the Road Again

For once the people who pay my bills didn't mislead me and I have enjoyed a "normal" life at home without any travel for the past 3 months. I forgot how great it can be to be home and do what I want, when I want without constant checking of schedules and planning weeks ahead and explaining that though I am the one that initiated plans, I'm also the one that needs to cancel them because of a last minute trip. Yes, I'm so enjoying having my life back.

With that said, I'm kicking off Travel 2008 this evening. Only this time, the trip is all about me and what I want to do and where I want to go. Entirely leisure-based. I'm leaving this snowy mess of a city behind me and heading out to San Diego to visit Diva Niece for Easter. Five days of sun, warmth, and a 2 1/2-year-old. Cannot. Wait.

I hope when I return everything is melted and Spring will have (finally) sprung.

Watching, Reading, Doing

I love movies. With that said, I can tell you that unfortunately I never find the time to go to the theater anymore. NetFlix- and airplane trips- are my salvation in seeing anything even semi-recent. So it was a real treat last night to carve out some time to see a first-run flick.

The Other Boleyn Girl was a fantastic period piece! Aside from the fake English accents (Natalie Portman did a far better job than Scarlett Johanssen), it was truly great. And because there were some glitches in getting the movie going through the first 15 minutes, we all received free tickets to another movie of our choice (I think I’ll hold onto mine for the new Sex and the City movie). Now that’s customer service!

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I picked up Melissa Bank’s The Wonder Spot over the summer at one of Border’s sidewalk sales for a couple bucks. It went in my “bought for cheap, read later” boxes sitting by my book shelf and I grabbed it earlier in the week to occupy my commute to work and back. I so adored it! I love Bank’s writing style. It’s like listening to a girlfriend recount moments in her life.

The problem with the “bought for cheap, read later” box is none of the books are new…and I often crave a hot-off-the-presses book. So it looks like a trip to the book store is in my future. I want to stock up on a few new titles for my trip to Cali later this month.

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A good friend and her hubby have been having some fundamental marriage issues that started years ago and have only grown worse. The past seven months have been especially bad and he moved out last weekend. Though we all think this is probably the best outcome that could come from their awful situation (she thinks so, too), it’s obviously hard for her. So tonight, we bring the party to her house. A great occasion for a Girls Night In if ever I heard of one.

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Only 14 more days until Mom and I fly out to San Diego to see Diva Niece. Boy, I miss that little girl! Of course the trip will be wonderful but not having an endless supply of airline miles (you’d think I would) or money, I know that trips out there can’t be as frequent as I’d like. So the goal for the weekend is to finally set up my web cam. I think I’m the last family member to get their lazy butt in gear with this project—and this lazy family member is the one that bought everyone this new toy. Go figure.

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More snow?!?! How far do you need to be from the lake to capitalize on lake-effect snow? Another 3 inches on the ground. Really? C’mon. The seasonal god’s are just laughing at Chicagoans now.

MORE Taxes (So THIS is where my money goes)

Last week, Cook County Board President Todd Stroger, to prove he is even more of a moron than most of us already think, passed a sales tax increase that hikes our county's sales tax to one of (if not the) highest in the nation. When the news came down, I immediately considered my options: pay money for nothing aside from an extra dose of frustration on every single transaction made at work and home...or, start running errands in a neighboring county. It'd be a little out of my way, but if I did it all in one fell swoop, how inconvenient could it be? Grocery shopping, gas, dry cleaning... But now there's an even better idea: Convince my town to secede from the county. Personally, it'd be more convenient for me. But on the off-chance it doesn't happen (and really, the chances are all but nil), I should probably become accustomed to finding new stores just over the county border or suck it up and dish out a lot of extra cash per year. Stupid sales tax increase with a looming recession before us and no cost of living pay adjustments. Just outright dumb.

Grandparent Day

Today I am lunching with a friend's grandmother. She's a lovely, classy woman full of wonderful, romantic stories from year's goneby. I enjoy her company, not just because of these stories and her funny comments on everything under the sun, but mostly because she's a grandma. A novelty for me.

Growing up grandparent-less for the majority of my life, spending time with an older generation who has wisdom, insight, and who has seen the world change in so many ways- both positive and negative- is unfamiliar to me. And something I crave.

I never realized what I missed out on by not having a grandparent in my life growing up until I started to meet friend's grandparents. Only then did I realize that I am in the minority. These friends don't know what's like to have a limited core family; to have gatherings where the oldest generation present is your parents; to be truly thankful for having these special people in their life for so very long. What is very apparent to me is it's something that was lacking in my development and something absent in who I am today. Though I don't think it has negatively impacted me, a reversal of fortune could have made me a better person. I'll never know.

So Ann and I will be enjoying a senior special at some above-average dining establishment where I can understand, if only fleetingly, what it's like to have someone that special in your life and perhaps pretend, for just a moment, that my life wasn't robbed of such opportunity at such a young age.

If you have a grandparent, give them a call today just to say hi. Count yourself as lucky that you have them in your life.

Here We Go Again

The white stuff...it keeps pouring down from the sky. Whatever Chicago did to deserve this beating... gods of inclement weather, I swear we didn't mean it! Please reward our endurance and patience with a loooong spring, gorgeous summer, and brilliant autumn (yes, I'm already thinking that far in advance) from your fellow seasonal gods.

In the meantime, here comes another 6-9 inches.

Boooring

Hollywood's big night was one big snore. Jon Stewart was really the only remotely entertaining thing about it. I'm obviously not the only one who thought so since that seems to be the general consensus in every news article about it. And to hear that they were a ratings disaster is simply the end result.

Weekend Wrap-Up

This weekend has been all about GNO’s. Friday Sales Girl and I tore up the strip in Edison Park, and once we’d done all the damage we could do there we proceeded on to Jeff Park along with a gaggle of other happy TGIFers. It was by far the most fun I’ve had in long time—evidenced by the touch of a hangover and lack of voice the following day.

Last night a bunch of us went out to the ‘burbs to support a friend’s band. Though the evening was more sedate than Friday, it was still a good time and I enjoyed catching up with the motley assortment of friends who turned out.

Due to a week of over-the-top indulgences, today’s agenda includes a bunch of nothing aside from some much-needed cleaning, laundry, and various and sundry other home-related chores. Now that I’m home more than I’ve been in the past 3.5 years, it’s amazing the amount of mess one person can create.

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The Crush has shown a new side of himself. One that I had previously used as an excuse to avoid taking whatever-it-is-we-have to the next level. In a word, it’s Ambition. Suddenly, he is the most ambitious person I know—and I have a feeling that if he puts his time and effort into some of these fab ideas of his, something big might just take off.

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In other Crush-related news, right around the time the new-found ambition came to light, there was a definite heightened level of interest on his part. The hard part of our existing relationship is the line between friendship and Something More is often blurred. So though the past few weeks have added more confusion to the mix, I’ve decided to live in the moment and relieve myself of any unnecessary over-thinking. I’m sure that whatever is supposed to happen will happen. In the meantime, I’m all about the fun.

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Today is the Big Day. In previous years, I treated it as a holiday of sorts, right down to a big bash and a countdown. This year? Not so much, Maybe it was the writer’s strike (thank god, that’s over!) or maybe it was the lack of the Golden Globes (the precursor to said holiday-like festivities), but this year’s Oscars just flew in under the radar for me. Plus, this is the first Academy Awards in a long, long time where I’ve seen only a (small) handful of the nominated movies. Looks as though this year’s viewing will be more about what I add to my NetFlix queue than rooting for a favorite.

Respite from the Cold

Time has a way of slipping by. It's been almost a month now since Diva Niece moved. Aside from one call early into her trip where she told me all about "watching the sun go to sleep" at the beach, she's too in love with her new room and play areas and town to miss me too much. With the keen foresight to know that this would be a sore problem, on a half-whim I booked a trip out to see her. So not only will the Easter Bunny be visiting Diva Niece on March 22, but Auntie MoC will be out there, too.

The visit will come at a perfect time since this winter has been one of arctic proportions and I'll no doubt be ready for a little warmth and sunshine by then. I would prattle on about the well-above average amounts of snow and the treacherous black ice and the bitter cold, but it would only serve to anger me. And really, the subject is amazingly boring. I'm so done with winter in general and the topic of Chicago weather specifically.

With that said, I am sooooo ready for Spring to arrive. Who here isn't?