The Move

We are finally all moved into our new place in the suburbs. I took the day off. I needed it. Here are some highlights from the weekend.

* I lost my cell phone.

* We had to make four trips over the course of the weekend. All of our things did not fit into the moving truck. We have too many things.

* At various times during the multiple trips, we had three vehicles driving towards us, going the wrong way down a one way street (one civilian, two emergency vehicles, one of which did not bother to turn on his siren before pulling out in front of us)

* We spent about 8 hours cleaning the old place on Sunday. I think steam cleaning carpets is fun. Maybe I should quit my job and work for Stanley Steamer.

* I have 8 bruises, 4 cuts, and 1 puncture wound from a piece of glass.

* I feel like I have been lifting weights all weekend. Wait, I have!

* Did I mention it was in the upper 90s all weekend?

* When I turned in my keys at my old place, I accidentally gave her my NEW mail key, so I have to go back to the old place to pick it up.

Things I like about the new place:

* Simba has lots of room to run around and enjoys watching birds out our window.

* It is really big in comparison to our last place.

* We have exciting digital cable, which means I may never leave the apartment.

* The elevator is fast and there are only three floors, so I can take the stairs when I feel like it.

* I have a nice neighbor that found my cell phone and turned it in to the rental office.

* When Prince E leaves work, it only takes him 10 minutes to get home, instead of 75-90 minutes.

Pictures of the new place to come, as well as the last photos from the old place, once my computer is hooked up.

No turning back now

My first monthly suburban train pass arrived today.

What weekend?

I spent the whole weekend packing. I am exhausted, but, thankfully we are nearly finished. The only "fun" thing we did all weekend was go to the grand opening of the new Target in our neighborhood. Yes, a brand new shiny Target, less than a five minute drive from our current place. Figures. There was not really any "celebration," though, and no give-aways, so it was pretty disappointing. We bought cleaning supplies (the excitement!)

On Saturday morning, I also took about a half an hour for what will likely be my last lakefront path run/walk as a Chicagoian. Check out my flickr sidebar for photos from the journey.

So many blogs, so little time...

I did a very long post on tonight's episode of "So You Think You Can Dance?"
Check it out on my TV blog.

Simba's Thoughts on Moving

This was Simba Kitty's attitude regarding packing:




However, he rather enjoys the resulting box tower:

Another blog

I have been invited to join a television blog to contribute my opinions on all the shows that I watch. You can check it out over at What we are Watching.

So far I just re-posted two items that I already posted here, but from now on I think my television topics will be only posted over there. Unless I can't think of anything else to write about and then I might double post.

And the disappointment begins...

Tonight was my first disagreement with the judges' dismissal on "So you think you can dance?" SPOILER ALERT IF YOU HAVE IT ON TIVO AND HAVEN'T WATCHED IT YET

I realize that it is getting down to all good dancers, so it is more difficult for them to choose who should go home. My problem with Musa's dismissal (besides that fact that they rushed it at the end because they were running out of time, yet we had a useless three minute clip earlier in the show about how much the Pussycat Dolls love the show) was that it continues the judges' pattern from last year of valuing ballroom dancers over breakers/hip-hop dancers. Even though Dmitry is not that great at pop or hip-hop he gets to stay. Because Musa hasn't learned ballroom styles well, though, he is sent home.

Apparently I wasn't paying attention previously when Cat Deeley (did you see the shirt she had on that she tried to pass off as a dress?) explained how the rules were going to change, because I was surprised when she said that starting next week who goes home will be in the hands of the viewers. Crap. I suppose that means Ivan is going to win, because the girls love him. And they will probably vote off Allison because she gets to dance with Ivan and they want to dance with them. Either that or Benji will win for the same reasons. Then again, apparently they are all changing partners, so maybe that won't hold true.

Oh, and since I didn't get a chance to post on it yesterday, I wanted to mention that I was so happy when Donyelle and Benji danced to a song from Hairspray, my favorite musical.

Anything for a husband!!!

I was watching Bridezillas yesterday and they repeated a soundbite from one of the women that had aired on last week's episode. I had hoped when I heard it the first time that I had just heard wrong, but last night's re-airing of the segment confirmed it.

The bride in question had been overweight. She told the camera how she had done some "crazy" things to speed up her metabolism. She stated that she had lost 80 pounds in 3-4 months time. The tone in her voice, as well her expression, showed concern about what she had done and I think her next line (had they aired it) would have been how she regretted the drastic measures she took to lose all of that weight so quickly. Instead, the chipper voiceover woman stated, "She lost the weight and soon gained a fiance!!!!!"

The lesson here ladies: do whatever it takes, even sacrificing your own health, so long as it result in a husband!!!

Despite my major problems with this show, I cannot wean myself off it. Luckily I will have to go cold turkey when we move because we don't get the WE channel at our new apartment.

"Celebrity" sighting

We were at the giant mall today, buying the most comfortable furniture I have ever sat on for our new apartment, when I saw that something was going on at the center of the mall. The last time we were at the mall, when we picked out our wedding bands, we were subjected to the constant and annoying singing of guys dressed like carpenters singing the Sears father's day sale jingle that was sung to Christmas music.

This time, MTV was in town, doing a promotional tour and auditioning people to get a VIP pass to the 2006 VMAs. I saw a sign that said "featuring MTV celebrities." I got a twinge of excitement. Who would it be? I hoped it would be LC from "The Hills" (and "Laguna Beach") or maybe some of the kids from "8th and Ocean." It was not that good. It was former Road Rulers and perennial challenge contestants Rachel and Veronica. It was mildly interesting to see Veronica, just because I feel like I have known her forever...because she was first on Road Rules seven years ago. It is amazing how they can stretch their fifteen minutes so long.

Below is our new furniture, only we ordered it in chocolate brown. It should arrive at our new place shortly after our move. In the meantime, we are trying to figure out how to erect a giant bubble around it to prevent Mr. Kitty from scratching it.

Eggs and stubbornness

When I was in the second grade, I was in the local newspaper. The week prior, I had won our class "safe egg drop" project. We had to create some kind of carrier for an egg that would protect the egg when it was dropped from a ladder. I think I remember my dad helping me pack a small box with newspaper and something else to cushion the little egg. I cannot remember exactly what it was. When my teacher dropped my box from the ladder, I ran up to my box and carefully unwrapped it. The little egg was still safe and sound and I was the only student who did not have only a box full of yolk.

The next week my teacher pulled me and my friend Trusti (that is not her real name) from class and said that a reporter was there from the paper to interview me about my egg and to take a photo. The teacher gave me a cardboard box with tape wrapped around it. I didn't realize what it was for. After I met the reporter, she said she wanted me to throw the box into the air and she would take a picture. I did not think to protest the unethical nature of this phony re-enactment (which would play in the newspaper as though it were a photo of the actual contest). I was only seven years old and shy beyond belief. I just did as I was told.

A few days later the photo of me and Trusti appeared in the paper, along with a caption about how I had won the egg contest. My dad bought seven copies of the paper on his way home from work. I was famous. Later that year, Trusti would announce that she could no longer be my friend because I was stubborn (a word she no doubt heard her mother use about me). I had only heard the word "stubborn" in reference to a goat. I thought she did not want to be my friend because I was a goat. A very confusing time in my life. In retrospect, I think she just could not handle my stardom and being second fiddle to the egg champion.

Dreams, TV, and Judges

My poor mother is now having wedding stress dreams. She dreamt she was on a flight to my wedding, although it was in another country. She realized that she was on the wrong plane and that they thought she was going to a different wedding. It was a package deal, so she couldn't get out of it, even when she explained that it was the wrong wedding.

In other news, I watched "Big Brother All-Stars" tonight because there was nothing else on. I have not watched since season two. Watching it brought back memories of when I watched season one with my sister back when we lived together in Ann Arbor. It was so scandalous then how we could see people showering (not the nakedness though) and people appearing to get busy under the covers. This was before "The Real World" got all skanky and now nothing is shocking anymore.

I am sure that last paragraph will get me all sorts of crazy google hits.

Oh, and for those of you who watch "So you Think You Can Dance?," what was with Allison and Ivan being in the bottom three couples? Allison and Donyelle are my two favorites. I told Prince E tonight that if Allison got kicked off I wouldn't watch anymore. Luckily she stayed, thanks to the judges. (everytime I say the word "judges" now I pronounce it like Cat Deeley does. I am sure most of you have no idea what I am talking about. Sorry).

Independence Day Ice Cream and Other Excitement

I hope that everyone has had a great Fourth of July! I had today off of work and used a vacation day for Monday, since Prince E had the day off. It is a rare occurrence that his work gives him a day off that I don't get. I certainly could not let him have a day off when I had to be at work! Despite having four days off, I feel like it went too quickly. Here are some of the things we did.

On Monday, we went on an architectural boat tour along the Chicago River. It was through the Chicago Architecture Foundation and I highly recommend it, whether you live in the area or are in town for a visit. You get to see the city from an angle that most people never do and you learn a lot about the history of the architecture in Chicago.





Unfortunately, it rained the entire time we were on the boat, except for the last twenty minutes. We had an umbrella and rain coats, but my pants were still soaked. It was worth it, though, I think. You can see several more photos from the tour in my Flickr sidebar or by clicking here.

Our narrator informed us that while the Chicago River once had a designation of "toxic," it is currently only "highly polluted." The mayor apparently wants to have the river be sufficient for swimming at some point in the future. The picture below is what they mean by "polluted." Swimming, anyone?



If you click on the above picture to enlarge it, you can see a large, dead, bloated, beaver/woodchuck kind of animal in the center of the photo. Don't say I didn't warn you!

Today we went to Zephyr, which is a restaurant that specializes in ice cream (although it has regular food too). Prince E went there with his mom when he was a little kid, so he wanted to take me there. The food was very yummy. I had my very first banana split and the Prince had a sundae.



Other things we did:

* Signed our lease for our new apartment in the suburbs. We are moving in on July 28.

* Saw two movies: Superman Returns and X-Men: The Last Stand. I, to my tremendous surprise, enjoyed them both. Kevin Spacey is a fabulous bad guy. And he looks great bald.

* Went to a birthday party at the home of a family that Prince E grew up with. I had not met them before and I enjoyed hearing all the stories of the adventures of the pre-teen/teenage Prince.

* Watched the July 3 fireworks in Grant Park...from the comfort of our apartment. We had the fireworks coverage on the television in the background, so we could hear the orchestra playing, while watching the fireworks out of the window. We could see everything, except for the fireworks that did not make it very high into the air, because they were obscured by buildings. It was a much better alternative to sitting in the hot night with a couple of million people (and then trying to get home).