Monday's

I find it funny how on some Monday mornings I will wake up almost dreading the day, on other Monday mornings I'm ready to take on the world. This morning was a take on the world type of day, even if I did hit the snooze button 2 or 3 times instead of the one time I was planning.

Working out in the morning is always a good thing to do on a Monday, even if I only did some weights, abs, and rubber band stuff for my shoulder, it still starts the morning off right. Follow that up with making coffee at home (chocolate mint!) and having a few minutes to just enjoy the morning, fantastic. I hope that I can go for a run tomorrow morning (did 4.5 miles yesterday!!!) but we'll see about that...internship starts tomorrow so a long day, plus a long night tonight due to end of month.

I can't wait until I have a job where I'm not busy the last day of the month :)

Temperature

In Chicago there are very few perfect days, this weekend is a perfect weather weekend. Sunny, upper 60s, light wind. Of course it's not August weather, but it's perfect weather.

I started the day off yesterday with a nice short bike ride where I was quite confident (which is good since I haven't been too confident since I was hit in April). After that we (bf and I) went up to Boystown to go shopping for my friends bachelorette party next weekend. We had fun going into the different sex shops, found a boobie mold to make a cake with for the joint part next weekend. We wandered down in lakeview for some more shopping, then up to Lincoln Square for lunch with a friend to discuss the party. All afternoon we were outside and enjoying the day. Today is another day like yesterday, except I have lots to do inside. The windows are WIDE open to allow the fresh air in, it really makes me happy to have the windows open, especially in August.

This week is going to be an intense one, and I'm not sure I'll be able to blog each day, but I will try. End of month is tomorrow, internship starts Tuesday, class on Wednesday, internship Thursday, Friday is cooking for the party, Saturday is internship & the party...so my first time for me is a week from today...so today is going to count. Of course I need to find some time to run since I have a race in about a month!

OK, enough about me, this weather makes me happy, so time to get stuff done in the house so I can go for a run outside!

Misinterpretations & being misinterpreted

I think I have a problem of coming across too strong sometimes and then I am misinterpreted. It's also possible that I am misinterpreting being misinterpreted. I really just try to be a helpful individual, but I guess I can be kind of overly, um, takeoverish? I don't mean to, I'm just passionate. Of course I am the QUEEN of thinking that when people are upset it has something to do with me, so I misinterpret if others are upset with my by being this narcissistic individual who thinks that all the worlds problems are my fault (of course none of the solutions are).

At least it's 11:30 and I've been listening to a Prodigy station on Pandora all day. That makes me happy and it makes me want to go out to NEO tonight. Mmmmm, NEO

VPN

Why is it when I VPN into work I can't get into IE or Firefox? I can access the network and my email but no web. I need the VPN to access one website at work, but it just wouldn't work for me. So when I disable it and still can't connect, restarting works.

Of course I always hate when IT help tells you to restart your computer because I do those steps before calling them (I didn't call in this case, I'm just saying). Anyway, it's just annoying.

Luckily the file I need I had emailed earlier in the day to someone and I could access webmail to get it. Funny how work can be brought home now...maybe that's part of the obesity epidemic...we work so much and bring it home, and don't have time to work out...except I did today.

Anyway, that's my observation...VPN is weird.

I swear, it wasn't my fault

Yesterday's fail I do not view as my fault.

1 - I was swamped at work
2 - I spent my entire evening trying to get my wireless card to work
3 - I was hoping to post from home with the wireless card working

So, not my fault.

I have noticed that when I have a bad day at work, if I don't get to workout I get crabbier. If I sit trouble shooting and being told what code to write from a friend on the phone (though I appreciate his help very much!) I get crabbier. When I don't get to eat until after 9 and don't get any time to chill after a crappy day, you guessed it, I get crabbier! Lesson learned...tonight I plan to leave work by 5, go work out, relax, and enjoy a rainy Thursday night.

I also will be writing a second post later today to make up for failing yesterday.

Guard Cat

Walking back from a fantastic evening of listening to live broadway showtunes (all donations benefited the Chicago House ) Val and I walked back to the hood. On our walk we passed by the Kayak Chicago which if I don't end up buying a kayak soon I'm going to need to go rent one there. Anyway...as we're walking and talking we look over at the place, and there is a tiny lilttle white cat. We found it amusing that the kitty was guarding the kayaks and I turned to Val and said, "This is tomorrow's blog post". So it's tomorrow and this is my blog post.

Funny the things you see as you walk down quiet streets at night in Chicago.

Monday

Interesting Monday so far. On the train this morning I was on the last car, and as usual people were blocking the entrance...but as soon as I moved past that, there was no one standing by the back wall, so I did...about halfway downtown I realized that I was standing in front of a door...but no one was behind me. It was strange.

Here are work, I'm trying to incorporate my counseling schooling into my position a bit more again...I had been doing it for a while but think I just lost it, it's back now.

I'm excited for this week, no real reason, maybe it's because it's my last week of freedom before school starts up again, but I plan to enjoy every night this week since I have them all off. Tonight I'll be going to Angelo's with a friend to listen to some caberet, we'll see what the rest of this week brings :)

Boring post today, hopefully I'll have more observations for you later.

Fail at writing

So I think I should have thought about the fact that I was unpacking when I gave myself the challenge to write a blog post everyday. I also should have realized that my wireless card in my desktop didn't exist yet alone work when I made that challenge. Regardless, I'm keeping my weekday posts at least.

So last night we went to the Bears-Giants game. I am a Giants fan, and I have been since November, 1986. Living in Chicago for over 6 years now, I have decided to split my allegiance between the Giants and the Bears. Of course, last night I was in Giants gear, in the bf's sister's season ticket seats...in the United Club. The seats were incredible...I'll add a few photos. I did notice that Bears fans are unique fans. They LOVE their team, and really do not like fans of other teams. No one was mean, but lots of people just rolled their eyes. Found it funny.

We really had a great time, even if the Giants lost, that meant the Bears won :)

Today we finished unpacking and organizing, it looks great. My office still needs work, but other than that, we're doing good. I also spend some time with LG....a suburban trip with the 70 degree sunshine day...we had a great time today, and now I'm in the apartment and watching some TV, enjoying my night. Had some girl time with LG and now by myself...it's really quite nice :) I will say, TrueBlood makes my Sunday nights amazing.

One other thing

I have gotten many rave reviews on this photo so I figured I would post it and see what the reaction from the interwebs is...not that many people see this blog, but perhaps this model like shot will get some foot traffic on here :)

Somedays are better than others

How is it that at 9:12am I can already have conflicting messages about this day? I started on the right foot by getting snuggle time in with the bf, the dog & the kitty. That was followed up by some freeweights & ab work and a nice, hot shower. Short walk with the pup and the bf and then off to work.

Here, things are strange...with the invention of social media I don't always like things that I can see. It appears some people are expecting a bad day and they aren't even at work yet. It's Friday people, lets just focus on getting through the day and go home.

At least my bagel and coffee were yummy.

As for my plan of attack, focus on getting things done, walk to the lawyers office at lunch, come back and get more things done, go home do laundry then have a freaking beer!

HAPPY FRIDAY!

Perception of distance

I find it amusing that depending on where I am in the city, distance makes a difference. When in the loop, most people do not feel comfortable going beyond a 2-3 block radius for lunch. Mind you there are lots of lunch options within a 2-3 block radius, but that is besides the point.

I work in the southern part of the loop, I have a friend who works in River North, we decided to meet in the middle at the Merchandise Mart, a walk, el ride, or combined walk & el ride for both of us, but easy to meet at. When I asked co-workers what they thought the best way for me to go there, the response was take a cab. I decided not to do that. I walked.

It is approximately 8 blocks from my building to the Merchandise Mart, according to gmaps that is 0.8 miles (though I have always been told that there are 8 Chicago city blocks to a mile, but whatever). 8 blocks, well beyond the 2-3 block radius of most. It took me about 12-15 minutes to get there, passing many slower walkers as I went, and missing a few lights, but still, not a bad walk. I had a lovely lunch, great time chatting, and then decided I'd jump on the el to go back. To grab the el meant waiting for the el and then going 2 stops (based on the direction that the brownline goes, it would not have been 2 stops going TO the Mart as the brownline goes in one direction around the loop...crazy system I know.)

I waited approximately 7 minutes for my train and then it took about 3 minutes to get to my stop...it would have taken almost as long to walk. Lesson learned, when going 8 blocks, just walk it...unless it's pouring of -20 with a 30 mph wind :)

Also, the Mart has some nice options and is not quite as busy as other places downtown, nice option for lunch!

Habitat for Humanity

I participated in Habitat for Humanity today and I was so excited. While in undergrad I had tried to sign up for it, but there were too many volunteers and I never got to participate. So when the opportunity came up at work, I took it.

We went down near Midway airport to these two houses that were already built, but still needed some work. Starting off I installed some door stoppers, at first without a wrench, then we found one :)

After the door stoppers I started staining the deck's with two work friends. We were able to be outside and it was beautiful out! We were rocking the staining, in fact, the House Manager told us multiple times he was impressed. We ended up staining 3 decks today, we rock.

We were lucky with the weather and the people who were helping out. We got a lot done as a group. Installed cabinets, painted, put posts in for a fence, just lots of good stuff.

Got home a bit earlier than I usually do...so went for a run, first one in a few weeks. It felt good, even with the heat & humidity, it was a good run. After the run, my boyfriend and I decided to unpack and organize more. We really got a lot done considering it was after a long day. Now it's time to relax, since I did not get the wireless card working yet, but there is a plan! So should have it running soon.

Sunny days

In terms of observation, people seem to be much happier on a sunny day that follows a rainy day. Sunny days in general seem to lift people's spirits, but the first sunny day after a rainy day really seems to make people happy.

Another observation is a personal one...I need to get running again...I think I will be a much happier person if I get back to running. I want to run the Bucktown 5k which is Sunday, October 4th. I've taken 3 weeks off from running and have 6 1/2 weeks to get back into 5k shape...which should take me 1-2 weeks tops since I was in 5k shape 3 weeks ago. I will not turn this blogging experiment into a runner log, but I might mention runs here and there. I plan on getting a good walk in tonight, and get back into running tomorrow night...eventually in the mornings.

For now though, I have meetings for the rest of the afternoon.

Weekend updates & Monday commute

I failed at a second weekend blog, so I will combine it in with this morning's commute post. In short, moving stinks! I am happy that the move part & cleaning of the old apartment is over with. I am not very happy that in my new home I am still surrounded with boxes filled with things that I have no idea where they will go. Over the next few days those boxes will be fewer and fewer and everything will have a home. I am lucky that I had such great helpers this weekend, so thank you all for helping!

This mornings commute was a true rainy Monday commute. I heard the train as I ran down the steps. I jump in a car just in time and made the train. The blue line has doors that are unique, they fold in on some cars rather than just sliding. At the first stop, I went to step out to allow others off of the train and my umbrella got stuck in the door. Luckily, no one was trying to get out, so I was only embarressed and not an inconvenience to others. I did have a nice gentleman help me get the umbrella unstuck and I laughed and said sarcastically that it was a great Monday, he smiled.

I managed to be at work very early so that I could attend a new meeting that I have been invited to. It was only about 15 minutes long but quite informative. The rest of my day I plan on working on projects and getting all of that off of my plate...tired of having it there. Plus, on a rainy day like today, it makes sense to just stick at my desk and work on projects. Hopefully tonight I'll get some boxes done and tomorrow start up with my running again after a two or three week break.

Happy Monday!

Renting a UHaul in the city

Yesterday I finished moving from Albany Park to Noble Square. I failed to write a blog but that was due to inability to be near a computer. This will have to be a short blog with a longer one later today coming.

Renting a UHaul in the city is an interesting experience. I go online to make my reservations and both this & last year was assigned a UHaul rental place (I had no choice). Last year I parked in a parking lot with my car to pick up the UHaul. When I returned I was told that the UHaul people had called a tow truck to move my car because the parking lot was for customers who were NOT renting trucks to park. No one mentioned that of course.

This year I picked up at a different UHaul rental place. Little tiny shop way up north. Learning from last year, I was dropped off rather than driving myself. In this tiny shop, they were only helping one person at a time. Luckily, I was there first and let in just before 9am. The contract, and discussions and the normal was done...then the kicker. I was given a map and told where to go to pick up the truck. Nope, they don't bring it to you, or help you get there, they give you a map and say "here's where you pick up the truck and bring it back."

So I walked a good half mile to pick up the truck and the truck number on my key was slightly different from the truck that the key worked for (on the key ring it said "I" on the truck it said "J")

This truck did work well, and we managed to fit almost everything into it. Luckily a friend had a SUV and we put half of a hutch in the SUV.

We were packed, unloaded at the storage unit and at the new apartment within 3 hours, if not a bit less. I really thought it would have taken us less time, but I guess I didn't realize how much furniture I have (especially since some of it is now in storage).

So yes, UHaul experiences are fun.

Almost forgot!

Yes, it's only 12:54pm but I almost forgot to post today. I had some great observations this morning, but work has been rather busy and I have been VERY productive today.

My observation is in regards to the CTA in general. I have moved to my new neighborhood, well, still need to move my furniture, but close enough. Whenever I move to a new neighborhood I like to try different routes to get to places. This morning I decided to take the #56 bus rather than the blue line (el) to get to work. I also had a craving for an Einstein Bagel (mmmm) and the #56 would drop me off right in front.

First observation - #56 bus when 3 blocks away on a Friday morning took over 5 minutes to go those three blocks. There are at least 3 stops in those 3 blocks, plus it is a crazy intersection known as the Polish Triangle (Milwaukee, Ashland, Division). Milwaukee is also a cyclists expressway (which I love) so lots of bikes passing busses.

Second observation - #56 bus has lots of hipsters that ride it, I'm guessing since I now live in one of the hipster mating grounds.

Third observation - Cyclists on Milwaukee are bad asses. I mean, they just ride together in mass and go around busses and cars, it's awesome. If I still wasn't a bit skiddish from my bike accident in April (long story, another post perhaps), then I would totally be out there with them!

Fourth observation - busses suck in rush hour traffic. There really needs to be a bus only lane or something on some of these streets. Cars are jerks and don't want to let busses in; cyclists are everywhere and are going around; pedestrian's are walking all over the place - it's got to be hell to be a bus driver sometimes.

Fifth observation - almost half the amount of people who exit at the Ogilvie station get back on. I really had no idea how many people take the Metra and then CTA or vice versa.

Sixth observation - boys sit weird on a bus. I sat down in between two men on the bus and both of them had the wide leg stance going (while sitting). I squeezed in but was touching both of their legs...and I brought mine as close together as possible...they, on the other hand, did not, and stayed in wide leg stance.

Seventh observation - people ignore other people more so on a bus than on the train.

Eighth observation - bus is slower than train (duh)

So I will be taking the train I believe from now on, but it's nice to know the bus is an option! And those are the observations of the day...back to the chaos of work!

Adorkable

This morning my boyfriend termed himself a new word...adorkable. He wanted to combine dork with adorable and deemed himself adorkable. Good one honey.

In other news, I think I want to be a hidden person this week at work. Yesterday I came to work wearing my glasses and a hat...no one recognized me, in fact, people would come to my desk and wonder where I was. Today, I am wearing my hair down and curly (another rare thing). Waiting for my coffee at Lavazza (thank you LG for getting me hooked) a co-worker was standing behind me in line. When I turned and saw her, it took a couple times of me saying her name to realize it was me. She didn't recognize me. So it appears that I am incognito at work this week...that's fine, it allows me to get more done!

Lastly, moving...I have been in the process of moving from my one bedroom apartment way north & west (in Albany Park) to the bf's 3 bedroom apartment in Noble Square (just east of Wicker park) for about a month now. Last night we filled both cars with everything minus the food in the fridge, cleaning supplies, and furniture. I am so completely done with moving. I really, really, really want to just throw away everything that I haven't unpacked yet. On Saturday we'll have a moving truck and be able to move the furniture, which leads me to my question.

Is it easier to move everything all at once or slowly over a month?

I had thought slow and steady was going to be great...but now I'm wondering...I'm also thinking I'm at the cutoff age of moving myself...next time I'm hiring people!

First observation & rant

I work in the loop (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Loop) and one thing I see everyday on my lunch break...tourists. I appreciate people touring this fine city, adding to the economy, etc. I do not appreciate seeing children who are able to walk in strollers. I am not talking about a one year old who is learning how to walk, I am referring to a child who looks to be closer to 4 years old.

If, as a society, we are concerned about obesity, why do we have children being pushed in strollers when they are able to walk? Is it really that much of an inconvenience to slow your steps slightly so that your child can keep up? Isn't it more of a problem to bring the stroller with you? What's worse, is seeing the big sister who looks to be about 10 having to deal with the stroller and kid brother.

It appears to me that most of the laziness that is happening to Americans is ingrained in us very young...if we're still pushing pre-schoolers around in strollers.

An attempt to begin

I have found that I enjoy blogging but have not been doing a good job of it. Perhaps it's because I was writing about personal things all of the time on LJ, or that I didn't feel I had a lot to say regarding the world. I've recently been observing and paying attention more within the city I live (Chicago) and other things (like politics). I've also been trying to identify patterns (since I'm a bit OCD) and, well, reading other people's blogs more frequently.

I have tried to absorb myself within the social media world, and what I have lacking is a good blog to reference. Hopefully I can create a good blog that people will be interested in reading. If not, at least I will have an avenue to post my observations, questions, and rants.

Today is August 12, I am going to try to post every weekday (at least) for the next month. After I get into a groove, perhaps I will start some shameless self-promotion.