Windy City & Suburbs

Wow! We had some weather yesterday at about 3:30 pm and continuing into the evening. I happened to be on the phone with a manager at the Wilmette restaurant. I told her there was a storm coming her way. We continued to talk and about a minute later, I decided I needed to go to lower ground. My second floor office, filled with windows became a bit intimidating when the wind picked up, the sky turned green and it rained buckets. We were in a tornado warning.

No one has said that it was a tornado but the winds did get up to about 55 mph and up! The streets were flooded and my 15 minute commute turned into almost 2 hours. Electricity was off (still is in a lot of places) and that means stop lights weren't/aren't working. Traffic sucked!

This morning, the cleanup begins, before more flooding rains hit us tonight.

Here's a look at some of the stuff that was just blocks from my work. This is fairly typical, although I did take photos of the worst stuff. But there are big trees down everywhere, streets still blocked.

Crazy! We're not the wide open spaces here...this is near the city!



This tree hit this car. It also broke the back window of the SUV parked next to it.




Uprooted trees....


And trees on electrical lines....

Silly Things To Wave

So I'm only one week late posting these photos. I think that's pretty good for me! My 4th of July was more eventful than usual with my bud Larilyn in town. Actually, as Larilyn pointed out, for some reason we're all about the 3rd of July here. It makes no sense, but that's how it is. I picked Larilyn up early at the Farm and really wish that I had taken some photos. It is an amazing place. This city girl was very excited to hear the silence and see the rolling hills in what she thought was a very flat state. Miss Kitty and John's house is amazing and Terry is a gracious host. It was fun just hanging out for an hour or so and chit-chatting and getting to know Emily a bit. She's such a sweet kid!

Larilyn and I got caught up on our ride home and we headed downtown to the Taste. Taste is always fun but it's not the best food in Chicago...not even close. Maybe it's the best junk food in Chicago. But we have much better food. I think Larilyn might need to come back for a real meal.

Once we got home we gave Wayne a call and headed out to Gillson Park for the concert and fireworks, both of which were lame. However, the festival was fun. We heard a band that was playing some great music, including a Shrek set (I'm a Believer, All Star, etc.) The band is behind them where the flag is.... And after Larilyn's first gyros, we pulled out the silly things to wave in the dark and got rained upon and watched fireworks. And so was our third of July!

Rollin', Rollin', Rollin', Man My Ass is Swolen...

This morning I was awake at 3:00 a.m. to get ready for a very wet Bike the Drive. This is an annual event and a kickoff to Chicago's Bicycling Federation's season. I've heard that Bike the Drive can be fun in nice weather. And we did have nice weather...immediately following our ride.
It's okay though, cause a good time was had by all. Our trip took us north on Lake Shore Drive to Hollywood and then south to the Museum of Science and Industry, 30 miles in all. The novelty of seeing the Drive with NO cars and then biking on it, was just too much for me to pass up.

Here I am around 5:40 a.m. looking oh so fashionable *roll eyes* in my helmet.








Here's my crew, Sheryl, Leo and Wayne. I think the ball cap look was the way to go! We decided we all looked like dorks and figured the rain was just going to make a mess of us so we might as well just enjoy it!



Pelted by rain and soaked to the skin, our enthusiasm was not diminished. This was the halfway point. The two red gates indicated the North and South routes. We're pointing to the south route since we were heading there next.





And here's the 3/4 point at the Museum of Science and Industry.





And here I am feining enthusiasm for the end. Actually, I was glad it was the end. And Wayne managed to get the Sears Tower in the background...nice!

So until next year....or perhaps I might find myself floating in the water with a tropical drink instead. We shall see.

All Part of Getting Old

You may know that I LOVE magazines. I used to buy a ton of them. I've recently scaled back. But I had to giggle to myself today when I thought about the types of magazines I buy. I used to buy "Glamour" and "Mademoiselle", "People" and even an occasional "Vogue". Now when I do buy magazines they're "Health", "Cooking Light", "Fitness" and my gift subscription "Real Simple". Ah, how your priorities change! :-)

What Goes Around Come Around

I'm bored so I thought I'd do one of these I've been procrastinating.

1. You have 10 bucks and need to buy snacks at a gas station, what do you get?
Diet Pepsi, water and gum.

2. If you had to be reincarnated as some sort of sea dwelling creature, what would you be? Dory

3. Who's your favorite redhead? My friend Val

4. What do you order when you're at a pancake house? ummm...pancakes?

5. Last book you read. Passporter's Disney Cruise Clues

6. Have you made out with anyone on your myspace friend's list? Don't have a myspace space.

7. Describe your favorite pair of underwear. Gray, high cut leg, sort of string bikini-ish but with enough fabric to cover my bum

8. Describe the last time you were injured. I sprained my ankle about 3 weeks ago.

9. Of all your friends, with whom would you want to be stuck in the middle of a jungle? Chris because he makes me laugh.

10. Are there any odd things that make you feel uncomfortable? uh huh

11. Are there any weird things that turn you on? maybe, maybe not

12. What is the wallpaper on your cell phone? Cinderella Castle

13. Pop? Trying to quit, thanks.

14. Flavor? Diet Pepsi

15. What type of shirt are you wearing? v-neck tee

16. Prescription medication? nope

17. If you could use only one form of transportation for the rest of your life, what would it be?
car

18. How many people are on your myspace friends list? n/a

19. How many people on your myspace list do you know in real life? again, n/a

20. What are you listening to right now? live365.com, Intercot radio, Yo ho (A Pirate's Life for Me)

21. Most recent movie you've watched: 13 Going on 30

22. Name 3 things you have with you at all times: sunglasses, phone, my grandma's ring

23. Would you rather give or receive a foot massage. Both are fun!

24. Name a teacher you had the hots for: I had an English teacher in my freshman year of college. I don't even remember his name.

25. What is a saying that you use a lot? "Have a good one!"

27. What is your favorite part of the chicken? white meat

28. What's your favorite city? Chicago closely followed by San Francisco

29. Favorite kind of cake? Banana cake with chocolate frosting...specifically one that Sara Lee discontinued years ago. : (

30. What's the first word that comes to mind right now? :banana:

31. When was the last time you saw your mom in person? 4 days ago

32. What makes you feel like puking? seeing other people puking

33. What did you have for dinner LAST NIGHT? Lean Cuisine Cheese Pizza

34. How long have you been at your current job? 10 years in June

35. What's the last thing you said out loud? "Okay, see ya!"

36. Look to your right, what do you see? cordless phone

37. Look to your left, what do you see? my water bottle

38. Who is the last person who spent $100 on you? my parents

39. Who's your favorite villain? Jim Carrey as the Riddler cracked me up.

40. What's the last piece of clothing you borrowed from someone? Sweatshirt

41. What's the last piece of clothing you bought? tee shirts

42. What phrase makes you laugh no matter where, when or how? rabid rabbit

43. Go into your text message log on your phone? ehem....I'd rather not say.

44. What is the last text message you received? "Nope"

Flashback...

It was on this trip to WDW with my then roommate Sharon that we rented a convertible. (Look at my geeky shorts and big sunglasses! That's me on the right.) Of course, we were in Florida, and it was hot. So top down, a/c blasting!! (Fuel prices were much cheaper then!)

Today was much the same. My thermostat is broken so the heat is on. It's about 80 degrees outside, so it's about 100 in here. The a/c is blasting! Luckily, it's temporary. The repair guy comes out mid-week.

ae: Since my thermostat is mechanical, it was just sort of stuck. The guy came out and fixed it. Yay for normal temps!

Updating on General Principles....

Well, I don't have any other pictures prepared at this time. I'm just taking a moment to update because I feel a certain guilt for not keeping up.

I turned 40 this week. It was an eating bonanza all weekend long. I had a nice dinner with my parents at my favorite Japanese "cook in front of you" restaurant. Then breakfast the next morning at one of my favorite breakfast restaurant. I had banana bread french toast...yum!
And then I took half a day off on my birthday on Monday. I spent the day working out (man I need it after those meals), watching All My Children, having a fabulous one hour massage and then going to dinner with a friend. All in all a nice birthday!

On another subject, I'm taking an unplanned trip to WDW in spring. I'm going to stay at the Fort Wilderness Cabins in May. After spending a few vacations going to Hoop Dee Doo and riding bikes through the campgrounds, I've been itching to stay there. I'll let you know what I think of the cabins. I know already to expect sucky bus service within the campground area. But we do plan on driving in and out to go to the parks.

Other than that, I'm glad it's the weekend. My cousin is getting married in a few weeks, so there's a family shower for her on Sunday. And it's tax day for me tomorrow! (How exciting eh?) I know I'm getting a refund so actually it is a bit exciting. I just don't feel like sitting down to do it. But better that I should have my money (in time for my vacation I might add) than Uncle Sam.

That's all that's new here. I won't promise an update soon. But I will try to do better than three months.

Very Merry Trip Report

Are you shocked that I'm actually posting some photos almost immediately after my vacation?? You should be!

My buddy Wayne and I and my parents were at Walt Disney World last week and had some fun adventures. Here are just a few moments:

Okay, Kerri and Tom cover your eyes. The first day we were at Epcot for the Candlelight Processional and I didn't have my camera. So the first photos I got were of those OTHER theme parks.....Universal and Islands of Adventure:

So this is Wayne, me and my dad playing at the kids' themed land at Suess Landing! It's so colorful there. It makes you feel like a kid!



I'm a Shrek fan and I just couldn't resisting snapping a photo of this sign that pokes a little fun at my favorite magical kingdom:















I'm a Grinch fan too and loved this store display:

























For lunch we headed over to Portofino Bay Hotel where I stayed in September. They have a great little Italian pannini shop there...yum!! Anyway, the Vespas are bolted down but make for a nice photo opportunity:























After a nice dinner at Emeril's we headed to Downtown Disney. There in front of one of my favorite trees at WDW were some carollers. Note the Light Bright ornament above the lady on the left's head. :)














Hopefully more before the New Year!!!

Snagged from Cady McClain

Cady plays Dixie on All My Children. I snagged this one off her blog.

1) Hot Chocolate or apple cider?

Hot Chocolate

2) Turkey or Ham?

Ham

3) Do you get a Fake or Real Christmas tree?

Fake. Prelit is the way to go!!

4) Decorations on the outside of your house?

I really need to do that.

5) Snowball fights or sledding?

Sledding

6) Do you enjoy going downtown for shopping?

For looking, not actually buying!

7) Favorite Christmas song?

I had to laugh at Michael E. Knight's (i.e. Tad Martin):

Michael: “Sexual Healing” by Marvin Gaye

My answer: My Grown Up Christmas List by Amy Grant

8) How do you feel about Christmas movies?

I generally like them.

9) When is it too early to start listening to Christmas music?

Before July 4. :D

10) Stockings before or after presents?

Before!!

11) Carolers, do you or do you not watch and listen to them?

They're too afraid to come to my security building.

12) Go to someone else’s house or they come to you?

They come to me. I wish they'd go somewhere else. ;)

13) Do you read the Christmas Story?

A long, long time ago.

14) What do you do after presents and dinner?

Michael E. Knight's answer: That’s the sexual healing part.

I usually go home and cook for the guest on Christmas Day.

15) What is your favorite holiday smell?

Pine.

16) Ice skating or walking around the mall?

Ice sliding.

17) Do you open a present or presents on Christmas Eve, or wait until Christmas day?

Michael E Knight's comment: Depends on what she’s wearing.

Christmas Eve

18) Favorite Christmas memory?

I answered this already.

19) Favorite part about winter?

Being able to ski. Otherwise, I could skip it completely.

20) Ever been kissed under mistletoe?

I think so, awhile back. I think I need to revisit some misletoe. :)

Snagged from Tom

I love the holidays and even though it is early, I felt obligated to complete this one. Fa la la la la!

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate?? Hot Chocolate!

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Wrapping

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? White

4. Do you hang mistletoe? Nope.

5. When do you put your decorations up? After I return from Disney...actually a few just before I leave.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)? Just one?? My grandma's stuffing recipe I make every year and my dad's Sicilian olives

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child: My grandma tricking me. I would go to visit her and then she would evitablely give me liquids until I had to pee. Then she would run, take out presents and ring the doorbell. I couldn't get out of the bathroom quickly enough to see but Santa would always leave me a huge beautiful stocking full of treats on her banister.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? I asked my mom straight out and she didn't lie to me.

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? Open all of them on Christmas Eve. Christmas Day is extended family and gifts only for the kids.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree? Color coordinated and usually by myself. Although I used to love to decorate with friends. But everyone seems so busy these days.

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? At this time of year, I actually love it. Once January 1st rolls around, I dread it.

12. Can you ice skate? Yes, I can struggle. I'm a better rollerskater.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? Time with family and friends.

14. What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you? Celebrating with friends and family

15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? I make a mean "Cake in a Bowl"

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Going to Disney World with my family at the beginning of the month. I also love going with my friends to Marshall Field's (cough....Macy's) and having breakfast at the Walnut Room on the 23rd.

17. What tops your tree? A bow

18. Which do you prefer giving or Receiving? Neither really. I'd rather "give" by volunteering and "receive" by spending time with family and friends.

19. What is your favorite Christmas Song? My Grown Up Christmas List By Amy Grant

20. Candy Canes! Yuck or yummy? neither

21. Fave Christmas Movie? Muppet Christmas Carol of course. "Light the lamp, not the rat!"

Procrastination At Work

Okay, not actually at my work place...oh, you know what I mean... So these photos span from the middle of July to early August.

I went to Festa Italian in Milwaukee in the middle of July just to see Orlando Bloom. Seriously, doesn't second guy look like him just a bit? These guys were actually the flag throwers from the Olympics in Torino. They actually came to perform on their vacation and weren't paid. Dedicated eh?

The only thing that kept running through my mind was "We're men, we're men in tights"! lol





They're pretty talented!






It's all very colorful.








So the next weekend, I was in Milwaukee again for German Fest. I didn't even take my camera out of my purse. But let's just say the Ruben egg roll thingies were oh so yummy!

Then in early August I was at Ravinia and saw Billy Currington and Trisha Yearwood (aka Mrs. Garth Brooks) in concert. Billy just doesn't appeal to me, but I thought the lighting was cool in this photo. Trisha Yearwood looks blissfully happy and grounded. Plus she never ceases to amaze me with that voice of hers. I think she has the best female voice in country music. Her rendition of Over the Rainbow gave me chills! She's got such a great stage presence too, chatty and witty. She seems like the type of person that I would like to have as a friend.


It's been a good summer! :)

Everybody's Doing It...

[my name is]: Joanne
[in the morning i am]: usually running around like crazy
[love is]: all you need
[i dream about]: weird stuff

W I T H .T H E. O P P O S I T E. S E X-
[what do you notice first?]: smile
[last person u slow danced with]: my dad

W H O .W A S .T H E .L A S T. P E R S O N
[you talked to on the phone]: Chris
[hugged:] Chris
[you instant messaged]: Chris
[you laughed with]: people at work

D O .Y O U / / A R E .Y O U
[could you live without the computer?]: I'm fairly addicted. It probably wouldn't be pretty.
[what's your favorite food?]: cheese
[whats ur favorite fruit?]: :banana:
[what hurts the most?]: my self-criticism
[trust others way too easily?]: not at all

-N U M B E R-
[of times i have had my heart broken?]: twice
[of hearts i have broken?]: 1
[of tight friends?]: 2
[of cd's that i own?]: a lot
[of scars on my body?]: two or three small ones, nothing major
[of things in my past that i regret?]: I forget regret otherwise life is mine to miss.

O.T.H.E.R.T.H.I.N.G.S.

[i know]: that I control my own happiness
[i want]: a man to share my life with
[i have]: a wonderful life
[i wish]: that everyone could just get along
[i hate]: intolerance
[i miss]: Mayberry
[i fear]: being alone
[i hear]: music
[i search]: the world over and thought I found true love, you met another and plebb, you were gone
[i love]: those I consider family
[i care]: about people's feelings
[i always]: will workout
[i dance]: when no one's watching
[i sleep]: pretty soundly
[i cry]: a lot. It's a great stress reliever.
[i do not always]: eat right
[i write]: when I can. I love to write.
[i confuse]: my words every now and then. I thought I had a chronic case of Malapropism disease
[i can usually be found]: online if you know where to look
[i need]: to exercise, it saves me
[wuss]: depends on the subject
[daydreamer]: I try to put my dreams into action.
[brat]: been known to be
[sarcastic]: uh yeah!
[angel]: if that's what you think
[devil]: maybe a little devilish
[friends]: in low places
[shy]: yeah
[talkative]: depends on who I'm with
[adventurous]: can be
[intelligent]: depends on the subject

(You.Claim.To.Have)
[impacted you the most spiritually]: Chris
[wish you saw more often]: my friends
[most sarcastic]: there are so many...
[wish you knew better]: I think there's value in knowing most people better.
[knows you best]: Chris
[best outlook on life]: Mike
[a smell that makes you smile]: piped in smells on Main Street USA at WDW
[a city you'd like to visit]: Sydney
[a drink you order most often]: dp
[a book you highly recommend]: The Traveler's Gift by Andy Andrews
[the music you prefer while alone]: can't pick just one type; it will always depend on my mood
[your favorite film]: When Harry Met Sally but lately Bruce Almighty
[a TV show you watch regularly]: All My Children
[you live in a(n)]: condo
[your transportation]: my little Honda or my legs
[your cologne or perfume]: can't stand the stuff
[under your bed or in your closet you hide]: the messy me
[something important on your night table]: a silver plated bowl left to me by my grandma

Everything Is Just Not Ducky

There are train tracks adjacent to the restaurant where I work. I was walking towards the post office yesterday, which meant crossing the tracks. As I approached I noticed a commotion. There were two ladies running around. I wondered what was up. As I got closer, I noticed a mama duck with her six babies walking on the tracks!!!

So I join these two ladies to save these ducks from a horrible death. The little babies were much too small to get back up to safe ground. They must have followed mama and fallen in. So we shooed the mama duck to the point that I thought she might bite one of us. And we picked up the babies and put them to higher ground.



The little ducks looked like this! OMG soooooo cute!

Well, there was one little duck that freaked out a bit and ran under the platform that allows people to cross the tracks. He was so scared and mama duck left without him. At this point, I want to ball for this poor duck.

I tried for about half an hour to coax this duck out with the help of some sweet kids and two nice senior citizens who strolled by later. And I got close at times. My fellow rescuers (who were part of saving mama and other babies) had long since boarded the train and left. Then, I was all alone in my quest to save him.

And I'm afraid I failed. I had to go back to work at some point and I thought, "he's too scared, maybe he'll be out later". I did that twice. The first time he did come out but promptly retreated when I tried to grab him. The second time he did not come out. I left for the day very, very sad that I hadn't saved him.

I went back this morning and the bread I left to try and coax him out was gone but it could have been eaten by birds. I hope the little guy is okay. I'll never know.

Summer!!!

It turns me upside down. I love summer and I did something very summery today. I headed to Lighthouse beach on the Northwestern campus. The beach isn't officially opened yet. But it was such a beautiful day. It was about 80 inland and about 70 at the beach with a beautiful breeze.




So I set down my towel and kicked off my shoes.






I grabbed my book out of my bag and read. But the water and the people were too distracting.








There were big boats.







And people enjoying the day.









Even the usually aggressive geese were serenely floating by...








Just as I was leaving a noticed an odd indentation in the sand. ; )



It was a wonderful day. Hope you had one too!

Writer's Block

I'm working on two articles related to my travel business and the perfectionist in me is making me blocked. I've basically written both articles. I've revised them. I thought about them for days. And now I'm procrastinating them.

And now for your viewing pleasure I'll post some photos for you while I procrastinate.

It's been a family filled few weekends. My parents' 40th anniversary was last weekend and it was all about moms this weekend. I went to see my Grandma and took my mom (and dad) to lunch on Sunday.

I told them to look like they love each other. They sort of do, don't they? :)



Here's the miscellaneous cousins' table. :) All in all a fun day! Hope all you moms out there (even if your children are furry)...had a great Mother's day yesterday!

Cute Shoes

Everyone keeps telling me they like my shoes so I thought I'd share. I could pay more, but why? Here are some other fun photos that are on my computer. I wish this were my fence!

Here's the Cubs tarp pictures that I was telling Amber about. (July 3, 2004) They called the game on account of rain just after Sammy hit a homer (we won).

Stealing Kerri's Blog Entry

I liked Kerri's blog entry of random pictures on her computer. Here's a few I have:

Watermelon Art



Ah...baseball season is upon us:

















Being a Pepsi drinker this just amused me:























And of course the photo everyone must have on their computer. I'm thinking this needs to be turned into wallpaper. :D

December 23rd, 5:30 a.m....central standard time...

(Hopefully Mike will get the RENT reference there! :) ) I called Mike to wake him up at what at the time really seemed to be an ungodly time! Usually I'm up that early...this day I was groggy.

But I really needed to unwind. And we wanted to pay our respects to our Chicago institution which will soon be taken over by a company orginating in the "first" city. Marshall Field's has been purchased by Macy's. This is a big deal here in Chicago! "They can take away my Walnut Room but they can't make me shop at Macy's!" Don't get me wrong. I like the Thanksgiving Day parade; long tradition there, I get it. When I went to Macy's in NY, I was very underwhelmed. I really think Field's does it better. But that isn't the point.

The point is this store has a long history here in Chicago. My dad and my aunt both worked for Fields when they were young. People have been going to the State Street store all their lives. Why can't the Macy's people run it as Field's?

Anyway....here are pictures from our big adventure.

I think we got there about 7:45 a.m. and had an hour wait before we were at the front of the line and got this view:


This is just about thirty seconds before you hit the front of the line and hostess hurries you through.










We finally were seated and decided to act like tourists and take pictures. Oooooo....pretty tree.





What was this lady thinking...walking through my photo. No doubt I was complaining about the people in the background because Mike is laughing at me!





Here we are looking old and married....as we were joking around that we were. We may be the earlier and are not the later. (Before you ask...we're just friends.)











Here is the official Chicago Christmas tree in Daley Plaza. It's actually a lot cooler looking at night in the dark.




Next we headed to Millenium Park to Skate, Play and Eat. Really we just wanted to watch the skaters. And since the weather was beautiful...40 degrees, we didn't mind the walk.




Next we headed to the Bean
aka the Cloud Gate. To see the full perspective of what it is, go to the link. This photo is of me, on the left, with the long coat, standing in front of it and taking a photo of the skyline. You can see Mike walking by behind me.








Here we are taking pictures of the bean close up.

That about does it for our grand last adventure to the Walnut Room for Christmas. Here's hoping Macy's doesn't screw it up too much!