Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Goodbye Pink Rug

I've had the rug 8 years.  Bought it at IKEA with my mom to put in my dorm room at the University Center.  A new rug for a new year, a new dorm building (the first year the building opened) and a new job (I was a resident advisor).  It's just an object, but one with lots of memories.  There were singalongs with Millie and Dianne in the dorm room, they'd sit on the rug as I played guitar from my bed.  I remember lint rolling the entire surface whenever it needed cleaning throughout college because I didn't have a vacuum.  All those years and I never took a proper photo of the multi-pink-colored thing.  Probably because, as I said, it's just an object. 

An object, Zoe, my little piss monster, managed to ruin in the 10 months I've given her access to it.  Numerous 'mistakes' have destroyed the rug.  Cleaning it?  It's beyond that.  And so today, I didn't feel the least bit sentimental as I pulled it out from beneath the furniture, balled it up, and rushed out to the dumpster, carrying it away from my body so as to avoid any contact. 

 I actually think my office area looks better now.  Just hoping some poor dumpster diver doesn't dig it out thinking they've found a gem. 

There will be another rug in that dumpster soon enough.  Tonight, right before sitting down at the computer, I walked across the only rug left in my home (I don't even keep bathmats anymore) and felt a damp spot.  The piss monster strikes again.

Memorable Memorial Day Weekend

My three day weekend, if an unemployed person indeed has weekends, was made up of drinking, families, and installing air conditioners. Well, actually just one air conditioner, but it was such a pain in the ass it counts for several.

Spencer loaded the eight-ton machine into my bedroom window last night. As he lugged it around, apparently the main control knob snapped off. And not in the we'll-just-use-a-screw-driver way. There was a bottomless hole where a previously broken knob had already been.

And so the troubleshooting. We poke and probbed. Undid screws. Searched the floor for the missing piece (which I'm certain I must have swept up shortly after it was dropped). Sat in front of the air conditioner, drinking High Lifes, wondering what the heck to do next. The solution: to glue a screw several inches back in the a/c where the knob originated...and to spend the night in Spencer's air conditioned apartment.


Turns out craft glue, a screw, and a night of drying worked.  This morning I turned the screw with some plyers, affectively turning on the a/c shortly before the glue gave out and the screw snapped out.  It will, of course, now be stuck on the same setting and turned on and off through plugging and unplugging it.  But I have my air conditioner back!

Spencer worked his butt off to make it happen, and the same night installed a new computer keyboard for me, which he ordered online himself.  And so, an adorable photo of him, hard at work, as Emma looks on lovingly.


Keeping up with Memorial Day fashion, I wore a dress for the first time of the season.  Wore a dress on two different occasions actually.  So many people were surprised to see me show leg, and complimented me, that I went out and bought a couple more summer skirts/dresses.  I was also inspired by the last minute plane ticket I bought to Vegas.  Going in two weeks and would like to leave the jeans at home.




Other revelations this weekend: 
  • Shuffle board is a blast.  Yes, I said blast.  Played some version of it at Nick's Beer Garden in Wicker Park.  Way easier than pool to pick up, and so, it gets a thumbs up.
  • Spencer was a hot 18-year-old.  When we visited his parents on Memorial Day I mentioned I hadn't seen any photos of him from his past.  His dad then dug up the ten-year-old photo files on the computer, initiating a walk down memory lane for Spencer and his parents.  We sat and looked at photos together for a while.
  • I can get through a night at a 'douchie' bar as long as there are music videos on the TVs.  Went to Mad River in Lincoln Park, a crowded, pop-collared kinda place, to celebrate the birthday of someone I don't know.  But had fun, thanks to the loud music, all of which accompanied a video that was airing on atleast 30 TVs throughout the bar.  I basically felt like I was hanging out with Rihanna, Drake, and Nicki Minaj.
Alright that's all.  Closing on a sequence of 'waking-up-zoe' photos...

Monday, May 21, 2012

Amy on the Metra



In order for sister Amy to have independence she needs to be able to get around without fully relying on family and caretaker rides.  And so over the weekend: the Metra experiment.  Amy and I hopped on board and treked to a neighboring suburb.  Turns out her bulky chair does fit on the train.  BUT actually getting it on the lift to load into the train in a timely matter, not the easiest task for her. We sufficiently delayed both trains we rode on.  It doesn't mean the Metra is off limits though, just that she needs a little help getting loaded and unloaded.  Either way, check out her smile.  Success!




In other transportation news: my Scion, wrecked by a hit and run driver nearly a month ago, will be in the shop another two weeks.  Seriously?!  And Spencer, who's car was stolen a month and a half ago, finally found a new way to get around.  He bought this 70's Schwin in Champaign at a used bike-sale.  His purchase will hopefully encourage me to take my bike out for a spin now. 

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Buttons and Business Card Holders

I learned a life skill today: how to sew on a button.  This as my cats, brother and sister, sat beside me, loving each other.  I blame them for my constant urge to nap.  It's impossible to get anything done when two furry creatures are stretching beside you, inviting you to lay down, just for a second, and cuddle.                           
But a button ain't nothing.  Look at what else I managed to make!  Okay, I just made some credit/business card holders and a cloth pouch, but as a dropout of I-dont-want-to-tell-you-how-much-I-spent sewing classes, being able to create with a sewing machine is an accomplishment. The project in the first photo is actually made out of an old child's apron I found at a yard sale last weekend.




Also made my way out to Elgin to see my mom's best friend, Amy.  She kept more of my mom's belongings than I did.  Her in-the-works daycare is loaded with mugs, towels, tables, even a washer, all from Winmoor Drive.  One of her employees apparently even took my mother's bedroom set.  Seeing memorabilia from my childhood scattered around was odd, but not unsettling.  I love knowing people, other than my sisters, close family, and I can't help but have my mom on their mind as her stuff is everywhere.

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Coasters For All

Spencer and I ran together today for the first time.  Go us.  We were rewarded by several yard sales along the way.  He found a long-coveted crock pot for three dollars.  And I got these for a dollar...tin cat coasters.  There has to be at least 50 of them.  I don't even do the coaster thing, but I will now begin. 

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Starting Small

This whole 'goal' thing has gotten me up off the couch and I like it.  I like it a lot.  So often I just associate goals with my career, and well, here I am, unemployed.  So giving myself some other goals between applying for jobs and waiting to hear back has made my Wednesday pretty awesome.

I completed a sewing project, if you can even call it that, making pillows out of some old sailboat napkins of my late grandparents.  (notice the cat lurking in the background) 

And I tried out a new recipe.  Carrot coconut soup.  It gave me an excuse to use my mom's crockpot finally.  Spencer loved it (the soup, that is).  As did I, although it didn't beat my sisters.

Oh, and for the record: I don't cook. I also don't sew, at least that well.  It's why these small accomplishments are so major to me, and also why so many of my '101 goals' are focused on cooking and crafts.  The kitchen is where I'll need the most help.  I just don't know a lot of the basics.  Like with this soup, it called for minced ginger.  Turns out I don't know what ginger root looks like, that you peel it, and that, when you do, the soft pink substance they serve at sushi restuarants doesn't appear.  A grocery story employee and my curiousity at home led to me figuring it out, but this cooking quest will be interesting.  Mom would be proud, and a big help on this journey.

Tuesday, May 08, 2012

Back to Writing

I've been wanting to blog for a while.  Not about anything in particular, but in the hopes of reigniting my love for writing.  In high school, I couldn't go to sleep at the end of the day without turning to the computer and jotting down my thoughts.  It was a release for me.  And while, this blog is public, and I by no means plan to write daily, I think it's what I need.  A release.  A place to organize my thoughts, my goals, to post adorable photos of my pets, and to bitch everyone now and then too.