living in chicago

Our Newest Family Member (Picture)

/ family, living in chicago, pictures

Meet Helena!

Helena

We adopted her today from Paws Chicago. She’s a beautiful orange tabby (the pics don’t do her justice), just over a year old, and she is affectionate, friendly, and completely adorable. She immediately flopped and showed Aidan her belly at the shelter, purred when I pet her. She and Crookshanks bumped noses right away and not one hiss or growl out of either of them.

We made sure to find a cat who was youngish, good with children, and good with other animals. She comes from a hoarder situation–basically a crazy cat lady who had 40 cats. She’s used to other animals, which is evident. When we got her home, she hid under the bed until we cautiously let Crookshanks in to meet her. That’s when they bumped noses, and that’s when she finally came out and about. The people at Paws told us that she’d probably warm up to him more quickly than to us, which is what I’m seeing–although every time I get the chance to pet her, she purrs like crazy!

Next week, our family is going to be on the Paws Web site!

We first stopped by the Anti-Cruelty Society, but even though it’s more expensive, I definitely recommend PAWS for your adoption. The cat’s completely checked out, spayed/neutered, shots up to date, monitored, and microchipped. It’s a no-cage area, so when you’re ready to meet cats, you can sit with them and play with them. The adoption process actually takes hours; we were there a long time today. You talk to a counselor and everything. At the end, you get a huge coupon book from PetCo and a free bag of food! We get a free wellness exam in the next week, and if something crazy happens in the next 14 days and we can’t keep her, we can return her and get a refund. I can’t imagine giving her back, though. 🙂

I’m very happy to have Helena live with us. ♥

(Originally published at Anywhere Is…)

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A Potluck Entry

/ aidan, living in chicago, work

The end of another week draws near. Tomorrow is my last day at the law firm where I’m temping. I really enjoy working there, and I get a lot of compliments on my work. I’ve asked them to consider me when they go to staff the position permanently, if I am still on the market. They treat their employees well, and that makes me want to perform well.

Adam got a new computer and gave me his old MacBook. I spend most of my time on the computer Andy got me for Christmas because I’m definitely more familiar with it and the way it works, but I’m having fun playing with iPhoto on the Mac! So far I’ve mostly been using it for photo manipulation.

We’re cat sitting this week. After a rocky start, Ophelia and Charlie are relaxed and making themselves at home. They’re eating, using the litter box, and letting Adam and me pet them. Aidan is terrified of them because they hissed a lot when they first got here. Ophelia reminds me of Lucy with her temperament and the way she acts: timid but curious. She’s a lot more vocal than Lucy, though.

I miss having more than one cat around the place. I know that Crookshanks will be welcoming to a new kitten. I just want to be sure that I’m ready to start again. The thought of going through another pet death scares me. But the thought of not having another kitty makes me sad. Is this normal?

I’m slowly going through Cycle 10 of America’s Next Top Model. I watched most of it while it was on TV, but Adam taped the marathon for me at the beginning of June. So I’m watching it again. 🙂 The episode with the music photo shoot is on now.

I just added a couple of pages to the site. I decided to reinstate the 101 in 1001 program, redone completely, and I also made a page called 50 smiles.

I got my wedding dress! Well, it’s not a bridal gown or anything, but it’s a really pretty dress that I actually can’t describe, but you’ll see pix soon enough. Only 17 more days!!

I am starting to get the urge to scrapbook again. I haven’t made a scrapbook in almost three years! It’s been a long time. I still have most of my stuff, I have tons of pictures, so I should make albums. The thing is, I’m not sure what to make them of. I want to definitely make an Aidan album, a Ronni & Adam album, and well, I have a lot of pictures of “things” such as flowers and stuff. Do I want to make an album of that stuff?

Decisions, decisions.

When Aidan was smaller, he used to get so involved playing computer games that he wouldn’t go use the potty. Today, he wet his pants twice because of games, so he won’t be allowed to play games tomorrow. He definitely knows better, he’s just being lazy. And that’s annoying. He’s already out of clean shorts because of it.

Speaking of laundry, I really miss having my own washer and dryer. There’s a little room here, but it’s hit or miss and frankly, the room is too dirty for my tastes. Dropping a sock is not a good idea, if you know what I mean. So we need to make a trip to a coin laundry center because I have clothes that haven’t been washed since before I moved (don’t worry, I haven’t worn them either!) and that’s not right. I want to take a pile of money and just take a whole day to do laundry. Sheets, blankets, everything. Actually, I’d much rather do one of those laundry service deals. Then I wouldn’t have to deal with it! But we’ll see. That goes under the heading of “extravagant” and “luxury”.

Anyway, I’ve been writing this entry for hours now, and I’m about ready to get off the computer. Til next time!

(Originally published at Anywhere Is…)

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Ronni’s July 4, 2008 (Multimedia)

/ adam, aidan, friends, living in chicago, pictures, ronni, videos, yay

This was the coolest July 4th I’ve had in a long time.

Jeff and Deborah came over to hang out and celebrate with us.

Deborah

Jeff!

Adam fired up the grill.

Adam is Lighting the Grill

I put on my patriotic gear.

Patriotic Me!

The boys made dinner.

Mmm, Dinner!

Then we walked around the neighborhood to see fireworks!

Fireworks in the Neighborhood

When Adam told me about the fireworks in his neighborhood, I had a feeling they were impressive, but I really had no idea they were like this (you MUST watch this video, keeping in mind that these are not put on by the city or anything–these are private people’s displays):


Imagine four of these displays, happening at the same time, for about four hours. Yeah, it’s like that. Who needs to go to Navy Pier? We just need to walk three blocks.

They were almost too loud for Aidan:

Protecting His Ears

But he had a good time anyway.

Right now, everyone’s playing Wii and eating ice cream. A fun Fourth of July in Chicago. 🙂

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New Camera & Zoo! (Pictures)

/ adam, aidan, living in chicago, pictures, weekend

Sunday at the Lincoln Park Zoo Today, Aidan, Adam, and I went to the Lincoln Park Zoo so I could see giraffes AND play with the new camera. Let me tell you, it was an adventure getting there. First, we hopped on one bus, then we got off to transfer to another bus, only the other bus only runs on weekdays. THEN Aidan had to potty, so we had to backtrack a lot to get to McDonald’s so Aidan could use the bathroom. (I had to go too, so it was fine.) Then we waited FOREVER for the Clark Street bus, and it just got more and more crowded. But there were some really good-natured people on the bus, and I had a lot of fun. Aidan yelled at me three times for laughing in his ear. :O

We ended up getting off a few stops before because the bus was just getting out of control with the number of people on it. It was nice out (at the time), so the walk was pleasant. The Zoo is free (except for parking [$12], which is why we decided to take the CTA instead of drive), and it wasn’t too crowded. Both cameras got quite a workout.

These are from my new camera:

Sunday at the Lincoln Park Zoo
Ostriches!

Sunday at the Lincoln Park Zoo
Deer

Sunday at the Lincoln Park Zoo
Flowers (with the macro setting)

Sunday at the Lincoln Park Zoo
Lion

Sunday at the Lincoln Park Zoo
Lion again

Sunday at the Lincoln Park Zoo
Aidan and me with the giraffes, ostriches, and a gazelle.

There are these pictures too, taken with the SLR:

Sunday at the Lincoln Park Zoo

Sunday at the Lincoln Park Zoo

Sunday at the Lincoln Park Zoo

More here.

The Sony camera has this vivid color setting which I love, and a mode which automatically detects if a person smiles. You go into this mode, push the shutter down, and the camera waits for the person to smile before taking the picture. This one was taken with the smile detector last night:

Smile!

Pretty neat, huh?

I also took this one last night of Aidan and Crookshanks:

Aidan & Crookshanks: Booknerds in Training

I’m enjoying the camera. It’s a cool little machine and will be great to carry around with me when I don’t want to deal with the big SLR. Now, here’s the question. What do I do to get that kind of rich color in the photos I take with the SLR? When I first got it, I was getting AMAZING pictures with beautiful color. I typically don’t retouch any of my pictures, but now I’m having desperate urges to, just to get the saturation up. Now, I can’t seem to get anything that doesn’t look washed out, whether I’m inside or outside. Any tips?

That’s all for now. See ya! :)

(Originally published at Anywhere Is…)

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Nothing, Really

/ body and soul, car, living in chicago, shopping, weekend

Today, I had a doctor’s appointment. I love this doctor, and I’m not dreading going to see her again next month. And for not having insurance, the cost wasn’t prohibitive at all. Thank God I have a wonderful finace who cares about me and who takes care of me. I’d have never gone to see her without his insistence. Basically, I have been emotionally off for months now, and although I realize that most of it’s because I’m going through a million different adjustments at once, the fact that I am ALWAYS feeling an underlying sadness, irritable, and impatience among other stuff is a problem. So it’s time to see what I can do. I have two months worth of prescription samples, and the other prescription I had to fill cost me only $10.99. 🙂 We’ll see what happens.

After that, Adam, Aidan, and I hit Strack & Van Til for some name brand groceries (oh shoot, I forgot lunch meat!). Strack & Van Til is less expensive than the other stores around here (except ALDI); the prices are comparable to what I paid in Columbus for groceries. They also sell Granola Dipps there, but I don’t know how long that is going to last. I think I got the last box. :O And Vitamin Water is 10 for $10. Some places charge $1.99 for one bottle. Now, if they only had BBQ Fritos….

Then we did a bad thing. We went in to Best Buy. And I got that pink camera I’ve been wanting for months. Adam stood there and convinced me to get it, telling me that I was going to end up buying it before Disney anyway, and that I should get it while it was on sale (it was $20 off today), and that it would be GREAT to have in the Disney parks, especially at night, when I might not want to tote around the SLR. SO, I got it. I’m still not convinced I won’t talk myself into returning it, so I haven’t opened it yet. But I probably will open it and enjoy having a little camera to carry around with me. 🙂

(Adam is telling me to stop feeling guilty about buying it).

I’m sure the bank is scratching its head, because I don’t spend money like this regularly.

Today I drove again for the first time in several weeks. For some reason, I feel a great deal of anxiety driving here, and I really shouldn’t. I mean, I KNOW how to get to the grocery stores and to Target and Kohl’s and Best Buy. And anything else, I can take the bus or the train or walk because those stores are downtown. I’ve been very tempted to sell the car, pay off the balance with the money, and go to not owning a car anymore. Someone broke into my car AGAIN over the weekend and stole my emergency roadside kit. I am getting frustrated with having to get windows replaced every six weeks because people are assholes. This time they broke the window that goes up and down, but Adam found a place that charges only $65. More than half what the other places charge. Still, it’s an expense that’s ridiculous and annoying. Plus insurance (although mine has gone down woo!), and the car payment, plus the $120 yearly fee one has to pay JUST for owning a car in Chicago, and the same for registration. I don’t drive it enough to justify all that, so we were thinking of doing the iGo or Zipcar thing (car sharing, about $15 a month for three hours of usage, which is perfect for groceries and such, and the fees cover insurance, gas, etc.). I’d be sad to get rid of my car…. seems like I’m constantly giving up something by living here, but it would be good for the environment and good for my wallet. But I kind of want to hold on to it until I find full-time work. If I can’t find a job downtown and have to commute, I’ll need a car for that.

Anyway, that’s all for now. I’m eyeing the camera, still in the bag and in its box, and inching a little closer to opening it. 🙂 I’ll let you know.

‘Til next time!

ETA at 5:40pm I opened the camera and I LOVE IT. 😀

(Originally published at Anywhere Is…)

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