I picked a photo I took in the Spring of 2011 because I am SO READY for that now. It’s still cold outside, here. Cold and grey, and the wind kicks pretty hard. I know we didn’t even have a bad winter, but I’m still ready for it to be GONE. It’s March 14, for the love of sweet baby Jesus. Spring’ll be here in six days, not that you’ll ever be able to tell here. If the high DOES get above 40F, we’re also treated with a side dish of rain. But mainly, the temps have hovered in the mid-30s to mid-40s with no indication they’re moving from that any time soon. That photo from above was taken in May of 2011. I worry that I have at least two more months of cold to endure. WAH.
Most people like it cold because they say you can always add more layers. But there gets to be a point where a ton of layers makes me look like the marshmallow man and they’re bulky and uncomfortable. I have a high heat threshold and very little tolerance for cold–I actually get ANGRY when I get too cold. So given the choice? I’ll take the heat over the cold any day. The cold seriously feels like an assault on my body. I have to tense all up and shrink into myself, and it never works. Even when it’s in the 40s I have to wear layers and layers to stay warm, and it usually only lasts for a few minutes before I’m cold again. It sucks to always be freezing while everyone else says they’re fine or even hot.
At least the trees kinda LOOK like they may start to bud soon–the branches are starting to get bumpy. I wonder how much of that is my imagination, though. The lilac bush around the corner looks as dead as ever. I’ll know Spring is really here when I can smell those beautiful lilacs.
That’s what they look like when they’re blooming and smelling amazing. That photo was taken April 2012.
The sidewalks are covered in dog poo because people obviously can’t be bothered to clean up after their dogs. [1. Why even GET a dog if you’re not going to do everything you need to do to take care of it? I hate scooping the litter boxes but I do it because it’s better for all of our sakes.] It’s really gross. I mean, there’s always at least one pile of dog poo per block, but this is really out of hand. I almost took a photo today but thought better of it. You’re welcome.
Tuesday night was really good. Wonderful food, good company, and good times!
Wednesday was good as well. Spent all afternoon and evening in Naperville. I was cold, but I managed to have a good time anyway. I had dinner at Noodles & Co. I love their Wisconsin mac & cheese, and I get the crusted parmesan chicken on it. I added a caesar salad for $1, and they have one of those cool now drink machines. I get the water and flavor it with cherry or grape. 🙂 It was yummy!
My newest freelance project is underway and it’s not as hard as I anticipated. It’s kind of tedious, but it’s not the worst job I’ve ever done. I’ve been working 1/2 days at VSA, and that’s been going well. And things are going well with my new client, too.
Mercury Retrograde cannot be over soon enough. This is the worst one I’ve ever experienced. Last night, my friend Andy texted me and asked why I didn’t respond to his email. I checked my inbox and HIS EMAIL WASN’T THERE. This morning, I happened to peek into my junk email folder and found a bunch of emails from the past nine days that I have NEVER indicated should be junk and had never been marked as such before. Important email from Moksha, mail from friends. Meanwhile, every single Old Navy and Target email is steadily coming through. I was like WTF. Then I checked the spam folders–found out I’d missed a deadline on something because the email went to spam when it had no business. I am not sure what gmail’s problem is but they need to fix it! Fortunately, I was able to get the thing to the client in plenty of time, but that is seriously distressing. I spent my lunch hour setting up filters to keep this from happening again. I’ve never had to worry about this before. I like to use an email client on my computer–lately it’s been Outlook–because I don’t always want to log in to gmail. But because of this latest glitch, I think I’m going to have to go back to logging in on the web too so I can check those other folders. Because even though I have IMAP, the new labels aren’t showing up in my Outlook. FRUSTRATING. Maybe I’ll see what happens with Thunderbird again. I’ve been bouncing around email clients for a while ever since I switched computers and MacMail is being weird.
Today, I met with a family that I will start babysitting for soon. How exciting is that? I get to watch a 12 month old with the coolest name, and he is so sweet, with totally nibble-able cheeks and an adorable little grin. I’m looking forward to spending time with him. There is also a four year old I’ll get to watch as well. The cool thing is that they live walking distance from me, and Aidan is welcome to come along with me on jobs! I get my baby fix, Aidan gets to play with other kids, and the four year old gets an older boy to look up to. Win win all around. I’m actually really excited about this!
I *think* I might be able to sleep in a bit tomorrow. I made my deadlines, and I have a little bit of breathing room. VSA doesn’t need me until the afternoon, and then I’ll be busy in the evening with a workshop, and then coming home to do more work. Saturday, I am attending a thesis workshop, and Sunday I’ll be working. Monday as well, and Tuesday, and Wednesday! That work’ll be from home, though. Unless I go to a coffee shop which I doubt because frankly, no establishment ever keeps it warm enough for me. Which is why I work in my living room most often unless I have to be onsite. I FEEL more productive at a desk or a table, but my couch is more comfortable. And I have blankets and space heaters and kitty cats.
Adam got really sick the other night. He came out of the room shivering with his teeth chattering asking me to take his temperature. He was burning up. 🙁 He’s been recovering, but he still has swollen glands and a sore throat. I’m feeling weird now… really hoping I’m not getting what he has/had. I really don’t have time to get sick right now.
Anyway, I am off to bed. Crookshanks just hit the litter box so that’s my cue. While I desperately long for Spring, I’ll look at more flowers.
Till next time….
