Wimpy snow storms and earthquakes

Well, the "big snow storm" we were suppose to have last night sputtered out...again.
Since we've moved here, we haven't really had much snow to speak of.

I'm not complaining, mind you.
But the kids hate it when all their friends are having snow days back in Kzoo and they have to go to school. Makes it hard for them to not miss Michigan on those mornings.

But I am starting to understand the "looks" and comments I got from some of the neighbors when they saw my snow blower from Michigan. "Wow. That's a really big snow blower you have there."

They all have these wimpy little blowers that are about 12 inches wide and sound like they run on the motor of a toy remote car.

We have a man size snow blower. You know, Troy-Bilt, Briggs and Stratton 9.5 horse power, 5 speed and 2 speed reverse, 26 inch auger. It's huge. Even has head lights (that's what I always tell people because I really don't know much about motors and such...head lights, now that's impressive!)

I feel like Tim Taylor when I use it. Tempted to make one of his husky "oh oh oh" noises and then point it over at my neighbors driveway and bury them.

But I've only used it once since we've been here. I actually like the peace and quiet of shoveling once and a while, especially when there's only a little snow.

The big news around here is the earthquake we had this morning at 4:00 am. The epicenter was less than 10 miles from us and it was a 3.8 (this has all been revised since this morning- originally they said 4.3).

All I know is that it scared the living day lights out of all of us.

I was asleep on the couch downstairs with Ace (long story, he's being a bit of a bad puppy) when the whole house started shaking. There was this deep rumbling noise and Ace was running in circles barking. It lasted about 5 to 10 seconds, enough for me to run around the house while things were shaking all around me, look outside, and then run upstairs. Hubby said "what the heck was that?" we couldn't believe it would be an earthquake. Earthquakes in Illinois? Whoever heard of such a thing.

One of our cats came from Tony's room into our bedroom. His tail was huge and all the hair on his back was standing up straight. It took me a while to find the other cat this morning. He was hiding in between some moving boxes in the basement. Poor guy.

Ace did the same barking running in circles at about 5:30 am again. The news said we probably wouldn't feel any aftershocks but I'm wondering if Ace did.

There were some pretty interesting stories on the Chicago News this morning from people saying their animals alerted them before the quake actually hit. Everything from dogs to cats to birds.

I wasn't sure if it woke the kids or not. None of them came out of their rooms but when I went to wake them up for school Bud rolls over, puts the pillow over his head and says "I'm tired, that earthquake kept me awake last night."

Like we had ten of them last night and it's nothing new to him.
Mac jumped up and said "was that an earthquake at 4 am?" and Tony said "my bed was banging against the wall and I thought it was the puppy".

I'm still shocked that none of them came out of their rooms, scared.
As for me, I made the Hubby hold me tight and fought the urge to go get all my babies and bring them into our bed (yeah I know they are all grown up size) and I really wanted Nae there.

I guess that's a mom thing.

figuring out the "L" in Chicago

Sometimes I feel like such an idiot.

I had my friends Pam and Lori here at the condo in Chicago for my birthday.

We were trying to decide what to do.

It can be so overwhelming. So many choices, so little time....

My goals when I'm in the city is always to learn and see something new.

As I've said before, I'm not very fond of shopping. I get pretty tired of visiting the same old restaurants and "touristy" places.

Lori heard of a festival being held in one of the northern suburbs of Chicago. They had food, drinks, a very eclectic assortments of bands playing for the day.

I thought this might be a great oportunity to try out the "L".

I've never riden the "L" before so I went on line to try and figure it out.
Is it just me or do they try and make public transportation stuff confusing?

The festival website that we looked at said "take the red line".

What "red line". I thought that's what they called one of lines on the bus system. I thought last time Pam and I got all lost in Chicago we ended up on the "blue line". How do you know when they are talking about the bus or the "L"?

And then the site talks about the subway (not the "L"). I specifically remember a conversation with my hubby (because he made fun of me) saying that Chicago doesn't have a subway.

Also, I thought the "L" only made a loop around a small area of the city, we need to go to a suburb that is up past Wrigleyville.

I am so confused.

So what do we do? We decided to walk down and see what we can find.

We'll call it an adventure....yeah, that's what we'll call it.

So we start walking, and talking, and walking, and talking, and pretty soon it seems like we have walked a long time. The website didn't make it look like that far.

I get out my map. And we look at it but it doesn't seem to help much.

We decide to keep walking with the thought that maybe we'll see something, eventually.

Then we see a store called "Marbles". Pam and Lori know that I love games so we decide to go in (since we are in no big hurry on our adventure). The guy that works there, named Ryan, is super nice, so I start asking him to explain the "L" to me.

He says that the "L" is the elevated train (which I knew) but that it has areas in the city where it goes underground (ahhh) and that it has an entrance just one block up. And it goes a lot farther north and south than I realized.

So we head out feeling a little more confident.

I don't know if this how it normally is but it seemed "under construction" to me. And look! A payphone! Pretty soon I think there will be a generation that doesn't know what those are.

looks like a subway to me.

smelled like one too and was really HOT!
We had some nice musical entertainment while we waited from 3 lovely men....and Pam joined in. Pam has a beautiful voice and they wanted to know where she sings professionally (She said the shower).

This was actually on the way home. On the way out there it was packed and we had to stand most of the ride (there was no way I could balance (the "L" is very jerky) take a pic and guard my purse with my life all at once).

At one point, Pam had a guy reach for the pole in front of her and get a little too cozy. She tried to ask him to move but I don't think he understood English. She handled it nicely and just grabbed his arm and moved it herself.

Have I told you Pam rocks?

Anywho. It was a nice evening. I think I'm comfortable enough now with the "L" to ride it anywhere.

I'd like to try "L roulette". Get on the "L" and ride it to different areas of the city and get off randomly to find places you've never seen before (of course you need to be careful and it would be best to do this during the day).

sorry it's blurry!

further proof that we are no longer in kzoo

Yesterday morning, as I was dropping Tony off at school, we saw this parked out in front of the school.

I thought "Wow! It must be some kids birthday or something."

Definitely don't see a Hummer limo in Kalamazoo (maybe a regular limo but not a Hummer). Maybe it's not that big of a deal.

But then Tony got in the car after school and told me more about the limo.

btw, that's the whole reason I drive him to and from school--I get the BEST stories in the car right after school. I found if I don't pick them up all I get is this....

Me: "how was school today?"

My Kids: "grunt"

end of conversation.

Not very exciting.

But put them in the car with all that just-out-of-school-energy, and everyone facing forward and not having to make eye contact and they will talk non stop. Try it at home, I'm not making this stuff up.

So anywho. Tony says the limo was a promo for school magazine sales. The kid that sells the most gets to choose from a variety of prizes and one of the options is a limo ride. Tony says that they also slip cash into the kids lockers for turning in your sales slips on time ect. ect.

Now that is definitely different from Kalamazoo! Back home if you sold junk (we didn't sell magazines we sold junk like wrapping paper and exorbitantly priced cashews) you get some lame "prize" that usually broke before you left school that day. Top prize was a piece of junk stereo or something.

Nae won top prize once. She got to stand in one of those plastic booth thingies and dollar bills flew all over the place and she got to grab as much as she could.

I think she got 22 bucks (she was pretty little).

I think I spent 200 bucks in gas driving her around to sell all that junk and then deliver it. That's not taking into account the countless hours trying to figure out who bought what (thanks to people who didn't put their address or phone number down--yeah it was before all the "don't sell to strangers" that they tell you now a days--so that no one gets sued when your kid gets abducted by some freak who lives in your neighborhood that you didn't know was a freak, blah. blah. blah.) I could have worked an extra shift at the hospital and donated it all and saved myself a huge hassle.

I guess it must be harder to motivate these kids around here.

Tony says he doesn't even want to try selling magazines.

I guess he doesn't need the cash or the limo (he has me and my cool car-yeah that must be it!).

Maybe we are fitting in better than I thought.
but not in a good way. Ugghhh!

Chicago's Prince Charming

Lori, her daughter, Daltyn, Mac and I took a trip into the city. I felt I needed to redeem my directionless self after my mishaps with Pam. I spent some time looking online at the bus schedules so we could avoid looking like complete idiots again.

It took a while, (and I'm asking myself..."is it supposed to be this confusing or am I just that much of a ninny?") but I did finally figure out which bus to take and where it picks up.

The train ride seemed longer this time....maybe it's due to the fact that we had teenagers along asking "how long is this gonna take" and "how many more stops do we have to make before we are there?" or maybe it was the lack of the entertainment of sloshed college students.

The train station was a lot less busy on a weekday. We were able to take our time exiting the station instead of being swept up in the current of a massive crowd and being spilled outside the train station disoriented and confused.

We walked directly to our bus stop and boarded the bus without much incident.

We went to the Cheesecake Factory for lunch (I know very "touristy" of us) because we were all in need of some absurdly large slabs of ridiculously over priced cheesecake. When the waiter came to take our cheesecake orders, Daltyn asks "can I get the cookie dough cheesecake without the walnuts on top?" The waiter says "I'm sorry but its baked that way." and then Daltyn very seriously asks "well, can I pick them off then?" and the waiter looks at her like she is crazy, while Mac, Lori and I burst out laughing. That look on the waiters face alone, made the 5000 calories worth it.....maybe you had to be there....

We spent some time shopping on the mile which for me, isn't all that fun because I hate shopping (go ahead--another thing about me for which I'm regularly ridiculed). But Lori, always a great friend, indulged me by going to look at the architecture.

The architecture is my favorite thing about Chicago. I could spend all day just walking around with my neck bent back looking up.

This is the top of the Tribune building.... So pretty.
This is the Wrigley Building. It has some amazing details.

as you can see here....


This is the new Trump building. I can appreciate it's beauty and size but I prefer the more ornate older buildings.


like this one with the gold top on the right. This is my absolute favorite building. It's the old Carbide and Carbon Building. You really have to see it in person to appreciate it's beauty. On the first architectural tour I took, the tour guide told this story of how the building was set to be demolished years ago. It was covered with black soot from all the years of coal burning in the city. Then someone discovered that underneath all the layers of pollution was this beautiful black polished marble and green and gold terracotta. It was spared because of it's beauty. I have tried since then to find if this story is true....I've taken other tours and never heard it again....

I don't think it is. But I like the story so I'm gonna pretend that's what happened....

isn't it pretty?....

kinda like kissing a frog and ending up with Prince Charming..... I like fairytales

Cavalia! and two ADD girls in the big city

Yesterday my friend, Pam came from kzoo so we could go into the city and see Cavalia.

I was really excited for a few reasons.....#1, I love Pam.....#2, this is the first time I would be using the Metra to get into the city.....and #3, we were gonna see Cavalia!

Most of you probably never heard of Cavalia. I probably never would have if I didn't drive by all the huge billboards advertising it on the Chicago bypasses.

It's a little hard to explain....the producers call it a "poem written in the language of sound" to "pay homage to the poignant history and fascinating bond between human beings and horses".....it was written by one of those artsy Cirque du Soleil guys....so you get the picture.

I'm not a huge horse person but I do appreciate their power and beauty and Pam breeds and sells some of the most beautiful horses I've ever seen (that's her website there--check it out--its breath taking).

But I feel like I'm getting ahead of myself...

I need to begin with our train ride.

Because this was my first time using the Metra to get into the city I was a little nervous. I didn't want to screw it up... or get us lost.... or end up in Wisconsin....

We only had like 5 hours till the show....I wanted to spend the day before "practicing" riding the Metra....my husband said that was just silly....and I guess it was...but that's just the way I am.

We found our way to the station (through a construction detour-otherwise it's only a little under 2 miles from my house). We parked our car and talked to a couple people about the pay system for the parking lot and then we were ready to board.

The ride in was pretty uneventful except for the 10 college students sitting across from us who were on their way to a Sox's game. A few of them brought these coolers filled with beer and whiskey and proceeded to use the 45 minute trip in to get as drunk as they could-as fast as they could....

We ended up at the Olgivie Transportation Center....ok, the hubby was right, it wasn't rocket science....and exited our train with the deluge of people.

Deluges of people and big transportation centers are not a good mix for 2 girls with ADD. Pam and I were swept along in the current of fast moving passengers, all the while our heads spinning to try to take in everything....."oh look a haircut place!"...."a shoe store?"...."pedicures!"....."Thai food"....."oooo escalators!"

Pretty soon we where outside on the sidewalk surrounded by tall buildings and we realized....we have no idea where we are, or more importantly, what we are going to do. We were so focused on the Metra and parking and chit-chatting and making fun of the drunk guys on the train that we never really discussed what we wanted to do when we got in the city.

So Pam pulls out a map....lets figure out where we are first....I can't even tell which direction Lake Michigan is with all the tall buildings....and that's kinda how I usually get oriented in Chicago.....big lake here....magnificent mile there....I'm good to go!

We look at the map for a good 5 minutes and we can't even find the street we are on (do you realize how embarrassing this is to write in my blog for all to see?)

So the next thing I know Pam is grabbing this innocent guy walking by. I'm not ready to ask for directions and admit defeat....not to mention the fact we still haven't figured out where we even want to go! "Excuse me, where are we?" Pam asks sweetly. The guy looks at us and smiles "Chicago" he says with a little laugh. We both giggle awkwardly. "Where do you want to go?" he asks. Pam and I look at each other...."ummm, we aren't sure" Pam says. Right at that moment I don't think I can feel any more stupid....(but I'm pretty sure I do right now sharing this story with everyone). "You can probably tell we aren't from around here" Pam says jokingly..... So there's another awkward set of giggles....and a perplexed look on the guys face and I'm sure that he is thinking we are a set of fruitcakes. Pam says "well, how about you just tell us where the magnificent mile is and the west loop." With big arm gestures he says "the mile is that way" and then swinging his arm in opposite direction "and the loop that way". "Is it too far too walk?" asks Pam. And the guy starts in on a spiel about "grabbing the Blue Line". As he's talking, Pam and I have both used our ADD superpowers to tune him out. Then I notice Pam turning her head and looking up in the air. I realize what she is thinking (us ADD people think a lot alike)...."Pam, he's talking about a bus" I say. "Ohhh" she says "I thought he was talking about that "L" thing".

Now I can see that this guy just wants to get away from us....."Ok. yeah. we'll grab the blue line thanks for all your help" I say taking Pam's arm walking....to where, I don't even know.....just away from this guy and our humiliation.

As we walk we quickly decide to just go to where Cavalia is playing. We'll check it out and then find a restaurant. I've looked at the location for Cavalia on a map at home.... now we just need to find a bus stop and figure out where to get on the blue line. We walk just down the block to one of the glass bus booths and go in to look at the map. The problem is that it's been in the sun for so long that all the colors are faded. There are three lines that look the same bluish-green. Pam and I are standing there debating color hues when this girl comes up and takes pity on us. "Where do you want to go?" she asks. "Racine and W. Jackson" I say as a bus is pulling up. "I'll help you, but you need to get on this bus right now" she says as she is walking towards the opening bus doors. Pam and I look at each other and nod as we head toward the bus. It's all happening so fast...."how much does the bus cost?" I say...."two dollars" the girl answers.....Pam and I are stepping inside while fumbling through our purses.....We look at the money taking machine thingie....I see all I have is a $20....Pam asks at the same time as the bus doors close and we start moving, "can we get change?"......the big black woman driving the bus says in a stern voice "don't make no change on the buses"......I'm thinking 'how do we get out of here'.....we are driving down the street and having a hard time keeping our balance while continuing to dig through our purses....I look up at a bus full of people and reconsider my earilier conclusion that I couldn't feel any more stupid....we sit down so we can find some cash....Pam finds a five dollar bill and I stagger up and slide it into the machine.

Pam and I sit there for a moment. My head is spinning again. The girl starts talking about which way we go when we get off the bus....she also waves her arms around in big gesture while telling us which way to walk....that must be a Chicago thing I think. Then Pam asks "but how will we know when to get off the bus?" The girl smiles and says I'll let you know....and I think to myself 'I will not blog about this'....

We get off at the same stop as the girl who helped us and we thank her profusely. We find our way to the Cavalia location and find a little restaurant and have dinner. It feels good to sit and relax.....

I think that this blog is long enough and embarrassing enough for today....I will continue tomorrow with my tales of Cavalia and the place we went to afterwards (which that story could be a couple more blogs in itself).

Meijer and Captain Cash Register

I wasn't gonna do it....
but I'm there almost everyday.
The temptation is too strong....
I'm sure I'll get used to it.
.....eventually

but it's driving me crazy so I'm just gonna say it
I hate my new Meijer!!!

sound silly? I'm thinking that right now. But I don't really have anything else to write about today, so why not....

I grew up with Meijer. Meijer is a comforting place for me (now you're really getting concerned about my sanity right?). Some of my earliest childhood memories are in Meijer...
shopping there with my mom....riding "Penny" the brown horse....that dutch guy stretching the dollar on the front of the store (if you're from Holland, you know what I'm talking about).

I remember getting lost in Meijer once when I was really little. My mom had this pink coat with a belt and I would hang onto to that belt while I looked at things in the store (see, boxes were distracting for me even as a little kid....) anyways....somehow we got separated. I was still holding the belt but she was gone. Someone found me crying an took me to the customer service desk. I recognized the lady at the customer service desk as someone my dad would say 'Hi' to when I was with him in the store....My dad worked for NCR and worked on the cash registers in the Meijer store....I remember being so proud of the fact that my dad could fix those complicated machines and he knew everyone there by name....kinda like a super hero....really! that's what I used to think back then....Captain Cash Register to the rescue!!! (hee hee sorry dad).
Anyways, by the time my mom came to get me, I was arguing with that service desk lady. I insisted that she knew my dad, cuz EVERYONE knew MY dad! Meijer was a safe place....I wouldn't even have to worry about getting lost in there....cuz my super hero dad would rescue me.

When we moved to South Carolina I went through Meijer withdrawls. I tried really hard to fit in down there....shopping at the "Piggly Wiggly".....oh but it was tourture!! (Piggly Wiggly!!! come on! who in their right mind would name a store Piggly Wiggly!!!!). And the language barrier....oh my! My first time shopping there, I walked in the store, acting all casual (didn't want anyone knowing it's my first time) and the greeter lady stops me.....(use your imagination and think of the worst southern drawl you've ever heard and apply it here)"Hi Daaarrllinn....You want a Buuuugggie?" She could have been speaking Japanese....I didn't understand a word she said. But you know how awkward it is when you can't understand someone, you don't want to offend them by saying "I can't understand you!!" So I used the casual "I'm sorry?" and pretended I just didn't hear her (see how handy that deaf ear comes in?). She says it again, increasing the volume and slowing each word.....making the southern drawl even worse "I...saaaaid....do....yoooou....want.....a.....bhhhuuuuggggiiiiiieeeee?" Ok, so this time I deciphered most of it but what the heck is a "bhhhhuuuugggiiiieeee?" Now confusion has uncontrollably spread across my face....there's no hiding it now....I'm new here, a foreigner. She smiles a compassionate smile and says "Darlin, where are you from?" "Michigan" I say apologetically (later I think why do I feel like I need to apologize?) She pulls a shopping cart out of the rack and pushes it towards me and says "Don't you worry Daaarlllinn....You live here for a couple months and you'll lose that horrible Michigan accent!"

Anyways, I loved my old Meijer in Kalamazoo. I knew where everything was. I knew lots of the workers by name....which my kids find completely embarrassing....but my best friend, Lori, works there and when I join her for lunches and breaks and stuff, you meet people....plus like I said...I'm there almost everyday.

I was comforted knowing that I was moving to a place that had Meijer. I wouldn't have to learn a whole new store like in the south. But Lori warned me, she said Chicago area Meijers are different. She said they function different, are set up different....don't have to follow the Michigan rules, I guess. And she was right. Nothing is in the "right" place. It's layed out all funny (why is the pop in the same isle as the butter? and so far away from the chips?) It's just WRONG! So that's why Tony and I ventured out to a new market the other day (See "Perennial Pete Part Two"). And I actually felt like I was cheating on my Meijer....I've been so loyal in the past....avoiding Walmart and Sam's Club like they are evil (which they kinda are....I told ya...it runs deep).

I guess I'll give it some more time. I'm sure I'll adapt.....eventually. Sigh...I wish my super hero dad was here to help me.