Thursday, June 26, 2008

How can I do nothing and be so tired?

It could, perhaps, have to do with a late night ballgame with Duck and her boyfriend at a Cubs game where there was mucho beer and a Chicago dog or two involved. Forgive me Father, for I have sinned...I put ketchup on my dog. And, yes, that is a transgression worthy of a few Hail Marys here in the 'hood. I claim ignorance though!

I had a blast with Duck and her man. We had great seats, though no foul balls despite her BF's preparedness with his 17 year old glove! ;-) It was a beautiful night at Wrigley. I made friends with the usher sitting next to me and Duck and I dished about all sorts of random, fun things! Sorta like a Girl's Night Out all wrapped up in a pretty package of a perfect summer night at the ballpark and tied with a beautiful ivy bow. Poor Duck's boy though. I felt for the guy! Two gabby girls talking about all sorts of stuff that he could not give two shits about. However, he was a great and amazing sport and I've heard from a lil' birdie that he had fun, too. Good fun.

Today we spent nearly five hours at the pool. My kids are self sufficient at the pool, so I get to perch on a lounge chair and chit chat with my girls. Or, I lounge on the side using a nice bucket snagged from an unsuspecting child to cool my gams whilst chatting. But, I'm pooped. I lounge around for five hours and I'm tired? What is up with that? It must be the heat. I fear I'm turning into my grandmother with the "it must be the heat." And, well, not getting my hair wet at the pool. Not that I was *that* woman, paddling around, chin in the air, with a horrid pained look on her face due to the neck strain of keeping perfectly coiffed hair above water! No, I was not that woman. However, if I show up in a plastic rain hood, someone shoot me! For without a doubt, if I pull out a plastic, folded up rain hood from my Queen Elizabeth style purse, then yes, I have become my grandmother!!! Not that she isn't a good woman, she is. I just have no desire to be Victorian.

My husband reports in that the sunlight in Alaska is weird. And, that's about all he has to say about that! I told him that it could be worse. He could be there when it is dark nearly 24 hours. And, to that he concurred. He's hoping to get out in the next day or so and actually get to do some sightseeing. I hope that he can! It's a shame to go all that way and not get to have some fun.

Later gators.

Saturday, June 21, 2008

Go Cubs Go! Go Cubs Go!!! Hey Chicago...

...whadda ya say?

THE CUBS ARE GONNA WIN TODAY!

Or so I hope.

Yesterday's recap of life with Boiler...

We met up with a bunch of guys before the game. We walk up and the first thing out of one of their mouths (I've never met any of them) was if DH would be willing to take a job in Alaska for awhile. Huh?

I, of course, felt horribly out of place as several of them were trying to pick up women. eh. One was actually quite nice and told DH while I was in the bathroom, that I seemed like a very sweet and polite and person (apparently, the first impression I put out there is horribly awry!) and he was afraid to drop the f'bomb or the c word in front of me.

At which point, my husband exploded into hysterical laughter. Told the guy to fear not as I could out curse a sailor.

The ballgame itself was just DH, me, and two other guys. The other four had tickets elsewhere. It was a very close ballgame and those guys LEFT in the middle of the 7th to go to a freakin' bar! The Cubby Bear. Stupid suburbanites. Then, the two with us left with the ballgame tied in the 8th to meet up with them. Again, stupid suburbanites. The Cubs won with a walk off homer in the 9th.

I called a guy out for cutting in line at the beer stand. Just tapped him on the shoulder and said "hey, the line's back there." He told me to go to hell, there were three lines. I said I didn't think so. He told me to fuck off. I said "you don't have to be such a dick." He then started threatening me. Don't you ever fucking touch my shoulder again you stupid fucking bitch. Dumb cunt. I could kick your ass. I should kick your ass for touching my shoulder you dumb fucking bitch. I ignored all this, but the girl behind the counter (I see her many, many times a month and I always tip,) says "sister, I got your back and we could take that dick to the cleaners!"

Ah, the joys when the southsiders come to town.

We met up with the guys at the Cubby Bear. It was wall to wall, solid, people. Hotter than hell. Ripe with festering sweaty pits and stale beer. It was then, that I discovered I was no longer in my 20s. Occasionally, I have to be reminded of this. Brought home even more so just a scant 20' inside the door when some jackass made a grab for my tit. I rolled my eyes and moved on. DH, however, was not quite so nonchalant about it and got up in the guy's face. Do not EVER touch my wife. I think the guy was fucked up beyond all recognition because he just stood there with this stupid, blank look on his face and didn't say a word. I told Chuck to forget it and move on. Which, we did. THREE of this guys friends followed us, not really starting anything, but just all sorry and how we needed to let it go. Which angered Chuck. You friend tries to grab my wife's tit and I AM SUPPOSED TO LET IT GO?!? At which point, the last of the guy's goes...oh, I didn't see that. I just saw you get in his face. Oh dude, I'm sorry. He's an asshole.

We finally get to the bar, which is slam packed with people. We get our beers and I turn to see a Marine standing immediately behind me. I grabbed him by the shirt and propelled him into our space, knowing he would get served next. And, it shut out the bitchy girl basically climbing up my back to get to the bar. He professed undying love to me and should I ever dump my husband, to find him. Though, I forget now where he was stationed. **snort** Bitchy girl called me something vulgar. Uh, whatever, when you serve your country, I'll propel you to the front of the line, too. Oh, and you're just pissed 'cause hot bod, cutie patootie Marine in the hubba hubba uniform likes me better! So there! (of course, I think he was ripped!)

We finally got out of that hell hole after more talk of DH going to Alaska, my being grossed out by married men macking on 21 year olds and returned to the sanity of our 'hood. Where we were seated, at dinner, next to Sox fans. ugh. However, they turned out to be quite pleasant. And, actually the ones at the game seated near us, turned and shook our hands over the victory, others congratulated us.

It was, all in all, a good day 'cause the Cubs won, but definitely an interesting study in humanity.

Yesterday, Cubs 4, Sox 3.

Two outs to finish them up today.

Late night update, the Cubs spanked the Sox 11-7, after a glorious 4th inning.

GO CUBS GO! GO CUBS! HEY CHICAGO...

Friday, June 20, 2008

I hurt.

Taking time off from the exercise routine is NOT good for me. That, I have, unequivocally, determined. I managed to get in about 80 minutes of tennis last night and it is a pure godsend that I can walk this morning. Well, that and no way in hell was I not *not* going to be able to get up and out of bed...we have tickets to the Cubs v. White Sox. It's a World Series type atmosphere around here with the Sox visiting the Northside. I came home from dropping the kids off at camp and there were already lines outside the bars. Our seats aren't spectacular, but I got them at face value and we will be in the stadium.

Still no news on the laptop. Sigh. I do hope she recovers.

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Please pray for my laptop.

It started acting up yesterday. The screensaver froze and it went downhill from there. It is currently down in the dungeon with my IT geek husband trying to be backed up and resurrected. I'm sad and lonely and afraid all my pictures will go buh-bye. Harumpf. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm reminded of the Sex and the City "you don't back up?" scene. Buggers

Yesterday was a good day for the clan. We spent the morning at the park with a bunch of friends. I ended up looking like a science experiment after all the static I generated going down the plastic slides. My hair was sticking straight up and out. And, seriously, plastic slides? What the hell? I hate them. I survived the metal ones. They are a helluva lot faster and more fun. I even survived plummeting down a greased metal slide, rocketing off the end of it, and landing on the asphalt littered with teeny tiny pieces of cinder from the incinerator. I feel like my kids are wrapped in bubble wrap the way the world is now. So, BRING BACK THE METAL SLIDES!

From there we had lunch at a fave pub and strolled about the 'hood. I logged a couple of miles on the ol' tootsies. Woo! And, I have a tennis date tomorrow. It's been forever, it feels, since whacking the fuzz off of some lil' yellow balls. I miss it! Our summer schedule will have all the bugs worked out of it next week and I can get back to the norm. On the upside, Mt. Laundry has taken a serious hit this past week and I can actually see the bottom of two of the bins in the laundry room. WOOO HOOOO! However, I did blow the no shopping thingie. How could I pass up a great sale at nice boutique? Yeah, I couldn't.

Booooooo hissssssssssss as my doc told me that the stupid rib was probably gonna hurt forever whenever it rains. Grrrr. That would explain why it has been hurting like mad here of late with all the rain in the Midwest. Eh, at least between it and my knees, I'll know when to duck and cover from storms and when to bust out the rainboots. Nothing quite like being your own walking, talking, breathing Weather Channel. At least you will never catch me standing outside in a slicker, clinging desperately to a street sign ala Jim Cantore! He's an odd one. Anyway, she did say what is probably causing me pain right now is the connective tissues still repairing and healing and that should lessen as time goes on. Getting old sucks. The rebound time is awful.

Whelp, that is about all time I can stand plunking away at my very slow, old laptop!

Monday, June 16, 2008

Where did today go?

I swear, I can't catch up to save my soul. Laundry, dishes, vacuuming, etc. And, the new area rugs shed like crazy, so they need to be vacuumed almost daily until they stop shedding. Everyday I empty the ol' Dyson and it looks like it vomitted up a small puppy. Speaking of vomit, I was greeted with "someone puked in the pool!" when I picked up my daughter from camp. And, it got even better...someone puked in the pool while she was in it! Ah, the joys of summer camp.

**tossing a now needs to be sanitized swimsuit onto the mountain of laundry**

I've put us on a no more new clothes moratorium. Seriously, how much clothing do four people really need? Not as much as we have! I foresee a huge Goodwill donation coming up. This happens periodically around here.

No exercise today, unless you count the marathon vacuuming of the above mentioned rugs and the toddler sized tumbleweeds they generate. And, the umpteen trips up and down the stairs to put away the volumes of laundry. My dream home would have laundry on all floors containing bedrooms.

But, I digress. I did talk to someone about boot camp. I dunno. I really don't get much out of personal trainer sessions. Or, at least, I never have. I'm working on setting up some tennis this week, but I fear the courts are booked up. My coach is back next week! Yahoooooo! And, there is another league starting at the end of the month that I'm comtemplating. The broken rib is still hurting. I actually have a doctor's appointment this week and I'm going to ask her about that. Seems to me, it should be better. eh.

I'm off to the ever present laundry. I'm also contemplating turning the garden hose on the naked neighbor children running through my landscaped front beds.

Saturday, June 14, 2008

Buh bye stinky head!

I planted our deck planters this morning and then took a shower. Oh glorious shower! However, after having about 8" of my hair cut off, I used way TOOOOOOO much shampoo. Holy bubbles, Batman! I must remember to not go so long between straightening sessions because it was super easy to do this morning. Super easy.

We did pack up and head to the pool. It wasn't too crowded and we figured out the lay of the land. My little one is peeved 'cause he can't do the slides. My daughter was in heaven though. Up the stairs, down the slides all day. And, the diving board. Ay yi yi! She is a natural at this, it appears. Now, I guess I need to look into diving lessons.

Date night for us tonight. I think we are going to hit one of the local summer street fairs. Summer street fairs usually equal 80s cover bands. Woo hoo! And, beer of course. Lots of people watching, too. Should be a fun evening!

Friday, June 13, 2008

less than 24 hours to go...

...until I can wash this hair of mine. Yea! I'm contemplating washing it a bit early so we can go to the pool tomorrow. It is supposed to be sunny and 82 and why shell out the moola for the pool passes if you aren't going to use them, right?

I went to register for the Bastille Day race and it was sold out. BOO. I really, really wanted the shirt. See, I've become a race shirt junkie. And, it was a Nike DriFit shirt. I really missed the boat on that one! There are a couple of other evening races sprinkled about the summer that I need to check out. Now, if only I could recall where I put that info. Somewhere in my last fit of organization, I organized it so well that I can no longer locate it. Buggers.

My tennis coach is off this week and next, so hopefully I can arrange some matches for next week. I may *gasp* cheat on him with another coach. I can't stay inactive for too long. And, I can only fall off the Wii Balance Board so many times before the fun runs out of that.

Now, where is that bloody laundry fairy?

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Boiler's a runner.

Or so one of my friend's here in Chicago called me. And, she actually didn't call me Boiler, but whatever.

Never, ever in my life did I think that I would be called a runner. I lived by the mantra that I only ran if being chased by someone trying to kill me. And, then truthfully, it would probably be less painful to just quit running and let my chaser off me.

Somewhere, months ago, I got sucked in and talked into doing a 5k. And, then someone else (ahem, Lisa) convinced me to run a race much earlier than my first planned 5k. And what do you know? I was only planning on running half of it and I finished the whole thing! And, then, I was hooked. A week later, I fell down our hardwood stairs and broke my rib. Four weeks from my original first planned 5k. That's the first thing I asked the doc...can I still run the Wrigley race? She said no, but I did anyway. And, it's been all downhill since then.

My races so far...

St. Paddy's Day 5k - 3/16 43:55

Race to Wrigley - 4/13 36:36

Wrigley Early Start 5k - 4/19 35:15

Today, I'm deciding what else to run this summer. I don't do heat. So, this could be difficult. I'm also currently unable to sweat due to my hair straightening. Yeah, go ahead. Point and laugh at the greasy haired, stinky girl. I do know that I will do the Susan G. Komen here in Chicago in September. And, I have plans to head to Miami to run their SGK with a group of Weight Watchers friends in support of another WW friend, Mini, who was recently diagnosed with breast cancer.

I've not been running recently, so I better get my rear in gear once I'm allowed to sweat again. (Saturday afternoon.)

That's me at the Wrigley race. And, no, those are NOT giant ass hoop earrings. They are the wires for my earphones. And the look on my face reflects the "oh fuck, it's a photographer" running through my mind.