Christmas

I thought I would just post a few pictures from Christmas. We had such a good time. The first picture is from walking in the prairie with Ivy. The second is Elinore all dressed up in her Christmas dress. My mom made that and I wore it when I was her age! The third and fourth were from the Bodine Girls photo shoot. I miss you all already.

 

Heat or no heat, that is the question.

One of the things I've been getting used to now that I live in an old building in the city is life with radiator heat. Ever since the heat was turned on in mid-October, the radiators have been prime topic of conversation between my roommate and I. It seems that they work only on two settings--cold and out of control. The issues, however, stem not just from the temperature, but the noises they emit! I have lain awake many a night in my flannel pajamas, socks and ski hat on, underneath a pile of blankets, shivering to death while my bedroom radiator happily stays barely warm. Poor Colleen has lain awake even more as the clanking and clattering sounds like someone is throwing her bedroom radiator down a flight of stairs. Both of us have walked around our apartment wearing all of our winter clothes at once to combat the chill.

We've been complaining to the landlord since November that there must be a better way, that this is just really no way to live. His answer, until recently, was basically that we needed to suck it up. He mentioned a few options like covering all the windows with plastic to eliminate the draft from so many large windows. We finally were able to convince him to come LOOK at the bedroom radiators 1. to see about Colleen's clanking, and 2. to see about mine getting all the way hot. Last week he came while Colleen and I were out to inspect and improve the "tilt" (which actually meant shoving 4 stacked up pennies underneath on of the feet).

When we got home later that day, we opened the apartment door, and a literal heat wave struck us. Our apartment was actually a RAINFOREST. It was about 95 degrees, the windows were completely fogged over and dripping water, all the radiators were scalding, but the bathroom radiator was screaming like a tea-kettle and clanking horribly. As we approached it actually began to shake and spit boiling water onto the bathroom floor. We debated taking cover wondering if it would explode, but then reconsidered and called the landlord. He said lacsadaisically that he would stop by next time he was in the area. Plan B was to call Dad. Dad said to call the fire department (or to call the landlord back and threaten to do so..) We decided to try shutting the valve and after 15 minutes the hissing died away. The apartment, however, was still 95 degrees. I slept that night in a tank top on top of all my covers in a jungle.

So I will be careful from now on what I wish for, but knowing that we are only at December 29th, I have a feeling that our adventures with the radiators are far from over...

Working Woes

I really don't like working! My body is taking a beating from this job. My feet are sore and I have blisters all over. My knee is all swollen like elephantiasis and my back is killing me :-( What was I thinking?????

Happy Holidays!!

Well everyone, I just thought I would let you guys know that I have officially been accepted to the London Summer Program!! I got a call this morning informing me that they had received my application and that I had been accepted and my acceptance packet would be arriving in the mail soon. So yay!

Mike and I spent the day in the city yesterday and we walked from the Field Museum to the Cheesecake Factory and after a phenomenal meal we walked from the Cheesecake Factory to the Lyric Opera House. The city looked really pretty with all the Christmas Lights and such. Caitlyn, you're right the first window of the Mary Poppins display does look like she's hanging from the cloud! The opera was great, although a bit long. Our seats were pretty high up but they turned out to be pretty good because you could see the entire stage. Last night was Romeo's first performance and the women playing Juliette ended up not being able to perform so her understudy played the role. Overall it was a really great show.

By the way, after my ridiculous semester I do believe I shall be making it on the Dean's list again. I ended up with a 3.7 in Neuroscience after getting a 97 on the final, a 3.7 in Developmental psych, a 3.7 in Spanish with a 94 on the final and I am still waiting to hear about Invertebrate zoology but I am guessing I will end up with either a 3.0 or a 3.3. Can't wait for everyone to be home for Christmas and hopefully we'll get some more snow soon it all melted :-(

Caitlyn's Christmas Wish List

long johns
snow hats/nightcaps
ear muffs
liner gloves
thick socks
woolen slippers
rubber-soled, fur-lined boots
electric blanket
face mask

The Sled

Up until we had snow, the sled Elinore got as an early Christmas present has been in the playroom. Everytime I peek in their, she is playing in it. Sometimes she's climbing all over it (she loves to climb), sometimes she's stacked all of her stuffed animals into it, and sometimes she's laying in it staring up at the ceiling. I was almost hesitant to take it outside, but she had just as much fun riding it through the snow. 

The Cooking Group

My roommate Colleen started a cooking group of which she, two of her coworkers, and I are members. This week is my week to cook for the group, and I had chosen Wednesday and Shepherd's Pie. Knowing that Tuesday evening is already booked, and Wednesday I would get home too late to start, I planned to make everything tonight and then just bake it on Wednesday after work. According to schedule, I drove to work today so I could pick up a few groceries on the way home.

I would like to preface the cooking group experience by saying that when I arrived at work this morning after a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving weekend, death was all around. All the potted plants were on their last limb (so to speak), and there was the very pungeant and distinct odor of a critter (probably one of those colossal street rats) who had come to work to die over the weekend. After going through half a bottle of Febreeze, two separate children kicked me today. By 6:00 I was not to be reckoned with.

Little did I know that the entire city of Chicago with a day job does their grocery shopping on Monday nights. And as if the amount of people and grocery carts wasn't enough, the employees decided that tonight during "rush hour" would be a good time to restock shelves! We were in single file lines going both directions down the aisles, and every time I stopped to examine a product, the people behind me sighed, rolled their eyes, and stamped their feet impatiently. I could feel my brow creasing, my eyes narrowing, and my lips pooching out as my face sunk deeper and deeper into an authentic bah-humbug scowl. I finally made a dive for the meat section after circling it 3-4 times only to find that there was no ground beef left on the shelf! I sacrificed for ground turkey and high-tailed it out of there (as fast as you can high-tail when you have to wait in the check-out line for 20 minutes).

Back at the ranch I had to figure out how to quickly thaw the frozen pound of ground beef that I did have. Floating it in luke warm water was not working fast enough, so I ventured the old microwave method. However, being the technical wonder that I am, the microwave didn't heed my 30% power command, and 4 minutes into the defrost, the edges were cooked and the middle was still frozen. Meanwhile I began chopping the onions and actually had to leave the room twice to wash my face because my eyes were stinging so much.

I overcooked the meat, undercooked the onions, and forgot to mix everything in the skillet before putting it in the casserole dish. Suddenly it occurred to me that cooking groups were probably designed for people who are good at cooking. At my lowest point, I called Mom to wonder aloud about what I had been thinking. If it's possible, I may actually be kicked out of the cooking group come Wednesday. Please send me strong vibes of savory filling and fluffy mashed potatoes.

BIRTHDAY BIRTHDAY HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Happy birthday Jen!!! And it's a golden one too. I'd put up pictures from Thanksgiving except that once again I brought my camera home and forgot to take pictures...whoops. I hope you're having a magnificant day!!

Elinore turns 1!

Elinore turned one on Saturday, and we all went over to Michigan to help celebrate. Jen made an awesome cow cake in honor of Elinore's favorite animal sound. She sat down to a piece of cake after opening all her presents, and spent a full 3 minutes staring at it, trying to decide whether to give it a go. Finally she dug in, and ended up liking it.

Its hard to imagine that a year ago we were all sitting around marvelling at the tiny baby we were meeting for the first time. Elinore loves to give hugs and kisses. Her kisses however involve leaning in toward an object with her mouth wide open, and a hug means putting something up to her ear. Surely, she'll get it all straightened out someday!


 

Tis the Season...

Last week at work, a 2 yr old and his mom walked into the center. The child approached me with his mother, looked at her, then pointed at me and said, "Santa?" This is a new low.

Yesterday I noticed a new ad on the community board at work. It caught my attention with the title "Tennis, Anyone?" I got excited over the possibility of having someone to play with. I read further.. "..looking for someone to share court and coach fees. We meet twice per week at the blah blah tennis center..." good.. "..My daughter is 5 and a half and an intermediate player. Your child should be between 5 and 7 with tennis experience.." I guess I'd forgotten which Chicago neighborhood I work in.

Mom met me downtown yesterday to kill some time in the Loop before catching the train to Michigan for Elinore's birthday. We decided to go to the former Marshall Field's (now Macy's) to check out the animated Christmas windows. The story this year is Mary Poppins, and unfortunately they were a bit of a disappointment. Not sure if this is a product of the new ownership or just an off year, but the first window really set the tone for the lot of them. The scene showed the two children peeking down the stairs as the front door blew open and Mary Poppins with her umbrella appeared behind the open door flying through the air. Note to the animators: Next year, connect the rope to Mary's waist rather than her neck to maximize that holiday cheer.

No me gusta!

Last week was my week from hell. I had so many projects, papers, and exams. To give you an idea:
Monday: Spanish exam (somehow I got a 91), meet with my spanish group for our presentation
Tuesday: Bio collection and working on group presentation again
Wednesday: Bio collection due, Spanish group presentation, Spanish essay due
Thursday: Developmental psych exam, riding lesson, spanish tutorial
Friday: Neuroscience final paper due, Spanish composition re-write due, Biology exam

I made it through the week alive, however, last night my throat started to hurt and later I woke up with a fever. So after going to my 9 oclock class, I have an exam Friday, I went to health services and they said well we think it's the flu. This was not the end to stressful week I was hoping for.

City Life

Friday I woke up early and decided I had to buy milk before doing anything. On my way to the standard Jewel, I passed a smaller grocery store that I'd been meaning to try. Some of you may be familiar with Aldi's, but I was not. I parked at 8:45 and walked up to the doors which were still locked (until 9:00). There, I struck up conversation with the 70 yr old woman with no teeth and a mustache who was also waiting for the store to open. I marvelled at the baskets all chained together, and thought they must be to keep the carts together during the night when there is wind. (What a quaint suburban thought!) I studied them trying to figure out how to un-chain them, when another 70 yr old man came up and fed the box a quarter. Immediately the chain released and I looked away as if I'd known that was going to happen all along.

Finally the door opened, and we filed in to what looked like a Latin American convenience store. Everything was in boxes and cans, with lots of cardboard containers holding it all together. When I got to the milk section, there was one little grocery freezer section devoted to my only 2 choices. Whole. or. 2%. I picked one, and made my way to the checkout where you have to pay for a bag if you want one. What a unique experience, thought I, until I talked with Jennifer in Holland, MI who knew all about Aldi's. So much for my insights into big city culture.I have to admit that I did find it refreshing to have half of my choices eliminated for me. As a product of the obsessively indecisive culture caused by spending 20 minutes in the toothpaste aisle debating about whitening vs. tartar control vs. contains baking soda vs. sensitive teeth vs. mint vs. cinnamon vs. cheap vs. expensive vs. crest vs. colgate etc, etc, etc, I enjoyed the freedom to make an authoritative decision without question. There was no buyer's remorse after the milk.

Later that day I saw my first city rats scuttling around near the dumpsters at work. They were smaller than the reputation that preceded them. I was expecting rats the size of house cats who attacked pets and small children that were left out overnight. The signs posted on the telephone poles in my neighborhood informing the public about the rat extermination in July depict a rodent with huge ears poised for attack and baring its fangs. It wasn't exactly the "welcome to the neighborhood" that I was expecting. 

Snugglesuit

We've had a few nice days here in Michigan lately. I think it is supposed to get to 62 degrees today. We always look forward to a chance to get outside. Kevin always thinks I have Elinore bundled too warmly. I think that is one of the greatest concerns of parenting young children. How do I know if they're too cold or too warm? Is she wearing enough layers? Should I take her sweater off? Should I put a hat on? And not only are you making the choice, but then everyone who sees your baby at the grocery store or on a walk is judging you on whether your baby is warm enough. Anyway, we call this the snugglesuit. (Sometimes I call it the supersuit). It is nice and snuggly warm, but not so thick that she can't move. It has been great this fall. She certainly is cute in it! 

Stuck

I have taught/am teaching Elinore to say "mama" when she needs help instead of frantically whining. I was working on the computer yesterday while she was crawling around the dining room. I suddenly heard her saying, "Mama, mama, mama, mama,..." I looked over and saw this. She had been scavenging for food under her high chair and was stuck! 

After shock

And today, my stylist walked into work. I braced myself for the worst, as she disappointingly realized that I had re-cut my hair, but beyond all of my wildest hopes, she bounded over and said, "I just LOVE your hair!! Do you like it? But tell me the truth." And I could honestly reply, "Yes! I love it! And I've gotten so many compliments!"

Some stories do have happy endings after all.

Disaster Relief

After a $55 crisis intervention, I feel much better about my hair. Unfortunately the salon I went to did not offer counseling. I have to figure out what to tell me coworker who did the first cut for me. If anyone has suggestions, I'm open. 

Chernobyl, I mean, my new haircut

 

Concert

Tonight the head of the music department at Albion invited a guest pianist to put on show. The guy who came played 3 pieces by Beethoven on a re-made 1780's fortepiano. It was amazing. I've never heard anyone play on anything other than a grand and the fortepiano had such a light airy tone to it. Mike has really gotten in to classical music so he really wanted to go and I agreed to go. I wasn't quite sure what to expect but I really enjoyed it...that is except for one thing. Every artist has his/her little quirk, and this guy had a tendency to groan and sigh really deeply when playing any intense part of the piece. I have never been so distracted at a performance before. I love music, but I much prefer it is coming from the instrument or being sung. The groaning concerto is not quite what I had anticipated. Had this guy been playing on a grand I don't think it would've been a problem because it is so much louder than the piano he was playing on. Oh well, it was still a wonderful performance.

Caitlyn, I know you have friends I hear you talk about them all the time. I have been feeling the same way about mom and dad. I keep thinking of things I want to call mom to talk about but I can't so we're in the same boat. I like the second quote, it really got me thinking about how I cook meat.

Jen and Kevin, Mike and are totally excited to come to little miss ella's numero uno birthday!!!!

Alone

I didn't realize that Mom and Dad were my only friends. And now they are out of the country with 6 days left until they're back. And every evening I get home from work to a dark, empty apartment, and I think.. and I can't even call Mom and Dad. And every morning I walk my 4 blocks to the train station in the now-cold, and I think.. and I can't even call Mom and Dad. And Sunday came and went, and I was a hermit because there was no one to talk to.

I went to the movie store to distract myself from the void and rented 2 movies (and spent $9!!!! horrific) to watch alone. I popped popcorn alone and when my artsy French film came on, I realized the subtitles were defective. There were none. I understood the first 30 seconds (because there was no dialogue) and then I had to turn it off. And in my grief I stopped watering my plants. Because if I have to suffer, so do they.

They forgot to mention at graduation that in addition to setting forth and changing the world and getting jobs etc, that we would also have no friends. So take note, Laura. Unless you stay in your college town, living with a college roommate, surrounded by your college friends, you, too, will have none. You will end up like me--a bitter and cranky old lady who mutters obscenities at foreign films and behaves masochistically towards plants.

However, I've found that when there is nothing else, one becomes quite creative. I've taken up refrigerator poetry. Because after all, every great poet had to start somewhere, and when I've gotten home, cooked, and eaten, and it's 8:30, and I say to myself.. well, Caitlyn, you can go to bed or write refrigerator poetry. The choice is clear. I will leave you with my two latest compositions. I hope they inspire you to think critically and reflectively about this thing we call life.

"Beauty is when I smell the whispering sky in a dream
I am drunk on purple music of the sea
I swim through the chocolate winter in bare feet
Singing into a thousand shadows
Lying abreast of essentiality
A day behind eternity
In death
Life"

"Never cook meat with drool."

The weekend in review

What a cultural weekend! THIS is what I moved to the city for. Friday, after being rejected from the Chicago Public Library (because the mail I brought to prove my address did not have a postmark), my roommate, and I and 2 friends went to have sushi. Now, mind you, I like to think of myself as slightly cultured, but I am not very adventurous where seafood is concerned. I have had the rolls before but always vegetarian ones because I've been too chicken to try anything else. But the spirit was upon us, and we laughed and chatted over the caviar, raw salmon, raw tuna, and it was ok!

When we were full we left and made our way downtown to the Chicago Theater to hear Ani DiFranco perform. While I am not very familiar with any of Ani's songs, I have admired her art and the way she uses it. She is a folk artist in the most authentic sense of the word. Original music with provocative poetry, weaving in her ideas about peace, the environment, our society, and feminism, all the while using her voice as an instrument, experimenting with words and sounds to create various effects. It was the first concert that I've been to in a while where one could actually listen to and enjoy the music without the threat of being moshed or losing your hearing. (don't get me wrong, those have their place as well). There were moments when the entire theater, holding hundreds of people, was silent hanging on Ani's every word as she recited a poem. And then on a whole different level, I was amazed that she stood up on stage, jamming on the guitar, singing, and dancing around for 2 hours while 5-6 months pregnant!

Last night after working all day, I met up with some friends from work for my Moroccan friend's birthday celebration. We walked to an Arabic bar called Souk where we enjoyed hummus, pita, and all sorts of middle eastern appetizers while patrons smoked hookah around us, the musicians pounded out the girating beat, and people danced on the floor in a large circle, holding hands, and slowly turning in time with the music. At the stroke of midnight, the dance floor cleared, the music changed, and like an apparition, a woman came through the tables wearing a golden headpiece, with a lit candelabra balanced on top of her head. Her entire being was grace, and as she stepped onto the dance floor, her hips began to shimmy and shake, her abs rolled, her hands beckoned and she swept across the floor all the while with the flames balanced on her head. She belly danced for an hour, and we were mesmerized. Every once in a while, a waitor would accept a tip from the crowd, convert it into singles, and then thumb them into the air one after another so they floated down around her as she danced. It was AMAZING. Now I have a reason to practice. I want to dance like HER! I'm still getting tangled up in my veil, and becoming wooden the moment I try to combine any of the isolated things I've learned. --moving my hands at the same time as my hips, or walking at the same time as shimmying. -- I, my friends, am entertainment of a different kind.

Mom and Dad just called from Italy to say that they arrived and just spent the day hiking through the towns of Cinque Terre. Remember that, Jen? Que nostalgia!

Hmmm

For fall break, Mom, Dad, Jen and Elinore came out for the football game. We destroyed Wisconsin Lutheran and poor Ella got stung by a bee. On sunday I drove out to Holland and went sailing with Mom and Dad and then on Monday Mike surprised me with a picnic at the Nature Center. I was a glorious day for it. Classes started again yesterday and today we had two mini-blizzards...odd? Yes, yes it is for it is only Oct. 12 as Caitlyn has pointed out as well. There is something fishy going on around here

It's snowing in Chicago. Hard. And it's October 12.

Reality Check

The most bizarre thing happened to me today and it didn't even include fowl! I don't even think a story could do justice so I'm just going to relate the phone conversation in dialogue form (with my thoughts in parentheses)

Monday, October 9th, 2006, 3:45 PM. Location: my desk.

Telephone: Ring, ring...

Caitlyn: L-- Stars, this is Caitlyn.

Caller: Hi.

pause

Caitlyn: Hello.

Caller: Yeah, Caitlyn, I need your help.

Caitlyn: Ok.

Caller: Well... let me give you a bit of background because you don't know the whole first episode.

Caitlyn: Ok. (Crap, this is going to be some mom calling to complain about something.)

Caller: So. (pause) My friend is a foreign exchange student from England and she like has this British accent all the time, and all the men are just wild about her and it is really gettin me down. (Speaking really fast so I can almost not understand).

Caitlyn: Ok. (Hesitantly, because what the heck does this have to do with me? Maybe its not a mom?)

Caller: So I need an accent.

pause

Caitlyn: I'm sorry?

Caller: You know I need an accent.

pause

Caitlyn: Well, ....we don't teach accents, we teach LANGUAGES. ....And we only work with children.

Caller: Oh. ...So which accent do you think is the sexiest?

pause

Caitlyn: Who is this? (WHAT?!)

Caller: My name is Allie.

Caitlyn: Ok. (Do I know any Allies??)

Caller: Maybe Italian? I could try an Italian accent.

Caitlyn: Sure.

Caller: So could you say something in Italian?

Caitlyn: Er, I don't speak Italian.

pause

Caller: Well what do you speak?

Caitlyn: English... and Spanish.

Caller: Oh, Spanish could be cool, kind of like a Selma Hayek kind of thing.

Caitlyn: Uh huh. (Oh my God, who IS this? Any second someone is going to start laughing about the good one they pulled on me)

Caller: So.. say something in Spanish. ...Say, "Hi boys, how are you doing today?"

pause

Caitlyn: You want me to say that in Spanish?

Caller: Yeah.

pause (Oh my God.)

Caitlyn: Hola chicos, como estan? (This is ridiculous)

Caller: Hola.. chicos.. como.. estan.

Caitlyn: That's it.

Caller: Cool. ...Now can you say it like you were a 900 number?

Telephone Line 2: Ring ring ring...

Caitlyn: (ARE YOU KIDDING ME??) I'm so sorry, I have to go get the other line. Thank you so much for calling. Goodbye.

CLICK.

I was sure that any second the phone would ring with somebody laughing telling me what a moron I had been, falling for that. Nobody called. I called other offices to find out if anyone had just called me. Nobody claimed it. I actually think it was real.

Wake Up Call

We've started the wishy-washy season where you need your coat on when you wake up but need short-sleeves by lunch. Thursday morning it was COLD in my apartment, and before leaving for work I pulled on my jacket and even dug my scarf out of the bottom of the drawer. When I got to the train station I looked around, and there wasn't anyone else wearing a scarf. In fact, there were a few men without coats at all, and women with open-toed shoes! I started to feel like a wimp and discreetly disrobed my neck, tucking the scarf into my bag. I thought that would be the most interesting part of my day, and I started imagining how I would relate it on the blog.

But, wait! I'm ME! Of course there were more interesting things in store! I arrived at work at the usual time. The teachers' bewitching hour came and went, and we were still down two teachers with no word. Both the director and I called one of them, and the moment we hung up with voicemail, one of the missing teachers walked in the door. Carrying. a. bird.

Yes. A bird. A wild sparrow she had picked up off the street because it was a baby and had clearly fallen out of its nest. I looked at her, incredulous. The children would be arriving in 15 minutes and what the heck where we going to do with the thing? Don't get me wrong, I have as bleeding a heart as the next person, but I also work in an environment where we have our NO NUT (or nut by-products, or anything processed on equipment with nuts) policy posted on every door to the building, and a hand sanitizer dispenser in the lobby to ward off lingering germs. I don't think a wild bird was going to pass the sterile test. She told us she wanted to call animal control to have someone put it back in the nest, and I urged her to take care of that immediately.

As I puttered around in those next 15 minutes helping teachers prepare their classes and passing out their hand-outs for the day, I went into this teacher's classroom and noticed a strange, fluttering sound coming from the cabinet. I opened it to find a concocted cage with the little bird inside hopping around. No, nooo, nooooo, absolutely not. I confronted the teacher to inform her that we absolutely could not have the bird in the building when the families got there. We came to a compromise that she would take the bird and its cage outside, and I would call animal control. The next thing I knew, it was five minutes until 9, families were on the verge of arriving, and a teacher approached me asking for the ladder. I pressed a little because I couldn't imagine why anyone would need the ladder right THEN and found out that the little wounded, baby bird had escaped during the transferring process and was now perched on top of the exposed ventillation ducts in the classroom. Great.

By this time, there was no hiding anything from the families. They arrived and eyed me suspiciously as I hauled the ladder from one end of the building to the other, setting it up, climbing up, poking around with the inflatable hockey stick I'd attached to the light bulb changer only to have the bird take off and start the process over. 45 minutes later when we had completed the preparations of our final strategy--attaching a trashbag with rubberbands to the broom handle like a butterfly net from a horror flick--, the bird (tired, I'm sure) landed on a window sill where I tackled it to the ground with my BARE HANDS! (Maybe not so much of a tackle as a gentle closing of my cupped hands, followed by the mild panic of having a wild bird entrapped in my cupped hands) I raced--without jiggling--out the door and to the park where I opened my hands to let the traumatized bird free under a tree. And the stupid thing didn't even touch the ground, it flew straight to a tree on the other side of the city! Baby bird who can't fly, I grumbled to myself as I stomped back into work to my to-do list now 45 minutes behind schedule. Some can't wake up without a cup of coffee. I never seem to have that problem.

Apple Deliciousness

Laura and Mike came to visit this weekend. We had a rather relaxing weekend, and made it out to pick apples. Elinore loves "helping". Hopefully she didn't eat too many leaves! Laura, I hope you got some good apples at Crane's!! I'm sorry we didn't get to eat at Pietro's while you were here. We'll make sure to do it next time: long wait or not. It was great to see you both and get to know the "healthy" Mike a little better!

Elinore's new word is "Tickle, tickle, tickle,..."
 

Playing Grown Up

Every once in a while I take a look around and wonder what on earth I am doing where I am. Mainly it happens when I get an invitation in the mail to another friend's wedding or a birth announcement. And then, in my shock, I yell at the empty room, "We are too young to be getting married and having babies! WE ARE NOT READY!!" And then I think to myself, "Correction: I am not ready (but then CLEARLY neither is anyone else!)"

And then sometimes my head starts spinning at the amount of responsibility I'm entrusted with at work and I begin to feel an awkward sense of importance. Like today, I interviewed a candidate for the center director position who just resigned as a high school Spanish teacher. Hellooooo! I interviewed a high school teacher, who is in the same ranks with my former teachers, who if I ran into on the street today I would still address as Mr. Heup or Mrs. Baldikoski!

Not to worry, the sense of importance is never inflated because usually I am humbled by other moments. Like falling down the stairs as I dole out parenting advise, or making the parent of a child with severe allergy go through all the rig-a-marole of paperwork, legal documentation, and one-on-one training of epi-pen procedures with the WRONG teacher, etc.

It is nice to know, however, that I am not alone. I caught up with a friend this weekend who started medical school 6 weeks ago. Their first role play was doing patient interviews to gather preliminary information. The instructor went around the room to each student with a certain case and the student was to ask the right questions to gather all the necessary info. After all these vanilla cases (I have a sore throat, there's a floater in my eye, etc) he got to my friend. When she asked what brought him in today, he said, "It hurts when I go to the bathroom." And my sweet, ridiculously intelligent, aspiring-doctor friend burst out laughing. And as soon as she had stifled her giggles she said to herself, "I am too immature to be a doctor."

Which brings me to my conclusion--that it is not real afterall. We really are just pretending to be adults.

Matching Socks

I feel like it is never too early to introduce a child to helping with household tasks. One of Elinore's duties is to match socks. Everytime I fold laundry, she is in charge of all the socks. She takes her job very seriously.

Correction: CHIRIMOYA

I wrote to all of my Chilean friends last night to wish them a happy September 18, tell them about my amazing find, and ask them what to do with it.

EVERY ONE of them wrote me back first to correct my spelling--it is CHIRIMOYA not cherimoya-- then to tell me that the best way is to cut it into little pieces and mix it with freshly squeezed orange juice. Since they were unanimous, I'm obligated to eat the next one that way. Apparently they call this dessert "chirimoya alegre"--the happy chirimoya.

Good luck to me. Too bad there's no one to share it with!

Catalina and the Cherimoya

Last time I was in Chile my hostmom asked me if there was anything special I wanted to see, do, or eat while I was there. I told her I wanted to eat a real live cherimoya. A cherimoya is a tropical fruit that I had never heard of until arriving in Chile, and even then, it was elusive. I tasted the flavor in ice cream, yogurt, popsicles, etc, but never had even seen the real fruit. So last time I was in Chile, it was summer and my hostmom went out in search of cherimoya to no avail. There were none to be found as it is apparently a delicate fruit that is ripe in the early summer months (late November, early December in Chile).

This evening while roaming around the plain old grocery store (Jewel for those of you who know) I stumbled across a basket of this UGLY fruit labeled Cherimoya!! I couldn't believe my eyes, and on top of that, today is Chilean Independence Day!! It was destiny. The label on the cherimoya said "ripe when slightly soft," so I picked what I thought would be a good one, then picked another just in case. At the checkout, they rang up at $3.99 a piece, and I thought to myself, these better be DELICIOUS!

But when I got home, I realized I had no clue what to actually do with the thing. I looked up online how to prepare them, and it told me to halve it lengthwise and then scoop the creamy, delicious flesh out with a spoon. So I did, and despite the many, enormous black seeds, it was good and so fragrant! Its about the size of a large pear, and tastes a bit like fresh papaya, but is super creamy. I ate half and put the other half in the freezer to eat like ice cream tomorrow. But I still have this whole other cherimoya. Maybe I'll make a cherimoya smoothy? What a great Chilean day!

A Day in the Life of Me

Today during one of the 10:30 classes for 3-5 year olds, I had to intervene in a class where a tiny girl was hysterical over her nanny having left. Often you can distract children and calm them down, but this little girl would not be distracted--she was SCREAMING and kicking and crying, and I finally had to physically hold her in my lap while we waited for someone to call the nanny and the nanny to pick her up.

While kicking and screaming, she peed on my leg.

Does anybody want to trade lives?

Soooo Cute!!!

 

Warning Signs

This morning while vigorously brushing my teeth, my toothbrush vicously catapulted a speck of tooth paste into my eye. It actually hurt A LOT. I considered calling Poison Control, but Colleen told me not to, and she IS a crisis counselor after all.

Then on the El I picked up my Chicago Reader before getting on the train, and subsequently got so sucked into the story about Hugh Hefner and his 3 pixie girlfriends that I missed my stop!

It's only 8:36. Going to be an interesting day...

Back to School

I have returned to Albion once more for my junior year and although my first week of classes went successfully, I have not yet departed the super stressed out train. As you all know I am applying to go abroad to Scotland in the Spring and I have needed to get the required signatures from various faculty members in order to turn in the application. Let me just say that it is not going well. I don't think I've ever been more frustrated with people. Before I even got back to Albion I had emailed professors letting them know I wanted to set up a meeting as soon as possible and each one told me to email them at the start of school. So I did, but to no avail. Once again it is not until I get pushy that I get responses from the professors. I even went to their offices to find out their office hours and it wasn't until I told them I would be coming to their next class to set up an appointment did they respond with a time in which I could meet with them. AHHHHHHHH! I'm beginning to feel like I won't be able to get the application completed and it's not because I haven't tried. Hopefully things will start coming together soon.

With that said my classes are going relatively well. My first day of Spanish, my former roommate Jill and I were sitting together when our professor walked in and says: Hola clase...and continued in super fast Spanish, Jill and I looked at each other and both go Oh crap. She told us that the first day was the last day she would speak english to us and as worried as I was, it's not that bad. I'm acing spanish class, having gotten 2 extra credit points for helping my team to victory in spanish charades. I know I'm amazing, just kidding. The nice thing about it, is that we do a LOT of discussion and interactive stuff in spanish getting you comfortable speaking, which let's face it I'm NOT comfortable with. The only thing I wish we did more of is vocabulary. I am finding that my lack of Spanish classes for the past 3 years has greatly depleted my vocabulary abilities, but it is slowly coming back to me.

I found it rather ironic that the class that's the most interesting in lecture, developmental psychology, has the most BORING textbook, and the class that has a pretty boring lecture, Neuroscience, has a pretty interesting book. Typical at least I'll be able to follow one part of the material in each class haha.

Then comes my invertebrate zoology class. It's fascinating, one of our textbooks talks about parasites and what not and it's absolutely disgusting but it is just amazing!! However, a great portion of our grade for the class relies on a group collection project. We have to collect a list of specimens from the field, all bugs, kill them and then mount them and present to the class. I am having a really hard time with this one. First of all I'd rather not have to catch bugs and usually I don't mind squashing a mosquito or spider but I feel so terrible about putting them in killing solution and watching them die. So bad in fact, that this weekend I caught a beetle but I don't have my ID card coded for 24 hr access to the science building yet, as it wasn't available until yesterday, and I felt so bad about keeping it in a jar for 2 days that I let it go. I don't think I would make a very good invertebrate zoologist.

My roommate situation is going pretty well so far, but we will not be rooming together again as I have spoken to one of my good friends from bio and we are planning to live together WOOHOO!! My roommate told me the day she moved in that she likes to move stuff around a lot and I told her I didn't care as long as I was able to use the internet, which meant being close to the only ethernet jack in the apt. So her solution was to get us wireless, works for me. She isn't around much as she has a very busy schedule being a chemistry major and very active in the theater technology dept. One thing I could definitely pass on is the hamster, Twink, that she brought to school with her. I am SO glad we never had one of these things. They smell, make a mess and the stupid thing bit me, not to mention that it feels the best time to play in it's squeaky wheel is right when we go to bed.

I am working really hard to be more organized this semester and getting stuff done, actually reading my textbooks and working out regularly. Being a week and almost 1/2 into school I'd say it's going well. Let's hope I can keep it that way!

Caitlyn Finally Changes a Diaper

Though not a poopy one, the diaper Caitlyn changed this weekend has moved up her status as aunt. We had a really nice time. 

David Hasselhof Disclaimer

I feel a little bad that there are now people in the world who actually think that Caitlyn likes David Hasselhof. If you are one of them, kindly scroll down to the entry covered in David Hasselhof posters and look at the bottom of the post where it says, "Posted by: ..."

Sneaky, huh.

More likely Caitlyn has Brazilian paintings decorating her wall.

The Downpour and the Cheesecake

I learned a valuable life lesson today. I suppose there are subtle things that you learn about life when you become a sans-car commuter. This morning I woke up to the sound of a plane crashing into my apartment, but it turned out it was just an intense clap of thunder. It poured and thundered without stopping for hours. Last Sunday was Colleen and my housewarming party which left our home very warm and our fridge very full! Among other things we had 1.5 cheesecakes remaining and I vowed last night to take a cheesecake to work today to share with my team.

The warning signs were there as I planned out how to tuck the umbrella into the crook of my neck to be able to lock the door with one hand while holding the cheesecake in the other. They got stronger as I struggled through the turnstyle at the "El" train stop with the cheesecake, umbrella, and shoulder bag that wouldn't turn itself sideways to slide nicely through. By the time I sat down on the train and began arranging my bag, my purse, myself, the umbrella, and the cheesecake balanced on top of it all, I had decided that today was probably not the day to tote a cheesecake.

At my exit stop, I panicked momentarily as I noticed that the revolving gate that I normally pass through to exit likely would be too small to go through with the umbrella open. Immediately after, I noticed that a foot beyond the revolving gate was a solid wall of water falling from the gutter. I looked at the cheesecake, then at the umbrella and turned around to try my luck at the reverse turnstyle.

Once outside, I began walking my .4 miles to work and in about 2 steps, remembered that flip flops are also not a good idea in the rain. As I slipped and slided inside my shoes I silently prayed to the raingods that they please not let me fall, and PLEASE not let me drop the cheesecake. Not that I really cared about the cheesecake at that point, in fact I was beginning to get bitter about how my colleagues better appreciate the stupid thing, but to drop a cheesecake in the middle of the sidewalk in downtown Chicago would be so humiliating! You either have to be the tool that makes a big fuss about cleaning it up, or the tool who quickly looks around and keeps on walking like nothing happened--cheeks burning with the shame of not only dropping a cheesecake, but LEAVING IT THERE for someone else to step in.

I did not drop the cheesecake. I did learn that streets and alleys in Chicago can become treacherous flash flood danger zones with the slightest sprinkle of rain, not to mention the downpour that occurred this morning. There were literally WAVES lapping the center line of the road, and with the water well over the curb, it was a good 7.5 foot leap to clear the ankle-deep "puddle." I was about to attempt the world's longest standing long jump, but decided that it was too risky with the umbrella, the bag, the purse, and the cheesecake attached to me. I waded in, dismissing bitterly the galoshes I had been toying with purchasing and opting instead for the fly-fishing-river-wading-come-up-to-your-belly-button pants.

I arrived at work wet and annoyed but with a fully intact cheesecake.
Never again.
Next rain I'm going to be the one with nothing but an umbrella who sits on the train smirking at the people carrying cheesecakes around.

PS- I accept housewarming gifts in the form of vegetable peelers, liquid measuring cups, and fly-fishing-river-wading-come-up-to-your-belly-button pants.

new place part IV

Kevin is a tool who is LOSING the Weight Loss Challenge.

New Place Part III

I had a chance to put up some of my art collection, and my room is really starting to feel like home. What do you think?

New place part II

A few more photos...


 

My new place!

Mom, Dad, Laura, my friend Ricardo, and I spent the day yesterday packing up boxes, loading them into the truck, navigating the truck through narrow downtown streets, unloading the truck, and then setting things up in my new apartment. It was definitely a team effort, and we couldn't have done it without Ricardo!!

I am so pleased and exciting with how the apartment is shaping up! I made some investments in a few affordable but quality pieces of furniture, and now the apartment looks like a real home! I couldn't wait until everything was finished to post a few photos, so excuse the clutter.

The bright green room is obviously my bedroom, the darker green is our dining room with the bargain table and chairs that Mom found at a garage sale last week. The beige is our living room furnished by my incredibly nice roommate, Colleen, and the yellow is our cozy little kitchen, complete with a breakfast nookish table!

Everybody who saw the apartment yesterday really liked it. There is a playground across the street of which I have a view from both of the ENORMOUS windows in my bedroom. The brown line "El" train is a stone's throw from our courtyard, though it is not elevated at my stop, so it is very quiet. My street is narrow with cars parked on both sides, but it is a dead-end which means it is quiet, lined with tall trees and large homes with front yards.

Between the two of us, Colleen and I have quite an art collection, so next time we're both not working we're going to go through and pick out where to put what. I can't wait to see what the apartment will look like with non-bare walls and the new kitchen cabinet doors that the landlord promised.

I came back to Naperville last night, so tonight will be my first night in the new place. Thank goodness Dad and Ricardo were able to install the AC unit last night to cool the place down before I sleep there tonight. We've had 2 weeks of incredibly hot weather with triple digit heat indexes!! AC is welcome!

More Pictures