I did it...

...for the first time, I've joined NaBloPoMo! (See side bar) I start Monday. Let's hope I don't screw it up!

Eye Opener

PLEASE share your thoughts on this one, especially the handful men out there who visit me. Although all three are beautiful, I personally find the two women on the ends sexier than the woman in the middle. And, I think that if I were a man, I'd be afraid of breaking that tiny thing! ;-)

Thanks, Tiff, for sharing this. Her entire post today got me going. You may want to check it out.

Is it wrong...

...that at 8:15 am, this is what my thermostat reads? I'm hoping to be able to hold off on turning on my heat until November 1. I know, I'm a weirdo, but hey, I'm also not a big fan of $300+ gas bills! We have plenty of blankets and sweatshirts in this house, so I'm sure we'll be fine. Naturally, Stud is still fast asleep, so he's under a pile of blankets. Plus he's a teen-aged boy, which = living radiator!
--
I just went back into my archives, because I knew I posted about this last fall, and I was surprised to see how much earlier I had written about this! October 3?! I guess we've been having a much milder fall here this year. AND, I thought 58 was cold for my house then. Bully for me! I broke my own record! My wallet is thanking me right now... :)

Food for Thought

Just stumbled upon this on another blog. Enjoy!

A Day in Pictures

I had to go to a conference today. (Woo hoo! A day away from the Hell-Hole!) Despite the fact that it was raining sideways, with 60 MPH winds, and a tornado watch going on this morning, I left my house anyway, and enjoyed (NOT!) my hour+ drive downtown. Thankfully, the closer I got to downtown, the less it was raining. I parked in the designated garage, and walked the many blocks to the Gleacher Center, where our meeting was being held. I took the elevator up to the 6th floor, signed in, and rushed to find a seat, as I was almost 30 minutes late. I put my bags down, then grabbed myself some breakfast. (Yum! An ‘everything’ bagel with veggie cream cheese, coffee, and a tasty glass of half orange/half cranberry juice [my own delightful combination!]) I settled in and took a minute to catch my breath. As I started to enjoy my breakfast, I actually looked around the room we were in, and THIS is what I saw...

To the west:

What a view, right? The beautiful Chicago River and part of our gorgeous skyline.

To the east:

I was trying to capture Lake Michigan through the buildings, but it was still far too hazy and overcast. You almost can’t tell where the water ends and the sky starts.

To the south:

This was directly outside our window.

OK, don’t yell at me, but I was taking pictures while driving again. I know, I know!! Sorry! But, come on! How many people get to see the beautiful Lake Michigan on their drive home? There are still a few sailboats left out there, which was surprising.

I always love this view of the front of The Field Museum from Lake Shore Drive.

Later, when we came out of the orthodontist’s office, THIS was what we saw!

I swear, it looks like I used some Photoshop trick, doesn’t it?

These are a little blurry, but the colors still are gorgeous. You should have seen how nervous and freaked out Stud was while I was taking these. Mostly because I told him to take the wheel while I snapped away!

Email of the Day

Thanks, Dori!! This was hilarious!

The perfect way to start my Saturday!

I came across this review by Roger Ebert this morning while reading the Chicago Sun Times. It prompted me to search for the video, which a thoroughly enjoyed! I was sitting here at the kitchen table, all by myself, laughing out loud like a fool!!

I must warn you, this video is NOT for children. I finally found someone who drops almost as many f-bombs as I do!! I guess Suz will be skipping this one. :( Tiffany, on the other hand, will probably get a kick out of it! :)

Email of the Day

With all the new technology regarding fertility recently, a 65-year-old
friend of mine was able to give birth.

When she was discharged from the hospital and went home, I went to visit.


'May I see the new baby?' I asked.

'Not yet,' she said 'I'll make coffee and we can chat for a while first.'

Thirty minutes had passed, and I asked, 'May I see the new baby now?'

'No, not yet,' She said.

After another few minutes had elapsed,

I asked again, 'May I see the baby now?'

'No, not yet,' replied my friend.

Growing very impatient, I asked, 'Well, when can I see the baby?'

'WHEN HE CRIES!' she told me.

'WHEN HE CRIES?' I demanded. 'Why do I have to wait until he CRIES?'

'BECAUSE I FORGOT WHERE I PUT HIM, O.K.?!!'

Thanks, Bestest Friend, I needed that today!!

I forget to post this yesterday...

THIS is what my damn dashboard thermometer read when I got in my car after school yesterday. I mean, seriously?! WTF?!? It was October-freakin'-12th!!!!
However, THIS is what is looked like today. All is right with the world again.... ;-)

Sunday Sketches (Sins #1-4)

These are the drawings I mentioned the other day. Stud used the Latin name for each drawing, so I put both, mostly for my benefit. (It sucks when your kid is smarter than you!) I hope you can click on and enlarge them, especially Lust, to see the details.

Superbia

(Pride)Stud explained that in this drawing, there is only one 'man.' The one of the right (Regret) is what he really looks like, and the one on the left (Recklessness) is what he thinks he looks like. Regret and Recklessness represents the 'before and after' of Pride. Also, he's the only character with eyes, because he's only looking at himself. There was also some connection to the fact that tragic heroes always kill themselves with pride. The actual explanation was too deep for me to fully understand, but I think that's what he meant.

Ira
(Wrath)

I think Stud's favorite part of this drawing is how the apple head that is being hit explodes out the back of his head and there are bits of apple flying everywhere. He said that they are two apples up in a tree. Another element of this drawing is sibling rivalry. "They're like Cain and Apple!" Yeah, Stud cracked himself up with that one!

Luxuria
(Lust)

This is Stud's favorite. I wasn't quite sure how I felt about this one when he was working on it. The first time I saw it, it was basically just the figure, as none of the background stuff was done. He explained why she doesn't have a head. He said that if she had a head, it wouldn't exactly be about lust. He said his art teacher particularly liked this one. At first, she suggested he make her breasts out of apples, but he thought that would be too much. Once it was all drawn in and shaded, it lost much of it's inappropriately provocative feel. I think it actually turned out better than I expected.

Gula
(Gluttony)

The body of this 'creature' is supposed to be like a sack of apples. See the outlines of the apples, and the stems? He has gorged himself on apples (duh! He's gluttonous!) Also, his head is an apple that is split open. If you imagine the two halves pushed together, you'll see the apple and the tongue becomes the stem. Pretty cool, right?

I love the single red apple in each drawing. I'm anxious to see the last 3 drawings in the series. It's amazing to me that he can so easily switch between his different styles of drawing. These are a bit cartoonish, but then he can switch and draw that awesome self-portrait.

Speaking of which...here's the new version:He added more people to the background, and defined the lines a bit. The band-aid on the nose is killing me, though! The little circle is what got wet and ruined. You can actually see the light coming through it in this next close up, because I held it up to take the picture.
I'm curious to see what his art teacher has to say tomorrow when he shows her. I'm trying to convince him to just do it again, just for me, but so far, he's not interested. Poop.....

***Update-7:56pm***
Ok, Stud just brought this upstairs. It's the finished product. I hope his teacher likes it.

Random Thoughts....

...can someone PLEASE tell me why the hell my weather widget, at one point today, read 87-mother-scratchin'-degrees?!?! AND, my car thermometer said 91 while I was running errands? Did Mother Nature not check her damn calendar?! It's OCTOBER 9th, beeoch, not July 9th!!

...my daddy was not born here, and English is not his native language. Although he's now been in this country for nearly 50 years (since he was 18), every once in a while, he let's a doozy fly. Today, while we were watching Check, Please, they were reviewing an Ethiopian restaurant. He was a bit turned off by the idea of communal dining, and said to us, "That just not my tea bag." Obviously, he meant to say, "...not my cup of tea." However, he said it with this strange glint in his eye that makes me almost think he said it wrong on purpose. He's kinda silly like that. Either way, it made me laugh.

...Stud's beautiful self-portrait has been ruined. I'm really sad about the whole thing. He was working on it during drama club yesterday (who the HELL knows why!) and one of his friends came over to talk to him. Somehow, while talking, this kid accidentally spit on the picture (yeah, I know, ewww) and somehow this caused a hole in Stud's nose. I think he tried to wipe it or something, who knows. All I know is, in an attempt to cover up the fact that there is now a hole in his nose, Stud drew a freakin' band-aid over it, so it looks like he's got a band-aid on his nose. WTF?! I may just have to take picture of it later to share. He thinks it's hilarious, but I'm not too happy about it. Thank God I took the picture of it for you guys the other day, so I can see what it originally looked like.

...I took Stud and my two nieces to Bakers Square for lunch today. It was delish, thanks for asking! When I was paying, there was a problem with the credit card machine, so it took a few minutes. Seriously, I don't think it took more than 5-7 minutes total. At one point, the manager called the helpline, and he told them that he's had a customer waiting for over 10 minutes. Huh? At that point, I seriously think it had barely been 5. As they were fixing the problem, he asks me what my favorite pie was, and I realized he was about to give me a free pie. I told him that was completely unnecessary, and he says, "Nonsense, you've been stuck here for 15 minutes!" Seriously, it was about 30 seconds after he told the helpline I had been waiting for 10 minutes. Like I said, in under 7 minutes, I was out the door, with a delicious Caramel Pecan Silk Supreme pie, to boot! Thank you Bakers Square! As much as I'd love to just sit down with that pie and a fork...

...I'll be taking it over to Stud's friend's house tomorrow. Stud will, once again, be joining his friend and his friend's dad (and a handful of other friends) at a Bull's game. I figure the boys will definitely get more enjoyment out of the pie than I will. Don't get me wrong, I would enjoy every single, sinful bite, however, I would be beating myself up big time afterward if I ate it! I'd rather pay it forward, anyway.

...I can not wait to watch Saturday Night Live tonight. Jane Lynch is hosting!!! I've always enjoyed her work, but I especially adore her on glee! Despite my excitement, I so afraid I'll be asleep long before the opening skit. Damn. Maybe I can nap...it's only 7pm...I have time...

...Stud finally remembered to bring some art projects home for me to scan. I've been asking him for weeks to bring them home. Every week, the boys have to turn in a drawing based on a theme of their choice. At the end of the project, all the drawings will be put together in a kind of collage. Anyway, Stud chose The Seven Deadly Sins as his theme. The boys also had to choose a symbol in the beginning of the semester, and then work that symbol into all their drawings. He chose an apple. It will all make more sense once I get the pictures scanned and posted here. So far, he's been doing an incredible job. I'll try and post them tonight.

...I guess I'm going to skip my nap and scan some pictures. :)

WTF?!

I was going through some photos, and was slapped in the face by this -

The top I’m wearing in both of these photos was purchased just before the first photo was taken. That photo is from the night of Stud’s first Homecoming in 2008. The photo of me & Tiffany is almost exactly 2 years to the date after. Did I swallow another person?! I can NOT believe how much weight I’ve gained in the past two years. Wow, this just may be the wakeup call I need to finally get serious about this. Holy crap….this side by side comparison is like a punch right to my oversized gut. :(

Pictures (finally!)

Ok, C, I’m sorry, but this is the ONLY photo I remembered to take of any of the deliciousness I enjoyed. It’s a (blurry!) photo of this incredible Chicken Artichoke soup I enjoyed Wednesday night at Molly Malone’s. Yum!

I also enjoyed some delicious Shepard’s Pie, and grilled asparagus. After dinner, we went to this heavenly place called The Pie Kitchen. Tiffany said she couldn’t let me leave Louisville without trying their signature pie, Dutch Caramel Apple. Oh, my hell, it was awesome! I also had to indulge in a Buckeye. I just couldn’t resist. I definitely paid for it the next morning, as my tummy was NOT happy with me.

Me and Tiffany! Aren’t we adorable!? Ok, well, she’s adorable!

Me, Ben and Tiffany. Ben had me cracking up for days.

I brought my hosts a couple of gifts to thank them for their hospitality. I couldn’t resist these travel mugs. I really wanted to get the ones that had the Cubs logo, but I figured it was better to stay neutral. :)

I found these great T-shirts that had an awesome sketch of Chicago.

Here’s a closer view.

They’re so silly!

On my last night there, Tiffany and Ben also presented me with some gifts, as well. (SO unnecessary, you two!!) I had planned to take pictures for this post when I got home, but unfortunately, I couldn’t bring them home! Turns out, it was too much to carry on for my flight, so Ben, God bless him, actually came all the way back to the airport to get the bag, and they are now going to ship them to me. These two are too much! I will post the photos when the items arrive. Until then, I’m keeping it a secret. ;-)

A bunch of great photos from Churchill Downs.

The GIANT BAT that surprised me….duh!!!

Obviously, I HAD to take a picture of this from inside the Louisville Slugger Museum.

One of the guides at the museum says to us, as we were coming out of the factory tour, “Ladies, have you seen the world’s largest Bat Mobile?” and then points to the ceiling. Maybe you had to be there, but Tiffany and I were just cracking up. Turns out this guide was originally from Chicago. As we were chatting with him, he suddenly whips these giant glasses out of his pockets, and proceeds to do an incredible Harry Caray impression.

Ok, I know there’s more I wanted to share with you, but this post exhausted me. I actually have headache coming on, so I think I may just go lie down for a bit. I know it’s only 9:20 – SHUT UP!