And we're off...

Goodbye, Chicago.

Hello, world.

Today was not nearly as teary as expected.

Quote of the day:

"Don't fall in love with anyone. Fall in with me right now!" --my 5 year old who insists we are going to get married when he is 21. I'm not allowed to marry anyone else or fall in love with grown-ups. He actually informed me of this several times today. I will miss him.

I hope they don't forget our year.

Oh, and fear not, I did/didn't sneak off into the night. I went upstairs as they were being put to bed. I gave them little gifts and kissed them goodnight for the last time. Then, I left.

My friend

Well, I'm down to counting hours (19) now instead of days. After months of planning, it snuck up on me. I can't believe I'm actually doing this and I can't believe it's tomorrow!

My car is mostly packed. I still have various things to shove into places. Everything would fit beautifully, but now that I have an extra person for 5 days. Needless to say, I'm a little worried. Where will we all go? Packing for this trip is frustrating because it all has to go. I have no where else to put anything. In 19 hours, I'm homeless and jobless.

Seriously, I was sofrustrated and discouraged, wondering how I was going to pull this off alone when my friend, without me saying a word, offered to come over and help. This friend was in the process of giving me a two hour full body massage.Later after the massage, my same friend told me I was a "phantom" and my appointment had simply been erased from the the log. This is some friend!

So, Megan, this blog entry is totally foryou! You are amazing. Thank you so much for being the friend that I've needed these past few months. You easily came to more Second City shows than anyone else. You introduced me to some excellent movies. And, you made totally killer roadtrip cds. I'm so glad that I finally broke down that day and got a massage. That 5 pack deal was one of the best choices I've made in Chicago.

So, my favorite 6'1", Big Islander, thank you. Thank you. Thank you for being my friend. my real friend.

I will miss you and can't wait to see what God has in store for you next. Keep me updated!!!

:)

the nomad

A Few More Lasts

I'm writing this post from one of my favorite places: Portillo's Hot Dogs

(that's right, they're air conditioned!)

Just look at this piece of deliciousness:

yum yum.

The sad thing is for dinner at the house I ate a hot dog. It wasn't very good and I ended up wanting something else. Who knew that would eating being another hot dog!

Fear not, that's not all I got though...

this is the crown jewel. The Shortberry Shortcake. a steal at $2.99. it's huge and just look at all that cream! This cannot be healthy at all.

Ah, Portillo's, I shall miss you.

In other news, I'm still exhausted. But instead of sleeping, I'm on my way to Indiana. Hooray! I ended up getting off work early. You should also know I had the van to the shop by 7:45 am and we still don't have it back. My boss moved the only piece of furniture that I hadn't completely cleared out (don't look in my bathroom right now!) and the chairs. Bye-bye deer chairs! I scored a new down couch for my room of 4 more days. I can't wait to actually sit in it.

Furthermore, I did not make it to Costco, Target, or even karate class. However, I definitely think I've found my replacement. She even speaks French and Sign Language! If I wasn't leaving, we'd probably be friends "for real life", as my boys say.

Well, it's been fun catching up but it's time to get back on the road now...

the nomad

PS. I'm sure this is gonna start a huge discussion but I'm asking everyone, I'm thinking of getting a SRL camera for the road trip. What do you suggest?

A few of my favorite things

I have decided to do this while I'm still excited (though,admittedly, slightly scared) about the impending trip and not an emotional pile of sludge on the floor.

These are the things I shall miss:

TiVo

90 min massages

my paycheck

a paycheck

a walk in closet (albeit a mini one)

queen size bed

bathroom right off of my room

the carpet in the living room

living in a house that has an entire room devoted to a baby grand piano

driving a minivan

free museum passes

free parking at Lincoln Park Zoo

all the perks at the Museum of Science and Industry

the giant wrap around couch in our living room

all the fruit I can eat

free groceries

free laundry

free bedroom

the Polish cleaning ladies

Flat Top Grill

the Brown Line

walking around downtown

rooftop fireworks

Corcoran After Parties

spending afternoons in Lincoln Park

Farmer's Markets

the crepes at the farmer's market

swimming pool access

performing at The Second City

typing in security codes to get in/out of my house (I don't every time but I do love it)

driving to places on a normal basis that I see in movies

my blasé attitude I've developed of the Magnificent Mile

living in the city my friends want to visit

the island in our kitchen

Chicago style Hot Dogs

Chicago Pizza & Oven Grinders

The Art Institute of Chicago

driving on Lake Shore

living close to a body of water

*Am I missing anything?

Things I will NOT miss:

the screams of other people's children in my sleep

the screams of other people's children when I am not sleeping

white walls

bowtie light fixtures

deer print chairs

the "windy" part of the Windy City

6 way intersections

the Nature Museum

making excuses to not to go to the Field

living in a city that slowing becoming the coffee capital

8 am start times

not having a weekend for basically 17 months

not having skim milk

sharing laundry with little boys and housekeepers

cleaning up other people's messes

being a quieter person

worrying when/if I'd make friends

doing other people's jobs and watching them get the credit

Dominick

feeling weird about inviting people over to my residence

parking stickers (and parking tickets!)

everyone always asking me how I can drive in this city

Scott 1 ply toilet paper

*I'm sure I'm missing things!

All things considered, this was a fantastic year! I'm going to miss a lot. I'm truly grateful that I've got to live on the other side and see how "the other half" lives, definitely differently than Mt Healthy! Sometimes people tell me I don't seem grateful. I am. I definitely am. I acknowledge that, for whatever reason, I've been incredibly blessed. I just never expected this type of blessing. I expected a couple part time waitressing jobs and living with a couple people I met on Craigslist. Instead, God gave me more than I needed, more than I even knew I wanted...and then He threw in some deer print chairs for good measure.

Pirate Balls

Pop Quiz:
Today I did ______ to prepare for the trip.

a. so much I could cry

b. 20 jumping jacks, 10 sit ups, and ran 2 miles

c. nothing

d. more packing and sorting

And the answer is: "c. nothing"

ugh.

However, silver lining, stuff was done for me. I received an email confirming sleeping arrangements to Seattle! yay!!!

So what then did I do with a free Sunday if I wasn't packing? excellent question.

sleeping!

Well, sadly that's more true than false. I was supposed to meet my fake sister (what you don't have a fake sister? I thought everyone had a....Mooooom...not everyone has a fake sister! why are we always the weird family? oh well, such is life.), Kelly, downtown when her train came in at 1:45pm. I woke up, eyeglass-less, seeing this: "11:5588" and yelling this: "crap, crap, crap...please say 11, please say 11!" um. no. Upon retrieving my glasses, it definitely read "1:58"! ack!

How did I sleep that late? Don't answer that. For most of you, the thought of me sleeping that late is not in the least shocking. However, absolutely honestly, I have not slept that late since moving to Chicago! or not least 2 months.

Anyway, after a quick plan change, I drove downtown, picked her up, and drove off to place in Chicago she had never been: Devon. For those of you who don't know, Devon Ave is a wonderfully ethnically diverse street in Chicago. It is mainly known though as "Little India." You step out of your car and into another country. The air smells different, the language on the signs is different, people look and dress differently...it's wonderful.

Within minutes of being there I learn that Kelly has never eaten Indian food (or Thai or Sushi or or or....!). Fast forwarding the story a bit, we end up eating at Chopal. I could not asked for a better place to introduce her to Chicken Biriyani, Dal, and Naan. Sure, the heat level was slightly above the 3 that I had warned her it would be, but the service was fantastic. I had told the server that we were just stopping in for a snack so we weren't getting much and we'd share. In true Desi fashion, they didn't listen as they loaded us up with free stuff: soup, white rice and salad, dessert, and tea. :) (I just tried to post a picture. someone please tell me how to put a picture here where I want it and not on top of the entire post! thanks)

After a couple of hours in Devon, we were ready to move on. On the way back to my house, we passed an antique shop that I've always wanted to visit. Kelly pointed that I'm running out of time to visit everything I've always wanted to see. So I took a hard turn and parked. The antique shop was everything an antique should be. It was wonderfully cramped with random objects ranging from children's books to working 1940s radios to a table made of deer legs and hooves (I "eeked" and ran away!). The absolute best thing of all was the chest filled with authentic pirate cannonballs from the Caribbean! The guys told me to pick one up. They were SO heavy! For only $125 each, they can be yours.

We left the store empty handed, dropped off my car at my house, and took the train downtown. The next destination was Buckingham Fountain. Thankfully we made it in time for the lights and music. simply beautiful. (I have pictures that I'd post if someone would tell me how...)

Then we walked through Grant Park, down Michigan Ave, past Crown Fountain, through Millennium Park, and took very dark, grainy pictures of Cloud Gate (the bean). How many more times will I be able to do that? Next I bought a homeless man a footlong at Subway and Kelly gave him the Gospel of John. We moved on to Daley Plaza and chatted there for a bit before heading to Union Station.

At Union Station, I finally did the "English Pirate" that she'd been begging for all day. haha. Who could blame her? It is "International Talk Like A Pirate Day" after all! Who knew English pirates were so pleasant? "Would you like a scone and some grog?" "'cuse me, but you mind if I take yer booty?" "Avast! I be in this queue, ye bilge rat!" well, mostly polite.

After she boarded her train, I walked to the Quincy station, stopping only to talk to a random girl about if I liked her vest or it made her look like a brick house at which I started singing "Brickhouse" to her and her friends, all strangers, and then I took the Brown Line home.

aw life. How many days like this will I have left with you, dear Chicago? Today was my last Sunday. how strange. how strange indeed.

the nomad