TGI...W?

today is like a friday for me and i am o so excited. i have the next two days off work. i have not had two days off in a row for a long long time. there are a few things that i would like to do:

-see Wall-E

-go to stanley's produce (the reviews are kinda all over the place, but i really like it.) oh, and the best part is you can buy olive oil in bulk. it is great.

-go to the beach with jason (he also has the next two days off!)

-go grocery shopping (thanks to danielle for the helpful advice)

-relax

-read....which brings me to another topic. 

so i really really like to go to the library. i go at least once if not 6 times a week. i like to just be around books and people and quiet and it is all there...sometimes. the edgewater library is the closest library to my house, and being just a mile away it makes it easy to "stop in" whenever. riding home yesterday from work i decided to make a little detour to the library and just browse around for a new good book. (i have been disappointed in my last few selections) a few things happened while i was there:

1.) i was sitting on a step stool looking at the new releases when an elderly man came over to me and said "it will be better tomorrow, don't look so sad" <---not quite sure how to take this. i didn't think i looked sad. but he was sweet and i liked the words of encouragement.

2.) i want to read The Foreskin's Lament by Shalom Auslander. I have seen this book numerous times at bookstores and always say "i should remember to get that book" so i looked it up on the computer at the library, it said it was in, and (drum roll PLEASE!) it wasn't. 

3.)i wandered around the library for a good hour and i could find nothing. or all the books i was thinking of were not on the shelves. it was frustrating. i left. 

chicago is home to the biggest library in the world so i would think that it's sister branches would be impressive and i am sure some of them are, but no so much the edgewater sister. there are 70 branches of the chicago public library. i think i will take a tour of them. and rate them. 

monday monday monday!

on the way home today i saw a pit bull carrying a flashlight in his mouth. 

rhea and i are supposed to get together for dinner tonight and i am having a hard time deciding where to go. i would really like to get out of this neighborhood  but i feel bad making her drive. we will see what happens. i really need to learn how to grocery shop. i do not know how to shop in a way that will keep food in my house for more than a few days. maybe i just need to buy more or make jason stop eating so much. we went out for hotdogs the other night at hueys:

the chicago dog. i must say, i am surprising myself by how much of a fan i am becoming of the chicago dog. i get everything but the hot peppers because i am a wimp when it comes to spicy food but ill take the celery salt, pickle, relish, tomato, mustard and the sesame seed bun. and i like them charred. i limit myself to one a sitting but jason on the other hand can eat two no problem. 

along with  learning to grocery shop, i need some furniture for our apartment. i do not want to buy crappy stained furniture, i do not mind "lightly used" furniture and long as it doesn't smell or is falling apart. i like to look here and drool over the way people set up their houses. i would like a bed frame, a love seat, some end tables maybe an ottoman or two. and art. i want to cover my walls and make my apartment seem more loved. so far i have not been able to stop buying plants. i live right by gethsemane and it is hard for me to walk by without buying a new plant. i think plants make good presents and i think i will start giving them to more people. they last forever and make your air better. basically i'm working on my green thumb. i think i am doing a good job.  

i think listening to NPR gives me comfort. the voices sound familiar and friendly and it lets me relax a little.

some things you might not know.

-->i grew up in Mt. Prospect, IL, a suburb about 20 miles northwest of Chicago. I grew up with out a television, well let me rephrase that, we had a t.v., it had no antenna, got a very fuzzy version of the spanish channel and was kept in our somewhat damp basement. We had a VCR and watched movies, but never t.v.

-->I also grew up without a dryer. year round we hung our clothes outside, and yes, this includes the -50 degree weather chicago has to offer. In the winter it would take close to a week for our clothes to become dry.

-->We had many pets growing up. this includes numerous turtles, some of which met the end of their lives rather dramatically. my dog, dr. pepper thought one might make a tasty snack. a softshell turtle died of tape worms. one disappeared from our yard. we had many hamsters, guinea pigs, birds, snakes, iguanas, fish, a tarantula, and of course my cat spike. spike was a calico cat that we got when she was a kitten. she lived until i was a sophomore in college (15 years) i am pretty sure is was the best cat around and very sweet. and very stupid.

-->my family rarely went out to eat. we would eat out maybe twice a year. other than that all of our meals were homemade and eaten together at a table. i have come to appreciate this greatly considering my mom would work 12 hour shifts and come home to make dinner. my dad is known for his pizza making skills and makes a mean pizza. his job was to clean up after dinner and do the dishes (we also had no dishwasher) once, however, he made my sister and i a meal. we were both seated at the table waiting to eat and he came out with a big pot. 

"what is it?" i asked

"open it" he said

i pulled the lid off the pot and was greeted with a pile of cut boiled carrots. 

"what else is there?" my sister wanted to know

"what do you mean, isn't this enough, you guys love carrots"

i turned to my sister "there is probably some leftovers we could eat"

"how about if we put butter on the carrots, would you eat them then?" my dad asked

i give him credit, as it must be very difficult to raise two very stubborn daughters but needless to say, the carrots went untouched.

-->we would go clothes shopping maybe twice a year. this activity could only happen after all of our old clothes were laid out and we explained (to our father) why we thought we needed new clothes. I think the most pairs of jeans i have ever owned at a given time is 2.

 

a fresh start.

i have been thinking lately that i really need to get into this blog thing. i think it is important to keep track of things i want to do and things i have done so that i can remind myself that in fact things do happen blah blah blah. IM THINKING OF THIS IS A GOOD OUTLET! I AM EXCITED! AND YOU WILL LEARN TO BE EXCITED TOO!!! WE ARE ALL WORKING TOGETHER! basically i was talking to jason (my boyfriend of lo so many years) last night about putting together a list of things i would like to accomplish in my life time. so i thought this post would be a good place to start and i will continue to add to it as i come up with things. 

things i plan to do while alive

or

i want to fill my life with joy and excitement (thrills even)

1. ride my bike far. as in across the country far. have you even seen my bike? it is basically the best thing that has ever happend to me and has turned out to be a very good friend.

2. host a dinner party that people will remember for the rest of their lives.  this will be accomplished by having good conversation, great food, romance and perhaps some twinkle lights. hopefully it will be able to be out side. and lots and lots of laughter. i mean lots. constantly.

3. travel without any worries of not being able to speak the language. i have been feeling lately that i want to travel a lot. and far. but i get very intimidated by the language barrier. i want to get over this.

4. spend the night on a beach in a tent with good friends. laughing. eating. and loving.

5. make a friend that i will know well into old age. 

6. be a good mother.

7. be an excellent wife 

8. have chickens in my backyard.

9. grow a good majority of my own food.

10. teach something new to a stranger that they will remember.

11. go skinny dipping with a group of people.

12. have a garden of fresh flowers. and cut them to put inside. everyday.

13. read at least a book a week.

14. be a member of a comunity garden. 

15. own a house/make it exactly the way i like it.

i am going to stop with the list for today. turns out a lot of it has to do with gardening...hmm..being as i live in an apartment this proves to be tough.

i just finished reading the senator's wife by sue miller. it was alright. nothing too extraordinary but i needed to finish it. i have a bad problem starting books and putting them down because i become disinterested very quickly. while out to dinner with my good friend danielle and her boyfriend dave the other night we were talking about how long we give a book before we put it down. dave said 30 pages, no matter what. i usually  give it 5-10. so i am trying harder to have a little more patience. yesterday i checked out three books from the library

1. on chesil beach by ian mcewan: a book about two people having sex for the first time on the day of their wedding.

2. 30 minute meals by cook's illustrated magazine

3. bonk by mary roach: the curious coupling of science and sex. 

one of my favorite things to do is go to the library.