Monday, June 30, 2008

I will give them a stamp!

I have sufficiently calmed down to regale you with a tale of my intense dislike for one post office.

Our door buzzer is not working and as such, the mail carrier can't enter our building to delivery our mail. This has been a problem for about a week. So they have put a note saying as much and that they are holding the mail. (I will get to that point in a second). Well they delivered some mail on Friday because someone buzzed them in. But they did not deliver all the mail (I will get to that point too).

The bf has (had) contacted the developer who has in vain tried to get the electrician over to fix the buzzer. They are making every effort to get it corrected.

In the meantime, today is June 30, which if you live in Chicago, means that you have to have your car city sticker in place by tomorrow. So about 2 weeks ago I went on line to order and pay for the sticker. I need this sticker otherwise they will issue tickets. So I rang the local post office and was told that:

a-they have tried to ring the bell but nobody was home....duh most of the residents in the building work
b-that we CAN'T pick up our mail because it is against policy. Only if you have a PO box or a vacation hold can you pick up your mail.. If they allow ME to pick up MY mail then we won't be getting it fixed and they can't be holding our mail. but after 10 days they return it to sender!
Also how do they know that my neighbors won't be wanting to do the same thing. I mean after all it is OUR mail.
c-When they delivered the mail on Friday it was just that day's mail not the back log because it is too heavy for them So once they are satisfied that it is fixed then they will deliver the rest.

Classy huh? Holding mail hostage.

Well after 20 minutes, speaking with three people my patience was wearing transparently thin. I have names and I was told by a manager that even though it is against policy that I can pick up my mail.

Granted I would like to glance at my mags but more importantly I need that damn sticker.

Update-So I got to the post office at 4:50 and left at 5:30, the line was out the door and they had the slowest people working there. But I got our mail after the wait and the name dropping. Ironically I was told that I could not pick up the mail that was addressed to my bf but in the bundle that they gave me was his mail too. Oh and the buzzer is fixed.

Friday, June 27, 2008

the 40 year old frat boys

Last night Diana and I had our monthly cooking date. We were going to participate (ie eat) the food and wine of Spain. I was looking forward to it but mostly because they were going to make churros and chocolate.

So we arrived and it was a relatively small class. The demo kitchen where we were in holds up to 15 people and there were about ten of us all women and all who were excited and nice to be able to get out and have a fun night. Then about 15 minutes into the class five middle age men loudly walk in. They too were part of the class. At first we thought they were gay (it is pride week here in Chicago so hey you never know) but it turns out that they were all high school buddies in town to celebrate a friend's retirement. One of the guys decided a cooking class would be fun.


They were kind of buzzed before class as they had a few drinks at a bar. Then they had a few bottles of wine. One guy A Mr. Clean look alike would not stop talking and his comments would illicit the others to participate. The chef (who I've had before) is awesome but his questions and comments put her way behind schedule. Normally, during the class we eat by 9, last night it was 9:30. She was a great sport and even though the guys were a bit loud and behaving as they regressed 20 years, it was a fun class.

At least there wasn't any gold lame wearing trixie!

Thursday, June 26, 2008

The ma and the pa

Right now somewhere in the Ohio area, my parents are heading west. They left NY early this morning and are heading out to visit us this weekend.

In the past, I would have start to wail and gnash my teeth because a visit from my mom has not always been easy. She would come and then slowly start to nag and rearrange things. It would get to a point where she moved something that I needed and would start to argue. This time will be different because she is coming to our house and she would not dare to do that in our house.
My parents adore my BF and out of respect for him would not go about moving things and suggesting a better way to do this or that. Also my dad is with her and he tends to defend me with a "leave the girl alone" which has this magic effect of making her back off.

Plus they are staying in a hotel but that is more because we have a cat and we got the cat to "spite" them. My dad has minor allergies and my mom does not like cats so when we got Chaplin she took it personally as a sign that I don't want her to visit.

So this parental units visit should be a pleasure...but there are still bottles of wine at hand in case.

Plus the condo is pretty awesome so it will give her something to talk about other than snippets how my hair is too long, how that the salt should be put here etc.

We also have vodka....

Monday, June 23, 2008

First amendment crusader....


He was witty, smart, topical, honest, cheeky and funny!

Rest in peace George!

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Joined the bandwagon (AKA will you be my friend?)

Well when I was in NY with my friends I got some slack for not being on any social networking site. So after hearing all about it I joined one....facebook.

It has been a fun looking for people. I found one of my friends from when I used to live and work in the UK. Then I was pushing (ok nagged) the BF who was already on to be my friend and then classify me as his "relationship with person". I have found people from jobs and from school and then I found the ex (hence the regression to the BNL songs). Finding him brought back a flood of memories. No we are SO not friends nor do I intend to be.

I have been cautious to not put too much info as to prevent stalkers like me. But some things are there for my friends to find me. (An ironic statement at its finest!)

So while I am into this site for now and until I get bored with it.

If you want to be my friend, I am on face book

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Too sleepy

I am bleary eyed, wanting to sleep at my desk tired.

I am so sleepy that I can't even look at the computer straight and posted a weird comment on another blog. I need a nap!

Here is the best part, I have a presentation to give in a half an hour. Oh joy....let's hope the caffeine will work.

Friday, June 13, 2008

Rebuild

This was another song during that time.

But it was more for me to help me rebuild.

When you were born, they looked at you and said....

I came across this song again recently.

It got me through a rough break up a few years ago. Time changes perspectives but, this is still an awesome song

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Pinwheels...

The BF has been very busy and stressed out at work.

Yesterday while working from home he accidentally spilled coffee on the laptop and broke a dish. He worked for about 9 hours and was tired.

I heated up leftovers and he spent time killing things on his Xbox. I went to the couch to watch some programs I DVR'ed and picked up a random cook book and began to look through it. This was a cookbook I got for $5 at the discount area a few years ago and all the recipes contain 3-4 ingredients.

So I began to look through it and found something that I could make for the BF. I tried it last night for dessert and oh my God it was so yummy and easy. So I am going to share it.

Cinnamon Pinwheels:
1 sheet of thawed puff pastry
1 beaten egg
1/4 cup of sugar (I also used some vanilla sugar that I had)
2 tablespoons of cinnamon

-Preheat the oven to 425 degrees
-On a floured surface roll out the puff pastry, not to thin
-mix the sugar and the cinnamon together
-with a brush, brush the pastry with the egg
-sprinkle 3/4 of the sugar mixture on the pastry
-Roll the pastry (not too tight) and brush the egg wash on it
-Sprinkle some of the sugar mixture on it
-cut into pinwheels
-Bake on a baking sheet with parchment (or a Silpat) for 10 minutes

When they are warm sprinkle the rest of the sugar mixture.

Warm they taste like cinnamon rolls. Cool they tasted more like a pastry for coffee or tea. I should know I ate about half of them!

I am already planning on buying more puff pastry this week. Plus, I am thinking of making them savory with ham and hard cheddar, spinach and perhaps Gruyère or feta.

Yum!

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

And now she is back....

I am back from my happy fun reunion weekend. It was good to see some people that I have not seen in years! It is interesting to see what people are doing and how things have changed. There was an air of familiar but changed surroundings. But all things change or so I suppose.

It was also great to be in the upstate region of NY. I forgot how beautiful it is to have mountains and hills. But at least I have the lake.

Of course the drama was with the actual getting to and fro. O'Hare was having serious issues (as always) my flight going was delayed about an hour and half and my flight coming back home was delayed by at least 3 hours. Plus they stop selling food at the airport that I was stuck in at 6 PM. I felt bad for the crowds (yep there were crowds) at O'Hare when I landed at around 10 pm, the gates were flooded with people and every food and Hudson news was open. However, as my plane landed in a thunderstorm, I suspect that many of the passengers were going to be stranded.

O'Hare sucks, it is the hands down worst airport ever!

The BF managed the house hold without me. He is awesome because while I was gone he:
-got my car detailed
-filled the gas tank
-took the dog to the groomer (she is sooo soft)
-unpacked boxes and bins
-put said bins in the storage room

All while the AC was out. Thankfully, we still had the AC and he was able to sleep one night. The HVAC guy came on Sunday and fixed the problem.

Yesterday, I was home catching up on the news, email, blogs oh and got a pair of tickets...for these guys. Well the BF did actually on my behalf.

He's got the right stuff and kept reminding me.

Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Only a Decade

Tomorrow I am heading to the wonderful area of Upstate New York for my 10 (gulp) year college reunion.

I will be heading to Swigmore U (no that is not the real name) to see my friends and I am beyond excited. Some of my friends who came for another milestone will be there which means that I have not seen some of them for over a year and a half. Some of my other friends who will be there I haven't seen in about 5 years!

I am excited to go back to the place that I called home for 4 years. I met my closest and dearest friends there. In fact, I do not keep in touch with friends from high school or earlier but talk to my friends from college often.

College itself was not full of wine and roses it was tough. Classes were challenging, there was always some sort of drama, there were roommate issues, there were boy issues, there were lifestyle issues, there were late night discussions, plenty of interesting drinks made! There was the finals which had us up late and punchy due to amounts of chocolate and soda or coffee consumed. There were tons of slices of pizza and wing consumed, the utter dismay of the cafeteria selections, the fire drills at 3:20 am (a special shout out to the drunk pudgy freshman to who decided in his infinite wisdom to see if the sprinkler system pipes could hold him...it did not)
There was the semester abroad in London. There was the graduation where we just were amazed we made it and were scared shitless as what to do next.

Here we are 10 years later Some are single, some in relationships, some are married, some are divorced, a few went to grad school. There have been ups and downs tears and laughter. There have been a lot of job changes and promotions. We all lost one of our dear college friends in 2000 at the age of 24 due to cancer, we cried a lot over that loss and had each other to comfort. We've moved all over the country.

But this weekend some of us are heading back to where we really grew up and were some of the foundations as to who we are were solidified. But the best part is seeing my friends!

Two...

Such a magical number.

Happy second to my special someone. We' ve had the ups and downs but we have had each other.

Monday, June 02, 2008

The Menagerie

We have added 10 new additions to the casa. Gold fish for our "pond".

Last week, it a fit of gardening we purchased some water lilies to see if we can make them grow. We got a plastic vase like bucket and dropped them in the water. They are starting to sprout and the BF was afraid of mosquitoes (especially since a mosquito with West Nile was found in a west suburb were his sister and her fam live). So to combat the bugs the BF decided we should get fishes.

So yesterday we introduced 10 of them and they seem to be okay so far. No floaters!

Although I am not allowed to name them to quote the BF "I am not going to listen to you cry because "Harry" or whatever you would name the fish died. I would not even know which one he is anyway."

Got to love him!