From my eyes…

I remember last year on this day I wrote about how my sweet kitty came into my life and how I enjoyed every little detail of every little thing about him since day one.

Today I want to share with you his 4th birthday. It’s a little dark, but you can see that he is still as sweet as ever!!

I love you little man! Happy, happy birthday!! And happy birthday to Lucy (his sister), too

There is a slide show here. Be sure to check it out! You’ll get to see his new “Fat Bastard” t-shirt. Hehehe.

I had another fabulous weekend! I was invited to go with Mike and his best friend’s family for a day at the lake.
We went to Wonder Lake and spent the day in a fabulous cottage home that was so big and spacious I can’t get over it.
We played in the pool for a while and then headed out on the boats. The boys took the speedboat. The ladies and (one of the grandpas) took the pontoon out. We buzzed around a for a bit and then three of us girls (me, a 19 year old cousin, and a 9 year old cousin) vested up and hopped on the tube. It was a HUGE tube called a Slice. It was so. much. fun. I haven’t done that in years and I about died of laughter. I fell off twice and Amanda (the 19 year old lifeguard) pulled me back up and we hung on. We’d all made a pact not to let go for ANYTHING and we held to that. It was great. I would have liked to go a little faster, but we let Kristen (the 9 year old) make the call on that one. We went for a long ride and then the rope snapped and we toppled over.

It was then that I had one of those moments that makes me realize I really am an adult even if there are days I feel like I’m 15 still. Before I even surfaced I was aware the making sure Kristen was ok was my priority. She was on the other side of the tube so I had one of those 2 second heart attacks until I saw her face, but she was fine. We all got a little rope burned, but we were happy to have had such a long run out there.
We crawled back on the boat and let the boys knee board and ski. They didn’t get to go much though, because there was a storm coming. We headed back to where the other grandpa (the one that stayed back) had grilled up pounds upon pounds of ribs and chicken. There were also several potato, pasta salad, and vegetable dishes people had brought to share.
And when I say people….the house belonged to the Schultzes. They have four kids who were there with their families -including 6 grandkids ages 1-11 (minus a few grands and a wife). Grandma Schultz is high school friends with Grandma Lessner, who was there with her husband and their 4 kids and respective families - which includes my new friend Heather, who is married to CJ who is Mike’s best friend. Do you follow? And CJ and Heather brought their two blonde curly-haired darlings. There were a few people from each family missing, but it was a packed house. The old hommage “The more the merrier” certainly applied to this get together. It was fantastic.
About 10 minutes after the boats got back a fierce storm rolled in, hail and all! It was thrilling to say the least. Then we chowed down on some great grub and the storm cleared. We headed back out so a couple of people could ski who hadn’t gotten to earlier in the day. I went along for the ride and took a few pictures (which I will attempt to share when I get them developed. I’d taken a throw away waterproof camera for the day).
I had so much fun and everyone was very nice to me - treated me like family from the beginning, teasing and all. I think that made Mike feel good, you know, that I fit in and all. It was great. And it made me love my new home even more.

I already know the answer to my question, and it’s time. Time will bring balance to the new chaos in my life. Unfortunately, I am a doer and I don’t like to wait for time. I want to find balance NOW! I am loving having a man in my life and I like the giddy feeelings I get when I know he is almost home from work and going to spend time with me, but I don’t like that things that are important to me are getting pushed to the side for the time being.

I knew this would happen. It was part of my fear of being single for so long - that I would be set in my ways and not have room for someone else. Well, I am making room, but I feel a little sad that certain things that make me feel good(walking the dog, scrapbooking, laundry, reading, taking pictures, blogging, etc) are being replaced by laying on the couch talking about my day.

I get that I am choosing to abandon my hobbies to spend time with Mike. And that is really what I want to be doing right now, but I’m afraid if I don’t find time for both soon I’ll forget about old stuff that made me happy and I don’t want to do that. 

I know it’s just one of the things that one goes through in starting a new relationship. I just wish it were easier. Starting Monday, I am going back to setting my alarm and I’m going to do all the solo things that make me happy while Mike is at work. I’m getting on a schedule. Maybe this plan will help time bring the balance a little faster.

I thought the summer would be relaxing. And mostly Monday through Friday it is. But I find myself needing more and more rest during the week to keep up with my bustling weekend plans.

Last weekend went something like this:

Friday night softball. It was a humid mess that required 5 times more work to move my body than it should have. It was a good game and I played hard, but was beat by the end of the night. Then I had (had to) join the team for a brewsky at a teammates house. It was a good time. Lots of laughs, only a few beers, and occasional slips that I am dating a co-worker. Oops.

Saturday, mud volleyball. A week prior I’d agreed to play. I was told it was only going to be in the morning, but we ended up winning and played volleyball, in mud, from 10:30 until 6:00. Whoa! Talk about a workout. This was my first time playing mud volleyball. It was disgusting and fantastic at the same time! I put my feet in and shrieked because of the gooey mud between my toes. Even the guys made comments. One side of the court was mostly water. The other side was thick mud that you could hardly move in. It got murkier and more dangerous as the day went on. By the last game 4 of the 6 of us had gashes in our feet. Mine however, did not bleed, because it got packed with mud. Ewe. I am still, a week later, doing peroxide and Neosporin treatments on it daily. Overall it was a great day! Next year I will wear water shoes.

Saturday night, with my hair caked with mud, foot stinging, shoulders red, and limbs tired as can be, I showered up and headed downtown (because I’m crazy). Then Again was playing and I’d already made plans with people before I realized that volleyball would be all day. It was a fabulous show as always and not totally packed so I could actually dance and move around and didn’t sweat even half as much.

Sunday I slept in. Then Mike and I went to get lunch out. Yum! Then he showed me where my interview was to be on Tuesday, we made a Target run, and then he took me to see Pirates 2. My interview on Tuesday was ok. I didn’t feel like I left it knowing I was going to get it and I’m nervous that I’m not interviewing well these days :(. Pirates 2 was funny. I liked it better than the first, which from talking with people I’m learning is against the majority. Which did you like better? I’m really just waiting for Spidy 3 at this point. LOVE those movies!

Starting tonight is another packed weekend. I have softball tonight (Man, am I going to be sad when it’s al over) and then a lake trip planned for tomorrow.

What are your weekend plans? Doing anything to escape the heat wave?

I am a firm believer that if you don’t like something in your life you change it. It’s not up to someone else to listen to your bitching and change things for you. You must take the intiative and make your life work for you.

So, when I decided to move to IL and leave the dry desert for the humidity of the summer and cold of the winter,  I vowed that I would NOT adopt the Mid-west trait of complaining about the weather. It is actually something that annoys the heck out of me. This past winter wasn’t even all that cold - even to my desert blood - and people STILL were complaining about it and I just wanted to shout at them “MOVE THEN!” I just kind of smile and my usual reply is “This is why I moved here”. Then they think I’m insane and I don’t hear their weather complaints again….until the next rain, or snow when they’ve learned, and now say “I bet you’re loving this” and this time I just get to smile in response.

Now, as much as I hate to do this, and I swear it stops here, but, well, I have to complain about the humidity, because OH MY GOODNESS it’s DISGUSTING!!!!!! I sweat and sweat and sweat and I HATE sweating! And I finally understand why they advise asthmatics not to live in humdid weather. Twice now I’ve opened the door to let the dog out and been cut-off (though I’m so willing to deal with that rather than real allergies). Ugh, and then when you turn to look at something, you can all of a sudden feel your shirt stick to your back, so you reach up to unstick it and gag a little with the amount of sweat sitting there. Blech.

I’ve decided that to get through the seasons, I get one mega complaint per season, four per year, and there is nothing absolutely nothing to complain about in Autumn (God’s special little gift to me, sigh, I love Fall), so really it’s 3 weather complaints per year. That doesn’t turn me into a Mid-Western Weather Complainer does it? Just three? And I can’t think of a spring time complaint either, so maybe it will only be two. I mean the only problem with Fall and Spring is that they may be too short sometimes.

Ok so, above is my one complaint. I won’t complain again until next season, because overall I really truly love the weather here. But c’mon humidity? Ick.

I’ve been spending a lot of time watching movies with this new guy I’m hanging out with. And I tape them on DVR to watch while I check my email and drink my coffee in the morning.

Currently playing is First Daughter. Since it’s only just started I have no comment at this point, but I do like Katie Holmes (and unlike the rest of America who thinks she’s insane for this whole Tom Cruise situation, I just plain feel sorry for her because obviously she fell for the scary brainwashing tactics of Scientology - of which I have first hand experience, so don’t start giving me an BS about being open minded to other religions.) so I’m hoping that though cheesy, this may be a good show. *Sidenote, Michael Keaton is short! ** RILEY! Riley from Buffy just made an appearance in this movie….I’m guessing (hoping) he becomes the love interest.

 RENT - LOVED! So loved! I didn’t even mind that they cut parts of the songs and changed them to dialogue instead. So fun, so great, so right along with the soundtrack! And man, can they ever sing, whew!

Narnia - Also loved, but in a bias way since I’m a complete dork and would certainly love anything that falls in the dork/semi-dork ballpark. And it’s the sister movie to Lord of the Rings and did you see the little girl who plays Lucy. Sigh, too cute.

Boogeyman - Actually pretty good. I was impressed. I mean, I honestly didn’t think that a movie with someone from 7th Heaven could be that good. It was. And it kept moving and was kinda scary at times. Though I could have watched it at night and been fine (my normal thriller routine is to view it in broad daylight with several hours of awake time to follow).

Cellular -  WAY better than I thought it was going to be! I was really almost embarassed that I’d taped it, but when I sat down I was hooked in the first 5 minutes. This movie certainly moves from beginning to end and it was MUCH less unbelieveable than I thought it would be. I mean sure there are som driving stunts that are just that, but in general it was good. And I think Kim Basinger did a great job playing a desparately confused wife/mother.

Da Vinci Code - Good. Good movie. Took some deviations from the book, but Ron Howard put it together nicely. And I wasn’t thrilled with Tom Hanks as the main character, but again, loads of talent made it work. I did love the French gal who played the grand-daughter.

I’m hoping to see the second Pirates of the Carribean movie this weekend sometime.

Know any other great ones I need to check out?

To fit in at our house, Hanna has tried all she can to get along with Abby and Ricky. She tried to sit where they sit and do what they do. Here is a prime example of Hanna wanting to belong. She has become obsessed with squishing her big dog body into Abby’s little doggy bed.

Attempt One:

Attempt Two:

And Finally:

It has been a while since I’ve updated my blog. I’ve been having a wonderfully busy summer out and about seeing new things…

When I got home from AZ, I spent a couple of days resting and getting things in order around home. Hanna, my roommate’s dog, had moved in and I had to keep a close watch so that she didn’t eat my cat. All has worked itself out now and Hanna loves Ricky. She loves to play with him and she is always looking around the house when she can’t find him. Just this morning, I was playing in the backyard with all the pets and Hanna stole the ball from Abby and tried to give it to Ricky. I think it was as an offer to play. Too sweet. Now, if we could just get Hanna to stop barking when she is playing. Sigh.

Abby started agility school. She loves it! And is a complete natural. I love having the extra time to spend with just her. And she plays with her classmates at the neighboring park after “school”. It’s a blast!!

I had to teach summer school for two weeks. It’s over now, and my real summer can begin. The only thing I HAVE to do this month is find a job. Sigh. I interviewed for a third grade position last week. We’ll see. I’m hoping to get a few more interviews in the next week or so. Keeping my fingers crossed.

I’ve started dating a really nice guy, who’s been taking me all kinds of new places around my new city (that I’ve lived in for almost a year already! Can you believe it?). We went to Taste of Chicago last weekend. It was a lot of fun. When the breeze stopped it was a little sweaty, but we had a nice time and I got to try little bites of yummy food from different restaurants in the city. We had taken the train from Joliet into the city. That itself was a fun experience. I’d never been on a train like that in America. It was more like (similar, but not exactly the same) the Eurail. I thought it was going to be like the subway. It was comfortable and gave me the opportunity to see a totally different part of the state and was nice for us to talk and stuff. When we got bored at Taste (which is what you call it if you are from here apparently), we ventured over to Navy Pier and rode some lame 3D ride that was utterly disappointing except for the fact that we got to sit down for a little bit. After that we headed back to the train. It was just over an hour before it was going to leave, so we bought some Squirt (who doesn’t love Squirt?!) and sat on a bench for while. The bench was in the courtyard of what Mike told me was the Chicago prison. I didn’t believe him, but when I read the sign I saw that he was indeed right. It was something new, a little creepy, but new. I enjoyed it.

The next day, I went with my roommate and her work friends to Ribfest to see Better Than Ezra. It was warm and my feet were tired from the day before, but I had a good time. I thought I knew more songs from that band, but I didn’t and that made me feel totally out of it. I just stood and enjoyed the lead singer - so cute. The ribs were tasty also!

The day after Ribfest, I went to a White Sox game with Mike, his best friend CJ, and CJ’s wife Heather. It was fun. The White Sox played HORRIBLY which CJ and I (Cubbies fans) rubbed in to Heather and Mike (Sox fans), because, well, that’s what good friends do Hehehe. *sidenote - I may actually be a White Sox fan. I know their team much better and their games are actually fun to watch. The jury is still out on this, but I am feeling like the Cub decision maybe be overruled in favor of the White Sox - unless of course the Diamondbacks are playing them.

Then, I finally had to go back to work. I only had to work three days last week and one was a fieldtrip to a Jackhammers baseball game. They are a local private league team. Again, something new! It was PERRRRFECT weather for watching a game.

This weekend was much more laid back. No big events, though we did play a double header for my softball team last night. We played hard and I was sore, but I didn’t loss my temper or throw a bat this week (last week I was somewhat of a bad sport), and I did manage to cover some errors of my teammates even if I only got two good hits….whatever. It’s just for fun (which I have to keep reminding myself).

Playing on my softball has reignited my passion for the game. I’ve DVRed some Chicago Bandits games, and Mike and I are going to a game on Thursday when they play AZ. I’m trying desparately to find a place to coach. And I’m working on putting together a womens team, so I can play more often. It is frustrating though, to play and know my brain knows what to do, but my body doesn’t always do it. Makes me sad. Like I just want to say, but I CAN do that. I know how and I’m good at it, but my muscles aren’t always accomodating that. Hopefully playing more will help that and coaching may just fulfill that need I feel to do well at the game.

Still absolutely loving the weather here. I’ve never considered summer one of my favorite seasons. In fact, I’ve always thought I could just do without it. But after this past few weeks here, sigh, I just love it. I’m constantly seraching out activities outside and more excited to get the dogs out than they are I thinK! It truly is a blessing to not be battling my allergies constantly. I just don’t think I’ll ever get over how much has opened up to me since I don’t have to think about allergies or be doped up on Benadryl everyday, all day.

I’ve still got plenty going on while this fabulous weather lasts. On the agenda this month include, getting back to the gym (my pulled quad is finally healed at about 95% which is great), hitting up Great America a few times, camping, pets’ birthdays (they’re turning 4 already!), another trip to see Then Again, and whatever else I can come up with.

I hope you are enjoying your summer as much as I am! If you have an good ideas for outdoors things I can get into, leave me a comment