Things I’m Loving

• “Value” Packing Tape from Office Depot. 6 very large rolls for $9.99…Much cheaper than the national brands, and seems to be working just fine!
• 20 free boxes from my moving company that all say “Official Moving Company of the Cubs” with a great Cubs logo on the side of the box. Since I keep boxes for my future moves, that Cubs logo will be a fun reminder of Chicago on my next move.
• My smart thinking to keep all of my old boxes and packing materials from my last move. Cheap and Green.
• My Nikon D70 is fixed! There as a circuit board connection issue that made the memory card not register consistantly for the last year or so.
• Pickles. Just straight up pickles.

Light as a Feather!

I am completely avoiding catalogs at the moment. And stores with anything more than food in them. And websites that try to sell me things. My new fiscal status has me penny-pinching but even more so, it has me out of the home decor hobby. Which ultimately has me a bit misty. I love decorating and following trends.

On the other hand, I have also been in pre-move purge mode, which has me doing the exact opposite of buying. I believe, since I packed up to move to Chicago, that I have actually given away HALF of my belongings. HALF! And I am not done! I still have several things to take to Goodwill before the move. At the end of the day, it actually makes me feel better. There is something about having less stuff that makes you feel lighter. I am very ready to be back in Dallas to try out my new lighter lifestyle….And very curious to see if I can make it last.

How Do You Weigh Love?

I’m having trouble gathering my thoughts these days. Sort of a form of writer’s block, but more encompassing. I can’t seem to wrap my brain completely around the last month. And the idea of moving back to Dallas is so mixed for me. Right now, I can’t wait to get back to the warmth and comfort of my big group of friends there. But at the same time, it was partially that group that had me running to Chicago. Get out dodge and get out of the drama. But I miss them. I miss them so much. I miss the comfort, and the acceptance, and the support I didn’t even realize I had.

I am sitting here on Sunday of Memorial Day weekend with zero plans. The only thing I have done with friends this weekend was go to dinner for my friend’s going away party. And she’s moving back to Dallas! I have friends here. I have a couple really good friends. I just don’t feel the same volume of warmth and love here that I have waiting for me in Dallas. But if you’ve been reading for a while, you know Dallas wasn’t the healthiest for me. It was like a mental obstacle course.

So instead of doing something constructive this weekend, I have spent most of my weekend watching The Deadliest Catch and playing Bejeweled Blitz on Facebook. My brain just can’t seem to do more right now. It’s like a real thought pops in, and it freezes. Just shuts down.

I really hope I am doing the right thing. The cost of moving is rather daunting…

Think Locally, Dear Internets

This week, the Chicago Tribune announced they will be launching a new website this June. Chicago Now, as it will be called, is a  foray into a world unknown to the newspaper industry. Sure, they all have websites, but this is a departure and a risk, that if it pays off, could prove to be a new direction for newspaper companies trying to survive. Combining news, blogging, social media, and e-commerce to create a local hub of information for Chicagoans, the Trib hopes to increase their share of the local web market to 35%. It should be an interesting ride.

There are several national sites that have gone local as of late, like ESPN Chicago, and The Huffington Post Chicago. This trend toward making the national and the global local is something that I think we will see more of in the near future. Now that we understand the vastness of the world and our inability to interact with all of it–thank you internet!–we, as a culture, are beginning to turn inward again. This of course, is being propelled by our failing economy, but it had begun long before the market crashed. We are looking for the comforts of a small town that rests on the outskirts of a large metroplex. And we are finding ways to make a life in that world.

I am very excited to see what rolls down the line in the next year. I think we will only see more and more of this sort of localization, and I love it!

Home Again

I have news. Not good, not bad…I am moving back to Texas! Chicago has been great, but I am done with this city for a while…I love Chicago, but enough is enough.

Here’s the kicker folks, a friend of mine is renting my house, and he is going to let me be his roommate…In my own house! I have even been approved to reacquire my master bedroom complete with double sink, stall shower and separate tub, and walk-in closet with floor to ceiling shoe rack.

I’ll be moving back at the end of June and it’s time to do Dallas differently. Wish me luck. This is almost as scary as it was to move to Chicago…

Wonderings

There are days you wonder what the hell you are doing. What the hell does it all mean? What the hell are you working for? What the hell are you missing? What the hell did you forget…about yourself, about someone else, about life?

Is being alone 1000 miles from home better than alone in your hometown?

Nothing you do is wrong. Everything leads to something. In the end, it’s where you are supposed to be when you are supposed to be. Choosing right from wrong means nothing. Everything leads somewhere.

How do you decide when everything is right? One way or another, life will turn out. Destiny is mobile…fluid. That’s the beauty and ugliness of life, isn’t it?

Dodge a Wrench, Man!

I am on a dodgeball team…that is certainly not something I ever thought I would say! My volleyball friends in Dallas would flip if they heard that! I used to rail against the dodgeball league that took over part of our sand every Spring. They brought in a weird crowd (which included women in heels…in the sand…) and they took over the best courts.

Needless to say, I enjoy it! Last night we played in the playoffs. We are the last team in the league. It’s not that we’re BAD, it’s just that we’re not so good…Anyway, our first game was against the second worst team in the league. If we won that, we moved on to play the number one team! Well, we won. It was hard fought, but we did it! We psyched ourselves up for our second game, and went in with high hopes.

Those hopes were not to be too terribly dashed! We didn’t win, but we nearly did! The rules for playoffs are the first to win 5 games wins. It was tied 3 to 3. We were down to just 4 people on each side, and we hit a girl on the other team. It hit her hand when she tried to block it. For whatever reason, it hit strangely, and the next thing we know, she flailing around on the court, one arm dangling awkwardly at her side. She’s yelping in such a way that we all thought she was overreacting. Then suddenly, she was able to speak enough to say more than “Ow! Oh my shoulder!” And she managed to yell that her shoulder had come out of the socket. She had dislocated her shoulder!!

Well, my dear readers, I would just like to say that the University of Texas produces some amazing people, because two of our players last night were doctors (we actually have three on the team!). One player is a sports medicine and pain therapy doctor…Can you believe the luck? So she had the girl lay on a bench, and after much calming and soothing, got her to relax her arm to hang below the bench. Then, pop! She put her shoulder back in its socket! Amazing! The girl was still in pain, but nothing like she had been. She could now wait until the next day to see a doctor. No need for an ambulance. It was really pretty awesome.

It was also quite a buzz kill! We started playing again, only to lose that game and the next. We may have lost, but it was a good loss. To do so well against the number one team is worthy of a little Journey, “Don’t Stop Believin'” Don’t you think?

Ms. Quilty is in Chi-Town!

I am meeting a fellow blogger today! It’s such a weird thing to meet someone you’ve known for years for the first time!

60F, Movies and Boys

It was 60 degrees here in Chicago today! I rented a Zipcar for 3  hours, ran errands, and drove with the windows down. I miss that. Both the driving around, and the windows down.

I also opened the windows for the first time in what, 4 months?? Luka was ecstatic! He walked around meowing, and jumping up and down off the window sill. His meow sounded like “Oh my gosh! Thank you! It’s so nice out!…I’ve gotta go check out that other window…Don’t close this one!!” It was cute.

I also saw He’s Just Not That Into You with some some girlfriends last night. It was pretty cute! However, when I we were walking out, a girl behind me said, “I’ve got to get out of here and away from all these bitter single women!” Um, that sort of ticked me off! I MIGHT have flipped her off…It was still dark in the theater though, so I don’t think she saw. Too bad!!

I am sure a lot of girls recognized themselves or a guy they’ve dated in one of the characters. Mine was Justin Long’s character…The guy friend who is always giving advice but never noticing the girl he’s giving it to. He tells her that if a guy is interested, he will find ways and reasons to see and talk to her. His interest will be overt. He will call, he will see her. Which is exactly what he does, but in his head, he doesn’t think he likes her. She reads his “signs” and jumps him…literally. He pushes her away, thinking he doesn’t like her, and humiliating her.

Then, of course, he realized he loves her. He was so busy protecting himself, he didn’t realize he loved her.

Up to the point where he realizes he loves her is basically my exact relationship with a guy here in Chicago. I actually text him last night and told him to watch the movie. That he was just like Justin’s character. We’ll see if he does it…

Meanwhile, he has text me 3 times, IMed me, and commented on my Facebook profile pic since yesterday afternoon, and he is currently visiting family in Alabama…go figure…

Why can’t I find a guy who is interested in me as much as he is, and actually wants to date me??

WordPress App!!

I found a wordpress app for my iPhone! Woot! I can post on the fly now! Granted, grammatical errors might increase, but you’re ok with that, right?? If it means you get to read my wonderful words more often??

Now I can write on the bus or train or in the park (whenever it finally becomes spring…stupid groundhog…). Good times!