Thursday, October 13, 2011
Sunday, October 9, 2011
An Extra Day
I hate Columbus Day. I think it's pointless -- except that it's a day off of school. I'd like to say the holiday is for something more exciting, but I guess I'll take what I can get.
Yesterday, we dropped X-man off at his friend I-nstein's house. He got to have a sleep over there, which included a trip to the Savoy Recreation Center (so I-nstein's parents could get some time together) and then to the 10 a.m. movie at the Savoy 16. He had a great time and has been so worn out from the constant play (minus the 10 hours of sleep they got) with his buddy that I can barely understand the words that are coming out of his mouth. So, I just plopped him down in front of Superhero Squad and started cleaning off my desk and doing laundry.
While he was off playing, MacTroll and I went to our friend's mother's funeral. It was sweet and peaceful, and I'm glad we drove to Mendota for it. Then on our way into the city, MacTroll got peckish, so we stopped in Naperthrill to have dinner at Meson Sabika (Hey, we were dressed up, so why not?). We enjoyed ourselves and then drove downtown to stay at the Swissotel. I had pre-paid for it, so we were definitely going. It's a nice hotel with pretty awesome views, so if the front desk asks if you want to upgrade to a "room with a view" say no. It's likely you'll enjoy your view just fine. As it was, we got to see Navy Pier all lit up. We dumped our stuff and took off to head that way to watch some fireworks. MacTroll had never been further on Navy Pier than the Children's Museum. It was a beautiful night for a walk and since it was the night before the Chicago Marathon, it was pretty crowded. We grabbed some treats and then walked back to the hotel, where we watched an episode of Friends and promptly fell asleep.
This morning we woke up around 7:30 a.m. when the sun came though the window. We could see all the airplanes and their advertisements zooming around as the 40,000 runners were 30 minutes into their marathon adventures. As far as our hotel went, escaping without traffic issues was as easy as pie. Wacker to LSD -- to the highway. No one was on the roads at all at 9 a.m. on a Sunday, even with the marathon going on.
We picked up X-man and took him home for lunch and then to the Grand Opening of Skinni Girl Yogurt at University and Cunningham. It was pretty decent and one of my co-workers from MMO works there, so we got to say hi. They were giving away 4 oz of free yogurt to each person. X-man also got a balloon, so he was really happy. I liked that there was a sugarless yogurt option and a non-dairy one.
We headed to Target to get some paper towels and to check out the halloween decorations. I managed to pick myself up a non-scary witch costume. But MacTroll still can't figure out what he wants to be. My choice was simple. It had a skirt that went to the floor. Last year, with the Leia costume, I liked it for the same reason. I don't have the kind of thighs to wear a miniskirt that I can't sit in, and really, I'm a pre-school teacher -- I don't want to get all stripper like for Halloween, and I can't sew. So, really? Can I have another option? Leave it to Target to have a good witch costume.
I think at this point MacTroll is seriously thinking of going as Charlie Sheen. He's desperate for an idea. And most of the costumes are highly inappropriate for the under 16 audience. Sigh.
We picked up Lily on the way home and now we're all exhausted. I would otherwise be depressed about having to go back to business as usual tomorrow, but it's a holiday, so instead, we're going to have fun.
Yesterday, we dropped X-man off at his friend I-nstein's house. He got to have a sleep over there, which included a trip to the Savoy Recreation Center (so I-nstein's parents could get some time together) and then to the 10 a.m. movie at the Savoy 16. He had a great time and has been so worn out from the constant play (minus the 10 hours of sleep they got) with his buddy that I can barely understand the words that are coming out of his mouth. So, I just plopped him down in front of Superhero Squad and started cleaning off my desk and doing laundry.
While he was off playing, MacTroll and I went to our friend's mother's funeral. It was sweet and peaceful, and I'm glad we drove to Mendota for it. Then on our way into the city, MacTroll got peckish, so we stopped in Naperthrill to have dinner at Meson Sabika (Hey, we were dressed up, so why not?). We enjoyed ourselves and then drove downtown to stay at the Swissotel. I had pre-paid for it, so we were definitely going. It's a nice hotel with pretty awesome views, so if the front desk asks if you want to upgrade to a "room with a view" say no. It's likely you'll enjoy your view just fine. As it was, we got to see Navy Pier all lit up. We dumped our stuff and took off to head that way to watch some fireworks. MacTroll had never been further on Navy Pier than the Children's Museum. It was a beautiful night for a walk and since it was the night before the Chicago Marathon, it was pretty crowded. We grabbed some treats and then walked back to the hotel, where we watched an episode of Friends and promptly fell asleep.
This morning we woke up around 7:30 a.m. when the sun came though the window. We could see all the airplanes and their advertisements zooming around as the 40,000 runners were 30 minutes into their marathon adventures. As far as our hotel went, escaping without traffic issues was as easy as pie. Wacker to LSD -- to the highway. No one was on the roads at all at 9 a.m. on a Sunday, even with the marathon going on.
We picked up X-man and took him home for lunch and then to the Grand Opening of Skinni Girl Yogurt at University and Cunningham. It was pretty decent and one of my co-workers from MMO works there, so we got to say hi. They were giving away 4 oz of free yogurt to each person. X-man also got a balloon, so he was really happy. I liked that there was a sugarless yogurt option and a non-dairy one.
We headed to Target to get some paper towels and to check out the halloween decorations. I managed to pick myself up a non-scary witch costume. But MacTroll still can't figure out what he wants to be. My choice was simple. It had a skirt that went to the floor. Last year, with the Leia costume, I liked it for the same reason. I don't have the kind of thighs to wear a miniskirt that I can't sit in, and really, I'm a pre-school teacher -- I don't want to get all stripper like for Halloween, and I can't sew. So, really? Can I have another option? Leave it to Target to have a good witch costume.
I think at this point MacTroll is seriously thinking of going as Charlie Sheen. He's desperate for an idea. And most of the costumes are highly inappropriate for the under 16 audience. Sigh.
We picked up Lily on the way home and now we're all exhausted. I would otherwise be depressed about having to go back to business as usual tomorrow, but it's a holiday, so instead, we're going to have fun.
Friday, October 7, 2011
Well -- Shit
Since Monday, I have been trying not to panic that I didn't have our tickets to see Carrie Fisher in hand yet. I got an e-mail last April when I ordered them that they would ship on or before Oct. 1. So I figured... I wasn't able to start freaking out until Wednesday. But on Monday night, I was pre-emptively freaking out and so I sent an e-mail to the contact e-mail just to be sure...
I got no reply by Wednesday. I sent another e-mail, and I tried to log in to the system using the e-mail and pin they gave me in my confirmation e-mail and it says it wasn't good. Crap.
I ordered the tickets through chicago-theatre.com, which is still online and advertising shows. How weird. So I called the phone number on the e-mail confirmation and it was disconnected.
Then I called the number on my credit card bill from April. It went straight to a Verizon voicemail box.
Then I look up the Chicago-Theatre.com people's number. I got someone there who explained to me that three weeks ago all of the Nashville Ticket Company (one of the companies that they use to do the actual ticketing and mailing) had gone out of business. No one knew. They just walked in to work and started getting calls. She advised me to call my credit card company and ask for a refund. Then she gave me the e-mail for their legal office, so if the credit card company failed to refund me the money, they were going to take care of it. (My guess is Chicago-Theatre is figuring out legal action because this makes them look terrible.)
I called Chase. In the middle of the call something happened and the dispute woman couldn't hear me, but I could hear her. I was on a land line, so I'm not sure what that was all about.
But she called me back as soon as I hung up. So that was nice. Then she processed a "temporary" refund. I guess the company has 45 days to dispute the charges before it becomes a "permanent" refund.
This is all bad and good at the same time. Bad because -- I fucking really wanted to go see Carrie Fisher. And good because it means Womanthatrolls, who won't be there because of her mother's funeral, will get her money back from the tickets, which is worthless next to losing your mother, I know. But she didn't lose her mother and isn't out a couple hundred bucks.
Oh, and X-man got pushed off a slide today at school. He fell on his head. He's okay, but he has a bruise. Mr. Scott the principal called me when we were on our way back from our Christmas shopping at Toys R Us. He used the generic school tone of "X-man's fine. He hasn't misbehaved. He's not in danger, but he has gotten hurt..." And, of course, my child inserts, "Tell her it was XXX."
Mr. Scott laughs and explains to him that as the principal, he's not allowed to tell me which friend hurt him.
So, if you see X-man walking around with some red bumps on his head. He was the impromptu test subject in a kindergarten experiment with gravity. It was also confirmed that he can't fly. Mr. Scott said he didn't cry, and that the pusher's parents had been called.
That means MacTroll's the only one not to have a head injury in the last 30 days... tick, tick, tick...
I got no reply by Wednesday. I sent another e-mail, and I tried to log in to the system using the e-mail and pin they gave me in my confirmation e-mail and it says it wasn't good. Crap.
I ordered the tickets through chicago-theatre.com, which is still online and advertising shows. How weird. So I called the phone number on the e-mail confirmation and it was disconnected.
Then I called the number on my credit card bill from April. It went straight to a Verizon voicemail box.
Then I look up the Chicago-Theatre.com people's number. I got someone there who explained to me that three weeks ago all of the Nashville Ticket Company (one of the companies that they use to do the actual ticketing and mailing) had gone out of business. No one knew. They just walked in to work and started getting calls. She advised me to call my credit card company and ask for a refund. Then she gave me the e-mail for their legal office, so if the credit card company failed to refund me the money, they were going to take care of it. (My guess is Chicago-Theatre is figuring out legal action because this makes them look terrible.)
I called Chase. In the middle of the call something happened and the dispute woman couldn't hear me, but I could hear her. I was on a land line, so I'm not sure what that was all about.
But she called me back as soon as I hung up. So that was nice. Then she processed a "temporary" refund. I guess the company has 45 days to dispute the charges before it becomes a "permanent" refund.
This is all bad and good at the same time. Bad because -- I fucking really wanted to go see Carrie Fisher. And good because it means Womanthatrolls, who won't be there because of her mother's funeral, will get her money back from the tickets, which is worthless next to losing your mother, I know. But she didn't lose her mother and isn't out a couple hundred bucks.
Oh, and X-man got pushed off a slide today at school. He fell on his head. He's okay, but he has a bruise. Mr. Scott the principal called me when we were on our way back from our Christmas shopping at Toys R Us. He used the generic school tone of "X-man's fine. He hasn't misbehaved. He's not in danger, but he has gotten hurt..." And, of course, my child inserts, "Tell her it was XXX."
Mr. Scott laughs and explains to him that as the principal, he's not allowed to tell me which friend hurt him.
So, if you see X-man walking around with some red bumps on his head. He was the impromptu test subject in a kindergarten experiment with gravity. It was also confirmed that he can't fly. Mr. Scott said he didn't cry, and that the pusher's parents had been called.
That means MacTroll's the only one not to have a head injury in the last 30 days... tick, tick, tick...
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Happy 1,001 Posts
Apparently yesterday was my 1,000th post and I missed it. Oops.
I never have been one for traditional anniversaries.
Today I had lunch with my child's principal when he came to speak at the Savoy Rotary Club. It was a lovely presentation, and it made me happy that he's the man with the plan in charge of my kiddo. It was also nice when he said he wasn't worried bout X-man. He'll be fine. I guess that means I can direct more attention back to myself and my marriage, right?
I have to admit to you, I'm tired. It's all I can do to keep my eyes open right now. Clearly my body isn't happy with the six hours of sleep it's been getting each night. It wants more.
I'll have to work on that.
I guess maybe the reason I didn't notice that it was the 1,001 entry, is that I don't have anything big and exciting to say. Sigh. I'll have to work on that.
I never have been one for traditional anniversaries.
Today I had lunch with my child's principal when he came to speak at the Savoy Rotary Club. It was a lovely presentation, and it made me happy that he's the man with the plan in charge of my kiddo. It was also nice when he said he wasn't worried bout X-man. He'll be fine. I guess that means I can direct more attention back to myself and my marriage, right?
I have to admit to you, I'm tired. It's all I can do to keep my eyes open right now. Clearly my body isn't happy with the six hours of sleep it's been getting each night. It wants more.
I'll have to work on that.
I guess maybe the reason I didn't notice that it was the 1,001 entry, is that I don't have anything big and exciting to say. Sigh. I'll have to work on that.
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
What's up?
No, I didn't participate in Walk to School Day. Why? Because when we went to the garage my right front tire was flat because of some random nail. Thankfully, MacTroll swapped cars with me and ran it up to Tire Barn to be swapped.
Yes, I'll get to see my college bestie Womanthatrolls this weekend. But it won't be at Carrie Fisher after all. It'll be at her mother's funeral on Saturday afternoon in Mendota. :-( She passed away at the VA hospital after a very, very long battle with emphysema. She was quite possibly the hardest working woman in all of history, but I know she was one of the best moms.
I took Maya to the vet for her annual check up. Besides having a yeast infection in her ear, she's fine. But I also picked up Nyssa's remains. So, we'll need to add her to the front garden with Riley and Looseyfur this week.
And, I'm sure by now you'll have learned that the chief at The Fruit passed away.
So I'm tired of the death and the crappy weirdness. I'd like it to stop now.
And in protest, I completely gave up meat and am now officially a vegetarian.
Yes, I'll get to see my college bestie Womanthatrolls this weekend. But it won't be at Carrie Fisher after all. It'll be at her mother's funeral on Saturday afternoon in Mendota. :-( She passed away at the VA hospital after a very, very long battle with emphysema. She was quite possibly the hardest working woman in all of history, but I know she was one of the best moms.
I took Maya to the vet for her annual check up. Besides having a yeast infection in her ear, she's fine. But I also picked up Nyssa's remains. So, we'll need to add her to the front garden with Riley and Looseyfur this week.
And, I'm sure by now you'll have learned that the chief at The Fruit passed away.
So I'm tired of the death and the crappy weirdness. I'd like it to stop now.
And in protest, I completely gave up meat and am now officially a vegetarian.
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Florida -- the Trial Run
On Oct. 1, I was supposed to run the Wine and Dine half marathon with a couple of my girlfriends. Since my foot is still broken, that obviously didn't happen. But I'd paid for my flight and my room and I was due for a little break from my life, so I went to Florida.
I've been to Florida several times before, and I've never been a big fan. But this was Disney, so I decided if I could put up with the people (I'm also not a big fan of large groups of people), I'd do okay. And I did.
It was the Magic Kingdom's 40th anniversary, and they're gearing up to open a New Fantasyland in 2012 that includes homes for all of the Disney Princesses (minus Cinderella, who still has a damn big castle). I didn't go on too many rides, but I did get to do the Toy Story ride (which is pretty much a large screen arcade game) because I ran into one of my student's parents at the front of Disney Hollywood Studios and she gave us her fast passes because the ride was broken, and her girls were wiped out.
We ate at the Prime Time Café in Hollywood Studios. I did learn that you should make reservations for meals about a month before you go down. I'm making them now for when we're down at Disney for Thanksgiving. I haven't told X-man that's where we're going. And rather than come home empty handed I stopped at the Kennedy Space Center shop in the airport and brought him home an astronaut's suit, so it wouldn't tip him off. I mean, he's not stupid. He's seen the photos of me at Disney. I'm just not sure that when I say we're going to Florida in November that it sinks in that we're going to see Buzz and Woody, because, let's face it, in this house, Mickey Mouse -- means nothing. But I now have an attack plan for our Thanksgiving vacation, and as long as everything goes right on our direct flight down from Bloomington, we'll be okay. :-) We're planning to be at Disney on Thursday and Friday and then to go to Sea World on Saturday. We fly home early on Sunday morning.
At school, things are going swimmingly. I got to be the stand-in director on Monday while my boss was out of town. I think it would have been more enjoyable if I also wasn't in my room at the same time. Our numbers were low, so it was okay for me to run around and make sure everyone else was okay from time to time, but I didn't want to abandon my teaching partner.
This week, X-man gets to spend the night at a friend's house while MacTroll and I take the train up to Chicago to see Carrie Fisher do her stand up "Wishful Drinking" routine. I'm rather excited about it. I've been a fan of Carrie's writing since I was 16, and lord knows I was a wannabe Princess Leia since the moment Empire came out.
Speaking of Star Wars! Disney revamped the film in the Star Tours ride at Hollywood Studios. Everything outside the film, was pretty much the same. But inside they had gotten rid of that Short Circuit-like robot and replaced him with a 3D movie with Threepio and R232, with some other Star Wars characters, which was nice. My favorite part of the whole ride was the jump to lightspeed. It was so cool, I was happy that they made us do it twice. :-)
And yes, I got a shirt that says, "Good, Bad, Fuzzy" with photos of Yoda, Darth Vader and Wicket at the end of the ride. It's not funny just because. It's funny because one of my favorite Han-isms is that he's fuzzy on all good/bad things. :-)
I've been to Florida several times before, and I've never been a big fan. But this was Disney, so I decided if I could put up with the people (I'm also not a big fan of large groups of people), I'd do okay. And I did.
It was the Magic Kingdom's 40th anniversary, and they're gearing up to open a New Fantasyland in 2012 that includes homes for all of the Disney Princesses (minus Cinderella, who still has a damn big castle). I didn't go on too many rides, but I did get to do the Toy Story ride (which is pretty much a large screen arcade game) because I ran into one of my student's parents at the front of Disney Hollywood Studios and she gave us her fast passes because the ride was broken, and her girls were wiped out.
We ate at the Prime Time Café in Hollywood Studios. I did learn that you should make reservations for meals about a month before you go down. I'm making them now for when we're down at Disney for Thanksgiving. I haven't told X-man that's where we're going. And rather than come home empty handed I stopped at the Kennedy Space Center shop in the airport and brought him home an astronaut's suit, so it wouldn't tip him off. I mean, he's not stupid. He's seen the photos of me at Disney. I'm just not sure that when I say we're going to Florida in November that it sinks in that we're going to see Buzz and Woody, because, let's face it, in this house, Mickey Mouse -- means nothing. But I now have an attack plan for our Thanksgiving vacation, and as long as everything goes right on our direct flight down from Bloomington, we'll be okay. :-) We're planning to be at Disney on Thursday and Friday and then to go to Sea World on Saturday. We fly home early on Sunday morning.
At school, things are going swimmingly. I got to be the stand-in director on Monday while my boss was out of town. I think it would have been more enjoyable if I also wasn't in my room at the same time. Our numbers were low, so it was okay for me to run around and make sure everyone else was okay from time to time, but I didn't want to abandon my teaching partner.
This week, X-man gets to spend the night at a friend's house while MacTroll and I take the train up to Chicago to see Carrie Fisher do her stand up "Wishful Drinking" routine. I'm rather excited about it. I've been a fan of Carrie's writing since I was 16, and lord knows I was a wannabe Princess Leia since the moment Empire came out.
Speaking of Star Wars! Disney revamped the film in the Star Tours ride at Hollywood Studios. Everything outside the film, was pretty much the same. But inside they had gotten rid of that Short Circuit-like robot and replaced him with a 3D movie with Threepio and R232, with some other Star Wars characters, which was nice. My favorite part of the whole ride was the jump to lightspeed. It was so cool, I was happy that they made us do it twice. :-)
And yes, I got a shirt that says, "Good, Bad, Fuzzy" with photos of Yoda, Darth Vader and Wicket at the end of the ride. It's not funny just because. It's funny because one of my favorite Han-isms is that he's fuzzy on all good/bad things. :-)
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