tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-72596699506496603442024-02-18T22:50:33.709-06:00Looseyfur's Midwest AdventuresA blog about self-identity, relationships, motherhood, Illinois living, random travel and other wacky stuff.SunnyDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04899150174103143277noreply@blogger.comBlogger1321125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7259669950649660344.post-20974422079310078962019-11-14T11:50:00.002-06:002019-11-14T11:54:41.916-06:00Our Home Isn't Ready for the Holidays without a Keg-a-ratorWhen we moved to Minnesota from Texas, we didn't have a long time to look at houses. We'd been out to visit family the year before and were contemplating moving our tiny company to some place where we could have an office that would cost less, but would still be around people who were familiar with working with the Fruit. Since obviously Silicon Valley and Austin aren't cost saving towns, that SunnyDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04899150174103143277noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7259669950649660344.post-17075894488054336162019-11-12T11:09:00.001-06:002019-11-12T11:10:49.544-06:00It happened. Again. If there are any followers still following, I know I've lost a few of you since 2013 the first time we decided to move across the country.
Then in 2015, we moved again to Texas.
And last fall, go figure, we found ourselves back in the Midwest. This time in Minnesota.
It didn't hit me when we landed that perhaps all those years were maybe something to blog about. Truthfully, when weSunnyDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04899150174103143277noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7259669950649660344.post-78389029807523584672013-07-08T13:56:00.003-05:002013-07-08T13:57:15.065-05:00California GirlIt's been three weeks since I last posted. There has been a lot going on.
We packed our things, packed a truck, sold our house and got on an airplane with our three cats. We flew to San Francisco and put the cats in a lovely kennel facility for cats only called Mission: Cats.
Then we stayed at a Staybridge Suites in Sunnyvale. The second day we were in California, I insisted that we tour some SunnyDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04899150174103143277noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7259669950649660344.post-10878568751273519052013-06-16T22:38:00.000-05:002013-06-16T22:38:22.874-05:00Father's Day FunMacTroll wasn't feeling very well today. Our plan (mine and X-man's) was to let him sleep in as long as he wanted. I would run out and fetch some bagels for a light breakfast, and then we'd take MacTroll to Maize to order lunch. X-man doesn't like Mexican food (he always orders a hamburger off the kiddie menu) and most places only do vegetarian with a lot of cheese, which I can't eat.
So, SunnyDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04899150174103143277noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7259669950649660344.post-61256809418383276852013-06-11T22:22:00.000-05:002013-06-11T22:22:40.708-05:00Mommy MistakesTonight X-man and I made a date to go to the YMCA at 8 p.m., so that he could go down the water slide one last time before our membership expires on June 13th. I would not normally have him out that late, but it's the only time the water slide is open during the week.
He had a friend over, so I ran upstairs and grabbed him a suit and a couple towels, got changed and was ready when our neighbor SunnyDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04899150174103143277noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7259669950649660344.post-40757928279496291382013-06-01T09:32:00.001-05:002013-06-01T09:32:06.809-05:00I'm here, I'm here!It got pointed out to me the other day from a friend who lives far away that I have been remiss in not only sending him e-mail but also updating my blog.
Most of my life has been consumed with house hunting in California and packing up in Illinois, as well as finishing working at MMO and getting X-man done with school.
MacTroll has been in California every week in May. We've not been selected SunnyDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04899150174103143277noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7259669950649660344.post-83787507018699957562013-05-17T08:19:00.001-05:002013-05-17T08:19:58.830-05:00Old CatsMy cats are old. Old enough that they're pretty set in their ways. I know that Clawdio (15) is the cat that no one sees. Luke (13) is the big, friendly guy who doesn't make eye contact. And Maya (12) will cuddle with just about anyone as long as they sit still.
Lately, when I crawl into bed at night, Clawdio has been curling up on my hips and shoulder diving into me for attention. If anyone elseSunnyDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04899150174103143277noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7259669950649660344.post-83849741759204368082013-05-13T10:23:00.001-05:002013-05-13T10:23:43.353-05:00When You're Related to a "Monster"In the last few months, there has been a lot of media coverage of "monsters." People who have gone out of their way to hurt other people in some really sick, violent ways.
I have to admit, I initially avoided the coverage of the Boston Marathon bombings and the manhunt, because I didn't want it to turn into another 9/11 TV news time vortex. I don't have local or cable television at my house, SunnyDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04899150174103143277noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7259669950649660344.post-65211748647962513132013-05-12T21:43:00.002-05:002013-05-12T21:43:33.088-05:00Thinking about WorkI know that the first step to moving somewhere -- is actually finding a house and getting into it.
But I've been looking at wanted ads lately, and I'm having a hard time deciding what kinds of things sound good. I thought I might want to go back to school. And then I got annoyed with the thought of doing homework and writing papers in APA style.
So I started to look around. And, of course, I SunnyDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04899150174103143277noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7259669950649660344.post-7265773479594727142013-05-11T18:47:00.003-05:002013-05-11T18:47:35.574-05:00A Day with the FamilyToday, we went to two different parks. We played this morning at a neighbor's 4-year birthday celebration at Porter Park in Champaign (they really need to put some Port-a-Potties out there, so people don't have to throw their kids in the car and run them to the dog park on the other side of Windsor). X-man got picked as the big kid friend to the 4-year old's sister. That was very sweet of her. SunnyDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04899150174103143277noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7259669950649660344.post-80753685122533165712013-05-07T09:12:00.001-05:002013-05-07T09:20:39.363-05:00Not AloneX-man got in the car yesterday after playing at the park. I watched him for 30 minutes wander between two groups of children, trying to find a place to fit in. It took him most of the first semester to learn to like playing tag, so if there's a game, he wants in on it. I love tag -- because I get to watch him run. He does this interesting thing with his arms. Instead of making fists, like I see SunnyDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04899150174103143277noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7259669950649660344.post-83361582293174069652013-05-05T10:03:00.001-05:002013-05-05T10:03:16.375-05:00Back in the SaddleI just finished the Couch to 5k, Week 5, Run 3. I've been doing the Free NHS.uk podcasts on my phone and then uploading the workout to MapMyFitness.
Today's workout was walk 5 minutes, run 20 minutes, walk 5 minutes. Before this, the longest interval I'd done was 8 minutes. But since I haven't really been able to run in two years, it felt -- wonderful. Except I have to admit that my brainSunnyDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04899150174103143277noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7259669950649660344.post-16651976284691153122013-05-03T09:50:00.003-05:002013-05-03T09:50:51.321-05:00Putting it all togetherWe're down to our last six weeks in C-U. And I'm starting to plan for everything coming to an end by June 2. X-man will finish with his behavioral counseling sessions with April Keaton. He'll be done with his Occupational Therapy on May 29th. Soccer is done on June 9th. For the first time in two years, we didn't go and renew our pool passes or our dog park passes. Hell, I even mowed the lawn and SunnyDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04899150174103143277noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7259669950649660344.post-46522005436262244722013-04-27T21:50:00.001-05:002013-04-27T21:50:23.681-05:00Fast feet, fast feet -- okay, well maybe just feetI participated in the Illinois Marathon 10k today. I set my phone to play my favorite Couch to 5k interval workout (Week 4: walk 5 min, run 3, walk 90 seconds, run 5, walk 2 1/2, run 3, walk 90 seconds, run 5) and then I repeated it until I was done.
My surgically enhanced foot felt no pain, but now at the end of the day, it's a bit puffy. I dipped my left foot with the Plantar Fasciitis in ice SunnyDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04899150174103143277noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7259669950649660344.post-86086101614474065042013-04-26T21:44:00.000-05:002013-04-26T21:44:04.828-05:00Same Old, Same OldMacTroll and I ended up leaving X-man (who had a case of strep throat last week) with KTDID on Saturday and flying off to California to look at houses. We toured six. Online two looked very promising, and four looked -- okay. In the end, One looked awesome, one looked okay (but was in the our second choice school area versus the first choice) and the rest were ugly to meh.
So we put in on the SunnyDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04899150174103143277noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7259669950649660344.post-11337104264727867922013-04-19T08:32:00.001-05:002013-04-19T08:32:14.318-05:00Key Up the Adventure MusicYou may remember a long time ago, when it rained so much I found a baby catfish stuck with it's head in a sewer grate in my subdivision because the lake at Dana Colbert Park overflowed, and then poured over the two ditches and drained down the access sidewalk to the park into the grate west of my house.
Well, with our torrents of rain this week, it happened again. Yesterday evening as we were SunnyDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04899150174103143277noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7259669950649660344.post-47503759783738020682013-04-16T07:21:00.001-05:002013-04-16T07:21:45.950-05:00AwarenessWow, it's been a while since I blogged. So sorry! There has been a lot going on. Most of it is just general life stuff and moving consolidation.
Yesterday, though, I had made a unilateral decision not to talk to X-man about the Boston Marathon bombings until we had found out more. Given his anxiety levels about danger these days, I thought it to be better.
Than, while I'm cleaning up dinner SunnyDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04899150174103143277noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7259669950649660344.post-36448358538323497552013-04-02T09:15:00.001-05:002013-04-02T09:15:04.785-05:00Let the Freak Outs BeginSince I have a spouse who likes to collect stuff and doesn't realize how much stuff he has, and I have a son who is no good at transitions, and I have a dog who is very protective and three cats who are stuck in their ways, I'm the person who has to keep the "crap" under control in our house. I think every household has this person, if there are more than one person in the house. The one who SunnyDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04899150174103143277noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7259669950649660344.post-23013757077589288522013-03-26T09:08:00.000-05:002013-03-26T09:08:27.404-05:00NYC: Day 4 It was our last day in NYC, and we had to get up early in order to get breakfast at the hotel (which was a very expensive organic-based restaurant with $9 juices), and catch a cab to go Circle Line Cruises, where our "Statue of Libery Cruise" was taking off. They only had one tour a day that was a) specifically went around that statue and 2) was less than 2 hours long. And yes, NYC has a lot to SunnyDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04899150174103143277noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7259669950649660344.post-8090278263505236642013-03-26T08:32:00.000-05:002013-03-26T09:08:57.236-05:00NYC: Day 3On Day 3, we totally slept in. I worked out in the gym and the boys watched some TV, until I returned and showered. We headed out around 11:15 a.m. and walked up to Rockefeller Square.
X-man was excited not just because he could watch the ice skaters (he's only gone once, and decided he didn't want to skate that day) but if you look in the back corner of the photo by the flags, his favorite SunnyDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04899150174103143277noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7259669950649660344.post-30580305228952419402013-03-26T07:30:00.002-05:002013-03-26T07:33:27.752-05:00NYC: Day 2On our second day in NYC, we got up and walked two blocks to Grand Central Terminal. It's the 100th anniversary of the train station (and also a key NYC subway stop). We went down to the food court and got breakfast and then sat in the station on very old wooden benches and people watched.
After breakfast, we went up to the main area where X-man discovered the Apple Store within the train SunnyDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04899150174103143277noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7259669950649660344.post-80149082359184449832013-03-23T18:57:00.001-05:002013-03-26T07:32:01.779-05:00NYC: Day 1Our trip to New York City with X-man was a success. He's a kid who thrives on constant stimulation, so being in the city that never sleeps was definitely exciting for him. It was non-stop adventure. We purchased our tickets, so we drove to Chicago to fly out, because they were cheaper than other areas. But we did get our hotel using MacTroll's travel points.
We arrived on Tuesday night and took SunnyDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04899150174103143277noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7259669950649660344.post-15217215271411697512013-03-18T20:55:00.002-05:002013-03-18T20:55:39.274-05:00Winding downAs a family, we're starting to realize that our time in Chambana is limited. We're talking about parks we want to play at before we leave, restaurants we want to visit and friends we want to see.
X-man has made playdates in the last week with two of his favorites from school. He and Bubba went to the Y pool on Saturday and enjoyed playing Marco Polo with me and some of the big boys. And when we SunnyDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04899150174103143277noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7259669950649660344.post-79534363902346548252013-03-16T21:23:00.002-05:002013-03-16T21:26:32.340-05:00Run without busting my moveTomorrow, I'm going to try to do my Couch to 5k run outside in the neighborhood on concrete. It's a walk/run mix, so it's not high intensity. There are no hills in my neighborhood or uneven farm roads. It's part of my attempt to be back to being able to run 20 minutes without foot pain on concrete for the first time since April 2011. It's been a long road. And I even signed up for a 5k the secondSunnyDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04899150174103143277noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7259669950649660344.post-65889459810197254802013-03-14T10:55:00.000-05:002013-03-14T17:46:42.641-05:00Worn OutSo, I'm just gonna say it. Selling your house is not for wusses. Especially when you put it on the market the weekend of your son's 7th birthday party.
I at least had enough foresight to hold the party NOT at the house. We had two calls on Friday morning about showing the house on Saturday.
One buyer said the house just didn't fit their needs right now. The other put in a very low offer that weSunnyDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04899150174103143277noreply@blogger.com0