FOOTBALL!!!

That's right folks, it's football season again! Well, actually it's week 3 of the season, but this is the first week that I get to wear my new Johnny Knox Bears jersey. It was a birthday present from Charleen and though I had it in time for last week's game, I didn't think it was the best thing to wear while moving. Anyway, it's a great jersey. One, it's Orange which is always a plus. Two, it's got the number 13 on it. Again, always a plus. And three, Knox is only in his second year as an NFL player, but he's ridiculously fast and fun to watch. I can't wait to see just how good he gets.

Anyway, things are going well. The apt is looking fantastic (thanks mostly to Charleen). The kitchen, living room, and bedroom are all set up. All that's left is a big pile of boxes in the spare room, but it's livable and it feels like a home. It's great to have a real home again.

Well, before I run the risk of this actually becoming a full length blog post, I'm off to get ready for the game.

GO BEARS!!!
BEAT THOSE CHEESEHEADS!!!

Since I Was Asked Today . . .

We got the kitchen organized. It's not perfect, and I will possibly be tweaking things as I spend more time in there, but it will do for now.

More pictures of the apartment coming as we get the other rooms settled.

(And I've just bumped Pat off the front page again.)

This Kitchen Is NOT for Short People

First off, congratulations to me for finding the cord to connect my camera to my computer semi-quickly.


Excuse the mess. Our new kitchen is quite spacious compared to what we've had in the past, but I have discovered that it is not exactly up to code for accessibility by the vertically challenged.

As you can see, we have a dishwasher, and the typical stove/oven combination. To the left of that is the refrigerator. All on one wall. The area where I'm standing to take the picture is the dining area, so while there's plenty of space, what you see is pretty much it as far as cabinets. We have under-the-sink cabinets (reserved for cleaning supplies, garbage bags, and the like), and a column of drawers (for silverware, cooking utensils, random gadgets, etc). No other lower storage.

And, if you'll notice, when it comes to the upper cabinets, there is ONE set that extends low enough to the point where I don't need a step-stool to access it. And not only that, but it BARELY extends that low. I can't even reach the second shelf comfortably. So basically, I'm thinking the bottom shelf of that cabinet is going to have to hold just a little bit of everything -- a few plates, bowls, and glasses, and anything else that will fit -- while everything else remains out of reach. We have a step-stool, of course; being only 5'3", I'm well-acquainted with it. I'm just not used to having to pull it out any time I want a glass of juice or bowl of cereal. Also, with the lack of lower-cabinet space, we may have to end up storing our pots and pans right on the stove, and just shove them in a closet somewhere if we ever need the kitchen to look nice for whatever reason.

Blargh. I'm just frustrated because I told Pat I should have the kitchen set up by the time he got home from work today, and the more boxes I open and the more things I try to put away, the more I realize that I just have NO clue how to cope with this particular kitchen's quirks.

5 Days . . .

Two posts in two days; guess I'm in a very bloggy mood this week.

So there's five days left until the official move to Iowa. Packing is coming along slowly but surely. Mostly it's just hard to group things together because my entire room here pretty much just consists of things that we didn't want to be without for months at a time (since the majority of our belongings are in a storage locker at the other end of town), so once you get past the obvious groupings of "clothes" and "books" and "music/movies" it's pretty much just complete randomness. Not to mention, a good chunk of it can't be packed up until this weekend anyway 'cause I'm still using it.

But, because most of our stuff is, as I said, already packed away in storage, this will definitely be the easiest move we've ever done, aside from possibly the time I moved from one apartment into an identical apartment down the hall, midway through my last year of college.

Anyway.

Things I'm looking forward to:

~ living with my husband again (what a crazy concept)
~ living with my cat again (!!!)
~ having my own kitchen again
~ having more than just one cramped room to call my own
~ not sharing a bathroom with a woman who spends an hour getting ready in the morning, and that's AFTER she gets out of the shower
~ not juggling two cars among four people (and, going along with this, not having to feel like I'm asking permission if I need a car for something other than work)
~ the excitement of getting to know a new city (and state! - I've never not lived in Illinois, it's going to be bizarre)

Things I'll miss:

~ having the bed to myself
~ hanging out with my brother (seriously, 10 years ago I would NOT have believed you if you told me this would be the case)
~ being close to family and friends

So, yeah, I'd say the pros definitely outweigh the cons.


EDIT: Just thought of another thing to look forward to -- not spending so much time on the phone! It wouldn't be as bad if I had a hands-free device that didn't hurt my ear to wear. Being better at multitasking would also help. But really, I'm just not a phone person.

Power and Beauty of Art

So, this is something that's been on my mind for a while; unfortunately, it's really hard to make a coherent blog post about it. But earlier today I was watching the last couple hours of VH1's 100 Greatest Artists of All Time, and it just struck me full force how much amazing music is out there. It's just mind-boggling to think about, and a little heartbreaking to know how much of it I will never hear.

I feel the same way about books. About a month back I hit my goal of 75 new books for the year, so I do read a lot. In fact, I set a goal earlier this year of reading 300 books by the time I'm 30, and now -- with nearly three years and only 124 books to go -- it seems that could be laughably easy. (Though of course, now that I've said that, life may find a way to prove me wrong.) But every time I come across something new I want to read, I just feel the weight of all these stories pressing down on me, knowing that my to-read list is growing faster than I can keep up with it. And now I'm feeling it again with music, only it's worse with music, because music is my life.

For those who may be unaware, I graduated with a BA in music. My plan was (is?) to go back to graduate school for a masters and doctorate in musicology and find a teaching job at a university. (I've recently started entertaining the notion of doing Library Science instead, but that's another story . . .)

Anyway, point being, I love music. It has always been a huge part of my life. I can't even tell you how much I miss being in a choir. And there are some pieces that give me chills every time I listen to them (the final movement of Verdi's Requiem being one of my absolute favorites). And I still feel so woefully ignorant, like I could spend my life studying and still only scratch the surface of what the great composers have to offer. And then there's the whole non-classical world. I was watching the VH1 special for two hours, saw snippets from the top 40 artists of all time, and it was like . . . wow, I really am missing out.

It's just kind of mind-blowing, how art can affect us. Whether it's music, literature, visual art, some combination of the above . . . it really is incredible. And unfortunately that doesn't even come close to describing what I feel about it, but that's really all I can say.

Bittersweet

Today was my last day at Borders. I told them I could work through next Thursday, but when my manager was making up the schedule I guess she and another manager had just been discussing my leaving, and so she made up the schedule thinking that I wasn't going to be there . . . and then realized that I was. But, whatever. My paycheck isn't so significant that a week off is going to seriously hurt me (especially lately I've been working only about 15 hours, if that) and it will make next week much less stressful. I haven't even really started packing yet, so there's all that to do. I made one last hair appointment (didn't know if I'd be able to squeeze that in before I left). And I can read a couple more books guilt-free that they don't have at the Dubuque library (yes, I've already been looking into that as I add books to my to-read list).

I really am going to miss this job. There were a couple customers today that made me question that (there are always a couple) but really this is one of the best jobs I've had, mostly because of my coworkers. I'm hoping to transfer to the Dubuque store, but I honestly don't know if it will be the same. It's hard to imagine working in a store where everything is the same except the people. My managers are all awesome. Pretty much everyone is great to work with.

So, yeah. Even though I'm looking forward to moving, and even a little relieved to be done with work earlier than expected, I am going to miss it.

Yeah, so I'm lazy...

Ok, so I've been a bit lazy. I meant to write a post when I got my new disc golf disc that is awesome...and I didn't. I meant to write a post after I had my 3-month review at work that went well...and I didn't. I meant to write a post after I had looked at an appartment...and I didn't. So yeah, we've established the fact that I'm lazy. It doesn't help that I only have good internet access 'till about 5:30 PM when everyone else gets back to the motel and eats up all the bandwidth, but mostly I'm just lazy. :)

Anyway, as Charleen mentioned we have an official move date! In just over a week I get to move out of the motel and into an apt with my wife and my cat. Honestly if I had to pick, I'd have a hard time deciding what I was more excited about: Getting to move back in with my wife and seeing her more than every other weekend, not having to drive back to Chicago every other weekend, getting the cat back from my parents, sleeping in my own bed, or not having to eat fast food almost every stinking night. The fast food one is a very strong competitor. Thankfully, I don't have to pick one. I get them all!!! 10 days away and it can't get here fast enough.

Not All the Attention It Deserves

So, I don't have the energy to explain all the updates of the past week or so (actually I'm surprised Pat hasn't posted) but . . . we are officially moving to Iowa. Or rather, I'm moving to Iowa, and Pat's moving out of the hotel he's been in for the past three months out there.

I should be relieved that everything is coming together. And I am. But it's still weighing down on me, and I suspect I won't fully feel myself again till it's all over. Just over two weeks till that happens.