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By kilax, September 27, 2017 6:42 am

We were hanging out in the living room Sunday night when Steven says to me “Did you just see something fall on Chewie?”

Chewie usually sits on the back of the loveseat

I didn’t see it. He went over to investigate, and returned with “umm, I think that’s for you.”

I grabbed a tissue, thinking his “that’s for you” meant it was a spider (Steven doesn’t deal with spiders).

But I didn’t need a tissue at all. It was just the MBP bracelet. It was wrapped around Chewie’s wrist, and the movement of it popping open made Steven think he saw something falling.

Ha ha ha. So, yes, three+ years* later, my mom, snister, and I are still pranking each other by hiding this bracelet somewhere when we see one another (see the story of how this started here).

I actually figured it was at my house, as my snister very recently pranked Mom with it, and I knew it would be fresh on Mom’s mind. I was searching for it after my parents left on Sunday. I’m happy it wasn’t somewhere completely obscure, and we found it quickly!

And now, it’s my turn. Muah ha ha.

*During the span of this three years, the original bracelet was lost. End of our fun, right? Not so fast… Dad bought a laptop bag at a garage sale, and lo and behold, what was randomly in the bottom of it? Another MBP bracelet. What are the odds?! I am not sure if this is the original (kind of looks like it, although an Alaska keychain was added to that one at some point), or the new one.

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By kilax, September 25, 2017 12:36 pm

What a quick weekend (said everyone, after every weekend, ever)! We were on the go from the moment my parents and maternal grandmother arrived Friday night.

We started with dinner at El Famous (a must!!!),

Everyone loves El Famous!

then did the indoor portion of the house tour for Grandma when we came back.

Dad checking out our Smith Machine

We had divided activities planned for Saturday, which is pretty common for my parents’ visits. Steven usually has a project planned for himself and my dad to work on, and my mom and I do our own thing (sometimes something productive, sometimes not, ha!).

This weekend’s featured project was burying the sump pump and gutter drain pipe. Awhile ago, Steven connected them and installed a corrugated pipe to get the water away from the house and toward the pond.

Connected pipes

Headed toward the pond

The plan for this weekend was to install a new pipe and bury it. We upgraded to a rigid, smoother pipe so it’ll be easier to snake it if something gets stuck in there.

Steven and Dad started their day early – they left to rent a trencher and pick up a few more parts for the project. While they were doing that, I gave Grandma the outdoor part of the house tour. Then Grandma, Mom, and I headed out to check out some garage sales and passed Steven and Dad on their way back to the house.

When we came back for lunch, they’d gotten so much done!

They had a lot of the trench dug, and the catch basin installed (not pictured). They took a break to eat with us, then got back to work. And we continued our adventures – on to the Jelly Belly Warehouse Tour, and to check out Lake Michigan.

Then we stopped home again, to change for church. Steven and Dad were starting to wrap things up at this point, and had to go get a few last pieces and return the trencher.

When we returned from church they were basically done for the day – they’d covered most of the pipe up, and built a little wall at the end to hold back the earth around the end of the pipe. We still have to cover that part, and take care of some extra dirt in the yard. But it’s nice to have that pipe buried and out of the way! It was a bit of an annoyance, and definitely an eyesore.

Everyone was tired Saturday night, especially Steven and Dad! It was a hard day for them, and hot out (in the 90s). We ate dinner, played a couple of rounds of cards and called it a night.

Dad and I went on a bike ride Sunday morning (yay!). When I came back, I made pancakes for everyone, and we hung out and played a few more rounds of cards before it was time for them to take off!

It felt like such a quick visit. I think packed days do that to me! Hopefully we can have a bit more downtime the next time they visit. And I definitely need to make sure I take a nap anytime I have guests arriving on a Friday (I wake up at 3:45 am on Fridays and staying up past 10:00 pm without a nap just ruins me for Saturday).

It was nice to have my Grandma see our house for the first time. Even though I was joking around about “Grandma Level Cleaning” I really do enjoy cleaning our home and have a great amount of pride about it. Steven and I both do. We love our little cottage in the woods, and we love having visitors!

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By kilax, September 22, 2017 8:09 am

… today is the first official day of fall and I am going to put out the few fall decorations I have, dammit!

Ha ha, yep, that’s it!

In celebration of everyone’s favorite season, I am giving away a $10 Starbucks giftcard, good for at least 1.75 PSLs (this is not sponsored, I bought it this morning with my own money).

$10 Starbucks Giftcard GIVEAWAY Rules

1. One reader will receive a prize.
2. REQUIRED to enter the giveaway: leave a comment telling me you want to enter.
3. BONUS extra entry: tell me a funny joke.
4. This giveaway is open until 12:00 PM CST on Sunday September 24. I will announce the winners on Sunday September 24 (in the training recap post).
5. Random.org will pick the the winner.
6. This giveaway is open to all readers, in all locations.

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By kilax, September 21, 2017 6:27 am

• I signed up for the Wisconsin Half Marathon this week (the race is May 5th). This will be my 10th year in a row running it! This note in registration about refunds cracked me up:

• I’m confused by the color of this pumpkin bath fizzy. Why is it blue?! And not pumpkin colored? Things that make you go hmm. Ha. I LOVE LOVE LOVE bath bombs. LOVE.

• I decided to get away from a watch face with a step count emphasis… but then I found this fishing cat watch face… and the cat only “catches” the entire fish if you meet your step goal. And it kind of looks like Khali (if she was wearing a space suit). So yeah, totally didn’t get away from a step based watch face, oops!

• I had a Grandma Level Cleaning inception moment Tuesday night – I talked to my Grandma on the phone while cleaning. Ha! Grandma is muchos excited about meeting the ducks during her visit this weekend (and told me what she’d be bringing to feed them). These two ducks showed up a few weeks ago. They like to hang out in the driveway (eyeroll). I don’t think we’ve seen them before which means… they need names!

Do you see Snow in the photo?

When I try to pull in to the driveway, or back out of the garage, I have to get out of the car and walk toward these guys so they’ll move – they are not afraid of the car

• Have any other local folks seen some of the Police Memorial Foundation dogs around Chicago? Here are the four I’ve seen:

• I love this photo of me and Xaarlin from Sunday’s race! (And am happy she pointed it out to me – I completely forgot to check the race photos!)

Link to Random Thoughts Thursday 147

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By kilax, September 19, 2017 6:16 am

Ahh, adventures in Grandma Level Cleaning.

The last time I cleaned the outside and inside of the house windows, I spent all day working on it, and was really proud of my effort… until the sun shone through the windows the next day and I saw streaks. Everywhere. WAH.

So this time, I googled how to prevent that, and the tips on this site worked great – I used their 1:1 hot water to vinegar ratio, and wiped the squeegee after each use (duh, Kim, why didn’t you think of that before?). I also made sure to adjust the squeegee handle length depending on clearance around the bottom of the windows (so I could pull it all the way down continuously and not hit anything). I spent a long time working on it, and again, was proud of my efforts.

Until yesterday.

I was working in the office when I heard a loud thud and immediately knew what it was. Khali ran from the office toward the noise.

Snow rushed out of his house to see what was up.

Data used this opportunity to finish Khali’s breakfast (that’s not different from any other day though, ha).

Yep, a bird hit the window.

This actually happened several times last week, before I cleaned the windows, but this was the first time the bird stunned itself and I saw where it landed. And how convenient that it landed on Snow’s porch. Not.

I immediately took Snow inside, then made a little box for the bird to recuperate in. I read that after they hit a window, they need a safe, dark, warm space to chillax and let their heart rate come down.

So I put the bird in the box, let Snow back outside, and put the box in the bathroom and closed the door. After an hour, I took the box outside and opened the lid. The bird was breathing, but didn’t fly away.

I was trying to be calm, but I was worried the bird was seriously hurt (broken wing?) and I was going to have to find a way to put him out of his misery. Then spend the rest of the day crying in bed.

Luckily it didn’t come to that. Another hour later, I took him back out, opened the lid again, and lifted the towel he was on a bit, and off he went! Phew!

I was so relieved!

I’m hoping this doesn’t happen again, but it probably will since our windows are so damn clean. My snister was telling me about stickers you could put on your windows so the birds can see them better, but… I don’t want stickers on my windows. I’ll have to look in to another solution.

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By kilax, September 14, 2017 6:26 am

• One of the things I got my snister off of her birthday wishlist this year was a custom portrait of her cat, Dexter, from an etsy shop. I love how it turned out! I’ll have to get one of my kitties someday! This is not an ad, I paid for it myself.

(frame not included in my etsy order – I picked that up)

• Our street was paved while we were out of town last weekend. Yay! I hope it doesn’t get torn apart this winter.

• It might be time to calm down a bit on the Philippa Gregory books. When I was sick a few weeks ago, I was having Tudor-related dreams (really, nightmares). Ha. Like I mentioned last week though, it’s been fun reading fiction.

• Sound the alarms! My parents and maternal grandma may be visiting next weekend which means I need to get the house Grandma Level Clean!!! Grandma Level Clean is the cleanest my house ever gets. We’ll see how much I can get done before she arrives!

• I was trying to find posts where I’ve mentioned Grandma Level Clean before, and didn’t find what I expected – something detailing what that level of clean entails. But I did find this post, where the second bullet mentions it, and interestingly (to me only, ha) the first bullet mentions a major work disappointment, which is why I haven’t even mentioned (on here) some work news I may have.

Link to Random Thoughts Thursday 146

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By kilax, September 11, 2017 8:30 am

Part of my birthday gift (in July) from my father-in-law was plane tickets for me and Steven to go to Kansas City this past weekend to attend Star Wars Day at the K – a Star Wars themed Royals game (against the Twins). I’ve wanted to attend one of the Star Wars themed baseball games for awhile, and packed my Leia costume accordingly. Thank you, David!

We flew in Friday, and the game was on Sunday, so Saturday’s plan was to spend time with my snister and her family. I was surprised when I got there and saw my mom and dad were there too – I had NO idea they’d be there! My snister had been texting me and my mom that morning about a parade they were at and my mom was responding about how fun it looked, when she was actually there, with Christina. Those tricksters! What an awesome surprise!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We spent the day chatting, eating, watching a movie in their home theater, and of course, baby snugging!!!

It’s so nice when we can all get together – I can’t wait to do it again!

My brother-in-law is missing from the pic because he had to leave for two different birthday parties. Popular guy!

It was hot on Sunday, so I opted to only wear the buns part of the Leia costume to the game. We had great seats on the third base line, but they were in the full sun with no shade until later innings and I didn’t want to make myself even more miserable in that hot costume! 

I was hoping to see more people in costume, but they probably were thinking the same thing as me – they didn’t want to be uncomfortable! We saw a few cool full costumes (on the field and by fans). A few droids were walking around, at times there were characters on the field, and there was a funny moment when the big screen showed Darth Vader clapping in one of the viewing boxes to honor a veteran. A few people had Star Wars shirts on. I got a lot of compliments on my “hair.” And one guy asks me “Is today Star Wars day or something? A lot of people have Star Wars stuff on.” Ha.

I was hoping they’d have Star Wars music and sound effects during the game, but there wasn’t much. But that’s all good, because it was a fun game to watch, with the Royals scoring 6 runs in the second inning, and 4 in the seventh! We only sat in our seats for the first, second, and seventh through ninth innings because we were too hot, so I was happy we got to see all the action from our seats (the final score was 11-3).

This will probably be my only Royals game of the year, and I’m glad it was festive, and a win, AND that I got to go with family! (Thanks for the tickets, Andrew!)

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By kilax, September 7, 2017 12:47 pm

• Last weekend, Steven worked on clearing out more brush by the pond (not sure if I ever finished posting about the area we cleared last year, but we planted grass over it and it looks really nice now). I can’t believe how fast Steven cleared all that – he got it all done in about two and a half hours while I was out running errands. We have lots of ideas for what we’d like to do with the entire pond area, over the years!

• We attempted to take Snow to the vet last week for a checkup. It didn’t happen. Sigh. He freaked the hell out each time we tried to put him in the carrier. Blood was drawn (Steven’s). It made me feel foolish – like I don’t know what the hell I’m doing. I may look for a vet that makes house calls. I want to make sure Snow’s healthy. And get him neutered (that obviously would not happen at home, ha!).

Bonus – he ran to the fireplace to hide and was so scared he peed all over

• We celebrated our anniversary with dinner out in Milwaukee on Friday, and a boat ride on the Red Witch, followed by ice cream, in Kenosha on Saturday. We had fun, and I’d like to ride the Red Witch again when I don’t have a cold (and it’s not stormy, ha!).

• I am so pumped about my favorite coworker returning to work from maternity leave next week. So. So. Pumped. (Which is probably the opposite of how she feels.) We already reserved seats next to each other for our office day next week! Yay!
• Ha, speaking of our new office space, my boss is making little “name tags” for our lockers and asked (it wasn’t mandatory) for photos of ourselves. I sent her this one:

Link to Random Thoughts Thursday 145

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By kilax, September 1, 2017 6:51 am

Today is our ten year wedding anniversary!

Babies!

Steven and I met at Iowa State University (at a frat party – all the LOLz) in August 2002, starting dating in September 2002, and have been together since! Steven moved to Chicagoland in May 2003 and I moved in with him in May 2007. We got married that September, at the Cuneo Mansion (famous from My Best Friend’s Wedding). And ten years later, here we are!

We’ll celebrate with a night out this weekend, and a trip this winter.

I’m very proud to call Steven my partner. He inspires me daily with how hardworking and visionary he is, at home and with his business.

He also makes me laugh daily, which is very important to me (I only pretend to be serious on occasion, mostly at work).

And most importantly – he does all the cooking! Ha ha!

Here’s to more years of adventure together!

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By kilax, August 31, 2017 6:23 am

• Steven is still working on setting up the workout area in our basement. This weekend, he hung the punching bag and speed bag. Those will be fun to use!!!

• You know you’re an adult when you get excited about road work on your street (or you’re a little kid, ha ha)! A “Road Construction Ahead” sign popped up on our street Monday. Steven and I crossed our fingers that it meant the county is resurfacing our pothole ridden street, and, yay, they are! Parts of our street were bad enough that people always drove on the wrong side to avoid it (unless traffic was coming, of course).

What it looked like after they stripped off the top layer on Tuesday

• A few weeks ago on Facebook, a Chicago news station reposted a five month old architecture article that had INCORRECT information in it about federal building property in Chicago. I knew this information was incorrect because of where I work. The article contained other information too (that I don’t know the validity of) but everyone was commenting with outrage about the information I knew was false. I got so freaking worked up about it, and that people believed it was true, and that that reputable news station was spreading false news. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. Don’t believe everything you read (or hear)!
• I’m really enjoying reading a fiction book! So much that I ordered another one. And… writing that makes me think I REALLY need to get a library card already.
• SPOILER ALERT. I am very late to the game and just finished 13 Reasons Why on Netflix. Was anyone else disappointed with the lack of resolution in the ending? Maybe there will be more answers if they do a second season.

Link to Random Thoughts Thursday 144