Quick takes from my first couple days as a Chicagoan:
1. I am happy to report that the old lady smell has vacated the house. It just smells like Glade, Lysol, and bleach. Those are smells with which I’m familiar!
2. We met the house’s owners when we arrived on Friday evening. The deadbolt locks stuck, so I requested that the owner fix that for me before he left. Without missing a beat, he pulled out a file from his back pocket. Who carries around a file in their pocket? My comment to Jack was, “Well, at least he didn’t pull the file out of his shoe because then he would have been a pedophile!” I know, don’t quit my day job!
3. Itching to explore the immediate neighborhood, Jack and I took off on a long walk. We heard of a miles-long bike path that runs through the neighborhood. We found the path, hereafter referred to as the ‘path of enlightenment’ and ended up walking for nearly two hours. After getting lost, we discovered that the streets wind about concentrically. Whoops.
4. There is a strange phenomenon we noticed in my neighborhood…a house was pranked. Instead of the traditional TP and instant mashed potatoes, the front yard was full of pink plastic flamingoes. A hand-written poster board was in the yard that said, “You’ve been flamingoed!” What in the world does that mean? Does anyone know?
5. We’ve visited Meijer several times now (the housewares people know us by name), but this Meijer is different. It’s like living in a dream sequence, where facets are similar, but everything is just a bit off. Think of when you’re on vacation and Friends comes on at 5:30 instead of 7:30. It’s that kind of eerie.
6. Speaking of television, I’ve chosen to forego cable (at least for now!) and stick with the meager listing of HD channels accessible to the public. Except that since I’m in Chicagoland, I get 35 channels and only two are in Spanish! Weirdly, TV Land is one of my channel options. Who knew that I’d get my fill of (free) Andy Griffith, Lucille Ball, and June Cleaver? Why couldn’t E! have been the freebie?
7. Jack and I visited a Chicago pizza institution the other night and experienced our first ‘real’ deep dish pizza. What started us more than the pizza-induced hallucinations was the Cubsmania around here. I don’t know if it’s because I’m on the south side, if Sox fans just aren’t as vocal about their loyalty, or if this might be the year! Just kidding, Edge!
8. Please have patience with me (and I’ll return that same patience to AT&T), as my DSL is broken. It’s honestly killing me and I need some sort of internet withdrawal intervention. Obviously, I have lots to share with you but it’s contingent upon Jack being able to connect with AT&T and figure out what’s amiss. I will continue to write and I will post them when I fudge internet access!
Instant mashed potatoes? That's a new one to me, hmmm! Usually the pink flamingoes are something that a church group does or a more philanthropic organization. A friend of mine had it done because she donated a certain amount of time at the Cancer Society - I'm not sure if that's how they roll in Chicago but that's my understanding!
ReplyDeleteCan you post some pictures of your surroundings? I'd love to be able to picture you somewhere safe instead of the images in my head of you living in your car :)