A Nice Surprise

I spent the afternoon at my first ever Cubs Game! My boss came into my office around lunch time, and asked if I was really busy. I first I was thinking to myself, is she really that obtuse? I KNOW she knows we're busy. So I give the noncomittal "Its working but its under control". Then she puts a piece of paper in my hand and says she'll be driving and that she's leaving in about 30 minutes.

When I look down, the paper is a tickets for the Chicago Cubs Game. That starts in one hour! Whoa!!!!

The picture was taken with my phone from where I was sitting. We were guests of Aon, since the insurance provider for our members was having their yearly (or something frequently) meeting, and had taken out the directors and other directly involved with the insurance process. It was an absolutely fantastic, completely unexpected surprise. I told my boss thank you for thinking of me.

And now its time to make snickerdoodles, because I get to see LAUREN!!!!! She's in town for the weekend and my anam cara and a group of us are meeting up for dinner tomorrow night. I will NOT forget my camera.

Flying Ducks and other news

Some things can only happen to me, apparently!

Great example. I was walking home one day last week, and discovered one of the dozens of nursing homes in my area has a pet duck. I was made aware of this fact as I was walking past/below their 2nd floor patio, where the duck has a coop in the corner. He must have thought Lake Michigan looked more appealing than his little pond. Who can blame him? He was trying to make an escape as I was directly underneath. My head was in the way as he teetered then came over the fence towards the ground. Eeek!

I was a little startled to say the least, and a few staff people came rushing down to corral him back inside. It happened so quickly it felt like one of those half surreal moments that you couldn't have dreamed up if you tried. Then I put my ipod on the Beatles to regain my sesnses to 8 Days a Week.

Miss you Gramma

I didn't realize how much I had really come to love my monthly roadtrips to MN until the main reason for them was taken out of my life. Miss you gramma, but so happy you are no longer in pain, and alone.

Coming back from the funeral was a big turning point for me, now that I have a month to look back on. I stopped living for work, for one. I get my butt outta the office by 5:30, and take a walk home along the lake. I get out of my place on the weekends and try to find someplace new to explore every week. And I make sure to give myself a break now and then, and just take it easy.

random stuff

Some guy was walking by me on the sidewalk earlier today. He was tucking back his jacket the same way people do in movies when they're giving the not so subtle hint they've got a gun holster on their hip, or they're showing a law badge. This guy... he was saying "Back off, I've got a Shiny Blue Walkman, YO!".

Its very windy today.

I had someone tell me today that I had so much positive energy that they felt they just had to stop me and talk to me. Turns out they were a massage therapist... we chitchatted for a sec, I gave me card, and the guy was having some issues with IL MT licensing laws and so I told him to check the website. When he walked away ... he said "the wind loves your smile".

Irish cream in coffee is more than my normal level of sweetness, but it is quite yummy at the moment.

The Ugly Truth was a good mindless 2 hours of easy laughs, but a few things got my attention. Blogging more about that somewhere else.

Its August 1. Happy early birthday, M. Your 18th surprise party will always be one of the most favorite I've thrown. I'll never forget the look of pure surprise, and how long we were able to keep you fooled.

I've started looking just about everyone in the eye and smiling as I've passed them on the sidewalk. Haven't really gotten many responses, but that's not why I'm doing it. And part of the problem in terms of responses is that I'm at the intersection of Broadway/Aldine/Halstead on Halstead Market Day. Enough said.