Fun & Games – Page 7 – Not Content to Crawl

Party Weekend

Posted onJuly 18, 2016

Ugh, I feel hungover today. It’s mostly lack of sleep related and not alcohol induced since I didn’t really drink much last night at my friend’s annual party. But I’ll get to that in a bit.

Early Saturday morning (around 1 am) I woke up with the worst panic attack ever. It doesn’t matter how many times they happen, I’m always certain I’m going to die. It’s so damn scary! I immediately took a Xanax, stripped off most of my clothing, and ran a rag under the water and put it on the back of my neck since I was overheated. Then I turned on Netflix as a distraction to wait for the medication to kick in. Joe was sleeping during all this, but I woke him up when I started shaking uncontrollably. That was a new thing that hasn’t happened before, but apparently is common during panic attacks. At some point I passed out because Joe said at 3 am he woke up and had to turn off the TV and remove my glasses.

Needless to say, Saturday morning I was feeling crappy even though I slept in. We had plans to visit my second cousin for a pool/game day around 3 pm. I started baking brownies (two batches – one for my cousin and one for the party we were attending on Sunday) when suddenly the power went out. There weren’t any storms or anything, but everyone on the block lost power. I immediately reported it to ComEd and gave my cousin a head’s up since I hadn’t even showered yet! That threw a kink in everything so we decided to postpone for another day. I felt simultaneously relieved and bummed because it would be nice to get to know her better (we recently connected on Facebook after seeing her at a funeral, the only place it ever seems like the majority of our family sees one another) but I was feeling really out of it thanks to the panic attack so it was for the best.

Once the power came back on I just finished baking the brownies. That evening Joe ordered pizza and we watched Wild Card which is the worst Jason Statham movie we’ve ever seen. What a total crapfast! I rated it half a star on Flixster because it’s pure garbage. In contrast, we watched Pixels on Friday night which was actually better than I was expecting. I gave it 3 stars out of 5 because it wasn’t anything spectacular but at least it held my interest and I liked the CGI video game characters.

Sunday we met up with our friends at Bulldog Ale House at 3 pm for lunch before the party. I was planning on ordering tator tots with my boneless wings since every year I drool over my friend’s tots, but they no longer offer them. WTF? How hard is it to have tator tots on the menu? Joe and I shared an order of waffle fries but they weren’t worth the $4 we were charged. They also started charging for dipping sauce for the wings. I’m pretty sure that’s a new thing too. Overall I was a little irked but it was still fun catching up with our friends who we hadn’t seen in awhile.

We arrived at the party sometime after 4 pm and it was hot, humid, and sunny. Some clouds rolled in shortly after, however, which made things much more comfortable. As I vowed last year, we brought chips. Three bags, in fact, in addition to the two batches of brownies I brought (which received more than a few glowing reviews) and the vodka infused cherries Joe made. We brought our bathing suits fulling intending to jump in the pool or hot tub but never got around to it. The pool was occupied by kids splashing around most of the time and it was too humid to make going into the hot tub any fun. That’s ok, though. We walked down a few blocks to the fest to watch the fireworks and due to the wind got pelted with debris from them which was rather annoying. Afterwards we hung out for a little while before taking off when it started to rain. My friend had to be up early for work anyway since unlike previous years she couldn’t take the day off as she had just gone back to work after being out for three months for medical reasons.

I was rather awake when we got home so I put Netflix on for awhile. Joe fell asleep and I was surfing on my phone when I realized The Cure was playing a show in Hawaii which is five hours behind us. I hadn’t planned on watching it, but since I was up I figured what the hell. Someone was Periscoping the whole thing and it sounded so good! They played a great set, including a Seventeen Seconds encore (At Night, M, Play for Today, and A Forest) which was awesome. By the time that was over it was 4 am!

I managed to drag my butt out of bed around 11 am because the landscapers were making a racket outside. Even though I only had 3 vodka cherries and a little bit of an amaretto sour, I feel hungover. I’m eating pizza and potato chips as I write this. I’m going to be so screwed up trying to get to bed at a decent hour tonight for work tomorrow! My boss is on vacation all this week so it should be pretty quiet at least. As if that even matters – my boss never micromanages me so it’s not going to be much different than any other week.

Taste of Wheaton

Posted onJune 5, 2016

After yesterday’s gloominess today was a ray of sunshine, literally. It was in the mid 70’s and other than how windy it’s been, it’s been a perfect day. At 1 pm we headed over to the Taste of Wheaton. We like going just to people watch, which is basically what we did for an hour and a half. We sat on one of the many benches near their stage, listened to music, and observed. We usually don’t buy any food because there’s not much to choose from considering it’s called the TASTE of Wheaton. Also, it’s bad enough the food is overpriced, but what really gets me is it isn’t anything exciting either. Plus more than a handful of booths were empty. Did the vendor just not show up or are they against working on Sundays like Chik Fil A? In any case, we left because I was getting hungry and wanted to go home and make lunch.

On the way back we stopped at Dunkin Donuts to try their iced green tea. I’m still not even sure they gave me green tea since it tasted like regular tea to me. I got it unsweetened, though, so maybe it’s harder to tell the difference between them. I’d like to try their peach iced tea at some point. I had forgotten it wasn’t just iced coffee that’s $1 from 2-4 pm. Oh, and I’m still nursing my Almond Joy iced coffee from Friday. The ice takes days to melt if you stick it in the fridge.

I Ate Too Much This Weekend & Hung Out With My Brother

Posted onMay 23, 2016

Friday morning we HAD to stop at Target after the movie to take advantage of the junk food that was on sale. Seriously, the healthiest thing in our cart was the non-artificially sweetened ketchup! Doritos were $1.50 and there were cupcake flavored Oreos on clearance. It’s no wonder I can’t lose weight! Joe works out like a fiend so he can’t go hog wild on the weekends and he’s still lean and muscular. I hate that.

After dropping the groceries off at home we decided to catch a matinee showing of Angry Birds. I was really looking forward to seeing it but it was just ok. It’s funny how the two movies I was looking forward to were just average but I really enjoyed the one Joe wanted to see (Captain America Civil War). I guess I should let him choose all the movies from now on.

After putzing around the house a bit we headed to Hickory Hills to meet up with E and his girlfriend to have dinner. We’ve been trying to find places that have Groupons since I can get Groupon Bucks from our Discover card cash back. That way very little is spent out of pocket. We got a $40 Groupon for The Sock Bar and Grill so our bill was only $1.58; with tip our total OOP was $10. Not too shabby for four people to eat and Joe to drink a few beers. We probably spent closer to $20 though – since E was running late Joe and I played two games of darts while we waited. It brought back memories to when we first starting hanging out and would play darts fairly regularly at two specific sports bars. After dinner E and his girlfriend played a game of darts as well which we paid for and Joe had one last beer (which was only $1.50).

Saturday morning we got up early (6:30) and rode our bikes over to Camera Park and did a few laps. In total it was only 5 miles which is not much for Joe but was enough for me as I get used to biking. There’s a pond at the park that is full of wildlife. I stopped to rest while Joe did an additional loop and I spotted ducks, two egrets, and lots of songbirds. I think there was even a beaver dam. I plan to go back there soon with my camera.

Later Saturday morning we went to the JustPlay! festival in Carol Stream and walked around. Most of what they have is geared toward kids although there was a zip line that looked interesting but the line was too long and I’m afraid of heights so we decided to skip it. After tiring of all the people watching we headed to Walmart for a few things.

Back at home we were just lounging around enjoying the breeze from having all the windows open when my brother (B) texted to ask what we had going on. I invited him over and after some back and forth discussing specifics he eventually arrived at 4 pm. We played bags for awhile, mostly while Joe was picking up a deep dish pizza from Lou Malnati’s. We still had the $25 bonus certificate from December which is only good through June so might as well.

After dinner and chatting we watched a comedy special on Amazon Prime and Joe was falling asleep so he went up to bed. B and I stayed up to watch another special until I found myself dozing on the couch. It was midnight by that point. B decided to spend the night and we went to bed.

Sunday I was up at 6:30 again and after realizing I wasn’t going to be able to sleep any longer I played on my phone for awhile and then worked out on the elliptical for 45 minutes. B finally got up around 9:30 am and we all had breakfast while discussing what to do on such a beautiful day. We decided on visiting Northside Park in Wheaton because they have a zip line there. Unfortunately there were a ton of kids using it so we just walked around the paths there. We spotted an Eastern Kingbird (which I’ve never seen before and was only able to identify thanks to my trusty Merlin Bird ID app) and a Baltimore Oriole. We also saw some very small, yet very loud, frogs in one of the water logged areas. The park was looking real good and with all that wildlife I’m itching to go back with my camera.

After the park we went to Bulldog Ale House to take advtange of their 39¢ wings on Sundays. I always get the garlic parmesean. Joe got sweet chili and B got savory boubon and garlic parm. B also ordered some warm soft pretzels as an appetizer to share because he treated us to lunch which was real nice and appreciated.

We didn’t do much after lunch but hang out at the house. B and I played a game on the PS3 which I had borrowed from the library – The LEGO Movie Videogame – which was really cute. It’s not quite as fun to play as other LEGO games I’ve played but I liked how it follows the movie plot as it progresses. I don’t think B enjoyed it as much since he hasn’t seen the movie.

B took off at 6 pm and we spent the rest of the evening watching shows off the DVR since it’s going away on Tuesday. I was so sleepy that I went to bed at 9:30 even though it took me awhile to actually fall asleep. That happens a lot – I will be falling asleep on the couch but when I get upstairs I lay in bed awhile. Weird.

Weekend Recap: 04/15-04/18

Posted onApril 18, 2016

Happy Tax Day! Hope you remembered to file them on time. In the past when we were owed a refund we’d be all over it but we waited until mid March since we had to pay. Still waiting to get our money back from Illinois, however. Not surprised they are taking so long either. SMH at this state.

Friday after the Cubs game we stopped at Chipotle to pick up dinner. We used the coupons they sent us in the mail so the total for two burrito bowls plus chips & salsa was $7 which was covered by a Chipotle gift card. Shortly after eating we drove down to see Joe’s son in a music competition at his school.

Saturday morning we did a little shopping at Target and since we have $50 of credit on our Starbucks card thanks to Groupons (gotta love the $10 of credit for only $5 offers) we stopped for a little treat too. Joe had a coffee and I tried one of their shaken iced teas since it was 10% off in the Cartwheel app.

I chose the green tea with lemonade flavor in the smallest size possible since I wasn’t sure if I’d like it. Turns out it was delicious! But $3? Come on. Seems pretty steep (pun intended) for half a glass of tea since the rest was ice.

A little rant – Target needs to get their shit together with their signage. See this little gem?

Guess what? NONE of the Lays chips they sell fall within those size parameters. Luckily I decided to check the Cartwheel app and the size range was different than the sign posted because I was getting very frustrated thinking they’d offer 40% off non-existent chips. Sheesh.

When we got back from the store I wrapped Brother #1’s birthday gifts while doing some laundry.

Yes, my brother is turning 37 next week, what of it? LOL. We also got him a shelf from IKEA to store his overflowing DVDs and video games that were piling up on his bedroom floor due to lack of storage.

We arrived at my parents’ house around 5:30 pm. Brother #2 was already there and Joe put the shelf together while my brothers played video games. It didn’t take long because IKEA makes it simple and you don’t even need more than a hammer which is nice. Once Brother #2’s girlfriend arrived we had dinner which was Dominos pizza, meatloaf, mashed potatos, mac & cheese and some other stuff. We played some games my mom put together where the prizes were $1 bills and lotto scratchers. She’s really into that lately.

After dinner we played Cards Against Humanity and then had cake.

My brother wanted a purple theme but the pink & purple letters look girlier than the cake my mom had for my birthday!

At some point prior to the CAH Brother #2 brought out glow bracelets and the one he was shaking up had a hole in it so blue glow particles ended up everywhere on the floor, his shirt, and the table. Luckily the cake was covered or it would have been ruined!

We brought our Bears cornhole set with us at Brother #2’s request but didn’t get around to playing since Brother #1 isn’t into it and it didn’t seem right to play something he wasn’t going to participate in at his birthday party.

We ended up staying until a little after 11 pm because that hour drive home is a bitch.

Sunday we went to a craft show at Lisle High School where we ended up paying $14 for this soy candle.

It smells soooo good though and it burns for 60 hours so I don’t think it’s too bad. The woman makes them in her kitchen so I didn’t mind spending a little money to help someone with their own business.

We also grabbed two steak tacos (one for each of us) from a booth set up at the show from a place called Taco Diner. I’m always worried about trying a new place since good steak tacos are hard to come by but these were delicious. They had the perfect flavor, no fatty/chewy pieces, and the tacos were stuffed with meat so they were very filling. We took them outside and sat enjoying the nice day. When we were finished we walked around the park that borders the high school.

On the way home we drove through the arboretum to see how the trees are coming along. I want to make sure to catch them in bloom but they haven’t started flowering yet.

We made sure to get home before 2 pm so Joe could watch the Hawks game. I worked out on the elliptical a little and then installed a game on my iPad. I’m completely addicted to Disney’s Tsum Tsum game. Joe alerted me to its existence on Saturday and I haven’t been able to get enough of it. Since you only earn one game play every 15 minutes I had to install it on my iPad so I can play it more often. Puzzle games always get me and this one is super cute on top of it.

Today we went to Cosley Zoo in the morning just so we could enjoy the nice weather. It was way more crowded than I expected for 10:30 am on a Monday. The main parking lot was full and there was only one spot left in the secondary lot. I took a lot of photos and we just sat at one of the tables people-watching. By 11:30 it was half as busy as before so note to self – go closer to lunchtime during the week.

More Cosley Zoo photos here

On the way home we stopped to get some food for the meals Joe plans to make this week. I must say, I’ve adapted quite well to him being home. I don’t even miss my alone time as much as I thought I would and I like not having to worry about cooking and cleaning. It’s going to be a rude awakening for yours truly once he goes back to work.

I joined Joe for his weight lifting today and my arms are sore even though I didn’t do much. I wanted to add weights to my routine since all I’ve been doing is cardio, plus right now it’s difficult to go on the elliptical because it’s too warm in the house. Loving this time of year where we don’t have to run the heat or air conditioning, though!

Now I have to get going – we’re making homemade pizza for dinner.

Roller Skating Party

Posted onApril 11, 2016

The nice thing about Joe and I both having Mondays off is that we can go out on Sundays without stressing about the weekend almost being over.

Sunday we went to a private roller skating party in Lombard organized by one of our Meetup groups. We didn’t recognize anyone there except for one girl we met during our board game meetup, but there wasn’t much time for socializing anyway. What was so fantastic was that there were under 80 people in attendance which made skating so much easier because there were less people to navigate around.

It’s funny how quickly you can get back into the groove even if you haven’t skated for years (which I haven’t; it’s been 5 since we visited a rink). I was shaky at first but by the end of the evening I was able to do the cross-over with my skates when turning without tripping myself. Joe had a little more difficulty turning since he opted to bring his roller blades. Neither one of us fell, however, which is more than I can say for a lot of the attendees. But I have to hand it to the people who clearly were struggling because at least they came out and tried.

A 2-hour private rental (on Sundays at least) is only $400; they charged $10 per person and donated the amount above the rental fee to a charity. I ended up having to rent skates for $4 since when I pulled out my roller blades earlier that afternoon to clean and try them on I discovered the plastic clasps were broken. They are over 20 years old at this point, but that stinks because I’d like to get back into blading when it gets warmer since it’s such good exercise and but doesn’t feel like it.

Speaking of exercise, there was a poster at the rink stating that an hour of roller skating burns 600 calories which is impressive, if it were true. But my weight loss app and a few other calculators online peg it closer to 350-400. Not that I’m complaining. I’d say we skated for about an hour and fifteen minutes total – we got there just after 4 when it started, took a few short breaks here and there, and left five minutes before 6 pm.

There was a disco theme to the gathering so some people were dressed up and they played mostly disco music, although I did get to hear Material Girl which was awesome (and P.Y.T. during the ladies only skate). I could not stop myself from singing along with Material Girl as I skated because I was getting some kind of endorphin high. I do NOT normally sing in public but I didn’t care; there’s something about skating that just feels so good as you glide along.

That being said, I did have to take small breaks since I was getting pain in my left leg, probably because I was exercising muscles I don’t use very often. I was smart, though, and wore a thicker pair of socks so I wouldn’t get any blisters, plus I used my shoe inserts in the skates to help with my arches. As a result I’m a lot less sore today than I might otherwise have been.

There was talk about possibly having the roller skating parties monthly which would be awesome. I don’t mind spending $25 a month for a good time and to burn a bunch of calories.

After the event we had a small dinner, popped some popcorn, and watched Daddy’s Home which was free thanks to a Redbox code. That movie did not look very promising based on the previews so we were both delightfully surprised by how entertaining it was. I think the ratings online don’t do it justice.