New Neighbors Forthcoming

This marks the 3rd month we’ve put off an intended visit to the Shedd Aquarium. Back in March we planned to go during their Illinois Discount Days until I learned it would be cheaper to go the first weekend of the month through Bank of America’s Museums on Us program instead. In April we decided not to go because the date we had chosen fell on the same day as a big race that included shutting down streets around the museum campus where the aquarium is located. Today the reason for postponing our visit was that I woke up a few times during the night and when the alarm went off at 6:30 am was not feeling up to going into the city. Plus my back was hurting after playing tennis and frisbee with Joe and Brother # 2 yesterday. So our new plan is to go in June which may work out best in the end because by then their new sting-ray touch exhibit will be open and there will be something different to see (which I’m sure will cost extra, but hopefully not too much since even with the free general admission it’s still $6.95 per person to add on Oceanarium access and another $3 to see the Jellyfish so that’s $20 for the two of us plus parking. Even free days aren’t so free if you want to see the good stuff.)

The weather has been really nice this weekend and we’ve currently got the windows open to get some nice fresh air. We have to enjoy it while we can. Our neighbors (the annoying ones who were outside smoking every half hour) were foreclosed on a few months back and moved out leaving their place a mess. The bank recently sent someone in to clean it up and there have been multiple showings the last few days. They really lowered the asking price of the unit so I doubt the place will remain empty much longer. Unfortunately, we do not seem to luck out when it comes to neighbors so the thought of new ones is stressing me out. Is it too much to ask that they be non-smokers who don’t own any dogs (or at least any that bark) and aren’t loud or cook stinky food? I’m afraid that would just be too good to be true (even though that description applies to us, so it is possible). It’s tough sharing walls with people when most of them seem to lack consideration for the people around them. Please cross your fingers that someone good moves in because with the market the way it is, coupled with me not working, it’s not like we can afford to move elsewhere.

In other news, we rented Silver Linings Playbook last night and hated it. I honestly don’t understand all the good reviews. The characters were so odd and under-developed that I couldn’t care less what happened to any of them, not to mention that the ending was predictable from the very beginning. What a disappointment. It made me feel like people only liked the movie because of the actors who starred in it and less about the plot, which I thought was boring and choppy. I don’t know why but it really irks me how much it sucked; I’m just glad we didn’t end up seeing it at the theatre as it was barely worth the $1 rental fee as it was.

Staycation Day 8

Today we went to see the new James Bond movie, Skyfall. I wasn’t particularly looking forward to seeing it but it was actually quite good.

This whole shop to you drop attitude around this time of year really gets to me for some reason. Maybe it’s because it seems like those who do it are the ones who cannot afford it. The mass consumerism is disgusting to me.

I don’t know – I think I’m just stressed out and feeling anxious and depressed at the moment so everything is getting under my skin. I would really like to take a long break from everyday life for awhile.

Staycation Day 4

This morning we checked out a newer neighborhood place called Brunch Cafe. It was pretty good but not quite as good as other restaurants which are closer. Later on we saw Pitch Perfect (so funny and good!) at the second-run theater since tickets are only $1 on Tuesdays. Didn’t do much else the rest of the day.

There’s a list of things I want to get done during our time off and I’ve barely made a dent. It’s hard to motivate myself to be productive when I’ve been working so hard lately and I’ll be going back to more of the same on Monday. I’m going to bed shortly, however, so I can hit the ground running tomorrow.

Annoyed

We went to a matinee showing of Wreck It Ralph today. The theater was full of kids for a birthday party, but they weren’t any trouble at all. In fact, everything was fine until a dad and his three kids decided to sit by us. First off, they came in late so we missed the ending of the short before the movie since they were passing in front of us to get to their seats at that exact moment. Second of all, I had to move my purse from the empty seat next to me since this 9 year old girl insisted on sitting there instead of leaving an empty seat between us like pretty much everyone else does (it’s not like the theater was packed), nor did her father encourage her to sit elsewhere like I would have if my kids wanted to sit directly next to a stranger. But the topping on the cake? The girl then proceeded to dig for gold in her nose for ten minutes (inspecting and eating it!!!) while her clueless father just sat there (he was sitting on the other side of her). Finally I couldn’t take it anymore and asked her to stop. I literally said, “Could you please stop that because it’s gross”. LOL! She did stop, but then suddenly she started knitting! I shit you not. Do you know how distracting it is to be sitting next to a person who is constantly moving around? Curses to my excellent peripheral vision! Not only that, but she kept coughing up phlegm. Who knows what sickness I may have caught from her. And to top it off, even though I was taking up only half of my own seat (squishing myself up against Joe to get as far away from her as possible), she somehow managed to kick me!

Needless to say the movie-going experience was partially ruined by her presence even though the movie was really good. Even matinees are no longer safe from annoying people.

Another Great Weekend

DuPage County Historical Museum

Friday morning we visited the DuPage County Historical Museum. It’s pretty small but had interesting facts about the development of our county and the surrounding communities. On the second floor was a tribute to the Girl Scouts who are celebrating their 100th anniversary this year and there’s a huge model train yard set up in the basement of the building which was cool to see.

Horse

From the museum we headed to Cosley Zoo to take photographs. I also wanted to add another frog to my collection of figurines but they didn’t have any in the gift shop anymore. After the zoo we stopped at the Danada Equestrian Center for a bit to see the horses and then headed down South to pick up K for the weekend (E had a band competition so he couldn’t make it).

On the way back home we stopped at Chick-Fil-A for lunch. I didn’t appreciate how good their food was the first time they came to Illinois because their chicken nuggets aren’t impressive, but I’ve since become a fan after trying the basic chicken sandwich and the chicken biscuit during breakfast. I tried the ice cream for the first time on Friday and loved it as well.

Saturday we went to see 21 Jump Street. It was much funnier than we expected. I haven’t laughed that much at a movie in so long. I have a feeling a lot of people are going to miss out on this gem by assuming it’s dumb when in actuality it’s the best comedy to come out in a long time. After the movie we went to FiveBelow which is a cute store where everything is $5 or less. I ended up getting a stylus for my iPad which I’m really digging. I haven’t used my finger since. :)

Sunday we did a little Spring cleaning in the garage and washed my car. We also cleaned our bikes, filled the tires and went for a short ride. Then we went to Houlihan’s where we enjoyed lunch on the patio since it was such a gorgeous day. This was immediately followed by some errands which included stopping at Whole Paycheck Foods for some Sodium Lauryl Sulfate free shampoo and conditioner which will hopefully help rid me of the seriously itchy scalp I’ve been suffering from for the past two weeks. My head is already feeling better after three uses!

Upon returning home we brought our folding chairs out and sat in the driveway for awhile surfing on our tablets and enjoying the gorgeous weather. It’s the modern equivalent of reading the newspaper on the porch since we have no porch and our patio sucks because it lacks shade and is surrounded by smokers which equals no fresh air. After we grew tired of sitting around we went for a walk.

It was such a great weekend I didn’t want it to end.