Category: Music

July 2026 Recap

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07/03-07/06 – 4th of July extended weekend recap

07/08 (Wed)
Our new neighbors to the east moved in. They were confused by the placement of the water hose. This happens every time someone moves in because the placement of the faucets is dumb and ours is right next to the neighbor’s patio door. They texted the property manager who in turn texted me for clarification. I answered quickly and also told the property manager they could feel free to share my number with the new neighbors in case they had any further questions. I’m perturbed by the fact that she never acknowledged my reply. Did she pass along my number? Who knows. She could have at least said thank you or even sent a thumbs up. Every day I am just amazed by how self-involved everyone is.

I also was thinking about the cartoon, O’Grady, we watched years ago and how much I miss it.

I’ve been searching online for a copy for years since it’s not available on DVD (which I’d happily pay for). I came across a Reddit post and learned it’s now on the Internet Archive for all. I promptly downloaded it. It’s making me so happy to be able to watch it again! It was really funny and deserved a longer run. H. Jon Benjamin (Bob of Bob’s Burgers) voices Kevin, one of the main characters.

07/11-07/12 – Weekend recap

07/15 (Wed)
I was watering our plants in the early morning when a mourning dove kept flying in, walking toward the water dish I keep out for the wildlife, and getting too spooked by my presence to take a drink. It even circled the nearby bush thinking surely she won’t be on both sides! At one point it got super close to me but changed its mind at the last second even though I was standing very still. The SECOND I went inside, it swooped in to get a drink. I could hear the familiar whistling of its wings before the door was even closed.

07/17 (Fri)
Sofi Tukker had a live stream on Twitch to celebrate the release of their latest single, Barthelona, which I am loving so much. The high energy nature of this song makes me happy every time I hear it.

My only complaint? It isn’t long enough. I need an extended remix, stat!

In the middle of preparing dinner our rice cooker decided to stop working so I had to finish cooking the rice on the stove. I was pretty perturbed until I realized we bought it in 2009, which makes it 17 years old. So the question now is do we replace it, and if so, with another rice cooker or one that doubles as a slow cooker? I can prepare the rice on the stove in the meantime so that we don’t rush into a decision. Plus if we can wait until the holidays they’ll likely be good deals on one.

07/18 (Sat)
Decided to go to Burlington and TJ Maxx in search of some new cookware. Well, the former didn’t even have a section for it anymore, and the latter didn’t have anything we liked. We also stopped by Barn Owl to look for something I could use as a bee watering station and struck out once more.

07/21 (Tue)
I did a little shopping on my own after getting some blood drawn. I browsed a cute store called Daiso and ended up picking up some Christmas gifts for the kids and making a mental note of some things I could get Joe as well. I liked a lot of the things I saw but didn’t really feel compelled to buy anything.

07/22 (Wed)
Spent a little time relaxing on the patio which I love to do when the weather permits. I saw baby bunny, as I like to call him. I also had a hummingbird come over and hover in front of my face twice within a short time. I always always assumed when they do that that they are either inspecting me or saying thank you for keeping the feeder filled. I googled it just now and that’s actually the consensus.

In the evening I kept hearing loud peeping noises when we were watching TV. I went over to the dining room to look outside and two newly fledged robins were standing by the patio door looking inside. Then one hopped closer to the edge of the patio and the other to the neighbor’s patio. They both were looking around and chirping. I assume waiting for mom to bring food.

07/23 (Thu)
The two Robin fledglings were back this morning, hopping behind mom while chirping at her incessantly while she hunted for food. They followed her all over the courtyard until disappearing out of earshot.

They came back later to take a bath and get a drink.

I made what is becoming one of my favorite dinners – Harvest Grain bowls.

It’s wild rice topped with sweet potatos and zucchini seasoned with garlic powder, smoked paprika, salt, and pepper (cooked in the air fryer) with some dried cranberries and feta cheese crumbles added at the end.

We attended a concert in the park and enjoyed it much better than last time now that we know a better place to sit.

07/24 (Fri)
We decided to take advantage of the cooler weather and visit the arboretum in the evening. We grabbed dinner from Jimmy Johns and ate it on the arboretum’s veranda. Joe fed a sparrow a bit of his bread. I brought my Canon point and shoot camera and got a few photos around the gardens by the visitor center.

Before leaving the Visitor Center, I went inside to claim my free chip clip and listened to the lady at the member desk explain membership perks to someone who was joining. She mentioned how busy it had been that day with people asking for the chip clip almost in a manner like she thought it was ridiculous. Then the lady joining asked if she could have one and she told her no because you had to receive the text the day prior to claiming one. Wow, talk about strict.

After that conversion I was next in line and said “well, I’m here for the chip clip” and the girl behind me said “me too!” LOL

This is what it looks like.

We have the same style of chip clips from when Joe used to work for Xfinity. In fact, we still use them and not a single one has broken because they are a better quality than the long plastic ones. They also have a magnet on the other side so they can live on the side of the refrigerator when not in use.

I got this quick shot of the trail by turtle pond before running back to the car to get away from the mosquitos.

They are the only thing I can’t stand about summer. Well, them and ticks, but the mosquitos are a bigger menace.

07/25 (Sat)
Two mourning dove fledglings decided to take up residence by the water hose so I was not able to water my flowers before we went out.

We visited K and her friend J came by too so we could all chat and have lunch together. We stopped at McDonald’s first to get some warm chocolate chip cookies which we do almost every time we visit.

Before J came by I gave K an early Christmas present so she could use it during Halloween season:

You can never have too many towels with dogs on them!

07/26 (Sun)
We hit up Dairy Queen to redeem a T-Mobile Tuesday offer. I got a Dilly Bar (still as good as I remember, albeit smaller) and a mini Biscoff Cookie Blizzard. The latter was good, but not quite as good as I remember.

07/27 (Mon)
I set up an insect watering station on the patio using a ceramic sunflower plate I remembered I had in the garage.

I’ve also been trying all the different Bubbl’r sparkling water flavors to see if any of them are as good as the Twisted Elix’r and finally hit the jackpot.

The Orange Dream Freez’r tastes like a bubbly melted orange creamsicle which kinda sounds gross but isn’t. I definitely plan to get more of that flavor in the future.

Later that morning we had one of the strongest, scariest storms in recent history. Between the high winds and golf ball sized hail, I was pretty scared. I hid in the downstairs bathroom with my bike helmet on when the tornado sirens started going off. When the hail was coming down it was so loud I messaged Joe (who was at work) that it sounded like it was putting holes in the roof. For a short time it sounded to me like the roof was going to cave in.

A panel of siding on the front of our unit was pulled up and there were roof shingles and tree branches littering the streets afterwards. We only lost power briefly during the storm (just long enough to reset the microwave clock), which was much better than others in our area. Some homes in our subdivision just mere blocks away ended up losing power for days.

Our internet did go down the following day for a good part of the day, but that was the worst of it for us. Even the patio umbrella and bee water station stayed put which was amazing to me because I peeked outside at different times and the trees were practically bending over from the wind. In the building perpendicular to ours someone’s very large grill was knocked over, as was someone’s patio furniture.

I later learned there was a tornado in a nearby town, but our town got something called straight line winds which can be just as powerful as a small tornado.

Our patio area after the storm:

07/30 (Thu)
Joe took off from work early to accompany me to my breast ultrasound. No issues, just a precaution. Afterwards we got Burger King for dinner but it wasn’t as good as last time. If I had to guess, I don’t think our local restaurant followed the “off the broiler” directions we selected because the burgers didn’t feel as hot as last time. We then attended another concert in the park.

07/31 (Fri)
Watched several acts at Lollapalooza via Hulu. Yungblud sounded good but The Smashing Pumpkins sounded distorted much of the time.

Notable media this month:

Over Your Dead Body – After watching and enjoying the film I went on IMDb to read the trivia like I enjoy doing only to learn it was a remake. Even worse, we watched the original, The Trip, less than five years ago and yet this premise didn’t ring a bell to me while watching. Is that normal to not remember such things?

Michael
I watched this while Joe was at work and I was eating a yummy Trader Joe’s Beef and Queso bowel.

I admit, I had my doubts about Michael Jackson’s intentions when he was hanging out with all those kids back in Neverland. But between Instagram Reels re-educating me, and this movie, which focuses on his life from childhood until he separated from his father musically, I feel we were all duped by the media who sought to paint him in such a horrible light. He was truly a kind, innocent soul who never fully grew up. Between showing how he was treated to just listening to the great music he wrote, I was brought to tears multiple times by this movie. I just feel so awful for him and what he went through and how his father ultimately is the reason he’s no longer with us. I’m sorry for thinking ill of him for so long. This is a lesson not to believe everything we’re told, especially by an industry who only cares about someone until they stop being profitable.

Running Point
This series completely flew under the radar until recently and luckily we found it, and binged it, before cancelling our Netflix subscription (more on that next month). Once again, something Mindy Kaling has touched has turned to gold. At this point I’m just going to stalk her IMDb profile and watch whatever she’s involved in since I always love it.

Scream 7 – Even though I thought “ANOTHER Scream movie, really?” I still put myself on the hold list at the library. This was one of the better ones, IMHO, and somehow Neve Campbell was a little less Neve Campbell (IYKYK) than usual. It didn’t hurt that the focus was more on her daughter and friends too.

4th of July Weekend (07/03-07/05)

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Joe had Friday (07/03) off for the holiday. Since it was so hot and humid we decided it would be a perfect day to run errands, like dropping off an Amazon return at FedEx and hitting up Trader Joe’s since it had been awhile since our last visit.

Afterwards we stopped at Paris Baguette for some delicious pastries and Korean Iced Milk Coffee. It’s a good thing they aren’t closer because I’ve gained enough weight this year since I’ve been stuffing my face without discipline; I’m just so happy to be able to eat after what I went through last year. I do need to reel it in though.

We had Culver’s for dinner as our little holiday celebration since Joe had to eat light on Saturday in preparation for a medical procedure on Sunday.

Saturday (07/04) we hid in the house all day and didn’t do anything to celebrate. Not sure what is worth celebrating right now anyway. This current administration is fucking up anything and everything it can get its hands on. That’s what happens when you put a bunch of narcissistic, unempathetic, rich, brainless cretins in office. Not saying the other side are angels, but this group of people takes the cake.

I temporarily unfroze our credit at all three bureaus so we could apply for Amazon’s Prime VISA. They sent an invitation in the mail and we had just been talking about how annoying it is that Costco only takes VISA or debit and how much we hate using debit, so they caught us at the right time. Plus we got $200 just for signing up!

Now we have all the frickin cards – AMEX, Discover, Mastercard, Target, and VISA. I literally had to put together a cheat sheet for both of us so we know which card to use where to maximize the cash back benefits on each.

Obviously the VISA will be used at Amazon, as well as Costco. We have no choice but to use Discover at Woodman’s since they do not accept any other card, and we’ve been using the AMEX at Aldi since we get more cash back for groceries on it vs the other cards. Frankly the Mastercard offers the least incentives lately so it barely gets used. Target doesn’t get used a ton, although with having to get our prescriptions at the CVS inside, I have been using it more this year than previous years.

Surprisingly I was able to fall asleep before midnight and wasn’t woken up by fireworks even though I know they were popping off.

Sunday (07/05) after grocery shopping, my B12 injection, and Joe’s procedure we headed to REI so I could look at binoculars. I do not understand how an outdoor store has so few binoculars on display to try.

In fact, it doesn’t seem like ANY store really offers the ability to try most of the binoculars they sell, although to be fair the variety is always lacking. Are people really buying them without trying them first? This seems like yet another example of the patriarchy at work – chances are most binoculars are perfectly suitable for men, but for women, and petite ones with small heads, close-set eyes, and glasses like myself, it’s not that easy. I can’t even see through most of them because either the minimum distance between barrels is too wide, or the eye relief isn’t high enough. In fact, I tried two different Nikon models and I was able to see through the mid-range ones with my glasses on, which is the goal, but couldn’t with the higher end pair.

I’m a buy it for life gal so it’s frustrating that I might have to resort to ordering thousands of dollars of binoculars off Amazon just to see if I like any of them. That makes me feel icky and I’m trying to avoid that, but none of these retailers are making it easy.

We even stopped in Best Buy briefly because they sell binoculars but we couldn’t find them. It’s amazing how much I used to love that store and now abhor it.

We stopped in Disc Replay to look around but didn’t buy anything, then picked up Potbelly since we were starving by this point.

We made it home just in time to watch The Cure playing a festival show in Belgium. Since it was being streamed on YouTube we watched on the TV which was especially nice.

June 2026 Recap

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06/02 (Tue)
Went for my first dental cleaning since October 2024. I was dragging my heels on my next cleaning in early 2025 and then I started having health issues so I wasn’t in a position to go. When I started feeling better this year I didn’t want to go until after getting a COVID booster, which I finally did in May. In any case, I love my hygienist and dentist; they’re both so kind, caring, and easy to talk to. I got the once every five years mega x-rays and despite the time elapsed, my teeth look great. I did keep up with flossing and brushing even when I was in the worst time of my life, so I’m sure that helped.

06/05 (Fri)
Joe had a colonoscopy and upper endoscopy. Afterwards we came home and I made us breakfast. Then in the afternoon we picked up Culver’s. Usually we just get kids meals, but this time we also added pretzel bites and a baked potato soup. The bites were soooo good, even better than I remembered; they have a hint of sweetness to them. The soup was awful, though. I was shocked since their broccoli cheddar and stuffed pepper soups are really good (or were, it’s been awhile since I last got them).

06/07 (Sun)
Took a walk around East Branch in the morning and then decided to check out 7-11’s breakfast options. Got a vanilla latte and a waffle breakfast sandwich. First off, why did the guy attempt to charge us full price for the sandwich even after we confirmed we could get the free latte with a reward and still qualify for the discounted price for those with the 7-11 app? If you ask me, I think they try to see what they can get away with. He managed to fix it when we pointed out the discrepancy. How many people don’t notice? I won’t be going back there because I think they are shady. As for the actual drink and food, I was not impressed with the flavor of either. For the price I’d rather give in and get McDonald’s.

Lou Malnati’s was running a BOGO special on their medium pizzas so for a late lunch we got a deep dish cheese and Mike’s Hot Honey thin crust.

Both were delicious, as always. They ended up feeding us for dinner on Mon and Tue too so that’s a great value for $25.

06/12 (Fri)
Ran to Aldi and Costco by myself. Right before I left I realize I don’t carry a debit card (to pay at Costco), only Joe does. Luckily I remembered I could pay cash, but couldn’t use the self-checkout. I ended up grabbing a variety pack of chips in addition to the rotisserie chicken I went there for so I had both hands full when I arrived at the Costco check-out area. There were three lines and everyone seemed to be in the closest one, so I went to the furthest one that only had two people. A guy with the big pallet of items in front of me let me go ahead of him after he confirmed, twice, that I only had two, as if he thought someone else would creep up with a cart out of nowhere. Maybe someone did that to him before.

06/13-06/14 – Weekend recap

06/15 (Mon)
When Joe got off work we grabbed a healthy (lol) dinner from Burger King* and took it to Cantigny where they have a plethora of picnic tables. There were many people also taking advantage of the nice weather and grilling/picnicking at the park. And there were no leaf blowers for once!

In addition to the beautiful scenery, we got to see dogs! It just so happened to be Paws in the Park day which is every Monday from March through October. Talk about a wonderful evening!

* We haven’t had BK in a hot minute and I enjoyed their double cheeseburger and fries way more than I expected. It might have had something to do with the ability to select “off the broiler” in the app so the burger was guaranteed fresh.

06/18 (Thu)
We spotted a tiny cute bunny hanging around the patio recently and today we noticed all the zinnias have been eaten, but not fully, so hopefully they will recover. I put more fencing around the area to keep Mr. Cottontail from a repeat feast.

He needs to go next door and eat the neighbor’s large plot of mint instead (which he did, in fact, do a few days later).

06/19-06/21 – Extended weekend recap

06/23 (Tue)
I went to Great Clips for a haircut as soon as they opened and had the least friendly hairdresser I’ve ever encountered. He was very curt, bordering on mean, and didn’t make any conversation with me whatsoever. He didn’t even ask me to move my head, he just pushed it around like I wasn’t a person. It literally made me feel like crying.

When I came home I went on a walk to try and relax and a guy’s two unleashed black labs came running out of his garage (that he had opened after I had already walked past) and were jumping all over me. I’m glad they were friendly, but this is why there are leash laws! What if I was a small child?

Needless to say my nervous system remained on high alert after these encounters. Joe jokingly suggested that I need to avoid Asian men because the guy with the dog was Asian, as was the hair dresser, and the creepy guy at the library last week. What are the odds?

06/24 (Wed)
I had to run some errands and ended up walking around Target for an hour just browsing which is something I don’t do much these days. But it was nice and empty customer-wise. There were a lot of employees, however, and all of them were so friendly – many of them asked if they could help me. I found some awesome gifts for the kids that just so happened to be on clearance and cost 70% less than usual so that was cool since I planned on buying them regardless.

06/25 (Thu)
We had Popeyes chicken sandwiches for dinner before going to Carol Stream’s concert in the park. I’m glad we did that because it seemed like 2 of the 3 food trucks they said were be there didn’t show up.

We purposely got there late so we could sit in the back and off to the side.

We thought this was a safe place to be. We were wrong. Unfortunately that is where all these boys were running amuck and throwing a football which sailed over our heads and near us multiple times. I was legitimately worried I was going to get hit in the head, and it’s not like it was a soft Nerf football either.

We kept moving to different areas but it seemed like there was no getting away from them since they were taking up so much space with their football game. A couple with their baby angrily left due to their shenanigans, and it irked me that none of the police standing right there witnessing this said a word. Even if they just made the kids stay further back away from where people were sitting that would have been good enough. Shame on all their parents. They were probably way up front enjoying the concert while their brats disturbed other people instead of them. We never behaved like that when we were kids.

It wasn’t until about 3/4 of the way through the concert we discovered a quiet area more off to the side of the stage were no one else was sitting.

This will be our spot at the next concert. Even though it’s closer to the stage than I wanted to be, they don’t play overly loud so I don’t have to worry about my ears.

06/27 (Sat)
We stopped at Jewel to get some Bubblr since they sell them individually and I wanted to try some of their flavors. I had no idea they had 13 of them!

I picked up Wild Cherry Chill’r & Peach Raspberry Dazzl’r (spoiler alert: they sucked). There are plenty more to try in time, though. So far I only like Twisted Elix’r.

We also stopped at a local coffee shop to get a latte before heading to the Swedish Days festival in Geneva.

We usually go around 11 or so, but decided to get there early (around 8:30 am) so we could partake in the Lutheran Church pancake breakfast since it’s usually sold out by the time we arrive. It comes with two swedish pancakes (plain, lingonberry, or cinnamon sugar), two sausages, and your choice of coffee or apple juice. I got two cinnamon sugar pancakes which was a mistake since they were way too sweet. I have to remember to get plain in the future and put a little syrup on it (I hate lingonberry).

We ended up sharing a table with a young woman, her baby, and either her brothers or her brother and his partner. It wasn’t clear based on some of the info they shared with us, but they were all very nice. I love friendly people! At one point the woman picked a daddy longlegs off my back haha.

The downside to getting there so early was there wasn’t much to do since everyone sets up closer to 10 am. It was blowing our minds that many of the shops wouldn’t open early for that particular weekend to take advantage of the increased traffic. There was a coffee shop that wasn’t even open!

We did a lot of walking while it got increasingly warm and saw this cool mural:

We eventually left and went to Kiss The Sky (record shop) and then the Batavia Farmer’s Market. Apparently they pack things up at noon, though, and we arrived shortly before that so that was a quick and unproductive visit. We then went to Ollie’s where I got a rainbow pinwheel to replace the one that disappeared last year (I suspect it was stolen). Then we grabbed food from Just Kabobs and went home.

Around 8ish we were watching TV and a firecracker blew off right near our window. It was so loud it made me jump. I ran outside to see who could have done it but it must have been around the corner and traveled over a building to get by us.

06/29 (Mon)
I got an email from Disney+ that says “We noticed that you have more than one subscription associated with this email address. If you take no action, you may continue to be charged for all subscriptions.” As far as I can tell this is not true. We have Hulu free via T-Mobile and pay Disney+ $1 to add it to the free Hulu.

I wonder if T-Mobile is messing around with something because on the same day Joe got a text from T-Mobile saying they are removing the $10 kickback given to anyone who stayed below 2 GB every month.

Lately I’m the only one who was getting it, but now I won’t so our already expensive T-Mobile bill will be going up to $178 per month because they also raised our portion of Netflix from $11 to $13. Just last year we were closer to $150 monthly. I am done with them. I did an analysis and even if we pay Netflix $19.99 and Hulu $12.99 directly we’d save $75+ every month by moving our lines to Tello so we are probably going to do that next month.

Notable media this month:

Hoppers – Pixar movies are always full of laughter and tears. This was no exception. I love animals so I especially loved it.

Project Hail Mary – Was the book better? Absolutely. Was the movie adaptation better than I expected? Yes, especially because I don’t love Ryan Gosling for a reason I cannot explain.

As a side note, we finally watched La La Land this month and my instincts were accurate – we hated it. So much so about 1/3 of the way through I read how it ended and then fast forwarded so we could see the last few scenes. I don’t get the hype.

The Sex Lives of College Girls

I discovered this series this month and promptly binge-watched it all. I can’t believe Reneé Rapp left the show to pursue music. Good for her, but bad for us as she is such a good actress! Her departure might even be why the series didn’t get picked up for a fourth season since it felt a little flat after she left.

Extended Weekend Recap (06/19-06/21)

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Friday (06/19) Joe took a half day from work so we ran some errands, including a stop at Costco. We tried the new strawberry shortcake sundae to tide us over for a few hours before going out for a late lunch.

It has been years since we’ve eaten at Village Tavern Bar & Grill because I think their prices are rather high, plus I don’t like how dark it is inside. Joe wanted to have the fish fry and I realized they have a patio, so I said lets do it. I had a coupon for a free appetizer so we got the cheese quesadilla and I got the BLT which was not the best because of the mayo they use. I should have gotten a photo of the quesadilla because I would order that as my meal next time, that’s how good it was. They put pico de gallo inside and also give you a very generous helping of sour cream and guacamole.

The weather was perfect and we really enjoyed ourselves. I even had a little alcohol which is unusual for me. We split this flavored vodka.

Saturday (06/20) morning we hit up a community yard sale and headed to downtown Glen Ellyn to look for some food. We drove around a bit but couldn’t find anything appealing. I took to Yelp and found a place in a different area called Paris Baguette and decided to check it out. Upon entering I was thinking the case of pastries looked really familiar. I even remarked to Joe, “these look like those pastry cases we saw at H Mart” (spoiler alert, that’s because they were). We got a few pastries and a Korean Milk Iced Coffee which we took to Panfish Park.

They were so good! Definitely will be back especially because they open early and are on the way to the arboretum.

After eating, we took a walk around the park. A guy passing us in the opposite direction said “hi hi hi”. We both said hi back and he replied, “assholes, you’re assholes” or something like that. Joe called over his shoulder, “Huh? We said hi back”, as we walked away.

I’m not sure what the deal was with that guy, but if I had to guess based on his behavior, he might have Tourette Syndrome. I noticed he was wearing headphones, so I guess it’s possible he just couldn’t hear us, but either way I think something was going on with him. As we were leaving the park we could see him near the same section of the path as if he was simply walking back and forth looking for more people to call assholes. After the initial shock of being called an asshole for no reason, it was pretty funny.

In the afternoon I visited my neighbor and her adorable dog briefly before watching The Cure’s livestream at the PinkPop festival in The Netherlands.

They played so many good songs for two hours, including A Forest followed by From The Edge of the Deep Green Sea.

I’m so thankful they chose to air it live. The only thing that would have made it better was if they aired Sofi Tukker’s earlier performance at the same festival. Yeah, that’s right, Sofi Tukker and The Cure were at the same festival on the same day. Talk about a dream event!

The next door neighbor’s daughter had friends over in the evening and they were blasting music and carrying on. Her parents were working which is the only time she does stuff like that I’ve noticed. Apparently at some point they were on the roof running past our front windows at like 2 am. Joe was so pissed off and yelled at one of the guys to get off the roof immediately, which he did. Can’t believe people in their twenties act like that!

Sunday (06/21) was a pretty low key day. We left the house to get groceries from Aldi in the morning and KFC in the afternoon because we had a T-Mobile deal.

I learned why we never go to KFC even though they have a location extremely close to us.

Their food is only good IF you get a fresh batch like Joe did. I got the bottom of the barrel. It’s wild to me they’d see two orders come in with the same last name and still give completely different chicken nuggets and wedges, as if we couldn’t see the obvious difference between them.

They also gave us sauces based on what I had selected in my mobile order instead of giving Joe the sauces he actually ordered (which were completely different from mine).

And something is wrong with their app – it cuts whole sentences off. Whomever they hired forgot to add code for word wrapping to accommodate different sized screens. So dumb.

What a bummer, especially because I love their wedges (when they aren’t hours old) and Wendy’s stopped offering breakfast around here so they don’t have the delicious potato wedges anymore.

February 2026 Recap

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02/01 (Sun)
Learned The Cure finally won not one, but two, Grammys. It’s about time!

02/03 (Tue)
Noticed the display on the microwave we purchased in September has stuck pixels or whatever you call them on it now. Seriously?!

Found out later in the month that we will need to bring it to an authorized Panasonic repair service to be fixed under warranty. Guess how many we have to choose from? Two! They are each an hour drive away and only one of them has weekend hours. They don’t carry most parts in stock, so we have to leave the microwave to be evaluated, they’ll order the parts to fix it, thus requiring we come back 1-3 weeks later to pick it up. Does Panasonic care about how inconvenient this is? Nope. Won’t be buying another Panasonic appliance again.

02/04 (Wed)
Replaced one of the surge protector power strips in the living room after learning that they need to be replaced every five years because the ability to protect electronics from surges wanes over time. The plan to is to replace all of them. This also spurred a new project – going through all the electronics and cords in the house and starting a box to recycle what is no longer needed.

02/07 (Sat)
We bought soda for the first time in ages. Joe wanted to get pizza for the weekend, so I figured lets get some Pepsi. Even on sale it’s rather ridiculous, especially since we had to buy three 12-packs, but at least Target allowed you to mix and match, so we got two packs of Pepsi Real Sugar and one Dr. Pepper so I can make a dirty Dr. Pepper at home (it’s where you add cream, coconut syrup, and lime).

We attended Ice-A-Palooza in Wheaton.

I saw a sign for it at a park where I assumed it would be held (and the address for the event was on the same street), but we learned it wasn’t actually held there when we arrived to nothing happening. Luckily we hadn’t traveled too far out of our way.

The event was geared more toward families, so after sharing a french vanilla hot chocolate and taking a selfie with people dressed in a polar bear and penguin costume, we decided to leave.

It was a bit irritating that they weren’t adhering to the posted schedule so we missed the figure skating performances. Also they didn’t clear snow from one of the paths to the event and it was rather deep. I ended up emailing the park district to ask about the schedule and suggest they shovel next time since people with strollers needed to go the un-shoveled way since it had the accessible ramp from the parking lot down to the field. I didn’t even mention in my email that Skates, the Chicago Wolves mascot, was about 45 minutes late. He was supposed to show up at noon according to the posted schedule, but we ran into him in the parking lot around 12:45, only 15 minutes before the event was due to end. We got a selfie with him at least!

We ordered two pizzas (one small Mike’s hot honey thin crust and one large half sausage half cheese deep dish) from Lou Malnati’s and stopped in a store around the corner called the Rustic Fox while we waited for our food to be ready. The store is a collection of craft booths similar to another place we like called The Painted Tree. This store was much more crowded, though. I ended up snagging gifts for my best friend and stepson.

Originally we were going to get the pizza on Sunday, but with the Super Bowl (or Superb Owl, as I like to call it), even ordering it early might be a pain, so we figured we’d enjoy the leftovers instead while watching the game.

02/08 (Sun)
I watched the Puppy Bowl on HBO Max before we watched the Super Bowl via Peacock. Was thrown by the Hellman’s commercial with Andy Samberg playing Neil Diamond.

It looked like Andy but also didn’t look like him. What cinched it was his mannerisms.

02/12 (Thu)
Spent too much at Costco since it had been over a month since our last visit. I’m now going to rate some of the things we got there:

Beef Birria Taco Kit – 8/10 for delicious tacos and rice, but a mediocre consume.

Dessert Bars – 3/10 would not get again because my baking is superior. I had Joe take half of them to work for his employees and I froze most of the remaining for those days we need a sweet treat and nothing else is available.

Beef hot dog from the café – 9/10 still good, and despite my fears, they haven’t changed the bun (yet) even though other people are showing the inferior buns at their stores.

Coke Zero from the café – 5/10 because I still drank it, but it tasted like it was lacking the right amount of syrup. Culver’s is better.

02/14 (Sat)
Decided a visit to IKEA was long overdue. Since when do they open at 10 am? That is so late! We did the grand tour of the store, grabbed the items we went there for (picture ledges), and left. Nothing else really stood out and we were a little taken back by the prices. Was IKEA always so expensive when it came to uncomfortable furniture?

We had intended to cash in a T-Mobile Tuesday deal at Jack In The Box for a free chicken sandwich but the mobile ordering was unavailable. Since that was the only way to get the deal, we ordered Jimmy Johns instead and took it to the arboretum. After we enjoyed our lunch we visited Juniper Junction, their special model train exhibit.

It was cute, but colder inside the building than outside. Even though it was nearly 60 degrees, without the sun the building was not inviting inside (it’s not heated), so after admiring the trains for a bit we got back into the car and drove around, stopping at Turtle Pond as always to do a short hike.

For dinner Joe made the most delicious spicy ala vodka pasta and garlic cheese breadsticks. Then we put the Bob’s Burgers Movie on while we worked on a painting project he got us. I found the process a little frustrating, simply because Joe’s a better artist than I am!

Can you tell which side is his?

* I later learned that Jack in the Box has kept their mobile ordering turned off for both new Illinois locations since they opened here several months ago. People on FB were talking about how terrible their service is and the food being cold even when they aren’t busy. Based on that I doubt they’ll last long in this state.

Needless to say, I’ve added them to our boycott list, along with January’s addition – McDonald’s. I’m fed up with them not taking their own gift card in their app and their stupid app developers’ insulting replies when you complain about it via a review in the app store. Their reply? “We hear you. However, we currently do not have the feature to accept gift cards on the app.” DUH! That is exactly what I said in the review. Seriously, that was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

02/15 (Sun)
After morning errands we picked up breakfast from Tropical Smoothie Café (another T-Mobile deal). In the afternoon we went to Lincoln Marsh to try and find the owls. It took some time, but Joe spotted one after we heard it vocalizing.

Afterwards we walked around Northside Park. It was pretty muddy at both places; I felt very grateful that my hiking boots no longer irritate my feet like they did just a month ago. Judging by how many people we encountered at both places we weren’t the only ones taking advantage of the unseasonably warm weather.

02/21 (Sat)
We headed to Kohl’s to do two returns. One of them was Amazon because they closed Amazon Fresh earlier this month. I had to return pants to Kohl’s anyway, though, because even though they looked like the same style as the cargo shorts I own, they had a real annoying seam along the back and front (in addition to the regular side seams). I will never find a nice pair of hiking pants, I swear!

On the way out of Kohl’s I spotted this hilarious t-shirt.

I was tempted to buy it, but I’m not that big of a Kohl’s fan.

We stopped at Dollar Tree* and Old Time Pottery. I found two cute garden stakes at DT.

Nothing really stood out to me at OTP. They don’t have all their stuff out yet, though, because I didn’t see any pinwheels. Ours was stolen sometime last year. I was so ill at the time that I have no idea how long it was missing before I noticed. It was in front of our tree out front, deep in the ground, and very sturdy, so I doubt it just blew away. I think either the old neighbors snatched it when moving out, or a kid really liked it and decided to make it their own.

We stopped at Lazarus House in St. Charles to drop off a few donations before making our way back home.

We passed World Market and I wanted to browse even though we rarely buy anything (which is exactly what happened) and noticed a new business two stores down called Ollie’s. They sell overstock at reduced prices. I recognized storage bins I’ve purchased in the past at Menards and books still sporting a Target sticker on them.

Speaking of books, I was amazed by the selection, and there were so many I would have loved as a child. I was really into illustrated dictionaries, encyclopedias, and almanacs, especially if they focused on animals, and there was no shortage of them.

I would have loved this book as a child.

* Since when are there so many different prices at Dollar Tree? They used to have the special section with more expensive items, but now those items are sprinkled throughout the store. Not only that, but it seems like some things are $1.25 but some are $1.50. They really need to change their name.

02/22 (Sun)
It was a more low-key day because my skin sensitivity started giving me issues when we were out on Saturday and I wasn’t in the mood to do much, but we got takeout from Culver’s for lunch because they have the best burgers and fries.

We also continued with the Great Declutter of 2026 with Joe going through a tote of computer equipment, and our box of electronics recycling grew even larger. It feels so good getting rid of things and making space and we’re not done. I’ve been decluttering and organizing for weeks now.

02/26 (Thu)
Tried Dubai chocolate and can say not a fan. Maybe Lindt wasn’t the right brand to try, but I don’t care much for milk chocolate anyway, so unless there’s a dark chocolate version, I would skip it.

02/27 (Fri)
Weather was nice enough that I took an afternoon walk around the neighborhood, and when Joe got home from work we went to Churchill Park.

Other than some red-winged blackbirds, we didn’t see too much, but it was still to get out of the house.

02/28 (Sat)
Went out of our way to a different *Aldi than our local one in search of the elusive asiago cheese version of their bagel seasoning which they had, so I got three.

Then stopped at Trader Joe’s next door to stock up and got these beautiful unicorn baby breath.

For lunch we finally got around to trying a smash burger place that opened up close by a year ago called Fyve Bros.

Gee, wonder who they are competing with? The burgers are almost $10 each (for a double patty), but they are really good. Melt in your mouth, good! So we’re be back. It’s across the street from our favorite Mexican joint so we’ll have to alternate visits.

* I called Aldi corporate earlier in the week to ask about when I should expect my store to carry the asiago cheese bagel seasoning and got into the dumbest conversation.

First off, the woman claimed it was a seasonal, she couldn’t tell me when it would come back in stock, and their website doesn’t show what’s actually in stock at any given store, just what was sold by that store at ONE POINT IN TIME. Say what?

I explained that the item’s availability changes when I pick a different location, suggesting it’s reflecting what’s actually in stock. Despite this, the woman insisted that’s not how it works.

In addition to that, she tried to tell me if I attempted to order something on the site and it wasn’t for the Aldi closest to my home, they wouldn’t allow it. I asked, “even if I chose pickup?” and she said yes. I could understand that if someone chose delivery, but why would Aldi care if someone chose to travel to a distant location if they’re picking up the order? I posed this question to her and she said that’s just how it is.

I asked to speak to someone else but she wouldn’t let me! Clearly she doesn’t know what she’s talking about because we went to our local Aldi the day after I found the asiago seasoning at the other location and they had it in stock at ours. I went home and checked the website and it was now appearing at that location even though for weeks before it wasn’t. Obviously it’s updating according to current inventory. Probably not in real time, but close enough. Ugh! How do some people lack critical thinking skills, and how do those same people end up in customer facing jobs?

Notable media this month:

Task (HBO Max) – In the working-class suburbs of Philadelphia, an FBI agent, played by Mark Ruffalo, heads a task force to put an end to a string of violent robberies led by an unsuspected family man. The first two episodes were a bit slow but once they found their momentum it was one of those mini-series that made you want to binge watch. It had an Ozark vibe to it, not just because one of the main characters, played by Tom Pelphrey, was in Ozark.

The Life of Chuck – This movie is an example of how good story-telling keeps you immersed even when not a ton of stuff actually happens. We weren’t exactly sure where the story was going but it had a satisfying ending.

Roofman – This film is based on a true story about a career criminal who lived in a Toys R Us for six months while hiding from the police after breaking out of jail. Very entertaining.

HouseSitter – They don’t make comedies like this anymore. No big set, no huge complicated plot, just good acting. I think we’re going to look into watching more movies from the nineties.

We were focused on a Scrubs re-watch in preparation for the new season on Hulu which we haven’t tuned into yet since we have two more seasons to go.