Deadpool 2 FTW

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Saturday (5/19) morning Joe drove to my parents’ house to pick up J to spend the weekend with us. On their way back to our place I purchased tickets to the noon showing of Deadpool 2 at Classic Cinemas. I guess that is one perk to being able to buy ahead of time – you don’t have to worry about arriving early to get your preferred seats (although the theater didn’t end up being crowded at all). The downside is the extra $1 per ticket service charge, plus they raised the ticket prices to $6 sometime last year (most likely to fund the improvements) so it cost $21 for the three of us. J got to see Ken, our favorite ticket-taker, who is known to say “enjoy the movieee” which we always get a kick out of, and he did as well.

We stopped at McDonald’s beforehand for a quick late breakfast before the show so we wouldn’t be starving during it as it was almost two hours long but J got an order of nachos anyway, LOL. He shared them with us but we were pretty full so I only tried a couple.

Deadpool 2 was, dare I say it, even better than the original! So so funny. I just love that character to pieces and I cannot wait to see it again. It was better than any of the Avengers movies by far.

After the movie we headed to the mall so we could enjoy lunch at Red Robin. Surprisingly, J opted for a side of fruit instead of fries with his burger. I got my usual (Banzai) and Joe got the mushroom swiss. They had a buy one get one 50% off special, plus I had a gift card, so it didn’t cost anything out of pocket. I earned a free burger on my account too so we’ll be heading back there again sometime before mid July.

After lunch we stopped in FYE so J could look around. He always finds something there and this visit was no exception. He got a movie and a wrestling DVD for $10 total.

I had also planned to pick up my new glasses but my stomach was bothering me so we skipped that and headed home.

We spent the evening watching YouTube videos and playing a few games (Dumbass and Split Decision). I ended up cooking us dinner (grilled chicken breasts) around 9 pm because we weren’t hungry until then thanks to our late lunch. Everyone went to sleep sometime around 11:30 pm.

We didn’t do much Sunday (5/20) morning. We were up around 9 am and just got ready but skipped breakfast because we decided to have lunch at Warsaw Inn before dropping J back off at home. We stuffed ourselves silly and even though I still felt hungry when we left an hour and a half after arriving (holy crap!), I didn’t end up eating again until the evening.

Joe and I stopped at the mall to pick up my new glasses before heading home. When I tried on my new glasses I noticed the prescription on the one pair, which I was planning on using as my main one, seemed much stronger than the other. Also, I could see more reflections even though I got the anti-reflective coating on both. I was assured by the staff they were made the same but since the frame on that pair is thinner that could make the lens different. That’s the downside to having a strong prescription and small head – I have to buy kids’ frames but the lenses can only be made so thin. I guess I will just try them out this week and see if I can adjust. I keep reminding myself that I’m always unhappy at first with change and then eventually adapt.

Rain, Infinity, and Flowers

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Rain ruined plans to visit the arboretum this weekend.

Saturday (5/12) – Avengers Infinity War @ Classic Cinemas with new reclining seats you have to choose at purchase. Not a fan that you can’t choose seats that leave a single one between groups. At least feet can touch floor when seat isn’t reclined.

Movie was a disappointment. I liked Thanos more than the heroes, plus I was bummed there wasn’t an Ant-Man appearance.

Beef Shack for lunch thanks to Groupon.

Sunday (5/13) – Joe gave me a Mother’s Day card from Wookie. So cute and thoughtful! He even used a stencil he found online to draw the paw prints.

Mall to purchase glasses from Visionworks. $473 for two pair (and one of those was technically free). They will be ready for pickup in a few days.

Five for $23 deal on Wallflowers at Bath and Body Works. Got all new floral scents with the exception of the Pistachio Ice Cream.

Afternoon visit to Lilacia Park. Very crowded thanks to holiday and live band. More tulips than lilacs which bloomed and started to disappear (probably due to our weather going from warm to cold and raining and then back again).

Long walk at Camera Park with Wookie. Can’t stand that park, though. Would rather travel further to a nicer one.

Past Two Weeks Wrap Up

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Saturday (4/28) we went to my parents’ for the first time this year to celebrate brother J’s birthday. My other brother couldn’t make it due to health reasons. Beforehand we stopped at the mall so I could exchange a Christmas gift I didn’t want. I could only get store credit due to not having a receipt, so I just got the following items which added up almost perfectly to the amount of the original gift.

Pictured: Chinese medicine/stress balls, elephant ring holder, lemon essential oil, and coconut incense.

I ended up getting a cute video game related gift bag at Dollar Tree for my brother’s gifts. I got him a can of pizza Pringles, a t-shirt, and a $25 Amazon gift card. He gave me grief about the card but last time I got something off his wish list he had purchased it himself so I was afraid to run into that scenario again (plus the thing I really wanted to get him wasn’t in stock).

He ended up giving me two belated birthday gifts that were delivered after we last saw one another. He knows me so well.

Pictured: Sarah’s Scribble’s book and Lego Batman on DVD.

My mom also gave us some belated Easter items including treats for Wookie. I was surprised she knew Wookie liked those. Apparently she saw them on Wookie’s Instagram feed.

Sunday (4/29) we had planned to organize the garage but I just wasn’t motivated due to how cold it was outside, so Joe worked on his car and I went through my marbles, candle holders, and some clothes and ended up with two boxes worth of stuff to donate.

Monday (4/30) I had lunch with my friend, C. When Joe got home from work he filled the bird feeders and planted some flower seeds we picked up at Walmart now that it’s FINALLY getting warmer out. I was also able to wear the capri leggings I bought months ago from Walmart. They are so comfy! Glad I got three pairs.

Before going to bed we used some gorilla glue to seal a gap in the dining room floor. A bunch of gaps keep opening up and it’s been driving us crazy. Hopefully our little experiment works and we can fix all the gaps once and for all.

This Saturday (5/4) was Tails on The Trails at the arboretum so my friend and her dog joined us. Even though we got there earlier than last time the line was still insane! People sure love their dogs!

We ended up spending approximately three hours there including eating a picnic lunch we packed. My friend spotted a tick crawling on Joe’s shirt (thank god it was light grey so it could be seen). That freaked us out and we checked ourselves when we got home to ensure we didn’t have any hitchhikers.

The next day we packed another picnic lunch and took Wookie to a park for a nice long walk.

Today I went to Savers looking for some dresses I can wear with my new capri leggings that I got from Walmart recently, but didn’t have any luck. I did end up with this Star Wars t-shirt (for only $1.25) and a sweatshirt ($5.50) so it wasn’t a total bust.

I almost got a small wristlet wallet and a makeup pouch but I really didn’t need either so I put them back.

Our accomplishments this past week:
Joe planted some wildflowers in the wood planter on the patio. They are already sprouting!
I used wood glue to seal the joints in the dining room floor that keep coming apart lately.
We dropped three boxes of donations off at Savers.
I cleaned the dining room and front door windows.

New Neighbors

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Last week I met one of our new neighbors. A couple moved in, but I’ve yet to meet the woman, let alone even see her. The most we’ve seen is her car, but on one of the only above 60 degree days we had last week, I took Wookie for a walk and the guy next door (C) was in his garage. He came out to introduce himself and even invited me in to see their place which was cool.

I was surprised by how dark it was in there compared to our place. I think the combination of dark wood floors, the absence of high windows, and them keeping the blinds closed contributed to the stark difference. I much prefer all the natural sunlight we get in our unit. Plus the echo in their place was terrible with all the hard floors and no throw rugs. C assured me they are on the list and I’m hoping they get some soon because even though their TV is mounted above the fireplace (which is not a shared wall), sometimes we can still hear it! I mentioned that in passing to him when we met and he said to let him know if it’s ever too loud. I’m not so petty to march over there every time, though, so long as it’s not for hours on end and/or late at night I’m not planning on saying anything. So far it’s only happened twice more since we met. I’m guessing once they get rugs it might dampen the noise some. He’s a loud talker so you’d think they would want to eliminate that echo ASAP.

He also likes to talk in general so I learned a lot about him and his girlfriend – they moved from the city, he works from home in I.T. sales, and she works in Arlington Heights. They have three cats and a small saltwater fish tank in the dining room. Oh, and he has a motorcycle which he likes to ride daily which kinda sucks because I find the noise pretty jarring.

One of these days we might be able to afford a free-standing house somewhere, preferably with lots of land. I’m only a people person when they aren’t making noise or being annoying, so rarely, ha ha. Although on the plus side at least he’s nice and they put their garbage cans away promptly after pickup.

Easter

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Joe invited the kids over for Easter. We didn’t hear back from his son at all, but his daughter replied Saturday morning that she and her boyfriend would be coming (although at the time we didn’t know that meant just them since she wrote “we’ll be there” and they often drive up with E). Of course, we had just finished our Costco trip an hour before her text so we didn’t have a rotisserie chicken (she doesn’t care for ham). I ended up pulling out a chicken breast from the freezer when we got home, and we stopped at Aldi for potatoes. I also picked up some hyacinth since they were only $4. I forgot how overwhelmingly fragrant they are, so we’ll see how long they last in the house before I grow tired of them.

I didn’t put together Easter baskets for the kids this year which worked out since E didn’t show and K has been working on getting in shape and has eliminated all junk food from her home. I did throw one together for Wookie, and taught her a new game called “find it” which surprisingly she learned quickly. I put treats in the bunny eggs and would have her sniff one, then tell her to stay while I hid it in another room. Then I’d come back to where I left her and say “find it” and she’d run around the house looking for the bunny egg. It was so cute watching her excitedly trying to locate her treats. We played the new game a few times throughout the day since she loved it so much. She loves smelling everything so the game suits her well. I think we’ll play it often.

K and ES arrived just before 4 and we ate shortly thereafter, then just chatted and played with Wookie the rest of the evening. We also had my once a year homemade carrot cake for dessert. As much as I love it, I really hate how long it takes to make so I might cheat next year and buy a boxed cake and just make the frosting from scratch. If it ends up being noticeably worse I’ll go back to the homemade cake the following year. K & ES left around 9 pm which is the time Joe and I typically go upstairs anyway, so it should have been perfect but I had trouble falling asleep. It takes me awhile to wind down after socializing.

Even though I slept until 8 am today I’m still feeling really tired and kinda grumpy. I made the mistake of going to Savers in this mood (I haven’t been there recently). I tried on a few things but nothing spoke to me, and the crowded nature of the store was getting under my skin. I managed to get my cleaning done and now I’m lying in bed listening to podcasts. I call this my post-socializing hangover.