I was driving on the Skyway today and suddenly traffic slowed to a crawl. Not terribly unusual, but generally the Skyway early on a Sunday doesn't slow down too much and this was a strange location for it anyway. Before too long I could see a cop driving slowly in the right hand lane sandwiched by two road construction trucks with flashing lights.
When I finally got up to where the cop was I realized what the problem was. On the right hand shoulder of the road was a family of ducks. Two adults and 4 ducklings. How and why they were on the skyway - I have no idea. And how and why the cops/construction workers knew they were there I have no idea.
But however/whyever it happened - it was one of the cutest things I've ever seen. I wish I had been able to get a picture.
Sunday, April 29, 2007
Sunday, April 22, 2007
My brush with fame
Today I went to a Cubs game for one of my friends birthday's (absolutely gorgeous day for it!) and afterwards we went to a local bar where we randomly saw an actor from the new hit TV series October Road.
He was talking to a waitress and my friend, Beth, leans over to me and says, "Do you watch October Road?" After conferring for awhile we decided he looked way too much like the guy to not be him so we beckoned him over to us. He is indeed "Eddie" from October Road (aka Geoff Stults.) He was also in Wedding Crashers and on 7th Heaven, I think.
He was actually really nice and maybe even a bit shy. At any rate it was a fun chance encounter!
He was talking to a waitress and my friend, Beth, leans over to me and says, "Do you watch October Road?" After conferring for awhile we decided he looked way too much like the guy to not be him so we beckoned him over to us. He is indeed "Eddie" from October Road (aka Geoff Stults.) He was also in Wedding Crashers and on 7th Heaven, I think.
He was actually really nice and maybe even a bit shy. At any rate it was a fun chance encounter!
Waking up to silverware
Recently Irie has taken to roaming around in the night and bringing random objects back to bed with her (and me.)
Most of these items have been fairly typical - chew toys, balls, the occasional book or towel or something to that effect. But yesterday, I woke up with a butter knife next to me.
Granted, it was just a butter knife, but there's just something a little creepy about that. And why she determined it was something worth playing with I have no idea.
But regardless, nothing quite like rolling over in bed to find silverware.
Her other favorite early morning activity is also a little freaky. Usually she curls up in a ball to sleep, but often in the morning she'll stretch out on her side, laying her head on my pillow. So inevitably I'll wake up and be completely parallel to her eyes and nose. If she thinks she can get away with it, she'll even inch closer to me so that our noses touch. It's sweet, but also just a little strange.
She certainly keeps me entertained. :-)
Most of these items have been fairly typical - chew toys, balls, the occasional book or towel or something to that effect. But yesterday, I woke up with a butter knife next to me.
Granted, it was just a butter knife, but there's just something a little creepy about that. And why she determined it was something worth playing with I have no idea.
But regardless, nothing quite like rolling over in bed to find silverware.
Her other favorite early morning activity is also a little freaky. Usually she curls up in a ball to sleep, but often in the morning she'll stretch out on her side, laying her head on my pillow. So inevitably I'll wake up and be completely parallel to her eyes and nose. If she thinks she can get away with it, she'll even inch closer to me so that our noses touch. It's sweet, but also just a little strange.
She certainly keeps me entertained. :-)
Friday, April 20, 2007
Scary moves for a one year old
First she comes out of a cabinet and then the moves.... I just couldn't believe this one!
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Watch where you're walking
So, as I was walking to my car yesterday after work at about 4pm, I witnessed a random event. To get proper effect for the story though, I need to set the stage a little.
It's shortly after 4pm. A nice sunny day. I'm walking west on Chicago Ave - immediately past the busy intersection of Orleans and Chicago. There's a nicely dressed guy walking about 15 feet in front of me, probably in his mid thirties.
Then suddenly, with no warning, I notice he's peeing as he walks. He turns and continues to pee on a bush.
Now, this is not the first time I've seen someone pee in public, especially in Chicago, but I can say I've never seen a seemingly stable person do this in broad daylight, as they're walking, on a busy street.
A bit assuming, I know, but it caught me off guard. One of those, how am I supposed to respond to this things? Pretend like I didn't see him? Keep walking? Who knows, but that's what I did. (And hurried home to tell all of you, of course!)
It's shortly after 4pm. A nice sunny day. I'm walking west on Chicago Ave - immediately past the busy intersection of Orleans and Chicago. There's a nicely dressed guy walking about 15 feet in front of me, probably in his mid thirties.
Then suddenly, with no warning, I notice he's peeing as he walks. He turns and continues to pee on a bush.
Now, this is not the first time I've seen someone pee in public, especially in Chicago, but I can say I've never seen a seemingly stable person do this in broad daylight, as they're walking, on a busy street.
A bit assuming, I know, but it caught me off guard. One of those, how am I supposed to respond to this things? Pretend like I didn't see him? Keep walking? Who knows, but that's what I did. (And hurried home to tell all of you, of course!)
Monday, April 16, 2007
Tuff pup
Check out those teeth...
You're not that big.
Irie's loving the warmer weather and our even more frequent trips to the dog park.Monday, April 09, 2007
Almost lost her
Today just seems to be all about Irie. She woke up this morning full of spunk. I know, she's always spunky, but more so than usual these days she's been barking at people, lunging, running around and around and around....
In maybe not the smartest move, I decided to take her to work with me today - just so she'd have a little bit more of a chance to burn off some energy.
It was all going just fine until I took her out for a quick bathroom break. As we were riding the elevator back upstairs I bent down to loosen her harness slightly because she's grown a little since the last time she wore it. As I was doing this, the elevator door opened and out Irie went. Now, generally I almost always take her leash off in the elevator and she always runs over to the office door and waits for me. But for whatever reason today, she instead decided to take off down the stairs. I of course took off after her but was no match for her speed. Up and down the stairs I went - no sign of Irie. I was still pretty confident that everything was going to be OK, but I was starting to run out of breath, had no idea where she was and she didn't have her collar on.
Finally I ran into one of my co-workers on our office floor landing with Irie. Apparently she had gotten on the elevator on one of the floors and taken it down. He happened to be coming back inside and decided he better take her back to the office. He said it was one of the funniest things to see this little dog just sitting in the elevator when it opened up. I can imagine.
Funny, yes, but also a little heart-stopping. Needless to say Irie will not be allowed off her leash in the elevator again for awhile.
Whew.
In maybe not the smartest move, I decided to take her to work with me today - just so she'd have a little bit more of a chance to burn off some energy.
It was all going just fine until I took her out for a quick bathroom break. As we were riding the elevator back upstairs I bent down to loosen her harness slightly because she's grown a little since the last time she wore it. As I was doing this, the elevator door opened and out Irie went. Now, generally I almost always take her leash off in the elevator and she always runs over to the office door and waits for me. But for whatever reason today, she instead decided to take off down the stairs. I of course took off after her but was no match for her speed. Up and down the stairs I went - no sign of Irie. I was still pretty confident that everything was going to be OK, but I was starting to run out of breath, had no idea where she was and she didn't have her collar on.
Finally I ran into one of my co-workers on our office floor landing with Irie. Apparently she had gotten on the elevator on one of the floors and taken it down. He happened to be coming back inside and decided he better take her back to the office. He said it was one of the funniest things to see this little dog just sitting in the elevator when it opened up. I can imagine.
Funny, yes, but also a little heart-stopping. Needless to say Irie will not be allowed off her leash in the elevator again for awhile.
Whew.
Waggly tail
I absolutely love Irie's little waggly stump tail. Finally got around to capturing it on video.
Sunday, April 01, 2007
Saturday, March 31, 2007
Not exactly a "pup-tent"
Maverick loves his new tent. Irie's too scared to go in it so it works as a "purrfect" hideout. Thanks, Uncle Carl.
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Lily's animal sounds
For some reason the sound and picture aren't matching up completely in this video, but for now it's the best I can do. I'll try to re-upload it later.
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Fear the turtle?
University of Maryland's motto means nothing to this Baltimore baby. This kid has no fear!
A soft velvety nose. 
Let me at that cow.
At one with the herd.
About to put the goat in a headlock.
Fear the turtle? No way.
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Some photos of the new place
Here's the living room.
And one of the new futon/couch. I actually have to say, I'm enjoying it. Not quite as comfy as my old couch, but it's working just fine.New favorite Irie pic
I'm not sure why I like this one so much. I guess it's just the cock of the head with those big ears. She just looks sweet.
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Pictures that make me laugh
Is that a Florida picture frame in a Mexican store? Why, yes, yes, it is.
Bubble bath time. (Again, yes, we have bathing suits on.)
I think the name of the store says it all here. Mass Relax, Viagra, and Diet Pills. Yum.
Here's a close-up of the window display. Work loved it.
Now there's a sign.
Our maid's idea of how bottles in the shower should be displayed.
Photos from Tulum
I think this was a light-house, but I might be wrong. I was really just checking out the sites.
This is Scott and I on the beach of Tulum. Our photographer managed to catch this picture just as a wave crashed over our rock. Scott and I are still blissfully unaware in the photo.
Me in front of, yes, you guessed it, another ruin.Los retratos de vacaciones
Our first day.
The palms I was so impressed with.
Scott getting some use out of our fabulous tub. We were big fans of the blinds that separated the bathroom from the bedroom. Very fun. And yes, Scott has his bathing suit on.
The Collectivo, our main form of transportation.
Me and one of the MANY iguanas we encountered.Viva! Viva!
So, from my last post you all know that I am officially home from my Mexican vacation. It's taken me a few days to get back into some sort of routine, get the apartment put together, etc, but I think I'm ready now to tell you about my fabulous trip.
It really was great. We had an awesome room (which had an awesome whirl-pool bathtub, FYI), a nice balcony overlooking the "relax pool" (aka the "adults-only" pool), several good restaurants to choose from, free transportation into town, a spa on-site (great for my last-minute pedicure!), and lots of fun activities (of which I took part in very few, strangely.)
We had a couple of days of just enjoying the weather and hanging on the beach, exploring the town of Playa del Carmen, doing a little shopping, etc. Our best resources turned out to be the random people we met waiting in line to make dinner reservations and in the shuttle on the way to town. Through them we learned of these little things called, "Collectivos". Collectivos are these white vans that run from Playa del Carmen up and down the highway to all the sites for about $2 each way. They were great and way better than the over-priced tours we were thinking about doing!
Thursday we took the collectivo down to Tulum and spent pretty much the whole day exploring the Mayan Ruins there and taking LOTS of pictures. It was pretty amazing. There's something just kind of awe-inspiring about seeing these ancient buildings set against the most beautiful blue sky and ocean. Gorgeous.
Really the only downfall to Tulum was the bathroom. Not the most advanced. Which really would've been OK if I hadn't ended up in a stall next to the grossest stall ever. I'm not entirely sure what was going on over there, but I do know there appeared to be puke all over the floor and the person had to be naked, because there was a pile of clothes laying in the before-mentioned puke. I actually mostly felt sorry for the person until they started pulling on their wet jeans and then I could barely keep my own breakfast down. Needless to say I got out of there as quickly as I could and spent pretty much the rest of the day anxious to get in the shower.
Then Friday we went over to Xel-Ha which is this ecological park nearby that has really great snorkeling. It's basically just this big bay area, so the water is calm and it's just teeming with fish. I really had never seen so many varieties and colors (well, maybe at an aquarium, but certainly not out in the water.) I really wish I would've had an underwater camera with me, but with past experience I've never found those pictures to come out that well anyway. I'll just have to rely on my memory. Closer to where the bay and ocean meet was where the big fish hang out. I'm generally not one to be overly scared of fish, but I must say, I felt a little intimidated. I'd certainly never been face-to-face with fish that size before. I didn't stay in that area very long.
Scott and I turned out to be very good travel companions and we had a really great time exploring. We got several questions about our "status" and had several funny remarks made to us. Probably the funniest was one of the hotel staff labeling us as "practicing" when we told her we were there as friends. Or maybe the guy in town who told us we were "living in sin."
I'd have to say the highlight of the whole trip though was when one rainy evening when we decided to go for a swim in the ocean. There's just something exhilarating about being in the ocean at dusk with rain pelting down on you. A few times the rain was coming down hard enough it actually hurt if you were above the surface. There were great body-surfing waves. Just a good time. And we encountered a very strange animal on the beach when we came out of the water. I'm not even sure how to describe it. The best I could do I guess is kind of woodchuck like, but not exactly. Still have no idea what it was, but it's always fun to stumble on an unidentifiable animal about 2 feet away from you. A magical evening. :-)
I must stop my trip down memory lane now and get back to the real world, but I'll get pictures up soon and maybe some other stories.
It really was great. We had an awesome room (which had an awesome whirl-pool bathtub, FYI), a nice balcony overlooking the "relax pool" (aka the "adults-only" pool), several good restaurants to choose from, free transportation into town, a spa on-site (great for my last-minute pedicure!), and lots of fun activities (of which I took part in very few, strangely.)
We had a couple of days of just enjoying the weather and hanging on the beach, exploring the town of Playa del Carmen, doing a little shopping, etc. Our best resources turned out to be the random people we met waiting in line to make dinner reservations and in the shuttle on the way to town. Through them we learned of these little things called, "Collectivos". Collectivos are these white vans that run from Playa del Carmen up and down the highway to all the sites for about $2 each way. They were great and way better than the over-priced tours we were thinking about doing!
Thursday we took the collectivo down to Tulum and spent pretty much the whole day exploring the Mayan Ruins there and taking LOTS of pictures. It was pretty amazing. There's something just kind of awe-inspiring about seeing these ancient buildings set against the most beautiful blue sky and ocean. Gorgeous.
Really the only downfall to Tulum was the bathroom. Not the most advanced. Which really would've been OK if I hadn't ended up in a stall next to the grossest stall ever. I'm not entirely sure what was going on over there, but I do know there appeared to be puke all over the floor and the person had to be naked, because there was a pile of clothes laying in the before-mentioned puke. I actually mostly felt sorry for the person until they started pulling on their wet jeans and then I could barely keep my own breakfast down. Needless to say I got out of there as quickly as I could and spent pretty much the rest of the day anxious to get in the shower.
Then Friday we went over to Xel-Ha which is this ecological park nearby that has really great snorkeling. It's basically just this big bay area, so the water is calm and it's just teeming with fish. I really had never seen so many varieties and colors (well, maybe at an aquarium, but certainly not out in the water.) I really wish I would've had an underwater camera with me, but with past experience I've never found those pictures to come out that well anyway. I'll just have to rely on my memory. Closer to where the bay and ocean meet was where the big fish hang out. I'm generally not one to be overly scared of fish, but I must say, I felt a little intimidated. I'd certainly never been face-to-face with fish that size before. I didn't stay in that area very long.
Scott and I turned out to be very good travel companions and we had a really great time exploring. We got several questions about our "status" and had several funny remarks made to us. Probably the funniest was one of the hotel staff labeling us as "practicing" when we told her we were there as friends. Or maybe the guy in town who told us we were "living in sin."
I'd have to say the highlight of the whole trip though was when one rainy evening when we decided to go for a swim in the ocean. There's just something exhilarating about being in the ocean at dusk with rain pelting down on you. A few times the rain was coming down hard enough it actually hurt if you were above the surface. There were great body-surfing waves. Just a good time. And we encountered a very strange animal on the beach when we came out of the water. I'm not even sure how to describe it. The best I could do I guess is kind of woodchuck like, but not exactly. Still have no idea what it was, but it's always fun to stumble on an unidentifiable animal about 2 feet away from you. A magical evening. :-)
I must stop my trip down memory lane now and get back to the real world, but I'll get pictures up soon and maybe some other stories.
First things first
Moving day....
Went pretty well. 4 of my bestest buddies helped me move an amazing amount of stuff from my old place to my new place. It is truly amazing to me how much stuff I have. And honestly, I did get rid of a lot of the crap. The kitchen was probably the biggest surprise for me. I guess when you have several cabinets to fill you can do some serious damage.
The biggest annoyance of the day was that my old couch (yes, the one I bought about 6 months ago and love dearly) does not fit in the doorway of my new place. Yes, we tried everything. We took the door off its hinges, we measured windows, we tried just shoving it. All to no avail.
What does one do in this situation? Well, you unload it on one of your friends, of course. So now my couch is happily sitting in Norah, Andrea and Scott's apartment. Meanwhile I am couchless and looking fervently for a new one. I'm not sure I ever knew how integral a couch is to everyday living. It's just plain weird to not have one. And the animals just keep looking around like, what am I supposed to lounge on now? My plan is to get a futon, I think. At least I can be reasonably sure I can get that through my door.
And how big is this door, you may ask. Well, let me tell you. It's 29.5". What's a standard exterior door? 32", I believe. What's much more reasonable? 33"- 36". Crazy old buildings.
Anyway, outside of the couch debacle, the move was mostly filled with the normal aches and pains. Good friends who like to laugh make it MUCH more enjoyable.
Other highlights from the move include:
I even made a small pot-roast last night. A place just isn't home until you've made a pot-roast there, right?
Went pretty well. 4 of my bestest buddies helped me move an amazing amount of stuff from my old place to my new place. It is truly amazing to me how much stuff I have. And honestly, I did get rid of a lot of the crap. The kitchen was probably the biggest surprise for me. I guess when you have several cabinets to fill you can do some serious damage.
The biggest annoyance of the day was that my old couch (yes, the one I bought about 6 months ago and love dearly) does not fit in the doorway of my new place. Yes, we tried everything. We took the door off its hinges, we measured windows, we tried just shoving it. All to no avail.
What does one do in this situation? Well, you unload it on one of your friends, of course. So now my couch is happily sitting in Norah, Andrea and Scott's apartment. Meanwhile I am couchless and looking fervently for a new one. I'm not sure I ever knew how integral a couch is to everyday living. It's just plain weird to not have one. And the animals just keep looking around like, what am I supposed to lounge on now? My plan is to get a futon, I think. At least I can be reasonably sure I can get that through my door.
And how big is this door, you may ask. Well, let me tell you. It's 29.5". What's a standard exterior door? 32", I believe. What's much more reasonable? 33"- 36". Crazy old buildings.
Anyway, outside of the couch debacle, the move was mostly filled with the normal aches and pains. Good friends who like to laugh make it MUCH more enjoyable.
Other highlights from the move include:
- How unbelievably dirty the new apartment was when I moved in. My property management company got an ear-full. I'm still cleaning as I go, but at least the major offenses are taken care of.
- My weird-o new neighbors who threatened to tow my car from a parking space that I hold a lease for. (This has since been figured out, but I'm still a little weary of these folks.)
- A mad search for a free-standing kitchen pantry so that I could actually house the majority of my kitchen stuff.
I even made a small pot-roast last night. A place just isn't home until you've made a pot-roast there, right?
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