A Bad, Bad Blogger

I have been a bad, bad blogger. Haven't written. Haven't read. It's sad and it's computer related. First the desk top pc did some funky smoky thing. We've turned it off permanently. This means the Chick became attached to my laptop. While I was gone on a business trip, something bad happened to the hinge on my pretty little laptop. Soda Chicky says she doesn't know how it happened. I have not fumed or cried, but it does mean that the laptop is now functioning more like a desktop computer. It's sitting quietly upstairs until I take it to have it's hinge fixed. We still have my old laptop which is very persnickety about going online. It thinks. It ponders. It whirrs and then after about twenty minutes you can get online. But will you stay online? This is the question and the frustration.

Since last blogging, I have been to Chicago and spent time with Baby Sister and Adventure Girl. (This is a three year old picture of me and AG at the Shore.) Other things have also happened.

• The boss of my boss came to visit for 36 hours. It went well but it was a little nervous making.
• The big boss took us to a swanky restaurant. Very good.
• Bug Man continues to recover from his surgery. Workers' Comp is saying this surgery is not related to his injury from two years ago. The doctor says "Oh, yes it is!" Now the lawyers get to fight it out. We hope they give us some money soon. Sigh...
• Baby Sister insisted I get a Facebook account. Did you know you can play Scrabulous all day long? Every hour or so you check on it... Can be distracting....
• The Chick's friends sometimes send me notes on Facebook. It's a very interesting thing.
• Mountain Mama and Papa Joe arrive today to celebrate the Chick's Confirmation on Sunday. How did she get so old? When was the last time I dusted? Why can't the Bug Man run the vacuum one handed?
• I saw JVZ on Saturday. I got lost on my way to the cute little university town north of here. She patiently waited and gave me directions via cell phone. I think I broke the law talking on my cell phone in the little state next to ours. I don't care. I blame their passive aggressive turnpike for my getting lost to begin with!
• The MIL arrives on Friday. The Chick still needs to clean her room some more before then. Should be fun. Hah!

That's all for now. Dorothy graduates on Sunday. Yeah for her!! She is so smart and clever and now she will be the "Master" of all she surveys.

Nine Dollars a Pack

This is it, people! I promised the Chick that when I got home from this trip, I would be a smoke free mother. While in the Windy City I bought my last pack at the hotel. It cost me nine dollars. The math says 45 cents a smoke. Yikes!

I have been away from blogging this week due to travels and having the cruddy laptop with me. Plus I forgot the wireless card at home. At least I think it's at home. While being gone a few interesting things (or at least interesting to me) happened.

• Spent some time with Adventure Girl. We went to the Tom Skillings' Tornado Seminar. I now know far more than I ever thought I would know about tornados. At some points, the speakers started to sound like Charlie Brown's teacher....
• Went to a couple of great restaurants: Carnivale for Peruvian food and Tuscany on Taylor. Both great places. Had yucca... still don't like it, but the paco paco and the sangria were great. Had veal with a white wine sauce, squares of gorgonzola and asparagus. Yummy!
• Spent time with Baby Sister and her gang of boys. Baby Sister convinced me to open a Facebook account. Not sure how dedicated I will be and Chatterbox said, "Mrs.. I am shocked you have a facebook!"
• My major project for this trip went great!
• I've slept in seven different beds in two weeks. Fell out of bed number six when the wake up call rang me awake. Have a carpet burn and a nasty bruise on my knee. Feel pretty goofy about it. My uber boss says it has happened to him when he has travelled. Felt goofy but better after that.
• Going home tomorrow. Hope the BugMan remembers to fetch me.
  

Playing Tag

I've been tagged by The Quixotic Pastor.




The rules for the meme are:

1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Share six non important things/habits/quirks about yourself.
4. Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs.
5. Let each random person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website.

So here are the six non important things/habits/quirks:

1. I'm afraid of heights and as a result I have a standard way to get on downward bound escalator that is so engrained I didn't know I was doing it until Adventure Girl pointed it out one day.
2. I like cheerios dry, straight out of the box. I have stolen/borrowed/shared cheerios from Pseudo Grandbaby's diaper bag on more than one occasion.
3. I can't get to sleep at night if my feet are cold. So I wear socks but once my feet are warm the socks have to go. Sometimes at the end of the week, when we change the sheets there are three pairs of socks buried at the end of the bed.
4. I really like cottage cheese mixed with green salsa. It's a disgusting looking but tasty dip. Nobody else in my family likes it. That's okay! More for me!
5. It kind of bugs me that Barak Obama is younger than I am.
6. I have ignored hair balls on the floor knowing that the Bug Man will find them in a few minutes and clean them up. I am a bad, bad wife......

Whether they like it or not, I am tagging Cheesehead, the Lutheran Zephyr, Pink Shoes, Soda Chicky, Papa Joe and Hot Cup Lutheran.

Hooray for the Big Burrito!

Back in the 1990's Little Sister #1 and I went to this little Mexican restaurant in Denver. It was kind of cute. Corrogated metal was on the walls. Stacks of supplies were part of the decor. There was very little seating available. We sat at a counter that faced an exterior window eating the hugest burritos I had ever seen. The food was great and the line for lunch went right out the door.

Fourteen years have passed since the first Chipotle Grill opened and now it is a huge chain. But up until now, there was no Chipotle in my city. This was not a crisis but I did experience withdrawal. In my last city, Adventure Girl and I would declare it was "big burrito day" at least once every ten days. This was especially important when the midweek children's ministry would be serving boxed macaroni and cheese or hot dogs cut and boiled to look like octopi. (It does nothing for the hot dogs, at all!)

Well, I am glad to announce that Chipotle has finally made it to the home of the Liberty Bell. Half way home I spotted the bright lights on a new location. I can hardly wait to step in the door to order a Carnitas burrito (pork seasoned with thyme, bay leaves, juniper berries and freshly cracked black pepper - seared, then braised for hours) with cilantro lime rice, black beans, cheese, sour cream and the medium heat corn salsa. Yummy!