A Day in Chicago with us.

Spaghetti is on Staycation this week. He had too much vacation days saved up at work and the way it goes, is he will lose them, so wonderful boss let him have the whole week off, counting his days off this gave us this last Monday through this coming up Tuesday off! Wee!

So after days full of vet visits (Sophie has an eye ulcer. Boo) and our 6 month dental check ups (yee.ha fun) we thought a day in the city would be fun…

 

We took the kids on the metra train, from a city about 20 minutes north of us, to Chicago. It was fun, and they had a blast posing for the camera (Hey Aerial, I think Alex is stealing your camera face!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We get up there and go on foot about 3 blocks to the ‘L’ (see this for more info on what the “L” is) I loved walking with the kids showing them the pigeons, a bird native to our busy city, not afraid of much. The kids got a big kick out of how close they could get to them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Headed down to the Jackson Street “L” train. The kids were NOT amused at all. We had to wait about 10 minutes for the next train, and it was warm down there, not as hot as the 93 degrees above ground, but not exactly air conditioned. This is their ‘unhappy where is the beach’ look.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THEN we get on and they think differently of it. I told you it’d be fun-ner.

They LOVED that the ‘L’ went from underground to 2 stories above ground. Kinda crazy if you’ve never been on it. It sways, rocks, slams on brakes, speeds up, underground, above ground. Needless to say it’s an experience.

Took the “L” to Wrigleyville. An area Spaghetti and I both know well. I spend a day here each year, at the Pride Parade in June. Walking BLOCKS, with about half a million people.

And Spaghetti works here with his dad. Vending beer to Chicago Cubs fans on days when he can around his day job.

It was nice today, no game so it was quiet. Got a cute shot of the kids together in front of Wrigley Field, this is where their Grandpa Mc stand each game to sell programs.

We were hot and whiney already, so we headed over to my favorite place, Starbucks for a snack and some coffee.

After our break, we walked around to the side of Wrigley Field, they had the gates open for set up, Sir Paul McCartney is playing tonight and tomorrow.

That stand right there is where my Spaghetti stands, selling beer, pretzels, and peanuts. (tip your vendors!!)

We took the kids right across the street to the Wrigleyville #78 Fire Department so they could see the trucks and say hello to the guys.

We stopped over at the office, to pick up Spaghetti’s payroll check.

 

 

This must have exhausted the kids, because they ended up on our shoulders, yep nothing says fun like a tote bag full of food, 93 degrees in the shade, and a whiney 35 lb three year old on your shoulders!

 

We walked about 4 blocks to the bank. Weaky promptly took off his shoes, sunglasses and curled up under there. We enjoyed their comfy chairs, and full blast air conditioner for a few minutes.

BACK to the ‘L’ train. Now to Chicago Street…

 

Waited about 8 minutes for the #66 bus to take us to Navy Pier. Again whiney till they got on and saw how cool a BIG bus was.

Weird that the bus was so empty for a Friday afternoon… everyone at work?

The bus dropped us off RIGHT at Navy Pier (THE best place to go for fun if your visiting the Chi)

So we walked the park, very excited that the Ohio Street Beach was just a 1/2 block away.

Kids didn’t waste time jumping into the lake! Alex did this funny thing where he would lay on his tummy at the edge of the water, and push backwards into the surf. He LOVED Lake Michigan!

 

All those damn snacks and lunches I had been toting around with me for hours, paid off. We had sandwiches, brownies, granola bars, fruit twists, carrots with ranch dressing, and cheerio’s.

All under out beach tent. This thing was pretty easy to tote. With shoulder strap. It was so worth it though. Perfect shade and privacy for us.

 

I have to say the best part of the beach here is the mix of park and beach, RIGHT next to the skyline.

It’s just beautiful, enjoying the nature of Chicago with the BIG busy buildings and Lake Shore Drive.

 

 

 

 

 

Now I’m NOT a beach kinda person. I mean I love to go, but I SIT on the sand, I sweat my ass off, and enjoy people watching.

I did dip my feet in the water a bit. It was cool and wonderful!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Best part of the day? Watching Spaghetti enjoy some time with his Weaky and Bagel. Now Spaghetti is ‘Scuba Steve’ to me. He’s scuba certified, LOVES all kinds of water. So very happy that he is, so HE can take the kids out there. And I can Momarazzi from the beach.

After HOURS of play on the beach, and enjoying our lunch. We packed up and walked over to Navy Pier to enjoy some Ben & Jerry’s ice cream. It was nummy, and we were EXHAUSTED!

We had talked about it, looked at the train schedule and decided that we could make the 5:15 pm train back home, BUT money wise and time wise we decided that taking a cab would be easier for all of us.

 

I do think we took about every means possible to travel in Chicago this day. This is the kids in the cab. They were super excited, I swear they were. Minus the deer in head lights shot I got here.

 

 

 

 

 

So after a WHOLE lot of the BIG city…

Even bigger buildings…

We made it back to the train, climbed up to the second level of the metra train. Assuming the kids would PASS. OUT.

Nope. Weaky was high strung, wiggly and just wanted to do anything but sit on a train?! OMG we were SO tired…

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bagel finally passed out on my lap and so I braided her hair to pass the time,

 

While Weaky continued to assault Spaghetti’s face. Let’s just say it was NOT fun

 

 

 

Finally I got Weaky to chill out in his own little space at the end of our row right next to me.

 

Started the day by leaving at 8:40 am, and home in the drive way at 6:23 pm. A VERY long day. LOTS and LOTS of adventures. TONS of pictures.

But after a crazy few weeks of fighting between Spaghetti and I, I have to say this really made us better.

It was a combo of having to work together, with the kids, and a big city. To really work at communicating, and realize that we were not in a hurry and to enjoy the day. Enjoy the staycation with the kids.

While posting this I texted him I was going through the pictures of this day, and I missed him. He’s at Wrigley right now, getting ready for Paul McCartney’s concert tonight. Best part, he sent me a text that said “I miss you”… we never text. And this may be the first love-ish one he’s ever sent me. I saved it.

Thanks for the memories Chicago. That’s why I love you so.

Feisty.

xo

A day full of independence

A day full of food…

A day full of family…

A day full of sunshine, and swimming…

 

A day full of laughter…

 

A day full of life…

A day full of smiles…

A day full of us… just being us… enjoying our life of smiles, laughter, silliness, food, and most important. Family.

Hoping you all had a wonderful 4th of July, celebrating our freedom.

Feisty

Empty.

Well we aren’t THAT empty, but close. Last babbly post I rambled something about Spaghetti quitting his video store job. It’s a great idea, and we are just using it as a crutch anyway. The job is taking it’s toll on him, and he is SO over working there.
Let me break it down, he works a full time job. It’s a good job, it pays ALL the bills, carries our insurance, and is THE job. Now we also have a seasonal job, that is Wrigley (yes the Chicago Cubs Wrigley field, he’s a vendor at a bar) that is great money, and only during baseball season. (we all know with the Cubs it’s not long) And then there is the video store… this job is year round. It’s about 5-15 hours a week, and it’s to cover food and gas.
Anyway, we’ve done a bit of money shuffling around, and it’s working out that we have more money coming in, SO the video store isn’t needed. BUT that being said I have a new job.
That being the food/budget police. Now I was before, but with out the luxury of the extra money coming in, I REALLY have to make this money work.
I have to say most people are amazed that I get $90 at Aldi (SUPER cheep store) to last me about 4 weeks. NOW that was not counting the weekly trips to the store (Jewel, WAY close but WAY more pricey) for milk, and eggs. So now I need to make this work, so it’s worth my while to drive the 15 minutes to Aldi, instead of 2 minutes to Jewel.
We also get NO McD’s, Taco Bell, Culvers (whimper) and with this hoping to drop a few pounds. I’m a simple cook, and I do cook well. It’s just the lazy factor in my job needs to go.
I buy pancake batter, and we eat from scratch, I also have a 80’s waffle maker so I make waffles in advance, freeze them, and wala. Breakfast. (just made 6 today, and these suckers are HUGE, like 6x6 huge) We like oatmeal too. And eggs are always a staple food around here. Scrambled eggs on a tortilla, and you pick out your sauce (Bagel loves honey, Weaky loves syrup, and Spaghetti and I have veggies and cheese sauce in ours)
Lunch is sandwiches. .99 for bread, and it’s either peanut butter and jelly, or bologna and cheese. Fancy you want? I’ll grill your sandwich and we can call it a Panini.
Dinner is meat, carb, veggie. We eat fish, chicken, and pork. Sometimes burgers but now I’ve gotten into a pork burger thing from the local Farmers Market, OMG they are good.
Snacks are fruit, granola bars, or crackers. We drink black coffee, or off brand of Crystal Light or water. No pop, Spaghetti is 1 year, 9 months and 11 days pop free (soda for some of you) or 649 days. So I figure if a guy who once drank a 12 pack of Coke a day could cold Turkey it, I could too. I tried once for New Years, did it for 3 months and went back. I stopped again on June 10th, and that makes me 23 days free!
We love it simple. Trying to BUY food then make food. So NOT buying the premade mashed potatoes, or the flakes in a bag (gross) I buy a 10 lb bag, peel, cut, boil, and mash. Nom. Nom.
I fight with Spaghetti each time. But I am NOT ashamed of going to food banks. Not the monthly ones. But there are ones that go to our town twice a year, and they give you food. He says it’s for the poor. Well sweetheart, I don’t know about you, but working 3 jobs to keep a roof over our house is pretty damn poor if you ask me. And yes that food is used.
I am thankful for my parents and Spaghetti’s parents. They usually buy the kids shoes, and clothes. My kids are the ONLY Grandchildren they will have, so spoiled is a given. If not from a store, I proudly support garage sales, thrift stores and second hand stores.
Money doesn’t buy happiness, but it sure as hell would make life a bit easier. I know people live with SO much less then I have, and I need to learn to work with what I have, we have to learn to go with out. Plan ahead and not waste. It’s a good thing for the family.
Biggest perk, we get Spaghetti home more often. August 20th is his last day there, and we can’t wait. (I will miss the perks of free videos, and new releases the week before they come out)
So much has changed this year, the BIG room shuffle around the house (making the Sports/Pool table room back into a family room, making the front tv room/toy room into a library, and the man cave in the basement is now a toy room) the flow of the house, is 100x’s better.
The loss of Maggie May is still heavy on our hearts, but with that comes the fact that the kids play more with Sophie, we save money on dog food, and bills, my sister is more comfortable coming over (Maggie would jump at her and at 78 lbs my 4’9” sister had a hard time being around her)
And now that Spaghetti will be down to 2 jobs. One full time one seasonal. I’ve already freaked, knowing that he’s quitting in August, and we have a family wedding to go to ($100) and the car sticker for the year ($105) yikes. But that’s what Wrigley is for. Big things.
And we just got Spaghetti a ‘Straight Talk’ phone from Walmart. No contract, no commitments. $30 a month, 1000 minutes, 1000 texts and well he doesn’t use the web on his cell. I’m still with Sprint till the end of September, and then I’m going to get one too. We have a land line so that saves us minutes. I only said I HAVE to have a phone with a QRTY keyboard, and they do have one by LG that I like. That will probably be my Christmas present.
Sure it’s tough, but we think if we just save, work hard. Budget and plan ahead we can get through anything. We do have a credit card, and it’s for emergencies. (Maggie was just shy of a grand for visits, and putting her down)
We’ve been fortunate in this craphole of an economy to have 3 jobs, when so many people don’t have one. But Spaghetti works hard, and he took jobs that require Holidays, and weekends. He’s done so much for our family. I think SO much of a persons credibility and who they are speaks for how hard they work.
Now I must go and pull EVERYTHING out of our freezer, organize it and start attempting ‘Meal Planning’ wish me good luck!
Feisty

Brain Full.

Right SO I haven’t done one of these posts in a while but if I don’t do this now my brain will explode from all the stuff I want to blog about… my apologies some may be rant-ish, and some may be babbly. Either way enjoy.

Had a fantastic day at the county fair with my parents, Queen and Carrots, and my sister Francis. The kids LOVE to see the animals and I’m a sucker for goats.

For Francis’s 30th birthday my mom bought the 3 of us tickets for a meet and greet with some of the General Hospital Soap stars. 26 women got to hang out, talk to, ask questions and enjoy 3 hours with Tyler Christopher (Nicholas Cassadine), and Jason Thompson (Patrick Drake) very funny guys, down to earth. And we asked ANYTHING we wanted.

Enjoyed a fantastic Sunday in Chicago, at the 42nd Annual Pride Parade (my 5th parade) with my bestie Aerial, and my cousin Rob and his partner Phil.

It was fun, relaxing and as always special to be with my cousin.
Right and so I’ve been super busy with tons of fun things going on, BUT I’ve got crazy going on too.
~ Weaky is potty training. It’s one of those where I was trying, on and off, and NOT getting my hopes up. And then Thursday he was REALLY into it. And MAD when he had to wear a diaper. SO Friday even though we were at the fair we tried to keep the momentum going. (resulted in two outfit changes) BUT going strong today. Alex Pee 4. Alex Poop 2. Alex miss 1. Not to shabby if you ask me. God I HATE potty training. But not as much as wiping shit off of someones but, so I’ve just got to suck it up and hope it sticks this time! (note he is 3 years and 2 months old)
~We should be getting a $35 check in the mail (mid August by the time the 4-6 weeks is up) from ComEd our elecrtic company. They are PAYING ME, for taking an old deep freezer off our hands. Trying to go green and dispose of all these energy wasting appliances. And it was! The seal was broke so it ran ALL the time. Good bye! Just miss the extra space and have to buy ONLY what fits in my kitchen freezer.
~ Glad my kids are signed up for NOTHING this summer. I’m calling it the summer of NO commitments. I almost enjoy saying NO to people. No classes, no vacations, no lessons, no clubs. Nothing. Just the 4 of us enjoying the summer.
~Spaghetti is planning on leaving the Video store by the end of August. OMG. He’s been there since October 2005, it was just for extra money, and it will be tight with out the job, we are doing better financially and it’s just not worth the stress of having to work a job with no set schedule.
~We had to buy a $250 fence to put around our pool. Mind you we do not have a deck and it’s above ground. BUT I caught Weaky trying to stack small toy stools to see in the pool one day. I about had a heart attack, refused to let him out till the fence was ordered and up. NO way was my baby even going NEAR the back yard till it was safe. So now we swim in a cage. But that’s ok, my baby is safe.
~ I’m still over weight, I have NO excuses, just haven’t gotten the proper motivation. Besides the fact that I need an inhaler to walk my house stairs now, and squatting and standing up KILLS my legs. BUT I’m a pretty self confident person and like my mom says as long as I can rock cute hair, and a cute outfit, I’m ok with myself. Still hoping for some motivation soon.
~Paid the appliace man $129 to come and turn the dryer button on and it worked. WTF. I was like WHAT?! For two weeks it just hummed, and wouldn’t go on. Since he had to charge me regardless for coming out, he said he’d just clean the WHOLE thing for me so I wasn’t paying for nothing. Looks like an angel was watching over us, because the guy showed me how close we were to a lint fire. He said about 1/2 inch more of lint and we would have. Yikes. Worth the $129 to have him come out.
~I swear it’s only July 2nd and my kids are DRIVING me NuCkInG fUtS.
~Right so on that note, I have laundry up the ass and dishes to do, and a house to clean. The kids are driving me crazy, I just hope that Spaghetti takes them in the pool and I can clean in peace!
I told you this was going to be a wack post. Rambly and whiney, but I warned you! Happy 4th!
Feisty