Pneumonia Anyone?
Thank you, internet, for exactly expressing my thoughts. And a million other people’s thoughts. But seriously. I meant to post this last week when it was 90 degrees on Friday. And sweltering. Sunny. Hot. Humid. Then 40 degrees on Saturday. And raining. Thundering. Lightning. Hailing. Ice and tornadoes. Where else in the country can you run the risk of having both heatstroke and hypothermia within a 24 hour period? And potentially having all your fresh, green, spring, grass wither and turn brown today, and maybe have your house completely demolished tomorrow?
I only bring it up today, again, because yesterday was another rainy, humid day of varying temperatures. Sixty-ish. I’m told. Because I can’t remember. I was at work, and my work city doesn’t always reflect my home city. I drove in weather that ranged from so severe I could barely see through the downpour, onto a stretch of road so bone dry it looked like a wasteland. And I only commute 26 miles. Last night, cold. Well, chilly. And damp. It’s a peculiar wet-type feeling that’s not exactly uncomfortable but raises the hair on your arms. Not tropical but not mountainous either. And it was foggy. Like, ghost foggy. Scoop it up in a cup foggy. Things that jump out of the dark foggy. Say, like, dinosaurs running out from the forest. (Movie plug! We saw Jurassic World late last night. It was good. If you like dinosaurs or even think you might, just GO. It’s not a waste of your money. End of plug.) Our weather is so accommodating, to give us that slightly scary, element of surprise and effect while driving home. Then rain and thunderstorms predicted for morning, and all day long.
Actual wake up weather today: sunny and gorgeous. Like, perfect. It’s 80 degrees already. Blue sky, white fluffy clouds. Soft breeze. It’s ridiculous.
I’d love to have a point here, or a guide for predicting and planning for the weather, but it’s mostly just observation and a little ranting. Tonight we are going to a wedding. I have no idea what the outside will be like. That’s the beauty of my little corner of Illinois. We could go in hot and come out cold. It could rain. Or it might not. Glancing outside it looks like the weather is getting ready to shift right now. I mean, it has been a whole hour. I need to go get ready and stop this foolishness. Everyone stay safe and enjoy these days and nights as you can. Later.
This Is How They Get You
By degrees. Zero to Sixty in one week. I hear 70 for Monday. They freeze us out and then warm us up and we forget how miserable we were for 3 months. Tricksters. These are in front of the house. Bloomed. They don’t know what the heck is going on. I can’t remember what these are called, and my daffodils are still coming up. You can be sure I’ll post a pic of those happy flowers. For now here’s a close up, action shot, from yesterday, because I take too many pictures I just don’t know what to do with. FYI: The “action” comes from the slight breeze that was blowing while I was balanced over the flower patch in front of the house contorting and bending like some circus freak with my phone in one hand and the other pressing the bricks while maneuvering for the exact angle to frame these tiny purple petals without falling on my face in the dirt. Saturday’s can be so dangerous. Take that National Geographic. Later.
Happy New Year In Four Fast Photos
This was Christmas and New Year’s. It’s January 3. These lights are gone, put away already. It was the only holiday stuff we had up due to some house painting and carpet replacing we did this winter break. No Christmas tree, stockings, decorations, etc, versus that fresh new house feeling? So worth it. And the house really does feel sort of new considering most of our stuff is still outside in the garage. I’m trying to de-clutter, so if it stays out there long enough we don’t need it right? Luckily I have been working every day so I missed most of the mess and most of the manual labor. This “re-filling” of the house could take awhile. And, no snow. Thank you Midwest weather. Seriously. Thank you. True to Chicago fashion, our “Winter Storm Alert!” is 33 degrees of rain. Not a problem as I see it. It can just keep on raining. Anyway, that’s it. I’m still here. We’re all still here. And I’m going to post 3 more pictures going backward now to catch up from October. Then we’ll be back on track. Even got some new bird pics to share. Yes fair readers, it’s true. Crows. Three big crows. From I don’t know where. They came, they walked around the yard, they flew away. 2015, here we go.
Trippin’ On Father’s Day
Somewhere between Ohio and Pennsylvania. No more info given except to say that he stopped for a few to let the GPS catch up and then back on.
Random pics. I like this one too. I like the color and all those poles. Everyone is coming in but no one is leaving.
Last shot for the night. Destination. Of course I don’t have a name of the town. I texted but you know these motorcycle gangs, they don’t stop to answer a text message! This was at 7:30 pm Saturday night, his time. The BF is an hour ahead. Who knows what wondrous things he has already seen today while I have been sitting in my backyard drinking coffee. I’ll post as I get em’. Meanwhile enjoy this beautiful Sunday. Father’s Day! Honey, if you read this, I love you and thank you for being an awesome dad to the kiddies. They love you tons. Be careful as always. Stay safe.
Our weather here is gearing up for storms later. Hot cha cha cha.
Watch for motorcycles! Later.
Argh! Two More Months Of Life Slipped On By
And it’s summer again. Almost. We are still undecided here in the Midwest. But the calendar says June 14. And the temps don’t lie. Well, they do, but we ignore that flaw because we love it so. I don’t want to bog this day down with a lot of past dwelling so let me update fast and we can carry on from this moment. I’m only hitting the highlights, so to speak, and moving on. First, the darkness.
Death has touched ground too much this year and I have had 6 opportunities to say goodbye to some lovely family and friends in the last 6 months. That’s really all I’m going to post about it. No disrespect to anyone, but I can’t trust my wordiness, and I don’t like carrying a heavy heart very far. All were loved, and all will be missed.
On a lighter note, I have a new vehicle! If you have visited here before you may know that I kind of loved my Maxima.
In a comfy, stable, but still kind of fast and sexy, way. Well, 200,000 thousand miles just wasn’t in the cards for the old girl and she decided to give me a random Wednesday off of work when she pooped out in the middle of the road while I was driving her in to the job. Too much to fix this time and we had to let her go. Cursed and blessed. Because I found my dream machine. Catch me I’m falling, swooning and flushing, batting my eyelashes, getting all hot and sweaty, because I am in love love love with this mere automobile. Meet my new main squeeze, the 2012 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon. Used, but so sweet, and only 18000 miles.
Isn’t she beautiful? I hesitated at the edge for a split second and then jumped in anyway to the Jeep pool. The dealer said I would love it. He was right right right. I have been driving it for a month and it feels like it has been mine forever. When I walk out of work and see it in the parking lot, my heart skips a little beat, I swear. Typed, that looks, and sounds, sad, I realize, but I don’t care. My heart for a Jeep.
I still waste entirely too much time playing these stupid stupid phone games that I get absolutely nothing for in the real world except satisfaction of reaching the maximum level possible and the knowledge that I did not spend even ONE cent of my own money to get here. Level 70. Tiny Village. You kill me. But I love you so. I have a job. I have money to pay my bills. I’m fairly healthy with a birthday coming up that I’m not exactly jumping for joy about, but I’m alive right? I lost 10 pounds since I saw my doc in April! That alone makes me happy. My clothes fit! And my B/P is going down number by number with each little weight loss. My skin still turns into kind of a mess every few weeks but these are the things we live with. Stay out of the sun, don’t drink alcohol, (don’t drink a lot of alcohol), eat as healthy as you can, exercise, get some sleep. That’s pretty much the whole trick of it.
The kids. The kids are out of school. Again. I have a Junior and a Sophomore now. 16 and 15. Both driving. Both taller than me. Both beautiful. And both not too shabby in the brains department. Healthy and seemingly happy as of this moment. Also, spending the weekend with their dad. Father’s Day and all that. This is the first time I have been totally alone in this house, for a whole weekend, and overnight, for like, a million years. One. Million. Years. It. Is. Wonderful.
But Lisa, you say, don’t you have a boyfriend? Where is he? How can you be totally alone?
Well, let me enlighten. I still have a BF. He’s fine. He’s fabulous. He supports my crazy. And there’s no shortage of that around here. I always find the extra level. I’m blaming it on age. He’s younger (that’s right, that’s how we do it) so I have to blaze the trail. It’s hard, to be sure, but it’s less hard now; now that I got that Jeep! Woop. See what I just did? Turned it into a Jeep commercial. Shameless.
Anyway, the BF just left for another one of his motorcycle trips (hence the alone part) and this time I’m gonna document it. It’s a week long, and I won’t even say where. One, cause I don’t really know exactly, (East towards Pennsylvania and then South to Tennessee/Alabama/etc…I believe), and two, I don’t need to know because he’s going to take pictures every time he stops and I’m going to post them. We are all going on this journey together. Gather round and follow us down. I’ve been up since 5 am so I’m really proud of this day. And it’s only 3:30! I have a shit ton of work to catch up on but I think I can handle it with all this breathing room I have. Even if it is only 48 hours worth. The house is neat and quiet. Most of the laundry is done. The sun is shining. The birds are singing. The flowers are blooming. The air is fresh and clean. It’s like a damn country song over here. I even got a flag in the window. And a Jeep in the driveway. And the boy’s GMC out in the front. If I had a lake in the backyard to skip a stone on, I’d really have it all. Well, ain’t that America? I will do my best to share what the BF sends back to me every day. It’ll be a small vacation for all of us. For free. Let’s go!
Park Forest, Illinois. 6 am. Packing and getting ready. He’s driving alone today. Meeting the rest of the traveler’s in PA later tonight.
Plymouth, Indiana. 7:30 am. Gas, water, food stop. Since there is no picture sent with the message I’ll just use this here map to kind of show the way. (Internet Map CREDIT: Map Of The United States by FreyFox. Thank you!) It’s silly, but it’s meant to be. It’s also a good map! Take a look all around, then look to the East. Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania.
Upper Sandusky, Ohio. 11:30 ish. Fun fact: All you can eat KFC! But it’s more than that! It’s a KFC, Long John Silvers, DQ, and a gas station. I’m at home eating leftover noodles with butter. I do like this picture though. It never seems like other states are as crowded as Illinois. Hmm. Pondering time.
Carrollton, Ohio. 2:30 pm. Not much to see. Let’s flip it around.
Well, it’s a gas station. I just thought I’d showcase the motorcycle since I was so bad about the last trip. The text received with the pic is: Back to the road…next stop will be destination. 3 more hours. I asked about time zones, but it was too late. You can’t keep these motorcycle people still for long. So that’s it for now. I will update as much as possible this week. Work will interfere but I have a late night ahead, to try and get ahead, and some days off in the near future. Maybe I will even get in some extra stuff. Birds and flowers and such. I got benches for the last three years. And some found money that I am about to lump into an all-inclusive-3 year total. I could potentially be up all night! Full moon too. You can stay with me if you like. Come and hang if you happen to be up. Leave a comment or just browse around.
And as a side note to the BF: You might not see this today or anytime soon, but be careful! Stay safe. I love you.
Watch for motorcycles! Later!
The Daffodil Update. At 75 Degrees. Chicago Time 3:03 PM.
Yes, I do have other things to do actually. But it’s the first nice day that I am home and alone and able to work on my schedule. So, of course, here’s a picture of the white daffodils, taken with the phone camera. And below is the yellow daffodils. Also the phone camera. I will be sitting outside for a spell now and bringing the camera. Get ready for a crazy Saturday night. Right?!?
Let’s Call This A Lucky Saturday For All My Fans!
Oh yeah. It’s the first bird picture of the Spring 2014 edition of “This Website Sucks Now Because It’s Always A Picture Of A Damn Bird Or Some Clouds Or Some Flowers.”
Obviously that’s a cardinal. Don’t be fooled by the grey sky behind this happy little fellow. It was warm that day. It was warm yesterday. 71 degrees. It’s supposed to be warm today. I filled the bird feeder lighthouse and the birds have found it again. So get ready internet world! More bird pictures are this close for scrolling down this website after a long cold winter of just snow and icicle pictures. And not to disappoint, below is the first picture of my daffodils, also making their debut Spring 2014 appearance. Enjoy.
Please Please Please Can We Have 60 Degrees?
My flowers are so confused. First batch is already trying to bloom. They don’t know it’s still only 39 degrees. Lots of sun. No fun. And now we wait.
Snow Progress
The first snowfall. When it was pretty. And we were all like, “Yay winter!” Then it just became annoying. Now it’s all gone. At least off the table.
This Is Really The Last Picture Of The Famed Icicle
Mostly because it is totally gone. All of it. The icicle and the snow. We are back down to the sidewalk and rocks. I took this right before I left for work. By the time I got home, winter halftime melted almost everything around this majestic beauty. In Chicago, we get a few days every winter, smack dab in the middle, to remind us why we live here or don’t live here, or why we need to get our pneumonia and flu shots every fall. Temps go up, dumbasses walk around in summer clothes, and then can’t figure out why they are deathly ill the next day when the temp drops back into the teen range. Except that it only stays there for a few hours before going back up into the 50’s and raining like it’s springtime. Not raining like you might have. That’s baby rain. That’s amateur hour outside of the Illinois borders. But raining with thunder and lightning and 50 mph winds that are blowing the half melted icy snow across the road to cause some kind of watersleetsnowicefog mix that causes us all to crash into each other on the expressway. And then at night, just a touch more snow, like the icing on the cake. It’s actually more like vanilla powder on a cake that already has icing, flowers, writing, sprinkles, shavings and maybe some glitter. It’s overkill and we are not impressed. Only Indiana can rival us with snow weather. They get a lot. Mostly due to our strategic placement of Lake Michigan. Ha. Suckers. But their biggest problem this year, I hear, is something called “expansion joints.” Apparently they keep popping up in the middle of the roadway and causing a bunch of flat tires and accidents. It’s not funny at all. But it kind of is. How about you all do it like we do it in Illinois (and everywhere else) and just make the road in one long piece? Then all you have to worry about are the giant potholes that can swallow an entire Mini Cooper in one bite! Come on Indiana! Step it up and get all those flat tires the good old fashioned way. By driving into, and out of, a huge hole in the ground! In Illinois you get a 50/50 chance of coming out of it ok. Whereas in Indiana, I don’t think you have even a slim chance of not getting a flat, or worse, when the whole roadway separates into two, non-connected, pieces. It’s probably because our roads go through our state, not over it. Let’s bring it to the ground I-N.
Anyhoo, let me end here. I don’t want to start any wars. Winter blows all over this middle part of America. Every place around here has their own private hell. Sometimes you win, mostly you lose. So it’s a draw. I think I have one ugly pic of the front of the icicle and a blurry pic of the road that I drove home on the next day. (More snow. Can you believe it?) I’m not using them. I want to forget. I’ll just post some of the other random pictures from the camera and phone and call it a wrap for this wave of weather. It’s holding steady around 30-35 degrees. For 2 whole days now! A little melt. A little freeze. I don’t know why I stay here. Later.
just shy of pretty 