it's the little things...

I don't want you to think that Chicago was all bad. It really wasn't. It was my first time there outside of the airport. I would definitely like to visit again. Getting picked up and dropped off at the airport. Yea! A late dinner outside of a little bar on Thursday night. The absolutely fantastic B&B . It's a great brownstone in a nice neighborhood. On the inside it's very sleek and IKEA. In addition to the rooms, there was a nice living room area and a kitchen that was open to everyone. You didn't have folks doting on you...groceries just magically appeared in the kitchen and you could help yourself. You could even cook if you wanted to. It was also nice chatting with some of the folks who were staying in the B&B--including rhythm gymnasts and Canadians. Really good thunderstorms. And actually being inside during a few of them. Ahhh, cuddling. I kind of like figuring out the mass transit systems in different cities. This stuff stressed me out a lot more the

Ah, how quickly 3 years passes...

Trying to get to a mass transit station during a torrential thunderstorm. With street flooding. And having to duck under someone's porch to hopefully let the rain stop only to carry on and find even worse flooding still between you and said station. And strategically using some stranger's parked Vespa to aid in the puddle jumping. And finally just deciding that you'd probably be happier in the long run if you just took off your shoes and socks and waded through the water on the Chicago streets barefooted. Also, getting to the ballpark to find that there's a rain delay for about another hour even though it has now completely stopped raining. Trying to get deep-dish pizza--hello, it's Chicago--later that night and the rain starts again. And the restaurant is packed and it didn't matter that you called ahead and all the other folks waiting are crammed inside because, again, it's raining. So you've made it through the long day. You've gotten wet

We'll be there. Till, um, then. A little leisure time but mostly celebrating the FSIL's graduation. Congrats!

Oh, my. Work is easing up about the time that wedding planning is kicking into high gear. I'll post pictures of the invitations soon. Everyone should have received them. We've even gotten some RSVPs already. And two gifts! Fun! Here's a little something to make you laugh and/or creep you out. It does both for me... It also makes The Fiance and me sing crazy things followed by, "Is that bad?" It usually is but also makes us giggle. And that's hardly ever bad.

Just taking a break from work to post this. I don't know if anyone else has watched these little clips, but they're really insightful. Granted, I'm obviously not a mother but I still struggle (sometimes immensely) with this alleged balance. Thank you, lady at the end, for saying that no one can do it perfectly. Ok, back to work for another hour and fifteen minutes before a dinner break. (In other news, apparently the mail works both ways. First wedding gift arrived today.)

They're in the hands of the USPS. Lots of brides on the blogs I read talk about getting the post office to hand cancel the envelopes. Or some of the brides convince the postal workers to let them do it themselves. This allegedly is easier on the envelopes than the normal machine they get put through. Some people have said their envelopes ended up in a machine anyway. I thought I'd at least ask since so many hours went into assembling them but today? When I took them in? I just dropped them off. I'm in a very "f- it" mood, apparently beyond caring that the invitations will likely not make it to their destinations in pristine condition. I'll share pictures when enough time has passed for people to have received them. You know, after I take new pictures since all of mine are gone. So I guess just to humor me, let me know what yours looks like when you get it. Run over by a truck? Left in a rainstorm? Whatever. I can take it.

It was some weekend. Good heavens, people. So, yeah, we knew that May was going to be tough. Work had me running around like the proverbial headless chicken. I thought all that would end two Fridays ago but some deadlines have gotten pushed back to this Friday. That's left some lingering frantic emails and phone calls that have gotten me even further behind. Not terribly unexpected that I have been running just below the threshold of some sort of breakdown. Even though I was in the office on Friday, it still wasn't starting off well. I can't even remember what problems there were with work... But I was on a conference call that was going on and on and I was multitasking. I won't lie. It wasn't even work-related. I was trying to finish up the map that will be a wedding invitation insert. My not-even-2-year-old Mac just froze. And then would not restart. I tried the few online trouble shooting suggestions and then went to the Apple store. Now, I know yo