big sisters are cool

I have a great big sister. The biggest. The best. She has proven her love to me with stuff. and cookies. I got a care package from Katy, with cookies, a family picture (sisters plus the puppies), a nice letter, candles, and a pretty fishie. Oh yeah, and some money. Now annie is fat and happy with cookies.
It was fun getting the package, actually - it was too big to fit in my mailbox in my building, so i had a slip saying i could go pick it up or fill out the slip to get permission to leave it. I figured that the post-office is only 1.5 miles away, so I hopped on my bike. It was exciting because it was both rush hour and a rainy day, but i knew i could do it, especially if i stuck to the neighborhood streets that are mostly one-way and have stop signs every block. they are terrible to drive on, but perfect for a chicken biker. the post office is on a busy street, though, so i got to test my biking skills and i did great. the postman was really friendly, i got my package, and had an uneventful ride home (except for the police arresting someone a block from my house, but that also didn't look too exciting, more routine than anything). then i opened my package nice and slowly, with a drink in one hand.

i am planning on going out tonight. really. i didn't go out on tuesday or wednesday (i plead exhaustion), but i really think i might be ready tonight. i'm going to ride the train into the city (i have my Chicago Card Plus, as of today, which means that riding the train is easier and feels even less like i'm spending money - and it saves me some money!) to go to Thunder Comedy Thursday at a bistro. apparently it's well known. we'll see.

i had a big day at work today - my first field day sans boss or anyone besides volunteers. I had 4 of those, all of them middle-aged women. It was sort of fun, although there were a lot of mosquitoes and poison ivy, and the plant we were looking for was nigh impossible to ID - Carex woodii looks like a lot of other Carex, as it turns out. surprise surprise. and also doesn't reproduce that much, and its reproductive structures are what all the keys are based on. and the GPS broke, making it impossible to trace back to last year's sites via technology. so we stuck to wandering through the woods with a compass and a poor map. it was fantastic.
actually, once the volunteers were gone, i had a smashing time crashing through the brush, hopping fences, getting muddy, and finding two previously unmapped populations of this rare species. so i'm satisfied.

time for dinner. Frijoles refritos! con Queso! y Arroz! que delicioso ...

living in a snowglobe

So, the cottonwoods are releasing their cotton. It's a very windy day today, so every time i look out the window it looks like i'm in a snow globe. There are little drifts of cotton around the bases of plants and near car tires. it's pretty cool - except that everyone with allergies is miserable.

I took my bike on the Metra today - exciting, successful, and really makes the trip from the train station to the office very quick. I miss a lot of the plants and the cicada emergence, but i guess it's better this way ...
now i'm going to see how it is the other way. nice and flat, either way.
... hooray for glaciers, i guess.

it's so weird to live with someone that i don't care about and that doesn't care about me. we ask each other about the other's day, but more because we're looking for entertainment and a good story than out of concern for the other's well-being.
a line from fight club comes to mind:

when people think you're dying, they really listen, instead...

                        
-- Instead of just waiting for their turn to speak.

not to be melancholy. just to relate. i'm not dying, so my roomie's not listening. i'd rather be healthy and unheard than dying and listened-to. at least we find each other amusing.

more fuzz, please

this is how severely cuddle-deprived i am:
i decided over the weekend that i need to start volunteering at an animal shelter so that i can pet fuzzy creatures and feel some love. so i found the website for the shelter in Evanston, and i found the page with all of the pictures and descriptions of the dogs and cats they have available. i started crying while i was reading about the puppies and what kind of people they want.
and i watched smallville.

happy anniversary, katy and adam

apparently it is impossible to buy poster frames for a reasonable price or from a reasonable selection in evanston. i've been to 3 or 4 different stores with no success - the last place i was in had the size i wanted, but for $40! i'm not made of money, here. i did make some friends at the custom framing shop, though. i told them i'd be back if i ever felt upscale.

now, tonight, if i'm feeling brave ... i can go to an irish music seisun ... i'm still not sure if i'll go. i hope i will.

finishing the bottle ...

after 2 more glasses, 10 minutes apiece, nothin' but charcoal:kitties!
yay!
cougars, specifically, i'm thinking.

it's amazing what a bottle of Riesling will do ...
3 colors of chalk pastel and charcoal, 20 minutes, only 1 glass of wine.
where's the ice? poor mr. polar bear ...