Wow this weather is crazy! It started snowing on my way to work around 1145AM. It is still snowing as of 745M. I dread driving in this mess, but hopefully in another hour most everyone else will be home and I can drive slowly and carefully over the river and through the woods.

The week is strangely dragging and flying by at the same time. I have a hard time believing it is Thursday when it seems like yesterday we celebrated the Chinese New Year in Wicker Park. I even got myself all gussied up in a fine blouse and made it into the official pics thanks to drunken photo-taking. This party used to take place in Minneapolis so I thought it only appropriate to share my fave news story of the week regarding the Mall of America. Shark on shark cannibalism that didn't really look like the little fellow was very alive.
As many of you might have guessed, I love and fear sharks at the same time. I am fascinated by them and yet live in constant fear of meeting my doom a la Captain Quint. My favorite movie is not some girly love fest, but in fact "Jaws." I think I either watched this movie too many times as a youngster or my run in with a school of fish while body boarding in my teens. Either way I don't want to end up like little Shark 54 there!

I am also participating in this three weekend long activity at the synagogue with the Sisterhood where we are making prayer shawls. These are called tallit or tallis to anyone unfamiliar with them. Most of the time it is only men that wear these shawls. Since we go to an egalitarian synagogue the wome ncan make pretty things to wear too! I am the youngest one in the group by maybe 15 years. I am the only one with no children. My fingernails were painted the same color as one of the 13 year olds at the luncheon last week. She did not accept me in the teenager group either. This is an interesting site about tallit if you are curious. I really dig the fact that on a site about tallit there is a big add for single muslim dot com.

I had a weird dream that I was on some European tour that involved a large bus and lots of sleep overs in hostels. Also tagging along was this guy: Mathieu Amalric If you saw Munich you might remember him and now he's the new James Bond villian, how will I ever be able to choose between good and evil??? Too sexy, too sexy. Just leave it to me to have dreams about semi-obscure French actors. (he's not obscure in France of course, but in the US a little less well-known). Now I need to find a way to get downtown to see The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.

We are having a helluva storm in the Chicago area today. I'm at work watching the lightening. Hope everyone is safe and dry. I want to go home soon! Or least to go to Ulta to buy this:



I feel like I'm reverting to my Middle School self. Yay me!
On another rain note, the crustaceans on the Black Pearl have probably been washed away. Here is what she looks like on a clean day:


This is a stock photo. She is prettier by far!

My grandmother and mom are trying to leave Chicago today. They might have to drive it if they don't get on a plane. They planted a ton of plants on my patio but they will probably all die in my very uncapable hands. Mom thinks everyone is flying to Memphis for Memphis in May and to eat ribs. I don't blame them at all.

We also had a leaky ceiling in the basement this weekend. It was the toilet (gross). We wouldn't have noticed it if my grandmother hadn't been sewing me up a very cute retro dress. We took the toilet apart, cut a hole in the ceiling and then fixed everything. It doesn't leak anymore! Everyone was curious if Martin could get the toilet back in place on the first try. Several folks told us we would need two wax rings. Well, so far so good and now we need to get the ceiling repaired in the basement and the tools put away.
My cousin Katy graduated last night in Naperville. There were fireworks and a lot of names. She had almost 800 students in her class. She will be going to school in Mississippi, like the rest of the family.
Some other things I've added to my list for the summer include:
* Getting the pool ready
* Taking a pottery class at the local community college.
* Training a new person at work.
* Buying a new car. Did I mention that already?

Well, if you forgot to send out a Mother's Day card to your mother figure then it is probably too late to get it there by Sunday. I sent ours out yesterday so all mother figures in my and Martin's life should expect their cards sometime soon!

I have yet to plant my plants. They are being well watered and sunned on the back patio and hopefully being protected from whatever is digging a hole in our front yard. I bascially need to just break down, buy a bag of dirt and set the plants up for the short summer that we have. I even bought tomatoes! My clematis on the side of the house is already bigger than it was the entire summer last year. I think I picked a good place for it. Of course I haven't looked at it closely since it started growing and it could just be weed.

Still looking for ideas to block the view of the eyesore in the yard behind us. And we had a disaster the other week trying to get anyone totalk to us about a patio cover. They all want to upsell us on the enclosed patio room. Not to be nasty, but we have too much room as it is. We don't need another room!

I also think I'm developing carpal tunnel. It hurts to type and I know it isn't from going to the gym b/c it's been four days since I lifted weights.

Happy note, I finally went to a Cubs game. Soooo glad I did! It was a sunny day but chilly and they won! (I hear that's a rarity).

Eh, so the Bears lost. I am just proud to say that I sat through the whole thing! That is a first for me. It was rather exciting to watch, I must admit. Martin and I were particularly fond of the #63 Saturday who plays for the Colts. Mainly I think Martin liked the name. My favorite part of the game, though? PRINCE That man is freakin' awesome. After wardrobe malfunctions and old farts playing the half-time show, he really showed us how it's supposed to be done. And in the rain too.
My mother points out that I should always support Peyton Manning because my aunt made us follow his father through the New Orleans Garden District one Sunday morning. My aunt, probably one of the biggest Archie Manning fans to not really like football, made us take her picture in front of his house and just as we were leaving we saw Archie and his wife drive by. They were headed to church and my mother followed them all the way to the doors of the First Presbyterian Church. Even funnier is that she met Archie's wife a couple of years ago shopping for baby clothes. So, with a history like that, it seems that I have to support Peyton in my mother's eyes.
For the most part, as a transplant to Chicago, I remain unaffiliated to any sports teams. So don't feel sorry that the Bears lost or anything like that. I just like saying "Go Bears" because it seems like everyone will answer appropriately in Chicago.

I am wearing blue jeans today. I have not had a pair of jeans that looked decent in over two years. For the past 5 months I have seen everyone at work wear jeans on Fridays. Some of these people have questionable fashion sense on a normal day and I didn't want to be part of that crowd. So I am wearing jeans and feeling that I should be hiking or riding a horse. I never caught on to the whole trend of wearing jeans everywhere and every day. I just don't get it.

We are having guests this weekend. It will be cold and they will probably not like that. Other than shopping or a museum, there aren't a lot of indoor things to do in the Chicago area. Not that there are a lot of indoor things to do anywhere, but with guests sometimes I want to get them out and about. Nothing like freezing temperatures and flurries to get me in the mood for something outdoorsy.

Here are some lovely things to do this weekend in Chicago:

• DVA Gallery is having a sale!
• There is an interesting documentary playing at the Gene Siskel Film Center. It's called "Shakespeare was a Big George Jones Fan" about this famous guy from Memphis called Cowboy Jack Clement. He was big in the music scene i nthe 60's and 70's. It looks like it might be something a little different. Of course, Martin wasn't sure who George Jones is. I was astonished that he didn't know the Possum! But I don't really think that's the point of the documentary.
• The Midwest Home and Design Show This could actually be a fun place to get ideas! And it's not even downtown.