Chicago With 1 S

Yes, I am back and better than ever, if I do say so myself.

I have many people and reasons to thank for it, but one woman in particular stands out in my my mind,  for more than 6 years of intensive research, work and planning, that have not only led to me crawling out from beneath my rock but has also reminded me of how good the sunshine feels on my face.

That woman is the fantabulous, Melisa with 1 S, also known as The Suburban Scrawl.  She has no idea of what a powerful and positive effect she has on me.  How does she inspire me?  What did she do to that pulled me out of my funk and back into one of the things that I take pure joy from in life, you ask?

She wrote a book.  In fact, it is her second book.  More about this fantabulous creation in a minute.

As part of the launch celebration of her labor of love, sweat and tears, she threw a party.  A party that she knew I could not possibly resist,  A party with an open bar.  for all of the love and friendship she has given to me.  I could not conceivably turn down the opportunity to acknowledge and celebrate her success and triumph.   A party that placed me back in my element, among friends, old and new alike, that reminded me of what I have been missing out on while hiding under my rock.  She showed me once again, who I am and what I love.  She brought me back to writing and socializing with people that I enjoy.  She brought me back to myself.

I chatted with fellow bloggers and social media contacts that I consider friends.  I blossomed like a rose bush after a long winter and made a conscience decision to leave my hibernation.  Ya'll can thank or curse Melisa for that.

On top of everything else that this incredible author has done, she gave me a copy of her new book "Chicken In The Car And Th Car Won't Go".  OMW (OH MY WEASEL), this is an incredible guide to things to do and see in the Chicagoland area with teens and tweens.  Most travel guides and tips for the area are centered around families with small children and focus on petting zoos.  Melisa found a void when raising her own family and filled it!  This book is full of information on things that to see and do that tweens and teens will enjoy as much as their parents!

Not only is this a great and handy book to have if you live here there are so many  attractions in this book that I never even knew existed and are looking to have ways to fill the dog days of summer and build lasting memories with your family, this book is great for anyone with older children who are planning to vacation here.

With nearly 200 attractions listed by price, history, activity and location, there is surely something that everyone can agree on and have a blast doing.  She even includes tips on driving routes and mass transportation.  I know what my bible of Chicagoland activities is going to be this summer.

I have no idea how Melisa knew six years ago that she must take on the enormous effort of researching, compiling, editing, writing and launching this book in order to pull me out of my funk she didn't even know me when she started this process.  She must be a clairvoyant.  All I do know is that I am incredibly proud of her, amazed by her work and perseverance, but most of all, I am grateful to call her my friend.

I also know that I encourage you to buy a copy of her book, especially if you live in, around, anywhere near or plan on ever visiting the Chicagoland area.

Thank you,  Melisa.  I love you.

(Navy) Seal(s) of Approval

By now you have no doubt heard the FANTABULOUS news that Usama Bin Laden has expired after having suffered a severe allergic reaction to high velocity lead, served up to him by the Navy Seals, with the compliments and courtesies of the Red, White and Blue.

What A Great Day This Is!

It's been almost 10 years since that beautiful September morning turned into one of immense national grief.  None of us will ever forget where we were, what we saw, nor how we felt as thousands of our fellow citizens were horrifically murdered at the hands of radical Islamic madmen.

Since then, our nations military, intelligence services and Presidential administrations have worked tirelessly and relentlessly to protect our national security, citizens and allies from future attacks, as well as hunt down those responsible for the attacks.  Sunday, May 1 they had a tremendous victory and the world is a better place for it.

Sure, another crazed, hate spewing, murderous Son of a Demon is waiting in the wings to to apply for the recently evacuated position of 'Training Target for U.S. Special Forces".  Not nearly as prestigious as the job title suggests.  The War on Terror is far from over, but let this day serve as a warning to terrorists everywhere....

It's a dead end job.

My hat is off to the men and women of the United States Armed Forces, the U.S. Intelligence gathering Community, both Presidents George W. Bush and Barrack Obama for their steadfast commitment to the cause and a special Big Wet Smooch to the Navy Seals.

Job well Done!

We have won an important battle, but the war is far from over.

“We will not waver, we will not tire, we will not falter, and we will not fail” ~ President George W. Bush

 We Can't afford to.

Now go Keep up the good work.

Scheming, Conniving, Lying Bloggers

ARE THE ABSOLUTE BEST!

I love them and I mean that from the bottom of my unmanicured toes.

I shared with you all a week ago the recent struggles and conundrums that are taking place in Weaselville and the problems that arise in our daily lives because of them.  I vented.  I threw a tissy fit.  I released some pressure from the valve of my own fragile psyche.  I got it out.

I also got trolled because of it.

However, that didn't bother me, because A.)  I have way too many other things on my plate to make room for such an ignorant entity.  2.)  Y'all had my back in such a way that it wasn't even able to be a distraction to me.  You, my dear friends and readers were the most awesome mosquito repellent ever and surrounded me in a mystical cloud of hope and support, all the while protected me from annoying and itchy pests.

Y'all Rock.

Simultaneously, I received incredible amounts of love and understanding in the form of emails, skype chats and phone calls.  Friends to lift me up, offer a helping hand, an open ear and most of all, a compassionate place to vent.  You'll never know how much strength your encouragement and support gave me.

Meanwhile, some where plotting behind my back.  Cohorting with each other in the dark reaches of cyberspace to lend a practical helping hand to me.  This came in the form of gift cards to my local grocery store, from people that are in no better financial situation than I am.  People who lifted me up by their actions and caring words while they awed me with their generosity.  These are incredible people.

Then, I got a message from a fellow blogger and friend who has worn my shoes and been down my path.  From her experience and through her compassion she could offer me more than just empathy, but a complete understanding of the minute by minute trials that we are facing as a family.  She could offer me a solution to help our day to day lives get easier and may hold us over until the Smallest Weasel's treatment and medications are able to be effective (these things take a while to build up in a persons system and to find the right dosages, etc).

This fantabulous human being spent a minimum of 15 hours researching on the internet until she had found a link that she sent to me for Smallest Weasel to be able to order an Ionizing Personal Decontamination Unit online.  A unit that she can use to spritz down any surface, room, person or breathing area to rid them of any form of contamination from exposure to peanut butter or ranch dressing to germs.  A great new technology breakthrough that is so revolutionary it changes peoples lives.

When I received this link, I could barely wait for 6:30am to arrive so that I could show it to Smallest Weasel.  Smallest was so excited and relieved by the prospect of having such a tool in her arsenal that she was able to eat breakfast, get dressed and be in the car in time to go to school.

As of this morning, the product had shipped, but is not yet in her hands.  Still, just knowing that she will soon have it alleviated her stress level enough that we had a second morning in a row of low level drama and made it to school on time.

I wished time and time again for a magic wand to make life easier.  We all could use an easy button.  What I received in their stead was a chorus of Angels and a Fairy GodMother.  Far better than a button or a wand.

I am feeling so much better today and my life is a little easier.  It's all thanks to Scheming, Conniving, Lying, Wonderful Bloggers. 

I love this community and all the people that I come to know through it.

Thank You All!

I'm Not As Good As I Once Was...

Just like Toby, I have quickly come to the realization that the passing of 20 years takes it toll on the human body and it's ability to maintain energy levels.

I am exhausted.  Work is great and I am truly enjoying what I am doing, however I am still trying to get back into the swing of being of being on my feet and in constant motion for upwards of 9 straight hours a day.  It's been 17 years since this was a regular part of my daily routine.

By the end of my shift, the hamster is ready to fall of the wheel and even basic math becomes challenging as my mind draws a blank at the simplest of equations.  My feet attempt to swell right out of my sneakers and my back longs for a prostrate position, preferably involving a pillow top.

This all makes me sound like an old blue hair ready to hit the early bird dinner special before retiring for the evening pre- sunset, but that's not really the case.  It's just a matter of my having forgotten how much work that much physical labor entails and getting my body tuned into the ritual, yet again.  I can still do the job and soon it will come much more easily, but I will have to put twice as much effort into getting there as I had to when I was 25.

On the positive side, this much regular motion, i.e. exercise, is bound to help trim up and firm up this old gray mare.  I shall be ready for shorts weather when it hits.  Although, I am not holding my breath for a swimsuit season miracle.

So I to may not be as good as I once was, but I'm definitely as good once as I ever was.

I'm off to work.  Have a great weekend all!

I'm Off!

My body clock is off.

My sleep schedule is off.

My home routine is off.

My appetite is off.

As usual, my sense of humor is waaay off.

And today just happens to be my day off.

All of these are mostly due to my having gone back to work outside of my home and computer screen.

After several months of searching, applying, interviewing and being rejected, I have graciously been given a job accepted a daytime position, where else, but behind a bar.  Yes indeed, it is a natural fit.  Let me tell you how it came to be.....

Having scoured the want ads and craigslist fairly religiously and getting little to no response to my inquiries and/or applications, I landed an interview at an establishment that was about to re-open under new ownership and management.  The interview went very well and I had a good feeling that I wasn't going to get rejected, yet again this was going to work out.

Throughout these past months of searching, my application/resume would quickly wind up in the circular file once it is realized that I have been at home raising my children for the past 17 years.  This place however, is fond of hiring moms like me for their ability to handle controlled chaos with ease and calm.

So, I waited for that phone call. and waited. and waited.  It never came.

I was bummed and deflated.  I really had a good feeling about this one and it seemed I had been wrong.

Saturday a week ago, were the local St. Patrick's Day parades and Mr. Weasel and I decided to take the afternoon together and get our St. Patty's pub crawl on.  We have always wanted to do this together and yet, in all of our years together, it has never happened.  It didn't happen this year either.

By happenstance, our first stop was this particular establishment, now opened, that just like all of those dates in college, never called me back like they said they would.  We went in, bellied up to the bar and I had just started sipping on my first beer when I ran into the woman who had interviewed me.

I congratulated them on opening on time, yada, yada, yada.......and she said, "Hey, you were on our hire list!  We called you!" and proceeded to pull out my highlighted application and show me.  The call had never come in.  Maybe it was a mis-dial?

Anyway, at that particular moment I didn't care.  They were a bit overwhelmed with the parade crowd and needed some extra hands.  I offered to start immediately and was tossed an apron.

Talk about baptism by fire!

Twelve hours later and my first shift was complete.

The rest will someday be ancient history.

Don't worry, you will still find me around these parts too and I will update you all soon.