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So, it’s going to warm up again, right? I guess not. I forgot how much you have to check weather.com and the thermometer in Chicago. I’ll just be going about my day and then “Oh crap, it’s snowing. Hard. I don’t have any boots. Or a snow scraper. Please don’t let the windshield washer fluid run out” OR “Shoot, it’s raining AND freezing, I don’t have my raincoat AND down vest or parka.” Or then I wear a sweater to work at a school and it’s so f-ing hot inside I’m sweating all day long, but it’s freezing and windy outside. Geez Louise preparing for the weather in Chicago takes effort. I guess I had gleefully forgotten. But the schools in California were very cold and damp in the winter. So there.

Can I just get a little bit of sun, here? That would be nice, thanks.

I know this picture is a month or so old, but I thought it was pretty. And happy.

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How long is it going to take for me to realize that the buses rumbling by my new Chicago home are NOT earthquakes? I know it’s silly that every time I feel the building vibrate from the bus going by (which is quite often, actually) I have a knee-jerk reaction that it’s an earthquake. I guess that last one really did a number on me. When that one occured, Ron and I both rolled onto the floor next to the bed (I don’t think he expected me to land on top of him) and I shrieked while thinking “It’s the big one!”

But it wasn’t. And the CTA buses going by certainly aren’t. All in due time, I guess.

If you’d like to see photos of our move from Oakland to Chicago, click on the picture below:

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One day there may come a time when you have to make a decision.

And you’re not really sure what to do. You are warned about the dangers of doing something different. You worry about which is the right path.

But you make your choice and you choose the more uncertain route. You find that things aren’t easy. Sometimes the path is “overgrown and strewn with thorns” (in the words of Sarah McLachlan). You think to yourself, dang, is this worth getting poison oak?

But soon you start to see the good things.

The further you travel, you experience more beauty and wonder than you ever imagined.

And you realize that if you never took the risk, accepted the challenges, you would never have been rewarded with such fulfilling experiences.

You decide it was worth all the risks, uncertainty, and scrapes along the way. Because in the end, it changed your life forever.

Life is what you make it.

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They aren’t kidding when they say clutter can weigh you down:

This is 4 gigantic garbage bags full of old clothes. Not just mine, my husband’s too. My office space/our second bedroom has gotten so bad I can’t even spend time in there anymore. I need to de-clutter. I saw this book, Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui at the acupuncturist’s office and I’ve been reading a little bit each visit. We’re nowhere near the feng-shui stage yet, but look at all the crap we got rid of!

Baby steps.

Clear your clutter. I highly recommend it. You’ll feel better, I promise.

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Do not attempt to knit the heel of a sock after 9pm at night. Especially if the last time you knit (the first time you knit) a short-row heel was oh, a year ago. Especially if you are trying to *relax*. You may end up with a scene like this:

I threw it across the room. And it’s going to stay there. For awhile. The pattern, too. PunishED!

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Have you ever done something dumb? Like delete your “knitting” Firefox bookmarks folder? The one you carefully categorized by project pattern type (hats, socks, scarves, etc)? Thinking that deleting it from the “Personal Toolbar” would just delete it from the toolbar?

I have.

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I think hummingbirds are great. There really is something magical about them, don’t you think? I think I have a special connection with hummingbirds. They have shown up at unexpected times. I see and hear them when no one else seems to hear or pay attention them. Do you know what a hummingbird sounds like? It’s so unique! As much as I lamented having to leave our previous apartment with the garden that we dug by hand, grew from seed, and nurtured for food,

this new place has more hummingbirds. There is a bottlebrush tree in the backyard they seem to like and I always see and hear them zipping around. I decided to put up the feeder so we could watch them up close:

They found it within an hour or so. Sometimes I hear their “tzit…..tzit….tzit…” before I see them at the feeder. Maybe one of these days I will catch them on camera. Til then, I’ll enjoy them all to myself!

See this Wikipedia entry for instructions on making your own sugar solution for hummingbirds. Be sure to change it once a week or more!

And by the way, we tried to plant a garden at the new place, but the slugs ate EVERYTHING. There isn’t enough sun anyway. *sigh* Maybe someday…

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Hey! I missed the 1 year anniversary of my blog! Happy birthday blog! Sorry I don’t have anything exciting to show for it, but maybe in celebration of my first year or so of knitting and blogging, you can look at my completed knitting projects in the sidebar if you haven’t already. Now that the snowcamping excitement has passed I can get back to some knitting. That is, after I unpack and clean up all my backpacking gear.

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…some COLOR!

Have you heard of Laptop Lunches? They are my new very favorite. I was never feeling motivated to make a healthy lunch. I’d either make a boring sandwich or grab some leftovers. One day I found the Laptop Lunch website.. and then I found the Laptop Lunch Flickr Pool. Talk about motivation and inspiration! I love filling the bento box containers with different things and trying to incorporate fruits and veggies with every lunch. It’s also great to see parents make healthy lunches for their kids while generating less trash. If a lot of kids (or adults for that matter) stopped bringing all those disposable bags and containers for lunch, think of how much less trash there would be! The containers seem small at first, but once you fill everything up it’s actually sort of heavy… and there’s definitely plenty of food. You’ll find yourself eating a variety of foods with more nutritional value. 1

Go get yourself a set today! Don’t forget an extra set of inner containers so you don’t have to wash them *every* night. I’m thinking of getting the insulated carrying case because it has some extra room if the dipping container doesn’t fit in the lunchbox. Their newsletter said prices are going up soon! The products may seem expensive at first, but you’ll probably save money by going out for lunch less. It is a small company with mostly USA made products, read the FAQ and About Us for more info. I hope you have as much fun making your lunches healthy as I have! (Hint: pack lunchbox after dinner while you’re still in “food” mode, the leftovers are out, and you’re not in a rush).

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Dear John Mayer,
I think your blog is really funny. You’ve always found time to entertain us with your creative writing and wit, even on tour. You must be too busy cavorting with Jessica Simpson to post to your blog. I’m disappointed! Not even a post about your Grammy win? Wake up, John Mayer. Wake up!