Day #8440 - Falling and Pick Me Ups

Talk about goofy weather, at least here in Chicagoland. Riddle me this, readers. Lately I find it a little bit strange that when people start putting out all the back to school decorations in August to get people in the mood for September, they put up a bunch of pictures and what have you of yellow, orange, and red leaves. But here it is on October 2nd and I can honestly say that I don't feel like the leaves really started to change until this past week. However, Mother Nature seems to be doing things on her own time table. While September had a few cold spells there (especially on the days I was chaperoning football games at the high school), this whole week it's supposed to be in the 70s and sunny.

Seriously? I think Mother Nature needs a calendar check.

Really though, I'm not complaining. Yesterday I couldn't believe how absolutely gorgeous it was out. I sat on the porch with my Nook and while the air was crisper and full of that great autumn smell, the sun was still warm on my face and I was comfortable in my jeans and sweatshirt. It feels a little bit wrong to like this season as much as I do, what with everything dying and nature preparing itself for the harsh cold winter coming ahead. But it goes out with such a brightly colored bang that I can't help but be wowed.

Naturally since we're 29 days away from Halloween, the topic of Christmas presents came up at dinner with my family tonight. What does this person want? What is that person planning on getting for so-and-so? It's a conversation I feel like I've heard a lot of lately, though not about Christmas. At this point in my life, many of my friends are getting engaged or married, so the inevitable question of what to give for wedding presents comes up. While the many relationships that surround me understandably make me a little sad (and if I'm really honest, a bit jealous), I did manage to find a little bit of silver lining in the middle of it all: I don't have to worry about the presents part.

Though I don't go to the movies all that much because going alone is just weird...

Ah well, you win some, you lose some. Life's never perfect, but luckily this weekend I was able to recharge my batteries and I'm feeling much better about the upcoming week. I get next Monday off for Columbus Day, Tuesday I'll be getting a haircut (and I'm feeling pretty confident about my decision to try having bangs again), there's a wedding in three weeks and hopefully some Halloween plans will present themselves. It's all about perspective and finding pick-me-ups along the way. =)

ALSO! I've started another blog/side project. It's extremely new (as in, a few hours old) and you can find it at fumafiles.blogspot.com . Unlike this blog which has become a place for my random thoughts and ramblings over the years, The Fuma Files is going to be leaning towards my professional side aka all about books. I'll be posting my thoughts on books I've read or am currently reading, my opinions on news in the library world, and any other literary thoughts or experiences I have. If you're interested, please check it out (though I warn you, there's nothing really there yet) and if you know people who like books, please tell them about it!

Hope everyone out there has a great week!

Day #8148 - Oh The Weather Outside is Frightful

And not just the weather, either. Life seems to be in chaos-mode, full force lately. I haven't been able to write here in a while because last week all of my finals were due, and I can now happily say that I have finished my first semester of grad school. All in all, I think it went really well. A bit overwhelming at times, but I really was interested in most of the material, which always helps the time go by faster. I thought semesters flew by in undergrad, but at least those were broken up by sorority dances and football games and weekends going out. Living and taking classes at home kind of made this fall semester go by in one big blur.

Unfortunately, even once I did have the time in my schedule to start blogging again late last week, I didn't feel like I had much to say (or really, had anything I wanted to share with the rest of the world). They've sort of been black cloud days you could call them. Our fence was blown down by the crazy wind a few days ago - this is now the 2nd time in 4 months and since it's so cold, there's nothing that can be done about it until spring. And that's just the tip of the iceberg with things going wonky lately. It's sort of felt like the entire world has been turned upside down.

But then I got to thinking about the most recent episode of Bones. Not one of my favorite episodes, mind you, but there was a metaphor they used in it a few times that I really like. A while back, scientists invented a pair of glasses that turned everything people saw through them upside down. However, after three straight days of wearing the glasses, the brain turned the images right side up. Then when people weren't wearing the glasses, the world looked like it was upside down and it took another three days of being glasses-free for the world to right itself again.

So I guess what I'm saying is that it's easy to get lost in the chaos that seems to inevitably come with the holiday season, whether it's related to the holidays or not. But the important thing to try to do, if you can, is to take a step back. Close your eyes, try to take a deep breath. Things may feel like they can't possibly get any worse, but in time, with some luck and belief in the power of positive thinking, I honestly believe that the world will right itself again. It may not look or be exactly the same, but you'll be able to tell up from down. There is a British poster from WWII that reads "Keep Calm and Carry On" - I suggest we try. In time, things will get better. They have to.

Day #8099 - A Mighty Wind

People write songs about a lot of different things in nature. Sunshine, rain, starry nights, fire, waves - you name it, there is probably a song about it. Today would have been an appropriate day to listen to all songs featuring wind, and I'm not talking about gentle breezes. I'm thinking more along the lines of Twister. I laughed a little bit yesterday when the weather report said that today we would have the worst winds Illinois has seen in 70 years, but that stopped this morning when I was outside in my pjs helping my mom gather up parts of our backyard fence because it got blown out. Toto may have been a quiet and obedient dog when Dorothy calmly told him she didn't think they were in Kansas anymore, but Addy, my family's current fuzzball, didn't quite follow Toto's noble example. Pups these days...

In other news, life post-LEEP weekend is mostly back to normal. I'll have a full week of my usual online lectures this week, complete with homework due and projects to be worked on. I have done laundry. My room is clean enough for now. My creative writing isn't so great, but at least I'm trying at it again. The only thing that needs to happen now is the Blackhawks getting out of their current funk and I'll be a happy camper.

And before I wrap this up, on a completely random note, am I the only one who thinks that Glee is getting a little ridiculous? Tonight was their Rocky Horror episode, and if I were a parent, I'm not so sure that I'd be letting my kids in elementary school watch this season. I'm really feeling like this year, there's no way it belongs in a 7pm timeslot. But maybe that's just me.

Can't believe it's almost November already. My oh my how the time flies by.

Day #8083 - 10/10/10

Don't really have anything particular to write about today, so this post is most likely just going to be a smattering of random thoughts. Prepare yourselves.

I'm completely loving today's date right now, and as one of my old high school buddies who is currently living in London, England posted on facebook, it's awesome because its coolness is amplified because it doesn't matter if you're in a country that writes the date day/month/year or month/day/year. Good times all around, people!

Also, here's a 26.2 mile shoutout to my neighbor Kelly and anyone else who ran the Chicago Marathon this morning. You are all rockstars in my eyes, that's a seriously awesome accomplishment and you should all be incredibly proud of yourselves.

With it being 84 degrees out right now, I'm starting to have mixed feelings about it being this warm in October. Those who know me know that I love cold weather, but I can also appreciate sunshine and being able to go out without a coat. But really, 84?? It's warmer now than I feel like it was in August! But the leaves are pretty much completely turned and falling, which makes me smile. (Also, the sight of kids raking their lawns while wearing shorts and tee-shirts is pretty funny because it's so weird.)

And I'm sure I could say more, but there's nothing really left to say. I couldn't let such a great date go without a post, so now that I've filled that self-obligation, I feel comfortable moving on with the rest of my afternoon.

:o)

Day #7232 - Buon Appetit!

Yesterday started out pretty ordinary, all things considered. After passing out incredibly early on Monday night (I think I may be in the early stages of a cold - my throat is constantly sore), I woke up, finished my homework, and went to Italian class. Since the weather was warm (low to mid 80s) I did a load of laundry and my homework, and hung it out on the line to dry before heading out to Piazza Bra. I had over an hour of good reading time sitting on the statue of the man on the horse and I have a feeling that I'll finish Persuasion by the end of the week. Because it was so warm out and I've been in a bit of slump since getting back from Rome, I decided to go crazy and treat myself to a 2 euro gelato haha. I got a 2-scoop cone of chocolate and strawberry - yum! At this point, it was still very much an ordinary day.

At night was cooking class. Since it was all the way on the other side of town and across the river, I walked over there with Kim and Megan. Thank goodness I brought my umbrella because it started to rain. It was some of the weirdest rain I've ever seen though - there weren't necessarily a lot of drops, but they were huge! Anyway, we got inside and got right to it. We made the tiramisu first (because it had to sit in the fridge and cool the longest while we made/ate everything else). Most of the class was just watching Signoria Anna do stuff, but we got to help with the smaller things like mixing, stirring, cutting, and using the poundy-thing to tenderize the meat. I guess when I put it like that though, we really were helping out quite a bit haha. Our appetizer was a Sicilian salad made with fennel (which I normally don't like, but was good how we prepared it) and topped with oranges, homemade croutons, and a sauce of olive oil, dijon mustard, paremesean cheese, and olives. The first course was spaghetti carbonara (with eggs and sausage), the second course was veel topped with tomatoes, and fresh mozerella cheese along with these tomatoes that we had cleaned the guts out of so they were kind of shells, then mixed the middles with bread, milk, and cheese before we put them back in the shells and baked them. Dessert was of course the tiramisu. It was all incredibly delicious and there was the added satisfaction that we had helped.

So while the cooking wasn't bizarre by any means, the weather was. Halfway through preparing the salad, the rain picked up again (aka it was like cats and dogs). But then it turned to HAIL! Signoria was even astonished - she said that pretty much never happens here. In the middle of this very severe and hazardous weather, I remembered something in the back of my head. Before cooking class, I had brought in almost all of my laundry off the line. Everything except my jeans because the wasteband and pockets were still kind of damp, so I thought a couple more hours would do them some good. The rain did stop though and this morning when I got my jeans off the line, they remind me of cardboard haha. Oh well - the hail probably beat some more dirt of of them, anyway.

So that, my family and friends, was what I did the past two days. Today's plan is school followed by another afternoon at the pool - it's become a good middle of the week activity because it's the one day that all of us only have Italian (otherwise Art History people have afternoon class on Mondays and Thursdays, Photography people on Tuesdays and Fridays). Hopefully the sunshine will hold out for us! Love you all and miss you tons!

P.S. Heard that my Chicago Wolves won the CALDER CUP!!!!! Woooooooo!