My new BFF

Being a crappy, rainy day in Chicago today, I decided to try and whittle down my list of "to-do's" which seems to be passing a full page at this point. One item on my list was to have an eye exam...and so today, I went.

My optometrist was an attractive woman in her early 30's and was very nice and conversational during the exam. After the exam was over as I was gathering my coat, etc, she started a conversation that went something like the following:

Her: "What are you up to today?"
Me: "Just running errands, checking things off my list."
Her: "Right. So where are you heading after this?"
Me: "Target"
Her: "Which one? Elston or down on Roosevelt?"
Me: "Umm.. Elston"
Her: "And then what? Are you going somewhere else?"
Me (at this point I'm not sure what is happening): "Prob the grocery store.."
Her: "That's terrible on Sundays. Are you doing anything else? Something fun?"

So this went on for a bit and then she seemed to run out of questions and I paid and left. Now, she wasn't odd or anything and part of me wonders if maybe she is new in town and looking for some friends? I would have gladly been her friend if that is the case. Otherwise, I'm not sure what was happening. I'm waiting for my facebook friend invite.

Happy Friday!

Cheers! Here's to the weekend ahead.

In theory, it sounds like a good idea?

No picture tonight. I have a pounding headache and I'm certain it is from my lack of caffeine today. When I made my coffee this morning I realized we are out of sugar. Considering I like my coffee at a point where it can hardly be considered coffee anymore (read: LOTS of cream & sugar), I was distraught. After confirming we had absolutely no random sugar packets in the house, I became creative. I found a vanilla flavored powder and thought it would be an excellent alternative...turns out pudding mix will try its hardest to form pudding, even in a mug of coffee.

Goodbyes & Hellos

Yesterday was the day that the girls were going back to get ready for their surgery and then adoption. So I got up early and said my goodbyes and Cassidy took them to drop them off.

However, the vet decided the needed to gain a little more weight and asked if it would be ok if we kept them for 7-10 more days. Exclamation points were involved in my email response.

So here they are, enjoying another week in La Casa Shield:

Loser

Tonight, that's me. I lost twice to Quiddler virgin, Brett. It's upsetting, but I shall prevail at some point in time. And then I'll post a picture of his tears.

Daddy needs a new pair of shoes

I know it's destructive, but she is so stinkin' cute that I had to take pictures before taking the shoes away.

Devastation

So for the past 4-5 months Cassidy has had a "cold" and has gone to the doctor a few times, tried a few prescriptions, and nothing seems to shake it. Well, yesterday he had another appointment, this time with an allergist. Turns out, he's allergic to CATS. You can imagine the pain I feel about having to help my husband pack up his stuff to move out.

In all seriousness though, we won't be dropping off our cats at a shelter because they are family and I can't imagine life without them (ok, well without Lucky, considering Pierre spends 90% of his day under the bed). We will just have to change some sleeping arrangements. The biggest tragedy is that scenes like the one below may be a thing of the past in the Schumacher/Shield household.

Not thrilled

The little ones were out running around tonight and making a bit of noise. Old man Lucky wasn't thrilled with this turn of events and the interruption of his 18 hour nap.

Catching up

After a long, busy Monday I had time to have a wonderful dinner with a good friend. We haven't been able to get together in quite a while so it was really nice to spend a good amount of time together. I thought it would be creepy to bring my camera to the restaurant so no pictures. However, to said friend - thank you for being such a great listener :) It's always a great time when we get together and hopefully the next time won't be very long off!

Alternate

Well, I had planned on taking a picture of Kacy today when we met up, but plans changed and I had to make do with what I had floating around in my computer.

It's a picture of Kacy after a rough night of wrestling around with Kimber. Enjoy, I know I do.

Celebration

Tonight Cassidy & I celebrated a special occasion by going to see Avatar in 3D and then heading to Coco Pazzo for a yummy Italian dinner. When we got home I heard Cass run out the back door and although I thought that was odd... I didn't think too much about it. When he returned, he said he had a gift for me. It's the perfect gift for a girl like me who spends every night curled up on the couch in a blanket trying to work/play on the internets - a Snuggie! Thanks dear!

One of those nights

"Wine?"

"Yes please..."

"Dinner?"

"No thanks, straight to the chocolate."

Toola & Trendee

First, I didn't name them, these are the PAWS given names to my newest foster girls.

Second, they are feral kittens. So they aren't accustomed to people, being inside, or any of the strange noises in our house. However, Toola (pictured below) is in LOVE with Pierre. Today she saw a peek of him and immediately came out of hiding to see him and was purring the whole time. Pierre is frightened, of course.

Here is little Toola exploring the apt...and finding a window to her old world, where she clearly wants to return.

A chair?

Why a chair? Because I tried to get several pictures of my latest pair of kittens I am fostering...and they are hiding under a chair. So after many, many pictures of a chair with no kittens to be found, I gave up. So this picture here? I figure if you have to look at a picture of a chair, better this one than the one I bought on an impulse from a person on Craig's List which, in retrospect, wasn't a good idea.

Happy day, nonetheless. They just need a bit of TLC to come around!

It's beginning to look a lot like....

Easter!

I love the first day that I spy these guys in the stores and today was that day! Over the course of the next few months, I will be buying and stowing these bad boys. If you need to find me the day after Easter, I'm at Walgreens buying all the 1/2 off eggs.

Why I'll be earing a back brace in the near future...

Today is the official start of "busy season" at work. It's not my favorite time of year, but every year it seems I blink and it is already spring so I'm happy for the quick passage of winter. One of the downsides of busy season - reviewing work - this is what I carried home from work today and what I have to carry with me to the office tomorrow. Apologies to the trees.

Home Cookin'

Nothing beats Cass's homemade chili on a cold, cold night. And tonight was a cold, cold night. Thanks Cass for the good eats!

Quiddler

After spending two weeks straight with family, tonight Cass & I enjoyed a night alone wearing comfortable clothes and playing Quiddler. For the record, I won the first round. Round two starts in just a moment. Thank you Kimber for the introduction...and yes world, this is my idea of a perfect Saturday night.

Resolving to Remember

I'm not one for making New Year's resolutions - mainly because I'm not really a person that follows through with many projects, but also because I've never really been inspired to change or improve something. However, this last week I have been relfecting on the past and I have come up with a project for 2010. You see, I was trying to think about all the major events, both good and bad, that occurred in 2009. I can come up with a few:

• My 30th birthday


• Trips to San Fran, Seattle, CA, IA, MI, NY to visit family and friends


• Trip to Greece & Turkey with Cass, followed by a week in Greece with some girlfriends


• The passing of Cassidy's grandmother


• Moving from Lakeview to Bucktown


• Our wedding anniversary


• Cass completing a triathlon


• A work promotion for Cass & I


• My uncle's diagnosis of brain cancer, and his passing just a few days ago

While the above events did shape a bulk of our 2009, I know there are so many things that happened that I just cannot remember. The little things, the "in-between" moments, that ultimately bring the most joy to me on a daily basis. I want to remember these little things. I want to look back at them and laugh, cry, feel the feeling I had when the little thing happened. With the passing of my uncle and while listening to the amazing words spoken about him at his memorial which occurred on the date of his 60th birthday, I realized that life is short and memories, both good and bad, are precious. I wish I had more pictures of him, and us as a family. However at most gatherings, I find myself thinking that I don't want to get out my camera and that there will be time "later" to take a picture. Well, you never know when "later" will become impossible.

So, for the new year I am going to try to post one picture every day that represents something about that day. This is my resolution. Enjoy and Happy New Year.

Today's pictures is of the three remaining Christmas cookies I have that were baked by my Grandma (Grams). As far back as I can remember, these exact cookes have been made by her. This year she kept them in the garage and I'm not kidding, any time someone came in or out, there was a cookie in their hand. We even went so far as to hide the tins from others to keep more for ourselves...and in the spirit of being honest, there were actually four cookies when I started my little photo shoot...