crunch time

yea, it's been a while since i've posted last. i can't help it. powerless to stop it. there's just too much to do. i've only got a couple of days to finish my work-work and wedding-work.

the bright spot lately has been the steady trickle of presents that appear on my doorstep every few days. kudos to the the cleveland boys for the grill, the uchicago guys for the mixer (mmm...cookies), and the DGS guys for the espresso machine. sometime soon after the wedding we're gonna host a party. with barbeque, then baked goods and coffee. can you ask for more? really. uncle bill's restaurant will be open soon.

no kitty, that's MY pot-pie!!!

so i was on the treadmill recently and was flipping for something brainless to watch. when i'm at the Y, I listen to my ipod and watch tv. i usually enjoy sports, because they're one of the few things on tv more enjoyable without any sound. but there wasn't anything at the time, unless you include texas hold'em championships on ESPN2. yeah, i agree, not a sport.

the local YMCA has cable. our house does not. anyway, I come across a cartoon with crudely drawn 'anime'-like fighters beating the crap out of each other. it turns out to be an episode of south park where all of the kids buy weapons at a fair, pretend to be really buff fighters, and continue to reduce Butters to a bloody mess.

oh how i miss cable. i had to stop running at some point so i keep laughing without dying on the treadmill. i suppose i'll have to live in my third- world- country-like-house and watch reruns of oprah...

it's been about 2 weeks...

since the last time we barbequed. it's 100 degrees out and sarah and i got killer deals on some steak and kabobs. and now that bj has backed out, that means there's simply more meat per person. are meat sweats possible in the forecast? perhaps. but no matter what, it should prove to be a good time.

reasons to smile and reasons to frown

:) sarah's cute little cousin, brynn, recognizes me as "uncle bill"
:( she doesn't know sarah's name and sweetly refers to her as "erika"

:) chicago is in the midst of some beautiful weather. in the 70's with blue skies. perfect sleeping weather in my opinion too
:( i'm at work during the day and i never get to bed early enough to get a full night's rest

:) getting married in 30 days
:( getting married in 30 days! so much to do it makes me want to cry...

:) i know of a great restaurant for french onion soup and halibut
:( however, i'm too poor to go there

:) we have fresh tomatoes, peppers and herbs growing in the backyard
:( we have to take care of said veggies

:) grilling outside and eating grilled food
:( we have a standard weber grill - not gas - so it takes forever to get going

road rage

chalk it up. we survived another trip to cleveland. i have to say, the drive is easy enough. the directions are straight forward and the distance is manageable. what i can't take are the morons. the hoards and hoards of inconsiderate, lazy, and uncaring fools "driving" around 3000 lb SUVs at 80+ miles an hour. i put "driving" in quotes because so many of them really can't drive. there were multiple near-misses and just too much highway braking due to bad decisions. it's really taxing and 7 hours later i'm nearing my breaking point. there wasn't any event in particular that prompted this, just the whole situation. i'm sure everyone reading this can relate. if you have a horrific driving experience, please share it. consider it free therapy.