Catch up!

Ah! Life has really been moving at a pace that I'd forgotten about recently. I think after a few months of hiatus, I've hopped back on the life trolley, and its chug-a-lugging along whether I like it or not. So my apologies for my lack of posts!
In the past two weeks...

I've had a series of lovely meals, both home made and out for dinner. I MUST recommend Orso's on Wells in Oldtown. Its the cutest little Italian restaurant on the corner that looks like something out of another era. Their website aptly described the experience: Romance abounds in our classic old world ambiance. I loved all the glittery chandeliers and dark wooden walls. A lovely old man played the piano in the corner in a royal blue suit jacket, that is, when Tony Bennett wasn't crooning on the radio. It was the sort of place Tony Soprano would find agreeable for meetings with his crew. I love that old time, other era, mobster romance sort of vibe. I'd eagerly jump into an era where men wore sport coats and smoked cigars, and took me out to Orso's for veal cutlets.


I'm also seriously enjoying the spring weather in Chicago. Even the rain is worthwhile, because the day after, everything smells like magic outside! And the trees are so green and alive and beautiful! On one my more magical afternoons, Sarah and I took a marvelous walk home after mass in Lincoln Park, all the way back to the city (approx 4.6 miles, thank you very much, we googled mapped it)! It was so incredible, it felt like a dream! Oz Park was glorious and filled with babies and puppies. And then, we stumbled across this incredible vision, on a city block! What a glorious surprise!


And then there were jobs. Nannying has been on going. I've finally caught up on my picture posts for Dramagirls. Also, I'll be hearing back from two jobs in the next week, which has certainly been keeping me mentally busy. I presented and taught a sample lesson plan to a group of second graders last week for the UNO Charter School Network, and hopefully I'll be training next week to run the Family Fun Festival at Millennium Park.
And can I just say, those second graders were the sweetest, most well behaved, most eager to learn little sweethearts I have ever encountered! We read Caps For Sale, which I'm a fan of because everyone should take a brief break to act like a monkey sometimes.


All in all, I'm feeling really good, and I might have to celebrate by finishing season six of Little House on the Prairie and eating some leftover pasta primavera.

Productive!

Today has been productive and casual. Since I haven't left my apartment in three days due to icky weather in Chicago, the only things to do seemed to be the productive ones I tend to perpetually save for later. I finally did ALL of my laundry... all of it. So now I've got three full closets, which is, quite frankly, totally absurd.

Also, I've applied for a couple of teaching jobs through the YMCA and a charter school, so thats a big step for a gal who, as of March, is relying on her mother to get her rent paid for the first time ever...

On another note, the kitty is having an afternoon kitty freakout... a common occurrence involving a lot of bouncing off of things and chirping and gigantic eyes...

Oh yes, and reading. Lots of reading. Right now I'm reading A Life of Jesus by Shusaku Endo. This link is to a very accurate and concise review through Amazon (I love Amazon...sometimes it recommends the loveliest books, although I have Sarah's dad to thank for A Life of Jesus.)
Its really lovely, and fascinating, and actually gives me a bit of anxiety. For anyone who is familiar with the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, the tragic irony leading up to the passion feels like, to use an appropriately Japanese methaphor, like looking up and seeing the crest of the wave that is about to crash over you and being completely helpless to stop its force.


Up next on the reading list, Mere Christianity, by C.S. Lewis