Delayed – Thursday Thirteen #20

13 Things About Being Stuck in Chicago O’Hare

When I flew up to Chicago for a quick business meeting on Thursday, I didn’t realize that getting home from the meeting would be such a problem. But Thursday afternoon my flight was delayed and then cancelled and I was stuck in Chicago for at least another day.

#1 The thrill of rushing back to the airport and thinking that I could possibility get standby on an earlier flight quickly faded.

#2 Beer costs too much at the airport. Three bottles of beer cost me about $16. The buzz didn’t last long enough.

#3 Not many restaurants in O’Hare. Actual RESTaurants, where you can sit down and have a comfortable meal.

#4 Because of the uncertainty of whether or not you’re staying or going, you can’t go back into town and see some cool things.

#5 We waited hours to find out that our delayed flight was cancelled. So much for getting to the airport early!

#6 We waited for 1 ½ hours in line and still didn’t speak with a customer service agent. We used cell phones to get a discounted hotel room and seats on the next flight. It was hard to leave the line.

#7 Our next fight wasn’t until Saturday night at 10 pm. Mind you, this was Thursday.

#8 They couldn’t/wouldn’t get our checked luggage. I had only what I was carrying.

#9 Being stuck with my co-worker, Aimee the Red, was great. Misery loves company.

#10 We met lots of interesting people who were in the same situation as us. “Hello” to the mother and two teen-age sons trying to get to Virginia. “Hello” to the guy trying to get to Salt Lake City. I’m glad you got a direct flight instead of having to go through Fargo, ND.

#11 The Exel Inn wasn’t as bad as it initially sounded. Our first thought was that we hoped it was better then a cot in the baggage. It was nice, even though we had to wait another hour or so to get checked in.

#12 Thank goodness there was a Family Dollar near our hotel. Even though they didn’t open until an HOUR after their posted opening time, we were able to get cheap clothes and underwear. Yep—we couldn’t even go to a store without having to wait.

#13 Getting patted down in security was actually a highlight. After all the waiting and standing and stress, a little massage was nice!

PS: We eventually got a flight out on Friday afternoon. It felt like getting called down on the Price is Right or winning the lottery. The flight was delayed, but we still got home Friday night.

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

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Bee Gone!

Looks like the Bees in The Bee House are moving into their new home. We had a beekeeper come out to take the bees. It was a very interesting project. My husband actually got to put on a complete bee suit and help.

They tore up the floorboards and found a large hive. They cut sections of the honeycomb and placed them into the box--their new home. Then they grabbed handfuls of bees and put them into the box as well. The whole time they hoped that they got the queen. She is the key to moving the hive.

Seems that they did get the queen and the new hive is getting settled. Soon, the beekeeper will retrieve the box and take them to their new location. I hope they like the ride!

No, we won't be getting any honey. I'm not taking any chances with questionable honey made in an old, abandoned house.

Yet Another Reason I Left The City

I just checked the news in the city I lived in just a year ago. Directly across the street from my old apartment there was a mysterious double homicide. They were found in their apartment, shot dead.

When I lived there, that apartment building was always suspect. The people who lived there usually seemed iffy. We used to sit on our front porch and talk with our upstairs neighbor. We'd watch the activity across the street and make up stories about what they were doing. Mostly they were dealing drugs, having affairs, and getting really drunk.

But to hear about something like a double homicide, makes me feel a lot better about our move to Creekistan. The most tragic thing that's happened in Creekistan is that a dog died after being bitten by a copperhead snake.

No place is 100% safe. But it's nice to know that my children will be safer where we are.

Thursday Thirteen #19

13 Monty Python Quotes that Me and My Family Use

1. It’s . . .



2. And now for something completely different.



3. I wave my private parts at your aunties.



4. It’s only a flesh wound.



5. I didn't know we had a king. I thought we were an autonomous collective.



6. Ni!



7. The messiah can’t come out today, so Piss Off!



8. The only reason that it had been sitting on its perch in the first place was that it had been nailed there.



9. I didn't expect a kind of Spanish Inquisition



10. Spam, spam, spam, spam, eggs and spam.



11. “She turned me into a newt!” “A newt?” “I got better. . .”



12. Oh! Come and see the violence inherent in the system! Help, help! I'm being repressed!



13. “An argument is an intellectual process. Contradiction is just the automatic gainsaying of any statement the other person makes.” “No it isn't.”

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

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Thursday Thirteen #18: 13 Things that I Do Not Apologize For

This is one of the topics that I’ve been wanting to do for a while . So I’m sorry if it seems a little bitchy. Really, I apologize! Oh wait, I’m not supposed to apologize. Sorry!

1. I will not go to any Tupperware-type parties. Especially when the purpose is less in trying to sell you a product and more in trying to sell you a distributorship into their pyramid scheme. Or at the very least, they pressure the attendees to have their own party. But, if you leave me a catalog, I just might buy a product!
2. Yes, my car is a mess. I can’t seem to spend as much time in my car as I do and be able to keep it clean. Especially with two kids who drag in toys, etc. On the flip side, if you need anything, it just may be in my car! Besides, with a 40 minute trip from/to home one-way, I don’t want to forget anything.
3. Oh, and yes, I have a car and not an SUV or mini-van. So it may be a little cramped. I don’t normally take extra passengers. But it saves on gas, and that’s good for my pocketbook and, in the long-run, good for the world.
4. Sometimes I put off housework in order to pay attention to my family. Since I work full time, my evenings with the children are precious. I don’t really care to spend it doing dishes. I’ll try to do it after they go to bed, but then my husband likes to take over!
5. I like good beer, not American beer. That means I drink the dark stuff. Give me a Becks Dark or a Warsteiner Dunkel! But given the choice between a Budweiser and water, I may choose water.
6. Jello is a dessert and not a salad. It should never be used as a salad, and I won’t eat it if it is.
7. Coffee is best when it’s strong. I make strong coffee. If you don’t like your coffee strong, add water to it.
8. I don’t send out Christmas cards. I send out cards that wish people Happy Holidays. That is because I don’t like it when people assume that everyone believes in the same thing that they do. I’m always trying to remind people that not everyone celebrates Christmas.
9. I don’t really like professional sports, and I think it’s a waste of time. I don’t follow what’s going on in the sports world. I’ll watch the Superbowl for the commercials and I’ll cheer for the team with the best colors or mascot if I have to. Leave the playing of games to kids and stop taking it so seriously!
10. When going to the symphony or opera, I don’t get completely formally dressed. I mean, I won’t look like I’m going to the prom. If you go often enough, you’ll notice that the people who really enjoy classical music are there for the music and not just to be seen.
11. I will not say Grace or pray out loud. I don’t like the pressure.
12. We can't get any TV stations and we don’t have cable or satellite. If you come to our house, we won’t sit around and watch it. We can only watch DVDs.
13. I don’t answer the phone every time it rings. I stopped killing myself to get to the phone a long time ago—about the same time that we got voice mail and caller ID. People forget that answering the phone is not mandatory.

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

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One Red Paperclip = One House

Congratulations to Kyle MacDonald for realizing his dream of trading his red paperclip for items that eventually included a house. Exactly one year ago today he posted his intension to trade his red paperclip to try and get a house.

I would have offered him the Bee House, but I don't think it's worth one red paperclip. Besides, I'm not sure I'd like this weirdo as a neighbor. ;-)

Check it out!

One Year Down. The rest of my life to go!

We’ve hit the One Year mark. On July 8th, we closed on the Creekistan home and property. I remember, because it was the day after the 7/7 London Train bombings. Not a good way to remember the anniversary, but effective nonetheless.

The day also makes one year ago that I was offered my current job. Yep, I got a new home and a new job on the same day. I guess it was meant to be.

I remember, on the two-hour drive home after signing the papers and reading the e-mail that gave me the perfect job offer, that I was anxious and excited. I’ll have to get ready to move. I’ll have to get my son signed up for Kindergarten. I’ll have to find daycare. I’ll have to resign from my current job. We’ll have to figure out where to live until we can get the house habitable. But I’ll be leaving the city and starting a new life in the beautiful country.

This past year had speed by. But this blog has helped chronicle the time, and for that I am grateful.

Answers to Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Why do you have a broken gerbil cage under your desk?
A: At one time I did, but I recently threw it away in order to present a more tidy workplace environment. The cage had once held two gerbils that I acquired for my son’s kindergarten class. The gerbils were doing fine, until around Halloween when they both died under mysterious circumstances. I expect foul play. But until they come up with CSI: Elementary School or Cold Case: K-12, we won’t know what really happened.

Q: What have you planted in your “Spring” garden?
A: We are keeping the garden basic this year, just to see how things go. Right now I have a lot of green beans, some Jalapeño peppers, sweet bell peppers, squash, cucumbers, and tomatoes. I’ve also planted herb seeds, and some are sprouting. Those include parsley and cilantro.
PS: Deer are trying to eat the bean plants. We’ve instructed the dog, as best we can, to keep an eye on the garden. But I’ve also put some fencing to deter pests.

Q: Why do you write on your walls?
A: We are only writing on the walls that will soon be removed or re-covered. We also have written things on exposed boards and old wallpaper. All of which will eventually be removed or covered. Once the construction is done, we will not allow writing on the walls, unless it’s the Hand of God.

Q: Do you have a washing machine and dryer?
A: Not right now. I’m having to go to Laundromats to get clean clothes. This is due to the fact that we do not have city or county water and rely on filling our own cistern with water. We get water from a well across the street. Until we have the water tested and get a better idea about the reliability of the well, we don’t want to hook up a washer. But I’m very hopeful that this fall I will get a new, stackable, washer and dryer. I will probably continue to use the Laundromats because it’s nice to get 10 loads done in under 2 hours.

Any other questions about my life in Creekistan? Just let me know!

Thursday 13: 13 Things Written On The Walls In My Creekistan Home.

1. It’s an ant – your dream doll. The origin of this phrase has dubious beginnings that I no longer remember, but we continue to use it on occasions.
2. Where’s Gesualdo? Gesualdo is a long-dead composer. We thought it was a funny parody of the Where’s Waldo craze.
3. Eat at Ron’s – buy one squirrel git one free. Ron is helping with the construction. He actually eats squirrel, freshly killed.
4. 4 rounds of 5 throws Before the floor was installed, we created a game in the living room we called Rat Tail. It was a tennis ball with a rope stuck into it. We tried to throw it into a box. We had drawn boundaries and points on the floor and the rules on the wall.
5. 3 of 5 for extra throw
6. String worth ½ For times when the ball missed but the string got into the box.
7. Cat worth 100 Nicky didn’t like this game, so it was very difficult to score on this.
8. Divide your flatulence into two partials and you will find great satisfaction Perhaps in the future I will finish this line of “Fortune Cookie Messages You Will Never Receive.”
9. An electric jolt ripped through my whole clavicle I said that and my husband wrote it down.
10. For a good time call Amy at 765-4567. $0.99 per minute. Ron said that it should only take a couple of minutes anyway.
11. What’s under here? Written on a wall with questionable durability. We are almost afraid to look because we may not like what we find. Termites?
12. Carolina’s Room One of the former residents had marked her territory.
13. Wow! A quote from my daughter that we wrote on the wall.

NOTE: These are walls that are unfinished, have old wallpaper, or otherwise will be replaced. We don't normally go around writing on our GOOD walls.

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants