I went back to the local downtown area this afternoon to waste time.
More curious geese, they weren't mean, just wondering if I had any food.
So I leaned over the water as they stretched their necks and tried to eat my camera.






They opened a new shop in my area, Ethel's Chocolate Lounge.
They got it put together pretty quick, looked like it was still being gutted just a couple weeks ago. They just opened today after the fire marshall gave the final ok sometime this afternoon. I got a free chocolate sample of my choosing. I ate an almond toffee crisp and it was delicious. I was in a toffee mood, but I think its tough for me to judge the quality based on that, the true test would be to just try the plain chocolate and see if it melts like butter or is waxy. I will go in if I think I can score a sample, otherwise it's a bit too expensive for me. $1.50 per individual chocolate, or a small bag of chocolate covered pretzels for $10. They have a back room for "chocolate parties". The place is really nice and cushy.

Dogs keep all my secrets.

I went to the Ikea grand opening in Bolingbrook this morning.
Got there at 8:30 in time for the flag raising ceremony. I think they played Sweden's anthem. Had the first 3 people in line get gift certificates for $3000, $2000, and $1000. They had been in line for over a week, like since Oct 14 I think, sleeping in tents.
The first 100 people got a free $80 chair. (not me)
I have no idea how many people were there this morning, I'm bad with numbers....but a lot.
When I left they had closed out the parking lot and had police redirecting traffic to other lots where they were shipping them in on trolleys.
They had a line that snaked around outside, like the lines for a rollercoaster. I got a free Ikea frisbee and measuring tape. When we got through the front doors, they had a big crowd of Ikea employees hooting, hollering, cheering and clapping for everyone that came in.
I went upstairs and sat down with a 99 cent breakfast special. Ate the potatoes mostly.... I'm weird about scrambled eggs sometimes.
Walked around, it was like a casino, winding around, getting everyone directionally confused.
I jogged through mostly, picked up a bag of 100 tea lights for $2.99.
Everyone was buying stuff, a lot of big stuff too. The hot item seemed to be the 3 bedroom set for $299, tons of people were walking out with them. On the way out I went to the grocery section and sampled several cookies.


These shots are from yesterday, 1 day before the opening, already people camped out that were not the first 3 in line, so I guess they camped out for the $80 chair for free?








These are the first 3 people in line. The guy in the white t-shirt is the one who won the $3000 gift card. He is from Atlanta, and came here just for this.




This is the line I stood in.








Now I am leaving for a therapy appt in 30 min, then I have an informal interview in Oak Brook to set up a formal interview for a local company. And I had a phone interview yesterday for a job in the loop that went pretty well and they are setting up an interview with me on Tuesday. So hopefully something will pan out soon.

Jason, Jen and Matt spent the weekend with me-n-Brad.



Did a bit of local suburbaness like Lou Malnati's, local Goodwill as well as a local Indian sweet shop and DVD place that had a good selection of Bollywood and other mixes.

Then spent Saturday in Chicago, took the brown line to Belmont to Uncle Fun, Hollywood Mirror, The Alley, and had lunch at Clarke's Diner while we waited out the rain.



Then we headed back to the loop area to see the spitters in Millennium Park.



and Buckingham Fountain



Sunday we went to Bobaks for brunch and then to the local mall.

Today was animal day for me.
Got my iced coffee and blueberry coffeecake from Starbucks, said hi to a big block headed bulldog, then walked down to the river to do my sudoku and crossword. Geese were curious, and walked around me a lot.




Then went to walk dogs.

The dogs that were shipped in are doing much better. The ticks and fleas are all gone. They no longer have their tails tightly tucked in. They seem happy, and playful. A group of them were out in the run playing together.

Betty Sue is a new dog this week. Not sure of her story, but she is very scared. A big rottweiler. It took me a few minutes to get her out of her kennel. Wasn't sure if she would bite, so I went slow. Showed her the leach let her smell it, let her smell me, cause when I opened her cage she just moved further back and kinda cowered. She is a really good girl. She didn't like the camera very much though.



Next I walked Jethro, beagle mix, under a year old. He has spots on his fur and on his skin, it's cute. Both dogs were great to cuddle with.



Then I checked on the puppies. They just recently opened their eyes! Had a bath today too.




Then on my way for some shopping at Whole Foods, I stopped at a horse farm. I don't know much about horses, I just like them. This kind one was really big, beefy, and had a goatee thing going on.






Tomorrow I will be grocery shopping and doing a few errands to prepare for our company this weekend!!!
Jen, Matt, and Jason come in Friday afternoon! Very excited to see them again.

At the Humane Society I volunteer at, they brought in 22 dogs that are Katrina victims last night, so I went in this morning to help out. We've got dogs doubled up in the kennels to house them all, lots more laundry to do, food bowls to clean etc. A lot of the dogs were dirty, but even worse than just being dirty, covered in ticks and fleas, so much so that there was blood on the floor of their kennels. Some of them had already been bathed, and I bathed about 6 of them myself with the flea shampoo. Did several loads of laundry, took several out for walks. A lot of them didn't want to go outside for a walk. Like they didn't want to go outside again for a good long while, they were just so happy to have a nice dry soft blanket that was theirs. They were so tired from the trip and emotions that it all just wore them out. After getting a bath and being fed they just passed out asleep. Some were scared and nervous, and some were bitey, but I just persisted with them , letting them bite me if they wanted, they still got a bath to kill the fleas! Their eyes were so big and sad. Brad and I might go back tonight, and then go again in the morning. They just wanted to be held and soothed.

Went into Chicago yesterday for the day. Had lunch with Brent. Took the blue line to Damen, and went to Quimby's books. Spent a lot of time mulling around without buying anything. Nothing I had to have, so I just went through everything. I didn't sleep well the night before so then I got hit with being tired all of a sudden and went across the street to Filter. Never been in there before, I like it. Had an iced coffee and sat on the sofa. Lots of people reading, listening to ipods and doing stuff on laptops. Comfortable place to hang out and zone. Got back on the blue line and transferred to the brown line and took that to Belmont. Went in and out of some clothing stores. Walked around the corner to Chicago Comics, went through everything in there. Went to Hollywood Mirror. I love that place. Played pinball and tried on dresses. Found a dress I loved for $16. Very Donna Reed, gorgeous color and print. I think I'm gonna wear it today. Then took the brown line back to the loop. Went into the W Hotel to use the bathroom and wash the El and the day off my hands and arms. Then to Adams and Dearborn for the Berghoff Oktoberfest. And what says Oktoberfest like an ear of corn? I know...but I didn't want a brat, so it was the only thing I really wanted, some fresh grilled corn, then took the train home.

I emailed some people the other day, trying to make more plans and spend time with other people.

Here is a pic from over the weekend of Brad and his favorite dog Hercules.



Herc is huge, and barks in his kennel, but then soon as he is out he is laid back and very calm. Slack in the leash, just content. I see a little mastiff or st bernard in his blockhead. He is listed as under 1 years old, but very patient and passive for being so young. He let the other playful pups bat him in the head, and just looked nervous like he was worried about getting in trouble. At one point he just stood behind Brad hiding from my little yip yap dog Foxy. He has such a guilty conscience for one so young.




I was gonna go grab Fischer (of course) but this little yip yap dog that was growling at me the day before was being all nice and wanted me to pet her. So I wanted her to get more socialization and encourage her a bit. The day before when I saw her she stood at the back of her kennel growling like she was ready to pounce, she was really upset. When I took her out this day she was fine. Fine with me. I introduced her to Herc, and she was a jealous bitch. She crawled into Brad's lap and growled at Herc if he got too close. So he hid behind Brad. She was happy with us, but just had that underlying psycho dog aura about her.



I happened to catch her in mid yawn and captured her true psycho devil dog look



and here when I guess Herc got too close again.

Played our OSU marching band cd to get Brad up and moving this morning.Went to the farmers market. Bought cucumbers and eggplant.






Then we to go see the dogs again. Brad made friends with a big dog named Hercules. He was a spaz in the kennel and a true gentleman on his leash. Real bug lug. I shoulda gotten some shots of the two of them. But I only had eyes for Fischer. We just sat in the shade with our dogs hugging and kissing on them.
Brad made a cucumber salad (cucumbers, vinegar, sour cream and onions), baba ganoush (i bought pita bread for dipping), and guacamole. So we are justing picking on all that and watching the OSU game right now. Should be a good one.
GO BUCKS!

I like time to myself, but I have a lot of it now.
I like small talk with people, I go to the Starbucks just for that. To hopefully find a few people to talk to about whatever. I talked briefly to one guy in an OSU shirt about the game today, and a guy I think was retarded,...well I tried to talk to him but I think I overwhelmed him. He kinda jumped up from the table with me and left dropping some of his papers, so I helped him pick them up.

I went to a bowling alley. It was a weird place. They have an indoor amusement park and huge but crappy game arcade. And it was totally empty. I like the eeriness of it. The carousel waiting to be used. I even walked through the empty laser tag room. But down the way, there was a bus load of kids bowling, and it was just too much activity and hormones for me to bowl next to. So I went to walk dogs instead.










I walked this furball Summer, that had little red ribbons on her ears.



and this funny girl Layla




But fell in love with Fischer a pitt bull mix, 7 months old, but wise beyond his years.



We sat in the shade outside. He rolled around in the grass while I rubbed his belly. Then we both laid down in the grass, he put his paws around my arm and we laid down on our sides facing each other.



So I spent a lot of time with him outside and talked to him.






When Brad got home, we went to the local downtown area, had dinner at Noodles (the ultimate comfort food mac & cheese!!), went to Starbucks (yeah I know...again), the local candy store and picked out a mix bag of stuff. Got the weekend with him now. We got some food planned out for today. Guacamole, nachos, and maybe some baba ganoush for when we watch the big OSU game tonight. I think I am gonna wake him up soon and go to the local farmers market.