Happy Valentine's Day!

Last night I hailed a cab after work and met Joe at Navy Pier where we saw Macbeth at the Shakespeare Theater. That's right. I saw Macbeth on Friday the 13th. I was a tad bit concerned but not concerned enough to not go. Joe has been foaming at the mouth to see this particular production, which they set in present-day Chicago. So when I found "buy one, get one" tickets, I knew we should snatch them up. The theater itself is beautiful and I really enjoyed the show. I liked the modern spin.

Tonight we're going to dinner. The last two years Joe and I have spent Valentine's Day apart so it's fun for us to actually be able to celebrate this year. I have been craving crab legs for about forever now so I think I may finally get my heart's desire. Happy Valentine's Day!

Tomorrow

Tomorrow my mom starts her radioactive iodine treatment for her thyroid cancer. She won't be able to work for a couple weeks, can't be around anyone under the age of 18 for three weeks (which obviously includes my niece), has to sleep in a separate room from my dad for awhile, can't prepare food, needs to be six feet away from dad while in the same room, etc. So, as you can imagine, it's not ideal. But it could be a lot worse. Mom will have to do another round of the radioactive iodine treatment in another six months to a year. Just keep her in your thoughts and prayers. I'm sure she'll be doing a lot of reading but I know she'll get bored.

Nothing Much

It was actually warm enough for me to wear a skirt today. This was quite a momentous ocassion and it is supposed to be even warmer tomorrow. I didn't think Chicago weather would bother me much since I was used to cold, Missouri weather. What I didn't take into consideration is that while there are some bitterly cold Missouri days they don't last the whole season like it seems Chicago's bitterly cold days do. It's just one snow fall after another...

I sign up for almost every news alert under the sun at work because I put together a weekly e-newsletter and am always on the lookout for relevent news headlines. So today I received this headline in my inbox, "Jobs Report: It's Worse Than It Looks." The article goes on to say that the economy almost certainly lost more jobs in January than the 597,000 reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics due to the way they imput their data. Anyway, I find this mind-boggling and stressful. My church just started a Career Networking Group open to the public led by professional career counselors and human resources folks in an attempt to help with resumes, networking, etc. I love this idea. It's one example of a way that a church can be relevant and do something to serve the needs of the community. And in church yesterday we were asked, by show of hands, how many people have either recently lost their jobs or knew someone that had lost their jobs. The show of hands was truly frightening. (Side note: one hospital here is laying off several hundred and another hospital here is laying off at least 450 and eliminating several hundred more jobs through attrition.)

On my way to church yesterday my car died at every stoplight. And there are a LOT of stoplights between my house and church. Finally, I figured out that if I put my car in neutral I could prevent it from dying. On the way home, without using neutral, my car didn't die one single time. Now, I'm not a mechanic but I don't think this is normal. So my husband will be taking me to the train and picking me up each day until we get this fixed. I don't have the energy to think about it right now...in a few days - maybe.

Girl Day

I met Alison and her friend, Celina at a Chicago favorite for breakfast today. After that we went back to Alison's place and decided to paint on canvas. I would share a picture of my art but if you saw what Celina and Alison did and then saw what I did - you'd probably laugh. So I'm just going to say that I had fun hanging out with the girls today and channeling trying to channel my creative side.

I then met Joe so we could get our taxes done. The fact that we got married this year and were filing jointly was easy. But the fact that I had no IL income and Joe did and I had MO income and Joe didn't was throwing off the computer...or our tax guy. Which makes me cringe a bit because I want to get it right - obviously. But we finally left our paperwork and will go back in a few days after our tax preparer can figure out why the computer wasn't letting him do what he wanted to do...we'll see.

We've also been seeing movies in preparation for my favorite day fo the year - the Oscars! Last night we finally saw Benjamin Button. Joe was pleasantly surprised as he wasn't necessarily looking forward to it. (The makeup and special effects still have me amazed!) Last weekend we saw Milk - really good - and The Wrestler. (Good story/acting but a bit too violent for me.) So now I think we just have two more to see and we're done. I think we can handle that.

Week at a glance

Little annoyances of the week:

• My neighbor shoveling snow at 5 am and waking me up. This seems to happen frequently.
• Walking to my office, passing electronic temperature signs reading "-11"...this also happens frequently.
• Going to look at a cute apartment in a great neighborhood with Joe and realizing it won't work for us. Goodbye claw foot tub. Goodbye skylight.
• When the person in the cubicle next to me hums or sings ALL. DAY. LONG.
• Running to catch my train.
• Running to catch my train and watching it as it pulls away from the station.
• Losing my hat at the train station.

Highlights of the week:

• My job and my first paycheck! Whoo hoo!
• Finally putting money back into savings!
• Eating Chipotle for the first time in over six months.
• Knowing that there is a Starbucks right across the street from my office, however dangerous that might be.
• Feeling good about abstaining from Starbucks.
• Getting good feedback at work despite the fact that I'm still overwhelmed.
• Really cherishing my time at home and with Joe.
• Watching movies this weekend!

Six-month anniversary

Tomorrow Joe and I will have been married for six months. It's hard to believe it's already been half a year that I've been a wife and gone from Columbia. I do believe my exact words while we were brushing our teeth this morning was, "Six months down, forty years to go." I hope so!

Baby news

I got word tonight that my friends Micah and Kevin had their baby Larson Dean around 5:25 pm. (And they went to the hospital around 4:30. No time for anything!) He weighed 7lbs 11oz and was 20 inches long. Everyone is doing well.

Non-menu menu

I am not making a menu this week because if I did, I suspect it would look something like this:

Monday: peanut butter sandwich
Tuesday: cereal
Wednesday: piece of fruit and whatever else I can find
Thursday: bag of microwave popcorn
Friday: take-out

I will still be cooking but probably just on the weekends. And I think Joe will be cooking mostly during the week or we'll just be eating on our own, whatever we find...it was fun while it lasted!

Three cheers for Joe

As I mentioned earlier, my husband sent me a beautiful bouquet of tulips to my office on my first day. He has been a huge help to me this week, too. Many of you probably know I am NOT a morning person. Joe has helped me by starting my car each morning, making my breakfast and making/packing my lunch. Those little things help me get out the door on time. And there's been dinner waiting for me each night when I get home, too. He's made all of this transition a little easier for me. I feel very lucky. And hopefully I find my groove soon with my new schedule!

The big day

I am so exhausted. First, I was too excited/nervous to sleep last night so I woke up at 2 am unable to go back to sleep. Second, my brain is not used of thinking so much. Here's how my day went. I started getting ready around 6 am. Left the house around 6:55 but not before I got my car stuck in the driveway and Joe had to push it out. (Did I mention this happened on Sunday, too?) I got to the train station about ten minutes later. I parked and waited amongst all the other commuters for another ten or so minutes. Then I boarded the train for the 30 minute ride. I got off downtown and walked a half a mile (while it was snowing - and right past the Sears Tower!) to my office building. My day was filled with orientation and back-to-back meetings. (The office was having inauguration festivities today but unfortunately I couldn't participate due to my meetings.) My new boss and coworker brought me flowers and chocolates for my first day and my husband sent me a bouquet as well. Even though it's so much easier than sitting in rush-hour traffic, I think the commute will be the hardest part for me. The train ride itself isn't that bad but it's all the waiting around before hand and getting to and from that make it a long, tedious process. Just something new for me to get used to but I'm sure I will soon enough. We ate frozen pizza tonight and I'm so tired that I think I may never cook during the week again. Did I mention how exhausted I am? Oh and I almost forgot the other exciting news. We got Joe a new (to us) car last night. Feels like a weight has been lifted from both of us just to be rid of his old car.

I work on the 31st floor of this building. How cool is that?

Joe insisted on taking my picture today. Kind of like the first day of school.

Change

Tomorrow Obama and I both start our new jobs. Joe and I took the train downtown today from the stop I'll be taking every day so that I could get myself oriented before tomorrow morning. It was cold but not too far of a walk for me. I think I'm ready!

Menu Plan Monday

This week will be a week of experimenting for us. I have no idea what time I'll take the train home each night or if I'll feel like cooking once I get here. But here's our tentative menu.


Monday: Pork chops with sour cream dill sauce and rice
Tuesday: Pizza
Wednesday: dinner out with my new coworkers
Thursday: Double corn polenta
Friday: gnocchi with pesto sauce

Out and about

On a whim, Joe and I decided that today was as good a day as any to take advantage of some of the fine theatre here. I wanted desperately to see Dirty Dancing but to no avail. Today was the final day of its run and no tickets were available. (Well, no tickets in our price range anyway.) Joe, on the other hand, was relieved. So we went to see the stage version of CS Lewis' The Screwtape Letters. It was very good and such a neat little theatre. And despite the cold frigid weather, I'm glad we went. Now if only I could get my feet to thaw out.

Variety news

Somebody's getting a variety show! Read all about it here.

Thoughts from the employed

I don't know if I can truly express how happy I am about this job. The market has been so tough and in just a few short weeks I've seen the amount of available jobs dry up right before my eyes. It was truly a lesson in patience. I am so thankful! I've spent the morning figuring out my train pass/schedule and also train parking. There's a lot involved to become a commuter! After not working for six months a lot will soon be changing. (I'm not complaining.) Below are just a few:

• My attire. Unfortunately for my husband, I haven't been dressing my best. Think sweat pants, pj pants, t-shirts, sweatshirts and Uggs or slippers with everything, 24-7. Oh, and I'll have to start wearing a bra. (TMI? Sorry!)


• My Monday morning shopping routine. I love shopping on Monday, picking up everything we need for the week. And the stores are practically empty.


• Doing random errands and being able to go to the mall or anywhere else I want to go.


• Hanging out with the dogs. (Crumley is my homeboy.)


• Getting the mail is usually the highlight of the day for me...I know it's sad.


• Transportation. I am already used of using very little gas but I will soon be taking the train downtown every day.


• My menu plans. I still want to cook but I'm not sure if it will be as routine as it has been.


• Getting up early. I don't sleep all day but I usually get up around 8:00, sometimes 8:30.


• Checking my email, Facebook and Perez Hilton 1,000 times a day. This will probaby be the hardest change of all! (Facebook Scrabble friends, please don't abandon me!)

Menu Plan Monday

Monday: Fettuccine
Tuesday: Beef Tex-Mex Stir Fry
Wednesday: Black Bean & Corn Casserole
Thursday: leftovers
Friday: Pizza

Black Beans and Corn Casserole
2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
1 cup chopped yellow onion
1/2 cup chopped red or green bell pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce
1/2 cup salsa
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground pepper to taste
2 cans (15 ounces each) black beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup corn, fresh or frozen
8 corn tortillas
4 cups grated Cheddar cheese
sour cream for serving

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large skillet over medium heat, warm oil. Add onion, bell pepper, and garlic and saute until tender, about 5 minutes. Add tomato sauce, salsa, oregano, chili powder, cumin, salt and pepper. Stir in beans and corn.

In a lightly sprayed or oiled 9-by-13-inch glass baking dish, spread one-third of the bean mixture evenly over the bottom of the dish. Lay 4 tortillas on top slightly overlapping. Add another one-third of the bean mixture and half of the cheese. Add 4 more tortillas, remaining bean mixture and top with remaining cheese. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake until bubbly, about 10 minutes longer. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving. Cut into squares and serve with sour cream.

Movies and the Globes

It's the time of year when all the good movies get released and I'm in a rush to see them all...or as many as possible before the Academy Awards. We've seen some of the recent contenders: Rachel Getting Married, Slumdog Millionaire, Doubt, Frost/Nixon. So, yeah, I've seen some of the movies but there are still too many to see and too little time. Tonight is the Golden Globes. Even though it's not as prestigious as the Academy Awards, it might be my favorite awards show. It's a little more fun and laid back. So my afternoon will consist of watching the red carpet and then the show itself. Still on my list is: Revolutionary Road, The Reader, The Wrestler, Milk and Benjamin Button (maybe, I'm not thrilled at sitting in the theatre for three hours). We'll see how many I can fit in before February 22. Let me know if you've seen any contenders and what you think.

My snow dog

Crumley loves the snow and watching him play in it is so much fun. He likes to run and tumble and dive into it. Joe and I spent quite a while outside this morning just watching him and Iris play.

The best day ever!

Today my unemployment status ended. I have a job!! And it's even in my field. I'm rather excited if you can't tell. I start on January 20. Almost exactly six months to the day of leaving my job in Missouri and moving here. It's a happy New Year indeed!

Cookbooks

I'm dubbing yesterday as, "Cookbook Day" after I received two surprise cookbooks. First, my mother-in-law sent the new Barefoot Contessa book to me in the mail and then Alison gave me a Rachel Ray cookbook. What a coincidence, huh? I love thumbing through cookbooks and even read them in bed before falling asleep. I'm also quite fond of watching the Food Network. (I love Giada but don't have any of her books.) Who are your favorite chefs and do you have any favorite cookbooks that I should check out?