The Oldest Adult

I just did the most adult thing I've ever done in my life.  I signed up for AAA.  Actually, I signed Matt up for AAA and added myself as an "Associate Member".  Because it's the responsible and adult thing to do.

That is all.

False.  That is not all.  Also, Matt is in Memphis, Aura is having a baby, and I just hosted a rocking circus-themed baby shower for Danielle, to which I wore a pink zebra dress.  It was a huge hit.

That is all.  

Boom. Employed.

As many of you already know (but not all of you; I only told the important/cool kids), I can FINALLY call myself a gainfully employed individual!  I'm working for a video and web production company in Evanston.  Right down the road from our old apartment, so now a commute that would've been 20 minutes now takes about an hour.  Such is life.  I haven't as of yet learned my official role there, but it'll be some kind of adminy-assistanty thing for a few months anyway.

As you'll recall, my last post outlined my upcoming four-week temp journey that I was about to embark upon for the Muscular Dystrophy Association.  Done.  I completed about two and a half of those four weeks, and then I was out.  Needles to say, it was not my best employment experience to date.  I have nothing against the MDA, but as it turns out, I do have something against making cold calls.  Lesson learned.

After the MDA, I singlehandedly (well, almost... Matt took off Friday... it wasn't enough) packed up our entire apartment, and then the movers came Saturday to haul all our ridiculous amounts of junk.  I won't even go into the details, but suffice it to say, our sofa was apparently much, much, taller than a normal sofa should ever be.  Consequently, it didn't fit through any doors in either of our two apartments.  Matt sawed the legs down the other day, but only after it sat in the kitchen for 10 days.  Ahh, sofas, will we never end our desperate feuding?

Anyway, after the move, we went to Ashley's wedding in Arkansas, where we hauled and moved a bunch of her wedding junk (it was actually nice stuff... some of it.  Some of it was junk.  Sorry, buddy.)  and then we flew back to Chicago and had one evening to unpack more junk.  Then I started my new job(!) and my first assignment was, you guessed it, hauling and moving their junk!  So, in between hauling my/Ashley's/company's junk, I'm a little bit junked out.  I'm seriously considering giving away all my worldly possessions just so I don't have to deal with them in a year when we move again.  Except my Indian carpets.  And my new bed.

Um, so I guess that's about it.  I've been sufficiently exhausted every single day after (and during... and before) work, but I'm just so damned pleased to have somewhere to go and some paychecks to deposit that I can't complain.  I'm sure that will change.  It turns out I have almost no pictures from Ashley's wedding because Matt was in charge of the camera and he evidently completely neglected those duties. Sorry.  

BANG!

I'm employed! Well, for 4 weeks anyway.  Just a temp job with the Muscular Dystrophy Association, but I am VERY excited!  Cross your fingers that they will recognize what a diamond in the not-so-rough I am and hire me full time (I don't even think that's an option, but hoping can't hurt).  Also, to clarify: I am not pregnant.  I thought it'd be funny and get all the sparks flying across the blogosphere.... It did not.  I think three people asked me about it.  That's cool, guys.  I guess April Fools jokes are on their way out.  Also, I got an Iphone, and it is ahhhhmazing.  I'm not totally sure why I resisted for so long... well, aside from the cost... and the fact that it's silly and not entirely necessary.... but the maps are incredible, and they helped direct me to this interview, thereby getting me the job, so bang.  It's already paid for itself.  Happy Good Friday/Easter!

WINNING!

So, I guess now it's official, and I can finally share our big news; we WON THE LOTTERY!!!!!! Our last-minute ticket frenzy paid off, and we won!  We'll be splitting it with two other winners, but still - one third of $640 million is a lot of money! We've already contacted a lawyer and have our payout all set up and will be receiving $119 million after the lump sum and taxes.  Wow. I still can't believe it.  I am in total shock......

Yeah, yeah, April Fool's.  I know, it's not a very great one this year, but I didn't have much to work with.  I was going to go with the standard "I'm pregnant" line, but as I just found out that's incredibly true at the moment, I had to scramble for something else.

For the record, we actually did win the lottery - a whopping $9!  We only paid $6 for the tickets, so I'd say a $3 profit is not too shabby, considering the overwhelming majority of the tickets sold were worthless.  Anyway, sorry for the lame joke.  I'll come up with something better next year.  Or am I getting to old for this?  Perhaps.  

Life in Review

It's been a while, so I thought I'd update you all on the big changes in the She's Gone Rogue community:

1. I just bought 3 Mega Millions Lottery tickets.  The jackpot is up to $640 million and growing, so naturally, I had to be a part of that.  Also, I am fully aware that by tomorrow I won't be $640 million richer.  The government takes half, so I'll just be around $320 million richer.  In which case, I will go ahead and purchase this little ditty.  (On the off-chance that deal doesn't go through, please see No. 2.)

2. We found a new apartment!  It's in Lincoln Square, which appears to be a cool/young/fun/hip/awesome/glorious/safe/interesting/studious/German-food area, so that should be a good time.  We actually haven't spent much time there, other than looking at a few apartments, and it's not actually much of a better commute for Matt, and I don't actually know why we're doing it, but whatever.  It's gonna be greeeaaaaaattt.  At the very least, we'll have 2 bedrooms, a balcony, a (working!) fireplace, a bonus attic room, and laundry.... for freeeeeeeeee!  So, we'll pretty much be living the dream.  Also, we decided that in lieu of a car, I will just get an Iphone to help me wander around the streets of Chicago.  Bang!  Game. Changer.

3. We went to Denver, and we actually came back! I know, I was pretty shocked myself.  Denver is glorious.  The mountains are glorious.  The elk are glorious.  The turkey fights are spectacular.  It was pretty fantastic to see all our old friends, and I made sure to mention (more than once... with tears in my eyes) how happy I was to be reunited with all my buddies again.  Some people were embarrassed.  I was not... but I am a little bit now that I think about it.

4. I did some temp work the last couple weeks downtown.  I think I worked like a total of 8 days, and it was heavenly.  I am ashamed at how entertained I was by doing data entry for 20 hours.  I wouldn't want to make a career out of it... but I probably could.  I'm that good.  Plus, it paid for my new Iphone that I have yet to purchase.  But that's neither here nor there, as I have the winning lottery numbers clutched in my sweaty palm.

5. We will be gleefully attending a charity pub crawl tomorrow afternoon/evening/early Sunday morning.  We are very excited.

6.  I got a new Food and Wine magazine with some sweet new recipes I can't wait to try.

7.  I started running outside again.  It is muy bueno.  I can go much farther outside, which is good for the ol' waistline/thigh circumference.

8.  That is all my news.  Word to your mother.  

Talking Time, Thinking Time, Moving Time

First things first, to clarify:  the title is in reference to Matt and his older brother's nerdy, ahem, adorable practice of having a "talking time" and then a "thinking time" before bed. They shared a room.  And bunk beds.  Gods, that is sweet.

Now, to get on with it: In case some of you don't know, (and you probably don't because we haven't told anyone... except most people we speak to regularly... and our neighbors... and that guy at Jewel who asks me for money and tells me I have a beautiful smile so then I give him the money), we're probably moving in May when our lease is up.  We've started looking, and think that we found the perfect place today.  Please let me know your opinions, as this is a huge decision.

 

Cray-eyed Matt with his 5-sticks-of-butter-cake I made him.  Hey, the recipe is from Food and Wine, which makes it okay.  (Cray is the new "crazy".  Spread the word.)

Also, thank you to everyone for making our birthdays so special this year! My birthday marked one year to the day of leaving Baroda for good. Bang!  (It's the new boom. Tell all your friends.)

 

Old Baby Cait with her two mini pies!  Needles to say, we are now on a diet.  

Now, before I go, I'd like to leave you with a little something that will brighten your day and leave you smiling far into the weekend... even if it means Matt kills me. It's probably worth it.  At some point over the past few weeks, this happened:  

 

Bang. So hip. Amazing how now that we know what hipsters are, we can emulate them at will.   

Circle of Life

Today, I looked out my window and saw a hawk eating another bird.  Probably a pigeon.  There are feathers everywhere.  No blood, but so many feathers!

Seriously?  This is eerily similar to my bird eating lizard post of 2010.

Maybe the universe is telling me something again?  Like get out of America?  It has been close to a year since my last jaunt outside the usa. And I have been working really hard on my job searching.  I've been on six interviews now and have sent out at least a hundred applications (none of which has come to fruition... yet)!  I think I deserve a vacation.  If you're picking up on a weird sense of entitlement here, then you are spot on.  I'm not sure how I got like this, but I think traveling the world for free might have played a part.  Also, being the baby of the family always comes with a greater sense of privilege.  To further underscore my point, consider this: if I'm ever going to get a job working within an international community, I'd better get some more experience in.  Don't think of it as a vacation, think of it as "market research".  



Also, it's snowing outside.  Sooo... I'd like to get out of that situation.  

Holiday Wrap Up

So, I guess I missed posting about my big Amurcan Holiday Season this year.  Suffice it to say, we were very busy running around visiting family and ringing in Thanksgiving, Christmas AND New Year's all over the country!  A few highlights in photo form:

 

Spent Thanksgiving at the Correnti household, where Matt was immediately put to work hanging Christmas lights.  

 

Later, we went to Oregon to check up on Ruby's.  Matt felt the need to show off his skills, so we spent several hours hanging these Christmas lights, only to have none of them work because we got them from the thrift shop.  Imagine that.  

 

After that, we returned to Chicago and visited the German Christmas Market downtown. It was pretty authentic, as far as Christmas Markets go, except it was small and as you can see, there were about 10,000 too many people there.  

 

Then we decorated our apartment, for the first time since 2007!

 

For Christmas, we drove to Arkansas with a pit stop in Missouri to collect our gifts (lots of camo) and stir  up some excitement.  

 

Mason methodically tracked Santa's route with a map and an Iphone. 

 

These kids cleaned up! (As in, they got a lot of toys.  They didn't actually clean anything up.)

That's about it.  I don't actually have pictures to prove I rang in the New Year with the Correnti family, but I did.  It was similar to my 2011 New Year's Eve, filled with drinking and game-playing, only a lot more awesome.  

Now we're finally back home, and I'm ringing in this Friday the 13th stuck inside in the middle of a massive snow storm!  Okay, it was only 6 inches, and it actually snowed yesterday, not today, but still.  Six inches of snow and 20 degree weather deters me from venturing outside.

A word about the New Year:  Last year, I completed at least one of my resolutions for 2011 - I ran 10 kilometers continuously!  Actually, it was more like 12K because I was trying to run 11K to mark 11-11-11, but I got confused.  Still, I can check that one off the last.  I don't really know about the rest of my resolutions because they are a little harder to quantify... except that song from Stepbrothers.  I didn't learn that.  Oops.  This year, in the spirit of fulfilling a resolution (because it feels so damn good!) I resolve to run at least 10 miles continuously.  Also, I will find a job and decide what I want to be when I grow up (those are in no particular order).  Bring it on 2012.

As you may have guessed, I still have no job.  Surprised?  Me either.  Never fear, my diligent followers, for I am making the best of this dismal situation.  As I believe I've previously mentioned, I'm making lemonade out of the rotten, putrid, stinking lemons I've been given, and I'm taking this time off to try my hand at cooking and baking.  As a tribute to Rachael (who, along with 80% of the blogosphere, is always listing her cooking adventures... and who is a far more accomplished cook than I), I will now list a few of my greatest achievements:  fancy gumbo (only fancy because I had to stir the roux for 25 minutes continuously until it turned "the color of chocolate"), ravioli from scratch (Katie and I went on a friend date to a ravioli-making class, which was only slightly awkward, due to the fact that everyone else in class was on a romantic date), gooey raspberry granola bars (those didn't actually turn out, but they sound good), and (as of last night) my very own homemade granola with cranberries and sunflower seeds!  Also, I bought a muffin pan two or three months ago, and have yet to use it. Boom.  Chef.