Lorraine & Gordon's Grand Day Out
It was my birthday the other day and Gordon took the afternoon off work so we could go into Chicago. He would not tell me what he had planned, only that we would be eating at 6pm, and then had to be somewhere else for 8pm. So we got the train in and strolled down to Navy Pier, which is a bit like Covent Garden.
It was a glorious day, with bright blue sky and sunshine. There we played crazy golf and I got a couple of hole-in-ones and even beat Gordon! We also rode the ferris wheel there which goes slowly and gives taped commentary so you can take in the beautiful Chicago skyline.
He had booked a table at a lovely seafood restaurant on the pier so I could indulge in some of my favourite foods and drinks - a Kir Royale, then crab, mussels, and a cocktail. Then I was whisked off in a taxi to the surprise destination – a theatre to see the Blue Man Group. I had wanted to see them for ages and it was really worth the wait, they were very entertaining. And after the show I was able to get a photo taken with one of them outside. I touched his face and was surprised to find the paint was wet. It took 2 days to wash that tiny bit off my finger, so I dread to think what state his face must be in! All in all it was a great day out, a very memorable birthday. Click here to see the photos - you can click on each one to see it bigger.
I got a few cards and things from the UK – thank you to everyone who sent something – it really meant a lot to get them. A package arrived a couple of days early from my sister. I didn’t open it early, but sent her an email telling her that she shouldn’t have sent me anything, and she replied that it was just a couple of things she thought I could use. When I opened it I discovered what she meant – it was 2 large bars of Cadburys chocolate!
Thanks Mads – could always use those!
Oh, what joy!
To sleep in a real bed, to drink out of a glass, to use a cheese grater, to have tupperware for storage rather than battling with a piece of cling film (tearing off a piece with a ridiculously blunt piece of jagged cardboard, unsticking it from itself, I am sure you have all been there). It is funny to realise the things that you missed when you get them back again!All was delivered yesterday, and we did better than expected at unpacking. There are still a few boxes not even touched yet. But we have found a home for most, even it is just in another box ready for storage.
We were very lucky to have friends who were so generous that they practically loaned us the clothes off their own backs, so we certainly didn't have to go without in the last few weeks. Help has come from various people, but special mention should go to Chris and Danni, Mike and Jodi, Michael and Hazel. We are very grateful for everything.
Good news, of sorts
All the stuff we have had shipped over from England is being delivered tomorrow (Thursday). I am so looking forward to having a cheese grater, a full set of cutlery, and my bed. But I am dreading the thought that we are now going to be inundated with stuff, boxes piled up around us. We will have to climb over things to get out the door.
There is supposed to be storage space available to us within our apartment building, but it is not ready still, so we are currently keeping the bikes on the balcony, and when everything arrives tomorrow, there will be quite a bit more that we would like to store away as well. So I will have to keep hounding them in the office until they get their act together.
So the next few days will be spent unpacking and organising and reorganising the shelves and cupboards.
Wendy's is the new McDonalds!
Whenever I was going for a fast food meal in England, I always went to McDonalds for their chicken nuggets, with curry sauce. Imagine my dismay when we moved here and I found that McDonalds here do not have curry sauce at all, and the staff just gave me a blank look when I asked for it. Was this the end of fast food for me?
No! We have now discovered a new dip at Wendy's. It is called Chipottle sauce. The first time they offered it among a choice of 3 dips, we didn't understand the word at all, and by the 3rd time the waitress had said it we just gave up and took something else. But the next time we went there we decided to be more adventurous and just try it anyway. So now we know the name, and even the taste, but still have no idea what it is exactly. All I can say is it is delicious, and so Wendy's has become my favourite fast food place.
Settling In
We moved Wednesday of last week into our new place. We managed to move everything in just 2 trips in the truck. We actually wouldn’t have had even that much ourselves, but we had already borrowed so much from people to see us through til our stuff arrives in shipping. Actually the shipping has been delayed. It was due to arrive at the apartment 6th May but we have now heard that it will not even get to New York until the 12th, and then it could take up to 2 weeks to get through customs, depending on how in-depth they want to be, then it has to get to the Chicago office of the removal firm, and then to us. So we are probably looking at towards the end of May now, which will be a whole month after moving in to an empty place. The temporary apartment was fully furnished with all kitchen equipment and bedding, etc, but this has nothing apart from kitchen appliances. So we have had to borrow absolutely everything from people as we didn’t want to buy new stuff when our own is on its way here.
But there is no garbage disposal unit here, and no recycling bins either. I asked in the office about recycling, and they said they had tried to get bins here but no joy. So I rang the local council, or whatever it is called, and asked about where we can take paper, glass, plastic etc, and basically there seems to be nowhere apart from a place for paper only. But they did say we should be able to get bins here, so I passed the number to the office to arrange it. I think I am going to become the kind of tenant that the office staff hate, as I have already been in there several times with questions. They are starting to get a panicked look in their eyes when they see me now!
We are unfortunately living next to a building site. There is a church behind some trees at the end of our car park, and they are rebuilding it. The builders seem to choose to do all their really noisy work between the hours of 7am and 9am, bless them, and then for the rest of the day you mostly wouldn’t know they were there! But the roof is on now so hopefully wont be too much longer before it is finished.
We went to Ikea and bought a desk, couple of bookcases, and a couple of chests of drawers, as we are not having much furniture shipped out. The bedroom has wardrobes built in so do not need to buy those. I have finished unpacking after building all the furniture. It is starting to look more like a home now. And we have a new TV – it is ENORMOUS! And now has about a hundred more channels, but we can get TV guide on screen, so can actually make an informed choice of what to watch! And it can record a programme and do all sorts of other stuff that I will probably never use but Gordon will enjoy experimenting with!
The truck has been sick. It went to see a mechanic yesterday to have the water pump replaced, then I went to pick it up and went on to my first ever garage sale. We had heard that you can pick up some good bargains at them. And I definitely did that – I got a golf bag full of golf clubs for free from one woman who said she just wanted to get rid of them, and then a golf trolley for free from someone else who is moving to England (Guernsey actually) in 2 months, so I was chatting to her for a while about the whole experience of moving country, and she refused to take my money.
We have gone to check out a couple of local golf clubs over the past few weeks, and used their driving ranges. I took a few beginners group golf lessons just before leaving the UK, and really enjoyed it. So now we have booked some private lessons for me, to start this Sunday. So, Tiger Woods watch out (or whoever the female equivalent is of Tiger)!
Meanwhile, everything is finally sorted back in the UK. My car has been sold and my flat rented out – the tenants moved in just last weekend. That is definitely a weight off my mind, apart from the worry of them trashing the place!
