Where do I even begin…

Posted on by Chrellie

Life has just seemed so complicated and overwhelming lately. For me, for everyone.

Right now, you are probably all in or completely tuned out. From the 2020 election to the Coronavirus to the celebrity scandals, you either know and care about what is going on in the world or you don’t and are waiting for Facebook/Instagram/Twitter/etc. to tell you what you need to know and if you should care. Try to convince someone who doesn’t care, see how far you get! 😲

Your take on these news events will be framed by your news source. If you are a person who gets his/her news from the mainstream media or even from Social Media, you will have a different view than Infowars / Natural News / Breitbart / other alternative news sources. You might have a confusing mix of all of the above. Either way, it is exhausting, gut-wrenching, and stressful. On both sides, we are waiting with endless anticipation of what will happen next, who will ruin our lives, and how they will do it. All of this on top of your job, your family, your bills, health issues, and other things pulling on you at the same time. The instinct is to cover our ears, close our eyes and block it all out, but that only works for a little while.

All we can do is stay tuned and hope for the best while preparing for the worst. Eat right, take your vitamins, pay your bills, keep needed supplies on hand. And what ever you do, don’t expect the government to fix all of your problems.

Nothing like Chicago-style food!

Posted on by Chrellie
  • Italian Beef Sandwich with Mozzarella Cheese
  • Glad I decided to try this place!
  • Hubby’s Chicago-style Hot Dog and my Hot Dog… with ketchup

I heard about Wiseguys – A Chicago Eatery about a year ago but Husband and I were afraid to eat there. We have been disappointed while eating at other places claiming to have Chicago-style deep dish pizza and other items, and didn’t want to be disappointed again. But, we decided to throw caution to the wind and give it a shot.

The verdict… we were pleasantly surprised to each enjoy an Italian Beef with mozzarella cheese last night. The picture does not do the sandwich justice! We were out running errands today and decided to go back and each get a Vienna beef Hot Dog . Husband got a true Chicago-Style Hot dog with mustard, onion, relish, tomato, sport peppers, pickles and celery salt, while I broke the rules and got a Hot Dog plain that I then covered in ketchup. This is sacrilege for true Chicago-style hot dog aficionados, but I’m not a fan of mustard, nor tomatoes or raw onions. However, we both enjoyed our hot dogs immensely. We now have a place to go to scratch our Chicago food itch once in a while. If only we could find a local pizza to fill our void for Chicago Thin-crust tavern style pizza…

The Four Tendencies… and other reading interests

Posted on by Chrellie

So, I’m about 100 pages into The Four Tendencies by Gretchen Rubin. I read The Happiness Project a few years ago and I enjoyed it, but hadn’t thought much about it until saw The Four Tendencies at a FedEx Office store. I picked it up, intrigued, since I have been feeling stuck again lately- wanting to do something different but not wanting a pay cut, missing home but knowing that’s not the best place to be (except on a vacation so I can gorge on Pizza, burritos, beef sandwiches, and my other Chicago food favorites).

I took The Four Tendencies quiz online, which said that I am an Obliger. From what I understand, there is variation within each tendency and a little overlap – you will have a main tendency but may have some of a neighboring tendency, too. The thing that is interesting to me is that I pegged two family members almost immediately but I am still trying to pinpoint a few others.

Psychology stuff is interesting to me, so this book is right up my alley. I am hoping it will help me figure myself out and will help better deal with family and co-workers. I like the book so far and I am trying to pace myself to fully absorb the information, rather that devouring the book as I often do with fiction books that I enjoy. Other books on my radar include: Stuck by Anneli Rufus, The Year of Living Danishly by Helen Russell, and Positively Unstoppable by Diamond Dallas Page. I have been doing DDP Yoga for four and a half months with my husband, and we both really like it and benefit from it. Husband read the book and recommended it. What books do you recommend?

Central Texas… where do I begin?

Posted on by Chrellie

We have now lived in Central Texas for 5 1/2 years. In the beginning, everything was new to Husband and I. We left Chicago, Illinois for lots of reasons, mainly though, to get space from complicated families and to start a new chapter of our lives. Husband had just finished his Associate’s Degree, and I was laid off after seven years at my job. We moved here after having visited Austin for 5 days in 2009 and me spending two weeks while Husband spent six weeks in Austin in 2010. To clarify, we now live in Williamson County rather than Austin, though  I work in Austin and the difference now is negligible. This place is not what we though it would be, as the shine has worn off.

As much as I like the Central Texas sunny days and winters with little to no snow, I have a long list of things I am iffy about and even really dislike. Bare with me while I rant a little.

Is it too much to ask for people to exist without being passive aggressive? If you’re going to do something and be a jerk about, just own it rather than waving at me about it, like that erases your actions! Maybe Chicagoans and other Northern varieties of people are rude, but at least I know what to do with that. Enough with the fake friendliness! Send it back to California, or wherever it came from. The only good thing about the fake friendliness is that, if you can spot, it will alert you to the fact that this person is probably going to trick you, do a bad job on whatever work you are paying them for, or that you should just avoid them at all costs. I saw this after Husband I dealt with a leasing agent, a real estate agent, a painter, a music producer, a chiropractor, a tile salesperson, and some many others I can’t keep track of. The chiropractor did untold damage to Husband’s back, and good luck finding a way to sue her and actually get paid. The painter and his crew painted our house worse than a group of 12 year olds with no experience. Husband ended up hiring someone to re-texture our walls so he could repaint everything, which costs him double and saved us no time, which is why we hired a painting company to begin with! Oh, and the attorney we hire to get some of our deposit back, couldn’t even get the job done.

***Stay tuned more posts in the coming weeks***

 

Family…

Posted on by Chrellie

Anytime a holiday comes around I have mixed emotions about it, whether it’s Christmas, Mother’s Day, or any other family-oriented holiday.  Yesterday, Father’s Day, was no different. My father and I had not spoken in a few weeks. He had taken a trip to see distance cousins on his side of the family, so I gave him a few days to get resettled into his routine and called him for Father’s Day.

Photo by freestocks.org from Pexels

After a few messages back and forth to find a good time to call, I finally called around dinner time. I got to hear about his trip to Washington state for the his cousin’s wife’s memorial and about his visits with other family members. I am glad to hear that his trip went well and that he enjoyed himself.  However, I am not glad that the conversation had to include digs about my mother’s side of the family and (implied) comparisons about the successful of other people’s children. We are all different people, and what makes me happy may not make someone else happy. We can’t all be astrophysicists.

I know, this is a Father’s Day phone call, so it should not be about me. The same way many phone calls and text messages with him should not include complaints and derogatory language about my mother/his wife.  This discourages me from communicating  as frequently as others communicate with their fathers. The effort to keep in touch and to let him know that I care is sometimes a less than rewarding experience, and can be a rather stressful and/or hurtful experience. The same goes for my mother, too, except that there are a few newsbytes or lighthearted pop culture references in between the concerns about my father

Overall, it was a successful phone call, with my father enjoying a chance to talk about his dog rescue friends and his travels, and appreciating that I honored him on Father’s Day.     I am glad that he is finally starting to take better care of his health.  Families are complicated…