Waaaaah!

Moving sucks! Bear with me while I have a little pity party here.

I believe it when people say that moving is one of life's most stressful events. I'm feeling a little overwhelmed with everything especially when I look at the calendar and see that tomorrow is JUNE 1st. Ahh! 30 days to get everything done. And there's only me, myself, and I to do it. I know my husband feels bad that I have to pack everything, but yeah.. that doesn't negate the fact that I do!

What sucks further is all the little details you have to think about when moving countries. All of our boxes and what's in them need to be accounted for so we can cross the border. Every account we've ever opened needs to be cancelled. New accounts need to be created. I'm sure there's a million things to do that I haven't even thought of yet.

Also what's stressing me out is finding a good job in Chicago! Sometimes I can't seriously believe I am leaving my sweet, sweet, well-paying job. I am getting the impression that teachers are not nearly as valued (not sure if this is the right word) in the States as they are in Canada.. at least this is certainly what seems to be the case when comparing pay cheques. That's even if I can find a teaching job...

So yeah.. I'm just trying to roll with the punches here. Make lemonade out of lemons. And holy crap, this last minute of the Hawks game is giving me a heart attack!

Seeds From Space!

As a teacher I'm always looking for interesting things to do in the classroom. I somehow found out about the Tomatosphere project and now in my class I have two sets of tomato plants growing. One set being from normal, ordinary tomato seeds and the other from seeds that were on board an International Space Station. Yes, space seeds! Here they are below, floating with Astronaut Robert Thirsk. Pretty cool, eh?

This is a blind experiment so I don't know (yet) which seeds are which, but as you can see, one set of seeds grew much better than the other.

The main reason for this experiment is to understand issues related to long-term space travel. Traveling to and from Mars could take up to three years so astronauts need to learn how they can grow food for their journey. How does the carbon dioxide that plants inevitably consume from the astronauts' breathing affect their growth?

The plants are big enough now that they are beginning to smell like tomato plants and the kids are obsessed with putting their noses right in there. Kinda funny.

So, do you think the space seeds yielded the faster or slower growing plants?

Subtitles, Please

Tonight I went to see "Cats".

Holy crap. Does this show have a story? I have no clue. I can't tell you what it was about, other than it has a lot of cats that sing and dance. Totally over my head.

Here is my problem. I cannot understand what people are saying when they sing. I can only focus on the melody, not the words. This does not bode well for a show that is done 100% in song. I need subtitles!

I still enjoyed it though, mostly because the girl who sings "Memory" was fantastic. Shivers. So good.

I think I was half nuts when I bought tickets for this show because it really isn't my type. I hate cats! But it's a classic, the ticket was cheap.. and what the heck, why not? I'm not sure if I'd recommend this show considering I can't even tell you what it's about, but if you like music, dancing, cool costumes, and crazy makeup.. then go for it!

So, have you seen "Cats"? If so, what'd ya think?

Piccolo Sogno

Last night we went out for dinner in Chicago at Piccolo Sogno, which is a nice Italian restaurant with an even nicer patio. It was really hot out last night so thank goodness there were tons of trees for shade.

When M went to this place a while ago with some friends, one of the guys proclaimed they had the best balsamic vinegar he'd ever tasted. Oooh, and it was! It was sweet and so flavourful, unlike any other balsamic vinegar I've ever tried. They import it straight from Italy.

For dinner I ordered the pappardelle with spicy meatballs. It was really yummy with these flat, wide noodles that were so fresh.

M had the gnocci, which tasted more like tortellini than a typical gnocci. Yummo!

Chicago is definitely not lacking in great food and restaurants!

My Go To Breakfast

Is it just me, or do you find when you eat cold cereal or toast for breakfast, you're hungry again an hour later? One day I switched up my regular breakfast cereal with a "green monster" and my hunger was gone until lunchtime!

Since then, the green monster has become my go to breakfast! Here are the ingredients I use most often: 40g of spinach (about 2 handfuls), 1/2 cup milk, a half or whole banana, 1/4 tsp of pb, 1 scoop of protein powder, and 2 cubes of ice.

Blend it all up...

Yes, yes, blend it all up until it's creamy and there are no more little bits of spinach floating around. It should be nice and frothy!

And there you have it, breakfast of champions!

I promise, you don't taste the spinach at all (although you may have to experiment - once in the early stages my drink tasted like earth, ugh). It actually tastes like a chocolate pb banana smoothie to me. It must be okay because I've even gotten my mom to start drinking these!

#@*& My Kids Ruined

When you have a minute, check out this website: #@*& My Kids Ruined. It's laugh out loud funny. Here's a preview of what you might see, minus the amusing captions.

The worst thing I've heard about in my family is perhaps an incident with baby powder or vaseline. Have your kids ruined any of your #@*&? Do tell!

Gearing Up

Here I am, it's almost 1 am on a school night, and I'm blogging instead of sleeping. That's dedication! Blogging everyday (almost) is hard!

How long does it take to pack a house when moving? Many people have asked me if I've started packing yet (no) and then look at me like I'm a crazy woman. Really? I only have two bedrooms, a den, the kitchen, two bathrooms, the living room, a storage room... okay, so maybe I do have a lot of work ahead of me. I have a month and a half to getter done! I'm going to start this week.

Here are some more pics from my quick weekend at home. Notice I call my parents' place "home". A few years ago I also started calling Toronto "home" as well, and Chicago will soon be home, but probably not "home" for a while! I need sleep.