Happy New Year to my Five Readers

It was a busy month especially with the holidays so blogging basically took a holiday from its regular light workload.  At least I did write more posts in 2012 than the previous years combined.  I attempted to expand my audience and monetize my blog with mixed results.  I created a FB fan page and put myself out there and did get some more exposure. I also somehow pissed off the Geeks That Be at Google Adsense and got my account suspended because the spike in web traffic didn't please their algorithms. 

The truth is I came to the blogging game very late and tried to make up ground quickly.  No one is really interested in anyone's personal blog and I don't have a single subject to write about that will attract readership.  I hope to change that in the coming year by blogging more consistently on Chicago Now about our house-hunting adventures, while this space will be used more for personal blogging and future archive.

The little monkeys taking a short break from wrecking havoc

We were in Nashville for Christmas.  It was a sort of controlled chaos.  The in-laws have a new three bedroom ranch house which is just too small for three couples and a single person with two dogs.  The first night we got the master bedroom and the in-laws took the air mattress in the living room.  They discovered this isn’t really good for their backs so we switched with them for the rest of the week.

Nightingale had a wonderful time seeing her family and wishes I would feel the same way.  She noticed that I was rather quiet this trip.  It's not like I had an aweful time.  It's just it's more of a transistion for me to adjust to since I’m coming from a different experience than her.  I never stayed over at a family for the holidays; it was always a day visit and a late car ride home, in my own bed before midnight.  Also it’s very hard to keep my brain stimulated because the kids are 2 and 5, they really cannot just sit quietly unless an iPad is involved.

The family puts DIY network and HGTV on for me.  The thing is, between the kids being so loud and my hearing starting to go, I cannot hear the episode I’m watching.  Like my family they have the amazing ability to be silent during commercials and then start talking during the show.  Because it’s a ranch house, there isn’t anywhere to get away from everything.  That was kinda of the issue at Married-SIL place here in Chicago – there wasn’t anywhere to go that was kid free.

Her dad does this thing were he starts asking random questions like “how close do you live to Wrigley Field?”  I answer and then try to re-direct the conversation to something less Rain Man Like but I don't have the right conversation tools yet.

Nightingale got sick earlier in the month and I managed to catch it.  My usually resilient immune system might have been able to fight it off had we stayed in town.  Or had we avoided young children.  Or airports.  However, the combination of all three probably overwhelmed my immune system to the point where it was just too much to handle.  I felt it coming on Thursday the 27th but it really hit full on the next day during my Sharepoint Training class.  Luckily, the classmates decided to skip lunch and power through so that they could leave early and avoid Friday traffic.

An indoor river at the Opera Hotel

I was still miserable Saturday so I canceled all planned social activity.  When I was single, I use to regret missing out on parties because it was an opportunity to meet new people, including potential future girlfriends and almost girlfriends.  Since I'm married, I no longer care about that but I do respect the Social Maintenance angle. 

Message to Past Self:  You are the only one who thinks this way; most people will skip a party if they have a sniffle, especially if the party isn't 50 yards from their abode, or requires any effort beyond jumping on the El or catching a cab for less than $10.

The only thing we had to do was waiting for the cable guy to show up.  We decided to get cable over DSL because of the alleged higher speeds.  I did meet up with my friend FF because he was in town for a rare visit and wanted to see us.  He and his wife were to meet Nightingale and me for a drink the night before, but a kid related snafu caused LF to be over an hour late picking him up at Union Station.  Between my cold and the late hour, I suggested we attempt lunch the next day if it was feasible.  To get him to come all the way to the North Side, I offered to buy him lunch. 

Sunday I was still pretty out of it.  The pattern by now established.  When I first wake up in the morning, I'm achy and miserable.  Once the medication kicks in, I'm more functional. 

Chicago Bears -- while I'm disappointed that they couldn't get into the playoffs, I'm not as upset as I was the two times they missed with 9-7 records.  Those were better Bears teams deserving to be in the post-season that were denied it by silly tie breaking rules.  This 2012 team did not deserve to be there.  I'd like to believe they could have stepped up like the 2007 Giants and gone all the way, but I know better.