Trimming the bushes

 One of the things I got to do while we were in Chicago was trim my mother's hedges.  Notice, I call them hedges because the more common identifier would sound a lot more scandalous.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Zupa Koperkowa - Creamy Potato Dill Soup

I've been wanting to make this soup for some time but could not find any fresh dill.  You can substitute rice or even pasta for the potatoes.  and you can add celery or even mushrooms in addition or instead of carrots and scallions.  But Dill is in the name of the soup and dried just won't do.

Finally a break in the heat

Like anyone looks here

Holy Mole, this heat. Mid-90s since Thursday and that is no fun.  IF I could have got the kids to school early enough, I would have been able to sneak in a run but the little 3 year old terrorists put up such a fight getting up, out of bed and dressed that by the time I get back, it's just about time to start work.

Most mornings I only have a 10 am call but lately I've had little things here and there which prevent me from going out until lunch time when it is too hot.  Ironically in the winter I wait until lunch time so it is ever so slightly warmer.

One day I had enough time to trim the lawn which I felt was good use of my time and needed.  I have a lot of PTO to use up and I may start taking a random Tuesday or Thursday off here and there to work on house projects but also to be able to go for a run or bike ride without worrying about getting back in time.

I am 90% done with the porch painting.  I just need to finish the stringers, which should take less than an hour.  Update: it took less than 30 minutes although I think I might give the risers a second coat at some point.

I need to do the threshold as well.  I'm going to get a heat gun to remove the paint, since I also need to remove the paint I put on the pedestals and I can get one for $8 at Harbor Freight. Then I just have to decide if I paint it green or stain it to match the door.

I probably will attempt the wood lattices at some point too, since I have way too much paint.  Then it's touch and clean up time.

Since Father's Day, my mom has not been here.  We got into one of our Pushed the Other Too Far spats and she went home.  While we can definitely use the help she provides around here, we can also live without it.  Especially since it is much less stressful with her gone.

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Standard Polish Operating Procedure

Running before work is not an option these days.  Neither is running after work.  I sometimes manage to get a short run in during lunch but I'm always stressed about getting back to my desk before anyone is looking for me.  I really look forward to my before work on Friday runs.

Unfortunately, those are going away too.  The kids are just taking too long to get ready for school and mixed in with our own apathy about getting moving in the morning, by the time I drop the kids at daycare and Nightingale at the train, it's time to start my day.  Now that it's summer, it's gonna be too hot to run during lunch break.  And besides, I have found that I have a better chance of doing it if I get it out of the way earlier in the day, especially if I have mini projects to complete around the house before break.

Random Burrito Joint in Jefferson Park

And my mother won't fucking leave our house!  Take this morning, as we are heading out to take the kids to daycare, she tells me she is going to clean up and then go.  I get back and she tells me that she is going to pay her bills online and then go.  She prints every payment which takes forever because she functions in a pre-2004 technology mindset.  I also asked her to help me with something and took 10 minutes so that will set her back 4 hours.

I cannot concentrate when she is here.  We even almost got into a fight over the most stupid thing until I realized what was going on and deescalated it.

Mom: can this [some stupid glass item that could easily wait until tomorrow or be hand-washed] be washed in the bottom drawer [of dishwasher]?  It won't fit in the top.

Me:  I don't see why not. [meaning I don't see why it couldn't be put in the bottom.]

Mom:  Because it won't fit I tried [thinking I was doubting her statement, not answering her question.]

Realizing this, I pointed out that we had a miscommunication and even said "this is why we get into fights."

She immediately changed the subject as if the conversation never occurred.

***************

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Big Labor Day weekend chocked full of plans

Had a fun, productive Labor Day weekend with just a little stress thrown in for flavor.  We did a lot:  Taste of Polonia twice, went out for breakfast, dropped off donations at Salvation Army and went to a late afternoon cookout.  All in all it was a big weekend.

Donations away!

The only project I really wanted to accomplish was culling through our attic full of baby clothes and gear.  It's difficult for Nightingale to work on that when my mom is around because she questions/challenges ever decision.  My mom is kind of a hoarder and doesn't want us to get rid of anything. Nightingale also struggles with what to give away versus what to save for our friends who will/might have babies soon or her sister who might have one someday.

Alas, we still managed to get it done and ended up with 11 boxes of stuff that we dropped off at the Salvation Army on Monday.  And now that the attic is a little more clear, I can try to organize it better so that our kids have another playroom we can contain them in. 

We went to the Taste of Polonia twice, Saturday and Sunday.  We had to do two trips because we were meeting different couple friends -- CoupleA is trying to get pregnant, CoupleB is pregnant -- and Nightingale didn't know how the two would cross-pollinate.

I won't go into gory details but the dynamic was completely different with each set and one was more enjoyable than the other.  I think it was probably a combination of not feeling well and not realizing what life is going to be like once the kiddo arrives.  

I've been going to TOP for years and I have to say, it has finally crossed the line from an event that only old-world Poles can appreciate to something young kids enjoy.  It could use a more family-friendly element.  Jeff Fest had bouncy houses where you could buy a ticket and your kids could ride unlimited.  TOP had the same bouncy slides but it was per ride, which can add up quickly.  I imagine they have no incentive to change this source of revenue but you never know.  It only took two decades to bring the average fest goer's age down.

On Monday we had a cookout to go to and this illustrates my polar mindset.  On the one hand, would have liked to stay home and relax on the last day of a holiday weekend.  But we got to meet up with some friends we hadn't seen in ages, and that was fun.  There's still the protocol game of "you don't have to bring anything" and "we cannot show up empty-handed"  This is resolved by bringing wine, of course, but that often means another trip to the store.

When they are this quite, that means they are up to something

Our kids are old enough to amuse themselves but we still have to keep an eye on them.  So while we were able to catch up, we still didn't have completely uninterrupted conversations.  Another year or so and we can let them loose and sit back and actually hold a prolonged conversation. 

Blood Moon Baptism

.Last week was extremely busy because we had Moose and Squirrel's first birthday and their baptism on the same weekend.  Figures there would be a Blood Moon lunar eclipse last night.  Or perhaps that was because the Cubs are going to the playoffs via the expanded Wild Card route.  I didn't take pictures of the Blood Moon because I figured everyone else would. Thanks to Facebook, I was not disappointed in that expectation.

For the most part, the stuff we could control went very well.  We decided to keep the kids home from daycare to save some money.  We realized that was a mistake because it is hard to get anything done when they are in their mommy or daddy-centric mode.  We couldn't correct that decision but could re-frame our expectations in that we weren't going to complete all our bold re-organization and purging projects, but whatever we did manage to accomplish would be better than we were before yay that.

There were some wins for sure.  I found a party pizza package that managed to feed everyone (with 1 extra pizza for leftovers) that only cost about a hundred bucks (before tax and tip of course). 

The baptism was a lot more trouble than it should have been.  We decided to do it at the same church where we got married and they made us jump through some unexpected hoops.  To be clear, any church would have made us jump through the same hoops or even more.  But we got tied to this church and ran out of time to find another one.  Well, at least it is over.

We had to sit through a Polish Mass.  I get that the church is doubling down on its dogma and requiring members to actually show up outside of Easter and Christmas.  But to make small children sit through a mass they aren't capable of understanding yet is just cruel and unusual punishment.  1-year-olds get fussy and want to walk around.  It is very hard to keep them contained for an hour.  Nothing is served by making them be in God's house because God's presence is everywhere.

Cannot wait to make my kids go to this

 CHRISTMAS ORNAMENTS WORKSHOP

Prepare for the holidays with the PMA — Saturday, December 13, 2014

The PMA will offer a Christmas workshop on the art of ornament making, on Saturday,

December 13, 2014, in the Polish Roman Catholic Union of America Social Hall.

Morning workshop session – 10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

Afternoon workshop session – 1:30 – 3:30 p.m.

Workshop fees, which includes a free admission ticket to the Museum –

Adults: $15 & Children under 12*: $7

*All Children must be accompanied by an adult.

Please submit your payment and reservation no later than December 12th to:

PMA Christmas Workshop

984 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago, IL 60642-4101

Or by phone: (773) 384-3352, ext. 2102.

Space is limited. Walk-ins may be turned away.

Please arrive 10 minutes before the scheduled session. Free parking available.

 

www.facebook.com/events/718997461523174/

WARSZTATY OZDÓB CHOINKOWYCH W MPA,

 

sobota 13 grudnia 2014

 

Muzeum Polskie w Ameryce

984 N. Milwaukee Ave.

Chicago, IL 60642-4101

Serdecznie zaprasza na:

 

WARSZTATY tworzenia polskich ozdób choinkowych

 

13 grudnia 2014, w sobotę,

w godzinach od 10:30 do 12:30 oraz od 13:30 do 15:30.

 

Koszt udziału w warsztatach z wliczeniem zwiedzania Muzeum,

osoby dorosłe: 15 $, dzieci poniżej 12 roku życia: 7 $

 

www.facebook.com/events/718997461523174/

 

 

Prosimy o rezerwację miejsc pod numerem telefonu 773–384–3352 w. 2102 do 12 grudnia

i korzystanie z powyższej formy.

Prosimy o przybycie na 10 minut przed rozpoczęciem zajęć.

 

DO ZOBACZENIA!

SYPP, PHH and the Polish Consulate

Polish Consulate General
1530 N Lake Shore Dr, Chicago, IL 60610

One of my Polish Peeps posted this picture on their Facebook Feed.  Apparently one could go inside last weekend because Chicago was having it's annual Open House. a free public festival that offers behind-the-scenes access to 150 buildings across Chicago.  The selling point being that you will "explore repurposed mansions, hidden rooms, sacred spaces, private clubs, iconic theatres, offices, hotels and more—all for free."

Actually, for this place and I think one or two other buildings, you needed to pre-register for places like this because, security. 


What is the difference between an embassy and consulate?  I imagine size and day to day activity so I looked it up.  While the terms embassy and consulate are used synonymously, the two are very different.

• An embassy is the larger and more important of the two and is described as a permanent diplomatic mission which is generally located in a country's capital city. 
• By contrast, a consulate is a smaller version of an embassy and is generally located in the larger tourist cities of a country but not the capital. 
• There are special cases and several unique situations making some examples complicated. 

I've been inside this building three times; once for a (Society of Young Polish Professionals (SYPP) social event and twice for Christmas Parties.  Not speaking much Polish was definitely a liability in all those cases.  The decor is very traditional and old, it looks like the parlor time forgot. 

And so a post that was just meant to be a picture of the Polish Consulate and some throwaway text becomes a post about a group of Poles I met in the early 2000.  One of my Polish Princess friends tried to start a social group with the intention of networking young polish professionals with the idea that we could help one another start businesses, land jobs and get laid meet a polish person one could take home to mom and dad.  This was before LinkedIn and Meetup and it never really saw the light of day because of a variety of reasons.

Another group called Polish Happy Hour (PHH) leveraged technology, specifically a free yahoo group, and managed to pull off more of what Polish Princess wanted.  PHH petered out around 2009 for various reasons as well, particularly because there was no strong recruitment for new members.

Polonia Book Store is now gone

This is the Polonia Book Store in Jefferson Park. Polonia Books could have been so much more according to this article.  Unfortunately, it won't be anything at least on the brick and mortal side.   It does appear to still have an online bookstore presence.

 I drove past it yesterday and saw that it was empty.  For the last year or so, there was a sign above the door saying the space was for lease or sale.  I guess the owner finally found a buyer.

Update:  I should add that I always thought the space would be good for a Running Clothes Store, cybercafe and yoga studio.  If I ever win the lottery I might hire one of my MBA peeps to write up a business model. 

Update 1/19/2015:  It appears that the bookstore has simply relocated to a much smaller space across the street and a little to the north, possibly sharing the space with another retailer.  

The Backyard is finally ready for Prime Time

So I had mentioned that we were having some work done on the yard and I also mentioned that I was hesitant to write about it because it would jinx it.  Well it almost did because it took a lot longer to happen than I would have liked but our backyard is finally pretty.

Before and never again

Or at least the useless ugly hole has been replaced by a mini Field of Dreams park as we are calling it.

I found Taylor Made Landscape Designs on Everyblock.org when someone posted that they were looking for a landscaper.  This lady/company got good reviews on Yelp so I sent her an email back at the end of February.  I don't recall the specifics but we made an appointment for early March because the snow was melting although we ended up with a snowfall just days before our March 8 appointment (based on emails).  Also, even if the snow hadn't fallen, I was piling all the snow into our Pool Pit because I needed it out of my driveway.  I did send her a picture of what our yard looks like sans snow so she had a good idea of what was needed.

Initially, we didn't know what we could or should do with the space.  So I told her that my only requirements were that we 1) don't do anything that would prohibit us from doing something else at a later date, and by that I mean having to tear anything out that we put in because obviously you can do anything you want but it costs money; and 2) our backyard must not be Under Constructions all summer.

She came over and had a look.  She then contacted me when the snow was melted to to come over again to have a better look.  I told her that I WFH on Fridays but otherwise since our gate isn't locked she could come by whenever it worked for her.  I didn't hear back from her so after a week I did the pretend I never sent the first email thing and replied to her email: "how's this weekend work?"

She came over and luckily the snow was completely gone.  We went over options and she said she'd get back to us with a quote.  Here's where it gets interesting. She sent me the quote and it was not only very reasonable but much less than I expected.  I asked how soon could she start and how long would it take?  No reply.  This was just before Easter.  So I did pretend I never sent the first email thing again and replied to her email asking what do we need to do to proceed.

She said send her a check for half the quote and we would get scheduled two weeks out.  I was a little annoyed because while I didn't expect her to get started Easter Weekend, I did think that she could start the week afterward and I'd have nice lawn in time for Polish Constitution Day.

I was also a little reluctant to send a check for work that wouldn't be started for two weeks but Nightingale pointed out that if she was trying to scam us for such a minor amount there were better ways to do it.  So we went the check out -- turns out she lives less than 1 mile east of us in Old Irving Park --  and got an email from her that the check arrived and she'd be in touch to schedule the project.

Now I wasn't sure what was supposed to happen next but I sort of figured I'd get a call or an email saying how does X day sound for starting the project?  You know, in case it was a bad day to start.  Instead, I get an email from her saying that Weather permitting, Fredrico would arrive Saturday (May 3) to start my landscaping project.  Coincidentally we had invited our Polish Peeps over to see our home and enjoy a traditional Polish fest of Middle Eastern Food.  I figured if they did show up to start the work, the yard would be unusable which is a shame because our friends were bringing their kids, but at least it would look like we were doing something about that awful hole in the ground. 

As it turns out, we didn't have anything to worry about because Fredrico didn't show up.  I sent an email asking what happened and was told something to the affect that because the weather was so bad that week, Fredrico was running behind on projects. Then I get an auto-email from Taylor Made Designs saying they would show up on Thursday.  No problem but then it got moved to Wednesday...so for my Birthday I got a nice yard.

Somewhere in that last volley of emails, I mentioned to Maureen that our neighbor was doing some work on his house that might impact the work we had planned for the north side of our house and perhaps we should put that off but could still do the parkway piece.  She emailed back that she didn't recall us discussing the parkway piece.  I cut and pasted her language from the proposal showing that indeed there would be work done on the parkway.  She wrote back and apologized for not reading that line and at least owned up to it. 

I'm not writing this post as a bitch session about Taylor Made Landscape Designs, that's what Yelp and Angie's List are for.  This is strictly to chronicle how a relatively simple thing like paying someone to do work that we don't want to do can still become more complicated than it should be. 

Somehow there was some "confusion" regarding our specifications that we discussed during all those visits.  Luckily her written proposal spelled out some of them so we have that but there were also subtle things which were discussed in person but not explicitly put in the proposal.  Why didn't we point it out when before we signed and sent the check?  Well it falls under the umbrella of "would a customer really know you had to spell that part out?"


There's still a few things that need to be completed in the front and side of the house and we've had to send some more follow up emails to Maureen.  My guess is that Maureen has several projects going on at once and confuses some of the specifications for similar houses. 

The funny thing is that while I was the one initially wary of Maureen's dropping communication and sending the check before the work began, Nightingale is now more upset because things aren't completed as promised.  Her upset-ness comes from a terrible combination of pregnancy hormones and the Instant Gratification Gene that runs strongly in her family.  I told her that if there is a problem we contact Maureen and we get it straightened out but for Fucks Sake bitching about it isn't going to magically make mulch appear on our lawn.  Writing that on my blog will mean I get to sleep on our new lawn, luckily warmer weather is approaching.

It would have helped if Maureen were onsite when this occurred and we were home to guide the process instead of fixing it retroactively but what's done is done.  So now we have to wait for Fredrico to show up again and finish the job, hopefully to our satisfaction.

****************

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Catch up Post and Polish Lessons

I realize it has been two weeks since my last post.  I actually have a few draft posts that I have been working on but one thing or another kept me from finishing them up and hitting post.  So then this is an attempt to catch up on what's been going on.

For one thing, it's been extremely cold in the Midwest in general and in Chicago in particular.  This means I have been WFH whenever feasible.  At first  I was reluctant to do so but then I realized 1) it is very sucky out there, 2) I have a very generous WFH policy and 3) it is very sucky out there.  One particular morning it was so bad, local radio stations were emphatically saying, if you don't need to be out and about, avoid it at all costs. 

So for me that means monitoring email in between shoveling the mass amounts of snow that have landed on our property.  During our last big snow, one of my neighbors was kind enough to run his gas snow plow along the sidewalk and even did the walkway to many of the houses.  I used the opportunity of being home during the winter daylight to remove a good amount of snow from the balcony above our front porch.  While I'm sure it would have been fine to leave it alone, I feel that removing the snow will help prolong the lifespan of the front porch roof.  Nightingale made me promise not to attempt to do the back roof above the kitchen.

Because it is very unsafe to run outside, and I'm not training for anything, I have given myself a free pass to not workout if I don't feel like it.  I won't be able to do this too much longer if I want to maintain/lose some weight and also get in any type of shape for my March races. 

What I lack in exercise and running, I've made up in practicing my Rosetta Stone.  While I'm not by any stretch of the imagination becoming fluent in Polish, I have noticed that I am doing better than the first time I attempted this exercise in 2009.  I attribute it to 1) more consistency in doing the lessons once a week EVERY week and 2) blocking out an entire hour of uninterrupted time to go through the exercises.

Rosetta Stone's shtick is that you learn by association so you never actually explicitly see anything that says red is Czerwony , Koszula is shirt, or Chłopiec is boy.  Instead you see pictures and hear the word and the spellings.  This works fine for nouns and perhaps even the verbs but I am still struggling with possessive pronouns and word tense.  Obviously I struggle the most with pronunciation.   

So if I want to take this to the next level, I'm going to have to increase from once a week to several times a day, most likely a couple times a week and ideally an hour a day until I get through the three lessons several times.

Vendors we used for our Polish Wedding

Every so often as friends get engaged, I get asked about our wedding planning, specifically the various vendors we used.  So I figured I'd write a post about them and compile the contact info in one place so I can just forward the link next time I'm asked.  Laziness meet internet.  Note: I'm providing the info I have for these vendors.  I'm assuming if they have moved or changed anything, your Google-fu skills will be sufficient to track them down if you so choose to do so.

Where we got our bling!

For those who don't know, we officially became engaged on Halloween, 2010.  We tossed around dates to get married and realized 10-01-11 was coming up and figured we'd try for that if it wasn't too much of a hassle to get a church and reception hall on that date.  I called St Vincent de Paul which I was/am a member of and they were booked a year and a half out.

Church

We used Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Church because 1) I'm Polish and 2) we're catholic though not really practicing anymore.  My reason for wanting to use this church was if Poles like me don't start using it, it won't be around for much longer.  Luckily it was conveniently located to SIL West Town House and it has a large parking lot and is right off the expressway.  It was also available and cheaper than the more popular churches like Old St Patrick's and St Vincent DePaul.

Polska Misja Duszpasterska
w Chicago
1118 N Noble Street
Chicago, IL 60642
Tel. (773) 489-4140


Reception
It was the afternoon of  New Year's Eve and we had some time to kill so we drove out here to check the place out.  In their lounge, they had a happy hour with a free buffet so we ordered a drink.  We were wowed by the appetizers -- fish sticks if I recall correctly.  We figured if their happy hour food was this good their entrees and other items had to rock.

Mirage by Sheraton
10255 W Irving Park Rd
Schiller Park, IL  60176
847-671-4230
http://www.miragefourpoints.com/pl,start,index.html


Photographer
We used   Laura Witherow because two of our other friends each used her for their wedding.  Nightingale felt obligated to use her even though I wanted to interview another photographer.  Since I got my pick of church, I didn't put up a fight on this one.  Especially since we had limited free time.

Laura Witherow Photography 
(773) 853-5606
laura@laurawitherow.com
http://www.laurawitherow.com

as an alternate, I'd like to suggest

Suzy Rohan
Lily Red Studio
(312) 428-5033
info@lilyredstudio.com
http://www.lilyredstudio.com

Florist
We used this place and got a discount for paying in cash. Keep in mind this is a small shop operation and I think the poor Polish lady does the lion share of the work.

4Getmenot Inc
5519 W Montrose Ave
Chicago, IL 60641
Neighborhood: Portage Park
(773) 777-2575

Deejay and Limo Driver
I don't have this info at the moment but look for an update soon.  Initially, we had a Groupon for a Deejay and were excited that we might save some cash on this event.  However, half of Chicago apparently bought the same Groupon and overwhelmed the deejay so much that he split town.  We got our money back thanks to Groupons awesome refund policy.

I believe we ended up with one of the Mirage's preferred vendors.  And by preferred vendors, I really do mean preferred as in recommended because they've worked there before and know the lay of the land, not preferred as required because they give a kickback like Cafe Bauer.

Update:  For a Deejay, we used John Coyne at

AbsoluteDiscJockey.com
866.687.4248
847.361.6201

Pulaski Day Post

Uncle Stosh wants you!

So today, the first Monday of March, is Casimir Pulaski Day in Illinois.  You'd think living in a city that has the largest population of Polish people outside of Warsaw, we'd have more of a to-do about this day.  Then again we have never figured out how to get a Pole elected Mayor (have we even tried?) so why be surprised.

To be perfectly honest, my American History education doesn't talk much about Pulaski, Thaddeus Kosciuszko or even General Friedrich Wilhelm August Heinrich Ferdinand von Steuben, the guy my high school was named after.  Apparently even in the early days of the USA we engaged foreigners to help with our dirty work.

My experience with Pulaski Day is nothing special. It wasn't until my last year or two of high school that we got the day off. Then I went to college in Missouri and no one there had heard of Poles let alone Pulaski. 

Kinda reminds me of the time when Director Palpatine at the No-Name Software Company sent the Muslims and Hindi home early for Good Friday while making the Christians remain at their stations. 

Every once in a while, someone makes a book about historical figures who lived in more or less the same time period coming together and interacting.  My favorite is a book called The Night of the Ripper which features cameos by historical personages like Arthur Conan Doyle and the Elephant Man.  Another good one is Insignificance which features 1950's cultural icons Albert Einstein, Marilyn Monroe, Joe DiMaggio and Senator Joseph MacCarthy.

Someone should make a book or movie about Pulaski, Kosciuszko, von Steuben and Marquis de Lafayette.  It could be serious or it could be a Soldiers of Fortune go on a Road Trip comedy adventure.  Just make it happen.