A Touch of Nostalgia

My Aunt Linda posted a Calvin & Hobbes cartoon today, which made me think about how much I loved Calvin and Hobbes. Usually it's because Calvin and my nephew Caleb always remind me a lot of each other. I pulled up some old cartoons and was flipping through them when I came across this one. It reminded me of an old story about Matty and since we're coming up on what would've been his 27th birthday, I thought it was appropriate to post.

In about the third grade, Matt had to write his autobiography for class. He worked very hard on it and was very proud of his results. I'm sure it was brilliant on an eight-year-old scale, but it was the title of his autobiography that brought so much mirth into our lives that year. He called it, "Matt Harris, My Life So Far: It Ain't Been No Paradise." I still can't think about that without chuckling.

This Week's Weird Song in My Head

So last week my friend and office-mate, Leigh, and I sat in the office while we graded essays and sang songs from West Side Story to each other. She would sing "A Boy Like That"



while I would come back with "When You're a Jet." Which I hummed to myself the whole week.



This week, though - it's even weirder than normal. Yesterday I was finalizing my grades and I suddenly started to sing "You're Nobody 'Til Somebody Loves You" - not just that...in harmony. My friend Michelle had come in to use the phone in my office. She poked her head around the file cabinet from the front desk and said, "You're so weird." I was like, "I know! But I can't stop singing it!"



What's the deal with the weird, random songs lately!?

Prints

Isn't it funny the things that we randomly remember? Tonight Mike and I did laundry. We'd put it off for so long that we just wanted to get it all done as quickly as possible and we didn't want to use the washer/dryer here in the building and have to keep checking on the clothes and loading and unloading etc. So we took it all the the laundromat and loaded a bunch of washers all at the same time - so a million clothes only took us about an hour!

My mom worked as a cardiac care nurse for over 20 years. A couple of years before she died, she transferred to the day surgery department. As a result, she got to change uniforms. Instead of blue jackets with white slacks, she'd be wearing blue surgery scrub tops and pants. Anyway, I was folding my underwear today when I suddenly thought about how excited she was to switch departments so that she could finally wear print panties to work.

Bringing Home the Bacon

This afternoon, Mike was in a very irritable mood. This is quite unusual for the Mikester. Usually it is I who am a Krabby Patty and Mike who is facing the brunt of my wrath. Mike was cooking us a late breakfast while in his crabby mood. Mike in a mood is almost amusing, simply because he does it so rarely that when he does, you think, "Oh...he's huffy. How cute." Although it always gets annoying after awhile because he gripes about everything. I know, I know - I'm one to talk about complaining. Sometimes people think I minored in it in college. :D Anyway, he's cooking and everything's wrong. The sausages don't cook right, my books are on the table, I put away the hot pan holders and he had to walk all the way across the dining room to get them! Then, he told me that breakfast was ready. I was in the midst of finalizing an amazon order which will (basically) finish out our Christmas shopping for the year, so I didn't immediately come to the dinner table. Finally he gets mad and sticks his head out of the kitchen to squawk at me. "Hurry up!" He growls, "This foods ready and it'll get cold. Then you'll refuse to eat it and it'll be a big, damn waste of my time." He is scowling as he says this.

At the time, I let it go - but I've thought about it...and I take issue with this! He has never seen me...in fact, no one on this planet...has ever seen me turn down properly cooked bacon simply because it was cold! Mike needs to get his facts straight! :D

More Images from Today!

A little cat ornament from the Japan tree. If cats are good luck, then Mike and I are set!
Also from the Japan tree, I just thought this little oragami Sumo man was too cute!

One of the airplanes that they have hanging in the upstairs of the museum. Mostly for my dad, who loves airplanes.

An ornament from the Croatia tree. I wish I was craft-y and could do things like this.
An ornament from the Poland tree. Beautiful.

Three Polish people in front of the Poland tree. Mike, his dad (Fred) and his mom (Sandy).

The baby chicks resting in their chick hatchery! Awesome - they put eggs that are about to hatch and hatching into a glass case so you can watch them being born and then they have a separate cage where they rest and play. Love it!
Mike and his little sister, Kelly.

Kelly, Mike and Sandy in front of the German U-Boat
Kelly borrowed my camera and when I got it back...there was this picture of her and her husband, Scott. Nice.

Scott and Kelly - also taken in front of the U-Boat. The lighting was horrible in here!

Kelly stirs up the fake stew in the U-Boat kitchen. In case you're wondering, she's saying, "Mmmmmmm." while she does it. Hence the face that she's making.

Kelly searching for enemy planes and ships through the parascope.

A sign used when they moved the U-Boat from Lake Michigan across Lake Shore Drive to bring it to the museum in 1954.

Just a nice quote they have hanging in the U-Boat exhibit.

Me as an astronaut in the space exhibit.

Mike and I next to Commander Borman's space suit
(Go Hawkeyes!)

The China Tree

And here are a couple of pictures of the China tree from the Museum of Science and Industry.

The China Tree.

A close up of one of the decorations. The pink one means, "happiness," but it's the only one I was able to identify.

A little info about Christmas in China. If you can't read it, it says, "Christians compromise 1% of China’s population. Those who do celebrate Christmas are visited by Dun Che Lao Ren (Christmas Old Man). Homes are illuminated with paper lanterns and Christmas trees (called trees of light). Much more widely celebrated is the New Year, which begins on the year’s first moon and ends with the full moon. The Year of the Rat begins on February 7, 2008. Custom dictates that before the new year, homes must be thoroughly cleaned to keep away bad luck. Houses are decorated with bright colors (red is especially lucky) and flowers. Festivities include elaborate parades and fireworks." There is a big Chinese New Year parade here in Chicago (in Chinatown) and I think that this year, Mike and I are going to try and go. Should be lots of fun!

The closest equivalent to "Merry Christmas" in Cantonese.

Mike took extra care to show me the part about cleaning the house before New Year's. I wonder if that's a hint?

The South Korea Tree

So...today my in-laws and Mike and I went to the Museum of Science and Industry here in Chicago. I had completely forgotten that every year at this time, they put up a "Christmas trees from around the world" exhibit. I was looking around and I said, "Mike - we should get a picture of the China tree for (my cousin) Sara and her Mya Papaya." (FYI, they are not going to name this baby Mya Papaya...but it's fun to say...so I say it.) That got me thinking about a e-friend of Sara's whose blog I also read. I am known to venture here and yon on Sara's (and my Aunt Linda's) link list - but there are only a few that I read every day. One of them is The Byrd's Nest. They have two of the cutest baby girls ever and I visit them to help get my daily dose of cuteness. Their Lottie is from China (like Mya Papaya) - but their Emma is from South Korea...so when I saw the South Korea tree, I had to take a couple of pictures to post.

Here is Mike in front of the South Korea tree. I am of the opinion that everything looks better with Mike.

On the off chance you want to see the tree without Mike in it...I question your taste, but here it is!

A close up shot of one of the little bags on the tree.

The closest equivalent to "Merry Christmas" in Korean.

A close up of these really pretty flowers they have strung all along the tree.

The flag in the middle of the tree.

Beautiful!

Wii'd Like to Play

My in-laws are here from Michigan. They arrived this afternoon, but tonight they came over to eat Chicago-style pizza, visit our cats, and play with our video games. We started with Guitar Hero, which is what Scott has been looking forward to all week (according to some sources). Mike was excited about having someone to play Wii Sports with. Scott and Kelly weren't all that excited about playing with the Wii, but they agreed to give it a try.

Everybody stopped playing about 1AM after I had to go to bed - I had class at 9AM the next morning and I knew I'd be a zombie otherwise. A good time was had by all. Even my mother-in-law and father-in-law got into the action. In fact, my father-in-law is making noises about buying one for his house.

This is a short video of my mother-in-law, Sandy, bowling. Mike was acting as her coach.

This is Scott and Mike boxing. My sister-in-law's favorite movie is Rocky and while she and I boxed, we played the Theme from Rocky in the background. Hilarious. You can still hear it playing while Mike and Scott box.

Taco Tuesday...Err...Thursday

Well, taco Tuesday got put off this week. We ended up having our homemade pizzas for dinner that night - and then taco Wednesday got put off on account of hockey! (Woo!) So Taco Thursday it became! And tonight, I fixed the bounty.

Yummo!

Mikey likes it!


Yeah, I know - making tacos isn't exactly brain surgery...but piękna miska jeść nie daje. (A beautifully decorated plate will feed no one.)

You guessed it - I've been looking up Polish proverbs. Which is funny, as I'm not even the Polish half of this family. Here's my favorite one, though. (In order to understand why, you have to realize that Mike is closely related to some Piekarskis.) So here is my (to date) favorite Polish proverb:

Bredzi jak Piekarski na mękach.

So what does it mean? The website says that the literal translation is "He talks gibberish like tortured Piekarski." And it means that someone is lying.

Exhaustion

It's been a long day and we're all recovering. Some of us are more tired than others of us - as you can see.

The last two days, I've spent a majority of my time in my office at work. It's finals week at the university for which I teach - and while that means I don't have to prepare a lecture, it does mean that I have to finish grading all that stuff I put off - and I have to deal with the frantic last minute calls from slackers wanting to know if I'm going to fail them. Those are fun conversations.

Cindi (on the phone): "Thomas...your attendance is 37%, how can I pass you?...uh huh...you had Ebola Virus? Do you have a doctor's note?...No?...uh huh...waited it out at home, huh?"

Add on top of that the fact that next week is finals week in my Civil Litigation and Immigration Law classes - and that final projects were due today - and you have long hours and late nights.

But it's done! All I have left is to take my final exams next week - then I have a month off before I start teaching again in January. A month in which my main chore will be to find a "real" job - as I will be graduating from Loyola. YaY!

Thankful Thursday

Little Vitka

Today I am grateful for my friends. Especially Vitka. She works two jobs and does acting stuff on top of all that - and yet she finds time for her friends! I got this in my e-mail today.

"The other day at the museum I saw someone with an Ask Me sign and I remembered you saying to me, laughing, 'I got an Aks me sign!'"

By the way, I am also thankful that I no longer have to walk around the museum with an "Ask Me" sign - even if it was only for special nights. I hated walking around with the Ask Me sign...people come up to you and ask you asinine questions (like "What's the circumference of the Earth?" or "Where's Waldo?") and then laugh like they're soooooooo clever. Worse was that I had to stand there and smile at them like I didn't want to bury an ice pick in their brain.

The only thing worse than working the Ask Me sign is working coat check. Coat check is a whole separate circle of Hell. But I digress.

I am thankful for Vitka because she sends me emails like that one to let me know that she's been thinking about me and it always makes me feel very love-ed.

Wednesday Night Hockey Fights

So Mike and I went to the Blackhawks game with our friend Sergio tonight. Awesome. Going to the hockey game is always fun, even more so with Serg. Somehow - without eating or anything, I managed to bite down on my bottom lip - good and hard.

It happens every so often. And when I bite my lip, it always swells up really, really huge.

The guys spent the evening making Angelina Jolie remarks and kidding me about how I could have randomly bitten my lip. I wasn't even eating.

I think I'm going to tell people that I got into a fight at the hockey game. This could work for me! :D

Psycho!

My dad is up to visit and to bring one of his dachshund puppies here to the family that adopted him and Meme is being particularly horrid.

Our First (and Maybe Only) Menu Monday

We don't usually plan our meals out ahead of time for a whole week - but we did so today in order to make our grocery run more efficient.


Monday
Steaks with seasoned diced potatoes
Garden salad

Tuesday
Tacos with Mexican rice

Wednesday
Homemade pepperoni pizza

Thursday
Chicken Caesar salad

Friday
Order out for pizza with the Michigan Kurczewskis and the Potters

Saturday
Out for the day with the Michigan Kurczewskis and the Potters
Dinner at Fogo de Chao!

Sunday
Out for the day with the Michigan Kurczewskis and the Potters
Dinner at home:
Beef Ravioli (for Mike)
Gnocchi (for Cindi)
both with homemade garlic bread
garden salads

Winter is here!

It's officially winter in the Kurczewski household. I broke out the big guns yesterday - my North Face 'I-could-be-warm-in-Antarctica' winter coat. It fits very well, but it's so thick that it's a little bit like being wrapped in a straight jacket. Movement is limited.

The funny part? I bought this coat on a vacation in Tennessee - where they almost never have use for a coat this thick!

Tree, Interrupted

Long story short - our tree still isn't completely done.

Mike and Furio put it together on Thursday.

And then I put the tinsel on and Mike was going to help with the lights and ornaments.

Meme helped with that part.

Then we found out that our lights from last year didn't work. Joy. We messed around with them and couldn't get them to light up - so Mike had to go to the store and get us some more lights. He was not happy. In fact, I think it was safe to say he was the polar opposite of happy. Having to stop in the middle of the project sorta killed our momentum. After Mike got back, our friend Sergio called and invited us over to the bar his family owns to watch some sort of sporting event - I forget which one now. I didn't feel like going, but told Mike to go as I could get the lights put up myself. And I did!

I even got a few of the ornaments put on. The really important ones. Like the one that the funeral home put on their Christmas tree last year in memory of my mother.

And the ornament that my dad bought us to celebrate our first married Christmas - my mom didn't live long enough to buy it for us, so he did. So it's special to us.

And I got a few others put on. Then I got bored doing it by myself and decided to wait for Mike before I put the rest on - and we still haven't done it! My goal for tonight is to finish it up. I sent Mike off to watch tonight's hockey game with Sergio and have spent the last half an hour staring at the boxed ornaments...willing them to put themselves on the tree. No luck so far.

Happy Snow Day!

Our first of the year here in Chicago...

...you can't really tell - but it's still snowing.