(no subject)

I'm back in Chicago after leaving, oh, last Friday?

On Thursday of last week, I got dinner after my class with lisagems. We went to a place right by Wrigley Field called Raw Bar that she had a groupon for. Food was pretty good, and dessert was even better! Good company too. And it was nice to see Wrigley Field up close. I looked at the concrete wall on the south side and suddenly remembered standing there with my dad once when I was much younger and the concrete panels and grooves seemed much bigger.

On Friday I drove up to Kenosha to help clean up a bit more in the basement and see family. That was a nice time. Late into the night, akreaveter and I were trying to decide what to do and after a couple other things didn't sound interesting, I decided I'd buy Portal II. I knew I was going to end up doing it eventually anyway, so it might as well be then so I could enjoy watching him play. (He didn't want to watch me without having played it himself, whereas I had no such compunction.)

It took a few hours to download, so I amused myself with building things in Minecraft. Finally, it was done and I learned that it really doesn't run very well on my laptop. Oh well; at least I built a pretty house. And hopefully I'll play some tonight.

Saturday I drove down to Aurora for a surprise party for a friend of danaeris'. I don't know her super well, but she seems like a really nice person and I enjoyed participating in making her happy. And as well as that, I enjoyed her house. It was awesome. A Victorian with the most amazing stained glass windows, heavy wooden trim around everything, cast iron floor grates, a tiled fireplace...I hearted it so much. And so well taken care of. It was hard to believe that the woodwork was original; it all looked nearly new!

On Sunday, Danae and I got some yummy breakfast at Nosh in Geneva, then drove northward to my grandparents place. She and I were attending my family's Easter gathering and she was meeting my relatives for the first time! I think that went well. She met people and we talked for a bit. Later on, she and I joined my parents and brothers for a six player game of Power Grid. We left in the evening and went back to her place to sleep. Everyone seemed to get along well. That's not different from what I expected, but it makes me happy. I'm looking forward to going up to Kenosha with her in a few weeks for a weekend.

Then there was my typical routine in St. Charles, and I just got back home this evening around 7. I started the fifth Dresden Files audiobook on my way home, having finished the fourth immediately prior to it. I'm really, really liking them.

Tonight, after a call from posicat earlier in the day, I need to decide whether I want to go with him to Penguicon this weekend. It would be neat to be at the con again and see red_ceilidh and other people. Ceilidh invited me out a while back, but with my transmission in its current state, I didn't think I ought to drive out. Going in Posi's car would work. But I'm feeling a little overwhelmed and might like to have time here in Chicago this weekend. I'm not sure.

Tomorrow, I may go to the Wadsworth Pick N' Pull since there's a car there that's a potential transmission donor. I need to go check it out and see if it's a manual. And if it is, I may want to get Juan's help this weekend to extract it, which would preclude going to Michigan, and would need to take priority. But I won't know about any of that until tomorrow.

I also need to get my bike, which has hopefully been made all spiffy and functional. They were supposed to have it done on Monday. I told them I wouldn't be back in town until Wednesday, so maybe that's why I haven't heard from them yet.