Overheard in Taco Bell in Evanston

I love you Taco Bell and the classy people you bring into your establishment. For example, the following conversations:

Teenager 1: Idiot - it isn't a leper colony, BYU is some sort of Mormon school.

Teenager 2: Trust me...it is not a school.

Or how about this awesome one:

Grandson attending Northwestern: You know, since I've been here I have been reading the Bible a lot and I've determined that Jesus paid for our sins and we just have to be sorry. I mean, we all do bad things and I think all I have to do is pray to Him and say I'm sorry and he takes care of it and I don't have to worry about it. I don't need to go to any priest or do any Hail Marys.

Grandfather: I like that you are thinking about this, but honestly, your theology is ****ed up.

Inappropriate Alert!

Question: Is it wrong to ask the doctor whether the baby creates fart bubbles in the womb juice? No? I didn't think so.

But get this...some people would disagree with you and say it IS inappropriate for me to ask that question. Go figure.

People Watching Afternoon

Today I have been doing some people watching. Some say that I should be doing some homeworking watching...but I beg to differ. I'm sitting in the student union building of Northwestern and I have been watching this girl. She is sitting in the corner eating a bag of Bugle chips. It is her third bag. She ate the first one, then got up and came back a few minutes with another bag. She proceeded to munch that bag until it was gone, get up, come bag...third bag. The entire time she is doing nothing. Not reading, not talking on phone, not even Facebook. She just dedicate 30+ minutes to eating Bugles.

What do you have to be going through in your life to allow that to make sense to yourself?

Caitlin is Birthday Mania Fantastico!

Caitlin's Birthday! Caitlin's Birthday! Yes it IS (was)! Hooray for festivizing your birthing day! You were born and I'm so glad - the thought of you not being around makes me mad (and sad, not glad cause I'd miss you more than a tad)! Let us all celebrate you and the 29 years you have made earth less lame and more radicalicious!

In order to celebrate, I had Don, Liz and Chunqing come decorate our car in the middle of the night so that I could surprise Caitlin in the morning on the way to they gym (yes, Caitlin goes to the gym on Saturdays at 8am - even on her birthday and 8 months pregnant). Bajjoons inside!

Scary cabbage patch doll cut-outs on the car seat to scare people from messing with Yari.

Sticky note smiley face on the back.

M for Mulcock and heart on the sides with ribbon and more cabbage patch evilness on the dash. Yari, you are lookin' good!

And inside? PRESENTS and CARDS!!! Caitlin was super surprised and happy to see that I was not taking her birthday lightly this year. In fact, I was taking it heavily.

In order to get heavy, I took her down to Wicker Park/Bucktown to get loaded up on some delicious brunch products. But first we took a picture of this boa covered bike with skeleton seat and bell. Awesome!

Our breakfast adventures took us to the Bongo Room. I had been well advised by food experts such as Briggie and Jelly to go to this place and find happiness. Luckily there was only a 35 minute wait, so we quickly enjoyed Milwaukee and its fun shops before heading in to get chunky.

You think I'm kidding about chunky...but that is just my meal people...not to share. I really wasn't sure if I was ready for this.

French toast with white chocolate and caramel drizzle, not to mention pears, cherries, oatmeal crumbles and cinnamon. Uh, what?

Eggs Benedict with red peppers, feta cheese and spinach with roasted red potatoes. This is my description: warm yolky protein goo oozing all over fresh vegetables with cream of heaven juice in my mouth.

Caitlin (aka, hottest pregnant chick ever) got the black bean and sweet potato puree breakfast burrito and a white chocolate/caramel drizzle pumpkin and zucchini based pancake. Don't try that shiz at home. That took like 9 hours to consume and be able to walk again.

Other aspects of the day involved shopping and finding a great gift for Beefsquee that you'll hear about someday, driving, getting some practicals at the mall, taking a massive nap, long walks and bike rides. We ended up going to the new restaurant in Evanston called The Cellar which was freakin' awesome. To all my Evanstonians - check it out. Affordable, awesome, great vibe, super killer service. We ate the following:

1. Fish tacos with mahi mahi, guacamole and fresh sweet corn and black bean salad

2. Empanadas: poblano pepper, Oaxaca cheese, fresh corn and avocado-tomatillo salsa

3. Smoked salmon flat bread with goat cheese, spinach, pesto sauce and onions

4. Black Angus micro burger with think cut french fries (this was awesome and obviously just for me)

5. Haricots verts, which were awesome

6. Lemon-lime cheesecake (on the house!)

All for a ridiculously low price considering how much food we ate. There is a 100% chance we will return.

When we got home Heather showed up to drop off some jelly bellies and precious bajjoons! After that, Don and Liz came over to bring a birthday cake by and open presents.

Getting Don all that cake-making stuff for his birthday totally paid off I'd say.Liz and Don got Caitlin a stylish Udder Cover! If you aren't familiar with the Udder Cover, look at the personalized description below:

No one wants Caitlin breastfeeding our baby in church when he is three...but it happens.

Trace Face got Caitlin an awesome dress that fits perfectly (whereas I try to buy something and can't ever get it to fit). That is mad skillz.

Judes got Caitlin trail mix that looked amazing, eye liner that OPRAH LOVES (now that is a stamp of approval) and some dinero. Who doesn't love dinero? Caitlin better not try to buy groceries with that cash though...no sir. She must buy something fun with it.

More awesome gifts. I got Caitlin 5 intermediate sewing lessons so she can learn how to sew clothes. This has been a long-standing goal for her and now it will come true. Pam got her some maternity shirts and money for fabric at the fabric store for her sewing adventures.

I also got Caitlin this awesome box that contains a beautiful journal and holder for documenting and capturing our baby's first year of life. We can do creepy stuff like save his umbilical chord in there (j/k y'all) and put pictures and memories. Extra adorable.

I love Caitlin and wish I could have done more to make sure she knows how much she rules the world. Thanks to everyone who wished her a great day and showed the love. She loves you all.

Putting the Ween in Halloween

Halloween finally came! I am the only one I know who has an advent calendar for Halloween. I just love that little holiday so much. See the little candy corn you get to put in each little slot? I love it.

Super friend Trace Face came to Chicago to celebrate this hallowed of all holidays with us. We spent Halloween morning doing requisite Chicago discovering. Here is the bean photo that is synonymous with Chicago visiting.

I thought about buying this dinosaur for Baby Pops...but then I realized it was not for sale. So then I thought about stealing it for him...until I realized how freakin' big it was. I left it where it was.

After our exploring we went to XOCO so I could have more goodness. This is a picture of Trace Face enjoying what is the most important meal in her life - guacamole with chips. She literally lives these two items. She bleeds green with chunks of tomato and lime. Also, there might be some Coke mixed in her veins as well.

I bleed this sandwich. It made me cry for happiness and contemplate the meaning of life.

See? I am not kidding.

We spend a few minutes staring up at the corn cobs and screaming WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOA! WHOOOOOOOOOOOOA! The clouds were moving by so fast it made it feel like the building was tipping over. Yeah, we shamed ourselves.

We discovered that Chicago has its own holiday - CHICAGOWEEN!

My favorite part about Chicagoween is that they make the fountains bleed. Radical.

Just so you know, Trace Face does not smoke weed. No sir.

How adorable are these two best friends? Pretty much precious. Yes indeedems.

This might be the best belly shot we got at this point. See how cute it is poking out of her jacket? She can't close her coats right now, which is kind of a pain with the pending cold weather.

Hooray for Washington state! We had a great time that day with Trace Face. She had tried to come a month previous, but weather cancelled her flight and she spent the evening in La Guardia. She BARELY made it this time due to weather as well, so we were so glad to have her. A future post will detail our sweet Halloween party with Tracy that night and surprise guest - Ellie Marble!

REDRUM!

I feel like Baby Pops has two sides to him already. Of course there is the adorable, sweet, innocent and loving side. He has already received so many precious gifts from people like you that demonstrate that sweet side. Below is a great example from Beefsquee and Devbodge:So cute...

Best friends. But then there are other people who are buying presents for Baby Pops that appeal to his darker side as well. Oh, Baby Pops has a wicked dark side to him. I've seen it in how he kicks Caitlin's bladder all night long and laughs in the belly as he does it. Well, we are trying to embrace that dark side and the following gifts will help us do it:
Glow in the dark skeleton pajamas!I can't wait to teach him words like "ribs" and "crotch"Or how about this leather bib?This gift from Liz and DWo were vinylicious!

Briggie and Ambroni know Baby Pops' thirst for mayhem when the made this bib. Let's look closer at what it says:
REDRUM! REDRUM! Don't know what it says? Check a mirror...

Also adorable is Baby Pops first church outfit - this adorable Jason onesie! Ch Ch ch ch ch - ha ha ha ha ha.

The fact is, these people are catering to my love of horror. My dream would be for precious Baby Pops to pick up on daddies passions, but I won't force them on him...except through clothing and occasionally having him star as the evil baby in future horror movies (currently yet to be approved by his agent, Caitlin).

There is a saying in our home that goes: "Caitlin, you knew what I was when you picked me up." Well, that applies here as well.

Deep in Fall's Buttcheeks

Its Fall - and Fall is good. Evanston becomes this utopia of beauty from the end of September to early November. You can't drive to our place without spending blocks under tree-covered streets.

Lake Michigan remains off the hook in the Fall. It takes on crazy blues and icy cold, evil greys.

Until it gets ridiculously cold, Caitlin and I are taking many a walk. This includes a Sunday morning jaunt to Northwestern's campus. Yo Chi, sup B?

I was going to start a company called "Homegas 4 Life" but someone beat me to the punch. They are advertising strategically on rocks.

I get the desire to do this about once a year, and then I spend hours digging leaves out of my butt cheeks. Thank you Fall for populating my crevices deep with debris.

A little update

Hello friends. Caitlin here. Yesterday I told Jeff that it is time that he update "our" blog. I forget that I also have the ability to update our little blog. Anywho, so how about I am almost 8.5 months pregnant? Sorry for the lack of pictures of the belly. Hopefully some will be coming soon. Just to give you all details- the due date is December 26th. I'm feeling pretty good other than my swollen ankles and my need to use the bathroom every 45 minutes. We have the crib, bedding, clothes, books, bumbo, bibs and some other fun items. There are still a few things we are lacking but we are feeling pretty good about our progress. We can't wait for the little guy to join us!



Well that is my quick update for now. Back to writing up some reports for work.

The Suburbs Are Scary

Let me just start by asking - how sad are you all now that Halloween is over? I am pretty much as low as I can go in terms of depression (meaning I frowned for like 10 minutes about it). October is such an amazing month. While I didn't get as many horror movies in as I like to, I was able to enjoy some solid parties.

Of noteworthiness is Caitlin's bosses party. You may remember it from LAST YEAR? Well, this year was again without exception - awesome.

Can you guess are costume? Yep - Caitlin went as Octomom and I went as her sperm donor (a sexy mullet and a one piece outfit that says "Miss Behavin'" on the back). Isn't my donation awesome?

The dogs were dressed up as bees this year. It was pretty hard to get a picture of the three of them because they were running around trying to eat dropped foods.

Speaking of food, there were once again amazing treats to enjoy, including sweaty monster balls.

Caitlin's boss was quick to eat one of our delicious babies. Seriously, how great is a woman with this much love for Halloween? She is a great influence on Caitlin.

The party outside wasn't as raging this year as last because it was already crazy butt cold outside. At least the fire was hot and keepin' us warm.

The new addition to the decorations was the 250 or so mannequins that they had purchased. They were used to house many amazing masks and outfits. This is one of my favorite pictures I took - I'm not sure why it turned out so misty and awesome. But it did.

The guests, per usual, went all out with costumes. This family dressed up as a wedding party that all had been shot in the head. I hope my kids don't dress up as doggies and pumpkins and stuff. I hope the dress up as dead things, maniacs and psychos. I can't help them come up with costume ideas. Uncle Mike can do their hair and Uncle Stephen can help them with bloody make up.

We all lined up for the classic tractor ride through the haunted path.

More great uses of the mannequins.

Dead yard flamingos? I mean, that is taking it to a new level.

While on our tractor ride, this guy showed up and started scaring the crap out of the lady in the back. Seriously, those aren't laughs or fake screams. She was literally peeing her pants from fright as this guy slowly followed her and breathed on her.

It was an awesome party and of course I loved it. I wore my wig the entire way home with pride.

Make It Special

Everyone - tomorrow is Halloween. Make it amazing. It is too important of a holiday to waste. If you live in Illinois, come to our massive party. If you don't, go to a massive party. Or go to the cemetery and just stay there for like 5 hours and freak each other out. Or go to the parade in NYC. Or maybe see a messed up horror movie in theater or home. Or you could literally go and scare children...I am okay with all of this behavior. Just honor the day, okay?