21.7.10

wierd.

haven't been taking pictures- sorry. yesterday was lisa and my 2nd anniversary. i sent her an orchid plant at work and she took me out to dinner. it was very nice. it's also been 7 months since lisa quit smoking. it's so wierd to me that she can't ask my mom for advice, that the whole time my mom knew her, lisa was a smoker. of course, i've also been doing the flylady thing, and it's weird my mom doesn't know that the timer's your best friend for 2010. or even about the oil spill in the gulf. it all happened after she was dead.

15.7.10

283/365


283/365
Originally uploaded by unglaubliche caitlin
feast! saturday i finally started cooking all those things i'd been planning on all week. clockwise from left, cauliflower and carrots antipasti, caprese salad, beets with parsley and goat cheese, and lisa's grilled cheese with tomatoes. not pictured is grandma's peach tart. the peaches were only 50 c a pound. i put off making them for so long, though i was sure they'd be rotten when i returned from the farm. lucky me! they were perfectly ripe. yum!

282/365


282/365
Originally uploaded by unglaubliche caitlin
waiting for the bus on the way home from my new job. i love the sign that warns parents. i can't remember what else it says- there's a big cemetary on the other side of the wall, and it's basically the damages caused by minors their parents have to pay for.

281/365


281/365
Originally uploaded by unglaubliche caitlin
too hot to move. it's so gross here. a terrible time to be unemployed. luckily, not for long. i am starting soon at a curtain place, and then next week a few days with the mascot maker. they better be air conditioned.

fireplace


fireplace
Originally uploaded by unglaubliche caitlin
my stripper is amazing. that is all. it took our neighbor 3 years to strip her fireplace. this is how far i am after 4 days. maybe the wood is more difficult. maybe i'll loose my enthusiasm. but look HOW NICE IT LOOKS! i am very proud.

280/365


280/365
Originally uploaded by unglaubliche caitlin
before allie left, grandma really wanted to show her all the work being done down at the farm. we saw the huge cement circle laid for the new set of bins. we weighed ourselves walking across the truck scale (it was 10 lbs off for me, but that's pretty good considering it usually ways trucks in the tons.) it's so crazy for me all the dryers and bins and stuff my family has- in iowa each small town has like a co-op where all the farmers pool together their money and buy bins and a dryer for the community and they take turns. in PA, you bring your grain to my family, and they'll weigh it and dry it and store it for you. these farmers don't make money milking cows, they do it charging rent.

after seeing this bumper sticker on the office door, i want to go to farmersOnly.com, to see if they're right. i bet i won't get it.

i can't remember if i've posted this on farm pictures before, but when flickr maps it some of them say it's in jefferson township, but this one says "a place with no name" when i say, yes, indeed, it is there, it's labeled "here be dragons."

279/365


279/365
Originally uploaded by unglaubliche caitlin
wore tie-dye to chuch to yet again invoke my mom. Lisa! hates tie dye, this dress in particular, more than i hate meat, and so wearing it when she's not around is one of the few pleasures i have when i'm missing her. the sermon was all about the freedom we have to worship as we see fit, and allie kept leaning over and saything to me,"i'm not free to stay home! i was forced here by grandma! where's our independence!" when i saw the scripture was from leviticus and galations, i was ready to leave if it got political, but it was unneccessary. it was the passage about the year of jubillee. i was curious how he would make such a liberal passage fit into their conservative mindset, but he glossed right over it, saying "it was probably never followed."
justine and allie and i had a manicure- peticure party that afternoon, as you can see by my blue french manicure- thanks justine! grandpa took us out to the corral where for 5 bucks he bought us all "baby" ice cream cones. the joke is that the baby ones are more than big enough for anyone.

278/365


278/365
Originally uploaded by unglaubliche caitlin
"together, on our knees, we can win!" says grandma's allied defense fund magnet. "stop the drive for national same-sex 'marriage'." it made me feel not just unwelcome, but really made me miss my mom. she'd help me deface it. i didn't even steal it. it's not that my grandma would even notice, i think she's too blind to even know it's on her fridge, particularly. mom put up with her conservative parents with such grace. apparently my grandma really yelled at my grandpa before we all came. she told him in no uncertain terms he was NOT to bring up any contriversial subjects and was not to argue with the grandchildren. but one day after lunch when we were all sitting around the table, he tried and we all were like, ok, grandpa, bring it on. and what topic did he choose but immigration. i'm like, of all the things. i don't think he even knows any mexicans. meanwhile, i live in chicago, bryce lives in eugene (although wait- i don't think he was there yet) allie in worcester MA, and justine in tallahassee. anyway, the "discussion" or "argument"- depending on how you view such things -wasn't interesting enough to relate here. but thinking about it later, i think i understand why my grandpa did that. i think he missed my mom. he knew how she felt, so strongly, on immigration, and he could count on us to be her voice now that she's gone.

even if it's not true, i really like that version of the strory, and so i'm going to believe in it.

kittens!


kittens!
Originally uploaded by unglaubliche caitlin
these new barn cats are SOOOO CUTE! i would have totally brought one home with me if we didn't already have so many cats. they're adorable even with their gross eye infections and wildness.

4.7.10

kisses


kisses
Originally uploaded by unglaubliche caitlin
First, can i just say flickr says this photo was taken in "a place with no name." which is hilarious! we went to get ice cream out of aunt deann's and uncle dave's deep freeze and found this guy. when i sent this picture to z's boyfriend, i labeled it "allie is cheating on you already," and he wrote back, "but he's so ugly!"
I think the fish is jealous.

277/365


277/365
Originally uploaded by unglaubliche caitlin
In the "powder room." i thought this was nice because the compound bow, orange hat and fur hat and puffy jacket are all lined up. i am wearing my red shirt and blue necklace and blue barrette for the fourth of july.

276/365


276/365
Originally uploaded by unglaubliche caitlin
More produce from the garden! my mini garden often gives mini produce, but these beans i grew myself from seeds and look at them! i am so proud. i don't want to go to my grandparents farm for the fourth of july. i want to stay here and bring in the harvest.

2.7.10

275/365


275/365
Originally uploaded by unglaubliche caitlin
i am glad to be unemployed but i miss my coworkers at Souldier! connie is in a band ReDeMeR and this is their tshirt. it is so cool to have a tshirt with someone i know's face on it! i took this picture for lexie so she would be jelous.

274/365


274/365
Originally uploaded by unglaubliche caitlin
when did they put up these "next train is "signs at belmont? they are awesome! when will they come to loyola? on my way home from a JOB INTERVIEW! it's at the yarn store where my knitting group meets. i think i'm totally qualified, so i really hope i get it. it's hard to know what to wear for a job interview at a yarn store in the SUMMER. sweaters would be awkward. i think my garden party was a good choice.

273/365


273/365
Originally uploaded by unglaubliche caitlin
i love owning and being able to do home improvement projects. next up- stripping the fireplace! i had such bad luck stripping paint in my place at cornell towers, i was really worried, but committed. well, i just didn't have the right tools before. this stuff is amazing. three coats and 90 years of paint is gone. it's also fun because, from top to bottom, the fireplace was white, white, eggshell, brick red, metallic gold (!), white, peach and salmon. i'm making good progress- our neighbor did hers and it took her three years. i think i'll get done much faster than that. just wait and see if i'm inspired to do all the wood in our whole house.

272/365


272/365
Originally uploaded by unglaubliche caitlin
more produce pictures! this tomato was so good! i don't think the other ones are going to get this big, but i am very proud of this one.

271/365


271/365
Originally uploaded by unglaubliche caitlin
not exactly in order, sorry. There was this terrible storm at rush hour, with tornado sirens and pouring rain and night-dark skies. lisa made it home ok without any lightning or tornadoes hitting her. i had made crepes for dinner and after it cleared up the sky was all these crazy colors. there was a HUGE rainbow and everything looked like it was lit by a giant lightbulb outside. lisa and i enjoyed the garden and played backgammon on the deck after dinner. it was kinda perfect.

1.7.10

270/365


270/365
Originally uploaded by unglaubliche caitlin
two years ago i broke up with deb the week after pride, so i guess this isn't my first pride with a girlfriend, but it is the first pride i went to with someone i'm planning on spending the rest of my life with. last year i was in NY with my mom for old songs. her buddy bob invited me back, but i decided to do pride this year. lisa and i went to south shore for the dyke march the day before, but i forgot to SP. there are cuter ones of us than this one, but this one has the best signs in it. we were right by the haters, but as you can see they were surrounded by police and rainbow flags and other organizations, so i didn't feel like it was directed at me personally, just me generally. but it was a great place to watch, and see what each float's reaction to them, either the finger or making out or mooning. also, isn't this couple next to us adorable? diversey is a great place to watch the parade. sure, by the end they're all out of beads and stickers, but there were no droopy feathers or sequins, everyone's still dancing, and there are no barriers, thinner crowds, and lots of shade. yay to kristy, lynne and dalice! we'll be hanging with you again next year.

269/365


269/365
Originally uploaded by unglaubliche caitlin
sleeve face! today's housewifely task was switching the recievers. we have lisa's reciever in the living room because it has surround sound speakers. but something about the inputs is fucked up and and it keeps clicking and it's awful. so i switched it out to my reciever, which has only two speakers, but they are really good ones my dad gave me for my birthday. now that we have a radio in the kitchen, we don't need those in the second bedroom. and now that we can hook computers up to the TV, we don't ever watch movies or tv on my computer. i was checking to see that it's all set up right- as you can see, the roku and dvd player both work. i put this on to check out the turn table. it sounds SO GOOD! back at lucile when my turn table was on top of my fridge, i listened to this album every night when making dinner for like a month. i took another one with "touch" that is better, but it looks wierd because it gives me three arms. i'll have to post that one too.

268/365


268/365
Originally uploaded by unglaubliche caitlin
salad from the garden! that's cilantro, basil, mesculn, scallion, red leaf, and the FIRST TOMATO OF THE SEASON! the mesculn was grown from seed, all the rest came as plants. the beans in the background are doing well, and they are from seed, though! i am proud of my little garden.

266/365


266/365
Originally uploaded by unglaubliche caitlin
if i'm leaving for turkey in october i need to get on this passport thing. i've been trying to get pictures for months. it took me like an hour of waiting around walgreens to get them. i'm too paie to be photographed against a white background. it kept going grey so they had to bump up the color on me and it made me yellow. they were stupid and i was really annoyed by the end. and now i've got to get to the post office to mail them off. ugh. so much paperwork.

265/365


265/365
Originally uploaded by unglaubliche caitlin
the GARDEN! it's growing so well this year. plus i feel like i can have Perennials, things have PLACES. her's my garden gnome, which my mom lugged to chicago in her suitcase, and i painted. i need to wash off his bird crap tear. and the zucchini. this is my last year for growing zucchini. i plant it every year and it never ever fruits. i get all these gorgeous flowers which just fall off, they never really open big. and no fruit. so this is it. next year i am sticking to things i CAN Grow, like lettuce and tomatoes and beans and cauilflower and broccoli and herbs and greens.

264/365


264/365
Originally uploaded by unglaubliche caitlin
one of the last days waiting at this stupid bus stop. i had good hair. it's getting long so i have to style it, but i think i'm going to grow out my bags. it's been a while since i've had long hair, and the constant cutting my bangs is getting old.

263/365


263/365
Originally uploaded by unglaubliche caitlin
ok, so not a self portrait. i can't run that fast. lisa! had misplaced her battery charger, and she only got one photo before her camera died. but this is from my last circus school class. i was performing the silk knot routine. we could invite spectators to come watch and lisa! and she said she was very impressed. i hope to get a new job so i can retake the aerial arts class again in the fall.

262/365


262/365
Originally uploaded by unglaubliche caitlin
Getting ready to go to Lisa's Aunt Susan's wedding. since i was specifially invited by name on the invitation, it seemed like fun to go, and it wasn't that far away, and it's lisa's birthday weekend. there are other pictures of me that are much better views of my garden party shawl which i wore there, and of course ones where i'm much better looking but this is a good picture of the un-photogenic lisa!, and a rare chance to get her on the blog, so i'm using this one.