Decaf

It was Bat Jr.'s babysitter's birthday yesterday (her seven-year-old son greeted Dr. Fledermaus in the afternoon with, "It's my mom's birthday!!! Wha'd'j'ou get 'er?"), so we stopped at one of the bakery/cafes in the neighborhood (Bonjour) this morning to bring her something celebratory, and I made the mistake of getting decaf while we enjoyed our pastries and Bat Jr. yelled at the pigeons. "BIRD!!! BIRD!!!" This teaching social norms thing is difficult. You can't say "Use your inside voice," because you're outside. And people laugh when we say things like, "Use your deli counter voice."

OK, mostly we just say, "A bit quieter, please," and Bat Jr., says "Yes, dear parent, I understand completely the appropriate volume, tone, and projection expectations for this situation." Or, "BIRD!!!!"

To pick up the story, however, when we got to the apartment, I realized I'd forgotten the keys to get into the lobby, so we pushed the buzzer.
"Hello?" came through the speaker.
"Hi! It's...uh...us."

Yes, I had forgotten my own name.

I need to get more sleep.

Sgroppino

Quartino is a small-plate Italian restaurant here in Chicago. You should come here to eat there. If you can't, however, let me tell you about one of their desserts. Sgroppino is citrus deliciousness taken to a whole new level: Limoncello, lemon gelato, and lemon vodka blended up into an adult milkshake bearing a nice punch. I've plans to try to replicate it at home and post a recipe, but for know, feel free to experiment: it should be thick thick thick like a Hoffman's milkshake.

100 Boxes!

And we finally found the remote control to the television as well. Bat Jr. had stashed it in her closet (she loves things with buttons).
Without the remote, we'd had to watch Blues Brothers on the house lounge television on Monday night, and it really made the benefits of surround sound and subwoofers (which we have in the living room, but not the lounge) obvious. I'm tempted to watch it again; no, listen to it, just for the music.

• Still missing: one box of scarves.
• Thrown out: two garbage bags full.
• To be donated: two garbage bags (so far).
• To be sold/given away/etc.: one box books (duplicates, textbooks), the old shelves we had our plants and TV on, various unused cookware, a couple of bicycles.
• Lent: dining room set.

The decraptification of our lives continues.

98 Boxes (of beer on the wall)

We've unpacked ninety-eight boxes. Fifteen or twenty or so to go. We won't miss some of the dishes that are still packed until Thanksgiving, or even New Year's. And I've successfully eliminated one dresserful of clothes from my life. All of which leads to a question, and a warning.

First, Does anyone want any stuff? We seem to have wound up with more than our share.


Second, beware, there may already be a box with your name on it!