sunny day!

It's a beauuuutiful day here in Chicago. Makes me wish I had a dog to take on a walk by the lake or a baby to push around in a stroller. Yesterday I took my first "lake walk" of the season. I headed down Foster with my sweatshirt and shorts on, and by the time I got to the beach I was hot and stripped down to just my tank top and shorts! It felt like summer! Today feels equally like summer, which is great fun except for the fact that my allergies are raging a battle against my body. Luckily I don't have a lot of singing to do right now, but I would like to be able to practice, and when I've got this much phlegm I don't even want to deal with it. Time to hit the neti pot and the steam, I suppose. Sigh.

Things are slowing down here, approaching a grinding halt actually. On one hand, I'm thankful for the upcoming break, and on the other hand, I'm fearful of the time off. Most of my students have informed me they don't plan to take lessons during the summer, which causes a major hit to the finances, and with no church job or chorus gigs, things are looking to be very slow indeed for the summer. If I get too bored, I might consider (and I'm shuddering even typing this) temping, but I've got several projects in mind, not least making a new audition recording and getting my shit together for fall auditions. Now that it looks like we're staying in this apartment for at least another year, I want to paint the dining room and stain a dresser and do a few more home-improvement projects. Just call me Sally Homemaker. With all that plus the summer wedding season, I should have plenty to keep me busy. Keep me out of the poorhouse? Maybe not. But I've done alright so far this year, and I think I have enough nuts stored for the "winter" to get me though. We shall see.

Two days until Nick's sister and nephew arrive! We went a little nuts at Target on Friday night buying toys for the little guy and ended up with the following:


One Sponge Bob folding table, one Mr. Potato Head, one Dora soccer kit, one Plah-Doh kit, Dora toothpaste and toothbrush, plastic cups, kiddie shampoo. We are ready!

And here is our new living room. We recently acquired this lovely shelf and chair and ottoman. The room is now complete! I haven't gotten everything I want onto the shelf yet; it's somewhat of a work in progress. I really want a plant and some cool bookends. But I think it really ties the room together!


I'm going to go enjoy this summery week while it lasts!