One more day and a wakeup!

If this were a military training scenario, we'd be happily saying, "one more day and a wakeup."  Tomorrow I have a very very full work schedule followed by a walk-through of my apartment followed by a final "mid-week run" (this to be importantly distinguished from Saturday's last "long run"); today was my last day to really get stuff done.  Of course, I could always add another day on in Chicago to *get stuff done*, but I don't really want to do that, and, knowing how I tend to operate, the last days would be the same whether they are now or 3 weeks from now.  

Matt and Sara came over to help clean, sort stuff, provide moral and mental support (I have a tendency to get really distracted like a honey bee when I'm trying to do this sort of stuff by myself).  But, first, we got bagels!  I really wanted bagels from the New York City bagel place on North Ave. and Sheffield, but that was too far away, so we settled for Einstein's in Andersonville.  There's a certain appeal to eating on the floor when you have no furniture:

How many addictive substances do you see pictured here (below):

 

(We came up with: Hemp milk (kidding! it's not really, no THC here), chocolate (in the hemp milk), carbohydrates (a la bagel), poppy seed (kidding!), dairy via cream cheese (serious about this one), coffee (obviously true)...which is a slightly humorous total of 6.  Now, that's a ways to start the day!  Green smoothies?  Heh, not on a day of cleaning.) 

Then we had a little Sig-in-a-basket photo shoot:

Me and Siggy-boy.  All this moving has been really hard on him; he's a smart, curious, and sensitive guy.  Being in this little basket seemed to calm him.

And then we got to work.  Sorting storage-crap into To Peoria (very small pile), Joey, Sara, Matt, Thrift store, Free/alley, garbage...  Things like this I find so much easier with friends.  I sold my scuba fins and the butcher block (finally!).  A little estimation challenge:

Me (sorting through my fridge):  When do you think this Miso expired?

Sara:  2004

Matt: 2004.  No...2006.  

Me:  Actually, you guys were right with 2004.  What month?

Sara:  May!

Me:  Holy sh*t!  You're right?!!  May 2004.  

Which means, I moved this expired Miso into my place 3 years ago.  It wasn't moldy or anything, just really potent smelling.

Sara and Matt spackled my nail holes, I cleaned the bathroom, vacuumed floors, cleaned out the fridge, etc., etc., until the apartment looked like this:

So as not to end this blog on a sad-ish note, I have a funny-ish story:

Matt & Eric and I were discussing our run for tomorrow night.  For almost 3 years Matt and I have talked about getting french fries from the White Castle that's 2 blocks from my place after a run, but never have. Tomorrow's run has got to involve some fries! I also have about an inch of tequila that should be imbibed before I head off to Peoria.  So...is White Castle BYOB?! I consult my supercomputer (a.k.a. iPhone), and proceed to call White Castle System Inc (that's the official name, according to my phone).

White Castle Employee #1 (male): Hello?  White Castle.

Me: Hi, um, I was wondering, are you BYOB?

WCE #1: Uhhhhhhh, I don't know, just a sec...

(At this point I realize this sounds sort of like a prank call, though I started out with perfectly good intentions.  And I start to feel the need to do the potty dance as I am trying very hard to not laugh out loud out of semi-embarrassment, and this is very difficult...)

White Castle Employee #2 (female):  Hello?  Can I help you?

Me (completely now aware this sounds like a prank): Um, yeeeaaaa, I was wondering if you were BYOB...?

WCE #2:  (silence)  Uh.  No.  This is *White Castle.* (which I'm sure was followed by a tacit "dumbass")