a month in the life

so, it's been nearly a month since I posted.... my home life was strange while matt was away. I kept doing all the things i had to do (go to work, wash clothes, bathe) but my rythmn was so off. There wasn't a whole lot to write about anyway.

But, since matt's been home, The Ex-Texans won Team Trivia!

Went and saw these guys with youle


Got one of these.


and by the way, I had no idea how much constant maintenance is required with a real tree - I have to water it three times a day and the needle fall out is unreal! But the upside is, the girls are fairly uninterested in it, which is s a change from our artificial tree that rose practically lived in and lily ate.

We also got a little of this.

The first snow actually happened on the day matt came home from new york. his flight was delayed 4 and a half hours!!! So when i went to bed at midnight, it was cold and raining and when i woke up at 2:30 a.m. and went down to the car to pick matt up at O'hare at 3 a.m., there were 3 inches of snow on everything. And since I was one of 15 drivers awake at 2:30 a.m., the roads were quite fun. it was like driving on an alien planet.
We're pretty used to in now, and really, there's going to be plenty more, so why even try to complain :)

Another Crazy Dream

don't know what's been in my water lately, but I had another odd and vivid dream last night. It featured my dear friend Amy. She was competing in some sort of athletic event. It was in a stadium with different "events" in different positions on the floor. Sort of like gymnastics, but different. The event I remember most was like wrestling and in completely un-Amy-like fashion, she was really kicking some a. Primal screaming! Flying this way and that, throwing her body into her opponent and the crowd was going wild. I'd like to have this one interpreted :)

Last night, youle and i decided to try out Team Trivia down at our corner bar and grill. We were just sitting down when we saw a fellow former dallas actor, Jack, walk through the door. Ends up, he was meeting another former dallas actor, Erica for dinner/drinks. Both of these folks worked with Youle at Risk and Jack worked at the DCT! What a coincidence! So we all decided to form a team - the "Ex Texans" We were in first place all the way through but on the final question where we had to list the following people in age order: Billy Ray Cyrus, Pete Sampras, Bjork and Pink. SOME of our team members SWORE that Bjork was older than Mr. Achey Breaky. Uh. uh. But we did get second place and a $25 gift cert. to the restaurant. We're going to return next wednesday night and avenge our defeat!

bang dream

I had a dream last night that I cut my bangs myself. It started as just a trim, but I ended up with, as camron once said, a sideways mohawk. It was all ragged and there were pieces that were, like, a quarter of an inch long. for some reason, my sister happened to be with me and i was combing the bangs over, trying to flatten everything out and i asked her "these don't look too bad, do they?" and she paused, then laughed and said - "it looks awful! just because you have scissors, doesn't mean you should cut your own hair!!!" Pretty funny. and I was glad when I woke up that my bangs were intact.

Getting a little tired of being alone. This week is already going way too slow, because I'm going to New York on FRIDAY!!! I really wish I would have planned a longer trip!! I'll be there from Friday through Tuesday, but I leave really early on Tuesday morning. I miss Matt so much! I know it's going to be hard to see him for such a quick trip and then have to leave again. But, I am so excited to see him and I know we'll have a great time! I'm excited about seeing my buddy cammi, too! we've not visited her in NY for a few years. Good Times.

Cold and Blustery

I was walking to the bank and the UPS store yesterday. It's not a long walk, maybe three blocks in July, it was a great way to take in the gorgeous weather. Yesterday I realized that it's going to become a very. long. walk. It was cloudy and cold and windy yesterday. I didn't pull out the big coat, but I was relatively warm from about mid-thigh up. My legs were freezing. i've got to get some thermals. I couldn't find them at Target the other day. I should have asked. I also need more substantial gloves and scarf. I've got the earmuffs covered.

It didn't snow in town yesterday, but they had footage on the news that it snowed in the suburbs. My mom confirmed. She and my aunt stayed out in Palatine, their home town this weekend and they said that there were definite snow flurries. As I type this, it looks beautiful outside sunny and clear, but I know that it's only in the 40's. I'm debating whether I'll leave the house at all today.

Thankfully, the radiators do keep it pretty toasty in here.

I got a haircut. For the first time since junior high, I've got bangs. Or "fringe" as I'm going to call them. It'll make me seem more sophisticated. Here are the before and afters.




Last time I had bangs I would hold them straight up, spray them with a ton of hairspray, blow dry that so it's nice and stiff and then curl just the tips, pick out the curl so it looked like a ridiculous claw on my forehead and skip out the door. This will be different. I think I'll have to get a flat iron. I think I like them.

It was great to see my mom and my aunt. we had a wonderful visit. and I'm looking forward to the dells this weekend with dad, sis, aunt, uncle, cousin, cousin's hubby and baby.

Day 5 Sans-Matt

Yes, friends, I am day 5 into Matt's 6-week theater trip to Dallas and New York. He says rehearsals are going well and playwright, director and money-man are all pleased with his take on the character.

I am not unaccustomed to being a theater widow. There have been plays that have kept him away from home in evenings, forcing me to cook and eat for and by myself and watch TV alone (well with the cats, but they're quiet company.) The difference, of course, was that he would come home in the evenings and most likely I would see him many times throughout the workday as well.

This is different. It's easy for me to go along making myself believe that it's just a short trip - a day or two- he'll be back in no time. But when that thought runs through my mind there is a darker section that must keep reminding me that it's not even been ONE WEEK and there are FIVE TO GO! It only happens on occasion. But on that occasion, it's hard to let pass.

Fortunately, I've got a lot of goodie-goods coming up including a visit this weekend by my mom (singular) and aunt this weekend and my sister and dad next weekend. Sis and Pops and I are going to the Water Park Capital of the Midwest - The Wisconsin Dells. It is too cold for water parks already, but those crafty Dells-ians put the majority of their water parks INSIDE!! Brilliant. I have mixed feelings about water parks. I generally lose my contacts and had an unthinkably embarrassing experience the last time I went to one... it's too personal and painful to mention here (but the ladies might understand a little better than the fellas) But this one has artificial sun and there are plenty of hot tubs and stuff. I'll post a full report.

I was saying to matt last night that I'm not sure how people were away from each other for these lengths of time without the internet and cell phones. WWII War Brides? How did they manage it? Plus, it was a lot more likely that their husbands might be shot on the front line than on stage, though, I guess it depends on the quality of "the piece."

I'll be seeing it opening weekend! It's called My Favorite Animal

That's all for now, I s'pose.

Didn't think I could do it...

But I actually got the chicken hat on ROSE!!! Those who know our cats know that Lily is the one that we warn people is "unpredictable," but in the quiet moments of our home, Lily is the first one to crawl up on your lap and snuggle in your neck and be very loving and sweet. That's why I was sure that I could get the hat on her. But, Rose, screams if you try to assert any of your will on her. You wouldn't believe what it's like taking her to the vet.

Well, she was sleepy the other day and I did it!


and as you can see, she was not enthused. Whereas Lily just tried to settle down and sleep, Rose kicked and kicked and yowled to get it off. So I was quick, but at least I got a picture.


and look at this fall color

There are more pics on my flickr page

been a while

• It's officially fall here.
• What a beautiful city!
• Saw an AWESOME play - The Hypocrites's Our Town. So great and so much more than you'd think that old play could be...
• Youle's here. That's good
• Clown class, still weird.... good? we'll see
• Matt's leaving in... 5 days?
• loving the fall colors and indian summer of illinois
• the cold is coming. Oh, yes... it is
• will I be ready?
• will miss hearing matty's voice in person (he's on the phone with BFF right now)
• voted early for Barack Obama. I've done my part... will you do yours?
• am going to paint the kitchen while matt's gone.... green? blue? green-blue?

seeing my moms, my dads, and the sis all within a week of each other starting a week from now. yay!!!

sorry I'm not more verbose... feeling a bit short these days.

We're tied up in the financial crisis

We are not Wall Street high rollers. We do have some savings. And have some loans of the student variety. Our savings is with WaMu, i.e. the largest bank to ever fail, and our Student Loans are with friggin' Sallie Mae!!!! So far, we've not felt any waves from it. Probably because our wee monies are a mere drop in the bucket of this mess. I just hope everything straightens out. Not just the financial crisis, but pretty much all of the wacky unrest that we have in our world. I guess we'll just see how it turns out. I'll let you know if we find ourselves in Hooverville cooking a can of beans over an oil drum fire with fingerless gloves and a newspaper quilt.

I'm going to be warm

I bought my big, fur trimmed, down-filled, warm to -15º coat on Saturday. And it was, like 80 degrees and I was wearing shorts while i tried it on. Hope i don't need it for a long time. Before we moved, I packed all of our jackets and coats in one of those space-saver bags. the ads say that the clothes come out just as you put them in. welll........ not quite. they were super, SUPER wrinkled, so we had to take them down to the cleaners to get them pressed out. I wasn't going to mess with doing anything with wool coats. my luck, they'd end up doll clothes. I've done to several sweaters over the years because I'm notoriously lazy at laundry.

anywhoo. should be set for the winter blast as far as gear goes. I still think I need a new hat or two and I may need to knit myself a new scarf. also need to get some long johns.

It's been so beautiful this summer and even today it's just perfect. I wonder what it's going to be like during the winter. I'll let you know dear readers, I'll let you know.

Chicken Head

Ladies and Gents, I give you one of the funniest things we ever done.

Chicken Hat.

We put this hat on lily last night and it was hilarious. You can ask my sister. She called right after we'd gotten it on and we were dying laughing.

We thought it would be a little more of a challenge, due to Lily's seemingly overdeveloped sense of dignity, so we've been plotting and planning all week.

Last night, we were watching the Wheel of Fortune on the TV and she was curled up very relaxed in my lap. I grabbed the chicken hat off the side table. We paused. Matt gave the go sign and went to get the camera. This was the moment. The time was now. So I carefully slipped it over her ears and velcro-ed it under her chin and.....

No. Big. Whoop.

she didn't mind a bit. not at all. her body language and breathing remained the same. she didn't care that this foreign object was on her head. And never minds having her picture taken. It was a triumph.

I think we're going to try to put it on again and see if she'll walk around in it.

If you know lily, you know she's got a 'tude. I'm blowing her tough girl cover and calling her out on the interwebs as a giant cat nerd. and I love her.

there's more pics on FLICKR

I'm sore

I had my first "clown" class on monday and it wasn't at all what I thought it was going to be, but I think it will be good for me. I've never really taken that acting class where you're asked to expose your soul. I pretty much got through college being able to pick up a script, develop a character and make people believe what I was giving them. It's been working out pretty well for me. Never had that soul-bearing, emotion-wrenching "I don't want to see you act, I wan to see you be" type of thing.

From the first class, that may be what this is. Which is fine. This may get a little "actory" for my non-actor readers, but bear with me.

We started out with a pretty standard name game - when someone touches you, you say someone's name and when you're name is called, you touch someone. it's pretty much a set-up for failure, especially for me. and that's the way they wanted it. when we messed up, we were instructed to die a "$20 death" I was TERRIFIED! I'm not the most confident at off-the-cuff acting and when I messed up, i pretty much froze. The teachers were egging me on and asking me "where are you right now" and "are you breathing" and everyone's looking at me and I tear up. Yes ladies and gents, I wept about 30 minutes into my first class. But, everyone was very supportive and it was the kind of environment where i was appreciated for my willingness to open myself up and, in fact, at the end of class talk, the teachers thanked me for showing people something "real" whatever that means. I assure you, it was not a choice. I was on the spot and I wept. There were other trust exercises - what they call "risk" exercises, some of which included falling and hoping people would catch you. I never hit the ground, but some people did. hard. there was also a "carrying" exercise where each person had to carry every other person in the class and you had to be carried by every other person in the class. very strange. very tiring. and exactly why i'm as sore as I am. I carried 13 human beings. not always by myself, but still!

So, the reason i think it's good for me is that it is WAY outside of my comfort zone and will definitely be a challenge for me, but in a safe environment, I hope to let myself go. Also, I do think too much. In acting, I guess, but really more in life. I'm a big time worrier, a big time planner and I hope this might help me let go. we shall see.

fall's coming

last week when our friend youle was here, it was, like 90 degrees - certainly the hottest couple of days in a row we've had this summer. so we had the AC cranking and the power went out, like 8 times in two days and walking around sight-seeing, while still nice, wasn't as nice as it would have been a week prior.

then, seriously, the day after she left the temp. dropped 20 degrees. It was the remnants of gustav and was rainy and gross, but it was cool! now, we're having lows in the 40's each night! 40's!!! that's texas winter weather! it is cool and crisp and lovely, though. and I got an L.L. Bean catalog and am daydreaming of new winter warm things - down coat, fur-lined slippers, sweaters, sweater-vests. all sounds dreamy. check in with me in Jan.

we got matty a laptop. It was instigated by the thought that he would be away from home for 6 weeks and would certainly need something to keep in touch and to write while he's out and about, but also, there are times where i need to be working on my lappy and he is inspired to write or is in the process of writing where we have to COMPROMISE!!! Now, we don't have to worry about that any more :) Plus it has a built in webcam so we're going to get that figured out before he leaves so we can video chat while he's away.

I start my clown class with 500 clown on monday night. I'm nervous and excited. really have no idea what i'm getting myself into, but I'm sure that it'll be fun. I'll let you know.

long time no...

sorry peeps, it's been an active couple of weeks for the Chicago Lyles. First, my cousin steve was in and we were surprised with spare tickets to the cubs game and had a blast with he and his buddies from high school. Always great to see my cousins and seems like moving up here makes it happen :)

But before that, even, Friday the 22nd I got a call from Apple Tree Theatre in Highland Park, IL, where matt was set to start working their box office on Sept. 3 (tomorrow) Well, their Marketing person left suddenly and they mentioned it to matt and he said that i had experience in the area and then he called me and told me to send my resume. So, they asked me to start on Monday the 25th. And I did! It's part-time/temporary/see-if-it-works-out, but they really need someone to help them get the first show of the season off the ground. There are a lot of things to learn about the theater and about chicago theaters in general, but Matt and I are working together....again! And I'm excited about it.

Then on Thursday, our dear friend, one miss jennifer youle came to visit. So we had a busy and fun weekend doing some touristy stuff and even found a winery about 30 minutes away that was great. There are actualy vinyards in IL, too, but they are about 2 or 3 hours out - near the Iowa border, so walking through wine fields will have to wait. But this being my 4th winery tasting sampling deal, I really like the set up. I mean, you get to taste yummy and different wines and by the end you've got a nice solid buzz on. This house was also a B&B, so matt and I both thought it would be a good getaway sometime.

The 'burbs are funny. since they grew up as places for people who work in chicago to live, they don't really have their own downtown areas (some do I'm sure) but they really did start as what they call "bedroom communities" That interesting. most of the suburbs outside of dallas used to be small towns really outside of dallas, till dallas grew and met them at their borders.

We went to the John Hancock building and did the observatory tour - narrarated by chicago's own (or at least Northwestern University's own) David Schwimmer. And he does present a shameless plug of his theater company - Lookingglass. But I think I would have too...

And in other news, Matt will be heading back to Dallas for three weeks in October, followed by three weeks in New York doing a play off-off-broadway written by former Dallas Morning News Theater critic, Tom Sime. I'll miss him terribly, of course, but's it's a great part for him and a very exciting, "when do you ever get to do this sort of thing" opportunity. Details to follow

so sorry, it's been so long. Hope I haven't lost any of my faithful few readers. I'll get back on track, don't you worry!

cole slaw story

we found a great cole slaw mix in the salad area of our local Jewels. It came with it's own sauce, but we added a little may to "wetten" it up a little. But, it reminded me of a Little Kimmie story. And, I'll admit that my memory isn't so good and isn't exactly clear, but with that caveat, I present

the cole slaw story.

When I was in first or second grade, I was not a picky eater like Annie, but veggies weren't my favorite. But one day, little kimmie came home from school apparently raving about the cole slaw that the lunch ladies served that day. So creamy and sweet, not like dad's vinegary, sour cole slaw that was STRICTLY a grown up dish. My dad, who cooked our dinner at the time, asked me to approach the lunch ladies and ask for the recipe. So, I think, mortified, I approached the lunch lady with a recipe card and pencil and squeaked out "my daddy wants the recipe for your cole slaw" so embarrassed. I don't remember the actual moment, but I'm pretty sure she gave it to me, because from then on, dad made a delish creamy cole slaw.

the store bought is nearly as good as the Gard Elementary version

final bit of the move

We unpacked our last boxes this weekend - finally. We've been waiting to get bookshelves for the living room, so we've been living with a few boxes of books and miscellany hidden behind the couch.

Here is what the west wall of the living room looks like now. I have some notes about the "junk" on the shelves on the flicker site if you're interested.

also did a little staining project on the island that we bought at IKEA.

Also, the final bit of the move is..... getting the Illinois drivers' license!! The law is that within 90 days, you have to get your license, but i might have to take a written test.

I'd say most of you don't know this, and the ones who were there, may not remember, but I, little Kimmie Geiter, age 16, failed the written portion of my drivers' test, not once, but TWO times. I am an intelligent human, maybe higher than average intelligence, and I FAILED MY DRIVERS' TEST. I blame test anxiety. And it can't have been by much, I don't remember, but NOW it's making me nervous about attempting the Illinois test. The rules are different. The way people drive around here, they are VERY different. I downloaded the guide and sample questions, but it's SO LONG and i'm SO LAZY! I need to at least look it over, but i think i may go sometime this week. It would take me downtown, just a block away from the famous Chicago Theater, so at least that'll be fun. Wish me well.

sorry kids

Can't believe i haven't blogged all week! I've been a little busy, I guess.... and maybe lazy :)

we went to the Lincoln Park Zoo on Saturday. It's awesome because it's free! and they've got some great stuff. The Gorilla and Chimp area is wonderful and both parties put on nice little shows for us. I uploaded some pics to my flickr.

On Tuesday, I had an interview at Lookingglass Theatre for Props Design or Props Assistant. I think either way it's a no. They're a little bigger than I anticipated and while I'm sure that I am capable, I'm just not into committing as much time as they require. But it was nice to get out, go all the way down to Michigan Ave. (The Magnificent Mile) and wander about a bit.

I also had another interview, but I'll wait and post about it after we see the outcome- don't want to jinx or get my (and your) hopes up :)

We've been watching the olympics pretty much every night. Matt's favorite event is women's beach volleyball, can you guess why? Actually it's a pretty great sport and it's nice that the US Team is so dominant - really gives you something to cheer for. I'm enjoying Michael Phelps' run as I think most people are, but I'm starting to feel sorry for his poor body. How tired must he be, really. I'd probably pass out at about half the length of the pool.

Going to see Tropic Thunder tonight, brunching tomorrow and don't have plans yet for Sunday, but plan to enjoy the wonderful weather and the now fleeting days of summer

Olympics and Santa

I love the Olympics. This is not news to most people who know me. So last night's opening ceremony was a must. and It blew. my. mind. china totally brought the big guns. Overwhelming.



Another part of the opening ceremony that matt and i were both looking forward to was watching our favorite athlete, Dirk Nowitzki of Dallas Mavericks and German Team fame. He was selected by the german team to carry their flag into the stadium. Because we follow Dirk, we know that taking his team to the Olympics has been his life-long dream. So we knew how excited and honored he was to carry the flag. Well. China didn't follow American Alphabetical structure, which i guess they shouldn't have to do since it's china. They went by number of friggin brush strokes in the name - WTF? So Germany instead of being in the middle of the pack, they were country 399 of 405 (or something.)

So like two kids waiting up to see santa, we fell asleep and woke up to see all the presents there and couldn't believe we missed the man in red.

I woke up to see china, who was the last team, walk into the stadium. I couldn't believe it. What lame old people we are.

But, looking forward to watching the games. Love swimming, gymnastics, diving, rowing. not so into track and field, but enjoy the sprints alright. Will definately watch the German basketball team.

Hard Knocks

What has Matt done to me? I am a FOOTBALL FAN!!!



Actually, it might have been Hard Knocks that did it. It's a show on HBO and back in 2001 when we were living in Nac in the house with Cam, the three of us watched the show and loved it. It goes inside training camp and you get to know the players and the coaches and see what practice is like, all very interesting to me. Matt's been a Cowboys fan for most of his life and I've been watching games with he and David since the 2000 season, but I think it was Hard Knocks that started my fandom, because I like to know the players and their personalities and whether or not they have families. It's a girl thing I guess. It makes it easier for me to cheer for them on game day if I have some (even small) emotional attachment to them.

Now it's 2008 and I'm a dang Cowboys fan and I don't even need Hard Knocks to get excited about football season. But, it started last night and I was delighted! Watched the whole thing with a big smile on my face. Love me some Tony Romo and some Jason Witten and even (I'll admit it) T.O. Owens.

What a football dork. Now the challenge will be finding a place here in Chi. that will let us watch the boys games that aren't national.......

we also had breakfast for dinner last night, which I love. Pancakes, bacon, eggs, juice and milk. When I was a kid, it would usually be waffles, and it would be such an unexpected treat.

TORNADO!

We thought we were well out of tornado alley up here. Not so much. After finishing dinner last night, (a "30-minute" shepherd's pie) we were sitting at the table and it was raining outside and we start to hear a siren. Now, it's not unusual for us to hear sirens, we live on the corner of a pretty busy street and one that is a main artery to get around the neighborhood. I lightly said "that's just a regular siren, right?" It was not. It was a tornado siren, and just about that time, the rain started coming in sideways and the tree in front of the window was blowing like crazy. The Weather Channel said that there were reports of tornadoes all around us including one in a neighborhood directly west of us heading "due east." That was it, we decided to bunker down in the basement laundry room. Rose got the message and crawled on her belly to the safety of the closet and her bag of baseballs, and we tossed a terrified Lily into the bathroom. I checked the interweb to see what it looked like, and sure enough we had a big band of red mess heading right for us. We stepped outside and there was no need for the umbrella - even with it up we were getting soaked.

Now, there's a bit of "vintage charm" about the doorknob on the back door.... it sometimes falls off and, of course it picks this moment to express it's "charm." Matt fiddled with it and fiddled with it and we noticed that the slight water problem we have at our back door was starting to breech the threshold. Finally got the door shut and the doorknob came out again on the outside - DAMN! Soaking wet, we run down the stairs in the worst downpour i've ever been in, crashing thunder and lightning every second. There was only one other couple in the basement and they came down earlier, so were nice a dry. We sat down there for about 30 minutes until it stopped sounding like a gully wash and started sounding like a normal storm.

so that was exciting.

there are new pics at my flickr page, but not of the storm

the best, baddest dog i've known

Lucy Coleman: loved to eat underwear, loved to hump laps, loved to cause general chaos, loved her people. Her intelligence and irrepressible spirit will be missed.

entertainment weekend

Friday night we saw the Silent Theatre Company's original play NOIR. We've been excited to see this company, as you can imagine, since we found out that they existed. It was a very different style than the boxer. There weren't any title or dialogue screens, instead there was the classic noir-style narration, but the narrator would also say the lines as well. There was very limited dialogue, which was true of The Boxer too, but it was sometimes unclear who was speaking. Where The Boxer was sweetness and light, this was dark, seedy and violent. Where we focused so much energy on precise movement and clear intentions and expressions, they were a little sloppy and when they started throwing tables and chairs at each other, we feared for their safety and the safety of the audience. Nothing could keep the audience safe from the unecessary full frontal MALE nudity. Call me a prude, but I think full frontal nudity of either sex is hard to handle in live theater. And there was no justification for this fella to thrust his junk in the faces of the front row other than shock value or, perhaps, he is an exhibitionist. I don't know. Instead of the nervous laughter it elicited, they could have gotten a nice, strong laugh with, say, a pair of ladies underpants or even tightie whities. They are taking this show to the fringe and I know that nudity gets you noticed in new york, but....jeez!!! And a 4 piece music section couldn't touch B. and Johnny for helping move the story along.

But, the entertainment weekend was saved Saturday morning when we contributed our $12 to the $75 million earned by The Dark Knight. It was wonderful. Really the best super hero movie I've ever seen (and I've seen pretty much all of them from 2000 on.) Real character development, real relationships and a great, GREAT villain in Heath Ledger's The Joker. It's unfortunate that he's not around to do another installment, because they really set up the essence of relationship of hero and villain - batman can't kill the villain because he's a hero and the joker won't kill batman because he's the reason for his villainy. great. So exciting. Good stuff.

Then last night we watched The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. Very artistic film, lovely image, but unsatisfying because neither of the main characters, Brad Pitt as Jesse James and Casey Afleck as Robert Ford, were likable. Their performances were good, but the characters were mean and creepy, respectively.

So there are my entertainment revues for this week. My facial was lovely and certainly something that I wish I could do every week. Who doesn't want an hour and a half of face rubbing. They used a machine called a galvanic that send electric current through your skin to tighten it up. I could feel the shock and taste metal and even see bright impulses as she rubbed in over my forehead. weird. but if it keeps me looking young. I'm in!

Gremlins, not Goonies

In a previous post I said we were watching Goonies last night. That was dumb. I've seen Goonies maybe 20 times, and really never seen Gremlins. And even when I was posting it I was thinking "don't say goonies, don't say goonies" but I did anyway. It reminds me of one of my favorite moments on Scrubs. Where J.D. is repeating over and over in his head "don't say banana hammock, don't say banana hammock" and then he blurts "Banana Hammock!" for all the world to hear.



So we watched GREMLINS last night and it was pretty good. There was a bit of the upper level humor for the grown ups and then plenty of cute and gross creatures for the kids. I probably would have been scared if i would have seen it as a kid. It's funny to see 80's movies just on the cusp of special effects. All of the creatures were stop motion or maybe animatronic and you couldn't help but think how it would look today. I do have to say that there were characters and seeming plot points that just kind of disappeared after the gremlins came to life. Guess they weren't so much concerned with "plot"

Today I'm going to get my birthday facial at an Indian Salon - a very thoughtful gift from my hubby.

sometimes i'm reminded

that cats are nasty beasts.

so, lily threw up her dinner (turkey and giblets fancy feast) which isn't a big surprise, but was a big surprise is when i rounded the corner into the bedroom i saw that she had thrown up all over.....Rose.

yup, rose's shoulder blade and front right leg and foot were covered with vom.

what some of you may not know is from a very early age, Rose has had an insatiable hunger for Lily's puke. It is truly gross, but also truly true.

I deduce that she heard Lily's prep to puke (if you have a cat, you'll know the sound) and made a b-line to be right there to eat it fresh off the tap. I'm not sure she even noticed.

Also, from a very early age, Rosie has enlisted her strong vocal cords to let us know what's what - mostly, when you try to physically make her do something she doesn't want to do.

Fortunately, today she was so ravenously interested in the vom, i was able to wipe her down with nary a squeak or squeal.

jeez.

an industrious squirrel

This weekend we had a great (but short) visit with the Geiter-Kerevens in Waukesha, WIS. We were so thrilled to meet my little cousin once removed.

Samantha Marie Kereven



She makes funny faces and poops a lot. guess that's what babies do :)


one of the highlights of our trip was a stroll in historic downtown Waukesha. Land of Antique shops. Very fun. I love antique stores and almost always find things that I think would be perfect for some play...some time. Like a mink stole with the faces and feets - there were about 8 of them and we really wanted one for Sunny and Eddie back in the day, but couldn't find one. Also old telephones, acordians and more glassware than you can possible imagine. Great big place. I found a treasure - a santa cookie cutter - a Geiter family tradition and a very special memento.

but the real find was outside the front window. As I was checking out, the attentions of everyone in the front of the store were drawn outside. The store had a cart with fliers on the sidewalk and there was a little squirrel putting on quite a show. Luckily, Matt was quick on the draw and got some shots of his escapades.



Here is his grabbing some fliers.




He folds them carefully and gets them in his mouth and dodges traffic across a fairly busy street.



Then he climbs the tree in front of of the Joke shop and takes the fliers to the nest.

unfortunately, we didn't get a good picture of the nest, but i would say it's about a foot and a half tall and maybe a foot wide with a lot of random materials mashed together.

we saw him come back across the street and back up the tree probably 3 or 4 times and he did the same exact thing every time, even with people gathered at the window and in the street watching him. he would not be deterred. Gotta get ready for his babies!

On the way home we came around a great deal on gas. Hold on to your hats, folks... you won't believe this one.... what a deal!

We're going over to the honeymoon friends' house to watch GOONIES tomorrow night. I'm pretty sure I've never seen it all the way through. I know, i know, how can i claim to be a child of the 80's?! I'm looking forward to it and hope it's totally cheesy and lame scary!

Assimilation

We've done it! We've decked out ol' Hyunni in brand spankin' new Land O' Lincoln license plates. And the slightly questionable "Chicago City Sticker." I think it has something to do with parking, maybe? All I know is there's signs all over about getting it before July 16 or else! Personally, it seems like a bit of a stretch for additional city revenue, but what do I know?

Now the question is, dear readers, what should we do with our Texas license plates?

so, I give you, my first BLOGPOLL!!! Please vote, pretty please?

It's actually what I'd call hot here now - finally summer. In the 90's the last few days, but cooling off nicely at night. As warm as 90 feels, I try to be still and remember what 7, 8 or 10 more degrees feels like on your skin. HOT!

There's a theater called The Silent Theatre here in Chicago and they do, you guessed it, Silent Plays. From what we understand, theirs are more noir than slapstick, but for the next two weekends, they're running the show that they're taking to the Fringe Festival this summer and we're really excited to see it! I will issue a review at a later date

Big Weekend

Sorry it's been a few days, friends. We had a big weekend and Matt was off work yesterday so I hadn't gotten around to it. I know you were all worried about me, but I'm fine.

More firsts this weekend - we had our first White Castle Hamburgers, First Giordano's famous stuffed pizza and saw our first Cirque du Soleil show.

The White Castle Hamburgers are tiny bits of yucky goodness. We're not sure how something can be gross and delicious at the same time, but White Castle has done it. Their big marketing campaign up here is "answer the crave" and you do kinda crave them, I must admit. But they kicked off a bad eating weekend, that our bodies have not been happy about.

also saw Hellboy on Friday night. Realized that we didn't eat enough White Castle to be full, so had some nachos. But, if you haven't given these movies a chance, i recommend. I didn't think I was going to like them - the trailers for the first one just didn't sell it to me - but they're very funny, beautifully designed and not too action-y. If you've see Guillermo Del Toro's Pan's Labyrinth, you may recognize the style of some of these underworld monsters. Just beautiful and without too much cgi. Really fun.

Saturday we tried another diner on the corner for breakfast and it was pretty good, ran errands and went to place called Wolfy's for lunch - burger for Matt, hot dog for me. We're having to get used to so many places being cash only up here. We very rarely carried cash in dallas, but we've found ourselves counting pennies at the cash register, which is embarrassing.





Then Saturday night was..... Cirque. Du. Soleil.



Loved it! It was and wasn't what I expected. I expected it to be beautifully produced - lights, sound, set, costume - it was. I expected that the clowns would be more weird than funny - they weren't - they were Great! and I expected to be entertained by the acts - that's an understatement... I was blown away. It blew my mind! it did! It blew my mind! Matt and I sat literally breathless during some of the acts and I couldn't believe the skill and talent these folks have. the juggler was amazing. I've seen circus acts before, but this was extreme. Love it. and we had a pretzel for dinner....Thanks to a sweet friend for the tickets.

Sunday, Matt went out and wrote and i did a little more painting on the trim in the living room. and Sunday night we had yummy Giordano's pizza.



People have been telling us since we got here and before that this place was the stuff. It's big and deep and full of goodness. layers and layers of cheese and meat with the tomato sauce on top. Awesome.

So we ate poorly all weekend, but had a great time. Also discovered the AMC original series Mad Men. It's about advertising execs in the 1950's and, unbeknownst to us, won the golden globe for best drama. So far, so good. Love the costumes and the sets. I think I could have worn those great Donna Reed dresses, though the male/female - husband/wife dynamic they're setting up doesn't ring my bell. I'm glad to be a modern lady even though the clothes aren't as nice.

fireflies

i forgot about fireflies. walking around in the evenings here the streets are filled with fireflies. It reminds me of my childhood when angie and i would chase fireflies, catch them and then brutally rip their bottoms off and rub the glowing goo on our finger nails. weird kids.

but i don't remember seeing this many fireflies in texas, which makes me wonder if it's a weather thing... They are beautiful and magical and it is so great to see from the end of our block all of the twinkle lights around the grass.


I keep forgetting to take my camera with me places. it's sitting here by the computer, but i need to remember to put it in my purse. So here's the only photo of my birthday gathering.



i look like a crazed maniac, but really, we found ourselves all alone in the horseshoe restaurant and i ran behind the bar and posed quickly.. i was terrified of being caught... i'm not sure what I thought they'd do.

anyway, I had a good one. I'm all 30 now and i think i feel the rheumy coming on...

Today is my birthday

i'm all grown up at 30 years old. I've been anticipating it all year of course, but there is a little more introspection than most birthdays. The changing over from one decade to another makes you think about the last 10 years and the next 10 years. I really don't remember what I felt like when I turned 20. I know i'm different now. This is also a bit of a low key birthday compared to last year's big 7.7.07 bash and the previous year's surprise party thrown by youle and matt, and this is the first year since 2004 that I've not been involved in the FIT festival at my birthday - we almost always had tech on my birthday - joy! But, we're having drinks with a few friends and celebrating that little kimmie was born 30 years ago this evening.

As for the 4th of july - my favorite holiday - very interesting here in chi-town. Number one - i wore a sweatshirt and wrapped up in a blanket to watch the fireworks.... anyone see anything wrong with that? I can't remember ever being cold on the 4th. (well it was actually the 3rd.) We had a picnic with the honeymoon friends and had a great time visiting. We wished we had cheesburgers (or at least something warm) instead of our cool fresh picnic food. The fireworks were unfortunately obscured by some pesky buildings, but all-in-all, a good night.

On the actual 4th, we stayed in our neighborhood, which at sundown sounded like a war zone. This doesn't happen in dallas, but people in all directions were setting of loud, big, bright fireworks that exploded high in the sky twinkling down or sounded like cannons. It was amazing. We stood in the park and saw from south to north around us, 6 different sets of fireworks. there were even people in the park setting them off. The cats thought we had moved them to Afghanistan.

We had a theater buddy from big-d stay with us this weekend while he was taking an improv workshop at Second City and he and his new theater company, Audacity Theater Lab, are going to commission an original matt lyle play. So watch out dallas, you can get rid of the bootstraps, but you can get rid of the matt lyle comedy!!!

full weekend

Friday night we ate at a place called Glenn's Diner that boasts on its awning "the best food in the world." I don't know about that, but I do know that the seared scallops were amazing (we've never had them before, but they talk about them all the time on top chef) and the smoked cheddar mac and cheese was also a highlight. Matt had barbecue chicken and I had baby back ribs - I've been craving ribs since ribfest. i think their specialty is fish, but neither of us were in the mood.

Saturday morning we saw Wall-E. I HIGHLY recommend it! Such a beautiful, sweet story and I'm never disappointed in pixar's animation - it's wonderful. We've really been looking forward to it and we weren't let down in the least. Of course most of you know that we're fans of silent or semi silent characters and wall-e is a gem!

then we found our closest home depot and got some paint for the trim in our living room. The trim was painted kind of a pale, poopy brown that didn't really do a whole lot for us, so we got a much darker black/brown that matches the stained wood in the entry way a little better. We painted some on Sunday and will hopefully finish up next weekend.

Saturday night was a bit rough. We had seen a poster for a play called The Mysterious Elephant, And the Terrible Tragedy of the Unlikely Addington Twins* (*Who Kill Him) the poster was brilliant. Very Edward Gorey and just really stylized and neat. So we thought we'd give it a whirl. The playwright won the equivalent in the Chicago Reader of what matt won in the Observer (best new playwright.) and the reviews looked pretty good.

We headed down to Wicker Park and ran into all kinds of trouble finding a parking place. Apparently there are neighborhoods that require permits to park. probably to fend of what we were trying to do - park for a few hours and eat and see a show. so that was frustrating. Then we couldn't really find an interesting place to eat and settled on a mexican-type restaurant (not tex-mex) and they pretty much forced us to sit outside in the cold (60's or so) wind. the wind gusted so hard it blew matt's cup into his lap and we didn't get our meal until 7:35 and we had to make an 8:00 curtain. also frustrating.

The show had merit, but it was, in the end, frustrating as well. It was a great concept and a pretty good script that really needed to be edited down a little bit. But there was one performance that i really could not get over and the whole thing just seemed a little haphazard and un-polished. But even though we didn't like it very much, it was good to see a play in our new town and start figuring out the atmosphere.

and sunday it rained, matt wrote, we painted and ate $3 fillet Mignon's from the jewels.

will try to write again soon, though...not much happens to me from day to day - just a workin' girl :)

What an adventure

little birdie and i have had an active couple of days!

I woke up the other day to find this



that is the baby birdie on the rail directly outside our window about 8 feet from his nest. How did he get there? is he flying already. Well, he hung out there for about 40 minutes, just hopping back and forth along the rail. you can see more pics on My Flickr Page

then rose wandered in and I got worried. She didn't notice him for a long time, but when she did, she was QUITE interested. he fretted and furrowed and then..... took flight! and flew back to the safety of the tree branch! it was wonderful! that sweet baby bird flew and all because of my rose. There was a little more goings on with mom demonstrating the finer points of flight, but then the two of them packed up and moved on. They haven't been back to the nest in a couple of days. What a great adventure it's been watching that little birdie!

now as for MY adventure, I went all "big city" girl and rode a bus AND a train to downtown Chicago to interview with a graphic design placement service. They have a collection of artists that they deploy on temp/contract jobs as well as temp to hire and direct hire, but mostly it would be contract short-term stuff. it's like an acting agent, but just with graphic jobs. they try to find the right fit for their clients and their talent. it was interesting to find out that Chicago Shakespeare theater is one of their clients - that'd be great!

I made it down and back fine, had my ipod, had my city girl bag with my portfolio in it. I stopped short of tossing my proverbial beret in the air, but I'm gonna make it after all (duh da duh da DUH) We'll see what comes of it, but it feels good to at least get out there.

Matt is loving his class and is really really inspired, which is great to behold.

Met our next door neighbor, Trudy. she's australian (or New Zealandeez) and very nice.

settling in for the evening and watching ghost hunters with my hubby.

they grow up so fast!

i'm a little obsessed with the baby bird outside of our window and he's growing up so fast. at this moment, he's sitting on the edge of the nest and preening his new feathers. on Thursday, when i first saw him, he had ugly scraggly feathers and now they're really filling in.

this was one of the first times I saw the baby bird out on the edge of the nest

It's a little blurred, but the birdie is flexing his wings back

here's baby preening this morning. he's getting a lot fuller and fluffier than late last week and mom and dad are leaving him alone a little bit more.

right outside my window

I was on the phone with my boss from DCT this morning when I saw the most amazing thing! A mother red-brested robin feeding her little chick! And it is right outside our living room window. By the time I was able to get my camera, the feeding was done, but she was (and still is) standing guard like a good little birdie mama!


here are some other pics of our street, building, and park

eeeeewwww

yesterday i stumbled upon a homeless man pooping by our dumpster.

soo.... yeah....

last friday we saw The Hulk. The movie was pretty good. I really liked Edward Norton in the role. I miss seeing him in movies. He wasn't quite as compelling as Robert Downey, Jr. in Ironman. And as always with action movies, my eyes cross a little bit on the big CGI showdown at the end - just let The Hulk win already!!

we were excited to WALK to the movie theater, The Davis is on Lincoln Square just a few blocks from here. it looks pretty kitchy from the outside, but stepping through the door reveals the horror of a old theater that hasn't been refurbished since...hmmm...the 60's? Texarkana folks, think Joy Cinema if it was still open and STILL hadn't been redone. dark, dirty feeling, squeaky seat and what, in our stadium-seating-spoiled view, was a teeeeeny screen that might have been crooked. Now once the movie started, we forgot about the screen, but not about the squeaky chairs. We may be going a bit farther to see the next summer blockbuster (we're really looking forward to Wall-e)

Also went to IKEA again, awful traffic again and it wasn't even raining, but we got a table and chairs and a new desk and desk chair for little ol' me, and a butcher block island for the kitchen. The butcher block hasn't quite made it - i got sick of assembling!!

Matt's first day of work went well. A little overwhelming I think for him, but that's the way first days are if I recall. It was nice to have the "honey I'm home" moment, but it's odd not being at the same place during the day. we worked together at DCT for almost 6 years! He likes the people there and thinks it'll do.

got the new stoof. it's lovely.

I think we're going to go to Millennium Park this weekend and have a picnic.

i took some pictures of our neighborhood. I'll post them soon.

till then...

The big news is yesterday morning, matt got an offer of employment from DeltaQuest imaging - a small family run digital imaging company that serves professional photographers from all over chicagoland. His title is customer service rep/production assistant. He really like the folks over there and is looking forward to learning new things in this new position.

we keep blowing the electricity in the kitchen - last night it was just or wee toaster oven and the fridge plugged into the 4-way outlet. Now, that doesn't seem like an overload to me no matter what the wiring situation is. our poor super is so beaten down by us already. but he's coming in to install and new stove.

Ladies and gentlemen, if you will, a transcript of Matt and Louis conversation about the stove.

Louis: i need to come install a new stoof.
matt: stoof?
louis: stoof.
matt:STOOF? What's a stoof?!
Louis points.
Matt: Ohhhh, STOVE.
Louis: yes. stoof.

he's bring the stoof today and he's going to look at the outlet too.

we had a good day with the cats yesterday rose was finally doing some of her normal things, but then a bit of a bumpy night with rose lying in wait under the bed until lily walked by and then growl/hiss/scream. i hope it doesn't wake our neighbors.

also talked to my cousin tara yesterday and matt and i are going to head up to millwaukee in a few weeks to visit them and their new baby girl.

this weekend we're seeing The Hulk, going to IKEA (again) and having brunch with our friend from our honeymoon that has really facilitated our move to Chi.

first of all - an addendum to the Ribfest post. while we were waiting in line for our second sampling of ribs, matt spied one Dustin Diamond the erstwhile Screech from Saved by the Bell. last seen as the big problem child on TWO seasons of celebrity fit club, (we don't watch it, we watch the soup) he was bearded and a bit tubby and had an entourage of two moderately attractive girls and a big black guy (bodyguard? surely not) Sorry that there's not a picture, but it did happen....you can ask matt.

the biggest story around here is the cats (as usual) some of you may know that even before we moved Rose had a bit of a behavior problem, well the move or just the constant hissing has sent lily over the edge and she has started to retaliate, which is pretty awful, but we're hoping that the current tension can't last forever. Rose has taken refuge here


what she calls "the canopy" we have 10 foot ceilings so I can see why this would be a neat place for a cat to be. This has also been a battleground on a couple of these power struggles. Let me tell you, there's nothing more terrifying than a cat fight 5 feet above your head. you're powerless.

I took a really really really long walk yesterday. we've been trying to take walks each day since we can, but on the map the Borders store looked much closer. I wasn't wearing proper shoes and by the time I got there my feet were killin' so I sat for a spell and drank a blended iced vanilla coffee and promptly made the decision to take the bus home. What had been about a 40 minute walk was a 5 minute bus ride and i got home to discover this!


It's slightly obscured, but that, my friends, is a blister that is 1" in diameter and about an 1/8" deep full of yucky goo. ow.

and at our back door, we have this problem..


a big water puddle. we're apparently on the low end of our porch so all the water under the wood flows to our door step. it's about a half inch deep and the door clearance is about 2 inches so i think we're going to get a paver stone or something so we don't have to jump over it every time we leave the back door.

matt had his first second city writing class last night and feels good about it. there are eight people in the class and he thinks he's either the oldest or nearly so. there are three kids from a university in Arizona here for the summer. what a great thing to do for some summer credit. So a new chapter of his career has started and I'm excited to see where it goes!

first weekend

we had a good one. Saturday we got up early and made the trek to IKEA in Shaumberg, IL. It took about 30 or 45 minutes to get out there, which is about how far it took for us to get to the one in Frisco, too. I thought that our IKEA was enormous, but this one was super-gi-normous. three stories and a huge restaurant in the middle. Very overwhelming and as much as i love ikea, my energy drained about an hour in - before we had a chance to look at all we needed to look at. and if MY energy was drained, you KNOW that matt's energy was completely gone. we were in the market for a dining table, a kitchen island, a desk and a chair. we found several that we liked and took note, but only came home with a lamp and a couple of stools for the bar in the kitchen. We thought we'd head back out there next week to get the rest - we were back out that direction today...

last night we had the pleasure of experiencing what they tell us is a chicago icon - Margie's Ice Cream. I don't know if it's just open late or open all night, but it was pretty weird getting ice cream at 9:30 p.m. But we got a hot fudge sundae served in a giant shell-shaped bowl. Delish!

Our only goal today was to find, purchase and install a window air conditioner. Now, it's not been anything NEAR Texas hot, but has rained pretty much every day we've been here, which makes for some humidity and yesterday it got on up in the 80's, so we decided to take the plunge. We visited a WalMart out in the burbs yesterday and priced some (and should have just bought the one we saw) but we figured that there must be a WalMart closer. There was...sort of closer...and in a very different neighborhood. First of all the store was HUGE not as big as the IKEA, but much much bigger than SuperWalmarts in Texas and it was just a regular walmart. So we get back to the AC aisle and they were completely sold out! down to someone taking away the display as we walked past. So, we headed back out to the burbs and as we drove, the daily storm rolled in and it was a doozie. it took us about an hour to get out there and it was still pouring down when we ran into the store. got to the aisle and there was... one. left. we snatched it and ran. After a long trip home, we installed the AC being very careful not to drop it on passersby.


plugged it in and all the power in the whole house went out. (old wiring)




our super switched it back on about two hours later and we headed to Ribfest



our first experience of the Chicago street festival. pretty crowded, but pretty awesome ribs.




more later...

I woke up early this morning. I realized last night that i needed to post before i got to far behind.
Here's a rundown of what's been going on

• Still unpacking - I think the boxes are multiplying
  
• Rearranged the bedroom for the third time
• Ate pizza that matt loved so much that he wanted to have its pizza babies
• tried (unsuccessfully) to light the pilot light on our clunker of a gas stove
• (successfully) cooked our first meal in this apartment anyway
• went to a two-story Target that has an escalator that takes your cart down beside you
• got new cell phone numbers (email me if you want them)
• I started trying out this telecommuting thing - complete with video conferencing
• Haven't gotten any mail yet
• Tip-toeing around the extraordinarily squeaky floor
• tried (unsuccessfully) to set up wireless router

This might be my favorite part of our apt., but we've not been able to enjoy it due to yucky rain




click here for my flickr page of pics of our apt. and the trip http://www.flickr.com/photos/27381159@N02/

Day 2

We were only marginally better at sedating the cats this morning. This morning we used the combination of the pill popper and brute force to shove the pills down their throats. we were ruthless.

Lily got a whole pill today to see if she'd stay down a little longer. (more on this later)

I purchased Atonement unabridged on CD for the Trip. I think I just need to see the movie. The description is such that it makes me zone out which is the exact reason I got the book on CD in the first place - to keep me alert for 14 hours. When I find myself zoning I switch to searching local radio stations. There's still a lot of country and latino music even in Illinois.

It took us about 8 hours to get from blytheville to our doorstep. Highlights were King Tut's Gas station in the middle of nowhere and a DQ citgo combo outside Champaign/Urbana where matt filled up the truck to the tune of $100 and i hit $50 on our wee elantra. YIKES!

Our buddy Chad Smith helped us unload the truck and then we met up with his lovely wife for dinner in a neighborhood spot.

Now about Lily. So a full pill is a valid dose - don't worry. Because she didn't sleep very much on Sunday, we thought she'd like a little more dope (i mean, what can wouldn't right?) She did sleep, but the effects of the pill lasted the full 12 hours - maybe a little more. So image you've been drugged, have been in and out of consciousness for longer than you can remember then you wake up alone in a stark white room that smells funny (our new bathroom.) Lily had what we think the experts would call a "bad trip." I'm certain that she was hallucinating and was nearly catatonic (har har.) Matt found her hunkered down in the small space between the tub and the sink with her face pushed against the wall. When you'd try to talk to her, all you'd get were these big scared eyes. She finally settled down and slept around my throat for half of the night.

still need to upload picture... until tomorrow (which is really today ;)

Day 1 of the "big move"

I'm creating this blog from the quality inn in lovely blytheville, ark. (just south of the missouri border) We fell short of our day 1 goal by an hour or two, but got a little bit of a late start and had some trouble with the drugging of the cats, so it had already been a long day by our 10 a.m. departure and even longer by the time 6 p.m. rolled around!

basically, we thought we may have OD'ed baby rose. though our vet gave us a nifty gadget that lets you shove the pill back to the back of their throats, we (being the seasoned cat owners that we are) thought that squishing the pills in a treat would work much better. Long story short, there was a melee with the treat/pill situation and after we cleared the scene we weren't sure who ended up ingesting the pill. So for the first hour and a half of our big moving day we watched every move our cats made. "are they sleeping because they're drugged or are they sleeping because that's what cats do?"

anyway, here we are. well on our way (a little over half way to be exact) it rained pretty much all through arkansas so we were well ready to settle in for the night.

we left the girls to explore their new surroundings and went to eat at the olympia steak house. It is one of two Greek themed steak houses that are right next door to each other and to our hotel. Lily thinks this is our new house and wonders if we're running from the law. Rose hates everything and mostly Lily (she blames her for all we've done to her.) They've settled down now - lily's on the foot of the bed and rose is huddled under a chair.

we have about 6 or so hours tomorrow. Pictures to follow...