Thursday Morning City Sounds

Now this is a wet way to start your day.....



You would think that his Momma would have, at the least, taught him to keep his shoelaces tied!

Yet another rainy morning in Chicago...but at least today it is warm.

which is not always the norm

“She is just mad because....

no one will take her fat ass anywhere!”

He shouted into his phone as I walked past on my way to the train last night.

Poor gal....lonely, with junk-in-her-trunk, being LOUDLY talked about right there on Upper Wacker Drive.

loud gossipy cell phone users take five

A Media Epidemic

Until this Swine Flu is out of the headlines...I am NOT going to watch and/or listen to the news...starting right now.

Yes, I understand it is serious and certainly I am going to do what I can to keep my family safe....but at this point, I do not see anything constructive in the media discussing it 24/7.

So, unless you want me to watch something along the lines of Snoutbreak '09, I will turn over to the followers of my Snippets, if they should choose to accept, the responsibility of letting me know when it is time to hit the button above.

i am already sick of

“Are you okay?”

The nurse said to me.

Well, I thought I was when I walked into the room to see my daughter, Anna, after her oral surgery last Friday – she had all four of her wisdom teeth removed.

But I guess it was pretty obvious when the nurse saw all the color drain out of my face....that I wasn’t.

“No, I am sorry...I'm not.” I replied.

With the help of another nurse they put me into a wheelchair they had waiting to transport Anna to the car.

My head down, a cold, wet towel on the back of my neck, a couple swigs of water and I started to feel normal again.

“Mom, what is wrong with you?” Anna mumbled thru her bloodied, cotton stuffed mouth.


I can tell you exactly what was wrong with me...I hadn’t eaten breakfast; my daughter just had her first official surgery; I waited for almost two hours to see her afterwards; she was crying when I walked into the room; the nurse had just started explaining how to care for the aftermath in her mouth, when she told me that Anna had opted to save her wisdom teeth....at which point Anna held up a clear plastic bag containing four HUGE teeth...that is when I felt the lights starting to go out.

Although I never FULLY fainted....I had wandered into that in-between place....just before you hit the deck.

I spent the rest of that day and the next two catering to Anna’s needs – which ranged from “I want Velveeta Shells & Cheese and a Smoothie” to “I want more VICODIN!”

She is still recuperating at home today and I am in the process of getting her weaned off the pain pills. With any luck it will all go well and she will be seeing the halls of her high school tomorrow.

And me....well I have let Anna know that I DO NOT want to see her yanked-out teeth any more.

too much blood and gore

Powering Up!

The 500 North LaSalle Street building has finally come full circle.

Built in 1887 for the LaSalle Street Cable Car Powerhouse, it is a rare surviving artifact of Chicago’s cable car system. It was constructed to house engines that moved two miles of cable through channels laid in the streets of Chicago's near north side and Loop business district.

Since that time it has been the spot for such memorable restaurants as Burhop’s, Michael Jordan’s and the most recently shuttered...Lalo’s.

Now the LaSalle Power Company, a food and music venue, is officially opening Friday, May 1st. Being aptly named for its' original purpose, it will power up the north side with great food, drinks and musical talent.

I was asked by manager, Ivan Torres (formerly of English) to stop by yesterday, with my posse, to try out a limited "small portion" menu during their soft opening.

Upon arriving, we were warmly greeted by beautiful hostesses, who made sure, in the frenzy of the soft opening lunch, that we were well taken care of.

I will say that for a new staff and kitchen – I was impressed with our service, the food’s presentation and it’s quality.

Here is a sampling of what we ordered:

"Sliders", with our hands down favorite being the lobster salad....

.

The lettuce wraps with tasty bbq chicken, black bean and corn salsa were very well received...



And I will admit to falling in L-O-V-E with their fries, steak and sweet potato choices....they were wonderful!



and a-not-to-be-forgotten, but-a-little-too-rich for me, Lobster and Steak Pot Pie...



Now, in Susan Snippet’s opinion, LaSalle Power’s key to being successful will be offering quality food, at a reasonable cost, with good service – to the weekday lunch crowd.

On the weekends, with the musical acts being hosted in the completely renovated third floor lounge...


I do not foresee any difficulty in filling it to the rafters...especially if continue pulling in talented musicians, such as Victory Record’s 1997, who will be performing this Saturday, during a special “soft opening” benefit....bringing awareness and funding to The Alliance for Lupus Research.

Stop on by LaSalle Power Company and while you are there...let Ivan know that Susan Snippets sent you to check, check, check it out.

should be powerful without a doubt

Office Chores

Specifically, office kitchen chores.

Who should be in charge of cleaning the everyday used office appliances...say, for instance, the microwave?

In my office, for some reason, we are “old school”....us womenfolk do all the cleaning.

Until about three months ago when the women went on strike and refused to clean the used-by-both-sexes microwave....so as of this morning it looked like this.....




This afternoon we finally gave in....no longer able to stand looking at it, let alone use it..we scrubbed it clean.

We faced the fact that the males in our office don’t care what it looks like, as long as it heats up their killed-by-hitting-it-over-the-head-with-a-club wild game.

cavemen are lame

A Cold Bubble Umbrella Monday

One of these days, in typical Chicago fashion, it will be 85 degrees.

soon please

The Nerve....

on this beautiful Spring day...I am the only admin at the law firm.

Guess what that means?

I had to W-O-R-K all day!!

No lunch walk!

No "real" Snippet's posting!

And...if all of that is not bad enough on this incredible weather Chicago day....

I have to stay at the office until five!!

this is pure jive

A Peaceful Rest

After looking at the above picture of himself on his First Holy Communion day, my father said, with tears streaming down his face...“If I get to see my mother, I am going to ask her how she could beat that little boy so badly.”

I will never forget that conversation...we were seated at the kitchen table of the home he proudly raised us in and unknown to us at the time, he would be passing away just weeks later.

At 65 years of age, 10-feet-tall-and-bulletproof in my eyes, he could still be brought to tears from the abuse that was inflicted on him as a child.

And he suffered the worst kind of abuse....abuse from those that were to be his protectors.

His parents - a mother that carried out the beatings and a father that only once stepped in and said "Gert, that's enough!"

For you, Pops, I pray you have had some closure so you can rest in peace.

that pain needed to cease

You are never too old....

to turn your dreams into a reality.

Susan Boyle, a contestant on Britain’s Got Talent reality show, has always wanted to be a professional singer. At 47, unemployed, living with her cat, Pebbles and never having been kissed...she walked out onto the stage to perform before the three judges and a standing room only theatre...I will let the video speak for itself...CLICK HERE.

I don’t know about you...but it brought tears to my eyes.

what a wonderful surprise

The "Red Eye" Guy

I first noticed him as I walked through the long hallway that connects the Merchandise Mart and the Apparel Center. He had a bundle of The Red Eye newspapers under his left arm. As I walked up alongside him, I commented "You must bring The Red Eye for everyone in your office!"

He looked at me from beneath the brim of his tattered baseball cap and nervously said "Ahhh, yes."

So a week or two later when I saw him again...I said "Good Morning, Red Eye Guy!" at which point he abruptly stopped in his tracks and turned to face the wall...as if I wasn't there.

I have seen him several times since...but have decided, with all of my Susan Snippets' common sense, not to chat him up again.

knowing to the wall i would send

Easter Feasting

After a raucous wake-you-up-and-get-the-blood-a-flowing church service at Harvest Bible Chapel yesterday morning....I headed to my Momma’s house for dinner.

And I am not talking about your normal Sunday dinner, but an eating event beyond compare!


If at any point, you think that Susan Snippet's is an exaggerator...here is a list of what, to the best of my sieve of a memory, I can recall, with EVERYTHING, including sauces, being cooked/baked from scratch by our southern-rooted-should-have-been-a-farmer’s-wife Momma, with help from some of us others:

Baked Ham;

Turkey Breast;

Stuffing;

Mostaccioli with Red Sauce;

Meatballs;

Italian Sausage;

Baked Potatoes;

Baked Macaroni and Cheese (with the sides a little crusty so it had a chewy, crunch around the edges!);

Corn;

Cauliflower with Cheese Sauce; and

Rolls;

The table was then cleared and due to some folks having to visit other relatives, we quickly placed the desserts out for consumption.

Desserts (again each homemade) were as follows:

Yellow double-layer cake with butter cream frosting;


Chocolate cupcakes with cream cheese frosting;

Chocolate Scotcharoos;

Chocolate and Butterscotch Chip cookies;

Chocolate Éclair Cake; and

Italian Anise Easter Cookies.

Excessive?

Maybe.

But I would not want it any other way.

dieting starts again today

"No! I am not going!"

"It is too expensive and dumb!"

All in response to me asking my daughter if she is planning on going to her Senior Prom.

Her far west suburban Chicago high school has decided that prom this year, for the first time ever, will be held at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry.

With a price tag of $125 per person and a round trip total of 3 hours on a bus.

My gut instinct was to argue against her decision and I did...

”This is your SENIOR year!” “Your SENIOR prom!” “How can you NOT go?”

I implored...several times over.

And then I stopped...mid-sentence...wait a minute...

She DOES NOT want to go....this is going to save me a TON of money!

No expensive-will-only-wear-once dress;

No have-to-have accessory jewelry, purse and shoes;

No “up-do” hairstyle, that unless Auntie Cindiloo volunteers to do again, would cost me $60+.

No acrylic nails;

No pedicure;

No florist bill;

If she doesn’t want to go, what do I do...insist?

on behalf of my meager savings i will resist

Reflecting

We all do it - either often or just occasionally.

It is how we are wired.

There is an inner need to take a glance or sometimes a lingering look.

As I did today while walking past the Civic Opera House, after seeing the man in front of me partake in it, it made me wonder why.

Could it be that we want to see if we look as we imagine ourselves looking in our mind’s eye?

Do you know why?

heavy sigh

ACM Award Show Big Winner

Not only did Carrie Underwood win the Academy of Country Music's Top Award of Entertainer of the Year.....but she also saved the show from possible mayhem and destruction...when at the last minute she blinded the menacing-uninvited-snuck-past-the-tight-security, Jabba the Hut....

by hiding him in the dark under her dress.

what a mess

Returning

Home for me is still the split level on Prairie Avenue, where if blindfolded, I could make my way around the interior, all the while narrating details of each and everything I touch and breathe in.

The same home where my parents raised eight children, having only three bedrooms, one bathroom and we never, ever felt crowded, just blessed.

With its well-worn wooden stairs, the middle of each tread pounded smooth by a million plus footsteps over all these years.

Its long expanse of a backyard where the grass eventually turns into stone and flows up against the late-night-rumbling-freight tracks.

I have adapted to changes of location with the ebb and flow of life, but it still doesn’t sit well within me.

I am so very thankful that my Momma still lives in that house, for I always know when things get hectic and I need some inner rebalancing, where I can run.

651

When I was twelve years old…..

my up-until-then blue collar, lower-middle-class parents, inherited some money.

A SIZABLE sum of money.

So much money, in fact, they decided to give their children what they never had while growing up....worldly experiences and culture.

They sent each of us that were of school age, which would have been 5 of the six born at that time, to boarding schools abroad.

I got sent to France...spending the next six years of my school career absorbing their language, history and the everyday life of being French.

I graduated from the prestigious Collège Lycée International Cévenol speaking fluent French and in love with their people.

During my time there I met Alexandra and we have been friends ever since. She has visited me several times in the States and I have taken my children to visit her and her family, where we wandered all over Paris and Northwestern France.

Here is a picture of Alex and Anna walking back from Mont Saint Michel...

You might be wondering WHY after all this time, have I never mentioned this incredible slice of my life...well being the humble Susan Snippets that I am, I didn’t want to fill you with envy and make you drool.

you april fool