March Madness - and I'm not talking basketball....

Hello, again, hello!

I have not forgotten you, my lovely blog readers!  I actually have been thinking about you quite a bit.  I think about you when I am trying not to read the books for school - I need something to distract me from subjects as boring yet confusing as finance.  I also was thinking about you this past weekend as I pulled out my real camera and aimed for some great St. Patty's Day pics.

We have had some craziness going on around here, and it doesn't look like it will stop anytime soon.  First and foremost is the health situation in my family.  Apparently, my house is where tonsils go to be yanked out.  Tony, my husband, is having his tonsils pulled on Thursday, along with fixing his deviated septum.  He has to stay overnight at the hospital on Thursday, so I will be with him on Thursday and will bring him home on Friday.  Also, we had an appointment for Olivia, and her tonsils need to be yanked as well.  We are going to schedule her surgery for the summer because they need 10 days for recovery.

Second is our appliances.  Our refrigerator has stopped working correctly.  We went and finally bought the deep freezer we've been talking about getting for the past 5 years or so, but we can't turn it on until tomorrow evening.  Also, the refrigerator repair man will be stopping by tomorrow to hopefully fix my beautiful fridge.

Third is school.  I'm in a finance class that is kicking my butt.  It's difficult, to say the least, and I have been spending quite a bit of my time trying to catch up.  I'm almost halfway through though, and will hopefully get enough of a grasp to pass.

Fourth is family.  My brother has secured a part in Rent, playing in Chicago.  He returns to our fair city tomorrow and we couldn't be more excited.

Fifth is the weather.  Um, 80's in the middle of March, in Chicago.  This is crazy and confusing.  It feels and looks like April/May, but is only March.  I don't know what to think, wear, do.  I'm very perplexed by this weather.

Speaking of the weather, we went to our first St. Patrick's Day Parade ever yesterday.  Not just as a family, but neither Tony or I had ever been to this parade.  Here are some lovely pictures from our awesome day! 

P.s.  We are all rocking sunburns, me with the worst and Tony is perfectly tan - as usual.

Here we are on the train to the city.  It was PACKED!

Look - we finally made it and found a spot.

Across the street from us - people and skyline.

Random kilt wearing band.

We even got to see Mayor Rahm - that's him with the thumbs.

Mia had a great seat!

 

We got bored with the parade after about an hour (and only 1/3 of the way done), so we decided to strike out on our own in the city.  Here are some pics of what we saw.  Above, Lake Michigan.

Skyline

Buckingham Fountain (off for the winter) with the line for the port o potty.

I really enjoy this picture.  That's the Lake in the background.  It never ceases to amaze me how beautiful Chicago is.

Day in the life, walking down Van Buren.