Yesterday was the first really fun day away from home with the kids and Second Daughter. She had a day off where it worked out that we both had some errands to do. So while she got Ginger Snap and Sammy Bo Baggins ready to leave, I walked through my new neighborhood. I'm in the Lincoln Park neighborhood of new city....The Windy City, and boy has it been the last week, cold and windy. I was glad I didn't have to go outside. Saturday was not as bad, and I felt good, walking the city blocks, passing all sorts of local businesses, everything from bakeries and grocery stores to lawyers and doctors. I picked up my taxes and then got my meds refilled, and walked back all by myself without getting lost or even needing to use my phones GPS. It still felt like a small town....my little chunk of Chicago.
Once I got back home and the kids were all snow suited up, we left for the train. My first ride on the train as an actual citizen of Chicago...not just a visitor. We were planning Ginger Snap's birthday party, which is coming up this month. We found the perfect place to reserve, now all the real planning can commence. The sports center had a pond with fish in it that Ginger Snap and Sammy Bo Baggins were very interested in. After that, Second Daughter knew the cutest little ice cream place, so we stopped for ice cream, and I paid before she could. I really wanted to take the boys out for ice cream. It was a fun adventure. Riding the train to a different part of another neighborhood, made me remember my vacation with First Daughter in Manhattan. She had said, If you close your eyes it sounds almost like New York. I tried it, and smiled. I miss us together, but I know I will see her again soon. (actually via google hangouts tonight at gaming.....I love technology)
Somehow, seeing the skyscrapers from the train, it hit me. I'm in a city again. A big city. Not the first born city of our country, not New York, and not the spoiled youngest city of dreams, LA, but the middle child city....Chicago. And old city with a great history, and a diverse population, everywhere you look, people of many colors; buildings old and new. I finally don't feel like a fish out of water, like I did all those years in the small towns of Wisconsin. Perhaps if I had lived in Milwaukee, it would have been different. I enjoyed my visit to that city as well. But I didn't get the chance to live in a big city in Wisconsin, and quite honestly, I missed Los Angeles and Colorado Springs. Chicago is the second largest city I've lived in, and one that has a great mass transit system. Very different from Los Angeles, where I drove everywhere. Here I walk everywhere, or will take the train or bus. I feel very european about this, and am looking forward to a time where I won't even own a car. (I just felt my second husband have a mild stroke at this thought) HAHA!
I know there is a lot going on back in Wisconsin with family and friends, and I wish everyone had more time to keep me posted. But I'm hopeful, that with time, that will happen. If not, I guess I'll have to understand, and hope that I haven't lost anyone I love with my relocation. Time will tell. I suppose. And if I'm lucky, Fate will be on my side this time.
Sunday morning, and my grandkids are up, while the parents sleep, on a quiet snowy morning. I think it may be time for some breakfast as I can hear My Little Pony's---one of Ginger Snap's favorite cartoons, playing on the television. Must have more coffee. Coffee goes great with early morning happy baby sounds, and helpful big brother ideas.
Hope your days are filled with as much of the simple joys of life as mine are.
Cheers.
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