One nice thing about un/self-employment: I went swimming over lunch at one of the Chicago Park District pools. For the first 10 minutes, I was the only one in the pool. Even at the most crowded, everyone had their own lane. Very cool.

Did I mention swimming at the Park District pools is free? I love this city.

I was going to be good this morning and go to the pool. But the US/Germany game was on.... Damn, that was fun. I managed to miss the first half, but screamed my head off for the second. (Sorry, Wendy.)

I started out on ESPN, but got annoyed by all the talking. Stop trying to make it a dry sport thing. On Univision, at least they're excited by everything -- they're yelling and screaming and getting involved. And I have no idea what they're saying, which is an added bonus. Plus, I got a kick out of them talking about "Toby Hhones." What can I say, I'm easily amused.

Oh well. The US kicked ass for getting as far as it did, against everyone's expectations. It was a great game.

Now I will, of course, be rooting for whoever is against Germany in the next round....

Check out this link that Angie sent me. Heh. Stupid corporate name people.

Also, have I mentioned how cool legos are? So very, very cool.

Finally! I got the report. Now to work.....

Yesterday was my first real day of unemployment. I'm not sure I like it. Damn protestant work ethic -- I kept trying to figure out what I should be doing. I'm waiting (and waiting... and waiting...) for a proofreading job to get delivered, and sending out clips to anything that's even vaguely possible. So it's not like I'm just sitting on my ass. (Actually, I am sitting on my ass, but that's what happens when you're writing and searching and waiting. So it's in a good way.)

I have discovered I'm just not a very Zen person. Letting it be ain't working for me. I hate waiting. You would think that five years of Quaker school would have had some effect on me, but alas, you would be wrong.

On he upside, I met with a bunch of Chicago bloggers last night at Hopleaf. It's a cool group of people, and I'm not just saying that because they now know where my blog is. I have several new blogs to check out.

Right, enough boring stuff. I've been meaning to post this for a while, as stolen from Crazy Tracy:

A to Z
A - Animals/Pets: Bug (domestic shorthair). Recently deceased pet: Mongo (tough-looking wimp-cat, may he rest in peace.)
B - Best Friend(s): Angie, Lotti, Shannon, Tripp
C - Cohabitants: Just the cat.
D - Desire(s): Successful freelance career writing about whatever catches my fancy. And world peace.
E - Eye Color: Brown with green.
F - Favorite Food(s): Chocolate, cheese
G - Games: Trivial pursuits, Celebrities
H - Habit(s): Nail biting
I - Interests: Books, writing, movies, books, mocking bad movies, books.
J - Job: You got one for me?
K - Kitchen (Wonder or Blunder?): I can cook rather well, I just tend not to.
L - Languages: English, minimal French that gets better with the application of wine.
M - Most Valued Possession(s) (an item, not people/pets): Jade fish necklace from Hong Kong.
N - Name (Named after?): Sarah Ann. Just because my parents liked the sound of it.
O - Outfit You Love: Total comfort gear. But there is a green silk dress that made me look like Marlene Deitrich that I'd love to fit into again.
P - Pizza Toppings: Cheese, pepperoni. And cut it like a damn pie!
Q - Question Asked To You the Most: "Are you serious?" (Usual answer: No.)
R - Relationship/Partner: None currently.
S - Sport: (Playing) swimming; (Watching) World Cup Football, baby!
T - Television Show(s): Buffy, Angel, Smallville, Gilmore Girls.
U - Unsavory characteristic(s): Depression, insecurity, talking with great authority on subject about which I know nothing, a certain amount of self-righteousness (NATIONALIST China!), being too hard on myself.
V - Video (Favorites): The Philadelphia Story, The Lion in Winter, The Princess Bride, Totoro, Lord of the Rings (or it will be, when it comes out), Gallipoli, The Matrix, Supercop, the list goes on....
W - Webpage (Favorite--not your own): feral living
X - Xylophone (or other Instrument?): I learned piano and saxophone as a kid, but didn't keep up with it. I can sing reasonably well.
Y - Year Born: 1970, Chinese Year of the Dog.
Z - Zodiac Sign: Cancer.

The apartment -- and my life -- thus far:

Kitchen: Fabulous. I'll have to post pictures. Yellow paint, white trim, open and airy now. It looks great. Mom and dad and I painted, and I've got bits of paint all over my arms and legs to prove it.

Refrigerator: This was a bit of a conundrum. The Polish Subcontractors moved it when they were working on kitchen and bathroom, and somehow the wheels broke off the front. They claim the wheels were like that when they got there. I an skeptical, but have no proof otherwise. So: Dad riveted the wheels on again. Dude. Rivets are cool. And since he has a rivet tool at home, I get to keep the one he bought for this purpose! Wheee! Let me know if you need anything riveted, 'cause I'm the Rivet Queen. Go me.

Anyway, once the wheels were back on, there's still the problem of the kitchen floor by the fridge being nowhere near level. So dad bought a boatload of shims and built a ramp for the back wheels. It's roughly the height of a wheelchair ramp, or possibly a freeway on-ramp. He went a little crazy with the cheese whiz there. But the fridge is now level, and I am never moving it again. Ever. So help me god.

Freezer: Stocked with leftovers. Thanks, mom!

Dust: Largely gone. Except the bits that are not. But there's much less of it.

Shelves: I built shelves in the closets of my office and spare bedroom, using these brackets and two-by-fours. Note: two-by-fours are heavy. I did not fully realize this until I schlepped 46 of them of various lengths up my stairs. They make exceedingly sturdy shelves. Some of them are even level. I'm so proud.

Dad mentioned that they were sturdier than necessary, and the I easily could have used one-by-fours. "Ah," I said, "but think of the sense of accomplishment I got when I put those things together." "But you didn't need --" "Shut up, Dad. I'm sticking with sense of accomplishment." (I don't think he was convinced. Stupid rational engineer types!)

For the shelves in the spare room, I'd measured wrong and some of the boards I'd had cut didn't fit. Doh! Dad trimmed them and installed them. Thanks, dad.

Front garden: Weed-free, thanks to my mother, who was appalled by the state I'd let it sink to. Um, oops? It's still much better than it used to be? Sigh.

Various scratched, marred or unpainted bits of the main rooms: Now painted. Damn, I have a good-looking house.

Freelance prospects: Not hopeless. I've got a proofreading gig lined up. Wheeee!

Full-time-job prospects: Also not hopeless. But still no phone call. Oh please, oh please.....

Vacation prospects: Look, I really, really want to go to France with the family in July. The tickets are purchased. The plans have been laid. It would suck if something piddling like a full-time job got in the way of it. It's a dilemma.

Ohmigod, ohmigod, ohmigod! Lotti and John are engaged! Huzzah!!

As both of you are insane, I imagine the union will be a lasting one.

Lotti, get your own blog, or I'll be forced to tell the story about your mother's reaction here.

My kitchen looks great. Huzzah!

Waiting for the phone to ring sucks. Just call me and give me work, already. Please?

Obviously, I haven't gotten into the swing of unemployment yet. According to Mary, there should be more staying up watching bad TV or gambling until 5 a.m., then sleeping all afternoon. Hmmm. Just hasn't happened yet. Maybe after my parents leave...

Hey, does anyone out there have any experience with e-lance? Or sologig? Are they worth the subscription fee?

So I am now officially unemployed. So far, it's not so bad. It took forever to fill out the forms and go through all the rigamarole at the unemployment office, but that should be the last time I need to go in. From now on, I just call and they send me a check. Eventually.

My parents arrived yesterday, and we're fixing and painting and repairing and generally doing things. I was not even close to getting all the dust off, so we spent most of yesterday dusting and vacuuming and mopping and dusting again. Mom was pretty much appalled. It's not that I liked the dust -- I wanted it gone. But I was willing to let it take quite some time to be gone, over several months, perhaps. I'd be happy to dust an item, set it down, nap, read a book, watch some TV, play with the cat, then dust something else. Apparently that is not the optimal way of getting things done. My mistake.

Mom and I had a brief conversation earlier about whether she was sure I was, in fact, her child. Because she and Dad go about this dusting-painting-cleaning-working thing much more naturally than I do. At one point during today's painting, Dad said "There is something you could do, Sarah..." and I responded "Sit on the couch and read the paper? Sure!" (It didn't work.)

They're so energetic and efficient that they've almost finished all the things I needed done. I'm going to have to invent new tasks -- preferably ones that involve me sitting on my ass. I had thought about putting a new closet organizer in my bedroom, but that would necessitate my cleaning out the closet, and that's just not right. Sigh.