I had a busy day on Wednesday, and I totally forgot to get online!
The day started with sleeping in till noon— JUST KIDDING!
I went on an adventure yesterday- an adventure called the Secretary of State, the IL DMV and The City Clerk’s Office- ans surprisingly? I didn’t want to rip our my hair afterward.
Because my Honda Fit is my first car in the city (other than the POS I brought with me from Iowa 8 years ago that I kept here for 3 months then sold) and I had NO idea what I needed to do to make sure it was legally registered for the state. Thank goodness, the Secretary of State’s office believes in the interweb so I had printouts of brochures of everything I needed. The only problem was, when I moved, I forgot to grab all my car purchase info, and I have no idea which box all that crap is in. So I had to talk to the back I got the loan from, and get a copy of the title (and, though it said differently on the brochure, a copy of my loan application that had to be faxed from the bank at 9AM to the office).
Anyway, I took Mr Bus (that is what my mom calls the bus) over to the office, as parking is sooooo pricey in the Loop. I got to the office about 45 minutes after it opened, expecting to stand in a loooong line. I even brought a magazine (or 4).
NO LINE! I was first! Seriously- I almost teared up.
though I had to fill out forms, wait for my bank to fax over info, fill out tax forms and pay a cashier, I was out of there in less than 30 minutes. Everyone was polite, jovial even and wished me a happy early birthday.
Seriously! Nice! JOVIAL EVEN!
On to the DMV. When I got my license in GA, the (mistakenly??) gave me back my IL license, which did not expire until Nov of 2011. I thought I would be OK using the “old” one until it expired– yeah, I was wrong. I am glad I checked. Getting a license in another state negates the other state’s. Good to know.
What was not good to know was that I had to take the test (slightly unprepared) and get a whole new photo. It was raining, I looked like a drowned rat, and I had not a stick of makeup on. Of course.
But I got right in (as he printed my “take a number”, they were already calling my number), got new paperwork, got flirted with by 3 different DMV employees, paid for my new license, took the test, got my picture taken, and got my license all in under 25 minutes. REALLY.
Again, nice, jovial, joking, flirty, and quick.
All this is so foreign to me- when I got my last license in IL in 2002, it took me 2 hours. And they were CRABBY.
Last but not least, I got my new city sticker in the office in City Hall. I have never been in the building before and it is very pretty. What I really loved was there was a walkway from the Thompson Center to City Hall so I didn’t get all wet. 
Again, in and out in 10 minutes. Nice, easy, helpful, great.
I was in and out in one hour and 15 minutes. That HAS to be some sort of record!
I went for a walk to the Walgreen’s waaaaay far away (called the wrong one) to pick up a Rx, and since it has stopped raining, I really enjoyed myself. Chicago is such a pretty city.
I came home and took a short nap, then went for my annual “two days before my b-day” haircut.
I love my friend/hairstylist Trisha. She really knows how to cut super curly hair, AND I love that she blow dries my hair straight LOVE IT! So I have straight hair and it is rainy out- of course.
I also went to the Shedd Aquarium with my godchildren last night for a behind-the-scenes look at how they keep the place up and running. Some cool things I learned (while wrangling two 6 year olds and a 4 year old):
- They use alot of the same medical equipment we do to take care of the animals. They showed us how they get foreign objects out of turtles (with a flexible laryngiscope) and showed us some of the animals who were in ICU.
- We got to have a birds eye view of the BIIIIG aquarium where the sharks are held, and learned what they eat (small shellfish) and how they transport the animals for care. They also use signs for each of the largest sharks (using a Pavlov’s Dog response) to individually feed them.
- We learned that the Shedd makes their own sea water! Contrary to popular belief, The DO NOT use Lake Michigan water. Not only is is NOT salty, it does not have the right Ph balances. The Shedd used to SHIP THE WATER IN from the actual sea on TRAINS!! (how expensive must that have been?!?) but now they have these boxes called “sea in a box” that they use to make the water. This was my favorite fact of the night.
- The night was tailored to kids, though I think 6 and 4 might have been a bit young for the big words being thrown at them (even almost 32 was also getting a bit confused with the big words sometimes!) The Shedd had areas to color and the like, and my goddaughter/niece M made this (also, I filmed what her brothers made) :
They are so cute. She was drawing pictures of “me” all night.
One thing I love to do with M is count stairs when we are going up/down them. She LOVES doing this and is soooo excited when we ge to them. Man, i think i counted 500 steps last night. It was good exercise!
I ended up walking over 11300 steps yesterday, and most of it was in the Shedd! WHOO HOO! I had 43 minutes total of aerobic movement.
Today, I am relaxing most of the day then tonight, I am headed to opening night of Banana Shpeel, the new Cirque Du Soleil show in Chicago. My friend won tickets and is taking me as a birthday present!! I am SOOO excited to see this show – it will be my first Cirque show!
OK, off to look for a job!
