Words of Wisdom

A few weeks ago we were in Missouri hanging out with my family from Oklahoma. My grandma and aunts told me a little about Dr. Spock (NOT of Star Trek fame) who apparently wrote many books and columns about child-raising. His website claims he's one of the world's top pediatricians. My grandma told me he had no children of his own (which I just found out isn't true). My grandma also told me to not listen to the advice of anyone who has not actually raised their own children.

A few days later I gathered up my courage and prepared to take notes: I asked her, since Dr. Spock's instructions were of questionable repute... what was her advice (she raised 9 children on the salary of a high school math teacher)? Her reply? Her sage wisdom? The honey that dripped from her decades of experience?

Grandma: Well, that baby looks pretty happy, so whatever you're doing, just keep doing it.


Huh.

Overheard: Not What You'd Think

Me: Oh, I didn't think they'd transfer my call to you...

Village Employee: Yes?

Me: I know there's a thunderstorm right now but...

VE: Yes?

Me: It sounds like someone is lighting quarter sticks of dynamite near my house.

VE: What does it sound like?

Me: Almost like a gunshot, but deeper pitched. Deeper than my husband's .370 and with a flash of light.

VE: Do you want an officer to follow up with you?

Me: No. Just make it stop.

Overheard: In the City

Me: So can we do it?

Him: We'll have to call J.U.L.I.E. first.

Me: Well how deep would we have to dig?

Him: It depends on the soil consistency.... standard is 2 meters, but with hard soil it would be 4 feet and sandy would be 8 feet.

Me: Oh.

Him: And if you're putting cement around it you'll need rebar.

Me: Really? Cement?

Him: Well, you didn't think you'd just have your a$$ hanging out in the breeze did you?

Me: ...

Me: I love that you know how to build a latrine.

Wow = customer service!

Hi. Have you all given up on me? I haven't posted in such a long time! Why? Too much going on, but nothing really new. I quit my job, we went on vacation, our camera died, Sawyer is crawling backwards and eating lots of yummie home-made foods...

But something did happen that was really cool! I got a personal email from these people thanking me for talking about them on my blog. Huh. Cool! That got me thinking more about customer service and really taking time to thank people who help you succede. And guess what? I'm starting my own business again.

Huh?

Yeah.

Wow.

Declaration to the world: I'm going at it again. This time, Anjali Bodywork presents: Your Place or Mine? A referral based at-home massage therapy business. It's like doing business in Baker, but without the awesome room in the hospital. Totally word-of-mouth marketing, with the same awesome attention to detail and customer service I was able to give my Montana clients. I'm really excited and scared to take this leap again.



Gigantic thanks goes out to Melanie and Lauren for helping me with formatting, graphics, and wording. I'm accepting new clients now, and also any advice on starting a small business!

Just keep swimming... what do you think of my marketing so far?

End of Visit Wrap Up

Sunday we went to Harvest Bible Chaple in Rolling Meadows, then back to our place for a "small" family meal. It was the first meal we'd ever hosted at our house, so things were a little hectic. Not to mention our outdoor BBQ plans were literally washed out when it poured down raining. We had 20 adults, 5 toddlers, and 3 babies in the house. It was nice, but would have been much nicer if the outside could have held some people.

Again, I had not noticed how crowded even the simplist things can be in the city. When everyone poured into the house it got very loud and very... well... crowded. People were gone by about 6pm, babies in bed by 8, and adults awake and visiting until about 11pm. Visiting (remember from our Montana dictionary: hanging out talking) was really nice. Things get so busy here that time spent with friends is ususally spent 'doing' something, not just sitting and talking.

The next morning we woke up at 6am to get our friends to Milwaukee airport by 9:30. They made a cute picture, Mom, Dad, little cowboy and littlier cowboy disappearing into the big metal airport with all of their gear. Little Cowboy was excited to be flying on the metal chicken again. We're already planning our next trip back to Montana for Sawyer's first birthday (sometime in October). I miss Montana.

For a lot of reasons.

So They All Rolled Over and One Fell Out...

...and the little One said, "Too crowded!!!"

I just posted on Facebook that we're having a great time showing off our city to our Montana friends. This is very true. So far:

Thursday night
11:05pm friends arrive to Milwaukee airport

Friday
12:30am Stephan arrives to pick up friends after the worst traffic he's ever seen on an interstate highway.
2:00am friends arrive at house
3:00am friends get to sleep after exciting trip
9:00am Stephan wakes friends up with coffee
11am - 3pm ZOO! but we didn't know that if we had worn Blackhawks clothes we would get in free. There were tons of school groups there in addition to the regular summer crowd of families. The weather was pretty good, but still pretty sticky: 80F with a high humidity. With two strollers and three children (not to mention only a few hours of sleep), we all tired out pretty quickly.
5:00pm Phil's Pizza. Stuffed and thin. We ate more than human beings should be allowed to eat.
6:00pm Bourbon Street to watch the Blackhawks take a powder in game 4. Again, pretty crowded, and a pretty rowdie (that's how cheerleaders spell that word, how do you?) South Side crowd. It did give our friends a good taste of that part of the city!
11:00pm pick up 3 kids from a tired Grammy and Papa's house.
12:30am arrive home to SLEEP!!!

Saturday
7:00am wake up!
10:00am spray tans to make the girls bronze beauties for the day
11:00am leave for Chicago driving tour (courtesy of Stephan)
11:08am experience a near-crash and hear Stephan use some Chicago words while honking the horn.
12:15pm realize that traffic SUCKS but see a lot of the city from the car, including Wrigley Field, Lake Shore Drive, Millennium Park, Grant Park, the Adler Planetarium, the Shedd Aquarium, the Field Museum, Soldier Field, McCormick Place, the ghetto, the Museum of Science and Industry, Northerly Island, Oprah's Condo, and Cabrini Green. (Google all those yourself, my fingers are getting tired of typing links)
1:30pm arrive at Navy Pier to [pay $24 for parking and] ride on the big farris wheel, eat hotdogs, shop for souvineers (I don't think I spelled that right, but I'm really getting tired), take pictures with Obama statues, eat roasted almonds, and get very very tired.
3:00pm get back on I90 to go home. All three children sleep in the car. YEAH!
5:15pm girls go shopping and out for coffee.
8:00pm boys go to some bar, girls put kids to sleep and turn in early.


That's a lot in just two days. We have church in the morning and a good old-fashioned family bbq in the afternoon.

As we were driving and walking around I started to notice just how packed in all the people are here. I mean, I knew it intellectually, but looking around through the eyes of our friends, it is truly exhausting to be so close to so many people constantly. There's pushing and shoving, noisy conversations, walking single-file, maneuvering strollers... Even sitting in the house in the suburbs right now I can feel the press of all of our neighbors around us.

As if I needed another reason to miss Montana.

May Photos