In fact, I did go to the gym this morning before work. My level of fitness has declined in the last two sedentary weeks… I will need to be a bit more consistent.
Things to get done tonight:
Brian and I are saving together for the wedding. We expect to pay for about 80% of it as far as we know. Because of that we are trying to save up $7000 in the next seven months, which will give us a total of ten grand — cheap for a typical U.S. wedding I guess. But then again, I am not getting a $2000 dress or $2000 wedding bands. The money is definitely going toward fun stuff for the guests, like the food, drink, and music. And we will have an excellent pro photographer.
This morning I talked online with Chicagoans I know about quality of life there. It seems like those who I know there love the place, and describe it as being a kid-friendly city. The last thing I want to do is be yet another family that succumbs to “white flight” once we have kids. I am not going to let it happen. Millions of people grow up in cities, and millions of them turn out just fine. I reckon it’s poor parenting that will mess up a child faster than living in a city where they might be exposed to things like, oh I dunno, non-white people.
And the suburbs can be just as dangerous, if not more dangerous, than cities. Suburbs are known to be hotbeds of boredom, apathy, isolation, and drugs. Kids in the suburbs bring guns to school and use them. The suburbs don’t have any kind of lock on safety or the moral high ground. They are just places where everyone has cars, people have big houses where everyone gets their own room, and the people are far away from their neighbors. Places with malls and gas stations instead of locally-owned shopping enclaves or museums. Suburbs to me = Wal-Mart. Not a place where I would want to raise kids.
I say this all as a person who was, naturally, raised in suburban Seattle. Where I grew up actually bordered on rural. And as I got older, I watched as trees were cut down, pastures were cleared, and rows of houses went up like rows of dentures. The suburbs were boring, unless you loved running around in the woods like I did, unless you liked to read all the time like I did, unless you liked to do drugs like I didn’t. Once I got my car, I would go into the city on the weekend. The city was an escape, with music and beautiful buildings and real coffee.
I would rather live on a farm than the suburbs.
Jane, i love safeway for film processing. i ask for white border and matte printing and they always come out perfect.
Awesome! Me too. That is the plan. I can’t wait to see these pictures. I took the roll mainly in Northern Michigan and Mackinac Island. A few good horsey shots, too.
Hi Jane! Haven’t read you in awhile … I grew up in Chicago (in the actual city) and it was great. The parks, the lake, the cool museums, the old downtown stuff, and less provincial than SF in many ways. I highly recommend.
We went to Mackinac Island, too, once, when I was eight. I got to go along with my cousin’s family and stay at the Grand Hotel. Things that impressed us most: 1) all the fudge shops, 2) all the horses, and 3) the ice cream with chocolate sauce in the hotel dining room.
See you around town!
Chrissa
Hey Chrissa! Yay! Yeah I remember that about you being from Chicago.
I have so much fudge at home right now š
I hope you’re doing well!