Settling into Chicago

Not much new going on here in Chicago.  I am flying back to Tallahassee on Friday for Mother's Day Weekend.  I am definitely looking forward to seeing my boys.  Especially squish.  I call Nico lots of names: Squish, Meatball, Nicholas Michael Royse, the Boy, Lil Man, etc.  I started calling him Squish because Ms. Sue (his teacher at his old school), would ask, "Jessi, why is he so squishy? (huggable)".  And he is.  You just have to snuggle my boy!!  

Here is a picture of the place where I wait to catch the bus.  I dont know what that kind of tree is called, but it was in bloom last week and the blossoms hadn't fallen completely off- so it was beautiful.  I don't mind waiting for a bus when I get to wait here.  

Last month I bought a groupon for OnRamp Crossfit classes.  Crossfit is... I guess its a bit like a cult.  It meets most of the sociological definitions of a cult.  But it's mostly based on functional movements and strength.  Every year, they have Crossfit games- which are kind of like the Olympics.  The winner is the "Fittest Man/Woman on Earth."  The workouts combine running, rowing, gymnastics, power lifting, olympic lifting, etc.  In any case, I went to the first class yesterday.  It was 1.2 miles from the office, so I walked over there (knowing full well, I might have difficulty getting myself back to the office on my own volition).  

It wasn't too bad.  I thought that my left knee was going to be a big problem, but we worked on technique for squats.  If I do squats "right", then my left knee is not a problem.  I did a 6 set tabata (which is 20 seconds of action followed by 10 seconds of rest).  Squats/situps/lunges.  So I did squats (as many as I could in 20 seconds, followed by 10 seconds of rest). Six times.  Same with situps.  Same with lunges.  I bailed on the last 5 seconds of the 5th set of lunges (mostly because my legs were shaking so bad).  In all, it wasn't too bad.  And I walked my own self back to the office.  

Bonus: I got a pic of the bridge.  I have this goal of running/walking over all the bridges in Chicago.  I already have a bunch done.  It's nice to unexpectedly add one to the list.  

Other than that, not much is going on.  I rode my bike to campus on Saturday, just to see if I could.  It wasnt too bad.  Bike lanes or bike paths almost the entire way.  But then I got lost heading back to North Park.  Per usual.  

I went up to Evanston on Saturday night to Robyn and Jordan's house.  Robyn was the one who sent me the job post for the DePaul job.  I basically fell in love with their street.  I think that when the time comes, we are definitely going to have to consider Evanston (when its time to buy a house).  We had deep dish pizza with Kevin (who I also know from FSU) and his girl Jen, and another couple (Cheryl and Andy).  It was pretty fun.  

Sunday, I went for a run and hit up whole foods (yay!), even if it was like Mad Max Beyond Thunder Dome.    I am trying to eat a lot more fruits and vegetables lately.  I make kale or spinach smoothies for breakfast, have salad for lunch and some type of protein for dinner.  I thought I would try this Odwalla juice because there was sale on it at the grocery across the street from my work (yeah, that is pretty much awesome).  The only problem with this juice is that it tastes like carrots.  

I dont know what I was expecting- maybe something that didnt taste so much like the carrots?