You know what's disappointing? Finding out a similar condo to yours is for sale next door about 16% lower then the previous sale price. And having a new construction unit that's almost identical, and probably a little bit better (a usable front deck) for 10% less than what we paid for our place. Yuck. Not underwater, but lost money. Also, living and looking at real estate in the city means we overestimate prices for homes in the 'burbs. Which probably means we'll end up overpaying for something out there, if and/or when that happens. Anyway, I can't stop watching Greek. Not that my college life was anything like that, but I just can't stop watching. Lucy spent the night last night at the grandparents. Just watched Hanna, while Tracy was working. That movie had a bunch of music video moments/montages. It was interesting. Probably try and watch Attack the Block on Thursday. Parents are headed to Vegas and Tracy's working this weekend, so I get Lucy Thursday - Sunday. Hope she still likes me after the weekend.

Snowpocalypse 2012 II was ok. And now with the rain and weather it's all pretty much gone already. Lucy did get some snow play time though out on the in-laws deck. We were out there on Sunday to pick up more of Lucy's toys from Christmas, and to make a Target run. Had a 5pm dinner at a surprisingly busy Red Lobster in Downer's Grove. The night before took Lucy out to Jin Ju where she enjoyed some Chop Chae and tried out chopsticks. Got out to Green City Market Saturday morning. Nice to be back, but haven't seen Zullo's in a while. Fairly small turnout, which I guess can be expected. Lucy had some snowplay after the market/museum at a playground. Didn't figure out duct taping her mittens to her sleeves until snowplay on Sunday at the in-laws. Duct tape works great, and will be a stop gap solution until the L-Bow Mittens come in (thanks Russell for the recommendation). I have to find something to wear though, as snow was creeping over the tops of my boots, and the bottoms of my pants were getting wet. Tracy just wore her ski pants.

Now it feels like winter. Another snowpocalypse is upon us tomorrow. Supposedly. Last one wasn't too bad, and didn't stick around, maybe this one will have some staying power. Still trying to plow through The Illuminatus Trilogy. Slow going. Starting to feel like a textbook, or homework, and I just need to power through and finish it. At some point. Tracy joined Goodreads, which is cool. Just on the lookout for more books to read. Maybe this will rub off on Lucy at some point, the reading thing. Of course, who knows what she'll be reading on. My hope is that flexible color e-ink, like futuristic newspapers, are in her lifetime, which would I guess also mean in my lifetime. Apple had a small event to release iBooks 2, with Textbooks, and iBook Author. Rather interesting. You'll see more iPads in high schools at least. It'll be crazy to see if iPads = desks from Ender's Game. I remember not so long ago in movies that you'd have to fake having something like an iPad by using special effects, but now? Just use an iPad. Crazy work week. Probably be a bit crazier for a bit longer. Finally got back on the horse and started the Gorilla Workout again. Still sore from the 8 squats/8 pushups sets as many as you can do in 10 minutes.

Tried out the Apple Store pick up from store option for my dad's new iPad 2 (Christmas present from my mom) last Thursday. Ordering was super easy. Used the Apple Store app on the iPhone 4S. Got to the store, started up the app, said I was there to pick it up, then they told me I'd be notified when it's ready. Not so much. It was pretty empty, and I did turn down the greeter, mostly because I wanted to see how it works. I think the staff hasn't seen it very much either. The app did tell me to meet Steven by the entrance. A problem in the Lincoln Park Apple Store which has 3 entrances. But someone else ended up helping me, without any interaction with the app at all. Super simple transaction, but still wish the app integration worked perfectly. It didn't. Super easy to set up the iPad for my dad too. Had to do some trickery to get his contacts and bookmarks over from his old MobileMe account to his personal email iCloud account. Had time to do all that because Lucy slept over at my mom's, partly because of the snow. That was nice. Saturday got Tracy's car's emissions tested. Brought Lucy since Tracy was working. Ended up at the Evanston Winter Farmer's Market, which was pretty small. Bundled her up and let her play in the snow in a playground for a little bit. Keeping the seal on toddler's gloves/coat seems impossible. I'm thinking duct tape. Otherwise, her snow pants worked out great. She does need boots though. First thing she wanted? A ride on the swing. Park was pretty cool, had a little bouldering/climbing wall. Didn't stay out too long, mostly because it was freezing, and partly because I didn't have a real pair of gloves. Those were waiting for me in the mail when I got home. Sunday went out to breakfast at Kanela's. Haven't done that in a while. Bundled her up again, a little bit better, and let her play in the snow on the roof for a while.