My Top Ten.....Apologies to Letterman......

Well, we've passed the half-way point in our Great Chicago Adventure. And, I've learned some things about city life. Following is my Top Ten Things that I've learned as a Chicagoan these past almost seven months. This won't be clever or anything.....I'll leave that to Letterman.....but it's kinda cool to look back on what I've had to change or adapt to in our new life here.

1. Cars are the hassle I've always thought they were. Driving's not bad....but the parking will kill ya. We use ours here for going to Classical Conversations (school) on Mondays, church on Saturday nights and Costco outings. Sometimes, too to the grocery store......I wish I had tracked our mileage since we moved here. I'm sure it's just a fraction of our average Atlanta mileage. We walk everyday and urban life makes it easy.

2. Dogs are important to me and to Sarah. I really miss not having one (or two) here with us. I frequent the pet adoption sites, and the breed specific websites. Sarah will peek over my shoulder and say, "You shouldn't be out there...." and she's right. We often walk to the Dog Park across the street to get our fix. We'll get a couple furry children when we get back to ATL.

3. A hamster is not a dog. Sarah tried to teach Snowball to sit and stay. Entertaining to watch , but not successful as you can imagine.

4. Gardening is something I miss when I don't do it. Even if I had a balcony with several big pots, that might be enough. Now that the seed catalogs are arriving in my mailbox, I'm really frustrated that I'll miss the planting again. I probably just need to not read them. I've also been known to deadhead and weed on the sly in the Lurie Gardens at Millennium Park.

5. Culture (you know, opera, concerts, museums....) feeds my soul. I'm happier when I get regular doses of it. It's MUCH easier to get here in the city than back in ATL.

6. You can get a bike on and off an elevator quickly if you plan ahead.

7. I LIKE riding my bike. Especially on the Lakefront path. Exercise in general has much more appeal if there's a purpose to it. Riding to the museum.....walking to the library or dinner.....that's the kind of exercise I wish I could do all the time. Round and round on the treadmill makes me crazy.

8. If you don't read the papers, the Chicago politics don't bother you.

9. Diversity is fascinating. In my building alone, where I'm sure we are ethnic minorities, I've heard countless different languages being spoken. It's amazing.

10. I need a house with a yard in downtown Chicago. Any ideas?