Life 4.27.20 - 5.3.20

Life

7 weeks of WFH- not much has changed except I now go into the office 1x a week. I had originally planned to run commute, but my bag is too bulky/heavy. I then decided biking would be good-  but the weather was crap so I got a ride from L. 

I felt overwhelmed being at work despite there being only 20% of the normal workforce. I feel it is too early to return. I felt overwhelmed when I went to the grocery store on my lunch hour to pick up a few things. Previously I had gone to Jewel once around Easter and was in/out so fast I didn’t have time to process. This time at WF was my second time in a large grocery store since March 13. They were counting the number of people in the store and nearly everyone had masks on. It was nice to browse and pick up a few things- but so weird to be in a big space like that. 



I really enjoyed the reflection of the buildings in this puddle on Michigan Ave last week. 



Ze is a happy boy and we are thankful he is in our lives. 

He got some refills of baby Dinos this week. 


He loves carrying them around in his mouth and chomping on them to make them squeak.  He also shoves them at us or another toy when he plays- vs biting directly. He’s fun. 

Food

We are continuing to cook during the week and only order carry out Friday evening - Sunday. 

I made (heated up) bbq jackfruit, and made rice bowls with various veggies. 

Our carry out routine was comprised of Firehouse for their amazing chocolate cake, grilled cheese and chicken sando. 

Chocolate cake from Firehouse. They have a new dessert special every week and without knowing what it is, we always order it because they have all been amazing. 

On Saturday we picked up food and drinks from Marz (our usual Sunday funday place pre covid) and then stopped by Centennial for a crowler + some Hop butcher. 

On Sunday, L drove to 18th street to pick up their Bloody Mary trio + some food. I stayed home and cleaned our place. I was so happy I decided to stay home and get something done. I knew if I went with him I wouldn’t have gotten anything completed. 


Sunday night was pizza night. I made a mushroom pizza- sautéed mushrooms in butter, garlic, thyme and some sherry and used gruyere/Swiss cheese.  L made a ham and pepperoni pizza. 


We bought the pizza oven 4 years ago after visiting friends in Berlin who had a similar model. It has been so wonderful to be able to make fresh pizza frequently  on the balcony the past few months. 

Workouts

Woo Hoo! I completed one of my highest mileage running weeks in a while. 20 miles. Lol. The Great Virtual Run Across Tennessee has helped Ze and I get out of the house more to run  and log miles  

Ze and I ran a few times before work. He gets so excited when we go for runs. 


I hit level 25 on Zwift and got a new kit to wear. 


We took photos with the Art institute lions- they both received masks but some asshole jerks stole one of them. 


We celebrated our first Saturday MRC run with a 10k to keep the Mikkeller Running Club Spirit alive. We miss the group runs and post run beverages So much. 

Goals: continue to build running miles to achieve around 35-40 miles a week running+ walking

Cycling- 100 miles a week (down from 150)

Strength- be more consistent and use the apps I’ve got and log my time. 

Thoughts

Nothing new to report on. America is still a raging dumpster fire thanks to incompetent “leaders.” 

Mas

On Saturday, we should have had our first Saturday event with MRC Chicago. That night we should have been on a plane to Copenhagen. Sunday we should have been able to sit at the Mikkeller CPH airport bar for a few hours before our flight to Stockholm. 

This would have been L’s first time to Stockholm and my second. I always wanted to return after I visited in 2002. 

Pictures from 2002

I’m quite bummed to not be in Scandinavia this week- for the past 5 years we’ve gone to Copenhagen for the beer festival  (and sometimes someplace else). It’s one of the best weeks of the year- we try new beer and see so many fun people. We hope to be able to go later in the year but I’m not looking too far ahead at the moment. 

Life 4.20.20 - 4.26.20

Life

6 weeks of WFH. Not much has changed on that front except I have to start going to the office 1x a week. 

Getting to run with Ze and L was nice on Sunday. 

Zé is a happy boi- he carries his Dinos around with him - especially if we bring one of the others “to life.” Then he tries to shove the one in his mouth at the one we’ve got. 


We had a Zoom with Kim, Violet, Anne and Ze last week. It is always nice to see them. 


Birds have returned to our balcony. Zé barked at one of them, but decided to play ball as it watched. 


Every morning I do the New York Times mini crossword puzzle. 

Food

We kept up with making food during the week and getting carry out on the weekend. 

We made pizza again and again. Roasted vegetable tacos were delicious! I also tried to make crumpets with sourdough discard, but they burned on the bottom and didn’t cook through on top- they went straight to the bin. With the remaining batter, I made pancake type things. 

And more pizza! 



We got take out Friday night from Firehouse- I had a short rib grilled cheese, we also got delicious Italian sandwiches (I had the muffuletta) and Nduja arrancini from Teptesta market. Sunday was fried chicken from Harbor- which has fast become one of our favorite places. 


We will continue to cook at home during the week. I would like to start making items out of my cookbooks- but most of the recipes would involve getting extra ingredients I don’t already have - which is my current barrier. 

Workouts 

Cycled 160 miles and ran 5. I enjoy cycling in the mornings a ton. Running outside makes me feel great- but the weather was cold and I just didn’t care to get dressed in layers for 2-3 miles with Ze. 

He knows that the harness is for running and gets so excited he starts shaking in the elevator on our way down to run. 

One day I decided to do 20 push-ups each hour. (Mainly to get myself off the couch and move a bit) I lasted 6 hours and the next day I was quite sore. 

I’m happy to not have decided on any big races or goals for 2020 at the end of 2019. A few races I was signed up for got cancelled but that’s life. 

It’s been nice to run and cycle as I please.  That being said, I signed up for 2 virtual events. “The great virtual race across Tennessee” which starts May 1. It’s hosted by Laz who created the Barkley marathon.  From May to August you self report on your progress of running 1000km which is about 5 miles a day. The other is  “take a jog, save a dog” in September. 

I also signed up for the Ironman Virtual race series. Each week there’s different challenges involving cycling and running of various distances. 


Goals for workouts:

• continue on with avg 20 miles a day cycling. 

• Run outside more. 

• strength train

Thoughts

America is sill a raging dumpster fire of complete incompetence. “Leadership” in the white house suggested people should inject cleaning supplies or drink them since they kill viruses. This resulted in spikes of calls to poison control. Idiocrary. 

Mas

We took Ze to see Fido to Go and buy him some treats on Sunday. He was so incredibly happy to be at the truck again. It’s like he knows it’s for him. To see him blissed out made me so happy. 

I’m pretty much the only one with a face covering while running- I leave it on all the time because hands are dirty and because I encounter a lot of people where I run. I don’t understand why people Can’t cover up. It’s so gross to see all the mouth breathers out there especially when the CDC recommends wearing something to stop the spread. Selfish is the word that comes to mind.  

Unite at 8 happens every night. I look forward to it each night. Soldier field even played music for us Friday and Saturday.  


Another week down and more to go since our stay at home has been extended until the end of May.  The only way I feel better about this whole situation is “to live life a quarter mile at a time.” Thank you Dom for that gem. To try to think about what life will look like in the summer or 6 months from now is a waste of energy. I like to focus on what I can control. 

Life 4.13.20 - 4.19.20

Life

My mom made us masks to wear. 

5 weeks of working remotely now. Not much has changed on the work front- I’m able to run the new reports and analytics more efficiently so I can get other tasks done. We have a lot of video meetings which are nice to see everyone. 

Ze is a happy boy. He turned 3 and we celebrated by bringing a few of his racquet balls out of toy jail. He has been carrying them around with him all over the house. 

He also brings them to me while I’m at work. 

Food

We cooked a lot at home again. We only get carry out Friday night and the weekend now. 

Eggs are a huge staple of my diet now- it’s so nice to have the time to be able to make a breakfast or lunch egg sando. 

We also made pizza again- pepperoni, olive pizza and truffle goat cheese, mushroom. The truffle goat cheese is especially delicious with salted tomatoes. 

We made breakfast tacos with leftover tortillas and pico from dinner Saturday night. I got a box of meat from a local purveyor so we cooked steak. I also made soy like marinated chicken and restocked our pizza dough supply.

We had a ham egg sando from Spoke and Bird, burger and carrot cake from Firehouse, Mexican food from La Cantina and leftover Ube donut from Moms.


It’s been nice to cook at home more- I hope to start trying new recipes out of the cook books I’ve accumulated. I should get “The Adventures of Fat Rice” in the next day or so, and I’m excited to make some Macanese (Portuguese - Chinese) food. (I am sad Fat Rice has closed. It was one of our favorite restaurants).

Workouts

I cycled 7 times for a total of 144 miles. I’m really enjoying cycling for an hour in the morning.

Zé Pequeno and I ran 5 times for a total of 13 miles. 

We have a lot of fun running early in the mornings before it gets too busy out.


I am surprised at the number of nasty mouth breathing runners who don’t wear any face coverings despite evidence that wearing something can help prevent the spread.  We wear our covers the entire run because I don’t want to touch my face unnecessarily during a run.

Thoughts

Illinois is still under a “stay at home” order until 4/30. I feel like any day this will get extended. 

The government is full of incompetence. No surprise when people elected a reality TV clown to office who appoints unqualified friends and family in place of scientists and people with actual knowledge in the subject areas. 

People still can’t get tested without a lot of hoops to jump through. (Let alone that the accuracy of the tests can produce false negative up to 30%). Reopening the economy will be a monumental task- because if everyone rushes back to “normal” activities, then a second wave of the virus will hit. 

I still see people online posting “social distance” selfies with groups. It’s a slap in the face to people working on the front lines. If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem. (Broken record intraday sure)

Mais

I feel fortunate L and I are able to work from home- but feel terrible for friends and people in general affected by the closures. We try to support our favorite places so that they exist in a world post covid.

Running outside, even for a couple of miles with Ze has helped my mood tremendously. No surprise there. I sat out on the balcony on Sunday for 30 min and got slightly sunburned from the reflection on our window. Ha. The sun felt so good.


Virtual happy hours have been great. Technology is so cool. 

100% that. I live for 8pm each night.