Banking and such...

So yesterday I had a meeting downtown, I plotted my route and set my alarm so that I could make it in plenty of time even if the CTA was late. Well....I woke up and hour and a half later than my alarm!!! Thank the universe for an awesome friend, who happens to live next door, who dropped everything to get me to my appointment on time!
Leaving my appointment I used google maps to get home, sadly i missed my bus so i refreshed, walked 8 blocks to the train, missed it by 30 seconds, refreshed and replotted.....Finally made it home and met my guys at the beach for an lovely relaxing afternoon. Then being Tuesday I had to jump on the red line then the 80 to get to my students by 6 :)

Today I had 2 objectives, check on my brothers house and plants in the burbs, and get to my bank branch.
D and I set about about 10, took cta to a metra stop, transferred and walked to my brothers. I took the opportunity to stop by a local shop owned by my childhood friends family , where she now works, to pop in reconnect and show her how big my lil guy has gotten.
After we watered the plants, cleaned up the raccoon scavenged garbage and secured the house we wandered to the park I used to play at as a child, the book store where I spent so much time and money, and the toy shop, where a picture of my neighbor(who was half owner) was displayed, made me smile!! I bought Dwyer a butterfly net and some bubbles, and some kindergarten skills cards, yes I am always a teacher. We stopped for lunch an them Mom met us, graciously took us to our bank and to BK for a 2nd lunch, dern kid was still hungry, or he just wanted a toy! then on to home.

Tomorrow, I have another meeting on the mag mile, because I also need a sitter, D's Grandpa is on duty as my chauffeur and D's sitter. After that we hit the beach....trying to squeeze in as much time there, and with D, as I can before school starts!

Been busy

So we have been super busy since my last post. My Brothers babysitter quit...I was called in as backup, my mother insisted I use her car(we had borrowed it for eye Doc appts the day before). Dwyer and I had 2 wonderful days with his cousins, my niece and nephew. We went to the beach one day and the pool the next. They deemed me the best babysitter ever, yeah I am that good :)

I took advantage of having my moms car Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday and made trips to Sam's club(where I filled her tank) and hit target for Dwyer's school supplies.

So we did not have to rely on public transport, but it was awesome for Dwyer to hang with his cousins, and I got to solidify my place as "Best Aunt EVER" with John and Phoebe.

This past Sunday we had a Family Meetup, Dwyer and I took the red line, to the 84 bus, met up with the other families and Kris took the red line to the 11 bus to meet us. We had a lovely evening eating wings and playing board games. Then we took the bus back to the red line(with some of our new friends) on on to home.
So far we are not "missing" having a car. The only time I really needed it, when I did not have Mom's, was today. I had done some cleaning and organizing of our storage after it flooded, nothing was damaged. But our car bit it before I could drive the give aways to Howard Brown. So today I had a spurt of cleaning frenzy and filled 2 more boxes. I called my amazing friend and neighbor Darrin, and he graciously loaded all my stuff in his car and took it to Howard Brown for me.
So far I have learned that not having a car means you have to plan, and have a backup plan for everything. I have also learned that for the things we cannot do with public transport, it is great to have friends and family who believe they owe you(when I think I owe them) or just love you enough to lend a car or take your hand-me-downs to some needy folks.
Til the next transportation challenge,


Jeanne

Solving the carseat issue

So we own 3 carseats...and no car. Lugging our carseat or the booster around is a real pain. So after some research, which I actually started before the car died, and consulting Dwyers Dr. and several safety websites....It look like we are going to invest in a RideSafer Travel vest. This is a "space vest" that a regular car seat belt threads through. It is small, portable and Dwyer thinks it looks cool :)

http://www.safetrafficsystem.com/

One whole week

So far we are adjusting, it is requiring some more organization and planning before we leave the house each day.
Most of our regular spots are easily accessible by bus and/or train. I am learning to combine trips to save on bus fare(I plan on buying a monthly pass in September), for example a trip to the Dr. is also a trip to CVS and our bank, all within walking distance of the purple line. A trip to work, was combined with a trip to storage, Target and Dominick's. I have to get in the habit of bringing my reusable bags with me.... and look into a cart that is super lightweight and folds up, possibly to the size of my messenger bag :)
Saturday we conquered traveling home from the far west side, it took 2 buses and 1 train, but was relatively painless(that could have been the wine I had )
I have booked my son's dental appointment, 4 months in advance, in order to be sure we got a time that allows for travel via PACE.
Things I am not missing...filling the tank and shelling out $70+, paying to park, paying insurance....