  A cold weekend in Chicago. It's too damn cold here to lie around inert, so I'm keeping myself busy and my blood circulating: - Keith and I signed up for urlLink French lessons yesterday. Neither of us has studied French, but we have proficiency in German and Spanish, respectively. Our language-learning prowess notwithstanding, the hottie at the Alliance Française insisted that we start with the pre-beginner class.
So I guess we'll spend the next 10 weeks mastering our vowel sounds and numbers and days of the week. - I made the long, ugly trek to Menards and Home Depot yesterday to return all the unused stuff from my hallway-painting-and-light-switch-replacing project. Driving all the way down to the traffic-clogged North and Clybourn area is always such a treat. - Matt and I enjoyed a taste of urlLink suburban chain food for dinner last night on our way to Chuck's housewarming party in East Rogers Park, where we chatted and gossiped and flirted with people until 2 in the morning.
- I currently have nine articles of rarely-worn winter clothing in my giveaway pile. I vow to take that number to 20 before I drop everything off at the urlLink Brown Elephant on my way to tonight's urlLink chorus rehearsal.
- And I have to be in bed early tonight; I take off at 6:30 tomorrow morning for a whirlwind trip to New York City where I'll get to observe five hours of focus groups. Whee! 
