Happy Friday!

Avatar for cl_shywon
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-20-2003
Happy Friday!
9
Fri, 03-10-2006 - 7:41am

What's everyone up to this weekend?


I have to go to my niece's 9th birthday party.

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-21-2005
Fri, 03-10-2006 - 8:38am
I don't have much planned but I am doing my usual night out dancing on Saturday night.
iVillage Member
Registered: 09-01-2004
Fri, 03-10-2006 - 12:03pm

I am sooo frustrated right now. There is a protest to H.R. 4437 (new immigration legislation) planned for today and the Chicago Police Department is expecting between 15,000 and 20,000 people. Of course, they are all going to converge on the federal plaza attached to my building. The CPD is saying that, if attendance is that large, they are going to cordon off areas surrounding the plaza (and 3 adjacent federal buildings) thereby effecting vehicle AND foot traffic. Which likely means that, if you are unlucky enough to be down here, you are stuck down here until it's all over. Blech. Many offices in the building have decided to shut down at noon and let their employees go home for "employee safety" but apparently my agency is not so concerned. They sent us all an email saying that we could use our vacation time but they were not going to just let us go with administrative time off.

It sounds silly - but things get rough here. Before we went to war in Iraq, there were daily protests out on the plaza and it got nasty. People were lying down in the revolving doors to my building or getting in and running past security, thereby causing a building lockdown. There are the occasional violent clashes too. I am so leaving here at about 12:15 because I don't want to get caught up in the ruckus. 15,000 angry protestors and several thousand antsy cops are not my idea of a great way to start the weekend.

As for my plans, I am going to a charity event/auction for an arts council with my ex tonight. Should be fun. Tomorrow afternoon, I am attending a panel at the main Chicago library because one of my best friends is moderating it - she's an Archivist for the city. Then tomorrow night will be bloody marys and movies with another girlfriend.

If I get out of the Loop alive, it should be a nice weekend. :)

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-21-2005
Fri, 03-10-2006 - 1:52pm
Yikes!
iVillage Member
Registered: 02-08-2006
Fri, 03-10-2006 - 3:03pm
I'm going to dance the night away tonight with my girls. Crush's band is playing, so that spices things up a little... then tomorrow, I'm going to visit my brother and sister-in-law in PA. We're going to a party at a winery, which should be fun, since there's a band that he knows playing there, and who doesn't love wine? Sunday I'll be recuperating, I'm sure.

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iVillage Member
Registered: 09-01-2004
Fri, 03-10-2006 - 5:14pm

I did, thanks. I am glad that I left when I did - apparently 100,000 people showed up and the streets were just gridlocked and the police requested that people leave the area. Maybe they did let everyone go home after all but I did not stick around to find out. I headed a ways away to go shopping and I saw the O'Hare airport incident truck with its lights flashing and sirens blaring as it sped toward the federal plaza so I got the heck out of there. But I am listening to the news now and apparently things went pretty smoothly all things considerd. Traffic will be a mess for awhile and the subway home was unbearably crowded - but I survived.

Ah, life in the big city. :)

Avatar for cl_shywon
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-20-2003
Fri, 03-10-2006 - 6:48pm

That's something that I just don't get.

Avatar for cl_shywon
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-20-2003
Fri, 03-10-2006 - 6:49pm

I don't like wine.

Avatar for cl_shywon
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-20-2003
Fri, 03-10-2006 - 6:57pm

Okay, boys are stupid.

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-13-2005
Fri, 03-10-2006 - 11:21pm
I've got a pot luck dinner to attend tommorow evening. Then going to sit around with friends and play some cards, maybe go dancing after.
Ha, this kind of cheered me up. Thanks for asking! Still lonely on this Friday night though.