The Coreys

Peoria is apparently home to many Lebanese immigrants. One group is the Khoury family, and you see this name EVERYWHERE in Peoria. Pubs, stores, restaurants, markets, repair shops, gymnastic classes, and more. You name the service and you will find the Khoury name. What you won't see is the same spelling twice, but we are told they are all the same family. Couri, Kouri, and Khoury, but all the same family.

Craigslist Rocks

Craigslist Peoria rocks, that is. CL Peoria also includes Pekin, Washington, Bloomington, Lincoln and several other random small Illinois towns.

So far from Craigslist I have
1) gotten a job
2) found a house to rent
3) secured daycare for the toddler
4) gotten rid of our excess moving supplies
and
5) found a farmer's market here.


I anticipate locating a child's picnic table and maybe a small slide or playhouse shortly, when funds are more stable.

I must say that I've heard pickups for sold or giveaway items via Craigslist are often a problem and my moving supplies donation proves that to be true. I was contacted by four people over 48 hours who were "certain" to be picking my boxes and filler up from the front porch. The fourth person finally came through, which is pretty lame. Free stuff should move NOW or five minutes ago, not 48 hours later!!

Agua, por favor

Peoria tap water is NOT delicious.

It smells funny and has a weird taste.

We were spoiled as St. Louis has the best tap water in the US. Thank you, Anheuser Busch.


We should have bottled that good stuff up and brought it along, but who knew??

Squirrels

The squirrels in Peoria are all red.

I don't recall any red squirrels just 2.5 hours to the south in St. Louis.

Peoria means...

He comes carrying a pack on his back.

The Peoria were a Native people, a small group who intermarried with other nations and were a diverse people who welcomed ex-slaves and orphaned children of any heritage to their group.

The Peoria were from this region and I can find no explanation on how there came to be a Peoria, Arizona. I hate that it exists because google searching would be much faster if I didn't always have to add that "IL". Also Craigslist in Peoria, AZ had some good stuff that I could not pick up because I live in Illinois now.

Damned Low Railings

There is a very attractive river walk in downtown Peoria. The Illinois River looks majestic passing under impressive bridges and along a pedestrian walking/biking path complete with restaurants, green space, a recreation complex and outdoor amphitheater. St. Louis could learn a thing or two here about riverfront attractions.

The only problem I see is that the railing is just low enough for a toddler to launch a stainless steel water bottle into the river. I hate littering, and it was purple, my favorite color.

I have a picture of it floating away, but it makes me sad just now so someday when the sting has worn off I'll post it. In the meantime, enjoy a google stock image of the railing. I have no idea why a can of beans is included. Maybe that will be a future fun Peoria fun fact.

Mother in Laws Save the Day

My mother in law saved us this week. We moved into a nearly 100 year old monster of a house near Bradley University, having rented the place after a short tour that included promises of a deep cleaning. The cleaning was not done and we discovered after a 15+hour moving day that it was not at all toddler ready, or really grownup ready at all. Students had occupied the place previously and apparently used one of the bedrooms as a toilet- or at least the the carpet in that bedroom.
The second floor railing was short, the toddler nearly pitched himself over it in a fit of energy after a long boring drive, and I nearly lost my shit thinking that we'd just rented the money pit death trap and signed a one year lease.
Mother in law showed up with her magic toolbox like the Mary Poppins of old house renovation. By then end of the week, we had toddler-proofed baby gates expertly installed to allow for adult (and pet) access to danger zones. We had loose shelves secured, clothing unpacked and hung up, new towel bars in the bathroom, doorknobs repaired, a solid clothesline constructed, a very happy toddler yelling "Bamaw!!!" day and night with glee, and sanity restored.


The money pit has become home. Thanks, Mom/Susan/Bamaw. We could not have done it without you.

A Town Divided

We were told before moving to Peoria that we'd find our fellow Cardinal fans, and that there are also an equal number of Cubs loyalists.

This appears to be accurate.

At this writing, the Cardinals have 10 World Championships and the best record in Major League baseball.

The Cubs do not.

Enough said.

Fire Siren

We discovered even before our moving van arrived that a bit of history makes itself heard every day in Peoria. The West Peoria fire department is all volunteer, so the siren sounds loudly every time there is a call. To a semi traumatized former Missourian who has already spent a busy tornado season hiding in the basement waiting for storms to pass, the beginning of each alarm still raises the hair on the back of my neck. But then I notice the sunny sky with no forecast of rain and feel bad that my relief is someone else's life threatening emergency.

We live one block from West Peoria, in "Peoria proper" so our fire department is not voluntary, but the sirens are quite loud. I hear you grow used to them and no longer even notice after a while. We'll see.

Useless utility information

Peoria charges for water by use and not by number of bathrooms as St. Louis does. This is quite logical and would presumably give consequence to those like my neighbors in St. Louis who wash their car with no nozzle on their hose and water constantly running so the gutter is filled with clean, wasted water.

Impetus to preserve water is always a good idea in my book.

Peoria Fact Numero Uno

Though not yet a Peorian for 24 more hours or so, I though it was time to start the Daily Peorian. Interesting things about Peoria will follow daily- as long as I can find something new about which to blog. I have never lived in Peoria, I know no one in Peoria (save an online friend I have yet to meet in person), and I have been to Peoria exactly four times in my life. Each of these four visits was for 24 hours or less, and all within the last 2 months as my family has just been relocated.

My first fun fact about Peoria is important information for any Cardinal fan. It is little known in the world of St. Louis baseball where Jose Alberto Pujols is second only to Stan the Man in legend and love- and may well be more popular than Mr. Musial given that Pujols may have only played half of his career so far.

Albert Pujols played only one year of minor league ball before his invitation to the Cardinals Spring Training camp where his streak of consistent hits and a subsequent Bobby Bonilla injury left him a permanent member of the major league Cardinals organization.

Guess where that one year of minor league ball happened??

You guessed it.