Congratulations!
Congratulations to Noelle and Lee on the birth of their baby girl Marina on August 26!
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August 31, 2006
Moving
The packing wars have begun. Gabe has already started removing things from the cabinets and placing them into boxes. He purchased packing supplies at Sam's today. So, moving part 2 has started and I am already wishing that it was over and we were settled into the new apartment. The thing that I really hate most is the empty apartment feeling when everything is packed away. I also hate trying to figure out what can be packed early and what should stay out until the last minute. I have this feeling that as soon as I pack something away I will have an urgent need to use it.
I have recently come to the conclusion that I need to watch all of the shows saved on our Dishnetwork recorder. We have to send it back once we move and they will send us a new one, so I will lose all of the saved shows.
Tomorrow should be pretty exciting. The ophthalmologist is coming to the office where I am an intern. He will be performing LASIK and I get to watch.
I have a strong desire to go to a bookstore tonight. I don't think that it is going to happen. It is already late and I am tired.
August 28, 2006
Can You Tell Me How To Get....
...how to get to Sesame Street.
I love Sesame Street. I used to watch it all of the time when I was younger. Heck, I would watch it now but I am not around when it is on...maybe I should Tivo it. Anyway, follow the link and take the quiz to find out which Sesame Street Character you are...I am Bert.
P.S. I do not have a bottle cap collection.
You Are Bert |
 Extremely serious and a little eccentric, people find you loveable - even if you don't love them! You are usually feeling: Logical - you rarely let your emotions rule you You are famous for: Being smart, a total neat freak, and maybe just a little evil How you life your life: With passion, even if your odd passions (like bottle caps and pigeons) are baffling to others |
A Fair Faire
Commuting sucks! This is the second day that my commute time in the morning has been over 2 hours. If it rains, it is pretty much a guarantee that my commute will reach at least 120 minutes. Yuck!
On Saturday Gabe rode up to my externship site with me (he went to Barnes & Noble and did some work while I saw patients). Afterward we went to the Bristol Renaissance Faire in Wisconsin. I will say that I am glad that I went once, but it probably isn't something that I will rush out to do again. After the faire, we went to the outlet malls...that I will do again.
Sunday we headed off to the Museum of Science and Industry. We went to the Frog exhibit...I highly suggest it. It is such a bargain at only $5.00. I guess that we felt like big spenders, because we also watched the Omnimax movie on Greece. I really want to go to Greece, so I thought that it would be a lot of fun. My suggestion is skip the movie and see the frogs. We also went to the Coal Mine exhibit. I must say that I was extremely disappointed...it doesn't help that I know some of the "facts" that they told us were not true. I feel like writing a letter to the museum pointing out their false information...maybe another day when I have more time.
August 22, 2006
Audio Books...A Good Thing
Saturday Gabe and I went to see the movie "Accepted". The movie was pretty good, but it was made even sweeter by the movie cash that we used. It only cost $4.00 for both of us to see the movie.
Yesterday I started listening to 2nd Chances on CD. It is the second installment of the Women's Murder Club by James Patterson. It is pretty good. I read the first book in the series a while back when there were no new Alex Cross novels to read. Patterson's Alex Cross series is one of my favorites. So far, the second book in the Women's series is good enough that I am looking forward to the third. I really am buying into the entire "audio book" idea. Initially I thought that I might not like it that much, but it helps the time pass very quickly (or at least quicker) on my drive. I also get to listen to books that I would not have the time to read otherwise. My plan with the audio books is to sell them after I listen to them. Hopefully I will be able to sell them online and continue to purchase more books with the money.
August 18, 2006
Military Surplus
Now everyone can relive their childhood military dreams. The Department of Defense sells their surplus goods at an auction site. Check it out for all of your aircraft parts and x-ray equipment needs.
August 16, 2006
Traffic
Yesterday I became a "true" commuter. After traveling ~one and a half hours each way in traffic, I no longer consider my 10 minute ride to school to be a commute. Unfortunately there are no trains to my new site. If there were I would be going Metra all of the way. I saw a new traffic manuver while driving yesterday. As I was merging with traffic onto the expressway a car drove over the concrete barrier from the lanes of traffic into the merging exit. Then they drove in the merging lane for a while and then went right back into the lane of traffic that they came from. After the merging lane ended they drove in the emergency lane for a bit. The emergency lane driving was something that I had seen before, but jumping the concrete barrier to get in a lane that was about end was something new. I have decided that I am going to start listening to books on CD to help pass the time. Any suggestions?
Tug of War Across States
While traveling to the orientation at my next externship site yesterday, I heard a story on the radio about a massive tug of war competition. Apparently, for the past 20 years Port Byron, Illinois has been taking on LeClaire, Iowa in an event called Tugfest. A 2,700 foot rope is strung across the Mississippi River and the two towns tug away. Just in case you are wondering, Illinois won this year but the overall record is Illinois 10-Iowa 10.
August 12, 2006
Train to Chicago
Gabe and I are on the train on our way back to Chicago. We went out to eat at Leonard's for prime rib before leaving. So far the train ride has been pretty uneventful. The most exciting thing occurred when we were passing through a town and someone threw a rock. As you can imagine it just bounced right off and we kept moving. We purchased business class fare instead of coach and I must say that the few extra dollars were well spent. I am going to surf the net some now, after all, it is a 5 1/2 hour train ride.
August 11, 2006
Unloading Part I
We left for my parents today. We had to add a few things to the truck that we forgot last night, but nothing too major. If anyone out there will be moving soon (and I know a few of you will), the post office moving kit has a $50 off coupon for Budget rental trucks. I will say that the Budget trucks are not as comfortable as U-Haul, but they are cheaper. The gas mileage isn't that great either. Just in case you are wondering, and I know that Tony is, they get about 10 miles per gallon. Once arriving in at my parent's, we unloaded the cargo. I honestly believe that 2/3 of our belongings were packed into the truck. At least we will not have as much stuff to move to the suburbs. After unpacking we ordered my favorite pizza...Mimmo's pepperoni and green olives. If we would have remembered our swimsuits we could have hit the pool.
August 10, 2006
Packing into a Box Truck
Tonight Gabe, Aaron, Tony, Maren, and I moved all of the furniture and totes into a rental truck to be moved into storage. We did not start putting things into the truck until 8:00 p.m. due to the weather. It rained off and on all day long. Finally at 8:00 p.m. we decided to start putting the plastic totes into the truck. Yes, we realized that the heaviest and largest furniture should be placed in the truck first, but our theory was that it did not matter if the plastic totes got a little wet. Around 8:40 Aaron arrived and Tony & Maren showed up around 9:00. I believe that Aaron has clinic tomorrow morning and Maren has to work bright and early. Things really picked up once they were there to help. I am really thankful that I have such great friends that are willing to help out. The apartment is now a wreck again, though less cluttered. I am going to take a shower and go to bed.
August 6, 2006
Fun Weekend
I realize that the posting has been a little lax lately, but if I am not at school I am packing. Friday Gabe and I left for North Carolina. Noelle, on of my friends, was getting married. We arrived around 11:30 p.m., checked into the hotel, and searched for a Cracker Barrel that the road signs said was only 0.2 miles away, but we never found it. Our choices were pretty much gas station food, KFC, or McDonald's. We went with KFC. I love their potatoes, chicken strips, and biscuits. We ordered our food and after waiting on them to kill, clean, and cook the chicken they finally brought the order out. They then informed us that they were out of biscuits, but they gave us extra chicken strips to make up for it. There were two extra strips and I must say that the individuals that live in North Carolina like their chicken spicy.
We went to the wedding on Saturday and I must say that it was one of the most fun weddings that I have ever been to in my life. Those of you who know me know that I am not a big fan of weddings, but I actually enjoyed this one! After the reception we went back to Noelle and Lee's home with a few other friends and Noelle's family. It was really nice to see her again and hopefully she will be coming to visit next summer...I had to throw that in just in case Noelle is reading this entry. :)
On the drive back to Charlotte we stopped and did a little shopping. It was tax-free weekend in North Carolina so I picked up a couple of shirts...tax free!
Our flight left Charlotte at ~6:30 a.m. today. We left the hotel around 5:00 a.m. (we were only 5 minutes from the airport). We were back at our apartment in Chicago by 9:00 a.m. Gabe and watched T.V. until 10:00 a.m. and then went to sleep for a couple of hours. We hit the grocery store and Target (to pick up more totes, of course). Then we came back home for another packing party. Back to the totes for me.
August 5, 2006
Congratulations!
Congratulations to Noelle and Lee on their marriage!