Adventures in Life

Well, I live less than 10 miles from my new site and the first day it took around 50 minutes to get there. So, the second day I tried a different way and it took about 40. Today I tried a different way again and I am down to about 30 minutes. I would take the train, but my drive home has been about 20 minutes. I like being able to get home quickly. The new site is good, I have already learned quite a bit. I followed a retinal specialist around today and then went to observe surgery. I got to see a blepharoplasty. Next Wednesday is actually my week to be in surgery, but the retinal specialist finished before all of the surgeries were finished in the surgical center, so I was able to see a pretty neat procedure. I will say this, I am really tired when I get home.

Posted by at 9:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

This weekend Gabe and I watched quite a few movies. The weather here hasn't been too great. It has went from ice to snow to freezing rain more times than I managed to keep track. The Shaggy Dog was cute and better than I expected. Another movie that we watched was XX/XY. Neither Gabe nor I enjoyed it that much. I think that the moral of the movie was people want what they can't have. We also watched The Visitation. It was an odd movie about a demon that was attempting to possess an entire town. Currently we are watching Casanova. So far it is pretty good. If you need a movie to watch, out of the four we watched this weekend I would suggest either The Shaggy Dog or Casanova. Gabe and I also spent a while in the hot tub tonight and then went for a swim. It was snowing outside and the road condition wasn't the best, so swimming and the hot tub sounded like a good idea. I start my new site tomorrow. It isn't very far from where we live, but I expect it to take around 40 minutes or so. Tomorrow is the long day at the site (8:30 to 6:00). Hopefully we get out on time.

Posted by at 8:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Happy Birthday Brandi!

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Check out Nicole and Andrew's new blog site.

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We are back in Chicago. We were really lucky this morning. We were able to to fly stand-by on a flight that had a departure time of about three hours earlier than our scheduled flight. We made it back around 3:00 p.m. instead of 6:00 p.m. We went to the grocery store when we made it back. Other than that nothing too exciting has gone on...we haven't even unpacked yet! I must say that I was pleasantly surprised by the weather. It is much warmer than I expected here.

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Today was another day at sea. We had breakfast and went to the very exciting debarkation talk. We walked around the ship and managed to find the running track. I am sorry to say that I never ran around it. We also found the mini-golf course on the ship. We went to the art auction in the afternoon. We watched Marie Antoinette before the auction. The ending was not what I expected (I will not say any more than that in case some of you still have plans to watch it.) Our luggage has been packed and has been picked up by the room steward. We met Andy and Jennifer and watched a game show where the guys went up against the girls. It was a tie, but I think that the girls were ripped off. next we watched a game similar to the board game Balderdash. Finally, there was a show where the "winners" from karaoke performed. Some of the performers were better than others, but they were all entertaining. Afterwards we talked with Andy, Jennifer, Richard, and Trista. They stayed to watch a comedy show, but we are going to bed. Back to the cold tomorrow.

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Today we arrived in Jamaica. Our experience in the island was not what I expected. It is a very lush and green island. All of the locals that we encountered were very nice. I think that their favorite expression is "yeah mon...no problem." "Irie" is a close second. We went to Walkerswood Spice Factory. It was really neat to see how they make jerk seasoning. We even sampled jerk chicken and pork. We also took a tour through their factory where they produce hot sauce and guava jam. On our way to the next stop, Wassi Art, we drove through an area called Fern Gully. It is part of the rain forest and quite a few vendors are located on the side of the road. At the Wassi Art Pottery Works, we went on a factory tour and saw how they make their pottery from the beginning to the end of the process. We stopped at a stand of vendors on the way back and purchased a pair of masks. Next, we went to The Ruins. It is a plantation that has been converted to the likes of a botanical garden. We stopped off for some shopping (I bought a Christmas ornament). We came back, had dinner, and went to bed.

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Today our cruise took us to the Cayman Islands (actually Grand Cayman). We were supposed to arrive at the Georgetown port, but the harbor master closed the port due to high waves and wind. Apparently the tenders would not have made it. We docked at Spots Bay instead. We made it to our island tour a few hours later than initially planned, but we still had a great time. Our first stop was the Tortuga Run Factory. I wasn't too excited about this stop, but I did take a picture of a pirate statue. Our guide took us to a few places that were not listed on our tour. The first was a t-shirt factory. We watched them make t-shirts and then had the opportunity to purchase some...of course. Our next stop was the Cayman Turtle Farm. I have some good pictures of Gabe holding a sea turtle. It was a fun place to visit. They release 10% of their turtles into the sea every year. They also sell turtle meat...no, we didn't try any. They are the only farm that raises the green sea turtle, which is an endangered species. Our next stop was a town called "Hell". Apparently someone thought that the rock formation resembled what hell would look like. We stopped off on a beach. I also saw where part of "The Firm" was filmed. I have always wanted to go to Georgetown after reading the book. We came back and had dinner with Andy and Jennifer (very nice people that we met on the cruise) and watched Karaoke. Neither Gabe nor I have tried it yet.

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Today the ship hit rough water and we the captain had to change the course to the Cayman Islands. It wasn't too bad, but you could definitely tell that it affected the passengers. There were only about 8 people at the art auction. After the auction, we went to Captain's Night and then dinner with Andy, Jennifer, Richard, and Trista. We walked around at a few of the shops on the ship. Overall, today was a pretty good day...the weather is warmer.

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This morning when we went to catch the taxi to the airport, there was snow on the ground. We were both happy to leave the weather behind for the Caribbean. Our flight was delayed a couple of hours, but we made it to the boat on time. I think it also helped that we purchased our transfers through the cruise line, so they knew we were at the airport running behind. Once we made it on the ship we found the food. It was around 4:00 p.m. and we had a muffin around 5:30 a.m. We were both pretty hungry. We went to the welcome show with Las Vegas-style dancers. We also stayed and watched a comedian. Then we watched karaoke. The last night on the ship, the winners of the nightly karaoke will put on a show. The cruise ship dresses them up like certain performers and even gives them backup singers and dancers. We will probably go. Just a fun little note, the South Beach Wine and Food Festival is in Miami starting on the 22nd of February. We saw the Barefoot Contessa while we were on our way to the cruise ship. A lot of the Food Network stars will be attending.

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Today was my last day at the Navy base. I will not miss the long drives. One downside is I will not listen to as many books on CD. I guess I can use the time that I used to spend driving actually reading the books instead. I am in the process of getting a few things done around the apartment. I am actually pretty tired, so I think that I might be going to bed in about an hour.

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Congratulations to Nicole and Andrew on their marriage (February 13)!

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Happy Birthday Barby!

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Yesterday the traffic and road conditions were terrible. My travel times were over 2.5 hours each way. I still made it, saw some patients, and even went to a Thai restaurant for lunch with the doctors. I had plans to meet a friend last night, but it didn't happen. This is actually the second Tuesday that we have canceled on each other due to weather and traffic. We are going to attempt to get together two Tuesdays from now. I was up and driving at 5:30 this morning, but I turned around after it was almost 6:00 and I still hadn't made it to 290. I guess it really didn't matter since 290 is completely covered with ice...at least according to a new travel site that Gabe found. All of the roads that I traveled on this morning were very slick. So, I am at home and I am getting ready to start studying.

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Happy Valentine's Day Everyone!

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Happy birthday Bree!

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Happy birthday Jessica!

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Happy Birthday Duane!

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We just finished putting away our Peapod groceries. Everything looks really good and the produce is really fresh. Our cantaloupe was particularly good (we just cut it up and had some). I think that this service is something that we will definitely use again. I like that we stayed in our apartment and had our groceries delivered directly to our door, instead of braving the cold.

Posted by at 11:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

This morning Gabe and I went to the Art Institute of Chicago. It has been a while since we went. I also really wanted to see the lions with the Chicago Bears helmets. FYI: the institute is free until February 21. We ate at Bennigan's while we were downtown. Afterwards we came back and worked on Hawaii stuff. We just returned from Meson Sabika. I love their food. Even if the weather is -7 degrees outside before the windchill factor, the tapas are worth it. We might watch a few episodes of Scrubs tonight and finish up the Hawaii plans (hopefully). Just two weeks until I will be enjoying the warm weather of Jamaica and the Cayman Islands.

Posted by at 9:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Happy Birthday Jennie!

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I just thought that I would pose this question...who do you like in the Superbowl?

Posted by at 9:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I just did something for the first time. Gabe and I ordered groceries from Peapod. We basically ordered groceries for the month of February (minus some fresh produce for near the end of the month) for less than $40. We had a $20 coupon for first time users. The minimum order is $50. We might be able to use it once a month to order all of the non-perishable items, but we would be hard pressed to get a $50 total every week. Still, I think that I will like using it. Depending on how crowded the store is, shopping together from a computer is just as fun. Our groceries will be delivered on Sunday. I will let you know how it goes.

Posted by at 9:45 PM | Permalink

The seventh Harry Potter book is scheduled to be released on Saturday, July 21, 2007. I am pretty excited. Well, I didn't really like the ending of the last book, but there are a few routes that next book could take that would make things ok. I guess I will just have to read it to see what happens.

Posted by at 3:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)