I'm sure you've heard the phrase, "Once in a blue moon." Well, that comes from the fact that a blue moon only occurs once every 19 years. What is a blue moon? A blue moon is the 2nd full moon within a calendar month. Tonight is a blue moon.
Of all days to have a blue moon occur, I must say, New Year's Eve is about the craziest. The only thing that would be crazier would be Halloween. I'm a big believer that the moon effects everything... the tides, animal behavior, which includes human behavior, and even the sequence of how events occur.
Now, looking at the week I've had leading up to tonight, this really puts some of the week's events into perspective. It almost all make sense now, somehow. Including all the extremely active animals at the zoo last Tuesday!
So as we close out this year with a blue moon above us, I wish all of my friends and family a happy, healthy, and plentiful New Year! But be careful out there tonight... people get crazy under the glow of a full moon, and a little more so with the glow of a blue moon!
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
The Annual Jacksonville Zoo Trip
My mom and I had our annual trip to the Jacksonville Zoo with my niece and nephew today. I think we've been doing this for 5 or 6 years now... I'd have to dig through my photo archive to verify that... but it's been a tradition for awhile.
As usual, we couldn't get out the door quite as early as we would've liked to, but we still managed to get through the gate around noon. It was a bit chilly this year, with the temps only in the 50's. For me this was nice, but for my Florida blood relatives, they were bundled up. There were even signs up noting that some animals my be hiding out in their heated buildings, but we ventured on, of course... it was at least nice and sunny - that should bring some of the animals out.
And it did! This, by far, was one of the best zoo trips we've ever had. All the animals were so active and some (the monkeys, mainly) we loud, to boot!
We started in the zoo's new Asia exhibit, which was mainly a serenity garden of sorts with a Koi pond and waterfalls. It was peaceful and probably a good place for kids to calm down and watch the fish. I know Kris and Darian was very serene at this point.
From there, we went to Australia where one of our favorite exhibits is located - the Lorikeets!
You get the feed them and it's all about timing... you get there too early, they're not ready to eat. You get there too late, they're full. Well, we got there at the peek time apparent;y because they were hungry. If you had the nectar cup to feed them, you about got attacked! So we were in there for a good half hour before things started winding down and we coerced the kids to leave. This was much tougher than usual since the birds were so interactive today...
We then made out way to the Jaguar exhibit, which, of course, Jacksonville has the premier exhibit in North America. It is pretty awesome - I think their up to 6 or 7 of them now, including a black jaguar, which is a really intense looking animal. With the right light, you can still see his spots! He wasn't out today, unfortunately, but the three jags that were out were very active, even a few roars thrown in. The two females were roaming back and forth and I think they were waiting to be fed... but we didn't stick around to see if that was the case.
After the jaguars, we went on the Great Ape Loop, which actually includes an array of moneys, apes, and gorillas. The Great Ape, himself, was in quite a playful mood. He was lazily wanders near the window when he suddenly looked to be charging the window and then pulled back and skimmed it... just enough to cause everyone to jump and get a few shrieks out of the crowd. He knew what he was doing - I swear he had a sly grin on his face afterwards. It was about this time that we started hearing loud shrieking and monkey noises further along the loop, so we followed the noise to the Siamang exhibit, where the two apes were having a good ol' time. You could hear them through most of the zoo, I think! I think this was the highlight of the zoo for the kids this year!
After that, we checked out the giraffes, which were being fed, and took a journey on the Africa Loop. The sun was starting the set and the temperature was definitely dropping. So we figured we'd better head out before the kids started getting cold.
Ahh, but our journey was not over yet. In fact, we ended the day with a BANG! Literally.
Just a couple of miles from the house, with the kids sleeping in the back, my mom got rear-ended while she was at a complete stop at a stop light. That woke the kids up. It turned out not to be as bad as it felt - the bumper did it's job and took the brunt of the hit. Still sucks, though. But at least it's a cut and dry case for determining fault - the lady who rear-ended us was definitely at fault. Not that it makes is easier to take. But we survived - just came away a little shaken with slightly stiff necks.
As usual, we couldn't get out the door quite as early as we would've liked to, but we still managed to get through the gate around noon. It was a bit chilly this year, with the temps only in the 50's. For me this was nice, but for my Florida blood relatives, they were bundled up. There were even signs up noting that some animals my be hiding out in their heated buildings, but we ventured on, of course... it was at least nice and sunny - that should bring some of the animals out.And it did! This, by far, was one of the best zoo trips we've ever had. All the animals were so active and some (the monkeys, mainly) we loud, to boot!
We started in the zoo's new Asia exhibit, which was mainly a serenity garden of sorts with a Koi pond and waterfalls. It was peaceful and probably a good place for kids to calm down and watch the fish. I know Kris and Darian was very serene at this point.
From there, we went to Australia where one of our favorite exhibits is located - the Lorikeets!
You get the feed them and it's all about timing... you get there too early, they're not ready to eat. You get there too late, they're full. Well, we got there at the peek time apparent;y because they were hungry. If you had the nectar cup to feed them, you about got attacked! So we were in there for a good half hour before things started winding down and we coerced the kids to leave. This was much tougher than usual since the birds were so interactive today...
We then made out way to the Jaguar exhibit, which, of course, Jacksonville has the premier exhibit in North America. It is pretty awesome - I think their up to 6 or 7 of them now, including a black jaguar, which is a really intense looking animal. With the right light, you can still see his spots! He wasn't out today, unfortunately, but the three jags that were out were very active, even a few roars thrown in. The two females were roaming back and forth and I think they were waiting to be fed... but we didn't stick around to see if that was the case.After the jaguars, we went on the Great Ape Loop, which actually includes an array of moneys, apes, and gorillas. The Great Ape, himself, was in quite a playful mood. He was lazily wanders near the window when he suddenly looked to be charging the window and then pulled back and skimmed it... just enough to cause everyone to jump and get a few shrieks out of the crowd. He knew what he was doing - I swear he had a sly grin on his face afterwards. It was about this time that we started hearing loud shrieking and monkey noises further along the loop, so we followed the noise to the Siamang exhibit, where the two apes were having a good ol' time. You could hear them through most of the zoo, I think! I think this was the highlight of the zoo for the kids this year!
After that, we checked out the giraffes, which were being fed, and took a journey on the Africa Loop. The sun was starting the set and the temperature was definitely dropping. So we figured we'd better head out before the kids started getting cold.
Ahh, but our journey was not over yet. In fact, we ended the day with a BANG! Literally.
Just a couple of miles from the house, with the kids sleeping in the back, my mom got rear-ended while she was at a complete stop at a stop light. That woke the kids up. It turned out not to be as bad as it felt - the bumper did it's job and took the brunt of the hit. Still sucks, though. But at least it's a cut and dry case for determining fault - the lady who rear-ended us was definitely at fault. Not that it makes is easier to take. But we survived - just came away a little shaken with slightly stiff necks.
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Christmas in Jacksonville
We finally got to celebrate the big Christmas in Jacksonville today! The day after has become the norm for the Jacksonville Christmas - it just seems to work best with everyone's schedule.
Kristin and her family arrived about noon... and it was on! Well, actually, we subdued the kids for about a half hour before hitting the first tree to open gifts. As we tried to keep up with the kids tearing through their gifts, time flew by... next thing we knew, it was 3pm. We managed to open all the gifts under the 'big tree' and the 'little tree', but still had
the 'middle tree' waiting. but we needed a break. So we cleaned up and went through some of the piles of 'unseen gifts' opened by the kids... and some of the adults. But we could only contain the kids for so long... the middle tree had to be done!
The highlight of the middle tree was the Wii Fit for the Pitts. It was pretty similar to the reaction when getting the Wii last year! But we still had other gifts to open, too... including the stockings! But decided to hold off on the stockings until after we had dinner.
We had a nice ham dinner (#2 for those counting), complete with Mom's apple pie for dessert. After letting everything settle and some good chats,
we finally gave in to opening everything in the stockings. That went fast, obviously. And just like that, Christmas was done. All that time that went into decorating a wrapping gifts, and we're left with a box of torn up wrapping paper. But it was all worth it. Time to start shopping for next year! ha ha ha
Now we are all relaxing and watching one of the movies the kids got for Christmas, Up. So far, it's pretty cute. They're going into the storm now, so I'm going to watch that now.
Kristin and her family arrived about noon... and it was on! Well, actually, we subdued the kids for about a half hour before hitting the first tree to open gifts. As we tried to keep up with the kids tearing through their gifts, time flew by... next thing we knew, it was 3pm. We managed to open all the gifts under the 'big tree' and the 'little tree', but still had
the 'middle tree' waiting. but we needed a break. So we cleaned up and went through some of the piles of 'unseen gifts' opened by the kids... and some of the adults. But we could only contain the kids for so long... the middle tree had to be done!The highlight of the middle tree was the Wii Fit for the Pitts. It was pretty similar to the reaction when getting the Wii last year! But we still had other gifts to open, too... including the stockings! But decided to hold off on the stockings until after we had dinner.
We had a nice ham dinner (#2 for those counting), complete with Mom's apple pie for dessert. After letting everything settle and some good chats,
we finally gave in to opening everything in the stockings. That went fast, obviously. And just like that, Christmas was done. All that time that went into decorating a wrapping gifts, and we're left with a box of torn up wrapping paper. But it was all worth it. Time to start shopping for next year! ha ha haNow we are all relaxing and watching one of the movies the kids got for Christmas, Up. So far, it's pretty cute. They're going into the storm now, so I'm going to watch that now.
Friday, December 25, 2009
Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve turned out to be an exhausting day for me!!
After working a half day, I went home to pack for my trip to FL. I only had a limited time and had no clue what to pack for some reason. Probably because I was exhausted from the night before, when I stayed up till midnight baking an apple pie and my traditional 'Christmas' cookies. But I managed to get mostly packed before heading back downtown.
I celebrated 'Christmas #1' on Christmas Eve with Eric's family at his house. We had a big ham dinner, complete with all the trimmings. We read them Olive the Other Reindeer.... well, tried to... The kids (AJ, Nolan, and Liam) just ran around having fun, entertaining themselves... and then came presents! What kid doesn't like to open presents? Liam and Nolan were still a little unsure of the process, but AJ was all over it and they were all nothing but smiles for the rest of the night. We capped the night off with a round of my desserts. Eric headed to bed early since he's getting over something flu-like - you could tell he was just exhausted! So I saw everyone off at the end of the night and then had to drag Eric back to Fishers with me to finish packing and drop off my car for the week. That took longer than expected, unfortunately...
By the time I finished packing and Eric and I exchanged gifts, it was nearly 11pm! Eric laid on the couch the entire time in a state of semi-consciousness. We got back to his house only to realize that he left his wallet sitting on the side table at my house. By the time the both of us got settled into bed it was 12:30 am. For the 2nd night in a row for me. 4:30am was going to come way too early!
And it did! That alarm went off this morning and woke me up from a sound sleep. I did not want to get up! But of course I did - had a plane to catch! Eric and I timed the airport perfectly, walked right on the plane, and now we wait. Yes... I'm currently en route to FL... gotta love in-flight wi-fi!
So "Merry Christmas" to those who may read this today! I'm sure I'll have lots more to post after 'Christmas #2' in Jacksonville. And all the other annual traditions we have.
After working a half day, I went home to pack for my trip to FL. I only had a limited time and had no clue what to pack for some reason. Probably because I was exhausted from the night before, when I stayed up till midnight baking an apple pie and my traditional 'Christmas' cookies. But I managed to get mostly packed before heading back downtown.
I celebrated 'Christmas #1' on Christmas Eve with Eric's family at his house. We had a big ham dinner, complete with all the trimmings. We read them Olive the Other Reindeer.... well, tried to... The kids (AJ, Nolan, and Liam) just ran around having fun, entertaining themselves... and then came presents! What kid doesn't like to open presents? Liam and Nolan were still a little unsure of the process, but AJ was all over it and they were all nothing but smiles for the rest of the night. We capped the night off with a round of my desserts. Eric headed to bed early since he's getting over something flu-like - you could tell he was just exhausted! So I saw everyone off at the end of the night and then had to drag Eric back to Fishers with me to finish packing and drop off my car for the week. That took longer than expected, unfortunately...By the time I finished packing and Eric and I exchanged gifts, it was nearly 11pm! Eric laid on the couch the entire time in a state of semi-consciousness. We got back to his house only to realize that he left his wallet sitting on the side table at my house. By the time the both of us got settled into bed it was 12:30 am. For the 2nd night in a row for me. 4:30am was going to come way too early!
And it did! That alarm went off this morning and woke me up from a sound sleep. I did not want to get up! But of course I did - had a plane to catch! Eric and I timed the airport perfectly, walked right on the plane, and now we wait. Yes... I'm currently en route to FL... gotta love in-flight wi-fi!
So "Merry Christmas" to those who may read this today! I'm sure I'll have lots more to post after 'Christmas #2' in Jacksonville. And all the other annual traditions we have.
Monday, December 21, 2009
December Catch-Up!
Okay... so I finally have a moment to sit and type. But just a moment...
It's been a crazy couple of weeks!! The good news is, everything that needs to be done at this point is done! All the packages are out, which means all the gifts are wrapped. The cards all went into the mail over the weekend (I'm still hoping I had a few addresses right, though). And tonight is my 'chill' night... tomorrow the baking will commence! I have to do stuff for work, stuff for the Strickland Family Christmas, AND stuff to take home to Jacksonville. Granted, a lot of those overlap... but there's still plenty to do! And that doesn't even take into account the packing I need to do!
Speaking of Jacksonville... I'm really anxious to get to some warmth! Granted, in talking with my Mom this morning, it was somehow the same temperature there, this morning, as it was here. Not good. But I'm sure it's just a temporary thing... it is Florida, after all! I can't wait to see the kiddos, too! And this being the first Christmas with Eric and I being engaged, it's sure to be even more memorable!
It's going to be a great Christmas!
It's been a crazy couple of weeks!! The good news is, everything that needs to be done at this point is done! All the packages are out, which means all the gifts are wrapped. The cards all went into the mail over the weekend (I'm still hoping I had a few addresses right, though). And tonight is my 'chill' night... tomorrow the baking will commence! I have to do stuff for work, stuff for the Strickland Family Christmas, AND stuff to take home to Jacksonville. Granted, a lot of those overlap... but there's still plenty to do! And that doesn't even take into account the packing I need to do!
Speaking of Jacksonville... I'm really anxious to get to some warmth! Granted, in talking with my Mom this morning, it was somehow the same temperature there, this morning, as it was here. Not good. But I'm sure it's just a temporary thing... it is Florida, after all! I can't wait to see the kiddos, too! And this being the first Christmas with Eric and I being engaged, it's sure to be even more memorable!
It's going to be a great Christmas!
Friday, December 18, 2009
Still Here!
I know I've been MIA for the past 10 days or so, but I've been busy!!
It's been crazy trying to finish shopping, wrap all my gifts, pack and ship them all, and work on Christmas Cards... I've hardly had time to sit and enjoy Christmas!
I hope to be able to sit and write more soon... until then... "Ho Ho Ho!"
It's been crazy trying to finish shopping, wrap all my gifts, pack and ship them all, and work on Christmas Cards... I've hardly had time to sit and enjoy Christmas!
I hope to be able to sit and write more soon... until then... "Ho Ho Ho!"
Monday, December 7, 2009
Christmas Decor is Up, Snow has Fallen...
Well, it took me well into last night, but even with all the excitement of the weekend, I managed to get my Christmas decorations up. I cheated a little bit - I didn't put EVERYTHING up this year... I may come back and do more later if I seriously miss something in particular. But I felt like that with last weekend's events, it's going to make for a season of other priorities and I probably won't get to enjoy my own decorations too much! But we'll see. I know I have a busy week ahead of me, at least...
Besides, I had to get up what I could before the snow came! Which was this morning! It was just enough to cover the road and some of the grass (depending on how low/high it was)... which also meant it was enough to make the roads nasty! Which is really did, apparently! Luckily, I didn't go in at my normal time this morning - my furnace has a schedule tune-up this morning. So I've been able to avoid the chaos thus far. Hopefully it'll be better when I get on the roads in a few hours.Another fun event worthwhile talking about from the weekend is the Butler basketball I went to at historic Hinkle Fieldhouse! That was really cool to see no just a highly ranked basketball team in action, but the fieldhouse, itself! It's nice to see some place preserve their history instead of bulldozing it down for bigger an better things.
Saturday, December 5, 2009
A Big Day!
So I woke up this morning, assuming it'd be a normal, cold Saturday. Granted, I had to finish decorating my tree and house for Christmas... but other than that... Eric and I went out for some breakfast and then wanted to go over the the Indianapolis Museum of Art to buy his Christmas cards for the year (he always gets them there).
Or so I thought.
First, he wanted to go look at the Robert Indiana "Love" Sculpture out in front of the museum because he hadn't really checked it out since they moved it to the front of the museum (YEARS ago!). It was just going to be 'real quick' and then we'd go inside since it was only about 30-degrees out.
Or so I thought.
Instead, as we were standing in front of the sculpture, he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him!
Of course I said, "Yes!" I was shocked... so much that I was shaking. Not because of the cold... but because of the shock and excitement! I got a huge smile on my face, obviously, which still hasn't gone away.
So I'm engaged!! And to me, that is a big day!!
Or so I thought.First, he wanted to go look at the Robert Indiana "Love" Sculpture out in front of the museum because he hadn't really checked it out since they moved it to the front of the museum (YEARS ago!). It was just going to be 'real quick' and then we'd go inside since it was only about 30-degrees out.
Or so I thought.
Instead, as we were standing in front of the sculpture, he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him!
Of course I said, "Yes!" I was shocked... so much that I was shaking. Not because of the cold... but because of the shock and excitement! I got a huge smile on my face, obviously, which still hasn't gone away.So I'm engaged!! And to me, that is a big day!!
Monday, November 30, 2009
Christmas Decorating... (some of it, anyway)
Okay... so I'm a little disappointed in myself. Not only did I not have energy yesterday, I seriously lacked motivation. So nothing was actually decorated yesterday. I DID get everything out of the attic, but the rainy, dreary day just made me want to curl up on the couch... which I did. Sad, huh?
The good news... everything's out of the attic! And I did manage to set my tree up this evening (though I didn't get to decorating it). So it'll be an ongoing process this week. But no pictures until it's done! In the meantime, send some good motivation vibes my way!
Some other good news (for me, anyway)... I'm almost done with the shopping side of Christmas! I ran down my list and I only have a couple of things left! Granted, when I pull everything out and look at it, I'm sure I'll realize I need to get a few more things, but the bulk of it - DONE! Then I only need to get the tree up so I can wrap gifts underneath it...
The good news... everything's out of the attic! And I did manage to set my tree up this evening (though I didn't get to decorating it). So it'll be an ongoing process this week. But no pictures until it's done! In the meantime, send some good motivation vibes my way!
Some other good news (for me, anyway)... I'm almost done with the shopping side of Christmas! I ran down my list and I only have a couple of things left! Granted, when I pull everything out and look at it, I'm sure I'll realize I need to get a few more things, but the bulk of it - DONE! Then I only need to get the tree up so I can wrap gifts underneath it...
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Christmastime in Chicago
I just got back from an absolutely amazing overnight trip to Chicago! I figured we'd have a good time, but I really underestimated how much fun it would be, even if it was just for the night.
We finally headed out around 1pm yesterday. That was my fault. We were shooting for noon, but my unexpected Black Friday shopping put me a little behind schedule for the day. No biggy, though - we weren't really on a schedule. We stopped at Fair Oaks Farm for some grilled cheese as a late lunch, just to hold us over until we got there and got around to eating. This ended up being a really good idea since we ended up with a really late dinner - the time zone change didn't help matters there! But we got to Chicago close to 4pm CST and checked into our hotel.
The hotel we stayed at was part of what really made this trip fun! It's a relatively new hotel called The Wit, which is a Doubletree branded hotel. (ie - Eric used his points for a free night) It was very modern, it it had quite the list of amenities that would've been fun to explore if we were there longer! But that's not why we
were there, so after we took our stuff to the room, we were back out the door to check out the lights and such.
State Street was all decked out in blue LED lights, which looked really cool! I can honestly say I was a little disappointed that Michigan Avenue didn't have the same (they just had basic white lights there), but maybe there's a reason for it. Regardless, it was a surprisingly nice night in Chicago - not to blustery (in the 40's) and almost no wind. As long as you were dressed for it, you were fine. So we strolled down to Marshall Fields. But then we were side tracked by the lure of some other tree lights over in Daley Plaza...
We walked over to Daley Plaza to find quite the scene... Christkindlmarket was going on. Now, I knew nothing about this, nor did Eric, but it was really a cool set-up! It was essentially like an old German market full of German gifts (wooden ornaments, steins, etc) and food! They even have hot spiced wine being served in little boot mugs (which went down nicely right about this time). We each sipped on a mug of wine as we explored the market... I would've loved to have stayed longer or even came back later, but we just ran out of time this trip! But if you head to Chicago anytime before Christmas, you should go!
After our detour, we headed back over towards Marshall Fields to look at the windows. This year's theme was the delivery of children's letters to Santa. Not sure if they purposely did this to correlate with the Make-A-Wish Fundraiser going on (for every letter dropped off at your Macy's location, Macy's donates a dollar to MAW!), but it was really cool to see all of the scenes flow together... and also fun to watch all the kids get excited over the windows!! It's nice to see that's still the case!
Of course, after viewing the windows, we had to go inside to do a little shopping!! I managed to check a few more gifts off my list in the process... as did Eric! I was proud of him actually doing a little shopping! Though this isn't quite as large as the Macy's in NYC (Marshall Fields is now Macy's, for those who don't know), it's history almost can compare. No wooden escalators, but some of the interior architecture definitely outdoes the NYC Macy's. But there's something about that NYC Macy's that'll never be beat...
After finishing up here, we attempted to head up to the Magnificent Mile to catch a few of the stores there, but the 10pm close time wasn't as wide spread as we hoped, so we decided to go food since it was 9pm already (10pm our time!). We walked back down Michigan Avenue, crosses the river and saw a Giordano's. Deep dish pizza sounded good, even with the wait.
After dinner, we went back to the hotel and decided to check out one of the amenities... The Roof, which is their rooftop restaurant and lounge. We were anticipating just a nice place with good views. Nope... went way beyond that! There was a HUGE outdoor patio with heaters, which we decided to check out. We sat out there and had a drink before heading back to the room. The views were absolutely spectacular! Granted, the night being as perfect as it was (weather wise) helped. I can imagine how popular this place is during the summer months! Eric and I definitely want to go back here again, even if we're at a different hotel!
This morning we woke up and had breakfast at the hotel (which was also awesome!).
Afterwards, we got all of our bags into the car and headed down to the Art Institute for a little cultural exposure. We didn't stay long... in fact, we just followed their "one hour tour" listed in the map/guide. Which took us a little more than an hour. But it worked out perfectly! And they have some very good pieces there. I kept thinking of scenes from Ferris Bueller's Day Off, though!
From there, we walked straight up Michigan Avenue to do some more shopping (or at least browsing). We didn't buy as much, but we enjoyed the atmosphere and managed to get a few more items off our list. I think we spent the longest time in Bloomingdale's... picking out tree ornaments, of all things! It was fun, though. But we both got to a point where we were tired, and we still had to drive home. We ended up leaving town around 4pm CST.
The drive home seems so much longer than the drive up. I think we had more stops... that, and it got dark pretty quickly on us. But we finally made it home. And I'm beat! So I'm off to bed. I'm hoping to get my tree up and decorated tomorrow. We'll see if I have the energy!
We finally headed out around 1pm yesterday. That was my fault. We were shooting for noon, but my unexpected Black Friday shopping put me a little behind schedule for the day. No biggy, though - we weren't really on a schedule. We stopped at Fair Oaks Farm for some grilled cheese as a late lunch, just to hold us over until we got there and got around to eating. This ended up being a really good idea since we ended up with a really late dinner - the time zone change didn't help matters there! But we got to Chicago close to 4pm CST and checked into our hotel.
The hotel we stayed at was part of what really made this trip fun! It's a relatively new hotel called The Wit, which is a Doubletree branded hotel. (ie - Eric used his points for a free night) It was very modern, it it had quite the list of amenities that would've been fun to explore if we were there longer! But that's not why we
were there, so after we took our stuff to the room, we were back out the door to check out the lights and such.State Street was all decked out in blue LED lights, which looked really cool! I can honestly say I was a little disappointed that Michigan Avenue didn't have the same (they just had basic white lights there), but maybe there's a reason for it. Regardless, it was a surprisingly nice night in Chicago - not to blustery (in the 40's) and almost no wind. As long as you were dressed for it, you were fine. So we strolled down to Marshall Fields. But then we were side tracked by the lure of some other tree lights over in Daley Plaza...
We walked over to Daley Plaza to find quite the scene... Christkindlmarket was going on. Now, I knew nothing about this, nor did Eric, but it was really a cool set-up! It was essentially like an old German market full of German gifts (wooden ornaments, steins, etc) and food! They even have hot spiced wine being served in little boot mugs (which went down nicely right about this time). We each sipped on a mug of wine as we explored the market... I would've loved to have stayed longer or even came back later, but we just ran out of time this trip! But if you head to Chicago anytime before Christmas, you should go!
After our detour, we headed back over towards Marshall Fields to look at the windows. This year's theme was the delivery of children's letters to Santa. Not sure if they purposely did this to correlate with the Make-A-Wish Fundraiser going on (for every letter dropped off at your Macy's location, Macy's donates a dollar to MAW!), but it was really cool to see all of the scenes flow together... and also fun to watch all the kids get excited over the windows!! It's nice to see that's still the case!Of course, after viewing the windows, we had to go inside to do a little shopping!! I managed to check a few more gifts off my list in the process... as did Eric! I was proud of him actually doing a little shopping! Though this isn't quite as large as the Macy's in NYC (Marshall Fields is now Macy's, for those who don't know), it's history almost can compare. No wooden escalators, but some of the interior architecture definitely outdoes the NYC Macy's. But there's something about that NYC Macy's that'll never be beat...
After finishing up here, we attempted to head up to the Magnificent Mile to catch a few of the stores there, but the 10pm close time wasn't as wide spread as we hoped, so we decided to go food since it was 9pm already (10pm our time!). We walked back down Michigan Avenue, crosses the river and saw a Giordano's. Deep dish pizza sounded good, even with the wait.
After dinner, we went back to the hotel and decided to check out one of the amenities... The Roof, which is their rooftop restaurant and lounge. We were anticipating just a nice place with good views. Nope... went way beyond that! There was a HUGE outdoor patio with heaters, which we decided to check out. We sat out there and had a drink before heading back to the room. The views were absolutely spectacular! Granted, the night being as perfect as it was (weather wise) helped. I can imagine how popular this place is during the summer months! Eric and I definitely want to go back here again, even if we're at a different hotel!This morning we woke up and had breakfast at the hotel (which was also awesome!).
Afterwards, we got all of our bags into the car and headed down to the Art Institute for a little cultural exposure. We didn't stay long... in fact, we just followed their "one hour tour" listed in the map/guide. Which took us a little more than an hour. But it worked out perfectly! And they have some very good pieces there. I kept thinking of scenes from Ferris Bueller's Day Off, though!From there, we walked straight up Michigan Avenue to do some more shopping (or at least browsing). We didn't buy as much, but we enjoyed the atmosphere and managed to get a few more items off our list. I think we spent the longest time in Bloomingdale's... picking out tree ornaments, of all things! It was fun, though. But we both got to a point where we were tired, and we still had to drive home. We ended up leaving town around 4pm CST.
The drive home seems so much longer than the drive up. I think we had more stops... that, and it got dark pretty quickly on us. But we finally made it home. And I'm beat! So I'm off to bed. I'm hoping to get my tree up and decorated tomorrow. We'll see if I have the energy!
P.S. Here's a link to all my pictures from the trip... Click Here
Friday, November 27, 2009
Black Friday
Okay... so my Black Friday shopping didn't go quite as well as I had hoped online... some of the sites kept crashing on me! So while I was fighting with that ordeal well into the morning, I realized that some of the items I wanted were only available IN STORE, so the online thing didn't work! After all the chaos, I only ended up with 4 hours of sleep before I decided to get up and brave some of the stores. It wasn't with the 4am crowd, or even the 5am crowd... I think most of them were back home in bed by the time I went out (around 9am)... but the few things I wanted, I got. Yay!
Now I'm getting ready to head to Chicago with Eric for the night. Not so much for the shopping, but the lights and holiday windows at Marshall Fields. I've never seen them, and I think it'll be a good time. And also be really nice to get out of town! Double yay!
Now I'm getting ready to head to Chicago with Eric for the night. Not so much for the shopping, but the lights and holiday windows at Marshall Fields. I've never seen them, and I think it'll be a good time. And also be really nice to get out of town! Double yay!
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Thanksgiving Day
Another Thanksgiving has come and gone... for the 2nd time this year. This one was celebrated at Eric's house with his family. And it was a full house for this one! We had eight adults and four kids, two of which we barely walking. But it was a good time!
Eric got a fresh turkey from Goose The Market again this year. Once again, it was spectacular! It's amazing how much difference fresh turkey turns out verses the frozen ones. With the turkey, we had an array of sides!! Some traditional, like green beans and mashed potatoes... and some new things, like some browned off brussel sprouts (Eric found the recipe in GQ). I did the desserts, as I always do... fresh pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread, a blueberry chocolate pie, and some buckeyes. The whole meal was SO good!
Of course, the family time was good, too! It's always so much fun having the real little ones run around. They seem to amuse everyone and keep everyone relatively busy with things. It was interesting watching the two cousins interact, especially initially. I think it was their first time meeting, and they just kind of looked at each other, not too sure about the situation. but kids are kids, and they were all having a good time pretty quickly.
So with that, I must jump online to try to hit some of the online Black Friday sales. I really don't want to go to the stores if I don't have to... the crowds just get so crazy anymore... anyway... with me luck!
Monday, November 23, 2009
A Birthday and Thanksgiving #1
A few weeks ago, it occurred to me that I hadn’t been to Florida since May! That just wasn’t acceptable, so I jumped online and found flights to be cheap, PLUS I had a voucher from the last trip where Delta screwed me. So I decided to book a trip for this past weekend. To top things off, I had some points to use at Hertz for a free rental car. I was set!
After all of this, it occurred to me that my Mom’s 60th Birthday was just the week before… so I figured it was worth conspiring with my sister to have a small celebration to surprise Mom with. She knew I was coming, but she didn’t know what was to come. All the pieces seemed to fall together, too. The weekend before, Eric realized he had to be in Daytona Beach on Thursday night, so he threw the possibility of joining us for at least Friday night. It worked out well! I ordered a cake from Publix (they have AWESOME cakes) and decided on something to make for dinner on Friday night, and just let everything else fall into place.
So Friday comes around, I jump on the plane at 7am – man that’s early! Surprisingly, I had no flight issues on the way down. All on time, upgraded the whole way… it was nice, for a change! I get there, grab my rental car, and I have some time to kill. So I stop off for a little shopping before I meet up with Eric and hit the grocery store. After some lunch, Eric and I do a quick run through the grocery store for dinner ingredients and the cake (of course!). We end up getting to my parents’ house around 3:30pm. My Mom had just gotten home with Nan after a trip to the grocery store themselves – my Mom decided to have Thanksgiving dinner on Saturday since we had all the family together (remember – at that point, she didn’t know Eric was coming). So she was unloading her car when we pulled in and she did the classic Ba… hands on the hips, jaw dropped with a smile – the look just says, “I can’t believe you surprised me like this!”
She only knew about Eric being a surprise at this point! Then we unloaded our groceries and I told her the rest of the surprise. She was very pleasantly surprised.
Kristin, Gregg, and the kids got there around 7pm, and Dad got home from work shortly after. We had a nice dinner and some cake and just enjoyed the time together. Eric had to leave uber early the next morning to catch a flight home, so we stayed at a hotel down the road so he could sneak out. Well… all was well until I realized, at 4:30am, that his car keys were in my backpack back at my parents’ house! So we went over there before he took off (we had to!) and I snuck in and grabbed the keys. And no one heard me somehow! So I went back to the hotel and crashed for a few more hours before really waking up!
Saturday we had an early Thanksgiving dinner, which was really nice. It’d been a few years since I had Thanksgiving with my own family. We kept to the basics – no crazy amounts or sides. It was nice. Little did my Mom know, at this point, that there was one more surprise to come! After we cleaned up, her and I took the kids shopping for Christmas present ideas and such. What Mom DIDN’T know is that getting her out of the house was planned! While we were out, Kristin and Gregg put up the Christmas tree. My Mom is always saying she wants the tree up on her birthday… well, this wasn’t on her birthday, but it was close enough. Again, she was pleasantly surprised.
Sunday came along and I only had time to do brunch with the family before catching a flight home. But it was nice, and overall, my Jacksonville weekend was nice. But now it was time to go home. So off I went to the airport.
Now, I did the responsible thing and checked my flight status before I left. However, by the time I got to the airport at noon, the 1pm flight was already delayed 15 minutes. Not too bad. And it was weather related, so I couldn’t yell at Delta too much. But then that 15 minutes turned into a 1/2 hour. Then we missed out ‘flight departure wedding’, making it an hour delay. Thankfully, I’ve learned not to book tight connections in ATL, so I wasn’t stressing. We finally get to ATL and hour late and I look on the board for my next flight. It’s already set at a 45 minute delay. Now this I really don’t like. But it, too, was because of weather. So our plane finally gets to the gate and we’re waiting to board when I hear the gate agents murmuring something about a maintenance issue. Not good. But we board about 10 minutes later… unaware that the issue wasn’t actually resolved. It was a navigation computer issue! So we sat there. Thankfully, I was upgrade to 1st class, and they gave us drinks while we waited… the adult kind. We finally take off and head towards Indy. Somehow, after all this, I only end up 1-1/2 hours later than scheduled. But I’m beat! I head home and crash! Delta did it to me again!
But I decided not to let that destroy my otherwise nice weekend. Now it’s just a short week before Thanksgiving #2. And then, as Eric puts it, ‘Christmas Crazy’ begins!
After all of this, it occurred to me that my Mom’s 60th Birthday was just the week before… so I figured it was worth conspiring with my sister to have a small celebration to surprise Mom with. She knew I was coming, but she didn’t know what was to come. All the pieces seemed to fall together, too. The weekend before, Eric realized he had to be in Daytona Beach on Thursday night, so he threw the possibility of joining us for at least Friday night. It worked out well! I ordered a cake from Publix (they have AWESOME cakes) and decided on something to make for dinner on Friday night, and just let everything else fall into place.
So Friday comes around, I jump on the plane at 7am – man that’s early! Surprisingly, I had no flight issues on the way down. All on time, upgraded the whole way… it was nice, for a change! I get there, grab my rental car, and I have some time to kill. So I stop off for a little shopping before I meet up with Eric and hit the grocery store. After some lunch, Eric and I do a quick run through the grocery store for dinner ingredients and the cake (of course!). We end up getting to my parents’ house around 3:30pm. My Mom had just gotten home with Nan after a trip to the grocery store themselves – my Mom decided to have Thanksgiving dinner on Saturday since we had all the family together (remember – at that point, she didn’t know Eric was coming). So she was unloading her car when we pulled in and she did the classic Ba… hands on the hips, jaw dropped with a smile – the look just says, “I can’t believe you surprised me like this!”
She only knew about Eric being a surprise at this point! Then we unloaded our groceries and I told her the rest of the surprise. She was very pleasantly surprised.Kristin, Gregg, and the kids got there around 7pm, and Dad got home from work shortly after. We had a nice dinner and some cake and just enjoyed the time together. Eric had to leave uber early the next morning to catch a flight home, so we stayed at a hotel down the road so he could sneak out. Well… all was well until I realized, at 4:30am, that his car keys were in my backpack back at my parents’ house! So we went over there before he took off (we had to!) and I snuck in and grabbed the keys. And no one heard me somehow! So I went back to the hotel and crashed for a few more hours before really waking up!
Saturday we had an early Thanksgiving dinner, which was really nice. It’d been a few years since I had Thanksgiving with my own family. We kept to the basics – no crazy amounts or sides. It was nice. Little did my Mom know, at this point, that there was one more surprise to come! After we cleaned up, her and I took the kids shopping for Christmas present ideas and such. What Mom DIDN’T know is that getting her out of the house was planned! While we were out, Kristin and Gregg put up the Christmas tree. My Mom is always saying she wants the tree up on her birthday… well, this wasn’t on her birthday, but it was close enough. Again, she was pleasantly surprised.
Sunday came along and I only had time to do brunch with the family before catching a flight home. But it was nice, and overall, my Jacksonville weekend was nice. But now it was time to go home. So off I went to the airport.
Now, I did the responsible thing and checked my flight status before I left. However, by the time I got to the airport at noon, the 1pm flight was already delayed 15 minutes. Not too bad. And it was weather related, so I couldn’t yell at Delta too much. But then that 15 minutes turned into a 1/2 hour. Then we missed out ‘flight departure wedding’, making it an hour delay. Thankfully, I’ve learned not to book tight connections in ATL, so I wasn’t stressing. We finally get to ATL and hour late and I look on the board for my next flight. It’s already set at a 45 minute delay. Now this I really don’t like. But it, too, was because of weather. So our plane finally gets to the gate and we’re waiting to board when I hear the gate agents murmuring something about a maintenance issue. Not good. But we board about 10 minutes later… unaware that the issue wasn’t actually resolved. It was a navigation computer issue! So we sat there. Thankfully, I was upgrade to 1st class, and they gave us drinks while we waited… the adult kind. We finally take off and head towards Indy. Somehow, after all this, I only end up 1-1/2 hours later than scheduled. But I’m beat! I head home and crash! Delta did it to me again!
But I decided not to let that destroy my otherwise nice weekend. Now it’s just a short week before Thanksgiving #2. And then, as Eric puts it, ‘Christmas Crazy’ begins!
Sunday, November 15, 2009
RW Armstrong Holiday Party
Last night was my 2nd Holiday Party with RW Armstrong. They always have it early, before the real mad rush of the holidays hit. Haven't figured out if I like that yet... but it's not necessarily a bad thing. Most people just aren't in holiday mode yet... but then, they don't exactly Christmas it up, either... ANYWAY...
This year's theme was "Puttin' on the Ritz" and it was held at the Crowne Plaza Grand Ballroom, which is AMAZING is you've never seen it!
I think the space is severely under utilized... but we sure filled it up nicely. To go along with the theme and new location, they stepped up the dress code and made it semi-formal/formal... which I had fun with. I bought myself a new floor length, purple velvet dress for the occasion. Eric thought I was going to be over-dressed... but then he felt under-dressed when he got there, and he was in a dark suit and tie!! But some of the company owners really stepped it up and showed up in tuxedos... most of the guys were just in suits, though, so he wasn't actually under-dressed.
As usual, RW Armstong put up a truly grand event with a full open bar and a great sit down meal. A live bad played and everyone mingled well. I only wish Eric knew more people that he'd be comfortable talking to... he's been out of the engineering side of things so long that when he's around so many of them, he forgets that many of them are introverted and don't necessarily carry on good conversations outside of the basics. So he got bored pretty quickly. Granted, we were there a good three hours before he inquired about how much longer it would be...
We were presented with the opportunity to join some other coworkers at Crackers Comedy Club for their 10:30 show, so we headed out with them. The comedians were alright, and I think Eric was more comfortable not being around so many engineers. There was actually an obnoxious table next to us that got kicked out... I've never seen anyone kicked out of a comedy club!
So in looking back, I guess I could start looking at this as the kick-off to the holidays... Me being such a "Holiday Person", this could be a good thing.
This year's theme was "Puttin' on the Ritz" and it was held at the Crowne Plaza Grand Ballroom, which is AMAZING is you've never seen it!
I think the space is severely under utilized... but we sure filled it up nicely. To go along with the theme and new location, they stepped up the dress code and made it semi-formal/formal... which I had fun with. I bought myself a new floor length, purple velvet dress for the occasion. Eric thought I was going to be over-dressed... but then he felt under-dressed when he got there, and he was in a dark suit and tie!! But some of the company owners really stepped it up and showed up in tuxedos... most of the guys were just in suits, though, so he wasn't actually under-dressed.As usual, RW Armstong put up a truly grand event with a full open bar and a great sit down meal. A live bad played and everyone mingled well. I only wish Eric knew more people that he'd be comfortable talking to... he's been out of the engineering side of things so long that when he's around so many of them, he forgets that many of them are introverted and don't necessarily carry on good conversations outside of the basics. So he got bored pretty quickly. Granted, we were there a good three hours before he inquired about how much longer it would be...
We were presented with the opportunity to join some other coworkers at Crackers Comedy Club for their 10:30 show, so we headed out with them. The comedians were alright, and I think Eric was more comfortable not being around so many engineers. There was actually an obnoxious table next to us that got kicked out... I've never seen anyone kicked out of a comedy club!
So in looking back, I guess I could start looking at this as the kick-off to the holidays... Me being such a "Holiday Person", this could be a good thing.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Texans at Colts
Normally I don't post about Colts games I go to since Eric has season tickets. Unless it's the Jaguars game and the Jags win. But today we didn't use Eric's tickets... one of his consultants invited us to be their guests... their seats are part of the Advantage Club in the lower level, which is the home side of the field. We were on right about the 40 Yard line, 20 rows up. 
It was awesome! Not just the view, either... the whole experience!! The seats are padded, they have their own bathrooms and own food vendors, and a lounge area set up with big screens. Honestly, I didn't realize this was right here... I though only suite holders got this type of treatment!
This particular consultant (whom I also know from working with him when I was at Kite) loves to entertain and take care of his clients. It's always a fun time, no matter what we do or where we go. So it made for a nice day. Which really was just the icing on the cake, since the day itself was AWESOME! repeat of yesterday, almost, weather wise. The roof was even open on the stadium, which is unheard of in November, usually! So beforehand we even tailgated with some of my coworkers for a bit to get to full use of the great day!
And the game itself even turned out to be an edge of your seat game... Texans almost came back to tie it up in the last seconds! But their kicker choked. Oh well. Now to look forward to next week's Patriots game!
It was awesome! Not just the view, either... the whole experience!! The seats are padded, they have their own bathrooms and own food vendors, and a lounge area set up with big screens. Honestly, I didn't realize this was right here... I though only suite holders got this type of treatment!This particular consultant (whom I also know from working with him when I was at Kite) loves to entertain and take care of his clients. It's always a fun time, no matter what we do or where we go. So it made for a nice day. Which really was just the icing on the cake, since the day itself was AWESOME! repeat of yesterday, almost, weather wise. The roof was even open on the stadium, which is unheard of in November, usually! So beforehand we even tailgated with some of my coworkers for a bit to get to full use of the great day!
And the game itself even turned out to be an edge of your seat game... Texans almost came back to tie it up in the last seconds! But their kicker choked. Oh well. Now to look forward to next week's Patriots game!
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Erica and Brian's Indy Reception
One thing that comes with having a destination is that you must have a 'local' reception at some point to accommodate all the friends and family that couldn't make the destination. This isn't a bad thing. In fact, it's a great thing - you get to bust out the wedding dress twice!! Plus, it's nice to celebrate with everyone at some point.
This afternoon, Erica and Brian had their Indy reception for everyone who couldn't make it to Mexico. And of course, those of us who are local and could make it to both attended both! It was a nice, low key deal at El Torito Grill on the northside of Indy... a Mexican restaurant, of course. It was really more of a casual, sit down luncheon where she and Brian tried to make it around and talk to everyone. And since they were dressed up in their wedding gear, everyone wanted pictures.
Our friend, Jen, made their cake for this reception - as usual, she did an awesome job! She kept with the beach theme and even have 'sand' and beach chairs as the topper. And the cake itself was amazing! It went well with the unusually warm day we were having... granted, not beach weather.... but nice, none the less.
So all in all, it was a great wedding and receptions... I think Eric grew tired of all the wedding stuff... but then he's a guy. Guys don't get that stuff. So I guess I'll let him get by.
This afternoon, Erica and Brian had their Indy reception for everyone who couldn't make it to Mexico. And of course, those of us who are local and could make it to both attended both! It was a nice, low key deal at El Torito Grill on the northside of Indy... a Mexican restaurant, of course. It was really more of a casual, sit down luncheon where she and Brian tried to make it around and talk to everyone. And since they were dressed up in their wedding gear, everyone wanted pictures.Our friend, Jen, made their cake for this reception - as usual, she did an awesome job! She kept with the beach theme and even have 'sand' and beach chairs as the topper. And the cake itself was amazing! It went well with the unusually warm day we were having... granted, not beach weather.... but nice, none the less.
So all in all, it was a great wedding and receptions... I think Eric grew tired of all the wedding stuff... but then he's a guy. Guys don't get that stuff. So I guess I'll let him get by.
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Happy Halloween!!
Happy Halloween, everyone!!
I didn't quite get into the Halloween spirit this year (no costume for the work contest/party, no decorations, etc.), but I did, at least, carve a little pumpkin (the picture you see here). I do enjoy doing that. You'd think with it being on a Saturday an all, I would've gotten more into it because I could get more into it. But no... I'm just looking forward to a nice date night with Eric, instead.
However, I still wanted to wish every other ghoul and goblin out there a good Halloween... and BE SAFE! You just never know who's behind that mask!
I didn't quite get into the Halloween spirit this year (no costume for the work contest/party, no decorations, etc.), but I did, at least, carve a little pumpkin (the picture you see here). I do enjoy doing that. You'd think with it being on a Saturday an all, I would've gotten more into it because I could get more into it. But no... I'm just looking forward to a nice date night with Eric, instead.However, I still wanted to wish every other ghoul and goblin out there a good Halloween... and BE SAFE! You just never know who's behind that mask!
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Rush Hour Traffic
Anyone who knows me know that it doesn't take much to get me on a rant about traffic and the horrible drivers I see everyday. I could probably do a blog a day with what I see (but I won't - I'll spare everyone from that).
Down south, in Atlanta and Orlando and Miami... they have the volume, but at least they also have the speed. There's nothing I hate more than sitting in crawling traffic. Here... it's always crawling. And I account that to the fact that very few people know how to merge up here... nor do they recognize that the extra lane is there for a mile because traffic engineers deemed it necessary to help traffic flow at some point in time. It wasn't because they felt like spending a few extra million dollars on asphalt. Seriously... *sigh* I digress on the merging issue... for now...
I saw a few things this morning that blew my mind, though.
I often feel for truckers, especially during rush hour. Most people do not know how to drive with trucks in traffic. but this morning... I saw a trucker who was outright obnoxious!! Let me set this up for you... 116th Street, heading east, just before I-69, at the intersection with Lantern Road (by Target). For those who don't know the area, this gets very backed up. In fact, they extended the two turn lanes from lantern onto 116th. Well, this morning, a truck was in the inner of the two turn lanes (the one you get in if you DON'T plan on getting on southbound I-69 in the AM because of the solid line of cars). I was already on 116th Street in the line of cars. The truck turns, acts like he's going to run me over to get into the turn lane onto I-69, but then continues straight... only to turn the straight lane into a turn lane at the light, just about taking some cars out with him!! Now, I've seen cars do this all the time. But they're smaller and they can't run over the other cars turning (unless, maybe, it's a Hummer). But a truck?? That's brazen!! So I continue along my merry way after this. I guess I've seen worse.
As I do the daily ritual of getting downtown with all the lemmings, it occurs to me that the lane you never want to be in during rush hour in Indianapolis is the far left lane. It's always the slowest, and it's aways the one that's at a backed-up standstill. Why... well, if you must, I'd go back to the merging thing. But more so, people seem to think that they won't HAVE to merge in they're in that lane (with merging ramp traffic). I realized that most of my commute is done in the right lane, right with all the ramp traffic... and I usually cruise right past all these people. There are a few places I jump over to the middle, and sometimes even the left lane... but it's rare. Of course, I live in a City with no HOV lanes, as well. They just don't understand the concept of a fast lane here...
But really blew my mind this week was Tuesday morning. Remember the tanker truck explosion I blogged about earlier? Well, it did mess up the interchange for awhile, but they had everything by open Monday, except for the I-69S ramp to I-465S. BUT, beginning Tuesday at lunch, they started broadcasting that it would be open for Tuesday morning rush hour. Monday night, still proclaiming that. Come Tuesday morning... yep, sure enough, it was the first item on all the traffic reports, both on TV and on the radio. Mind you, that's not my normal route... I got down Binford on a regular basis, which is where the traffic had been diverted for the weekend. So you can imagine my surprise when I get within a mile of the interchange and it's backed up for nearly a mile, people all in the left lane, going on Binford. WTF?? So I dart over to the right lanes and take the interchange ramp onto South I-465. Apparently, the lemmings don't listen to the traffic reports, EVER, because there was only about me and a half dozen other cars on the entire wide-sweeping ramp, going right over Binford for all to see... after their chance to get on. Me? I'd been listening to all the news on this because I wanted to know when normalcy would take hold again. I thought it would happen then. But apparently, very few people were thinking the same way I was. Instead, they block my normal route to work with their idiocracy!
Okay... I'm done. I just really needed to vent. I can only vent to Eric so much before he just thinks I'm crazy.
Down south, in Atlanta and Orlando and Miami... they have the volume, but at least they also have the speed. There's nothing I hate more than sitting in crawling traffic. Here... it's always crawling. And I account that to the fact that very few people know how to merge up here... nor do they recognize that the extra lane is there for a mile because traffic engineers deemed it necessary to help traffic flow at some point in time. It wasn't because they felt like spending a few extra million dollars on asphalt. Seriously... *sigh* I digress on the merging issue... for now...
I saw a few things this morning that blew my mind, though.
I often feel for truckers, especially during rush hour. Most people do not know how to drive with trucks in traffic. but this morning... I saw a trucker who was outright obnoxious!! Let me set this up for you... 116th Street, heading east, just before I-69, at the intersection with Lantern Road (by Target). For those who don't know the area, this gets very backed up. In fact, they extended the two turn lanes from lantern onto 116th. Well, this morning, a truck was in the inner of the two turn lanes (the one you get in if you DON'T plan on getting on southbound I-69 in the AM because of the solid line of cars). I was already on 116th Street in the line of cars. The truck turns, acts like he's going to run me over to get into the turn lane onto I-69, but then continues straight... only to turn the straight lane into a turn lane at the light, just about taking some cars out with him!! Now, I've seen cars do this all the time. But they're smaller and they can't run over the other cars turning (unless, maybe, it's a Hummer). But a truck?? That's brazen!! So I continue along my merry way after this. I guess I've seen worse.
As I do the daily ritual of getting downtown with all the lemmings, it occurs to me that the lane you never want to be in during rush hour in Indianapolis is the far left lane. It's always the slowest, and it's aways the one that's at a backed-up standstill. Why... well, if you must, I'd go back to the merging thing. But more so, people seem to think that they won't HAVE to merge in they're in that lane (with merging ramp traffic). I realized that most of my commute is done in the right lane, right with all the ramp traffic... and I usually cruise right past all these people. There are a few places I jump over to the middle, and sometimes even the left lane... but it's rare. Of course, I live in a City with no HOV lanes, as well. They just don't understand the concept of a fast lane here...
But really blew my mind this week was Tuesday morning. Remember the tanker truck explosion I blogged about earlier? Well, it did mess up the interchange for awhile, but they had everything by open Monday, except for the I-69S ramp to I-465S. BUT, beginning Tuesday at lunch, they started broadcasting that it would be open for Tuesday morning rush hour. Monday night, still proclaiming that. Come Tuesday morning... yep, sure enough, it was the first item on all the traffic reports, both on TV and on the radio. Mind you, that's not my normal route... I got down Binford on a regular basis, which is where the traffic had been diverted for the weekend. So you can imagine my surprise when I get within a mile of the interchange and it's backed up for nearly a mile, people all in the left lane, going on Binford. WTF?? So I dart over to the right lanes and take the interchange ramp onto South I-465. Apparently, the lemmings don't listen to the traffic reports, EVER, because there was only about me and a half dozen other cars on the entire wide-sweeping ramp, going right over Binford for all to see... after their chance to get on. Me? I'd been listening to all the news on this because I wanted to know when normalcy would take hold again. I thought it would happen then. But apparently, very few people were thinking the same way I was. Instead, they block my normal route to work with their idiocracy!
Okay... I'm done. I just really needed to vent. I can only vent to Eric so much before he just thinks I'm crazy.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
I Realized Fall is Here...
I know it sounds strange, but it really just hit me, TODAY, that Fall is here!! It really hit me when I saw all the Autumn colored leaves blowing around as I drove down the road. It was kind of pretty, actually.
Why it didn't hit me until today, I'm not sure. Maybe my mind has just been too occupied with everything else going on that I haven't had time to just stop and look around. Not to mention, Mexico threw my mindset out of whack. Granted, the temperatures have hit and I've made my thoughts about that clear (at least to people around me, verbally). And maybe that was part of it... it was in the 60's today, which gave me reason to go outside and enjoy some nice weather, even if it was brief. We were actually supposed to go on a picnic lunch with Eric's parents and sister's family to celebrate his and his sister's birthdays from the previous week. But the ground was too wet from previous rain and, in the end, his sister wasn't able to make it. So we ended up spending that time in Eric's house, unfortunately.
Anyway... this appears to be a really colorful fall this year - lots of rain usually equates to lots of color when the leaves do change... and that is definitely the case this year. I'm just hoping the mild summer yields to a mild winter... I don't think I can handle a harsh one this year.
Why it didn't hit me until today, I'm not sure. Maybe my mind has just been too occupied with everything else going on that I haven't had time to just stop and look around. Not to mention, Mexico threw my mindset out of whack. Granted, the temperatures have hit and I've made my thoughts about that clear (at least to people around me, verbally). And maybe that was part of it... it was in the 60's today, which gave me reason to go outside and enjoy some nice weather, even if it was brief. We were actually supposed to go on a picnic lunch with Eric's parents and sister's family to celebrate his and his sister's birthdays from the previous week. But the ground was too wet from previous rain and, in the end, his sister wasn't able to make it. So we ended up spending that time in Eric's house, unfortunately.
Anyway... this appears to be a really colorful fall this year - lots of rain usually equates to lots of color when the leaves do change... and that is definitely the case this year. I'm just hoping the mild summer yields to a mild winter... I don't think I can handle a harsh one this year.
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Back to the Routine
Last week was my first full week back in the office since the beginning of the month! And I have to say, it wore me out!!
Though I was back to the office environment, the week was anything but routine. Between project blow-ups and an all day training session, I feel like I ended the week with more piled up than when I started the week. Plus, the office seemed really empty! I'm not sure where everyone was, but it seemed way too quiet. But I managed to make it though.
Not only was I back to the office routine, I was able to get back to my 'extracurricular' activities, as well... softball on Thursday night, and dodgeball on Friday night. Since I was so out of the routine, though, I forgot to put my softball gear back in my car before Thursday night!! So I had to borrow stuff... which was odd. But it worked. The sad part is, since I was away from the action for a few weeks, I'm feeling it today! Not too many games left, though, of either sport.
I tried to get myself back into the 'awake state' this morning by sleeping in. I think it helped... a little. But I still feel exhausted. Maybe another nap will help...
Though I was back to the office environment, the week was anything but routine. Between project blow-ups and an all day training session, I feel like I ended the week with more piled up than when I started the week. Plus, the office seemed really empty! I'm not sure where everyone was, but it seemed way too quiet. But I managed to make it though.
Not only was I back to the office routine, I was able to get back to my 'extracurricular' activities, as well... softball on Thursday night, and dodgeball on Friday night. Since I was so out of the routine, though, I forgot to put my softball gear back in my car before Thursday night!! So I had to borrow stuff... which was odd. But it worked. The sad part is, since I was away from the action for a few weeks, I'm feeling it today! Not too many games left, though, of either sport.
I tried to get myself back into the 'awake state' this morning by sleeping in. I think it helped... a little. But I still feel exhausted. Maybe another nap will help...
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Explosion!
This post is really for those reading this NOT in the Indy area. If you're in the Indy area, you know all about this!
Today started out as any other day in Indianapolis in the fall... a little cool, and little dreary, and not too much going on. Until about 10:30am on the northeast side, and one of the busiest interchanges in the city... I-69 and I-465. A tanker truck carrying liquid propane took the ramp from southbound I-69 to southbound I-465 a little too fast. I know this ramp well... if you don't know the area, this is an easy thing to do. I've even had to check myself a couple of times when I'm in a rush! Well, the tanker wasn't able to correct himself. He rolled over. And an explosion happened!!
This is not an exaggeration. it was literally a mushroom cloud of fire at least 100' in the air! And it burned HOT! It melted the fronts of cars stopped a couple hundred feet away. The truck, itself, was incinerated to the frame! Fortunately, some good samaritans pulled the driver away in time. Unfortunately, this happened under a bridge, damaging not only the road it rolled over on, but the bridge above it. And the billboards on either side of it, and a cell phone tower, and the train tracks aside of it.
I was at work when this all happened. But it made the airwaves quickly. And the internet, of course. One of my friends just missed it - he drove through that area just 30 seconds earlier and saw the explosion behind him. The witnesses whose stories are coming out are insane. Even more so, though... it's insane that no one was killed. There were injuries, but no deaths. It could've been so much worse!
I know my commute is going to suck for at least a few days, if not weeks now. Luckily I won't have to deal with it tonight - I have softball and will just stay downtown at Eric's afterwards. But I have to go home sometime.
Today started out as any other day in Indianapolis in the fall... a little cool, and little dreary, and not too much going on. Until about 10:30am on the northeast side, and one of the busiest interchanges in the city... I-69 and I-465. A tanker truck carrying liquid propane took the ramp from southbound I-69 to southbound I-465 a little too fast. I know this ramp well... if you don't know the area, this is an easy thing to do. I've even had to check myself a couple of times when I'm in a rush! Well, the tanker wasn't able to correct himself. He rolled over. And an explosion happened!!
This is not an exaggeration. it was literally a mushroom cloud of fire at least 100' in the air! And it burned HOT! It melted the fronts of cars stopped a couple hundred feet away. The truck, itself, was incinerated to the frame! Fortunately, some good samaritans pulled the driver away in time. Unfortunately, this happened under a bridge, damaging not only the road it rolled over on, but the bridge above it. And the billboards on either side of it, and a cell phone tower, and the train tracks aside of it.
I was at work when this all happened. But it made the airwaves quickly. And the internet, of course. One of my friends just missed it - he drove through that area just 30 seconds earlier and saw the explosion behind him. The witnesses whose stories are coming out are insane. Even more so, though... it's insane that no one was killed. There were injuries, but no deaths. It could've been so much worse!
I know my commute is going to suck for at least a few days, if not weeks now. Luckily I won't have to deal with it tonight - I have softball and will just stay downtown at Eric's afterwards. But I have to go home sometime.
View this gallery at The Indianapolis Star: I-69 & I-465 explosion from readers and Star staff
Friday, October 16, 2009
From HOT to Not So Hot!
I went from one extreme in Mexico (mid 90's all weekend) to near freezing temperatures (lows in the upper 30's) at a conference in northern Indiana this week... within a matter of 24 hours!! Literally... the average temperatures I had over the weekend we twice that of the average temperatures we were having in Plymouth, IN!! It sucked!!! Well, the extreme weather change did. Definitely a slap in the face, making me remember very quickly that I am not too fond of cold weather!
Now the conference... well, not that I'm going to say it was the best thing ever, especially after the spectacular trip I had to Mexico. But you know what... I think it was better to come back from vacation and go to a conference for the week verses back to an office setting. At least I wasn't immediately constrained to an office chair! This was more of a networking conference, too (verses an educational one). It included a lot of time in the 'hospitality suite' when the day activities were over. I don't even want to know what their alcohol budget is for this annual conference... airport people like to drink, apparently!
Anyway... I'm finally back home and get to sleep in my own bed tonight. I haven't slept in my own bed since Tuesday night of LAST week! I'm really looking forward to it! Sad, huh? I just wish it wasn't so cold outside... I guess I should just be grateful it's not snowing yet!
Now the conference... well, not that I'm going to say it was the best thing ever, especially after the spectacular trip I had to Mexico. But you know what... I think it was better to come back from vacation and go to a conference for the week verses back to an office setting. At least I wasn't immediately constrained to an office chair! This was more of a networking conference, too (verses an educational one). It included a lot of time in the 'hospitality suite' when the day activities were over. I don't even want to know what their alcohol budget is for this annual conference... airport people like to drink, apparently!
Anyway... I'm finally back home and get to sleep in my own bed tonight. I haven't slept in my own bed since Tuesday night of LAST week! I'm really looking forward to it! Sad, huh? I just wish it wasn't so cold outside... I guess I should just be grateful it's not snowing yet!
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
I was hoping to do a post or two while I was in Mexico to avoid a long post, and also so I wouldn't forget anything. But they had horrible wi-fi access there... usually very slow, and only in a small vicinity of the lobby. So I opted to wait until I got home. Which was way late last night. So here I am! I'll start at the beginning, of course... there’s a lot!
We left Indy early on Thursday morning. I knew there were storms moving in, so I was glad we were getting out of town before they hit – last thing I wanted was to be late! Well, we weren’t delayed in Indy, or Chicago, for that matter. But the actual flight lasted longer getting to Puerto Vallarta because of storms they had to fly around. So we arrived about an hour late. The reason I’m truly starting at the beginning (the flight) is because the Puerto Vallarta airport was part of the experience. One of the excursions we booked beforehand was a sunset cruise. When Eric got the confirmation, I noticed quite a bit of language about not talking to anyone who approaches you at the airport, claiming they will get you to your destination. I found this odd… until I got there.
After going through customs and finally being done with the whole process of ‘arriving’, you get dumped into this corridor. It’s filled will people trying to get you in one of their taxis, on one of their buses to their complex (timeshares, usually), and anything else you could think of. They are as nice as can be – don’t get me wrong! But they’re devious! We didn’t get caught up in anything, though we were unsure as we tried to get to Hertz. But we made it… somehow… with incident.
So we get on the road to the hotel, which was actually a little north in Nuevo Vallarta. And it was interesting. I knew heading down there that it is a resort town. But you had to wonder when the Hertz guy gave us directions, he used a giant golf ball as a landmark. Along the way, though, we passed a couple of Wal-Marts, a bunch of Subways, and even a Church’s Chicken. And then, sure enough, a giant golf ball shaped water tower. We exited the highway and found ourselves having to quickly slow down ON THE RAMP because the road was so torn up. Not under construction, just never maintained, from the looks of it. But once we got into the resort area, it was like a completely different world. First off, it was gated. It was nothing but condos and hotels. Much better than the main highway.
The hotel itself was amazing! We stayed at the Riu Palace Pacifica, which is an all inclusive resort. We checked in, and were handed drinks as we signed the paperwork. We were also greeted by Brian and Erica (the reason for the trip – their wedding), which was nice and immediately gave me a sense of, “okay, we’ve arrived, we’re safe, I can finally relax.” Which I did do.
The entire hotel was tiled with a mix of stones – no carpets except for a few throws. And surprisingly (in a good way), very energy efficient/aware. They only turn all the lights on at night during 'active' times, even in the hallways and main lobby. We got to our room, and though a little small, it was really nice! So of course, the first thing I had to do was step out onto the balcony for the view… amazing! I only hoped I had a chance to use the pool and walk on the beach enough to fulfill my craving.
Unfortunately, the weather was pretty dreary on arrival. Not raining, but no sun to be seen. Bummer. Eric and I had our sunset cruise book for Thursday night, so we figured we’d better try to find our dock so we wouldn’t miss it later. And it was a good thing we left when we did, because we got lost. And then is started raining. This definitely dampened my spirits. We finally found the dock, and it was raining even harder. The sailboat showed up and we talked to the crew – they still go out in this weather. They said there’s a 50-50 chance that’ll clear up, and often these are the best when they do clear up. The other group that was supposed to go on the cruise cancelled that morning. I really wanted to go –I thought it would be neat – but the rain was really killing it for me. So after some arm twisting, Eric got me to go.
I knew he really wanted to go – this was the one thing he had talked about since booking the trip. So we headed out on what turned out to be our private sailboat cruise.
The crew was very accommodating. They got us drinks immediately and made sure we did, at least, have a dry place to sit. The boat did have a canvas awning over much of it, but it was more for the sun than rain, so there were a few drips. But the main guy on the crew was actually American, originally from Minneapolis. He had moved down to Mexico two years ago or so, and he had plenty of stories and history to share since he’d been coming to area since he was a child., so it made for a really great way to start out our trip and learn some ‘insider information’ about the area that we could use on the rest of the trip. And I think he enjoyed having us, too, because we were able to update him on the ongoing of the NFL, which he rarely gets to see highlights of. And sure enough, the weather did clear up. And we had a spectacular sunset!
After the cruise, we went back to the hotel and crashed. It was a long day, and there was a lot ahead of us for the weekend. But the cruise made for a great start and the perfect opportunity to unwind and say, “We’re on vacation!”
Friday we decided to hit a small surf town our guide the night before had told us about – Sayulita. It was a little further north of us, up and over one of the mountains. So we drove the little winding mountain road and came to the little town. For me, I was not surprised by it. It was not there for the tourists (though they are there) – it’s there for locals and other to come to when the waves are good. The sand on the beach was black since it was sand from a volcanic mountain. The beach, itself, was not perfectly groomed. There were even dogs running around on the beach. And even the town, itself, was more rundown than most. I would’ve liked to explore it a bit more. But Eric expected something quite different and more tourist friendly, so he was disappointed. So we headed back to the hotel and I just hit the beach there for a couple hours, instead. Which was fine – same sun, just different location.
That evening, we had the rehearsal dinner for the wedding. The hotel had a number of restaurants, including a fancy Mexican restaurant, called Guacamole. That’s where the dinner was. But first, we all met in the bar, had a few drinks, and the bride a groom thanked their wedding party and all of their friends/family for attending. I really enjoyed the food at the restaurant there. It may have not be true, authentic Mexican food (as I’m sure it was ‘dressed to impress’ the tourists that frequent it), but it was good, none the less! Afterwards, Eric and I headed back to the room to relax by ourselves, for a bit. Time seemed to go by so slow here – I liked it and enjoyed every minute of it.
Saturday was the day of the wedding. But it wasn’t until 3pm, so we had quite a bit of time to kill. We decided to go hit downtown Puerto Vallarta, which we had only seen from the sailboat thus far.
Again, our guide was telling us of a few things to check out there, including a historic church and the art walk along the water. So we drove into downtown and found a place to park not far from the church. It was amazing the detail it had. And it was open air – no doors, just gates. I would’ve loved to take some pictures inside, but there were people praying and such, so I did not was to be disrespectful. So I just got some from the outside. Then we walked along the waterfront for awhile, checking out some of the art and such. It was quite the quaint little downtown area, though you could tell the town, as a whole, was a cruise port – very tourist directing storefronts. But nice, none the less. So Eric and I stopped for a drink and then headed back to the hotel to get ready for the wedding.
The wedding. I’ve always loved the idea of a beach wedding, though this was not my first beach wedding. It was hot – yes.
But there was just enough of a breeze blowing to keep the sweat from dripping off of you. Plus, the ceremony was relatively brief. But it was beautiful and the bride and groom were glowing with happiness. I was so glad I could be there to witness it. They did the sand ceremony, which I’ve also always thought was a neat idea (though I’m not sure how you secure and transport it back home). And when all the “I Do’s” were done, we had the opportunity to go back inside and cool off before having the reception at one of the other restaurants, Krystal, which was the hotels high end restaurant. So Eric and I actually changed and just watched a little TV in our room… actually, I think I even took a nap.
I thought Krystal was a really nice place with really good food. For those down south reading this, this is nothing like the Krystal’s down there… not unless they serve lamb and champagne now. After dinner, Brian and Erica cut their cake and there were toasts from the wedding party. You could tell it had been a long day for all those directly involved. After the meal, though, we went into the bar, cleared some space, did some more toasts, and played some music so the bride and groom could have a first dance. It was all very sweet.
That night, a few people who still had some energy after the long day (including myself) walked down the beach to another Riu resort. We heard they had a ‘Discotheque’ at this one, and figured a little dancing could be fun. Let me just say it was interesting. Mexican techno dance music is a little different than what we’re used to in the US. Still danceable, but different. The club, itself, was tiny… and HOT! It had a/c, but it couldn’t handle the number of people there. So we didn’t last very long inside. Ultimately, we all gave up and sat outside, for a bit, before heading back to our own hotel.
Sunday came along and Eric and I had nothing planned, though there were things I wanted to do. I heard a few people talk highly of the canopy tours (zip-lines). Eric even liked the sound of it. So we headed down to where all of the ‘trip coordinators’ (excursion/travel agents) hung out in the hotel to see if we could book one. The first guy we talked to said they were booked through Wednesday. This totally bummed me out! Then Eric mentioned a tour booklet that was slid under our door from the Expedia rep who was onsite. So we went back to the room and looked at it – there were a few more possibilities. We found the rep in the lobby and he got us right in to the first one he called. But we had to leave immediately! Not a problem – I anticipated that would the case.
Our destination was called Canopy River, which did multiple ‘adventure’ tours aside from the zip-lines. But we were going for the zip-lines. Though our adventure began on the trek up there! We met at their little downtown office in Puerto Vallarta. Eric and I jumped in one of their little Nissan trucks with no idea what we were in for!
We knew we had to drive to the top of one of the mountains, but didn’t realize the areas we’d go through… true, low class little Mexican communities. They were swimming and doing laundry in the river, they lived in shacks with no windows, unpaved roads… it was eye-opening!! But everyone we saw on the street looked completely content and happy. They had family and friends with them and it was all about community. Then as we got further up, we realize, this is truly the jungle!
We finally made it to the top and jumped right into things. They geared us up and gave us a quick safety lesson, and then we were off! We had a couple of ‘practice line’ first, but I didn’t see where it was any different from the rest of the lines. Maybe a little slower? Who knows... They were fun. They even have the area’s (country’s, maybe??) LONGEST zip-line, which was like 800 meters! Our guides for this were local, but they put you right at ease with all their commentary. It made it more fun. After 13 zip-lines back and forth across the valley, we were finally down by the river. So how do we make it back to the top? Mules, of course!! So yep… I even rode a mule!
After the mule trek up the mountain, we cooled off with a couple of cool drinks and then laid in the shade on some hammocks. The views from the top were great! But our adventure wasn’t over! We still had to get down the mountain! Ah yes… and how did we do this? In the back of a pick-up truck with two other couples holding onto the some rope-holds. It was a trip! And now I understand why you see so many people traveling in the back of trucks down there – the breeze is awesome when you’re driving!
We finally made it back to the hotel and we were both beat! We grabbed some food at the hotel’s buffet restaurant and then went back to the room. I was out pretty quickly – Eric watched some TV, but wasn’t far behind me.
Monday. The day we go home. I didn’t want to leave yet. After breakfast, I went down to the pool for about an hour. All I could think was, “I didn’t spend nearly enough time here!” After getting some sun, one last time, I headed back to the room to pack. *sigh* Around 11:30am, Eric and I headed off to the airport. We figured it’d take some time, but it really didn’t… so we ended up with a couple hours to kill at the airport. We grabbed a little lunch, but finally, we boarded. Bye-bye, Mexico!
Some oddities I found while in Mexico… first of all, NO MOUTAIN DEW, of any kind!! This about killed me when I realized this. When it wasn’t at the hotel, I didn’t think much of it. I’ve had that happen before. But then we went to a local grocery store… and even a Wal-Mart! Still none!! I managed to survive the weekend, but I was glad to see Mountain Dew again in Chicago O’Hare! Another oddity… they are very protective of their HBC (Health and Beauty Care) products, especially make-up! Make-up aisles/sections actually have their own secure entry/exit point, like you’d find in some electronics departments in the US. You had to buy it in the section! Then I realized even further when the alarm went off on me in Wal-Mart – they had a magnetic security tag on a $6 (USD) bottle of Nivea face wash! I never came to understand this security issue. A double aisle of deodorant I understood. Security on blush… didn’t get. I’m sure I could list out some other things I learned in Mexico, but those were the big ones for me. If anyone has insight, feel free to share.
That’s it!! That was my trip to Mexico! I said it’d be long, and it was. All in all, it was an awesome trip! I’d go back. Maybe later in the year, but then it’d be high season and more crowded. Either way, it was nice. And more importantly, it was nice to have a real vacation, even if it was all in thanks to a wedding.
To see A LOT more photos, go to my Fotki page. I got a few good ones in there.
We left Indy early on Thursday morning. I knew there were storms moving in, so I was glad we were getting out of town before they hit – last thing I wanted was to be late! Well, we weren’t delayed in Indy, or Chicago, for that matter. But the actual flight lasted longer getting to Puerto Vallarta because of storms they had to fly around. So we arrived about an hour late. The reason I’m truly starting at the beginning (the flight) is because the Puerto Vallarta airport was part of the experience. One of the excursions we booked beforehand was a sunset cruise. When Eric got the confirmation, I noticed quite a bit of language about not talking to anyone who approaches you at the airport, claiming they will get you to your destination. I found this odd… until I got there.
After going through customs and finally being done with the whole process of ‘arriving’, you get dumped into this corridor. It’s filled will people trying to get you in one of their taxis, on one of their buses to their complex (timeshares, usually), and anything else you could think of. They are as nice as can be – don’t get me wrong! But they’re devious! We didn’t get caught up in anything, though we were unsure as we tried to get to Hertz. But we made it… somehow… with incident.
So we get on the road to the hotel, which was actually a little north in Nuevo Vallarta. And it was interesting. I knew heading down there that it is a resort town. But you had to wonder when the Hertz guy gave us directions, he used a giant golf ball as a landmark. Along the way, though, we passed a couple of Wal-Marts, a bunch of Subways, and even a Church’s Chicken. And then, sure enough, a giant golf ball shaped water tower. We exited the highway and found ourselves having to quickly slow down ON THE RAMP because the road was so torn up. Not under construction, just never maintained, from the looks of it. But once we got into the resort area, it was like a completely different world. First off, it was gated. It was nothing but condos and hotels. Much better than the main highway.
The hotel itself was amazing! We stayed at the Riu Palace Pacifica, which is an all inclusive resort. We checked in, and were handed drinks as we signed the paperwork. We were also greeted by Brian and Erica (the reason for the trip – their wedding), which was nice and immediately gave me a sense of, “okay, we’ve arrived, we’re safe, I can finally relax.” Which I did do.
The entire hotel was tiled with a mix of stones – no carpets except for a few throws. And surprisingly (in a good way), very energy efficient/aware. They only turn all the lights on at night during 'active' times, even in the hallways and main lobby. We got to our room, and though a little small, it was really nice! So of course, the first thing I had to do was step out onto the balcony for the view… amazing! I only hoped I had a chance to use the pool and walk on the beach enough to fulfill my craving.Unfortunately, the weather was pretty dreary on arrival. Not raining, but no sun to be seen. Bummer. Eric and I had our sunset cruise book for Thursday night, so we figured we’d better try to find our dock so we wouldn’t miss it later. And it was a good thing we left when we did, because we got lost. And then is started raining. This definitely dampened my spirits. We finally found the dock, and it was raining even harder. The sailboat showed up and we talked to the crew – they still go out in this weather. They said there’s a 50-50 chance that’ll clear up, and often these are the best when they do clear up. The other group that was supposed to go on the cruise cancelled that morning. I really wanted to go –I thought it would be neat – but the rain was really killing it for me. So after some arm twisting, Eric got me to go.
I knew he really wanted to go – this was the one thing he had talked about since booking the trip. So we headed out on what turned out to be our private sailboat cruise.The crew was very accommodating. They got us drinks immediately and made sure we did, at least, have a dry place to sit. The boat did have a canvas awning over much of it, but it was more for the sun than rain, so there were a few drips. But the main guy on the crew was actually American, originally from Minneapolis. He had moved down to Mexico two years ago or so, and he had plenty of stories and history to share since he’d been coming to area since he was a child., so it made for a really great way to start out our trip and learn some ‘insider information’ about the area that we could use on the rest of the trip. And I think he enjoyed having us, too, because we were able to update him on the ongoing of the NFL, which he rarely gets to see highlights of. And sure enough, the weather did clear up. And we had a spectacular sunset!
After the cruise, we went back to the hotel and crashed. It was a long day, and there was a lot ahead of us for the weekend. But the cruise made for a great start and the perfect opportunity to unwind and say, “We’re on vacation!”
Friday we decided to hit a small surf town our guide the night before had told us about – Sayulita. It was a little further north of us, up and over one of the mountains. So we drove the little winding mountain road and came to the little town. For me, I was not surprised by it. It was not there for the tourists (though they are there) – it’s there for locals and other to come to when the waves are good. The sand on the beach was black since it was sand from a volcanic mountain. The beach, itself, was not perfectly groomed. There were even dogs running around on the beach. And even the town, itself, was more rundown than most. I would’ve liked to explore it a bit more. But Eric expected something quite different and more tourist friendly, so he was disappointed. So we headed back to the hotel and I just hit the beach there for a couple hours, instead. Which was fine – same sun, just different location.That evening, we had the rehearsal dinner for the wedding. The hotel had a number of restaurants, including a fancy Mexican restaurant, called Guacamole. That’s where the dinner was. But first, we all met in the bar, had a few drinks, and the bride a groom thanked their wedding party and all of their friends/family for attending. I really enjoyed the food at the restaurant there. It may have not be true, authentic Mexican food (as I’m sure it was ‘dressed to impress’ the tourists that frequent it), but it was good, none the less! Afterwards, Eric and I headed back to the room to relax by ourselves, for a bit. Time seemed to go by so slow here – I liked it and enjoyed every minute of it.
Saturday was the day of the wedding. But it wasn’t until 3pm, so we had quite a bit of time to kill. We decided to go hit downtown Puerto Vallarta, which we had only seen from the sailboat thus far.
Again, our guide was telling us of a few things to check out there, including a historic church and the art walk along the water. So we drove into downtown and found a place to park not far from the church. It was amazing the detail it had. And it was open air – no doors, just gates. I would’ve loved to take some pictures inside, but there were people praying and such, so I did not was to be disrespectful. So I just got some from the outside. Then we walked along the waterfront for awhile, checking out some of the art and such. It was quite the quaint little downtown area, though you could tell the town, as a whole, was a cruise port – very tourist directing storefronts. But nice, none the less. So Eric and I stopped for a drink and then headed back to the hotel to get ready for the wedding.The wedding. I’ve always loved the idea of a beach wedding, though this was not my first beach wedding. It was hot – yes.
But there was just enough of a breeze blowing to keep the sweat from dripping off of you. Plus, the ceremony was relatively brief. But it was beautiful and the bride and groom were glowing with happiness. I was so glad I could be there to witness it. They did the sand ceremony, which I’ve also always thought was a neat idea (though I’m not sure how you secure and transport it back home). And when all the “I Do’s” were done, we had the opportunity to go back inside and cool off before having the reception at one of the other restaurants, Krystal, which was the hotels high end restaurant. So Eric and I actually changed and just watched a little TV in our room… actually, I think I even took a nap.I thought Krystal was a really nice place with really good food. For those down south reading this, this is nothing like the Krystal’s down there… not unless they serve lamb and champagne now. After dinner, Brian and Erica cut their cake and there were toasts from the wedding party. You could tell it had been a long day for all those directly involved. After the meal, though, we went into the bar, cleared some space, did some more toasts, and played some music so the bride and groom could have a first dance. It was all very sweet.
That night, a few people who still had some energy after the long day (including myself) walked down the beach to another Riu resort. We heard they had a ‘Discotheque’ at this one, and figured a little dancing could be fun. Let me just say it was interesting. Mexican techno dance music is a little different than what we’re used to in the US. Still danceable, but different. The club, itself, was tiny… and HOT! It had a/c, but it couldn’t handle the number of people there. So we didn’t last very long inside. Ultimately, we all gave up and sat outside, for a bit, before heading back to our own hotel.
Sunday came along and Eric and I had nothing planned, though there were things I wanted to do. I heard a few people talk highly of the canopy tours (zip-lines). Eric even liked the sound of it. So we headed down to where all of the ‘trip coordinators’ (excursion/travel agents) hung out in the hotel to see if we could book one. The first guy we talked to said they were booked through Wednesday. This totally bummed me out! Then Eric mentioned a tour booklet that was slid under our door from the Expedia rep who was onsite. So we went back to the room and looked at it – there were a few more possibilities. We found the rep in the lobby and he got us right in to the first one he called. But we had to leave immediately! Not a problem – I anticipated that would the case.
Our destination was called Canopy River, which did multiple ‘adventure’ tours aside from the zip-lines. But we were going for the zip-lines. Though our adventure began on the trek up there! We met at their little downtown office in Puerto Vallarta. Eric and I jumped in one of their little Nissan trucks with no idea what we were in for!
We knew we had to drive to the top of one of the mountains, but didn’t realize the areas we’d go through… true, low class little Mexican communities. They were swimming and doing laundry in the river, they lived in shacks with no windows, unpaved roads… it was eye-opening!! But everyone we saw on the street looked completely content and happy. They had family and friends with them and it was all about community. Then as we got further up, we realize, this is truly the jungle!We finally made it to the top and jumped right into things. They geared us up and gave us a quick safety lesson, and then we were off! We had a couple of ‘practice line’ first, but I didn’t see where it was any different from the rest of the lines. Maybe a little slower? Who knows... They were fun. They even have the area’s (country’s, maybe??) LONGEST zip-line, which was like 800 meters! Our guides for this were local, but they put you right at ease with all their commentary. It made it more fun. After 13 zip-lines back and forth across the valley, we were finally down by the river. So how do we make it back to the top? Mules, of course!! So yep… I even rode a mule!
After the mule trek up the mountain, we cooled off with a couple of cool drinks and then laid in the shade on some hammocks. The views from the top were great! But our adventure wasn’t over! We still had to get down the mountain! Ah yes… and how did we do this? In the back of a pick-up truck with two other couples holding onto the some rope-holds. It was a trip! And now I understand why you see so many people traveling in the back of trucks down there – the breeze is awesome when you’re driving!We finally made it back to the hotel and we were both beat! We grabbed some food at the hotel’s buffet restaurant and then went back to the room. I was out pretty quickly – Eric watched some TV, but wasn’t far behind me.
Monday. The day we go home. I didn’t want to leave yet. After breakfast, I went down to the pool for about an hour. All I could think was, “I didn’t spend nearly enough time here!” After getting some sun, one last time, I headed back to the room to pack. *sigh* Around 11:30am, Eric and I headed off to the airport. We figured it’d take some time, but it really didn’t… so we ended up with a couple hours to kill at the airport. We grabbed a little lunch, but finally, we boarded. Bye-bye, Mexico!
Some oddities I found while in Mexico… first of all, NO MOUTAIN DEW, of any kind!! This about killed me when I realized this. When it wasn’t at the hotel, I didn’t think much of it. I’ve had that happen before. But then we went to a local grocery store… and even a Wal-Mart! Still none!! I managed to survive the weekend, but I was glad to see Mountain Dew again in Chicago O’Hare! Another oddity… they are very protective of their HBC (Health and Beauty Care) products, especially make-up! Make-up aisles/sections actually have their own secure entry/exit point, like you’d find in some electronics departments in the US. You had to buy it in the section! Then I realized even further when the alarm went off on me in Wal-Mart – they had a magnetic security tag on a $6 (USD) bottle of Nivea face wash! I never came to understand this security issue. A double aisle of deodorant I understood. Security on blush… didn’t get. I’m sure I could list out some other things I learned in Mexico, but those were the big ones for me. If anyone has insight, feel free to share.
That’s it!! That was my trip to Mexico! I said it’d be long, and it was. All in all, it was an awesome trip! I’d go back. Maybe later in the year, but then it’d be high season and more crowded. Either way, it was nice. And more importantly, it was nice to have a real vacation, even if it was all in thanks to a wedding.
To see A LOT more photos, go to my Fotki page. I got a few good ones in there.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Weekend Warrior?
It was quite a weekend!!
On Saturday, was my company golf outing at Southern Dunes gold course on the southside of Indy. I'm sad to say this was the first time I picked up my clubs this year. It was just one of those summer where I always had something better to do. And it showed in my game. Long balls sucked, but my short game was still pretty good. It was set up as your standard outing scramble (best ball), so as a team, we finished two over par. Not too horrible. Regardless of the score, though, we had fun.
On Saturday, was my company golf outing at Southern Dunes gold course on the southside of Indy. I'm sad to say this was the first time I picked up my clubs this year. It was just one of those summer where I always had something better to do. And it showed in my game. Long balls sucked, but my short game was still pretty good. It was set up as your standard outing scramble (best ball), so as a team, we finished two over par. Not too horrible. Regardless of the score, though, we had fun.On Sunday, Eric decided to play 'host' instead of going to the Colt's game - he sold this weeks tickets to a buddy. So we had a 'tailgate' at the house for whoever wanted to and could come, really. With kids or not! We ended up with about 10 or so people, including kids. Eric made some chili and we just relaxed and watched the game on TV. It was nice - low key, yet a really good time.
But now I'm back to agonizing over packing for my trip. Oh what to pack???...
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Planning for Mexico
Earlier today I realized that, in one week, I'll be packing up for my trip to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico for Erica's wedding!! Then I thought, what the hell am I going to pack??
The wedding stuff is easy enough... but I've never been to an all inclusive resort. From what I'm been reading, it seems to be much like a cruise, in the fact that your supposed to dress a little more than casual for dinner and such. So I need to work on a few of those outfits. Then there's the fact that it's Mexico... which means pretty warm still this time of year. In reviewing the forecast, it's looking like mid-90's in the day and upper-70's at night. So the next question is what, besides the wedding, do we plan to do??? Eric and I have discussed a bit... there are things we know we want to do, but we're hesitant to book too much because we don't want to overbook ourselves, nor do we want to have the weather turn on us. But we'd like to do a guided hike or two, maybe some snorkeling, definitely check out the town one day...
I suppose I could go shopping to find things to wear... but I know I have anything I might need in my closet. Maybe. I think I might actually have to do something I despise doing... make a list! I hate lists... it's so... planned!! I'd much rather be spontaneous. But we are there for 5 days... there's a lot we could do in 5 days. Can't wait!
The wedding stuff is easy enough... but I've never been to an all inclusive resort. From what I'm been reading, it seems to be much like a cruise, in the fact that your supposed to dress a little more than casual for dinner and such. So I need to work on a few of those outfits. Then there's the fact that it's Mexico... which means pretty warm still this time of year. In reviewing the forecast, it's looking like mid-90's in the day and upper-70's at night. So the next question is what, besides the wedding, do we plan to do??? Eric and I have discussed a bit... there are things we know we want to do, but we're hesitant to book too much because we don't want to overbook ourselves, nor do we want to have the weather turn on us. But we'd like to do a guided hike or two, maybe some snorkeling, definitely check out the town one day...
I suppose I could go shopping to find things to wear... but I know I have anything I might need in my closet. Maybe. I think I might actually have to do something I despise doing... make a list! I hate lists... it's so... planned!! I'd much rather be spontaneous. But we are there for 5 days... there's a lot we could do in 5 days. Can't wait!
Monday, September 28, 2009
The Effects of Music... Time Warp!
It never fails. I go to my computer to do something (in this case, sync my iPhone), and I start messing with my music collection (well over 1000 completely random songs). Next thing I know, I've lost HOURS!!
In this case, I finally decided to put a select few songs on my iPhone. In order to do that, I have to go through my song list. When I do that, I start playing random songs that strike a memory chord or just a song I can't even remember (and wonder if it's worthy of being on my iPhone). I end up playing bits and pieces of many songs. I laugh, I reminisce, I get into a dancing mood, I start singing along... then I come to one that makes me thing of someone from my past and the good times we had listening to that song, and I stop for a moment...
Tonight I lost nearly 3 hours. I put less than 200 songs on my iPhone. But it's more than I had before and hopefully it'll keep me off of iTunes. I don't need anymore songs right now...
In this case, I finally decided to put a select few songs on my iPhone. In order to do that, I have to go through my song list. When I do that, I start playing random songs that strike a memory chord or just a song I can't even remember (and wonder if it's worthy of being on my iPhone). I end up playing bits and pieces of many songs. I laugh, I reminisce, I get into a dancing mood, I start singing along... then I come to one that makes me thing of someone from my past and the good times we had listening to that song, and I stop for a moment...
Tonight I lost nearly 3 hours. I put less than 200 songs on my iPhone. But it's more than I had before and hopefully it'll keep me off of iTunes. I don't need anymore songs right now...
Sunday, September 27, 2009
A Whole Lot of...
Nothing? Rain? Drama?
Really, you could fill in the blank there - they all work. Might even be able to make up something that works. The main reason you haven't heard from me in over a week is because not much has been going on. And it did rain and/or was very dreary all last week. Which made for a depressing week. It even effected my training runs. Well... maybe I just used the weather as an excuse there. (I'm back on schedule, now) Regardless... last week was one of those weeks that is quickly forgotten because there's nothing memorable about it. But I made it through, and that's what counts!
One 'out of the ordinary' thing that did happen was a new sports league that started up with some friends. What is it, you ask? Dodgeball. Yes, dodgeball. We had our first game/set/match (whatever they're called) last Friday. It was very interesting... a bunch of 20 and 30-somethings throwing a foam ball at each other. That is probably the biggest difference from the days of elementary dodgeball (at least from my elementary days)... the ball is no longer that hard rubber ball that also doubled as a kickball on the days when the weather was nice enough to be outside. It's foam, now. It can still sting when some of those guys throw it, but it most likely won't break your nose or leave a massive welt on you.
Maybe the week to come will give me more to write about. We'll see soon enough!
Really, you could fill in the blank there - they all work. Might even be able to make up something that works. The main reason you haven't heard from me in over a week is because not much has been going on. And it did rain and/or was very dreary all last week. Which made for a depressing week. It even effected my training runs. Well... maybe I just used the weather as an excuse there. (I'm back on schedule, now) Regardless... last week was one of those weeks that is quickly forgotten because there's nothing memorable about it. But I made it through, and that's what counts!
One 'out of the ordinary' thing that did happen was a new sports league that started up with some friends. What is it, you ask? Dodgeball. Yes, dodgeball. We had our first game/set/match (whatever they're called) last Friday. It was very interesting... a bunch of 20 and 30-somethings throwing a foam ball at each other. That is probably the biggest difference from the days of elementary dodgeball (at least from my elementary days)... the ball is no longer that hard rubber ball that also doubled as a kickball on the days when the weather was nice enough to be outside. It's foam, now. It can still sting when some of those guys throw it, but it most likely won't break your nose or leave a massive welt on you.
Maybe the week to come will give me more to write about. We'll see soon enough!
Thursday, September 17, 2009
An Array of Random Stuff
So there have been a bunch of random things lately that I thought would be slightly blog worthy, but not enough for an entire blog, by itself. So I thought I’d throw all of these random thoughts and occurrences together in one blog and call it good. Be warned… it is random…
The first thing… I am in mourning. My TV died. Not my main TV, but my little TV in my bedroom… that I’ve had since I was a kid. So yes, it was like 20-something years old. But it was there for me when I was mad at my parents in high school, and it went off to college with me, and even survived my first cable install after college, when the cable guy made fun of it (because I didn’t have my bigger TV yet). It’s been a fixture in my bedroom for years, falling asleep to it at nights, and turning it on while I get ready in the morning. So when I heard it *pop* and saw it go black in the middle of the Auburn game last weekend, it was like a little piece of my heart breaking. I know… it’s sad to have any sort of attachment to a 13” TV. But you gotta admit, when anything dies on you that’s been with you for 2/3 of your life, you’re going to feel something!
Corn on the cob butter spreaders, AKA, Corn Cob Butterers. I know – you’re wondering what the heck I’m talking about. Growing up, my mom had these stainless steel ‘slotted spoon’ type things to use to spread/melt butter on corn of the cob. They were awesome. I thought they were an everyday kitchen accessory. I thought wrong. I’ve been trying to find them for awhile now – I do live in corn country, after all. The only butter spreader I’ve seen is this plastic tube you put a whole stick of butter in. Not the same and probably just as messy and trying to butter it with a knife, anyway. But I want the metal one. No luck. Until recently.
I Googled “corn cob butter spreader”, once again, only this time I saw them! They were slightly different than the ones Mom had, but it was the same concept. Then I realized why they were so hard to find – the concept was patented back in the 60’s! Being that they are stainless steel, and everything nowadays is just made of plastic, they probably aren’t even made anymore! But I found a box of 4, in their original box, for sale from a ‘vintage’ online store called Ruby Lane. The likely hood that they even had more than one set of these is minute! But they’re mine now – life is good and corn will be buttered!
Finally, I got a flu shot yesterday. My company does this for its employees every year. I didn’t get one last year. I hate needles. So I was going back and forth about getting one, and even toyed with the idea of getting the mist, instead. But I think I hate things going up my nose worse that shots – I always get a gag reflex since whatever goes up my nose ends up running down the back of my throat. So the time came, and I snuck over to see how big the needle actually was. Right when I was thinking it wasn’t too bad, I saw it get plunged into someone’s arm. This made me cringe and sent chills up my spine. So I had to turn around and go back to by desk and rethink things. In the end, I did the shot in the arm. The nurse was actually very gentle, though, and it didn’t really hurt at all. I think I just expect all needles to feel like the ones they stick in you when you give blood. I guess if I can handle that every few months, a simple vaccine should be cake for me. Oh well. It’s done. I’ve never gotten a flu shot before, so I’ll be curious to see if it really works. I always seem to catch the flu or really nasty sinus cold sometime around my visit home to FL for the holidays, and then I’m miserably sick for half of my vacation (or more!). Guess we’ll find out.
Well, that’s my random blog for now. I tried to warn you... you just never know what’s going through my head and what I might blog about next.
The first thing… I am in mourning. My TV died. Not my main TV, but my little TV in my bedroom… that I’ve had since I was a kid. So yes, it was like 20-something years old. But it was there for me when I was mad at my parents in high school, and it went off to college with me, and even survived my first cable install after college, when the cable guy made fun of it (because I didn’t have my bigger TV yet). It’s been a fixture in my bedroom for years, falling asleep to it at nights, and turning it on while I get ready in the morning. So when I heard it *pop* and saw it go black in the middle of the Auburn game last weekend, it was like a little piece of my heart breaking. I know… it’s sad to have any sort of attachment to a 13” TV. But you gotta admit, when anything dies on you that’s been with you for 2/3 of your life, you’re going to feel something!
Corn on the cob butter spreaders, AKA, Corn Cob Butterers. I know – you’re wondering what the heck I’m talking about. Growing up, my mom had these stainless steel ‘slotted spoon’ type things to use to spread/melt butter on corn of the cob. They were awesome. I thought they were an everyday kitchen accessory. I thought wrong. I’ve been trying to find them for awhile now – I do live in corn country, after all. The only butter spreader I’ve seen is this plastic tube you put a whole stick of butter in. Not the same and probably just as messy and trying to butter it with a knife, anyway. But I want the metal one. No luck. Until recently.
I Googled “corn cob butter spreader”, once again, only this time I saw them! They were slightly different than the ones Mom had, but it was the same concept. Then I realized why they were so hard to find – the concept was patented back in the 60’s! Being that they are stainless steel, and everything nowadays is just made of plastic, they probably aren’t even made anymore! But I found a box of 4, in their original box, for sale from a ‘vintage’ online store called Ruby Lane. The likely hood that they even had more than one set of these is minute! But they’re mine now – life is good and corn will be buttered!Finally, I got a flu shot yesterday. My company does this for its employees every year. I didn’t get one last year. I hate needles. So I was going back and forth about getting one, and even toyed with the idea of getting the mist, instead. But I think I hate things going up my nose worse that shots – I always get a gag reflex since whatever goes up my nose ends up running down the back of my throat. So the time came, and I snuck over to see how big the needle actually was. Right when I was thinking it wasn’t too bad, I saw it get plunged into someone’s arm. This made me cringe and sent chills up my spine. So I had to turn around and go back to by desk and rethink things. In the end, I did the shot in the arm. The nurse was actually very gentle, though, and it didn’t really hurt at all. I think I just expect all needles to feel like the ones they stick in you when you give blood. I guess if I can handle that every few months, a simple vaccine should be cake for me. Oh well. It’s done. I’ve never gotten a flu shot before, so I’ll be curious to see if it really works. I always seem to catch the flu or really nasty sinus cold sometime around my visit home to FL for the holidays, and then I’m miserably sick for half of my vacation (or more!). Guess we’ll find out.
Well, that’s my random blog for now. I tried to warn you... you just never know what’s going through my head and what I might blog about next.
Monday, September 14, 2009
The Rest of a Great Weekend
Let's see... Where did I leave off in the last blog? Ah, yes! Post Cubs Game Trip! So much more has happened during this long weekend of mine (which officially ended tonight).
Saturday was the ‘calmest’ day of my weekends, though it was in no way dull (or calm, really!). Eric and I didn’t end up going to Penrod – I just had too much to do! I had two showers to go to (among other errands I had)!! The first shower was a bridal shower for Erica. It was relatively calm (compared to the combined bridal shower bachelorette party we had for her a few weeks back). I can’t believe her wedding is less than a month away!! Mexico, here I come! Later in the afternoon, I had a baby shower for Karen (and Baby G!). It was at an old friend’s house, who I haven’t seen in years. So it was nice to catch up with her a bit. Plus, I hadn’t seen Karen in a few months, so it was crazy to see how big she really has gotten! She has less than two weeks to go!
After the two showers, I had to go home and pack up for the rest of my long weekend. That took longer than expected, as I had a bunch of little things to do around the house, too. But I finally got it all done and headed downtown to Eric’s – I had a long day ahead of me on Sunday!
Sunday morning… I was exhausted from the weekend I had thus far… so I slept in a little. But I still got up and ran (eventually). So yes… for anyone keeping track, I’m still on track with my training!
After a quick lunch, Eric and I headed to Lucas Oil Stadium for the opener – my Jaguars at the Colts!! The Jags looked better than I expected through the first half (we only stayed for the first half – that’s explained shortly). They held the Colts to a single touchdown in the first half, and even got an interception in there… IN THE ENDZONE! Unfortunately, my Jags ended up losing, 14-12. I was very bummed about that. Still am.
As I stated earlier, we had to leave at the half. Why? Because we had to drive to Chicago (yes, this is my 2nd trip to Chicago this weekend). Why? Because we were going to the U2 concert!!
We got up there and checked into the Hilton Chicago just in time to walk over to Soldier Field to catch the opening act, Snow Patrol. Our seats were near the tunnel entrance, barely behind the stage, 11 rows up. Normally, this would be a bad thing. But for this show, since it’s their 360 tour and is aimed to give 360 degrees of entertainment (which it did), they weren’t bad seats. It was an awesome show!! U2 really does know how to entertain a large crowd, especially Bono! It felt surreal to me, being there… I almost felt like I was just watching a video of the show. Amazing! If you ever have a chance to see U2 live, DO IT!
After the concert, we just crashed. We were both just worn out from the day. I was worn out from the whole weekend – I was going non-stop till this point! I knew this was going to be a busy weekend, though… I did it to myself.
So this morning, we slept in (relatively) and took our time getting ready. We headed up to Wrigleyville (2nd time for me) to hit a couple of the shops – I was looking for a baby outfit for Karen and Eric was looking for something for his grandfather. This was no problem in Wrigleyville. From there, we headed over the New Buffalo, MI! It was time for some Redamak’s, one last time before they close for the season next month. That cheeseburger was so good!! I wish I could just stock up on them for the winter! We’ll be back next year!
The night was capped off by some work, unfortunately. I had to go to a board meeting in Monticello on the way home. But it was short and Eric was able to open his laptop and get some things done for his job, as well. It still made for a long drive home, though… and a late night!! But what a weekend!! Not sure if you can top a weekend like this… Cubs Game, Jaguars Game, U2, time with Eric, and time with friends. Granted, I had to take two day off to get all this in… but it was worth it!
Saturday was the ‘calmest’ day of my weekends, though it was in no way dull (or calm, really!). Eric and I didn’t end up going to Penrod – I just had too much to do! I had two showers to go to (among other errands I had)!! The first shower was a bridal shower for Erica. It was relatively calm (compared to the combined bridal shower bachelorette party we had for her a few weeks back). I can’t believe her wedding is less than a month away!! Mexico, here I come! Later in the afternoon, I had a baby shower for Karen (and Baby G!). It was at an old friend’s house, who I haven’t seen in years. So it was nice to catch up with her a bit. Plus, I hadn’t seen Karen in a few months, so it was crazy to see how big she really has gotten! She has less than two weeks to go!
After the two showers, I had to go home and pack up for the rest of my long weekend. That took longer than expected, as I had a bunch of little things to do around the house, too. But I finally got it all done and headed downtown to Eric’s – I had a long day ahead of me on Sunday!
Sunday morning… I was exhausted from the weekend I had thus far… so I slept in a little. But I still got up and ran (eventually). So yes… for anyone keeping track, I’m still on track with my training!
After a quick lunch, Eric and I headed to Lucas Oil Stadium for the opener – my Jaguars at the Colts!! The Jags looked better than I expected through the first half (we only stayed for the first half – that’s explained shortly). They held the Colts to a single touchdown in the first half, and even got an interception in there… IN THE ENDZONE! Unfortunately, my Jags ended up losing, 14-12. I was very bummed about that. Still am.As I stated earlier, we had to leave at the half. Why? Because we had to drive to Chicago (yes, this is my 2nd trip to Chicago this weekend). Why? Because we were going to the U2 concert!!
We got up there and checked into the Hilton Chicago just in time to walk over to Soldier Field to catch the opening act, Snow Patrol. Our seats were near the tunnel entrance, barely behind the stage, 11 rows up. Normally, this would be a bad thing. But for this show, since it’s their 360 tour and is aimed to give 360 degrees of entertainment (which it did), they weren’t bad seats. It was an awesome show!! U2 really does know how to entertain a large crowd, especially Bono! It felt surreal to me, being there… I almost felt like I was just watching a video of the show. Amazing! If you ever have a chance to see U2 live, DO IT!After the concert, we just crashed. We were both just worn out from the day. I was worn out from the whole weekend – I was going non-stop till this point! I knew this was going to be a busy weekend, though… I did it to myself.
So this morning, we slept in (relatively) and took our time getting ready. We headed up to Wrigleyville (2nd time for me) to hit a couple of the shops – I was looking for a baby outfit for Karen and Eric was looking for something for his grandfather. This was no problem in Wrigleyville. From there, we headed over the New Buffalo, MI! It was time for some Redamak’s, one last time before they close for the season next month. That cheeseburger was so good!! I wish I could just stock up on them for the winter! We’ll be back next year!
The night was capped off by some work, unfortunately. I had to go to a board meeting in Monticello on the way home. But it was short and Eric was able to open his laptop and get some things done for his job, as well. It still made for a long drive home, though… and a late night!! But what a weekend!! Not sure if you can top a weekend like this… Cubs Game, Jaguars Game, U2, time with Eric, and time with friends. Granted, I had to take two day off to get all this in… but it was worth it!
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