Home Again

I made it back home safely Sunday evening. The drive was uneventful, although there seemed to be a lot more cops on the road once I hit Michigan than there were in Illinois or Indiana. It’s funny since Michigan has the faster overall speed limit. At least I ended up traveling the fastest through Michigan than I did through the other states.

It was cold and a little rainy as I made my way back home. None the less I still enjoyed the drive, mainly because I think the weather kept most people at home instead of venturing out onto the road.

When I finally made it back to the apartment I unpacked, checked my email, played a game of Stronghold Crusader, and went to bed. Today was a standard Monday. There is nothing new to report. Next week however, is Thanksgiving break and I cannot wait! Three days off that I will spend visiting friends and family in TC. I will have to make good use of my time while I am up north.

Chicago By Foot

Kristin was kind enough to make me breakfast this morning consisting of a spinach and mozzarella frittata, scone cake, and English tea. Now that I say is the right way to recover from a night on the town.

After finishing breakfast we started to discuss our plans for the day. We tossed around the idea of heading to a museum to see some of the exhibits, but most of them were very expensive and ill timed. Our other option was to try out the planetarium; unfortunately this also was a bit pricey and did not fit our schedule very well. However, the one thing I was truly interested in was exploring the city. So we put on our walking shoes and hit the town.

We started on 9^th street and walked to Grant Park I believe. We walked from block to block seeing the sites and snapping photos. We eventually made our way to the magnificent mile, a section of Michigan ave. where all the nicest shops were located. We stopped at a coffee shop near the end of the magnificent mile to warm up a bit and to get some coffee and a hotdog shop for a Chicago style hotdog, no lie its not just with pizza. It was a beautiful day, however it was windy and about 50 degrees. By the end of the day I was freezing.

The entire experience was amazing. I must have taken a few hundred photos of the city as well as a few of Kristin and I. Once the sun started to set and I no longer had enough light to take pictures, we realized that we were very hungry. So we headed back to the car and took a quick driving tour of the University of Chicago as well as Wriggly field before meeting up with her room mate and her boyfriend at a quaint little hole in the wall sushi restaurant.

It was a tiny restaurant, clearly catering to locals and it took forever to get a table but it was worth it. We ate until we were sick, the sushi was so delicious. It was all you can eat and the sushi rolls were enormous.

After we finished, we headed home for some down time. Kristin and I are contemplating getting dressed up again and heading back into town to check out Boystown. However, it has been an eventful weekend already and we are both pretty tired so I am not sure if we will or not. If we do we probably will not be out nearly as late as we were last night. And if we don’t go I am sure I will be back to visit sometime and we can spend a whole lot more time down there. I guess I should get a little rest now and see how we feel in an hour or so.

Chicago Style

I am taking a short rest after arriving at Kristin’s place in Chicago. The overall drive was easy until I hit I-90 just south of the Eisenhower (I-290). The final ten miles took probably as long as my entire trip through Illinois had been up to that point.

Kristin is her bubbly effervescent self, and greeted me with hugs and laughter. After a quick nap we will be heading downtown to a Mediterranean restaurant where we will meet up with a few more of her friends for a night of drinking, eating and merriment. I can’t wait!

Weird Dream

A series of very weird and disturbing dreams startled me out of bed this morning. I wish I could remember the details but unfortunately the stress and distraction of the day’s events has eroded my memory.

I distinctly remember two separate scenes; one was of being back in Key West and the other being in an apartment that I do not recognize off the top of my head. There was a correlation between the two dreams however; I cannot remember exactly what it was. It is very frustrating to not be able to remember more details about these dreams. Clearly they were potent as they were able to startle me out of a dead sleep and leave me disoriented for sever seconds.

Exam Time

I swear to god I am going to do well on this exam. I stayed for the review in class, I studied over the weekend, and I am studying right now. Or at least I was up until a few minutes ago. I need to take a break and rest my brain.

I guess some might argue that I have been neglecting my schoolwork while spending more time than I should socialize. What can I say, I like people! Damn it all sometimes I need a distraction from school and if that means heading to the club Friday night and having a few drinks and getting a few phone numbers than what the hell!

Seriously, you would think the way some of these professors prattle on about how important the topic is that we as human beings would be hard pressed to survive without it. I personally think that most of my professors seem to be taking themselves a little too seriously this semester. Whether it be the time of year or dissatisfaction with the economic situation in the state is beyond my ability to discern. I was always told to leave my problems at the door when I went to work. Apparently this is not the case for those working in higher education.

I still plan to go out with my bartender friend tomorrow after this wretched exam, even though I may not be in a favorable mood. I don’t get to see him very often and when I do he is usually working. I will not take any of my frustration with poor grades or graduation issues out on him, but I'm sure it may be amusing to listen to me rant about it for a while.

Back to work. And you thought your job was rough.

Halloween

I know it’s a little late. I am a little behind on the postings, not my fault. Stupid school getting in the way of my life, how dare it! Ok, Cliff’s notes; Halloween was fun, didn’t dress up but did go out for a celebratory dinner and then spent the evening in the company of a significant other. At precisely midnight I lit some candles and began to meditate. Some strange images flew through my head but for the most part fairly uneventful. It was hard to concentrate with so many people moving nearby.

School has been taking its toll. Papers are coming due and there seems to be a test every week for one class or another. On top of the day to day activities my advisor is doing his usual absolute minimum to help me prepare for graduation. I am trying to get some flexibility when it comes to my senior project. The company I interned with over the summer is beginning a major project and it would be a great opportunity for me. However, the administration of GVSU feels differently of course. They are very reluctant to allow deviation from the standard senior project. We will see how good my powers of persuasion are I suppose.

All in all decent for the most part; Daylight savings has kicked my butt and have been tired and irritable since Sunday. I can’t wait for thanksgiving break.