week-day road-trip

election day was particularly joyous for me, beginning of course, with getting in line at 5:30am to vote, then leaving my polling station to find the sun up in the clear sky and some exciting day-plans ahead of me.

[side note: hooray for daylight savings time! i've adjusted my work schedule accordingly as well. go morning-people!]

on my way to union station, i grabbed my free starbucks coffee and a newspaper, then settled in for a direct and sunny connection to my suburban stop. second breakfast with my mother and File, then we were on our way up to wisconsin to explore cave of the mounds!

caves are pretty sweet for those of you who haven't been:

but the cave aside, the real fun was found just hanging out with my mom and Filemon. we wandered into troll-town to find lunch, and was very disappointed with the lameness and lack of trolls so we brought our food back to the park to eat. following lunch, my mother and i had a hilarious game of leaf-catch to see who could catch the most leaves as they flew off the trees...tricky! [i won 6:1]. we hiked a trail (damn you karst trail!), climbed a huge felled tree, crossed a few bridges and took lots of pictures.
we detoured on our drive home to spend some time in the city of madison, but found no icecream shops, to our avail.

our drive home was spent listening to election coverage and we arrived home in time to watch the states change colors permanently in favor of blue!

other things of consequence:

my flick or treat team (first blood) won our halloween tournament. i won a spirited-mvp feather from some men in tights and accepted a proposal for marriage at taco bell.

jac is moving to orlando--total bummer. we're squeezing as many lunch and dinner dates in as we can before her departure in a month.

faculty luncheon with some particularly excellent uic employees.

introvert

how did i get stuck being part of a "lunch club?" this goes against every lunch i've ever had since high school where one would be terrified to eat without an army of 16 year old girls to buffer against, and oftentimes, exponentially increase teenage anxiety.

there's really only so much reality tv and soap opera gossip i can handle, and truthfully, i reached that capacity within the first 10 minutes it was first brought up a month and a half ago.

cliquey clique clique

deerhoof

oh man, i had forgotten how much i love live music shows.

yea!

i am...

...eight sugar packets in half a cup of coffee
...the peter pan restaurant in buckeystown
...a date on the 25th
...thunderstruck
...constantly enraged with my oven
...76 harry potters [edit: asking who will draw first blood???]
...a dinosaur in the field museum
...a text messager not a phone caller
...a backwards 23
...a very tight budget
...not canary island bound
...more than just one bang, ba dum ching!
...letting the void stand

flu season

i went to go get my free uic employee flu shot today.
instead, i got 1.5 flu shots for free!?!?!?!

flu shot one: the injection begins to burn into my arm, then uh oh, the shot apparatus broke or something and the remaining dead virus fluid exploded all over my arm.

--omit any explanation you think you might hear at this point because it didn't happen--

the nurse immediately launched into administering flu shot two: the full injection this time.

after, i casually turned to my nurse and said, "so, uh, two shots, huh?"
the response: "oh, not really, the first one didn't take fully. take a seat over there for 10 minutes so i make sure you don't have a reaction, okay bye."

hahahaha, wtf!?

also, i only got one bandaid over only one of the needle puncture marks resulting in tiny blood drops from the exposed one on my sweater. awesome.

thanks, uic!

fall interests

Fall is here.
and look, i've accomplished most of my end-of-summer goals.
time for some new fall-fun-interests.

-hockey games. any and all. although i intend to take my dad to a blackhawks game as he’s never been and i’ve only been once.
-porgy and bess and maybe madama butterfly or even the abduction from the seraglio, but that's spring.
-send more letters and cards to people because snail mail is the best.
-wear my cowboy boots in a non-halloween context.
-clarks and coffee with jessica which will hopefully come hand-in-hand with getting my car
-continue to search for and save up for aerosmith tickets. again, this relates directly to a daddy-daughter date.
-take an indoor fitness or dance class.
-at least one more grill-out.
-find the perfect pair of black boots.

in other news:

last night i wore a new dress and a pair of light brown leather slouchy boots with a 3 inch heel that used to be my mother's in the 70s. these boots were both the highlight of my evening and the bane of my feet and calves as they were terribly uncomfortable. at least they were gorgeous and kept my feet dry in the rain.
..........
i'm looking forward to gaining an automobile for freedom's sake. i've been without one for almost a year and yet it has felt like an eternity. i can't wait to be able to leave at a moment's notice without budgeting time, negotiating schedules, or rta-trip planning.
..........
there is a rumor circulating that my brother intends to come home halloween weekend. and by home, i mean northern illinois university where he plans to party with his friend dan. my parents haven't seen him in over 6 months. why is this only half-over.
..........
i may or may not decide to get a flu shot this year.

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if you love cats, free heat, awesome ladies (well, lady, singular), and have a desire to live by palmer square RIGHT NOW, give a holler because my friend jessica needs a new roommate asap.