Weekend in Chicago

As previously mentioned, I spent this past weekend in Chicago visiting my girlfriend, and it was a fantastic trip. Not only because we got to see eachother for the first time in 4 weeks (yes, I know that sounds super cheesy, give me a break), but we kept quite busy in the city.

Friday night we went out on the town with her fellow instructors, it was quite the mix. They were from all over the U.S. so there was a lot of making fun of each other’s accents. Surprisingly, my Minnesota accent (which I’m usually told is sickingly thick) was never dwelt on. Then again, why pick on the Minnesotan when there are Brooklyn and Canadian accents to poke at? We ate at a pretty swanky place called Nacional 27, a “nuevo latino” style restaurant. I’m not entirely sure what Nuevo latino means, but it must have something to do with how stylin’ you look eating it. I never would have thought that eating food could make a person look cooler, but this somehow pulled it off. One of the instructors covered dinner and drinks for the 6 of us, so it turned out to be a super cheap night. It sure must be nice to have a per diem!

Saturday we spent bumming around the city. We opted for the $5 CTA day pass, it lets you ride the el and busses around Chicago all you want for 24 hours. We at lunch at Gino’s East, the only real pizza place in the world. They have a sausage pizza that uses a single sausage patty to cover the pie, it is to die for (and with the amount of grease in it, your heart might agree). From there we walked over to the Navy Pier, although it started raining so we didn’t do much walking on the pier next to the water. That evening we hit up the White Sox game. Just by chance, they were playing the Twins, but it wasn’t a good day to be a Twins fan. The beating was embarrassing. 8-1 final score pretty much says it all. Still, it was fun to see U.S. Cellular field, eat nachos, and yell in frustration.

Today was a short day. Slept in, grabbed lunch, and caught a flight back to MN. Weekends go far too quickly, but I definitely feel like I was able to make the most of this one.

Looking Forward

The past couple weeks have been busy, but it has gone very well. I initially approached school with the mindset that it would consume my life, just to prepare me for the worst. School has not been even close to as bad as I had imagined. I've been able to find time for friends, family, and a little bit of personal time amidst it all. Granted, my time has to be a little more structured now to make everything fit, but I'm seeing as I progress through the semester and get more of a handle on the whole school bit again how I am having more and more time opening up.

I'm anxiously looking forward to the next couple weeks. My girlfriend will be in Chicago for the next couple weeks and I'm planning to meet up with her for the weekend. We haven't seen each other since Aug 28th, so I am super pumped about the visit. No real plans so far other than taking in a Sox game and bumming around the city, but I could use a relaxing weekend so it will work out perfectly.

The next weekend she will be flying here to go through her stuff in storage before it is shipped off to NY. That means two weekends in a row for us to meet up! I'm going to get spoiled. Anyway, we are going to organize a get together for both her and my local friends at my place on Oct 1, so if I somehow miss you on the mass email I'll be sending out in the next couple days, just let me know because everyone, including you, is invited. Just be prepared for mingled social groups.

School Starts - Posting May Slow

Just a reminder and a warning. I will be starting school at the U of M Carlson School of Management this Wednesday 9/7/2005, and I expect it will be monopolizing most of my free time. I will do my best to keep my blog updated with all the latest, but please realize that may not be possible. I love hearing from all of you, so if the posts slow too much for you, feel free to call or email! If you don't have my number or email address, be sure to post a comment below so I can send it to you!

Happy Birthday Me

Today is the 26th anniversary of my travels through and out of the birth canal. I am actually surprised at how good of a birthday it has been. My friends from church got me a card and everyone signed it. I know that probably isn't a big deal for most, but I can't remember the last time anyone organized a card signing for me. Maybe sometime pre-college? For sure during my chemo treatments in high school, but that wasn't birth day related. Anyway, it has been a while. I don't think I showed it very well, but it was greatly appreciated. Very thoughtful. It surprises me, but maybe I care about my birthday more than I lead on.

Likewise, my girlfriend came through with a stellar card that I received in the mail yesterday. It is a shame we will have to wait to celebrate until mid September, but the wait and anticipation will just make it all the more fun.

I met up with my Mom and Grandparents on Friday to celebrate. As always, Mom made my favorite, lasagna. We feasted, chatted, and then it was over all too quickly. It sure is nice to have family nearby, even if I typically only see them on holidays and birthdays. There is never enough time to spend with family.

Anyway, Happy Birthday Me! Whoo hoo!

Man Down!

I lost another one of the pose this weekend. This was the third youth leader wedding of the summer. Youth ministry seems like a strange place to be working the mojo (I could be saying that only because I once tried and failed miserably), but it seems to be working out well for people thus far. My thought process was that it would be a little weird dating any one I worked with, whether that be in paid employment or volunteer work. I would expect one to interfere with the other. In any event, I'm thankful I don't have to debate such things for my own benefit any more.

Back to the wedding summary... Everything was picture perfect. From the old stone church to the fancy country club like reception, it was perfect. The wedding service was just the right length, aside from my showing up 45 min early (so maybe I got the time wrong), the decorations weren't over done, and the exit was quick and smooth. It was a desert only reception, but they went all out on fancy hors d'ouvres and deserts, not to mention full open bar. My only complaint was that the wedding dance consisted almost entirely of pre-1990 and country music. That resulted my dancing being a little forced, but all in all it was a good time and the socialistic was first rate.

Only 2 more weddings this year! Maybe. I hope.