Thought I've been to busy to upload photos lately, it is on my to do list this week (along with organizing my closet, sorting out the kitchen drawers, finding a yoga studio in my neighborhood, and setting up online bill pay of all of my bills).

Here is a bit of a preview:

Last week I met the rest of Josh's family; his mom Jenna and her partner Ed. They came to our apartment bearing welcome-to-Chicago-gifts.

I spent this last weekend in Denver. I got to see both my parents and my ladies. Despite yet another fiasco with my scheduled flight (I didn't make it home until Monday afternoon), I had a great time.

We took a pole dancing class, so there will be pictures of girls (including yours truly) attempting spinning mid-air stripper moves. I'd like to add the disclaimer that with a bunch of amateurs, this isn't exactly as sexy as one might think.

We also have plenty of pics from the rest of the night, so if you gals are champing at the bit to get at them, rest assured I'll have them up soon enough.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ALSO if you know of or are in the Lincoln Park/ DePaul area I am in need of referrals for a vet, a doctor, a lady doctor, a dentist, an optometrist, a yoga studio, and a hairdresser. Thank you.

Last night after work Josh and I had a special date. We walked down to the Urban Fresh to try all the free samples and maybe pick up something for dinner.

It was after 6 on a Thursday so the samples were kind of dwindling but we had some fruit and some cheese and some wine*.

When we got home we started making plans to do the Urban Fresh-Treasure Island-Costco free sample trifecta on Saturday.

"Not this Saturday" Josh reminded me; I'll be in Denver.

"Not next Saturday either" I reminded him; we have a wedding.

The next weekend we're back in Colorado (Suzie and Mike's wedding!), the weekend after that my parents are visiting and the weekend after that Josh's dad will be in town. I could seriously go on and on, but I won't. I'll just say the first free weekend we have coming up is in November. Maybe, maybe we just don't know we have plans yet.

At first glance, looking at all those plans on the calendar just made me exhausted. We went to bed grumbling just a little about how nice it will be (one day) to have a weekend free of plans, a weekend in which we can just relax, walk the dog, read and eat free samples. But when I woke up this morning I didn't feel grumbly at all. Instead, I feel so grateful that I have found so many people to fill my life with love and friendship that I can't find one free weekend to be lazy.

I can't wait to see you all soon. Some of you sooner than others. Woot woot!

*Seriously, they give away free samples of booze in the grocery stores here. This time it was wine, but last time it was some kind of boutique liquor and before that whisky. They also sell liquor at the Costco, cheap. The first time I saw that I might have squealed like a twelve year old who spotted Miley Cyrus at the mall. How cool is Chicago!

Why?

Because in a mere 2 days (48 hours!!!!!) I'll be on a jet plane heading back to my hometown.

I am too excited to see all my lady friends this weekend for Suzie's big bachelorette bonanza.

I am having some serious Jill withdrawls, and don't even get me started on how excited I am to see my parents.

Yippee!

After two weeks of trial and error I have finally found a toll-free, quick (respectively) route to work and I drove in this morning without getting lost or having to keep one eye on the map and the other on the street signs!

Woohoo! I'm finally getting the hang of my commute; this small thing relieves such a huge burden of stress.

In other commute related news:

I saw a hooker on my way to work this morning. It was, like, seven in the am. It was all very Pretty Woman; except she was no Julia Roberts and I can guarantee she didn't have any dental floss in her purse.

Coffee was my best friend at work today.

See, I'm an early to bed, early to rise kind of gal. At least during the work week. I hate being tired and/or hungover all day at work, but despite my better judgment we stayed out way too late last night.

Byron met us at Clybar after a party he attended.

He was already half in the bag when he showed up. Need proof?

Yep. That's Byron with his shirt off. In a sports bar. On karaoke night.

I was tired and wanted to wake up a little and the karaoke was really bad so I ordered a nice stiff drink. Which I followed up with a nice stiff drink. And so it goes until...

Do you know how drunk I have to be to sing karaoke. Pretty serious levels of inebriation. Because, well, it's karaoke, and it's been suggested that the sound of my singing Patty Loveless songs might be the cause for the disappearance of the honeybee.

Kami and Kelly also met up with us.

Do you know who's hand that is? Yep, that would be mine. I reached into the bra of a woman I've met four times to give her a boost. Twice. Because I am classy like that.

So yeah it was a big night. A little strip tease, feeling up near strangers, karaoke.

I feel like I'm forgetting something here.

Oh right.

Josh and I got engaged.

Talk about classy. Cheese-dick picture, no?

Despite the soggy conditions on Sunday, Josh and I seized the day and ventured out. What started with a drizzle turned into an about perfect Sunday. After a (disappointing) brunch at Wishbone we jumped on a train and headed down to te Art Institute. What a wonderful museum. Here are some of my favorites:

I was explaining to Josh that I don't really get abstract modern art. Call me an uncultured buffoon, but I just don't. All white canvas? Why? Those color block things? Seriously? No sooner had I said all this I was trying to move back enough to take a picture of the Hockney I sort of ran into a bench and sat down. Or at least I thought it was a bench. Immediately an alarm sounded and a panicked security guard came flying over, "That's not a bench, it is art!"

I looked over at Josh, who was just about mortified at my ignorance and then I burst into a fit of the giggles. What a troglodyte, you can't take me anywhere! I bet people do that all the time, they should put a rope around it or something. Maybe it's an instillation piece and the point of it is to get people to try and sit down. That must be it. It's an installation piece.

We also took a break from all that culture to pop across the street for some cotton candy flavored ice cream. Josh looks at me like I have two heads when I order things like that, then he ends up eating half.

It's also nice doing things with him, because he doesn't really like to have his picture taken, but he does like to do the taking, so it's kind of like traveling with my own personal paparazzi.

I adore Josh's friends, but I'd really like to have some of my own people to go out with so I don't have to rely on Josh for all of my interaction.

I'm sure he'd like that too.

To that end I've decided to be pro-active.

My trip to Denver thwarted I called an old friend Andy to see if he was busy. He was not- we made impromptu dinner plans and met for tapas at a place called Ba-ba-reeba.

It was cute, if cheesy in that girl's-night-out kind of way. We shared food (including some fantastic lamb chops and white anchovies on toasts) and a pitcher of Sangria (way too sweet).

After dinner we walked to an Irish pub that, coincidentally, I'd been to once before with Josh. Go figure; all the gin joints, and all that. Another drink and we both called it a night. I hailed a cab and headed home to meet Josh at the bar next to our apartment- Clybar.

I'd certainly have preferred to be home with my friends (miss you!), but it was a great way to spend a Saturday night, and I felt good about making some effort.

Continuing that momentum I got in the mix again when I met up with a slew of Chicago bloggers (andy, pete, dan, jenn, joy, erin, rachel, jamie, bayjb, lacey, and d-blogged) for dinner at Giordano's on Monday night. Kind of strange showing up somewhere and meeting a bunch of people you've only ever read about, but hey, meeting people through the blog has worked out pretty well for me so far.

It was quite fun, we moved on to Elephant and Castle for a couple of pints and I stayed out waaaay past my bedtime, making for a very early Tuesday morning. Extra Special thanks to d-blogged for the ride home, yay neighbor!

Not that I could spend a great weekend without my guy.

After traveling 1000 miles across the country, cleaning, unpacking, painting and starting a new job I was looking forward to a nice date night with Josh on Friday. We showered, had a cocktail and decided to venture out into our neighborhood to Webster's Wine Bar for some cheese and wine. It had been raining all day so we grabbed an umbrella and walked South to this cute spot called Webster's Wine Bar. We shared their pate and a cheese flight and I tried their Spanish Whites flight (Josh had a terrible Chard). I thought both my wines and the cheeses were lovely, though the cheese servings were minuscule. The ambiance, however, more than made up for any slight I may have felt. The bar was lovely, and I look forward to returning.

Um, did you guys know people are allowed to smoke at work in Indiana?

I didn't. I know now, but I didn't know yesterday.

Maybe I should clarify; they can't smoke in the offices (thank god) but they can smoke on the mill floor. And they do, all day long.

The guy who drives the train- smoking.
The guy who drives the forklift- smoking.
The guy who drives the semi truck- smoking.

And not just the driving guys. You see guys all over walking around, humps* hanging out of their mouths. I wish I could take pictures here and share them, it's wild.

Also wild; my office has this big picture window that looks out over the mill floor, where they store the rolls. Every few hours this great big train loaded with steel rumbles past right under this window, blaring its crazy loud train horn. This is inside the building. Imagine a building big enough to need a train and semi truck inside for transportation. And this is only one of several buildings on the campus.

I am having one of those days where I catch my reflection and have this moment of clarity about how strange my life has become. I feel like Clark Kent. But nerdier.

Seriously.

Friday Night:

Tuesday Morning:

* That would be a filter less Camel cigarette

This weekend I was supposed to head back to Denver for Suzie and Mike's wedding shower. I was pretty excited to get back home for an evening, see all of my friends and then have breakfast with my folks before heading back to Chicago Sunday. Things didn't go quite according to plan, but I can roll with the punches.

I woke up with the chickies Saturday morning and began making my way to O'Hare airport. Despite the rain I walked to the bus stop; the plan being to take the Diversey bus to the blue line and then the Blue Line to O'Hare. I've yet to leave the apartment un-chaperoned and wind up where I'm headed on the first try. This time I got on the bus heading East instead of West. I realized my mistake early enough, got headed back the right way and made my way to the Logan Square El stop with no other problems. I've learned to kind of count on this kind of trouble, so I gave myself plenty of time to make it to the airport.

But then.

We had to get off the Blue Line (everyone had to, there was some kind of work being done on the track) and get on a shuttle bus to take us to the next station, then get back on the train and continue on our way. Looking out the train window I could see the flooded highway and I was thinking my lucky stars that I'd decided not to drive to the airport. The water level had risen very high very quickly and there were cars stalled out on the road with water up past the door handles. I was starting to worry about time, but still felt pretty good about catching my flight.

But then.

I got off the train and made my way to the terminal (having checked in the night before). I rounded a corner with plenty of time to get through security and hop on my flight to find the United terminal shut down and flooded. I looked dawn and was standing in water up to my ankles. The moving walkways were shut off because they were all under water. Water was pouring in through the ceiling and walls, and I was starting to get a little nervous because there weren't any other people in the terminal with me.

Soon enough a fireman came around the corner shouting at me that they had evacuated the terminal and "How did you get down here?!!!"

Well, you don't have to tell me twice. I turned around to head back upstairs to get out of the danger zone. I took another train to the other side of the airport to the United ticket counter. All the folks from the canceled flights were trying to reschedule their flights out of Chicago, and I quickly learned that it was a lost cause. I rescheduled my flight for the 27th and headed back to the train to go home.

But then.

I learned that all transport in and out of the airport had been terminated. The highway and the tracks were under water. There was nothing to do but wait it out. A lot of people were pissed off, but I figured, what's the point? I'm not complaining, not really. I may have been inconvenienced by the storm but other people were facing much greater peril. I sat at the hotel bar at the Hilton and watched the news coverage of the hurricane and the train crash and felt thankful to be wet and a little cranky and not in serious trouble.

I ordered a cup of coffee ($14!) and read my Food and Wine magazine and a few hours later began the long trek home. I'll spare you the details but it involved the train, three buses and a nice long walk in the rain.

By the time I got home (seven hours after I left in the morning!) Josh was out working. I took a nice hot shower, cleaned up a bit and made dinner plans with an old friend Andy.

I feel like I've got a long list of things to say today. I'm adjusting pretty well to the big move. I'm about a week into the new job. I'm a metallurgist for a very large multi-national steel corporation. I doubt any of you've ever seen a steel mill, let alone spent time in one, but it's not a very safe work environment. And that's OK. Seriously, a lot of industrial processes are inherently unsafe, that's why government organizations like OSHA exist; and there has been a huge change in culture in the past few years pushing for safety values, something unheard of twenty years ago.

I digress. This first week has been spent in training classes. Next week will be too, but the lessons can really be boiled down to three very simple things: don't touch it it might be hot, fall protection was invented for a reason, and lock out-tag out is more than just a little important.

This is my first time working in a union facility, and I am surprised at the us vs. them mentality a lot of these union guys seem to have. I'm starting to feel like the bad guy in some sort of Oscar-caliber movie. Give me a break, I went to college, not Satan school. My degree doesn't make me any less compassionate or any more money hungry than anyone else.

I got my company issue steel toes (well, metatarsal's really) and my temporary safety goggles today. I'll be getting some prescription glasses made in a few weeks, but in the mean time, well, just see for yourselves...

Chicks who work in steel mills are sex-ay!

My commute isn't nearly as bad as I was expecting. I think it has something to do with the fact that I get up with the chickens to get to work so early. I've watched the sunrise everyday this week, but today is the first time I dozed off while driving. That's right. Took a little snooze on 94 on the way home today. Fortunately traffic was at a near stand-still, so no real damage done, but still...

So the drive only takes a half hour, but it's costing me $8.50 a day. I tried an alternate route home, despite the protestation of my well-meaning coworkers, and ended up in the 'hood. I don't know what they were worried about, I saw cops on every other corner.

The upside of getting lost in the 'hood?

That's right. White Castle. I had three cheeseburgers... and now I have the shits. Totally worth it.

I also stopped for gas. Do you know what $20 gets you in Chicago?

Harrumph.

All things Josh-related are swimming along quite nicely. We've had a couple moments of discord certainly. Driving across country and moving will do that. He has gallantly refrained from punching me in the face each time I correct his grammar (bad habit) and I, correspondingly, have resisted the urge to rip off his lips when he looks at me funny.

So, yeah, we're just a couple of kids in love.

Once we got our shit-hole apartment cleaned up we started painting this sucker.

We're almost done.

Stop looking at my undies you pervs.

My last days in Colorado were a whirlwind of excitement.

I got to see my mom's last Tri of the year, she kicked ass!

Spent a little QT with my Jilly. I'll spare you the story of what she was doing in this picture.

Brought Josh to the mountains. You'd have thought he'd never seen anything like them before...

This one is like a Where's Waldo?

That's my girl.

Jill and her Jason.

Me and my Josh. You might wonder what I'm doing wearing a dress in the woods. Well, mind your own business, I was comfortable.

What a ham!

The boys on the Continental Divide.

Here's a picture for all of you not fortunate enough to get there yourselves. It is breathtaking.

Josh is so cute in this picture I just want to bite him.

And Kate's... slutty construction worker. I love that whatever Kate's costume is it can always be prefaced with "slutty."

I hope someone got a picture of my costume! (That's a big hint for you, Kate)

If I was worried about moving Murph from our sheltered town in Colorado to the big city I shouldn't have been. I thought he'd miss my mom and be sad, he always is after a visit to my parent's house, but he's found a new buddy. He follows Josh around like his pockets are stuffed full of bacon. Up the stairs, down the stairs, up the stairs, down the stairs...

And here he is dozing in the sun on the deck as rush hour traffic whizzes past. Not even fazed.

We've finally made it to Chicago and I've got to tell you, Chicago is not in love with me.

I can not drive here. People just pull right out in front of traffic, I've gotten honked at maybe thirty times. I'm sure I'll get used to it, I just hope I don't kill myself before I do.

Our apartment wasn't cleaned before we moved in, and is covered in at least two inches of dust. I have had terrible allergies that have progressed to a couple pretty bad asthma attacks. I'm so sick that I'm convinced this place used to be a meth lab, and I'm being slowly poisoned.

Not to mention the flies. I don't know when the previous tenant moved out, but she never cleaned the kitchen and it is overrun with flies of all kinds.

Today I'm planning on a major cleaning jag, this place will be spic and span before bed tonight.

Finally the place is kind of in shambles. Sockets have been painted over, the sinks are missing parts and leaking, 80% of the light bulbs are burnt out, there are no crisper drawers in the fridge, just a big hole where they should be, and there is someone else's shit in the garage where my spot should be.

Fortunately that's pretty much all the bad news.

The drive was fine, long, but fine. I thought Josh was going to punch me in the face a couple of times because I was being such a mega-bitch, but he didn't. I was actually kind of a monster, and it is certainly to his credit that he understood In was just upset about leaving home and never once took the bait when I tried to pick a fight with him.

Today we woke up to pretty heavy rain, and that's helping my allergies, so I think things are looking up.

I miss you guys!