off to chicago! happy thanksgiving everyone. :o)

yes! i just scored amazingly low price tickets back to portland (one way) for december 19th from chicago. of course, it means a 10 hour trip (not including drive time or waiting at the airport beforehand), but only one stop: orange county, ca. we'd better hit the library for books to keep us entertained before we go.

the other excitement is coming up this wednesday, where i will be heading to chicago and spending a day at work with erin, who is a environmental geologist. a job-shadow, but also a time to say hi, since i haven't seen her in a couple of years now. i'm really looking forward to it. then thursday will be thanksgiving spent in wheaton (west suburb of chicago) with paul's grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. :o)

today is our one year anniversary.

and we celebrated by: hanging out with kirsten, watching the colbert report, paul finally winning a gold metal in an xbox racing game, creating a pot rack from home depot raw materials, going grocery shopping, and helping jason move in. romantic, no? ;o) all in all, a great day.

ps. paul is a jerk because he is officially resigning from his blog. the horrible post has not been put up yet, so there is still time to protest! someone start a petition!

update: so paul isn't exactly a total jerk anymore. but he did lead me astray on his blogging intentions. he has a new one. now if only ruthie would come back!

It's been snowing, thundering, and lightning all day long! I've never been in a snow-thunderstorm before. Good thing I don't have to go out (poor paul still has to bike home in the storm!). The lightning is pretty shocking because with the snow on the ground, everything is illuminated even brighter with each strike.

The weather seems crazy. Yesterday was a very WARM (65+), sunny, beautiful day out, and now it's suddenly, dark, cold, snowy, and gloomy.

Excitement for tomorrow: Kirsten is coming for an overnight visit from Chicago! And, it is supposed to warm up back to 40 degrees.

Now back to cleaning the house.

Job News

I had an interview at 8:45am Tuesday (after getting in Monday night from Portland), so it really felt like 6:45am! I just found out that I got the job with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, so now I'm a 6-month (no benefits...even holidays or sick time...but I can take unpaid leave) "IS Data Services Professional" creating Digital Flood Insurance Rate Maps (DFIRMs) to support Wisconsin/Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Floodplain Map Modernization Initiative. I've moved on from monotonous geocoding to monotonous digitizing, but at least it's a step in the right direction for now. :o)

warning readers: run-on post ahead.

the four days i was home were pretty eventful. super rainstorms, flooding (rivers, but also just the streets in general enough to have cops on the streets directing traffic around lakes/puddles), a small earthquake, and schools closing on the coast. my grama couldn't even make it home because the roads were closed to her house on the coast. but all in all it was tropical, warm weather. tshirt weather. so nice!

and, this weekend was eventful because i got to visit some marvelous friends. friday was spent with kate: baskin-robins, a movie and a comfy-pants present. we celebrated our birthdays together with an outdoor breakfast by the fire at the tin shed (my fav breakfast spot in portland, well, maybe tied with bobs red mill). saturday was family day: shopping with mom, then a nice dinner with all grandparents, heidi and jon. sunday was with nicole: ethan made a marvelous brunch (sausage! eggs! french toast! even set the table with cloth napkins and everything. yum) and claire surprised me by joining us. then we went shopping (do you see a pattern to my weekend yet?) to buy some stuff that was stolen last summer. my first expensive handbag. gotta turn in those receipts fast to insurance to get reimbursed within 6 months. dinner & drinks were at PCG and julie, kate, and nathan joined us. we had the worst. server. ever. WORST. ordered at 7:40 and ethan's dish didn't come until 9:10. oh well. it was nice to be with friends. and nicole got us a table fast....it sure helps being 8 months pregnant! monday was more shopping with my mom (for my bday present), then hanging out with julie and kate. i didn't want to leave portland. tuesday morning i stopped by trimet (no one was available to visit...sad), rushed to depot deli for a pickup order sub and then on to the airport. so sad to learn that depot deli (my fav sandwich shop in all the world) lost their lease and is closing down. also sad that i didn't get to see anthony at all during my trip home. luckily i'll be back in a month and a half for christmas.

got home at 8:45 last night. had an interview this morning at 8:45am (6:45am portland time) for a gis job, so i tried to get sleep, but couldn't fall asleep until late. i'm now pretty exhausted, but trying to resist a nap. i think the interview went well, but we shall see. should hear back in the next day or two.

random note: the squirrels here are eating the carved pumpkins! i came home from pdx and mine has bite-marks all over the face. then today walking back from the bus stop i saw this fat squirrel gorging on someone else's pumpkin. i do not like squirrels.

i already miss portland.

4 trick or treaters. pathetic. and i bought a bag with 105 pieces of candy to give out. darn. at least the children were happy when I gave 5 pieces each (I should have given 20). and at least i was happy with a glass of wine, a nice fire, friends, and pumpkin-carving. plus, i won at yahtzee!