Chicago

We are headed to the windy city for a weekend of fun, and of course, Jason Mraz! Details to follow...

Chico

For the past week and a half, my cat Chico has been drinking water like it's going out of style. Today I brought him to the vet to make sure everything was ok, although he had just been for his checkup in June. They took some blood and ran some tests and found out that he has diabetes. So, for most likely the rest of his life I will have to inject him twice a day with insulin in order to make him better. Poor baby cat. It's a good think that I have Michael who has lots of experience injecting animals in the house because I'm not sure I could do it every day. But, everyone cross your fingers b/c at $100 a bottle and $100 every six days for tests until we find the right insulin that works for him, its going to be an expensive road.

L.o.v.e.

What a year this has been for Michael and I. We finally connected for good a year ago with lunch at the Blue Star Cafe and now I can't imagine my life without him in it. The year has been full of dinners and movies and laughter and moving and zoos and cooking experiments and kisses and hugs and new experiences and openness and experiences that I'll never forget. Tonight we are going to a beautiful restaurant and to dessert at La Dolce Vita...and indeed, this is the sweet life.

I love you baby, Happy Anniversary!

A sign that autumn is almost here

I bought my first new cashmere sweater of the season. Teal, cable-knit and luscious!

Labor Day Fun

For Labor Day weekend, Mike and I headed up to his hometown of Newberry, Michigan. It is about 350 miles and takes about 5 1/2 hour to drive there...on a typical day. Friday evening was not typical. I managed to get out of work about an hour early so I headed home to finish packing so that we could be on the road just after 5. We were taking the car Mike had been using that is his dad's because his was back in Newberry being fixed and we were going to drop off their vehicle and get his. After stopping for gas we finally pulled out of the city about 5:30. We were about a mile onto the highway when the car decided it didn't want to go above 45, and the brakes were acting really strange. We had to pull over and call a tow truck, because there is NO WAY we could have driven it all the way there. We waited an hour for the truck to arrive (on a side note, thank GOODNESS for the Amoco motor club my dad has been a member of all of these years with me as a user, because towing is not cheap, but it doesn't cost a penny if you are a member of the club...). He took us back to our apartment, and by the time we gassed up my car and hit the road it was almost 8 o'clock. Of course, gas prices had soared to about $3.39 here, and at 17-20 miles to the gallon on my car it was not a cheap trip. We made it to his parent's house just after 2 o'clock in the morning and his mom was waiting up for us.

The next day, after sleeping in a little, we got up and decided to head over to Tahquemanon Falls State Park. The drive there was absolutely gorgeous, I only wished we had made the trip in late September because the leaves were just beginning to change and they were so pretty already. The falls are a series of large and small waterfalls with a nice state park surrounding them. We first went to the upper falls which is the biggest and had a nice time walking around and taking in the scenery. Because of all of the leaves and other natural material that leaks into the water it tends to be brown, so a lot of people call it "Root Beer Falls". After walking around there for awhile (and taking a little jaunt through a backwoods path) we headed down to the lower falls. Mike had spent 5 summers being a ranger at the falls so he was familiar with the surroundings and all of the history and factoids. The lower falls were nice, they have an island that you can rent a boat and row over to, and then wade in the water, have a picnic and just relax. Of course, Mike had also spent numerous summers rowing buckets of gravel over to the island to add to the walking trails, and his idea of a good time is not in those boats. We walked around and took some nice pictures and then decided to head about 15 miles away to Whitefish Point.

Whitefish Point is an old Coast Guard station situated on Lake Superior and has great access to the beach. We walked along the beach, and I was cohersed into wading around in the lake (not warm, may I add). The beach has beautiful sand full of flat round stones of all colors. We stopped back at the pointe, picked up some Rocky Road fudge they make there and headed back to his parents house. Mike's grandma and grandpa, aunt and uncle and cousins all came over for a barbeque and some ruthless card playing. They taught me how to play Crazy Gin and it was so much fun!

On Sunday drove about an hour to the "Soo" (Sault Ste. Marie), which is about a mile from Canada and is home to the Soo Locks. Of course, we went and there were no boats coming through, but I did learn that it is the busiest locks in the country. The town is kind of beachy and full of restaurants and gift shops. There is also a great miniature golf course that we played and I won by three strokes. We had lunch and drove back to his parents where everyone came over again and ate and played more cards.

We left Monday morning about 10:30 and I finally got to cross the Mackinaw bridge in the daylight (the bridge is 5 miles long, spans lake Huron and Michigan) and also saw Mackinaw Island in the distance. We stopped for lunch and then were practically stopped on the highway for the next 3 hours full of traffic. We had a great time with his family and it was nice just to get away for a few days. Of course, it is is the middle of nowhere, so cell phone usage was out so I felt a little out of touch, but it was calm and relaxing and fun! The best part was getting to spend 3 days with Mike without any work, class or studying to interrupt it!

Catch Up

There have been so many things going on, and I have become lazy about getting those into my blog...so there are lots of things to recap:

1.) First of all, donate to the Red Cross. Obviously, no one should build a city 10 feet below sea level, and you should always evacuate when advised to do so; however, there are a lot of people who didn't have the means to leave, and unfortunately it appears as crisis relief by our government isn't arriving as quickly as some would like it to. (We're Americans...we're impatient)

2.) The answer to "What is in the Yellow Toolbox". Well, I did let the cat out of the bag to Elaine the other night when she called...I'm sure she was grossed out. The story of the toolbox goes something like this: Mike came home with this toolbox. I advised him that "Honey, we already have a toolbox...it's orange and in the laundry room." He advised me that "Yes, it's a toolbox, but it's my skeleton for class". I'm thinking...COOL, one of those hang-up skeletons that you see in some doctors offices...that could be fun to decorate for halloween! No such luck. In that toolbox is the complete skeleton of a human being...a real dead human being. NASTY!! And, in the small box next to it, is a complete skull...even more NASTY! Ok, I signed up for living with a medical student, but not the bones of a dead person...in my living room! Apparently, it is suppose to allow the students to study the variations in bones compared to pictures in books. Great idea people. Great. See for yourself:

3.) Jason Mraz. I listen to him almost exclusively lately, not only because his new album, Mr. A-Z is awesome, but I got tickets to see him in Chicago in October!! I'm so excited! It will be my first trip to the windy city (outside of the airport). I got a great deal on Priceline on a nice hotel and am looking forward to a quick trip...and shopping at H&M (can you say new fall wardrobe).

4.) My new job is going great. I really like the people I work with, although I am still pretty bored. They tell me that this is just a slow couple of weeks and should pick up, I hope so. There is no internet surfing (and no checking e-mail) allowed, so I am reduced to reading a book out of my desk drawer on the sly and staring off into space. I have begun to write letters while at work to break up the slow times, so expect to start seeing some real letters in the mail.

5.) Labor day! Mike and I are leaving tomorrow for his hometown of Newberry, Michigan which is in the Upper Penninsula of the state and is pretty much in the middle of nowhere. As an outing we'll be driving to the "big" city of Sault Ste. Marie to go miniature golfing...the city has 10,000 people, and a kick-ass putt putt course from what I hear.

And last...but certainly not least. I know I won't have time to post again before we leave, or while we're out of town, but HAPPY 28th BIRTHDAY HEATHER!! I hope you have a wonderful time at your party and with any luck, the mailman should deliver your birthday package to your door soon!!!