chi-town fun

view of chicago from the bean

bethany and me in grant park

a little kiss for al roker

towing the jeep

woohoo for vacation! bethany and i went to chicago for a mini-vacation and we had so much fun! we drove from indy, stayed at a great hotel right across from the hancock building (and the cheesecake factory!), and spent hours walking around town, shopping, and drinking coffee. i love that scene from "the wedding planner" where they watch an old movie in the park and begin dancing. well, we got to watch "double indemnity" in the park with thousands of others. we brought picnic blankets, popcorn from garrett's, and just enjoyed ourselves for a couple hours. we also went to a concert in the park and listened to classical music for an hour. ravel's "bolero" was incredible. we also tried to go to the today show, but were too late, tried to find greektown, but found oprah's studio instead. the icing on the cake though was when i made the mistake of paying our parking fee hours before we were going to leave and as we got in the car to move it, it wouldn't start. we spent over an hour in the dark, hot parking plaza and finally were able to charge the battery. we had no choice though but to take me to the airport 5 hours early, so we wouldn't have to turn off the car again and run the chance of it not starting again.

so, we're on michigan ave - getting ready to turn on to lake shore (both very busy streets) when the car begins lurching and every dashboard light begins flashing. a little freaking out follows, but we managed to park the car in a tow zone/bus stop. not good. we went to barnes and noble (thank God for books and coffee!) and asked if they knew of any tow companies and bethy ended up walking a mile to a gas station. 4 hours after this whole ordeal began, a middle eastern man shows up with a tow truck, drives us through town, and drops up off at a shell station where we find out the jeeps needs a new alternator and battery. the L was right across the road from the station, so i even had a way to get to the airport in time. good memories.

the height of disgusting-ness

this is my brother-in-law's knee. a brown recluse spider bit him. when i saw it, i had flashbacks of a leprosy colony in india.

a shout out

a shout out to my friend, sara fisel. if you need a good laugh, read her blog. if only i could be more like you, sara.

so, i came back to the states expecting hot, humid weather and lots of time out in the sun. let's see. i believe it has rained 11 of the 13 days i've been here, so sun has been limited. in the past day we've had 12 inches of rain (30cm) and there are flood warnings in the surrounding areas. i went to see "evan almighty" today and since it was a saturday, people should have been out shopping. but it was as if we had walked into a ghost town. as i walked around downtown, i didn't see one person. all roads leading out and in (except for our road) to the town were closed. hmm, maybe impending doom is upon us?...

(there's a bridge under there)

my mum and me

summer at home. a lot of... not much. i get up (usually pretty early), decide whether i should watch "dawson's" or "what not to wear," read a bit, walk down the driveway to the post, watch a bit more t.v., talk with my mom, maybe go to a dr. appt, and that's about it. sigh. some of you are probably cursing my name as you read this, thinking that i should be enjoying this. and i do, it's just that i'm used to being needed, having people around to talk to. it could be a long vacation if i don't do something productive... quickly.

i was "this" close going out with a guy i haven't seen for years, but then i googled him and let's just say i am pretty sure we won't be going out. and perhaps this is the place where the fine line of blogging openness ends.
i went to a wedding this weekend. nothing says "happy marriage" like a cooler of the finest miller lite.

kansas.

i'm in the states! after a long journey, a cancelled flight - i'm back. i stayed up quite late talking with the parents and got up early to go to the dentist (cavity free!), the doctor, the library, and wal-mart. i was proud for managing that much the first day back.

so, now i'm sitting here listening to The Very Best of Dolly Parton (you gotta love "jolene" and "to know him is to love him"), waiting to eat a lovely dinner of grilled fish, vegetables, and ice tea on the porch.

the small differences between norway and the states are amazing. people have already commented on my clothing style and my norwegian accent. my dentist even asked if norway was a country of flossers (what the h***?). one thing i noticed the moment i stepped into the o'hare airport - america smells like fast food. absolutely. everywhere i went in the airport were fat people and fast food (hmm, is there a connection?). norway smells like milk, so i've heard; india smells like spices. i guess every country has their own food smell. for america, it's summed up in mcdonald's french fries.

anyway, it's nice to be back. enjoy the summer!