absolute whirlwind

Things have been happening. A lot of things.

Since going home to Iowa this past weekend, I've somehow managed to catch up on sleep. I'm not sure how, considering everything that's been happening lately, but I feel somewhat rested. I flew back to chicago on Monday evening. Went to work on Tuesday to a full 'to-do' list and tried to catch up on my tasks. I went to bed early on Tuesday night cuz I was so tired. Wednesday proved to be an equally busy day at work, though my a few co-workers and I went to a paper show in the evening. I had never been to a paper show before....ever. And even though my co-workers lovingly warned me what to expect, I was still incredibly overwhelmed by the paper industry. It was an a great experience plus I got a TON of cool paper samples.

Thursday was yet another busy day at work. I can't begin to explain the process of designing an exhibit. I've only been on this project for the last four months, but it's incredible the amount of work it takes to put an exhibit this large together. I'm trying to meet deadlines, which is a first for me. Not that I never meet my deadlines, but I've just never had deadlines like these before.

Thursday night, Rachel stayed over. She was in the process of packing up all her earthly belongings so the lovely movers could come pick it all up Friday afternoon. It was great to spend a little more time with her. Jen, Becky and Chris joined Rachel and I for dinner at Caesar's Friday night (home of the "Killer Margaritas").

Today however, was by far the craziest day of the week for me. I 'accompanied' Rachel to the airport this morning and we left at 5:30am. Saying goodbye was tough. I honestly didn't expect myself to get so emotional, but saying goodbye was really hard. She's been my best friend in the city and I really hate to see her go....but nonetheless, I still wish her the best in Seattle.

After the airport, I took an hour and a half long nap. It was great. I then went to work...on a Saturday, I know. Crazy. Deadlines I tell ya, they'll getcha. Then this evening I went to my co-worker's condo to help her get ready for a spaghetti party she was throwing. It was great fun. A lot of work making sure there was a constant supply of pasta ready, but fun nonetheless.

I'm tired now. I wasn't tired when I started writing this blog, but now I am. i guess that's a sign that this post is far to long. I apologize.

back from the country

I'm still absorbing and processing everything that's happened this past weekend. It was busy, fun and exhausting all at the same time and today at work I was struggling to stay awake.

I had mixed feelings about coming back to Chicago. On one hand I was excited and ready to get back to work. (I REALLY love my job) and I really love Chicago. But on the other hand, it was really hard to leave home. There are so many people that I miss back home and especially after the intense 'family- and friend- bonding' weekend, saying goodbye was tough. What was really cool about going home and meeting up with all my friends and family was how easy it was to pick up right where we left off. It wasn't akward in any way which was so great. I hadn't been home in 2.5 months and I won't again until Christmas....a mere 3 months away. It all seems very managable.

I got a haircut when I was home. Chopped the back off. I hated it at first, but today I like it. Funny how that is. Today I tried to get a new cell phone at a verizon wireless store, walked in and a guy greeted me. He asked me what he could help me with so I told him I'm considering switching to verizon and that I need a new phone. He told me someone would be with me shortly, and if I wanted to I could start looking at the phones they have. So I did. For 15 minutes. No one came to help me. It made me mad so I just left. I don't think I'll switch to Verizon anymore. The greeter-man was still just hanging out by the door when I left.

I really gotta stop wearing my 'invisible' lotion.

9.18.06

Here we are at the start of yet another september week, over halfway through the month, three fourths through the year and, as always, looking to the future (I saw christmas decorations for sale today). Crazy!....It's not even October.

Anyway, a little recap on the weekend: Jill and Joe were here to visit. They just left, and again, I'm alone in my apartment left to replay the weekend's events. We had a great time. We did a lot of catching up on each other's lives, hanging out, being tourists, and checking out different restaurants and bars. Of course, having a great time means that the 'goodbyes' were difficult. But I can honestly say that this was a very enjoyable weekend. The weekend's funniest moment: Jill dumping her corona on her chip at the mexican restaurant because she thought it was the salt shaker, and the look on her face when Joe and I saw what she had done... :) My second favorite part was when Joe (MacGuiver) broke open the gate so that we could go sit on my roof and drink beer with the chicago night skyline before us. It was so peaceful being up there, with the tops of the trees and the glow of the city lights, and being above the noise and motion of the city.

I feel rested up, ready for a week of work, and can't WAIT for next weekend when I get to go home! (here I go again....looking to the future!)

what good are the good 'ol days when there's no one around to hear you talk about 'em?

Today was my first meeting with my senior citizen friend from church, Mamie.

When I originally signed up to be a volunteer visitor, I had this picture in my head about how it would go. We would sit in her apartment with tea and cookies and I would listen to her tell me stories about her childhood, where she grew up, what she did for a job, and ALL about her kids and grandkids. I had an idealized, stereo-typical vision about how it all would go, what she would look like, etc. I was pretty proud of myself, thinking I could really make a difference in this lady's life, that my next visit would be the one thing she could look forward to. Pretty selfish of me.

After I was approved to be a visitor I began to get nervous. Reality sunk in a bit, and I realized that maybe, just maybe, this lady would be hard-skinned, rough around the edges, and expect me to save the world since I apparently thought my life was valuable enough to share with an old, dying lady. Yeah, I'm serious. I tell ya what, my thought process goes from one extreeme to the next.

Anyway, I decided to bake some cookies with the intention of sharing them with Mamie. Maybe she wouldn't provide the cookies that we were supposed to munch on with our tea. I thought I should come prepared.

So this morning, at 10am, I went to her apartment on the 9th floor of a skyscraper in downtown Chicago, a smile on my face, cookies in hand and said, "Good morning Mamie, how are you?"

Her response, "I'm grumpy. But I saw Keith yesterday."

Fabulous start. She was grumpy, wasn't afraid to tell me, and apparently I was supposed to know who Keith was. There's nothing more akward than having no idea what someone is talking about and them expecting you to know EXACTLY what they're talking about. Especially an old lady.

Thankfully it didn't take long to sort out the Keith confusion. Aparently he goes to my church and is the director of the senior center. I just haven't met him yet :P Mamie didn't offer me anything to drink, and she turned down my cookies because she's diabetic (I'm such an idiot).

Regardless of the rough start, Mamie is an amazing woman and we had a great visit. She will be 95 at the end of October and she still lives by herself. She had the most coherent, clear mind I've ever encountered in a woman of her age, or even the age of a few of my co-workers :P We sat in her 'sitting room' and talked about the good 'ol days. I swear she knew every street in Chicago, what restaurants and theatres were in each neighborhood, and where you could go to get a $.35 cent meal, with 'good food.'

We talked about Frank Sinatra, President Clinton, the "doofus that's in office now," WWII, Marshall Field, BINGO, her travels, and the Dorsey Brothers (even listened to their album). A big topic of conversation though, was food. She asked me what resturants were in my neighborhood, if this-one-or-that-one was still around, what nationality I was which therefore determined what food I ate. She told me that she didn't care what kind of food she ate, as long as it was good.

She was definitely not the hard-skinned, rough around the edges Chicagoan that I was afraid she'd be. It was a great visit. She talked my ear off, and I enjoyed every minute of it. I can honestly say that we BOTH look forward to our next visit.

I can't remember who I was myself then. where does time go?

I just had a fabulous conversation-laden evening with Jen at a little coffee house called the Fixx. Conversation topics included roller coasters, hornets, first jobs, friends, long lunch breaks, college reminiscing and transvestites. Take from that whatever you wish. I had a great time. I don't get to see you enough, Jen. It's a shame.

I might be visiting sioux center at the end of this month! It's my cousin's wedding and my grandma's 94th birthday on the same weekend, a perfect opportunity to head home for a long weekend. I REALLY hope i can work it out with my work schedule, I miss seeing my family and friends back home.

I had such a good day at work today. I think it's because the long, somewhat boring weekend left me ready for some social interaction and some serious work to do. I brought along a couple dozen of my homemade cookies to share with my co-workers, and I think they were a big hit.

Another thing that made my day so good today was that I got to do some serious designing. A lot of my job is normally considered 'production.' I have a standard, set design that I have to re-create or implement over and over. But today was different. I'm working on five, 17 foot tall graphic banner type things. They're pretty massive and they're turning out great. Ya'll better take a trip to Chicago in March when the exhibit opens so you can see them. But if you don't make it in March, that's ok, the exhibit is permanent so in 15 years you will still be able to see it...you can even take your kids, (or grandkids for some of you) by that time!

Jen and I were talking tonight about how much we both love love LOVE our first jobs right outta college. I know that's definitely not the case for a lot of people, so I consider myself very fortunate.

I'm off to bed....hopefully i can sleep tonight after that GIANT coffee I had tonight :S

Then labor day came and went...and we shed what was left of our summer skin—Death Cab

Labor Day weekend. I time to gather with friends and family to celebrate the final "hoo-ha" of summer. This is it, the summer is unofficially over. When I was younger, the Franken family Labor Day tradition was to go to the Sioux Falls Zoo. I can still remember the entire extended family gathering for a picnic in the nearby park, and then heading into the zoo. Some of my favorite memories of the zoo include the time I rode a camel with Dana (I VIVIDLY remember that because I had to sit on the hump!), the time when a goat got loose from the petting zoo and Dana and I were the ones to catch it, the little stuffed elephant I bought from the gift shop (I named her Asia), and for some reason I remember what t-shirt I was wearing on one particular visit. It said: I'm a KIX kid. Pretty sure that one came from one of those 'send in 4 UPC labels and $2.95 to receive your very own KIX kid T-shirt!' Anyway, I think the reason I remember wearing that shirt is because a picture was taken of me in front of the lions. It's amazing how much of my childhood is remembered only because there was a photo taken of the moment. Kind of makes me wonder how much of my childhood is floating around somewhere, undiscoverd and unremembered just because there wasn't a camera present....

One more reason to encourage everyone to enjoy all the little moments in your life. Every one is precious and it'd be a shame for all of them to disappear in the abyss of time without even acknowledging that they exist.

Think about it....what are your childhood memories? Is that just because there was a camera present?