After a hectic, hectic two+ weeks at work where I think I’ve spent more time in the office than at my house, I’m off to Florida! I’ll be back on Friday for one day of work goodness, then Scott and I are off to Mackinac Island for Memorial Day weekend. I definitely need this time off (well, the Florida time isn’t really time off, but I won’t be in the office, so it sort of counts).
6am is way too early to be catching a flight…
So, it’s been awhile since I’ve written. So far, May’s been an incredibly hectic month, mainly due to the fact that work has been nuts, project-wise, and I’m looking forward to a break.
Here’s what’s been going on, list style:
1. We’ve purchased an Xbox 360! A month or two ago, Scott entered a contest to win a copy of the game ‘Rock Band’. Lo and behold, he won! Only problem: we didn’t own the system needed to play the game, so after some discussion, we purchased the system. We’d been planning on buying the system anyway, so we had it budgeted for this year. We’ve had fun playing Rock Band both by ourselves and with friends, over our internet connection; I’m hoping to have a Rock Band party sometime soon so we can all play together under one roof.
2. A week from today, I will be in sunny Orlando, Florida for a work-related conference! I’ve never had to travel far for work, so I’m excited to be venturing somewhere for training. We fly out Sunday and return sometime Thursday afternoon; I’m looking forward to being able to relax a bit after how busy I’ve been in the office.
3. Scott and I are going to Mackinac Island for Memorial Day / our anniversary! I’ve heard neat things about Mackinac Island over the past year; it’s located around where the upper and lower peninsulas of Michigan meet, and from what I’ve seen and read, it reminds me a lot of some areas of Cape Cod and the Islands (’the Islands’ being Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket). Apparently, cars aren’t allowed on the tiny island, so we’ll be doing a lot of walking and/or biking to get around! We stay from Saturday to Monday, and we leave the same week I get back from Florida, so I’m going to be a traveling fool at the end of this month.
4. I’ve started going to the gym again. We’ve started going to a different gym in the area, and so far, I’m enjoying it. I’m going mainly for strength and flexibility training; my muscles are still getting used to being used for functions other than walking from the parking lot to the office and sitting down in a chair. I’m definitely happy to be more active than I have been in the past, though I haven’t quite been able to go the three days a week I usually want to go. I’ve been managing twice a week for now, and I’m hoping to devote time for three days a week after work slows down a bit.
Oh! I also found out this weekend that I’m going to have another niece or nephew around the end of this year! My sister in law, Scott’s brother’s wife, is expecting her second child. They all came to visit this weekend; my nephew’s growing up so quickly! His second birthday’s at the end of the month; I can’t believe it’s been two years since he was born. Time’s passing so quickly.
Now, off to enjoy the rest of my Sunday afternoon. Weekends go by too fast!
I am SO busy. And tired. And I have a lot to write about and pictures to post, but said tiredness is getting my way of collecting my thoughts and writing them down.
Soon. I’ll update this soon.
I seem to only update my site over the weekend! I guess it’s better than never updating at all, so me actually opening up the ‘write post’ page in Wordpress and typing up and entry not only once, but twice in the same weekend is a vast improvement.
Today’s questions come from Christina, who has lived in the same two places in Indiana as I!
1) How do you like the Bend? Do you see yourselves living there a long time or moving closer to family eventually?
Now that I’ve made friends here, I don’t mind this area. When I moved up here three years ago, I hated it! I didn’t have a job, didn’t know anybody, never went anywhere or did anything because we had no money and I had no social life. We did spend some time going out when we did happen to have extra cash, but that first year or so before I landed a full time gig, I just wanted to move back to Massachusetts!
That being said, I don’t see staying here for the rest of our lives. It’s nice now, but I never really envisioned living so far from the east coast. One day I’d like to move back to New England, but I’m not sure when we’ll do it or where we’ll end up. I miss the ocean and being so close to cities, and not getting laughed at when I call a shopping cart a ‘carriage’.
2) What are some of your favorite places in Bloomington?
I haven’t been back down to Bloomington since my friend Denise’s wedding, in July 2005! I hope some of the places we loved are still there. I loved heading to Dragon Express when I worked as a lab consultant supervisor; right after I visited the consultant in the music building and before I made the trek alll the way out to the Education building, I’d stop in for a meal of hunan chicken. Yum.
I also loved Asuka, a Japanese steakhouse that opened in… 2002, I believe. I used to like Ekamae for Japanese food before it closed, and I miss getting my alcohol at that huuuge Big Red on Walnut (or College, can’t remember which street is which now. How sad is that?)
When we’d go out, we liked going to Yogi’s and the Irish Lion, both of which I miss. I used to LOVE The Den for really cheap, really big styrofoam cups of soda to drink during my computer science classes. I also remember standing in line to buy a Radiohead album there when they still sold music! I also liked Nick’s the few times I went there, but I did NOT like Kilroy’s. Not really my kind of place.
I hope we can go back to Bloomington sometime this summer to visit our old favorite places. Neither of us have many friends down in town still, so I’m not sure what else we’d do but go out!
I’ve been slacking majorly this week, blog updating-wise. I blame it on a busy week of work, and the fact that the copy of Rock Band that Scott won came in earlier this week. We love us some Rock Band!
Anyway. Lisanne asked me a few questions, and I’m finally going to answer them.
[1] What food(s) from the northeast do you miss the most (i.e., something that you can’t necessarily find there in Indiana)?
I miss Celeste frozen pizza. It’s what I ate on the weekends when I lived with my parents and what we’d buy for easy lunches at the Cape. It’s the only frozen pizza brand I can’t find out here. I also miss Friendly’s, both the restaurant and the ice cream, which was sold in grocery stores in my area. Instead of a birthday cake, I’d request a Jubilee Roll from Friendly’s, and in the summers, we’d eat a Watermelon Roll. I haven’t had one in years.
I still insist that seafood tastes better in New England than it does here. Especially lobster. Mmm. Nothing beats fresh lobster.
[2] What’s the longest length of time you’ve ever gone without being online?
Next month marks ten years since I started using the internet. Ten! During the past ten years, I’ve had little stretches here and there where I’ve not had internet access. Most summers when I’d spend a week at the Cape with my family, I’d not go on the internet at all; if you stayed at a cottage within walking distance to the beach, would you be surfing the net instead of sitting by the water? I think not!
I also will not go online when we visit Scott’s brother in southern Indiana. They live in an area where dialup is their only internet option, plus we only see them every few months or so and would rather spend time with them instead of waiting to check email, read blogs, and so on. I’m never really bugged when I go without internet for a few days, as long as I have other things to do!
[3] Is there anything special you’d like to do this summer?
Of course! We’re actually going on a trip to Mackinac Island over Memorial Day to celebrate our three year anniversary, and we’ll be heading out to Massachusetts in July to visit my family. My mom’s planning on coming out in June sometime, and we want to do a tour of the Michigan wineries in the area. We’re planning on residing our house this summer too, and nearer to fall, we want to relandscape. So lots of things on the horizon; I’m excited!
You still have time to ask me questions! Ask me anything (well, within reason, of course), and I’ll respond.
