New Photo Project

In honor of an impending milestone in my life, I am taking on a slightly ambitious project involving photography. For more information, go here.

Tourist in my town

Technically, I've never actually lived in the city of Chicago, but since telling someone you're from Gurnee tends to be met with blank stares, Chicago is the closest thing to "my" city. (I'm actually about the same distance from both Chicago and Milwaukee; I even went to college in Milwaukee. However, Wisconsin is an entirely different state, plus Chicago is infinitely better, so it wins.)

Anyway.

I went downtown this past Saturday, and met up with my friend Laura (whom I went to college with in the aforementioned Milwaukee). We realized it had been almost a year since we'd gotten together (thanks in large part to the Kidney Stone Incident of '05), and decided it was high time to rectify that. We started at the Art Institute of Chicago, which is one of my favorite places in the city. Once upon a time, I visited it with my cousin Sarah, who is an artist and undoubtedly had a deeper appreciation of it than I did. Despite my limited knowledge of the subject, I still enjoy being amidst all that beauty. I do not, however, understand abstract modern art.

We spent a few hours wandering around the museum, then stopped for an absolutely delightful lunch in the restaurant there. The weather was in the 70s, which made it a perfect day for eating in the outdoor courtyard. We even managed to score a table right next to the large fountain in the center. The bits of detritus floating down from the trees were a little distracting, especially when then made for unintentional garnishes to the food, but it was a small thing that we didn't really mind.

We left the museum at a little before 2:30, as we had reservations at the Hotel Intercontinental Chicago for afternoon tea! We were quite excited about the prospect, and eagerly made our way up Michigan Avenue. We were running a bit early though, and as we walked, we realized that we would be going past Millennium Park, which neither of us had seen yet. Despite being several years overdue and who knows how many millions of dollars over budget, the park is really quite delightful. We saw a couple wedding parties taking pictures, as well as the usual tourist crowds. My favorite part was Cloud Gate, affectionately known as "the Bean."



Impressive enough from a distance, but it's even more fascinating close up. You can actually walk beneath the entire sculpture, and the curved surfaces make it seem rather like a gigantic fun-house mirror.



After a bit of fun at the park, it was off to tea! It really was the highlight of the day. The tea itself was wonderful, and the food was delicious. We even had scones with lemon curd, which made me think of all my wonderful Arizona family! I managed to get past my lifelong aversion to mayonnaise and eat some finger sandwiches, but the real treats were the pastries and my personal favorite, the plate of fresh strawberries with whipped cream.

Overall, it was pretty much the perfect "Ladies Day Out," and Laura and I have made a solemn vow to do it more than once a year from now on.

Risky Business baby

I took this photo of Eli at Michael and Di's (his grandparents) 30th anniversary party this past Saturday. It was a great celebration, and I really don't think that they had a clue we were throwing a surprise party for them. We ate and laughed and played games, and just generally had a really wonderful time.

Of course, my favorite part of the day was when we were saying goodbye, and Eli came to give me a hug. Completely unprompted, he said "I love you, Carrie," and I just melted. He's simply too cute for words.

My parents are coming down this weekend in order to attend the dedication of my cousin Jim's baby daughter Rebekah at Willow Creek Church. It will be nice to have the family together again (minus Michelle, Linnea, and presumably Erin)--it's so strange not having everyone within a one-hour drive. I suppose that was also true when we were off at college, but everyone made it home for the holidays, so it didn't seem like we were really separated. Having family in Austria and China (albeit temporarily) certainly changes things!

Ballgames, Birthdays, and...Work

This week has just been all kinds of crazy. On Monday I was at work from 7:30 am to 6:30 pm, which is about 2 1/2 hours too long. However, the inspectors for the joint review were coming on Tuesday morning, so all the i's had to be dotted and the t's had to be crossed. Despite being at work for eleven hours, I still had to finish up a couple things on Tuesday morning, and subsequently woke up in a panic at 2:40 am.

I was back at work at 6:45 am, and the inspectors got there around 8:30. I managed to get everything I needed to finished, and the morning went swimmingly. It was in the afternoon that things started to get rocky. Things were looking grim for a while (none of which was entirely my fault, since it stemmed from stuff that happened before I worked at the company, but I still felt responsible), but in the end everything worked out. It was weird--after things started to get scary, I actually got more calm. It was kind of like, okay, the bad stuff is actually happening, and it's not really as bad as what I imagined in my head. This is a phenomenon that my parents should recognize from every single night-before-the-first-day-of-school I had growing up. Despite being pretty much a straight-A student through elementary and high school, I always managed to convince myself that I was going to flunk out on the very first day. Before we had any homework, or quizzes, or exams. Have I mentioned I have issues?

I finally left work at 4:20 on Tuesday afternoon, and headed down to Chicago for the Cubs game. Naturally, since it's been in the upper sixties or higher for the last two weeks, the night I had tickets it was 39 degrees at gametime. Delightful. Fortunately, Karen and I brought blankets, so we didn't suffer too much. It was actually a really good game, with the Cubs winning 3-1, and it lasted less than 2 1/2 hours, which was nice, given the cold. I was able to find a parking spot less than a block from the ballpark (hooray for going to the game with a Chicago resident who can provide me with a guest parking permit), and I made it home before 11 pm.

Things have definitely been looking up since the end of the joint review. For one thing, my eyelid stopped twitching. My boss called me into his office on Wednesday afternoon. Incidentally, no matter how well things are going at my job, there's something ominous about the words "I need to talk to you." Anyway, it turned out that due to all the hard work I've been putting in, my boss (and his boss, who is the director of operations) decided to get me an "appreciation gift." I almost fell off my chair. This never would have happened at my old job. So, it looks like I'm going to be getting a pair of Cubs tickets. Because, you know, eleven games this summer just wasn't going to be enough. It's totally unnecessary for them to do this, but I have to admit, it feels really, really good.

Last night we celebrated yet another birthday at People Night, this time for Tommy, who just turned three.



All of the kids were in full-on cute mode. This picture of Tommy's older sister Taylor just cracks me up. She's almost five, and quite precocious.



And, miracle of miracles, we got four children under the age of five to look at the camera at the same time.

The Force will be with me...always

Being at work for ten hours is really not my cup of tea. I have no idea how some people do it on a regular basis. I, apparently, am a big lazy wimp.

On the other hand, I got a lot accomplished today, and I feel a lot better about the upcoming Joint Review. It worries me a bit that the lower lid on my right eye keeps spontaneously twitching, but maybe it will go away once I am less stressed.

Funny side note: While my life-long obsession with all things Star Wars has never exactly served as a magical key to a social life, it does allow me to hold my own in conversations with all my fellow dorky engineers. We like to go off on tangents about why it is a travesty to even suggest that Han didn't shoot first, the abomination that is Jar Jar Binks, and why George Lucas should never, ever be allowed to write dialogue. Sometimes this makes it hard to get actual work done. Sure is fun, though.

Only 100 days until the 10th Annual MC Mini Masters! Yay mini-golf!

In which acronyms are bandied about with reckless abandon

The last few weeks at work have been pretty stressful for me. I will be incredibly glad when Tuesday night rolls around and the reason for all the stress is behind me. I'm also going to the Cubs game that night, which will help. :) Anyway, we're up for recertification to construct ASME-stamped pressure vessels. Somewhere along the line, I apparently acquired the title of Quality Control Manager, which means that it's my responsibility to have everything ready for our Joint Review on Monday/Tuesday of next week. My boss (who used to be the QCM) is really being great about guiding me and helping me out with some of the stuff on my checklist of Things That Must Be Done, but still... It's a little nervewracking. On the plus side, I've really been working hard on getting everything ready, and I know that my boss is pleased.

I have to say, though, that as the QCM, I feel I should at least rate a non-generic business card. (The ones I have don't include my name, simply saying "Engineering/Technical." Boring.)

I babysat for Xavy and Eli last night, which was fun but tiring, mostly because I didn't get home until after midnight. Eli fell asleep on me, which is seriously one of the Best. Things. Ever. I know it's not something he'll be willing to do much longer, so I'd better enjoy it while it lasts. We watched the Cubs-Dodgers game together, and hearing them say "Go Cubs" was beyond adorable. I'm so easily amused by those two.

I need a nap.

Pandora's Jukebox

For anyone looking to expand their musical horizons, I must highly recommend Pandora. I was introduced to the site by my friend Mick, who has pretty much been my music guru for the past 10+ years. (Although he gets no credit/blame for my obsession with U2. I developed that fixation all on my own.) Anyway, it's simple and free to create an account, and once you do, you can enter in a favorite song or artist. Pandora then uses data compiled by the Music Genome Project to create a customized streaming "radio station" for you. As each song plays, you have the opportunity to tell Pandora if you like or dislike it, and it then adds the data and characteristics of the songs you like (and dislike) into choosing more music for your "station." You can earmark favorites, as well. The system isn't infallible, of course, and sometimes you end up hearing a random Britney Spears song. With a few simple mouse clicks, though, you can tell Pandora you don't like the song, and they will never, ever play it again for you.

Along with the bad, you occasionally get the just plain weird. Tonight, for instance, I heard a song by current Cincinnati Reds (and former Boston Red Sox) pitcher Bronson Arroyo. While it was by no means great, it actually wasn't anywhere near as horrific as one might expect from a singing Major League Baseball player. And I never would have heard it without Pandora--which would actually have been just fine, really.

And now I'm going to get off the computer before the thunderstorm rolling through fries it...