1. Who am I? I’m making pulled pork? That’s just crazy talk.
2. What can you do with half a can of beef broth?
3. Why do I get super grossed up when touching raw chicken, but I don’t bat an eye playing with raw pork?
That is all. I just wanted you to be jealous of our dinner.
Dear Blog,
I’m sorry I’ve abandoned you. I had great aspirations to be a mega-blogger. And blog every day. All day. But that just simply isn’t the case. Turns out, I’m horrible at blogging. Sure, there have been many an entry that I meant to write… my sister’s wedding and those amazing cookie dough cupcakes that I made for her bachelorette party. I even took pictures for that post. Then I left my camera at my parent’s house after my sister’s wedding and I haven’t seen it since. I wanted to tell you about Jacob’s ER rotation, and how we ate $19 scallops at this super pretentious sushi place and how I’m rocking at my job. But I haven’t. Not even a little bit.
So here are a few updates on my life:
Jacob and I watched a special on hoarders. Not the actual show. But a show on the show. We’re now pretty sure we’re secretly hoarders. Well, maybe not me. I’d throw anything away. My mom had to convince me to keep all my wedding cards. I mean I love everyone who gave me a card and feel deeply blessed to have those people in my life – but do I really need the physical card to remember that?
But we do have a few unpacked boxes that Jacob dragged from our second bedroom (aka closet) and now we have a path of boxes in our hallway that we dread unpacking and refuse to move back into the bedroom. Hence our conclusion that we are secretly hoarders and will someday die in piles of our own junk.
On a happier note, last night was Jacob’s last shift in the ER. And not just any ER, a super crazy ER where people come in with stab wounds and gun shots and it’s just normal. To celebrate I used my new cupcake & muffin cookbook to make chocolate marbled muffins. I would post a picture, but my camera is MIA, and let’s face it, I’m not a photo blogger. You’re stuck with just my words. As tragic as that is. Long story short, I realized how much I love baking. Which should be an incentive to come visit us in Chicago.
We saw the last Harry Potter movie. That’s all I really have to say about that. But I will tell you, that our plan to bring delicious Jimmy Johns in the movie was foiled by Jimmy Johns saying there was one on some corner (you know I’m not good at the directions) but not actually being there. We began a month long boycott of Jimmy Johns right there and then. Take that, Jimmy Johns.
We’ve also discovered that the Lincoln Park Zoo is only a three mile bike ride away. Sadly, we got there before the gates closed, but after the park closed so we only saw a polar bear and some birds of prey.
Other exciting things in my life: two trips in NYC in my near future to escort authors to the Today Show, Huckabee, Hannity…., the possibility of seeing the lovely Nicole Prince on one of those trips, one of my friends is going to be on QVC {yes, THE QVC} sometime before Christmas, Jacob has six days off before starting a new rotation – internal med.
I think I’m all blogged out. Hopefully you’ll be hearing more from me. Hopefully.
Alas. All that just changed.
My PA is just starting his first ER rotation at Mount Sinai. Below is the very adorable first day of school photo that has unofficially become our tradition. aka i took one on the first day of his last rotation.
On the up side, it’s approximately an 11 minute drive from our apt. On the downside, he’ll be working crazy shifts for the next six weeks. Either 6am-2 pm, 2 pm-10pm or 10pm-6am. The overnights are what I’m dreading the most. I think. Or maybe the 2-10 shift where I’ll finish work and have to entertain myself for a few hours and find something acceptable to eat for dinner.
His first overnight shift is tomorrow…. Which means we have all day to play. The lovely part of working from home is you get to set your own hours. And if you haven’t heard, there is a major heat wave in Chicago. Perhaps we’ll make it to the pool. Then at 10 pm he’ll head to work… and I’ll head to bed.
I’m not sure how this crazy new schedule will affect us. We’ll have a lot more time together during the days – when for all intensive purposes I really should be working – and with only one computer for the pair of us…. We’ll also have a lot of nights and weekends apart. This may get interesting. We’ll see how attached we’ve become to our routine…
But we can survive anything for six weeks, right?
GRAT LIST:
Have you ever realized that for your entire life you’ve taken something for granted, but now you’re faced with the overwhelming importance of said thing? This happened to me recently. It has become extremely apparent to me that parking has never been more important to me. Parking. I mean it seems so fundamental. Like it’s my car’s unalienable right to park within walking distance of my destination. For free.
Not so in Chicago. Parking is a luxury. Since when is a piece of concrete a luxury?
Somehow, growing up in the suburbs parking never even occurred to me as a potential life threatening issue. Could you imagine the uproar that would happen if one was forced to find street parking before going to trader joes or the bank or even the library? Oh, the humanity.
Now let’s be honest, parallel parking is scary. Can we all agree on that? Since living in the city I have successfully paralleled parked at least 3 times. I’m very proud of this accomplishment. All three times have been on the street in front of my apartment. I strategically make Jacob drive if there is even a tiny chance we may have to parallel park. {ok, I make him drive whenever we go anywhere….}
Now, if I allow it to, parking will slowly start to dominate my life. I can already feel its pull. I actually googled mapped Chase locations in the area and drove to the one with the clearest parking lot. Who does that? Plus, on the way back from the bank I wanted to go to the library, and I told myself that I would only stop if I could find a close parking spot. Luckily there was one, and I’m now the proud owner of a Chicago Public library card.
Yesterday a true sense of dread came over me when I realized that in a few short months there will be snow covering the ground. And I will still have to find somewhere to park. And Jacob will be in Flint for 6 weeks for a surgery rotation. This is not going to end well. Parking in the city may be the end of me.
Here’s a basic timeline of the whole shabang:
Saturday:
11:30 AM: Dismay sets in as Jacob and I realize we have to stay up all night.
3 PM: We set off on the adventure known as ikea. Because that’s how we train for bikes rides. We buy shelves.
6 PM: We carbo load with French bread. And salmon. It’s delicious.
9 PM: Curl up on the coach… watch three episodes of How I Met Your Mother. We’re deep in denial that we don’t get to go to sleep.
9: 17 PM: I drink a pot of coffee. Myself.
10:30 PM: Horror set in. And sleepiness. Emily and Brandyn show up from a wedding {typical} and take residence on our bed for a much needed nap.
11:30 PM: PANIC!!! Jacob and I can’t find anything we need for the race. Adrenaline sets in and we perk up while looking for a backpack to carry. Luckily Emily has two. Crisis averted.
11:45 PM: The four of us load our bikes into Brayndon’s truck and start the 20 minute trek to Millennium Park parking. We hit a ridiculous amount of traffic heading into the city. Evidently we are alone in our desire to be asleep at that very moment.
Sunday:
12:15 AM: We arrive at Buckingham Fountain. Pick up free water bottles. Brandyn sucks down a 5 hour energy.
12:45 AM: Time to line up! We make our way to the front of the line {since I’m amazing and got to packet pickup super early to ensure we’re in the first wave}.
1:00 AM: We’re off!! In a great mood despite going quit slow and stopping for red lights.
1:07 AM: My butt starts to hurt.
1:30 AM: This just in: drunks love yelling at people on bikes.
1:40 AM: We bike through Greek town. Also just in: drunks who happen to be Greek absolutely LOVE yelling at people on bikes.
2:40 AM: HALF WAY point!! We stop for luna bars and energy drinks. We pillage at least $45 worth of Luna bars.
3:10 AM: Back on the bike.
3:11 AM: I desperately wish we weren’t back on the bikes.
3:17 AM: The streets are emptying out. Normal people and most semi-normal people who enjoy clubbing are at home tucked into their bed.
3:31 AM: We make it to the lake. Now there are no red lights to give us a much needed break to rehydrate.
3:47 AM: Just keep biking. Just keep biking. Just keep biking.
3:51 AM: Just keep biking. Just keep biking. Just keep biking.
3:54 AM: Jacob and I realize that Jeremy ran the same distance {longer actually} in the same amount of time. I resolve to never run a marathon.
3:59 AM: Just keep biking. Just keep biking. Just keep biking.
4:12 AM: Sweet victory. We’ve survived.
4:13 AM: Stand in line for “breakfast.” {it did not include bacon as all breakfasts after a 25 mile bike ride should.}
4:17 AM: BACK ON OUR BIKES! The 4 minute bike ride back to the car is torture.
4:32 AM: Make it to our apt. Stumble around putting our bikes away, setting up beds {plural} for Em and Brandyn.
4:42 AM: Fall into bed still clothed and a sweaty mess.
KLJDFKLJS AM: The shower is available. Focus on not falling asleep while washing my hair.
Kalsdjfasdkljf AM: Sweet relief. SLEEP.
9 AM: Emily and Brandyn leave. I think. I have a vague memory of them telling us they were going.
12 PM: I get out of bed and make eggs and BACON for second breakfast.
1:30 PM: NAP.
3:30 PM: Jacob and I realize our front door has been unlocked since Emily and Brandyn left.
3:47 PM: We get up from the couch and lock the front door.
6:00 PM: Sushi. Naturally.
And that, ladies and gentleman, was The Late Ride.
We came. We biked. We conquered.
Yours truly,
Robin
Thanks to my cousin Dan and his beautiful new wife Maria, Jacob and I celebrated the holiday weekend in the mitten state. This was the second wedding Jacob, and I have been to since our own wedding, and it’s a very different experience to go to a wedding married than going single or dating and especially engaged.
So here is my list of why going to weddings as a completely married lady is way better than not being married:
So the moral of the story…. Being married is awesome. And I’m so happy for my new cousin-in-law Maria who can now join me with silently judging all the single ladies vying for position to catch the garter. Only she’s really nice. So she may just sit there smiling while I secretly judge. And that’s why we love her.
My grat list for the holiday weekend (because sharing your gratitudes is important):
