Chicago daytrip

Well at about 4:00 Sunday afternoon it was decided I was going Monday. Luckily I had already started to plan!

I left Madison just before 5:30 and including some stops was at Union Station by 9:10. I put some money on a CTA card so I could use that instead of cash for the bus. I had a little mapquest map and found my way to the bus stop right as my bus was pulling up. Score! I'm so glad I found the #10 (runs to/from museum of science and industry from downtown) since it made my trip so much easier. I got to the MS&I just after 9:30. I waited in line for my ticket for about 10 minutes, but the line moved quick. I roamed about the museum for about two hours. There were other exhibits that looked cool, but I didn't know how much time I had. It was awesome seeing an actual U-Boat and just how HUGE they are.

I had another score! when I left the museum. Between 10:00 and 3:30 the #10 only runs every half hour, but when I got outside there was a #10 there waiting! I'm also glad I went to the museum early since the line was LOOONNNNNNNGGGG when I left at noon. I was dropped off at State and then walked on over to Michigan to grab some cash and find lunch. Did both. Had a yummy gyro. I walked down the Ghiradelli store, but didn't buy anything. Too bad I couldn't buy just 1 piece. I wanted a chocolate fix so I went to Fannie May and just wanted one piece. The woman didn't have me pay just for one - thanks! They must sell them by the pound or something. I crossed back over to State and went into some stores. Wasn't planning on buying anything, but I needed a break from the cold!

I met up with terani and againstathorn for a little bit after they were both done with work. It was sooooooo nice seeing them again and just chatting. They had an early dinner while I just had coffee. Just talked and laughed and had a good time. After we split up I met up with projectlost1 . We walked around for a bit and stopped in for a margarita. Thanks - I'm buying the next one! Again, it was just nice chatting and catching up with a friend. I told all 3 of them that with the semester starting back up soon I don't know when I'll have 2-3 days off in a row, let alone 8! Hopefully it's sooner than later. And I'll get to visit with some of my other Chicagoians I wasn't able to visit today. I took the 7:00 bus back to Madison and was home just past 10:00.

Today we're going to visit Grandma and one of my uncles may stop in too. After that we're going to hit up Festival Foods, a grocery store, in Fond du Lac. Only me would freak out about this AWESOME grocery store. I love food.

Random thought: Thanks to my friend lauratakesphotos.blogspot.com/, I think I'm also going to make a list of 24 things to do before I turn 24. I've already got a few things on the list.

~Nicole

Christmas/letter post

Yesterday was good. I went downtown for my haircut and then to work, but since we had been so slow she told me just to go home. Sweet! I basically did a lot of nothing. Exchanging gifts was good. Got my Brewer charity calendar - a bunch of players posed with their own pets or pets available at the Humane Society. I've been wanting that as soon as it was announced in August or September. Nicole has been a very good girl. ;)

The days leading up to Christmas were busy at home and at work. If I wasn't working or in my kitchen I was out doing stuff. Tuesday almost killed me since I barely had any time between the time I got home from work and the time I was to leave. I was supposed to do, but things got moved an hour up. I had some good beer that night though.

Now here is something new I'm going to try. I've done picture posts and I've written "year in reviews" on my blogs before, but I'm going to try a photo year-in-review. And then if you have any questions/comments, feel free to respond.

January:




February:




March:




April:




May:






June:




July:




August:




September:




October:




November:




December:




Random thought: Merry Christmas. :)

~Nicole

Lack of posts

Sorry for the lack of posts. Between working 10 days straight, being in my kitchen when I'm not working, and other random stuff I haven't had much computer time. Hopefully I'll be able to do a longer post tomorrow or on Christmas Day when I have some time!

~Nicole

A weekend of dancing, working and partying

Friday night I worked, spent time in my kitchen, went shopping with dad and got ready to go out dancing. There's this gay dance club where every 1st and 3rd Friday of the month is ladies night so there's no cover for females and a selection of drinks are cheaper. Now I know why terani and againstathorn stay trim since they go out fairly often! I left "early" (late for me) at about 1:30.

Saturday I slept in. I did more food prep in the kitchen and went on the treadmill. I decorated my gingerbread men and made my bread dough before work. Work was okay. We were fairly steady all evening. I looked at the numbers at the end of the evening and it was pretty good for a Saturday. There was some confusion about a boy so if you're interested and would like to weigh in read So the guy I was into for a while (the guy who we're just going to be friends) came in and we chatted for a bit. I apologized for sending him a semi-drunk text at midnight - 1:00 a.m. where he was since he was in Ohio! He said he didn't care since he was still up and he enjoyed hearing from me. He said he was in Ohio for his sister's performance; she's a really good instrumentalist. I was like oh that's cool. He then says "I wish you would have been there." I got really confused. Do you wish I was there because I would have enjoyed it? Or because you like hanging out with me? Or...? I'm trying not to think much of it, but obviously because of this blog post I still am. I'm just confused. He probably meant it the first way and just didn't word it quite right..

After work I made a quick trip to Woodmans since there's no way we would have made it on bagels until our next order comes on Monday and bought some bagels. I had a quick meal of cereal before going to bed. I didn't have enough to eat since it took me a long time to fall asleep and I woke up at 4:30 and couldn't fall back to sleep. My alarm was set for 5:30 so at 5:00 I just said "fuck it" and got up and made waffles.

Glad I bought those snowpants today

I was sledding and playing with the neighbour girls for almost two hours! Mum wasn't feeling well so I went out and shovelled our two inches of snow. Laura, Allie and Emma were out. I helped Laura shovel a bit since she had Emma in a sling-thing and she had to keep an eye on Allie, who'll be 4 in a few months. I finished shovelling and then joined Allie and Lilly and Elise's house. After a bit of time playing, including me being the "big, bad wolf," we went back to Allie's and sledded for a while. It's good we played tonight since it's going to be cold tomorrow and Wednesday.

Today was a successful day. Spent an hour on the treadmill. I went to the bank, post office and various stores and was successful at all where I went. I stopped at Cool Beans for the snowstorm latte - white chocolate and ginger syrups! Caleb's wife was there so we visited for about 20 minutes.

I watched the "introduction/"press conference of Randy Wolf on the MLB Network. If he stays strong and healthy it should be an awesome year. I called Tim to tell him it was on. I got a text message from him about 10 minutes later saying that he hopes we see him on Opening Day. Him or Yovani Gallardo would be awesome. In other awesome Brewer news we signed Craig Counsell for at least another year.

Random quote of the day:
Me: Allie, what should I have for dinner?
Allie: Broccoli
Me: With what?
Allie: Cheese.

~Nicole

My life lately

Working. Nothing new there. I've stayed extra by at least 15 minutes each day. Oh well, gives me a bit of extra pay. We have a work meeting in a little over an hour. Am taking the bus since I don't want to waste the gas by going down there TWICE in one day (I opened the shop this morning).

Friday night was AWESOME. Went to a drag show that my friend was in. Heard some Lady Gaga, which is always nice. After that I met some friends at the Vintage for an ugly sweater/cookie swap. Cookies were swapped and ugly sweaters were worn. I wore a sweater, but it wasn't ugly. I don't have one and even though it'd be cheap I don't want to spend money on something I'd never wear again. I had some drinks and then some pizza since pizza is awesome after drinking.

Slept until a little after 8:00 on Saturday. Ate breakfast and went on the treadmill. Went to the grocery store with mum, had lunch and went to work. Work was okay. Got some guy's phone number. Or actually he gave me his. Don't think I'll call it. Nice guy; maybe if I see him in again I'll bring something up but I'm not going to go out of my way. Especially since I have my eyes for another! And no, not the guy that just wants to be friends.

This morning I opened. It was pretty slow. Kayla and I talked a lot, like we always do. Didn't see my coffee hottie. During work I got this sudden urge to grill so after work I went to the grocery store and bought turkey burgers, a tomato and a bun. I froze the rest of the burgers and just grilled myself the one. I also grilled some potatoes and had a beer. Am now watching the end of the Packer game before leaving for work.

Random thought: I have yet to meet a guy named Ryan who is a douchebag.

~Nicole

PS--> Here's some Holiday joy for you

Il a neige

Beaucoup!

Bienvenue à Wisconsin.

For those who do not speak French:

It snows.

A lot!

Welcome to Wisconsin.

I'll try and get some pictures up later or tomorrow. I've decided I'm driving to work tomorrow so I can better control what time I get there. If I show up 20 minutes early I'll get an early start on the day. I figure with it being an almost back-to-normal schedule for tomorrow we're going to go through a lot of coffee since it's going to be real cold.

Random thought: Sore back from shovelling.

~Nicole

It's a sunny, Saturday morning

Instead of feeling like this:


I feel like this:


Work is going to be fun. :/

~Nicole

Dang throat

Sore throat has been here for over 48 hours and still isn't going away. :(

Work was okay. It helped that we were busy so I had to keep my stamina up. As soon as I got on the bus home I felt awful. I think it was the slale/bus air since as soon as I got off the bus I felt better. Just wolfed down some ice cream and it was delicious. Got some lower-fat/calorie stuff.

Tomorrow I get to sleep in until 6:40 - yes! I work until 3:00, then I'll be ordering baseball tickets!! Mum and I will go grocery shopping sometime after I get home. I may go dancing Friday evening if I feel up to it.

Random thought: Here's a belated photo from Halloween.



~Nicole

lolcat

Those of you who subscribe have already seen this, but I found this one especially funny:



My cat waits up for me if/when I come home late, but that's the extent of her protection!

Random thought: Gonna try that drink tonight.

~Nicole