Week One

A few random notes and observations from our first week here:

- We now have Illinios driver's licenses and license plates. We had to take a written test to get our driver's licenses, but fortunately we both passed with flying colors.

- When we were registering our cars, the clerk asked me when I bought my car. I said it was in '95. He looked at me oddly and said "But we're not to 95 yet." Wendy and I were both confused, and as we tried to figure out what he meant, he said, "Oh, 1995." For some strange reason he was thinking 2095. He apologized, with a look of embarrassment on his face.

- If you ever come to visit, be aware that the steps up to our 2nd floor are a bit steep. Plus, they're carpeted, so it makes for a slippery combination if you're just wearing socks. Wendy's already slipped down the stairs twice and myself once. Thankfully the worst that came out of it was a sprained ankle for Wendy, which was fine by the next day.

- I've accidentally locked myself out of our townhome... twice. Fortunately Wendy was home both times and let me back in.

- It seems to us that a lot more people here smoke. Wendy pointed out, though, it could actually be that a lot fewer people in Boulder smoke. I'm inclined to think it's a bit of both.

- When you step outside, it's hard to not notice the chirping of frogs. Apparently, Illinois has a lot of them. When we were looking into moving here, I came across this page, in which someone posts a comment describing what we can look forward to:

"I live in Lakemoor, IL and we have toad and turtle migrations. The turtles are easy to avoid, but get hit regularly nevertheless. The toads are impossible. It's like a hopping carpet covering the road a few days a year. Sickens me to drive home those nights. :-("

Wendy and I both agree that if there are going to be mass animal migrations, at least it's frogs and not snakes.