I am thankful for mostaccioli

We're going to St. Louis for Thanksgiving! I'm really looking forward to it - I grew up in St. Louis, and my family's gone back every year since we moved to Kansas. I haven't been able to go for the past four or five years, though, and Randy's never been.

Every year, we stay with our friends the Calderwoods. We lived across the street from each other in St. Louis from the time I was about 6, Brian was 4, Abby was 3, and Steven and Erin were 2. Kevin wasn't born when we moved in, but I remember the day he came home from the hospital. We grew up together - playing like best friends, fighting like siblings, leaving our shoes in the wrong family's living room, obeying (and disobeying) all four parents pretty much equally. Our backyard had a big swingset and theirs had a pool, and we spent all summer running back and forth between the two houses, our parents joking about the Calderwood-Drescher gym and swim club. Abby, Erin and Steve share the same birthday, February 3, and Kevin's birthday is February 2, so there were lots of shared birthday parties when they were younger. The Calderwoods over-paid me to babysit when the kids were little, and I taught Kevin, a fellow lefty, to tie his shoes. I couldn't possibly love them all more, and I am so looking forward to being there again.

And this year, Randy will finally experience the wonder of a Grandma Gilda Thanksgiving. She's not our grandma (she's the Calderwoods'), but she always spoils us like she is. I don't think there have ever been fewer than 15 people at her house for Thanksgiving, but there's always enough food to feed probably three times that many people. There's turkey, of course, but being an Italian grandma, she also serves mostaccioli. And mashed potatoes. And sweet potatoes. And green bean casserole. And gravy. And rolls. And peas. And stuffing. And pumpkin pie. And apple pie. And pecan pie. And angel food cake. And pizzelle. And I'm sure I'm forgetting half a dozen (or more) other things. She's not happy unless you're rolling home.

I can't wait to see everyone!

On an almost-completely unrelated note, I went to the dentist today (after finding one that did not have a five-month wait for an appointment). I was kind of nervous about it, since I haven't been in probably four years, but I would like to report that the dentist told me I have the best teeth he's seen all week, and my gums are fantastically healthy. I just realized, though, that he did not give me a free toothbrush. Hrumph.

You have one new message!

I ran some errands this afternoon, and when I got back, there was a message on the answering machine, an automated phone call from our congresswoman. She was calling to invite us to attend a town hall meeting on identity theft tomorrow afternoon. It's a growing problem, she said, particularly in the suburbs, and she's arranged for a panel of experts to speak. It was a very convincing message - I will definitely be there. Because it's being held at my conference center. And I am scheduled to work.

Okay, I know I'm a dork, but I got kind of a kick out of telling her recorded voice, "Why, thank you. I'd be delighted to attend. I'll be sure to get there early to get a good seat! And to unlock the doors!"

In other news, dinner tonight was an unmitigated disaster, to the point of throwing it away and going out to eat instead. It wasn't even a new recipe - something just went terribly wrong somewhere, leaving Randy and I staring at the stove and then at each other until I finally said, "Um...You want to go out instead?"

Miscellanea

Not much has been going on since I returned from Texas; Wendy and I have both been working away this past week. So here are some random thoughts and observations to pass the time:

-- Thunderstorms rolled through Illinois yesterday, bringing rain for most of the day, along with a brief shower of nickel-sized hail for good measure. Last we heard, this part of Illinois is still about a foot below normal rainfall.

-- Kudos to the Kansas Jayhawks, who snapped a 36-game losing streak to Nebraska. Our friend George claims to have helped in the victory, by posing for a picture in the Kansas paper that, he says, "angered Nebraska so much they couldn't focus on the game."

-- Wendy has discovered a back way to get to work that shaves about 5 minutes off the commute. Not only is it quicker, but it's much more scenic, too. The road twists and turns, and is lined with large trees whose branches hang over the road. Judging by the number of palatial houses along the way, I would also say it's a fairly well-to-do area.

-- A small shopping center about a mile from our house recently opened up. So far it has a 7-11 and a Rosati's pizza. We tried Rosati's last week and we both enjoyed it. Hopefully it won't become too much of a temptation having it so close!

Our Love Holds On

Today I heard "Oh Sherrie" by Steve Perry three times.

To be fair, I was in the car (and thus listening to the radio) much longer than usual, since I drove Randy to the airport this morning. His grandmother passed away earlier this week, and he flew down to Texas today for the funeral. Luckily, the company his mom works for is affiliated with an airline, and she was able to get a free flight pass for him. It's nice that he's able to be there with his family. I've been thinking about them a lot today.

I would like to apologize...

OU 37, Baylor 30 (2 overtimes)

I'm afraid I jinxed OU. Earlier today, when the Michigan - Iowa game went into overtime, the announcers pointed out that it was the first overtime game played at Iowa's stadium. I turned to Wendy and said "You know, I don't think OU has played an overtime game under Bob Stoops." So, of course, Baylor (of all teams) took us to two overtimes. Thankfully we still pulled it out.

To their credit, Baylor is a much-improved team this year, and I'll be rooting for them to become bowl eligible. I'm just glad they didn't do it against us.

After a quick check of the statistics, this is indeed Bob Stoops' first overtime game at OU. OU's last overtime was a win over Texas in 1996.

New Job and Other News

Good: Everyone has been really friendly and welcoming.
Bad: "Everyone" is, so far, approximately 578,459 new co-workers whose names and faces I need to remember. It's a much bigger college than my old one.
Redeeming: There is widespread nametag usage.

Good: I can set my own hours, outside of the events I need to be there for.
Bad: The events are sometimes on evenings or weekends. For instance, I worked yesterday afternoon, and this coming Saturday, there's an event with set-up starting at 6 a.m. For those of you playing along at home, that means I'll need to leave at 5:30 a.m. I am so not a morning person.
Redeeming: 6 a.m. events are very rare, I'm told.

Good: I have an actual office, with walls and a door.
Bad: It's pretty small, and I share it with two other people.
Redeeming: They're very nice and funny, and can answer the questions I can't, such as where the bookstore is, and whether we take credit cards (through the pillars and past the information desk, and yes).

Good: I really, really like my job so far, and can't stop talking about it.
Bad: Randy's getting kind of sick of hearing about my day in excruciating detail.
Redeeming: He's happy to see me so happy, even if it means reliving my day in almost real time.

In short, I'm really pleased to have a job again, and I'm really glad it's this one in particular. It was disappointing to be rejected for the other jobs, but I think this is the right one for me.

In other news, this weekend we went to The Pumpkin Patch and walked through a six-acre corn maze. It took us about 30 minutes, and was lots of fun. We also got some apple cider and pumpkin donuts, although we didn't actually buy any pumpkins. Priorities, after all.

Also,using the last of his birthday money to (partially) fund it, Randy bought The Complete Calvin and Hobbes. We've been working our way through it (all 23 pounds of it) and really liking it.

And in conclusion, poor Notre Dame. What a way to lose.

Weekend Recap

Today we made it to the Anderson Japanese Gardens in Rockford. It was a very pleasant experience, and was made even more so thanks to the fall colors. The Gardens turned out to be a fairly popular place to be this afternoon; there were several employees out directing the flow of pedestrians.

One interesting sight we came across was a tree growing horizontally off of a hill. It was still growing strong thanks to a very tall log that had been put in to prop it up.

There were also several paths blocked off with "Private Property" signs; they all appeared to lead to a house at the top of a hill. We overheard a group of people in front of us say that the gardens were basically someone's back yard, open to the public. What a very cool back yard that would be. (Incidentally, we also overhead those same people discussing various creative ways that an ostrich could kill a lion.)

Most of the trips we take during the fall tend to be on Sunday, since Saturday is, of course, college football. Thanks to the magic of digital cable and ESPN Gameplan, there were 29 football games available for us to watch yesterday. When your team of choice is being trounced by their arch-rival, it's nice to be able to switch to any number of other (more competitive) games to take your mind off the resounding defeat.

On a happier note, Friday night Wendy and I went to see Wallace and Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit. It was incredibly funny, with moments of absolute genius. We both highly recommend it.

Finally, a sunset from late August. If you look closely to the left, you can just make out the beginnings of townhouses that are being built across the pond. (Fortunately all of the trees are staying.)

Employed!

I am very pleased and excited to announce that I am once again a productive member of society: I got the job! I will be a conference center assistant in the Continuing Education department of a nearby college. It's part-time, and will mainly be event planning and coordination. My first day will be next Wednesday. Thanks for all the good wishes, everyone!

Also, the weather today was fall-like and gorgeous. Earlier this week, we were back up into the high 80s, but today was mid-50s and delightful. Hurray for October!

A gentleman's account of the weather

Autumn has arrived. It greeted us yesterday with a cold, rainy, and windy evening. We gladly welcomed it; the summer was warmer than expected, and led to much anticipation of a change in season.

I checked the weather as soon as I awoke this morning and discovered even further evidence of Autumn's arrival:

Prostrate with Grief!

As part of my birthday celebration zone (™ Jill), we went to see The Corpse Bride this Friday. It was good, and some parts were quite funny (Randy and I have been using the phrase, "prostrate with grief" as often as we can work it into conversation). See if you spot a quick nod to Edward Gorey in one scene - we both thought we saw one, and it was the same scene, so we're pretty sure it's there. Overall, though, I think I still prefer The Nightmare Before Christmas.

We were also hoping to go visit some Japanese gardens in Rockford this weekend, but it ended up raining both Saturday and Sunday, so we went to IKEA instead. There's a huge IKEA (link is a PDF) store in Schaumberg - almost too big, in fact. It reminded us of visiting Powell's Books (link is a PDF) in Portland last summer, which takes up an entire city block. It's great to have so much stuff to look at, but unless you have some idea about what you're looking for, it gets pretty overwhelming. I don't know if either map successfully conveys the sheer size of both of those stores. You could pretty easily just disappear into either one, never to return...

One of the things I got for my birthday was Dorothy Dunnett's Lymond Chronicles. I love these books. The first time I read them, I could hardly think of anything else for the two weeks it took me to finish them all. I stayed up far too late on weeknights and got up early on the weekends to read them. They're incredibly absorbing. Anyway, my point is that I whole-heartedly recommend them, and you should all go read them.

Continuing my random hopping from subject to subject, I have another interview next Monday, with the same place I interviewed at last time. I'm almost a little afraid to mention it, given that I haven't gotten any of the jobs I've mentioned interviewing for before, but I figure having extra people sending good thoughts my way can't hurt. So, if just one more of you than last time (when I was second choice) could think good thoughts for me, I should get the job. Or maybe even two of you, just to be sure. Your assistance is much appreciated.

Birthdays, Tourism, and Trojans -- Oh my!

Wendy celebrated her 26th birthday this week! For her birthday dinner, she chose Chinese takeout, something we hadn't had in a long time, and which we both enjoyed. We also had a chocolate hazelnut/nutella cake, courtesy of a Nigella recipe. Very tasty. All told, it was a fine birthday, although Wendy is starting to feel really old. If anyone out there who has successfully navigated the waters of their mid-20's wants to offer her some advice or words of encouragement, I'm sure she would appreciate it. :-)

Earlier this week, I happened to notice an ad on weather.com with the following picture:

I'd seen it before, but I've become so accustomed to ignoring ads that I paid it no attention. This time, though, it caught my eye, and I noticed it was for the Illinois Bureau of Tourism, showing a trail in Tunnel Hill State Park. So, I (gasp!) clicked on the ad, and was taken to http://www.enjoyillinois.com. The site lists a number of attractions and trip ideas, and it reminded me of just how little of the state Wendy and I have seen. There are a couple of places it listed in Northern Illinois that I'd like to check out soon; namely the Anderson Japanese Gardens in Rockford, and the Starved Rock State Park, which is located in the Illinois River Valley.

And, finally, the USC Trojans. They dismantled OU in last season's national championship game. Now that the Sooners are firmly out of the national championship race for this season, I find it much easier to admire the incredible talent USC has. I watched the first quarter of their game against Arkansas last Saturday, in which they scored 28 points in a span of 92 seconds! It was almost unbelievable; they scored so effortlessly every time they got the football (the final score was 70-17). If they play to their potential every week, I don't think any team in the nation can beat them. But, you never know. I remember Florida State looked invincible in 2000, but OU shut them down, and Miami looked invincible in 2002, but Ohio State pulled the upset. In one game, anything can happen.

Hot Air For a Cool Breeze

Apparently we brought our drought karma with us from Colorado, because it's still been very warm and dry here, with temperatures well above normal. This evening, though, a storm front blew through, bringing my favorite kind of weather. I love it when it gets cloudy, blustery, and cool right before a big storm. (As opposed to the oppressive, humid stillness you sometimes get instead, which I don't like at all.)

By about 5 p.m., it was overcast, with the wind ruffling the surface of the pond and tossing all the leaves on the trees around. I opened the windows, and as we ate dinner, we watched what looked like a heck of a storm roll in, turning the sky dark and sending lightning bolts flying. We could smell the ozone and humidity. The wind kept picking up, at times blowing the reeds around the pond flat against the ground. The weather people reported that there was a severe thunderstorm warning, and we were eagerly anticipating it.

We got no rain at all.

The storm blew right by without stopping. At least tomorrow is supposed to be about 15 degrees cooler, much more in line with average temperatures for this time of year. I'm crossing my fingers and hoping it stays nice for my birthday next week, but I'm afraid it won't.

Edited to add: Randy and I just got back from a walk around our neighborhood. Part of it is still under construction, and it was windy enough earlier that a Porta-Potty set up for the construction workers had blown over. That will be an unpleasant surprise for someone to find in the morning.

Also, on a completely unrelated note, is five months an unreasonably long time to wait for a dentist appointment? My eye doctor saw me the same day, my medical doctor saw me the next week, but my dentist can't see me until February. That seems way too long to have to wait, but maybe it's actually par for the course.

Argh!

I completely forgot about Terry Bowden. He means well, and he tries hard, and he gets excited about college football, but he's just not that great of an announcer. However, in today's loss to TCU, he had the quote of the day. Late in the game, OU's quarterback made a bad throw to a wide open receiver, who still had a chance to catch the ball, but dropped it. Bowden promptly said:

"Folks, that's rebuilding, not reloading."

And that, in a nutshell, sums up the game.

News and Notes

The Job Search
Unfortunately, Wendy didn't get the job she interviewed for. We're both disappointed. She was incredibly well qualified, and the interview went really well, but they decided to hire someone from within the department. Something else will come along, though, so we'll keep our eyes open.

New Orleans
Let me say first of all that I'm very glad that supplies have finally made their way to New Orleans. I'm extremely appalled, though, that it took ALMOST 5 DAYS for them to get there!! It's very, very wrong for that to happen.

The Weather
Wendy heard recently that this has been the 3rd driest summer ever for this part of Illinois. It certainly appears that way: I've been driving by acres of brown and withered crops on my way to and from work.

College Football
I'm still struggling with how sports fits into the national scene right now, but the fact is that the college football season has started. These are the games we're looking forward to this weekend:
* OU vs TCU: What will our offense look like? More importantly, how good is our defense?
* Notre Dame vs Pitt: Charlie Weis vs Dave Wannstedt. Whose coaching skills will reign supreme?
* Miami vs FSU: Usually a good contest, but why make this the first game of the season? It would probably be a better game if both teams had a few weeks of experience first.

The Local Sports Team
The Chicago Bears' preseason has been a trainwreck to say the least. Their starting QB got injured and is out for the season; their backup QB turned out to be so bad he's fallen off the depth chart; so their only option now is give the helm to Kyle Orton, a rookie QB. Not an auspicious start. At least we get to watch former Sooners Mark Bradley and Tommie Harris play.

On Instant Replay
I have to say I'm not a big fan of instant replay, and I'm a little sad to see it appearing at the college level. It slows down the game and seems to change the way that referees officiate.

Sometimes, we're a little lame
The light in our loft hasn't been working the past few weeks, and we were really stumped as to why. There are 3 lights in the light fixture, and they had all stopped working at the same time. It didn't seem likely that they'd all burned out together, and they didn't even look burned out. All the other electrical outlets in the loft worked, so we didn't think it was circuit-related (but we're not electricians, either). Finally, today, Wendy solved the mystery. There's a second switch for that light in the loft that we'd totally forgotten about, and it was neither on nor off, but stuck right in the middle. Wendy flipped the switch and presto! The lights now work. I think we're both a little embarrassed that it took us several weeks to figure it out.

50,112!

I have over 50,000 words on my novel! It's nice, of course, but it honestly feels a little anti-climactic - probably because my story isn't finished yet. I guessed before I started that it would end up being about 75,000 words, and I still think somewhere around there is correct. It's anyone's guess what the length will be once I'm done editing, though.

I think my interview yesterday went well, and I have my fingers crossed that they want to hire me. They're planning to make a decision within two weeks, so we'll see...

Four score and seven years ago...

George has finished his novel! That's right, he's done; a week ahead of schedule and 200 words over the minimum. He called this afternoon and we talked briefly about it - he's already making plans for the next novel...

And my novel? It's still coming along. I broke 40,000 words today, so I have a week left to write and 10,000 words to go. I don't think that 50,000 words will finish my story, though, as I'm only a little more than halfway through my plot. I started to worry a few days ago that I was writing the world's most boring novel, but today I wrote a fun scene between mortal enemies that restored some of my faith. I guess if I really start to struggle, I can always follow my dad's writing advice: "And now," said the heroine, "I will recite the Gettysburg Address." Or maybe she could turn to Shakespeare, or the dictionary, for comfort. Not that those would necessarily make my novel more exciting, but they would help me reach 50,000 words.

In other exciting news: I found out yesterday that I was selected to interview for a position that I really want and think I would be really good at. The interview is next Monday, so if you could all send good thoughts my way, I would definitely appreciate it!

Randy and I saw Broken Flowers this past weekend and enjoyed it, although we both got the impression that some of the people in the theater were there expecting a Bill Murray film rather than a Jim Jarmusch film. At one point, the man seated next to Randy muttered, "What the hell is going on?" That pretty much sums up every Jim Jarmusch film I've seen, but in a good way.

And I think that's probably enough from my rather scattered brain today.

33rd Post!

For dinner last night, Wendy and I decided to visit The Village Squire, a local, medieval-themed restaurant that we both enjoy. One of the unique things about the place is that everyone is served popcorn as an appetizer, and, if you flip through the brochure at your table, you'll discover that they've written a short song about the popcorn entitled "Little Fluffy Balls of Golden Sunshine".

I'm also reminded of one of the 100 memories from our initial trip to Chicago that we didn't post online: The first time we visited the Village Squire together we happened to notice a sea gull hopping across the parking lot with a slice of pizza in its beak. Sadly we didn't have our camera with us.

Changing the subject slightly, Wendy and I are finding movie watching much more enjoyable with our new TV, so we've been putting our NetFlix subscription to good use. We've recently watched House of Flying Daggers (good, but not quite as good as Hero, in my opinion), The Incredibles (quite funny), and The Spongebob Squarepants Movie (when the best part of a movie is the appearance of David Hasselhoff, you know you're not exactly watching a triumph of cinema). We've also got Amelie and Ran to watch soon, but right now we're working our way through Joseph Campbell and The Power of Myth, a 6-hour PBS series from the late 80's, in which Bill Moyers and Joseph Campbell converse about anything and everything related to mythology. We're both blown away by how fascinating it is.

Help! Help! I'm Being Repressed!

Saturday was International Left-Handers Day. To quote from the newsletter my mom passed along:

Left-handers routinely encounter difficulties that most right-handers do not fully appreciate. For instance: scissors, can openers...power tools and kitchen utensils... For those of us who are right-handed, try using your left hand to do these simple little tasks. You will learn very quickly that it's quite challenging, and hopefully you’ll have a greater appreciation for those who are left-handed.

Darn straight. I celebrated my left-handedness by going with Randy to his company's annual picnic and holding my cotton candy in my left hand.

We had a great time at the picnic. The weather was perfect for an outdoor event - upper-70s and overcast. The event itself was much more elaborate than I had expected - there were carnival rides, bouncy castles, a giant slide, face painters, stilt walkers, a petting zoo, pony rides, bingo, and a catered cookout. We rode the rides, ate some lunch, and looked but did not pet at the zoo. I got to meet a few of Randy's co-workers that I hadn't met before as well.

This weekend was also Lakemoorfest, which is apparently a celebration of all things Lakemoor-ian. We didn't go, because it looked pretty similar to the picnic, only not free, but we did watch the fireworks they had last night. We're close enough that we only had to walk down the street and around the corner a bit in order to see over the houses, which was nice. We were both very impressed with the fireworks - Lakemoor's not a huge place, so we weren't expecting much, but they were fairly spectacular.

Novel update: I'm making good progress. I'm not quite matching George's furious pace, but I only need 1700 words by the end of tomorrow (very do-able; I wrote 2600 today) in order to reach the 25,000 word mark. Then I'll be halfway finished by the halfway point!

The book's definitely going to need editing once it's done, but I'm actually kind of looking forward to it. I'm sure I'll have changed my mind by the time I've rewritten half of it, but let me keep my illusions for now.

Scenes from McHenry County

It's been a while since we've posted pictures, so here are some things in the area that have caught our attention.



We find the logo on our trash can quite amusing. Wendy and I, of course, produce only the finest garbage.



We first noticed this rusty, beaten-up car in the Meijer parking lot when we came here for our house hunting trip in March. It hasn't moved since.



A live bait vending machine! This is located at a gas station in Harvard. It sells red worms, nightcrawlers, and leeches. In case you're interested, the leeches cost $3.50 per dozen.



The water level in the pond next to our townhouse has been dropping considerably the past few months. Illinois was recently declared a disaster area due to a severe drought this summer.





Finally, a couple of pictures from Moraine Hills State Park. I decided to go exploring one Saturday evening, while Wendy was immersed in the just-released Harry Potter book.

I should be writing...

We have a new TV! After looking at the Circuit City in Boulder, the Circuit City in McHenry, and the Best Buy in Crystal Lake, reading a gazillion reviews on Amazon.com, checking Consumer Reports, and a great deal of dithering, we finally bought one Sunday. We may not be the most exciting people, but boy howdy, no one can say we're not well-researched and deliberate.

It's great so far - much bigger, and with a flat screen, so we can finally see all the stuff in the corners. I'm glad the payoff is worth it, because it was kind of a pain to get it. We went to Best Buy, bought it, took it out to the car, struggled with getting the box in the car for a bit, finally realized we were going to have to take it out of the box to get it to fit, opened the box, and discovered it was broken. Part of the case was not just cracked but actually crushed. So...back in the box, back on the cart, back inside to trade it out. This time, we gratefully accepted their offer of help getting it into the car and were impressed with the guy who easily picked it up all by himself and slid it (no problem) into the backseat. Wow.

Randy also had a birthday! He's 28 now, so it was his Golden Birthday (28 on the 28th). Sadly, he had a bit of a cold on his birthday and only wanted to go to bed early, so we didn't do much then. He was feeling much better by this weekend, though, so we went out to dinner to celebrate and had a great time.

Finally...writing. Since I last posted about my novel, I've written, um, almost nothing. At the rate I was going, I would have finished around, oh, say 2034. Luckily, while George was visiting, we were talking about writing, and I told him all about NaNoWriMo and loaned him my copy of No Plot? No Problem!: A Low-Stress, High- Velocity Guide to Writing a Novel in 30 Days. He was inspired, and we decided to have our own, unofficial version of NaNoWriMo this month, starting today. So, for the next thirty days, I'm sure we'd both appreciate any support any of you want to wing our ways. Any of you who are feeling particularly masochistic are welcome to join us!