Let us pause for a moment of Erin...

If you know me pretty well, you know that I am close to my brother. Nick and I get along extremely well for brother and sister. He is one of my very best friends. One of the things Nick and I have always liked to do, was go to theme parks together. Going to theme parks started back when we were just kids. Our parents took us to Holiday World quite a few times growing up. When summer hit, it wasn't unusual at all to think that before we sharpened our back to school pencils, a Holiday World trip was in store. This past weekend, Nick and I went to Holiday World again together (also with Richelle and Konner). As we were traveling there, we both remembered many years ago when our parents loaded us up in the car, didn't tell us where we were going, and took off. I still remember how excited we both were when we saw the gates of Holiday World. It can only be compared the the thrill of Clark Grizwald and his family when they ran from the car (parked far away for the ease of le...

As I mentioned in my last blog, Wednesday was the big surgery day. I had the last three of my wisdom teeth taken out. Before going in to this surgery, I was quite the nervous one. But honestly, the surgery part was a breeze. The ease of this procedure was most likely due to the fact that I had the nicest dental surgeon. Dr. Heine is great! I highly recommend him. He made me feel so much at ease. And I know it wasn't the drugs, cause he is the one who put my IV in, and he made me feel relaxed before that. The IV wasn't bad at all. He told me they used a different one from hospitals. Well I liked this one. All I remember was seeing the lady put about three syringes of medicine in me, then I laid back in the chair, and I closed my eyes and opened them again to see it was over. I swear it was like I just blinked and everything was finished. How amazing! As far as I know, I didn't say anything crazy hilarious or embarrassing. But once I swung my legs around that c...

I am not looking forward to this Wednesday...at ALL! Wednesday I am going to have three wisdom teeth removed. About two years ago my dentist was able to pull one of my wisdom teeth, that was about to give me some trouble. Well, now another one is about to cause some more damage. My dentist can not pull this puppy out, it has to be removed. Along with the other two remaining wisdom teeth. By removed, I mean CUT out of my mouth. Now this may be a ROUTINE procedure, but to me it sounds quite severe. Yes, I know that most everyone has had this done. I have not, so therefore, I will now start to freak out a bit. I am completely prepared to explain my key points of why I am nervous about this situation. 1. I HATE needles. I hate anything that punctures my skin. It hurts! And I swear, I can feel it, the ENTIRE time. Sure they say you will only feel the initial prick...they are wrong. I know it's there. I feel it. It's not a naturally occurring thing on my arm, so get...

A little over two years ago I walked into my house for the very first time. I had admired the outside view of the house for years. When I discovered it was for sale, I was extremely excited to see the interior of the place. Let's take a little trip down memory lane. I remember pulling into the driveway (nice size) and seeing there was a 2-door garage (yay). I walk up to the back door which has a cute, tiny porch area. Into the back door I go with the enthusiasm of a kid walking into Disneyland, and I enter the kitchen. STOP. PAUSE. SHOCK. As I look down at the kitchen floor I don't even think I could have controlled my facial expressions. There was carpet. In the kitchen. It was paisley. A paisley pattern with bright greens and orange colors. I had just never seen any carpet quite like it. Honestly, I hated it the first time I saw it. The second time I saw it I thought angry thoughts at it. Then the third time I saw it I think I just exhaled deeply and over-dram...

Yesterday was a beautiful day in Chicago. The rain had stopped and I was able to walk to Rach's office to meet her for lunch. The weather was just wonderful and I really got to enjoy the atmosphere of walking down the streets of the city. Our evening consisted of us going to Navy Pier. This was lots of fun. Another great place to go with friends. We ate at Bubba Gump Shrimp. I was extremely excited about this. I love that movie! I love most Tom Hanks movies, cause I LOVE Tom Hanks! I just got excited about everything from my souvenier glass, the movie stuff all around our table, my magnet, and my t-shirt that says I'm a Catch - Bubba Gump Shrimp! :) I decided the best course would be to gorge myself by eating a bucket of shellfish! I just thought that since I was there, I might as well go big or go home. Man, I shouldn't go big sometimes. I was REALLY full! But it was really good! Next we walked around Navy Pier. There were lots of little stores, places to ea...

Last night was another great night. Again, I went to two places I had never been which were both quite an experience. We started out by eating at Ed Debevics. (Thank you to those who left suggestions on Rach's facebook for the place.) Now that was a hoot! They do slightly prepare you for a very different eating experience in the beginning by asking you if you had ever been there. When you reply, no, they continue to tell you that they are rude and like it that way. Oh man, the waiters say extremely sarcastic things to you, and even yell at you. I just thought it was the funniest thing ever. I laughed every time they said or yelled anything at anyone. I just thought to myself, how great would it have been if Hardee's had been this way when I worked there. I would have never complained about work if I could have worked here. They get to wear really funky cloths, too. At one point our waitress, Major Pain, told Rach to "slow down on that soup, girl, MAN!" Lo...

Ok so there weren't any planes yesterday, but there were trains and cab rides. These were two firsts for me. I experienced them and learned some new things. I guess as a teacher, I like to look at all things in life as learning experiences. :) I started out the day with an early train ride from Carbondale to Chicago. I had hopes that the ride would be just fine and fears that I would ride for a while and feel sick or uncomfortable. My first flying experience made me a bit ill last year, so I was a little nervous yesterday. I liked the train. I had plenty of leg room. (one thing I think the movie theatres need to work on) With my bad knee this is a must for me when I am going to be in one spot for an extended period of time. I did, however learn that the train is like a movie theatre in the fact that I needed my extra jacket. They kept it cold in there! I also learned that the tiny pillow the lady seated next to us brought, would have been a plus if I planned on napping. ...