Have I mentioned that I'm on a licorice kick?

Well... strawberry Twizzlers anyway...

So I still haven't told you about my trip to Toledo/Detroit area last weekend.

So yeah, this was kind of a last minute trip in that Friday morning I decided that I was going to go that night and I was going to Amtrak it there. Mistake #1... Anyway... so get to work, ask off two hours early and thats no problem. So go back home, pack my bag and head back to Chicago to catch the train out. I had bought my tickets Friday morning when I arrived on the commuter train for work.

Have you noticed that trains seem to be my life? Well, you spend a good deal of time on them when you live in the Chicago area. I actually love trains and think they're one of the most convenient things in the world. With the exception of the larger cities in the U.S. though, they are a bit of a joke. Amtrak is pointless... very unreliable... and possibly unsafe ... who knows. Very sad from the country who invented rail traffic. They have it right in Europe and Asia. I could walk into the train station in Rome right now and catch a train to probably anywhere I wanted to go on that continent probably within an hour. That ain't no exaggeration. I've done it.

So yeah ... my train to Toledo was to leave at 8pm so I was told to be there for boarding at 7:30. So 7:30 rolls around and we are delayed. In the meantime I had heard from people in Toledo that the 8pm was very unreliable. There was a 5:30 too but it was sold out. So wait and wait and wait and anyway, the delay ended up being a little over two hours long.

When the "boarding" did actually begin they allowed pre-boarding for people 62 years old and over. Well, as you look around at most of the people who ride the train, more than 50% are travelling with someone 62 years and older. So all this "pre-boarding" consisted of (you would have thought it was like pre-boarding a plane in that you could go ahead and get on but no...) was simply those people got to walk into a room and sit closer to the track. What the hell ever. So then they called for pre-boarding of families with children. So they all got to walk into the room. So now the rest of us childless youngsters get to stay in the other room which is maybe ... I don't know 5 feet from the other.

They eventually began the boarding which was also sort of a joke. Because this train was making many stops before it got to New York City (god... can you imagine that ride? catch a plane!) they divided up the cars by stop so all of us in Ohio and eastern Indiana were generally on 1-2 cars, etc. Of course there is nothing labeled and nothing on your ticket about where you sit so you basically had to go up to each car where there was boarding and ask the official standing there what car it was for. Blah... So then you get on the train and most of the seats are labeled "party of two". So not only am I young and childless ... I'm also traveling alone ... what a LOSER! LOL! So anyway, finally found one that was not labeled "party of two" and got a window seat. Not that the window seat mattered so much cause it was dark by this time and the only thing we were going to see on the way was Indiana corn fields anyway. I can go out in my parents' backyard and see that.

So I ended up sitting with a girl who was maybe 11-12 years old and she sat across the aisle from her mom and younger brother. So this girl must be a seasoned train traveller cause she could sleep. She like passed out in the seat, kept flipping over, kicking me in the butt. At one point she like rolled over on me and put her head on my shoulder. I tried shaking her a bit and talking to her but she would not wake up. She had a very heavy head. She was completely out of it. So I let it go and just let her sleep like that although I felt weird about it. Finally I got a call on my cell which allowed me to sit up and grab my phone and it woke her up and I think she realized what she had done and was embarrassed and rolled the other way. That girl slept the whole freaking way there. If only I could have.

So... that was one good thing in that I could talk on my phone on the train. The other thing was the huge amount of leg room - you don't get that on a plane. But why even ride the train in the U.S.? These are the only things I can think of 1) And I would say this is probably the #1 reason - you are AFRAID TO FLY; 2) all other possible options sold out or too expensive last minute and for whatever reason you ain't driving; 3) you have some kind of physical problem where you need more legroom and first class on a plane is too expensive; 4) you are just looking for something different to do; 5) then there are those people called "train enthusiasts" who are just into it or whatever - Amtrak would kill that spirit for me. 6) oh yeah, how can I forget this! This only applies to certain parts of the country - Indiana/Ohio/Pennsylvania especially - YOU'RE AMISH!! There were all kinds of Amish on the train to/from Toledo and I had seen them when I Amtrak'ed it once from Fort Wayne. I guess that makes sense. OK so those are the only reasons and I guess they're six good reasons. One reason would NOT be "its cheaper than flying" because it ISN'T! At least not by much! I think I saved maybe $25 by taking the train than if I had booked a ticket in advance and flew into Detroit or something. (Side note ... I never realized Detroit was so close to Toledo).

So after the slowest freaking ride ever... it seemed like the train was constantly stopping and starting or just moving very slowly... and despite only having left 2 hours late, I arrived in Toledo 4 HOURS LATE!! And by this time, 4 hours late meant 5AM IN THE MORNING! I was supposed to be there at 1am which was completely do-able to me especially since that is only midnight Chicago time. Can you believe it? Now ... as far as that stopping and starting were concerned, I'm not sure what that was all about. I have heard contradictory things about who has the right-of-way on the rails. I heard from someone that passenger trains always *should* have the right-of-way but they are never granted it cause the freightlines own the tracks and switches and - especially in the middle of the night when they can - they screw the passenger trains out of the right-of-way and just let them sit so they can move their stuff. Another person told me that that wasn't correct and that the freight trains have the right-of-way. I don't know which it is but let me just tell you that it sucks!

So I get in at 5am and go to sleep at the hotel. Wake up at 9:45am just in time for the free breakfast to be ending at 10am. Go down for breakfast and its slim pickings by this time so I give up and go back and go to sleep til noon. Saturday afternoon took a drive to Windsor, Ontario, by way of Detroit. I guess Windsor is a real party town but didn't stick around long enough really to see it. Just did some exploring, walking along the river, checked out a festival and went to dinner. Oh yeah... also did some brief gambling at the casino where I sat down at a 5 cent slot for 5 minutes and won $120. Believe me, I know when to quit soI was done.

It was easy enough to get into Canada - although they did ask some weird questions about having ever been arrested or if I had mace in my possession, but whatever. Getting back into the U.S. there was less quizzing (way to go Department of Homeland Security!) but the line was a lot longer and took forever!! Windsor seemed fun and it might be fun to go back there sometime. Its a real bachelor party town I think. Left right after dinner but the cops were starting to make their presence known.

Sunday was more of a relaxing day and sort of explored around Toledo which I come to find out, there ain't much to explore. Spent some time swimming and laying out at the hotel pool.

Monday morning tried to catch the 5am train back to Chicago. It was only delayed a half hour so that was OK. I ended up getting into work an hour late but no problem. I was exhausted though. I was supposed to go to the Cubs game with my sister but there was no way. And, the Cubs suck so much lately I couldn't even sell my tickets - not even for 2 for the price of 1. I didn't care though, I just wanted to go home and go to bed and not be stuck on that 10:30pm train back to the burbs again.

Anyway, thats my ever-so-long story. I think about ready to call it a day here.

Later!!

Heh Heh... this IS the memory I have of one of my friend's weddings....

Q:
Dear Mindy - Do you have any pet peeves when it comes to throwing weddings?
A:
Yes, I think when there is not enough food or help it's just bad planning! You don't want guests' last memory of your wedding to be the drive thru at McDonalds.

So went to a wedding in my hometown where they were having a buffet dinner. The thing just was not organized well. I mean it was not organized to the point where the bride and groom didn't even get to go thru their own buffet first before the guests started diving in. That was horrible. I'm not even sure when the bride and groom got to eat cause by that time the ridiculously long line of 200+ guests was out the door. Could have taken hours to get food for all I know. The place was just too small to accomodate that many guests on a buffet set up like it was. Unfortunately they didn't think to have people go to each table to invite each table individually to the buffet.

So my friends and I bailed for McDonald's, ate there, and then came back for the booze. I'm so not kidding about this. Most of us were like 22-23 at the time so probably not too surprising for our ages at that point. I don't think my friend ever realized that is what we did. At least I hope not!

Incredible news yesterday!

So yeah, yesterday I gave my friend a call who has been in the hospital recently. She had been having a reaction to some medication she had been on and I thought her hospital stay was related to that but it turned out to be a bit more serious than that - more on that later.

I gather she needed more time in the hospital because ... as she told me for the first time yesterday ...

She's pregnant!

So she tells me this and I'm all like... oh thats so wonderful, congratulations, blah blah blah... She and her husband have been trying for like three years. The next thing she says is...

"Yeah ... with TRIPLETS!"

So the next thing I say is...

"OH MY GOD!"

And she goes on to say, "Yeah well there were SIX to begin with but my body naturally got rid of three of them."

Me again ... even louder: "OH MY GOD!"

Yeah so as you can guess this is a case of being on fertility drugs. I'm still freaking, I cannot IMAGINE. The whole thing blows my mind actually! She is an only child and for years had told me she didn't even want kids. Think this will be a bit of a change? Ummm... yeah.

Three at once? I can't even comprehend that. Twins, maybe? But not triplets. Wow!!!

So she's only nine weeks along. And they put her in the hospital because of mucho side effects she was having from the drugs. I knew about the first part of it but I guess she has developed some blood clots or something and that is what put her in the hospital. So now she's going to have to take a shot like every 12 hours from now until months after the babies are born. She is on bedrest now because of this and may be on bedrest for the entire pregnancy. She doesn't know when or if she will ever be going back to work. Plus, these are the friends of mine who were planning on moving far far away (mentioned in a previous post) ... so now that is delayed and they have taken their house off of the market.

Talk about changes.

I still can't believe it!!!!

18 year old Iraq war widow

Under honor guard escort, the remains of Army Pfc. Kristian Menchaca are unloaded off an airplane at the Brownsville-South Padre Island International Airport in Brownsville, Texas, Monday, June 26, 2006. Menchaca was killed in Iraq. Menchaca's wife, Christina, 18, second from left, is comforted. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Umm ... like... wow...

Who was obsessively viewing my blog on Sunday I wonder...??

Yeah ... I WONDER!!!!!!!

Too funny!

Here is the Washington Post's Mensa Invitational which once
again asked readers to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by
adding, subtracting, or changing one letter, and supply a new
definition.

This year's {2005} winners are:

1. Cashtration (n.): The act of buying a house, which renders
the subject financially impotent for an indefinite period of time.

2. Ignoranus: A person who's both stupid and an asshole.

3 Intaxication: Euphoria at getting a tax refund, which lasts
until you realize it was your money to start with.

4. Reintarnation: Coming back to life as a hillbilly.

5. Bozone (n.): The substance surrounding stupid
people that stops bright ideas from penetrating. The
bozone layer, unfortunately, shows little sign of
breaking down in the near future.

6. Foreploy: Any misrepresentation about yourself
for the purpose of getting laid.

7. Giraffiti: Vandalism spray-painted very, very high

8. Sarchasm: The gulf between the author of
sarcastic wit and the person who doesn't get it.

9. Inoculatte: To take coffee intravenously when you
are running late.

10. Hipatitis: Terminal coolness.

11. Osteopornosis: A degenerate disease. (This one
got extra credit.)

12. Karmageddon: It's when everybody is sending off
all these really bad vibes, and then the Earth
explodes and it's a serious bummer.

13. Decafalon (n.): The grueling event of getting through
the day consuming only things that are good for you

14. Glibido: All talk and no action.

15. Dopeler effect: The tendency of stupid ideas to
seem smarter when they come at you rapidly.

16. Arachnoleptic fit (n.): The frantic dance performed
just after you've accidentally walked through a spider web.

17. Beelzebug (n.): Satan in the form of a mosquito,
that gets into your bedroom at three in the morning
and cannot be cast out.

18. Caterpallor (n.): The color you turn after
finding half a worm in the fruit you're eating.

The Washington Post has also published the winning submissions to its yearly
contest, in which readers are asked to supply alternate meanings for common
words.

And the winners are:
1. coffee, n. the person upon whom one coughs.
2. flabbergasted, adj. appalled by discovering how
much weight one has gained.
3 abdicate, v. to give up all hope of ever having a
flat stomach.
4. esplanade, v. to attempt an explanation while drunk.
5. willy-nilly, adj. impotent.
6. negligent, adj. absentmindedly answering the door
when wearing only a nightgown.
7. lymph, v. to walk with a lisp.
8. gargoyle, n. olive-flavored mouthwash.
9 flatulence, n. emergency vehicle that picks up
someone who has been run over by a steamroller.
10. balderdash, n. a rapidly receding hairline.
11. testicle, n. a humorous question on an exam.
12. rectitude, n. the formal, dignified bearing
adopted by proctologists.
13. pokemon, n. a Rastafarian proctologist.
14. oyster, n. a person who sprinkles his
conversation with Yiddishisms.
15. Frisbeetarianism, n. the belief that, after
death, the soul flies up onto the roof and gets
stuck there.
16. circumvent, n. an opening in the front of boxer
shorts worn by Jewish men.

SMILES : )

Good one Trick!

LOL!!

Awesome!!

My friend Adrienne's wedding slideshow. This is great!!! I spot myself 2-3 times in the background camera always in hand. I'm sort of an obsessed picture taker these days.

Been there ... saw this ...

The sun sets as Mt. McKinley casts its reflection on Reflection Pond at the west end of Denali National Park road a few miles east of Camp Denali in Denali Park, Alaska, in this undated file photo. (AP Photo/Al Grillo/FILE)

Sweet tooth!

I have the most horrible sweet tooth today and it is KILLING me!!! Auugghh!!

Oh well, I guess it happens.

Anyway, just wanted to stop by to say that I am alive and well, just not inspired to blog lately.

I'll try and be back sometime next week.

Later!

Sleepy...

I don't know what it is with me right now but I would love to just curl up and go to sleep. Maybe it was my lunch. Hmmmm... I ended up going out for lunch which I did not want to do but it was too much of a temptation. Oh well... small dinner for me tonight.

Anyway... no plans tonight and that is just fine with me. I actually have a lot of cleaning and laundry that I need to do and I'm guessing I won't. Such the procrastinator lately.

Have a couple of errands after work and thats really it. So sad.

Seriously, I don't care. I could sleep right now if I had the chance.

At least I worked a little early this morning so that means I can go home early!!!

Yawwwwwwn.....

Ugghhh...

It's a weird day...