Rants and Ravings

Decorate the Cake- Mystery project part 2

2011-03-31T13:14:00.000-05:00

When I saw these molds I thought that the harp looked so like a Michelangelo sculpture, I tried to get that effect by using chocolate and candy melts which are opaque instead of using poured sugar. The result does in fact look like a statue and would make a great stand alone candy piece, or be lovely atop a wedding cake or valentine.

To make these candy molds, you can use either candy melts, or almond bark or melting chocolate. I feel like it is more economical to use almond bark when color is not necessary. You will also need a decorator piping bag for each color you plan to use. Depending on the temperature in your kitchen and how fast you work, you may also like to use a heated work surface. I use a heating pad under a cookie sheet when my candy is setting too quickly. I also like to work with multiple molds and colors at the same time. If multi-tasking is not your thing, you can plan your layers of color and work one color at a time.

Put your candy melts or chopped up almond bark into the decorators bags. Melt in the microwave at 30 second intervals one bag at a time. Be sure to check for hot spots, mash the bags around to mix, and towards the end I often drop down to 15 second intervals to ensure that I don't burn the candy or melt the plastic. Depending on how fast you work and the temperature in your work space you might need to experiment with out long you melt your candy.

Once the candy is melted, snip the tip of the bag. For very fine detailed work, go about 1/8th of an inch. For larger areas, you can go a bit bigger.

For solid areas of color, you can use the tip of your bag to get down into the details and fill in as you go. The neater you are when you fill now, the less clean up you will have to do at the end. After you have filled the mold, take a toothpick and use it to stir and smooth the candy and clean up the edges of the mold. If you have no colored details, you can also use the toothpick to ensure the candy has gotten into all the corners of the mold.

If you would like to add colored details, you must do that before you fill in the main color. Here, I piped in the roses and let them set prior to adding the white.

This particular mold has many fine details, so it was important to have very warm melted candy and a fine tip to get into the little corners. I sometimes have a hard time seeing what the details will be from reversed image you get looking at just the mold, so before I choose to add color I like to create a solid candy in the mold and look for things like flowers or ribbons that I want to have in color. If you hate the solid one, you can always re-melt the candy and use it again. Be careful when you re-melt the candy melts or chocolates. They do not always melt as slowly the second time, and if you try to re-melt them too many times they do get a bit funky. You can some times get uneven color or spotting or a bit of a frosted white look to your end piece as the repeated melting affects the tempering of chocolate.

Once the detail colors have set, fill in with your back ground color. This time as you smooth with your toothpick, be aware that if you stir too deeply you can end up mixing in your contrast color. This is a nice effect if you are going for marble or swirls, but if you want crisp edges you should avoid poking down too deep.

Now, wait for your candy to set. If you are impatient you can put them in the freezer to speed up the process. When I remove the molds, I loosen all around the edges before I pop out the entire piece. DTC molds are extremely flexible, even out of the freezer. Here is a close up of the harp with red roses.

If this is a show piece and you really want to make it pop, brushing on a dab of Confectioners Glaze will make your candy very shiny. I used it on only the roses to add to the contrast.

In this image you can see, the solid red flowers are glazed, and the ones with contrasting white buds are not. You can also see how the roses on the harp stand out, making the matte white look more like marble or an ivory statue. It is a very nice finishing effect.

Decorate the Cake - Mystery Project!

2011-03-31T11:39:00.000-05:00

I was pleasantly surprised to find my Mystery Project was several lovely rose molds, a harp, and cupid. The largest of the rose molds was the perfect size to do something slightly different than your typical Decorate the Cake how to, molded butter! Now, to create a lovely butter to accompany a romantic dinner the choice of mold is very important. Butter is softer and more fragile than candy. It is brittle when its cold, and very soft at room temperature. Unlike gum paste or fondant, butter never hardens. It can be a tricky substance to mold, and your selection of a shape or mold to use will make or break your finished product. To illustrated this very important point, I have included a "what not to do" example along with my how to.

My choice mold for the butter. Notice, the rose is deep and round, compact and with out too many outlying shapes.

And equally adorable, but ill-suited for a butter application, we have cupid. See how cupids wings are very shallow? Watch what happens to poor Cupid.

To create the butter mold, the easiest way to get the most details from your mold is to melt your butter. The liquid butter runs into every nook and cranny. You can also use softened butter and spackle it in with a butter knife, but I find that there are many air pockets and you lose details in your finished product. The trick to using melted butter is to be careful to not over-melt the butter. Butter has a high water content, and if over heated the water can evaporate out of the butter and mess up the consistency. I put two pats of butter in the microwave for 30 seconds until it looks like this.

A few seconds of stirring ensures that it is melted completely and not over melted. Then pour into your molds and put in the freezer to set for 5 or 10 minutes. The amount of time it takes to set will depend on how large your mold is and how hot your butter was. The good news is that you can't over-freeze butter. Frozen butter comes right back to room temperature beautifully, so when in doubt leave it in 5 minutes more before you fuss with it. Also, be aware that liquid butter is happy to spill all over your freezer, so take out some insurance by placing the molds on a tray with a lip. It is easier to keep things level, and to clean up spills.

Now comes the fun part! Time to un-mold! DTC molds are extremely flexible. I like to pull back all around the edges before I pop out the molded item. If your butter is set hard enough, and your mold was compact and round, it will come out just like a chocolate or hard candy.

If your mold had thin feather wings like our friend Cupid, or very shallow parts here is what happens. Notice, the wing I over poured came out, but with that ugly extra lip. Cupid's head was deep and round, it looks good. But that thin little wing was just too brittle and it fell apart, along with the v shaped feathers under his face. There are just some shapes and designs that are not meant to be in butter.

But look at our lovely rose!

Now, if plain old butter is too boring for you, get creative! There are hundreds of delicious herb butter recipes out there. Here are a couple tips for making molded herb butter.

#1 The tinier the pieces of herbs, the less they will poke out or interrupt the design of your mold. Remember, we are doing this for the beauty of the finished piece and not just the flavor.

#2 Just because every recipe on the planet says to use fresh herbs doesn't mean you cant use dry, or even better, freeze dried. Dry herbs tend to be in smaller pieces and mix into liquid butter easier than fresh.

#3 Experiment with your favorite flavor combinations! You don't need a recipe. Choose something to go along with whatever recipe you are making for the meal.. Herb Butter is a delicious addition on top of mashed potatoes, steak, fish or chicken as well as breads and rolls.

#4 If you are using unsalted butter and making a savoury herb butter, be sure to add some salt!

A few flavor profiles that I really love:

Garlic Powder and Thyme

Honey and Cinnamon

Cardamom and Curry Powder

Chive and Onion Powder

Ginger (I like to use fresh grated)

Lemon and Dill.

Here is how I made the Lemon Dill Butter. I used freeze dried dill, but dry or fresh would work as well. Be sure to start with either melted or softened butter to make it easier to mix. Just a splash of lemon is enough, so start with a little and then adjust for taste. Remember, butter has a large water content, so it can take liquid ingredients if you mix well and use the right proportions. Mix well, mold, and put in the freezer to set!

And here are my final roses, ready to sit atop a fresh bun!

Stay tuned for part 2, a more traditional molded candy.

Iron Chef Dinner: Battle Beer

2011-03-23T22:01:00.000-05:00

Me -vs- my inability to do anything in moderation

I am limiting myself to iron chef dinners one day a week now. This is to limit the grocery bills, and so that I actually accomplish other things with my time besides cooking. Not that we mind eating it all. :)

This desire to be more moderate includes trying to use what ingredients we have instead of purchasing tons of new items every week. So for battle beer I tried to use only what was in the house. Our land lord left us with two bottles of Winter Bourbon Ale in the fridge when we moved in and I recently bought some Honey Brown for nostalgia's sake (and then continued to drink nothing but wine as usual). I couldn't really make an iron chef beer dinner with out including Guinness though, so I caved on that one and ran out and picked some up. Choosing my dishes was not easy as beer lends itself to many delicious things, so instead of making less dishes I just made smaller servings. Still, too much food. So much that we actually skipped the entree. So much for moderation.

Appetizer #1 was baked brie filled with a mushroom mixture that had been sauteed in the Winter Ale. Dan tasted it and said "It smells like Thanksgiving." and even though it was nothing like Thanksgiving, there was something about the mushroom and herbs and puff pastry that really did smell like it.

Appetizer #2 was Fish and Chips, battered in a Honey Brown beer batter.
The fish was tillapia in a seasoned batter, and the "chips" were various veggies like carrots, parsnips, beets, peppers, and onions. I tried really hard to make this a small dish, but that beer batter just puffs up.

Our Entree was Guinness Shepard's pie. We are going to eat it for dinner tomorrow. It smelled good.

And finally, the piece de resistance: Guinness Chocolate cake frosted with Bailey's buttercream.

Which I have decided to call Irish Car Bomb Cake. Dan decided to make himself an Irish Car Bomb with the leftovers.

Iron Chef Dinner: Battles Venison Steaks and Pecans

2011-02-10T13:04:00.000-06:00

Me -vs- Unpacking the Kitchen

Well we made it to Michigan, and I unpacked the kitchen. You all know what that means!
After 2 weeks of eating pantry and freezer items and take out and restaurant food, it was time for Iron Chef!

The last freezer item from the old place was two venison steaks from a deer that was lovingly shot by our friend Mash. The first item in our new freezer was a package of frozen corn left by the girl who lived here before us. The dish was inspired by Allison. I cut the steaks into medallions and coated them with flour. Then I seared them in a pan to medium rare. I set the steaks aside and sauteed onions and mushrooms and added some chicken stock and cream to make a sauce. I served the steaks and mushroom sauce over mashed potatoes with corn on the side and a squeeze of lemon. Instant mashed potatoes, but shhh. dont tell.
I managed to snap a photo with my phone before Dan devoured everything.

For battle pecan, I may have gone overboard, but it was good. :)

I made a pecan caramel corn that was just the right balance of savory and sweet. I normally hate caramel corn because its just sugary and gets stuck in your teeth, but the salt on this was just right. I also got Dan some whole pecans in the shell to snack on before dinner. There is something nice about freshly cracking, peeling, butchering, or picking your own food. I think working for it makes it taste better.

Dinner was Pecan crusted chicken Kiev, with broccoli pecan casserole and a green salad with a cranberry pecan vinaigrette. Chicken Kiev, while delicious, is one of those things that should only be made rarely. The amount of work it takes is RIDICULOUS. One of the recipes I saw called for making like 8 servings, and it makes sense now. They freeze really well uncooked, and you only mess up the kitchen once. The broccoli casserole was tasty and easy, it had a cheesy creamy sauce with horseradish in it. The pecan vinaigrette was really great, and Ill be making that again. I blended some dried cranberries and pecans together to make a pasty mealy consistency, just before it would have turned into nut butter. Then I added red wine vinegar and olive oil and some honey and herbs.

Dessert was individual Chocolate Pecan Pies (recipe stolen from Paula Dean) and we never even got to them last night because we were so full.

No photos of this dinner either, I can't seem to find the camera in all this mess. :o\

I'm off to empty another box!

Iron Chef Dinner: Battle Wine

2010-09-02T21:28:00.001-05:00

Me -vs- the week from hell.

Let's see, this week involved new neighbors who leave their junk on the stairs and block my parking space making me late for work, a coworker having a heart attack at school, a ticket for going straight at the intersection of Randolph and Oak Park Avenue (which I totally know better) amongst other lesser annoyances and drama. I would like to think that my ever wise and loving husband knew that I needed a battle that would be relatively quick and easy and boozy to boot!

This is one of the first battles that I actually made in under an hour. I opted for steaks smothered in baby portabellos and a Pino Noir reduction, with a side of almond green beans. Yes, I used yellow tail and barefoot wines. I figure, its a step up from cooking wine and not breaking the bank.

Then, for desert I made two kinds of wine poached fruit. Pears were poached in pino noir, and peaches in a pino grigio and then served with a reduction of their poaching liquid and some sweet marscapone cheese.

It's always amazing to me how wine and cheese can just make everything in life a bit better.

Iron Chef Dinner Party!

2010-08-23T23:32:00.000-05:00

Battle Goat Cheese and Kale

Shawna and Jerry were invited over for dinner, and as the guests of honor, they got to choose the secret ingredients. Jerry was of course difficult and his chosen ingredient of kale required a special trip to a special grocery story. Billy's Fruit Market was happy to provide me with the kale I needed, and so the battle was on!

We were so happy to socialize and eat and drink, that no photos were taken. That is just fine. For appetizers I made my traditional goat cheese in tomato sauce, tapas style served with french bread. Then the meal was a goat cheese and mushroom meatloaf roulade, goat cheese mashed potatoes, a kale, squash and goat cheese casserole with a panko bread crumb crust, and then a simple but delicious sauteed kale and garlic. The meatloaf was my favorite part, and I will be making that again. Surprisingly, the experimental casserole was enjoyed even by Dan, who doesn't like squash. That just goes to prove, if you put enough butter and garlic in anything it will taste good.

Iron Chef Dinner: Battle Curry

2010-08-19T19:23:00.001-05:00

Me -VS- the spice cabinet

We are back from vacation, and tired of fried food. There is a joke about Canada, they say that Canada could have had French cuisine, American politics, and British culture and instead they ended up with British cuisine, French politics, and American culture. So true, so true. The fish and chips were excellent but I can only eat so many meals accompanied by french fries before my stomach begs for mercy.

In preparation for tonights dinner, we got to go to Penzey Spices which is always a treat. I picked up a hot curry spice and a bottle of garam masala seasonings. I also picked up a recipe for a coconut pie so I could use up all the coconut left over from battle mango.

First I slowly caramelized some finely chopped onions with a single whole star anise. This made the house smell AWESOME.

Then I had to make a curry paste out of all my seasonings. This was made of garlic and ginger paste, curry and chili powders and enough water to make it come together. In with the onions it goes...

Then comes the magic. Somehow, pureed carrots, pureed onions, yogurt, sour cream, and some chicken broth produced this...

Just add chicken and let cook.

I tossed in some green peppers, left over frozen baby corns, and cashews after it had cooked for a while and this was the final product.

Oh, and for all of you who want me to come over and cook in your kitchens... this is what Dan gets to deal with when the meal is over. Be forewarned. I didn't even bother to photograph the floor because that is just too embarrassing.

He also gets to eat this. Served with Trader Joe's garlic Naan and some rice.

Tuesday: Battle Tomato

2010-08-03T20:52:00.001-05:00

Me -VS- My complete and total inability to spell tomato with out a spell check.

I had planned to take today off from the iron chef dinner because Dan is working super late, however Allison wanted to hang out and was happy to supply me with an ingredient!

Since I was at Valli Produce yesterday and bought a bajillion tomatoes from their clearance section (yes! Clearance fruits and veggies people! its amazing@! ) I was thrilled that Tomato was Allison's chosen ingredient.

Tonights dinner was a stuffed tomato, with a soufflé like filling. The filling had bacon and onions and peppers that I sautéd and then mixed in with goat cheese and queso fresco and some egg yolks. Then I whipped up some egg whites and folded them in, Stuffed the whole thing in the tomatoes and baked for 20 minutes or so.

While the tomatoes were baking I made a tomato cucumber salad with the left over poppy seed dressing from a few days ago, and the best bruschetta ever. It was so worth it to splurge on those heirloom tomatoes at Dominics this afternoon.

It is actually sad that the basil is on top of this tomato, because this was the prettiest tomato that I have ever sliced. It was also very very sweet.

Monday: Battle Honey.

2010-08-02T23:06:00.002-05:00

Me -vs- the total over stimulation provided by Valli Produce

For this battle, I converted my grill into a smoker.

I put charcoal on the left side with a pan of wood chips on top, a pan of water on the right side. Then I put the ribs on top of the grill rack and let them cook for 2 hours. I used a thermometer and added wood chips and charcoal as needed to keep it between 225 and 250 degrees. After 2 hours, I wrapped the ribs in foil and added some apple juice and let them cook for another hour with out adding wood chips. Then I finished them off with a home made honey bbq sauce. I also made some honey cornbread muffins and cinnamon honey butter and corn on the cob.

Then, because I had 3 and half hours during the cook time, I made up a drink I decided to call the Tini Bumblebee. Strawberry honey lemon aid, mixed with vodka and elderflower liquor. Yum.

I rounded out the meal with a cheese plate that included almonds, dried cranberries, and some wild flower honey we had brought back from Sonoma. I think the cheese plate was over kill.

Cooking Project

2010-08-02T22:43:00.002-05:00

It's time to repurpose this blog into something useful. Instead of writing pages and pages about my new cooking project on Facebook, I will post those updates here and then link to them. I have much too much to say, and I'm pretty excited about the project.

I decided at the end of the school year that I needed to take cooking classes or something this summer. Cooking is always exciting and creative for me, so I thought it would be a good thing to pursue. Upon further reflection I realized that I didn't want any one else to tell me how to cook. That isnt the fun part. I just need to cook more! So I came up with my Iron Chef plan.

Each night, Dan chooses an ingredient, and I make dinner. I don't adhere strictly to Iron Chef rules, but I try to use the ingredient in as many dishes as possible, and at the end of the week Dan chooses a winner. I may some day go so far as to invite guests over and allow them to choose my secret ingredient, but the project is young, so we shall see.

Last week was our first week, and this is the summary of the meals.

Monday: Battle Eggplant
I had this beautiful eggplant that the kid at the farmer's market conned me into buying ( it was the last one, and he gave it to me for 75 cents! ) so I made chicken and eggplant parmesean over rigatoni with a doctored up canned tomato sauce.

Tuesday: Battle Mango
I marinated pork chops in soy sauce, ginger syrup, and olive oil (with some spices) and cooked them in the grill pan. Then I made homemade sweet and sour and spicy veggies with mango, pineapple, peppers, onions, and baby corn. I have always loved mango sticky rice, but Dan finds it too sweet. I switched up the recipe and made it using coconut milk and salt and pepper and less mango, which was much more to his taste.

Wednesday: Battle "Whatever the hell is left over and also Dan wants tacos"
I raided the fridge and pantry and ended up with frozen chicken that I cooked for a couple hours in some left over coconut milk and taco seasonings and onions. Came out WAY taster than I expected. I broke down and bought a tomato and jalapeño and made some home made salsa. I also mixed up some guacamole with an old avacodo that had been living in the back of the fridge. A dash of coconut milk made it just a bit sweet. I rounded the meal out with a pre packaged mix of black beans and rice.

Thursday: Battle Green Pepper

Ironically, every meal I had prepared prior to this had peppers as an ingredient. I also was very anti stuffed peppers for this battle... sooo... I made grilled steak and pepper sandwiches with this AWESOME salad. The salad was comparable to a coleslaw, but it was peppers, carrots, red onions and green onions all cut up into matchstick sized bites in a homemade poppy seed dressing.

Dan declared the winner of week one to be Battle Mango. Stay tuned for more!

its been a while...

2009-04-30T15:34:00.003-05:00

So, since the last time ive posted, The dishes set has been completed. The couch has been finished, and replaced, and Ive been married for 9 months.

hm.

Im debating if blogs are passe.

The summer is almost over

2007-08-14T10:59:00.000-05:00

I keep going through all the things i did/was supposed to do. I had a running list on my desk top of dates and events. I keep deleting things and then adding 4 more. In some ways i think i am less busy during the school year, but its just that there is so much more routine things going on.

I know its been like a year. I'd make lame promises of updates like we always do, but Im just going to be realistic.

So here is another photo essay. These are the pink sunflowers in my yard. They were pink on the package of seeds, but these are more of a variegated yellow and maroon. either way, they are pretty.

and these are the burgundy ones

This is the pitiful hydrangea bloom from the plant that I managed to NOT kill. I regard this as a miracle of sorts. Frank (the ficus from the last entry) has long since passed on. Perhaps I should post a photo of his skeleton. I would, but i dont think i have one.

This is what that same hydrangea used to look like.

This was the henna tatoo i got on my foot at ren faire.

This is me in the bridesmaid dress for my sisters wedding. she looked at the digital camera after she took this and said, "you look terrible"

This is a picture of me and dan when we first started dating.

This is us a few years ago.

This is us a few months ago.

And this is me and Dan now.

photo essay on wants

2006-08-05T01:10:00.000-05:00

This is Frank. Frank wants a new pot.

This is my half covered sofa. it wants to be all the way covered.

These are my dogwood dishes. I only have a partial set. the set wants to be complete.

This is the formica top that wants legs so it can be a table.

This is one of my blue and green wine glasses that wants to be part of a complete set. I dont think i can get any more.

This is my silver wear. the set needs to be completed.

This is my pie. it was peach rhubarb. i want some right now. there is none. :(

This is the tv unit i really want

This is what i will probably get, although not for some time. it can be placed on side and legs can be added.

This was my really cute hair cut. i think i want my hair short again.

These are my nails when they were long.

This is wine. wine is good.

This is exploding dog.
"one foot in front of the other"
it belongs on my wall
>

this is music. music is good. not as good as wine, but it lasts longer.

This is dan. i miss him.

hmm. if those are the only things i want in life, i think ill end up ok. :)

what CAN you do with two fortys and a roll of duct tape?

2006-06-05T13:21:00.003-05:00

Well... here you go.

If you have some kind friends...

and family members...

you too can enjoy the experience that is...

EDWARD 40- HANDS

Shuffle

2006-04-06T21:51:00.000-05:00

How it works:

Put your music player on shuffle.
Press forward for each question.
Use the song title as the answer to the question.
No cheating!

1. How am I feeling today?
Jen - Jimmy Eat World.

2. Will I get far in life?
Ex Girlfiend - No Doubt

3. How do my friends see me?
What a mess - SR 71 (oh, thats reasuring)

4. Where will I get Married?
Tonight Tonight - Smashing Pumpkins (haha!)

5. What is my best friend's theme song?
Give Judy my Notice - Ben Folds

6. What is the story of my life?
40-80 - lucky Boys confusion (funny, i spend alot of time driving around 53 and ogden. ha)

7. What is/was highschool like?
What made Milwaukee famous - flogging molly.

8. How can I get ahead in life?
Stand by me - Ben King

9. What is the best thing about me?
I choose - offspring

10. How is today going to be?
Hallelujah - Rufus Wainwright.

11. What is in store for this weekend?
Less than Strangers - Tracy Chapman.

12. What song describes my parents?
The hell song - sum 41

13. To describe my grandparents?
Hands - Jewel

14. How is my life going?
Shes a rebel - Green Day

15. What song will they play at my funeral?
My Beloved Monster - The Eels

16. How does the world see me?
Green Eyes - Coldplay (first line "Honey you are a rock Upon which I stand And I come here to talk I hope you understand" ... thats sweet)

17. Will I have a Happy Life?
Too late for love - Def Leppard

18. What do my friends really think of me?
Fast as you can -Fiona Apple

19. Do people secretly lust after me?
Narcolepsy - Third Eye Blind

20. How can I make myself happy?
Im like a bird - Nelly Furtado

21. What should I do with my life?
Cast no Shadow - Oasis

22. Will I ever have children?
Let's Stay Together - Marvin Gaye

23. What is some good advice for me?
When will we fall down - Toad The Wet Sprocket

24. What's the one thing I'm most afraid of doing?
Elevation - U2

25. What is my signature dancing song?
Eyesore - A New Found Glory
(funny, but SO not nice)

26. What do I think my current theme song is?
Fat Bottomed Girls - Queen (also funny but not nice)

27. What does everyone else think my current theme song is?
Drunken Lillabies - Flogging Molly (no comment)

28. What type of men/women do you like?
Stupid Girl - Garbage.

29. Now click next and that will be the title of this entry.
When I come Around - Green Day (i like my title better)

30. Your overall themesong?
Never Let Me down Again - Smashing Pumpkins

because rick told me to

2006-03-26T11:27:00.000-06:00

A. Four Jobs I’ve Had:
1. Teacher
2. Switchboard Operator
3. Photolab Technition
4. Operations Assistant

B. Four Movies I’ll Watch Over and Over:
1. garden state
2. shrek
3. The princess bride
4. everafter

C. Four Places I Called Home:
1. Lombard, IL
2. Wheaton, IL
3. Elmhurst, IL
4. Northlake, IL

D. Four TV Shows I Love:
1. Grey's Anatomy
2. Scrubs
3. The simpsons
4. Good eats

E. Four Places I’ve Been on Vacation:
1. Paris
2. Amsterdamn
3. Miami Beach
4. New York

F. Four Websites I Visit Daily:
1. http://www.google.com
2. http://www.gmail.com
3. half a bajillion blog sites. yours might be included!
4. i cant pick just four. i use fire fox, and i have a whole folder of sites i open in tabs every single day. web comics, news sites, pandora, other junk.

G. My Four Favorite Foods:
1. crusty french bread.
2. mashed potatoes
3. avacados
4. garlic

H. Four Places I Would Rather Be Right Now:
1. New York
2. New York
3. New York
4. New York

I. Four People I’m Tagging:
No one will listen to me, but ill try
1. Jeff
2. Peggy
3. Adam (hey adam... do you still read here?)
4. Keith

the signs point to NO

2006-03-25T20:06:00.000-06:00

well. im lying in my bed .... instead of out to dinner with dan in new york. its a long story. lucky for you all, i now have all week to tell it.

so on friday we tried to call and see if we could get last min cancellation tickets to go to the daily show. the phone line rang and rang and rang and then suddenly it started to go to voice mail every time you called. so i figured, thats out. whatever. we will just do that another time. its ok.

then friday when mary was picking me up to drive to the airport i had the strangest feeling. i remember i kept telling her that i felt weird. like i forgot something or i missed something ... or something. mary, being mary, kept running through things like deoderant, underwear, toothpaste. whatever. we made it thru and got me to the airport, a little later than i wanted to be there, but still with enough time.

then i tried to check in at the kiosk. i was flying on a buddy pass, a stand by employee ticket from my friend. and i had had this fleeting thought the day before that perhaps i should have criags cell phone number or his employee number just in case. but i forgot. and so i didnt. which was a mistake. i wasnt able to check in at the kiosk with out it, and then i waited in line at the wrong check in counter. i ended up just at the baggage check counter instead of the "problem line" you see, since the advent of e-tickets, they dont train employees to deal with regular tickets. so 2 people handle problems. and the rest just chuck the baggage into a bin. 40 min later i had my "you get to wait to" board - pass. (remember... stand by!) security, miraculously, goes ok.

i arrive at the gate and get in line to talk to the agent. there was a long line. this usualy indicates aproblem. i check in with the agent, say im flying stand by. he says, you arent going to get out on this flight, its way over booked ..." and i said thats ok, whens the next one. and he said "that you are going to get on? try tuesday or wednesday" and i said "seriously?!" and he said "seriously. "

and i began to wait.

i sat next to Steve, from brooklyn. he was on a 3pm flight to new york that had been canceld. he had been bumped from 3 flights before this (he would be bumped from two more before he would make it home)

i sat next to a man who was trying to go to new york for the weekend, then go see "the color purple" - there were actualy two different people i met who were trying to see that show.

I sat next to larry, who does not know i know his name. i read it off his ticket while he was checking it. larry didnt introduce himself. larry just keep making comments. like "would you ever wear that dress?"i said ... no, not unless i weight 100 lbs and looked georgous naked. the dress was on a woman who had a few extra lbs, it was white and skin tight. knee lenthg. with bright colorful spots all over it. and the worst part was that she had a multi colored 6 inch belt/sash thing that made her look like a spotted sausage witha twist tie in the middle. larry was funny.

i sat next to a lovely woman who teaches english at a small private university in vermont. i cant remember her first name, sharron or cheryl or something. we talked about students and the "millenios" (she said thats what they call generation Y) and generation X and about education and she told me about the conference she was at in chicago and how she hated traveling. i told her about flying stand by and having waited for hours and hours. at that point, i had been through 8 flights. i told her i was flying to see my boyfriend. she said"wow. now thats true love. are you gonna marry him?" and i said"as soon as he proposes to me" she laughed. she told me i had a good attitude. and then we bitched about the war in iraq and how its a load of crap. and then we debated the importance of literacy vs quantitative literacy (in real life, is language or math more important) and i told her about investment funds. and she said, yeah, i didnt start mine soon enough and thats why im still working now. and i said... see! quantitative literacy! and she said "i think you won that debate" she also told me that if she were me, she would have been in spain with my parents(visiting the sister) i said next time i would call her. we laughed. i liked her.

anyways. back to the time line. so after finding out that there were 137 people ahead of me on the stand by list with out tickets for the flight friday night, i went and stayed with mel at her hotel for the night. i ate dinner and had a drink. and lost my cell phone at the bar. i found itlater. we tried to go online, and the internet cost $15 per day. i overslept this morning and didnt shower before i got the shuttle back to the airport.

i was really holding out hope for the early flights today. maybe people would over sleep or something. noluck. after i missed the first one out, i went to the customer service line because i realized that even if i did get out today or tomorrow,if i couldnt get BACK in time for work there would be no point. i met some lovely people in line for customer service as well. a teacher from wisconsin and her mother. a lady from sandiego. and then i broke the handle on my suitcase. it no longer will retract back into its spot. so its always open.

it was at this point that i began to realize i was fucked. i had started crying at around 7 am. but after the handle broke i think some where deep down i knew it was all over.

customer service said that next weekends flights are all open, but this weekend is sucking. so i decided to wait out the rest of the day. i decided if i can make it out today then ill go. and if i couldnt i would have to say fuckit and just not make it to new york.

every time i had that thought i started to cry. i was crying quietly at one of the gates when a small boy and his mother walked by. he was probably 3 or 4. he looked up and saw my face when his mother could not because she was walking so quickly, and i was looking down.
he stopped dead in his tracks and looked right at me. his mother had his hand and dragged him on. and he said.." but mommy. that lady is crying."

to which i believe i audiably sobbed.

Eventually another flight was cancelled, (i heard that the crew didnt show up) there were 100 people on the stand by list again (it had gotten as low as 30) and then they made an announcement that they had down graded the size of the next plane. so in addition to the 100 standbys, 20 paying customrs that used to have seat assignments were not going to be on that flight.

i then called peg to come and pick me up. it was obvious this was alost cause.

then they announced that they had tried to get the airlines to add another section of a flight to accomodate all the stand bys. but there were no aircraft available. So i stood up and left the airport.

and now im at home. i called united to see about stand by flights tomorrow or monday. and everything is booked tomorrow, and all but two are booked on monday. i bet they will be booked by the end of the night. they claim flying back on saturday would beok for next weekend, but im not sure i believe them. so flying stand by is out.
dan offered to try and find a flight we could by and split the cost. but the cheapest flights on any airline are upwards of 400 right now. and to be honest, as much as i want to see him, i do NOT want this to screw up the money we have saved for brazil. that would be stupid.
i looked into trains. 19 hours. and 300 bucks. thats out.

ive contemplated driving. dan said his parents made it in 11 hours. i drove to miami twice. that owuld be like nothing. however, dan lives in manhatten. theres no way il be able to park. and i will be exausted when i leave, and exhausted when i get back. and ineveitably, my car will break or crash. its the only feasable solution right now. and it really seems stupid.

so now that weve covered all major forms of mass transit, im stuck here in my bed feeling like the greater karmic balance has crapped on me, god hates me and life generally stinks. . no... wait.. thats me. i havent showered in 2 days.

perhaps i should go do that now.

goals

2006-03-22T19:38:00.000-06:00

Theres this motivational speaker, Zig Ziglar. and i cant remember exactly how it was worded (or when he said it) but basicaly he said that there was really only one country that he was scared of, and that was the former soviet union. his reasoning... they were the only country that had their national goals written into their constitution.

two years ago i made a list of goals and i put them into my diary. a while back i was going thru old entrys, and i saw that one. I have accomplished every single one.

so, with these thoughts in mind, im making some new goals.

i went an opened a roth ira retirement savings account today. i dont have enough to invest yet and i dont have funds matching at work, so it is the best way to start investing right now. It feels sort of pitiful bc i have so little to invest that any mutual fund shares in my account will have to be purchased quarterly (instead of monthly) because they havea minimum amount that can be purchased. anyways. while i was going thru it all with my financial planner (! i have a financial planner!) he showed me the financial pyramid. your base has 5 things, retirement fund, life insurance, disability insurance, another thing i cant remember but have, and an emergency fund. as of today, i have 4 of those 5 items. so goal number one.

* have an emergency fund savings account.

i think the next one is fairly obvious. i think most people know this is a goal of mine. i have never actualy put it into writing before. and therefore, this is the time.

* get married.

Im not setting qualifications on that, im just throwing it out there. i would like to set time limits on these goals, but i also want to maintain realistic goals. so... the time limits will remain in my head.

something else that ive thought of but never really written out in so many words. and something ive toyed with for years. and danced around and never really committed to. i know i need to commit to this. i havent decided how. but i also realize the power of writing it down.
Its something ive done before. and im going to do it again.

* loose 10 lbs. and keep it off.

I started cleaning out my shit when we moved in august. it made me feel really good. and acomplished. i felt like a functioning adult human being. and its something that i never finished. i did enough to move easily, and then lazyness set it.

* finish the organization and purge of my worldly posessions.

my last goal (for now) is inspired by several people i know who have started selling their hand made items online, and my sister whos following what she loves to do. I love what i do. i love quilting. I love crochet and knitting. and im good at it. I want to feel like owning a sewing machine is justified. i want to be justified in purchasing expensive and high quality materials. ive made quilts before that sold at auction. i sold scarf and glove sets. i can do this, i just want to do it semi-regularly.

* make my crafting hobbies marketable, and sell some item(s) for profit. (and secondary to that, finish old projects that i started)

Jesus. those are some hefty goals. its scary to have them out there. but when i was in Pete's office today, i saw that he had his goals on a laminated card front and center on his desk. you know what. thats balls out. and any one who goes that balls out with their goals is going to meet them. I want to be like that.

allright. heres a toast to me. im off to go pack, i have to be up at 4 tomorrow morning driving my parents to the airport. and in just a few years ill be a thin financialy stable married woman with her own craft shop. hey. its a goal.

I am here

2006-03-20T17:40:00.000-06:00

its been so long its like ive forgotten how to do this.

its just that my brain seems to be all clogged up. like i have writers block. which is just plain stupid. how can you have writers block in your own blog. i mean really.

I am leaving for new york on friday. that is good. this week will be hell, grades are due in wed am, and im stalling on finishing some stuff up. i just shouldnt accept any late work. but i do. i have so many make up tests and shit like that its sick.

things to do. so many things to do.

need to do laundry so i can pack.
need to pay rent
need to go to the bank.
need to wax uni-brow.
need to pay bills.
need to pack danny's dvds.
need to grade makeups.

anyways. enough of that.

I spent the past week or so helping my mom scan all sorts of old photos and documents from my grandpa's estate. there were tons and tons of old letters. Ive tried writing letters, and to me, like most things in life, i cant seem to do it unless it serves an actual purpose. I cant write a letter because any useful information i need to convey will allready be communicated by the time the letter has been recieved. Same thing with walking or running. it needs to serve a purpose. ill run if im playing a game, and ill walk if i have somewhere to walk to (like work or something) anyways, i sort of wish there were still a need for that sort of communication. the letters i got to see were so eloquently worded. there was an art to it. my grandfather had only minimal education, i dont think he completed high school, but his letters read like those of a far more educated man. plus there was a sort of properness about it all. a formality. he could cut you a new one and youd never know it happened because he was complimenting you the whole way.
the other very interesting thing to see was all the 2nd hand information. some copies of letters were things papa had written, but far more of them were responses to him from friends and family. oh the family history that no one ever spoke of. i got to see photos of my grandpa's second wife. no one EVER speaks of her. they were married breifly and divorced quickly. i only found out she existed bc i was a nosey kid and listened in on my moms conversation. but now, i got to see photos. and my grandfather kept correspondance with a priest in rome, and he was apparently asking for advice. i guess every one was telling my grandpa to re-marry after my grandmother passed away. his youngest child was 4 at the time, and even his mother in law was telling him to find some one else. and he dated Irene for like 8 years before their failed marriage. she was a widow and had two children of her own. the whole story just facinates me. maybe some day ill write a novel about it.

other random things i found. my grandmas wedding budget. hysterical.

and something else that just makes me laugh like hell. this is a photo of me when i was 3. and the back is my fathers handwriting, except for my signature. it just cracks me up.

and on that note, im off to pay my rent and do laundry.
:)

the worrying

2006-03-07T23:49:00.000-06:00

New Years 2006

2006-01-01T21:23:00.000-06:00

Times square. see if you can find the ball.

Us. not even cold.

my mic

We were however, sobering up. and out of baileys. so we went to meet Guillo at this bar.

Dan is not a leprichaun.

I am a new years princess.

That is all.

oh, and as for my coolest kid on the block entry, i didnt get to actualy see or hear ANY of the performers last night. but i did avoid mariah carey and ryan seacrest. so i sort of feel satisfied with myself. :)

the coolest kid on the block.

2005-12-31T15:08:00.000-06:00

dan got me an ipod for christmas and our shopping spree. I asked him if he really thought i would choose to use the "spree" on something else and he sort of shruged. and said "no, not after your mom didnt get you the ipod" and i said "well, it was a fun excuse to look at jewelry all day."

and tonight. OKGO is playing on the roof top of the olive garden in times square new york (which is incidentaly, shaped like a bow tie) and i will be there.

its official. i am the coolest kid on the block. yes. yes i am.

oh, and some random girl on the street walking past us yesterday interupted herself mid sentance to announce (to no one in particular) "Now SHE has some nice boots!" and who was she talking about? me. thats who. and i do have nice boots. so there.

now im off to pre drink. apparently there are no public washrooms in times square. and they raise the ball at 6. ill take photos and let you know how it goes.

its cold.

2005-11-25T14:57:00.000-06:00

i have been told i dont update enough. and from those whoknow i have secret blogs "shhh. dont tell" that i should cross post.

see, the reason i dont cross post is bc, then its not all SECRET.

anyways. 4 blogs is too much for anyone. any ways. updates.
lets see.
going to new york for new years. yeah times square.
its cold out.
i hate raking leaves. they suck.
havent had to shovel snow yet. not sure how i feel about that. ill let you know when it happens.

school is good. i like the job. i really miss the bond i had with the students. thats what i miss right now. every thing else, same. but the kids,the ones i know and that know me ... those i miss.

ran into a student walking home drunk from flahertys the other night. that was weird. he offered me and jeff a ride. we politely declined.

thanksgiving was low key. alot of laying around on couches and floors. screaming when some one sat on you, more screaming as we fought for lounging position in front of the fireplace. and yet more fighting when mom insisted on taking photos. no i wont smile. no i wont put on make up. and no i wont sit next to him/her. no. no. no.

anyways. then. today, just to be stupid as usual, i went to black friday sales with my mummy and sister and daddy. did ok. got some stuff at best buy. some stuff at express. and really thats it.

theni came home and bagged leaves.

anyways. its cold. im smelly and covered in leaves. I think its time for a shower and a nap. then... work tonight.

i swear to god. im quiting this second job after new years. it will be my resolution.

the internet is a wild and wonderful place.

2005-10-16T14:35:00.000-05:00

cool new web toy i found.

Music Video Codes provided by VideoCodeZone.com

That site is awesome. and the video is cool too.

sparkles on my death

2005-09-26T19:42:00.000-05:00

i said peg, what color should i paintmy nails? she says black. I say like death? she say ok. i say, can i put sparkles on my death. shes all like "if im alive when you die, im making sure they glitter you up. i dont care if your kids DO think im senile"

anyways, heres what we did today.

the flying chair by mikes house.

peggy in the rainy craft fair.
thats not the red from the umbrella. thats her hair.

Then we had drinks with faces.

that is all.

the de-funkification of tuesday.

2005-09-11T22:37:00.000-05:00

in the beginning, there were tuesdays and there was beer. and it was good. we went to a bar called "the office" and played eucher. sometimes i won, if sid was my partner. Then i graduated.

then there was buffalo wild wings, 30 cent wing nights. dan and i had a date every tuesday. usualy it was after work for him and after class for me. we would go and eat wings and have a beer or two. i would stay up way too late, and be exhausted at school the next day. but it was the only time we had together during the week most of the time.

then dan left for miami, and tv night started. it started with peggy and lonnie coming to my house to watch joe millionare on mondays. when peg and i moved into the place in wheaton, it became tuesday nights with marjorie and ricardo and queer eye for the straight guy. dan and i had talked about having some online date on tuesdays when he was leaving so as to keep the tuesday tradition, but that never worked out. he always called during the show, he always forgot when it was on. i liked that. it was kinda cute.

anyways, for the past few months tuesdays have been defunked. things got insane for a while, and nothin is settled yet. id like to get something started up again, but im not sure what. queer eye is past its prime. im a big fan of House now, but that will be moving to another night, and having the night centered around tv is somethings distracting. and besides the point. we shall see. Ive sort of decieded that i need to stop working weekends, that means that im going to ask to be switched to all weeknights. and ive also sort of decided that if they CANT do that switch, i may quit. the weekend crap is killng me right now. so tired. But if i switch nights, tuesday nights will be work nights, and tradition will be over either way.

either way. its time for something new.
\

she lives. barely.

2005-09-06T21:03:00.000-05:00

im here. i know its been forever. life is nuts as usual.

snippets. thats about all i have.

peg got her puppy. her name is molly. she is sweet. she hates when i squeeze her hamburger toy in her face. its mean, but its funny.

i started teaching at glenbard east. it is great. i love it. i need to take off fridays so i can go to a football game.

i am so tired all the time,but that seems to be the nature of life.

sisters left for college. they are lucky. i miss college. it was so fun. maybe dan and i will go to a football game on saturday.

i stepped on a rusty nail whilst gathering wood for a bonfire. it hurt alot. it hurts less now. thank you to all who were concerned.

it seems like half the people i know are getting married. its some what staggering.

i feel like ive made some new friends. i really like becky. shes cool. she also called me a stupid bitch. but shes funny. and i really like shawna at work. we are alot alike, and its all in ways that make us get along. i think. and then theres molly. nice doggy. and theres this girl, mary at work. well. woman. but whatever. its the sort of office where everyone is a girl so shes one of the girls from work, even if shes older than my mom. she reminds me of a female version of my grandpa. maybe thats why i like her.

ive stopped bringing my computer to school. i do want to use it, and i need to update grades and whatnot. but it was so heavy and such a pain. instead i think ill just use my flash drive. now the trick is makign myself take it out of my bag and UPDATE the damn grade book.

im starting to get upset and angry about hurricane katrina and how it was all handled. i dont know. i understand how some people cant leave or wont leave for whatever their reasons were. and i understand how expensive it would be to prepare better. but for GODS SAKE. we knew this was coming!

anyways. that rant will simply hurt my head.

in other news. ive realized that while some people can taint memories and steal away their meaning for you, other things can never be taken.i am so glad that i still love garden state. and that sunkist, sparkles and guy-A are still phrases that makes me smile. Im glad i still love our town. and labor day weekend will always be my grandpas birthday.

anyways, enough from me.
id promise to update more regularly, but id hate to lie. ill just say that ill try.

i am webmistress. hear me roar.

2005-07-06T23:49:00.000-05:00

This is what dan has been doing for two years. if you own an advertizing agency, contact him and give him a job. please.

the website is my doing. the art work and layouts are his classmates.

enjoy.

www.DanOconnorCopywriter.com

cars i might consider buying

2005-06-25T19:38:00.000-05:00

if you are confused, see the last post.

Saturn ion 3

Website quote: $17,370 less employee discount special: $15,184

Honda Civic Hybrid

Website Quote: $21,708

Chevrolet Cavalier

Website quote: $17,705.00 less employee discount special: $14,121.95

Chevrolet Cobalt

website quote: $18,455.00 ( I loaded this one up with options...)
Less employee discount special: $16,261.50

Volkswagon Jetta

website quote: $19,590

Volkswagon Beattle

website quote: $18,260

Chevrolet Impala

website quote: $24,605.00 less employee discount special: $19,386.45

Mini Cooper

website quote: $21,207

Comments? votes? suggestions, all welcome.

crash

2005-06-23T11:35:00.000-05:00

at 630 this morning, 730 local time, i rear ended a truck.

here is my car

here is the truck.

I am fine, dan is fine, all other passengers are fine. my car, not so much.
looks like im stranded in miami for a week or until car repairs are done.

im taking a nap, and then finding some cheap beer.

the end of an era...

2005-06-15T00:04:00.000-05:00

aka... good ridance.

so tomorrow i leave on a three day journey to miami to recover what is rightfully mine, or ought to be. Im headed down to pick up dan and bring him back to chicago. yes yes, we are all excited too. now he just needs a job. haha.

in other monumental life altering news, i have a new job next year. and about four new jobs this summer. but the summer jobs are minor. next year, now thats big news. I will be teaching algebra 1 and 2 at glenbard east. its been a bit bumpy getting things settled, but ive known for a while. im pretty sad about leaving montini, and i will really miss it, but my new department head seems like a fantastic guy. he has been nothing but fabulous to me so far, and i really look forward to working with him.

right now my living room is covered with clothes, the laundry is half done, the toiletries are half packed, my car needs cleaning, my cd's need sorting, and so does my brain.

this bears some resemblance to the insides of my head.

wish there were more beer...
going off to finish packing.

more updates when i get back.

my moment of dazzling brilliance.

2005-05-09T21:47:00.000-05:00

it seems like every one else has something to share or something to say. some message the rest of the world is lacking without.

im not one of those people. i dont do this for that reason. i do this to stay sane. if the rest of you find me brilliant, thats your problem. no really. it is. you should have that checked out.

ive found that im never happy with life at a relatively calm pace. if it seems to be calming down, i have to find some way to make it more insane.

and ive noticed in the past few weeks that my sarcasm and sense of humor has taken a dryness that makes it almost imperceptable. at least to teenagers. its fun to watch in class.

kaylin came ot school with me today. "miss haynes? whos that ? is that a new student teacher, is that your sister? who is that?"

"That, thats miss haynes. not my sister. no. i just went out and found a girl who sort of looked like me, only diferent. and same last name of course. now take out your homework"

general looks of confusion ensues.

I think the sarcasm ties right in with my lack of tollerance for bullshit. Ive told my students not to make excuses. if you dont have your homework, i dont care why. you dont have it. dont tell me why.

dan and i just had the following conversation
TreeBaby33: i had 3 oatmeal cookies for dinner
Dlogic44: i'm sleepy

i think that might about sum it. up.

time for bed.

yeah yeah. shut up.

2005-04-13T21:44:00.000-05:00

i know its been two months. bite me.

hm. well that sets the tone, doesnt it? ITs been a long two months. I am job searching openly now. Havent told students, but if a faculty member asks, im honest. I have letters of rec from 3 different people at school and one from my university supervisor. I had an interview at willowbrook, which went well i think, and im hoping for a call back and second interview in the next week.

i spent last night yelling at jeff. i feel a little bad about it, because it was alot of venting, and he just happend to be there.

dan is back in miami. he will finish in june. we spent an amazing two weeks when he was home for easter. Im scared to death of what will happen this summer, both for him and for me. both of us are job searching and have no where to live. i know that im going to be in the chicago land area one way or another. it may or may not be a good thing for him to find a job in chicago. depends on the agency and whatnot.

i have never been able to spell apologize. i always add an extra p.

i am so totaly exhausted right now. i am going to bed. id say that im going to update more frequently, but im going to remain realistic here. i may or may not. we shall see.

gurgles

2005-02-01T16:41:00.000-06:00

Im sitting at my computer, its 4:30, i just ate lunch. and my stomach is gurgling.

hit it.

Stupid cold has taken over my body. im sniffy, throat scratchy, and perhaps the worst, my ears are congested. its a bizzare feeling. I know enough to keep myself medicated enough that the general public can not see how sick i am. it helps that i slept for 4 hours yesterday after school, and still got a full nights sleep.

Im ditching tuesday night tv/halo in favor of my bed. well, my bed and the 40 thousand things i need to do. I have a list of people to return phone calls to, and they wont be short calls, and i dont really want to have them at marjories house. it would be rude. i also need to write a letter of recommendation for one of the teachers at school. he has been nominated for the "rising star" award. I dont know that any other faculty has written his recommendation letters, so i feel like i ought to. Karma or something.

I dont always feel very acomplished. i know that ive completed my master degree, and ive got a teaching certificate and im smart or whatever. but you know, when you write it all down on one sheet of paper, it doesnt feel like alot. i guess i just hope that one day ill be a good enough teacher to actualy make an impact and not just be another warm body at the front of the class room in the string of teachers each student has in a life time. I want to make an impact.

i guess thats all every one wants isnt it. we all want to do something and know that weve made a difference. left a mark. changed the world. i dont pretend to think that im talented enough or bright enough to be one of those people that every one recognizes. the famous difference makers. but it would be nice to find out in 20 years that some one did something for good that had a little bit to do with me.

I guess thats part of the reason i take comfort in my belief that everything has an effect. that life is one chain reaction. that coincidence happens so god can stay a mystery.
if i never went to montini, id never have met peg.
if i never met peg, id never have met dan.
if i never met dan id be sad.
if i never met dan, peg would have never met lonnie.
if peg never met lonnie, peg would be sad.

When i look at things like that, it makes me feel better about the awkward inbetween times. the times that dont make sense. the silly waiting, or hurting. sure, they sucked. but something better always came.

i think i may have just motivated myself to go work out tonight, even if i am sick. huh. look at that. no one is more surprised than I.

toodles.
tree

saturday night blues.

2005-01-29T22:57:00.000-06:00

and greens.

Ive been working on keiths quilt. it looks good so far. the little square bits ihave so far. I got a little excited while i was cutting tonight and i sort of cut WAY too many strips of one color. oops.

in other news, math team has been doing well lately. we placed 2nd at the past two meets, above schools we usualy lose to. im really proud of the kids, and we are all getting excited for regional and state.

im slightly dissapointed in tonight. peg and i were supposed to see joe/jake from college. he ended up never calling us back, and at this point, its just too late even if he did call. i was really looking forward to seeing him and meeting tres. ah well.

since i posted last, i got myself a new lap top. i realized my computer was verging on death, and i need something for work. her name is psyche. she is lovely. we are good friends.

last night i borrowed the projector from school and we projected halo on the walls of our apt. two xboxs. ginormous. it was good fun

alrighty then. its late, my brain has a hard time working after 10 pm.
im off kiddios. ill try and update more often. ive been bad lately.

adios.
tree

the final flurry

2005-01-11T23:28:00.000-06:00

finals start tomorrow. i have them all photo copied. and aside from the fact that NONE of my grades are done, i guess im sort of prepared.

semester grades are due next tuesday. brides maid dress shopping is saturday. driving kaylin to marquette is saturday. poker is friday. if i decide to join. i may tell the teachers forget it and just go take a nap. maybe.

im tired of living in separate states/countries/towns from dan. and thats all ill say about that.

three days of testing, hopefully only one more of grading. monday off. next tuesday i can start fresh.

fresh starts. doesnt that sound nice.

happy aftermath

2005-01-04T16:46:00.000-06:00

well. i guess i could say that im ready to start recovering from the holidays.
it was just a whirlwind of running around. i think i still have ribbons and wrapping paper in the back of my car. yep. there it is.

schools back. im alive. i keep saying that. "how are you?" - "I'm Alive"
and really, i think that sums it up. im not good. im not bad. im still alive and thats something.

dans in san francisco now. he left today. he also has a cell phone. if you want the number, email him. he may not be giving it out though, seeing how he hates cell phones. I am pleased simply because now i have a way to get ahold of him. yeah! i get to talk to danny!

im still contemplating those few things that i want to purchase as "christmas gifts" to myself. still thinking about tivo. or perhaps comcast dvr. havnt decided. comcast is cheaper. eh. Thinking about a new lap top. and ive done some of my home work. i think i know which one i want. thats good. its little . teeeny tiny. thats what i wanted. a little one. had to have a cd rom drive, so not too little for that. and i have a few system requirements. and cost requirements. but all in all, i think ive found a system thats a good comprimise for me. if i find a link i may post it.

crap. it was at fry's outpost, but i cant find it anymore. i just hope they still have it at the store. gotta call up mummy and daddy and perhaps go lap top shopping.

ok. its late. i have to go. its tuesday night. and on tuesdays there is beer. no wait. wings... nope. tv. and halo. thats right.

funny how many incarnations of tuesday night ive had. i like my tuesday night traditions. they are fun.

tuesday night beer and wings may have been my favorite.

the mix.

2004-12-15T13:44:00.000-06:00

Montini is doing a mix cd exchange. and because i have so much free time (sarcasm... drip... drip... drip) Im participating.

heres the list.

the life eclectic – t haynes

1. get over it – ok-go
2. wonderboy – tenacious D
3. natural woman – carole king
4. hey julie – fountains of wayne
5. i can tell that we are going to be friends – the white stripes
6. island in the sun – weezer
7. my beloved monster – the eels
8. light up my room – bare naked ladies
9. my immortal – evanescence
10. politicaly corrected – sr71
11. let go – frou frou
12. piano man – billy joel
13. tango shoes – bif naked
14. video – india arie
15. why the sun shines – they might be giants
16. bad day – fuel
17. she – green day
18. holding out for a hero - jennifer saunders (from shrek2)

making a list.

2004-12-10T15:02:00.000-06:00

in my spare time.

HAHAHAAAAAA
thats funny.

the family and friends gifts that im making can wait until after im out of school

grade school math meet this weekend, i need to finish typing those tests and get them to teachers to proof. ARG

I have a project to work on with peter this week too. thats suxxor.
notto mention the 4 sets of tests and quizzes i have not graded that i REALLY need to do this weekend. sigh. SIGH.

heres the plan. tonight, ill take care of making my christmas gift list and christmas card list. and gifts for next week at school secret santa, date breads, ornaments, etc.
tomorrow is the grade school meet.
sunday is tree decorating and babysitting for my bro.
i guessi just wont sleep sunday night, bc monday i need tests graded and other stuff.

oh god. i just got 10 times more stressed.

if you dont see me till christmas, call me and see if im dead.

la la la

2004-12-06T14:04:00.000-06:00

or perhaps falala.
whichever you choose.

just some snippets.

the 5 people you meet in heaven was on tv last night, and it might be the first made for tv movie that doesnt suck. and it didnt screw around with the book either. i think it perfectly complimented it. nothing major was left out. kudos to whoever is responsible for that movie. and you all, go find some one who recorded it and watch it. if you have a recording send me a copy so i can mail it to keith. yep.

i realize that christmas is fast over taking me. and i need to do christmas gifts for people at school first.

im a bit of a flake and i lost the name of my secret santa. not normally a problem, i know every one at school and id normally just remember the name. .. except that its cafeteria staff. and i dont know who they are. ARG

dan is going to San Fransciso. he will leave just after new years and if we are lucky, come home for easter. i get spring break the week after easter, so if he could be in town, that would be nice. and save me a bit on travel expenses. i was looking forward to visiting california, but its looking like that wont happen now. we dont really get enough time off to justify it while hes there. c'est la vie.

i wish i had the cash to just donate tons of $ to my adopt a family. sigh. we have $30 right now. from one kid. thats sad. I'll make people feel guilty this week. that will work.

ok. im off to photo copy work sheets and tests. i have so much to do these next few weeks, life is about to get crazy.

angels...

2004-12-03T09:36:00.000-06:00

I finished reading Angels and Demons by Dan brown last night. and i have to say, i was dissapointed in the ending.

if you havent read yet, there may be some spoilers. so. be forwarned.

My take on dan brown books is that they are basicaly indiana jones story except instead of ancient african relgions, its the catholic church and the secret anti-catholic societies. whatever. thats the part that every one has their panties in a bunch over, and thats the part idont care. its not an attack on the church, its just a damn adventure story.

heres the part i didtn like. he spends the whole book developing this caracter of the popes chaplain, the carlevato (i think) and in the LAST CHAPTER he changes that character. He changes from a devout and intelligent man who is mourning the death of his mentor, and struggling to remain cool in the face of tragity, to an insane person. I didnt like that. I understand the desire to have a twist at the end, or a surprise in order to create suspense for your reader, but that should NOT be at the expense of character integrity. I want to know that when im reading the book, im not being lied to by the narrator. it would be different if it were a first person narative, and it was from the bias of another character, but from a 3rd person, omnipotent narrator, thats unacceptable.
The davinci code did not have that problem, and while the plot of angels and demons was more interesting and, as peg says, more gritty the ending really just killed it for me. I dunno. there had to be a better way to do the twist at the end. even if there were NO twist at the end, perhaps just a lead in to davinci code(which supposedly comes after) either way. there were plenty of twists along the way. i was dissapointed.

anywhooo. i was up till 3 am reading it, and today im sleepy. it was a good read. i would still recomend it. I just think that the dan brown books, while good, were over hyped.

i did it...

2004-12-02T11:52:00.000-06:00

oh i did it. i called the dentist. and i made an appoinment.
im pretty sure i have at least two cavities to fill. and i also said that i was looking for some other dentist closer to where i live. you know, wheaton as opposed to park ridge. this driving to the dentist for an hour crap isnt worth it. part of why i havent gone in over a year.

i hate having cavities filled. the first one made me cry. i had my first cavity when i was 21. thats just sad. at that point, i should have my dental hygene down. sigh.

i have decided (with the help of my family) to not walk at graduation in January. Dan cant be there, my family may or may not be out of town, and i just dont care that much. i have the diploma and the certificate, and the debt. thats all i really need from it. so. there.

i need to wrap christmas gifts. i have alot, if not most of my shopping and crafting done. and i need to evaluate what i still have to work on. i need to prioritize projects. and i need a schedule of things to work on. since im busy from here till GOD KNOWS WHEN.

i need to start searching for inexpensive high quality clothes for my home rooms adopt-a-family. Every year, each home room gets a family to buy gifts for. and the family always asks for things like boots and winter clothes. I try to get them each clothing and a toy. kids need toys. this year we have 7 people in our family, which is HUGE. plus my homeroom is all freshman. they try hard, but they just dont have the extra cash to donate, or the cars to run around and pick up things. So, we will probably have a shopping spree some time in the next week or so. But as of right now we have $30 towards our goal of $350. that would be $50 per family member. Any one feel like being charitable? let me know. :) I take cash, or gift items.

i have to write a test for my geometry class. rawr. thats never fun. i wonder if students realize how much work it is for teachers to write and grade tests, its just as much work as it is to take them and study for them.

I'll stop complaining now and go eat lunch. i have soup today! mm. soup.

crunch

2004-12-01T13:53:00.000-06:00

sigh.

this morning i very carefully warmed up my car. i scraped the windows. i chipped ice off the windshield wipers.

and as i carefuly navegated out of my ice covered parking lot, a large suv with a snow covered window backed into me.

see.

sob.
my poor little car.

in happier news, danny gave me pretty things for my birthday.

that makes me feel a little better.
its hard to see, but those a pretty earings. ignore the messy face and hair.

:o)

2004-11-30T09:57:00.000-06:00

Its my BIRTHDAY! send me LOVE!

updates, OH THE UPDATES!

2004-11-29T13:27:00.000-06:00

two updates in two days, unprecidented, i know. and i dont even know what im about to talk about!

lets see, i promised photos ohhh, about a month ago. im going to dig around and see if i can find any good ones.

The holiday preparations are underway, and im starting to get excited. I got new garland and ornaments for our tree. and im totaly bummed that i have the grade school math meet and cant make it tree hunting with peg, lonnie and caitlin. its just dissapointing. ah well. we will be decorating the next day. so that should be fun. :)

here we go: Kaylin as a barbie. with her homade duct tape purse.

dan and fred at dinner a few weeks ago. At Souk. Thanks for that tip Bodnar. they have FABULOUS food. and a not so shabby belly dancer.

heres me and Anna, freds girlfriend

Thats all ive got for photos right now. ill have to scan in the thanksgiving fiasco photos. now THOSE are funny. :)

ok, im off to eat lunch. quick before i turn into a pumpkin. really! i will!
later
tree

ps if you want a christmas card, then give me your address. you can email me at treebaby@gmail.com.

im still here. :o)

2004-11-28T14:45:00.000-06:00

its been a long month. and christmas wont get better!

Thanksgiving was at my parents house, just the 6 of us, plus dan and fred for lunch. dan and fred were unexpected. but thats how life goes.

i recieved 3 thanksgiving invites i think, and its getting to the point where the holidays are spent running around back and forth from house to house. which doesnt bother me any, but i think its hard on my mom.

For some reason i decided to be nuts, and once again i did the day after thanksgiving sales. bargans were had, sleep was lost. it was good fun.

The next few weeks will prove to be hectic, but i really want to update more often. Its just hard to find that extra 5 min at a computer to write. ill do it though. ill do it.

Chris and Mel came to visit tues and wed before thanksgiving, and it was really nice to see them again. I miss hanging out with them. We spent so much time together senior year of college, i some times forget. Chris came to talk to my programming class and stuck around to talk to the web design class. i havent gotten a chance to talk to the kids yet, but i think they really enjoyed it. its always cool to see someone whos working with real life applications to stuff you do in school. no one ever believes its applicable. but it is.

Side note- MONTINI WON STATE PLAYOFFS FOR FOOT BALL!!!! congrats boys. nice work.
(not that any of them read here, but still)

ok... im off. things to grade, christmas shopping to do. more updates coming! more frequently i promise!!!

love you all
tree

long hard week.

2004-10-28T15:49:00.001-05:00

this week has just been hard emotionaly. and at work. but mostly emotionaly.
its the kind of thing you dont think about until after the fact. but it all makes sense as to why.

monday, october 25 was the anniversary of papa ed's death. that was a very difficult thing. and of course i chose that night to watch the movie Hanging Up. which pretty much is exactly how papa died.

throw into the mix a few days where i didnt leave school till 7, and then yesterday when i came back at 6 and didnt leave till 8, well. im stressed. that and a general angst towards the universe makes me a very happy camper. seriously.

my mood has alternated from knife bearing psycho to raging lunatic and back again.

i think i scared the bejesus out of a few students. i went from
"please sit down and stop talking" to "LAST WARNING BEFORE I SEND YOU TO THE OFFICE" in .06 seconds. they got the point though. this years students seems a little swifter on the uptake than last years.

tomorrow is halloween dress up day at school. i think i shall go as a butterfly. or a fairy. something with wings. im a fan of wings.

i should go to my moms house and steal back my wave iron, then i can crinkle my hair! oohhh!!!

sorry, random side thought. im back now.

The quarter ends tomorrow, and i need to do my grades for monday.
i hate doing grades. and all i have to do this time around is just type them in the computer!!! thats horrible of me, i know.

ah well. the math team kids are finishing up their tests, i should go help them with that. yep.

i have photos of kaylin being barbie. i will upload those later.
tootles
tree

what title. bah. who needs titles

2004-10-22T11:16:00.000-05:00

so last night was open house. always fun. bit surprised they didnt have a faculty social afterwards. they usual do. and they are usually fun. I think that the teachers might be planning a poker night after parent teacher conferences. so. i have that to look forwards to. :)

I keep running into people and finding out they read my blog. and while i know i emailed the link to every one i know, i generaly assume that my life is too uninteresting and poorly described to be of any interest to the general public. apparently im wrong. though ive heard that the photos seem to be a favorite amongst the masses. more photos will be coming. :)

i have a date saturday night. ::cue giggles and a general pink and girly aura::
its been a very long time since ive been on an actual date with dan. hanging out is not the same thing. its one thing when you end up at dinner together because you have to eat before you go somewhere and thats where you ended up. its utilitarian. its a different thing when you plan a nice night out, dinner and a movie and i get to worry about what ill wear and all that stuff. it seems silly, but its important. i think every one needs to feel special like that. in general, not just on dates. for example, i can cook dinner for my friends at any old time, and i often do. but its nice to have something that says you are that extra little bit special. which is why i like doing my holiday meal. its nice. we put out candle sticks. we match the silver wear and use clean wine glasses. sure it takes a day and a half to clean up, but its good people and good times. i look forward to that meal every year. i told peg that next year, she and lonnie will be in their new home, wherever that maybe, and they can do the dinner. ill come over and help. but i think it would be kindof nice to rotate between the two of us. the rest of the group changes a little bit every year, but peg and i are always hostesses.

anywhoo. lunch hour has arrived, and i should eat. so in the spirit of halloween, i leave you with this...

homecoming whatnots

2004-10-12T13:53:00.000-05:00

heres what the seniors did to my sky lights.

im just glad they didnt poop on them like they did some of the other skylights.
oh and this is just a sample of what they did to the rest of the campus...

and just to be weird and random, this is rick's shirt.

i thought that was something we could all enjoy.

balls

2004-10-08T15:31:00.000-05:00

of popcorn.
now we can add that to our culinary repitoir
Peg and I made some to send to Keith in iraq. i almost feel like his name should be hyphenated. ... "Keith-in-Iraq" because thats always how i say it. 'cept to peg.

ouch. the burny burny fingers

this is peggy being dramatic. and eating a chip. on an entirely different night.

these are the balls.
mmmmmmm
balls.

TEAMWORK! and burny hands.

thats weird. it looks like im talking to a baby kitten with that popcorn in my hand. odd. and i dont know why lonnie took and out of focus picture either. shrug

and heres my handsom danny and his drunken friend. not that ryan isnt handsome too. hes just drunk. and danny is handsomer. :)

and these are the two bridges paul and i built. i helped. those flat raft things go up top on the bridge, but we had to wait till the supports dried before we could glue those on.

thats all for now. more randomness later.

just some randomness

2004-10-05T16:02:00.000-05:00

it seems like every one i know and their uncles are married or engaged. i know its about that time, im 23 and most of my friends are early 20 so. so it makes sense. its just so overwhelmingly EVERY ONE.

dan moved into his place in the city. its fabulous. im slightly jelous. its a great location. and its nice. and .. well, it all seems to be looking like it will turn out to be a very nice internship for him. and thats good.

we are just about half way into homecoming week. god the crazyness. this year the theme is under the sea, and in retrospect, i hardly see the point of homecoming. yeah the idea is that the alumni come back, but why the heck do the current students care? because as alumni, i sure as heck dont. Sure ill be at the football game. but the theme of that is football. so.
its just an excuse to have a week of crazyness. which, by the way, is hell for teachers.

it is currently 64 degrees in my classroom, 59 degrees outside, and im wearing cotton and flip flops. hawaiian day and all.

I M SO COLD>

i know im the evilest teacher inthe world, but my sophs have a test tomorrow (its homecoming week!) and my frosh have one friday (its hOMECOMING week!) gosh that doesnt even make me feel a little bit bad. wow.:) i am positively mean.

hahaaaa!

i think this cold air has seeped into my brain. im out yo.

the suits

2004-10-01T13:56:00.000-05:00

last night after the debate, this commercial was aired on cnn (i think it was still cnn) Yahoo's Life Engine Ad

i love that ad.

at any rate, i sort of felt the debate was a little bit lack luster and boring. there was the potential for so many huge things to be brought up and said and delt with, and not much was. I felt that it was more of a draw than anything. and i also felt that the general reaction by all parties supports my opinon of that. for example, all the kerry supporters seem to think that he "Won" the debate. and all the bush supporters seemed pleased that he did well. so. id call that pretty much a draw. the point isnt to convince those who you allready had on your side, now is it?

im not a democrat or a republican. and quite honestly, ill vote on either side depending on the candidates platform and personal views. but the one thing that really stood out to me was that much of Bush's commentary was juvenile. Kerry:"Sadam Hussain didnt attack America, Osma Bin Laden did!" Bush -" I know THAT!"
yeah. so if you know it then you have alot of explaining to do, dont you? nope, never mind, change the subject.
course they were both good at changing the subject, but thats part of being a politician, isnt it.

i am so disenchanted with politics. i really think that the only reason i pay attention is because i have so little faith in the general populus to know what is best for the nation as a whole. not that i know, just that i some how feel my undereducated views might balence out theirs.

eh.
enough politics for me. im out.

ambitions

2004-09-28T15:25:00.000-05:00

I want to make this

sigh. if only i had a few hundred extra hours. and dollars. you know.

:)

weekend update

2004-09-27T15:08:00.000-05:00

this weekend was long, but good. the illini game was bizzare. but better than we had hoped for. at least it was interesting to watch. it was supposed to be a blow out, purdue should have anhilated us. amazingly we only lost 30 to 38, and only because of a couple silly errors on our part. we could have won. odd.

so for those of you in the area, FYI. there will be a get together at my apt. this friday. why? its just an excuse to have a get together, and since dan is back in town im sure you all are clamoring to see him. If you want to come, come, and bring with the beverage of your choice. Doors open at 8 or so, email or call first so i know how many to plan for, and if you need directions, lemme know.

other news. other news.
im tired.

but thats not news, is it?

my extrodinary long nails have mostly broken off. sigh. it was a nice time while it lasted, but i was getting a little vain about them. so now i think im going to start manicuring again and see how long it take to get them back to georgous. it was fun to do once, but id love to be able to have nice nails on a regular basis. lord knows i have enough nail polish that i could redo them every day and not run out for years.

ok. im off for home. tonight. tonight i think i might cook. or shop for fabric. or ... BOTH! :-D

i know im a sick person.

2004-09-24T11:13:00.000-05:00

but, im sorry. THIS is funny.

scary.

2004-09-22T16:11:00.000-05:00

and i mean really scary this time.

this afternoon we had a special kind of drill. like a fire drill or a tornado drill, but this drill was an intruder drill. which is frightening for all sorts of reasons. this one was unplanned though, and they asked us to account for every student, on campus or absent.

at the end of the school day an announcement was made, the park next to the school is full of police investigators and news reporters. apparently they think someone has drowned in the pond. (thus the accounting for all students) the roads are all closed and its generaly a mess out there.

its just a scary situation. i hate intruder drills. and i never want to do one again. fires and tornados i can cope with. those angry hurtful people, i just dont understand.

scary things

2004-09-21T13:37:00.000-05:00

lets see if a photo entry works out or not...

this is my mom and dan from pauls party on saturday. notice the matching plaid shirts, and the similar hairdos. simply frightening.

these are my two INSANE sisters. notice the crazy looks. mom is crazy too. dont let that calm smile fool you.

this is stephanie modeling the hat i knitted. (is the proper tense "knit"?) i think its too small for her ... i may give it to one of the little girls or caitie.

these are the little girls, the baby cousins, emma and emily. they actualy posed themselves for this, turned around and demanded i take their picture.

this is stephanie being a wuss and refusing to walk across the wood chips to kiss daddy goodbye before she drove back to champaign. so i carried her sorry ass over. notice my cute little hiney, thats about all you can see of me. :)

this is me, looking rather drugged. and emily. we noticed about ayear ago that emily looks identical to pictures of me at that age. which is frightening. but she is cute.

thats all for now.

beer and wings.

2004-09-21T10:28:00.000-05:00

so, two years ago dan and i started a little tradition. every tuesday night, after my classes and after he got off work ( he was working for alliance at the time, really crappy hours) we would go to Buffalo Wild Wings for $.30 wings and $2 fosters drafts. every tuesday. it was a weekly date, we always went. and i loved it. with him out of the state and country for the past year, we havent been there in a while, but tonight we are going again! of course, wings are up to $.35 a wing, which is so uncool and making me feel old. "i remember back when they had wings for only 30 cents! and i used to walk there, up hill! both ways!"

but im psyched for the wings. :)

in other news, now that i think ive finaly caught up on sleep from chaperoning the senior lock in, my allergies are acting up. so even if i am well rested, i still have the puffy tired eyes. ick.

dan and i stopped by raw last night. it amazes me how much the WWE wrestling is like a soap opera for men. you can not watch for 6 months and when you come back, very little has changed. It takes about 5 min talking with a regular watcher to get caught up. and its all so overly dramatic. i mean really. of COURSE whatserbutt had a miscarriage... what she was at 3 months? if they let her stay pregnant on the show, they would have to start explaining why she wasnt starting to show. sheesh. common people? how predictable is that?!

ok- its time to utilize my freeperiod for something productive. not that this isnt productive and all. lord knows i need to brain dump every once in a while.
later all.

you love me, you reallydo.

2004-09-17T22:34:00.000-05:00

so the response ive gotten from the email i sent out about this blog has been good. my aunt seemed excited (waves) and im sure my cousins, mj and jenny will be reading too. Ive also heard from quite a few friends who seem to be pleased. good good.
i promise, frequent updates. ill be the first to admit that im adicted to the internet. so the more posts and comments, the merrier.

things to do, i must finish cleaning my apt. Dan arrives home tomorrow afternoon, and i wont want to spend time cleaning and working while i could be spending time with him. I offered to get a gift for dans nephew, whos birthday party is on sunday (at the same time as my brothers) so tomorrow ill head to toys r us or some other store with baby toys. owen is one year old. :o)

i just realized that... ahhh... uhmmm... all my sheets are in the washer. wet. and its 1 am. i really need to work on going to bed at a normal, human time. sigh. im just not a morning person. im a night owl. a night owl who needs 9 hours of sleep. quite a cunnundrum.

ok kids, past my bedtime. ill have to settle for a comforter and mattress pad. theres no way im waiting up for sheets.
gnite all

good news and weekend events

2004-09-17T15:52:00.000-05:00

Good Good, Very GOOD news.

Dan was placed with an internship in chicago. that fabulous. thats amazing. that makes me very happy.

ok. now that ive scraped myself off the ceiling...

In other news, the siblings will be home this weekend, and haynes family fun can begin. Pauls birthday party is on sunday, and it sounds like all my aunts and uncles on my moms side will be coming. Which is good, we havent seen them in a while. We dont seem to get together as often since my grandfather passed away. Its sad for lots of reasons.

so, my weekend looks like this, laundry, cleaning, grading tests, and then party party party. I have such an exciting life. lord knows.

happy friday to all. im off to do lesson plans.

no time to 'splain, let me sum up.

2004-09-16T10:53:00.000-05:00

Quick summary-

I am currently teaching at Montini Catholic High School in the chicago suburbs.

I teach Basic Algebra for freshman, Honors Sophomore Geometry, and C++ and Java computer programming.
I LOVE my job.

My boyfriend, Dan is at the moment, in europe. He is attending Miami Advertizing School and will be finished next june. That means he spent a year living in Miami, 3 months study abroad in Amsterdam, and neither he, nor I, have any clue as to where he will be for the next 9 months. It's and adventure to say the least.

My lovely parents also live in the chicago suburbs with my 10 yr old brother. (today is his birthday!) and when they arent at school, my two sisters.
Stephanie is attending the University of Illinois, my alma mater. Steph is majoring in Computer Engineering. Shes a pretty smart cookie.
Kaylin is attending Marquette University in wisconsin. Shes majoring in math education, and she hopes to minor in art. shes a pretty smart cookie too.

I am currently living in an apt with my roomate in wheaton. Peggy is engaged to be married to another of my good friends, Lonnie, in Oct. of 2005.

I think thats a good start. Lord knows there will be more updates as I go. :)

new beginnings

2004-09-16T10:44:00.000-05:00

Well, ive decided. im doing it. im striking out into unknow territory. Ive kept a journal of sorts for years and years, but this will be my first totaly public web log. I wanted a place to post updates on life, whats going on, and some of my other general rantings that i feel the world would be a better place for having heard. So welcome, friends, family, countrymen. feel free to leave a note and let me know you stopped by.