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Tuesday, February 13, 2007

My weekend with Josh...

I am finally home and able to relax. It was very busy weekend. Today was even more busier. I will go into what happened today later in this blog entry. Saturday Well, the weekend started on Saturday morning at 1:30 am. I could not sleep at all due to lack of food in my system and the excitement of seeing Josh again. (Note: This was SECOND time that this happened. First time was NYE!) I even texted my sweetie to see if he was up like me. Well, he was, but advised me to get back to sleep, which I was able to until my alarm went off at 6 am. At 6 a.m.I was able to spring - off the couch where I was sleeping - hit my alarm clock before hitting the shower. I was dressed, ate, and ready to head to the airport by 7 am. I was starting to count down the hours and minutes before I was seeing him again. It had been SO long (okay...only 39 days). I arrived at the airport by 7:30. I was immediate flabbergasted with HUGE line to the Northwest Airlines ticket counter. HELL I have an e-ticket. It should go VERY quickly. NOT! (Too many people going to Cancun...wow!) Well, it did end up going that way, but took about 20 minutes to do so. I was able to get to my gate within 30 minutes of departure. Once I was on the plane, it was very nice flight and quick one too. The gal next to me was heading to a gymnastic meet in Chicago and even asked me about my P.F. Chang's shirt that I was wearing that day. She asked if I ran the half-marathon in Arizona. (Well, I was wearing the Finishers shirt. Hmmmm.) But I ended up on the plane for another 20 minutes because the plane that was at our gate was broken and needed to be transported away. It was not SO bad because Josh was running late with the car he was driving in the middle of Saturday AM traffic to O'Hare. Well, I FINALLY get off the damn plane. YAYYY! I hurry to the baggage claim so I can get my last suitcase before meeting Josh outside. Well, he ended up parking the car and meeting at the baggage claim, which was good because I was still waiting after 10 minutes for my bags. UGHHH! But I am SO happy to see him, which made the late arrival and bags go away. After I get my baggage, we head to the car that he was driving and head back to his place to drop off the bag before eating lunch. I was SO hungry from being up early and waiting SO long for my bags. We ended up going to a very nice Thai restaurant down the street. I had Pad Thai for the first time, which was very good. I was a little nervous at first, but it was very good. After lunch, we head back to his place for a mid-afternoon siesta, which I really needed before we went out for the evening activities. The evening activities started out with a taxi to Michigan Avenue since it was getting very cold and windy outside. We walked along Michigan Avenue and stopped at the American Doll Store. We made a very special purchase there for my daughter for her upcoming birthday in April. I know that she will LOVE it. After a little bit more walking around, we ended going inside to get warmed up at the mall near Nordstrom's. Well, once inside, I was in HEAVEN because I saw a place that TOTALLY caught my eye. Josh can vouch that for me. My breath was taken away when I saw....Ethel's Chocolate Lounge. I swear I heard choirs of angels singing. (No..that was just the mall music that I was hearing.) We ended up sitting down for a while and had HEAVENLY cup of hot cocoa....along with a sample of one of the chocolate pieces. YUMMMMY! Then we continued to walk around the mall to keep warm before going back outside. Due to very cold wind and temps, Josh and I decided to head towards our final destination a little bit early, Bin36. I was SO much in awe that it was SO close to the House of Blues. SO COOL! We had some good cheese from the cheese bar along a glass of wine to go along with it. Our dinner reservation was not until 9:15 pm and we were there at.....7:30. Ooops! Well, we ended up staying there for the entire time until dinner. For dinner, we were seated a very nice booth towards the back of restaurant. I ended up with some very yummy scallops and shared some of Josh's salad with another glass of wine. After dinner, we took a taxi and made a very earnest attempt to go to the Signature Room for drinks and desserts. Ummm...Houston, we have a problem! The line for the Signature Room was VERY long. We were very tired from the long day, even with the short nap so opted to go home early. It was already 11:15 and it was time to end the wonderful evening. Sunday Our day started at 8:30. We started the day very lazy because I did not have to be at the testing until 11:15. But we were out on the road by 10:30. Since the traffic was going SO well, we even had time to stop at the Mitsuwa Market in Arlington Heights, which was 5 minutes away from the Elk Grove Village High School where I was doing my police testing. It was truly an amazing place. Josh picked up a few supplies and some tasty yummies for dinner. After we left, he dropped off at the high school and wished me lots of luck. I walked into the high school and found where they were holding the check-in for the testing. When I showed them my Driver's License from Minnesota, they immediately asked if I DROVE. HELL NO! I politely replied that I flew in the previous day. They made a photo-copy of my license because they were not able to pull in information from their system....and because I was from out of town (and state!) I signed my waiver and then headed into the auditorium for the orientation before the testing. During the orientation, they present themselves as being very professional and picky of who they were looking for to join their police department, but they were looking something that I had - integrity and honesty. After the orientation, we led into the school cafeteria for the written exam, which consisted of a memory test, reading comprehension, personality interest exam, and another psychological exam. Once I was finished with that portion, it was time for the hard part and to the most disappointing part of the exam - the physical agility exam. The first test was very easy - sit and reach. Passed it with FLYING colors. But next (and LAST) one was to be end for me. I was talking to people in the line about what I had gone through in Minnesota to get my Police Officer certification and they were shocked (mostly because I had to PAY for my schooling and to get into the academy!) Then it was time to do the sit-ups. The first 30 seconds were very easy, but looking back I think I did not pace myself very well and went TOO fast. The last 20 seconds were WORST nightmare EVER. My stomach and back muscle gave out on the LAST TWO sit-ups. I was SO damn close to go onto the run, but NO, I FAILED....literately. It was the end of the line for me, but tried SO hard to not get upset about it. I know that I can try again with another agency. But in the state of Illinois, I am on a time countdown to my 35th birthday - only over 2 1/2 years away - not much time at all for me. I need to work VERY hard to get on a good suburban agency. I know that I have a better shot here than back in Minnesota where the competition is very tough. I called Josh right away to pick me up...WAY ahead of schedule. It took him a little bit of time to pick up, but I was entertained by the TV playing Discovery Channel. I watched two shows of Mythbusters where I LOVED watching them blowing up shit for science. Gotta LOVE that! Right before Josh picked me up, the underpants that was wearing was starting to get VERY uncomfortable. I went to the bathroom to change out of it...THANK GOD! Then I did some networking with a few of the other people who tested. They gave me another source of job positions to help me out. THANK YOU!! Then Josh arrived to pick me up. Yayyy! Once I got in the car, I needed a HUGE hug, which I got from him. Then we drove off to get something to eat because I was VERY hungry. After some driving we ended up at one of his favorite Polish restaurants, The Red Apple. It was a very YUMMY place with everything that I LOVE, especially the pierogies! YUMMMMMMY! I was in Polish heaven. Thank you! It took my mind off of the stuff I was feeling for a little bit. After dinner, we headed back to his place where we relaxed, checked out blogs, and then slowly fell asleep at 9 pm - very early. We were pretty tired. Monday Well, our day started early at 8:30 with being very lazy until 11:30 when started our 2.5 mile walk around the Rogers Park neighborhood. We looked at the neighborhood especially in the West Roger Park area. We then walked on Devon Street in the Indian neighborhood. I loved the smells of the yummy Indian food and some of the shops along the street. A lot to taken in. We had lunch at Tiffin. Josh and I HIGHLY recommend this restaurant if anyone's looking for some good South Indian food in Chicago. Very yummy! After lunch, we took the bus back to the train back his place. Later in the evening, we sat on the couch watching "Van Wilder" along with three episodes from Season 4 of "Scrubs". He cooked me some dinner in between the movie and "Scrubs". Ladies, I am a very lucky lady because he knows how to cook. ;) After dinner and "Scrubs", we retired early because I had my early flight to catch and 5:30 am would come very quickly, but still had time to talk like always. Tuesday Well, I thought (and secretly hoped) that my flight would be delayed. Ah...no! We were up at 5:30 and were out the door by 6:30. The wind was HORRIBLE! My lungs did not like it at all. Too cold! Then we had a SAINT come by...in the form of a taxi. Hallelujah! The drivers took us to the Blue line, which took us to O'Hare. My flight was still on time. Oh well! :( Well, it was not easy to say "Goodbye". It was hard...believe me. I know that we will see each other again in 24 days. This time will be HERE in Minnesota before heading back to Chicago again. Being at home was not easy today either. After taking a Supershuttle home, I opened my apartment to find it looking like WWIII inside. I was SO mad! But I did not sit there and wallow in my pity. I ended up cleaning for 2 hours right before going to work. Once I got to work, I was once not able to relax at all. I was going NOT stop for 8 hours. It SUCKED! Hopefully tommorow will be a better day. Of course, it's Valentine's Day. I will do this tommorow afternoon, but I submit a dare to EVERY blogger to submit a public message about someone that they adore or love. Hell, it's a day of love! Everyone has been TAGGED!

8 comments:

Full Metal Lunchbox said...

Thanks for a wonderful time this weekend.  I enjoyed every minute and can't wait to see you again soon.

You're a very special woman, Denise, and you've made me very happy.  
(I'm saying this in a comment in case I don't have time to answer your "tag" today.)

I have a feeling we have lots of good times in store together.

Full Metal Lunchbox said...

P.S. the restaurant we went to on the way home from Elk Grove was the "Red Apple."

My Life said...

Congrats Denise (and Josh) on your romance. Despite last weekend's testing, it sounds like you are a happy and successful track!

Mmem said...

Happy Valentine's Day to you!!!

To respond to your "challenge" the one I love is my husband, I am the luckiest girl in the world:-) You're right, we should all celebrate the loved ones (non-romantic as well as romantic!) in our lives.

Peace!

! said...

I did!! oh yes I did my tag :) Happy Valentine's Day. I'm sure you'll have a fantastic day. :) Oh and you trip seem like so much fun!!! depsite the down part. :)

L*I*S*A said...

Sounds like a great weekend. As for the test, you'll get there.

I *heart* Chi-Town. :)

seagull junker said...

what a great weekend, thanks for sharing.

Dori said...

That's quite a tour! Chicago is a great city. So sorry that you didn't pass the exam; it sucks when you work so hard for something. I hope something great job-wise comes along soon.