Tired puppy

Today, I went down to Columbia for my cousin's 6th birthday party. Toby came along and he had a blast playing with the children. Since he did not get his usual naps, he was exhausted on the drive home and slept the whole way!

Mongolian Grill

While shopping today, my mother and I decided to go to Crazy Fire: Mongolian Grill today for lunch. If you have never been, this is a place where you grab a bowl, then go through the buffet line and pick the vegetables, meat, and spice/sauce combo that you want. You can stuff the bowl as full as you want and place whatever variety of things that you wish. Then, you take the bowl of raw food to the grill area where the cook then cooks the food in front of you using these large 'sword' type objects on the flat grill. The story behind this, as I was once told (which of course could be a lie, but it makes sense), is that the Mongolian warriors would use flip their large shields over a hot fire to form a cooking surface, and use their swords as utensils to cook the food. Whatever the actual reason is, the food is amazing, and if you ever get a chance to go to a Mongolian Grill, go in and enjoy!

Happy Pancake Day!

Okay, so I know this is one of those obscure days, but I found this picture and it was too funny not to share. I'm enjoying a rainy Friday and thinking how happy I am that I'm not relying on public transportation today. It is definitely not fun being in Chicago on a rainy day waiting at the bus stop.

Time to go enjoy my Friday and go shopping!

And the winner is...

I will be working at Rowan Regional Medical Center in Salisbury, NC for the next few months. I am very excited, and happy to be living at home for the next bit. This way, I do not have to move until next year, and will be home for the holidays. Now, time to think and plan about where to go next time. Any suggestions? I'm considering Vegas and Florida, but I'm not set on anything yet. Oh yeah, I start work on October 6, so I have another week off to enjoy myself!

New Hair Cut

I went today to get a much needed hair cut and new highlights put into my hair. It always a nice thing having someone else style your hair, especially when they straighten it for you! As many of you know, I rarely straighten my hair as it takes over an hour, so it is nice when I go get my hair done at a stylist and they do it for me!

By the way, I've been a little quiet about my next travel assignment as I've been having some issues. First, the place I was originally going to go fell through, so it was down to a few others. The one I was going to pick had to back out because their current traveler decided last minute to extend. I believe I have one place solidified now, but I'm going to hold off on official details until I find out either today or tomorrow (hopefully). No worries, I have a great recruiter and he is working very hard for me to keep me happy and in a good job.

Funny story/joke

I normally post things about my life on here, however when my friend told me this about her coworker, I laughed so hard that I had to share. She asked him if it was true, and he swears that this really occurred.

My friend's coworker comes to her to tell her this story about his dog:
Apparently, he raises/trains high quality hunting dogs, and one day, his dog comes into the yard and brings him a dead rabbit. Well, his neighbor raises rabbits, so he knew his dog had somehow gotten a rabbit out of the cage, killed it (as he is a trained hunting dog), and brought it back. The man did not want his neighbor to be mad at him, as he would know it was his hunting dog who did it, so he took action. He took the dead rabbit back into his house, gave it a bath (complete with shampooing it and scrubbing all of the dirt off), then blow dried the dead bunny so that it was nice, soft, and clean. He then quietly went over to the neighbors yard and put the clean and dead rabbit into the empty cage where it belonged. Well, he was quiet about this for a few days, so when he finally saw his neighbor a few days later, he asks "so, how are your rabbits?" The neighbor replies, "Well, the strangest thing happened the other day. One of my rabbits died, so I buried it out back. Then a few days later, the rabbit was back in the cage again. I don't know how it happened, but it's really odd." I believe the man replied something to the effect of 'yeah, that is really strange." So, he expected the worst of his dog, cleaned a dead rabbit, put it back in the cage, AND freaked out his neighbor. When all his dog did was dig up a dead rabbit and bring it home.

I laughed so hard at this that I almost cried. Could you imagine walking out to your rabbit cages to find your dead rabbit soft and clean laying in the cage? I'm sure he's still scratching his head trying to figure that one out.

Of course, as it turns out, that this is a joke that circulates around and is on internet joke sites. However, it is still funny, and made even funnier by the fact this coworker of hers actually does raise hunting dogs.

Home at Last!

I just wanted everyone to know that after a LONG slightly less than 12 hour drive, Toby and I made it home safely. I was exhausted, and his medicine had worn off, so he was ready to play! He was a very good boy, and let me know when he needed to go outside. As it was still 9:30, we were able to stop at a nice gas station/McDonald's combo that was well lit and very populated. After that stop, it was smooth sailing until we got home.

Drive Home

I just wanted to let everyone know that I am packing the last few things, eating lunch, and going to get on the road for the long 12 hour drive home. I'll be safe and careful, and I'll let everyone know when I make it home!

Winding Down

As I am leaving Chicago on Friday, I have been spending the past few days preparing to leave. This means packing my suitcases, eating all of the food that I have left over, and cleaning the apartment so it looks as it did when I moved in. While I'm not ready for the long drive home, I'm definitely ready to be home for a bit.

Crazy Morning!

What a morning, even before 8 am! I get to work and get inside to find out that 2 of the 3 patients that I had scheduled for this had canceled. As my patient case load is winding down, I am having fewer patients scheduled each day. This meant that I had all of this morning free to make sure that I had all of my things in order before I leave on Friday. In addition, I found out this morning that some person had possibly jumped off on the 9 level parking garage at some point during the night/early morning (before 7 am) to end his life. It is such a shame to see someone end their life because usually there is always a way out. The therapist in me also knows that 9 levels is a poor choice to actually end your life because there is a chance you will actually make it and end up with a spinal cord injury (paralyzed) or a brain injury. Needless to say, a strange morning.

On a good note, my afternoon went well! Plus, I began packing last night, so I am not completely putting off things until the last minute.

Ike comes to Chicago

As many of you know, Ike slammed Houston on Saturday causing much flooding and damage. Well, this morning, Ike came into Chicago and is expected to cause huge amounts of rain and storms all day. As you can see in the picture above, it is very gloomy and foggy. The top of the Sears Tower is normally visible at the left hand side of the picture, but the fog has it, and many other buildings covered. It was also raining on Friday and Saturday as a result of a hurricane/tropical storm that came from the west coast. The good news is, the rain is supposed to pass and the week is expected to be nice. Only 5 more days left in Chicago!

Toby's new game!

As I sit and watch the Clemson/NC State game on ESPN360.com (thankfully, I will be back in NC next weekend, and I can watch the games on real tv again), I decided to film Toby in his new game. Toby has learned how to play catch! He is getting much better, and can catch his large toys and his smaller toys. In the video below, Toby is catching his new toy "Teddy." He loves this game and will play it over and over and over! Also, turn on your sound for the full effect.

Hard Rock Cafe

As I got out of work early today, I decided to go to Hard Rock Cafe for lunch. As I had never been to this area, it was interesting to see all of the gorgeous architecture a few streets from the Magnificent Mile. Hard Rock Cafe is located right beside the 'Rock and Roll' McDonalds (you can see the large golden arches in the picture above). Now, I just have to think about how I am going to spend my last weekend in Chicago, assuming it doesn't rain all weekend!

In Remembrance...

I wanted to take the time today to do what every American should do, take a moment of silence to remember that terrible day 7 years ago.

It is a shame that the memory of that day is fading in the minds of many Americans, and they are having a hard time remembering why exactly we went to war in the first place. I still remember waking up that day as a RA in Lever Hall and walking down the hall to see one of my residents watching something on the news. I quickly rushed back to my room and turned on the television to see the broadcast showing the first building with a smoking, gaping hole. Then, as I'm watching the news, the second plane goes crashing into the 2nd building. Then, I hear reports about the Pentagon and the 4th plane crashing in the Pennsylvania field. How could this happen? I remember thinking that over and over as I called people I knew were awake to tell them to turn on the television. I also went to the candle-light vigil held on Bowman Field that night (at Clemson University) and hearing so many people saying they had not yet heard from a family member who was living in New York or supposed to have been on a plane that morning. I also remember being glued to the television when I was not in class to watch to see if any more survivors had been fount and cheering for President Bush's announcement that we were going to war to fight for our freedom and safety to make sure another attack like this did not happen on American soil. I also remember the many young people who signed up to join the military to fight to preserve this great country and keep the large majority of us safe as we sleep in our warm beds. So today, and everyday, we should take the time to remember those terrible days and remember all of those who lost their lives on September 11, 2001 and all of the many who have lost their lives since in the military to keep us safe while they are defending us from the evil people who threatened our peace of mind and safety.

May God continue to bless America and our troops!

Beautiful Morning

I decided to take a picture of the gorgeous sun rise again, as I haven't taken one since my first morning in Chicago. The weather in the Midwest is definitely different, it is only in the 50s at night, but this afternoon the temperature had risen to the low 70s. It is a strange thing having the weather turn to fall in early September, as I am used to having summer weather still. One good thing is the sun is not coming up as quickly, so Toby is sleeping later!

Where has summer gone?

Okay, so I got my first real taste of the Midwest weather today. Today, the weather has been rainy and in the 50s, COLD! I know the weather is going to be back in the 70s later this week, but today was definitely not so fun waiting at the bus stop. It makes me glad I won't be here for the winter!

The Art Institute of Chicago

As I am drawing near to the end of my time in Chicago, I decided to go see the Art Institute today. It was full of beautiful pieces of art, sculptures, and various pieces of furniture. I am glad that I took the chance to see these special pieces of art from different eras of time and from all over the world. Unfortunately, the Impressionist and Post-Impressionist collection is undergoing renovations, so I was unable to see the paintings by Claude Monet and Vincent van Gogh (among others). For more information visit the Art Institute of Chicago online!

Chicago Redbull Flugtag!

I met up with 2 of the other traveler's that work with my company today and we went to North Avenue Beach for the Redbull Flugtag (which means 'flying day'). If you have ever seen any Redbull commercials with crazy people jumping off a ramp with a 'flying device,' that is where I was. Basically, people build these contraptions that are supposed to fly through the air, come up with some routine, and then come to the Flugtag. The groups are judged on 3 areas: showmanship, craftmanship, and the distance you fly. While most of the 'vessles' took a nose-dive off of the ramp, some managed to go 40-50 feet, and one went 120 feet! The place was sooooo crowded with over 50,000 people crammed onto North Avenue Beach, but we managed to have a pretty good spot to stand and watch the show. Make sure to watch the video above of one of the groups jumping into the water.

Now, I'm watching the Clemson game on ESPN 360 online, and thankfully they are beating the Citadel! Go Tigers!

Rain, rain, go away...

Now the remnants of Hurricane Gustov are hitting Chicago, which means tons of RAIN! This morning, after standing at the bus stop for 20 min with no bus (and the people who were waiting for 20 min. before me were even more upset than I), I had to catch a cab. Unfortunately, if I had waited for the bus (even if it came that minute), I would have been late for work...so, rather than being late for work, I spent $10 on the cab that got me there in time. Oh, the joys of living in a big city and using public transportation. On a good note, my actual day at work went well and I was able to catch the bus home from work right when I left the building, so I didn't have to stand out in the rain for long.

Toby's Pile of Toys

Apparently, while I was at work today, Toby got bored and piled some of his toys on top of each other. If you look closely, he has piled 6 toys and one of my flip flops all together (yes, and a flip flop, he loves to take my flip flops and run around the apartment with them...don't worry, he doesn't chew them). He is such a silly boy!

Happy Labor Day!

I just wanted to take the time to say Happy Labor Day! Labor Day has many meanings to different people. For some, it means a day off from work to reward all of the many other hard days. It can also mean no more white shoes, okay, so that one is going out a bit, but I still remember hearing it growing up. Another meaning for children is either time to begin school, or a fun day off after beginning school a couple of weeks ago. For others, it is the last big 'hooray' of the summer, meaning the muggy, hot days are behind us and fall is just around the corner. Whatever this day may mean to you, I hope that everyone has a great Labor Day and spends time with family and loved ones! Toby and I have been hanging out all day having a grand time! Only 3 more weeks left of Chicago, then it is back to NC again (I may know more about where my next assignment is this week, I'll post a definite whenever I hear for certain).