How low can you go?

My crazy dad entered a limbo competition(you think the marathon would have been enough physical activity for the trip) while in Hawaii. Unfortunately, he wasn't the overall winner, but he DID get 2nd place. He got beat by the lady in the background. I think it was the ruffles on his pant legs that threw off his blance. Better luck at defending your limbo champion title at the family Christmas this year, dad. I'm still proud of you.

Hold on, Mom!!!

My mom rode a dolphin! How fun is that? You can just see the excitement on her face!

Sittin' on the dock of the bay

Last night at dinner, my parents got asked to play "Sittin' on the dock of the bay" on stage with a local band, beacuse they were wearing Hawaiian print shirts most similar to the bands(notice they are just slightly different than the two guys on the ends). My mom sang her little heart out and I am sure my dad strummed the ole guitar like he never has before, luckily they are good musicians. Wow! I have some wild parents that are just livin' it up in Hawaii!

HP VII

Rowling has released a little teaser information about the 7th Harry Potter book that she is currently writing. Rowling reports that she finished the last chapter of the last book in 1990, before she had a publisher for the first book. In the final book in the series, two main characters will die, one possibly being Harry.

My prediction: Harry and Voldermort will both die. Harry will die shortly after Voldermort, accomplishing his life goal to kill him and die knowing he accomplished this.

The fifth movie in the series will be released next summer.

I am now a season pass holder

Here is a summary of my trip to Six Flags Great America yesterday: phenomenal.

The weather was predicted to be cool with a 40% chance of rain all day. My co-worker Sanj and I decided to go to Six Flags and brave the elements. The weather was perfect. It turned out to be about 68 and partly cloudy all day. The park was pretty empty(except that super skater Tony Hawk was there riding the rides) and there were almost no lines. The longest we waited in line was 40 minutes and that was because we waited for the first car on Superman. Infact, out of our 13 times on the coasters, there was only one time that we weren't in the first car. That was when we got to ride American Eagle twice in a row without getting off. The only stipulation was that we had to move out of the first car where we rode it the first of two consecutive times.

Here is a run down of the coasters we tamed:

Raging Bull= 4 times
American Eagle= 3 times
Batman= 2 times
Superman= once
Viper= once
Demon= once
Iron Wolf*= once

*We decided that the Iron Wolf should be replaced. The novelty of this ride is that you are standing up on it. However, it is a very rough ride and your head gets banged around a lot. We both got off this ride with pretty bad head aches. Either make this ride more smooth or replace this hunk of metal.

Nice suits

My dad used waaaaaaay too much sunblock on his face. He also seems to tan faster than my mom. Their matching suits are HOT!

Good times in Hawaii

My parents are in Hawaii for their 30th anniversary. While they are there, I will be keeping everyone updated on their activities via my blog. Yesterday my dad ran the Hawaii Marathon. He didn't feel so good afterwards, but my mom sure was proud of him. One of many fun pictures of their activities to come!

This city was made for walkin'

The weather was absolutely beautiful today so I spend my day walking around the city...yet again. Today I headed up and down Michigan Ave so I could hit up the Gap. I always like to play little mind games when I walk around. My favorite is to pick out whether people are tourists or not. It is a fun game and I really have to laugh when I see people with MASSIVE cameras hanging around their necks, a group of people huddled around a map or the classic matching t-shirt or name badges around the neck. I am not the best at the city, but have gotten much better in the past month from all my walking around downtown.

Chicago under attack?

MIAMI - June 22, 2006 - Seven people were arrested Thursday in connection with the early stages of a plot to attack Chicago's Sears Tower and other buildings in the U.S., including the FBI office in Miami, a federal law enforcement official said.
As part of the raids related to the arrests, FBI agents swarmed a warehouse in Miami's Liberty City area, using a blowtorch to take off a metal door.
The official told The Associated Press the alleged plotters were mainly Americans with no apparent ties to al-Qaida or other foreign terrorist organizations. He spoke on condition of anonymity so as not to pre-empt news conferences planned for Friday in Washington and Miami.
Miami U.S. Attorney R. Alexander Acosta said in a statement that the investigation was an ongoing operation and that more details would be released Friday.
"There is no imminent threat to Miami or any other area because of these operations," said Richard Kolko, spokesman for FBI headquarters in Washington. He declined further comment.
Residents living near the warehouse said the men taken into custody described themselves as Mulims and had tried to recruit young people to join their group, which seemed militaristic.
The residents said FBI agents spent several hours in the neighborhood showing photos of the suspects and seeking information. They said the men had lived in the area about a year.
The men slept in the warehouse, said Tashawn Rose, 29. "They would come out late at night and exercise. It seemed like a military boot camp that they were working on there. They would come out and stand guard."
She talked to one of the men about a month ago: "They seemed brainwashed. They said they had given their lives to Allah."
Rose said the men tried to recruit her younger brother and nephew for a karate class.
"It was weird," she said.
Gov. Jeb Bush was briefed on the situation Thursday, according to his spokeswoman, Alia Faraj.
"We have great confidence in the federal, state and local law enforcement agencies who are committed to keeping our country safe," Faraj said.
She added that there has been greater communication between state and federal agencies since the 2001 terror attacks.
The 110-floor Sears Tower is the nation's tallest building. Its skydeck was closed for about a month and a half after the Sept. 11 attacks.
Several terrorism investigations have had south Florida links. Several of the Sept. 11 hijackers lived and trained in the area, including ringleader Mohamed Atta, and several plots by Cuban-Americans against Fidel Castro's government have been based in Miami.
Jose Padilla, a former resident once accused of plotting to detonate a radioactive bomb in the U.S., is charged in Miami with being part of a support cell for Islamic extremists. Padilla's trial is set for this fall.
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Shaken Mel Syndrome, don't mind that I am dressed like a mime

Mel needed a good shaking.

Save your liver, drink some coffee

Coffee may cut alcohol liver damage

Illinois - Could Irish coffee be the perfect drink?

Researchers report that drinking coffee cuts the risk of cirrhosis of the liver from alcohol -- by 22 percent per cup each day -- but they stopped short of saying doctors should prescribe coffee for that reason.

The report from the Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program in Oakland, California, was based on a look at data from 125,580 people. "These data support the hypothesis that there is an ingredient in coffee that protects against cirrhosis, especially alcoholic cirrhosis," concluded the report published in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

What could cause the apparent protective effect is not clear, the report said. "Coffee is a complex substance with many potentially biologically active ingredients," the study said. "The fact that coffee is also frequently taken with added cream, milk, sugar or other substances adds more possibilities for health effects."

Other studies with similar findings have led to speculation that caffeine could play a role. However, the protective effect was not found among tea drinkers, though the authors said they were not nearly as numerous in the study as coffee users.

The report did not suggest alcohol users increase their coffee consumption or seek out drinks like Irish coffee that combine booze with coffee. "Even if coffee is protective, the primary approach to reduction of alcoholic cirrhosis is avoidance or cessation of heavy alcohol drinking," the researchers said. -- CNN News

This is my dad, today is his day

Although he has been mistakenly identified as Stan Musial and Neil Warren-Clark(the eHarmony guy), he's not. He's my dad.

Random thoughts

I have had a lot of random things to blog about lately, but have not sat down to formulate them into actual posts.

Here are three:

**The Taurarri has recently hit 100,000 miles and is 10 years old. That is the equivalent to a 4th grader if it was a human. I don't really remember what I was learning in 4th grade. In undergrad my car was nicknamed the Taurarri by Eddie "I never update my blog" Clemmons because he said I drove the Taurus like a Ferrari.

**Some things that Iowa has that Chicago doesn't and I miss are Kum & Go convenience stores, Caseys convenience stores and HyVees.

**RIP the Burrito. The burrito(my old futon) had a good many years. It was moved in and out of the dorms several times and into two apartments in Chicago with many, many inhabitants. When Megan moved in, we decided that it was time for the burrito to end it's time with me. Lo and behold, it is still living in another part of Chicago. When I said I was getting rid of the beast, Jenne's boyfriend said he could use it in his apartment. If you have a favorite memory of the burrito, please feel free to share it in the comment section of this post(and I must say, it is a good thing the burrito itself isn't able to talk). Viva el burrito.

I have no more energy to type as Megan became my new roommate today and I have been moving a lot of heavy stuff. I must rest up before I head into work tonight.

Questions, questions, who has a question?

Allie over at Caffine Free in Med 3 has tagged me on the latest of chain posts in the blogosphere. The point of the post is to answer the question that has been posed to you, then ask two more people a question that they must also blog about.

Allie's question to me was, How many times have I visited Ohio.

I have visited Ohio 4 times. The first summer Aaron lived there, the apartment warming party, the hurricane party and the 25th birthday celebration party.

Mel, On average, how many times a day to we talk to each other?
Rob, What was your favorite memory from Jamaica?

Just call me Momma

I left on Sunday to head to my grandparents farm. After spending a few warm and lovely days there I head for 24 hours in Burlington(a land some call Fun City).
There, I got to see 3 of the Deery girls. I tried to buy 3 Hummers form Dominique, but apparently they don't sell Hummer there. Bridget kept me entertained for an hour while my oil got changed, but then I had to say goodbye and head out to camp. I caught up on all things camp with the help of Shiner and Peach and got some great camp merchandise. I saw Starfish OConnor(real first name held due to her involvement with the Witness Protection Program) and had a yummy lunch.
Before leaving camp, I became a mother to 3 Madagascar hissing cockroaches: Pogo, Bonanza and Superglue. They live in a cage in my room and happy little bugs. Their move to Chicago went very smoothly and they got a fresh ground cover in their cage and some fresh food upon arrival.

Congrats Jenne!!!

Jenne's whole family(minus her sister Jill who is in Asia on business) came into town this past weekend for Jenne's graduation from RUMC. We had a lot of fun hanging out together and it nice to finally meet all of them. Congrats Jenne.

Bermuda Triangle of Fun

Jenne, Mel and I went out for our last time together this past weekend before Jenne left Chicago. Combined, we are more than a votex of fun, more like the Bermuda Triangle of fun. Some people have met us(the triangle) and have been reported missing...in the sense that they have left thier life of boredom in search for a life of fun.

Ever since I can remember, I've been poppin' my collar

Down at the AMA Conference I encouraged this man to pop his pink collar. He had a huge collar. Popped collar #5 of the night.

We made a quick stop by Hawkeye's where we lured Ed into the popped collar club.

Then, I went hpme and decided one wasn't enough. I went outon the down sporting the double popped collar(A girl can never have too many polos). Jenne met us at The Four Corners and popped her collar for the cause.

When Mel, Megan and I were out shopping, they encouraged me to pop the collar on my polo. Since I am a good time, I did. I then went around encouraging others to pop their collar. The man at the Gap popped his collar and posed for a picture. Popped collar #1 and #2.

Jenne, jenne, jenne

Sadly, Jenne is graduating this Saturday. I mean, I am happy for her, but it is sad because she will be leaving the city of Chicago and head back to Arizona for a short time then San Diego. We have less than one week left as roommates together. It is really wierd to think that a year has gone by so quickly. Mel is coming to say goodbye to Jenne at the end of the week. I can say for certain that I have had one fun filled year with Jenne. It included many trips to Taylor St, buckets of soda, and plenty of dance parties in our apartment. I will miss my Jenne.

My phone will soon be ringing!

BEST NEWS OF 2006

Penelope Cruz, Matthew McConaughey Split

LOS ANGELES -- The "sexiest man alive" is available again. Matthew McConaughey and Penelope Cruz "have decided to split," Cruz spokesman Robert Garlock told The Associated Press Friday. McConaughey's rep, Alan Nierob, confirmed the breakup, first reported by People magazine. The couple costarred in 2005's "Sahara."

McConaughey, People's reigning hunk of hunks, appeared in this year's "Failure to Launch." This fall, Cruz, 32, stars in Pedro Almodovar's "Volver," ("Return"), which just made a splash at the Cannes Film Festival. Cruz and McConaughey, 36, parted ways four weeks ago due to busy work schedules, People reports.

On Friday night Megan took me out for my birthday. For my birthday Megan gave me tickets to the Iraqtile Dysfunction show at The Second City comedy Club. Before hand we went out for dinner at Oven Grinders and to drinks. It was a great time. Thanks, Meg.

hey! it happened in my life so i'm blogging about it.

After I got off work tonight, I went to the grocery store. For about the past year I have done my best to be a periphery shopper. You know, the kind that only buys things that are on the outside aisles of the store where all the fresh and healthier foods are kept. Tonight I got really sucked into the produce section by the fruits. I bought some delicious raspberries, strawberries, blackberries, grapes and cherries. It reminded me why I love summer so much. So much great produce. Mmmm mmmm mmmmm.

Kithcart for Speaker AMA MSS 2006

And my favorite. I am sure Megan will hate me for putting this up but it makes me want to wet my pants everytime I look at it.

Here's another one.

Aaron is running for Speaker of the Student Section of the AMA. Being the good friend that I am and the huge dork that I am, I made him promotional material that will most likely NOT be used in his campaign, but it entertained me. Good Luck Aaron!