Yet another reason to love Ireland.

*Gulp*

I just committed myself to raising $1800 for breast cancer research... And to walk a marathon and a half in two days. I'm going to need some support.

Here's my page.

I don't want to beg for money. However, I do need to raise this amount of money in order to walk, which seems like a tremendously lofty goal at this stage. In fact, I'm shaking a bit.

I am very excited about the opportunity to walk for such a great cause with fantastic and strong women. At work, we are working on getting a team together...one person is definitely joining me. However, we still have to raise $1800 per person.

I'd love to reach my fundraising goal by the end of March so I can start focusing on the whole shin splints aspect of the training. Thank you so much if you feel like this is a worthy cause to donate to. And spread the word!

A Promo Piece

I have been meaning to tell you all about a love in my life.

The Envirosax.

If I was a wealthy woman, I would have bought everyone a set of these for Christmas. A set of 5 is a bit pricey, but oh-so-worth-it. I hate plastic bags. I hate seeing people in the parking lot lugging around 8 plastic bags, knowing they will just get tossed in ten minutes when they get home.

These bags are a godsend. The fold up beautifully, carry a tremendous amount of weight (I really push it and have had no problems), can fit into your pocket, are washable, are cute... the list goes on and on.

I get so many compliments on my bags and everyone says they're a great idea. So why isn't everyone using them? Do you really want a drawer full of plastic bags?! I use them at Target, the grocery store, Trader Joes (where you get entered for a drawing for bringing your own bags..which I applaud), to the gym to tote my gym shoes, home when I don't want to pack a real bag, etc.

Buy them. I promise that you won't regret it.

Missing!

Missing: One friendly train conductor with a penchant for the thumbs up sign.

Missing since the beginning of January.

If spotted, please ask him to report back to work because his replacements are dismal.

Dericious!

Trader Joe's has mochi ice cream! Life is looking up!

And yes, I spelled delicious like that on purpose.

Slim Shady

If you haven't been to Starbucks lately (not that I would *ever* buy into such a greedy, out of control corporation. *cough*), they're now pushing their "Skinny lattes." I have always ordered my drinks "skinny" (i.e. with skim milk and no whip cream). So, on first glance, it appears that these new "additions" (that have always been available) are fantastic. However, to order a skinny latte now means that they will put some sugar-free syrup in it instead of the good stuff. Yesterday, I ordered a tall caramel latte with skim milk and the girl shouts out, "Tall skinny caramel latte!!!" and I ended up with a foul fake-sugar-tasting drink. I threw in some real sugar and salvaged the moment. Laura looked the other way as I dumped calories into my skinny drink. A week before, I wanted to try a cinnamon dolce latte and this old man worker yelled at me when I tried to order it with skim milk. "Why don't you just order a new skinny latte?" So today, I order --- "I want a caramel latte with no whip cream and with skim milk.. but I don't want the skinny kind b/c I want the sugar! You get it?!" She did. She made a look of disgust when I mentioned the fake syrup. And the lady behind me gave a little "amen!" and ordered the same as me. Very funny.

Also regarding "skinny" stuff, I have a new/old gym friend! And this one speaks English! And she doesn't wear spandex leotards with purple animal print tights. And she knows how to caution me when an exercise might hurt my knee. She can "second verse, same as the first" with the best of them. We both struggle to shake our very very white booties in Turbo Kick. And I've known her since kindergarten! It's ideal! Yep, my friend from the good old days, Regan, is now my new workout partner. She lives about 30 minutes away and she makes the journey to me on Wednesdays for the gym and now I'm joining her on Saturday mornings at her gym. It's completely bizarre to be working out and to look to my side and see someone I used to do "suicides" with at basketball practice. But the best thing is that when I'm next to her, I don't have to worry about kicking anyone b/c if I kick her, I know she won't freak out on me!

And carrying on with fitness and "skinny" stuff, my office is thinking of taking part in the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer at the end of May. It's intense, including walking either a 1/2 marathon or full marathon on Saturday and then doing another 1/2 marathon on Sunday. Since we're all women at the office, will all be affected by breast cancer at some point ... either ourselves or our loved ones, and since we all want to be in great shape, it sounds like this might actually happen! My shins already hurt just thinking about walking that much. This is definitely going to be a "ganbatte" day for all of us if we decide to go forward.

Feeling violated

My car got broken into this past weekend. I was getting in and noticed that my owner's manual was on the passengers seat and that there was a bag hanging from the glove compartment. Then I looked in the back and my empty Carson's box had been opened and my gym bag contents were thrown all over. Nothing was missing, not my Peanut Butter energy bar, my dime, my 5-yen coin, my size 9.5 gym shoes, or smelly gym towels. I'm sure the person was really happy with all that great stuff I keep in my car! Anyways, I'm not sure how he/she got in. Nothing was broken or scratched. I always lock my door, even in the driveway at home.

My birthday was a great day. We had lunch at work and some cake. Then Ken surprised me with a princess tiara and silly string at home. He made dinner which was delicious and we headed out for ice cream. Then we settled in for a movie. All in all, 28 has been completely acceptable.

This week I'm going to be on my own as Ken heads out to Tahoe for a snowboarding trip. I set up a Family Video account and am ready to abuse my 50% discount. There's leftover ice cream in the freezer and I have some meals that involve no cooking. I'm such an adult.

Japan: Still producing amusing moments

I hope everyone had a great holiday! Mine was a nice one, despite having to be a regular stiff and work last week. Ken and I spent time visiting both sides of the family, eating loads of delicious sugar cookies, and braving treacherous road conditions. I also made some progress on my 101 list... One year down, many more items to cross off. Too bad one of my items wasn't "Make the fire department arrive at my apartment" because that would have been one to finish last Friday.

Last week I received a letter from my friend at the Chatan gym. I chuckled at numerous bits, including her take on "Beauty and the Geek." But the real kicker was when she said (regarding an American man who she isn't interested in).... "I feel bad, but there's just no - how do you call it? - chemical reaction." Classic.

Hope your new year is off with a bang! I, for one, can't wait to hit some local bars to enjoy some lovely clean air. I better wait a few weeks, though, until the lingering smoke dissipates.

Elf Time with Grandpa & Izzy!

Totally rad

Last weekend I went snowboarding at Devil's Head with Ken, Josh, and Laura. Of course, there were plenty of hijinx and I planned on writing all about it, but with my lack of internet, the moment has passed. All I can say is that it was great fun until I had a mini-breakdown a la Flo on the Amazing Race. I blame sheer exhaustion and the dread of falling for the 81st time. Ultimately, I decided that snowboarding is quite fun and once my body has recovered, I'm not completely opposed to trying to thrash on the slopes again.





And yes, such things as "I totally biffed it!" were definitely said. We are just that cool.

As promised----

First picture is of my little friend who stopped by the apartment one day while I was watching TV. I laughed. And snapped a photo.



And my big weekend story--- Laura went with me to cross off two items on my 101 list. One was to get a picture taken with Santa. Check! And the other was to go up the Hancock Building. Check Check! Santa was at the top of the building. How convenient! (We went up twice by accident... There's a trick to get up for free which we discovered....) Anyways, to see Santa AND see Chicago at the same time ---before it was clouded over by nasty weather--- was great fun.

By the way, for those of you who have young children... Santas like to flirt. And touch backs. And ask you to be in their band. And hand you their card. Just so you know.



I'm not a big Christmas card sender, so here is my version... 'Tis the season!

I should really get internet...

A quick lunchtime message to let you know that I am still alive. I have a couple of funny photos to post soon and next time I have interenet at the apartment, I'll throw them on. Soon! I promise! And I'll tell you all about my new workout buddy at the gym, how I knocked off a couple of things off my 101 list, and how Ken and I continue to refuse to turn on our heat. Yes, life is that exciting! Stay tuned---

There's a presidential suite available, but no governor's room..."

It is way past time for an update about my life as a tour consultant assistant. I came to Starbucks today thinking since I paid $5 for my peppermint mocha that I could use their internet. I was mistaken. I’m not paying anything extra to use their wifi. I can probably steal a couple bars tonight or tomorrow. Luckily I brought a magazine so after I’m done gabbing about my new career, I can immerse myself into the world of cosmetics.

Enough. My job.

Basically what I am doing is this: I work in an office of 15 individuals. All female except our boss who is a dude. There are four tour consultants who work on laying out extravagant vacations for the very wealthy. They are each assigned a region of the world that is their specialty. One person has China, another has Europe, another has India, Turkey, and the Middle East, and the last one does South America, Africa, Aust/NZ, and Indochina. The last two are completely swamped, as India, Turkey, Indochina, and South America are hot spots. So, as an assistant, I mostly work with the two of them---

A client calls in. He wants to do our South America tour through Argentina, but also wants to add in Antarctica. The tour consultant says, “Hey, Rachel! Could you please cut and paste the itinerary together from our regularly scheduled tours? And, oh, yeah, the last leg has never been done before. We need some hotels and some sightseeing. And then email the ground operator and get a price. Once you have the price figure out the percentage markup. And then call the hotels and see if their direct rate is better. And check online. Oh, and they need flights too. Could you also send this off to them? Okay, now on to the next people…this family of 11 wants to go on a safari…” And then I have to usually creatively write something about a location, mimicking our distinctive style. “Tonight indulge in a foot massage accompanied by flutes of champagne.” Which can be really fun.

I have to say, almost every single day since beginning, I look at the clock and think, “ONE?! I better eat something today!” The mornings pass by unbelievably fast. I have to be on my toes, piecing stuff together constantly, making sure everything makes sense (thanks to my geography background it’s not so hard), and also deal with coordinating with the tour consultants who are terribly busy.

I just celebrated my four week anniversary. The first week I was learning the ropes at a nice pace. The second week, there was a death in the family for one lady and I took over her cases for the next week and a half and then I was STRESSED as I was suddenly taking on a ton of responsibility and working directly with the head dude. Then she came back and the India lady left for vacation and is still gone. And things don’t go as planned …sometimes when you think something is settled, all of a sudden there isn’t a room at the Four Seasons for someone and you are sent scrambling. My quote of this last week was “I’m so stressed I could vomit.” (I’m hoping my dedication will result in a timely promotion… I couldn’t possibly get any better training than being thrown in head first into other people’s files.)

But I love it. I love my office. I love my coworkers. They are truly very helpful and interesting people. I love our “Happy Hour” Fridays (and occasionally other days… like when our boss and his wife went out of town ---- here come the wine glasses!) where we eat fancy cheese and grapes and gulp down wine in the afternoon. I love how I can wear jeans whenever I want. Do my feet hurt? Take off the shoes for the afternoon. I like sitting in meetings while a crazy lady from Dallas waxes on about her mega-yacht trip. Yes, I might actually drool a bit listening. But so is everyone else. I’m getting paid to read luxury hotel websites, stare at maps, and drink freshly made coffee.

I enjoy taking the train, seeing my friendly ticket guy who gives me a thumbs up and a wink every morning (his happiness is contagious). I walk out of Union Station and look to my right---The Sear’s Tower and the river. I walk out at night and all the buildings are lit up. There are Christmas decorations in the main hall of Union Station. Ahhh..happiness.

Of course, all of this thinking has been absent in my life for quite sometime…basically since I used to be stressing as a real teacher (none of that Okinawa time filling stuff). I’m exhausted. 9:20 at night and I’m crawling to bed. I am also trying to work out four or five times a week… And let me tell you, a class called “Hardbody” isn’t a fluffy little workout.

Ken is proving to be very handy to have around. He makes the most delicious meals (orange roughy, gourmet chicken salad sandwiches, pumpkin soup, sweet potato everything) and is always ready with a glass of wine when I send him an email midday that says, “AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!” He’s good company. I think I’ll keep him around for a bit longer.

And I end with this thought ---- Do 9 years olds really need to be ordering Grande Gingerbread Lattes with soy milk, no whip?

Post script. Am going to pee myself. No Starbucks wifi, but Quiznos is free. ☺ Ha.

"Shake your groove thang, shake your groove thang"

Somedays I have to remind myself of some of the surreal moments that I experienced on a daily basis in Japan. And, to be honest, I rather miss those completely bizarre moments that threw me for a loop. It's the spice of life.

This morning I went to the gym to take a class that I had never done before. It was a general description. so I wasn't sure what to expect, but figured it would just be a normal class. Well, here comes the instructor. Grey-haired, pigtails, spandex, complaining of a migraine, cursing like a sailor, and shmoozing up to herself in the mirror yelling, "BE SEXY! BE HOT!!!" I kid you not. We began dancing. Without any real rhyme or reason as to what dance move we were doing. There was a lady in the front doing some belly dancing moves. We were spastically jumping around. Women were singing "Mama Mia" outloud as we swiveled our hips and trotted around. Our instructor kept striking poses and sticking her arms up in the air. "SEXY! BE SEXY!!! YOU LOOK HOT!!!!" We did some dancing to classic seventies hits and various people got to pick our next move. Mind you, the next youngest person in the class had to be over 40. As we cooled down to "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" complete with the women singing, I had to admit --- that was some workout.

And this is also why I love going to women-only gyms. Where else would mothers and grandmothers feel comfortable enough to swing their hips and shake their booties before doing their best with jumping jacks? I was probably a bit out of place as far as demographics went, but I haven't witnessed that much uninhibited fun in a long time.

---- Things at work are going great. I am continually busy and enjoy my coworkers. The train ride is pleasant and relaxing. I'll write in more detail soon. Promise. ---

Stolen internet

Here's a quick update! I have one bar of stolen internet and don't know when it will disappear...

1) Ken and I went to see the Dalai Lama at IU. I'll post a photo later, but it was nice to see the smiley old man take off his shoes and chat for a bit about human nature and compassion. Plus it was glorious being able to hang out with Brooke and Mike and hit a Halloween party. And feel really old.

2) The job is going great. I have been incredibly busy and look at the clock thinking, "How did it get to be one already?! Four?! I have so much to do!!!" One of the travel consultants had an emergency and is going to be gone for another week and I have been picking up the work load. It has been tremendously challenging, but I learn something every hour. I've booked hotel rooms at the Four Seasons, communicated with Ground Operators around the world, and have talked with clients. I love the amount of responsibility that they've given me, but am a bit worried when another consultant goes on vacation next week.

3) The apartment is proving to be nice as well. We're having some hot water issues, but being able to walk to the train each morning balances that out. At least for me. Unfortunately Ken is driving a ton each day to his present job and is looking to get something more convenient. We both have joined gyms and have tried to get into a routine. This morning I went to the gym at 5:30 am. We'll see how long that lasts, but it was nice today and I plan on doing it again tomorrow.

Okay, that's all I've got. Happy Halloween! I remember being really depressed about missing the holiday last year in Okinawa. It's nice to be back.

Settling in...

I'm still alive, but we don't have internet at our apartment yet. Things are going great. The apartment is suiting our needs, the train is a smooth way to get to work, and my job seems like a good fit thus far. Today I'm helping with Turkey and Egypt itineraries and learning the ropes. I can't email at work except on my breaks, so I apologize for the lack of communication. I should stop blogging now. That has to be against the rules.

My bags are packed, I'm ready to go...

Ahhh...how that song will always remind me of Kimi and Kelli.

Anyways, things are shaping up here as I have made numerous runs to the store to grab all the stuff that I'll need to stock my new place. I had to pledge my second-born child to my parents because of all that they are doing for me. I also had to unpack boxes from my last move over two years ago so that I could see what I already have. I never realized how many picture frames I have. It's slightly embarrassing.

So, here's a funny story. At least I think it's amusing.

Remember how I hurt my knee about 10 days ago? Well, later on that weekend, I noticed that Izzy was showing a bit of a limp. By the next day, she was full-on favoring her front right leg. Mind you, I hurt my right leg. We were both limping around the house and I *swear* that she was imitating me. We have a very close bond afterall. Anyway, after a few days of this, we started getting a bit worried, but thanks to an X-ray and some medicine, the dog is now healing and not limping any more. So now we can truly laugh about it and not throw around big words like elbow dysplasia. That dog loves and adores me.

And our neighbor dog, Rosco, who brings out her inner hoochie.

Can I offer you my firstborn for a spot?

This morning I get a phone message from a guy in Indiana with a study abroad network (Australia and New Zealand) asking me if I had received his email a couple of weeks ago about the job I had applied for. Well, what do you know? It went into my spam folder on October 3rd. I guess there's a reason that it got shuffled out of my inbox, but of course, it makes me wonder about what would have happened if I would have received that email. I was really wanting to get involved with study abroad programs. He said I could give him a call if I need a career change in the future. Ahhhh....Life.... how I love the twists and turns you throw at me regularly.

Yesterday, Dad and I took my new iPass for a spin and went looking for apartments. Dad should get a superhero award for dealing with everything we had to go through. Yay for dads! (And moms!) So we went to the first apartment which was quite near Regan and everything was very normal. It was a bit old and the lady looked like a heart attack waiting to happen as she spewed out the information about the place, but it had a parking spot. So, we're thinking... Great! One option!

We headed to the second which was an old building with hardwood floors, a fireplace, an extra room, a creepy bathroom, but a generally awesome atmosphere. It was within walking distance of the Metra and seemed like an excellent place. But there was no parking and the guy explained how many times I'd have to be moving my car since I would not only need night parking, but day parking since I'd be on the train. Thankfully, Dad was on top of his game yesterday and we went to the Village Hall where we had information thrown at us at an alarming speed about how there are no spots available at night and how you have to have this permit and this permit and move your car from here to here and oh, yes, these things aren't free, and how you can't even have one of these spots until November and that's only for the day time..don't know what you'll do at night.

We walked out dejected. Both places had just been taken off the list because of parking. We headed to our third apartment outside of town and although it was nice enough, I would still have to have a parking spot at the commuter lot for the Metra. We went to another station in another town and they said there was a two year waitlist to get a spot. Two years! So, there went the third apartment and every apartment that would involve driving. By this point, I was beginning to wonder why I passed up on the Oak Brook job. If I took that one, I could live anywhere because I'd be driving. And seriously, Metra! You want more customers? Make MORE parking!!!!

We drove out to Lisle which we had driven through on Sunday and we met a guy at an apartment building directly across from the station. But it was a scary scary place. One apartment was torn to shreds and although the guy said he was improving things and turning out some of the residents, we knew this place was not going to fly with the final decider-- Mom. We needed lunch. We needed to regroup. We needed to examine our options and where else I could live. We needed to see if I could take the bus to the train. We needed Jason from our last apartment building to call us back. We needed a miracle.

As we sat in the van, ready to pull out and start shopping for tents, Jason gave me a call to say he could meet us in 30 minutes. The last chance was directly next to the Metra station and was within my price range. The building looked completely normal with tons and tons of parking. And about a 3 minute walk to the Metra platform. This was it. I told Dad that if the guy was decent (which all the other landlords were a bit quirky/scary) and if the apartment had walls and working plumbing, we were taking it. Well, thank goodness for small miracles! The guy was very friendly and completely approachable... The apartments themselves were clean and mine would have new appliances, new paint, new carpet, etc. I grabbed a credit check sheet and told him we'd take it. And as we drove home, we were all smiles. The trials and tribulations of the day were almost completely forgotten, but we made sure to bring Mom along with us on our emotional journey through our story telling and scaring her by telling her that I was going to stay in a converted motel with boarded up windows.

So, I have a home. I have a job. In three months, I will have insurance. And I will be enjoying public transportation again.

PS --- For those of you job hunting and doubting the powers of monster.com... Three of my five job leads/interviews, including the one I took, were found and applied for on monster. I'm a walking billboard.

A Win Win Situation

Today I traveled up to Chicago for my interview with my second job option. I considered all weekend whether I should just cancel it because I was happy with the job in Oak Brook. I thought about my aching knee that was barely functioning, I thought about whether I was wasting their time because I was already sold on the job I already had, and I considered about one thousand other factors. In the end, I decided to see what this place was all about and make sure that I was making the right choice with Oak Brook.

So I suited up and made my way to the Loop. It was fairly easy to find parking at Union Station (which is 1/2 block away from the travel agency) and I quickly found the office. The atmosphere of this place was completely different than that of Oak Brook. Although both deal with five-star travel and the upper 5% of the economic bracket, this office felt much more laidback and the main guy had all sorts of cool travel artifacts around his office. We sat on comfortable couchlike chairs and he offered me coffee. Then we chatted. No drill sergeant questions. No searching for my "most difficult moment at work" or "describing a time I faced adversity in the workplace" or any of that junk (which in Oak Brook they wrote down every word I said in response to about 80 questions). After about 20 minutes, he said, "So what kind of salary do I need to offer you to have you say you'll work here?" I told him about my other job offer (and he worked there previously) ... He was willing to outdo them by a little (which was a nice gesture) and then tried to woo me. He offered me the job on the spot and as I hemmed and hawed about the decision, he asked if speaking to two workers who started in the last year and who didn't have a travel agent background would help. It sure did. I was soon sitting with two nice ladies who I would be working with and we chatted for about 30 minutes about all the different aspects of the job, the clients, the atmosphere, the city. I felt really positive about the job as I left and by the time I got home, I knew which job I was going to take. Thankfully, I knew that my Oak Brook contact was out of the office today so I could just leave a message. It was a difficult decision, but I think choosing the smaller office with a more "family" atmosphere was the right choice. Plus the entry-level job here was just more interesting and involved than the other.

Anyway, I begin in two weeks and since I knew I would be moving soon either way, I spent Sunday combing the western suburbs with Mom and Dad. I love the area near Regan and want to live within walking distance of the Metra so that I never really have to drive. (I *heart* public transportation!) By taking my Chicago job, I get an extra week to find a great place to live and perhaps even locate a couch and queen-size bed! (Anyone have some furniture to get rid of?!) I'm excited to begin this next chapter in my life and I hear that the coffee at this office is phenomenal and free, plus there is often freshly-baked banana bread. Oh, yeah, and I am going to be immersed in creating "unusual" trips for very very very rich folks. The sky is the limit with other people's money. Anyone want to take a private jet adventure? I'm your girl.

Dogsitter no more

Hey there, my faithful readers. Thank you for being with me as I explored daytime television, the beginning and end of the internet, and all the glorious bad habits that you can teach a dog in a day. And now, after 2.5 months of being home and refusing to substitute teach, I have a job. Or maybe two!

My job in the 'burbs called me back a few minutes ago and officially offered me a position at their company. And I have to say that the company I am interviewing for on Monday has a lot to live up to. My gut is in a bit of turmoil, but I think it's leaning towards Oak Brook. And this place has a gym in the basement which is excellent and previously unknown news! I think that might have swayed me more than anything.

So, I'm going into my weekend with a smile on my face. I start on the 15th if I accept their offer, which means that I will need to locate an apartment and get moving quickly, unless Regan can take on another resident along with her baby and husband. I was supposed to head to Valpo this weekend for my 5 year reunion, but this morning I slid on some water and recreated Laura's wedding with another injured knee. Despite the pain and the sadness of maybe not being able to see Tammy, I'm pretty excited about having a job. And not just a job. Perhaps a career. Which is a completely different thing.

And because I need an image to break up this blog... I present this hot photo of a former couch potato.