Day Two Hundred and Eighty Five.

    I was very glad that I decided to come back last night when I woke up this morning because I felt like I got a good amount of sleep. What was also making this Monday morning better than most, was the fact that because of the holiday on Friday, it's only a 3 day work week. I was nervous though because I had my surgical consult at 9:30am and I was hoping I would be able to step away for 45 minutes. I lucked out because it wasn't that busy of a morning and there was an extra person who covered while I was gone. That was nice because when I got back into work I wasn't completely behind. Also, I was able to grab a coffee and my lunch snacks. I made up the time by not taking an official lunch and just eating at the desk I was working at. I got out of work on time and ended up getting home a few minutes after 4pm.
    Anyway, what I found out at my appointment is that I have biliary dyskinesia. The doctor said that for a lot of people having the gallbladder removed helps with all of the symptoms, unfortunately some people's symptoms persist. I asked him point blank what he would do and he said he would have his gallbladder taken out. Even though I'm getting really nervous for surgery I am afraid that if I don't get my gallbladder removed then this will be a problem that only gets worse. The frustrating things is that I can't stop reading different sites online that make it seem like you can control this issue with diet. I can't imagine how annoyed I would be if I went through with surgery and didn't really have to. Also, there's the issue about getting the time off of work. The doctor was really cavalier about the whole thing but I have to assume he knows what he's doing. By cavalier I mean that he seemed to not think the surgery would be a big deal.
    When I got home from work I put a load of laundry in, took a shower, and then folded the laundry from yesterday. My boyfriend was coming over but was running late so I used the time to finally buy a co-workers bridal shower present online. I also emptied the dishwasher then called my Mother. My boyfriend arrived soon after and he wanted hamburgers for dinner, so that's what we had. The evening went by really fast and I'm exhausted. I think I'm also sick and tired of thinking about my gallbladder:( I didn't over wash my hands at all today at work so they look pretty good. I really wish I had time to get my nails done this week but we'll see. Until next time!

Day Two Hundred and Eighty Four.

    Every weekend that I don't work goes by really fast but this one really went by even faster than usual, in my opinion! When my boyfriend and I woke up Saturday morning we still had a handful of things to get done before my family started arriving for the BBQ at his parents camp. After we showered he actually got a ride from his Father to pick up one of his cars from the dealership but then he swept the entire house when he got back. I took the time to empty the dishwasher and make the glaze for the carrot cake. My boyfriend also changed all of the sheets on the beds so they would be ready for my family members who were staying at his house. My twin sister and her husband arrived at my boyfriends house a little bit before 12pm and after we showed them the house we headed to the camp.
    I held the carrot cake the whole car ride but it's not a big deal because it's less than a 10 minute drive. My boyfriends Brother and girlfriend were at the camp when we arrived, as well as his parents, but none of my family members yet. I was actually glad that we beat everyone because it would have been rude to not have been there when they arrived. Second to arrive was my oldest sister and her husband around 1pm, followed by my second to oldest sister and her husband at some point after 2pm. My parents finally showed up around 3pm. When they got there we took the cooler down to the lake and spent the rest of the afternoon there. It was so much fun because the weather was perfect and we were able to swim. Most of us jumped off of the rope swing on the other side of the lake and spent a decent amount of time in the water.
    The afternoon just flew by and before I knew it we were eating dinner. There was a lot to eat including: chicken kabobs, steak kabobs, hamburgers, hot dogs, coleslaw (made by my Mother), broccoli salad (made by my oldest sister), potato salad (made by my boyfriends Father), macaroni salad, and spinach and strawberry salad (made by my boyfriends Father). I feel like there's probably something I'm forgetting but everything was wonderful. I did fail to mention that when my second to oldest sister arrived she brought guacamole and it was fantastic. She makes the only guacamole that I can eat and I can't get enough of it! After dinner we sung happy Birthday to my boyfriend then we had dessert. Along with my carrot cake we also had toffee candy as well as cinnamon sugar pretzels, which my twin sister made. The toffee candy is so amazing and addicting....I'm eating some now:) Oh yeah and my boyfriends Father made strawberry rhubarb pie. Dessert was followed by a bon fire and a nice fireworks show. My oldest sister and her husband weren't staying over so they left shortly after the fireworks. The rest of the night my boyfriend and my twin sisters husband played us some music in the living room.
    I was so tired when we got back to my boyfriends house that I passed out right out. This morning my boyfriend made my twin sister and her husband breakfast because they had to leave early; the rest of us were going to be having brunch back at the camp. Right before they left my boyfriend let everyone who wanted to drive his tractor:) It was really fun and I hadn't done it before so I am glad that I finally did! When we got back to the camp we had breakfast then went back down to the lake for a couple of hours. My second to oldest sister and I took the paddle boat out while our significant others followed us in the canoe. My second to oldest sister was the only one who got in the water today and she jumped off of the rope swing a couple of more times. Her and her husband left early this afternoon, followed by my boyfriends Brother and his girlfriend and then my parents.
    I was very sad when everyone left but glad that everything about this weekend turned out so great. I decided instead of staying at my boyfriends to just come home because I have to be at work early tomorrow anyway. Once I got home I had time to put everything away and put a load of laundry in, prior to taking a shower. I didn't do a great job of suppressing my hand washing at my boyfriends house because I was cleaning, but I did pretty well at the camp. I try to remind myself that no one else is running to the sink to wash there hands, so I really shouldn't either. There's also something about outside dirt in the country that doesn't seem to bother me that much. It's really people germs that freak me out the most! Well I think I've written enough for tonight:)

Day Two Hundred and Eighty Three.

    I didn't have a chance to write yesterdays blog so I will do it later on tonight....sorry!

Day Two Hundred and Eighty Two.

    Yesterday was a very long but productive day. When I got to work I was a few minutes late but glad to see no one called in, so my position wasn't changed. The day felt like the longest day all week and just dragged on. It was slow in the morning and then really picked up the last two hours or so. I got out of work a few minutes late but still managed to get home by 4:30pm. That was even after stopping at the bank as well as the pet store to get more dog food.
    When I got home I pulled the garbage cans back to my driveway then sorted through the mail. I also got my dog packed up for the weekend before I took a shower. After my shower I folded the laundry from the day before then got myself packed to head to my boyfriends house. I was surprised to see that I was ready to go around 6:30pm, which I thought was great timing!
    It wasn't a very relaxing night at all because my boyfriend and I had to clean his house. The first thing I did was the dishes, then I cleaned the bathroom. Finally, I made the carrot cake and then it was bedtime. My boyfriend was very busy with the kitchen table, the enterence way and vacuuming. I've never seen a kitchen table get as cluttered as his! I feel bad because he really doesn't have a lot of time at his house to ever clean it. My hands were very dry when I went to bed because I washed my them a ton in between all of the cleaning I did yesterday. Alright that's all I've got for now!

Day Two hundred and Eigthy One.

    I was very tired when I woke up this morning and I had a weird dream while I was falling asleep in between snoozing. It was actually pretty disturbing about me buying a house and realizing it was full of bugs. Ugh....I wonder what it means. Anyway, I got to work on time and was told there was a call in, so I wasn't working in the area I was scheduled in, at least for the morning. The entire day turned into a bit of a mess because another person from work ended up going home sick, so I never made it to the spot I was supposed to be working in. Even though it was confusing, the day went by pretty fast and was overall a decent day. I went right home after work and I had a lot to do before my boyfriend came over.
    The first thing I did was sort through the mail and then get the trash gathered up because tomorrow is trash day and the recycling bin is completely full. Then I had to wrap my boyfriends Birthday present, the only one I actually had, and write his card up. The Birthday present which arrived in the mail on time was a fabric canvas Mets chair, which he liked a lot. I had such a hard time getting his Birthday presents this year because I didn't really get suggestions. By the time I was done all of that my twin sister gave me a call about the family party on Saturday and during the call my boyfriend texted me that he was already on the way! I quickly gathered the laundry together and put it in the wash then took a shower. I didn't start the load because it wasn't full, so I figured I'd do it later on with the clothes I wore this evening so it was full.
    I took my boyfriend to a local Mediterranean restaurant for dinner, which he suggested and then when we got home he talked on the phone with his family members who wanted to wish him a Happy Birthday. While he was doing that I packed up all of the ingredients I knew my boyfriend didn't have at his house, which I will need to make his Birthday carrot cake tomorrow night. I'm going to my boyfriends house tomorrow night after work so I'll make the cake there. I also had to balance my checkbook, so I did that too. When I was done that I finally started my laundry and then sat down to relax for a few minutes.
    I think I got a lot done tonight so I won't have such a busy afternoon tomorrow in preparation for going to my boyfriends area this weekend. Really the only thing I'll have to do is shower after work and pack my things. There's one more Birthday present I got my boyfriend which should hopefully arrive in the mail tomorrow and if that's the case I'll have to wrap it fast before I leave. The last Birthday present I got him were concert tickets to see a band at a brewery and camp overnight. He seemed to be happily surprised! Well, I better get going.

Day Two Hundred and Eighty.

    I felt much better when I got up today, which was good because I really wanted to get back to in the swing of things after my unexpected day off. It was meeting day today so I had to get to work on time, which I did. It was a very busy day today completely full of problems. I felt like I tried all day just to get caught up but really didn't until the very end of the day. After I left work I stopped at the Hallmark store to get a Birthday for my boyfriends Birthday, which is tomorrow. I was going to go to the food store and get what we needed for dinner but there was a torrential downpour, so I figured I'd just have my boyfriend stop for me. When I got home I realized maybe him picking subs up would be the better dinner idea.
    It was still raining a lot when I got home so it took me a few minutes to coax my dog into the yard so she could relieve herself. I was glad to find out that a present which I bought my boyfriend for his Birthday had arrived. It's nice to know that I won't be completely empty handed:) After I hid the present in the spare room, I sorted through the mail then took a shower and folded the laundry from the day before. Then I decided it was time to call my Mother and finally tell her about my GBP. She actually took it very well but I decided to warn my sisters via email that she would probably be calling them tonight. As expected, I've already heard from them all that they got the call. That's exactly why I didn't want to tell her because I knew she would make a big deal out of it. Maybe I just shouldn't have said anything to anybody. As of right now I don't even know if the surgeon I see is going to want to take it out....sighs.
    My boyfriend arrived a little bit before 7pm and we ate dinner then had lots of time to chat. We also decided to watch a few episodes of "Orange is the New Black". It's a Netflix original which we have started watching while we wait for the next season of "House of Cards". We're very selective about the TV that we watch and so far I think I like it. There are some episodes that I like much better than others, but it's definitely interesting. The episodes that I don't like have a lot of female violence and racy bisexual activity that make me very uncomfortable.
    I didn't do too much hand washing today so they definitely got a break. I was actually in a different spot at work today than I was on Monday and it requires a lot less hand washing. I'm back in the same area I was in on Monday tomorrow, so I already know it's going to be a rough day on my hands. I'm hoping that I can try to suppress it as much as possible. I was hoping to get my nails done after work tomorrow but I'm not sure if I'm going to have time. We'll see what time I get out of work I guess. That's all for now.

Day Two Hundred and Seventy Nine.

    Today I broke a perfect record streak at work which has been going on for about 16 months. Unfortunately, when I woke up today I was so nauseous I really couldn't drag myself to get up and get ready for work. I hate having to call in because all I do is feel guilty about it for the rest of the day:( In fact, after I went back to bed I had a dream about missing work and that everyone was mad at me. Then when I woke up I had a feeling that my boyfriend was going to be really disappointment in me as well. I never actually threw up but all day I was feeling very off so I'm going to try to forgive myself for not going in. I decided to take it easy today and I read "Gone With the Wind" for about 5 hours.
    Since I was home bound I decided to do some laundry as well. I washed my bed blanket as well as my bed sheets and finally I put a regular load in. I didn't have an official lunch because I wasn't feeling right so I just had a Fiber One bar and some fruit. After lunch I spent some time playing with my dog and then when it cooled down this afternoon I took her for a walk, which she thoroughly enjoyed. During the day I finally managed to email my boyfriends Mother about the coming weekend. We are having a Birthday get together for my boyfriend at his parents camp and my entire family is coming so I had to ask her about specific details. My boyfriend really doesn't like to think of it as his party but more of an excuse to get everyone together.
    For dinner I had a Lean Cuisine and then afterwards I reviewed a project I've been involved in at work, before my boyfriend called me. I told him that he had better call me in the morning because I get really paranoid I'm going to oversleep on days after I call in, which would look really bad. My hands are really dry because I washed them a lot today and I spent some more time trying to get the last touches of the gel nail polish off of them. I can't explain how difficult it is to remove that gel polish and I'm never going to try to do it on my own again.
    I read a readers comment saying that I should get it again and I agree....even though it was hard to get off! I really liked it on because I thought it helped me to avoid hand washing plus my nails grew longer than they have my whole adult life. In fact, they're already breaking and it's making me upset. I think the biggest reason I might delay getting them again is the cost. I hate spending money on myself especially since I feel guilty about having to call into work. Alright, that's it for now.

Day Two Hundred and Seventy Eight.

    I couldn't believe that it was already Monday when I woke up this morning but I was glad that I got a decent nights sleep. I got out of bed earlier than usual because I wanted to get to work a little bit early. In the spot I was working it was going to make for a better day if I got there earlier than usual. Unfortunately, I lost some time and ended up getting to work right at 7am. The morning went really fast because I was so busy but then slowed down in the afternoon. I wasn't feeling that great this morning so all I ate at work was some oatmeal. I managed to leave work right on time and I actually got home before 4pm, which was exciting.
    I wanted to get my shower over with early so I got in the shower right after I played with my dog for a little while and then I folded the laundry from the day before. Afterwards I spent some time on the back patio before wrapping my co-workers Birthday presents, so I can bring them into work tomorrow. I was fairly certain that my boyfriend would be coming over tonight but only to waste some time before he had to pick his Mother up at the airport. It was around 6:30pm when he arrived and as it turned out his Mother's flight got delayed, so his Father was going to be picking her up instead. My boyfriend decided to just stay at my house for the night so suddenly dinner was an issue. We ended up just had leftovers, which was fine.
    We spent some time in the living room chatting for a while before watching the last half of a movie we found on TV. It was a pleasant surprise having my boyfriend over tonight and it definitely cheered me up because today at work I was having a bit of the Monday blues. I washed my hands at work a lot today and used a ton of Purell. They don't look that bad yet but I'm afraid that they will by the end of the week. It helps that the weather is warmer so they're staying pretty moist. Well that's all for right now.

Day Two Hundred and Seventy Seven.

    My boyfriend and I woke up around 11am this morning. We had a lot to do and the first thing was to get my car, because we had taken a taxi home last night. After dropping me off at my car my boyfriend went to the hardware store while I went to the food store. I also went to the Hallmark store to pick up Birthday cards for two of my friends at work, whose Birthday's are tomorrow. It took me a long time to run my errands and I didn't get back to the house until around 2pm.
    Once I got the groceries put away my boyfriend starting doing some yard work while I vacuumed the inside of my couch cushions. Afterwards, I vacuumed the house then went outside to get started on vacuuming the cars. I told my boyfriend I would do his and it took me a while because I think it has been several years since the last time his was done. I also cleaned the windows of both of the vehicles and then completely washed the outside of my car. That pretty much took the entire afternoon! My boyfriend trimmed the hedges, mowed the grass, put mulch around the plants on the front of the house and cleaned the gutters in the back. Everything he did looks wonderful:) When I was done outside I put a load of laundry in and then took a much needed shower.
    It was very sweet because my boyfriend made dinner while I showered, so it was all ready when I was finished. He made his favorite dinner....spaghetti and meat sauce with a side salad. After I got the dishes cleaned up we watched my favorite movie, "A Philadelphia Story". It was a very productive Sunday and I'm exhausted. That's all for now.

Day Two Hundred and Seventy Six.

    My boyfriend and I ended up falling asleep last night so I didn't get to writing my blog:( We didn't do a whole lot yesterday so this will probably be a short entry. When we got up we didn't rush around much to get ready for the day because we wanted to take it easy. The plan for the day was to re-live our second date, where we met downtown in the city we live in and did some touristy attractions. Once we got ready to go it was already about 1pm when we finally left the house. The first stop was to have "breakfast" at our favorite breakfast spot. We can't seem to have breakfast at this place without stopping at the bar next door which has an awesome selection of micro brews. We had two drinks there then headed downtown.
    Unfortunately, it was already after 3pm so we weren't going to be able to go to the museum downtown, so we just walked around and talked until we went to a bar which had an outside patio. After that we did some more walking around and ended up at another bar which had a band playing. This band was pretty terrible but I always love to hear live music so we stayed for a while. After we got sick of hearing them we headed to our final stop downtown and had one more drink before taking a taxi back to our neck of the woods. We ended up getting dinner at our favorite local watering hole before going home.
    I feel slightly guilty that we didn't do much of anything yesterday but it was a very nice day. We have a lot we want to do around the house today so hopefully it will remove the guilt. I ended up having to use a lot of public restrooms yesterday which made me feel pretty anxious, but it wasn't horrible. Compared to last year at this time I'm not having as hard of a time using public restrooms, so that is good. I wasn't feeling that great yesterday as far as my GBP was going and I probably shouldn't have been drinking, but honestly sometimes it helps. I'm going to try to eat and drink really healthy this next week so I can make it to my surgery consultation. Alright, that's it for now!

Day Two Hundred and Seventy Five.

    I got a bit of a late start this morning because my sister and I went to bed pretty late last night. When my sister said goodbye to me this morning I went back to sleep for a while longer. I finally got out of bed around 11am. The one thing that I had to get done was to get my gel manicure taken off. It didn't look terrible but was driving me a bit crazy because it was starting to look pretty warn. Once I had my coffee I decided I really didn't want to go to the nail salon today because I didn't have a lot of time and I thought I'd feel pressured to get a new color applied. It's not like I didn't want to continue with the gel nails, however the next week at work I'm in a spot which isn't conducive to wearing nail polish. So, I figured if I get through the next week at work okay I'd treat myself with a trip to the nail salon on Thursday. That still left me with the dilemma of how I was going to get the polish off my nails:(
    A co-worker of mine had previously told me that I could get the gel off of my nails at home, so I did some internet research about the truth to that. I found out that all I needed to do was dip a cotton ball in acetone, put it on my nails, then cover that in foil and let it soak for about 10 minutes. I did that and let me say the whole process was not easy. It took me about an hour and a half to get a majority of the nail polish off and then I ran out of acetone, so my nails looked really sloppy. I'm really glad that my twin sister gave me a nail file for my Birthday because I used it to try to get the little pieces of gel, which remained on my nails, off. When I was finally done fiddling with my nails I put a load of laundry in then took a shower.
    I ended up getting to work a few minutes late today because my neighbor stopped me on the way out to tell me she was worried about a strange house call she received. Apparently, two people stopped by her house with an Italian accent talking to her about smoking cessation. She thought that they may have been casing the place so she reported it to the police. I'm not quite sure what to think but it got me a little bit nervous anyway. Work wasn't that busy but unfortunately I wasn't feeling that well....I think it's because I had a slice of cake at work tonight. It had a lot of buttercream icing on it which was probably full of fat and really bothered my GBP. I also had a lot of nausea and at the end of the shift I couldn't wait to get home.
    When I got home my boyfriend was out in the garage switching the tires from my Mother's old car to his car. I felt really bad because I had to tell him I didn't feel up to going out tonight, so instead we stayed in. He really didn't seem to mind but I really felt like a Debbie Downer. I must say that I'm so incredibly sick and tired of feeling so crappy. It's hard for me to believe that I have to go another whole week until I even have a consultation with another Doctor about what's going on. I'm trying to be strong but I don't like feeling so sick all of the time. It's just so distracting:( I did a fair amount of hand washing tonight but my hands don't look ruined....except for my nails. I'm going to have to get some more nail polish removal to them. Ah well, I guess that's all I have for tonight.

Day Two Hundred and Seventy Four.

    I had no problem getting to sleep Wednesday night which was good because I wanted to feel refreshed for the concert I was going to the next day. I got up and got myself to work a few minutes later than I should have. I blame it all on the shuttle bus system which takes us from the parking lot to the hospital. It's annoying because even when you get on it on time you have to wait until it gets filled up before they head off. I really should just walk some of these days but it all depends on the driver whether they will wait until the bus is completely full or not. Yesterday we had to wait forever, even though there were three shuttle buses behind us! Anyway, work was busy as expected but it went by pretty fast. I got a coffee around 8:45am and then I grabbed my lunch snacks around 1pm. I really wanted to get out on time but I ended up not leaving until around 4:30pm.
    Once I got home I didn't have a lot of time to do anything because my second to oldest sister was going to be arriving around 6pm. I pretty much just got in the shower and got myself ready. It was hard finding something to wear because I wanted to wear something cute. I ended up wearing a pair of capri's with a sheer green Guess shirt over a black cami. When my sister got there I had just finished getting ready and she borrowed a pair of my shorts, then we were on our way. We ate at a restaurant literally 2 minutes from the venue and we took our time because we didn't have a lot of interest in the opening band. When we got to the venue we only had to wait about 30 minutes before The Gaslight Anthem started playing.
    My second to oldest sister and I had seen them play last year and really loved it so I was excited that they were back. Actually I got way more into them this year, so I really enjoyed the show tremendously. They played almost every song I wanted to hear. After the show we decided to go to my favorite bar where I live and have a quick drink before going home. Yesterday I didn't have much time to obsessively wash my hands because I wasn't home much. I did have to use the public restroom at the restaurant and at the concert venue. It wasn't nearly as bad as I was expecting. I have been going to this venue for several years and they have definitely upgraded the bathroom! Alright, until later.

Day Two Hundred and Seventy Three.

    Surprisingly enough I was able to fall right to sleep last night, unfortunately the thunder outside woke me up after only about an hour and a half. It also woke my dog up and she had a very hard time settling down, so my boyfriend put her downstairs to sleep. I would normally have been upset with him but honestly I was so worried about getting a good nights sleep that I just let him put her down there. When I woke up I felt a lot better than I expected and got to work in time for Wednesday meeting day. As it turns out I didn't have to rush quite so much as I did because the first morning meeting time got changed to 7:30am, but no big deal. It went very long, which meant that we wouldn't get out right on time, but I didn't really mind that because I rarely get out on time.
    As far as days at work go it really wasn't that bad. It had it's moments of being busy but I have certainly have had much worse days. As a whole, I thought the day went by pretty slow, but I think that's just because of where I was working because I was able to take both of my breaks. For some reason now when I take two breaks the day seems to drag! When I got out of work I called the surgery office to see if they heard from my primary care physician about my gallbladder issues, because I was in a lot of pain today. They told me they hadn't heard anything but that I didn't need a referral to be seen, so I schedule an appointment for the Monday after next. I really wish it was sooner but I'm sure there are many people with much more pressing issues than mine. Once I got home I had to hurry up and get in the shower because I had a co-worker coming over for dinner.
    I was proud of myself because I was able to shower, fold the laundry from yesterday and get completely ready by 5:45pm:) I even sorted through the mail! Around 6:15pm I ordered a pizza from a local restaurant and when my co-worker showed up we went to pick it up. We both had a few beers during dinner and it turned out to be a very nice, low key evening together. This is the friend who I worked with on Sunday night and it's always fun to get together outside of work, so we can really chat. I didn't have much time to get very obsessive about anything today because I was at work and then my friend was over. Before we went to pick up dinner instead of doing my usual thorough "before I leave the house" hand washing regimen, I had to do a quickie. I didn't feel too anxious afterwards. Well I better get going to bed!

Day Two Hundred and Seventy Two.

    Today was a good day off because I didn't leave the house once. I ended up waking up around 11am and was still very sleepy but figured if I didn't get out of bed I would never get to sleep tonight. The first thing I did was have an Airborne and a cup of coffee while I wrote my blog from yesterday:) It was slow getting started after that because I didn't really have a lot of motivation, although I did empty the dishwasher. I had to clean the downstairs bathroom because my coworker is coming over for dinner tomorrow night so I did that next. I also wanted to vacuum the couch cushions with my dirt devil, but unfortunately it wasn't charged. I think maybe my Mother unplugs it to charge her phone when she comes over but forgets to plug it back in. I decided that I would vacuum the couch out another day.
    Once the bathroom was cleaned I gathered all of the trash, put a load of laundry in and then finally took a shower. Afterwards I had some bills to pay and I also balanced my checkbook. By that time it was already 4pm and I hadn't spoken with my Mother for several days so I gave her a call, then finally I thought I would have some time to read my book. I seriously sat outside for about 1 minute when my boyfriend called me to tell me he was on his way to my house, so I didn't get any reading done:(
    We had corned beef on rye sandwiches for dinner with a salad. I didn't really want to use the oven because it's very hot so I thought sandwiches would be a good idea. After we ate we took my dog for a walk, since it had cooled down a little bit, and then watched the Yankee game. I didn't do as much cleaning around the house as I thought I would today but my hands still look pretty sore. I'm working in an area tomorrow where I'm going to wash them a lot so they might have another rough day. Well, I'm going to get to bed now so that I give myself plenty of time to fall asleep.

Day Two Hundred and Seventy One.

    Oops, I was about to write this blog last night but then fell asleep. Anyway, when I woke up yesterday morning I was pleasantly surprised that I was feeling a lot better. A lot of my sense of smell and taste had come back, which was exciting. I had a cup of coffee, an Airborne and then spent some time listening to music on the couch. My boyfriend called right around lunch time and we spoke for a few minutes. For lunch I had a Lean Cuisine. The Lean Cuisine I had was the new one where you put the contents of what's inside on a wrap. I had the creamy balsamic chicken, which I have had before and liked, but yesterday it didn't taste that great to me. It could be because I was feeling nauseous again, but maybe it was lunch which was making me feel that way?
    The day completely got away from me because I barely had enough time to shower and fold the laundry from the previous day, before I had to go to work. I was actually a few minutes late, but where I was going to be working it really didn't matter. It wasn't a bad night at all so I was finally able to read up on my work emails and the bulletin board, which I usually never have time to do. I got out of work on time and was able to be home before 11:30pm. My boyfriend was at my house so we talked for a few minutes before I tucked him into bed. The last time I saw him was Thursday so it was nice that he came over last night. I'm looking forward to spending tonight with him as well:)
    My schedule is a little bit messed up this week because I switched into the day shift both tomorrow and Thursday because I'm going to a concert with my second to oldest sister on Thursday. I have seen this band before but I am really looking forward to seeing them again. Anyway, I'm upset with myself because I have to transition into day shift tomorrow and I was up way to late last night. I'm hoping that I can keep moving today so I tire myself out for tonight. I washed my hands a lot at work yesterday and it really shows:( I have a cut on my left hand....grr. It's my day off today and there are some projects that I'd like to get done which might make it worse. I'm going to try to do my best to not over do it! Until next time.

Day Two Hundred and Seventy.

    Today was one of the first days in a while that I didn't have to get out of bed until I was ready. I had a bit of a hard time getting to sleep so I didn't get out of bed until almost 11am. When I did I made myself a cup of coffee and then did some brain storming about Birthday present ideas for my boyfriend. His Birthday is coming up June 26th and he's not given me any good suggestions. I ended up giving him a call then having a Lean Cuisine for lunch. The morning went by so fast so after lunch I got a load of laundry in, then took a shower. I had just enough time afterwards to give my Father a call then head to work.
    It was a much slower night at work tonight then it was yesterday, which was a nice break. It was also good that even though it wasn't that busy the time went by really fast. I think it was because we had a good group of people working, including one of my closest friends. It was nice to catch up! We ordered out at work tonight so I had half of a buffalo chicken wrap and half of a turkey panini. My co-worker and I always share our sandwiches:) They were both good but made me very thirsty. I got out of work right on time tonight so I got home before 11:30pm.
    I'm still trying to get over this cold and I felt terrible this morning because my cough had gotten worse, but I'm surprised that I actually feel much better tonight. I've been good about taking Airborne and I'm also taking zinc cough drops, so hopefully they're helping. The most annoying thing about this cold is that I've lost almost all of my sense of taste and smell. You would think that I would be using this time to diet a bit but I'm still eating just as much. I really need to start exercising again but I haven't felt good enough to do it for the last several weeks. This is all just giving me motivation to get back into a workout regimen as soon as I start feeling better.
    I did a decent amount of hand washing at work tonight but I was able to resist some of the urges. I seriously think that the gel manicure I got is helping a little bit because I don't want my nails to chip. I only have one really small chip on my middle finger and that's it. It's really amazing how great this gel manicure has held up! Well, until next time.

Day Two Hundred and Sixty Nine.

    When I woke up this morning I didn't fell as though I had enough sleep but I got up because I wanted to spend as much time with my sisters as I could before they left. My older two sisters had plans to go for a hike during the day so they actually left pretty early. My twin sister stuck around for a little while longer, which was nice. Once she left I had the rest of my sandwich from dinner the other night for lunch, then called my boyfriend. My dog seemed sad that everyone left so I made a point to play with her a lot this morning, which she seemed to enjoy. Before I knew it I had to get ready for work but I did manage to get the clothes folded from yesterday.
    It wasn't a terrible Saturday evening at work at all. It was definitely steady but when the night shift came in we were all caught up. What made the night so manageable was that there weren't any major issues. Let's hope that tomorrow can be just as decent. One of my closest friends is working tomorrow evening and it's been a while since we've worked together, so at least there will be that.
    I was excited to get out of work on time! Plus I managed to get home, get changed and take my contacts out before my boyfriend called me. During the day today I started getting a cough so I can be pretty positive that I'm not having allergy issues but a cold. I'm just going to keep taking the Airborne and hope that it clears up sooner than later. While I was at work tonight I did a lot of hand washing because where I was working tends to require a lot of it. There aren't any cuts yet and hopefully if I get cream on them tonight I can save them before they appear. Well, I'm exhausted so I'm going to sleep.

Day Two Hundred and Sixty Eight.

    This blog is a day late....sorry! It felt so good to sleep in yesterday because the week was so long and I was very tired. I didn't sleep in too late....I got up about 10:30am. Actually my doctors office initially woke me up around 8:30am but I fell right back to sleep after the phone call. I had a lot I needed to get done and wasn't even sure where to start. I was thinking I was going to get right in the shower but decided against it so I made a cup of coffee and had some cereal. I needed to wash both my bed sheets and the regular laundry so I figured I'd go ahead and put the bed sheets in the wash to get them started. While the sheets were being washed I ended up cleaning a few things around the house, then balancing my checkbook. Once I got the sheets in the dyer I put the regular load of laundry in the wash, then got in the shower.
    Afterwards I put the sheets back on the bed and got ready for a trip to Target. The weather was pretty rainy all morning but I went to the store at the right time because it had finally stopped. I went to the bank first, then the Target, then the food store and finally Dunkin' Donuts. I was slightly disappointed to find out that soap was not on sale at Target at all and I had to pay full price....grr. Other items which I really needed were on sale, so I guess it balances itself out. I got back to my house well after 4pm and it took me a while to get everything put away. At that point my twin sister had texted me to let me know that she was on her way, which gave me just enough time freshen up my hair and put the clothes in the dyer. She arrived first and we ended up chatting for a good hour and a half before my other sisters arrived.
    By the time we went out to dinner it was almost 9pm and we had a very nice time. My gallbladder pain (GBP) was bothering me a lot throughout the day so I wasn't sure if I would be able to eat much, but I actually ate more than I thought I would. I'm officially calling it GBP now because my doctor called me back with the results from my scan on Tuesday, which wasn't good. She said my GB is severely dysfunctional and I have to follow up with a surgeon about possibly getting it removed. I'm kind of hoping they just take it out because I have a feeling if they don't, this pain will continue to bother me for the rest of my life, unless I'm eating perfectly healthy.
    On our way home we stopped and got some ice cream so we could make sundaes when we got home, for dessert. We actually watched the last two weeks episodes of the TV show my Brother-In-Law worked on before we had dessert. The time flew by last night and it was 3am before any of us went to sleep! I'm really happy that my sisters all came to visit because it turned out to be great. I certainly don't get to spend as much time with them as I'd like to:( It was nice that I had the day off to prepare as well. I also was happy that I managed to get a lot of things done around the house so maybe this next week I can spend some timing catching up on my book! Well that's it until next time.

Day Two Hundred and Sixty Seven.

    I was so happy when I got up this morning and realized that I have tomorrow off! I have it off because I work this coming weekend. It's unbelievable to me that I was on vacation all last week because I feel as though I need another vacation already:( When I got up I hit the snooze button one time to many so I was about 10 minutes late for work. I really didn't feel that bad about it because I have been working so late everyday this week, so it's not like I was taking advantage or anything. The work day was pretty busy but not as busy as the previous two days. I still managed to leave work pretty late and got out after 4pm. I stopped at the food store on the way home because I forgot to get stamps while I was there yesterday. I had to mail my Dad's card for Sunday, although I doubt it will get there on time now.
    Tomorrow is trash day so when I got home I gathered all of the trash up, went through the mail, and then took a shower. My boyfriend and I were supposed to go an outdoor music show tonight but decided not to because of the weather. It was just so rainy and blah outside that I really didn't feel like being anywhere but in the comfort of my own house. Since we didn't plan on eating in we picked up some food from a local restaurant for dinner. I had a craving for a club sandwich so I got that and my boyfriend got a spicy chicken wrap. We didn't do too much tonight but did manage to watch a movie together, until my boyfriend fell asleep. We watched a Simon Pegg movie called "How to Lose Friends & Alienate People". I loved it....I love all of his movies. He always plays such a likeable, fun character that it's impossible not to enjoy the movies he makes.
    I have a big trip to Target planned for tomorrow so I hope I don't sleep in to late. I'm happy to say that I haven't run out of any of the really important items such as soap or paper towels, yet! However, I know that it's going to be much easier to just get the trip over with tomorrow then to try to squeeze it in before I go to work on the evening shift. I'm very excited because my sisters are all visiting tomorrow so we are having a sister dinner. I'm pretty proud of my hands right now because they still look pretty decent! I think it helped that this week at work I was way too busy to get up and wash them every time I was feeling anxious. I like to reflect on those moments where I can just say no because it gives me strength to do it more often. Alright, until next time.

Day Two Hundred and Sixty Six.

    I didn't think work could get more busy than it was yesterday but today seemed to top it off. I got up earlier than usual because I wanted to make it to the Wednesday morning meeting, which I did. The topic wasn't anything all that great so honestly it was a meeting I really could have missed. I did grab some coffee and my lunch around 9am because I knew I probably wasn't going to get a chance to eat again. I was glad I did that because sure enough I certainly didn't have time to eat again until I got home. I didn't end up getting home until around 5pm and then I had to go to the food store to get what we needed for dinner.
    My boyfriend was actually at my house after my trip to the store because he had a meeting in the city, so he had taken the train down and just didn't go back to work when he got back to town. I ended up putting a load of laundry in and taking a shower while he mowed the back yard. Then we made dinner together which was beef stroganoff with a salad on the side. Both my boyfriend and I were very tired after dinner so we just watched some TV and that was it.
    So I'm pretty annoyed that I think I may have caught a cold on our travels to Chicago. Yesterday it started with a sore throat, but I wasn't convinced there was anything going on more than a little bit of allergies. Today I was doing a lot of nose blowing and I'm very congested. I can't seem to catch a break! This week my upper right quadrant pain has been feeling a whole lot better and now I have a cold:( It doesn't help that work has been so crazy this week and I've been busy every night after work catching up on house chores. Once your an adult you don't even have time to get sick. I hate to be complaining so much because it really could be a lot worse, but I can't help but vent sometimes.
    My hands look surprisingly well and I am contributing most of that to the warm weather. Well, not all of it, because I'm also trying to make more of a conscious effort to avoid unnecessary hand washing. Tonight when I was chopping the salad stuff I stopped myself twice from doing an extra washing. I know that doesn't sound like a lot but when you wash your hands as much as I do, even a few breaks can help! Alright, well I'm simply exhausted!

Day Two Hundred and Sixty Five.

    I went to bed so early last night that I actually woke up before my alarm....but I didn't get out of bed:) After my dog and I looked at each other, then the clock, we both went right back to sleep. I didn't press snooze the usual excessive amount this morning because I had to get to work right on time so I could drop my things off, before I had to go get my imaging study done. It took about two hours for the whole thing to be done and it wasn't very comfortable. I was so glad when it was over, but it ended up being a long day. It wasn't nearly as busy as yesterday but I had to work until 4:30pm so I could make up the time I missed in the morning....that's what made it so long. I didn't get home until around 5:30pm.
    When I got home I gave my Mother a quick call because when I spoke with her last night she seemed pretty down. Afterwards I took a shower then folded the laundry from the day before. I did play some fetch with my dog for a while before relaxing on the couch a few minutes before my boyfriend showed up. I absolutely have to make time to take my dog for a walk tomorrow or I think she might revolt!
    We had no idea what to have for dinner so my boyfriend just picked up a few slices of pizza and we had a salad as well. I really didn't want to eat out but it was almost 8pm when he finally got to my house and neither one of us had any energy to cook. We really need to get back on track about eating better again and scheduling our meals, so we stop eating out so much. I certainly want to get back to my working out and I'd like to lose some weight before we go to the beach this summer. When I first got to work today, after the imaging study, I had a bit of a hand washing set back. I think it was just because I was so nervous about the study and then having to get back into the groove of work made me very anxious. I got through it though:) That's all I've got for tonight.

Day Two Hundred and Sixty Four.

    Well I had a ridiculously hard time getting to sleep last night because I hadn't had to get to sleep that early in over two weeks! I probably am estimating that I got about 4 hours total, so tonight I'm going to have to get a lot more or I'll really have a rough day tomorrow. It's impossible for me to even explain how busy I was at work today....it was horrible. I grabbed my coffee and a granola bar around 9am, then I didn't leave the immediate area I was working in for the rest of the day. In fact I was there until after 4:30pm. That will actually help me out later this week, because I am missing the first three hours of work tomorrow, due to follow up testing for my upper right quadrant pain.
    I'm slightly nervous about having another exam for this pain because I've read a lot of things online which say that some people can have this pain for years and it goes completely undiagnosed. Ugh-that would be the worst case scenario. I have been feeling a lot better than I had been prior to the vacation but the pain still waxes and wanes. The symptom which has completely resolved is the nausea and that was driving me crazy. Due to the fact I'm missing some time at work I'll have to make it up throughout this week so it's good I'll already have an extra hour in from today. I think what I'll do is skip my breaks tomorrow, although it's not like I had time to take any real breaks today either:(
    When I got home from work I stopped at the food store to pick up some items, including paper towels, then went on a cleaning spree around the house. I cleaned the floor in the kitchen as well as the downstairs bathroom. Then I took a shower, folded the laundry from the day before, and wiped down all of the counter tops in my kitchen as well as the living room. Finally it was dinner time and I had the last piece of blackened chicken from the freezer, which my boyfriend had made a few months ago. After dinner my dog got a bath and that was it.
    I washed my hands today more than I did the last week so they're a little bit red. I'm hoping a little bit of Aveeno tonight will clear them right up. That's all for now!

Day Two Hundred and Sixty Three.

    I'm going to write about yesterday before today so I can finish up the vacation blogging. I was certainly upset when I woke up yesterday morning because we had to head home:( We didn't really rush getting out of the room because we had a late check out at 1pm. When we were finally packed I wanted to do a little bit of last minute shopping including grabbing some of the famous "Garrett's" caramel popcorn, before eating lunch, then heading to the airport. I wanted to get my Mother a present for watching my dog so I got her the popcorn. For lunch I wanted to have one more slice of Chicago style pizza so we went to "Lou Malnati's". We had previously went to "Giordano's", which had more cheese with more crust. I liked them both but I think I do like "Lou Malnati's" a little bit better if I had to say.
    We went to the airport after we ate lunch and I absolutely hate flying so I got a little bit grumpy. The thing which made it worse was the fact that even though we weren't going far we had to take two separate flights. We finally got back home around 10:30pm and my best friend picked us up from the airport. We ended up just ordering some dinner from our favorite local restaurant, when we got back to my house, because my Mother hadn't eaten yet and neither had we.
    When I woke up in the morning I could barely open my eyes because I was so tired and I didn't even stay up that late. I realize we really didn't have a lot of down time on our vacation because we wanted to get so much in. Some of these vacations are not that relaxing! It was entirely worth it though because I would go back to Chicago in a heart beat. My boyfriend didn't stay here that long this morning because he had to get back to his house, so when he left I spent the day unpacking and spending time with my Mother. I did get most of my laundry done which is going to be nice, to start the week out with that out of the way.
    I've been home for not even 24 hours and I'm already falling into my old hand washing habits. It's mainly because of the unpacking and doing the laundry. I feel slightly guilty because I insisted to my boyfriend that he would have to do his own laundry. When we went on a cruise last year I did all of the laundry when we got home and it took me several days to get it done. I didn't think it would be fair this time for me to have to do it all and he said that was fine. I'm definitely not looking forward to going back to work and it's gotten me slightly down today. I'm grateful that my Mother was still here today so I wouldn't be all alone. Alright, well back to the grind tomorrow.
   

Day Two Hundred and Sixty Two.

    Instead of me blogging about the last two days too quickly tonight to include everything I'm going to just cover yesterday, then finish the rest of the trip tomorrow night. When we got up yesterday morning we still had to go to the Field Museum which was the last museum we had to do. We had some breakfast at the bakery on the corner aptly named "Corner Bakery".  It's a chain restaurant similar to "Panera" but I thought it was a lot better with a much nicer breakfast selection. That's where I got the steel cut oatmeal from Tuesday morning. I got an omelet type egg dish that they called a scrambler and my boyfriend got a caesar salad. The museum was very large and it took us several hours to get through, but I really enjoyed it a lot!
    When we were done there we were going to head back to town and hopefully be able to go on the architectural river tour. As luck would have it after we were finishing our Chicago style hot dog lunch we saw signs for a water taxi which would take us right to where the boat tours were. The water taxi dropped us right off at Navy Pier, and we had about 45 minutes left before the tour, so we had a quick drink at the "Bubba Gump Shrimp Co.". We almost didn't make it there for those drinks because on the way there a bird tried to land on my head twice! Of course my boyfriend missed it but some people near me saw it and everyone seemed a little shaken up. I was fine and at that point really felt like I needed that drink. I have to say that I'm so glad we did the river tour because the weather was perfect and it was so amazing seeing the city that way. A definite must see!
    When the water tour was over we went back to Navy Pier and had some drinks at a local restaurant called "Harry Caray's". We weren't sure what to do for dinner at that point, but my boyfriend and I both wanted to have some more drinks, so we went to a place back near our hotel called "Dick's Last Resort". We were completely unaware that the gimmick of this restaurant is that the entire wait staff are supposed to be obnoxious to the costumers. It didn't really bother my boyfriend and I, plus we got pretty close with the waitress who seemed to like us a lot. Finally the last thing that we did was go to a jazz bar called "Andy's". This was not my boyfriend's favorite spot because he didn't really love the band and what they were playing, but I felt we had to do it.
    I was exhausted when we got back to the room and already feeling a little upset that our vacation was nearly over. The fear of having to get on a plane the next day was also making me a little uneasy. Alright, that's all I can write for now!

Day Two Hundred and Sixty One.

    Yesterday was our last full day in Chicago and I was too tired when we got back to the hotel room to blog. I'll write more later on:)

Day Two Hundred and Sixty.

    Wow it's been very busy last two days:) When we woke up yesterday we decided that it would be a good day to go to the Museum of Science and Industry. We didn't plan anything else because we figured that it would take us a while to go through. I wasn't ready to eat when I first got up but my boyfriend had the last slice of leftover pizza. In hindsight it was a silly idea to not eat anything because when we got to the museum I was starved, so I got a Planters trail mix from the vending machine to hold me over until later on. We spent all day at the museum and we probably could have had another day there because there was so much to do. It was a lot of fun:) We had taken a taxi to get there but since we weren't in a rush to get back to the room we took a bus back and it was amazingly efficient. We had dinner reservations for 8pm so when we got back to the room we changed into nicer clothes and then walked there.
    We ate at a famous steak restaruant called "Gene and Georgetti's". It was definitely very good and the portion sizes were huge. I had to take a little under half of my steak back with me, but I wasn't sure how it would taste cold, so later on in the night when a homeless women approached me I gave it to her. We ended up getting some drinks at a brewery nearby before going back to the room and the night ended up being very long. What happened was we met a brilliant French physicist at the bar and spent the rest of the night talking to him. He actually works in medical research currently, so we had a lot to talk about and he simply adored my boyfriend. We went to a second bar then had some more drinks at our room. It was seriously 5am when we went to bed!
    We woke up around 11am and it was very hard to get the day started. When we finally left the hotel room we decided to go to The Art Institute of Chicago. On the way there my boyfriend found a Mediterranean restaurant called "Naf Naf" that he wanted to grab a bite at. I ended up eating a sandwich from a place called "Potbelly Sandwiches", which is a chain sandwich shop that originated in Chicago. I wasn't blown away, but I don't love Mediterranean food and I had to eat something. It took us most of the afternoon to go through the museum, then we got on the subway and headed to the UIC (University of Illinois at Chicago) Pavilion where we were going to see "Vampire Weekend" play. We ended up getting there early so we had a drink prior to the show. The concert was completely sold out and it was amazing! I'm very grateful that I was able to see them play live. There was a lot of security at the show and we couldn't even bring our backpack in so my boyfriend hide it in the bushes while we were there. It was still in the bushes when the show ended, so no worries!
    After the show we went to get some dinner and we ate at a burger place called "25 Degrees". We shared a wedge salad, each had our own burgers then also split a small order of onion rings. I was so hungry that I ate mine way before my boyfriend had finished his....I think all of this walking is making me very hungry. We were both still feeling the effects of last night and we want to get an early start tomorrow so we headed back to the room for the night. I have a lot I still want to do while here so I hope to make the most of our last day! I think I've been doing pretty well with my OCD while being here. I have used more public restrooms in the last few days than I do in 3 months while being at home! I'm starting to get really homesick for my dog and I will probably end up calling my Mother in the morning to check in on them both. Alright, it's bed time.

Day Two Hundred and Fifty Nine.

    Unfortunately I wasn't able to find the time to blog yesterday and I've been very busy today so I will write more later!

Day Two Hundred and Fifty Eight.

    We started our day yesterday by having some coffee in the room and then heading out to get an early start. My boyfriend had a slice of leftover pizza for breakfast but I wasn't ready to eat that first thing in the morning. We stopped at a cute bakery across the street from our hotel and I tried the steel cut oatmeal which I thought was very good. We decided not to waste time taking the bus so we paid for a taxi to the Shedd Aquarium. I don't think I've ever been in one so big so it took most of the morning and was really awesome. We ended up having a "Chicago style" hot dog for lunch. It was an all beef hot dog covered in mustard, sweet pickle relish, onions, tomato, pickeled sport peppers, and a dill pickle. It was fantastic!
    We didn't have enough time for a museum and the weather was so nice so we walked back to the city by the lake. We passed by Grant Park and saw the huge water fountain that is featured on the opening credits of "Married With Children". The fountain is called Buckingham Fountain. Then we went to the top of the Willis Tower which is formerly known as The Sears Tower. I honestly didn't like it as much as the John Hancock experience because it was way more touristy. They actually had three gift shops you had to walk by in order to leave!  Then of course I bought a shirt:) After that we saw Millennium Park with the steel bean and took some photos. I was pretty beat when we got back to the room!
    We didn't have time to do much at the hotel because we bought tickets to see the Mets play the Chicago Cubs. We took the subway there and had a beer at a bar outside the ballpark. The ballpark was so awesome and the game turned out to be a great idea. The Mets ended up losing in the last inning which was upsetting for my boyfriend who is a Mets fan. The Mets were actually winning until the last inning when the Cubs got a run and they won walk of fashion:( We grabbed dinner at a place right near the stadium called "Lucky's". It was featured on Man Vs. Food because they have amazing sandwiches. I couldn't help but get the buffalo chicken and it was absolutely amazing. They top the sandwiches with french fries, a tomato, and coleslaw. There were so many bars around the stadium so we stayed out pretty late having drinks.
    I haven't been doing too bad with the hand washing because I haven't had much time to do it. I have used a lot of public restrooms which has made me fairly anxious at times. I still can't get over how clean the city is and actually the guy we say next to at the game last night was saying he always hears that from tourists. The only annoying thing is that at most bathrooms there is an attendant who watches over the bathrooms and that drives me crazy. I feel like I'm being monitored! Alright that's all for now!

Day Two Hundred and Fifty Seven.

    After I wrote my blog yesterday I had a lot to do to get ready for my vacation since I hadn't even started yet. I must say that it was hard to get focused because I still wanted to hang out with my family, who were still around. Well, everyone except for my oldest sister whom went home the previous night. Anyway, while my family was outside enjoying the day I put a final load of laundry in and got in the shower. Then I balanced my check book and paid one last minute bill before I was finished with my finances. My second to oldest sister and her husband left around 3pm and then my twin sister followed. I was sad when everyone left but I really had to focus on my packing at that point! Once I got my laundry in the dyer, then folded, I could finally start packing and it took me a decent amount of time to get everything together. While I was packing my boyfriend mowed the yard while my Mother and Father were watching a movie on TCM. I must say that it felt very good having my Mother and Father at my house while I was getting ready....I felt like a kid again!

    We took the train to Chicago and it certainly did take a while! I was the most stressed about the bathroom situation because I knew I wasn't going to be able to avoid using it, since it was a 17 hour train ride. My boyfriend and I decided that it would be fun to have some drinks while we were on the train so that made me go a lot more than I probably would have otherwise. I'm not going to lie here....using the bathrooms on the train was horrible. They smelled like urine and had it all over everything. I did my best to just try to get my business done and get out of there. Once it got dark my boyfriend and I watched a movie...."21 Jump Street". I liked it but my boyfriend really didn't like it that much....he really doesn't like Jonah Hill. It's funny because I was already getting nervous about falling asleep on the train and he fell asleep before the movie even ended. I decided right away that there was no way I was going to be able to brush my teeth on the train and I was very glad I made the decision to just wear my glasses. Due to the fact I wasn't going to need to mess with taking my contacts out, I went to the bathroom for the final time and tried to sleep.

    We brought my Denver Broncos throw blanket that I keep on the couch so we would have something to cover up with and I'm glad we did because it got chilly. Even though I tried to get as cozy as possible I must have changed positions about 35 times throughout the night. My poor boyfriend woke up almost every time I re-arranged. I was honestly just nervous about the new people getting on the train and taking something out of my purse than anything else. It's not like there was any real security. In the morning I think I actually got the most sleep for some reason. It was frustrating this morning because there was a lot of freight traffic we ended up not getting into the city until about an hour and a half later than we were supposed to. I just couldn't wait to get off of the train at that point. When we got to Union Station we were about to hop a taxi to our hotel and suddenly there was a huge rain storm. I suggested getting coffee and lunch until it blew over, so we did that then took the taxi to our hotel....which worked out great.

    It was after 1pm when we arrived at the hotel and while I was checking in my boyfriend was running after the taxi which dropped us off, because he left his phone in the back seat:( Luckily, he called his phone via my phone and the driver answered right away then quickly turned around to drop the phone back off....disaster adverted! I was excited that we were able to check into the hotel room two hours early because I really felt like I needed to wash my face and brush my teeth. I decided not to waste the time showering and figured I'd just do it at the end of the day. By this point in the day it was beautiful, so we figured instead of trying to squeeze a museum in we'd just walk around and go to the John Hancock building. It was so amazing....at 94 floors in the sky we saw the view of the entire area and really got our bearings to the arrangement of the city. It was really neat at the top because it was a 360 degree view, plus they had a snack bar so we had a beer! Once we were done there we walked to the lake because it turned into such a beautiful afternoon.

    We had a couple of drinks at a bar on the way back, then stopped at a 7-11 to pick up some supplies for the room and finally had dinner at a famous pizza restaurant called "Giordano's". I really liked the pizza a lot because it was so full of cheese and I've always been a fan of a lot of crust. I think my boyfriend liked it as well, but still not as much as he likes New York city pizza. We decided not to stay out tonight because we were both very tired and want to get an early start in the morning. When we got back to the room we had a beer then checked out the pool, although we didn't go in it or anything. I was very happy when we got back to the room and I could take a nice hot shower! We have a big day planned tomorrow and hopefully the weather will be nice. Well, until next time!

Day Two Hundred and Fifty Six.

    Unfortunately because I was on a train all last night I didn't get to my blog, so I will write it tonight! So far the trip has been very busy. Until later!

Day Two Hundred and Fifty Five.

    Yesterday was a great day! My boyfriend and I woke up a little bit after 10am and he ran some last minute errands for items we needed for the Birthday celebration, while I took a shower. I had just finished showering when my Mother showed up at my house. She was followed by my oldest sister with her husband, my Father, my second to oldest sister with her husband and finally my twin sister. Her husband had a lot on his plate this weekend and decided not to come. I cut up a cheese tray and put crackers out for everyone to nibble on before we all went outside and enjoyed the weather. My second to oldest sister brought Kan-Jam so we played that for most of the afternoon, which was a lot of fun.
    My Mother made dinner which was one of my oldest sisters favorite dishes as a child, called creamy chicken and rice. We also had a salad on the side, both of which were delicious. Afterwards my sisters opened their presents, then we had cake and ice cream. I was very tired at the end of the night which is why I didn't get to writing my blog. I also ate and drank way too much because when I woke up this morning I had a very bad headache.
    I ended up washing my hands way more than I should have yesterday because I was doing a lot of dish washing. It took me a while to clean up the kitchen but I wanted to do it so no one else had to worry about it. I'm very impressed with my nail polish because it doesn't have a chip yet. I'm hoping that I can get at least one day into Chicago with them still looking good! I'm actually going to take this time to say how nervous I am about going on vacation and keeping up with the blog. My boyfriend is bringing his Ipad so hopefully I will get to it most nights. I'm sorry if there's a day or two that are going to be really short. Alright, until later!