Eeps. Been neglecting this journal. I write in so many random notebooks and stuff that I wonder what will happen when or if I decide to consolidate in the future. I guess it's just a compulsion of sorts.

Last 3 weeks were very interesting. Went on the "camping" trip with Lyle and stayed at Monterey Inn twice and Seri's one night. What a luxurious trip it was! But we did camp one night at Big Sur. It's a magnificent area. Must go again. Lyle even has wounds to prove it was a rough trip (not). Hahaha...

The trip to Chicago/Lombard, IL, for Lyle's friend, Henry's wedding was bizarre, but fun overall. It's fun when I meet Lyle's friends and they have stories to tell about Lyle's past mischievousness. That Mooseheart place was sure cult-like and well-funded. The wedding was at the Mooseheart House of God. We finally got there 25 min late and I asked the limo driver parked out front if this was the House of God and he said, "Yes, it IS." really seriously. Felt strange.

Why were the signs and navigating in that area so confusing? I got to drink a lot, which made me happy most of the time. Loosens up the tightness in my head. Not good when it gets too loose. Moose?

The day after the wedding and reception, we visited the Navy Pier, Chicago Institute of Fine Art (CIFA), and the Field Museum. I could spend weeks in those places and never get bored. Seeing art students at the CIFA, which is also a school for art, sketching and taking notes made me happy for some reason. Oh, yeah, we watched the Star Wars Episode II in the IMAX theater at the Navy Pier too. I think I liked the movie better this time.

Getting back to the Residence Inn at Lombard after the long day was pretty scary and weird. By the time the IMAX movie ended it was around 11pm or so (don't remember exactly). Silly, us we thought we could follow the signs back on to the freeway to take us home. The signs lead us through several turns and we end up facing a sign saying that the road is under construction and closed. There were no cars anywhere around us. There was one man standing in the cold. Under all the overpasses. We ask for directions. Our car doors weren't locked (yes, I noticed it and decided not to do anything about it because it would be rude :P ). He steps closer and closer. I start to crack open the window so we could hear each other better. But Lyle drives away. ...Lyle asks me "why do you have to be so trusting?" I'm still not sure if the man meant any harm or not, but I guess I should have thought about both of our safety a little more. He seemed all right to me... grumble... am I just too stupid? :( Probably. It's usually how I get in trouble...Pooh. Well, after a few more confusing twists and turns and taking an unintended route we made it back safely.

The day after that, entry in to the Field Museum was free to the public, so we went again because our flight wasn't until 7:40pm that night. I was worried about getting lost again, but our experience from the night before paid off and we made it to the rental car return place okay.

To be continued... very tired now.

Random thoughts in lists. Number does not necessarily correspond to priority or order :P

I am waiting for:
1. The replacement contact lens for my right eye. I lost it while on Ambien so I have no clue how, probably down the bathroom sink.
2. The replacement bulbs for my Ott-lite box. They sent me the wrong ones a month ago and were suppose to ship me the correct ones, but have not. The contact person is nice and responds to my emails promptly, which I appreciate very much. I'll have to make a call to the customer service manager (a different person), if I don't receive an email from her today. I want my light!!
3. Myself. I must get my act together! Draw. Exercise. Learn new things. Write. Play War Craft III. Ahahaha. Laugh. Clean and bring order to the apartment :O.
4. Energy. The feeling of being vibrantly alive. I am so tired all the time.
5. Gaburi's eye to heal. The poor rabbit has an eye ulcer again :(
6. To take Fishbone off the "killer rabbit" status. I rearranged her area yesterday, so she's less inclined to be territorial and bite moving feet. She ran and hopped around like crazy (like any normal rabbit) today, so she seems calmer right now after the energy expenditure. Unless that's just my wishful thinking.
7. Universal peace. Wars are not good! Do you hear me Bush?! Those who keep clamoring for cruelty and destruction? Fishbone, can't you just get along with Gaburi?
8. A carcinogen-free world. So many chemicals in our life. Who knows what the long-term effects are? I don't think I'm even aware of 1% of the chemicals that I encounter every day.
9. All the junk mail I get to STOP. I'm thinking of getting rid of my current email and using a different one because it's getting so bad now.
10. The squirrels to stop digging up my plants in search of food. I put out plenty for all four of you on the feeders, so share!

I am happy about:
1. Lists in general. Don't know why.
2. Being back on the SciArt-L Discussion List-for Natural Science Illustration- [SCIART-L@crcvms.unl.edu] again. Good people, that group.
3. My bunnies.
4. All the nice people in my life.
5. Still being able to see. Still having all of my senses, actually.
6. Switching almost all cleaning products I use to environmentally friendly ones, mostly made by Seventh Generation, and buying only organic foods when possible. I feel less guilty when I do the dishes and laundry now.
7. Online information and courses. So much information. Unfortunately, I still prefer reading stuff on paper than on a monitor.
8. Online games. A blessing and a curse? Trying to wean myself off of Bejeweled again. I haven't touched Atomica for some time.
9. Nature. Camping. Hiking. Air. Water.
10. Being able to sleep, even if it isn't restful.