Christmas (And one other tidbit)

Hello! It's been a bit since I last blogged because I've been busy with holiday stuff. I have to confess that I love being busy with holiday stuff. I love Christmas. I wish every day was Christmas. Yeah. I am one of *those* people.

I bloody love Christmas lights. I almost love them enough to leave them up all year. Almost.

I love eating too much delicious food, hanging out with my awesome family, sitting by the fire, opening gifts. I love holiday traditions. I love the warm, cheery, snuggly, rosy-cheeked feeling I get at Christmastime.

And guess what else I love? My husband. He got me a brand new laptop for Christmas! Woooooooooooooo! I am so totally typing this blog post on my sweet new hp laptop.


I've also become mildly addicted to the trial of the Mortlake Mansion game that came with my laptop. I was talking to my husband about it and told him that I am certain that I should NEVER ever ever ever attempt a trial of World of Warcraft because I seriously think I would turn into one of those internet game addicts that plays for 35609845680945 hours each week. My eyes would be all bloodshot and bleary. My ass would sprout roots and become part of my computer chair. I wouldn't stop playing to shower, eat, sleep or change my underwear. Yup. Scary shit dudes. So, I think we are in agreement. No WOW for me!

But I digress. There is one other tidbit I want to share.

I turned in my resignation at the clinic today. And it. was. AMAZING. Omg. I can't even tell you how incredible it felt to seal that envelope with my "see ya!"  letter inside. I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I am so psyched to be ending that job, and searching for a new one.

It hit me again when that letter left my hands today: WE ARE REALLY MOVING TO CHICAGO! AHHH!

Will and I have been scouring the net for apartments lately, and we're going to head into the city in about 5 or 6 weeks to start seriously looking at places and sign a lease. Exciting times ahead. I cannot wait!

A Magical Saturday

Yeah, the title of this post is a little cheesy, but I seriously believe that Chicago is pretty freaking magical during the Holidays.

In my family, every December we head into Daley Plaza to the authentic German Christmas market aka Christkindlmarket. If you want to check out the website, here it is: http://www.christkindlmarket.com/en/

If you don't want to check out the website, just know that Christkindlmarket is basically this: Daley Plaza, with its giant red, green, and white Christmas tree, is transformed into a little slice of open-air German Holiday market heaven! There is authentic German food (a lot like my Grandma used to make!), German beer and wine, and tons of German-made goodies from ornaments to scarves to beer steins.

My sister Ellie, my mom, and I wandered (with mugs full of warm beverages) around Daley Plaza checking out all the goodies. We feasted on potato pancakes, curry sausage, brats w/ kraut and candied nuts. We admired hand crafted nutcrackers, hand painted ornaments, and hand carved Cuckoo clocks. When our bellies were full and our feet were starting to get tired, we hopped in a cab and were off to the second part of our yearly holiday tradition: Zoo Lights at Lincoln Park Zoo.

If you've never seen Lincoln Park Zoo lit up for the Holidays, you really NEED to look at this link. http://www.lpzoo.org/events/calendar/zoolights Scroll to the bottom and check out the photos. You've never seen such glorious Holiday lights. I swear it! And Lincoln Park Zoo and its lights are of course, as always: FREE.

Zoo Lights can get ANYONE into the Holiday spirit. Seriously. Every single year, we walk through the same entrance to the zoo, and every single year, I am 5 years old all over again.

I gasp. I stare. It. is. gorgeous.

I could easily spend 2 or 3 hours there each year. And this year was no different. Mom, Ellie and I walked, hung out with the animals, talked and sang along to the Christmas carols for a good 2 and a half hours on Saturday.

And this year when my sister, mom, and I hailed a cab back to Daley plaza, I smiled to myself...nah, more like grinned. I grinned not just because my heart, in all of its German market Zoo light Christmas cheeriness, felt like it had grown 3 sizes that day.

Nope. I grinned because I realized that in a few short weeks, Will and I will call this city, and all the magic that comes with it, home.

Reasons I don't *HORRIFIED GASP* have a facebook account anymore

I was chatting with my friend K.D. at work today while we were both on break . We discussed many things. We talked about our shared love of Christmas, Italian food and many other delightful topics. Somehow she brought up facebook, and she was shocked when I told her I deleted my facebook account months ago.

"Why would you get rid of it?! It makes it so easy to keep up with people. Plus is it SO entertaining!" K.D.mused.
 

And she is right. My husband has a facebook account, and so do all of my friends, minus one that I can think of off the top of my head. It is an easy way to keep up with people who have moved all over the place. Everything is right there at your fingertips. Vacation photos, baby pictures, wedding pictures. Extremely funny/witting/entertaining status updates, and then of course status updates that share waaaaaaaaaay TMI or status updates that you don't give two shits about, i.e. "I took a shit this morning. It was a little runny, but had good color. I washed my hands afterward." And then there was this one serial status updater that told me (and her 900 something other friends, yes, NINE HUNDRED) wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy toooooooooooooooooo much about her pregnancy.

I do NOT, under ANY circumstances, want to read about your cervical mucus or your leaking breasts.

But enough of the TMI facebookers and onto the reasons I got rid of facebook ...

I got rid of facebook for many reasons, but the number one reason was that I had privacy concerns. I fear that people don't realize how creepy facebook is about privacy. They stalk you, major big brother style. They use your information to try to sell you things. They change their privacy settings like I change my underwear, and then they "forget" to tell you about it. They make it thisclose to impossible to delete your profile for good, and then I don't think it's ever actually deleted because when you signed up, you essentially gave them the rights to your profile. It's dicked up, my friends, as A.J Soprano used to say.

The second reason I got rid of facebook was that it made me LAZY. Super lazy. I don't wanna call my cousin to congratulate her on the birth of her second baby? Just say grats on FB. I don't want to do my cinema class homework? Waste some time on FB, naturally. I don't want to call my group of friends to organize a get together? Send them an "invite" on FB. I just didn't like how much time I was wasting on facebook, and how it made me feel connected to all these people (who, let's face it, I didn't want to be connected to) in some super weird way.

The third reason I got rid of facebook was because I felt like it started becoming too big a part of my life, and that was not cool with me. I felt like I just had to check facebook several times a day. I felt like every time I snapped a great picture, I had to post it on facebook. I felt like everyone was posting about how everything is just so perfect and happy, and everyone's life was just totally, mindblowingly amazing. It all started feeling a little too "Stepford Wives" for me.

So away facebook went. And guess what?! I am surviving. I still see all of my local friends on a regular basis. I email or call my long distance friends/family on a regular basis.

There is life after facebook. And it's damn good.  ;)

Scurrrrrrrrrrred!

If you read my last post, you probably gathered that I am both excited and nervous about the move we'll be making in 2.5 months. If you read even further back, you read about the things that irk me about moving to Chicago/Chicago in general. Today's post topic  = things I am afraid of. I'm not talking about spiders or drowning or 80s hairstyles, even though all those things legitimately do scare the shit out of me.

I am talking about fears that I have that somehow involve Chicago/moving into a big city. I want you all to know that while all of these may not be rational fears, they are fears nonetheless.

So, without further ado:

1. Getting lost. Anyone who knows me will tell you that I am probably the most directionally challenged person on the face of the planet. I don't know road names. I am okay at best with landmarks. I am pretty sure I am going to be wandering around like an idiot when we first arrive in Chicago. I mean, I will definitely walk with purpose, but I am sure I will be walking in circles, because I will have no idea where the eff I am.

Will says I need a handheld GPS. And he's totally not joking.

*sigh* I am hoping that I will be able to figure things out within a decent amount of time after the move. I have already been studying the cta maps online. No joke.

It could be very dangerous getting lost in the wrong neighborhood. 

2. Not being able to make friends. I think I am a likable enough person. I have a handful of really close friends, and I have many acquaintances. My husband must like me; he married me after all. My cat likes me, occasionally. I just have this extreme fear that when we get into the city I won't be able to make friends. I can be really, really shy around people I don't know very well, and sometimes people mistake that shyness for bitchiness/creepiness.

Seriously. How do you approach people without looking like a total creeper? "Hi! I am new to the area and don't really know anyone. I have a husband, and a cat. I like food, baseball and consignment shops.Wanna be my friend?!"

*sigh* Creepy.

And how do you know WHO to try to be friends with in a city? How do you know you're not trying to cozy up with a murderer or rapist?

*le siiiiiiiiiiigh*

I am hoping that my new job will allow me to make some new friends in the city.

Speaking of jobs, that leads me to my next fear...

3. I won't be able to find a job in Chicago. I desperately hope that this is not true, my friends.

I know I complain about my current job. Well, I guess I haven't complained on this blog yet, but just ask Will. He will tell you that while I seriously try not to, in light of the current state of our economy, I often complain about my j-o-b. However, I have been working at the clinic for over 5 years. Come to think of it, I have worked steadily since I was 16 years old. I've always held a job.

That's more than a decade of gainful employment, folks. All that is going to come to a screeching halt when I hand in my resignation in about 6 weeks. I'm gonna say "so long "to a job I've held for more than 5 years. It's going to be weird.

While I know I'm not passionate about what I do, and I CERTAINLY CANNOT see myself doing it long term (hence the reason I am back in college),  it really is an okay job. It pays my bills. It allows me to purchase groceries, and pay for insurance; things of that nature. It has provided the means for me to take some freaking amazing vacations over the past few years. Even though I don't like my job, I am thankful for it. There are so many people who aren't able to provide for their families, and when I leave this job, I am afraid I might become one of them.

4. Starving to death. Okay, now I've said it. Luckily for Will and myself, this is a stupid, irrational fear. My parents, my siblings and my father in law would *never* let us starve to death, but you know, it goes along with my fear of not being able to find a job/pay bills/etc.

5. Being extremely overwhelmed. I am afraid I will be overwhelmed with the hustle and bustle of city life. I'm afraid I will not be able to adjust to the super fast lifestyle. I'm afraid I might look like a deer in the headlights when I see all that the city has to offer.

I've always thought it would be a wonderful experience to live in a big city for a few years while I'm young and have few responsibilities. Lucky me, I am getting the chance to give it a go! At the same time, I've always felt that city living is not a viable long term situation for me. Maybe I will change my mind. Who knows? I just hope I don't have a massive stroke from trying to handle the pace of city life.

6. Dealing with White Sox fans. This will surely be made worse by the fact that I will be a Cubs fan living on the South side. Nuff said.

Little Words of Encouragement

Yesterday afternoon my mom came over to my house to bake Christmas cookies. Baking Christmas cookies is something we haven't done together since my grandma passed away about 2 years ago. It was really nice to pull out my grandma's worn, hand-written recipes, cover the kitchen in flour, sugar, and colored icing, and spend some time with my mom, who also happens to be one of my best friends in the entire world.

Somewhere between cutting out doughy Christmas trees, and frosting our gingerbread men, my mom turned to me and asked, "Are you getting excited about moving into the city?"

I let out a long, slow breath, and wiped my sticky, sugary hands on a towel.

Finally, I smiled and said, "Yes, definitely! It's just....I will miss stuff like this. I will miss being able to drive 6 miles and be at your and dad's house. I'll miss hanging out on the back deck on long, hot summer nights. I'll miss our Sunday family lunches. I'll really miss S Park and being able to take long, quiet hikes there every night after work with Will.

There's a lot that I'll miss, but at the same time, I am ready to try life in the city. I'm excited about all of the culture, and art. I can't wait to find the delicious, hole in the wall restaurants, and the awesome consignment shops. I am so excited to be able to hop on the L and head to Wrigley for some Spring baseball.

All in all, I guess I'm feeling a little bittersweet over the whole deal. I feel like Will and I have been slaves to waiting on the med school for so long, it almost seemed like this day wouldn't come. I just hope the city doesn't chew us up and spit us out."

My mom smiled and said, "You're going to be just fine. Embrace this change. Enjoy the fact that you have a wonderful husband standing beside you, and this move and the stories that will go along with it are the stories you'll tell your grandchildren about.

You and Will are intelligent, kind people. You're not going to have any trouble meeting new friends or adjusting to the speed, and excitement of Chicago. Trust me, I am your mother, and I have known you for 26 years. You're going to thrive in the city. Besides, if you ever get a little homesick, we're only 70 miles away, and you can always come home."

Before I could respond, there was a knock at my front door, and my dad walked in. He grabbed a gingerbread man, popped it into his mouth and said, "Emme, these are delicious! You sure did get your grandma's baking gene!"

I smiled. When I'm feeling nervous or scared, it's really nice to have my parents' little words of encouragement.

Tips on being with a med student

The first thing I have to say is TGTSIO (thank God that shit is over) aka: I am officially done with this semester.

HolyballsIcanfinallyrelaxomgyessssssssssssssssssssssssssssss!

I finished my last final project tonight, and I am feeling great about this holiday break. It can be really overwhelming sometimes; being a full time employee during the day, and a full time student at night.

K. Now that I've gotten that out of my system, I can say yay again! Because guess what? I got my first email related to this blog. I was so excited to read it. I immediately thought that it must be some super cool chick that lives in Chicago that wants to befriend me and tell me all of the amazingly cool things to do/see/eat. We will bond instantly, she will know where the good produce is, and she will definitely know a place I can go (close to Hyde Park) to practice Bikram yoga.

Not so much.

I mean, don't get me wrong here. I am sure she is a super cool chick, but she doesn't live in Chicago. And she doesn't want to tell me about all of the amazingly cool things to do in the city. Nope. She wants to know what it's like being married to a med student, because it just so happens that she is dating (and falling in love with) a med student.

Being married to a med student in a nutshell? It's fantastic! He's actually FINALLY in the same country as I am?! Sweet!

Seriously though, any committed relationship with a med student is gonna be tough, but I don't think it's tougher than being married to anyone else with a demanding job, or a demanding school schedule.

I have a couple of tips:

1. You need to have a life of your own. I am a strong advocate for having a life of your own no matter who you're dating/married to/partnering up with, but it is especially important when you're with a med student. Med student = BUSY AS HELL.

Sure, it's easy to get sad when you wanna hang out but they are busy learning how to scope buttholes/perform pelvic exams/remove infected toenails/perform life saving brain surgery, but you can't sit around being all mopey all the time. That is LAME, and frankly, it's a little pathetic.

You are a whole person that stands on your own; you are not half of a whole. Make sure you remain true to yourself. Enjoy time with your friends. Enjoy your hobbies. Exercise. Read new books. Join a club you've been eyeballing. Enjoy your life 100% without your partner, because it makes the time you do have together much more enjoyable.

2. Ignore the haters/naysayers. You will inevitably encounter an asshole (or seven) who waltzes up to you and congratulates you on "snagging a doctor". People fail to understand what financial burdens the majority of med students go through to become doctors.

(Read: 8 years of school+clinics, plus 2-8 years of residency = student loans to the tune of about $150,000. And I'm lowballing that number, people.)

You know that you're not dating/married to your partner for their money, and so does your med student partner. So eff the idiots that think you're some sort of money grubbing whore! It's not worth trying to argue with them.

You will also encounter people that seem to think that whatever you do for a living just pales in comparison to what your partner does. Eff them too. Yes, doctors are important, we all know that, and we're all thankful for doctors. But so are teachers, and veterinarians, and plumbers, and truck drivers, and farmers....and on and on. Don't you ever let anyone disrespect your work, or make you feel like less of a person because you don't save lives for a living.

3. Remain positive. Seriously. There will be lots of functions that your significant other will have to miss because that whole life saving thing is goin on. Lots of romantic dinners/weddings/family reunions/friend reunions/concerts/funerals/anniversaries/vacations that you will spend solo.You have to remember that their calling is noble, so don't go getting all huffy and bitchy when they have to care for their patients. This is what they signed up for, and by choosing to be their partner, so did you.

In conclusion, being married to a medical student is not all fairy dust and skittle farts, but I love my husband, and I wouldn't trade him for anything. Ever. Not even a zero student loan balance, or a diet sans the words 'ramen noodles.'  ;)

Pet Peeves

The Bears lost this afternoon. To the freaking KC Chiefs. Really?

So since I tend to get a wee bit (read: a HELLUVA LOT) cranky when the Bears play like crap, I thought, "Hey, why not write a blog post about other things that piss me off/irritate the shit out of me that have something to do with Chicago?" Why the eff not? Here goes.

1. I hate it when the Bears lose. Like, I really hate it. Smoke starts escaping from my ears, and my face gets all red and sweaty. Especially when they play like crap. I can deal with a loss when they actually look like an NFL team, as opposed to looking the B string of a junior tackle team, which is precisely what they looked like today.

2. I debated on whether to add this to the list, but I will. I also hate it when the Cubs lose. I mean, I am used to it by now, but it still irks me on occasion. Nuff said. Another thing about the Cubs? I hate it when people hate on Cubs fans. Why do people hate on us? Because we haven't won a world series in over 100 years? So what? We have been to the playoffs several times, and we've had some great seasons since then. We just haven't gone all the way again. Yet.

I've also hear people say Cubs fans are the worst fans in baseball. Sure, there are some obnoxious, yuppy, drunken-frat boy type Cubs fans (lots actually) that everyone could do without. Sure there are Cubs "fans" that don't even know the rules of the game, but you can't lump us all in with those morons! Some of us actually go to Wrigley to watch the game. Some of us can name more than 3 players on the team. Some of us really love the game of baseball.

 3. I hate it when I tell someone we are moving and they ask where. I say, "We're not positive yet, but it will be somewhere on the south side of Chicago", and they get this bug-eyed, wide-mouthed, horrified look on their face and say, "OhmyGodtellmeit'snottrue! You're moving to the GHETTO!?!?!??! You're going to get shot! Or raped! Or mugged! Or bludgeoned to death with a baseball bat! Or stabbed in the eyeball with an HIV infected syringe! Don't dooooooooooo it! Can't you commute?!?!"

Really? I am pretty sure the entire south side of Chicago is not "the ghetto." I'm also pretty sure there are bad areas, and bad neighborhoods on the north side too. C'mon now.

4. I hate it when I tell someone we are moving to Chicago and they say, "How will you survive without a car?!?" Well, there is this little thing called public transit and it is pretty darn awesome, my friend. Besides, I'm pretty sure people got along ok without cars before they were invented. Just like people survived without the internet, iphones and all that other crap. It can be done.

5. I hate it when I tell someone we are moving to Chicago, and they wrinkle their nose and get all snotty and say "Oh, you're going to turn into one of those 'city girls' huh?" I have no idea what that even means, but it really annoys the shit out of me.

So that is a list of my pet peeves related to Chicago. That was more than enough negativity for one day! ;) 

Let's just get started, shall we?

      First thing's first. I am not going to use real names in this blog. My name is not really Emme, and I am going to  make up names for everyone else too, because I feel weird about using real names on the interwebz. Unfortunately, there are some serious weirdos out there my friends.

      Now that that's been said, the second thing's second. I'm not going to start this blog by boring you folks with the story of my life, how I met my husband, the story of his life and blah blah blllllllllllllllllllllllllllllaaaaaaah. ZZZZZzzzzzZZZZzzzzzz. Look at me, already imagining that this silly little blog might actually get some followers! Ha! Clearly, I think I am super important and everyone who stumbles upon this masterpiece of a blog is going to think so too, and want to read all about my adventures in le city. ;)

       Third thing's third. I feel like I need to come with a disclaimer that says "random tangents to be expected". It's just how I am. Sometimes I think I am ADD. Oh look! There's a squirrel! ;)

     Truthfully, the chances are that if you're here, you're probably either A. me, B. My sister Ellie (so not her real name),  C. My cat, Puss. (Puss is actually her real name. No joke. I guess I lied just a little about that whole "I will not use ANY real names" thing.) , or D. My other sister, Cher. (Again, totally not her real name. Who names their kid Cher?) Buuuuut, if you are not A, B, C or D: welcome to my blog! And thanks for swinging by! Let's get started, shall we?

       My husband (whom I shall call Will from here on out) and I spent the last two years of our lives as a long distance couple while he was completing the basic science portion of his medical education. We are finally back in the same place, which happens to be the tiny farm town where we both grew up. We got married in September, and we found out a few days ago that we are moving to Chicago so Will can continue on with school, and get ready to begin clinical rotations. This is sort of a big deal.

     You see, Will and I come from a town of about 10,000. No one here locks their doors at night. We leave our keys in our cars. Getting a super Walmart was the most exciting thing that has happened to this town for the last oh, 5 years or so. Seriously. We have 2 grocery stores. We have a McDonalds and a Burger King and approximately 5 family owned little restaurants. We don't have a movie theater. We go cowtipping for fun. I am only half joking

      I have lived in this town since I was born. When we were children, my parents took me and my sisters in to the city about twice a year to do cool things like go to Wrigley to see a Cubs game, go to the Shedd Aquarium or go to the Museum of Science and Industry. As an adult,  I go into Chicago more often, but I'd say no more than 10 times a year. And now, folks? I am going to be living in this city.  This massive cultural, artistic, musical, dangerous, sometimes smelly (mostly in the summer, I've gathered), magical place. Shit's about to get real. I'm a little freaked. Not gonna lie.

     I've been doing some research, and we're looking around the south side for a nice (read: decent, and semi-affordable area where I don't have to worry too much about getting mugged) neighborhood. The hospital where Will is going to be working/studying is not really in the best area, so we don't want to live in that neighborhood, but we need to be close. We've been looking at Hyde Park.

     President Obama lives close to Hyde Park. (I mean, when he's not living in the White House, natch.) The Obamas live in Kenwood, so the area around it can't be too dangerous, can it? Plus, Hyde Park is near the University of Chicago, so it's diverse, and there will be folks our age nearby. Did I mention that we don't really know anyone who lives in the city? We've got our work cut out for us folks. Stay tuned. It's gonna be a crazy ride, but I'm so up for it!