lots and lots...

going on. it was one crazy week. nick and i stayed up way past our bed times to watch the sox in the world series. hey, if it took 88 years to get back there you never know when it'll happen again! so the series took up the beginning half of our week. then thursday we went downtown to see ben folds. honestly, it was phenomenal. THE best concert i have ever been too. i now have a new boyfriend that i am willing to quit my job for and follow around the world while he tours! :)
so the cool thing about having a concert downtown the day after the sox won was that i was able to snap some fun pictures! now please remember, we were driving down lsd {lake shore drive} where you must not slow down. i rolled down both driver's and passenger's side windows and began snapping away. got some good shots and some not so good. doesn't matter. the fact is that i have some and it's so stinking cool to say that we were there. here's my favorite. it was right in front of buckingham fountain...how freaking cool is this...


we've also had some craziness on the homefront. nothing serious... but nick had been working two jobs. poor guy was overworked and exhausted. we decided the extra money wasn't worth it and he was going to tell them that he was done with both sites and was just going to work one...well, he didn't have the opportunity. the company made some serious changes and now he is the full time pharmacist and the infectious disease site and will no longer have anything to do with the neuro one. sad for him. he started at neuro and loved everyone. it was just a job security thing. neuro wasn't doing so well and i.d. was so not too hard of a decision but one nonetheless. and nick is so not a decision maker!
my workload was a wee bit larger too. my manager was at a conference. so guess who was lucky enough to be in charge. sigh, yes, me. extra hours, extra responsibility. no more pay. so glad she's back. love her to death and never want her to leave.
hopefully, this week will slow down and let us both relax and unwind...and maybe even play some sudoku! ;)

wooo hooo!

it's been a long time coming! sox win!!!
i'm hoping they keep the sears tower lit up tomorrow. i want to snap some pics!

14 innings...

is a heck of a time for a game!
i can't believe that game 3 of the world series is now in the record books. longest world series game ever. and it'll be the first time that they play two games in one day. made ya think on that one, huh?! :)
the games have been so fun to watch. not total blowouts and not too boring. i really hope they win tonight. i want to be able to watch them win and tomorrow night we are going to a concert. so i won't be able to watch! but on the other hand the concert is downtown...so if they play and win we could be part of the insane celebration that is going to happen! but do i really want to be in the midst of the craziness? will i be able to celebrate and then function the following day at work? hmmm...
the concert should be great! i heart ben folds and plan on buying myself a few t-shirts!!! i only wish cameras were permitted. hopefully, we can make it there without too much traffic and i can snap some pics of the chicago theatre and the sign! {gosh, i hope they have a sign!}
k. must nap and rest of for tonight and tomorrow!

su doku.

i'm addicted. who knew a crazy little number game could grab my attention and have me addicted within minutes!
a coworker clipped a game out of the newspaper. i guess they are now doing one a day feature in the local paper. we figured it would be nice to copy and put out for patients to help pass the time. well, shoot. now that we have all played, there are no where near enough pencils in our office. it was sad because in between seeing patients yesterday i would whip out my grid and a pencil and get to it.
i brought it home for nick to play. he figured out the strategy and now i'm a master! :) i had to stop a borders to buy a gift for a relative and ended up with two darn books on it! then i came home to find a boat load of sites on the web! sudoku this one has got to be my favorite! if any of you decide to search out this addictive behavior, please feel free to share any links!
now you'll have to excuse me...i'm off to have a competitive friday evening of sudoku with the hubby! :)

powerball

never played the darn game in my life. and now i have some how found myself in a group pool at work and nick and i bought 5 tickets. i have no clue how it works, yes it's a lottery i know that much! but i hate the lottery. i would rather spend my $5 and actually have something to show for it! but you can't just pass up the chance at 340 million dollars!!!!
yeah, i know. that is what everyone is thinking. that my odds are like 98752498765 to 1. but i had to give it a whirl. that and the fact that i would be majorly pissed off if my coworkers all won and i didn't! :)

another quote...

"Don't worry about the world coming to an end today. It's already tomorrow in Australia.” Charles Schultz

made me stop and think when i read it! i love it.
i believe that all things happen for a reason. that no matter how horrible or wonderful they may be...you can always learn something. grow from that particular moment. well, at least i try. i don't over analyze everything and everyone. okay. so sometimes i just may. i also have a tendency to worry about things that are out of my control. i wish i didn't...but it seems i am turning more into my mother by the minute! :)
nick is so not a worrier. he is also an optimist. or in his words a realist. i am a complete pessimist. i think that if you expect the worse that you will more than likely be pleasantly surprised. whereas, if i am setting such high expectations i feel i will more than likely be let down. funny logic for someone who works oncology. who sees death and dying on a daily basis. who tries to instill hope in her patients. who doesn't want to be miss negativity. who tries to make the chemo experience as pleasant as possible.
a hypocrite. maybe that is who i am. someone who tells her patient not to give up. that there is hope. but at the same time expects the worst when it comes to her own life. maybe it is a good thing. that i can seperate myself from work. that i don't let my feelings interfere with another person's healing or feelings. maybe it is a bad thing. i don't know.
and i'm not sure how the original quote has brought me here. but it really got me thinking about today. the here and now and living in the moment.

now i also don't want this to come across as a shannon is a horribly depressed person post. i'm not. i promise. i guess to sum it all up...i just hate being let down. ;)

world series...

here we come! way to go sox! i'm so excited for a chicago team to be in the world series. how cool is that! it has been FOREVER!!! one of the commentators said that only one other team had a greater number of years since making it to the series. guess who? the cubs! to me that is unbelievable. both chicago teams with a serious drought. and the bears, well...the superbowl shuffle was '85, right? here's hoping chicago wins!!

and an update on my organizational kick...i finally bought some albums for all my pages that have been laying around. who knew albums were meant to hold pages!!! i just hate buying albums since i would rather spend it on actual supplies! :) my plan is to sit in front of the tv and fold, organize albums, and catch up on my tivo'd shows!

a place for everything...

and everything in its place. gonna be my new motto! i've been doing a lot of organizing and rearranging. it feels good. to not have clutter or useless items just laying around. hopefully, i can purge our house of unneccesary stuff by spring. i figure i can tackle little things here and there and it would be a great winter project. i know the study area is going to be a biggie. hopefully, nick's mom can work out the storage situation for our new room and i can get it taken care of. we truly don't have a lot of unloved items but there is enough! {like my three junk drawers that nick loves!}
so i thought i would start a blog for my lo's. i used to post them at two peas but sometimes i forget. and not everyone can see the knk gallery. i think it would be neat if any of our family members were interested in seeing my work...they could just have one stop shopping. all the art in one spot. so, i think i'm gonna upload some of my more recent lo's. don't think i have the patience to upload all of my los!
gonna put them all on disc tho. that and all my pics. gotta figure out storage organization for those too now! alright. enough rambling. gonna catch some foosball with my hubby and then watch the sox win the alcs tonight! ;) {i hope!}

cleanliness....

i love my cleaning lady. so technically, she's nick's cousin. but she doubles as our cleaning lady. man is she kick arse at what she does. this is only her second time cleaning the house {she's set for every other thursday!} and both times i have come home i have been thrilled.
thursday mornings i am always unsure. i mean it's $100. that is a lot of money that i could be spending on stuff, i mean saving! ;) but when i arrive home, i know that money was well spent. and i love that i didn't have to do it! now if i could just figure out how to have the house constantly smell fresh: like a light smell of bleach or better yet, fresh lemons year round!

take me out to the ballpark...

okay, now i'm singing the whole darn song! but that's okay. so it's almost time for the world series and i can't believe the sox could have a chance! yes, i am a hoosier. but we are so darn close to chicago that i can root for the sox! and indiana doesn't have a baseball team! ;P
this pic is from comisky {fine u.s. cellular field} this year. 9.22.05 to be exact. our friend jason's {who can be seen on the far left with his wife christy!} birthday he is a sports freak. baseball especially! they played minnesota and lost. but that is when they had their losing streak. i truly hope that they are able to win and move onto the world series. that would be so cool! because honestly, i don't think the cubs or the bears will be in the playoffs anytime soon. indianapolis is a definite maybe...i would root for them too! but back to the original topic...GO SOX!! ;)

a new creative space...

might be in the works. nick and i have talked and looked for a new desk for me for quite some time. well, this weekend we spent sometime with his mom. the topic of our study was brought up and she offered to help us with the design. you see, she works at walter e. smite furniture. kinda pricey but hopefully they have some sort of family discount. his mom is really good at this whole interior decorator thing. i guess, she should be since it is her job...but sometimes it doesn't work that way! this is the sketch she sent us. sorry it uploaded funkily. it's all bookshelves and cabinets. i think it could be very cool. nick offered the side by the window for lighting purposes but i think if i take the side by the closet i would have that much more space!
but then again, there's the whole how much do we want to do if we are going to move in a few years... well, we have to live here now, so why not? maybe we can remove the shelving and everything and if we build, build a smiliar room. or if it can't be removed how will it affect the resale of the house. i mean we only have 3 bedrooms. would someone really like one taken for the study? ah, who cares. i think it might be a go. she just has to discuss the moola details with us. should know more wednesday!

initials.

so i have this thing with initials. i also make up words to go along with them. for instance, when i worked in the hostpital i needed a password to login to our computer system. well, my letters were D S F U. now...if you know me, you know i have a potty mouth. i really wish i didn't, and i'm trying to improve...but you can easily guess the word combination i came up with to remember that code!
before i got married, i always wondered what sp would stand for. i never had one for sm. my maiden name combo. so i have no clue why i was obsessed with creating one for my new initials. my lovely coworkers at the time helped with a few...status post, suprapubic, and some that aren't appropriate for posting {think dirty, you'll get there!}.
for some reason, one of the doctors i worked for started calling us by our initials. all of a sudden, you would hear 'sp. where's sp?' i'm pretty sure the same day, i cracked one of my trademark wise butt comments and he called me smarty pants. how perfect! sp = smarty pants. i told my mom. of course, she thought it was hysterical and a perfect fit. nick agrees too. i love it and am so glad that the word combo was stumbled upon.

yay!

the new knk dt has been announced. i have to say i was beyond shocked when i found out. i wasn't even sure when angela was going to make the changes...i thought there might have even been a dt call. i guess she went with guest designer and moments defined apps and message board participation. i am totally thrilled and so excited. but it is a lot of pressure. big shoes to fill. responsibility. to have a deadline. to be restricted with materials. kinda pushes you, if you know what i mean. i think it will be a great experience. the pic is the six of us that met in michigan this past weekend {colleen, shan, tracy, liz, carmen, and kelly}. not pictured are paula and sam {an original ;)}.
i know a while ago i said i didn't want the pressure. but at the same time it's also a validation of my work. kinda nice to be recognized. a totally new experience, an adventure. something i told myself i would try to do more. push myself. go out of that comfort zone. to grow. to learn. i can't wait.

beyond tired.

yesterday there were no words for how tired i was. i was draggin the entire day.... a four hour monotonous drive surely didn't help either!
so this weekend was the michigan get-together. some may say boodlefest others boodlepalooza! it was such a fun time! awesome company, fantastic shopping, and wonderful memories.
i took friday off and drove up early. made good time except for the last 2o miles which took 1 hour! did some major shopping at the zone. i think i had the longest receipt of the trip there! almost as tall as me! but all pp and bazzill were on sale so that helped!
saturday hit 5 stores! in record time i'm sure...at least for 12 crazed shoppers. the bill for the entire excursion for all 12 women.. $2600! 8-) <--- he's my bug-eyed smiley! we had a mound of bags to say the least. we had several impromptu swaps which was so much fun. sunday we were up early and headed home again. can't wait to do it again. however, now i know to be well rested. i think i had 7 hours of sleep the whole weekend! when i got home yesterday i napped for 90 minutes. last night, i got about 9 hours and i still took a nap today. i am so glad that i took the day off! i've been reorganizing my area. pp are now organized by brand, cs by colour {liz that was for you and colleen!}, have my stamps in holders, all my brads are in my craft mate {thanks carmey!}, now i just have to figure out the embellishment nightmare! ack. gonna redo my entire rainbow iris cart. then i'm finished!! here's a quick pic. not the greatest due to lighting but it's all i got...for now!
the girls: back row: colleen, stephanie, rystn, monica, kelly, carmen, shan. front row: tracy, laura, carrie, liz, and chris!