We have an apartment!
Mood:  a-ok
Our trip to A2 (trying to pick up the local slang) to look at apartments went very well. We saw 10 different apartments, nine communities & one duplex (just to shake things up). Two communities made the finals. Both have pools, 24-hour fitness centers, one free carport included in the rent, washer/dryer and dishwasher, fireplace, and are dog-friendly. One was near the mall and I-94, and included free cable. The other was more suburban, closer to a nature preserve & grocery store, and slightly less per month (about the cost of cable).

We ended up chosing the second community based upon the floorplan - we think the one we picked will allow us more options in organizing the space.

Apart from looking at apartments, we had a good time. We went to dinner on Saturday with one of J's new labmates & his wife, who are very nice & seem like they'll be fun to hang around with. They gave us a tour of downtown and pointed out all the good restaurants, and which restaurants to avoid (they are foodies & have tried every place, I think).

Sunday, we went to the Newman Center for church - not as nice as our current church, but I think we could make do. We'll probably check out some other churches in the area once we move, too. Then we hit a cool deli for lunch - they had about 50 different types of sandwiches, plus all sorts of salads. Kind of pricey, but it was right by campus, so I guess students are willing to pay the prices. We walked around campus a bit - it's pretty, and huge. Lots of green space.

All in all, we had a good time, and I think we'll really enjoy our new apartment. Of course, we'll have to hang out the NU flag asap :)

Relaxing the weekend away...
Spent Saturday trying to narrow down the list of potential future apartments. I think we've got a list of about 30 down to 14 or so... not bad. If some places don't call me back before the end of the week, they are off the list. One leasing agent told me that they didn't show apartments on weekends - off the list! (We aren't going to take work off to visit apartments - sorry.)

Trying to find a place that will let us have a dog isn't easy. Some places even sound sketchy over the phone (sure, dogs are fine! we don't even charge for them! {read: the carpets have never, ever been changed.}). But we're tired of our pet-less existence and miss having dogs, so the complex/duplex has to allow dogs.

Sunday we relaxed - went to church, visited J's undergrad adviser, and saw Batman Begins. (Like Kim, we were confused by Katie Holmes' "attire" at the end of the movie - what was that about?) The rest of the movie was outstanding, however. Lots of good lines. Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine were fantastic in their respective roles.

And I know I said this before - but The 4400 is really one of the best summer series around. Watch it :)

Reflections on a second viewing...
So, the dialogue between Anakin and Padme definitely doesn't improve on a second viewing. The action scenes are still cool, however.

And... the Rent trailer was added to Star Wars! At least at the River East 21. Very cool. Can't wait. Totally forgive Jesse L. Martin for taking time off Law & Order (and freaking me out by not being in the opening credits for the last few episodes this last season).

On a different note, how did the Padres lose the Tigers last night? Unbelievable. Today's game is at noon - woo! for MLB radio.

Weekend Update (again)
I must get better at updating this during the week :)

The past week was a bit crazy - but the weekend was fantastic, finishing with picnic fun out on the Point. Football and Frisbee were tossed, much food was consumed, and fun was had (hopefully by all, and definitely by Jimmy & I).

Last Thursday, we hit one of our favorite restaurants in Chicago, El Nandu, to celebrate Jimmy getting a paper accepted for publication. It's this wonderful Argentinian place on Fullerton, with the best chicken chimichuri (sp?), yummy empanadas and good sangria. There's usually live music as well, and cool local art on the walls.

I've also become addicted to another summer reality show - Dancing with the Stars. I just wish I could dance like that :)

Tomorrow, we're heading to see Star Wars III for the second time - not that we liked it or anything.

Weekend Update
Random discoveries made this weekend:

1) When Jake Peavy and Adam Eaton are pitching, the Padres are great. When they aren't, the Padres suck. (Of course, Jimmy would like me to believe the Cubs won this weekend's series on their skills alone, but...)

2) How to get fast seating at a Chili's in the south suburbs - wear a Cubs jersey (or in my case, be with someone wearing a Cubs jersey).

3) This season of "The 4400" looks just as good as last season. If you're not watching it, you should be!

Count 'em up!
Mood:  a-ok
I was talking to Karin & John last night, friends of ours who are planning a road trip across the U.S. this summer. They are trying to eventually visit all 50 states, and the conversation made me think - how many states have I been to? I think it's 21...

Here's the list, in order of visit (I think):
California
Arizona
Washington
Nevada
North Carolina
Virginia
New York
Maryland
Missouri
Illinois
Wisconsin
Iowa
Indiana
Michigan
Florida
Alaska
Minnesota
Ohio
West Virginia
Tennessee
Kentucky
(Note: Jimmy & I only count states as having been visited if we purchase something in that state; and airports don't count unless you leave them. So I can't count Colorado or Texas, despite having changed planes in both states a billion times; and I can't count Pennsylvania, because I've only been through without stopping.)

How many states have you visited?

Live from the Canadian Rockies
Thanks to the wonders of WiFi, here's an update from high in the Canadian Rockies (in Laz format):

- No matter how pretty the landscape is, a two hour bus ride following a 4.5 hour plane ride while stuck in the middle seat is a pain in the ....foot

- That being said, the vistas here are breathtaking. Mountains everywhere you look, pine forests, lots of wildlife (though I haven't personally seen any of the elk, deer, bears, etc yet). I'll try and post pictures soon.

- Meeting is going well so far. It's kinda fun to have been in the community long enough that I know quite a few people here, and I am known by some others by reputation alone. Kinda cool...

- My hotel is waaaayyyyy down the mountain in the town below the conference center. I know at some point I am going to have to walk up to the conference center just to do it, and it's going to be quite a hike.

That's all for now- hope you all are having a good week!

Weekend Update... etc.
Mood:  cool
So, now that the big question (where are we moving) has been answered, here's a general update on what's been going on with us:

1) Our families were in town for Jimmy's defense. It was great to see all of them - Jimmy's little sisters are getting so old, it makes us feel ancient. The weather was gorgeous the first day everyone was here, and Jimmy's mom & I went to the C u b s / M e t s night game and had a grand time, eating Chicago-style hot dogs and waving down to Crissy & Todd in their very good seats from our very high up seats on the other side of the stadium. At the defense, my science teacher mom was the old one of all us (that are related to Jimmy) who understood much of anything, but it's always fun to see Jimmy talk :)

2) After the celebration, J & I and my parents took off for Michigan wine country to stay at the B&B on the grounds of our favorite vineyard. It was fantastic - great food, great wine and a personal tour of the vineyard in the morning. We took at side trip on the way home to the dunes, and my parents couldn't believe how much sand blows across the lake.

3) Congratulations to Eileen & Steve, two of our college friends that were married last week! They were both classmates of J's, and the number of P h D s in the room was really amazing. I did find a couple of non-scientists to talk with, including a M e d i l l alum.

4) Saw Episode 3 on Thursday. Very, very good. Nicely wraps up all the details of the first movies, while setting up the next three. I left wanting to watch the original movie again. Plus, despite the fact that the movie broke tons of box office records, the theater we went to was more than half empty, so we had great seats. (Also re-watched Episode 2 on TV yesterday - not as bad as I remembered it being.)

5) Taught an H T M L class for high schoolers Saturday. Very disappointing, as only two kids showed up. I did get a new edition of my fav H T M L book, though.

6) We went to our first Chicago F i r e game Saturday night. It was really cool! We had seats in the "corner kick" area, toward the north end of the stadium, in the club level. The game was really exciting, although rougher than usual (or so we're told - there were four yellow cards handed out). The seats were great - really cushy & wide, and plenty of cupholders, and they weren't expensive at all. The inside of the club level is great, too - there are little bars every few sections, with big HDTVs and comfy chairs. It was almost enough to make you forgive that S o l d i e r F i e l d now looks like a giant alien spaceship from the outside.

7) We will have a fest of some kind, probably soon, and probably out on the Point in Hyde Park. Emails forthcoming as soon as more details are arranged.

*Phew* Sorry for not having blogged in so long, and then posting this monster :)

It's official
I will be postdocing at Michigan, so Kathleen and I will be moving to Ann Arbor sometime around the middle to end of August. It's nice to have that finally decided so we can move onto thinking about new housing, moving, etc.

On another note, I will be heading out to B a n f f (resort town in the Canadian Rockies)next week for a 5-day conference. It should be a nice time, up in the mountains, and I get to give a talk.

Sorry for the matter-of-fact post, but I'm not feeling exceptionally expressive lately- I think writing the thesis and a book chapter has put my personal muse into rehab for a while. ;)

The result
"My friends call me Jimmy...you can call me Dr. Hougland."