I'm leavin....on a jet plane...I don't know when...Yup - Next week

Well, Friday morning, bright and early....I went to GSP int'l airport to catch my flight to Chicago. I have no problems with flying, but airports stress me out to no end. Just my luck, I was the lucky contestant to be singled out and searched by hand. They didn't even buy me dinner. Nothing like being touched in front of all of those people to increase my stress level.

They must have felt bad, because my seat happened to be in front. I've NEVER sat in the front of a flight!
Look at all of this legroom. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh time to stretch out and nap.


We're gettin ready to take off. There was a short delay before we were allowed to take off, due to some bad weather around O'Hare. Boooo.

We had to take a different route to Chicago, flying through St. Louis, so the flight was 3 hours long. I was so bored!! Because of the way we flew, I had a very clear view of Peoria and Bartonville when we flew over. "Hey hey! There's my house!! Everyone look! it's my house!!" I wanted to find the rope to pull, so the plane would pull over and let me off. Instead, I had to fly up to ChiTown and take a bus all the way back. What a waste! When I finally got to the airport, I had to wait for the Peoria Charter bus to take me to Bradley. The door in the picture kept opening and closing over and over again. It was driving me nuts! Get me out of here!!

When I finally arrived in Peoria, the temperature was almost 50% lower and it was freaking snowing! Saturday is a big day: gotta load up the moving truck! Wish us luck!

Gettin' Ready to Come Home

My last week in GVille has been very exciting! Lots of work to finish up in Newberry and getting things organized for the week of moves, reunions, and house closings :) The weather really spoiled me this week. It finally got to the point where I was considering turning on the AC in the apartment. I have to use the a/c during my drive home, since it's too windy to keep the windows down. Thursday night was Jimmy John's night, so Dennis and I went downtown. We decided to sit outside this time and it was perfect! Something was going on downtown, because people were everywhere and parking was nowhere.

Here is another picture of the Beast rental that I keep complaining about to everyone I know. Yuck. I was so thankful to get my car back on Thursday night.

Here's what I was working on in Newberry this week. We needed 20 new laptops for the assembly line. I had the fantastic task of ordering, unboxing, labeling, and imaging all of these. Somehow, after I received them, I got them done in a day and a half!

We made another trip to Target to find a fancy clothes hamper for Dennis. What do you think about this clock? Think it would look nice in my room?


I went to Subway for lunch this week...had a big meatball sub. mmmmmm. I got burned out on those in college, but I have been craving one for a few weeks.

I was jealous of Curt's rental...it was much nicer than my boat. It was also brand new when he got it. New car smell!!!!!!!!!!

Well, next week is a huge week! I am flying back to IL on Friday and will pack up and sell my old house. Should be a challenging and stressful week and I can't wait for it!

The countdown has begun!

Less than a week until I come back to Peoria! hoo-ray! This past week has been quite exciting. It marked the my (temporary) return to downtown job duties and exciting adventures to North Carolina. I've been making final arrangements to fly back to IL on Friday, April 11th, so that we can pack up the house and close on April 15th. Erin and I will drive back down to Greenvull and close on the new house on April 18th. Should be exciting. I hope to see some friends and family while I am back in town and probably do some motorcycle riding to keep my mad skillz in check.

I worked downtown this week to help finish a project at the county jail. Also, on Friday, I had the great task of visiting all 200 people in city hall setup the new print drivers on their PCs. It was a great way of meeting people and getting a taste of how we interact with the locals. I'll be in Newberry this next week, and then a vacation week, then probably back in Newberry. The first thing I noticed when I returned to the office was that we finally have our new desks! I have my own desk, which I promptly plan to decorate with my easy button.



On Saturday, Dennis and I made a trip to Charlotte, NC to retrieve his car from airport storage. It was very rainy the whole day, but the drive itself was pretty simple: all highway.

Here's my passenger:

It's hard to see from the picture, but the terrain here was very different, but I liked it. It had more of a rolling hills rural feel to it.


Here's where we went for lunch.
I was running out of gas and it was the only restaurant we found, I swear.

Well, it's dry shelter and they do have food here, so I guess it'll do.

While I happen to be here, I'll try there boneless wings with the hottest sauce they have: the "Call 911" sauce. Three words: "What" "A" "Joke". Not spicy enough for me. Booooo.



For dinner that evening, I had some leftover Chinese. MMMMM General Tso's Chicken!!

Later that evening, we went out shopping. At Office Depot, I couldn't resist this picture. "Step Two....Put a rug in a box. Step 3..."

After we got home, we watched I Am Legend.
Very scary and very sad and very good. A++++


Sunday morning, I went to Mauldin United Methodist Church.
It doesn't look like much, but it's just their gym.


Their "Live" service (live, as in dive) was incredible The band was terrific and it was the first service I have attended that I was obviously overdressed. Oh well, when I go back, and I will go back, I will go a little more casual.

Sunday evening we went out to run some errands. I saw this beautiful sunset and had to grab a poor, pixelated picture.


The following is good advice from John Wayne:


The menu at Zaxby's. LoL.


And finally, I had to go back to the laundromat. We were the only ones speaking English, and there were many many people there. I can't wait to do my laundry at home in our fancy washer and dryer.
That's what I did this weekend. Can't wait to hop on the plane and bus. For now, I need to get to bed so I can get up early :( TTFN!

Almost April!

Well, just another day until April!! Then, just 11 days until I come back to IL! It's cooled down this weekend (43 today), so I've been staying inside mostly. I just found out that I will be working back in Greenville next week....hopefully I can catch on quickly because I have very little training down there. At least I know how to drive around now; that was a big part of the intimidation for me. I feel sorta conflicted...as much as I was ready to start working back in Greenville (and not drive 2.5 hours/day). I will miss working in Newberry next week because there is a lot happening down there. Since I've been down there for 4.5 weeks, I've taken ownership of a lot of projects. Curt will be taking my place, so everything will be fine.

It's been great having Dennis down here, time is flying by. He's a great guy to hang out with! We've been watching a lot of movies and going out and about. On Friday night, we went to Jimmy Johns. He got a kick of how much I enjoyed my sandwich. Everyone loved his shirt (who wouldn't..it's Towlie!).

I needed a kick on a groggy morning. Dennis had a bunch of these drinks, so I borrowed one. It was pretty good, and I'm not much of a coffee guy.


We went out looking for a gym near the apartment and came to Pivotal Fitness. Picture a big grocery store skeleton...filled with exercise equipment. Then add a bunch of beautiful people and a pushy sales guy...and you have this:
It's only a mile or two from the apartment, so it looks like Dennis will be joining.


On a separate note, I finally got to play a Wii! I know, welcome to 2006, right? I'm terrible at it, though. I'm not much of a video game guy, I guess.


This morning, I attended Simpsonville United Methodist Church. It was mediocre, which was sad, because it is so close to out new house. The pastor insisted on.....pausing..... on every single.......sentence. It was unbearable and I don't remember a single thing he said. Then, they played praise band music a-la-church organ which was also unbearable for me.



I spent a lot of time furniture shopping this weekend. After I went to six different stores, I was ready to be done. It all started to blur together.


This is a sad site....a dead O'Charley's on Haywood Rd. Don't worry, there is still one by our house! (This is one of Erin's and my favorite restaurants.)


We went to Applebees for lunch on Saturday. Dennis used to work there and even ran into some of his old coworkers. Their hot wings are tasty but are not hot in the least bit.

Well....that's all until next time! Thanks for reading and don't forget to tell a friend :)

Clooney and Zellweger thank Greenville

http://greenvilleonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080328/NEWS01/303280007/1001/NEWS01

"George Clooney and Renee Zellweger gave Greenville a big thank you Thursday morning, when they stopped by the Westin Poinsett Hotel on the fourth destination of their "Whistle Stop Express" tour. A crowd that spilled onto Main Street watched as Mayor Pro Tem Lillian Brock Flemming gave both actors keys to the city. A third was awarded to their co-star John Krasinski, who was not present."

I wasn't downtown at that moment, but I heard it was a big crowd! BTW, that hotel is next door to city hall, so they were super close.

What I did on Easter

I hope that everyone had a nice Easter Sunday! Mine was pretty laid back. Truth be told, I'm starting to become a little bored with my routines.....Dennis is coming down on Wednesday, so I will be gratefull to have someone to talk to and hang out with. I'm getting tired of hearing only my own voice in my head! Can you imagine??

Anyway, here are a few shots from Sunday:

Church service started at 8:30, so I put on my suit and

drove a few miles to Covenant United Methodist Church.

It was a very nice traditional service. It was a little awkward when they asked any visitors to be bold enough to introduce themselves. I am eager to find a welcoming congregation, so I was pleased when many people came up to me after the service to welcome me!

For lunch, I was in the mood for Chinese, so I changed clothes and headed for East China buffet.

Don't let my plate of food fool you.... the food was not good... I was only trying to get my $15 worth. I guess my search for the best Chinese cuisine has to start somewhere. It certainly doesn't stop at East China buffet.

After driving around Greer, I ended up at Walmart. Target was closed...bah. The Walmart in Taylors was pretty nice so it's all good. At top of my list: a shower curtain for my own bathroom, since Dennis had dibs on the other one.

I ended up with a few more items, including some healthier food.

(ignore the Doritos)

Back to my chariot. It was a nice sunny day, so I spent some more time cruisin' the strip listening to my Positive Hits on Shine 96.7!

Until next time... Please call or email me if you so desire!

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter, everyone! If you've been following my blog closely, you will probably notice that I haven't made a post in a while. For that, I apologize. Never fear, I am adding one tonight. The main reason is that I don't want to bore anyone....I haven't been doing anything too exciting. I am still going to Newberry everyday...there is no end in sight, it seems, as to when there will be a permanent replacement for the CAT IT position. The weather has been very nice here, right in the low 70's. It's been nice driving around and running outside...speaking of running, I have been trying a few new jogging routes. Today, I found a perfect route with low traffic and big flat sidewalks. GOLD!

I haven't been taking any new pictures, so I will supplement my single picture with some random funny ones I've seent his week online.

My parents sent me an Easter Boxet...too bad it came on Monday, so the chocolate inside will be long gone by the time Easter rolls around.

The rest of these may make no sense, but I liked them quite a bit :)






I've been doing some exploring: taking some new roads, checking out the shopping areas. I went to the other mall tonight, only to find out that it is being rebuilt to be like Shoppes of Grand Prairie. Haywood Mall is nice, but there's not much that interests me as a straight male.

The highlights of my travel have been identifying the locations of Krispy Kreme, Macaroni Grill, and all of the movie theaters. Of course, I made my weekly visits to Jimmy Johns and Cici's pizza and have developed a nasty habit of running up the street to grab a milkshake at Mickey D's.

There are so many motorcycles on the road this weekend, it really makes me itch to be riding again. I wouldn't feel comfortable riding the KZ in this traffic, but the boss said we might be able to get a new bike when we pay off some of our bills. I'll take that, sounds like a fair deal. Like I mentioned before, many of the bikes on the road here are BMW, partly due to the fact that BMW USA is here in Greenville.

Speaking of motorcycles, I took a short drive up around the Paris Mountain area. It's really pretty up there, with a great view. I'll go into the park with a camera soon and do a little hiking. On my way up, a nice bale of straw fell off a pickup truck. I slowed down, but I wasn't able to swerve out of the way. I couldn't find any damage, but that guy's not going to find his missing bale, either, so we're even. Enjoy the rest of your weekend, everyone! I'll be back in Peoria in less than 3 weeks, so hopefully I can see you while I'm there!