No, really.

I swear I'll post a couple of pictures soon. I just found the charger to my camera, so I'll post pictures after Thanksgiving.

Anyway, I was talking to Laura and Nikki this weekend and realized that I probably haven't told anyone this. Barack Obama and his transition team actually work on 38th floor of my building everyday. Most people I've told that to, it's because I'm venting about the new security that goes along with all that. They put it in place the day before the election, so either they were really confident of the outcome or they were trying to be safe. Last tuesday, word was that John McCain was also in the building. There is pretty much no way possible that we would ever see any of them, the way the building is set up and the security. There are never news vans or videocameras outside because he comes in a motorcade down onto a ramp that goes into the building (or so I assume). They shut off the roads when the motorcade is coming in and out. He lives in Hyde Park, which is only about 5 miles South of us. So they've put barricades up all the way around the building so that you can't actually get up to the doors except by showing your ID at the barricade at which point they let you in. If you don't have a federal ID (which is the way we used to be able to get in with no additional security measures) you have to have some proof of your business there. The passport office and immigration are in our building so that makes for fun times. Then we ALL have to go through the metal detectors. Oh, excuse me, that is everyone except the people that are allowed to carry guns - DEA, ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement, formerly the INS), FBI, although they have no real reason to be in the building. The first couple of days there were up to 1 hour long waits to go through the detectors, but they've added 2 and gotten the hang of it. The elevator bank up to where the President-Elect is has it's own metal detector with a privacy screen (which really makes me wonder what's going on back there). We used to be able to keep our coats on and put any food or drink on a table, but now everything has to go through. At least we get to keep our shoes on. So as I'm writing this, I'm kind of wondering if I'll be contacted by the FBI or something telling me to delete this. Hm. That would be bad. Anyway, I'm not telling you anything that about 500 other people already know. What's really annoying is the whole barricades and only one exit and one entrance thing (on opposite sides of the building). Mostly just because it's freaking cold outside and having to walk all the way around the building to get in sucks. Also, our regular security guards, who we all know, are all on duty, but so are some ICE officers, and they aren't always too nice. Anne calls them Ice-holes. :) So yeah, I totally understand WHY they have to do this, but it just sucks that it has to be my building that I have to go to work in everyday. You know, this is my life. It's not like I'm a tourist to the White House, where it's a one time thing that's expected. We're talking 3 or 4 times a day through the metal detectors. And the best is when you get behind someone that actually works at the building and has already done this a hundred times and STILL doesn't know how to go through the things and get their stuff off of the conveyer and everything. It's aggravating. But it's kind of a weird feeling to know all these Super Important People are in the building all the time. But for the most part I think we're all waiting for it to be over.

Nothing much going on...

I feel kinda icky. Have felt kinda icky on and off for about 5 days now. It started on Wednesday, just being really tired all day long, then I felt just off that night. It's just been really subtle - headaches, nausea, no appetite, and sometimes a little woozy/dizzy. I told Mom tonight that I was ok with having no appetite because normally I always have an appetite :) So none of that is really strong. I had a migraine Friday night, but that went away w/ some medicine. And I think the nausea is just being caused by not eating, which for my stomach is not an option. Ask Nikki, she knows. :) It's all just so faint that I don't really want to go to the doctor, I just keep expecting it to go away.

Other than that, I have nothing going on. I went to a charity art auction on Friday night, then went to go hear my friend's friend's brother's band play. I've heard them before, but this time we had to sit through an atrocious band before hand and it just wasn't worth it :) So I left about halfway through. Then I went to a birthday party last night. I'll take a picture of the picture I bought at the art auction whenever I get it back from Katie. :) Anyhow, just thought I'd post an update since I don't update this often enough.

I guess one more thing. I got the 3rd season (Volume 1?) of Dirty Jobs last week in the mail and I've watched it all since then, some episodes more than once. But anyway, one of the episodes was filmed at Fair Oaks Farms in Indiana! It's a super farm (dairy) off of I-65 at exit 220. It's entirely energy self-reliant at this point. It uses the cow poo for fuel and they have enough of it that it fuels the whole farm! They showed them milking the cows and birthing some calves. It was fun to watch partially because I drive by it every single time I go between Chicago and Indy, but also because Dad inspected that farm as it was being built and I remember him telling me about the milking machines and how they worked. During the birthing segment (which was fascinating and really ewwey) I kept thinking that those vets (there were at least 4 of them, just on that segment of the show - I can't imagine how many they employ full time) had probably gone to Purdue or that maybe Nikki had seen their pictures on the wall of the Vet school. Silly, I know, but it's fun to watch something that you have a connection to, even if it's that tenuous. :)

Oh, and I chopped off my hair. I'll post a picture as soon as I have a decent one. It's pretty cute if I do say so myself :)

Happy Halloween!

My Halloween costume. Zoom in on the picture and read it, you'll figure it out. What I lacked in effort, I made up for in cleverness, I think.

Me, Bill, Kitty, and Anne

Beth and her old roomie, Tara
Bill as "Don", i.e., as a schmuck.
Natalie, Beth, and Jil went as Brett Michael's girls

Anne as Uma Thurman's character in Pulp Fiction
Kitty as Sarah Palin, referencing the Obama "Lipstick on a Pig" comment, and Father Tim
I put this one on here, not to embarass my friends, because it's a terrible picture, but to show you what an awesome job I did on Anne's eye makeup. Ok, maybe to embarass them a little, except they don't read my blog. Anne is naturally very blonde and I had to keep convincing her to go darker with the eyebrows, eyeliner, and mascara, in order to match the wig.
Uma putting stars on my check at my apartment