Embarrassing Things I Know...

A sign of the times. The firemen on Elston Avenue recently removed their x-mas decorations. I imagine one nice thing about working at the fire department is readily available ladders and people who know how to use them safely.


For those of you who doubted me, at the bottom left is 7-11's "Cheeseburger Hot Dog." It may just be a really old normal hot dog. But, it does exist...


Best $4 calendar ever. Look at January. The one on the left is very coy...


Show off...


Megan's toes before work.


Rosie and Megan at the L & L before the comedy show


They are much more attractive in the photo.


Frances and Noah


Two Mikes and a Frances


Megan with her trophy popcorn from the comedy show. Rosie got us free tickets to Maria Bamford. THANKS ROSIE!


Why is this trophy popcorn? Because this was the trivia price given for the right answer:

Announcer: "For a bucket of popcorn, what is the name of the cafe..." Megan's hand shoots up, "on the television show 'Frasier?' Yes, you!" pointing to Megan.
Megan: Leans to me, "What's the answer?"
Me: "Cafe Nervosa."
Megan: "CAFE NERVOSA!"
Announcer: "Correct! How do you know this stuff?"
Megan: "WE DON'T HAVE CABLE!"


The conservatory in Lincoln Park








A plant from the set of Star Trek (not the new remake of the old Star Trek. The original).


Guess the name of this plant.




Sports fans, do you know this plant?


Named in honor of the multiple Stanley Cup champions




If you could read this sign, it would tell you the name if this plant is "Fire Bush."




Andean Bear


This Andean needed a good back scratch


This little hippo was playing with the kids or... trying to break out...


Nothing like a bucket of aardvark...


Upset lion.

That's about it from now. On Thursday, I'm going to the Chicago Auto Show's First Look For Charity for work. So, that should be cool. Me is a suit looking at snazzy cars. Megan's in Rochester right now for a funeral. So, tonight is my night to play Madden in my boxers eating nachos. No wedding info update probably for a couple weeks when we check out the venues and all. It also depends on how disgusting I am after a day of Madden in my boxers eating nachos...

xoxo,

Mike

See If You Notice A Theme

Here's Megan very happy with her Turtle Blizzard from Dairy Queen. If we didn't go to Dairy Queen "right now, summer would be ruined."


Here's the heart attack the DQ had waiting for me. As some of you may know, this is their "healthy choice" on the menu...



Oh sweet Irazu. I never had their Pepito Sandwich before, but I had to get it when it was listed as "Chicago's Favorite." I agree, it's a Midwestern Costa Rican delight.


So, as many of you have heard by now, my job is great. It's nothing but bubble gum and lollipops. There was a Sox game last week, a kickball game next week, and this week was model building. Here are a few pictures of the model our department submitted for a hospital competition. For those who don't know, Children's Memorial Hospital is constructing a $1 Billion hospital in downtown Chicago that will look like this. But, it will be constructed out of something a bit more stable than construction paper and double sided tape.








As "new guy," I was designated to work on the helipad and placing proper logos for the helicopter and ambulance.




Can you see the resemblance?


Here's a mock up of what the new Hospital's rooms are going to look like. All rooms will be private. The couch pull out into a bed for parents staying overnight. There's a private bathroom. Two TVs (one for the kid and the other for the parents). And they will have all sorts of artwork and other things. The patient rooms are so nice that I'd live in one should the hospital decide to rent a few out as apartments to employees.


Here's me, Jacob Dykema, and Megan outside of the L & L on Clark near Belmont. He was in town for a conference and we also spent some time over at My Thai and Exchequer the next day. Thanks for coming down, Jacob!


I got my first paycheck from Children's today and decided to make this fine purchase. Megan and I headed over to R.J. Grunts in Lincoln Park. This is the "Gruntburger" which is a hunk of meat slathered in bleu cheese and sauteed onions. MMMmmmm...


Such a delicate lady. So, the theme is food and work with Jacob thrown in for good measure.

Thanks for playing!

xoxo,
Mike

Lollapalooza starts this weekend. Are you going to be here?

A BBQ from a couple weeks ago at Brent, Angela, and Evan's place.


Noah and Evan


An over-the-shoulder shot of Andrew pondering the glory that is hot dogs


Rosie putting mustard on her dog while Mike looks like a prophet


It started to rain a bit, so everyone hid under the pine tree.


Always with a solution, Brent broke out the HUGE umbrella and it took three people to finally get it fully open.


The natural umbrella


Evan looking like a good Michigan man.


This is the reason why it took so long to post these. I lost another camera recently. Actually, I lost Megan's camera recently. For some reason, it just stopped functioning in camera mode. I wasn't very impressed with this Olympus. The pictures were kinda poor and blurry. It's battery monitor would say it's full right up until it was dead. The flash was weird. Oh, and it broke for no reason...


Here's the new camera. I'm back to Kodak. The last Kodak camera I had should have broke and it didn't for another couple years. So, here's to a new love...