A Spectrum

Tom and I spent the 4th of July weekend in Culver, IN at his friend's Aunt and Uncle's house on Lake Maxinkuckee. (ya, still have no idea how to pronounce that) Anyway, we went boating, swimming, skiing, tubing, and Tom did some surfing off the boat wake, I didn't try that one. :) Lots of fun and lots more sun. Let's just say that when we got back and went to the fireworks in DeKalb, Tom got cold and sat in the car because he was radiating off so much heat. Boys...

I found this website that will spit out anagrams of whatever you type in. (I closed the window and don't remember the website, I am sure you can just google it and find something close.) Anyway, I typed in my full name. There were tons that didn't make sense but the one I think I like the best is "Earlier Emanuel." Not reading anything into that, but it made sense at least. Another one that sort of made sense is " A leaner rile emu." hmmm. And then there are the really weird, but they still kind of make sense ones.... "Anal Eerie Lemur" and "Are Urinal Melee." Fun stuff.

It's been an interesting two weeks since I left you last. My computer was gone for the last half of the two weeks and now is back, yea. I have an internship with the City of Dekalb, score, and a place to live for next year (by the way it is the most amazing place ever, you must come visit). I went to a wedding and to Great America/Hurricane Harbor. Summer rocks!

Tom and I along with my parents went to Chicago this weekend to celebrate our respective anniversaries and to see The Lion King. The musical was awesome. I was a sap and cried. Tons of fun. Highly recommend seeing it. We also visited the Shedd Aquarium which I hadn't been to in quite a while. Suprisingly, it cost $23 per person but still fun. Well, today is our anniversary and I won't get to see Tom until 9 p.m. so it was nice to have the weekend.

Well, you'll see what I mean. Depending on how you read my posts, you probably know that Tom and I went to Chicago this weekend. On Saturday night, my parents had tickets to Wicked
. I thought Tom and I might check out the Blues festival across the street or watch the fireworks from Navy Pier, basically something free. While we were eating dinner before hand at our hotel, we overheard that the people next to us were going to an Alanis Morissette
concert across the street. Tom and I thought that might be fun, so we'd thought we would walk over there, see that it was way too expensive (which it was) or that it was sold out. However, as we were walking through our hotel after dinner, these two girls stopped us and asked if we liked Alanis Morissette. Um, yeah. Well, they were two best friends and had suprised each other with tickets so they had an extra pair!! They had been trying to get rid of them and were so far unsucessful. Tom and I only had $40 in cash to offer them. So we got to see Alanis for $40 when they paid about $130! It was her acoustic tour of Jagged Little Pill, so I knew most of the songs. It was very fun. And if your wondering about how I saw God, Alanis portrayed God in the movie Dogma
. ;)

I went swimming today for the first time in quite a while. Soaking in mom and dad's hot tub doesn't really count. I went over to Trisha's apartment complex's pool. It was nice and cool and I got some sun. However Trisha and I looked like the biggest nerds. Thank goodness there weren't many people there. Out of all the swimsuits in the world, we own the same one. It was quite scary. As she put it, we looked like twins who still dressed like the way their mother made them.

1. Be on a gameshow
2. Travel practically anywhere, but definitely England, Switzerland, and New Zealand...
3. Own an Aston Martin Vanquish
4. Hear the Lord of the Rings Symphony and Smetena's The Moldau in concert
5. Surprise Tom with a Hummer
6. Learn to play the guitar and violin
7. Splurge on an awesome brand name outfit
8. Be involved in a hollywood movie
9. Stop biting my fingernails
10. Own a grand piano

George Lucas pays homage to "The Lord of the Rings" in "Return of the Jedi." Endor, the planet whose moon the ewoks live on, is actually the Elvish (Quenya) word for Middle Earth. Very Cool.

Well, I havn't heard back from my pointless interview yet. But I did just land an interview with the City of Dekalb. Yea!

So I have been watching these production diaries on King Kong (note link on right side of blog). They are just little snipits of how the movie is being made while they are filming. (Actually, they are done filming now and are in post production.) Anyway, I was watching the latest one today and Peter Jackson was answering fan questions. (Hm, I wish I could come up with a good question he could answer online.) Towards the end, he talks about how they are just editing the movie right now, fairly boring stuff. Then you see Peter lying on the editing room couch with Danny Devito editing his movie. I love the random stuff they come up with. What is Danny Devito doing in New Zealand? I wish I was in New Zealand.

So I make Tom read my blog this morning. Don't tell him anything except that I wrote a blog about him. Ya, he doesn't remember ANY of it happening. He just laughs. Crazy.

Also, I am beginning to think that Trisha is the only one that reads this. She's the only one that comments. Post comments people, please. You could at least say hi. :(

Sleepwalking freaks me out. Rightly so, my husband is notorious for it. Example: Moments ago (it's 11:19 p.m. now) I hear Tom walking down the hall from the bedroom toward the office where I am located. So I turn around and see his head and shoulders appear in the open doorway like he's peeking in ("Bizzare, I've never seen him act like that"). I don't really remember the first things he said because it was hard to understand him and I thought he was a fully concious adult who would make sense when speaking to me. However, once I caught on, I realized he was talking to me like he was asking me a question that I should know the answer to and getting frustrated that I didn't. The words I remember are, "out of a spout," "you know, cars," and "a novel." Perhaps my husband is writing the great american novel subconciously while he sleeps, the title "Car Wash" comes to mind. Anyway, I asked him if he's awake, "Yeess," he says and convince him to return to bed. After blowing his nose (a weird thing to do while you're sleeping), he lays down and goes back to sleep. I hope this affliction isn't hereditary. I won't get any sleep ever wrangling my family up each night. Geesh.

I had an interview this morning with the City of Elgin. Let me tell you the City of Elgin doesn't quite have it's act together. They started my interview late, asked me very few questions, and informed me at the interview that the focus of the job has shifted not to include GIS. Why in the world did you ask me for an interview? They must really be desperate since I have no community planning experience whatsoever. I still don't think I will get it. Man, I want a GIS internship. I have other possibilities with the City of DeKalb and NIU. Be praying please! I really want an internship!

I have titles now and dates. What excitement. (Titles and dates not provided or held by me but through a subsidiary also known as Trisha helped me.)

In one word, Amazing. Star Wars : Revenge of the Sith is awesome. I love it. It would be perfect if they would only cut out that stupid scene on the balcony. Had to have a stupid cheesy moment, didn't ya? Anyway, I won't tell you how many times I have seen it so far; however, Tom has seen it twice and my friend Trisha had to see it too. (Yes, I know my life is slightly pathetic right now.) Anyway, the midnight showing was great. I am a little peeved that the Dekalb and Sycamore theaters decided to have one AFTER I asked them both if they were or not. Whatever, the theater in Rockford was far superior, stadium seating, eight midnight showings, AND ballgame type concessions. Yes, they milked the concession for all they were worth. "Jedi's drink too," they yelled as they walked up and down the aisles. We arrived 1 hr and 45 mins early for our show and ended up near the back anyway cause the theater was already over 2/3 full. Someone had even brought their laptop and was watching Episode II while they were waiting, Smart Cookie. At least I brought cards. Anyway, the midnight showing was the best cause those people were true fans and got all the jokes and connections and stuff. At the other showings, I was like come one people, R2D2 just burnt those droids, LAUGH!!! Anyway, Tom's comment to me was, "well now we don't have any more movies to look forward to" Does he know me at all?!?, Harry Potter, Bewitched, The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, King Kong, Madagascar, Xmen 3, Spiderman 3, Shrek 3, (geesh what's with the 3's), Wallace and Gromit, War of the Worlds, (hmm I need to make some more money), Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Curious George, The Brothers Grimm, The Da Vinci Code (ooo, I still need read the book before I see that one), Ice Age 2,...........

May 19, 2005


Dear Employer,

Please excuse Lauren Lee from work on Thursday, May 19. She is not feeling well. Lauren is at home in bed for the entire day, nursing what appears to be a serious hamster attack. Lauren's illness is in no way, shape or form related to the premiere of the final installment of the greatest story ever, which, coincidentally, premieres on the same date.

While I cannot confirm nor deny that Lauren has called my company, Geek Squad, asking to be set up with wireless access "in case of a space opera-related sick day" know that if you do receive an e-mail from your prized employee today, it is most likely because She was wise enough to plan ahead in the event of illness.

But as I mentioned before, Lauren is at home, safely in bed, but reachable (in dire emergencies) by e-mail or cell.

One more thing. Beginning at 12:03 a.m., Lauren Lee will be unreachable for about two hours, thirteen minutes and eleven seconds. She will be feeling really bad at this time.




Move along,
Robert Stephens
Geek Squad - Chief Inspector

Today is it. Star Wars Episode III! Well technically tomorrow, but I won't sleep till I see i, 12:03 a.m. showing. This is my weird tradition. I've seen all three at midnight the day they came out.

I went to walmart today and browsed in the Star Wars toy section and two guys came up the aisle and were real excited and bought a voice changer mask and a lightsaber.

I quipped, "Midnight showing."
"Yea, but that's not why we bought them, they're cool too."

Geesh, man you don't have to justify yourself to me, look where I'm at. I must say it was very tempting to purchase something, but I think those attending with me would refuse to acknowledge my presence if I did (especially Tom). So I limited myself to Twizzler's that I can hopefully sneak in. I'm sure you will hear about my experience soon.

As I was walking through Super Wal-mart's parking lot today, I saw a "well-used" vehicle sporting a bumper sticker that read "Lutefisk Lover." Now, that sentiment is funny in and of itself. However, I am 1/4 Swedish, I have had the unfortunate pleasure of tasting lutefisk and let me tell you it is the most disgusting thing imanginable. I am not the biggest fan of fish to begin with, but when I was forced to try it they assured me that the sauce made with it when combined with the lutefisk, made it good. I think the sauce was actually worse than the fish. Here's my advice for the day: please spare yourself the torture and never try lutefisk.

I can't wait for the new Harry Potter film. This one is my favorite book. If you can't tell by now, I like movies. Quite a lot actually, check out the teaser trailer.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Weird Tradtion #3

Calling these sundae cones, "Kini Ice Cream Cones" (pronounced "kee-nee).