Returning to Small Town Life

So Geneseo is about twice the size of Gibson City, where I grew up, but it is still definitely small town living. I grew up near a small town, so the concept isn't completely foreign, but it has been a bit of a refreshing change. Here are a few examples of small town life.

Last week after we got both my kitchen stuff and Eric's kitchen stuff unpacked we did a little grocery shopping at Fareway in Geneseo... granted it doesn't have all the offerings of Schnucks or Meijer but the full service meat counter was awesome and well priced. They cut/package anything you want the way you want it, and they are ridiculously friendly. Oh, and the bag boy definitely carried carried/carted our groceries out to our car! Oh, and they had a very good beer selection too.

Tonight we went to Hillsdale, about a 10 minute drive to get our hair cuts. Eric's family friend, Beth, operates "The Hair Station" there. Good news... my hair looks pretty good... and it cost us $12 each!!

After our haircuts we went to the Parkway Restaurant in Geneseo... your basic diner/coffee shop kind of place. Our young waitress actually said to us as she brought our menus... "I am not sure I would order the beef/chicken stir fry special... they have been burning it all night. The cooks came into work drunk tonight and have been the death of me. Not to worry though the owner is running the grill now so you are good." Not sure how much of this was true and how much was teen exaggeration, but still made for some good entertainment either way. When we were paying the owner was running Eric's debit card and asked us if we were new in town, when we said yes and explained our situation she promptly gave us a $10 gift certificate and told us welcome to town, and to please come back. I am guessing she was originally from somewhere in the former Yugoslavia... and she was super sweet. The food was pretty good and the price was right so I am sure they will see us often.

Oh, and another one of my small town favorites. Our house is not in Geneseo proper, so our electric is from Farmers Mutual Electric a local co-op. I enjoy how co-ops save money. We got our "self-billing" supplies in the mail the other day. Every month we have to go around to the side of the house and read our meter. We compare it to the previous month's reading, figure our usage and then use the chart they enclosed to figure our bill. If we pay by the 10th of the month we pay the discounted price... if we pay after the 10th we pay the full price. So yesterday before I went to town I trudged out in the snow and read the meter. I am sure they take actual readings every so often themselves to make sure you are cheating, but overall not a bad system.

Last week one afternoon I met two of the neighborhood girls. The door bell rant at about 4 pm. It was Mia from the big brown house across the street from our side yard, and Abby from the house on the corner. They were probably 4th or 5th grade and just wanted to say "hi" and welcome me/us to the neighborhood. The were really sweet and I told them I appreciated their kindness and that hopefully when the weather warmed up we would see them out and about the neighborhood, but that if we got another big snow they were welcome to sled down our hill as long as they rang the bell and let us know they were back there. I am excited to get out and meet more of the neighborhood folks when it warms up.

Livin' in my Jammies

Greetings from Geneseo. So several folks have inquired on how things are going working from home. I have now been at it for two weeks and for the most part it seems to be going very well.

It took a couple of days to work out some of the technical difficulties, but the Busey tech group helped me get everything worked out. I have a "soft phone" so my work number both external and internal did not change... it just runs through the computer now... and I have a little headset (I refer to is as my "Madonna Mic") and the sound quality is actually pretty good. Everything pretty much works the same... my scanner and access to our shared drives is a little slower than what I was used to but I get around that by saving files locally while I am using them, and then saving them back to the shared drive after my work is done. As for the scanner... while I am waiting for it, that is when I take a bathroom break, refill my coffee, empty the dishwasher, or toss a load of clothes in the wash.

Believe it or not, even though I don't have a commute, I now get up earlier than I did before. Typically I try to get up by 6:15/6:30, I brush my teeth, wash my face, start the coffee and am logging in by 6:30/6:45. I wake Eric up at 7:25, then get my first cup of coffee. Sometimes I wear my pajamas, sometimes I wear sweats... but I am always wearing my slippers :) Starting my work day 90 minutes earlier than normal gives me the flexibility to either knock off early, or in most cases take a longer lunch. Lately the routine has been to head to town (Geneseo... about 10 minutes away) at 11:30 or so on Monday, Wednesday & Friday (after 5 hours of work) and go work out at Curves for 30 minutes. Eric's Mom, Linda works there so I get caught up on the family happenings and get some social interaction with the other ladies there. I meet Eric for lunch, then head home. I am back at my desk by 1:30 and work until 4:30. Then I usually take a shower and get things started for dinner as Eric is getting home.

On Tuesdays and Thursdays, Eric often comes home for a quick lunch, and I finish up work a bit earlier. This Thursday I am going to start a women's bible study at one of the local churches. It is either from 9 to 11 am or two hours in the evening. I think I may try the morning meeting one week, then the evening meeting the next week. If I go to the morning meeting I will likely take a very short lunch and/or just work later in the afternoon/evening to get my 8 hours in. I am really looking forward to getting back into The Word (it took me nearly two weeks to unpack my Bible) and developing some community/friendships. At this point I haven't really had time to miss C-U all that much, the more I get settled the more I am ready to put down some roots.

So far I haven't minded the solitude of working from home. I still talk to lenders on the phone etc. and getting out and going to Curves is not unlike chatting with folks in the break room at work. I often have the radio on as I work so that provides a little pretend co-worker noise as well, and I still email folks to catch up on the latest at the "office". I have tried to be disciplined about staying on task and focusing on my work, stopping to do things like laundry and dishes only when I would be stopping for a coffee refill or bathroom break anyway. So far it seems to working well, as I am at least as productive as before if not more.

I do enjoy the new dress code but perhaps the best benefit is the flexibility of hours. We had a plumber come a week or so ago and it was great to tell them... anytime is fine... I will be home all day. Overall it seems to be working well and I am very fortunate that Busey was willing to try this. It was a struggle to adjust at first, but every day it just gets better and more normal

Movin' on Up...

So I didn't move on up to the east side, so a deluxe apartment in the sky... but I did move to Geneseo over the weekend.

This was the timetable... it was kind of crazy it all worked out.

Packed up my desk at University Avenue and headed home at noon on Thursday. Met the home inspector at 12:30 to have pre-listing inspection done on my house. Good news... nothing major. Later Thursday afternoon I went over Busey's tech group and picked up my computer and other various equipment for working from home. Thursday night I packed.

Friday morning I went to Urbana, dropped off my DVR at Comcast and went to Busey to close out my safe deposit box and tell Judy (my Bank Mom for lack of a better term) farewell. Stopped by Uhaul on the way home, and met Jeanne & Ted there so we could pick up my moving truck. Went home and had the new stove I bought for the Champaign house (the old brown one was not going to show well) delivered. The could not install it because my gas hook-up is so old it it out of code so I need to have a plumber come and install a new gas line... just what I needed. Eric and his Dad came down Friday evening, and then we went to dinner with Nikki.

Saturday I got up bright and early started the coffee and made a donut run, and did some final packing. The entire loading crew was there and pretty much ready to roll by 9:00. The were incredible and pretty much had me all packed up by noon. Jeanne was on the truck and used her mad packing skills to place everything, while her husband, Ted, my brother, Phil, and my former Illini football mentee Jake and Eric did the big lifting and hauling. Nikki, Eric's Dad, Mike and myself helped with box toting. Jake even ventured up to my attic to get my Christmas decorations down. My mom showed up later with sloppy joes for everyone to have for lunch, and to help me clean the house. We hit the road just after 2:30. Mike driving the Uhaul, Eric driving Mike's truck and me in my car. The trip went well except for some wicked winds along I-39 that had me trying to push back visions of everything I own scattered along the highway.

We got to Geneseo in under four hours... not bad for a Uhaul that didn't past 60 mph much. We unloaded the pick-up and my car, grabbed a bit to eat and then crashed hard at Eric's apartment. My brother and my nephew Jeremy came up Sunday to help unload, along with Eric's Mom, Dad and brother, Travis and my family friends that just so happen to live here... the Roome's. Dave was still in Denver, but Janice, Anthony and Megan were here. Like Jake loading... Anthony was my unloading "young muscle". The guys brought the boxes to the front door and the girls toted them from there... keeping the snow tracked into the house to a minimum. The unloading took less than and hour, then the guys went to Eric's to get his desk for my/our office and his washer and dryer. During the unloading Tom from next door brought over some brownies that his wife, Cheryl had made. They have lived next door for 34 years. Earlier in the week, Wayne who lives on the corner removed the snow from our driveway... twice. So... the neighbors seem great.

Unpacking today is going slow but steady. Our refrigerator and stove were delivered today, along with a new couch that we got on mega sale the day after Thanksgiving. Luckily the sellers left the house in very good shape so the cleaning has been minimal.

Eric got my computer set up and most of the programs I need are working... hopefully the rest can be resolved when I go back to work on Wednesday with a call to our tech group.

Oh, and today we had our first sledder! Eric's Dad, Mike, brought his niece, Katie over since she was out of school today for the MLK holiday. After her first run she hollered from the bottom of the hill... "That was awesome!" She trudged up the hill and did it again another 20 times or so before it was all over.

Anyway, that is all for now. A big huge thank you to all of my friends and family who made the move a big success... especially Eric, who kept me sane throught it all.

Happy Birthday Tralec!!

Today is a two for one birthday blog. Today's birthday boys include Eric's brother Travis, and Travis' son, Alec. Hence the "Tralec" in the post title. Not quite "Bennifer" or "Brangelina", but you get the idea. One of my favorite things about Eric is his family... they are pretty terrific and have really made me feel welcome.

Travis is turning 36 today, and as far as brothers go I think Eric would have to say... he's got it pretty good. I seems to be my calling in life to somehow through absolutely no skill of my own to somehow beat Travis in nearly every game we play. It has become the family joke, and I think Travis and I both relish the attention. I must say that over the past year Travis and I are developing a bit of a brother/sister relationship... we love to give each other lots of crap, but when it comes down to it... we would pretty much doing anything for the other. Travis is a firefighter and paramedic and I admire his service to the public but it something that I really hope we don't have to call on at the wedding as four couples on the guest list are due with their first babies in April :)

Travis is a great Dad, which segways into talking about the other birthday boy, Alec. Where do I start with Mr. Alec. He is still just a tiny bit shy around me but I can tell he is starting to warm up, and one thing I am looking forward to about moving is getting the hang with Alec a bit more. He really is a good boy, but he is ridiculously cute and given the opportunity he can flash that grin of his and wiggle his way out things. Alec is 5 and into superheroes and such... the first time I met him he was wearing a cape... gotta love that kind of adventurous spirit and wild imagination.

Happy Birthday boys... sorry to be missing your party... I am guessing the cake will consumed in just a few... save me a piece.

Our House...

... is a very very fine house!!!

Eric and I closed on our house on Friday, with smooth sailing. We celebrated with a nice dinner Friday night at "The Cellar" in Geneseo our new hometown, but Saturday we got to work after giving Eric's parents a tour of the place. Saturday and Sunday we worked our buts off and got the guest bedroom and my office for work painted... no more Pink! We are not reallyy all that skilled in painting, but we managed to do a pretty okay job and stay engaged!

I am moving up a week from this coming Saturday, and things are in pretty good order. Hopefully the refrigerator and stove will come in soon, and can be installed that Monday after I move in.

Here are some pictures of a cute little message Eric left me in paint, and then him looking completely sick of painting.

P.S. I am at home on my lunch hour... I enjoy the short commute to Champaign vs. Urbana... but alas time to return and get back at it. Stay tuned for a double birthday blog later today.

Holiday Traveler

I hope everyone enjoyed a very merry Christmas, filled with lots of fun and joy.

The first leg of my holiday traveling was cut short. I had planned to go to the Illinois vs Mizzou game in St. Louis on the 23rd, picking up my friend, Karen in Effingham, and then meeting Nikki and her Dad, who were coming down via Decatur. Tuesday afternoon we had another ice storm, and I-57 was 100% ice covered so it just didn't make sense to risk the drive... especially with Karen in the "family way".

Wednesday I headed up to Eric's at about 12:30 (after getting the furnace fixed... nothing major but still not particularly convenient). The drive was uneventful until I got to Galesburg when it the road were very slick and it was very windy with blowing snow. Several cars were in the ditch and it was rather scary, but after a little over an hour of alternately praying and swearing like a sailor I made it Eric's safe and sound. We decided it still was a little risky to drive over to Iowa for Christmas Eve service so we spent a nice quiet evening at home with a Frank's pizza, watching Muppet Christmas Carol and Polar Express before Eric read the Christmas story from the Bible just before we wen to bed. We skipped the gift giving this year... instead focusing our budget on others and the new house.

Thursday we headed to Eric's Mom & Dad's house, and were joined by Travis, Steff, Katie and Alec. After lunch it was time for presents. We received some wonderful gifts, and I really felt so welcomed into the family. Katie and Alec were tons of fun to watch opening their presents. Friday, Eric had to work so I returned a few things to to the mall, and then bunkered down to start addressing wedding invites. I made lots of progress... so hopefully when I get back to it after the move in a few weeks it won't be too overwhelming.

Here are some pictures of Alec & Katie enjoying their gifts, and Uncle Eric struggling to open one of Alec's toys for him :)

Saturday Eric and I both braved fog and horizontal rain and drove down to my parents house for Tjardes Christmas. It was a nasty drive, but our sour moods quickly faded with some great food and fellowship. My Mom likes to get a little ornery with her gift giving and has taken to hiding our Christmas money in unique ways. The best this year was wrapping up pair of my brother platform dress shoes circa 1979 for him... we busted out his letter jacket just to complete the look. She also hid money in socks that Lane and Jeremy had left at her house and then sewed the socks shut. We enjoyed a great time, and it was nice to get caught up with everyone... especially the Fab Five.

For New Years I am headed back up to the QC, as we close on our house on Friday. New Years Eve we are going to Dave & Janice Roome's house for some festivities. Dave is my best friend, Jenn's older brother and a long-time friend of the family. He and his family live in Geneseo, about a 15 minute drive from our house... so it makes the move even better knowing that I will already have some ready-made friends in the area.

Here is a picture of Phil showing off his fancy shoes, and Jeremy doing his best impression of his Dad :)

Having Our Cake and Eating It Too

So I have been woefully remiss with the blogging, but I think that is just the way it is going to be for a few months. Eric managed to dodge the bad weather and make it here and back safely for the weekend. (Seriously folks, is it just me or is it kind of crazy to have this much nasty winter weather in December?) On Saturday morning we had our final pre-marital counseling session with my/our pastor, Andy. Just one more meeting to finalize the ceremony details is left. I really enjoyed the pre-marital counseling... I feel like we have strong and healthy relationship, but are both committed to nurturing it and growing it, especially with the help of God.

That afternoon we went to a cake tasting, and now we have a "cake lady" for the wedding. Yippee... the cake was delicious and Marissa was a lot of fun to work with. Thanks to Amy from my small group for recommending her. We don't have the final cake details worked out, but we have a general idea. After cake we stopped off for a couple of beers before heading out to Assembly Hall to catch the Illini game. It is slightly weird for me to be a spectator instead of working, but I got used to it, and enjoyed hanging out with Eric.

After the game we grabbed a bite to eat with Nikki and her parents, Debbie and Jerry aka Captain Map, and it was lots of fun to catch up with them. Eric headed back home early Sunday evening with clear roads until the last few miles.

Please pray for continued travel blessing as I will be hitting the road tomorrow to St. Louis for the Illini basketball game vs. Mizzou, the up to the QC on Wednesday for Christmas with the Noyd's and then back to CU/GC for Christmas with the Tjardes' on Friday/Saturday.

I hope everyone has a happy, safe and joyous Christmas, and enjoys special time with family and friends as we celebrate the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ.