Super Duper Lows and One Great High.

And in Ford news, dad's Amyloidosis is the unfortunate kind, he has too many lymph cells and in turn the treatment is going to be once a week for 6 hours for 8 weeks - intravenous.  It's going to be uncomfortable to say the least.  It's also a mild form of Lymphoma.  It's creepy, scary and Amy and I are handling it differently.  I don't want people on Facebook to know. I have colleagues, peers, and people I'm not truly friends with, they don't need to know my business. Oh well, she gets it.

Anyway, on a decent note I don't have high blood pressure anymore - I guess the Wellbutrin is working for my anxiety!

On a super high note, James and Rachel moved back!  YEAH!  I'm so happy to have them back in Chicago. Rachel got a job at Kurtis Productions.

Rachel and James

                                                          Olive, Colleen, Denise & Me!

                                                                Kristin leaving our CSA

Mid October

This semester is flying by.  I can honestly say I haven't been this busy is a crazy long time.  I like being busy, though but it also bums me out because I can't see my friends as much.  I haven't seen Molly since the beginning of summer :(
Things with the family are a little tough.  My dad recently got diagnosed with Amyloidosis.
This is a rare blood disease that occurs when your bone marrow has too much protein.  The fantastic news is that its treatable.  We find out on Monday what type of blood cells are in his protein then we start the treatment.
And I have high blood pressure - I'm sure most people do but I have been running on anxiety for a few months now, and it shows.  I'm working on it, though.
Bill and I celebrated 8 years of knowing eachother yesterday!  Although we didn't actually celebrate - Bill worked late and I made breakfast for dinner and went to bed!
I can't believe its been eight years!  We met at Gold Star.
I wish we would have stopped there for at least one drink yesterday!

I'm an Event Planning Fool!

With the Fall semester up and running, I have events coming at me all over the place.  Check out some of the posters our graphic design student worker has done!

I have to assist tognight for the Crowdsourcing event, and tomorrow I moderate two panels - the Casting Directors (in from Los Angeles) and Gina Rugulo, Talent Manager.
I can't wait until Saturday!

And there goes summer!

How on earth, is it that when you feel like as a kid that summer goes so fast, but as an adult it goes faster? Well, I lost my cord for my camera, and it was a teeny, tiny cord, so I had to do some fast magic to download these pictures.  Anyway, here is the rest of the summer is summary.
Work was mellow during the summer, now we have two new creative liaisons that started in the portfolio center and thus far, barely two weeks it seem to be working out ok.
However, here is the real reacap on life.

My lovely friend Amanda's birthday party!  She's third from the right and one of the coolest people ever.

John & Kadima's engagement party at the Bristol Renaissance Faire....amazing as you assume.

Bill and I at the Ren Faire, what a great and awesome engagement party!

Our lovely Christian and his girlfriend Jackie moved to Miami, and this was his going away party. He is a crazy talented cinematographer, and just a wonderful guy.  He worked at Sip Coffee House and we have known him for at least 5 years.  Hell of a guy, super sad that they moved.    But they're doing well in Miami, for now!

 Oh how I love Denise and Colleen, our downstairs neighbors.  This is Denise at her birthday party, straight off the trolley.  We are honestly blessed to have instant, awesome and amazing great people right downstairs.  It made the summer even funner, and makes it even harder for us to move!

Mr. Bob Sage was in town, Bill's best dude.  He's awesome, and a lovely man who is crazy smart and a wonderful person.  It was so great to have him around for a few days, Bill was over the moon with him in town!

 Ryan and Harper about to eat their birthday cake!

 How are these girls so grown up?  Sofia and Zoe with little Jimmy.  How in the world is Zoe a freshman?  I'm not ready!  I'm not ready!

 News flash!!!!! This hat is going to be on everyone's Christmas list this year!  I mean, how can you not want an Alevizos hat!!!!!!!

Our little bunny Jimmy.  check out those smudge legs!  I love him!  What a joy he is!
Hmm....anything else?  Lets see.  Work. Summer. Love.  Oh wait, sleeping dogs!

How can you not love those faces????

End of Summer Realizations.

Every August, I am the most destitute of the year.  Even more so then Christmas.  However, I am thinking ahead this year and I am working on making my Mom's cookbook which are a collection recipes from my Grandmother, into a cookbook for her.  I'm also adding mine and Amy's favorite recipes.
This is what I have so far: Taste Book. 
However, I'm switching over to Create My Cookbook because that way I can add family photos, and with Taste Book, although that one is fancier and more modern and sleeker, for some reason I can't change the cover.  And that bugs me!

September 1, we have two new Creative Industry Liaison's starting.  My boss, Caroline, is off to get married and move to Boston, so instead of one person replacing her we have two.  One is going to be focused on music and marketing, the other one on design, fine art, photo, illustration and advertising, and I have film, television, radio, dance, theater, journalism, etc.  I'm pretty freaking nervous about this whole thing.  I don't feel like I know enough yet. I came into this position before Industry Night, so it was a different situation then coming in at the beginning of the semester.  It's not like a regular job where you have XYZ tasks at hand, its about planning, attending and organizing events and meeting with students.  But I'm unsure how to handle this but I hope to handle it well.  I'm going to make this job what I want to - this is still my dream job and I want to be 150% for students.  That's the whole point.

And in family life, my dad has to have some serious surgery.  He had a lump removed, we're waiting for the biopsy results, but regardless he has to have surgery to pull up his stomach lining over his esophagus.  It all stems from Barrett's Esophagus which  runs on his side of the family, and its a 5 day hospital stay at Northwestern Hospital.  And having a double hernia removed.  It's a nightmare, and I'm scared.  But we will deal with it when it comes.  :(

Hello August!

Yipee!  Bill got a job back at Nordstrom!  We won't be homeless after all!  We've still been looking at houses, but we keep seeing amazing ones that are mindblowing, but they are SO FAR.  Like this far:

One hour without traffic via public transportation to my work.  EVERY DAY.  TWICE A DAY.  Ugh I don't know if I can handle it.  But a 4 bedroom, 3 full bathroom, 2 car garage, full finished basement, giant backyard on an over-sized lot. Sigh.  Amazing.

I really hope that this month is great.  This is the last month of summer before the students come back.  My boss is leaving, our office manager is leaving, and I'll be sitting in my office with two dudes.  Ugh the male/female ratio at work kind of sucks.  And then entering the Creative Industry Liaison world alone!  Without Caroline (my boss) and making it my own.  I hope its a GREAT YEAR.  I pray its a GREAT YEAR. I'm really nervous.

About everything.
Oh, and my latest addiction is "Words with Friends" on Android, Angry Birds Rio and Spotify. 

Screw you, July!

Ok, I'm TOTALLY OVER THIS FREAKING MONTH.  I understand that life has bumps in the road, but this is RIDICULOUS!
1st - they're selling our building.  Then they're not selling our building.  Now its "temporarily off the market".  So ARE Bill and I going to have to move?  30 days?  60 days?   If we didn't have two dogs this situation would have been so much less stressful, but the selling agent is just not a cool person.  And we don't have money to move!
 - Then -
We thought we killed Olive!  Not like that, but it was totally OUR fault we left the Advil on the counter and she got it, ate about 25-30 pills, was in the hospital was 3 days, 2 nights, and oh boy nightmare after nightmare with that.  Thank the Lord she is ok!
-Now-
Bill was asked to "step down".  What does that mean?  Do you know what that means, non-existent readers? He seems to think he's still employed by his store, but isn't working yet needs to get a job within another department.  And why?  Why would them ask him to step down?  He works harder then anyone I know.  Bill needs to work.  Bill wants to work.  But I want him to be HAPPY.  That's all.  Another pothole in the road.  I keep telling myself this is a blessing in disguise, but I have no idea.  I need to stay positive.  #1 and #2 turned out ok (especially #2) so I really, really need #3 to be a great situation.  A better situation. 

And since I'm on a tangent,  I would LOVE to leave Chicago this summer, if only for a night.  We need a vacation.  Sniff, sniff......