Settled in?

It is July. July 21st, to be specific. One year ago this past Sunday was Nate's and my last day cycling in California. That was a weird thing to realize (and yes, I only know the actual date because of the journal I wrote in last summer). One year ago today, Nate got on his plane and flew back east. One year ago tomorrow, I got on the morning train from San Diego to LA, and then got on the train in LA for the 35 hr trek to San Antonio. I found out on that stretch that a couple pounds of grapes and a big bag of chips really is not sufficient food for that long of a trip. When they're the only thing you're eating, chips and grapes both get old. Fast.

And now here I am - past the six month mark at my job in Chicago working with monkeys and all that. This is the longest I've worked full time in one stretch. So far my only days off have been a few three day weekends that, apart from the holiday weekends, involved working four 10-hour days to make up for the missed day (can't complain about the flexibility to do that, though, can I?). And I'm really not getting tired of it. Occasionally I'll get struck by bouts of wanderlust, not helped by reading my friend Neil Friesen's blog, in which he details the six month, 10,000 mile bike tour he is in the midst of to raise awareness for MDS (the Mennonite Disaster Service, though if you're reading this you probably already knew that). His plan is to touch all of the lower 48 during this stretch following working several years as a resident director at Hesston College in Kansas.

Overall, though I certainly plan to complete further such adventures, I'm content to be in Chicago for a while now. I'm not sure what that contentedness means, but I'm not complaining. Maybe it's just the satisfaction of earning money and being in a state of independent financial stability.

There's not a whole lot new going on. My cousin/roommate Cameron (and, by consequence, me as well) just adopted an adult cat last weekend. Her (new) name is Bella, and she seems to be adjusting to her new home pretty well. We both would've preferred a dog, but the apartment doesn't allow it. The apartment was a good choice, though occasionally things fall apart and we have to go through a bit of a song-and-dance routine to get maintenance to not just come in and say, "oh, it looks fine," but actually fix it. But overall it was a good move.

Here are a couple pictures. Make your eyes useful and appreciate this stuff.

First calzone attempt (last night). Tasty as hell.

Kitty! She's still shy.

First attempt at tofu (stir-fry w/leeks, garlic, spices, and a little chicken). Basically, yeah, I rock.

Sunset from the windows by the elevator bank on our floor after a storm passed through.

The first big storm that came through after we moved in (looking SSE toward more Southside Chicago/some of the lake).