I'm becoming a blog-slacker...big time.

Grad School is sucking the life out of me. Literally. I've read more boring crap in the past 4 weeks than I think my mind has the capacity to hold. And it has only been 4 weeks. 12 more weeks of this crap. Yippee. All in all it's not so bad...just a TON of reading, papers, projects. I guess that's the beauty of being back in school. I'll try to stop complaining; try being the operative word.

Well, the boy turned 21 last week. I received a text at 11am on his birthday that said "Well, I just bought whiskey." At 11am. Ick.

To celebrate, we went to a local Irish Pub called the Elmhurst Public House. We just so happened to go on a night that an Irish folk singer was there...Paul McHugh, if memory serves me correctly. Which it generally doesn't. This man was HILLARIOUS...from Ireland and currently living in the Chicagoland area. He played mostly Irish folk tunes, with a few more mainstream tunes. My brother is huge into Irish music, and asked me to request a song. So, I walk up to Mr. McHugh, and request something called "Finnegan's Wake." I also ask if he'll dedicate the song to my little brother, Jack Ryan on his 21st birthday. He goes "Of course my love." in his thick Irish brogue. As I'm walking back to my seat, he says "this next song is for Jack Ryan on his 21st birthday. Let's all sing Happy Birthday to the young man." So, the entire bar sings Happy Birthday to the boy..and the Mr. McHugh plays Jacks' request. After he finishes the song he says, "That was for Jack Ryan for his 21st birthday. Funny thing though, I saw him in here drinkin' 2 weeks ago!" (Joking, of course). Great great time!


Jack and his chef cake Angie made. Looks like him, doesn't it?





Other than last week's festivites, not much is going on. January is over, thank god. That is officially my least favorite month of the year. We are officially t-minus 6 weeks until Spring, and I couldn't be more excited. I'm about done with the below zero days, and lack of sunlight. Every day when I leave work, it's just a hair lighter outside. Seriously cannot WAIT until this winter BS is over. Why do i stay in Chicago, you ask? Good question.

The weight loss world, you ask? Yeah, pretty non-existent. I try to watch my calories and get to the gym at least 4x a week. But, as has been my problem the last 4 years, I just can't lose. Regardless of what I try. Nothing. It's so discouraging. In fact, I feel myself getting fatter. My skin is breaking out like mad, too. And I've always been known for having near perfect skin. I know I'm under a lot of stress with work and school...but something has got to give. I honestly don't know how much longer I can go on like this.

I'm falling apart, I say!

Well, how about that for a positive, uplifting post? ;)