My Last Full Day in Chicago

Got up, went to work.  Worked all day on the forecast.  We, as a team, were supposed to go out to lunch as a "welcome to the team" thing.  But, we were all so bogged down trying to get the forecast done today that I just offered up that we order out and then we would go out the next time I'm in town.  So, that's what we did.

Around 2:00, Brad (who is my new boss, yay!) took me over to Building 1 to meet the big head honcho VP of Finance, Dan.  It's like a 15 minute walk over there, I am sweating to DEATH, and then we waited about 20 minutes or so because he kept getting some important phone calls.  We finally get to introduce me to him and within 28 seconds it was over and we were on our way back.  Oh well - such is the life in Finance sometimes.  At least he knows who I am now.  Now it was time to hoof it all the way back.  Can we please walk outside so I can cool off?

Around 4:00, I needed a little break from working.  I jumped on my personal email for a couple of minutes.  There was an email from the RSP in our old ward.  I wondered why I would be getting an email from her.  Then, I read the first line that shows up in the preview screen and I immediately was overcome with fear of what the rest was likely to say.  The email was letting me (and a lot of other sisters) know that a friend of mine, Ami Hughes, had passed away during the night sometime.  No way!  Ami is only 35 years old!  She has four children - one of which is only about 2 or 3 years old!  This just couldn't be.  I immediately picked up my cell phone and called her sister Jaymi, who is in our ward.  Of course, she wasn't home, but I left her a message letting her know I had just found out about Ami and that I loved both of them and I was here for her (in Chicago, but in spirit, no less).  I started to tear up.  Sometimes, I really don't like these happy pills I'm on.  They prevent me from feeling emotion when I need or want to feel emotion.  How could this happen?  What caused it?  I don't think we'll know for a while.  I am so grateful though for the gospel in our lives so our families can be together forever.  I hope Ami and Seth have been sealed in the temple by now.  I don't think so, but hopefully they will be able to be soon.  Oh, how my heart ached for him and their children during this time!  I KNOW what it feels like to lose your mother.  And, they are so much younger than my siblings and I were when our mom died.  Why do things like this happen?

I worked until about 8 PM and then I was out of there.  I was done.  Completely done.  All 60+ cost centers - done.  Brad did about 5 of them, I did the rest.

I walked out to my car and decided I was in the mood for Taco Bell.  I had honestly never ever seen a Taco Bell anywhere near the campus.  But, Cathy, at work, had mentioned it earlier in the day and so I figured there had to be one somewhere close by.  I decided to head south on Milwaukee Avenue because I KNEW there wasn't one going north.  I drove and drove and drove and never found one.  So, I turned around and started to head back toward the hotel to find something.

Lo, and behold, I came across the famous Chicago favorite, SuperDawg!  Melon Man and I have seen this place on tv before, but I've never eaten there when I've been in Chicago.  I decided to try it out.  It's a good thing I had cash...that's all they take.

I ordered a Whoopskidawg with some Onion Chips and my pickle on the side.  Now that I think of it, how on earth did it come to $13.05?  Hmmm.  The dawg was $6.45.  I had them add cheese.  No peppers.  The onion chips were like $2.45.  When I got it back to the hotel and opened it up, there was a whole bunch of pickles in there.  They must have charged me for those.  I just wanted the one that came with it to be on the side - I didn't ask for a box of pickles!

Anyhow, this is what it looked like when I opened up the ginormous bag it came in.  I didn't know it came with fries too.  I thought $6.45 for a hot dog - polish, hungarian, or otherwise - was costly, but I guess if it's a good dog and it comes with good fries, then it's not that horribly priced.

The fries were soggy from sitting in a box with the steamy whoopskidawg.  Good thing I ordered the onion chips.  They were excellent.  The expensive pickle(s) - just okay.  I know why it was so much now....they probably charged me for all that ketchup (that I didn't order!).  I think if I go there again, I would just get the dog on its own, if you can.  The rest was just so-so.  Maybe I picked the wrong thing to order.  Or, maybe it was the fact that I "took it out" rather than eating in.  There are a lot of places that it's better to eat in than take out - Peter Piper Pizza, Sonic, etc.

I finished eating and started packing.  I knew I had to leave early in the morning to get to the airport and rental car return and since I was so tired, I probably would oversleep in the morning and then be in trouble.  So, I stayed up and got packed.  I had almost everything in the suitcase and ready to go before I went to bed.  Good job.  Off to bed I went...home tomorrow...finally...yay!