Erin and I attended the Critical Mass Spark session this evening at the Hard Rock Hotel. It's basically a speaker series to drum up some buzz about digital advertising and CM. Chris Bernard and David Armano spoke. I enjoy events like these because it zooms out to the bigger picture of what I do every day.
This time the cabinets came with knobs...well not 'came with'. It took a couple trips to home depot to get everything we needed. The first trip, I purchased all the new knobs needed, but inadvertently left the knob I brought to compare. I had to go back to retrieve the original.
The other big project was to hang cabinets in the storage closet, as well as fix up the yard after select parts of the sidewalk was replaced.
It's a slow process, but we're chipping away at the list of stuff we need to do or get done for the apartment. Sigh.
Light under the hood that is. While I didn't have adequate supplies last weekend to wire up the hood, I did have the supplies today, and proceeded to wire it up. The kitchen is bright, but could really use some more light, especially when the chef's body is blocking the centrally located light. It's a great improvement.
Erin and I purchased a couch and loveseat a while back
and they were delivered today. I'm excited to finally have them. Soooo comfy.
Dad and I hug some new cabinets and range hood this morning. I'm glad to get this stuff up so that we can put things away in the kitchen. The new cabinets will be a lot nicer than the old ones (which weren't even mounted on the wall). The old cabinet above t
he stove fell off the wall when my mom was cleaning it on Friday. So naturally that had to be replaced. The apartment is really shaping up. We're planning to add another cabinet next to the one above the stove.
Went to Ikea today and got an entertainment center and table. I've wanted an entertainment center like this for a while. Erin is going to use the table (which matches the entertainment center) as a desk.
Dad's going to come over tomorrow morning to install some new cabinets in the kitchen.
We're scheduled to move in later today. The new stove, range hood, dishwasher, and gas should all be settled today as well. On Wednesday the sidewalk to our unit was replaced and the dryer was repaired. Hopefully everything goes smoothly and we're comfy tonight!
I talked to the gas company this morning. They told me that the previous tenant had asked to have the gas service discontinued. The gas won't be back on till Friday. They sure have created some problems for us. In addition to turning off the gas, they stole the dishwasher. Who steals a dishwasher?!? I saw it when we viewed the apartment, and I can tell you
that it wasn't worth the energy to move. Toby is wondering what we're going to do!
On another note, it's 9/11.
So we moved in yesterday using the junkiest UHaul truck I've ever seen in my life. 
When I filled out the rental form, I just circled the entire picture of the truck noting that the entire thing was damaged. I didn't snap a picture, but to give you a mental image, the grill was missing.
Lots of moving followed the truck rental. We (Erin, mom, and I) picked up a pair of large dressers and a bookcase before starting to load out Mary's garage. 
Caffeine headaches have been plaguing me, and were in full effect. Luckily the weather cooperated.
We moved more today, and in the evening, when we had decided to quit for the day, I found out that we had no hot water. In fact we had no gas service at all. Bummer to say the least. I took some pictures before we left for my parents house.
Erin and I began to pack up our stuff at Mary's today. I'm exhausted and have a much longer day ahead tomorrow. Mom stopped by the apartment today and is really impressed, so I guess the paint colors look good on the walls! I'm excited...for it to be done.
I returned by Bianchi to Turin today. I took care of everything I needed to and settled my account. There will be a better time for reflection on the season. Reflection is a process for me that'll take a bit longer, but this has (for sure) been the last season where cycling takes precedence over everything else. As I've said before, life's changing. I can tell you now that I'm disappointed that I didn't get out to the track more, and I hope to make the track the focus of next season. Time for bed now.
After a stressful start to the day Erin and I made our way downtown to Monroe Harbor to meet Steph Sheridan and her friends and parents for a yacht ride. Randy (Steph's da) has a NICE yacht (as you can see) . For those who've never taken a relaxing ride on the lake, you're really missing something. It was so calming to lay in the sun with the wind across the 
bow. Steph had five other friends there whose name elude me, but were all very cool. It's just such a shame that we found out about the yacht so late in the season. While I was downtown I dropped off clothes for the business casual mandatory day tomorrow at work.
I drove the new Mercedes C Class today. Very nice vehicle. I don't think I'll be purchasing one anytime soon, but it was a good chance to get a feel for a nice car. On a parallel note, Critical Mass built Mercedes-Benz's 2008 C-Class website. I'm not on this account, but it gives a feel for what we do.
When we were downtown, Erin and I walked through downtown to Jazz Fest and back. Along the way we went by the Richard Serra sculpture in Grant Park.
This evening was Dad's birthday party (although his actual birthday isn't till Tuesday). I was in charge of the grill. I'm not sure that was the best idea, but everyone said that I did a good job even though we had to dump a whole bottle of water on the grease fire I created. It was a great time. Happy Birthday Dad!
