Redbird Report

Last night I was really excited that I was able to watch the Cardinals game, live on ESPN. You see, since I moved my cable provider no longer airs the Cardinals games since I no longer have the local channels. As of late, I have been watching play-by-play of the games on mlb.com. It's not visual action, but at least I know what is going... and it is live. I have threatened with the idea of buying the mlb.tv package to see all the games on the Internet via the local provider, but I can't justify buying it now when the season is more than half over... maybe next year. So I watched the game last night and was impresses with the play and happy to see the production, both offensively and defensively, out of the "new guys". And that is the main subject of this post.

Unless you live under a large rock (or are not a Cardinals fan), you are aware that the Cardinals acquired Mark DeRosa (a former Cub) from the Indians about a month ago. He went almost immediately on the DL, but he is off now and playing seemingly every day at 3rd base. Last week, they traded the coaches' golden boy, Chris Duncan, to Boston for Julio Lugo - both players were headed to the minor league affiliates of their respective teams. Since then, Lugo has been a spot starter at 2nd base. Lastly, and probably the biggest splash of all, the Cardinals traded 3 minor league prospects (one an up-and-coming 3rd basemen) for starting left fielder Matt Holliday (not to be confused with the ace pitcher Roy Halladay, who is on the trading block with the Toronto Blue Jays). I will discuss each move individually, in an effort to generate some discussion on this little blog site.

Mark DeRosa - since coming off the DL he has been lights out at the plate. I'm not going to throw around numbers and statistics, because that's not what I do - I will just stick to the cold hard facts. He is on a tear with the homeruns and I am loving every minute of it. I initially liked this trade because we needed that infielder with some pop in our lineup, with the injuries to Khalil Greene and Troy Glaus, mental and physical respectively. I think he is a solid started at the hot corner and I look forward to seeing him there next year, should they opt to sign him. The only issue I have is that we are still carrying contracts for Glaus and K.Greene, so I have no idea what Mo and LaRussa's intentions are for those guys if and when they return. On a side note, DeRosa is also, as I mentioned, an ex-Cub - so it feels good to watch him tattoo the ball for us while Aaron Miles and Milton Bradley are embarrassing themselves int hose stupid Cubbie uniforms.

Julio Lugo - he isn't much to write home about at the plate except that he can run fast so it makes him a good sac bunt and leadoff guy. He doesn't have a lot of pop, but what he lacks there he makes up for in consistency, which is an area where Duncan was quite deficient - considering he was 1-for-33 at the dish before he got dealt. Plus we replaced the pop that Duncan sometimes provided with the guy I'm about to talk about and seemingly the guy I just got finished talking about, so we're good there. I don't think we need to even broach the subject of defense in this comparison. Duncan flat out sucked as an outfielder and is more suited for the American League where he can slip into ambiguity as a designated hitter somewhere. Lugo is a good middle infielder and I will take him on a double play turn any day. I'm not over ecstatic about this deal, but I like it.

Matt Holliday - When I heard about this deal I thought it was quite stupid. It's not because I think Holliday is a bad ball player and calling his 11 homeruns this season low production is the understatement of the century. It's not that. I thought that we had something going with our farm system - good young players being bred in this organization for future stardom. We gave up our 2008 and 2009 draft picks to Oakland to - one of which (Brett Wallace) is now their everyday 3rd basemen. Wallace is young and would have provided a much needed filler in that hole we had looming over there. I think DeRosa is a good enough stop-gap and this Cardinals team has a reputation of not holding on to younger players anyway (i.e. Dan Haren). I also think we could have saved some of that enthusiasm for trading for picking up Roy Halladay (the pitcher) or maybe even some bullpen help (or Mark Buerhle???)- although I'd rather have the big man. Lastly, I don't believe the Cardinals will pick up Holliday's huge contract next year, as he is a free agent after this year - and make no mistake, he will command a huge contract, especially if he keeps up this hot bat. In my opinion, it was just a lot to give up for a guy who probably will only be here less than half of a season. If they do make room for him, they're going to have to give up a lot around him and Pujols to keep salaries down - whereas they could have paid a few rookies less dollars and signed for longer contract. My opinion on this particular deal is almost strictly business. All that being said, I was happy to see Matt go 4-for-5 with 2 RBIs in his first game in a Cardinal uniform, and then have an RBI double in his first home game last night. What happens next remains to be seen.

That is my assessment - I look forward to some rebuttal and/or friendly discussion. Go Cards!!

Firsts

This weekend was one of a few firsts for me... not lifetime firsts per se, but firsts since I've been here in Chi-town. One of the coolest ones for me was that I went for a bicycle ride on the lakefront. It was Sunday morning and it was my second bike ride overall as we had just gone on one Saturday morning as well (on a different trail). In fact, it was really my first time enjoying Lake Michigan in my life! I have been to the museum campus and Grant Park, but I have never actually been to the lakefront since I have been coming up here (my first time in 1999). It was actually a really good time. The trail was crowded, but that added to the ambiance - the lack of experience and etiquette by the other "cyclists" and runners was offset by the views.... oh the views!! First off, lake Michigan looks like the ocean since you can't see the other side, and people treat it that way with the sun bathing, scuba-diving, and beach volleyball. Then add the scenic skyline into the mix and you have a recipe for a really cool ride. In retrospect, the ride on Saturday (my first as a Chicagoan) was on a more intimate trail that traveled along one of the river branches going north. It started in a northern neighborhood in the city (near ours) and traveled north into Skokie/Evanston via a network of trails connecting parks and greenway along said creek. The southern part was all the parks and the trails connecting them went under each road you passed, so that riders can ride unobstructed without having to cross the dangerous streets. At about the city limit line, the scenery transitioned into a greenway that included a really cool sculpture park along one of the major north/south thoroughfares into the north suburbs. All-in-all I think I am going to enjoy my cycling in this city. It has some pretty big shoes to fill coming from St. Louis who has a great system of trails, but if this weekend was any indication, I should be fine.

Another first I had was grilling. We have a gangway on the side of our building between us and the neighboring property. I was thrilled to see this before we moved in because I knew I could bring my grill and cook out there. We had Jaime and Dan over for dinner and I made turkey burgers and brats... I love grilling so much and this was the first real opportunity to do it since we've been here. The experience was nice and it wasn't a pain even considering I couldn't just walk out my back door to my grill like I could in Maplewood. I enjoyed it so much, that I did it again last night, making chicken breasts that Kristen and I ate and some turkey sausages that we are going to eat tonight... delicious!

I also rode my first bus since living here. Public transportation is very popluar here since traffic is so bad and parking is a nightmare and usually expensive (I got my first parking ticket last week and it was 400% more expensive than the ones I used to get routinely in StL - expired meter). Anyway, Kristen and I went out for dinner on Saturday and decided to take the bus into a trendy part of town, assuming we would have our hands full with the traffic/parking situation. There is a west/east line that has stops right by our apartment (along Belmont), so we hopped on that. We headed into the Lakeview neighborhood and got off at a six-corners intersection where we saw hundreds of people walking around. We walked southeast on Clark St. about 1/4 block before we found a Mexican restaurant and decided to eat there - Cesar's Killer Maragritas. I had one of these margaritas and it was in fact a killer - the tequila used was serious business but I enjoyed it (it puts Cuervo to shame, Tony). We headed up to a Wrigleyville bar after dinner for one drink and decided we were so full (damn Mexican food) and just headed home - back on the bus. I should mention that the bus ride down there got interesting when this drunk, gay, hispanic guy got pissed at a black guy who was laughing at his antics, and proceeded to call the guy a fucking nigger. Needless to say he was immediately asked to exit the bus. Very interesting - I certainly was not expecting that.

So those have been my most recents firsts. Next post I may try to not have so much "Chicago" in it, but that is my life now so I have a lot to talk about. Plus, I am doing this in an effort to keep people abreast of what is going on with me, so there you have it.

Bid'ness

So as many of you may know, I opened my own architecture practice in Chicago. I can tell you that "opening" and starting a business is hard work... I have been busting my hump this week getting stuff together. I have hired an accountant, Incorporated as an S-Corp in the State of Illinois, I have elected as a corporation with the IRS and received a Federal Employer Identification Number, started working on QuickBooks, and now I am working on opening a bank account so I can spend money putting things in the company's name. I still need to obtain business licenses at the state and the City of Chicago. These are all steps in the process. To be honest it has been very educational and actually kind of fun. I guess I am already realizing the rewards that are had for working for yourself. My freedom and control have been unable to be surpassed over this past week. I know I can succeed and I know I will enjoy this.

I have already starting working, actually. I had a few carry-over jobs that I have been finishing from St. Louis. It has been pretty easy to communicate thanks to the technical age.. the best part is the cash flow, which I need now since, you know, I quit my "day job". I also did some drawings for one of the guys with whom I share office space, so that should pay something - not immediately though. This industry takes so long to pay - that is the hardest part in terms of getting things going, but I can manage. Next step is finishing up the business start-up and then getting out there and doing some marketing.

I want to thank everyone who has given me congratulations and support as I make my way into this journey. Without that encouragement I would be a lot less confident and a lot more scared. I especially thank Kristen for allowing me to do this and not asking a single question or harping on me at all. I will update on things as they happen. Take care...

Update: Short and Sweet

I am gonna keep this relatively short, as some of my more recent posts have been a bit long-winded and some might say "boring". Plus, I am kind of busy, so I want to concentrate on what is most important to me right now: work - although this blog is a close 2nd.

After the race two weekends ago I spent some time in STL. I watched the Homerun Derby and All-Star game with old buddies and played in three softball games. It wasn't all play though - I got A LOT of work done, tying up some very needed loose ends. I cleaned up the old condo in Maplewood, ran a TON of overdue errands, picked up my first commission check, and squeezed in time to build my buddy Justin a wedding-card receiving box. If you recall, I built myself a similar box for my own wedding which resembled the Sears (now Willis) Tower - in keeping with the "Tale of Two Cities" theme. He wanted a replica of his own house, with the thought process being that the money they receive as gifts will be an investment into his home, so why not have the people put the money "into his home". I thought this was a reasonable and somewhat clever idea, so I obliged... (you're welcome, J).

I left STL at around 5:30a last Thursday morning and arrived home at around 10:30a. Took out Jake, unloaded some stuff I had in the car, and headed to the office - I had some work to do. I worked about a half day then went home so I could prepare to leave for the weekend...again. We headed to KC on Friday morning and arrived at the very tiny Southwest terminal to have Justin pick us up. We went back to his house and just hung out until the rehearsal, welcoming everyone as they arrived. The rehearsal was short and sweet and we headed to a quaint little small-town eatery afterward for the dinner and some home cookin'... it was really nice. We headed across the street to Riley's Pub afterwards. They didn't want to let us in, but when they find out how many of us there were and that we were only there to drink, they changed their tune. That pretty much capped off our night. We headed back to J's and were gonna party all night, but we were out of booze and everyone was pretty tired, so we just let the night end in preparation for the big day.

The wedding was really nice and lovely, although the temperature inside the church was in the upper 90s (perceptively) and us guys in tuxes had a rough go (I almost passed out!). Afterwards we boarded a rented school bus and took some photos outside the famous courthouse in historic Lexington, MO. Off to the reception. We entered, we danced, we ate, we sang, we drank, I made a toast/speech, we made fools of ourselves in the photobooth (nice idea, ay?). It was a blast and it was good to have a last fling with a bunch of my friends and some people I haven't seen (and won't see) in a long time.

We flew back to Chicago on Sunday and went back to work on Monday - so here I type. All is well and I am working on getting this little business venture off the ground. More on that later...

Tour de Donut

Being that I'm an official "Chicagoan", I came into town Friday afternoon so that I could participate in a bicycle race on Saturday morning. It's called the Tour de Donut and is held annually in Staunton, IL, about 45 minutes north of St. Louis on I-55. The premise of the race is just like it sounds from the title - you eat donuts (I realize this is the lazy spelling of 'doughnut', but that's how they roll in Staunton, so for the sake of efficiency and consistency, I will use it here, but just this once). It's not that simple though. It is a 32 mile race split into three legs. In between the legs there is a break stop where they have boxes upon boxes of donuts. You can opt to eat as many donuts as you can or you can simply pass up the break stop and continue on in the race. The catch; however, is that for each donut you eat you get 5 minutes taken off of your total race time. Prizes are given for actual and adjusted finish times, so there is actually an incentive to eat the donuts and it gives the race a little niche and a bit of "entertainment". Like any race, you wear a number so that your time can be collected. In this race, your number is marked with your amount of donuts eaten, so they can match your time with the proper amount of time deduction... its kind of a hoot.

The race started out very out of character. Although I have only done it once before - last year - I know that in the middle of July it is supposed to be a nice hot day. Well Saturday that was not the case. About half an hour before the race, it rained... hard! It was bittersweet because the clouds covered the sun and cooled off the air, but the rain actually made it kind of chilly. At one point I even had erect nipples! There were 1200 riders that showed up to race, so instead of sending them all home due to a little inclimate weather (there was no lightning), the organizers decided that the show must go on.

The race started at about 9:15am, and I was in the front quarter of the pack of 1200. Within the first few miles I felt like I was keeping a really good pace. I was passing as many people that were passing me, so I felt I was holding good position and could keep my stamina up all day, eat a shitload of donuts, and finish this thing with a pretty respectable time. That thought went completely by the wayside when at about the 4-mile mark my front tire sprung a leak and stopped me in my tracks. I had to pull over to change a flat - in the goddamn rain!! Unfortunately this wasn't where the drama ended. I ride this race with my friend Steve (Justin's dad) and his wife Nancy. Steve is a very good and experienced rider and in the first 4 miles probably had already built a comfortable lead on me - I knew what pace he was trying to keep before the race started. I knew I was kinda screwed with the flat because although I had a spare inner tube, I didn't have any method in which to inflate it... like a pump or a CO2 cartridge. Luckily, as I was removing the damaged tube and inserting the new one, Steve's wife Nancy approaches me asking if I need anything.... I scream out, "Pump!" She slows down to attempt to pull over to my aid and that is when some jackass totally rear-ends her. He clipped and bent the rear derailleur on her rear hub - which essentially is a part that makes gear shifting possible. Needless to say the bike was un-rideable after the collision. But the worst news was that the impact caused both riders to fall instantly onto their left sides, and Nancy to propel forward a little bit. She scraped her knee and elbow pretty bad and hit hit forehead (the portion covered by a helmet, of course) on the pavement. She had no visible head injury, but she did crack and ding her helmet, so the incident - the injury coupled with the crippled bike - was enough to keep Nancy from finishing the race. I must be a bad luck charm because I did a team race with Steve a few weeks ago where he rolled his ankle in the running portion and he could not finish... sorry Hahns!!!

Anyway, so she had a CO2 cartridge she let me use and I was able to inflate my tire (to about 60% of where it should be - losing that much more efficiency) and finish the race. I wanted to finish due to pride, but this setback of about 30 to 40 minutes total cost me any respectable finish time - and I knew that. I finished the first leg strong, all things considered, and stopped at the first donut stop. I grabbed 2 donuts and ate them both at once - they smash down pretty easily and this is a race so there is no time to dawdle... After I finished them I went back for more but they were gone - they had run out of donuts at the first stop. This really took the wind out of my sails because I was going to try to slam quite a few of these doughy little bastards to make up some of the time I lost with the tire and the wreck. No such luck, so I really, really had to push it in the second leg, and I would say in that 10-12 mile stretch I passed no fewer than 200 riders... no shit. I was kicking ass. It was still all for naught because I was so far behind. By the time I had gotten back on the road I was pretty much at the end of the line, so the people I was passing really were just doing the ride for fun anyway, but it still felt good to blow by so many of them at such an astonishing rate - I needed that kind of encouragement to keep up my momentum.

So I make it to the 2nd donut stop and order 2 donuts... then 2 more. By the time I finish all 4 I see that they are down to about 4 dozen left and I really won't get a chance to eat too many more, so I just said screw it and continued on. Plus my body was feeling the effects of the 20+ mph pace I was pushing in the 2nd leg, so I didn't want to lose any donuts in a pukey mess, as I saw that two or three other people were about to do - kinda gross... Skip, out! I got through the final leg taking a little bit off it as not to injure myself. I still finished and with plenty of people behind me, but I was probably right in the middle of the pack. Even worse, I'm sure I was pretty far down in my male age group. It's all good though because despite all the trials and tribulations, I had fun and got some damn good exercise. Can't wait to do it next year!

So I did the race in the morning, came to my mom's afterward to watch the Cubs/Cards game, took a nap, and hung out with my uncle and his daughters when they came over to swim. Last Saturday was a really good and fulfilling day for me.

If you want to look for my results, just Google search: "Tour de Donut 2009 results". It's not going to look pretty and you may have to scroll down a while to find me (under an assumed name: Christopher Jackson...haha), but it feels good to have finished and put my name on the list.

Home Sweet Home Chicago

Well the move is effectively complete. On Wednesday morning my buddy Bill and I emptied the grand majority of the contents of my condo in Maplewood into a 17ft U-Haul van. With Bill piloting the vehicle we hit the road at about noon. After driving through some rain and stopping once for gas, we made it to Kristen's parents' house in Orland Park at about 5pm. It was still lightly raining there, but we only had to drop off one table and two chairs - for storage - so unloading in the drizzle wasn't going to be a big deal. The plus side was that they fed us like kings while we were there. Of course they knew we were coming so her dad had a baked mostaccioli waiting for us and he even grilled up two 1/2lb burgers while we were eating the pasta! We left there with full bellies and another hour drive to the apartment (we opted out of taking any more highways).

After the all-side-road journey to Portage Park on the north side of Chicago, we decided to go ahead and unload the van that night, it was about 730pm by now. We were going to just leave the van for the night and unload in the morning, but then we remembered the couch and the TV were in the back of the van! So while enlisting some help from Kristen and her sister Jaime and using a dolly borrowed from the rather generous (and somewhat tipsy) next door neighbor, we got to moving. In hind sight we should have rented one of these dollies... it made moving things a lot simpler. The TV stand was by far the heaviest piece of furniture, so Bill and I simply had to man-handle it up the stairs (less than one full story). As it turned out the sofa was the most difficult to maneuver, even though it wasn't the heaviest - this always seems to be the case. Those things are such a pain in the ass. All in all we were satisfied to get the full move complete and we finished at around 1030pm.

We waited to return the van until the next morning, frankly because no place was open by the time we finished. I remembered I had to refill the gas tank to the level it was when I received it. We went to a Citgo and after having my issues with the credit card machine I put about 20 bucks into it. This value didn't quite get me to the 7/8 full mark (it sat at 3/4), so I proceeded to put 5 more $ at a time until I hit 40$. The needle was STILL on 3/4 after putting another 20$ in, so I said "fuck it" and stopped dumping my money into this van, knowing full well that they would charge me 30$ and 5$ per gallon to fill it up to the level if I brought it in light. When we got to the U-Haul rental facility the guy at the counter started busting my balls a little about the gas, but after a little convincing he opted not to charge me. He welcomed me to Chicago and we were on our way.

We spent the rest of the day lounging, visiting Wrigley Field, watching TV, organizing boxes around the house, eating Superdawg hot dogs, eating Giordano's Pizza, playing Wii, picking up a computer for my new office, and drinking beer. It was fun just to chill with Bill all day. Today (Friday) we are heading back to STL so Bill can get back to his life and I can do a bicycle race on Saturday morning. I really am grateful that Bill was able to help us out in the middle of the week. I owe him big time and I hope I made it up to him somewhat by showing him a good time in Sweet Home Chicago.

P.S. Please keep commenting! I haven't had a comment in several posts now and I could use the dialogue. Maybe my posts really don't leave themselves open to commenting, but if you can think of anything you want to add to the conversation, please do.

The 4th

Had a pretty good first Independence Day as a Chicago resident - but we didn't actually spend it in Chicago. Kristen's old grad-school roommate had some people over and we knew most of them so we decided to hang out there for the night. They have a nice place down by Kristen's parents' house near Orland Park in a town called Frankfurt. The couple just had a pool installed last year and had some landscaping and a new patio put in this year. They were all ready to break it in, but unfortunately the rain was too much to bear. It was a slight drizzle, nothing really more, but just enough to annoy you and make it too chilly to swim. So needless to say we kept the party indoors. It was a good time and they had a nice spread - complete with a variety of beers. They had a small fireworks display, but the highlight was the neighbors' displays... wow! Some of their neighbors must have spent a few grand on artillery.. seriously! There were so many big and loud fireworks. What our party had was quite modest in comparison... but still fun. We also had a slight stint on the Guitar Hero World Tour, which is always a blast! Since they live so close to Kristen's parents, we decided to stay with them for the night - good decision considering we live an hour away from this particular friend.

It wasn't all fun and games though. As it turns out, which we learned Jake's first Independence Day, he is extremely frightened by the sounds of fireworks. He can pick up the faintest sound of one from quite a distance and even off of the television. So unfortunately when they are right in our backyard - which this year they just so happened to be - he gets scared shitless! Literally, considering he won't even go potty whilst these things are going off... quite frustrating but you gotta feel sorry for the little guy. It really takes a toll on him psychologically, so as much as I enjoy fireworks, I look forward to them being over so he gets back to normal. Cap that off with the fact that we just moved him into a completely new living environment and that makes a nasty recipe for an otherwise happy-go-lucky pup.

So this Independence Day is not just ceremonial as being my first 4th here, but today also marks my 4th official day living here. So far we have actually been having a really good time. I had to move stuff that I brought in on Wednesday, so that wasn't so much fun, but otherwise we have tried to enjoy our first four days reunited. We just hung out on Wednesday (after Kristen got home from work) and Thursday - and I even spent some time getting work done at the office on Thursday! Friday afternoon we went to the Taste of Chicago which was cool and we got to try some local cuisine and hang out downtown for a little while. That night we went to Pete's Pizza with Kristen's sister Jaime and her fiance Dan... more local cuisine.. and it was delicious! Of course yesterday we spent time down south for the holiday and today I spent most of my time watching sports, capped off by a GREAT performance in Wimbledon by both Federer AND Roddick (I was pulling for Roddick.. U-S-A, U-S-A!!).

So that has been our past few days. I hope everyone is enjoying keeping up. I also hope everyone is still reading. I know I took a brief break there in June, but I am back to writing regular updates on here, so I hope everyone still comes around every once in a while to read and especially to comment - I sincerely enjoy reading and responding to everyone's commentary so keep the chatter alive!!

In the City

So here I am writing a blog, sitting in my new office on the 2nd floor of 2240 N. Elston, in Chicago. Quite a surreal experience, considering I really don't work here... at least not yet (I wasn't due to arrive until next week, but they were accommodating). I am subleasing office space from a friend and colleague until I get things moving - which I have learned is quite a daunting task. I have spent the better part of today asking around for attorneys and accountants who are "good at this kind of thing" (incorporating a business) and writing cover letters to potential new clients. Of course I can't send them out until I get Incorporated, just trying to stay one step ahead... but enough about that.

Jake and I drove in from St. Louis yesterday, arriving around 1:30pm to Kristen's clinic to pick up the keys to our apartment. The drive was most interesting this time. I can't recall if it was more interesting than any other time - maybe I just paid more attention this time... A few things stuck out as worthy of writing about in this little "journal". First, right as I get into Illinois on I-55, right around Troy, I see a big beige bus pulled off onto the shoulder... turns out it's a Dept. of Corrections bus. How did I know this? No, I did not see those words emblazoned on the side of the bus... the real giveaway was the armed guard standing in front of the bus on the side of the road, right on the painted stripe defining the shoulder from the driving lane. And when I say "armed" I am not kidding. He had some sort of shotgun that looked like an assault weapon set to destroy anything it was aimed at within 300 yards. I'm not really a gun guy so I'm afraid that's the best description I can give. The bus was pulled over from an apparent flat tire... what a way to stall out a bus full of criminals! It looked like they had the situation under control, however.

The next incredible thing that happened was when I noticed the same tan Escalade following me for.. oh... about 220 miles! This guy was very meticulous in his moves. He would never try to advance in front of me even if he had the chance. If I got over, he got over. If I slowed down, he slowed down. And I don't think he followed me for any other reason than my uncanny ability to evade the police radar (knock on wood) - see next paragraph for the rest of that story. Anyway, I don't think he had much of an agenda, other than to just coast all the way to Chicago and have a pace car so if anyone got pulled over, it wasn't him. I noticed him behind me right into Illinois, I'd say at about the same time as the state penitentiary bus, and I didn't shake him until I was about 10 miles from the Chicago city limits - and that's only because traffic was starting to get congested and he couldn't keep up with my sweet driving moves. I did wonder the whole time if he was going all the way and if I stopped for gas or to urinate if he would too... never found out though.

I can't think if anything else incredible happened. I know that when I got into the city, just south of downtown, it started to drizzle and it was really damn chilly outside... I guess that comes with the territory though.

Anyway, I got in just fine and was able to move some stuff in the house - cooking items, cups, cleaning supplies, clothes, and a nice air mattress and clean sheets for us to sleep on until I go back and get our furniture. We had to go out and get a few extra supplies - food, shower curtain liner, but we should be good to go until we get the rest of our stuff.

That's the update... I'll be back soon.