for days we’ve had this housefly that seemed to love our bedroom. each time we would try to catch it, it would fly off and then land back in the same area. today joe went on a fly-hunt, and the fly was outsmarted. and yes, we were as happy as he looks in the picture. it’s all about the small victories in life.

it was a bit gusty today, living up to chicago’s nickname ‘the windy city’. this is us while waiting for the bus. my head was feeling very buzzy by the end of the afternoon.

joe and i were invited by my new boss dr. yakoub and her husband to a fancy fundraiser gala for the hospital. i’m not that good at schmoozing, but it was nice being able to dress-up, eat “tall grass fed beef”, and meet some of my future colleagues. now back to work…

joe’s archaeology professor david schloen and family graciously invited us, along with other near eastern study phd students, to their home in the suburbs for a friday night dinner. afterwards we all huddled around a crackling fire and indulged in some s’mores. gooey!

i found this website which i absolutely LOVE and can’t stop browsing (during which i found these buttons made by a canadian crafter called buttonempire). the website is basically ebay for the crafty, a place to buy and sell anything and everything that is handmade. i would like one of everything please…www.etsy.com

tell the loved women in your life to get their mammogram if they’re 40 years old or older. and if you’re not 40 yet, it never hurts to check yourself. for more information, click here or here.

as part of my conference, we got a couple of free tickets to watch ‘Wicked’ the musical at the Oriental theatre, which was a very nice perk. it was a lot of fun, despite some changes from the book by Gregory Maguire which i got to read last year.

today i attended the first of a four day conference: the american academy of family physicians scientific assembly. the lectures i chose to attend seemed to alternate opposite sides of the huge conference center, so it’s a good thing i wore sneakers. unfortunately i think the organizers overlooked the small problem of having thousands of hungry family doctors trying to buy lunch from one tiny food court and two tiny snack stands at the same time. tomorrow the exhibits will be open, which is always fun because you get to pick up free junk in exchange for a short spiel from overly keen drug reps. i’m crossing my fingers for a highlighter and a USB memory key.