Rendezvous in the Windy City

Brent and I try very hard to see each other every two weeks while we're in this transition period of relocating, and this weekend was right at the two week point.  As luck would have it, the NCAA committee gave Purdue a favorable tournament draw in Chicago (what we were hoping) and our plans of meeting up in the Windy City actually came to fruition.

The first tournament game was on Friday night, and I took a half day at work so I could be in Chicago in time for the game.  My friend Lana rode along with me and we met Brent, and later Adam, in plenty of time for the game.  We had so much time, in fact, that we ended up milling around on the sidewalk in front of the United Center for over an hour waiting for them to let the 2nd session fans in after the ND game.  It was a little cold and I was getting a bit tired and crabby and hungry, but luckily we found a PowerAde stand giving out free bottles of their new product...so at least I stopped whining about being thirsty.  There was also a vertical leap contest, and both Adam and Brent passed the 10-foot mark so they both got t-shirts.  At almost 30 years old, they were the only two people we saw get t-shirts in the hour we stood there.  That's my man!  I'm so proud.  : P  And since I forgot pajamas in my mad packing panic on Friday morning (otherwise known as "throw crap in your suitcase as fast as you can"), I was pretty grateful for that t-shirt later on in the weekend.

We had a really great time at the game on Friday night and stayed until there were about ten minutes left of the VCU/Georgetown game.  I was cheering for VCU until I realized they were really good...and would be potentially be running a clinic with Purdue in just a few days. 

Here's a man I like to endearingly refer to as "Ram Man".  Sitting right behind the very entertaining VCU pep band, this guy was into it.  On Saturday we read an article about how there was a lone fan left in lower section long after the end of the game, wearing a ram's helmet and chanting CAA (VCU's conference).  We knew immediately who the journalist was talking about.

We did absolutely nothing on Saturday.  Lana met up with her boyfriend and Adam had already gone back home for the weekend, so Brent and I just putzed around the hotel, ate lunch at Potbelly, and went on an hour and a half Cookie Quest that afternoon.  I really wanted a big bakery sugar cookie...like one you get at the mall.  We searched for bakeries on Google maps and drove around the area searching for this perfect cookie.  Sadly, we never found it and I ended up with a shortbread from Panera.  Good, but not what I had in mind.  Brent was a good sport for the Cookie Quest - there was no complaining.  :)

After the shortbread cookie and a long nap, we ate at a Giordano's down the street from our hotel on Saturday night.  Yum!

We had a nice time together this weekend and I can't wait until the next time we get to be together!  It's always hard to part ways again but it does seem to get a little easier.  My days here are numbered though and we're on what we are calling the home stretch.  This winter has been such a strange time for us, but it's really gone very fast.  I am so appreciative for my friends here who make fun plans throughout the week!  As much as I'm ready to move, I will hate giving that up!