The Accidental Boilermaker

Setting: work Characters: me, Peggy (a nurse), and a Purdue nursing student Nursing student: "So where did you go to nursing school?" Me: "Oh, I'm not a nurse." Peggy (jokingly): "She just pretends to be one." Me: "Yeah, I just play one on TV." Then this afternoon, a patient tried to set me up with her grandson.

It was parents weekend at Purdue and since we're considered Meredith's surrogate West Lafayette parents we went to everything too. Saturday Meredith took us to the Discount Den for a Den Pop - a 32oz soda for 60 cents (a college student's dream) - and then at night we watched NCIS and had Blue Moon's seasonal fall beer. Sunday was the Purdue Crew team's open house. Here's the boats on the trailer. Closer picture of what the boat looks like. Meredith's on the novice team for her first year. The lovely Wabash River. Meredith says this boat is called "the barge." It's two boats put together and it can't tip over - it's how the novice kids learn to row. Meredith and Nate raced a 500 on the ergs. Nate did it in 1:44. Today was the Hunger Hike too. The crew team is the grand marshal of the hike and they carry two boats on their shoulders for the entire two miles. I walked with Meredith and all her friends from the team. In other news,...

This week was pretty crazy. I ate out for at least one meal every single day. Yikes! Monday - Meredith treated me and Nate to dinner at the cafe/grill in her dorm Tuesday - we went to Applebee's because 15% of your meal went to support the Lafayette HeartWalk Wednesday - lunch at Arni's to celebrate Mindy's birthday at work Thursday - in Chicago; breakfast at Blueberry Hill in La Grange and dinner at Subway at the Hinsdale Oasis Friday - out to Mancino's for work just because and then we got together for pizza and a movie with friends for dinner I had two days off from work this week. One for Labor Day. The other for my great-great aunt Irene's funeral. She was really more like a grandmother than an aunt. It's very strange losing someone who has been such an enduring fixture in your life. She was the kind of person you thought would be around forever. She would have been 87 in October. And today was the HeartWalk. I volunteered at the survivor's...

Nate bought me coffee before dropping me off at work The ladies at work took me out to Arni's for lunch Nate also bought me a giant cookie cake - completely covered in icing! Plus all the cards I got in the mail today. And less you think all Nate got me was coffee and a really big cookie, here's a link to my "real" gift which is coming. Thanks everybody : )