vote for eddy lewis!

Everyone needs to take a minute to vote for eddy lewis!
He will win his picture on a box of treats and some treats!!


http://dogaholics.wordpress.com/2010/05/17/vote-now/

Review of THE THIRD RAIL by Michael Harvey

I love reading novels that take place in Chicago. I love how certain writers write with such precision and knowledge of the city, it makes me literally feel like I am at the scene in the novel. I recently read THE THIRD RAIL by Michael Harvey. I highly recommend it! Here is my review. 

THE THIRD RAIL by Michael Harvey is a great third novel, in my opinion the best out of his three! Harvey combines his writing talent with some factual Chicago events that kept me wanting more. It starts at the Southport "L" station where a shooting occurs in the middle of the day. Private Investigator (and former cop) Michael Kelly is there to witness it all, chasing the killer, almost to his own demise. He later gets a call, which leads him to the other killings and tying it all to close to home. More shootings occur along various "L" stops, causing the city to be in a state of panic, leaving the "L" eerily empty. Kelly uncovers that the work of this serial killer is tied to a horrifying "L" disaster tracing back to Kelly's childhood.

Keeping with Chicago's trademark clout, the Mayor brings him on to solve the case, quickly, quietly, and without a trace. The case takes many whipping turns, keeping the reader's heart pounding. Bodies piling up, Kelly follows several different clues, working parallel to Chicago's finest, the FBI, and Homeland Security. The suspense and curve balls taken in the novel leave you yearning for the bureaucratic tape to be taken down and let them stop interfering with Kelly's skills and let him solve the case. He works with a technological genius, the Chicago Archdiocese, and others to follow the case, especially when it gets personal, with his significant other becoming a target. The factual pieces, combined with the realistic background of the novel makes it one that is hard to put down and makes you feel like you are there, sitting on Lake Shore Drive, watching the events unfold.

The ending makes me looking forward to more great novels, with similar themes by Harvey in the future. 


I also recommend Havey's other two novels THE CHICAGO WAY and THE FIFTH FLOOR. Also, visit Michael's website.

eddy is so big!

We've had eddy for about 15 months now, and we love him to death. while visiting Columbus, he loves to nap on the couch. We took a picture of him lounging here about 13 months ago, and another one today. Look how big he is! He has nearly tripled in size since when we first got him as a 13 pound pup from Animal Adoption Associates. He now weights in at about 36 pounds (soaking wet ;) )! Our wonderful vet at Higgins Animal Clinic in Chicago assures us he is healthy, even though you can see his ribs!

It Fits!

As I mentioned in my previous post, we were having fridge issues, but oh thank goodness everything seems to have worked itself out! Our fridge fits and looks great! I am in Kansas so haven't gotten a chance to see it yet, but Ben shared the following photos!

Tornado Drill

So as many of you know, I am in Overland Park, Kansas for work.We had a first - a tornado drill! I thought we would do the old 'duck and cover', but instead we were told to either go in the stairwell or the bathroom. I opted for the stairwell....

Oh and we finished the 5k!

In other news, Ben and I finished our first 5k of 2010 with the Race to Wrigley this past Saturday.

We finished in about 36 minutes which we were happy with, considering it was our first one! We are scheduled to do another 5k next Saturday, in Columbus!! We haven't had a chance to look through all the pictures, but they are posted here!

Adventures in Buying a Fridge

Our current fridge (pictured above) has problems sealing, and often freezes food when we have it in the refrigerator part. After playing with the settings, we decided to take advantage of the Illinois ENERGY STAR® Appliance Rebate Program.

Ben braved the masses on my birthday to go to ABT Electronics to buy a new fridge. And thank goodness he did! Ben showed up at ABT at 8am, and the money for the program ran out at 7pm that day!

We decided to go with this GE Profile as all of our other appliances are GE Profile. Well the time came for delivery last Saturday and...it didn't fit up the stairs...so after a lot of measuring and re-measuring and debate, we sent ABT away and called our Sales Rep, Blake, to see what would fit. We decided to break away from GE Profile because we didn't want a smaller fridge than we already had and went with this Electrolux model. It is scheduled for delivery next Monday, so cross your fingers that a) Ben is home for the delivery (I'll still be in Kansas for work); b) it fits up the stairs; c) it fits in the hole!!

Ah the adventures of a homeowner!!

Spring has Sprung!

Spring has Sprung in Chicago!

Ben and I have been taking advantage of the nice weather to get our deck ready for spring and summer! For my birthday, Ben bought me outdoor chaise lounges from home depot. They are great! We put them together this weekend and are excited to spend the spring and summer up there. Eddy just loves the deck!

Last weekend was my sister, Caroline's baby shower. She is due in May. Here is a picture from the event.
Happy Spring!

Couch-to-5K

On Thursday, I completed the 9-Week program, Couch-t0-5k.
Refer to the link above for the program details. I can now run for 30 minutes and hope to continue running longer and faster. I encourage others who want to start running to follow this easy program.

Ben and I are signed up for the Race to Wrigley in April. I hope to do the Chase Corporate Challenge if I am in town in May and we are hopefully signing up for a couple more months!

Welcome!

Welcome to our blog!