minnesota

after illinois i made my way up to wisconsin. good ol' wisconsin! i went to hang out with dear paige wilson. she was an intern with us last fall. it was so great to see where she is at and meet some of the people in her life. and we got frozen custard! yum. truth be told we did watch an episode of sherlock. she had never seen it. which, let's be honest, is a tragedy. she makes person #2 that i have successfully hooked on my brilliant sherlock. benedict cumberbatch. sigh.

then i made my way to the west on the ever so familiar I-94 to the land of ten thousand lakes. a few of the trees were changing already so it was a beautiful drive. been hanging out here for a few days doing really important things like getting my hair and nails done. also getting so-so important things done like getting my international drivers permit so i can drive the car we rented in ireland. on the other side of the road. the irish should probably stay off the roads those few days. ha!

the day i got here i got to go to octoberfest at my grandma's assisted living place. did you know that octoberfest is actually in september? weird since its called octoberfest. there was a guy walking around playing the accordion. he was really good. lots of good german polka music. my mom was singing all the words to the famous drinking songs. who knew she had it in her. :) cute grandma. she is 90. that's a lot of life.

i've also been hanging out with this little munchkin of a dog. gabby. she is not really a dog. more like a cat with a lot of attitude. she does what she wants when she wants to do it. which consists mostly of laying on the couch. she doesn't like to be bothered. but every once in a while she can be cute and cuddly. it lasts for about 20 seconds - but you take what you can get. she actually does like my parents. she tolerates me.  she has issues - she really wants to love me but has put up walls. someday she will realize she is only hurting herself. :)

today is the day i make the trek over the big pond. i can't believe its here already! i am mostly packed - so should probably go finish that. :) czech republic here i come!!!