Grand Rapids Nesties
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Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Re: Good Morning
Well it's SUPPOSED to get better. Especially since graduating seniors need to know if they are really graduating or if they will (God forbid) be back another semester. I KNOW I had graduating seniors in my courses last term. I don't know if they just graded theirs and said forget the rest for a while or what, but ALL grades have to be in by Monday.
Yes that does sound complicated. I don't know if Cooley has Wayne beat but since Lansing is the main campus, all grades get sent to Lansing to be verified. Once done they are posted to our record online. But if after we get our grades and bluebooks backm we want to petition for a higher grade, we get a 2 week period to write a brief to the prof, telling them why we deserve a better grade. It's up to the Prof's discretion unless it was a numerical error. I've done it once. I was 1 point away from the next grade. No dice. I was pissed. It was time consuming. Now I just take the grade I get- unless it's extremely obvious that I deserved more points.
Just get me out of there already!
This made me smile. Too funny. :-)
D&MJ,
I don't know about the drama and all that. i just see how distracting it is. I have enough things taking my focus away from work or school. I don't need another one. Reading stuff on here is just fine!
OOOO, how fun!!!
Also, DP and BnG - Good Luck and hoping for good grades for the both of you!
And I am so far behind in my blog reading (and posting) I didn't know Dooce had split - sad.
This, in a nutshell, is why I'm being stubborn about Pinterest.
I think this is the most common mistake Americans typically make when planning a Eurotrip. They try to cram in too much because "Europe is so far, so hard to get to...". Before our two trips there, I totally thought the same thing. I know I've mentioned this previously, but Europe is closer than Hawaii and really just as accessible. If London doesn't work with any of these, just make it a priority to go back and visit it some other time. You've been to HI twice, which is a feat most people don't accomplish. If you can do that, you can probably make it back to Europe.
First of all, I don't think the pickpocketing is a bigger deal there than anywhere else. I would definitely recommend a cross body bag so you feel in close possession of your belongings. Also, try not to carry excessive amounts of cash on you because that's what the pickpocketer wants. Typically they will drop passports and even credit cards off at the local police station because the penalties for stealing those are huge. Obviously no one wants to get pickpocketed, but it was nice for me to know this. We never had a problem, nor did I feel like we were being "extra vigilant." Just be aware and take precautions and I'm sure you'll be fine.
Transportation can be weird, but if you plan it out in advance and read blogs, talk to people about working the ticket kiosks, etc. you'll probably be fine. Also, plan out a couple of alternatives like if our train is late or canceled, plan b is x and plan c is y. If Venice is flooded and we can't go, we'll do this or that. I think having a mental list of two or three attractive alternatives overcomes the not being go with the flow people piece because you plan for contingencies. At least that works for me. One of the reasons I freaked out about Venice was because we had no back up plan and decided on the fly to go to Florence, which turned out to be a great idea. While I would say small hiccups are possible (maybe even likely), I think it's extremely unlikely that everything will go wrong.
As for the language, I think there is a bigger issue with Italians not wanting to be helpful to American tourists (and any tourists really) than there is with them not speaking English. First of all, all three cities you're considering are huge tourist spots and there will probably be at least someone there who speaks English. Secondly, even if there isn't, it's shocking how much you can communicate without sharing a language. For us, having someone who was conversational in Italian was helpful, but not necessary (except maybe for L's suit buying in a small, completely non touristy shop). The biggest thing I would do is research how to buy your train tickets--know how to recognize the common words you'll see. And if you have any background in French or Spanish language, you'll likely find that immensely helpful.
Thankfully most of my friends are normal. Just a friend of ours ex wife tried to start some drama and I blocked her.
Kasa, sorry that post was epically long!
That is crazy too! Especially the petitioning for a better grade. And one point! Yuck.
I don't like that system at all. I mean, it's nice that you have some illusion of recourse, but it doesn't sound like it's all that useful.
True, but B loved Hawaii, and I'm fearful that he'll hate Europe and never want to go back. And I'm not sure I could find someone else to go with me.
I'm okay with busy, on-the-go vacations. When we went to Arizona, we stayed in four different hotels/cities in a 7 day period. We enjoy multi-stop vacations.
I know a lot of people ask "Do you want to SEE Europe, or do you want to EXPERIENCE Europe?" Most people think the correct answer is "experience". I want to SEE it though -- and that means fitting in as much as possible.
Thank you for all of your advice, though! You're such a travel guru and I really value your opinion.
I tried pinterest for about 5 minute but couldn't find anything worth saving that matched the category I was searching (oak kitchens), got frustrated and that was that. I don't have plans to try it again anytime soon. TN is enough of a time suck like B&G said
Yes maam! What other boards do you read?
Ahhh... I see. Very wise and zen.
I just joined. Because we're doing the office and I wanted a place to keep pictures of stuff I liked or ideas. We'll see if I end up liking it, so far it's fine. :-)
Pinterest has been helpful to me in a few areas. I've found some great vegetarian recipes there. When planning the kids' birthdays (and my parents' anniversary party), that was was first spot for ideas. There's an education board that I've used for projects for both kids. Finally, it's helped me come up with a zillion gardening ideas. I've been using it as a kind of SAD therapy, and I think it's helping.
Pinterest can be a big time suck, but I don't watch a whole lot of tv or read magazines. It's a great visual break for me in between academic reading.
I hang on D&R and Baby Names on TB (I'm a huge name nerd).
I cant believe how much hair she has. Does she do ok with you doing things with her hair?
GRRRRR VENT!!
I can't get my sewer cleaning guy to answer the effing phone!! I talk to him last night and he said he would call me this AM. No call. So I've been trying to call him for the last hour. He doesn't have a machine. I already spent $135 to have him out once and he guarantees the work for 90 days. I had to take a shower at my Parents yesterday b/c we have to space showers out here or it floods the basements. My dishwasher is full. I could do them by had but either way some flooding will happen. A small load of laundry starts the back up. I've priced out other places and they want an average of $200 or more.
I hear ya!!
I would say we do as well. I don't know how much time you're thinking of taking, but 3 cities in 1-2 weeks will not leave you a ton of downtime. I think you could spend an entire 7 days in any of the cities and not see everything there is to see. Also, allowing yourself a little bit of flex space in your schedule will create less stress if you end up with any type of transportation snafus.
I understand what you're saying, but I think the error most Americans make with Europe specifically is making the trip insurmountably difficult by trying to cram too much into one trip.
Kasa - The Paris combo would make for an amazing trip. Really any of your combos would. And I think you are right about surviving on Parisian cuisine. I am sure somehow you will make do
I did Paris and took the train to Neuchatel once. The train ride was one of my favorite parts. Cafe au Lait and Pastry while watching the Swiss countryside fly by was so enjoyable. And farmhouse fondue and wine. Gah - I want to go back! Have fun planning your trip. I look forward to hearing where you decide to go.
Ok, holy cow. It literally took us about 2 yrs to get pregnant with T.
We tried once...ONCE!....last month, and today I got a postive test.
Amazing.
Yeah.... you're going to need to put this in another post.
And congratulations!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I guess your Big Decision 2012 (should we or shouldn't we?) has been decided!
CONGRATS!!!! yaaaaaaaaaaaaaay hugs to you! I'm very happy for you and your family
. Did your eyes get big when you saw the positive? Happy tears?
So...
1) go to car for sweater
2) find out if pregnant or not.
??