It's Labor Day!

The fireworks last night were AMAZING, way better than I expected! When I first heard that 500,000 people were expected to show up to our humble city to enjoy the festivities I was a bit skeptical. I mean, Cincinnati? Really? If E and I hadn't made the mistake of moving here, I'm pretty sure there's nothing that could get us visit the city on our own volition. But after watching the show I can see why people might make the journey up here. And let me tell you, they made the journey...

The city was absolutely packed! We thought about taking the TANK shuttle downtown so we wouldn't have to worry about parking (or the possibility that our catalytic converter would be riped off), but we just weren't ready to head out when the final shuttle leaving for downtown departed at 6. E was making Chinese and we were still debating about whether or not we even wanted to watch the fireworks on the Cincinnati side of the river. Everything ended up working out for the best though; we found out about Devou Park in Covington and decided to head out there around seven.

The ride to Covington was absolutely crazy; since we live on the east side we ended up having to hit pretty much all of the major roads in the city to get to the park. People were backed up all over the place, and like any other time there's traffic, people were being completely ridiculous. Some jacket in front of us on 471 decided to leave the rest of traffic by exiting on an ENTRANCE ramp... Do people not realize they're just going to cause more traffic for everyone else when they cause an accident? Oh well. At least E was driving because, although he was thoroughly confused by people's driving behavior, we did manage to get there in one piece. If I had been driving my anger probably would have gotten us killed. Luckily, I was not driving. Instead, I kept myself occupied trying to count just how many boats were on the river. A lot...

When we finally got to Devou Park we realized that we had picked the perfect place. We found parking almost right away and quickly noticed that the people around us were mostly families and probably wouldn't be causing too many problems. The view was amazing and the park was just pleasant all around. There was really only one negative aspect of the night, and it happened with E went to use the porta-potty... Now, I wasn't there, but the way he tells it, everyone in line was using the system where they try to get in and out as quickly as possible, so they weren't locking the door when they went in. So, when E went in he didn't lock the door thinking that everyone understood the system. Well, while he was taking care of things some dude opens the door. Luckily no one could see anything, but still. E said he was just going to let it go, but when he left the bathroom the guy who opened the door on him had the audacity to say something about him not locking the door. E looked around, saw that no one else had their doors locked and proceeded to ask the guy why he hadn't opened those doors. He said girls were using those... What I'd like to know is, why did this guy know who was in each of the facilities, and if he knew that the door he was opening had a guy in it, why would that make him want to open it? I don't know, but E was quite annoyed by the time he rejoined me at the blanket.

The fireworks started around 9pm. Like I said, they were spectacular! Unfortunately, my camera died right before the actual fireworks were about to start. The only pictures I ended up getting were a couple pictures of these "fireballs" they set off. Oh well, I still enjoyed everything. When the fireworks ended E and I were expecting that it would take us a few hours to get out of the park and back home, but were pleasantly surprised when we slipped right out of our parking spot and made it home in about twenty minutes! If we're still in Cincinnati next year at this time we're definitely going back to Devou Park for the fireworks. Best location ever! There's not much going on today. E had to work so I'm just sitting around trying to convince myself to do homework. I wish there were fireworks to look forward to everyday...

Improvements

There are some things changing around my apartment as of late. It all started when E decided he was going to go back to school to get his bachelors. He already has his associates in law enforcement, but after experiencing the Cincinnati hiring process he realized he's going to need more of an edge to get on at a major station. So... He applied to EKU in Kentucky and was accepted for this semester. Now, you're probably wondering how E can attend school in Kentucky when we live in Ohio. Originally, the plan was for E to finish the rest of his degree online (he only has two years left. Unfortunately, his program at EKU wasn't too agreeable with that plan. After going to meet with counselors to pick out his classes he was told that he couldn't complete the program unless he was on campus. E was of course, crushed. Fortunately, we worked a plan out with them where he could take his electives and the few law enforcement classes that are offered online during the next two semesters, then when our lease is up in May we'll move down to Richmond so he can finish his campus courses. Our plans for moving to Portland will be put off for a little bit longer, but it will be worth it in order for E to finish his bachelors.

So that was the first change, which went on to spark a bunch of other changes. Because E is going back to school, money is a little bit tighter around here. He's still working full time, but he can't take the kind of overtime that he was before school started. To save some money we've decided to start cooking more instead of going out to eat. Now, we've not done much cooking at all since we've moved in together. In fact, neither one of us have ever done much cooking. We're going to try to designate two cooking nights a week to make all of our dishes and then eat off of those for the rest of the week. A couple of the things we're going to attempt this week are: beef tempura, hunan chicken, and beef stroganoff. Actually, those are the dishes E's going to try. Too much meat for me! I'm going to look into some yummy vegetarian dishes.

Next change? The both of us are officially in workout mode. I'm about 10 lbs. over my ideal weight and I want to change that. I gained about 5lbs during my first year of college, which really wasn't that big of an issue to me. But then I've gained another 5 since we've moved to Cincinnati! E is also wanting to loose some weight, but is mostly concerned about getting in shape so he can do well at his police physicals after graduating. Right now I'm walking everyday and E's lifting. As son as it cools down a little (it's still freakin' hot here!) we're going to start running together. I'm so nervous about running with my boyfriend. I haven't run much at all since highschool, and I'm afraid I'll embarrass myself. I don't want to slow E down. Maybe I'll have to start running on my own in the morning so I'll be ready to run together when it cools down.

Ok, well that's most of what's been going on lately. Right now I'm watching Chicago on dvd and cuddling with Adin. E should be home from work around 9:30 and then we should have tomorrow off together. I'm SO excited for the WEBN fireworks tomorrow. People have been talking about them ever since we've moved out here, so I imagine they'll be amazing! I'm a bit worried about having to take the shuttle (what if we get left behind afterwards?), but I should get some great pictures out of it. Chicago is getting good so I better get going. I'll try to put up pictures of the fireworks tomorrow night!