December 31, 1999: New Years Eve

On New Years Eve Day, Carol, Eddy, Aunt Elsie, Grandpa, Mom, and I took a bus tour that went to Hollywood, LA, and Beverly Hills.    We stopped at Mann's Chinese Theater.   We had lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe which overlooked Cedars Sinai Hospital.     Hard Rock Cafe was attached to the Beverly Center in Beverly Hills. It's an enclosed mall where some movie stars can be seen. 

Our tour also took us to Venice Beach which was so much fun for people watching. Carol and I got henna tattoos on our wrists. They were so cute.  Neither one of us wanted a permanent tattoo so we thought this was the next best thing.   

For New Years Eve, we had dinner at this seafood restaurant.   We got our first taste of sushi, which I didn't like.    Then, Carol, Eddy, Mom, and I went to Long Beach and watched the fireworks that overlooked the Spruce Goose and Queen Mary.   I will always remember where I was when we celebrated entering a new century.     We got home and watched the news where all of the cities/countries showed their 2000 celebrations.   Got to see my hometown of Chicago celebrate with fireworks on TV.    We blew our horns and let out a bunch of noise with the party favors that Carol bought.  

December 30, 1999: Los Angeles

We flew to Los Angeles on December 28th and stayed with Carol Wong.   Carol lived in Cerritos.   We drove into LA and visited Laura Vandermuelen. The traffic there was horrible.  There were about 6 lanes of traffic and no one seemed to use their blinkers.   I don't know how I got us around LA, but I did.  Laura lived on Detroit St. which was off of Wilshire Blvd.  Laura had a real nice place.  Her roommate was Kristy Walker.     Laura took us all around Beverly Hills, Sunset Blvd, Rodeo Dr, and by Arnold Schwarzenegger's home.   We had lunch on Sunset Strip at the famous burger joint.    Also, we made a surprise visit to Jake Messinger at his work.   He worked in this store that sold gifts, cards, etc.  Estelle Getty, who used to play Sophia on "Golden Girls" used to frequent this store that Jake worked in.  Then, we went to Burbank to see the Jay Leno Show.   Arsenio Hall and Jimmy Buffet were guests on Jay Leno's show.   

Fall 1999: UIC in Champaign and Springfield, IL

I decided I would take a road trip to Champaign, IL to visit my friend, Adenike, whom I met in my photography class at Harold Washington Community College in downtown Chicago. Adenike and I were movie buddies and went to the movies all the time when she lived in Chicago.    After community college, she decided to transfer to UIC in Champaign.      I had never been there before, so it was nice to visit her.     She had a part-time job in a coffee shop.

We decided to take a side trip to Springfield, IL to see where Abraham Lincoln's house was.      Then, we drove around Springfield to check it out. There wasn't much to the town. Then, we came back to UIC and spent time hanging out.  I had a great time on this trip.  

June 12-13, 1999: Motorcycle Races in Newaygo

Went to Michigan for the weekend to work at the motorcycle races in Newaygo.   Sue and I stayed at Jerry's house.   Jerry and Terry were friends of Sue's sister, Chris.    I had never seen such a messy house in my life.    There were beer cans, food, trash, and clothes laying around everywhere.    Jerry won 10 million dollars in the lotto a few years ago.   We worked from 6:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. on Saturday.  In the evening, we went to Andy's graduation open house.   Terry and Andy are stepbrothers.    I met Mike Tabaczka at these races.  He did their website and photography for the races.   

May 28-29, 1999: Joy's Visit to Chicago

My cousin Joy took the train from Ann Arbor to Chicago to spend the weekend with me.    I met her at Union Station and then we took the Metra train out to Downers Grove to my apartment.   We went to the IKEA store and to Pier 1 Imports.   I got my living room chair at IKEA and this fountain and stand at Pier 1 Imports.    Joy and I ate at Dave and Busters off of I-355 on Lake St.    When we got back to my apartment, we worked on putting together the chair and stand.   

On May 29,  I took Joy to Information Resources so she could see where I worked.   We went shopping on State St and had dinner at Ed Debeviks. I took her to Navy Pier.

Then, we went to this Female Impersonator show which was hilarious. Yolanda and Lilly had told me about this place.     There were alot of bachelorette parties going on here.    One of the guys dressed up as Cher. Joy and I laughed so hard.  

May 15, 1999: Dave Mathews Concert

I went back to Michigan to visit with friends and family. Sue Arnouts and I went to the Palace near Detroit to see the Dave Mathews concert.    He performed a great show.   

May 8, 1999: Dawn Mehrens

I met Dawn Mehrens at one of the Information Resources parties several months ago.  We were in line for food and just started talking.  I asked her what office she was in and she had said she was living in Muskegon and working on-site at Gerber Baby Factory.    I remember I was shocked that someone from Chicago was living in my hometown of Muskegon. Ever since then, we were friends.    

Anyway, today, I went over to Dawn Mehrens house in Countryside which is near the city of La Grange.  She made us delicious burritos.

May 5, 1999: Jerry Springer Show

Lilly Martinez, Joe Idstein, and I took a half day off of work to go to the Jerry Springer Show.    We got front row seats in the studio.     The whole show was about secrets.     The first part involved a black lady who dated this guy for 3 years and then he screwed her sister so the two sisters got in a fight on the stage.  The body guard had to break them up.   One of the ladies lost her wig on stage.   The second story was about this guy who dressed as a woman. The other lover, whom we thought was a guy, came out on the stage dressed as a drag.    The drag and this wimpy guy fought and broke down the door onstage.    Joe, Lilly, and I were dying of laughter.   The third story involved this skinny black guy who thought he was all that.  This fat Hispanic chick came on stage and told about how she paid him $1200 a month to have sex with her.    His girlfriend was on stage and not too happy.   The stories were hilarious.

After the taping of the show, we were able to have our picture taken with Jerry Springer.    We had lunch at McDonalds and headed back to work. Joe was telling everyone at work about the Jerry Springer show.

May 4, 1999: Food Marketing Institute Conference

I went to the Food Marketing Institute Conference at the McCormick Place. Bryan Kerr rode the cab with me to the conference.    I tried some habanero sauce on my pizza sample. I put too much on it.   My mouth was burning.  Bryan was laughing so hard.   I tried everything to get the pain to go away.    I got my picture taken in a leather jacket riding a Harley Davidson.    I ran into Ebony Daniels at the conference. It was such a nice surprise.   We had gone on the Food Marketing Industry Survey tour in college and I hadn't seen her since then.    

May 3, 1999: Kim Creger's Baby Shower

Grandma, Mom, and I drove to Ann Arbor for Kim's Baby Shower.  It was at her in-laws house.    Heather, Cheryl, Jo, Dawn, Wendy, Joy, Marianne, my Mom, and Grandma were all there.   Kim got some beautiful gifts.  We played some games and enjoyed some great conversation.  Heather Klee took me for a ride in her Miata.  We were talking about how many kids we wanted.  I remember she said she could only handle 1 child.  

April 30, 1999: Moving to Downers Grove

I had decided that I was getting tired of living in the city, so had gone out to the western suburbs to find a new place to live.    I found this apartment complex at 6510 Woodward Ave, Apt. A102, just off 63rd, in Downers Grove.   I signed my lease and got my keys.  Glenn Brien helped me with my move again.     He didn't get to my apartment until around 10 p.m.  He brought all of my stuff. I was up until 2 a.m. unpacking.  I had a hard time sleeping as I was so worried about my money.

April 2, 1999: Forgiveness

God is always teaching us about forgiveness.   It was Easter season and I thought that I needed to forgive Dawn for what she had done. I needed to let it go and forgive her.  I wrote her a nice email. She called me at work and we had a nice conversation.    She said she didn't like her job at the Mercantile Exchange. She had gone on an interview for a hydro geologist position in Addison.  I felt better forgiving her, even though I still had issues with trust.

March 26-27, 1999: Bible Study Retreat

On Friday, I drove out to Hoffman Estates to my friend Beth's apartment.   She drove us to Wisconsin for our bible study retreat back at Green Lake.    We were the first ones there, so we picked the room with the 2 queen sized beds and 2 bathrooms.    Then, we read the Enquirers that my mom had given me.   

Saturday, we sat around and sang christian songs.    Then, we walked down to the bookstore.    Later on, we had a baby shower for Amy Itoko whose baby was due around Memorial Day weekend.   Beth had been a great friend to me.   

March 5, 1999: Another Big Surprise

I got another big surprise today.  Dawn called me and said that she had moved to Arlington Heights and she and Joe were now living together.  She was working two jobs to pay off her $19,000 in credit card debt.    I am not sure why I was talking to her after everything that had happened.

February 21, 1999: Grandma Gonyo & Kim Creger

We left Nicole's house and headed back to Zephyrhills to see Kim and Grandma.    Kim, Sue, and I rode over to Lakeland in the red convertible and had breakfast at Bob Evans.  Kim said she only wanted 2 kids. She said she was having a boy.    Then, we went shopping in the mall.   Wish we had had more time to spend with Kim and Grandma before flying back to Chicago.   Kim showed us a video of her ultrasound which was pretty neat.    Then, Sue and I had to head to the airport in Tampa for our flight back to Chicago.

February 20, 1999: Cocoa Beach

Nicole, Sue, and I got up late in the morning and had breakfast at Dennys.      We went shopping in the mall. The temperature was about 75 degrees.    We drove over to Cocoa beach in the convertible.   I got to see Ron Jons Surf shop.  The store had 3 levels and was huge.      Then, we stopped at this restaurant on the ocean and had some drinks.    We drove back to Orlando and Nicole brought us to Church Street in downtown Orlando.   It had alot of bars.

We got back to Nicole's friend, Amy's house, and watched 'Rush Hour'.    

February 19, 1999: Nicole Drummond & Pleasure Island

Sue and I drove to Orlando and met Nicole Drummond.  I had met her over the internet through Joe Idstein.   After the whole blowout with Joe, Nicole and I became good friends and spent many hours on the phone talking about what a jerk Joe was.   We picked up Nicole's friend, Amy, at her house, as well as another girl named Kelly, who had a 1 yr old.    We all went to Pleasure Island at Disney World.   Pleasure Island had all kinds of dance clubs and bars for adults.   It cost us $20 to get in there.  I danced with a guy on the revolving dance floor.    We had some jello shots and had a great time.

February 18, 1999: Busch Gardens

Norm, Grandma, Sue, and I went to Busch Gardens.   We went to the ice show which was very good.    Sue and I went on the roller coaster 2 times in a row.    The ride went upside down several times.   Then, Grandma, Norm, Sue, and I went to the German area for lunch and watched the show.    We also went to the 50s music show.     Norm and I had a beer at the Budweiser area. 

February 17, 1999: Florida

My friend Sue Arnouts and I flew down to Florida for vacation.  We rented this cute red Sunfire convertible.   It was so much fun driving around Florida with the top down.   We stayed at my Grandma Gonyo's place in Zephyrhills.   Sue and I went shopping at Bells Department store.   I finally got to meet Grandma's boyfriend, Norm Schultz.    He was very nice.    We went to the senior dance with them at the Tourist club in downtown Zephyrhills.     Besides this 18 yr old boy, we were the youngest ones there. It was so funny.    All of these older widowed women were seated and looking for mates.   It was like a senior meat market.   

January 19, 1999: Joe's Car Accident

I had bought Joe this Kramer shirt for Christmas, as I thought he looked like that character on 'Seinfeld'.  He wore it to work today. I think he wore the shirt as he felt bad for hurting me like he did.  He had been lying to me about many things the past few months.   I had found out over the weekend that Joe and Dawn were now an item and that he had gone back to Michigan to see her. On his way back to Chicago,  his car slid on some ice on I-94 and flipped over.   The car ended up upside down in the snow on the side of the highway.   If it wasn't for the snow, he might have been killed.   He wrote me emails at work that he still wanted to be friends and how sorry he was he did this to me.    

In the meantime, he had also been talking via email to a girl named Nicole who lived in Orlando, FL.     He had gone down to visit her last fall and lied to me about that, too. His story to me at lunch one day was that he was going to Texas to see his friend get married.  That was a lie.  He had actually gone down to Florida to see Nicole.       Nicole had no idea that he was with Dawn now and I didn't have the heart to tell her. Joe had introduced me to Nicole online, as I had been thinking about moving to Florida. Nicole and I soon learned what a jerk he really was.     The story gets even better.    He was also involved with our boss's daughter, Melisa, who also worked at IRI.   She found out about Dawn and they were fighting on the phone for about an hour at work.    

This whole situation was like a real life soap opera.     I wasted the next 2 years dealing with this soap opera, which I hope I never do in my life again.  It was a complete waste of time.

January 2, 1999: Big Chicago Snowstorm

We got 21 inches of snow today. It was awful!   My roommate, Katy, and I took the 'El' to the movie theater off of Michigan Ave.  I've never seen Michigan Ave as desolate as I did today....not a person in sight.     The snow was drifted way over the parked cars.    These are the times when I hate living up north.  Nothing is worse than standing out in the cold, with blowing snow, waiting for the bus.