Trains, Chicago, Sparty and the bathroom police.

I'm back.

Back from a Chicago weekend, back from re-living my days at MSU and back to the reality of chasing 4.0s, learning about genes (not the blue kind ... I know, lame joke.) and writing about things like fuel pumps and the vehicle electronics revolution (it's happening y'all).

A clear sign of happiness is when you come back from a great weekend away - particularly from a place you lived, and loved - and you're basically content. I'm happy.

But, the weekend was indeed fantastic and a much needed getaway from what occupies most of my time - trying to become a nurse.

Nurses all around me.

I know a ton of nurses, including my closest relative - my sister. I think I've probably mentioned that here before. In fact, I'm pretty sure I've been set up by my buddy upstairs. The more I denied wanting to ever be a nurse, the closer I became to - yep, nurses. So it comes as no surprise that a weekend away was with former college roomies who all already have that RN behind their names.

One day, I'll be able to participate in their conversations. I can tell each day I'm getting closer. Especially when I respond to seeing chemical additive names in food with "What would the molecular structure of that look like?" Really? Totally lame.

Ever been on a train? If not, you must get on one asap! And, make sure you get a seat by the bathroom.

Beth, Darby and I had the privilege of sitting a few rows back from the bathroom, facing it. A couple hi-larious scenes came shortly after the train left the station.

(If the stories that follow are the 'You had to be there' type, my apologies)

Scenario #1: Lady walks into bathroom and shuts the door. (Think big sliding door with some type of latch locking system) A couple minutes later, I see the door open, but only about 3 inches. Hmm. I'm watching. Maybe she just forgot to wash her hands or remembered she should take a quick check for toilet paper stuck in her shoe. Then, I see four fingers reach around and take tight grasp of the door (Think a scary movie where the victim is desparately trying to open a locked door to get away).

The door shakes, rattles and I realize the nightmare has come true - she's stuck. In the train bathroom. Gross. I'm thinking that she will soon call for help. It's for sure what I would do. But, nothing. It's like she gave up and accepted the fact that she would be in the bathroom for the remainder of the trip. Luckily, a nice old man sitting directly across from said bathroom noticed the situation too and kindly released her from the bathroom. Whew. Saved by the bathroom police.

Scenario #2: If it had been up to us, we wouldn't have had to use the bathroom on that train ride. Not so lucky. Darby gathered up the nerve and walked into the other bathroom. There was no way any of us were going to follow in Miss Trapped in the Stall's footsteps.

Right after Darb walked into the bathroom, a young man walked up and clearly hadn't noticed someone was already in there. Beth and I, with our instincts to protect our friend from the ultimate embarrassment, watched carefully. Assuming the door was surely locked, we sat quietly. Then he reached for the door. "Someone's -" Too late. He opened it and about just as quickly, Beth and I grabbed our books, put them over our faces, pretending we didn't witness a thing and therefore, didn't fail in our duties to protect our friend. Crap, Darb's going to be ticked.

But there is a God. Because it just so happened that Darb had chickened out from actually using the bathroom anyway and was only 'caught' washing her hands. Another sigh of relief. From that moment on, we became diligent bathroom police, monitoring people's coming and going and making necessary announcements like, "Someone's in there" or "Good luck getting out."

Upon arrival, we immediately dropped off our luggage and headed to the renowned Magnificent Mile. For shopping, you ask? No, for food. If you know the three of us, you're not at all surprised.

After a delicious lunch, we did do some shopping but our adventure started to show a trend: H&M --> Ghiradelli (free sample?) --> Express --> Hershey's (free sample?) --> Nordstrom --> Ethel's Chocolate (free sample? Warning, the answer here was no.) Eating over shopping. Good for us. We're clearly not your typical young women.

After Tiff got home from work that night, the true reunion weekend began. And fun we did have.

On Saturday, Tiff and I 'slept in,' naturally - until 8:00 a.m. We took a little walk and let Darby and Beth sleep in to a more normal time and then donned our Green & White best for the MSU v. Northwestern game. We were totally pumped. There's nothing like a college game. And since MSU is actually doing great this season, the spirit was in the air even in Chicago.

Can't have an MSU game day without Sparty

We met up with Tiff's bf Kraig and some of his friends, one of which was sporting the biggest fanny pack I have ever seen. Ever. I felt like I was at the circus as he kept pulling 'goodies' out of that massive thing, including a full size pair of binoculars. I called him out on this phenomenon called a fanny pack, to which his friends responded, "He's serious about football." True story.

Off to the game, where we had amazing seats and were surrounded by a sea of green despite the fact that we were the away team. It's great to be a Spartan. Not only was it the absolute perfect day for a football game, we totally won! This weekend just keeps getting better.

So you can feel like you're there :)

We ended the night eating again and then followed that up with a night out on the town. We were reminded the whole time of our college days and our reunion weekend was officially a success.

Sunday came and it seemed as if the weekend ended before it began. We boarded the train, again - this time choosing seats far away from the bathrooms. :)

My back-to-reality-Monday greeted me with a genetics exam that 72% of my class couldn't even finish in the allotted time (It's a correct percentage, too - our instructor polled the class). Oh, the joys of school. My prayers were answered though, and the exam will be curved.

Funny how after spending a weekend reminiscing my 'college days,' I quickly returned to this new adventure, which I lovingly will now refer to as 'College, Part 2.'