More rafting photos

A shot of one set of rapids. It was probably one of our rafts coming down, but too far away to tell for sure.

Becca and Scooter. They always seemed to be far behind us for some reason.

Kassie overboard! And not because of the rapids. It was just cruel.

Our crazy neighbors who thought it was a good idea to pour camp fuel on their fire.

Rafting photos

I'm not sure their boat was properly inflated....














Scott, aka Scooter, making fun of our smoker friends who were very dismayed to learn that cigarettes and rapids don't mix.














Paul kicking back. He should be a model.














Allen and Paul decided that it was much more fun to add water to their boat than to bail it out.




















Paul, Kassie and I enjoying our sweatshirts after a day out on the river.

Rafting in review

I spent this past weekend up in Wisconsin on the beautiful Wolf River whitewater rafting. This was a trip I was dreading and really looking forward to at the same time. Really looking forward to it finally won out and I ended up going, despite many of your protests that it wasn't a good idea. :-)

But, good news is, I survived it. And I even actually enjoyed the vast majority of the weekend.

I'll admit - it started out a little rocky. We got off to a late start, nearly got into a major car accident on the drive up, and ended up setting up camp in the dark and having no idea how to direct our other friends who were arriving even later how to find us. It was a little stressful. And as I was already a bit nervous about the trip, I was very ready for a drink with dinner.

Saturday went much better. We spent pretty much the whole day on the river and I even managed to not fall out of the raft this time! (Some of you may recall that the last time I went rafting I bailed out of the boat at least 4 times.) The water wasn't quite as cold this time around, and I had two good raft-mates that helped make the day quite enjoyable. The only true downfall was as we went over the last waterfall at the very end of the trip, Jeff (one of my raft-mates) fell out of the boat and managed to land on my head on the way down. This was truly much worse for him than it was for me (I had a helmet on!), but it still jammed my neck pretty good. (Yes, Jeff is just fine, though I do think he was a little shook up.)

Though I have no idea how I got them, I have some truly fabulous bruises on my arms, back and legs. There's one on my arm that looks like I've been drawing on myself with magic markers.

I always think the funniest part of the trip is the shuttle ride back up to the campground after everyone's been rafting all day. A bus full of people who started the day that morning incredibly loud and full of energy suddenly look very cold, very tired and very beat up. The best war-wound had to go to an Indian gentleman who had a lovely gash down the side of his face. (Nicole - aren't you glad that didn't happen to me? Wouldn't that have made great wedding pictures?!)

In addition, I proved to myself that I can spend time with Allen and not come out of it a mess. Though it wasn't always easy and I definitely had my moments where I had to put myself in check and remove myself from the situation, it all turned out pretty good. We're slowly getting back on decent footing, I think and I feel like our friendship is probably going to be able to withstand all the craziness of the last month or so. I can't give a 100% on that yet, but I think we're at least headed in the right direction. As I've come to learn very well over the last few weeks, life is really all about trial and error.

Pictures should be up tomorrow....

Life is peachy

Apparently there's a new term for my generation...

In the Chicago Tribune today there was an article titled Adulthood: Are We There Yet? And it features none other than my kickball team, The Pirate Hookers.

I find this article highly amusing. In part because I've been feeling a little irresponsible these past few months... ever since kickball started.... Late nights, lots of drinking, slacking at work, never being at home, yada, yada, yada. And guess what - The Chicago Tribune says that's just part of being a "rejuvenile".

I'm not sure it makes me feel better about my life these past few months, but it does make me laugh. And gives me more to chew on as I continue down my introspective road.

I'm not sure all of you will be able to access the article, so here are a few highlights....
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On an unseasonably cool summer evening in Chicago's Welles Park, a member of the Lincoln Square stroller crowd stops, does a double-take and is mesmerized by a gaggle of grown-ups chasing a red rubber ball.

"Is that what I think it is?" her eyes seem to ask. "Are they playing kickball?"

You bet they are. It's Monday night, and James Brown Celebrity Hot Tub is taking on the Pirate Hookers in an epic showdown. But this isn't your typical sport and social league. There's a Jolly Roger flag waving proudly on the sideline. From a boom box the Godfather of Soul belts out "Sex Machine." And these adults, ranging in age from early 20s to late 30s, are having the time of their lives playing a game most of us haven't experienced since grade school.
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For the Monday night kickball crew--where the pace of the game is brisk to allow for more bar time--it's all about the social connection. But for many, rejuvenile behavior also represents a redefinition of what it means to be an adult. In his book, Noxon cites a University of Maryland survey showing only 17 percent of people ages 21 to 28 consider marriage as essential for adulthood. Interestingly, "avoiding vulgar language" was regarded as equally important.

"People are waiting until they're older to have kids, so it's a time to play versus a time to raise a family like our parents," said Tisha Wiley, 25, who lives in East Village. "So why not do something fun like play kickball?"
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10 things I've learned about me

Man, have I been through a lot of emotions in the last 2 weeks. And they're still fluxing a little too quickly for me to say if this is how I will feel in a few hours. But I do feel like I've learned a few things about myself.

1) I am capable of falling for a guy. I was starting to wonder if that was really in my makeup.
2) Likewise, I am capable of having my heart broken by said guy.
3) My expectations of how much I can control my emotions are MUCH too high. My head knows a lot of answers, but my heart rarely listens.
4) I'm learning I may have to do things the hard way in order to deal with them and get to the other side. Even though it can hurt, it's just not in my makeup to remove myself from a problem rather than fighting through it.
5) My friends and family are a great support system, even if they are always worried they don't know the right thing to say.
6) It is totally possible to feel hurt, sad, mad, jealous, and sorry for the person you feel all these other things about at the same time.
7) I'm scared of being sad. And I fight it tooth and nail when I feel it. I need to learn to just let myself be sad sometimes.
8) I've learned my office is great at allowing you to do what you need to do and finding ways to still keep things moving forward.
9) I need to spend at least one night a week by myself. I need that time to get back in touch with myself and take care of my things.
10) It's important for me to focus on the here-and-now because I want to be happy now, not just once I reach the thing that I think will make me happy. That being said, I do need to plan activities for the near future that I can look forward to.

So that's some of the knowledge I've gained over the past few days. Some I already kind of knew and some are completely new to me.

And now, I'm going to head over to kickball practice and try out some of that "doing things the hard way" stuff.

Man is it hot

Chicago is officially out of air conditioners. I must have gone to 7 places tonight - no one has air conditioners. I guess I should feel lucky I already have one, despite the fact it's only keeping my place just under 95 degrees. Totally rediculous.

So now I'm sitting here in the dark with two fans on me just trying to stay cool. Turning off the laptop would probably be a good idea.

It's storming outside and that's supposed to cool things off tomorrow but if I'm understanding the forecast correctly the heat will be returning shortly.

Maybe Chicago will have reloaded on ac units by Saturday!

Hope all of you are staying cool!