Introducing....

Well, I haven't chosen a name yet, so I guess I can't officially introduce her - but this is my new puppy.

I've had an unbelievably busy week and weekend. Nicole's bachelorette party was Saturday night and Sarah's baby shower was today. So what did I decide to do Saturday morning? Go to the city pound and look around to see if they had any dogs that fit what I was looking for. In I went and who did I see? This little cutie staring up at me with those big brown eyes.

After playing with her for awhile and talking to the vet techs I made the plunge and put in the adoption paperwork. She needed to be neutered before they could release her to me so today she went through the surgery and I picked her up this evening. She's still a little drugged up and generally sleepy, but she's also behaved amazingly.

She and Maverick have been introduced. Maverick seems mostly curious and a little territorial. He'll come over and smell her, she stands there and takes it. Occasionally Maverick will hiss. Right now, it appears that Maverick has laid claim on my bedroom - laying in the doorway and just watching the dog. Meanwhile, the puppy isn't letting me out of her sight and is currently curled up at my feet taking a nap. I'm working hard to reassure Maverick and make sure he's getting attention. So far, so good though. I'm very glad the puppy didn't come on like gangbusters though. :-)

As far as particulars go... the new puppy is an 8-month old terrier. There's some disagreement about the particular breed. When I look at her I see Rat Terrier. The shelter said she was a Fox Terrier (which I just don't see at all) and the vet tech says she's a Jack Russell. Who knows. Anyway you go about it - she's definitely a terrier. She came to the shelter as a stray so there's not much known about her, but she seems to be in good health and very people friendly.

I'm still working on names. The top two runners at the moment are Irie and Addie. Irie is a word I learned in Jamaica which means lots of things but is often used to say "Everything is alright." Addie I just like. But I'm going to do a little more looking tonight and see what I come up with. When I got Howie it was just immediate - I looked at him and knew he should be named Howie. With this one I'm not so sure.

Anyway, without any further ado - here are a few preliminary pics. More will be coming soon I'm sure.

This is the eyes half shut look.

What a cutie!

And not to be out-done. This is my new couch. I love it!

Puppies, parties and possibilities

I got the ok from my landlord today to get a dog. I've been thinking about this for, well, nearly forever, and I finally think I'm at a place where I can do it. I'm a little nervous, but mostly excited.

Nervous because it's a lot of responsibility and it will require me to make some changes in my schedule... like coming home right after work and scheduling my weekends a little more carefully. But as we go into the fall and my schedule slows down a little (hopefully!), I feel like it matters more to me to have the dog than to have the freedom. I know, some people will never get that. It just feels right.

Now the tough part comes... finding the right dog. I did a little looking today. It's so easy to fall for them! But I'm trying to stay strong and find the right mix. Relatively small, relatively low-key, but not catatonic, and cute of course. Shouldn't be that hard to find.... :-)

Meanwhile, this is hopefully my last week of utter insanity. Nicole's bachelorette party is this Saturday and Sarah's baby shower is Sunday. And after that - my party planning is over for awhile. Thank goodness! Now I just have to be careful not to keep scheduling my weeks and weekends quite so full.

This week also will mark date number 3 of the new boy. I try to make decisions by date three on whether or not I should continue the effort of dating and this one I'm pretty up in the air about. He's a nice guy. I'm just never excited to go out with him. I'm never sure if I'm just not giving people enough of a chance or if I should go with my instinct and not waste both their time and mine.

Part of me says I'm capable of really enjoying dating someone and wanting to be with them, so clearly I must be wasting my time if I'm not excited to be with someone. But another part of me says that none of the relationships where I've been excited have panned out, so maybe something's not right with that plan.

Any helpful hints out there? I'm open to new ideas. :-)

It's Nip/Tuck time. Gotta run.

The right to protest

I was reading the Red Eye on the bus this morning and found the following quite amusing.

In an article about a 45 mile walk that happened this weekend to raise awareness about immigration legalization, the article says...

Maria Jefferson said she would no longer drink Miller Lite, her beer of choice, after learning the brewer sponsored the march with more than $30,000.

"I'm switching to Budweiser," said the Braidwood woman, who runs a day-care service out of her home. She held up a sign encouraging "the legal american consumer" to boycott Miller products.

Hmmm, that's a big loss for Miller. I bet all the parents of the kids she keeps are so proud. :-)

Boats and Buddha

And the summer is now officially over as far as I'm concerned. I kind of have to say... good riddance. It wasn't all bad and actually a lot of good came out of it, but I'm still ready for it to be over. It helps that I love fall and am happy to have the cooler weather rolling in and the familiar feeling in the pit of my stomach that says, "It's time to learn something new." (Does that ever go away or is it just permanently ingrained in our systems after years of starting school every September?)

Labor Day, as usual, marked the close of summer for me again this year. And also as usual I spent it up in Wisconsin with Sarah and Michael. This year was a little different than most as Sarah is 7 months pregnant. There's something very strange about seeing her pregnant. When she got married it didn't seem so strange. When my friend Barbara had a baby a few months ago that didn't seem so weird. But it's fundamentally strange to see Sarah pregnant. Just seems foreign somehow. And I'm totally excited for her and Michael... it just is odd. Maybe because when I look at Sarah I still think back to the first day we met at UIC. Maybe I'll forever see us as 18 years old, being out on our own for the first time and totally not ready to be thinking about having kids!

At any rate, it was amazingly nice to spend time with both Sarah and Michael and just "be" this weekend. I think this summer has worn on me in part because I've been busy with so many new people in my life. New friends, new co-workers, new interests. Over the course of the weekend it really came clear that Sarah and I have not been keeping up with each other. And I have to say... it was so nice to be with people who have known you for that long, who you can just kick back, recall funny stories, and even sit in silence with and have it be perfectly OK.

At one point this weekend I was sitting in the front of the boat, Bob Marley was wailing on the radio and I opened my eyes and was just awe-struck by the beauty of the water, trees, bright blue sky and puffy white clouds surrounding me. It was just an amazing sense of peace.

With that image in mind, I headed over to a meditation class this evening at a local Buddhist Center. I've been playing with meditation here lately and have really gotten in to the idea of slowing down the mind and grounding yourself in the present. I think it's a little hard to do yourself though, so I thought a class might be good. And I think it was. It was a little strange. Probably a little more based in the buddhist beliefs than I was really prepared for (or even understand), but it was still very peaceful and relaxing. I think it's the type of thing where I can go and get something from it, I just have to know going in that I'm not going to agree with everything that's being said - and I have to know that's ok. Very nice people and a very nice environment.

Other exciting news from the weekend - I bought a couch today! Finally, after months of deliberation, I made a decision and signed on the dotted line. (Yes, mom, it's the one that looks like an awning!) Can't wait for it to get here!

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!

We're #4! Go Pirate Hookers!

Team shot... and I actually think everyone's in this one!

Funny things that have happened the past couple of days

1) Watching a bicyclist run into the side of a car which was coming out of an alley. No one was hurt, so I figure it is ok to laugh. It was like something right out of the movies, just thwap and then the tumble over the handle-bars. To make it even better, the driver then proceeded to yell at the bicyclist. Crazy drivers.

2) While volunteering at the city pound on Saturday, there was a woman who was hell-bent on walking the dogs, though she clearly had no idea what she was doing. Now, there's really not much to this. You go to the cage. You open the cage. You slip the "noose-neck" leash around the dog's neck and off you go. Now, I will be the first to admit when you open the cage if you're not careful you do run a high risk of having the dog get out because they're just so excited at the possibility of escape. However, usually if this happens once, you learn quick the proper way to open the cage. This woman, on the other hand, had three dogs get out on her. And that was just as she was getting them out of the cages. She also managed to lose 4 more out in the field. I really don't have a clue what it was she was doing, but I swear every time I turned around there was another dog running from her as she ran after them yelling and throwing her hands up in the air as if to say, "How does this keep happening?" My thoughts exactly.

3) While on the way to a street festival the other night, some friends and I pulled up behind a stalled car in the turn lane. Our driver hopped out to help and before long he had two other guys with him and pushed the car to safety. Now, this in itself isn't really funny. The funny part to me is I've known this guy approximately 4 weeks and have been present twice now when he's rescued a stranded motorist. I'm not sure if car trouble follows him or if he's just a really nice guy. But it made me laugh, none the less.

Melancholy

So the boy I've been... not dating, but spending time with recently told me he just wants to be friends last night. That in its self is not really what's bothering me, I don't think. Though, I guess I am a little disappointed by it.

Instead, it seems to be more about the general realization that I miss my good friends who have in large part left Chicago in the last year.

I think the benefit to having him around rather constantly was to feel that there was always someone around to spend time with, talk to, etc. And while I truly hope we will remain friends, I'm sure the consistancy will take a hit.

I miss having Kristi and Barbara in the office to get through the day. I miss having Nicole and Allyson around for trips to the movies or museums. I miss having Sarah down the hall.

It's not that I don't have other friends. I honestly have quite a few, but somehow it's just not the same as having that one who's just always around.

Sometimes I get really good at being very happy on my own and I can go along with that quite nicely until something reminds me of what I'm missing. That's when the melancholy hits.

This post is a bit of a downer. I know that it's really not that bad and I'll be just fine, but exposing yourself is part of the blogging world, right? If I can't spill my guts to anyone who happens to stumble across my blog then who can I?

Anyway, that's my mood at the moment. Hope to be back to sharing funny bus stories and pictures of my adorable god-daughter again soon!

More pictures

Weekend pics

Surprise!

This weekend we had a surprise graduation party for Carl at the farm. Most amazingly, he was actually surprised! I really didn't think there was any way we were going to manage that. But Kathleen did a great job keeping things under wraps and throwing him off the trail. (and a tough job it was when Carl first found out about the trip! - way to stay strong, Kathleen!)

We had a full house of Kathleen's parents and little sister, Dad, Mom, Zander, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. And of course the star of the show - Miss Lillian.

So far we've spent the rest of the weekend playing euchre, shooting off fireworks, doing a little fishing and taking a TON of pictures!

Pictures are much too slow to upload on this dial-up connection, but I'll post a bunch when I get home.

Congratulations are in order!

I just want to send out a big

!!! CONGRATULATIONS !!!

to my big brother for finishing his PhD today! We couldn't be prouder of you, Carl!

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And another big

!!! CONGRATULATIONS !!!

to Miss Lily for learning to crawl!


Amazing and great things are happening all around us!

Week in review

Tuesday - drove home from Indiana, dropped Dad and Zander off at the airport, got a quick load of laundry done and then headed up to Milwaukee for the Kenny Chesney concert at Summerfest. Arrived home at about 12:45am.

Wednesday - worked all day. It was Kristi's last day in the office so a group of us went out for drinks after work. When the evening was all said and done, I arrived home around 12:30am.

Thursday - worked all day. My kickball league had a party at Carol's (one of the few country bars here in the city.) We spent the evening dancing and singing karaoke. I arrived home at 3:30am.

Friday - I did not work, but still was up at 6am. Friday night was softball and then I met Kristi and Jenna for awhile. By 12:30am I was practically asleep on the table and decided to call it a night.

Saturday - I slept in until 10:30am which felt awesome after the previous week of no sleep. Was up last night until about 3:30. Up at 9am today.

And now, I'm feeling a bit like a slug hanging out on my couch while there's a beautiful day going on outside, but I'm just not sure I can make myself do anything contructive.

I've had a great time this week, but I really don't think my body can keep up with this kind of schedule! Definitely need to tone it down this next week.

I haven't received pictures from all the misc. activities this week, but here are some photos from the kickball party at Carol's.

A truly awful picture of me singing (about as bad as my voice), but proof I was singing non-the-less. I was singing the female part to a Meatloaf song in this one. Oh, my.

This is Scott (co-captain of my kickball team) and a true lover of nights out at Carol's.

Photos of summer fun

Monday nights are kickball nights. Here are some pictures of my team on and off the field. Go PIRATES!

And then Fridays bring softball. Here are some pictures from this past Friday's after game party.
This is me and Pike, the mascot.

The red team plus our #1 cheerleader, Kristi.

Nick, Kristi and me. Classy shades!

This is why I love Chicago

I woke up this morning, peeked out the window and decided it was a great day for the beach. So I threw on my swimsuit, grabbed my beach chair and headed down the street to Oak St. beach (a whopping 3 miles from my door.)

I spent a few hours basking in the sun, reading and watching all the entertaining people around me. Oak St. beach is always fun because it attracts a lot of tourists who have been wandering the magnificent mile. Therefore you get a lot of fully dressed people with their pants rolled up to their knees wielding cameras. But there are always the families, college students and others who are just naturally drawn to a beach.

Once I had my fill of beach lounging and was properly hungry I meandered back to Michigan Ave and got a sandwich from an Italian cafe and dined alfresco while listening to the band playing outside of Hancock.

Then I crossed the street to Borders and wandered the aisles there, picking up a couple of new books and a CD. While I was perusing the bargain fiction section, an older gentleman approached me and asked if I worked out my arms a lot. I laughed and told him no. My arms are certainly not my best feature! He went on to tell me that they looked like I do and then said, "They look massive and strong." Wow. Is that supposed to be a compliment? I laughed my way out of that section.

Once I had regained my composure I crossed the street to visit the Hershey store to pick up a supplement to Alexander's birthday gift (chocolate twizzlers are a favorite of his.)

Then I hopped back on the Chicago bus and continued on my way home. Just a great way to spend a day. I really need to remember to do this much more often.

Now I'm off to take a shower and meet up with some friends for an evening out on the town.

Gotta love Chicago in the summer!

Things that make Lily smile.

Getting ready to crawl.

Lily is a huge fan of Terra fetching her dog-toys. I think she sees possibilities in this. If she can't figure out the crawling thing, I think she'll just train Terra to go get her toys and bring them to her. If only mom and dad didn't keep telling Terra "No!"

Mommy's so funny!

Tasty treats!

Hmmmm, you look tasty...

Yes, absolutely delicious.

I'm not so sure about elephant...

Oh, what was I worried about? Elephant is divine!

She is her father's daughter

Carl at about 1 year.

Lily at about 7 months.

I don't think there's any denying they're related.

Lily's funny new trick

I'm out in Baltimore for a little visit and am highly amused by one of Lily's latest tricks. When she's in a sitting position and wants to get into a rolling or crawling position she just leans forward and THWAP! clunks her head on the floor. Now, while they may have nicely padded rooms at school, the only thing on the floors here is a pretty thin rug. This results in a nice red circle wherever her head came into contact. I should mention this doesn't seem to phase Lily in the slightest. She just goes on with her business.

It's a little hard to see in the picture, but if you look closely you can see the red spot above her right eye.

Busy weekend Part II

And then my friend Kristi and I spent a lovely afternoon taking in some of the Frank Lloyd Wright houses in Oak Park.

Busy weekend

A day at Brookfield Zoo with my friends Ilda and Marco and their son, Noah.

Now that's a busy mamma.

You want me to do what to the goat?

OK, mom, I got it now.

This fits too...

I'm feeling a bit like Reese Witherspoon in Sweet Home Alabama today. You know that part when she says something about loving New York City but when she goes back home to Alabama "this fits too."

I spent the weekend up in Wisconsin on my friend's boat. Small towns, simple pleasures, lots of nature to take in and I caught myself thinking... what am I doing in the city? When all I really want out of life is a house, a dog, some trees and family... what am I doing in the city where none of those things are easy to come by?

But then I returned to the city and I take in the awesome skyline, the ease of having pretty much any activity at my fingertip and the less small-mindedness of the people and I get confused.

I think in part I'm in the city because I can't imagine finding someone with similar beliefs in the smaller towns. But, the truth is I'm not having much luck finding anyone with my beliefs and my love of the country in the city.

And then I think, what am I waiting for? I should move towards what I want out of life and the rest will fall into place when it falls into place. But it's a scary prospect to consider leaving a good paying job that I enjoy, my friends, my ease of travel to visit family, the city that I know....

There's probably plenty of middle ground (suburbs for example) where I could have a house and a dog and not be so far removed from life as I know it. But then there's that concern about being further away from the single-life of the city. Oh yeah, and the commute!

One of these days I hope to figure this all out. Maybe this is just another phase in the the Quarter Life Crisis. Meanwhile if any of you have any suggestions - feel free to throw them my way! Until then I'll just try to keep enjoying both worlds! :-)

Parker Pics

Barbara is a little concerned that the baby-stalkers of the world are going to see Parker's pictures on my blog and hunt her down, so I promised to post pictures sparingly and not give any helpful hints to the bad people of the world. On that note (until otherwise approved), I will cease and desist from posting any more Parker pics after today.

Check out these chubby checks and all that hair!!!


Here Parker is explaining to me how much she dislikes this whole waking up thing.