Hear Me You

Who would have thought that a band called Jimmy Eat World could bring comfort to those in need? Adam, that's who. Adam sent this song to his mother (Adrienne) and I cried my heart out, again, when I heard it so I am posting the lyrics below. I would give my fortune (yeah, like that's impressive) to be able to sing one more song to her.

There's no one in town I know
You gave us some place to go
I never said thank you for that
'thought I might get one more chance

What would you think of me now?
So lucky, so strong, so proud
I never said thank you for that
Now I'll never have a chance

May angels lead you in
Hear you me my friends
On sleepless roads, the sleepless go
May angels lead you in

So what would you think of me now?
So lucky, so strong, so proud
I never said thank you for that
Now I'll never have a chance

May angels lead you in
Hear you me my friends
On sleepless roads the sleepless go
May angels lead you in

(May angels lead you in)
May angels lead you in
(May angels lead you in)
May angels lead you in

And if you were with me tonight
I'd sing to you just one more time
A song for a heart so big
God couldn't let it live

May angels lead you in
Hear you me my friends
On sleepless roads the sleepless go
May angels lead you in

May angels lead you in
Hear you me my friends
On sleepless roads the sleepless go
May angels lead you in

One

One year ago
One year ago we knew
One year ago we knew we had to let go

We had to let go of our anchor and set ourselves adrift
We had to let go of our anchor and let it sink to the bottom to rest

To no longer feel the ebb and flow
To no longer feel the tug and pull
To no longer feel the weight and pain

We are still drifting

Z Day

I am grateful for the Zoo. I am glad that it exists so that Jackson can see and appreciate animals without any of them needing to live in my house.

Y Day

Y is for You.

I am just making it under the wire for today. If you are reading this you probably love me and I am grateful for that. I appreciate that you come here to read and, even better, if you comment (even if it is to chastise me for breaking the rules).

I am here with 2 of my sisters so I will let them decide my punishment. I am hoping it is to wake up early and drive them to Greek Town.

X Day

X is for relaX.

Not only am I inherently a multi-tasker and I am also very lazy. Maybe the multitasking stems from my desire to get as many tasks done as quickly as possible so that I can get back to laying on the couch. I don't get much laying on the couch time nowadays. If I do, I usually have a monkey climbing on my head while I am laying there. But when I do get to lay down and relax I am so grateful.

W Day

W is for Windows (both literal and technological).

Boy, you snooze you lose, and I am not used to being the one snoozing. G totally stole my W (waterfalls) yesterday.

So I switched to windows (so to speak). I am grateful for actual, physical windows. I love being able to see nature and stuff from the comfort of my warm, cozy, house. Notice that this past weekend we did not have much luck in the window department in our hotel. The bottom part was obscured by the hotel and from looking at the top you can see why.

I am also grateful for Bill Gates' Windows. I am old enough to remember the days of DOS, when you could only have one program open at a time and it was sloooooooow. I am a multitasker at heart (as are sisters--I have three projects on Adrienne's temp desk here at my office this morning) and I just love being able to have multiple programs open. Right now I have 9 separate programs open on my computer (for a total of 11 windows), but I have been known to have many more. I use these programs all day long so there is no reason to close one in when you will just have to open it up again in an hour. And don't get me started on how much I love the tabs in the new Netscape! I have 4 of those as my homepage and I currently have 8 open.

V Day

V is for Vicks Nyquil.

I love me some Nyquil. It is the only thing that helps me sleep when I have a cold. When I am miserable and just trying to make it through the day, just thinking about taking Nyquil in a few hours and being able to sleep keeps me going. I am grateful that Nyquil exists.

U Day

U is for Used.

I am grateful for used clothes. I can afford to but all new clothes for Jackson but it would be such a waste. I love that I can go to the consignment shop and buy great clothes for just a little bit of money. Then when Jackson is done with them I bring them back and they give me some money. Cool!!

T Day

T is for Thanksgiving.

I love Thanksgiving. I actually hate the food part. I am not a big fan of turkey or fixins. I would be just as happy with pizza or even happier with spaghetti. I love the family part. I love it with a passion. I am grateful most for our tradition of going up north to the Soo.

We started this when EcnoTravel offered even better bus specials over the holiday to entice people to go. Mom and I would head up on the bus and get a room. Gretchen and Gordon would follow in their car and share our room. This way we had a car and could venture to other casinos while the others were stuck wherever the bus left them. We found that the casino was often empty on Thanksgiving day and if you went over to Canada on the Friday after Thanksgiving all of the silly Canadians are working (ha ha). Mostly, as has been mentioned during this thanks-giving marathon a number of times, we laugh! We laugh until we physically hurt and then we laugh some more. We gamble and we laugh. We soak in the hot tub and we laugh. We occassionally see a movie and even if it isn't funny we laugh. I think last year we saw some completely forgetable movie but we laughed ourselves silly at the sight of Adrienne in the very last row sitting on the top of the back of the chair--something about being more comfortable, but a pretty funny sight nonetheless. We are not above laughing at each others. We laughed at gimpy when he had a broken foot. We did wheelies with mommy when she was stuck in a wheelchair. We are never mean, but we are always, always funny. Even the gimpiest among us appreciate funny.

I am grateful that this years trip is only a week away.

Hello Donut!

S Day

S is for Snow.

I just don't have time to do an entire post on "simplicity" "sincerity" or "sensitivity."

We got about 5" of snow a few days ago and it is all gone. We are expecting 6-12" tonight and tomorrow and that is good news (I promise not to make you drive in it A!). A fresh layer of white on everything makes the world a very calm place. I know you get crazy drivers in the snow (you get them out of the snow too) but when you come out of the house at 6am and the world is covered in snow it is a special kind of quiet. It is beautiful, magical, and serene (another S). I could use a little serene.

Serenity NOW!

R Day

R is for Ready-to-Wear

This is for Mom. I remember her saying how happy she was when they came out with polyester ready-to-wear clothes. Not having to iron was something she was really grateful for. Raising 5 kids I can understand why.

I haven't used an iron in years myself. I find that most things stay wrinkle free if you hang them up right out of the dryer and if they don't, well, then I don't want them. Lyle likes to have an iron handy when we are travelling, but I don't even do it then.

Actually, "ready" is a good word, I am grateful for ready people. This goes back to the "quick" post but my family is also always ready. They are ready for anything and they are ready 15 minutes early. If you say "we are leaving," you can find them on the way to the car. Not saying "OK, let me just..." Funny how none of us need to "just" anything (well, most of us don't need to just).

The Holliday Park travel group is like this too. It took Lyle a little getting used to but when you tell this group to be back on the bus at 1:00, they will all be there at 12:45. Every one of them. Lyle did adjust since it really was everyone. He would have balked if I made him get back at 12:45 only to wait for the "late" people showing up at 1:00.

With my family we also don't debate where we are going. Someone suggests something and we go. I have to leave the room when others do the "where to have dinner" dance. "I don't care. Wherever you want to go." "No, not there." "Anywhere is fine." "Well, I don't really feel like Italian. But really anyplace is OK." It makes me crazy and I just don't care. The point is to be with the people you love and want to spend time with, not getting the meal you "feel" like at the moment.

Wow, this is turning into a rant. Oh well, as you can see I am being sneaky and saying how grateful I am for my family without actually using them for my letters. I am grateful for my quick and ready family.

Q Day

Q is for Quick

Right behind nice people I am grateful for quick people. People that don't need to be hit over the head with a concept in order to "get it." People that can drop a joke at the drop of a hat. The majority of my relatives fall into this category and I am grateful. It is wonderful when you run into someone in real life that shows a quick wit. Once at a casino I went up the club desk and said "I can't remember if I got a card the last time I was here." The staff person did not miss a beat and replied "I can't either. We must have been so drunk." He made my day.

P Day

P is for Pictures

In case you haven't noticed, I have been recording Jackson's life through pictures. I really should have done Flickr as my "F" but I didn't think of it at the time. Taking pictures of a child's life is not new and exciting. What is new and exciting is the way we can share them with the people that we love. I know later in my life I will be very grateful for all of the pictures and stories that I have of Jackson. Probably more grateful than I am right now, which is hard to imagine.

O Day

O is for Ontogeny.

It recapitulates phylogency, you know. Let's hear it for Mr. Shirkey!

I remember sitting in sophmore biology in high school and Mr. Shirkey having us chant that line and I loved it. I loved the way it felt when I said it. I never really understood what it meant, and I just found out today that it was wrong, but I loved it nonetheless and it was the first thing that jumped into my head when thinking of an "O" word.

N Day

N is for Nice.

I like nice people. I am grateful that I have so many in my life. And I am grateful that I occassionally run into some in the real world. You all know by now my aversion to other people, so it is very pleasant when I come across random people that are nice.

M Day

I am grateful for McDonald's. Not only did it give me my first real working experience (if you don't count the two or three jobs I had before I turned 16), but it has always been a symbol of civilization to me. I can remember being lost in a new city and just catching a glimpse of those golden arches calmed me down immediately. Nothing bad can happen now, I have a warm, safe place to go and ask directions. I can remember driving down the road by myself and needing a bathroom so bad that I was willing to brave a gas station (this was back in the day when gas station bathrooms were outside and universally disgusting) but then noticing that telltale fleck of gold about a mile down the road and knowing that if I could hold on until then I would be met with a clean, warm place to pee.

These days it is a place where I can read. An actual hard-copy, open-it-up-and-look-at-the-pages, book. About twice a week (when I don't have Jackson) I stop for a Sausage McMuffin (which I invented about 25 years ago, thank you very much) and I read my book. My meal only lasts about twenty minutes, but I drag it out so that I can read just a little bit more before heading to work. I am grateful that I have a warm, comfortable, reasonably priced, place to do that.

L Day

L is for Laughter.

I love to laugh. I love to make other people laugh. Getting Jackson to laugh is easy. Getting Lyle to laugh makes my day.

Laughing with my family is the best feeling ever. Luckily, we do it a lot. A whole lot. Especially on our annual trip up to the Soo at Thanksgiving (see Gretchen's K). We laugh until we hurt. This year I am sure we will be laughing and crying in equal measure, perhaps at the same time.

I love this picture of Gretchen and Jackson laughing from June 2005.

I laughed out loud just this morning; what a great way to start the day. I was eating a muffin at McD and reading my book (Plato and a Platypus Walk Into a Bar-- thanks Kat) and I read this line. "There is nothing like an argument by analogy. Well, maybe a duck."

K Day

K is for Kleenex (with potion).

Gretch said to keep it simple.

I am nursing a slight cold right now. Nothing debilitating. Just annoying. I always buy Kleenex (yes the brand Kleenex) with lotion (I loved the commercial where the little girl called it potion) and I can't imagine blowing my nose without them. Especially when you are three or four days into a cold, if you didn't start out with the potion tissues you are just going to be rubbing your nose raw. Ugh! So without dipping into family, that is my K. Kleenex.

J Day

J is for


Sorry, I couldn't help it!

I Day

I is for iPhone.

Some people hate the very idea of cell phones, let alone one that will let you check your email and the web in an instant. They don't like being always available, they want to check out.

I LOVE being always available. I love not being tied to my desk or home waiting for a phone call or an email. I love being reachable.

I have had a cell phone for many years now. For the first five or so it lived in the car for "emergencies." When I was pregnant with Jackson it became just that little bit more vital and Lyle broke down and got one too. Now we both have iPhones and we use the hell out of them. I can stay away from the office for an extra hour because I know they will contact me if I am needed. I can check my email while waiting in line at the grocery store. I can twitter my every move while hiking in the woods. I don't see this as a device that ties me down, I see it as a devise that frees me up. And I am very grateful for that.

H Day

H is for Hair.

I have great hair. I took me many, many years to realize this but I really do. It is just the right level of curly and I kind of like my new hint-of-gray coloring. Of course, having it be Jackson's favorite thing to touch is pretty amazing too. Even after nearly five years of being alive the boy still finds comfort in touching my hair. I am grateful that I carry such a powerful tool right there on the top of my head.

G Day

G is for Girlfriends

I am grateful for girlfriends. I have several groups of girlfriends each of whom are very special to me. My sisters make up one very important group. Sometimes they snipe at each other, but they all seem to like me (which is one of the major requirements for being my girlfriend).




I have another group from highschool and we meet about once a month to have dinner together. It is fun to have a group that you can reminisce with and you still like each other now that you are grown.

I have another group in New Jersey that I hardly see, but they are always in my thoughts and I know I am in theirs.

And then, of course, I have a group here in IN that I see on a regular basis. Elaine and Rebecca and I have instituted a weekly lunch that is the usually the highlight of my week. It is a chance to relax and talk about absolutely anything going on in my life without being judged. They understand my life and my work and they truly care.

Without getting too sappy (against the rules, right?) since I lost my very best friend in the world last year I am very, very grateful to have all of these groups in my life.

F Day

Fleet Foxes. I heard them at Pitchfork this year and I just fell in love with the music. Go here and listen to White Winter Hymnal.

"...to keep their little heads from fallin' in the snow" I don't even know what it means, but it makes me smile everytime and for that I am grateful.

And if you love swoopy harmonies as much as I do (Georgy I am looking at you) go watch this great video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMrqBldlqzA

E Day

Excel! I am grateful for MicroSoft Excel. I love this program and I can't imagine my life without it. When I think of what Mom could have done with something like this in her work life it make me weep (yeah, what doesn't these days). In her later years she used MicroSoft Money for her personal finances, but she could have organized the hell out that union with Excel.

D Day

Digital Music. I have loaded every album I own into iTunes and I still have plenty of room leftover when it is downloaded onto my iPhone. I basically have two playlists: Christmas and Everything Else. I love coming to work and hitting shuffle on a playlist and just letting it run for the day. It is like having a radio station that plays only things that I like.

C Day

Christmas Plates! I am very thankful for my collection of Christmas plates and for everyone that has contributed to it. I pull them out every year (this is a little early but I think it is justified) and they make me smile every time I use them. If I thought my marriage would survive, I would use them year round.

Gratitude A to B

I love this innovative blogging challenge, invented by G. I think it will catch on and go international.



I am already late so I need to catch up:



A - Ability. I saw this word in the middle Gretchen's post and it struck me as something I am grateful for. I am thankful that I have the ability to do all of the things that I do in life. The good, the bad, and the ugly.



B - Birthday Balloons (I get two points for this, right?). Having a room filled with balloons on my birthday is such a wonderful memory for me. I also have great memories of doing this for Gretchen's girls and now Jackson. Now I just need to figure out where to put the balloons this year.

Hani-Yucky

I have a friend that loves Hani-Yori. Her whole family loves Hani-Yori. Whenever they are all in town, they can't wait to go to Hani-Yori. I just don't get it. I am not a big fan of Japanese food in general, but I can hold my own in most restaurants and I rarely complain. So about a year ago I went with a group of friends to lunch at Hani-Yori and I hated it.. HATED! First the menu had two things on it: beef and chicken. I like a little more variety, but OK, chicken. The tables are set up so that it is nearly impossible to have a decent conversation, which works out fine because the waiter/showman never leaves you alone. Fine, I get it that you can chop things really fast, woo hoo for you, now can you please bring me a salad or something, so I can talk to my friends? No? Fine, you can stack pieces of onion and make smoke come out the top. Very nice. Now leave me alone, I am trying to have a conversation here. Rice? You are going to fry up the rice? Yes, I am looking, you can stop banging now. I am not a fan of fried rice, but go ahead, and could you do it quietly? No? Ugh! What are you doing? You are adding egg to the rice. Without even asking! Can I get some plain white rice here please to go with my freshly grilled chicken with absolutely no flavor at all. Yeah, that would be great. OK, enough with the knives, now you are just pissing me off. Really, I left there enraged and hungry.

But Sue loves it. So when she asked me to join her and another friend (whom I haven't seen in ages) there for lunch today I said yes. What was I thinking? Luckily, I have a lot of errands to do today and I will just run in and hug everyone and run back out before the waiter has a chance to piss me off.

Rain Delay

So this weekend, even though I could not possibly care less about baseball, I saw the end of two games in the World Series. For those of you that do follow such thing you may then know that I was up until 2am on Saturday night because the game was "rain delayed" and until almost midnight Sunday night. Part of this was a cough I have been battling for a few days which comes out worse at night.

Part of it was lying awake remembering that one year ago we were getting mom ready for the surgery that was going to change her life. We all woke up way earlier than we needed to because, well, that is just the way we are programmed. By 6am we were all sitting by the door just ready to get the day started. As you may recall it was a looooong day, but it ended with us all being hopeful for a painfree future (at least for mom). How I wish we could go back and call a "rain delay" for a few years or have mom actually chicken out (I really thought she might). But we did what we thought was best and here we are.

I am having a very hard time thinking about Christmas. I don't want to have to figure out where it would be best to be. I don't want to have to think about celebrating without mom. I don't want to think. Period. I will do everything in my power to make sure Jackson has a wonderful Christmas, but I can't think beyond that.

New Room

Now this is more like it. A beautiful room with a view:


With a real closet and even a comfy robe:


This thing scares me just a little bit, but I think I can handle it:

I just got done with my last meeting for the day and I think I will go and explore the neighborhood a little bit. I am in Alexandria, but I don't think it is Old Town, it all looks pretty new.

Hot Buttons

OK, my new comment on Kat's post from a few days ago is getting too long, so I am putting it here. You can read her original post and the comments I am commenting on here: http://kathrynvh.blogspot.com/2008/09/are-you-ready-for-some-foot-law.html#comments

In answer to Uncle Marcel's last comment there, I was not taught to fear Christians in school and I don't fear Christians specifically. I fear fanatics of any sort. And we certainly were not taught hatred and I hope none of our comments have been interpreted as "hatred" of anyone. Well, maybe Bush. Oh yeah, and Cheney.

McCain and Palin simply do not agree with what I believe is right for our country.

I believe in choice and stem cell research. I believe in gay marriage and gays being able to serve openly in the military (don't ask/don't tell is an asinine concept which sanctions lies of omission--not very christian).

I don't have a clue what to do about the war in Iraq. I don't think we should have been there in the first place. I think the Bush administration (I personally think Cheney is pulling all the strings, but I have no proof of that) lied to get congress to vote for the war and I think we have a better chance of getting out of Iraq with a democrat who can admit that we shouldn't be there, than a republican who will have to save face for the good of the party.

I don't believe in lowering taxes. I believe that we need tax dollars (and government intervention) to get important things done. Like public education. Like enough public servants to effectively run our cities and states. Like streets and highways and basic infrastructure necessary to keep our economy functioning. Like research into renewable energy sources and other important scientific endeavors.

I believe in heath care for everyone. Would universal health care be a perfect solution? Probably not, but what we have isn't working so maybe we can try something else. Michael Moore's movie Sicko may have been flawed, but it certainly made me grateful to have a good job and good health and good insurance. If the republican's do win and they truly want to get rid of the "grafters, crooks and cheaters" as soon as they are done with the oil companies they can start on the health care industry.

Is Obama going to be able to provide all of the things that are important to me? Probably not. But he believes in them too, so he is the one I am putting my faith in come November.

Best Clip Ever

I had a hard time sitting and listening to the speeches at the RNC last night and I am glad John Stewart is around to find the opposite clips to bring all of the hypocrisy home.

i thought the charges of "flip flopping" were silly when they did it against Kerry (yes, by all means stick with a bad position no matter what) and I really thought they would not be picking that stick up again since McCain as been very busy flipping and flopping to make the more conservative members of the party happy, but Guiliani did it. The gall is apalling.

The Agony of Acquisition

Last week I took Jackson to Target as his something special and he got to pick out a toy. I reserved the right to veto any purchase and to pull him out of the store completely if necessary. Which I almost did. Not because he was misbehaving, but because he could not make up his mind. Just buy the damn squishy dinosaurs and be done with it! No, I think there may be something wonderful just down here.

I remember this purchasing paralysis from my own childhood. I am sure I was never allowed to pick out anything by myself at 4, but when I was older it did occasionally fall to me to "pick something" to purchase. I always failed miserably and it always took me a fews hours to do it.

I remember one purchase in particular. I am going to be generous to myself and say I was 10 (I was probably 15) and we were on vacation and allowed to buy one item (our limit was probably $5 or so). I tried to find the coolest thing in the store, the thing that would not make me look like dork. It took hours (or until Mom yelled, just pick something already--so probably more like 5 minutes) and I failed miserably. I picked a hat that depicted cans of Campbell's Pork and Beans. Or maybe it was pants. Whatever it was, my thought process said "I like beans and I like the color orange so this must be good." OMG, so wrong. As soon as I was out of the store I knew I would never wear this Campbell's Pork and Bean hat (or was it a shirt). I knew that I would be laughed at mercilously. I wore it a few times in front of mom so that she would know that it was not a bad idea to let me pick something for myself. But it was a bad idea. It was a terrible idea. I am sure now that she (and all of my siblings) were laughing at me in my Campbell's Pork and Bean hat (maybe it was shoes). And rightly so. I was a dork. A Campbell's Pork and Bean dork.

I am better at purchasing today. I know what I like (comfort above all) and I know not to buy anything that has Campbell's Pork and Beans on it. Except, of course, cans of Campbell's Pork and Beans. Mmmmm, beans.

Transformed

Dear Mommy,

Your house has been transformed. Quite transformed, even. Jackson informed everyone within earshot of this many times this weekend. For Kat, who must have looked particularly perplexed, he explained that "transformed means changed."

Gretch has really made the house her own and it looks great. You would love some parts of it and hate other parts. But it isn't your house anymore, so lish. She put the kitchen table in the basement and added another counter to the other side of the kitchen. She even bought one of those mix-a-lot things she has wanted forever. As you know, she was just waiting until she had a kitchen where no one would be messing with her stuff, and now she has it. We expect great things to be baked this Christmas. The new stoves and refrigerators were delivered in the complex and she got hers in black. You would have hated that. But then she has decorated (what a concept) the rest of the kitchen in bright primary colors and it looks very cool.

She moved the computer, stand and all, into her Jackson's bedroom. He, of course, thinks this is very cool. Even though we never even turned it on this past weekend. Speaking of Jackson, he is growing up and it was clearly evident at your Gretchen's house this weekend. On Saturday night we all ate dinner in the basement and then we played Michigan Rummy. He was happy to sit on my lap and play with me or run around with Lynn until she went to bed, and then he asked to lay down and watch a DVD. I explained that I would be downstairs playing a game and he was OK with that. And he really was. He choose Winged Migration and was asleep when Melody checked on him about a half-hour later. He is such a good boy.

After I got done winning the KQY and then played QKAu to win the game we went upstairs to watch Michael Phelps win his 8th gold medal in a single Olympics. You would have loved that. It was Aunt Rita, Kathy, Gretch, Gordon, Melody, Megan, and me and it was really fun to have everyone there for that historical moment. I am hating these Olympics because NBC is only putting on Beach Volleyball when I have a chance to watch. But since you have CBC you would have loved it, just as you have loved every Olympics before this.

Anyway, we missed you like crazy this weekend, but it is getting a little easier every time I go back.

Lollapalooza

This account makes me even happier that I didn't go to this one. Don't get me wrong, Pitchfork was fun, but this looks like Pitchfork on crack.

Notice that Lyle is wearing a hat; desperate for even that little bit of shade. Lyle never wears a hat. Never. It was just that hot.

http://mypage.iusb.edu/~lzynda/lollapalooza08.html

I Called Mom

I was driving around Indy and I saw a Cici's Pizza.

Back in 2004 I was driving back and forth to Indy and Bloominton at least once a month for a training program. Mom came with me for many of these trips and she took care of a very tiny Jackson while I attended sessions. On one of these trips we were driving around Indy and we saw a Cici's Pizza. Mom had heard about this place from Aunt Monica so we tried it. We were completely taken off guard when we walked in and the guy said "2?" and when we answered yes he said "that will be $7." We, had not even looked at the menu to decide what we wanted yet. He recognized our confusion, he probably saw it often, and explained that there was one price and it was all you can eat. So we paid and ate. And ate and ate and ate. There were not too many people there and the salad was delicious and the pizza was fresh and hot and the dessert was amazing. These days when we go to Cici's, only at Jackson's request, the salad is wilty and the pizza is pretty bad, but the dessert is still good, hence Jackson's request to go there.

So, anyway, I was still driving in Indy and I saw a Trader Joe's. Now I knew that this was the same Cici's mom and I went to all those years ago because I remember calling Rebecca from the car to ask if she wanted me to stop at Trader Joe's to get them anything. They were, and still are, making regular trips to Chicago just to go to Trader Joe's.

Keep in mind that these memories took only a second to come flooding back and since I was stopped at a light I flipped open my phone to call mom and tell her.

She didn't answer.

I hung up and cried quietly as I continued to drive. Then I hit Keystone and had to pull over to cry harder.

Pitchfork Revisted

And now Lyle's account: http://mypage.iusb.edu/~lzynda/pitchfork08.html

Chicago Day 3

I enjoyed my concert reprieve. I laid in the hotel room soaking up the air conditioning before heaing out to the metro station at around 3pm. I actually ran into a friend on the platform. He was not heading to Pitchfork (he had never even heard of Pitchfork), he was coming home from a trip to Germany, it was just a coincidence that we hit the metro platform at the same time.

Anyway, we had a great time over the last three days. I really enjoy being in crowds, well, loosely in crowds. I like being in crowded places, people watching and being part of the action. I don't like being so close that your sweaty body is touching someone else's sweaty body. I really liked my chair for this because it gave me a natural personal-space zone without touching anyone. Lyle has promised to do an post with pictures and videos of the various bands that played at Pitchfork. I will give you random bullets of things that struck me as interesting.

• Worst pair of shoes. On Friday night this was a tie between some suede, fringed, ankel mocasins and a pair of pink rain boots with hearts all over them. But, then on Saturday the rain boots so totally made sense that the mocasins won hands down.
• Worst tattoo. "May the jaws of death have cotton teeth."
• For some reason when men put on shorts they apparently need many extra pockets. Maybe it is because they are wearing a suit coat with all the secret boy pockets. Anyway, 90% of the male shorts on display were of a "cargo" variety.
• I only need to see the smallest sliver of Lyle to recognize him.

Chicago Day 2

As days for sitting in a park all day watching music go, yesterday was above average. It rained some in the morning and even after we got to the park at around 2pm, but after that it remained overcast and the temperature only got to the mid 70s. Perfect. It was crowded though. Waaaay more crowded than the last time I came to this festival. I remember it as being only about half full during the day and then getting really crowded at night, but yesterday it was jam packed all day long.

For the first few bands we stayed close to the stages, but then we wandered back to get some food and we stayed closer to the back. Well, I stayed back in the back but Lyle walked up to the stages to see the bands he really wanted to see. This is 2 minutes of one of his walks:

About 10 seconds into this video that Lyle took while walking to the front to see Jarvis Cocker you can see the family that we sat behind for a little while. The youngest was 2 1/2. I don't know that I could do that. At about 1 minute in you can see the MUD. Lots and lots of mud. Any breaks in the crowd means that there is mud there otherwise it is wall to wall people.

We will be there again today. Lyle is going at around 2 and I will go later at around 5. Woo hoo!! It is supposed to be much hotter today so that will make it that much harder. I took the day off of work tomorrow so we will probably lounge in our room until check out time. Hopefully I will have time to do my last Chicago post then.

Chicago Day 1

Our Hotel Room (filed under things I hate):

Who would make a bed like this. Giant bed with two tiny pillows. Our first call was to get more pillows.

The TV is humungous, but notice that it is bigger than the closet.

Yes, this is the closet.

And, over here where the closet should be, we have the bathroom.

I wanted to ask for a new room, but Lyle liked being on the same floor as the workout room. The elevators are ungodly slow and since we are only on the fifth floor we thought we would just use the stairs. Wrong! We started down the exit stairs on our floor and we ended up in the kitchen. Apparently they are for emergencies only.

At the concert, on the other hand, there were many things I found useful:

Best free give-away in the history of free give-aways. Not only did it work to cool me off when the breeze was not blowing but it worked blowing smoke away from me too. Why do so many people still smoke.

I just bought this folding chair and I love it. It was much easier to set up and knock down than I imagined and it was waaaay easier to carry than my traditional folding lawn chair. The cup holders (handy for Lyle, not so much for me) were a bonus.

Hi-fi earplugs. OMG this made the whole evening way more enjoyable. It didn't notice much of a difference putting them in, but when I tried to take them out the sound was unbearable. I think that is my ear in actual size. And, damn, I had no idea I had so much gray hair.

He isn't that blurry in real life.

6 Months

Six months is too long. I can't live without Mommy for six months. Except I did.

My friend Cathy sent me this picture recently. It is from my baby shower back in October 2003 and she found it when cleaning out some file. I know she agonized about whether to send it to me or not. I am glad she sent it. Reminding me of mom may make me cry but it is never a bad thing.

Time Study Man

Boy, Uncle Marcel's comment on my "100 Steps" post below really made me think of the Time Study Man from Pajama Game "...for a Time Study Man to waste time, is a crime!" Unfortunately, the only versions of this I could find on YouTube were really bad local productions so I won't link to them. Kathy was more on the money. I am trying to increase the number of steps I take and not decrease, on the theory that moving is better than not moving. Being in a sedentary job means that I don't have to move much if I don't want to, but if I make the effort to walk down the hall to talk to the accounting people rather than calling or emailing them, I have gotten a little bit of movement and I maintain a better relationship.

I started this on Wednesday just to get a feel for what I was doing already and now starting tomorrow I will start a week long 70,000 step program and see how I do. I will keep you posted.

Magnolia

Finally part of the video from our performance in Princeton back in May. These are just my two songs, I will link to the van Fraassen's as soon as that is up:

100 Steps

What a difference a little boy makes. I bought a pedometer recently and I put it on for the first time yesterday morning. By the time I got to work I had already logged about 800 steps. Today I put it on at the same time and I only logged about 100 steps. The difference? Yesterday I had to get Jackson to daycare. So after I got dressed, I went back and forth to the kitchen getting his shoes, etc. ready for the day, I went back upstairs to get him, then back and forth in the living room a few times to put in the DVD, then back and forth to the kitchen to get his chocolate milk and then put it away, back upstairs for the socks I forgot to bring down with me, out to the car, around the car a few times, into the school, around his classroom, back to the car (to move it from the drop-off zone), and back into the office. Today, on the other hand, after I got dressed, I walked to my car and then walked to my office door. About 100 steps.

My Creation

This follows the questions posted on Adrienne's blog:

The questions:

1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What high school did you go to?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. What is your favorite drink?
7. What is your dream vacation?
8. What is your favorite dessert?
9. What do you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. What is one word that describes you?
12. What is your Flickr name?

You were suppose to post the picture that came up first in a Flickr search, but I fudged just a little. When I typed in "chocolate mousse" as my favorite dessert and pit bull was the first picture and this was the second. I used the second. Poetic licence.

Also, notice that 9 and 11 are the same picture. The answer to both questions was "happy."

Princeton

So, we are home and just a little worse for wear (and lack of sleep).

Princeton looks exactly the same:

Well, not exactly the same:

Bas looks exactly the same (that is his lovely wife Isabelle):

Well, not exactly the same (that is a trapeze in his backyard):

The guys did a great job. And Mike didn't even step on anyone (but he came really close):

We hope to have a link to the video soon!

The Girls

As long as we are here on the east coast I decided to have a reunion too. Luckily, Maggie and Leyla were able to drop everything and rush over to see me. I love these girls. We got together for dinner at the Italian cafe right next to our hotel and it was like we had never been apart. We chatted and chatted and then we laughed and laughed and then we laughed some more. We didn't leave the restaurant until nearly 11pm.

Today the boys will be rehearsing in the early afternoon and then the conference will start. I may go see a movie or something. Ahhh, the life of leisure.

Rehearsal

Many of you may not know that back in our carefree, child-free days in Princeton Lyle and some friends started a band. Not a band that actually played any real gigs, like weddings or anything, but a band that specifically played for Lyle's advisor, Bas van Fraassen. In fact, they called themselves "The van Fraassens." They weren't terribly good but they sure were fun. They performed three or four times over the course of a few years and I was their official warm-up act.

Well, today we find ourselves back in Princeton rehearsing for another performance. Bas is retiring and Princeton is holding a conference on his behalf (those crazy philosophers) and the culmination of the conference will be a classic music night. Just like the old days. I have prepared a few songs and the van Fraassens will be the main act. Today we were able to get 3/4ths of them together for a rehearsal (pictured are Martin, Mike, and Lyle) and tomorrow we will try to add the fourth into the mix and see how it sounds.

We are planning to record the festivities and maybe we can even get a video up on-line. Then they will be famous and they can quit their day jobs.

No Good Can Come

Why do you people let me try to do things on my own? No good can come from this. Today I had plenty of time so I decided to hit the Greektown Casino on my way to mom's (as I explained to Gretchen, it IS on the way, if you go the long way). I programmed my GPS, but I wouldn't need it because I have been to this casino a hundred times before. A hundred times WITH MOM!

My problems began when signs on I75 started saying "closed at Clark" use I275. Well, OK. That meant I took the long way for no reason since I was about to end up right at I275 and I94 anyway, but I could handle it. I even ignored my GPS when it tried to take me onto I375 when I knew I wanted to take the 10. I got to the exact spot where I never remember the correct place to turn left and I remembered the correct turn. I to the casino and it was sealed off like a tight construction infused drum. There was no way to get there from here. And there was no way to get anyplace else either. I went around the whole place and every garage was full with throngs of Tiger fans milling around with giant gothic Ds on their chests.

Right about then my fuel light came on. Damn! Just get me out of here. So got on the first major freeway I could find knowing that I could get on any other major freeway from there. Well, I could if every square inch of Detroit wasn't under construction. But it is, so I used my GPS and my wits and I found the sign to get on I94 and headed toward it (in the get to mom's house game, I94 beats I75) only to be thwarted at the last minute by more construcion. But that's OK I see a gas station. I am in possibly the worst neighborhood in town, but I need gas so I pull in only to find signs on every pump saying "out of order." There is another gas station across the freeway but cleverly placed orange fencing prevents that possibility. I finally make it onto I94 and then I96 (I96 trumps all other freeways) but there were no visible gas stations at any exits. So I kept going, finally at Outer Driver I saw a BP and I pulled in. Unfortunately, after I pulled in a giant camper pulled in and I had to wait until he finished topping off his 6000 gallon tank before I could pull back out.

I am at mom's now and I am ready for my nap. Adrienne gets in at 6am. Maybe I will sleep until then.

Ready to Go

Dear Mommy,

I am soooo packed. I am so packed my suitcase could walk to the airport now and I could just meet it there. When I "finished" packing the other night I had so much room left in my suitcase that I redid it all with my clothes on hangers--just like you used to do. Then, of course, I finished my last load of laundry last night and could hardly fit the last minute stuff into the suitcase. I am using your tapestry bag as my carry-on. That bag has been on so many trips with us, it is almost like family. It is not as big as my regular carry-on which is good because I won't over-pack it. Right now I just need to add my book and my iPod and it will be packed too.

I found some comfy walking shoes. Uncle Marcel was just right, I needed to go wider. I am bringing your black dress shoes. I have coveted those shoes for so long now, but they aren't nearly as comfortable as you made them look. Maybe it is because you did not have to walk too long in them. They have a hard leather sole. Why do they make hard shoes, I just don't understand. I want soft and comfy. I also have sandals and crocs. This is two more pairs of shoes than I usually take on vacation, but I think Adrienne has 6 pairs (but she needed two suitcases to pack).

We are so excited about this trip, we can hardly stand it. Adrienne has been in a lot of pain, but she got some scary shot yesterday that is supposed to make her all better. At least for a while. I also told her we were going to work out everyday on the boat so maybe that will get both of us back into a good routine.

Jan sent us our table assignments. We are sitting with Amy and Rosemary Allen. I need you here to remind me who everybody is. We also have to sit with "other people." You know how I feel about other people. I hate other people. Jan said that they lost 6 people from this trip, so they had a hard time filling the tables with just Holliday Park. Gene also sent a currency exchange card. Luckily, I am bring my human calculator with me.

I just can't, can't, can't believe that you aren't going to be there. I dream about you being there. Dreams so real that I can feel you there. I can feel your hand holding mine. I can feel you next to me. I don't do supernatural and I don't do mystical, but I can play pretend. So, I intend to pretend that you are there. That you are hold my hand and you are right next to me. Then we can talk later and say "Remember that time we went to Egypt? That was awesome!"

I love you and I miss you every minute of every day.

Shoes

I need good walking shoes for the cruise (only two weeks away)!

So last week I walked home for lunch (just over a mile) in my new gym shoes and they hurt the top of my left pinky toe terribly. So I walked back in my crocs. This worked fine for my pinky toe, but there was not enough heel support to be truly comfortable. There has to be a happy medium.

Once I get the shoe thing straight I will be ready. My suitcase is packed and except for all of this pesky work stuff I could leave tomorrow. Oh wait, our friend Big Al is coming in on Tuesday and I want to see him. But then I am ready to go. Oh yeah, and Kat is coming to Michigan next Saturday, I have to be there for that. But right after that I can leave anytime.

Watch this spot (or Adrienne's--we have decided yet) for cruise updates as they happen.

Pajama Pants

OK, this is the third time I have started crying after seeing a girl out in public in pajama pants.

The only person in my life that would do such a thing is Megan. So when I see them I think of Megan and how I gave her a pair of pajama pants for Christmas. Then I think of Christmas and how it was the last time we had any real family time with mom. We opened presents and she was trying very hard to stay alert and to answer the silly Christmas trivia questions (even sick as she was she still got more right than me). She had the classic Van Houten problem of wanting us all to leave, but not wanting to miss anything. We made sure she didn't miss anything.

But I miss her like crazy. I miss her every minute. And pajama pants make me cry.

Good Reads

OK, Amazon readers you should all be doing this. Goodreads!

You can keep track of what you have read and what you still want to read and you can share it all with me. And you can add these cool little widgets to your blogs. I love it.