A Poem for Today

Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein

There is a place where the sidewalk ends
And before the street begins,
And there the grass grows soft and white,
And there the sun burns crimson bright,
And there the moon-bird rests from his flight
To cool in the peppermint wind.

Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black
And the dark street winds and bends.
Past the pits where the asphalt flowers grow
We shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And watch where the chalk-white arrows go
To the place where the sidewalk ends.

Yes we'll walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And we'll go where the chalk-white arrows go,
For the children, they mark, and the children, they know
The place where the sidewalk ends.

Sorry For the Delay, Ace

Sorry for the posting delay. I've been rather busy these last few days. Lots of stress. We're heading out to Michigan for the annual Grandpa Al Dicey Tourney and we expect to be bringing home the plaque. As a result, we've been gather and packing up all of the stuff we borrowed from the fam in order to make our party a success. Lots of chairs, cake pan, cake mix - margarator. Lots of things to remember. Plus we had to buy Mike a new speedo (for real, it's speedo brand) for the hot tub at Anut's house. We went swimming with Handsome Alex and Big Boy JO-ey - when we were done, Mike threw away his old suit because he figured he wouldn't use it again this season. It was really, really old and he knew he'd have to buy a new one for next year.

Moving seems to be proceeding at a slow pace. We're still contacting moving companies for estimates but we've got a month, so I'm hoping that it won't be a big problem. Our (almost ex)landlord is giving us a little trouble. He says that we need to paint the kitchen or he's going to take the cost of having it repainted out of our security deposit. We're working on coming to some sort of agreement with him on that.

My sleep schedule's a little off. I've been sleeping about four hours a night and then waking up wide awake for awhile and having to nap for a couple of hours in the afternoon. I'm not sure what that's all about but I'm trying to get it regulated because it's inconvenient to be so tired in the afternoon. It cuts the whole day in half.

Mike bought me a present today. A little baby pink iPod shuffle. It's one of those cheap ones that hold, like, 4 songs. But I adore it. I brought it home and hooked it up to our iTunes and got my limit of songs put on it. Very hard to cut down the selection to a small enough amount. In the six-ish months since we originally bought mp3 players from Dell, both of them have died. BOTH. Ri-damn-diculous. Mike's decided he doesn't use one enough to warrant a replacement but I like having one when I ride the CTA and walk. Makes the trip quicker. Plus, this little baby one clips on whatever you're wearing. It's adorable! Anyway, I decided that you get what you pay for, so I decided to go namebrand this time.

Let's see - what else is new? I have joined an email group for adults who've lost a parent and I'm really enjoying it...well, as much as you can enjoy talking about the death of a parent. We had an interesting discussion today about dreams and one of the other members called my response "sentimental and perceptive." I thought that sort of summed me up pretty well. Nothing else to say here - I just thought I'd share.

I have so much fun with Mike. We've been, not really fighting, but bickering a bit over the last week or so. The stress of the move and all the things to be done has us both on edge, I think. Today we went out for dinner to get out of the house for a little while. The last couple of days have been much more relaxed between us, but I laughed more in the car on the way home than I have for quite awhile. Mike always claims that when I sing along with the radio, I sing much too high - so he'll start singing extremely low to "counteract" my highness. He hadn't done it for awhile, so when I started singing along to The Verve Pipe in the car, he took me off guard by singing really low. I laughed and kept singing - stopping every once in awhile to laugh at Mike. I decided to flip the script on him and starting singing really low instead. Without missing a beat, Mike started to sing in this really high falsetto voice that nearly had me wetting my pants from laughing so hard.

Wow, I'm really all over the place here. What can I say, nothing really that exciting has happened the last few days. Perhaps some cute kitty pictures will make up for the non sequitors within this post. These are a couple of recent shots of Meme. Fully recovered and, as you can see from the bottom picture, with all her fur grown back. In fact, she's put on a bit of weight since the surgery. They say that's normal. Enjoy her cuteness. Hopefully after the weekend, I'll have something more interesting to talk about.

The First Annual BBQ

Well, my mom's 1st annual memorial bbq was fun! The food was excellent (Thanks, Mike and Sandy for putting together the kabobs and Dad and Jason for grilling them). I had intended to take some pictures to put up but I got so busy running up and down the stairs that I didn't really have a chance to take too many. I do have some really cute puppy pictures. They stole the show, naturally. Even my neighbors were peeking over the fence to see them. One neighbor from next door called a friend to come over and see them.

Not only was the bbq fun but I got two presents! Anyone who knows me knows how I adore getting presents. And how embarrassed Mike is that I love presents so much. They don't have to be big presents. I'm just as happy when Mike unexpectedly brings home Skittles from the grocery store. Anyway, these are the presents I got on Saturday...

My friend, Veronica brought me a little bunch of flowers for inviting her to the bbq. Unnecessary but extremely sweet, I thought. Yes, they're in a pilsner glass. Oddly, I have no vases in my house. Perhaps because I have a husband who doesn't know it's legal for him to send me flowers. :D He does occasionally bring me skittles, though. Which is better than flowers because you can eat them. Yummy artificially fruity goodness. But I'm getting off track.

My other present is a little book from my mother-in-law, Sandy. The pages have pictures of my mom with quotes and a poem. I liked this page best, I think. I thought Uncle Mike and Aunt Linda would like to see it. The quote says (in case you can't read it), "I find as I grow older that I love those most whom I loved first. -Thomas Jefferson."

So many crafty people in my family. I told my dad that if Sandy and Aunt Linda ever met, they'd probably be B.F.F. as they are internet buddies of a sort now. :D

Today, Mike and I got up early to go and see our friend Sarah perform at Flavor Fest in Jonquil Park. She works for an upscale daycare/pre-school in Chicago and works sometimes singing at children's parties.

Then Mike went off to kickball and, after spending the afternoon cleaning up what I could, I napped.

Everybody mark your calendars this time next year! I'll expect to see everyone. And next year? It'll be on the beach! Awesome.

No Explanation is Necessary

Linda Harris

1/18/49 - 8/25/06

Gone but never forgotten

Update

Today my friend Sarah is taking me to see a movie and then my dad and Caleb are coming up for my mom's memorial bbq which is tomorrow! And Sandy and Fred will be here tomorrow! I'm so excited I'm wiggling! YaY!

My Poem of the Day

Afternoon Memory
by Gary Soto

Sometimes I'll look in the refrigerator
And decide that the mustard is vaguely familiar,
And that the jar of Spanish olives is new to me.
What's this gathering? The butter
And salsa, the two kinds of tortillas
And, in back, the fat-waisted Mrs. Butterworth.
I'll study the plate of cross-legged chicken,

And close the refrigerator and lean on the kitchen counter.
Is this old age? The faucet drips.
The linoleum blisters when you walk on it.
The magnets on the refrigerator crawl down
With the gravity of expired coupons and doctor bills.
Sometimes I'll roll my tongue in my mouth.
Is this thirst or desire? Is this pain
Or my foot going to sleep? I know the factory
Inside my stomach has gone quiet.
My hair falls as I stand. My lungs are bean plants
Of disappearing air. My body sends signals, like now:
A healthy fleck is floating across my vision.
I watch it cross. It's going to attack a virus
On the right side of my body
And, later, travel down my throat to take care of knee,
Little latch of hurt. I swallow three times.
I have to help my body parts. Fellas, sour liver
And trusty kidney, I'm full of hope.
I open the refrigerator.
I've seen this stuff before. What's this?
The blow dart of bran? Chinese ginger?
No, fellas, they're carrots. The orange, I hear,
Is good for your eyes.

El Laberinto del Fauno

"A long time ago, in the underground realm, where there are no lies or pain, there lived a Princess who dreamed of the human world. She dreamed of blue skies, soft breeze, and sunshine. One day, eluding her keepers, the Princess escaped. Once outside, the brightness blinded her and erased every trace of the past from her memory. She forgot who she was and where she came from. Her body suffered cold, sickness, and pain. Eventually, she died. However, her father, the King, always knew that the Princess' soul would return, perhaps in another body, in another place, at another time. And he would wait for her, until he drew his last breath, until the world stopped turning..."

I watched Pan's Labyrinth today. I really liked it. There's just something about a movie that makes you think. Maybe it's the subtitles - I do seem to really enjoy movies with subtitles. Pan's Labyrinth, The Red Violin, Hero, Raise the Red Lanterns...all excellent. Or maybe I just like movies about Princesses...after all, my favorite movie of all time is The Princess Bride.

Anyway, more later. It's been a rough day and all I really want to do is go to bed.

This Priest is Making Me Nervous

Mike and I have decided to have our marriage blessed by the Catholic Church. We were married in an Episcopal ceremony by a lady priest. When we registered in the St. Benedict parish, they gave us this option and we decided...why not? You can never have your marriage blessed too much, right? Anyway, long story short - we had to meet with our priest today to do some paperwork. St. Ben's is a pretty big church and they have three main priests. Fr. Beaven, Fr. Steve and Fr. Clem. Fr. B. is in charge but since the parish is so large, he doesn't preside over mass too often. It's Fr. Steve if you're there early and Fr. Clem if you slept in (usually). Today, though, we had to meet with Fr. Beaven. For some reason, he seems to make Mike a little nervous. And me? Well, I wasn't nervous...but you know how you get the urge to laugh at completely inappropriate times? That was me today.

Even though Mike and I are already married, we had to go through the whole pre-marriage questionaire. They ask you a bunch of questions about you and your family. And they go through word for word and they don't assume anything. This was my favorite exchange of the afternoon.

Fr. B.: Michael, have you ever been married?

Mike: No.

Cindi: (snort)

Fr. B.: (chuckle)

Mike: (pause)

Mike: (looks at me and turns red)

Mike: Uh...except for now, I mean.

They also ask you things like, "Do you understand the obligations of marriage?" and "Do you promise to be faithful?" It's actually a very solemn sort of occasion but I kept hearing a voice in my head - which made me want to giggle.

Question: "Do you understand the obligations of marriage?"
VIMH: "Boy, I sure do now."

Question: "Do you promise to be faithful?"
VIMH: "He better."

Mike also had to promise to allow me to have children if I want. Ha! Sucka - now I've got him! Kidding! I'm kidding! I'd never force Mike into fatherhood. If we're meant to have kids, great! If not, well that'll be alright, too. But when Fr. B. read that off, I was seriously like, "Oh, that's brilliant!"

All this talk about family reunions, get-togethers, kids going back to school...it's got me feeling really homesick tonight. I find myself anxious for the weekend to arrive and with it my dad and (hopefully) my in-laws as well. I usually do pretty well with the fact that I live far away from "home." Illinois makes the fifth state I've lived in and for a majority of the past 12 years, I've lived in another state from the rest of my family. Nights like tonight are hard, though. I sit around and wish I was Caleb's age again. The worst thing I had to worry about was making sure to remember to do my math homework so I wouldn't get detention and trying to practice enough that my mean old bitty of a piano teacher wouldn't yell at me. Piano lessons were Tuesday afternoons. My dad would come home from work, scoop me up and take me to her house. Because my dad was "in charge," (my mom had to work)...the piano teacher was almost never paid on time. Not that my dad was/is a deadbeat - he's not. But he's forgetful and he never remembered to grab the checkbook. I'd tell her that I didn't have a check and she'd tell me to remind my dad. When he was about three weeks behind, she'd write a note on the piece of music that I was supposed to be practicing for that week which said, "We owe $15 for piano lessons." My mom would see it and get on my dad to pay her.

And every summer Saturday was race night. My dad and Matt would go off to watch the races together and the whole night belonged to my mom and I. They'd leave about six and I'd have the house to myself until eight, when my mom got home from working her 12 hour shift at the hospital. If she was really tired, she'd stop off and get me something to eat on her way home. A roast beef or a salad from Hardee's, usually - and we'd stay in and watch tv or rent a movie. If she wasn't too tired, we'd go to Jerry's for pizza or to the mall for maid-rites and fries - and go shopping or take a ride with the windows down.

That seems like a long time ago now. Still, it'll be nice to see my dad this weekend. And hopefully Mike's parents too!

Rain, rain go away...

Guess who's blogging? Blogging again? Mike is back, tell your friends.

I apologize to Charles who specifically requested that I blog about the trip to Six Flags Great America with Caleb. He may not be able to read this anyway, with his current computer troubles. I love Charles' quote about what he calls his computer, "a $1000 g-damn Nintendo."

We had planned to spend the whole day at the park, which closes at 10pm, but by 7:30 we were both ready to go home. I had a nasty headache from the Iron Wolf, which is a stand-up coaster. This things slams your head left and right into the so-called "protective padding."

Caleb was happy because we got to ride the go-carts a few times, despite the added $7 fee. It didn't take either of us long to ignore the "no bumping" signs. I mean, what's fun about driving go-carts if you can't bump each other? It's also not fun if you get stuck with the slow car as Caleb did the first time and me the second.

The first two hours at the park was great. We rode 4 different coasters. Then, the people showed up in droves. We waited 2 1/2 hours to ride the Superman coaster which was pretty cool. It takes you so that your body is horizontal to the ground and you're flying like Superman does. We had just gotten off the ride when the sprinkles were turning into a rainstorm and they announced that most of the major rides would have to close until the rain stopped. It was about 4:30 at that time, and we hadn't eaten anything since breakfast. Caleb wasn't hungry so I decided to get some chow while it was raining. I got what they called beef fajitas, fries and a drink. That was $17 and was not very good at all.

After about a half hour the rain let up and we decided to see how many thousand people were in line for the Batman ride. It looked way worse than what we endured early, so we gave up on that. The Iron Wolf beat me up pretty bad and after the go-carts, we decided that it was time to head home.

I made it up to Caleb another night by taking him to a place in the south suburbs that has video games, mini-golf, batting cages and go-carts. We each bought an unlimited ride wristband which included bumper boats and mini-golf, but Caleb spent the next two hours riding the go-carts with me and several other high school kids. Me, being the good uncle that I am, usually let him have the faster car, once we had driven enough to know which ones to avoid. It gets kinda boring putt-putting around the track when everyone else is whizzing by. Again, the no bumping signs were ignored by everyone. The first time that Caleb and I heard the whistle for bumping too hard from the track operators, I thought we were gonna have to sit out the rest of the race, but the operators didn't give anyone a hard time. We found out that they would usually sit in the cars in the pit area and you could bump other cars while their back was turned. Caleb and I employed the classic go-cart technique to slam on your brakes if you were ahead of another car and cutting off cars at the turns. I could tell that he had fun so that made me happy.

In more current news, the first week of kickball playoffs were supposed to be played today, but it has rained heavily since last night. We were 1-9 this year so I was hoping this would be the last week we'd have to play. I doubt that I'll be playing next year, especially since our new apartment is quite a ways from the park.

Today I'm going to catch up on everyone's blog, go through some stuff in our closets, and do some laundry. Good times!

New Digs

So, our lease expires at the end of next month and if we don't move, we're stuck in this place for another year. It took us several tries to find a place we liked the last time and we moved into our current apartment on Oct. 15 and by Nov. 15, we weren't happy and knew it wouldn't be a longtime situation. Things that weren't revealed to us before we moved became obvious and it was clear that this was not the home for us.

Mike has been looking at prices, neighborhoods etc. since December. Maybe that's why this time things seemed to go so smoothly. We looked at a few different places and found a couple of places that we really, really liked. And, this morning at 9 AM, we signed a new lease to live here.

I know. It's just an ordinary building. (The inside of the apartment is much nicer, I promise.)We switched from a three flat house to a small 17 unit building. It was not a switch I was eager to make - I like the smaller buildings we've lived in. On the other hand, we do have a super on call 24 hours a day now and we met a few of our future neighbors who seem very nice. But what sold us on this apartment, you ask? Well - a couple of things. The neighborhoods great. The Red Line is a block and a half away. There's a cheap movie theater and a used book store half a block away. Oh, yeah...and there's this.

This is at the end of our street, at the end of our block. We're sandwiched inbetween two parks and five houses away from the beach. Literally less than half a block. Can't wait for Big Boy JO-ey, Handsome Alex and Caleb to visit next year! Who needs a pool?

Happy Birthday! (#2)

Happy Birthday to my mother-in-law, Sandy!

Happy Birthday! (#1)

Happy birthday to my big brother, Jeff!

Tornado Warnings for Iowa

Mmmmm....baconator.

Aunt Cindi and Cal (Excuse my mess - I've been fighting with Amtrak and it has wrecked my coiffure)

Caleb and Uncle Mike #2 (as Caleb has two)

Caleb, the monkey boy.

Caleb prepares to board, birth certificate in hand

After much fighting and struggle, Caleb aka Tommy Tornado is on his way back home to his mom. We arrived at Amtrak and got his ticket without issue. When we went to head back to the passenger waiting area, I saw a sign which said that they will only allow ticketed passengers beyond that point. I went to information to make sure that I'd be allowed to go with him since he's a minor. The lady said we could but mentioned something about picture ID. I said that he was 16 and didn't have a driver's license. She said we should go talk to the manager and get her to sign his ticket stating that this was ok. I didn't think much of it - they've never refused to let him ride before.

Sure enough, the manager must have been having a bad day because she said that without ID he couldn't get on the train. Her words were "16 is old enough to have ID, so I'm not going to let him ride without it." My statements that he'd gotten here without an ID were met with "I'm not responsible for the incompetence of another city's employees." Great. He had no ID. I asked her what our options were. She wanted his ticket stub, birth certificate and social security card. I was like, "I'm not his mom - I don't have that stuff." Her response? "Well you better get it."

I asked if they'd take a copy of the email reservation showing he'd travelled from Mt. P. to Chicago on August 3rd. They wouldn't. Her reasoning, "That shows that he has a reservation, not that he travelled. We need proof that he travelled." I was like, "You mean that the fact that he's here isn't proof enough?" Apparently not.

I had to call Caleb's mom to fax the stuff, which she didn't have readily available either. Tracy had to go to the courthouse in Fairfield (a fair, little drive) and get copy of his birth certificate, copy his social security card and then find some place to fax it from. I called my dad because we weren't sure Tracy could get everything in time for him to make the train. My dad was on standby to come and get him, if necessary.

We made it with about four minutes to spare. We were literally on the phone with Tracy as she faxed the info and had one person ready to stamp his ticket the minute the other lady (waiting at the fax machine) ran in with his birth certificate.

The icing on the cake? As Caleb and I were waiting in the office with Tracy on the phone, the manager was talking with another man whose wallet had been stolen. She wasn't allowing him on the train either but she told him that anyone "17 and older must have ID, that is our policy." I was so pissed, but (luckily for her) didn't have enough time to take up the issue with her.

As we got Caleb on the train, I called his mom to let him know we'd gotten everything ok and that he was on his way. She said something that made me laugh and lightened my mood a bit. What did she say? "Can you imagine if your mom had been there when she said that?"

My laughing reply? "We'd be calling for bail money about now."

When You Want It Done Right...

Mike is taking Caleb and I to the train station. YaY! We could have gone on the bus - in fact, were going to go by bus. But, Mike woke up today not feeling well. Not a huge deal. Mike sucked it up and decided to go to work. He got out to the car and found a flat tire - so he did what he should have done in the first place and called in sick. Then he went out change the tire so he can go have it fixed.

He went out the door and I thought he was long gone. I'd gone back to sleep for twenty minutes, gotten up, came upstairs and checked my email. Mike came back in and told me that he'd gotten the bolts off the tire but he couldn't get the tire to come off of the car. I said, "Do you want me to come and help you?" Mike replied, "Well, I don't know how you can help." But clearly that was what he wanted as he had come to get me in the first place. So I threw some clothes on and went out.

When we got outside, Mike demonstrated how the tire was stuck and I felt around it a little bit. The difference between Mike and I, car repair wise, was that his parents were always willing to have their car maintenance done professionally. Always frugal, my mom sent my dad out to do any manner of work on our cars before she'd dole out the money for a mechanic to take a look at it. Whether Dad did any actual work or whether he merely spent an hour with the hood up, peeking into the engine to placate Mom...well, only he knows for sure. But smaller jobs - oil changes, brake repair, hose replacements - that was all done by my dad, so I've had the opportunity to watch some of these things being done. Now, as far as tire changes go, my mom felt her obligation stopped with learning how to do it in case she had to do it on the highway. Any flat tires that happened at home? Well, that's why she kept my dad around for 32 years. That, heavy lifting and opening the really stuck jars. Upon an inspection, I thought to myself, "Seems to me that a hammer is in order here." But, knowing how that news would go over with Mike if I said it, I said, "Call my Dad and ask him what he thinks you should do." He did. Then he got off the phone, looked at me a little funny and said, "Your dad told me to hit the inside of it with a hammer."

Sooooo, Mike went into the house and brought out a hammer. He kneeled down and, rotating the tire a few inches every few taps, proceeded to tap the back of the tire as though it was made out of crystal. "Plink, plink, plink, plink, plink." Rotate. "Plink, plink, plink, plink, plink." Rotate. Then after he made it around the tire all the way, he'd try and pull it off again.

Now, I thought to myself, "There's no way that's going to dislodge that tire." But, because it was really amusing for me to watch, I let him keep doing it for awhile. "Plink, plink, plink, plink, plink." Rotate. "Plink, plink, plink, plink, plink." Rotate.

Finally, I was like, "Why don't you let me try it once." Mike looked at me skeptically (why is it that men always doubt that we know what we're doing), but he gave me the hammer. I know he was horrified when I started whaling on the back of the tire, but after only a second or two, I heard him exclaim excitedly from behind me, "Oh, you got it! I see it moving." And voila, off it popped!

In other news, I came upstairs to find this sight this morning.

And several other mornings, actually. The kid has a bed and, when it's too hot to sleep in the spare room, a couch/sofa bed in the living room. Why is it that I wake up and find him sleeping on the floor? It really cracks Mike up and he'll wake me up (I probably have mentioned before that I like for him to wake me up when he goes to work, so that I know he's leaving) and tell me, "Hobo Joe's sleeping in the living room." He's always been a notoriously sound sleeper. (Remind me to tell you about the time I had him and Meagan both asleep in the car.) I know he starts out on the couch but how he ends up where he does on the floor, I'll never know. Today he was in the middle of the hallway to the kitchen. Last night, we were talking when he said, "One night, I woke up on the floor. That was weird." I just laughed. He doesn't remember any of the six to eight times I woke him up when he was sleeping on the floor and sent him downstairs to sleep in my bed.

I guess that illustrates the difference between the young and the aging. At 16 you sleep on the floor and don't even remember doing it. At 30, you think about sleeping on the floor and your back starts to hurt.

8/14/07

"Somebody wake me up when that kid's gone."

Bon Voyage

Caleb goes home tomorrow. I'm sad for two reasons. First, I'm just going to miss the little booger. Second, Mike's already talking about the cleaning that I will need to do once he's gone home and before our friend Sarah comes over for dinner on Thursday night.

The Carnage

The verdict? Not as good as his mom's but pretty good. I didn't expect anything else, though, as before he'd even tasted it, he told my friend Barb that my lasagna wasn't as good as his mom's. I clearly didn't have a chance. Plus, his mom "buys every kind of cheese she can find and throws it in there - even if it costs $20!" I can't compete with that. Especially since Mike won't even let me put ricotta cheese in it. He's strictly a mozzerella man.

My friend Barb came over for dinner last night and before I left to meet her at the Blue Line train, I told Cal we were having company and that I expected him showered and sweet smelling when I got home. What happened to that little boy who never wanted to get out of the bathtub. He'd arrive at our house and say, "Batt-tie, Memo?" "Take batt, Memo?" He used to take three baths a day! Now I have to remind him to take a shower! Anyway, I headed out, met Barb and we came back. I got home to find Caleb showered and spiffy. Then Mike came home. The three of us worked on getting dinner ready together and chatted while Caleb was on the computer. Just before dinner was ready, Mike opened the bathroom door and said, "When you know company is coming over, can you at least try to clean up this place?" I was like, "What the hell?" Apparently, after I left Caleb took his shower as I had requested...and left his underwear laying on the floor. I'm still not sure why I got in trouble because the boy left his underbritches laying around.

I'm telling you - we have to invest in a once a week cleaning lady pretty soon or I'm going to be hiding a body. And it won't be Caleb's. :D

Conversations With Caleb

Mike: Pea, will you make lasagna for dinner tomorrow?
Cindi: Yeah, I can do that.
Caleb: Lasagna? YESSSSSSSSSSSSSS!
(pause)
Caleb: I hope your lasagna is as good as my mom's. Her lasagna is awesome.
Cindi: I dunno. I think that Mom's is always the best. Whatever it is that your mom's really good at...well, for your whole life it'll be the best you've ever tasted. I think that's a rule or something.
(pause)
Caleb: Well, I sure as hell don't like her pancakes.
Mike: snort

If I Had A Hammer...

Soooo...I went to see Marty Casey and the Lovehammers last night at Halsted Market Days last night with my friend Leigh. You may be saying to yourself...who? I know that I did the first time Leigh mentioned him. Remember J.D. Fortune who won the lead spot in the band INXS in a reality show called Rock Star? Well, Marty here was the runner-up.

Along with this guy who was their "special guest" and came out for a couple of songs. I don't even know his name - Mig or something like that. Sorry, I didn't watch the show. I was not impressed. He came out and butchered "Paint it Black." Look, Mig or Tig or whatever your name is...if you don't know the words...don't sing the song. Especially a Rolling Stones song that everyone in that audience knows the words to. Come on! There was, seriously, a big pause at the beginning where he forgot how the song started and the picked up in the middle of the song. I love the Stones and would have totally sung along if he hadn't been jumping around throughout the entire song. Finally Marty came out and took over the song while whats-his-name sang back-up. There was a hysterical minute (to me, anyway) when whats-his-name was going to sing along with Marty except they started to sing different words. Seriously bad song choice. I had to take his picture, though, because Leigh's daughter, Christine, is a huge fan of this guy.

I was much more interested in this guy. Matt Hoffer is his name. Now I didn't watch the Rock Star show and hadn't really heard much of the Lovehammers before going to the show, so I had no idea there was an extra guy on stage until they introduced him. He's in a Chicago band called, "Holding Mercury." And I think he's just yummy. They didn't mention that this Matt guy was on the second season of the Rock Star show where the winner got to be lead singer for Tommy Lee's new band, Supernova. Probably because Matt was the first person voted off. Oh, well.

Birthday Baby Picture Friday

Once again we find that it is baby picture Friday here at Mike and Cindi. But...in a stunning twist, we have made today "birthday" baby picture Friday. This means that today's baby pictures feature someone whose birthday is fast approaching. In this case, two somebodies with upcoming birthdays. One on my side, one on Mike's. Mike's mom, Sandy and my big brother, Jeff share a birthday! Both were born on August 16th. If you want to know what year, you can go to the August 2006 archives and try and guess from the clues posted there. I'm not telling. :D

Jeff and Cindi

This one has appeared on the blog before, I'm sure - but it's one of my favorite pictures of Jeff and I.

I had a bit of a hard time finding pictures of Mike's mom with him as a baby. Probably because as a new, first-time mom, she was the one snapping photos of her pride and joy. But I managed to find a couple of cute pictures of the two of them together.

Mike pictures

Mike and I went out to dinner with his co-workers a couple of weeks ago. The restaurant turned out to be in a bit of a sketchier neighborhood. Across the street was a hotel that advertised "Transients and permanents welcome." Mike had me take his picture in front of the sign but kept telling me to hurry because the people loitering around the hotel were making him nervous. I don't know why that amuses me, but it does.

Mike's 'team' at work. These five, along with Debbie who didn't make it to the dinner, are responsible for monitoring the restaurant conditions on the Northwest side of Chicago.

What A Silver Tabby Wants

What Furio's thinking in this picture: "I hate you people so much right now."

A Recent Conversation

Ok, this is probably one of this "you had to be there" moments but sometimes Mike really tickles me. Very occasionally I'll drive when we go somewhere and this was one of those times.

Cindi drives.
Cindi: (yelling) Hey! Moooooooove! There's plenty of room for you to go before those people crossed the street! Get out of my way! Geez!
Mike: (observing from passenger seat)
Cindi drives for a few minutes.
Cindi: (yelling) Did you see that guy? He cut me off! Learn to drive and call me, you jerk!
Mike: (observing from passenger seat)
Cindi drives for another minute or two.
Cindi: (angrily) That guy's a moron!
Mike: (laughs softly) I like it when you drive.

Home again, home again

Well, they made it home fine. Both had some complaints (Everything was too expensive, they got rained on a little bit) but over all, they came home tired with sunburnt faces at the end of a very fun day. Each complimented the other on carrying out my instructions. (I told Mike to ease up and let Caleb enjoy himself and I told Caleb to behave and to do what Mike asked him to do without arguing.) Mike said that Caleb was very subdued and well behaved and Caleb said that Mike was "very cool."

By 10 pm, though, I was the only person awake in the house! Mike has been given my dad's instructions that he's to blog about their trip to Six Flags but he was too tired to do it tonight. As for Caleb...well, at least the bed has sheets this time, although he didn't manage to get his shoes off.

The only ones disappointed at the end of the day were the cats. When Caleb was gone all morning, afternoon and most of the evening, they assumed he'd gone back home. Normal activity was resumed and the threat level was dropped from orange to yellow. As you can see, there were some very unhappy felines when Daddy brought 'that kid' back with him.

Wait until they hear that he's here for another week!

Baby Picture...Wednesday?

I forgot to put up any pictures last Friday, so I decided this would be Baby Picture Wednesday!

Mike's filling some big shoes!

And this would be a very young Uncle Mike feeding a very, very young Cindi. Let's see...19(what year was I born again?) would make Uncle Mike about 24 here. Whew! Was he ever really that young?! A couple of years later, he would remark that he liked me better before I could talk. My dad still laughs about that.

Waiting for Someday

So my cousin Sara made me cry today. Ok, not really. I'm sick today, so I've been feeling like I could cry since about 5:00 this morning when I woke up sick. Mike made me some plain biscuits to munch on before the boys left for Six Flags and as much as I've been looking forward to them leaving and having a day with the house to myself, I was bummed out because I'm sick and there was nobody around to keep me company! I know...I'm an mystery. Then I saw this on Sara's blog about her sweet little boy feeling bad when his Grandma (my Aunt Linda) left to go back to Iowa.

"I bent down to my sweet son & hugged him & told him that we would see them "someday soon" and through his tears he said, "someday isn't right now"..."

And I finally gave into the sniffles a little bit. I went back to the couch to watch tv while I sniffled a bit more. And then Furio came and laid down on my lap. Silly cat. I really bawled then. That cat hates to be held and he's only laid down on my lap (voluntarily) one other time in the entire time we've had him. That was when Mike and I were gone for two weeks getting married and going on our honeymoon. The night we got back, he was so happy to see us that he actually crawled up on my lap and went to sleep. I think he was afraid that we'd take off again if he didn't keep tabs on us because he kept us under close survaillance for about a week after that. I don't know if he wanted a treat or if I looked like I needed a kitty hug or what.

It's been really nice having Caleb here but it's been kind of hard, too. He asks things like, "Do you think Grandma misses us?" and "Do you think Grandma found Krammer in Heaven?" Although I did have to laugh at that one...never mind Uncle Matt or Granny or her parents...it's all about whether or not she's with her dachshund. I think he's been wanting to ask these questions for awhile but hasn't found an outlet for them until now. So I've tried to answer his questions the best that I can...but combine them with the upcoming one year anniversary of her death and it's a recipe for inner turmoil.

It's funny how an eight year old can sum up things so well. Because Cole's got it exactly right. It's impossible not to miss Matt and my mom but I try not to "wish." I hear people say, "I wish he was here to see this." or "I wish she hadn't died." I try not to wish them back - even if it's just an expression because, even if it's a natural part of grief, it's selfishness on my part. I would not wish them back from Heaven to suffer on Earth. It is only for myself that I want to be able to see them and I don't need to...they're always with me and I will see them again - someday. But Cole's right...someday isn't right now. And in the immortal words of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, "You take it on faith, you take it to the heart/The waiting is the hardest part."

Tomorrow

Tomorrow's the big day. Six. Flags.

I don't know which one of the kids is more excited, Caleb...or Mike.

When I Say 'Jack', You Say 'Hammers'

Tonight we took in a Joliet Jackhammers minor league baseball game. Although it seemed for awhile that we weren't going to be able to. The first obstacle was rain. On the way to Joliet, it started to splash down big drops on the windshield and we considered turning around. After some deliberation, we decided we were almost to Joliet and we'd see how it was when we got there. It sprinkled a little during the first two innings but after that - no problem!

Then, when we got to the stadium, I went to buy tickets. The lady told me the only seats they had left were lawn seats. I wasn't really keen on lawn seats anyway but it was raining a bit and we didn't have anything to sit on. If it rained much more, it would be all muddy and gross. I was like, "No way are we sitting on the lawn." I was reaching around in my bag to get my phone and call Mike to tell him not to park the car, when a lady came up to us and asked us if we had tickets. We said no and she said, "Oh, good! We have too many. Here's three tickets - enjoy your night." We couldn't believe it!

There was an "incident" at the game, though. Our usual routine is to stop at the Golden Corral in Bolingbrooke on our way to Joliet and fill up on their buffet in an effort to spend less money eating at the game. I guess it works, although invariably, I always want a baseball game snack - like a hot dog or nachos. I asked Mike for nachos and he wouldn't get them for me because I should have eaten more at the Golden Corral. I said that I would have eaten nachos there but the didn't have them. Then Mike said..."Besides, I'm helping you with your diet." And then...he poked me in the stomach. I know you...as I was...are thinking "Oh no he didn't." Oh, yeah. He totally did. And then I threatened his life.

On the other hand, Mike seems to stopped being "too strict." He's turned into a big kid. I heard some rowdy laughter from the living room and went out to see what was going on. The boys were playing Wii tennis and Caleb told me, "We've discovered that my girl (his computer generated tennis partner) is a lesbian." I must have looked confused because he continued, "She doesn't like balls." Part of me wanted to laugh but I thought to myself, "He's going to go home and say that to his mom and when she gets mad, he'll tell her that we thought it was hilarious." (Mike really did think it was hilarious, btw.) I have retreated into the computer room, feeling that it was probably better if I didn't know about the "man talk" going on in the living room.

I can only hope that what happens in Chicago - stays in Chicago. (Sorry, Tracy) :D

Storm Update

So he's here! We're having a pretty good time, although Caleb spends most of his time either on my computer or playing Nintendo Wii. Today his stomach was a bit upset which meant he spent all day on the internet rather than jumping around the living room on the Wii.

I had to get on Mike a little bit about being too strict with Cal. I had to explain to him that you can't expect a 16 year old boy to have the same standard of cleanliness that he has...I do not have that standard of cleanliness! And yes, he's fooling around - he's 16. Hello? But overall, Mike chilled out, although he did make a big production of giving Caleb his own laundry basket to put his clothes in when he got undressed at night. I was afraid Mike might be hurting Caleb's feelings that first night, so behind Mike's back, I said, "It puts the laundry in the basket or else it gets the hose again." and made him laugh. We've been saying it ever since. :D

Anyway, today Mike got home from work and told Caleb how much he appreciated the effort he was putting in to keeping the house clean. I thought that was really decent of him.

Tonight's been a pretty mellow night. As I said, Caleb hasn't been feeling well and he actually went to bed right after dinner - about 8:30. We didn't even have time to take the sheets out of the wash and put them on the bed. He's sleeping pretty soundly which makes me think he stayed up later than what he told me. I figure, so what! He's on vacation. He's always an up all night-sleep all day kid the first few days he's here. Although he must be getting old, because his streak only lasted two nights this time!

Anyway, that's the update for now. If you don't hear from me, you know that somebody's on the computer!