What sorry treatment you have received as of late, I realized that the last month to accumulate more than 4 posts in total was March! Hmmm, maybe my goal for August will be to actually get a post written every week. There’s nothing like making low-setting goals to allow oneself the option to trip and fall very short distances!
Anyways last week I finally made it back home from my epic (and 4th (5th if you count West Coast in general)) trip to Seattle. I have been busily processing photos in an effort to produce several recap posts including (SPOILER ALERT) one in which I may pretend I am a fashion blog. But for now I think I will update you all the past days.
Becca and I arrived home Tuesday evening and were welcomed home into the loving arms of Jess (Thanks again for picking us up, you rocking friend you!) and hot and heavy Chicago humidity (Seattle 1 Chicago 0). Unfortunately the reunion of Becca, Jess and I was a short fated one, because Thursday afternoon Jess headed off on a 2 week East Coast road trip with her Mom. But Becca and I plan on making the best of it by thoroughly testing out Becca’s new butane torch (Creme Brulee for everyone!) which Becca received during her belated birthday dinner at an awesome Persian restaurant (best dish = ground walnut and pomegranate sauce over chicken). Before that dinner on Wednesday night, I spent most of the day moping around trying to catch up on life (i.e. emails, student teaching prep, church business, etc) and figure out why, during my absence, my last Jade plant (the first one succumbed to a weird powdery mold thing (pleasant I know!)) committed a weird form of suicide by collapsing over the side of its pot.
Then on Thursday I set of to Dominican to take my Ed Psych correspondence course mid-term. Thanks to the unfortunate limits of the CTA I ended up walking 3 miles round trip and picked the wrong sandals to do so in. But that didn’t stop me from, 80 multiple choice questions later, meeting up with, a recently arrived via train, Jonathan for a wonderful lunch of baguette, fancy cheese, olive pate and fresh cherries. Then we wondered around downtown together looking at things like the jet engines on top of the Art Institute, the giant eyeball near the library and the small part of the Chicago Cultural Center that wasn’t closed off for a big Obama fundraiser later that night (we weren’t invited! so rude!). Then after telling Jonathan of my recent attempts to learn to like beer, we decided “hey we are over 21 and wandering around a town that often has these little establishments that will sell you beer at 3:30 in the afternoon!” so we went to Berghoff and had some beers. Jonathan got this Green something or other IPA which he liked and I thought was kind of gross (it had EXTRA hops!) and I had a hefeweizen which Jonathan said was a really odd kind of wheat beer and I thought was actually not half bad, especially served cold and with a lemon wedge. So Jonathan and I hung and talked about life, change, memories and other random things. Then we got a call from Tim saying that he was arriving in downtown so we went and met up with him briefly before Jonathan hopped on a train to Goshen and Tim and I headed back north. After small group (and an awesome dinner consisting of bruschetta, injera, and a spinach/lentil Ethiopian stew) I hung out with Becca and friends for a little while before heading home to a much longed for bed.
Then Friday morning I drove home for a brief 48 hour Goshen visit which ended up being completely wonderful. I hung out with my parents, did laundry (yes, I am 26 and still occasionally take my laundry home to my parents’ house!), edited vacation photos, played Tichu, made and ate Mountain Pies, finally hit up a First Friday in downtown Goshen with Miriam (3rd city we have hung out in over the past month!), chatted with Miriam and Steph at the Chief, had baked oatmeal, helped Steph make pickle relish (or at least start the process), held her 2 month old nephew, met up with Charlee for a long overdue 2 hour lunch, played more Tichu with the family and drove myself home in record low traffic time.
Which brings me to now where I am now; laying on my bed, ignoring the basket of clean laundry, the still partially unpacked suitcase and general mess on my floor, all so I can write this blog post. Looking back at I just realized how long this entry is getting, so please excuse my rambles, I think I get verbose when I am happy. Goodnight you’ll!
Mennogirl 