Spiders, Coffee Houses, & Lots of Ya Ya

What is with this Chicago rain! Heck, I don't remember a summer where we had 3 weeks of straight rain in August. Forecast predicts another 5 days of this. Where is my August!!! :pounds first on table: I hate winter and it lasts sooooooooo long. So!!! I demand that every day in the summer months must have sunlight. I stockpile sunlight like Joseph stockpiled grain for the Israelites 20-some centuries ago. Except I hit famine about December and he seemed to have thought farther ahead. Like 7 years ahead. And...

...to make matters worse, the moisture has brought an insurgency of spiders. That's right. Before I leave out my back door each morning for work I have to dig myself out with a broom. Fanning the air like some crazy lady. Wrapping the webs around the bristles (and up the handle). The more unfortunate scene, though, is when I come home. The spiders have worked just as hard as I during the day, yet this time I don't have a broom around.

Yesterday morning, I woke up to a spider bite on my wrist and a black, fury, quarter-size buster on my toilet seat. (When he walked he became even bigger!) Goooooood Morning!

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I had one of those random weekends. Ended up driving the up the lake shore on Saturday night with Josh and his friends because we couldn't think of anything cheap and casual to do.

(And to field any suspicion from those friends in other States who will view this & read this & suddenly call me for an "update" on my life....I know you want the "juice". There is none. But, still do call.)

We made it from my apt on the south side to the Baha'i Temple in Evanston.

And Sunday I ended up at the coffee shop, where I hoped to get some reading in with anonymous people chatter keeping me company.

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Today I drove out to our printing company in Lisle and while I was waiting for my order to complete, I browsed through the recent invitation orders the company had been filling. Most of the invitations were wedding invites to take place on farms in Wisconsin (huh?!), but there was one in particular that caught my attention. It was for a "Celebration of Friendship". What? I asked Kelley, my printing lady (she's 25, but she can still be called "my printing lady" cuz...that's what she is) what a celebration of friendship exactly is. She didn't know. She just prints these things, you know, no questions asked. Maybe you know what a "Celebration of Friendship" is. Sounds a little ya ya sister-ish, sit on the floor, cross our legs, prick our fingers, and pledge to never leave each other-ish.

Uh, Yeah, We're Kind of a Big Deal

Dad and I take a spin around Steamboat with the new wheels.

Back from the Wild Blue Yonder...

...where I did fly high.

Back from (almost) a week's vacation in Colorado. Nothing like family, blue skies, mountains, and old friends to bring perspective into life. I was admittedly a bit sluggish today at work. The 1:15 a.m. flight arrival may have had something to do with it. Not wanting to be back to the riggers of work may also have had something to do with it. In any regards, it's like my Mom said today, "I've decided, Lauren, that if we can't simply enjoy the priviledge of going away and come back happy, then we shouldn't have been allowed to go in the first place." I suppose she's right (like she often is).

(Don't mistake the look of rest in my eyes as fatigue. It's the look of tranquility found after many hours in the sun.)

Maybe it's because I'm not that long out of school (okay, it's going on two years) but my new year is still every August. The plane rides, long afternoons by the pool or lake, and the strolls through nature gave me ample opportunity to look back on my year. And without getting into the details of it (God knows my friends would kill me for rehashing again the year's emotional rollercoaster) I have to simply concur with my friend, Anna, who remarked as she sent me off with a hug, "Let's hope that when we meet again it will have been a happier year". Amen! This can be said for the both of us.

This year has had had its mountain-top (ha!) highs and its lowest of lowest vallies. I need the Lord to give me (and her too) a break. No drama for 12 months, please! Although I've determined that wish will only come true if I work retail, stayed away from all boys (I'm positive they'd say the same about me), lived back at home, and crocheted behind the TV during off-hours, whereby the action of TV stars would become my drama. But...where's the fun in that?!? I suppose, then, this year will have it's fair share of drama. Nonetheless, there are degrees to these things.

In other news...I don't like my hair in these pictures. I think Anna's right. I might need to grow my hair out again. UUUuuuhhhhhh, the process! It's takes soooo many months. :sigh: The price of beauty.

Just Can't Handle All the Fun that Can Be Had in the Windy City

There are few things more fun in life than having friends come to town for a visit. Side-splitting laughter, fine food, the excuse to do new, wild things in the city, and the chance to pull away from work and deeply connect with another gal. It is something to be cherished. In Chicago, like in many cities, there are so many people yet a seeming increase in isolation. So, the opportunity for laughter bumped right next to deep conversation - the kind that has one crying in no time - is a rarity worth savoring.

Cheers to the friends who have come to Chicago for a visit this summer and have me one "happy camper!"

Nostalgia

Girls, (you know who you are)
I was thinking about you last night and all the good times we spent together on good, slippery roads, singing this song at the top of our lungs, and waiting for the day we would be kissed. A lot has happened since those days (like getting that first kiss...or heck, getting married!) but some things never change - I will always travel slippery roads with you again. Love, Me.


Kiss me out of the bearded barley, Nightly, beside the green, green grass, swing, swing, swing the spinning step. You wear those shoes and I will wear that dress...We'll take the trail marked on your father's map.

So Many Things!!!!

As I am sure you other bloggers have experienced, when you stepped away from postings for any length of time, returning becomes harder and harder, and the number of possible topics to write on just increases to overwhelming volumes. This is exactly what has happened with me in the 9 days I've been away from my blog. I'm bucking this massive obligation or expectation that I put on myself to say something profound or funny or informative upon my return. So, instead, a recap of the number of items I could talk about in greater detail, but am deciding to cut short.

* Peter and J are my new favorite band, ever since I heard them play on NPR on Wednesday morning. They are coming to the Elbo Room this Saturday night. Guess who will be there?...Correct. You. You will be there.

* One of the special perks of being in ministry work is that when the youth are given a Bible lesson whether it's by a fellow staff member or guest speaker, I too get the pleasure of hearing free, spontaneous teaching on God's word. None of this send in your $5 for a CD of the sermon bit. I get preached to almost daily and yet, I'm surprised by it and inspired by it so often.

* I love basketball. Watching basketball. Yes, and I'd forgotten how large this love of mine is until last night when I watched Dave coach our Sunshine Warriors team. They kicked butt by the way, and by the time the second quarter came around, they were playing a tighter and tighter game. Here's a snapshot. No offense to any mother out there, but I, personally, have a fear that I'll be a "soccer Mom" someday. I have some time though to decide if I want to embrace or reject this notion or alter this possible this image.

* You should read Lauren Winner's "Muddhouse Sabbath" if you ever thought the idea of resting on the Sabbath was too idealist, boring, merely about rigorous discipline. Although she's converted to Protestantism, Winner looks back on Shabbat-keeping with longing and true insight.

* I love summer! And this late fall, when I think I'll kill myself living along in dreary city, I'll be moving into a new apartment with a great friend, who will commiserate with me...and a whole lot more.

* Did I mention I love the summer?

The 4th!

Old-time college friends reunite at Chicago's Caribbean Festival of Life in Bronzeville.

It's been 2.5 years since my friend, Shiko, and I have seen each other. Now back in the same city, we're livin' it up the right way in Chicago.

With what appeared to be representatives from all the African countries (ok, a slight exaggeration. but, we at least had Kenya, Ghana, Rwanda, and South Africa present) we got an escort in the back of a white van (with the windows painted white as well) to the Globe for some soccer. When we pulled up and emptied out, the look on bystanders faces was priceless.

The guys on the other side of the van didn't look like they were in a picture taking mood. Instead, with great savyness, offered to take our pictures.