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Zen (Pictures)
I have decided that when Adam and I are super rich, we’re having a Japanese garden. Look at these pictures from the Osaka Garden yesterday:
It’s beautiful there. A little slice of heaven in Chicago.
Blasts From The Past (Many Pictures & Extreme Narcissism)
A few weeks ago, I hooked my computer up to the scanner/printer/copier/fax machine/coffee maker/deep fryer/hot tub to scan some pictures. It’s one of those new(ish) Kodak ones that you put the really cheap ink in. Adam’s not happy with the printer, but who really is happy with their printer? I am VERY happy with the scanner, though. The easiest scanning I’ve ever done. No need to install bulky software. Just plop the picture in, push the button, and voila! So easy!
So, I went on a scanning spree. It’s time for me to thoroughly embarrass myself. Funny colors, creases, thumbs, and all. You will get the full enchilada of what happens when one digs out the big guns. Enjoy!
Little Cleveland Browns fan me. February 1977. I was two here. Had been for a couple months.
I was two here, and it was Easter. Obvi. 1977.
I was three here, and it was another Easter! Those curls were done with the magic of sponge rollers. You know you’re jealous. 1978.
I had just turned nine here. December 1983. Merry Christmas!
Me and my sister rocking out at my Aunt Lue’s house.
This was the first of many Baby Skates dolls I got. The legs kept snapping off for some reason.
Check out the retro Rainbow Brite doll my cousin Terri is holding behind me. I had just turned 10 here. Yeah, I was still playing with dolls. I STILL play with dolls. What?
Sixth grade graduation. June 1987. Mr. Trask, on the left, was the most awesome principal EVER. In my book, ONLY YOURS, I made him one of the teachers. Since OY didn’t sell, I plan to recycle him. It’s my way of remembering the best principal ever. First of all, he liked Mickey Mouse and wore Mickey Mouse ties (he’s wearing one in this picture!) and a Mickey Mouse watch. And he’d arrange for us to get out of class to eat popcorn, drink pop, and watch Mary Poppins. Or Laurel & Hardy. Do schools still do that sort of thing? Anyway, Mrs. Arnold, the assistant principal, is the one handing me something. She was the strict one, but she wasn’t mean. Her daughter, Jennifer, played violin and was SUPER talented at it. I am telling you all of this because, well, I need to somehow distract you all from the crazy dress I’m wearing.
Just saying….
Here I am in ninth grade honors biology, working on my science project. I still remember my hypothesis: If a fruit juice is fermenting, then it is giving off heat. I won third place. I also remember breaking a mercury thermometer. Go me. Like my double watches? I was STYLIN’.
Sweet sixteen and never been kissed. I was too obsessed with Joey McIntyre to worry much about real boys. My earrings are Lifesavers, though. Rock on.
Remember how I was too obsessed with celebrity boys to care much about real boys? Yeah, this is another example. Hmm, Homecoming or Mario Lopez? The choice was easy. I brought him a Homecoming flower that I’d spritzed with my Love’s Baby Soft Rain Scent perfume. He said it smelled good. October 1992.
My senior picture.
YAY! Graduation from John Adams High School. Class of 1993!
I lived in the Stadium Scholarship Dorm, but it would have been more accurately named the Stadium Work-Study Dorm. For a reduced cost (and a GPA of 2.8 or higher), the residents took up a lot of the work that would have normally gone to pay staff. For example, students worked cafeteria shifts, janitorial shifts, planned social events, and so on. After one or two cafeteria shifts, I was lucky enough to get clued in regarding an office shift. Here I am, on duty!
This was during college. Not sure if this was freshman or sophomore year–I started on an off-quarter, so the years kind of overlapped for a while there. Still, the point of this picture is to show you how into Mickey Mouse I was. There’s Mickey Mouse all over that room! I wish I still had that vest. It’s pretty sweet.
YEA! I am out of the dorms and living in Harrison House Apartments (which is completely something else these days). This is autumn 1995.
This was right after I was baptized and confirmed as a Catholic through RCIA. April 1996. I was a devout Catholic for about six months before backsliding. Oops. I no longer practice, but I think some aspects of the faith are beautiful.
Another desk job at my place of residence. I picked up some shifts at the Harrison House front desk. It was… interesting. Strangely enough, the graveyard shift was the most interesting. I was still very Catholic then. See the Eucharist necklace I’m wearing?
July 4, 1996. I’m really into the spirit! Ha!
Me on the balcony at Crystal’s Castle hotel in Pompano Beach, Florida, December 1996. Going to Southern Florida the week before Christmas was surreal. To be outside in the warm, sunny weather, playing on the beach and whatnot. Then going inside a mall and seeing Santa and candy canes and Christmas trees. People decorated their palm trees with strings of lights. It was very cool.
Oh, how I miss that flat tummy. And those pants were probably a size 0 or 2. *sigh* June 1998.
Virginia Beach, September 1999.
OK, so that’s a bunch of pictures of me from the 20th century. I also plan to do a major Aidan Blast From the Past, because I found some really adorable photos of him that I’d love to share. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed my post. I’d love to see some of YOUR blasts from the past!! 😀
Summertime Happiness (Whoa Pictures!)
I can’t believe it’s already been nearly a month since I’ve last updated! Like seriously, where did June go? And Independence Day has already passed. Slow down a bit, summer! I am not in a hurry for you to go away!
When I last left off, Eli and Melissa were still in town. I snapped this last picture of us before they took off:
There was much hanging out and playing….
Then the next weekend was DucKon! Aidan had a great time. He fit right in, talking Star Wars and watching the Tesla Coils. His favorite thing, though, was the balloon art.
During DucKon, we stayed at the hotel so Adam could stay as late as he wanted at the Filk. Aidan and I were up pretty late, and thank goodness because the fire alarm went off at around 2am! Aidan was amazingly efficient. He grabbed both of our stuffed toys, his balloon animal and his shoes. I grabbed my purse, the hotel key, and my hoodie. We went outside. Never found out the cause of that alarm. The one that went off at 8am was more scary, because this time we actually saw smoke. (Someone had burnt their breakfast.) Again, Aidan woke up and gathered everything very efficiently and we waited outside for the all-clear.
The days are speeding by in a blur of video games, sunshine, yoga, trips to the library (Aidan read 25 books and earned a tee-shirt), grilled foods, friends, and trips to the playground. On the day of the iPhone 4 release, we three stood in line for six hours to get the new phone. Apple provided us with Smart Water, lemonade, burgers, fries, and frosty desserts. Other companies passed out carrier bags and Red Bull. The people working in the store, though they must have been exhausted, were friendly and good-natured. Aidan was so good that I bought him a toy from The Disney Store. He also got to meet Mr. Reese’s (and get free candy!):
Another time, I decided I was having a good hair day and wanted to document it:
Helena was looking extra pretty another day:
July 4th consisted of food, friends, fireworks, and red, white, and blue Jell-O cake made by Yours Truly. Sure do wish I’d gotten a picture of that cake before we tore into it!
Chris and Aidan, and Amy and Me
Some new dollies made their way into my home and my heart:
I got to meet and hang out with the beautiful Mylin, who is an independent artist based in Los Angeles. She came to Chicago for a visit and spent the afternoon with me yesterday. I’d admired her since she was a teenager, dancing and singing on the All-New Mickey Mouse Club:
We also stopped at the Oak Street Beach. Why do I live here and never go to the beach? It’s so pretty!
Adam’s still working for the Census. I’m proofreading for Loyola, hanging out with Aidan, and still playing too many games, although I have cut back a lot of the Facebook games. Now I play more word games which actually do help me think a lot about my writing. Aidan plays a lot of games. He also does a really good impression of the 11th Doctor on Doctor Who. We watch The Eleventh Hour constantly. I think it’s one of my favorite episodes of new Who. (I haven’t watched very much old Who.)
The iPhone 4 is pretty cool. Not sure it if was worth waiting SIX hours for, but I’m glad I have it because my other one was making me mad. Crashing all the time, turning itself on and off whenever it wanted. Blah. Adam restored/unlocked it and sold it for nearly the cost of my new phone, so I essentially upgraded for $40. 🙂
I think that’s all for now. Life’s good. I am very grateful. ‘Til next time!
Adjusting (Pictures)
Aidan’s finally here!!! 
Thank goodness. It seemed to take forever for June 8 to get here! Even he said, when he got off the plane “I can finally see you!” I really hate living so far away from him. I know it’s not even that far, but that doesn’t make it suck any less. 🙁
I am trying to figure out how to readjust my schedule to keep fitting yoga and writing in, plus taking care of him, and getting enough rest. Not to mention staying on top of eating reasonably well. It’s been a challenge this week because Adam’s brother and sister-in-law are visiting, and we’ve been spending time with them. I kinda put all that life stuff on hold because how often do I get to see Eli & Melissa, you know? So I’ve been eating not as well as normal, and I haven’t been to yoga since last Thursday. Let’s not even talk about writing, shall we?
I need to just QUIT those games on Facebook. Or at least limit myself to a few. It’s out of hand again, how much time I spend playing. I know it’s an avoidance technique. If I’m playing, I don’t have to think about the “sagging middle” in my WIP. And maybe, just maybe a breakthrough will happen while I am virtually farming!
Right, even I don’t believe that anymore. 
Anyway, even though I haven’t been doing yoga and writing, I have been doing other cool things. Tuesday, I got Aidan from the airport, and I learned that if someone is mean to a member of my family, the claws come out! No one was mean to Aidan, but someone was to Adam and I reacted in a way that I never expected. It was weird and a little bit unsettling. But nice to know that I won’t take any crap from people when it comes to members of my family.
Wednesday, Eli & Melissa arrived and we had dinner with them. Thursday, we went to the Art Institute of Chicago. I’d never been to an art museum ever. Well, the National Vietnam Vets Museum may count, but that’s such a specialized part of art that I can only think of it as the NVVM. AIC was completely different and amazing and overwhelming. You know how you see prints of paintings? Most of them never did much for me. We have a bunch of them in the apartment and to me, they’re just pretty or neat pictures hanging around. But seeing a painting in real life is so much better! There was some Van Gogh and a lot of Monet, but the one that blew me away was Saint Francis by Peter Paul Rubens. The way he painted it… the flesh tones looked so real and lifelike and vibrant, like Saint Francis was going to just walk off the panel and come stand next to me. In addition to that, the Thorne Miniature Rooms were incredible, as was all the South Asian art, which I didn’t feel I got to spend nearly enough time looking at. We even checked out the Matisse exhibit, and got to see some pretty famous paintings, like American Gothic. I can’t wait to go back to the Art Institute of Chicago. There is so much I am eager to explore there. The cool thing is that we can take out museum passes from the library (that are good for a week!), and the museum is open free Thursday nights. I get the feeling I’ll be there a lot.
Aidan LOVED the museum. As he’s very artistic, Adam and I thought he’d get a lot out of it–well, as much as a seven-year-old can get, I suppose. He loved seeing the Van Gogh, and he was totally fascinated by the Picture of Dorian Gray, but he really enjoyed giggling at all the naked baby Jesus paintings and sculptures. He did love the Thorne Miniature Rooms, though.
After that fun, we ate some lunch and then headed over to Millennium Park. Aidan enjoyed playing at Cloud Gate, as usual:
On Monday, before Aidan got here, I hung out with Shannon, a former co-worker, and her family. They took me to the top of Sears Willis Tower, and I went out on the glass ledge. Oh yes. Check me out:
In between all this, I am reading a book called THE BLUE GIRL by Charles de Lint, and I adore the main character. She’s just such a cool girl. This is the first Charles de Lint book I’ve ever read, but apparently, he’s written a lot set in the particular world of this book. I love when authors do that. When they have a world they work in for all of their books. Cause when you read the new ones, you see old characters and friends. Sarah Dessen does it, and so does Deb Caletti, and even Adam does. I tend to write in the same worlds too, or I try to, anyway.
Anyway, it’s already almost 2am. I don’t have to be up very early tomorrow (but someone little with curly hair might wake me up early. If not him, then the neighbor’s hot water heater [which bangs every time he takes a shower and happens to be located right above our bed–another thing the landlord won’t fix] will). We’re hitting Navy Pier, which should be fun on a Saturday in June. :O All I know is this: I AM GETTING A CHURRO. Oh yes.
So, with that, I am off. ‘Til next time!
I love summer! 