I bought this bike today. I'm super excited about it. It's not fancy or expensive, but since I haven't owned a bike since I was little, I didn't want to invest in anything too nice until I know if I'm going to use it a lot.

Isn't it adorable? I got a cute basket for the front, too.



I also need to get a bike rack for my car, because I'm scared to death of riding in the city. I'm afraid of the lakefront path, too. So I'm going to have to take it out to forest preserves in the suburbs when I want to ride. But next month, when everyone rides their bikes through the city yelling "Happy Friday," I will be joining them.

P.S. Ryan and I were texting today, and he was bothered by the fact that we went to another bar and didn't wait for him. I told him where we were going, but he said he didn't know where that was. He told me twice that I should've waited for him, and that he didn't go anywhere else after The Spot, just went home. Good.

My Facebook status currently says that last night ranks among the worst nights of my life. I don't think I'm being melodramatic when I say that. I don't think I'll be forgetting the awfulness of the night any time soon.

The problem is that it came after a day of such complete happiness. Ryan and I had a great time on Friday night, he said all that stuff about "taking it slow," and everyone I mentioned that to said yes, that definitely implies that you're dating. So even though there was no label on what was going on between us, I was happy. Ryan needed to go to the mall yesterday, so we did that together, and then I had to go to my parents' house to practice some music, and he tagged along and met my parents. It was a lovely day and I had a lot of fun. We were both really looking forward to Kris's birthday party at The Spot last night. Ryan kept saying it was going to be a great night, and I agreed.

We took the L there together, and as soon as we got there, we split up, talking to other people. No big deal. But in the 3 hours we were there, he spent probably 20 minutes talking with me. Actually, not even me, but Nina's boyfriend, Adam. It became clear that he was interested in this very pretty girl. All of his attention was on her. I just have to say how much I love Nina and Stephanie. As we were standing there watching him hit on her, Nina started criticizing the girl's earrings (there wasn't much else to criticize, and I even thought the earrings were pretty), and Stephanie said Ryan looks like a chipmunk. What supportive, loyal friends. Kris came over and was sympathetic and said not to worry, the girl he was talking to was harmless and wouldn't be interested in him. But then Kris said that her boyfriend (who is friends with Ryan) asked Ryan what was going on between us, and he said we just came together because we live by each other. So apparently I'm just some girl who lives by him. Hearing that after what happened between us the night before really sucked and made me feel completely awful about myself. I guess I am not pretty enough to actually be dating him; I'm just good enough to mess around with in the privacy of his apartment. I needed to get out of there, so me, Nina, Adam, Stephanie, and Gloria went to a bar down the street.

After several hours of drinking, I wasn't even drunk, just feeling sick. The French martinis that I love so much didn't taste right, and my body just was not in the mood for alcohol. So I really didn't have much to drink. While we were walking to the bar, Ryan texted and wanted to know where we were and how close it was. When I told him, he said he probably wasn't coming (apparently 4 blocks was too far). Adam said I shouldn't have even replied, and he was right.

I had one drink and played some foosball, but I realized that all I wanted was my Tinkerbell pajamas and bed. So I got on the L, and someone had puked all over the floor. Everyone was sitting as far away from it as possible, but of course, it was disgusting. And I had a long ride home. Alone. And then a long walk back to my car, alone.

I got home and fell into bed and was almost asleep when my phone rang. It was my friend's boyfriend, and I heard her crying in the background. I guess they'd had a fight, and he wanted me to come get her. I said yes right away, but as soon as I got up and tried to get dressed, it was like I was just physically incapable. I'd gotten less than 5 hours of sleep the night before, I was kind of drunk, and I wasn't feeling well. I texted and said I couldn't do it, which I felt terrible about. But part of me was angry that he would call me. If he messed things up that badly, he should fix it. I passed out right away, and when I woke up a few hours later, I saw that I'd missed a bunch of calls from him. But the last voicemail said that things were all right, so I went back to sleep feeling better.

So last night was just awful all around. I have lunch plans with a friend, and then I just want to sit on my couch and cry. And write Ryan an angry email saying I will not be making him an apple pie, like I said I would. But of course I won't, because then I'd seem crazy.

I'm going to start stocking up on mittens and scarves. It looks like I will be moving to Alaska.

Last night I hung out with Ryan, who was extremely apologetic about not being able to see me all week. We didn't quite have a DTR talk, but something kind of close to it, and I'm a little more confident now that we are, in fact, dating. He said he was taking things slow because I said that was what I wanted. It was sweet.

But here's what I thought was really sweet. The last few times I've been to his place, I've been cold because he keeps his AC up so high. So last night, I wore a sweater, thinking I'd be okay. Well, I was SO warm, but I didn't want to say anything and be a complainer. But finally, after a few drinks, I asked him why his apartment was at a normal temperature, and he said, "I turned the AC off before you came over... I know you get cold."

And this is what I'm realizing is typical Ryan. He wants people to think he's a douchebag, and sometimes he does a pretty good impression of one. But, he quietly goes out of his way to make sure you are happy, comfortable, etc. So maybe the AC thing doesn't seem like much, but it made me really happy.

I'm feeling like a total loser tonight.

Last night, Ryan and I were supposed to watch a movie together. I texted him after class and he said he was out to dinner with a supplier and could we do it today. (I think he was lying; I got home and saw there was a Steelers game on.) Since we had originally planned on going to a wine tasting tonight, I was free, so I said yes. I looked forward to it all day. I came home from the gym, showered, made dinner, made myself look nice, looked at the clock, and wondered why he hadn't called yet. When we first started hanging out, he always called and followed through with plans. I never had to be the one to call him. So finally I texted him around 8. He asked what I was up to and what I'd been up to today. When I asked about the movie, he said it was late and he was tired because he had a meeting at 6:30 this morning. This, coming from the guy who stayed out with me till 2:00 a.m. on weeknights this summer. So whatever, I know he's definitely not into me.

Then I texted Pete, and he called, and when I told him I had been all dressed up with nowhere to go, he invited me out on his date with him. There was no way I was doing this for several reasons: 1. He had already been telling me about his girl and how sure he was of going home with her tonight. I didn't want to be the third wheel. 2. I was already in my pajamas, contacts out, doing dishes. I didn't want to get dressed up again. But he was very sincere in his invitation and made an effort to persuade me. It was sweet, but made me feel pathetic.

Whatever. I had a productive evening (I cooked! And did dishes!). I have a lovely weekend ahead of me. Tomorrow night I'm going to watch I Love You Man. Saturday I'm going hiking at Matthiessen State Park, then going to my friend's birthday party at The Spot that night. (Unfortunately, Ryan will be there, which makes me feel uncomfortable since he obviously doesn't like me. But after a few French Martinis, I probably won't care.) Sunday I get to go out to lunch with a friend I haven't seen in a while, then I might go to the Bucktown Arts Fest. It's going to be fabulous.

Soooo....

I have mixed feelings about my new position.

Pros:
Get to work with different grades (sometimes the little kids are fun because they get so excited)
Get to teach however I want
Fewer lesson plans
No papers to grade
Difficult classes are only there for 35 minutes

Cons:
Have to be super organized; no down time during the day
Doing the same lesson over and over gets boring
There's no way I'm going to learn all these kids' names
I miss my friends at my old school

In summary, I think I like my new job. It's fine for this year, at least.

In other news, my trainer wants me to set goals. Perhaps this is because, after 6 months of seeing her, I've only lost like, 5 pounds. She wants me to lose 5 pounds a month. We will see how that goes.

Friday I got so sick from drinking, and it was so stupid. We got to the bar at 2:00, and I knew I didn't have too long to drink, so I started sucking down vodka cranberries. I don't know what my problem was; I usually don't drink to get drunk. Pete dropped me off around 4:30 and I immediately went and stuck my fingers down my throat. I wanted that alcohol out of me. But it was too late; the damage was done. I was so sick the next day, and I had to go to our back to school carnival. I'm just thankful I didn't throw up on a board member. I managed to make it home before the puking started again. I finally felt better that evening and drove out to Country Club Hills to meet Nancy at Sonic for a cherry limeade. It was lovely.

Saturday night was really cool. I was so excited to sleep with the windows open and break out my warm Tinkerbell pajamas.

Ryan is back from Memphis. He emailed me yesterday to ask if I wanted to go to a wine tasting on Thursday. Then he emailed this morning to ask if I could RSVP because for some reason he couldn't do it from work. When I emailed him back to tell him there were no more spots left, it sparked an all-day exchange of emails. Basically I said our friends had gone skydiving, and he said he wanted to go, and I said he was crazy, and he called me a wimp, and I got insulted (because I'm NOT), and he said prove it, and I basically told him that I was down with whatever kind of dangerous activity he came up with. We have plans to hang out tomorrow night and watch I Love You, Man, which we've both been wanting to see.

Pete and I had a conversation last night about love. We argue about this on a regular basis. For as many romance novels as I own, you think our roles would be reversed, but I am the cynic and he is the romantic. Out of all the relationships I see (among people 40 and younger), I think maybe about 5% of them are happy and healthy relationships. I could maybe go as high as 10%, but that's it. And it's terrifying because even if you do find someone you love and want to marry, there's no guarantee it will last. I've heard too many stories about men leaving their wives for younger women. So I feel pretty hopeless about love, but Pete is convinced there's someone for everyone. My phone's right in front of me, so here's a direct quote from his texts: "Although this sounds gay, I do believe everyone has their one true love. The problem is, too many people mistake lust for love.... I think the chances of finding that person are very high. Most times that person already exists in their lives, they just don't see them." So sweet, but I don't buy it. There are some people lucky enough to find the loves of their lives, but let's face it, statistically, it's just not possible for it to happen for all of us. For once, it was me saying, "Pete, Pete, so naive..."

So that's my life this week. "It's not always pretty, but it's real..." (I like Rodney Atkins.)

Tonight I was over at Nina's, up on the roof of her building watching the sunset. (This is something I love about Nina- she's really into sunsets. We were hanging out, and she happened to glance out the window, and she says, "Oh my gosh, that sunset is amazing. We have to go watch it." and races to the door.) So all of a sudden Nina's eyes get huge, and she says, "Don't move." I immediately do the opposite of what she says and try to run, because I know there must be something that flutters behind me. Nina grabs me and mushes my face against her chest, wrapping her arms around my head, making me unable to see anything. When the danger had passed, she told me there had been a butterfly. Seriously? At night? On the roof of a 28 story building? They really do sense my fear and follow me around. Anyway, I love her for protecting me. She knows I'm truly terrified and doesn't just point and laugh when I have to run from them.

Rachel has done the same thing for me. There was one time we were at this lake, and she was sunbathing topless (which made for an interesting moment when a cop came and busted us for swimming in the lake). A giant monarch was headed straight for us, and there was nowhere to run since we were on rocks by a lake. So I shrieked and dove for Rachel, who I knew would cover me. She also sheltered me against her topless bosom until it was safe.

These are good friends.

I mean this sincerely. I watch the news, and I hear people's reactions to it and see what people are saying on Facebook, and I worry. Just like Wemberly.

My main concern is these town hall meetings. I think it's a great idea, and I think it shows that Democrats are very willing to listen to people's concerns and straighten out misconceptions. (Of course, I acknowledge that this view is biased since I'm a Democrat myself.) But it really scares me that people are showing up to these events with weapons, filled with hate. WEAPONS. That's kind of a big deal. And it doesn't seem like people think it's a problem!

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It scares me that people like Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, and Bill O'Reilly are getting people all worked up. I think it's only a matter of time before something really bad happens. And the scary thing is, my "friends" on Facebook think these out-of-control town meetings are a good thing.

Then yesterday, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America officially stated that they are cool with gays and lesbians. Kind of. Basically, they agree to disagree within the church, but it is an inclusive thing and worded positively. Tomorrow, they will vote to decide if gays should be allowed to join the clergy. To me, this is exciting. I do not believe homosexuality is a sin. I'm not going to write an essay about it on here (at least, not today). It would take a while to defend myself, and I'm tired. But I can do it, and I can do it using the Bible.

Anyway, the point is, I'm really happy with what my church is doing. However, the other types of Lutherans are very upset. And since I went to an LCMS college, I've been hearing obnoxious comments on Facebook all day, such as this:

"It would be so crazy cool if people actually stood up for what the Bible says instead of just what they think. Then maybe we'd have the guts to show ALL our friends the Great Physician instead of just telling them they aren't sick. Then maybe they-like us- could be healed instead of dead. Crazy cool."
(Wow, I really hope none of the people I'm annoyed with read this blog... But oh well, this is my place to vent.)

People are even saying that this is why GOD SENT A TORNADO TO MINNEAPOLIS. (That's where they're voting on this.) I'm not even joking. Not only is it in the article I posted a link to, but people are saying this on Facebook.

I don't understand why people are so outraged over this. First of all, it's not even their church. If they don't like it, what difference does it make? (This is my argument in favor of gay marriage. If you oppose it based on your religious views, what right do you have to force those views on someone else? If you don't think gay people should be allowed to get married, then your church shouldn't have to do it. But you shouldn't make everyone live according to your morals when it's not hurting anyone.) Secondly, I really hate the condescending tone everyone takes on Facebook. Like they know the True Gospel, and feel sorry for the rest of us who are unknowingly sinning. I believe the Bible is the word of God, but there's a lot of room for interpretation. We all have different ideas (based on scripture), and there's no way of knowing what's right or wrong. I seriously doubt God would send someone to hell over their views on communion or infant baptism. Ok, anyway (sorry, I'm getting all upset), it just really bothers me to hear such an exclusionary attitude. When you read the Gospels, Jesus is all about love and forgiveness and including everybody.

So in conclusion, I'm scared about all the anger and hate that I'm noticing lately. I'm scared that Christians, the people who are supposed to be setting a good example, are often found in the middle of all this mess. It's just really upsetting, and I'm kind of afraid to see what's going to happen next.

I decided I need an incentive to get my butt to the gym. Being healthy is apparently not enough. I realized I need someone to bribe me, but there's no one really in that position, so I will have to bribe myself. I'm not going to set goals in terms of pounds lost, just the amount of times I go to the gym. And strength training doesn't count, because that's an appointment I have with my trainer. I'm only counting the times I go on my own.

So, after 25 visits to the gym, I get the tattoo I've been wanting.

50 visits= dress from Anthropologie

75 visits= tickets to the opera or some other event

100 visits= Wii with Mario Kart

125 visits= diamond earrings

150 visits= trip to Phoenix to see Rachel (as per her request)

How am I going to pay for these things? With a credit card. It's give and take, friends; I can't be responsible in every aspect of my life. :)

Today I was really angry for no apparent reason. I knew it was irrational, but I really wanted a good fight. And so, when Pete texted me something that was vaguely annoying, I jumped all over it. Accusing him of being embarrassed to be seen with me in public, calling him names for insulting my intelligence, etc. In the middle of the angry texts, I wondered to myself why I was taking it out on him. I think it's pretty common to argue with people you trust and are close to because you know they'll still love you, but I'm not especially close to Pete, and I don't trust him. But then I thought, Pete doesn't hold grudges, and he's not easily upset. Perfect.

When the name-calling started, Pete called. He was upset. Oops. He was going on and on about something, but I didn't really hear what, because I was too busy yelling over him. It felt really good. But then I apologized and told him I didn't really mean it, I was just in a bad mood and needed to yell at someone. He said (in complete shock and horror), "Oh my God, you're crazy, just like every other woman." I guess Pete's never heard me get angry before. I took this as an encouragement to yell about something else. I believe my rant ended with something like, "I have to go. I'm at the gym. Maybe if I spend enough time on the elliptical I'll finally be thin enough for you to hang out with." Poor Pete.

But we're still friends. And after arguing I went to the gym and had a great workout. So maybe Pete should piss me off on a regular basis.

So at the wedding on Friday, I had another bridesmaid's boyfriend (who was sitting at the table with Ryan) ask how we knew each other. That way it would just seem like casual small talk, but it would tell me what's going on. She just told me that he said it was just friendship. So, mystery solved.

But I still want to jump him. Would that be okay? :)

I had a lovely day with Ryan yesterday. He called and asked what I was up to, and since the answer was "thinking about all the lesson plans I should be writing but not doing anything," I agreed to go to Alsip with him to pick up his new entertainment center. It's just so easy and enjoyable to be with him, and the whole day felt so... domestic, which is not something I'm used to with guys. Several people at Wal-Mart referred to him as my husband, which was awkward. While we were waiting for Ryan to get the car, this nice guy who worked at Wal-Mart started asking for love advice, and I wasn't sure what to tell him. He's been with a girl for 5 years, and she refuses to get married. What should he do?

We stopped at Portillo's for lunch, then went back to his place and assembled the entertainment center while singing along to country music. He dropped me off at my place to shower and grab a movie, and then we ordered pizza and watched Pineapple Express and enjoyed his new tv and surround sound.

During all this, not once did I pick up a relationship vibe. So I'm back to thinking we're just friends. The not-knowing is making me crazy, but I don't want to bring it up because then things would just be weird if he doesn't like me like that. Unfortunately, the more we're together, the more I do like him like that.

After leaving Ryan's around 11 (he had to be up early today to fly to Memphis), I headed over to Sarah's, where we sat on her balcony and obsessed and plotted for hours. I love her for being just as crazy as I am. She is usually pretty accurate in her assessments of relationships, and even she can't figure this guy out. And now he's in Memphis for the week, so I have to wait till next weekend to get more clues. Maybe I should just jump him next time I see him.

Finally!!!! They've been dating for like, 7 years! I'm so happy for them. The ceremony was absolutely beautiful. It was outside at the Cheney Mansion in Oak Park at 6:00 p.m. It was sunny but not too hot with a nice breeze. You could just feel the love radiating from (almost) everyone in attendance. (There were a few drama queens.) Everything went perfectly. Then came the reception, which was crazy and loud and hilarious because Ray was a Marine and is now in the Navy, so there were lots of military guys there. After some of the dance moves Ray was doing with the other guys, I wondered if perhaps Jen is questioning the sexual identity of her new husband.

I don't have any pics right now, so I will post them when I get them. That's a lot more interesting than me just rambling on about things.

BUT- I am very confused about Ryan. Still. He was a hit at the reception; his whole table loved him. It was nice because I could hang out with other people and not worry about him. As usual, he was just friendly when we were in public; he didn't even ask me to dance. He did tell me I looked nice, but isn't that kind of obligatory?

After the reception we stopped by my place for a little while, where we continued our Love Wins argument and then started in on healthcare and population control. I got all worked up (as usual), and he finally commented that he actually does agree with me sometimes, but just doesn't want to admit it because it's more fun to try to figure out my logic. He is logical, I am emotional. This can be very frustrating.

While we were at my place, Pete texted at like, 2 a.m. that he'd had a very interesting night. I asked why, he said it was funny, and I asked why again. Ryan saw what we'd been saying, and it was his turn to get all worked up. I think he was upset that Pete was texting so late in the first place, and then he started going on and on about how he knows Pete's type, and how Pete needs constant validation and attention and blah blah blah. Then Ryan said, "You can tell Pete to go (obscene comment)." Well, I was in a silly mood, so I texted Pete, "Ryan says you can go _____." Pete was not amused and made a threat, and then Ryan made a threat in return and I could not believe how ridiculous the whole thing was. Ryan just went on and on. We decided to go to his place, and Ryan continued to rant about Pete. So maybe he was jealous? I told him Pete and I are just friends, so that's probably not it. Who knows.

At Ryan's place we hung out at watched TV. We actually do agree on one thing- a strong dislike of Michael Vick. We were sitting close together on the couch, and I got the feeling he wanted to make a move. I won't go into details because it's just not exciting, but it seemed like he was waiting for me to do something. I tried to give him some signals, but I guess he just didn't get it, because nothing happened. I do not initiate, at least in this kind of situation. So I finally went home around 4. He hugged me twice, thanked me for a nice evening, and walked me to my car.

So I don't get it. I still have no idea what's going on between us. I'm afraid I may have messed things up after an incident last Wednesday, which I will not write about on the internet. You can call me if you want to hear about it. :) What sucks is that he will be out of town again, this time for a week. He leaves tomorrow for Memphis and won't be home till next Monday. So I'll have to deal with a whole week of wondering what's going on. But at this point, I think we are just friends, which is fine. I do enjoy hanging out with him, and I'm okay with it just being that. But I need to know so I know if it's okay for me to be seeing other guys. It's making me crazy!!!

I feel the need to write about something I am all worked about about.

This morning, one of my Facebook friends posted a link to an article by Chuck Norris about something in Obama's healthcare plan. It was about parenting programs that the government wants to provide in low-income areas. The "well-trained and competent staff," would "provide parents with knowledge of age-appropriate child development in cognitive, language, social, emotional, and motor domains ... modeling, consulting, and coaching on parenting practices," and "skills to interact with their child to enhance age-appropriate development."(The quotes are taken directly from the original document; they're not Chuck Norris's words.) The girl who posted it agreed with Chuck Norris.

I made the mistake of politely disagreeing and saying that I thought something like this would be great. It prompted reactions from a bunch of other people I went to college with, talking about how awful this was, and who is the government to tell us how to parent, and soon they'll be trying to make home-schooling illegal, and it's a slippery slope. (By the way, I really hate the phrase "slippery slope.")

I strongly disagree, but I don't want to continue to argue, because clearly I am the minority, and I seriously doubt anything I say would change their minds. But I have some comments I need to make.

Do they have any idea how bad things really are in some places? This program is clearly not designed for parents like them, who are educated and make their children a priority. They may think it's classist to say that low-income people don't know how to parent, but let's face it- in many cases, it's true. I'm tired of kids subsisting on diets of Flamin' Hots. Wouldn't it be great if parents could be educated about proper nutrition? Our PE teacher was shocked to discover last year that her younger students didn't know how to do somersaults. Wouldn't it be nice if parents were taught how to play with their kids? (Which, by the way, I have an amazing cousin out in CA who runs a program that does just that.) My friend once ran into one of her former students at a laundromat. This girl was in 8th grade and had just had a baby. My friend said that the poor baby's head was wobbling all over the place, and she had to show the girl how to support his head and explain the importance of that. Wouldn't it be helpful for young parents to be taught about child development?

I really don't think the goal of this program is to invade people's homes and make them parent according to someone else's values. People need to be educated, and this is a good start.

P.S. I'm not trying to argue about healthcare reform, because honestly, I don't know enough about it to say much. I'm specifically talking about this parenting program that Chuck Norris refers to as "Dirty Secret #1 in Obamacare."

I finally got my teaching assignment yesterday. I will be the Reading Enrichment teacher at another school in our district.

At first, I was nervous/upset. There was about an hour where I thought I was going to throw up. Reading Enrichment is a special area class, so I'd be like the art or PE teacher. 850 kids is a lot. And I see each class for just 35 minutes once a week; that doesn't seem like enough time to get much done. I was sad that I won't have classes I see every day where I can really build those relationships that are so important to me. And I was so nervous about starting at a new school!

But then I remembered that I did request a reading position for this year, and it's pretty cool that they gave me what I wanted, even though I'm not actually certified for it yet. And I remembered that my friend who used to teach next door to me is the PE teacher there. He texted me when he saw my Facebook status and told me we'd be on the same team and have the same lunch period, so I don't have to worry about who to sit by at lunch. Then his wife (who also teaches at that school) wrote on my wall, welcoming me to the family. She is excited that I'm coming and invited me out for drinks next week with her and some of the other teachers. She is going to introduce me around so I'll have friends. So the part of me that's scared of being the new girl is feeling reassured.

Then I started thinking about the position. I talked to my new principal, and I have total freedom. She's heard a lot about how I teach and thinks it will be perfect for me. I won't have to deal with textbooks; I can use whatever methods I want to help kids become better readers. I have tons of ideas already.

Also, I think this position will be less work. Instead of 25 lesson plans per week (5 subjects a day, 5 days a week), I'll only have to do 7, one for each grade level. Although I am nervous about teaching kindergartners! Also, grading will be really easy. It's pretty much just based on participation, so I won't be bringing home stacks of papers to grade every night. This is ideal because I start practicum this year and won't have a lot of time for work stuff outside of work.

One thing that still makes me nervous... My classroom is right next to the principal's office. I've heard she's nice, but still... what if I have to yell at the kids, and she hears me? I'm going to have to be on my best behavior.

But overall, I'm excited!

Yesterday I woke up hungover from a night of drinking with Ryan the night before. I'm still in like. :) We were supposed to go to a concert at Millennium Park- Mendelssohn, Haydn, and Schumann were on the program. I told him this several times. We got there a little late, and as we were approaching the band shell he was like, "I think you're lying about the concert. I don't hear any music." I said that maybe they were at a quiet part, and he looked at me like I was crazy. When we got to the band shell, it was completely packed, so there was nowhere for us to sit. But Ryan was like, "What is this??? It's not even a concert; they're just playing classical music through the speakers." I pointed out the orchestra down in the orchestra pit (which was hard to see), and he was like "Orchestra? What? I thought we were going to a real concert, like with a band!" Apparently this boy has never even heard of Mendelssohn. This cracked me up, because he is very educated, has been all over the world, has a great job, and just tends to know a lot about everything. So I was trying not to laugh too hard, and he was accusing me of tricking him. We ended up just walking around and seeing the Bean and the fountains and all that. He really liked it. Then we had some drinks at Skylark and hung out at his place for a while.

So I woke up yesterday with a bit of a hangover. I realized I had no plans for the rest of the day, so I called Nancy. I went over to her house (she lives with her parents in Frankfort) and we laid out and worked on our tans and ran through the sprinkler like we were kids again. When I left, I stopped by Oberweiss for ice cream to make it the perfect summer day.

Nina called when I got home, and we had a lovely dinner at Panera. We grabbed some sangria on the way home and hung out at my place, watching Big Love on my dvr. Sangria is like, our thing, and we actually had a lot of fun. I haven't giggled with her in a long time.

Anyway, yesterday was the perfect summer day. Now I'm waiting for the letter from my school district (which should come today) telling me what I'll be teaching next year. As soon as that letter comes, everything will change. School starts in less than two weeks, so I'll have tons of stuff to do. I'm glad I got to have a fabulous day like yesterday before the craziness starts.

Day 1

Mom and I drove up through Wisconsin to a tiny town in the U.P. called Silver City. Our hotel was right on Lake Superior.

(That is me in the water, screeching because it's cold.)

That night, we went hiking in Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park. It truly was the wilderness. We didn't see any other people, and I have never heard silence like this before. There weren't even any sounds from birds or crickets. It was beautiful and peaceful and just what I'd been hoping for.

Since we were going to be hiking at night in the wilderness, my mom and I thought we should take some precautions. Here is my mom with the rape whistle, pepper spray, and pocket knife. She is trying to look tough/ninja-like.


The purpose of the hike was to look for glow-in-the-dark mushrooms. My mom thinks mushrooms are fascinating and was very excited. She even brought her Field Guide to Mushrooms on the hike. Although we did not see any glow-in-the-dark mushrooms, we saw plenty of normal ones, like these. She was thrilled.


Other highlights of the hike included a tree falling in the forest behind us and a shooting star.

Day 2

We drove to Mackinac Island. On the way, we stopped and saw Bond Falls.


The cool part is that they just went up and up and up; there were so many layers. Of course, I had to go in.




My mom was content to just look at them.

(I'm mad this picture didn't turn out; she looked super cute.)

Then I broke the law and picked a wildflower to wear behind my ear.



When we arrived on Mackinac Island, we were not impressed. It was busy and crowded and our hotel was not as nice as we thought it would be for the price. Also, I expected all kinds of cute boutiques on Main Street, but it was all just fudge stores and tacky souvenir stores. However, that did not stop my mom and me from buying Mackinac Island sweatshirts. We actually needed them- it was cold! After dinner we got ice cream and walked around a little, and the island grew on me. I especially liked the park- I walked around barefoot and the grass was soooo soft.

Later on at the hotel, my mom called me over to examine the painting in our room. At first glance, it is a soothing pastoral scene. But when my mom looked closer, she noticed the boy laying facedown in the grass.


We spent several minutes speculating on the cause of his demise. Gored by one of the goats, perhaps? Finally, we realized he is drinking from the creek, which doesn't actually look like a creek because it's so dark and looks a lot like more grass. We thought this was hilarious.

Day 3

We got up early and rented bikes. Both of us were nervous, as we had not ridden bikes in over ten years. Rachel has often commented about me engaging in risky behavior; I thought it was pretty funny that I was scared to get on a bike. But after a shaky start, the saying "it's like riding a bike" proved true, and we had a lovely bike ride. I pretended I was Anne of Green Gables had one of those moments where I thought, "Nothing could be better than this." Before we knew it, we'd gone all the way around the island- 8.2 miles. We weren't even out of breath.


We then had one of the most delicious lunches ever at Mary's Bistro. The Caesar salad was good, but the homemade potato chips with bleu cheese sauce were AMAZING. We walked around on Main Street and got some fudge (of course), and I did some serious damage in an adorable boutique.

(This is our hotel on Main Street.)

We left the island in the early afternoon and headed to our last stop, Grand Rapids.

Day 4

We attended the early service at Mars Hill, where Rob Bell preaches. My mom and I listen to the podcasts almost every week, but she had never been there before. This church is truly amazing; I don't know what else to say about it. This is a church that gets what it means to be a church. Everything about it is very plain because most of their money goes to helping under-resourced people. Rob Bell is always talking about how our God is the God of the oppressed, so we need to make sure we're not involved in oppression, which is obviously very difficult. Anyway, there's just this amazing energy at Mars Hill. We sang some of my favorite hymns and worship songs, and Rob Bell's teaching was profound and thought-provoking.

On the way back to Chicago we had planned on stopping in Saugatuck or some of the other cute towns along the coast, but we were broke and anxious to get home. All in all, it was a lovely trip. I'm so glad we went!