Baby Fisher, coming soon to a theatre near you!

Little Bit at 12 weeks

We are so pleased to announce that Baby Fisher, aka Little Bit, will be welcomed into the world on or around July 26, 2012. Annabelle and Little Bit are both in good health, albeit kind of tired.

You're nosy. C'mon. Admit it. You want to know how this all came to be. I would, if I were you.

In short: You really can by everything online!

I searched California Cryobank's online profiles to find a sperm donor who reminded me of my family, both in physical attributes and personality. We were lucky to find a fella who has curly blond hair. He's earned a master's degree in music, and he's compassionate and easy-going. He was perfect for us and the family we are creating.

Baby Bump!

Working with Fertility Centers of Illinois, we explored how this all really works, and Annabelle underwent IUI, intrauterine insemination. Strangely lucky, Annabelle got pregnant on the first try.

Little Bit is the first grandbaby for both sets of parents, and in my family, we haven't had a baby for 21 years. That's a LONG time.

At 20 weeks, we'll be able to find out if Little Bit is a he or she, which we'll be excited to share. I'm already thinking about hot air balloons for the nursery, based on my favorite book as a child, The Travels of J.B. Rabbit.

1, 2, 3, 4, I declare a Blog War*

For the record, I did NOT try to kill Annabelle. Not this week, anyway. And, you should completely disregard that one time when I lit her ponytail on fire because that really was an accident.

Mac'n'cheese RULES!

That is all.

* Though I would be just as happy with a Thumb War.

she may be a fascist, y'all

You know how when people don't like something as "all-American" as apple pie they get called "communists"? I don't think that's such a bad label, all in all, but I'm not fond of the fascists.

Which leads me to Annabelle.

Before last night, she'd never taken a whole bite of macaroni and cheese. For serious. Did I mention this is one of my favorite foods?

After having dental work done on Monday, her mouth has been very sore. Last night, my goal for dinner was soft food. Given the way I inhale mac'n'cheese, I thought that might be something she could try to inhale, too, that might be both soft and filling. You have to know, though, that Annabelle doesn't like: a) cheese, or b) noodles. Making this for dinner was a risky choice, but I'd hoped that the inhalability of mac'n'cheese would make it okay.

I was so wrong. To her credit, she didn't throw up after that one bite of mac'n'cheese, but she definitely wanted to.

Macaroni and cheese was an important part of my childhood. Hell, lots of people would say the same thing. It's a feel-good food for me. It's so strange to me that it's something she can't make herself eat (it's a texture issue). When I think of the staples, I think about mac'n'cheese, tomato soup, spaghetti, BLTs... all things Annabelle doesn't like.

To be fair, there are foods I don't like: blueberries, olives, beets, radishes, cottage cheese, salmon. Who doesn't like blueberries???

When we have kids, they'll either eat everything we put in front of them, or they'll be the pickiest eaters in the city.

Does no one around here remember what happened to "Moonlighting"?

I think "Moonlighting" is probably Annabelle's all-time favorite tv show. She can sing the theme song. She knows all the characters and lots about them and their story lines. She also gets a pained look when the topic of David and Maddie sleeping together at the end of Season 3 comes up. Annabelle prefers to pretend this never happened, that her beloved show was never ruined in such a horrific way. The point: when a lot of the energy of a show and the draw for the audience lies in the chemistry and sexual tension between the two lead characters, changing that dynamic fundamentally changes the show.

Remember "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman"? How about "The X-Files"? Okay, that one got particularly weird when David Duchovny left his starring role, but the change in chemistry between Mulder and Scully, while exciting in a way, was really the beginning of the end. I was happier when it was only Bree Sharp actively chasing Duchovny's "Mulder."

Last summer, I became addicted to "Bones" during my two months off. That show has a phenomenal ensemble cast. Yes, it clearly has two leads -- Bone and Booth -- but it's the entire cast that makes it a great show. That being said, I fell in love with the chemistry between Bones and Booth. The best way I can describe it is that I have a crush on them -- their chemistry, their banter, their friendship, their teamwork, their love of one another. I don't have a clearly identifiable crush on either character or on either of the actors (though I wouldn't kick Emily Deschanel out of bed or anything). I just love all that is Bones-and-Booth as a television pair.

Which brings me to what I've really been thinking about today: why Jane Rizzoli and Maura Isles (of, cleverly enough, "Rizzoli and Isles") can't be a couple. Earlier, I read Dorothy Snarker's recent AfterEllen post "'Rizzoli & Isles' is TV's first lesbian buddy cop show (it just doesn't know it yet)," which I loved. Seriously, go read her post -- she hit on all the loveliness that is the on-screen chemistry these two characters share. The nice thing about this piece is that, while honestly cheering for them to be a couple, I don't think Snarker believes it will happen. Part of me thinks she might even agree with me that it shouldn't happen. Her tone is playful enough to show me two things: 1) This could be a really great thing for tv that will likely be passed by. 2) She can confess her crush on them and their relationship while still understanding that messing with their chemistry messes with the show. She must still remember "Moonlighting."

I made the mistake of reading a bunch of the comments to the post, which reflected what I've seen in some of the questions recently posed to Sasha Alexander (Isles) via Twitter -- fans really DO want the characters to be together. They think it would be a far better show that way. And, they're totally serious. They see the territory opened up by taking the characters from books to the small screen, and while acknowledging that it wouldn't fly with the characters as they've been established in the books, a lot can still change when we're only three episodes into a brand new show.

Dear friends, I learned this lesson already -- when your show feeds on the chemistry between two characters who clearly should be together in your (my) dreamworld, actually getting them together is a sure-fire way to kill the show. It irks me that people fight against this fact.

I'll be the first to admit, though somewhat embarrassingly, that I'm all about these women in a serious way. Snarker is so right about their connection; they are the new crush duo for me. (Sorry, Bones and Booth.) I have already given over too many hours in the past two weeks to reading fan fiction (fanfic) on the internet about the two coupling (most rated PG-13 or higher -- yes, I read fanfic smut; don't judge). I'm contentedly living in my fantasy world where the relationship between these women can be what I and other fans imagine. And as hot as their imaginary sexual relationship is, it's totally not where the show should go.

I think that part of it for me is that I need the saucy subtext to feed my imagination. It's more fun this way.

I must now acknowledge an important part of arguments I'm reading about why they should be a couple -- wouldn't it be an amazing thing for television to see two awesome and happily and openly partnered -- and accepted and loved -- lead women on this show, or any show? It would be an amazing thing. It's 2010, people, and lesbian couples are living happily ever after in a neighborhood near you. Why shouldn't they be honestly portrayed in leading roles just like anyone else? Maybe you've checked and noticed that we aren't progressive enough, as a country, for this to be a successful formula for a tv show. Us queers aren't getting equal rights in so many ways; why should tv be any different? Yes, some states "get it" and allow legal partnerships of some kind, but others -- I'm looking at you, California -- put bigotry into state law. Is one tv show going to change that? No way. Does the show have a better chance of being successful without that? Yeah, I'm thinking so.

In my mind, I keep coming back to "Fried Green Tomatoes." Love that flick. If you read Fannie Flagg's book, it's abundantly clear that Ruth and Idgie were a couple. The 1991 movie the book is based on, however, is a best friends film. When the film came out (and still today, I'd argue), that makes the film open to a wider audience. That film reaches more people than it would if Ruth and Idgie were "out" on screen. Maybe that's a good thing. Maybe more people can see the nuances of their relationship, and maybe because of that, those people become a little more accepting and open-minded. For those of us who cared about the integrity of Ruth and Idgie's relationship, we only need to go so far as the director's commentary (aside from the books) to hear that the filmmaker knew they were lovers all along. Listen up when the commentary addresses the food fight scene -- it's intended to symbolize their love-making. I kid you not.

My point here? Maybe "Rizzoli and Isles" won't be pushing any boundaries. It's probably not going to test the waters out there and see if the public is ready for the two women to be an on-screen couple. I think that would ruin what I, personally, love about the show. When I fell in love with "Fried Green Tomatoes" as a teenager, I wasn't entirely tuned into Ruth and Idgie's relationship (or my own interest in women), but that's okay. There was enough there to let me read what I wanted to when I wanted to between the lines. With what's actually on screen, I think I'm happy with "Rizzoli and Isles" just the way it is. I'm having fun with the characters and their chemistry. The rest is up to my imagination.

things we do for people we love

I figured I better cop to this before someone finds out and things are misconstrued.

I did, in fact, download "Nothin' My Love Can't Fix" by Joey Lawrence yesterday. I didn't dare import it into my iTunes for fear of a trace of it lingering there.

Annabelle wanted it, I swear. She knows I'm pretty good and acquiring tough-to-find things like this, which wasn't available through the iTunes store or Amazon mp3 downloads.

So it's out there, now. You know the truth. Please don't revoke my street cred.

exciting happenings

A couple of notes on things that make me happy:

Heinous, one of my beloved BFFs, is leaving a meh job in a crappy town TODAY. As I type this, she and her father are getting things ready and supervising the movers as they load the truck she and her father will drive cross-country, back to the Midwest, where she'll settle into a house of her own in a town that's accessible by train (for me). This is such a positive move, and I'm so happy she's coming home.

Another of my beloved BFFs has her first book coming out on August 23rd, and the buzz is starting. University of Illinois Press has blogged about it, and it's already ranked well on Amazon, even though it's not yet out. I'm very proud of her.

One of Annabelle's BFFs just started a new blog, which makes me smile. J is a cool kid, and we don't see enough of her. I'm glad we can follow her online.

My brother is engaged in a new project called Just Aesthetics. Check out the blog and the community work they're doing.

Saturday, I'm going to meet my dear lifelong friend MBJ's little guy. He was born in February, and I've been both sick (a lot) and busy (too much). It's sad to me that I haven't met him yet, though I'll kick myself in the butt for not making it a bigger priority. That doesn't matter; what matters is that I get to hang out with her and her little guy this weekend.

Finally, go read Annabelle's blog. She's all around awesome, and I'm lucky to share my days with her. Plus, she's funny. Also, I'm excited to watch her tweet her way through Blogher in a few weeks.

I got a feeling...

Last week, Liz and I declared during our morning train commute that November was going to be a good month. We agreed we were both getting back to our weekday swims. So far, we're 2 for 2. And, unlike October, November has been sunny! Supposedly, we had 22 days of rain in October, when our average is 12. No wonder I felt like crap.

This talk of swimming and sunshine -- it's about feeling good. I get into a cycle of feeling meh and not wanting to exercise, when exercise is clearly something that helps me to not feel so meh, so I'm not exercising and not feeling less meh but feel too meh to get myself to exercise.

But, it's November. I got a feeling that this month's gonna be a good month...

I hate to sweat. I really, really do. Swimming is good because it's low-impact and not sweaty. It's strange for me to think of enjoying anything active, even when there isn't sweat involved, but I really enjoy my swimming.

Especially the first lap.

There's NOTHING like the first dive down, smoothly moving through the water to a steady freestyle stroke. Breathing is so simple, the water is so clear, and the strokes are steady and even. This first lap is as good as it gets for me, and I'd love to have every lap feel this week, this satisfying.

The problem is my breathing. The first lap is great because I've used my inhaler preventatively but haven't yet got my heart pumping. My need for air feel so much simpler in that first lap. I take one--maybe two--breaths across the pool in the first lap, compared with the three I take in subsequent laps. I don't work hard in that first lap. It just feels natural. The rest of them will all be work, and when I get a good lap in there somewhere in the middle of the swim, I feel really good about it.

Besides the asthma, I never learned proper swimming breathing. As a child, I was deathly afraid of the water, and I hated swimming lessons. As an adult, I don't know how to plug my nose underwater without actually wearing nose plugs. I honestly think my breathing would be smoother if I could swim without the nose plugs. (If you can describe how that's done--plugging you nose from inside while you swim--do tell!)

I'll close with a recap of our Halloween festivities with my family, courtesy of Anne. Her costume was truly frightening, by which I mean AWESOME. And, for your reading amusement, here's her story about what happens when I'm not there in the morning to save her life.

a weekend with a mix of rain and sunshine

Anne's parents were here over the weekend. They're good folks, and of course, we had a nice time.

Anne's paternal grandmother died not long before she was born. Parts of her life are well known, while some details remain shrouded in mystery. One of those mysteries has been her early life in Chicago. Anne's Aunt Mary has recently been doing some genealogical research, and between her research and Anne's dad's great uncle, we learned the name of the street she was born on: Grenshaw.

In my summer class on Chicago geography, we worked with a lot of homeowner data in Chicago's Puerto Rican neighborhood, so I learned how to find a lot of information online. I thought, Surely there must be a way to find her birth certificate, so I poked around the city websites. And, I found it. Fifteen dollars later, we knew a bunch more information about Anne's grandmother, including the address for the house in which she was born.

Saturday, we headed over to the North Lawndale neighborhood and found the house.



(That's her dad.)

After her parents flew home on Sunday, her dad emailed a few pictures to his siblings, along with the copy of the birth certificate, and he CC'd Anne and me. It's been a joy to see the responses from his siblings, reading how much it means to all of them to have this information. I'm happy I could give that to them.

Anne ran into one of our neighbors on her way in from the garage on Sunday, after dropping off her parents at O'Hare. We don't really know our neighbors that well, and in a moment of channelling her mother's extroversion, she stopped to chat with him.

He's living with his best friend in an apartment that's made me happy -- from the street, you can see the beautiful red color they painted the living room, and the bay windows have been flanked with beautiful flower boxes with amazing arrangements. The best friend told Anne about his friend, who went about creating the perfect space in that apartment. He wanted that work to continue around him until it was finished, even as he spent the weekend in bed, dying of cancer. The doctors did not expect him to survive the weekend.

The weekend was bittersweet. All around us... life and death, beginnings and ends, discovery and loss, joy and sorrow. Seemed fitting, really, that the weekend was a mix of cold rain and warm sunshine.

all hail... feet...?

Apparently, this is my 150th post to this blog. I wish it was something awe-inspiring, but instead, it's a photo of what I have to put up with at home, courtesy of my iPhone. Clearly, A was BORED and needed ATTENTION.





In other news, I've got several yarn projects in the works. I'm working on a long, skinny scarf knitted from the first two skeins of yarn I dyed. I also started a baby kimono for my friend Suzanne (baby due in November). I dyed some yarn last weekend for a crochet project for a friend of A's, and as I'm unsure whether or not she'll find this blog, I'm not going to tell you what that project is. It's a crochet project, and it'll be cute.

And now, seeing as I've talked yarn and shown you some feet (I was probably trying to knit when those feet happened, actually), I think I'll call it a day.

planning conference travel makes me a little crazy

In mid-July, I'm heading to Louisville for a conference. At the very least, I need to stay overnight for 2 nights. Ideally, I'll stay for four. Sound odd? Here's my logic:

• I could fly in on Tuesday and stay Tuesday night, in which case I'd make the 9:30 plenary session.
  
• I could take the first flight from Chicago to Louisville on Wednesday morning (oh, Southwest, how I love you) and be there in time for the first block of concurrent sessions at 11:30.
  
• I could leave at thee end of the sessions on Friday, only missing one block of concurrent sessions on Saturday and the closing plenary, which is by a guy who gave an address at last year's conference (meaning that if I miss it, my life will still go on).
  
• I could leave on Saturday when the conference is officially done.

One of the problems is the hotels.

The first year I went (2007), I didn't do my homework. I stayed at the conference hotel (call me naive), when I could have stayed equally close to the convention center at a less glam chain. The upside to that would have been free breakfast and free internet, neither of which were provided by the conference hotel.

Last year, I again stayed at the conference hotel, but this time it was because there was nothing else nearby. They'd done some renovations, and I hear some of the guest rooms were nice. Mine was mediocre, as was my stay there. Again, no free internet or breakfast.

This year, I'm so over this no-complimentary-internet-or-breakfast bullshit. I've done my homework. There's a Hampton Inn 4 or 5 blocks away, which seems pretty damn reasonable to me. But the kicker? It costs $20 more per night than the conference hotel (with the conference discount), which I've read is only good if you get into the renovated section. The Hampton Inn, of course, has free breakfast and internet, which the conference hotel does not. Is it worth the extra money? I'm thinking it is because the stay will be so much nicer (if the conference track record stands), and I won't have to shell out big bucks every morning for... a bagel. (Actually, the first year, I got supplies at the local drugstore and ate breakfast in my room everyday.)

Let's not forget about my shout-out to Southwest above. I can fly roundtrip for about $130 (or so I'm guessing with the taxes, etc.). AWESOME. I was all set to book yesterday--flight at least but probably also the hotel--when I remembered: my dad lives in Kentucky. To be specific, he lives about 90 miles south of Louisville. Perhaps A and I could work out some time either before or after my conference to go down and stay a couple of days with him and his wife. I know A would like it out there in the country, and it might be relaxing in the summer.

So, I haven't booked anything. This frustrates me.

This morning, I did go through the conference booklet and assess the actual conference costs: $445 for conference attendance, including 1 banquet lunch and a couple of snacks here and there. Yesterday, my boss advised me to make an effort to stay at or below $1,000 in my conference expenses. If you're playing at home, that means that after conference registration and airfare, I have around $425 for hotel expenses. (And yes, they should be feeding me, but they don't.) That, my friends, means 3 nights at the hotel (and perhaps food) to make it to the $1,000 total. The past two years, the costs have been anywhere from $250-500 more.

I want to lock in my cheeeeeeeap rates for the flights and hotel, but I gotta talk to the wifey, who's out at a client today. (Our schedules yesterday didn't give us much time for talking about this.) This makes me anxious because I'm SURE that by tomorrow, when we've had a chance to talk about it together and with my dad, the prices will have jumped by hundreds of dollars.

Oh, work travel.

second Monday of the week

I thought we already did Monday! Boo!

Highlights of this week have included:

The folks planning the annual "welcome, new students" traditional ceremony seemingly not giving a thought to how my kid student who uses a wheelchair was going to get into the church. No one seemed concerned at all. I'm glad I went and found out where the elevator was. They should have had someone there to guide her, though. It was their program, not mine.

One of my other kids students fell yesterday and broke her jaw, which will have to be wired shut for 4-6 weeks. She's missing the first day of classes for the wiring part of it.

There's something wrong with the nerve/tooth that I had a root canal done in 2 years ago. When I talked to the receptionist at my dentist's office this morning, she said, "You really need to come in today." On the first day of classes. During my busiest time of the entire school year. She couldn't get me in otherwise until Tuesday. So, in an hour, Jennjer (thank goodness for her!) is dropping me off at the train so I can go to the dentist. I'm totally freaked about what's going to happen to my tooth. It's one of my front teeth, and if, for some gawdforsaken reason, they decide to pull it or something that's going to affect how my teeth look, I'm not coming back to work until it's fixed. Hell, I won't leave the house till it's fixed. Sigh.

And Anne is gone. :( I'm excited for her that she's visiting her parents, going to the state fair, and spending the weekend at her parents' cabin. But it's me and the cats toughin' it out together right now, and frankly, they don't give very good hugs.

my hatred of camping is like my hatred of musicals

I always make exceptions.

We had Anne's family reunion camping trip this weekend. Honestly, I wasn't looking forward to it. "Camping" to me means sunscreen, bugs, being dirty, sweating, pay showers, and did I mention bugs? This is the only time we get to see all of her dad's side of the family in one place.

And, it was awesome, as it always is. Her parents are good people, and the family's full of other great folks. There was a lot of stories, laughter, and good food. Plus, the weather was pretty awesome, despite some patches of rain.

I did have to live in sunscreen, and I did get some bug bites. I'll survive.

two-month hiatus? ha!

I'm wondering when that two-month break I have off from work is going to start. For serious. I worked 2 days last week and 2 this week. I was supposed to be in today, too, but I'm home cleaning instead. My dad's coming to town for the first time since I've lived in Chicago, and I spent my cleaning day (read: yesterday) catching up on much(!)-needed rest. In the past couple of weeks, I've worked too often, seen the Indigo Girls and James Taylor (his show was in the rain), hung out with Merdie, bought a wedding dress, gone with Anne to buy her wedding dress, gone with Merdie to buy her attendant's dress, and probably done a bunch of other things I can't remember anymore. Upcoming events include: Dad's visit, camping with Jandyle's family, MBJ's wedding events (I'm in the wedding), a workshop at work on technology and teaching writing, Alison Krause and Robert Plant in concert, going with Merdie to get her birthday tattoo, and stuff associated with my grandfather's health. That ought to get its own paragraph, frankly.

So here goes. My grandfather (Opi, after Opa, which is German for grandfather) gets chronic pancreatitis, which you usually only see in people who are heavy drinkers. He doesn't happen to be one of those, not in the slightest. After several bouts of it that were primarily treated with antibiotics (I'm guessing) and lots of pain meds, he saw a specialist, who diagnosed a benign tumor on his pancreas, that clogs the pancreas with secretions. This is pretty serious, as the tumor could become cancerous. Serious, also, is the treatment for this condition, which is called the Whipple Procedure. It's an 8-hour surgery to remove parts of the pancreas, stomach, small intestine, and gall bladder. This is one of those get-it-right-or-your-patient-is-fucked sort of surgeries, so he's naturally going to see a top-notch doc. Consult is next week, surgery TBD. Right now, I'm just concentrating on the part where we finally know what's causing his health problems.

In other, happier news, I'm crocheting like mad. I made a cute drawstring backpack, and I'm working on a cardigan sweater. This is the first time I've crocheted into the summer months, and I'm still diggin' it.

Alrighty, back to cleaning. I've had a long enough break, and I can no longer put off the sweeping.

foiled again!

On Saturday, we made the trek down to Bloomington for about 24 hours of fun. We had lunch with my dear friend (since high school!) J, who hadn't yet met Anne. It was lovely, as always, to see her and laugh with her. We then headed over to Merdie's place, where we did a little crochet and Food Network before we headed out to dinner. Next stop, Illinois Wesleyan University for their monthly folk series Blue Moon Coffeehouse to see folkrocker Jess Klein. Ever since having a dream about serious flirting with Jess Klein (thank you, prozac dreams!), my love of her music has been amped up to an all-around love of Jess. She's in my five--you know, the list of people with whom it's not cheating. ;) Merdie's love of Jess and her music has also grown over time, so the two of us were super psyched to see Jess. (Anne, who also likes Jess's music, humored our crushes.) We arrived early at Wesleyan to camp out for good seats. I grabbed a spot by the door, Merdie sat on the steps, and Anne tossed her coat on my head while she wandered off to the bathroom. Being the odd kid I am, I sat there with her coat on my head, covering my face, Merdie laughing nearby. The place was deserted save for us... until the door behind me opened and Jess and Darcy, the Blue Moon organizer, walked past and up the stairs to the Green Room. Apparently, Jess gave Merdie a "Huh?" look about my sitting there with the coat over my face, to which Merdie just shrugged. I'm star-struck enough with musicians that I don't really need any help looking stupid in front of them. Needless to say, Jess didn't end up coming home with us. *sigh* The show was great, so we left happy anyway.

It's truly amazing that such big, soulful sound comes out of such a little woman.







My little 3.1 megapixel just isn't cutting it with video compared to some of the bigger-and-better-and-newer models. I tried anyway, and I cleaned up the sound as much as I could (funny, that my brother is a musician/producer with quite an ear, and I can barely clean up sound on a video :P ). This is Jess doing "Real Live Love."

I fail at coffee, day 2

I guess they aren't kidding when they say "4 cups" on the side of the coffee grinder cup. Geez.

Maybe I need to reread the directions. I poured in enough beans to the 4-cup line and filled the house with the intoxicating smell of freshly ground coffee. I figured (and I was running late, as usual, with no time for consulting directions) that they meant 4-cups when it's actually ground. Knowing that my 4-cup mark of beans would made less ground coffee, I assumed it would be okay for my usual 3-cup travel mug. Boy was a wrong. I didn't even bother. While it wasn't sludgy, it was some of the darkest coffee I've ever made. Note to self: the lines on the coffee grinder must be for the amount of beans; make 4-cups of coffee tomorrow instead of 3.

At least we had cold Diet Pepsi.

This came after a night of tossing and turning with no Anne, who spent the night in Milwaukee rather than driving up at 5am this morning for an all-day inter-office training. The cats didn't like sleeping without her, either. Thankfully, she'll be home tonight. And, maybe she'll even remind me to read the coffee grinder directions. ;)

sick kitty alert!

Essentially, Maddy has a cold. She has a viral infection that is settled in her head and luckily not yet in her lungs. On Friday night, she was snotting all over the house--hard to teach a cat to blow her nose. She was cuddly like a sick little one, and when I woke up Saturday morning to continued congested nose whistles, I opted to skip the clinic to take her in to see the vet, which is always a pleasure as cat people know. As expected, she was running a fever, but because her discharge was clear and her lungs sounded good, we're basically on a wait-it-out treatment plan, complete with decongestant and low grade antibiotic (in case there was any bacteria in there thinking of getting going). Poor thing. Her sneezing record on Saturday morning was 21 times in a row. Her brain must have hurt. Since Saturday, she's continued to wipe her nose on me, to cuddle as much as possible, and to burrow as deeply into the bed as possible. I'm convinced that Saturday night's extreme burrowing that had her even under Anne's t-shirt was about a heat-seeking fever. Our best joy of the weekend has been trying to pill the damn cat. It's a two-mom job. Anne wraps her up in a purple blanket until she's a Maddy-Burrito, and I plot my move, as the first time I get her mouth open is the only hope for dropping both pills down her throat. My finger has been royally chomped on, so much so that it looked a little swollen yesterday. Honestly, I'll miss her kittycuddles when she feels better.

Love, Starbucks

Yesterday, there was a package awaiting me, an unordered, unexpected package. A package from Starbucks. To thank me for being a loyal customer. They sent me a cd. Can you believe that?! Because I've had a Starbucks card (automattically bills Anne's credit card to refill itself) for almost 3 years and buy a coffee about once a week with said Starbucks card.

So, let's look at this...Anne buys me Starbucks weekly, and because of it, Starbucks sent me a free cd of good music (so far!).

I win so hard.

our cats are awesome

This comes courtesy of my lovely girlfriend:

Last night I was leaning against the counter, waiting for the chicken to cook, and watching the cats. Piper was sleeping soundly on the rug in front of the wall of bookcases, Maddy was rolling around the kitchen floor, and Ricky was in the window near the bookcases.

Soon Ricky got bored and decided to explore the top of the book cases. I had a couple of light-up buttons we got at a Chicago Sky game a few weeks ago up there, and when he came up to them, he stopped and sat down.

Looked at the buttons.
Looked at Piper, sleeping below him.
Looked at the buttons.
Looked at Piper sleeping.

He picked up one of the buttons in his mouth, walked a few steps over so he was directly over Piper, leaned down to aim, and dropped it square on her head. Piper FREAKED out, looking everywhere but up for whoever dared to disturb her sleep. She settled on hissing at Maddy, who was 15 feet away.

*thunk* Ricky dropped the other button on her head, watched her freak out again, then jumped down lightly beside her (sending her running to hide under an end table by the couch), and began bathing himself, his work done.

I love our cats.

trains may be slow, but basketball games move quickly

Saturday was hot. Ohso hot. Miserable hot. So, of course, we ventured out. We had tickets to see the Chicago Sky vs. Washington Mystic. It was a hot trip down to the UIC Pavilion, and with a Red Lind delay, we were pretty sure we'd miss tip-off. Except we got there, and no one was there. We check and rechecked our tickets. We ended up peeking our heads into Guest Services, only to find out that the game time was 7, not 5 like was printed on our tickets. The kind folks at Guest Services pointed us toward food and drink, and we cooled down before the game.

Around 6, we headed up to our usual seats--we have a four-pack of games we're attending this season with the same seats, this game being game 3 for us. We perused our programs, blew up our inflatable noise maker thingies, and watched the drumline play down on teh court. A young man in a yellow t-shirt approached us after a few minutes. "Are you two along?" Our affirmative response was followed up with something like "Would you like to move seats down to the floor courtesy of Discover?" Dude. We went from seats midway up the upper bowl to seats on the friggin' floor.

Look at how close my toes were to the court!

We had a great view of the game. This blind kid could even read the shot clock at the other end of the court. It was easy for me to follow the game, and it was a lot of fun.

It was like a dream come true for us.

Did I mention we also got free t-shirts and a gift card from Discover? All we had to do was hold up a sign from Discover during the first time-out in the first quarter and look excited about our tickets. Duh. I think we might have been on tv.

Yesterday, I ventured by train to Bloomington to see folks I don't get to see that often. My friend Carol was scheduled to defend her dissertation at 1pm, and knowing the UNreliability of Amtrak, I opted to take the first train out, which came into Bloomington at about 9:35, twenty minutes late.

I was greeted by one familiar face and one new face--my good friend Ophelia from high school and her son, who I'd never met. (They were in Kansas City when he was born, and I was a poor grad student.) I had a fabulous morning with them. Eric taught me about Pokemon while his mom and I drank coffee. He then led us on a walk around downtown Normal before I walked us over to Avanti's for lunch. He's a pizza fiend!

I can see a lot of his father in his face, and he has his mom's creative spirit. It was so good to see both of them. She's such a good force to have in my life, and I'm so glad I got to see her. We had endless phone conversations during high school and college, and it was good to have her energy in my day.

Eric and his mom dropped me off at the dissertation defense, where Carol was trying to laugh and be cool. I'm sure was was pretty damn nervous inside, though.

She did a great job. Her work on the Exeter Book and its riddles has been interesting since we started grad school together, and it was so cool to see how it came together into a huge project that dealt with things like bringing literature to the people and changing what we think literature has to be.

She passed, of course, so I grabbed a shot of her advisor signing off on the paperwork after we all had the chance to applaud for her, my friend Dr. Smartass.

My train was two hours late into Bloomington to bring be back home yesterday, and of course, it was hot and humid in the station. Not a great wait, I tell you, but I did have a great Jimmy John's sandwich while I waited. I'll tell you what, those college towns know how to balance the flavors of the veggies with the right amount of mayo. :P

After a long trip with lots of time spent with our train just sitting (Who are they learning communication skills from, the CTA?) I finally rolled into the house at 11:30. I pooped today, but it's been a few good days. :)

She's takin' a ride on the Sin Wagon.

sin-wagon.jpg
Originally uploaded by bluepoet.

Earlier in the week, my girlfriend warned her friends that a photo of her in an American flag t-shirt with a gun might appear here and that it would obviously be photoshopped. She was, in a way, spot-on. It has been photoshopped. ;) I thought the lyrics from the Dixie Chick's "Sin Wagon" worked will with the photo. We spent Memorial Day weekend in Minnesota, far from the range of cellphones, where her parents have a little plot of land with a cabin/garage that we call the Cabarage. There was fishing and cooking things over a fire, which are the better parts of actual camping. Being up at the Cabarage is so much better, though. Beds and showers and satelite tv. Ah...

we waited 17 years for this?
Originally uploaded by bluepoet.

In other news, zomg cicadas! They're coming out, and they're this strange mix of gross and awesome. I'm totally fascinated!