Sigh

As the mother of a college graduate who is returning to the fold and a college sophmore about to head to her first apartment I have forgotten the excitement/anxiety/anticipation (all those vowel words) about the first day of school. The blueness that those sweet summer days are over, the after dinner runs to Sonic for a treat are a pleasant memory and staying up late watching the fireflies are now in the ago. Forgotten is the feeling of a new start, a renewed energy and the joy of a fresh box of crayons. It is amazing how those memories come crashing back with the simplest provocation......the shrieking of the neighborhood children as they crowd into carpool vans, walking up the streets in their new backpacks childhood gossips on their lips, freshly licensed teens driving too fast up the street, music blaring, devil may care in their heart. Again, one more reminder of why living in this neighborhood is sweetness itself.

The horse you rode in on

When I was growing up in NewSuburbia Illinois I hated it. Or shall I say I hated the idea of it. A subdivision in between two cornfields, no major shopping, at the beginning not even mail delivery. Driving to the neighboring city to the train station, driving miles to the nearest department store, no city vibe, not the experience my heart desired....at the time...... I always yearned for more while playing kick the can, ghosts in the graveyard on endless summer nights and cool fall evenings trying to cheat a little bit of time before the snow covered the ground. Riding bikes on makeshift ramps at construction sites of the new jr high, church and pool....walking to the liquor store with a note from my parents and actually being sold liquor...opening the door of the local ginjoint only to hear yourself be greeted by your parents friends (and promptly walking your underage self out of the place). Suffering hour after hour of plebeian thoughts, midwestern mindsets, puritanical values and big hair........

I fled to the west, disdained my upbringing and started on a new path.....to discover.....what a lovely journey it actually had been to get there. How amazing it was to have the freedom to ride those bikes through construction sites, be known enough so the the liquor store owner would sell you the hootch and knowing if it really wasn't for your folks you would be found out, how crazy it was to be 10 years old and running through the dark neighborhood at 10 at night with your gang, no cell phone, no beeper, no worries....How the plebeian thoughts and midwestern mindsets combined with puritanical values made you safe, cherished, loved...created an atmosphere in which you had a whole town that was your safety net, your cheerleader, your biggest fan....(The big hair, not so much). How wonderful to meet with the people from your past.....how lucky to be given the opportunity to hold one hand out to your future and firmly grasp with the other hand your past...a past full of love, comfort and support.

Reunion

So we were all in flagstaff at a family reunion. A couple of heavenly days with children running amok, delicious food, hiking, grand canyoning, drinking grand canyon brewing company beer (well really just me, nice to be with mormons....meant an endless supply of beer in the little lobby store!) and basketball pick up games. Whenever I attend these events it makes me a little sad as I wish I had been able (made impossible due mainly to geographic location) to know more about my adult nieces and nephews. Luckily there seems to be a bond that has maintained and a closeness that comes from watching a human go from tot to adult. This family is generous of spirit and has a warmth and honesty that comes from having a matriarch who was smart, funny, determined, practical with a well defined idea of "what is the right way". "I'm not sure that is right" and "I'm not saying that my way is the only way, I just think it is the right way".

On top of all of this, I got to spend a few days with my adults, who even tho they truly are adults are still my babies. Seeing them interact with each other and then their cousins...well its worth the price admission (seeing burke and his cousin's husband clint endlessly challenged to basketball games by 10 year olds, hilarious, sweet and a tale to be told through the years!). The icing on the cake was a poolside visit with one of my original babies, cam, her husband and her baby, plus her parents. There is a wonderful moment in life when the people you knew as babies turn into amazing adults and you start to relate to them on a peer level. You still keep the unconditional I'm the auntie love for them but you also realize you want to hang with them on an adult level.

Sigh.....heavenly!

The tweety blanket

The tweety blanket is my blankie. Tweety blanket is about 10 years old. We bought it as the young girl had to have it when we were in tijuana. We had been on a hunt for the ugliest souvenir. This is a contest we have with our good friends. We almost bought a very large cross however the amount of money it would cost to bring it home on the plane nixed that idea. (Very temping as it was lifesize and was on rollers!) Then we almost bought a wooden bar that had tiny teeny little bottles of alcohol and a thatched roof. But then.....lurking in the ceramic shop we found it.....a winnie the pooh and piglet cookie jar. The wonderful ugly horrible thing about this cookie jar is that not only were the colors off (too pastel) but that piglet looked decidedly....um.......gay or a gay stereotype. We had to snap it up. You can't pass stuff like that up. We returned from mexico with gay cookie jar, "gold", a leather san francisco 49ers hat (its stylin), tweety blanket and two fairly traumatized children. A good time indeed!!

Thank you men of Chicago!!

(I wish I had pictures to post but that would have been a bit creepy....)

I'd like to thank all of you men in chicago for making my walk in from the train a glorious one. Not only is the weather fantastic but all of you were as well.....beginning with the guy, with the very well formed worked out butt walking in front of me as I left the train station. Oh thank you kind sir for all the squats you have no doubt done to give me that vision of loveliness....then all the other well shaped men...the older man in the orangey shirt with the khaki pants, very cool sunglasses....the man who looked like he threw 50 pound weights by the look of his arms bulging through his business shirt and the fine italian leather shoes....Much older guy collecting for the veterans on Michigan avenue, clean, crisp, dishy!!! Oh my!!! There are so many others and gentlemen whose eyes I caught...thank you for smiling back. I swear to god it wasthisclose to making out one of you as we passed. Ahhhhh................it IS going to be a great weekend!!!

Yep....Yep I am

So we are playing for the stanley cup. I am still all hoosly over that fact. Seems very chicago our team. Yes yes I know we are the CHICAGO blackhawks, but they seem to embody the city. One big bruiser guy, a couple of young kids keeping their heads down and working hard, a quiet stoic guy from another country impressing the city and a guy with a funny porn mustache. Ah yes, that truly is chicago!

So I'm playing around with all sorts of new stuff and have been keeping my head down for most part this morning. I picked my head up and looked to my right and laughed. I have a poster of the first 10 doctors (doctors??? You have the nerve to say "what doctors??"). Dr. Who. I have this poster from the Dr Who magazine (yes, yes, I know, I am, I know) and I affixed it to my wall. I have david tennant quizically looking at me all day. I think it is because he is trying to figure out how to get into my time and relative dimension in space............

See??

Picture me rollin'

The title is for no other reason than the fact that I have that Tupac song running through my head. Good song as is any that has the line "move smooth as a motherfucker, me and my 9".....

So its sunday. Game 4 of the hawks shark series. Being a true Chicagoan I speak not of it. I simply say Go Hawks and that I can't wait for the game to start. That is it. Nuff said. No mo, no less. Cause I move smooth as a mother fucker.

Dead sexy gorgeous out there. My yard is amazing. I am having a happy suburbanite moment. My coffee, my toast, my balcony and my green green grass of home. Gonna be a hot one but right now sitting out there in my tshirt and little else, it is perfect weather. Cause I move smooth as a motherfucker I guess.

So this morning it seems like the day is full of possibilities. Know for sure I'll be screaming my lungs out during the game with some fun folk and maybe meet some other fun folk. Not sure what will happen after the game but I'm sure I'll be as smooth as a mother fucker....if I could just figure out what that means....