a close shave

every year nick has a ritual head shaving. in carefree days of our youth this was a two step process.

step 1. cut a mohawk....enjoy it for awhile...maybe even be ridiculous a bit.

step 2. shave it all off.

step 3. grow it all out for another year.

now that we've entered the time of our lives when we have to be serious and old step 1 gets skipped over (except for maybe a moment at home) and we move on to steps 2 and 3.

we move on and we take pics.

we move on and we take pics and we celebrate my hair being the longest again.

the calm [orange] before [after] the storm

picture from thechicagoist.com

Wednesday night we had a storm. a MASSIVE storm. and we were on the nice calm side of it. it was not nice everywhere.

the tornado sirens went of in the loop for the first time in a LONG time. lightening overwhelmed WGN's weather sensors.

and then the sky got weird. all orange-y. so I took pics. (and am crossing my fingers that these storms stay away this weekend while camping)

blackberries!

for me the summer means fruit.

yes it also means no school, lots of bike rides, beach times, reading time, craft times, but most importantly it means fruit.

smoothies for breakfast, fresh fruit for lunch, fresh fruit for snacks, with yogurt and granola, on oatmeal in the morning, atop my salad, basically: fruit get in my BELLY!

so when the flyer for a market I'd never heard of crosses my path and they have blackberries on sail for $0.99 as opposed to the $3.49 my normal store was advertising...all I have to say is blackberries? YES PLEASE!

so I ventured to this unknown store....and bought 12. considered 20 but bought 12. 4 1/2 pounds of delicious blackberries for $11.88. I left a few out to be enjoyed in their freshness, and froze the rest to be enjoyed as the moment comes.

summer cycling....the first 50 miles

several rides on the trail

no pictures here..too busy riding!

2 picnics with nickface

one trip to a hot dog stand

and one lazy afternoon at the beach

when the power goes out.....I clean.

last friday it rained.

naturally it follows that the power would go out.

naturally it follows that I'd don my headlamp and start cleaning.

first I washed dishes.

then I made my bathroom sparkle.

then I jumped on the el headed downtown for another type of cleaning. where I cleaned up in the game about books against the english major/english teacher claires.

books vs. reality

I've been reading a lot so far this summer and my books seem to be more exciting versions of the life I'm leading.

I read about a girl who sails solo around the world on a 26 foot sailboat...as I finish that I get ready for my sailing adventure

I read about a guy who hikes the Appalachian Trail....and am heading into the woods to go camping next weekend.

I'm not sure if this means I should be concerned about book number three that I dive into or I should start to dream big.

bike maintenance 101

we went to one of my favorite stores (REI) for a class to talk about taking care of one of my favorite things (my bike) I was going to write a post...but someone (claires) already took care of it. so I will give a link instead.

and then a few thoughts...even though I do know what a derailleur is, i still learned things...all the tools that I should carry on rides but seldom do, how I should clean my bike at least a few times a year rather than my zero times in a few (4) years, how to properly tighten my quick releases, and the good old wiggle woggle.

matching PIPS!

remember how we had matching headband style shortly after I chopped off all my hair to donate it. Well now, a month later we have created matching style again.

this time my hair has grown a bit and can be pulled back into stubby pig tails, or PIPS! as they are known around these parts, and nick's hair has survived one more month without the yearly encounter with the shaver. so now I give you matching pips*.

*it should be noted that while matching headbands happen on a regular basis when nicks hair needs to be out of his eyes, matching pips was only a joke

flesh fest 2010

known to the rest of the world as ribfest, flesh fest is a weekend dedicated to eating meat, piles and piles of delicious barbequed (and yes barbequed in the real sense of the word) meat.

for three years running we've counted down the days, stretched out stomaches, and mentally prepared for ribs, glorious ribs.

year one was sweltering, then poured, then ended with us stranded on the platform at ravinia for 2 hours thanks to a bonus express train that flew through evanston unstopped.

year two was cold. we bundled up, we ventured out, we ate meat, after a disastrous half slab we took notes on meat so we could be better prepared for year three, we ate more meat and finished our bellies off with a good helping of fried potatoes followed by a plate of fried dough. life was good.

year three started strong. we eliminated the poor contenders from the year before, we walked the street, we were ready. this year our group of three had expanded to eight since ribfest coincided with GRADUATION DAY! (yelled as roary gilmore does in the preview for post grad) and the valley/whalen clan were in town for the festivities, which made the whole ticket purchasing extravaganza more complicated ... but we were ready.

we progressed to our favorites from last year armed with 18 tickets to throw down for a full slab right off the bat. and then we met spare rib. and so we took a pic.

and then we ate some ribs. and a pulled pork sandwich. I should have known then that this year would be different. but it was ok pulled pork is still bbq after all. We devoured the slab, sat for a moment to let meat coma pass, too some more pics, this time with the characters of our new favorite game, and went back for ribs round two.

and THEN, on the mention of waffle fries, a completely acceptable SIDE to ribs, the idea of a fish sandwich was thrown out because that would go good with the fries. WHAT??? this is RIBfest not FISHfest. this was bad. but THEN they came back with piles of vegetables. sacred tickets spent on broccoli. some people just dont understand. clearly I need better screening when choosing companions for my day of MEAT. at least we ended with one final taste of what the day was meant to be.

The company was good, but as a kansas city native I live for this day...which perhaps makes me a little defensive.

Air Conditioning - 2 years in the waiting

this afternoon we took the plunge...with a little shove from nick's parents and procured a window air conditioning unit.

Nick's dad is staying here the next two nights, nick's mom saturday night, it's supposed to be in the 80's this weekend. they proposed joint b-day present. NOW. coincidence. I THINK NOT.

so we picked one...took a field trip to home depot to purchase it...and then the boys had air conditioning installation fun all afternoon.

it is now deliciously cool...thanks to 10,000 BTUs per hour and a little peer pressure.

SAILBOAT!!!!!

while the rest of chicago was watching the blackhawks finally clinch the stanley cup in game six against the flyers nick and i were admiring the city from the water aboard the tall ship Windy.

yes, I was a new found hockey fan watching my first game (game 5 of the series) and I even went to take a picture of the art institute lions in their blackhawk helmets.

but nothing could keep me away from my sailboat times.

we got there early...aka with an HOUR to spare after being nearly kicked out of dinner because we were just sitting there...so we took some pics.

lots and lots of pics

and then it was BOAT TIME!!! where I took some more pics.

and I got to RAISE A SAIL! why? because when the asked for volunteers my hand shot up and I exclaimed "ohhhh I volunteer" and then nearly got by mutt kicked by a little kid when lifting the 600 foot sail. yes it actually was 2 little kids and the help of the crew memeber...but still. and then I made nick volunteer.

and of course, I took lots of pretty black and white boat photos because those are my favorite.

How do you measure..measure a summer?

in miles rode?

in rooms cleaned?

in visits to the beach?

in books ready?

in films seen?

in days of website avoidance?

how do you measure, measure a summer?

clearly some are better than others...who wants to clean rooms all summer after all. and so I've chosen 3....which may expand to 4...to measure my summer by and have created my summer log: miles on my bike, books devoured, and days spent avoiding the apartment listings on Craig's List.

summer resolution

to not check Craig's list apt listings for new places to live

since I am still committed to this place for 8 months.

summer vacation

back in the days of student teaching one of my little darlings said to me "ms becker, you went to notre dame, you were a chemistry major, you could make good money....you want to be a teacher now why?"

I looked him straight in the face and said "christmas break and summer vacation"

all seriousness aside - yes as a teacher i get to touch children's lives (not their bodies), impart knowledge on the future generations, awaken in them a love and appreciation of science, help them to become who they are, blah blah blah - I get christmas break and summer vacation.

the kids think its news to me when there are 25 days of school left...sorry I've been counting down since there were 50.

they walk into my room to take their final exam telling me I am sooo done with school. too bad I was soo done weeks ago...remember how the last week you've had work-on-your-study-guide-time.

I am so ready to ride by bike, lay on the beach and ready my book.