whew! we just got home a little while ago from being in michigan this weekend. it's bittersweet to come back here after seeing friends and family. this weekend i felt especially close to my family -- i don't know if it was because of my grandfather's recent diagnosis with myelofibrosis (!), or the pleasant discovery that even though they have kids i still have lots in common with my cousins, but i felt truly happy to see everyone. usually there's some sort of feeling of family duty that seems to almost overshadow the pleasant experience of being together, but i didn't get that very much this time. who knows: maybe it's because steve is more and more comfortable with everyone, so i can be more relaxed. ??? whatever it is, it was great. i was glad that i was there.
today was equally nice: i went to my friend sarah's shower. i am not usually a fan of the bridal shower. i think opening piles of gifts is cool, but it's weird to do it in front of a bunch of people. and showers (whether they're bridal or baby) usually have such an odd blend of older aunts and friends-of-the-celebrant, that it's sometimes hard to feel comfortable in such mixed company. however, we can't attend our good friends' wedding in july, so i was really honest-to-god glad that i could be at their shower today. i definitely "owed" it to them in terms of how much they mean to me, and the event was pretty dang nice, to boot. i got to see a couple of other friends and it was all sunny and nice out. not bad at all...
maybe i'm just getting older and all of this "i was soooo happy to just see so-and-so" is an outward sign of some sort of maturity i had been missing. maybe it's related to my having finally gotten my day-job under control, and now i'm trying to find some sort of balance and appreciate the people that mean a lot to me. or maybe somehow my hormones and the weather conspired to just put me in a good mood all weekend. whatever it was, i'm grateful, and it was awesome to see all of the people i love so much.
which brings me back to where i am now. it's still hard to come back to chicago and feel like it's home when all of the people we love are concentrated in a place four hours away. i think we'll have to start recruiting them a bit more energetically. and maybe even getting out of the apartment here a bit more often to make friends locally!
as we drove back tonight, we were listening to the CD we had made for our wedding reception. and we were singing at the top of our lungs. we spend plenty of hours together when we're tired or feeling anti-social, and there aren't nearly enough of them when we're singing at the top of our lungs. granted, it would have been even more awesome if we weren't driving through gary indiana in the dark, but i'll take it anyhow. quality time can be hard to come by.
so here i am, getting cheesy on a sunday night about the value of my friends (who really are the only people reading my dorky little blog anyhow)... i was going to write about how indignant i am over rush limbaugh comments about the abu ghraib prison scandal. steve then pointed out that everyone had heard his comments weeks ago and that i really need to get more up-to-date on my newspaper/New Yorker magazine subscriptions. i guess i'm just not cut out to write a blog of any sort of significance. so maybe it's good that i was feeling cheesy about how great my friends are anyhow, since that gave me alternate writing fodder. man, i am thinking so many random thoughts about everyone tonight. i am so fucking blessed with good friends.
zac: i absolutely love the loretta lynn album. she rocks, and so do you.
(tell penny to come to chicago for spa weekend!)
alex + sarah: you two rock. i hope you enjoy your noritake colorwave and the accent plates. i almost bought you those instead, but i figured i would buy you something less breakable. :)
erin: you are a great girlfriend. you are also the uber-bridesmaid and i wish i knew you way-back-when so i could have honored you with some such role in our big day. and of course, it would have been great to see ben there all dressed up in a monkey butler suit since he was so dang handsome for your wedding!
tom: you'll never see this (although alex probably will and may relay this to you) but i was excited to hear about your new company today, and i'll be doing my worried "becoming my mom" thing while thinking about you and ben
christy + brian: i can't believe our schedules overlapped in such a crappy way. i am excited to hear what in the heck you did while you were in chicago!
rebekah + minh: dammit i am dying to know where you are moving! rebekah, please write and tell me what you've decided!
tiffany: i haven't heard from you and with your birthday coming up, you are on my mind! did you get my email about how i saw 'giddyup' activity books in every airport i've been in lately?
keenan: please move here. it is fun here and your residency will ROCK if you move here. i swear!!! and you'd better bring that awesome wife of yours!
becky: i hope you had an awesome birthday! please upload more photos of our buddy liam. :)
tasha + john: i can't believe we missed you guys this weekend. we have the most rotten luck. maybe the next time that you're coming here while we're in michigan we can make plans to meet up in kalamazoo or something!
wendy: i hope your pregnancy is going well. i really want to see you with a big fun round belly! i bet you are a super sexy mom-to-be!!! i wish you could bring lucie here so we could have a fun girly day on the town!
barbara + bob: man, i can't wait to visit you in vermont. have i told you yet that vermont is one of the favorite places that my family went to while i was growing up? and i word that in such a weird way because it wasn't just one of MY favorite places, it was one of OURS. and your new place looks so awesome up-northy in the photo!
barbara + bill: i know you're never online (and therefore not reading this) but i think of you lots and definitely owe you a phone call!
chuck + sharon: i am so dang excited that you're working at the library! i hope you let sharon go watch your ultimate frisbee games! and i hope she's not too busy with "my gal friday" to make it to cheer you on.
bruce + vanessa: we went to Culver's Butterburger for dinner tonight (yum!) and i thought 'bruce would really dig this place" and steve agreed. seriously, for some reason, i thought of you. and i somehow during the shower today i got into a random conversation about childrens' theatre and how awesome vanessa is for her prison work.
man, my friends rock. so now all we have to do is get some of them to move here.
or add to them, i guess. i mean, we like the people we know here so far. not enough for me to be thinking specific sorts of "shout-out" things about them, but i'm optimistic that will happen some day.
i guess until then i'll just have to write my little love note shout-outs to my peeps back in A2. you guys really are the best...
with love from chicago...