No Computer, What Am I To Do??!?!?!

So, Arlo's computer bit it the other day, and now we are left high and dry, relying on the goodness of our public library for posting, facebooking, and other very important -ings. No, not erotic literature reading.... geesh! Anyway, I felt a need to explain my recent slippage of my almost-as-recent improvement in posting. This is why. Also, while I'm here, I thought I would throw out there that I will be in Baltimore next week. I'm heading in late Wednesday and staying until Monday. I will be attending my Grandmother's funeral on Friday and probably doing a lot of family stuff, but if anyone has free-time that coordinates with my free-time, we should get together. Let me know!
Miss you all!

Kevin's Blog Has Been Mysteriously Absent Recently

I'm just saying....

In other news, I am going to try on Arlo's type of post today and talk about two new CDs that people should check out.

1. Paolo Nutini, Sunny Side Up- He has a great voice, and this album shows so much variety of sound. Some of it sounds a lot like a cross between Harry Belafonte and Otis Redding, with a little Bob Marley thrown in. Happy, dancy-type songs with some really pretty slow songs as well. It makes me want to see him again in concert sometime soon.

2. Hoots and Helmouth, The Holy Open Secret- Arlo and I saw them on Thursday night, and they put on an awesome show. We saw them at a tiny place, called Shank Hall, which held a way different crowd from the last time we saw them at 8 X 10. No drunk, entitled, rich chicks leaning on me and spilling beer on me, everyone was pretty tame, other than the band. They play really fun, loud folk music, with banjos, guitars, and a stand-up bass. It's music that is probably better live than on CD, but their new CD is perfect for driving around with the windows down. Afterwards, I talked to two of the band members, which was awesome! Arlo was fearful that I was inviting them to stay with us, as they were without residence for the evening, but I was not.

Alright, gotta go. Time to get ready for bed. I'm doing okay, two posts in less than a week, probably the best turn-around I've had so far. Now, if I could just say the same about Kevin's blog!

Chicago

Per some requests, I am going to try to post more regularly, though I make no promises. This weekend, Arlo and I stayed busy. His friend, Casey, came to Milwaukee on Friday night and she and I went to visit Arlo at work. We decided to stay in Racine so as to be 30 minutes closer to Chicago for the next day. For, you see, we were going to a Cubs game. So cool! Normally, I'm not a huge fan of sports, but this was pretty cool! Arlo had acquired tickets to Beyond the Ivy, one of the rooftop venues for seeing the game. It was through Casey, who works at University of Minnesota, as the Cubs were playing the Twins. Needless to say, in the box at least, we were outnumbered by Twins fans. It was a sort of sad game, as the Cubs didn't seem to have much fight in them and the innings went really quickly. Typically, it feels like baseball games drag on and on, but this was the opposite. I got sort of tipsy, drinking a bit more than I am used to. As it was a day game, Arlo and I headed home with Casey, stopped at La Tapatia for fried tacos, and then picked up Arlo's dad to hang out with us for the night. We watched Happy Go Lucky, eh, it was okay.

Today I worked in the garden out back and generally chilled. No pictures at this time, but I may post some later. After all, I was feeling a bit of pressure to get something out there. Gotta get going. Arlo's waiting patiently to get on the computer, and after all, it is his computer. Talk to you soon, y'all. We'll see what kind of spectacular posts will be coming soon to a computer near you.

Crabcakes, Snowballs, and Hampden....I must be in Baltimore!

Back in the Midwest, getting ready for my first ever Cubs game tomorrow in Chicago, and I am going to try to re-cap my trip home as quickly as humanly possible. As it was such a whirlwind trip, this is probably appropriate. And so, we begin, in an organized fashion.

Wednesday

Left as early as we could, heading out of work by noon and on the road by 2:00, we hightailed it through Chicago before rush-hour, and made it to Ohio before bedtime. The car-ride was smooth, uneventful, and didn't involve any driving for me, making it the easiest car-ride ever. I got to work on my knitting and we listened to This American Life.

Thursday

Up early(ish) and made it into Balimore around 2:30. Right away, we were put to work, helping my mom prepare the awesome crab cake dinner that she was preparing for our visit. For the rest of the afternoon, we cooked, unpacked, ate way too much, and hung out.

Friday

After a morning of shopping for birthday presents for Jerry, Arlo and I split up to go to our respective former employers. I was greeted by kids that were really excited to see me, some that couldn't remember my name, and the general craziness that happens when you haven't seen everyone for almost a year. It was great! And way too short. I repeated the same things about Milwaukee, Arlo, work, and coming back at least 15 times, and did not use my camera nearly enough. The rest of the day was spent shopping for baby gifts for Amanda and Bill and helping my mom work on Jerry's birthday dinner. That night, the dinner was yummy, and hanging out with the fam was fun. I was also exhausted and feeling a bit under the weather, so that was an early night to bed.

Saturday

I took my grandmother and mom to tea at Tea By Two as a belated Mother's Day present. It was lovely and I think they both really enjoyed it. While we were getting our tea buzz on and eating too much, Arlo was playing tennis with his tennis buddy, Kirk. That night, we had pizza and salad with Jess, Kevin, and Natty, and even got to see the Gutberlet's, who joined us after Kaitlyn's birthday party. Natty is thoroughly cute and entertaining, and it was so nice to see everyone and catch up.

Sunday

I met up with Wendy to see her new place and spend some quality crafting time together. Please note the awesome front porch she has, and the Wendy-rific porch accoutraments. She lives in a fantastic cul-de-sac in Hampden with her boyfriend, Jessie. There, they live happily with her two cats.

After Wendy's, Arlo and I headed to my grandparents' place to chillax with them for a bit. My grandfather shared a really long story about his old motorized bike, which was pretty cool, and I helped my grandmother download pictures, being ever the technology genius in my family.

That night, it was over to Bill and Amanda's for Bubba's subs and snowballs, thus completely the Baltimore experience. We got to see the baby's room, complete with furniture, feel Amanda's burgeoning belly, and watch Toby and Oscar have a collassal play-fight. I was very happy that they enjoyed the stuffed animals I made for the baby. It was a great night!

Monday

We packed up and joined my mom and Jerry for lunch at Green Leaf before heading out. It's funny, we left pretty much the same time that we left to come to Baltimore, around 2:00. This time, however, we drove straight through! That's right, Arlo is a crazy nut and, other than about 2 1/2 hours when I drove to give him a break, drove the entire day. We arrived home at 3:30 in the morning, having gained the hour by going west. It was impressive. Fortunately, the cats hadn't destroyed anything and the house was in one piece.

All in all, great trip! Quick and tiring, but really fun. The only bummer was that I didn't get to see everyone I wanted to see. Check out the animal love going down!