small things...

In the middle of it all

In the middle of all the commotion in getting myself to my sister’s wedding in Maine, my grandfather passed away.  Our family had been keeping us apprised of the situation as it unfolded and I was hopeful that I’d be able to make it to Maine and then back home in time for his funeral.  I received the call the morning I woke up in that Portsmouth hotel that he had died in his sleep overnight.  I learned later that day that the visitation would be on Sunday and the funeral Monday morning.  I wouldn’t make it to either. 

My Grandpa was 97 years old.  He’d lived most of his entire life in Rock Island, IL.  Married his sweetheart Betty McGonigle and loved her for close to 75 years.  My Grandma survives him and I headed up to be with her a few days after returning home.  I wish I could have been there to say goodbye to him with the rest of my family, but I am grateful to have gotten to spend some time with my Grandma – just us. 

Life is just happening – all the time.  It is beginning and ending and changing in every moment.  It can be a real challenge to just be present to the moment.  I am grateful that I got 41 years with a gem of a grandpa.

::My Grandparents

::Me and Grandpa

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Last year, one of my goals was to learn a bit more about my grandparents.  I wrote about it here:

• A Trip to Rock Island

A Wedding in maine

Getting to Maine wasn’t the issue, it was getting out of Chicago. 

Day 1

A week and a half ago on Wednesday I was packed and ready for my 2.5 hour flight to Bangor.  There had been a brief storm that morning, but it had passed quickly and the skies had mostly cleared, yet they were still delaying the flight by two hours.  No problem – I ate some lunch re-evaluated my travel outfit, decided not to wear my walking boot (doc gave me the release) and headed out again towards the airport a couple hours later.  O’Hare was a zoo.  It’s always a zoo, but it seemed a bit more chaotic.  It seemed like there were people everywhere.  Sitting in the halls outside their gates.  Crowding around the gate agents and the screens announcing departure times.  I found a place to sit and charge my phone and set about people watching.  About 20 minutes in I got a text that it had been delayed another hour.  No worries.  As long as I got to Maine.  30 minutes after that – about an hour before my flight was scheduled to take off – it was cancelled.  There was no storm outside.  My sister reported beautiful weather in Maine – but “weather” was the reason.  I quickly tracked down an agent at another gate and he was kind enough to help me get on the same flight the next day.  “My sister’s wedding, “ I pleaded.  “A broken foot” I begged.  It worked.  This was good – my friends were on this flight.  United refused to return my luggage to me but assured me it would be checked on the next direct flight (which was the one I’d been booked on).  So I went home and went to bed with a sore aching foot, but confidence I’d get to Maine the next day.

Day 2/3

Fog.  A thick, murky fog had quietly settled in over night.  It burned off quickly, but left me with an unsettled feeling that morning.  Our flight was scheduled to leave at around 1pm.  By 9am they had cancelled the flight a second time.  No delays – straight to cancellation.  There is only one direct flight a day from Chicago to Bangor on this airline– so we could try again the next day or we could figure out an alternate route.  My friends in Denver and I decided to try to get as far as Boston as soon as possible and then make the 5 hour drive up to Brooklin, Maine – none of us confident that the direct flight would ever get to Bangor.  My flight was scheduled to take off at 7:50pm out of Chicago and I’d get to Boston by 11pm.  This time I wore my walking boot.  My flight was again delayed, but we boarded! Hallelujah!! 

And then we sat on the runway. For 20 minutes.

For 30 minutes.

For an hour. 

Our pilot would periodically get on the intercom, only barely hiding his own frustration as he updated us on our status.  He’d say things like, “They can tell me WHY in an airport as LARGE as CHICAGO that they can’t give me MORE information on WHY they would have us wait her so long WHEN JUST A FEW MINUTES AGO they said we were cleared.” But eventually we took off.  And the flight was an easy one because, seriously, the weather wasn’t bad.

My seatmate, noticing my walking boot, acted as my own personal body guard when we got to Boston.  He wouldn’t let anyone off the plane until I got off, looking over his shoulder and announcing, “She’s got a boot!”  and “This girl’s wobbling! Give her space!”  Then when I mentioned how slow I felt walking up the jetway he said, “No one’s getting past me, hon.” 

:: Boston airport all to ourselves

Unsurprisingly, my luggage did not make the trip with me to Boston.  They had promised me only that it would be put on the next direct flight to Bangor.  While they knew I’d changed my flight to Boston, no one made me any promises.  And I guess good for them that they didn’t. 

I’d booked a hotel in Portsmouth, NH and not Boston for 2 reasons: #1 – hotels in Boston=$300; hotels in Portsmouth= $80.  #2 – it shaved an hour off my drive the next day.  It is an amazing feat of trickery that I made it safely to that hotel.  It was 2:30am in a city I didn’t know, without a map.  I completely trusted that the Garmin the car rental place gave me would deliver me to the hotel.  It was already 25 mintues in to my drive before I realized that GPS hadn’t moved.  I quickly pulled up the map on my phone and was able to drive another 30 minutes before my phone died.  I was somewhere on the road to Portsmouth.  A magical rest stop with power outlets suddenly appeared.  As I drove in I thought, “A girl lost on the highway in the middle of the night who stops at a rest stop to charge her phone…is totally a Dateline Mystery special”  Abduction was a possibility, but I had to get to this goshdangit hotel and to do so I had to charge my phone.  I survived!

10 minutes later I found my hotel.

barely never did I fall asleep.  but I think I did because at some point I woke up.

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I’ll continue with the wedding tomorrow!

Mercury in Retrograde can't kill my buzz

So I don't totally know what "Mercury in Retrograde" means, but I've heard it mentioned in the same way people nod knowingly when the realize the full moon might explain the weird things that happened to them recently.  But yesterday when my boss mentioned to me the whole retrograding mecury I looked it up.  Bad travel, messed up electronics, plans going awry... this explains my summer so far.  Here is the (hopefully complete) list:

• broken foot
• new A/C installation installed incorrectly
• 2 cancelled flights
• 1 3-hours delayed flight
• My luggage doesn't arrive with me
• GPS doesn't work 3am on unfamiliary highway
• phone dies 3am on a highway while using the map function
• car in for repairs but "repaired" with a broken part i.e. still broken

The GOOD news

• My foot is healing nicely
• My new A/C was repaired quickly and they gave me a coupon for a car wash!
• I made it to Maine!
• My luggage eventually made it to Maine!
• I came upon a rest area with outlets to charge my dead phone long enough to get me to hotel
• They are fixing my car as we speak with a nice shiny whole and unbroken part

You got nothin on me retrograding Mercury.  But psyched for July 1st to get here quick.

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Some beautiful things (including one chubby kitty)

#5 - ...Attend a Moth-like Storytelling event

#5–…Attend a Moth-like Storytelling event

Last night I attended an actual Moth event – not just Moth-like!

(source)

One of the friends I got together with back in January to make our 2014 life-lists (Brenda) had The Moth on her list too and we finally found a date we could both go and bring along Brenda’s friend Shannon too!  If you aren’t familiar with The Moth - either the live show or the NPR broadcast – it’s an event where regular people get up in front of a live audience and tell a true story about their lives.  They are given 5 minutes, are asked to tell the story with no notes and each show has a theme.  Last night’s theme was “School”. 

What I learned from my first time attending a Moth event:

• Doors open at 5pm and even though the show doesn’t begin until 8pm – you should get there at 5pm.  We were sure 6:15 was way early enough and there wasn’t a seat left.

• If you are recovering from a broken foot and are on the first day without your walking boot…wear the boot anyway b/c you are probably going to have to stand.  OR bring Brenda because she will get you a seat.
• If you want to tell a story  you throw your name in a hat at the start of the night – there is not guarantee you’ll be picked.  Nerve wracking!
• If you get up to tell a story you are a brave badass

(This is Don Hall – the show emcee)

• One of the best storytellers of the night had my favorite line of the night, “I made her laugh 17 times”
• The winner of the night had, arguably, the best opening line, “I am a man who is very attracted to women with large breasts.”

We had a great time and were inspired to maybe give it a shot and throw our names in the hat one day.  My whole drive home I thought about stories I might have told from my own life.  Stories are the best and people willing to tell you theirs should always be hoot and hollered for.

Some beautiful things (including one chubby kitty)

This broken foot hasn’t totally sidelined my pursuit of my list goals! (Plus it’s mostly mended by now).  Though there is one that needs to be reworked:  #1 - Do 12 run/walk races - goal is one a month. 

I’ve added a few to my # 9 – Make 41 beautiful things (I guess I’m up to 8 now…I need to get a move on):

:: I bought this coloring book during my trip to Santa Fe in March

:: I think this counts as a Pinterest ‘win’…inspired by this photo and hung in my bedroom

And, finally, a makeover!  Everyone loves a makeover…

 

As you can see, my bathroom medicine cabinet was in poor, poor shape.  Nothing like a fresh coat of paint and a little contact paper to make you feel better about brushing your teeth!

***********************

Back in April I made the decision to give up my community garden plot.  I just wasn’t getting excited about it and was already a bit behind in getting the beds reading for planting.  Then I busted up my foot and that confirmed my decision.  So while it would seem that #14 on my list (Grow a big luscious garden) would have to be forfeited – it doesn’t!  I have gotten really into planting as much as I can on the little back railing outside my back door.  There ain’t much space here, but there is enough for me

:: Peonies and Sweet Potato Vine

:: Creeping Thyme and something else pink and lovely

 

:: Something cute and purple and little baby lavender!

Since the epic heat has yet to arrive in Chicago I’ve been spending a lot of time out back reading books, sipping on lemonade and letting the chubby kitty explore the wild frontier (she hasn’t yet attempted to go down the stairs)

 

A few more items are in line to be crossed off the list in the next month.  I’ll post a real update at the end of June! xoxo

WWFED–eats

Last week I stopped by the library to pick-up an audiobook for my commute and found myself, as I often do, seated in the “New Non-Fiction” section looking at what new diet/health books are available.  I think I’ve probably read about every diet ever thunk up and am well aware that they don’t work and aren’t worth my time and are basically just going to mess up my thinking and and and…sigh. But I still often think,

“well maybe this time there will be a book that’s just going to clear this whole thing up and it’ll be like ‘eat this way!’ and I will and then all will be right in the world”

I did find a book this time.  And the fact that this is the book I decided to check-out shows I may be headed in a different direction after all.

haha.  I read it cover-to-cover over the weekend.  It wasn’t “surprising” like the subtitle claims.  In fact, it was nothing new at all if you’ve already started down this road, but it was a good validation of the thoughts I’ve already been having.  If you subscribe to a certain way of eating and feel really passionate about it -  this book might be offensive – Matt Fitzgerald totally thinks you’re cult-y.  So, whatever. Don’t read it.  “Cult” is a strong and divisive word, but he makes some good points.  He talks about being an “agnostic” eater – but that doesn’t mean he has some of his own ideas of good/bad, right/wrong. 

Some people need more rules, some people need less rules.  Some people are preachy and pushy most aren’t. Food is a hot button topic or it’s just good eats, man.  Your choice.

Speaking of good eats…

Second week in a row I’ve thrown together a quiche to have for breakfast during the week.  This was just what I left in the kitchen.  I roasted the potatoes, onions, rosemary and garlic first for about 30 min then added the eggs/cream and cheese and baked it for another 40.  Golden, eggy goodness

Just in case you were under the impression that I have anything under control in the kitchen – here is the aftermath of my attempt to use an electronic whisk in a jar with too much liquid in it.  Tamari sauce, honey and onions everyyywhere – including all over me.

But after I got it together and cleaned up this catastrophe – I started again and ended up with this little lovely

Slow Cooker Honey Garlic Chicken (from this recipe) over a lime/ginger coleslaw (my own concoction)

I’m on a little bit of a smoothie kick – sure sign it’s summertime