Touched, and Not Just In The Head

For all of you who forced me into acknowledging the inevitable, thank you!

Particularly:

Betster - For the Eddie Izzard DVD. And by the way, thank you for introducing me to him in the first place.
Bev - For the strudel, dinner, the "theater," a day of just being stupid, free and old.
GeeZee - For the milk frother that not only matches the French press, but works like a charm, the angel/devil duckies, and for putting up with me the night before.
Josh and Lauren - For my new favorite necklace. So beautiful, so generous!
Lilster - For David Sedaris' latest, and the George Harrison biography.
Mikey - For the entire ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT series. How do I love you? I'm still counting the ways.
Stenns - For the Very Serious Reading Material and the Coldplay CD.

And to all the friends and family who called, sent cards and condolences: Aunt Ruth, Barbara & Ev, Bari, Chantal, Günter, Jodie & Tony, Kallenberg, Karl & Steph, Little Guy, Sqwali, Marise, Rebbecca, and Romeo.

I am truly blessed to have all of you!

Finally available on FredtheWebsite.com: Picture of Steven's Bar Mitzvah.

This landmark event took place last month. I don't have any pictures of the service, but there are plenty of shots from the luncheon, as well as from breakfast at the Chester Diner in New Jersey the next day.

All in all, it was a lovely event, and the Bar Mitzvah boy man did a fantastic job during a very long service. Here he is (left) with his cousin Ben the morning after.



One of my personal highlights from this trip - and I do mean ONE of the highlights, was the 2008 Mustang Pony I cruised around in for the price of a tiny economy-sized car. No - I'm not planning on buying a car, but it was fun for a weekend, on Route 80, where zooming is just expected.

Some of you have asked about the status of Project Dog. I had decided on Hudson the day he went to Study Abroad. Although I gave the shelter my contact information, it turns out that Hudson isn't coming back to the shelter, and they can't/won't tell me where he is. Since this is a no-kill shelter, I'm not afraid for his welfare, but I am sad I hesitated on adopting him the day we met.

Short Blog

Self portrait with Binky on the ferris wheel at Navy Pier. She's right: we totally don't even look like we're the same race.

More on Binky's Big Adventure

When I last left you, Binky and I were about to embark on our final day in Chicago. We unfortunately had to start the day with my allergist, but by noon we were ready to go. We shopped the mag mile (she bought a necklace from an outdoor market), and then stopped off so she could see my office.

Her reaction was priceless:

"Wow, so you sit here? Is this your desk? Are these your papers? Is that your computer? Why do you have windows, but no door? You have a Slinky at your desk?

*pause*

What do you even do with all of these things?" We didn't stay long. I showed her the trading floor introduced her to a few people at work, and then we were off to the aquarium, albeit via some boutiques on Michigan Avenue.

We spent a glorious three hours at the aquarium - and it truly is a wonderful place, even if you don't like fish She photographed every tank in the place, ooohhed and aaahhd with the rest of them, and even knew some interesting facts about the fishies. We didn't go to see the otters in the Oceanarium because we were just exhausted at this point. Well that, and I thought I was going to lose it if I saw another wan group of campers running at the clownfish screaming N E MO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

From the aquarium there was shopping on State Street to do. Binky found herself a few nice things and even bought her boyfriend an outfit. On the way home, I realized I was far too exhausted to actually cook dinner - so I ordered chinese takeout. I would like to report that the child ate tofu and broccoli! And liked it!

We watched the end of Little Miss Sunshine while I packed (big hit) and then it was off to bed.

Because I couldn't get the little angel out of bed on time, we very nearly missed our 11 a.m. flight on Tuesday. I did a great job of not flipping out. Really, I should get an award for keeping it real in front of the jr. section. I was cool, I was in control, and I got us on the plane with all our luggage, and truly minimal swearing.

We hit the ground running once in New Jersey. Yesterday we went to my favorite diner in northern NJ - The Chester Diner, where I had a Nirvana Burger with kosher dill pickles so good, that I was thinking of moving over from vegetarianism to picklitarianism .Tomorrow I'm getting up early and biking over to the bagel shop. I will be in true Jew heaven, because on that bagel that I will purchase just for me, will not sit the usual, revered lox, but rather a whitefish salad.

Anyhow... I played basketball with the kids for a few hours (and by the way, they won three games of HORSE over me in a row) before coming in to play with Oreo the dwarf bunny.

Binky's brother Stevie was so happy to see me I thought he was going to burst , He's 12 flipping brilliant, and sweet, open, and huggy. If it weren't 90 degrees and humid enough to rust my teeth, I'd be enjoying these hugs to the fullest. After another late night, I went up to Binky's room to go to bed. I wanted to do some cleaning in there before putting my face on the pillow (I share quarers with Oreo), but I was out like a light and stayed out until nearly 9.

While we were at my place, I could at least have a few hours of private time before Binky got out of bed. I'm getting crumudgeonly in my old age I guess, and I need some down time to blog and think and read, and breathe. Now that we're in NJ, there is no way I can get time alone during the day. Any time I plop down to read, someone wants to talk or play or go to the mall. I am having to re-learn the ways of children.

Tonight, Stevie and I cooked dinner for everyone - shrimp scampi and a salad of non-offensive vegetables. I taught him how to measure a teaspoon by making a dent in the palm of his hand. We talked about ratios and doubling recipies, and about testing for al dente pasta by throwing it up on the ceiling. He learned how to sharpen a knife and then chop red peppers and to wash his hands after touching the dog.

In the end, we had a yummy, yet artery clogging meal that Stevie helped make, and that the rest of the family melted over. He was so proud of himself that he couldn't sit still.

Tomorrow is Steven and AuntyEm Day - Binky and her mom will be at work, and the boy and I will get to bond. On the plan: swimming, baking cookies, more basketball (I need to prove myself out there!) and then I have to edit his summer writing project.

I hope everyone else is having an enjoyable week so far!

Binky Sees a Sight

Yesterday was just as full as I expected, and I think the Binky actually had a very good day!

Rather than go to Northwestern, she chose to start the day off at the Lincoln Park Zoo. But since I didn't get any good pictures of her at the zoo, here's one of her at Navy Pier on Saturday.


From the Pier, we went right to Wrigley Field to watch the Cubs get slaughtered by the Razorbacks of Arizona. The Cubs lost bigtime, and we booed them. But we did have decent seats from which to watch the mascre. Check out the view:

In the outfield, sort of on the first baseline... now only if we' d had a real, winning game to watch that day. Despite the Cub's tragic loss, I'd have to say that Binky remained happy:


Then we took the party up a few notches. We met Lauren and slowly made our way via the 151 bus to the Sears Tower. Conversation on the bus revealed that this is exactly what the Binky meant when she expressed an interest in seeing sights. We pointed out some of the other "sights" as we sat on the bus. Last night, however, sleepy old Aunt Michelle didn't have the energy left in her reserves to get out of the bus and show her these sites. Besides, they were meant for today.

Photo Credit: Lauren

We milled around the huge building for awhile, bought some souvenirs for Steven, the child without a nickname who will no doubt be a featured topic on FredtheBlog later this week.

So, after the Tower, we went to Big Bowl for some pan-Asian delights. We're talking appetizer, main course and desserts people. What a treat! I snarfed my Tofu-Spinach Kung Pao like it was the best food on the planet. And it was really, really good. I was also just really, really hungry.

We left Lauren after dinner (she has to work today, alas) and I was too exhausted to navigate around with public transportation. We cabbed it back home. And thank providence, we had the really awesome kind of cab driver. He knew where I wanted to go, he knew the best way to go there, and he didn't talk on the cell phone while driving. Heaven!

At home, we finished watching Little Miss Sunshine, while I did some laundry. She thought the movie "wasn't bad," which as I'm learning, means that the movie was pretty good.

After looking at some old photos in my albums, (you really do look Mexican!) we went to bed at about midnight or so - at my urging. Today is our last day in the city. I have an allergist appointment at 11:20, and then we want to go shopping around the Mag Mile, with a stop at Millennium park, perhaps my office, and then finally, THE SHEDD AQUARIUM - destination of Binky's dreams. I think there will be some Italian Beef eating going on at some point during the day, too.

Well then, it's 9:10 and I've got to rush and get ready so that we can be out of here by 10:30.

There are pictures of yesterday's festivities. Unfortunately the cord that connects my camera to the laptop is in Binky's room. It is only 8 am. Any attempt to wake her now would have disastrous results.

After getting the Binky out of the house by 12:30, we went to Navy Pier for some good times. As we're waiting online to ride the giganticist ferris wheel she's ever seen, she asks me, "but when are we going to go site seeing?" We shopped around for a while, went in the ultra lame "Fun Maze," and had hoped to take a ride on the speed boats. The boats were out of commission though, so we shopped more. Anyhow, the weather was perfect and it was a great day to be outside. I thought walking the length of the pier might be fun, but since walking is "lame" and renting bikes (they have those cute little tandem ones!) is "gay," there was none of that.

The highlight of the day was seeing the new Harry Potter movie in the IMax theater. She was in heaven, and I enjoyed the parts I understood. I guess not watching the prior movies and not reading the books puts me at a disadvantage.

When the movie was over, we went off to the mall, checked out Nordstroms, and then met GeeZee for pizza. We ordered a medium pan pizza with extra cheese (her choice.) I ate a piece and 1/2, GeeZee ate about 1/4 of one piece, and she ate the rest. Then when we got home, she was looking for something else to nibble on. I suspect a growth spurt.

Before we went to bed, she asked me if we could visit Northwestern in Evanston, the Lincoln Park Zoo and the Sears Tower tomorrow, after the Cub's game. For those of you who don't know the area, the answer to that question should be, "no." But I think we're going to try to get Nortwestern in before the game if we can leave in about an hour. If we get that done, she just has to pick between the zoo and the big building, and that should be an action-packed day.

We'll see. It is 8:45 and I'm off to get dressed. If we can be out of the house by 10, she has a shot at Northwestern.

This Visit is Barney-Free!

My horoscope doesn't bode well for today:

A close friend or family member may get on your nerves today, for your needs may be mutually exclusive. Instead of struggling to find common ground, it may be best to simply go off and do your own thing. Later on, it will be easier to connect and enjoy the company of others.

Binky is in town with me for the next few days. She's 16, she's beautiful, and she's mine, alright. But she's easily distracted and requires a lot of attention. And she seems to have inherited my two finest qualities: My smart ass and smart mouth. Good girl!

She got in a day and 1/2 late because Newark couldn't get it together. We chatted on the EL back to my place, where, upon arrival she made a b-line for the laptop, signed me out of everything and commandeered the machine. She ate. A lot. And then accused me of being Greek for "encouraging her to eat." Then we watched the first half of Little Miss Sunshine. She might be a little young for this one yet. She keeps asking when the action is going to happen. Of course, when there is some action, she's lost anyway, because she's talked and IMed through all the dialog that sets up the scene. We finally made it to bed at 2 am.

It's 10:30 and she's still asleep. I'm trying to use subtlity to wake her. So far, the sounds of making coffee and running the dishwasher haven't helped. I'm trying to remember back, visit after visit, to see if I can remember when she started sleeping through the morning. Once upon a time at the crack of dawn, she would have crawled into bed with me at dawn and tried to rouse me with the Barney Song. If that failed, she'd just have started jumping on the bed.

It's an idea!