Austin in Chicago!

I returned to Chicago after my whirlwind trip to Louisiana and brought my nephew, Austin, back with me.  He moved in for 2 weeks and it was ridiculous amounts of fun!  We explored Chicago, watched somewhere around 14 million movies, consumed a gazillion drinks from Starbucks, shopped, laughed, competed in GLEE Wii, and much much much more.  He is a great guy and handsome to boot!

Here's Austin's trip in pictures.

His first ride on the train.  He looks like he belongs in the city! :)

 We spent ALL day at Shedd Aquarium.

We celebrated the 4th of July by consuming this deliciousness!

We got our culture on at The Art Institute.

We took the obligatory picture at "The Bean".

We walked down Michigan Avenue and stopped at the River for another obligatory picture.

We drank Cherry Berry Chillers because they are awesome and we are awesome.

We went shopping with Austin's birthday money. Thank you, Dr. Dre.

We went to the Planetarium but it stunk so we left after 10 minutes and decided to take a walk by the lake and take more pictures. :)

We went to the beach and apparently Ric Flair was there. It was too hot to care and who knows who that is anyway?

We went to a midnight movie. The Goonies. Classic. 

We went to the Field Museum.

We went to Willis Tower and braved the Skydeck!

He fell asleep on the train. Too much fun, perhaps?

We went to the Suburbs to shop for skateboarding necessities.

We went to a concert in Millenium Park.

We went to the insanity that is Blue Man Group.

We went to Indiana Dunes State Park.

In short, it was FANTASTIC!

Dear Austin,

You are the most fantastic nephew ever.  

Thanks for still wanting to spend time with your old but waaaay cool Aunt.  

I love you!

Aunt Queen

Prepare yourselves.....

...it's bloggy blog time!!

I've been trying to come up with reasons why I haven't blogged in a million years but can't think of one plausible excuse so I'm just going to go forward from here and do my best to catch up.  

Our precious students returned this week so I have a lot to fill you in on regarding work, however, I'm going to take it back to the beginning of summer break first.

Okay, here goes.

Summer break started mid-June and I wasted no time getting myself (and my dog) to Louisiana for a visit!  We drove straight to my sister's lake house to enjoy the lake, fishing and hanging out with the family.

Ahhhhh...Louisiana.

Look closely and you can see my Boogs (Tyler) in the pirogue.

It really was great!  I gave me a chance to unwind and decompress from a long school year.

We did venture out from the Lake a couple of times, one of which produced snow cones. Yes, Lawd!  For some strange reason, Chicago doesn't have snow cones. Seriously Chicago, you don't have a clue what you're missing!!

I also had a reunion of epic proportions with the greatest friends ever in life! 

Cantina Laredo + Beautiful People + Tasty Margaritas + Laughter = Perfection

I decided to make the most of my trip home to Louisiana so I decided not to limit my time just to The Dirty Shreve.  So, I went to NOLA for a few days to visit my very wonderful friend-sista-cousin. 

It was so much fun catching up with Bran Bran & Riggins and eating my way through NOLA, especially shrimp po 'boys! :)

Riggins.

The love of my life. I may or may not have consumed 2 of these bad boys within 12 hours.

Beignet Debris.

After NOLA, I spent a lot of time just hanging out at my Parents' house. 

Mostly, putting up with these two:

Other things I enjoyed during my trip:

• Cupcake-making with Jacqui, Sam (Logan), Candace & Tori
• Dinner with Toya & Helen
• Shopping at Dillards (Why isn't there one in Chicago?)
• Craft Day with my sister
• Mowing the lawn and weeding the flower bed
• Swimming
• Having lunch with my favorite VOA co-workers
• Finding Toya's lovely face on a poster at Starbucks
• Eating, Eating, Eating and Eating

Perhaps the best thing was seeing my Dad ride around on his old-school, bootleg tractor! :)

Lastly, while I was home, I was fortunate to be able to celebrate Austin's 14th birthday.  Although it makes me feel super old that he is now 14 and in 9th grade, I was very happy to be able to celebrate with him!

He chose lemon pie over cake.  My kind of boy.

This boy loves cash!

As you can see, it was a fabulous trip home filled with fabulous food, fabulous fun and fabulous people.

 I love Louisiana!!

Herk = Superstar

It's no surprise that I adore my brother.  It's also no surprise that I was sitting front row at his first cabaret show this past weekend in NYC.  He has worked hard the last few months putting together his debut show, "Sad Songs Say So Much" and I was thrilled to be able to share this important moment with him.

When he first told me that he was putting a show together, I was ecstatic.  Jerry is a fabulous music teacher and he proves that everyday with the amazing work he does with his students (both at the middle school he teaches at and the private lessons that he gives) but he is much more than a fantastic music teacher; He is a brilliant artist and performer. 

Before the show we were BOTH a little nervous! 

This was a huge night for Jerry.  A culmination of hard work and a life-long dream.  He was concerned with things like making sure he hit his lighting marks, forgetting lyrics and hoping that the audience would laugh at the funny parts and not just stare blankly.  Me?  I was just concerned that the night be exactly what he was hoping and wishing for. 

All that worrying and for absolutely nothing.  He was FANTASTIC!  The show was BRILLIANT! The audience LOVED it!

Sweet Success.

He performed at the Don't Tell Mama theatre in NYC.   He sold out and had people on a waiting list.  That's how my brother does it, y'all! 

After the show, numerous people came up to me and said, "I had no idea he could sing like that!"  My response, "Duh." 

I'm convinced people can learn a lot from my brother about how to CARPE DIEM and such.  He dreams big and then works hard to make those dreams reality.  He is intentional about challenging himself to do and become something bigger and better. He seeks out ways to improve, grow and learn.  

He's talented. He's intelligent. He's funny. He's thoughtful. He's kind.  He's charming.  He's handsome.  He's my brother.  Not yours. :)

Yes, Indeed!

Wordless Wednesday.

Loss.

I miss my Grandmommie.  Terribly.

I can't believe it's almost been two years since her death and I also can't believe how gut-wrenchingly painful her loss still is.  She is still the first person I want to call when something exciting or awful happens. I wonder if that urge to talk to her will ever change and I wonder if I really want it to.

When she died, I tried to frame the entire experience in a way that would help me to make sense of her loss and to hopefully gain some valuable life lessons and I think I did.  I mean, I realized that death is inevitable and living life with intention and purpose is crucial.  I learned that a life lived in service and love are what really makes ones life meaningful.  My mind knows that I've been changed for the better because of her death but it doesn't really matter to me tonight because my heart is broken and there is a lot of pain gushing out.

I keep trying to look at the positive and think about good memories in the hopes that it will once again make sense to me but the truth is, it doesn't make sense to me and I'm beginning to wonder if maybe it never really has.  Two years later, I still miss her everyday and I can't believe that she isn't here.  I still can't go to her grave without weeping and sometimes I am so overwhelmed by feelings of sadness and loneliness for her that I all I can do is cry.

Maybe one day when I think of her I won't feel such a paralyzing loss but today is not that day.

Cold Weather Lesson #1

Pumping gas with bare hands at 6:30 am in 14 degree weather is never a good idea.  

Wear some gloves, girl!