Hi!

Hello! Greetings! Welcome!

Okay!

I'm here! And it feels good!

I've been really busy, but for the most part, really good. Here's what you've missed:
-When I was sad about the blog and job and everything, Ben and I went out for dinner at Feed, one of the best restaurants ever, and I WON the GOLDEN EGG from the little quarter machine, meaning that next time my meal is free! I immediately wanted to blog about this, and was thwarted... until now.
-I broke a string in a WW class, because I was rocking those babies SO. HARD.
-Ben's family came to town for Father's Day dinner at Treat and to check out the new house.
-Went to Milwaukee to take my brother out for his 21st birthday, Katie came too, we drunked ourselves and had fun.
-Went to Ben's old roommate's Jewish wedding at the Schlitz Audubon Nature Center.
-Went out for Taavo's birthday, and ate at Treat again.
-We threw a great 4th of July party which started with World Cup and ended in watching semi-professional fireworks shot off from our neighborhood streets while Julie B snuck off with my red heels.
-Huge couch fiasco: bought beautiful couch on Craigslist, borrowed van, couldn't get it into our house, tried three times in three ways over three hours, took doors off, etc. Resold it. Almost bought another couch, borrowed van again, caught at the last minute that the people had lied about the dimensions and it also was too big. Found another loveseat, arranged for van, had several failed attempts to pick it up due to her doorman and her building's weird regulations (you can't move furniture on holidays). Finally were able to pick it up and complete our move by sitting down in our own living room!
-Ben's mom and her cousin visited and we ate at Feed again.
-Had my final CCC concert of the season.
-Played on the staff stage twice at my work's big annual summer festival, first with Julia & the Storks, where I debuted my Audrey Song, and next with Congress of Starlngs. When I wasn't performing, I was working the festival, and after it all was over I had a ton of fun with Julia, Andrea and Aerin in the staff hospitality tent.
-Broke TWO! strings in one WW class, since they were all worn out from my many classes and performances and rocking outs. Teaching the toddlers has been fantastic, and each day that I wake up and head out the door with my guitar I am amazed and grateful that THIS is my job. Working the desk has been good too, having fun with awesome coworkers, and I'm very glad that the scary stuff seems to be healing and stuff with bosses is on the up and up, because I hope to be part of the school for a long time.
-Had a rude awakening, by the scary name of Overdraft Fees, to the fact that I am not making enough dough to continue living the way I have been, and am trying to budget carefully, spend little and work a lot.
-Ben and I have been totally awesome, thanks to rooms and our new house. We saw Superman and Wordplay and did lots of crosswords and took bike rides and sat in our backyard with tiki torches and ate lots of yummy things and made homemade power bars and are having a ton of fun together.
-Had another last-minute performance with the Starlings outside in Lincoln Square at a community party kind of thing.
-Won a party at Howl at the Moon, which was an exciting prospect but a total bust, since only 2 people showed up.
-Drove with Ben to Wisconsin to get the emissions tested, made it in at the last minute and were the last car of the day, then biked around "scenic" Kenosha to train for the Bike Tour a bit.
-Had an exciting opportunity last night; I got booked through my friend Jenna with the school's referral service to perform at this engagement party in the suburbs. They wanted to hire a vocalist to sing 4-6 Broadway songs acapella as a surprise for the couple. Turns out they also wanted some country, so I ended up singing Seasons of Love from Rent, Taylor the Latte Boy by Kirsten Chenoweth, Love is the Foundation by Loretta Lynn, The More You Love Someone (The More You Want to Kill Them) from Avenue Q, Happiness from You're A Good Man Charlie Brown, and Hello Young Lovers from the King & I. It was a little weird, but went great. They all enjoyed it and I got paid a pretty penny for doing something I love to do!
-I was very happy to be paid, especially for all the stress over choosing songs and rehearsing and taking special care of my voice. The three weeks of summer vacation when the school will be closed and I won't be making any teaching money are looming ominously in my future. At the same time, the family vacation to Door County is like a shining beacon of joy and I can hardly wait! I'm trying to figure out how long I can stay. As my coworker said, it's tough when you need the cash, but dually need the R&R.
-BDBT: Coming up. Pledges appreciated!

So. That's that. Awesome!