I love this coffee

I'm at Swim Cafe, sipping coffee, M Ward is playing, it's a sunny cold day.

[sip] "Ahhhhhhhh."


I'm enjoying this morning off after a lot of extra work lately. My voice is grateful for the break too; I did a Halloween/birthday party last Wednesday, then my 4 classes on Friday, 3 hour Hidden Cove gig with the band on Friday night, Saturday subbed 3 classes, Sunday birthday party, Monday 3 classes. Whew. That's a lot of sangin'. Otherwise, it's been a pretty good mix of fun stuff and staying home cozy with the cat. Halloween we ended up biking to the California Clipper for a late-night nip. Thursday we rented a great movie called The Lives of Others, which won best foreign film last year. Friday I came home after my gig and had tea with Adeline. She did not have any tea, but did enjoy a tuna-flavored treat.

Saturday night after work I ran some errands, and found a great Timbuk2-knockoff messenger bag for $25!! I knew I had found a really good deal when the girl at the register said, "It's funny, these bags are pretty nice for such a cheap price, so everyone who works here bought one." Sweet! Feeling all bikey with my new bag, Ben and I biked to Kuma's Corner for big burgers and heavy metal, and then came home to change and get fancied up for the Homecoming Dance. As part of the OTS's 50th anniversary celebration, we had a big party on Saturday night in the style of a dance from the year we began. Everyone got all gussied up in vintage clothes, bought corsages and took photos and voted for the king and queen. Aren't they cute? It was very old towney, and a lot of fun. Ben slicked his hair and wore his skinny tie, and I wore my red strapless dress and teased my hair out all big. We looked great, if I do say so myself.

The next morning Miki, who runs the cafe at the school, hosted a big brunch at his house. He and his wife and three girls live in a sunny second floor apartment on Lincoln, and it was full of sunshine and plants and people and food and music. There was a variety of people there, of all ages and backgrounds, and we stuffed ourselves with egg dishes and pastries and mimosas and sausages and good times. I loved it. It felt like a big family event. That afternoon I played a birthday party, which was another family event, and afterwards drove up to Milwaukee with Ben for Grandpa George and Roberta's birthday party. It was a day of feasting and family celebrations. I hadn't seen my family since Door County, except for my sister who had visited right before Labor Day. It was good to see them. Driving between Milwaukee and Chicago isn't too bad when you can plan to avoid the traffic, and while we spent about as much time in the car as at the party, we were both glad we had made the trip. Mom will be here later this week for the early childhood convention. I'm excited to see her and glad that she'll get to meet Adeline!!

Meredith came over yesterday afternoon to meet her (Adeline, not Mom), and she fell in love. We played with her all afternoon and wore her right out, and she slept straight through the night, between Ben's feet on the bed.

[sip] "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh."

I'm off to get a free flu shot (Thanks, Chicago!), go to yoga and bike up to Wrigleyville to return an inferior bag I purchased earlier. My biking enthusiasm is back lately, which is good, because the cold weather can tempt me into being a lazy blob on the couch. Which makes me grumpy and depressed. I have to remember that as soon as I'm biking, I love it, and am always glad I did. That's how I feel about doing most things. The force of inertia is strong in this one; a Lindsay at rest tends to stay at rest, but a Lindsay in motion tends to stay in motion. And a Lindsay in motion is a happy Lindsay. On that note, I'm so glad I made it out of the house this morning! These errands seemed so difficult while I was home in my pajamas, but now I feel like I have tons of time and energy to do them. Yay productivity!