playing catchup

wow…has it really been two weeks since i’ve posted around here? well, it HAS been busy…

...we hosted our friends caleb and kathy for presidents’ day weekend when they were in town for a wedding. it gave me a chance to bestow on caleb my old gibson which has been sitting around unused for the most part. it is the ugliest guitar you’ve ever seen, but you should hear the sound caleb can get out of that old thing. i know that there is more love for that guitar in new haven, CT than here in chicago, so i felt that it was right to give it a loving home. besides, i’d always said that if i died, the guitar was gonna go to caleb, so why wait? that guitar’s hardly been played since pierre was driving through chicago. interesting tidbit about that guitar—caleb first played it in his friend ben’s living room back in the summer of 2002 (that’s him with the guitar in that photo up there), and i knew then that the guitar had found its rightful owner…and where would his first public performance as official “owner” of the guitar be but at that same ben’s wedding this month…so i guess it’s come full circle…

anyhoo, it was great to see caleb and kathy again…it also gave us an excuse to visit hyde park vineyard…the pastor there is our friend rand who officiated our wedding…rand and his wife aimee are expecting their first baby in april, so i was glad i got to congratulate them in person…aimee looks great pregnant, i think…some women really do glow when they’re prego…we also got to see our friends sam and jenny and their two toddlers, caleb and noah…sam was one of the first friends of mine who got to meet ted…he was actually with me at the last of the infamous 800 south leavitt new years eve parties that ted and his roommates threw…we were all carefree and single then…and now we’ve each got our own little families! it’s just amazing how quickly our lives can change…

...so cadence turned 17 months old last friday…she can be quite demanding and a handful these days, but it’s quite natural for her to be that way at this age…i think a lot of folks expect too much from little toddlers, who just don’t have the maturity to “behave” in ways that may seem to be more acceptable…i try to keep that in mind, and believe me, i have only compassion and empathy for other parents when i am witness to their child’s public meltdowns…

…nevertheless, cadence is a total delight, and it’s harder and harder for me to be away from her during the day, and i find myself daydreaming of family or home business ideas that would enable me to be with her everyday…

…so sunday was grandma day again…we trekked out to see grandma carol for lunch…this time, lauren and dave and dave’s new girlfriend becki joined us as well…then we headed to grandma sophie’s aka yiayia where we were joined by cousin vikki and her daughter mackenzie…

…we had dinner and played cards, while cadence, mackenzie and uncle dave played…like with all little kids, all it took to keep ‘em entertained all evening was a box that was big enough to turn into a boat, a car, a clubhouse, etc…

…and as you can see from these photos…

…cadence did not get out of that box all evening long!