In Recovery Mode

Slowly but surely, I'm making a comeback to my semi-normal self. Thanks for all y'alls well-wishes. Cadence and I have had a relaxing Saturday morning, and that helps. We picked up our share of our CSA from Uncle Dave & Auntie Becki's right after we woke up. I realized that if I waited just a little while longer, the Unique Thrift store on Sheridan and Montrose would be opening. This provided a good excuse to grab a latte and bagel from Beans and Bagels on Montrose right under the Brown Line.

I've never been there, but knew it was just the place for me because a) there was a big WLUW sticker on the door, b) they were playing the latest Camera Obscura album in its entirety(I got in at the first track, no less!) and c)they serve Metropolis Coffee. Like what more could I possibly ask for at 8:52AM on a Saturday morning?

After enjoying our bagel, latte (for me) and apple, we piled back into the car and headed east on Montrose for some Unique thrifting. I found this little toy camera for Cadence, which entertained her in the cart for a bit. The nice thing about Unique is that there are so many toys that there's usually something that will keep Cadence happy in her cart while I shop. I don't buy 75% of what she plays with during our visit.

Although I would prefer to go on Mondays when the whole store is 50% off, they always have certain colored tags at half-off on different days. Today, it was green and pink. Unfortunately, a lot of what I wanted to buy had yellow tags, but we still made out okay. We paid an average of $1.50 for each clothing item we bought. Not bad, eh?

Cadence is napping now and on her 2nd play of her Sleepytime Songs CD. I can usually get her sleep for a couple hours when that album is playing. I think I'm going to grab something to eat for lunch and start tidying up around here. TTFN (Ta-Ta For Now!)

I'm So Tired I Could Cry...

And no, it's not because Cadence smothered herself in butt cream the other day, although the fact that I didn't notice she was being unusually quiet under the table (which usually means poop or trouble) should be an indication of my current state of exhaustion.

I thought that once the wedding was over, I'd be able to catch my breath, but I was busy editing photos all week after the wedding and fretting over what processor to use for printing the photos (which if anyone has any suggestions, I'm totally open to 'em), and then we've had tons of family related stuff since last Monday, with cousins in town, birthdays, Belgian Beer tastings, etc.

I guess I just have to accept the fact that I'm not a superhuman and that my body and mind and emotions can only take so much fun and drama before I begin to fall apart and start doing things like almost missing my stop on the train or nodding off at my desk mid-email (both of which I've done today).

Our friend (and my cousin Jeannie's boyfriend) Erik has been staying with us since last Monday, and my cousin Jeannie has been staying with us since she flew in on Wednesday. There have been many hours of talking and laughing and beer drinking since, and I guess there's only so much fun you can have before you start losing your ability to function.

I feel really bad for Cadence. No, feeling bad is an understatement. Plagued by guilt is probably more accurate. I was so busy with all the wedding preparations, and then editing photos, and now hanging out w/ guests and family. I think I've totally screwed up her night-time schedule as she hasn't been going to bed before 11:30pm for almost a month now, and it's totally not her fault. What toddler could resist all that stimulation when there's so much going on?

And still, she is such an awesome kid. Yes, she's demanding and opinionated and spirited, but what I've learned is that if I give her focused attention, without rolling my eyes or giving her attitude, and I do what I can to meet her needs in that moment, she is perfectly agreeable and in fact a very sweet kid. Children are so forgiving of their parents' shortcomings.

I've got several hundred photos from the past weekend that I need to get through. I'm going to take my time, though. I mean, who really cares about my Garfield Park Conservatory photos anyways? Or snapshots of family? Those photos will still be around in another week or two. Of course if I take another few hundred photos this week, then I'll REALLY be digging myself into a hole. I guess I should just hide my camera for a few weeks then...And I should probably stay away from the Hideout's annual block party...

From Listening Too Long to One Song

Help! There is a guinea pig, turtle and duckling peforming an operetta in my head, and they won't stop!! Someone sing me Spanich techno, NOW!

Alas, I suppose I deserve it, considering how many hours we've allowed Cadence to watch that show during the past week. There must be something like 8 different episodes on one DVD, and that is ALL she wants to watch these days. We find ourselves singing the theme song at random moments throughout the day. Cadence's affection for this show far surpasses any previous obsessions.

Simultaneously, she's developed quite the thing for Winnie-the-Pooh. She'd always been more interested in Tigger, but lately it's all about the Pooh.

*sigh*...It seems that we have sold our souls to the media devil...Heaven help us now...

Hopefully, once we start acting like sane people again after the wedding this weekend, we'll actually do things that require putting on real clothes (or bathing suits) and maybe smelling some flowers or something. For now, though, those Wonder Pets have sure got the right stuff.

Best Shot(s) Monday--Dear God, Not Now, Please...

We went to the annual Chicago Korean Festival on Saturday. I don't know why I go to this every year. I guess to get my occasional Korean fix. Unfortunately, the food just isn't up to par, and I couldn't get any paht-bingsoo this year because the line was too damn long at Outdoor Cafe. We did get to spend some time w/ Halfmama and her family and later my cousins Ben and Rachel and Baby Eden, which was nice. I felt bad the festival was so lame though.

I am in full wedding preparation mode, PLUS I'm super busy at work. Poor Cadence...She's been watching a lot of Wonder Pets these days...

To make matters possibly worse, Ted started getting sick yesterday. We don't know if it's allergies or a cold. All I know is, we don't have TIME to get sick. Ain't that always the truth?

That's not all. I woke up with a migraine in the middle of the night last night, and I couldn't fall back to sleep. By the time I got to work at 8am this morning, I had already been up for 7 hours. That is going to throw my sleep WAY off. I just hope I don't get another migraine from the lack of sleep...

See more folks' Best Shots Monday on Tracey's Picture This.

The Busiest Weekend EVER Part Due

So after Rudden's birthday party, we high-tailed it back home to get ready for Ted's show w/ the Tim Lowly Ensemble that night. They were playing at the Dawghaus Café, a new eatery/venue right on the lakefront off of Sheridan and Grandville in Berger Park (which also happens to have our favorite playground in the city).

I was especially excited about this show because my friend Sarah and her daughter Eleanor were going to be at the show, as Sarah's husband Ben was opening up for Tim's band under the moniker Ribbons of Song. With the awesome playground right next to the venue and the lovely lakefront as the backdrop and the weather totally cooperating by 7pm, I knew we'd have a good time. And Cadence was totally psyched about playing with Eleanor again.

Here's Ben performing.

Here's our friend Ryan playing some percussions for Ben. Note the lake behind him!

Here's Ben and his smoke machine. Kick-ass!

And here's Eleanor playing on the playground next to the cafe. She's one spunky kid — super creative and funny and cute and smart.

Cadence had a blast playing with her.

Here's Eleanor sharing her milkshake with Cadence. Note the worried look on her face. Needless to say, I had to get Cadence her own smoothie after that.

I took some photos under the streetlights that line the trail next to the lakeshore, and I'm kind of surprised at how much I like them.

I don't do too much night photography any more now that I'm usually home trying to get a toddler to sleep after it gets dark. I used to love doing nighttime street photography with my little Nikon back in the day, and I'm starting to remember why.

Did I mention there was a full moon Saturday night?

And I just love this group hug with Sarah and the kids.

It was a perfect night and perfect place for playing music.

There was this one big super bright light illuminating the stage, and it was perfect for shooting with my superfast 50mm lens.

There WAS this one really, really loud cricket, but I thought it added to the charm and ambience of the evening.

Oh, and there was this big beautiful spider web right behind Tim. Spiders are awesome, even though I'm scared to death of the ones living in our home.

After the show, a bunch of folks (but not Sarah and Ben and Eleanor, who were all pooped) came back to our place for homebrews. We drank beer and talked until a little after 1 am. Man, what a long day.

Oh, Cadence didn't go to bed until midnight, and then she woke up at 4am whimpering and contorting her body in pain. It was either gas or constipation (probably the latter, as she pooped in the morning). I was so desperate for sleep that I finally ended up somehow upside down on the bed with her on top of me, tummy to tummy. I didn't get out of bed until close to 9:30 the next morning.

On Sunday, we went to church and then came home so Cadence could nap for a bit. As soon as she woke up, we had to run out the door again, this time to Tim and Sherrie's house where he and Ben and Ryan and Jan (Tales from Tuckaway) were playing a house show.

Cadence and Eleanor got pretty raucous, and Tim was recording the shows, so Sarah and I were mostly outside with the girls.

We did go inside for a bit between sets. Here's Sarah, Eleanor's mama, sitting in Tim and Sherrie's living room.

At one point, Eleanor's dad Ben threw out lollipops at folks in the living room. Cadence, being the deprived child that she is, didn't know what they were until she saw people putting them in their mouths. She then started begging for her own "popsicle." I relented, but explained to her that this was a special treat, and like Christmas, would come around only about once a year.

And here are the two girls, sharing a chair and toasting lollipops. It doesn't get any better than this, they're thinking, I'm sure.

Alas, soon after, we had to say goodbye to Eleanor, who had gone sans nap all day and finally collapsed in her mama's arms right about when they were going to be heading back to Grand Rapids. We miss you already!!!

OK. That's about it. We went out for the best tilapia tacos on the planet with Hilary, Katie, Matt and Ethan afterwards and didn't get home until close to 9pm.

So minus the sleeping and napping, we had pretty much been going nonstop from Saturday morning 6:15am until bedtime Sunday night.

It sure was fun, though.