Father and Daughter on Man Day

For this week's Monday Manday, Trevor and I had lunch with Dan, Simona, and Maya, and our friend Liz. We stuffed ourselves with tapas from Cafe Iberico, where Simona used to work. We hadn't been there in years, and the food was just as good as we'd remembered. Maya was the best baby in the joint (she didn't fuss or cry or fall off of her chair like some lunatic toddler did) and posed for a number of beautiful pictures for T's new camera.

After the feast (tomato soup with goat cheese, grilled mushrooms, two kinds of potatoes, octopus, clams, avacado salad, and more), Trevor and I were too jammed into our own jeans to go clothes shopping for him like we'd planned, so we went to the grocery store instead. It was good to go on a super-full stomach because we only go the necessities and then came home to putz around. It was hotter than we were ready for, so before we could turn on the AC, Trevor changed out the filter and then, while doing other fantastic man-maintenance, realized that our fire detector is a dud. Luckily we are fire-free and have a fire extinguisher, but we'll be getting the detector fixed a.s.a.p. just in case.

I got the car serviced today before our trip this weekend to Milwaukee for our friend Megan's wedding (she met her fella, Michael, a couple of weeks before our own wedding; at our reception she told Trevor and I that she was going to marry him--and hot damn, and now she is!), and then Henry and I went on a long, hot, hot, walk. We're back now so I could work on my syllabi (which were due a few weeks ago...blergle) and catch up on my backlogged American Idols before tonight's finale. Who do you think will win? I'm banking on the guy from Mt. Prospect, since his version of "Hallelujah" made me tear up. Seriously. Crying about American Idol. It's maybe already time for me to get off the couch and back to class...

And speaking of tearing up at the television set, last night was the last episode--ever--of my favorite show of all time: Law & Order. I'm planning a very special post about it. I have to pull myself together first. I shed a few tears last night while Trevor wasn't looking, so it's going to be an emotional goodbye. Until then...