OMG I'M DONE WITH SUMMER SCHOOL!

I finished up my grading this week and turned in my final grades on Thursday night. And this is what the parking lot looked like when I left campus.

It might have been kind of late, like, maybe about 9 p.m. But I got it done and didn't have to go in on Friday, which was fantastic.


The day before, I decided that I'd walk from campus to the train station in downtown Crystal Lake. I haven't been sleeping well, so I figured that a nice three mile walk would tire me out for bedtime. A former student of mine had told me that he'd once ridden his bike on the trail that starts next to our baseball field and it had taken him to downtown and pretty close to his house. So I packed my walking shoes, wore something loose fitting, and left campus at 3 p.m. in hopes of catching the 4:15 train.

The first half of the walk was great: it was sunny and beautiful, I was walking through corn fields, and the only sounds were crickets and my sweat dripping onto the asphalt (yes, it's gross, but oh my goodness was it hot out.).

So, after about forty-five minutes of walking, the trail...ended. Yes, it ended. It turned into a little cul de sac with only the Queen Anne's Lace and the railroad tracks beyond it. I stopped, wondering what on earth I was going to do, and then I decided not to waste all of my hard walking and sweat. I took the train tracks for about a block to the road (Yes, I know that's how people die, but I did not die, and I felt for a few nostalgic moments like I was Corey Feldman in Stand By Me. Is this the only time I've felt like Corey Feldman in a movie from the '80s? No, it is not.).

And the story ends on an anti-climactic note. I didn't have to dodge a train; I actually took sidewalks and was able to do more than a mile in the shade. But I did look hot enough (I think my face and neck were the color of sweaty radishes) for a woman in a Toyota sedan to pull a U-turn and ask me if I needed a ride. I told her, "Thanks! But I'm actually doing this on purpose." People are sometimes nicer than I give them credit for.

I made the 4:15 train, but only because it was running two minutes late. I should have waited for the 5 p.m., because although the train's AC felt just glorious, after fifteen minutes, my muscles were angry with not being stretched out and cooled down properly (after a week of exercising, I've got the jargon down). But my radish face eventually paled on down, and I was glad I'd made the walk (and of course, I was glad knowing that I will never make that walk again).

Friday was fairly uneventful, though T. and I watched Kick-Ass, a surprisingly violent, and surprisingly fun, comic book adaptation. We saved up our energy for the Neenan's Third Annual (I'm making that up) Air and Water Show Party on Saturday.

In the morning before Trevor went to work, we met Dan, who's back from Lithuania (Simona and Maya are staying the rest of the month), for breakfast at the Howard Johnson's Luna Café. Why is it called the "Luna Café"? I have no idea.

After breakfast, I headed home for a few hours to hang out with Henry before heading to the Neenan's place and meeting the gang. We ate, drank, laughed, watched some people jumping out of airplanes and parachuting into the city (I'm sure they were landing in the lake, but from our vantage point, it looked like they were landing on top of the Hancock), and after he was done with work, Trevor met us there. We stayed until dark and then rambled home to sleep.

(From Left) Rebecca, Julie, Mike, Jeremy, Rory (hand in the air, head blocked by her husband), Matt (Rory's husband), Mike and Amy's friend, Julie, Lisa's friends, whose names I didn't get

A poorly designed Blue Angels montage (I designed it)

Julie, Me, Rebecca, and Amy

Mike's New Little Lady Friend

Lisa's friend and her little baby, Mike, and Lisa

Julie's New Snooki-Do

And now Trevor's getting ready to take the bike to Dan's house, and I'm about to take my lazy self to the roof deck for some reading in the sun. By Thursday, I've got to re-read Devil in the White City, which is the book my One Book, One College committee chose and which is the basis for a couple of our Thursday workshop breakout sessions. I read it years ago, but should brush up on it. But I'd really like to finish White Teeth first, so I'll spend some QT with it this afternoon.

We're visiting the new parent Borks tonight for Paula's birthday BBQ, so we'll have some Bosco pictures for you all later on. Until then...go, lazy Sundays!

Two Weekends Wrapped Up

I meant to post something at the end of last weekend, but I didn't get my act together in time. I'm finishing up the summer with end-of-semester grading and final planning for our Fall Faculty Workshop (on August 19), and since I'm such a procrastinator, I've saved all of it for the last minute. That means less time for blogging (and for sanity, as it turns out...).

But we've had some fun since our last post, so I figured I'd fill you in. Last weekend, I gathered a bunch of "treasures" I no longer needed to sell at my friend and fellow blogger Rory's garage sale. Rory, her other half, Matt, and their two sons, Cameron and Connor, have been dealing like champs with Cameron's health problems, so they set about for a garage sale to raise a bit of scratch and add some levity to a stressful weekend spent, by Rory and Cameron, in the hospital. But we sold a bunch of lovely junk to a bunch of craaaaazy garage sale hoppers. The fun-factor was high, since the company was great and the people watching was second to none.

Mr. Miller and Ditka, wishing they could hang outside

Lisa, looking right at home with the characters at the sale

Amy and Ditka, selling like mad

I also took a bit of video of Rory and Matt's little guy, Connor, when he was being especially awesome. Check it out.

I also found this small giraffe in a box of Cameron and Connor's old stuffed toys, and it reminded me so much of this amazing DirecTV commercial, which, if you haven't seen it, check it out. Like, now, please. Because it's so weird.

On Sunday, Trevor and I went to the theater to see Dinner for Schmucks. We were a few minutes too late to see the first show at the River East theater, so we decided to wait a bit for the 600 N. Michigan's first screening. We wasted a bit of time eating a breakfast picnic in the park. It was a beautiful morning, and we didn't feel guilty at all leisurely eating our bagels and cream cheese while all of the hard running half-marathoners, having finished their race, strolled through the sidewalks around us. Amy and Julie had both run the half-marathon and finished very well, beating some celebrities in the process (Al Roker and the Real Housewives' own Kelly Bensimon [a real nutbar if you ask me...]), so we're very proud of them!

After the movie (which wasn't nearly as funny as we hoped it would be and thought it could have been, and after our viewing the previous evening of A Single Man [a really subtle, beautiful, and sad movie] we'd set the bar rather high), we wandered up to Chicago Avenue to take the bus to the Five Star for some late lunch. On our way to the bus, we saw this:

It was outside of a church, and I do believe that it's got something to do with God. I found it a bit strange, but interesting enough.

We enjoyed some drinks at Five Star, once we stopped lolligagging to gape a giant red feet, and a couple of veggie burgers.

Frozen Lemonade (yes, with a bit of vodka) = Perfect Sunday Afternoon Treat

We went home for some rest after working so very hard, and then capped the evening off with the newest episode of Mad Men.

On Monday, Bosco Bork came home! We went to see him after dinner, and he was just as small (smaller, even) and as Benjamin-Buttonly adorable as ever. We didn't take any pictures, but we'll be seeing him again this week (Paula and Greg, I haven't told you this, so hopefully you won't mind if we invade your home...).

The rest of the week trucked on by with my last days of classes for the semester. And here are my absolutely adorable classes:

This weekend, I geared up for my friend Caren's wedding in Lake Geneva. Trevor stayed home with Henry (since our designated dog-sitters, Greg and Paula seemed otherwise occupied with a newborn baby. pshaw.) and I hitched a ride with Mary and Andy. On the way, we made a Brat Stop to indulge in sandwiches and cheese fries. We were by far the best dressed table in the joint.

Caren and her new husband, Tim, looked so lovely and happy at the ceremony, and the reception was loads of fun. The group of us spent the night at our friend Amy's summer house in Delevan, WI, just a few minutes drive from the reception, and the house full of eleven houligans was like having a great big wonderful adult sleepover. Sans pillow-fights and bra freezings, though I wouldn't have put it past some of the rabble rousers. It did include, however, a lively game of late night Catch Phrase. I, personally, laughed so hard during some of the clues that I had tears in my eyes and a stitch in my side. Here's what most of it our day looked like:

The Happy Couple Under Their Huppah

Mary and Lisa

The cake was pretty and delicious!

The view from the Riviera

We're blurry because we're laughing so hard

Amy, tearing up the dance floor

Now, I also took a bit of video of the evening (with my new and improved iPhone second generation thanks to Trevor's acquisition of the newest model--thank you, husband!). In order to best showcase everyone's talents, I chose the Polka footage I shot.

And now I'm home, having been reunited with my fellas earlier this afternoon, and we've been lounging around all day. We watched Man United trounce those Chelsea gorps, and then we took some naps (one each). We ate spaghetti, watched Five Minutes of Heaven--a pretty decent not-revenge revenge movie--and then settled in for another Sunday Mad Men.

Tomorrow, our friend Cat is coming into town (I'm hoping she's bringing her baby, Olympia, with her!), so I'll likely be blowing off more grading to hang out with her and Trevor. We'll have more photos from this week and more news about me finally finishing summer semester (grades are due on Friday, but I'm absolutely turning them in by Wednesday so I can have at least five days off before the fall semester workshop, training, and class hoopla starts), and pictures (and maybe more video) from Lisa and Matt's Air and Water Show Party. Until then, goodnight, Bosco!