Happy Labor Day!

So, this post really has nothing to do with Labor Day, but since I haven't posted in a while (which happens every time a new school semester starts and I am less obsessed with the blog than I am with my new shiny students), I figured I'd help you celebrate with a few pictures.

The first actually does have to do with Labor Day (the same way barbeques have to do with Labor Day [i.e. not at all]):

The remnants of a Power pre-Labor Day party (Fran brought over homemade margaritas. They were delicious.)

A bottle of wine that our neighbors Mark & Amy gave us: we're going to invite them over to drink it with us. They seem very nice (obviously they're nice; they're handing out wine!)

This is Trevor on United's season opener (which we won)

And these are the donuts that we ate while watching United's season opener (which were delicous)

This is a bee that I found in my office at school (and my index fingernail for scale).

This is a turtle that was crossing the street by our house. He caused quite a traffic jam.

This is the sky before it stormed on Friday night (Trevor was stuck on the train for over an hour because of the 70 mph winds)

This is the cherry pie that Neill and Fran grabbed for us before they left Door County (we forgot to get one before we left, so they helped us out)

And this is what's currently left of the pie after T. and I ate some of it for breakfast this morning

So, I hope that these amazing photos help you to celebrate this year's Labor Day, and if they don't, then at least the pie pictures have made you hungry.

Championes, Championes, Ole, Ole, Ole!

Manchester United plays the Chicago Fire this afternoon at Soldier Field, so Trevor and I got ready for the match by going to visit the Premier League trophy (our Premier League trophy, since we will win it again this season [hopefully, though without van der Sar (and without O'Shea! booooo) it will be a feat]) at the Temple Bar, a United supporters' bar up on Ashland. The festivities were invite only, and T. and I got to go because we're members of the MUFChicago fan club (yes, and we're very proud to admit that, so ha.). The place was jammed with super fans who started the soccer chants about an hour before the trophy arrived and continued after it was gone. I have a feeling they might have gone straight through the night and are still chanting right this second.

We met Jayson and Cristen there, and Jayson was first to hoist the trophy:

The gentleman in the white was one of the guardians of the trophy, and he actually donned white cloth gloves a few minutes after this picture was taken

And check out the details from the Red Eye's spread on MUFChicago!

T. and I held off until the line died down (though it never really did, since most of the fans went up for a second lift and picture) and then we took our turn.

T. is sporting United neckwear, and I think he looks like he could stroll off the tour bus right behind Ferdinand

CHAMPIONES! CHAMPIONES!

And it was really exciting to be able to hold it up, since we weren't able to really touch the Champions League trophy when it toured a couple of years ago.

So this afternoon, Neill and Fran are going to come meet up at our place and then the four of us will head down to the South Loop for some lunch before wandering over to Soldier Field. Juli and Matt are going to meet us at the stadium, and Jayson and Cristen have seats with MUFChicago, so we'll probably hook up with them after the game.

The weather is awful--about 90 degrees with what feels like 200% humidity, and we're supposed to get thunderstorms all day long. So that's terrific. But we've got some emergency ponchos (and I might even bring my rain hat, which is red, so I'll still be team supportive!) and, actually, if it's overcast, the heat might not be so bad. And, really, who cares? Because we're going to see MANCHESTER UNITED! Yahoo!