As soon as I started to do a bit of the work on Friday afternoon--work I'd put off doing all week long--I realized that my break was finally over. But right before I did that first bit of work (grading, of course), I had my ladies' lunch: Julie and Max, Mary and Sophia and Lydia, Caren and Lindy (Lilette was home with Tim), and me and Rebecca (both of us childless).
Pretty ladies!
Maxie Five Cents, looking cool as usual
One nice picture just after sitting down, before the toddler hijinks began
Maxie Five Cents, staring me down. He's a tough cookie.
And then I knew that my fun was over and I had to do a bit of work (and a bit more knitting and a bit of straightening up before my amazing V-Write mentee, Angelica, and her friend Chantal came over for some hang-time on Saturday.) But I swear that I did a little work.
On Saturday the girls suggested that we make an Oreo pie, and I thought it was a fine idea. Better than fine, actually, so we got our ingredients and the girls got to it. Although they first had to see what all the fuss was about baker's chocolate. Was it really as gross as I told them it was?
Yes. It really was.
They quickly got over that, though, and went to work.
Cooking up some pie filling
Chantal, scraping the cookie crumbs for the crust
Angelica, pouring out some crumbs
A layer of ice cream? Don't mind if we do!
The almost finished product
Once the pie was at this stage (and covered in more crumbs, obviously), we stuck it in the freezer and I started dinner while the girls did some work. Angelica did her science homework and ACT prep, and Chantal worked on a cover letter for a job she's applying for at the Anti Cruelty Society. Obviously, they will both be successful because they are both fantastic.
But to be really successful, they needed to eat a balanced meal. So we sat down to eat some vegetable soup with pasta and sandwiches,
Dinner
and, of course, pie.
Dessert--also part of the formula for success
The mostly eaten product
The girls went home with leftovers (a half pie in my house would not have lasted the night) and set our next date to go check out the Mitsuwa Marketplace in Arlington Heights.
And today, Sunday, was Easter; and there was a lot more dessert. I mean, a lot.
There was lamb cake:
The most suspicious looking lamb in Chicago
And since that lamb was so suspicious, we took care of him, and quick.
Oh, sorry lamb. Did you need that head? TOO BAD. Lamb jerk.
There was also marzipan cake (nearly as fun to say as it is to eat!):
There was another cake (caramel) and good four pounds of cookies. Bo was responsible for eating 2/3 of them. I might have been responsible for eating the other third. That's what aunts are for.
We burned off a few calories by playing catch.
And then T. and I retired home to watch the season finale of The Walking Dead (o.m.g. how am I supposed to wait until October for the next season? October!?) and the season premiere of Game of Thrones (o.m.d. [d for dragons, of course]). And I have more work to do before tomorrow, but instead, I worked on this post and am now watching Superman on t.v. And I might eat a cookie before I go to bed. Yes. I think I'll do that right now.
My finished vanitas picture. T. suggested the inscription.
I turned in my final grades last Friday and almost immediately started to prepare--really prepare--for the holidays. It included the following:
Shopping
My bags were heavy with wares from a trip to the outlet malls with my friend Kate
Wrapping
Baking
Yes, that's butter. Lots of butter.
And yes, those are dinosaur sprinkles. Merry Christmasaurus.
Eating
The Bûche de Noël at La Petite Creperie in Woodstock
The remains of Wyatt, the turkey, from our Friendsgiving (Trevor and I did not participate in the Wyatt consumption)
Crepes from Iguana Cafe
And hanging out with some fantastic people
Like some of my coworkers for our end-of-semester holiday feast...
This is where that log cake de noel came in.
Our Friendsgiving friends...
Cristen, mixing up some egg whites for homemade egg nog
Jayson, taking a picture before we sat down to eat
My awesome mentee Angelica...
Angelica with her presents before we hunkered down for some crepes
And family...
On Friday, I went with Mom and Bosco to check out the model train display at the Hancock Center.
Taking it all in...
Still taking it in..
We walked home from the Hancock and had some lunch before playing with some cool blocks. It was the perfect day.
Applesauce: the snack you eat right after lunch
Blocks!
On Saturday the Power clan got together. Rae was able to fly in from Florida, but we missed Letty, who's been helping out in Atlanta for the last few weeks and only got back to FL yesterday. She'll stay at home for the holidays, but then go back to the TSA office in Atlanta until they can find a replacement (a replacement for Letty? impossible, so good luck, suckers).
Sadie ripping open her Ugg boots from Destiny
Sadie showing off her Girl PoWEr tee shirt from Auntie Rae and Auntie Letty
The cousins Sadie and Destiny--Sadie is in her final of four costume changes for the night
Angi with her new loud eyed baby Dora
Tonight we'll go over to Mom and Dad Bork's place to do some gift exchanges, and then to Sean and Angi Power's to hang out with them and Rae before she has to leave tomorrow. There will be more eating, drinking, and hanging out with our favorite people, and we'll be sure to take some pictures. But until then, Merry Christmas!
Wednesday night was the closing party for the VWrite program this semester. There was a lot of food, fun, and maybe a few tears shed as the mentors and mentees recapped an excellent semester together.
Mentors and mentees, at the pot-luck VWrite party
Angelica, mentee extraordinaire
Angelica and her mentor and mentee buddies with their VWrite diplomas
At the end of the party, Angelica wanted to know: did we think that some of the Gage Park High School students would ever be back to volunteer as mentors themselves for the VWrite program? I thought that was a terrific question and I really hope that the answer is a resounding yes!
So, anyone who volunteers knows that the only reason to volunteer is a selfish one: to make yourself feel really good.
But the good and wonderful people at Open Books, where I've been volunteering, have gone above and beyond making me feel good and have named me their November "Vol-Star," which is a huge honor for me. You can read about it on the Open Books Tumblr page.
But when I got the e-mail from them, I realized that I'd neglected to write a post about the college visits I went on with Angelica, my mentee in the VWrite program, so this seemed like perfect timing.
Last month, Angelica and I took a campus tour of Columbia College Chicago, where she's interested in going after she graduates in 2014. She's thinking about studying television and movie directing, but she was also really interested in the music program they have at the college.
Getting some tour tidbits from our guide (who may be on Saturday Night Live in the near future...)
Angelica, in the music performance theater
Why, hello. Yes, I'll be going here soon.
After the tour, Angelica and I went to say hi to the Bork parents since they were so close. My mom thought Angelica was "adorable," which was not surprising, and after a chat we took a picture on the deck.
But our collegiate visits weren't over; Angelica was embarking on Gage Park's fall break, so the first Monday she had off school, she came with me to MCC. She'd visited the campus with me before, but I'd forgotten to take any pictures. I didn't make the same mistake this time.
Angelica, looking super studious in the MCC library
We had a great time, and it was so much fun to show her off to my colleagues. And my students in the Monday class (17 male/3 female) were also very excited to meet her. The boys may have showed off a bit on her behalf; they were a lot chattier than usual--and they're usually unbelievably chatty.
Angelica and I are almost through the official VWrite program--it's just one semester--but we've decided that it would be weird to not see each other anymore. We decided this over noodles at Urban Belly the other weekend (she really wanted to try traditional ramen and I didn't need my arm twisted to go with her).
Us, in front of giant bowls of noodles and some wrinkle beans, which were good but even more fun to say. WRINKLE BEANS!
You can't see it, but she's enjoying the delicious ginger candy they gave us after dinner
A. showed me the "good" way to take a picture of yourself: from above
We have a VWrite potluck after Thanksgiving, and then we made plans to get some crepes later that week. It's probably meaningful that many of our outings revolve around food. It means that we like food (mystery solved). We did decide that the post-crepe get together would be to work on her job applications, so there will be some work done. But we'll probably have to work on her applications over some cookies. Or banana splits.
All in all, working with Open Books and Angelica in this program has been a terrific experience. And if any of you are interested in volunteering, you should check out what they've got to offer (which is a lot).
Have a wonderful, turkey, potato, stuffing, and pie filled Thanksgiving!
On Friday night, Angelica and I went on an adventure to see the play Black Watch, which was brought here as part of the Chicago Shakespeare Theater's World's Stage program. I still have some connections at CST from when I worked there 1,000 years ago, and there was a secret discount (not really secret, but I'm trying to feel special) for the Black Watch shows last week. I snagged some half-price tickets and Angelica and I played it fancy for the night.
Well, not too fancy. This is where we ate dinner.
And no, it wasn't fancy. But it was deeeelicous.
The show wasn't at the CST main stage on Navy Pier, but at the Broadway Armory in Uptown. It was the perfect place for such a militaristic play.
Angelica outside of the house (gymnasium)
Our seats
The view from our seats, before the play began
Obviously we couldn't take pictures during the show, and thank goodness. We needed all of our attention focused on the ninety-five minute action and emotion-packed drama that was unfolding on the floor. The ten-man cast was excellent, and the scenery, music, and special effects were heart poundingly fantastic. If you want to see a very mild taste of what we saw, check out this video of the cast rehearsing.
And what was even more exciting than watching the actors march as the Black Watch soldiers do, was Angelica's commentary on their skills after the play. She was in the ROTC for a year and knows her marching stuff, so her critique was informative and expert.
Angelia, outside of the Armory
Mentor and Mentee, on the town
After the play, we needed to debrief, so we went to get some refreshments at Margie's Candies. I'd never been there before (which is insane. absolutely insane), so I was thrilled she'd suggested it.
And it was the perfect after-play treat.
Um, that's a lot of ice cream.
So we both finished the night full of culture, new ideas about the weeks ahead, and sugar. Lots and lots of sugar.
This upcoming Saturday we're going on a campus tour of Columbia College, so there will be more pictures. Until then, get tickets to Black Watch and then get some ice cream. It won't be with me and Angelica, but it will still be pretty good.
