Misadventures of the Monster Librarian

 Under the L, lovely Chicago Chicago was a blast. We left my apt. at 1:30am Sunday, arrived there at 6:30am Chicago time; a drive that was one of those over-tired-slappy-giggly-listening to good and bad music-fun-mini-roadtrips I won't soon forget. We couldn't check into our hostel until 3:30pm, so after dropping our bags off (they had lockers available) we hit the city. We: ate at Yolk wandered through this cool sculpture exhibit (see pics below) saw Buckingham Fountain saw the glorious design of Grant Park Music Festival Went to the Sears Tower (now Willis Tower--lame!) and stood out on the glass walkout with nothing but some glass and the city below us! We saw the Main Branch of the Chicago Public Library (which was less than a block from our hostel) I wandered through every level, fell in love with Winter Garden on the top floor. WHAT A GORGEOUS BUILDING!! Gah, I could live in Chicago to just use that library!! Met up with my friend Scott for a good Mexica...

"To improve the golden moment of opportunity, and catch the good that is within our reach, is the great art of life. Many wants are suffered, which might once have been supplied; and much time is lost in regretting the time which had been lost before." ~ Samuel Johnson The last weekend of September I went on the Annual Hiking Retreat with Churchy Church (my home church), to act as cook and general kitchen-bitch for the weekend. I was prepared for a simple menu-- Saturday breakfast: Bacon, red pepper & onion quiches, bagels and muffins, cereal Saturday lunch: Sandwich bar with soups: Chicken tortilla and Chicken & wild grain rice (these were a la Campbells), salad, raw veggies Saturday dinner: Beef and Chicken Kabobs, Veggie Kabobs, pitas, raw veggies, saffron rice Sunday breakfast: Blueberry pancakes, sausage, bagels and muffins, cereal --and hoping for some peace of mind and some time to reflect on all that has unfolded in the last year. It is almost comical to thin...