Happy Birthday P!

(Me - with giant happy cheek action - and the birthday boy in his Opera America office during my birthday trip to NYC in February.)

P McDiddy, you are a fantastic person and a great friend, and your next 40 years are going to be just amazing. Happy big 4-0!!

Though I couldn't be with P as he celebrated his "Lordy, lordy..."
birthday at Lazy Meadow, I still managed to have a great weekend, but a few lame and funny things were thrown in. Here goes:



Friday night, I did a last-minute babysitting gig for my 5-year-old friend Tommy. I haven't seen him for a while, and I usually hang out with him in the context of his parents (whom I really like,, too) or with his older brother Jimmy, who's 9. So I was
excited for the opportunity to have an evening "date" with just Tommy. Well,
apparently his school just stopped the daytime naps for his age group, and he was already totally asleep when I arrived at 6:30pm (see above).



He stayed asleep all night, but not in one place. I
spent the evening downstairs reading - without music or TV on - and somehow, I didn't
hear him get out of his own bed and wander over to the master bedroom
and climb in. I went upstairs to check on him at one point, and I have
never felt such pure panic as when I saw his empty bed...

Saturday started with an early walk with Lois and then an 8am run - that's right folks, I said run (but I meant JOG)! I went over to the local running shoe store where they have an 8am Saturday open running group, and I finally made it to that. I met some nice people, found a woman who runs at almost exactly my pace, and made it to the 3-mile turnaround and then about halfway back without stopping, so I figure
about 2.25 miles. It was great! My goal for the summer is to run in a
fun 5K, and by the fall do a 10K. I also posted on Craigslist for a
once-a-week beginning running partner, and have had some great
responses. I meet for a run with my first "buddy," T, on Tuesday
after work.



Then, my cousin M called, and he and his wife K and baby Spencer (who's 2 months old already, and I hadn't met him!) schlepped up to Lincoln Square from Hyde Park, and dang if they didn't take me out to lunch! It was an awesome afternoon of visiting, baby-kissing, window-shopping, salad-eating and stroller-pushing, and it was gorgeous weather to boot.


I gave Spencer some sunglasses (his first pair). Then we went to a store and I bought him his second pair, too, because they were hilarious. I should have taken a picture of those, too.


This is the German band that plays down the street from my house at the Glunz Bavarian House bar and restaurant. They make my day on weekends in summer. I can hear them from my bedroom window.

I was then sposed to meet an internet "just friends" guy at Ribfest,
this sorta crappy festival (in Chicago, you can find 5 festivals going
on any given weekend from June-October) exactly one block from my
house, so I went over there, fought the crowds to buy tickets, got a
beer and a not-great bbq pulled-pork sandwich, and watched a fun band, The
Blacks, play. The internet guy never showed up, but my friend
J called, so we ended up going to a bar for beer. It was perfect. I
learned about his planned polka band called The Lincoln Square Polka
Boosters (which I would really like to be in, but then I'd need to actually, finally, learn to play an instrument).



We were walking across the neighborhood (trying to avoid the Ribfest
people) to the next bar when we noticed that the German band was still
playing, so we sat right in front and enjoyed their set (and a couple big beers)
from up close. What a fun Lincoln Square-y day and night!