Oh oh, so busy as a bee! (A bee with a moving truck and sangria.)

Not a day has gone by in the last couple weeks where I did not think about updating this blog.  I have never been one to make excuses like, "I've been soooo busy."  Yes, I have been busy but that is truly just defined by the fact that I have had other priorities on completely different spectrums.

Spectrum #1: moving.  In less than a week, Meeks and I will move into a bigger, beautiful place in a new neighborhood.  After about six appointments, some with horrendous consequences and an incompetent turd named Jim, we found our new home.  With that comes lease signing, packing, scheduling movers, and calling f-ing Comcast.  (They will be the death of me.)  You get it.  When I move again I will buy and it will be glorious but until then it's not in the cards and that's okay with me.  Leaving our current place will be a little sad as we leave behind our first home after college where, upon moving in, we were unemployed, a little confused, and asking things like, "what am I doing with my life?" and "why am I up at 4 a.m. watching Law & Order reruns?"  Micah and I, in our adorable heterosexual live-in relationship, are moving on up!  Or south, either way.

Spectrum #2: summer in Chicago has arrived.  I hear my friends say, "I could never move to California/Florida/tropical place because I like the seasons too much."  Chicago looks seasons in the face and backhands them.  I cannot recall the fall of 2009 because I am fairly certain it did not exist; spring 2010 is currently under the same classification and I will absolutely take it.  This past weekend I participated in a Armitage St. makeshift bar crawl with friends, drank sangria on a patio and played "life-size" Jenga at a bar at 1:30 a.m.  On Sunday I recovered by lying on the beach.  Tomorrow I am, for the first time since I can remember, skipping a Cardinals/Cubs series I could attend to spending a weekend racing jet skis and relaxing at the lake.  There will be another baseball game but consecutively 90 degree days over a Memorial Day weekend?  I'll take the latter this time around, these are the days I'll remember.

Spectrum #3: Season finales this week!  Plus Glee.  I want my, I want my [m]TV.

Spectrum one makes spectrum two necessary.  Through it all, I could not be happier.  But I promise not to abandon you again.

Way Out Where the Dandelions Grow

Opening day is tomorrow, 80% chance of rain pending. It's time to grab my Dr. Dot Richardson bat out of the closet and oil my glove. Ten glorious weeks of company softball on team SMG-Unit starts soon, the first organized team I've been on in four years! Last week we had practice and I have to believe there are few things more exciting in Chicago than playing catch underneath of the city's skyline. I missed a catch due to sun shining off a skyscraper. Glorious!

Summer ball was an essential part of my upbringing. From Ryan's t-ball to my five hour All-Star game when I was 11 to having my life threatened by drunk parents as a 15-year-old umpire. A first team all-conference plaque with Theresa "T-Dawg" is lovingly packed in a box full of high school memories.

Granted, this season will be more about leisurely playing with a 16" colossal softball (Chicago's thing, apparently) and the bars we are destined to frequent post-game.

Wherever I am and no matter my age, I have always loved playing this game. The video below is from 1990. I remember the commercial from childhood and everything about the song reminds me of growing up playing the sport. A game tying foul ball hit to you or two strikes with a runner in scoring position...and the relentless butterflies in your stomach. Then, all of a sudden, you pull through for the team! What is more fun for a child than being the hero?

When I was about nine I had a strong arm but lacked coordination to take on the infield. So I played right field where it's important to know, you gotta know how to...just watch the video.

Cheers to summer and all the past, present and future memories we make on the field.

If you don't like Julia Roberts, then screw you!

On the weekends I wait tables at California Pizza Kitchen. Now that you know that, feel free to come in on a Saturday afternoon and tip me 20%+. On these days, many devil's rejects from Northwest Indiana come in and stuff themselves with a meat cravers pizza. Sick. But sometimes I forgot that I still live in a city that attracts celebrities...then forget that celebrities eat food. CPK is a chain, granted it's based in over-the-top LA, but still. Ichizo Suzuki makes regular visits and orders two cheese pizzas with very little cheese and extra sauce which is pretty gross. The Obama ladies came in without papa Barack but with a secret service entourage and were incredibly polite to all. Then TODAY, after I enjoyed an amazing work lunch at Chicago hot spot Sunda, I find out Julia Roberts dined at CPK.

I fell in love with Julia Roberts when my dad let me watch the story about a hooker shopping on Rodeo Drive. I wanted to be a lawyer when I saw Erin Brokovich. Then she's married to Danny Ocean in the Oceans movies?! Julia Roberts, give me your life. Tomorrow afternoon I work. I plan to find out what seat she occupied, sit in it, and soak up her glamorousness.

One of my favorite movies ever?  You betcha!

Closet Nerd Alert

Today is Star Wars Day. So May the Fourth be with you.  GET IT?!  Also this is a legit holiday because Twitter trending topics and Wikipedia told me so.  Commence eye rolling now.