Trap-easy!

What started as an impulse decision on Friday afternoon became the most anticipated event of the weekend for me. M signed herself, me, and her mom up for a two hour trapeze lesson this afternoon. For some of us, calling it anticipation connotes optimism that was not there. There were several conversations involving possible death and/or paralysis. Not me though. I just thought it would be fun.

It helped that I had watched some videos of what we would be doing but I had no fear of injury, much less death. All I had was anticipation. Honestly, that anticipation did have a tinge of fear when I saw the very tall ladder we had to climb. And, I had a very difficult time putting my second arm on the trapeze. You're leaning out at a thirty degree angle over twenty feet high and all that is holding you is a little tiny girl with her hand on your safety belt. Putting the second arm on the trapeze took a lot of effort over fear.

BUT, once I was flying, IT. WAS. AWESOME. I loved flying. I especially loved swinging upside down, hanging by my knees. I loved the dismount back flip. I loved the catch. When I told my mom about this, she was not surprised. Apparently, I've always loved hanging upside down. And, to this day, I love going to play on the swings. Plus, a lot of the movements reminded me of my long ago synchronized swimming days.

The only negative is that the trapeze is rough on your hands, and strangely, calves. I'm pretty sure all of us are going to have some random soreness tomorrow.

2/3rds.

Today was the South Shore Triathlon, or my case, the South Shore Two Thirdalon. I really hate the term Aquabike, even though that's what my 2/3rds is actually called, so I'm just going to pretend that it does not exist.

M and I were down at 63rd Street beach by 6:00 am. When we went to go pick up our packets on Friday night, the anxiety began to set in. All the triathlfreaks talking about what races they've done, times, nutrition, etc. made me nervous. I felt slightly better when I overheard other people this morning who were worried about a leg of the race or confused about what the swim course actually was. But, only slightly.

Once the swim started, nerves changed to frustration pretty quickly. The swim course was so shallow in parts that you actually could not swim. Where it was deep enough to swim, I did. But, not everyone judged depth the same way so I ended up receiving a few elbows, kicks and/or jumps from others. That said, I think the swim ended up being respectable. The bike was kind of fun. 20K is not quite 13 miles which isn't too far. I passed a few people but definitely got passed by a lot, including M. There's only so fast you can go on a hybrid rocking Chuck Taylors:

I waited for M to do the third leg of the race and then we hit the finish tents. I am pretty sure that today was the first time I've had corn on the cob and a beer before 9:00 am.

Update: I actually won my age group in the 2/3rds. Of course, if M had done the 2/3rds instead of 3/3rds, she would have won the age group. But, whatever, I will take it. I am currently undefeated in my age group -- mind you, last time, I was the only person in my age group.

Thirty-Five.

Today is my parents' thirty-fifth anniversary. On July 24, 1976, with red, white and blue as her colors -- in honor of that month's celebration of the bicentennial -- my mom married my dad in Elm Grove, Wisconsin.

Today, my parents are in Colorado. My brother lives about an hour from them, although drives by their exit on the freeway every day on his way to work.

The thirty-fifth anniversay is either the coral or jade anniversary. To celebrate, my brother and I sent my parents a jade bonsai tree. For one thing, coral is a tough thing to find an appropriate couples present. For another, jade is a symbol of luck. And, I don't think you get to thirty-five years without some luck involved. I think its fair to say that they have gone through their better and worse times. They have definitely gone through the sickness part of the vows. That seems especially true over the last year or so. Hopefully, they will get to enjoy some of the health part of the vows in the coming years.

I think thirty-five years is really impressive. Especially today, when divorce is a 50-50 bet, thirty-five years is definitely an accomplishment. Oddly, many of my friends' parents have been married at least thirty five years. And, in my opinion, not coincidentally, a lot of my friends are still single. I think its possible that we see and admire our parents' marriages and want to emulate them. It is a high bar. An admirably high bar that I hope to meet some day -- although, I better get cracking!

Cheers to my parents on their thirty-fifth anniversary!

A Dark And Stormy Night.

I slept like sh*t last night. Almost literally.

As I keep saying, no one moves here for the weather. Not quite six months ago, thanks to the Groundhog's Day blizzard, people were complaining because of the snow and cold. For the past week, people complained about the heat and humidity. It was five days straight of high 90s, heat indices hovering around 110, and high humidity. Now, we have some extreme thunderstorms. Last night, we received half a foot of rain, apparently a single-day high since they started keeping records in 1871.

As a result of all the rain, the sewage line in my building backed up. It flooded the garage, and slowly made its way up to my third floor bathrooms. Around 1:30, I woke up to this loud splashing noise and awful smell. As the storm raged outside, with each lightening strike or wind gust, the disgusting grew in cadence with the storm. I took this while it was happening:

As I type, I'm waiting on professional cleaners to arrive. (My homeowner's association fees paying a dividend.) Because, it looks like this right now:

Just be thankful I can't insert the smell.

**UPDATE: The cleaners are here and working their magic. However, it seems that I am going to have to replace the carpeting in my bedroom because the sewer water flooded on to it. As M pointed out, I've had a toilet in my bedroom and dining room at various points in this house's life so in the grand scheme, this isn't all that bad. **

Aquabike.

Isn't aquabike a stupid-sounding term?

It makes me think that it's a comic hero's mode of transport.

Or, what Spongebob rides around town under the sea.

Or, some super-low impact bike-like contraption you use in a pool.

But, it's not.

Aquabike is what they call a triathlon without the run leg. A triathlon without the swim leg is called a duathlon. That sounds respectable. And, like the triathlon, its ameniable to punny phrases. Triathlon: if at first you don't succeed, tri tri again. Duathlon: just du it. Aquabike: . . . I've got nothing.

Despite the embarrassing, and/or vaguely insulting, but definitely nobody has a damn clue to what you're referring name, I'm now signed up for two aquabike races in the next month. I'm such a follower sometimes. M asked me if I wanted to do the South Shore Tri (Aquabike). Sure, seems manageable (750M swim, 20K bike, and M gets to run a 5K) and close to home as it starts from the 63rd Street Beach. Bonus. Then, she asked if I wanted to do the She Bangs Tri (Aquabike). That one is over an hour away from home -- meaning we need to get up at 4:00 am -- and the day after a cocktail reception we're hosting, but what the hell. (As it turns out, the She Bangs Tri, is the sprint distance while we are signed up for the Olympic distance. Technically, we are doing the Bangs Lake Triathlon (Aquabike) but since I like puns, I'm sticking with calling it the She Bangs.)

Random Re-cap.

A few quick-ish thoughts from the weekend:

1. Mario van Peebles may look like a homeless man these days but he seems like a very nice guy. We had dinner at the restaurant formerly known as the Beachstro on Friday night. He stopped on his run to use the restroom. K loved him when she was in middle school so she recognized him. M and I frantically googled/wiki'd/IMDB'd him. When he was leaving, M yelled out "MARIO!" -- he turned around, came over to say hi, and let us take a picture with him.

2. We brought our friend K to the gym with us to do "the double." I love the double but I also think its hard. At the same time, sometimes I also think I'm just being a wimp. But, K is in good shape and by the time hour one was done she was vacillating between hating us, wanting to punch the instructor in the throat, and not wanting to move anymore. She pushed through to spin like a champ though. My point is that its nice to be validated that you're not just being a baby sometimes.

3. Ravinia can be a really lovely time. It is kind of like baseball to me -- if the weather is perfect, I think its a great way to spend an evening. And, last night, it was perfect. The day's weather started questionably, clouds and maybe rain potential. My knees told me that was just a grumpy Mother Nature rather than an incoming storm. By the time we arrived at Ravinia -- around 7 -- it was sunny, not a cloud in the sky, and no mosquitoes either.

4. We brought so much stuff with us to Ravinia, it looked like we were embarking on a week-long camping trip rather than three hours in the park. Table-in-a-bag, two chairs-in-a-bag, two RECLINERS-in-a-bag, three blankets, two coolers, and a grocery bag. Even with all that, we forgot something (corkscrew -- no big deal, some blanket neighbors let us borrow one).

5. Jennifer Hudson can SING. I know that's not news but the woman is really good and puts on a great show.

6. The good and the bad thing about getting older is the inability to sleep in. This morning was a touch too early for me for a Sunday (5:40) but the heat and humidity is coming this afternoon and I wanted to get in a bike ride and lake swim. It's 10:45 am and I rode 24 miles, swam 2 miles in the lake, walked to Walgreens, started my laundry, and had breakfast already.

7. I love pancakes. That is all.

Waiting.

Living away from your family can be a blessing and a curse. I like to think that I'm blessed with distance so I often have perspective on family issues that those who live near to each other do not have. On the other hand, when there are health emergencies, it is an absolute curse. ESPECIALLY when your family members who are there are not good communicators.

Over the past year, my mom had a couple surgeries, both with worrisome complications and long recoveries. I spent many hours glued to my phone, waiting for updates. Last night, I experienced the same thing with my dad. He had been feeling sick and running a substantial fever for a day. He finally went to the doctor yesterday afternoon and upon arrival, his vital signs were so alarming that the doctor called an ambulance and rushed him to the hospital. One of the worst things about this for me was that my dad is supposed to be the healthy one.

For three long hours, that's the last thing I knew. My mom does not have text-capability on her phone and was not answering calls. My brother did not go to the hospital, taking my mom's "don't come until we know something" at face value. (Side note: Idiot. She should not have to sit alone, worried, no matter what she said. That absolutely would not have been if I lived there.) Finally, I told my brother to call the hospital to see if my dad was admitted. And, by golly, he was. And, he was having surgery! Finally, finally, my brother got in the car and drove up there. At that point, communication improved some. Nonetheless, it was a very long night, sitting and waiting to hear. Not that it would have been all that different if I was there but at least you know you're getting all the information real-time when you're there.

Around 1:15 am, I got the text saying that my dad was out of surgery, his infected gall bladder removed, and he was doing okay. Today, I wait to hear an update. The latest is that he is in the ICU, still suffering from a serious infection. He arrived at the hospital in septic shock and if he had waited much longer, he may have died, so I guess a serious infection is a step up.

** UPDATE: He got moved from the ICU to a regular room. That is a baby step in the right direction, even if the earliest he will be released is Thursday. **

Related, why is reception the worst in hospitals? I know there is a lot of machinery and such but of all the places where people want to be able to contact others, a hospital has got to be VERY high on the list. Someone needs to fix that.

Observations.

After a long, fun weekend, a few wrap-up thoughts:

1. They grow the mosquitos big in the suburbs. I have the biggest bites and in some odd places. How does one get a mosquito bite on the knuckle of their index finger? Shouldn't I have noticed that? Mosquito ninjas. And, I'm pretty sure I got my first bite (on the inside of my foot, no less) the minute I stepped off the train in Wilmette.

2. Because I didn't go to the gym, I showered more at home this weekend than I have in the entire 14 months I've lived there combined. This was helped because I kept getting super-dirty. Lake swims, bike rides, beach time. All required showers so I was showering two or three times a day. Kind of a sad little record I set.

3. The city of Chicago did not put on its own fireworks this year. Instead, it left it to Navy Pier to put on the show. I was walking home from an impromptu BBQ last night when the Navy Pier show began. People were stopping on the street, pulling up chairs and the like. I felt vaguely unpatriotic because I didn't even really turn around to glance at them. But, the fact is, they do that exact show every Wednesday and Saturday throughout the summer. I just hope that the people who were camped out for the show were people who don't live downtown and don't see it twice a week.

4. I now have a very sad feeling that summer is over. Ever since studying for the bar, I have felt that way but this year is worse. When you study for the bar, the common wisdom is that you buckly down and get serious after the Fourth. While all of July is ahead and essentially free, I think every weekend in August through September 10 are spoken for with planned events. Blink and summer is going be gone at this rate.

Journeying.

One of the people in M's department at work was hosting a BBQ last night. Plus, he lives close to the beach for optimal fireworks viewing. Sounds great, right? The only hitch is that it was up in Wilmette.

While one person suggested that we get car service, we went the frugal route and took public transportation. First, we took the 22 bus up to the end of its route -- I swear it stopped every block. A little over an hour later, we were waiting for the purple line to take us to its very last stop. Our host's directions told us that it was just a block and a half walk from there to his house. Even discounting the fact that we missed a turn and got off on a tangent -- we saw a HUGE and beautiful Baha'i temple which was our confirmation we were going the wrong way as you know that would be a landmark on the directions -- it was more like a half mile walk.

But, the journey was totally worth it. It was a fun party, great margaritas (and I don't even really like margaritas!), good people, and fantastic fireworks on the beach.

However, we took a cab home.

Take Two.

This morning was take-two on the longer bike ride, after yesterday's unfortunate tire-pop. And, putting aside that M had to get a new tire, I actually think it was for the best. Yesterday morning was probably 80 with high humidity and no breeze. Today it was mid-70s with low humidity and strong breeze. Yesterday, the lake was pretty calm. This morning, there was a pretty strong chop. All in all, today was a better day for a ride and yesterday was a better day for a swim.

I've lived in Chicago for seven years but I've never been to the end of the lake path. That makes me feel kind of silly but I didn't have a bike until this year so I guess its understandable. We were supposed to ride for 90 minutes. That turned out to be 22 miles total, or almost to the end of the lake path on the south side. Its really pretty -- you get some surprising bits of nature, lake views, and the most lovely view of the city from the end of the path. Although, technically, our 45 minute turnaround point was a mile short of the end. Next time.

The plus side to riding south is that you get "open road" pretty quickly. The north side of the path tends to be much more cluttered with dogs, walkers, strollers, runners, rollerbladers, etc. The minus to riding south is that the turnaround means you have the wind in your face in the entire return trip.

By the time we got home, we were both starving. In fact, we pulled up to our building but decided that we had no time to waste in getting food so we rode to Elly's. I'd be lying if I said we looked good but we did put on an impressive display of eating. Pancakes, omlette, potatoes, coffee, all good, all gone. Great start to the morning.

Pop!

M is doing a training group for an Olympic triathlon. She has done a couple triathlons before but a shorter distance. For the shorter distance, she never did anything that I'd count as "training" -- more like she'd go for a longer bike ride, come to swim class, and occasionally go for a run. Her Saturdays are generally a ride with her training group but because of the 4th, she was on her own. She asked me if I wanted to join her for her scheduled ride and, since the gym canceled classes for the weekend, I was in. We agreed to ride early in the morning because it was supposed to be hot. (And, it was. At one point, it was 92, but felt like 103 per the weather channel.)

We got maybe a mile south when all of the sudden we heard a POP! I thought maybe her tire cap had just come off. As it turns out, she rode over a piece of glass at JUST the right angle that cut through both the inner and outer tube of her tire. At first, she thought lesson learned, I will carry an extra tube and tools in the future. I have not learned that lesson yet. Especially because, even if she had a tube and tools it would not fix the problem -- she had to buy a whole new tire.

However, since we were at Ohio Street beach, we decided to jump in the lake. (We were planning on swimming after the ride anyway.) Mark it down -- July 2 was my first swim in the lake. The park district tells me it was 64 degrees. It really was not bad. I don't know how long it took to swim half a mile but I was not bone-chilled. Especially not after we had to carry her bike back home. Her bike is lighter than mine but it still is cumbersome and awkward on the shoulder so we ended up taking turns. By the time we got home, I was hot again.

The rest of the day was good -- farmer's market, breakfast and mimosas, garden center, ice cream cone, nap, grilled out, and dog walk. Tomorrow morning is take two on the bike ride. Hopefully, the only pop we hear will be from fireworks later in the day.

Big Money (Tree).

Over a year ago, my parents gave me a money tree to mark my entrance to the 30-year club, also known as buying my first place and getting a mortgage. I was impressed with myself for just keeping it alive for a year. Until I realized that maybe my low expectations on my money tree were keeping me down. While talking to my mom last week, I asked if maybe the lil tree needed re-potting. She told me that if I re-pot it, the money tree would grow bigger. Small pot, small tree. Big pot, big money tree. To me, which I said as I was pondering out loud, that clearly means that big pot means big LOTTERY money tree. As my mom said, "get a bigger f'in pot."

So, before:

After:

Tonight is Saturday night aka Powerball night. I fully expect to wake a multi-millionaire.