I got to see Christie, Stefan, and one of my favorite babies, Emmet, again.

Madeline and Pauline

Madeline, just after getting changed into her dress.

Madeline's Wedding was last weekend on January 3 in Charlottesville. They had their ceremony at the UVA Chapel and their reception at the alumni hall. It was another sunny and lovely day, and an excellent time. Madeline had her dress made and it was pretty amazing and she was a beaming and radiant bride.

We stayed in a cheapo room at the Red Roof Inn which had ideal location (pretty much on campus and walking distance to everything), but was lacking in other areas. On Friday night the fire alarm went off twice at two in the morning. After working in schools, I pretty much threw on a coat and shoes and hustled out the door. Totally a false alarm, though, and the woman at the front desk wouldn't even get off her phone call to tell all the people gathered in the lobby (in various states of disarrary)so. Lame.

The day after the wedding, Robin, Todd and I walked over to this awesome little sandwich place for lunch. Robin and Todd had already tried food at this place called the White Spot where Robin had eaten a grilled-wich, or something like that. It was a dessert made of 2 buttered and fried Krispie Kreems and vanilla ice cream. This was after they had dined on double burgers with fried eggs on top. Pretty impressive.

Anne celebrating being newly wed with some of her favorite champers

The bride and groom!

First things, first: My Anne's Wedding
Lots to catch up on: two weddings, winter vacation, the holidays and now back at work.
Anne’s wedding was on December 13th in Virginia. I flew into the area on Thursday night and met Anne Friday morning for manis and pedis (as you do). It was a real treat, actually, since I had Anne to myself most of the day, so we puttered and ran errands, had lunch, and checked into the hotel before the rehearsal. The day of the wedding was crisp, sunny, and lovely. We hustled out of the hotel early in the morning for hair and the rest of the day was a blur. Anne looked stunning and Nathaniel looked regal. I am so happy for them, and couldn’t think of a better match. I did a shite job of taking pictures, and wish that I remembered to pull out my camera more.

Holy Mackerel
It's been a month since the last post! Things have been good: busy at work, three different Thanksgiving feasts, and dealing with the onslaught of the frigid temperatures. Oh, we also got to meet Jackie and Brian's baby, Ethan! He is quite a little cutie and I captured a lervly photo of he and Todd that I need to post once I get to downloading it.

It was seven degrees this morning, which was great. I lost my mittens, but I have Todd's gloves which may be oversized but are effective. I made the mistake one morning of going out without gloves and trying to scrape down my windshield and then I was disabused immediately of the notion that that might be a good idea.

Last night we watched "Wall-E" and I can't stop thinking about how much I loved that movie. I loved that it was a little bit dark and didn't try to kowtow to standard Disney audiences. I loved that Wall-E added a vowel to EVE's name so he produced it like: "Eve-ah" which reminds me of some of the toddlers that I see. I cried a lot at the end. It didn't pass me by that Wall-E looked a lot like that robot in "Short Circuit," though.

We also watched "The Fall of Fuijimori" the other day on Netflix online (thanks, Charles!). It was amazing: I can't believe that all of these huge happenings (and absurdity) was happening in Peru for a decade and I had no idea! Scratch that...I can believe it. Both because I have my head in my ass and that it probably was not detailed thoroughly in our media outlets.

Speaking of toddlers that I see (a couple of paragraphs back), one of them is built like a little football player and I adore him. Seriously, he has no ankles. Last session he reached his arms out to me for a cuddle, so we cuddled while he identified his facial features for me (he got all the main ones). That was a recognized moment of goodness and definitely one of the many benefits to working with two year olds: hugs and kisses.

From Yes We Can (Hold Babies)

Thrilled.
I am still buoyant over the election results. We had a little election party last night (with America/Obama themed desserts) and lots of celebrating was done. The house across the street blasted "We Are the Champions" after the election was called. Go America for coming through with this one.

In honor, I have to post one of my favorite Obama web sites called Yes We Can (Hold Babies)
which I hope is not going to end with the end of this election. I think that the web site was inspired by the picture above, and really...how can you beat it?

High tea

Bridal Shower Gift Opening

At a Herndon locale after the shower. This was Emmet's first bar experience, which made it all the more special.

Soon to be Mama and me.

Laughing!

My mom loving Baby Emmet.

Christie and Emmet

The Baby Ladies

Beautiful cookies.

Anne and the lovely rehearsal bouquet that Kathy made.

Anne's Bridal Shower
I've been long overdue in posting some photos from Anne's bridal shower. There were a bunch, but I'll post a select few. Of course we've also got to include some of beautiful baby Emmet, who made his debut to many of us.

Buoyed
I loved watching Colin Powell on "Meet the Press" this morning. He sounded so logical and like he cut through the bullshit, and that was refreshing. I was especially pleased that he called certain GOP people out for implying that Obama = Muslim, therefore = evil. Bullshit.
Transcript from what I especially liked from Powell's comments:

I'm also troubled by, not what Senator McCain says, but what members of the party say. And it is permitted to be said such things as, "Well, you know that Mr. Obama is a Muslim." Well, the correct answer is, he is not a Muslim, he's a Christian. He's always been a Christian. But the really right answer is, what if he is? Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer's no, that's not America. Is there something wrong with some seven-year-old Muslim-American kid believing that he or she could be president? Yet, I have heard senior members of my own party drop the suggestion, "He's a Muslim and he might be associated terrorists." This is not the way we should be doing it in America.

If you want a sobering look at the American healthcare system as it stands, watch the most recent POV on PBS which follows four uninsured Americans who suffer critical medical conditions. It's thoroughly depressing stuff. :(

It's Banned Book Week!
Celebrate by reading one.
The most challenged books of the 21st century look heavy on the young readers' stuff: Harry Potter, Judy Blume, The Chocolate War, Maya Angelou, and apparently something called the 'Captain Underpants Series.' Give me a break.

Pulchritudinous stuff
So much to talk about! First of all, last weekend I flew back to VA to help host our Anne's bridal shower, along with the rest of the bridal party, Kathy and Christie. It seemed to go off wonderfully, and I have lots of pictures to share and a few to post. I just need to get around to downloading them from the camera. We also got to meet Christie's baby, Emmet, and he is nothing short of beautiful. He's perfectly shaped and sweetly mellow and has a splendid little face.

The evening after the bridal shower a few of us had dinner at a local place in downtown Herndon, VA. I commented to my parents afterward that within 10 minutes of driving around Herndon I saw TWO McCain/Palin stickers. It surprised me since I seriously have not noticed ONE of these car stickers since the campaign started. This is probably because I have been nestled in Obama-land in Chicago, and I'm also not super observant, but it actually startled me a little to see two so close together. Yoicks. I'm glad that I have friends in Virginia who will represent, but this is when I wish I still had a VA vote.

I'm also dying watching the GOP spin machine trying to do damage control over the Palin/Couric interviews: it's priceless. I laughed out loud listening to McCain on NPR yesterday morning trying to say that he has consulted Palin over foreign relations issues "many times in the past." Please stop insulting the American people. The truth is that I would respect McCain's side a lot more if he didn't try to lie and spin. Back to the Couric interview, though: I was a little surprised that she didn't come up with any answers for newspapers and magazines she read regularly. I suppose it's a little delicate since you do want to present yourself as balanced, and not biased in any way (which what you read can say that about you), but not coming up with *anything*? Weird.

I'm psyched for the debate tonight.

In other news, I have one student who I see who has high functioning autism. She's earnest and wide-eyed and quite verbal. Last Tuesday, she looked up at me from her worksheet and stated: "You're pulchritudinous!" The only reason I know what that word means is because I got it wrong on the GRE. This is also the same girl who I observed with some other special needs kids. The special ed teacher asked them to name their favorite animals. Other kids named: dog, cat, horse. She named: tapir.

Lots of viewing ahead
One particularly awesome wedding present we received (Thanks, CC!) is a contraption that allows viewing of Netflix movies directly to your tv. Last night we hooked it up and watched movies and shows for hours. Seriously, this is an excellent machine as there's a fair selection of stuff available, there's no limit to what you can watch, and the picture is good.

One of the movies we watched was the documentary "Please Vote for Me." It's an hour long documentary about an election for class monitor in a Chinese school room and is is one of the best movies I have seen all year. It's funny, chock full of cute kids, and is relevant to our election year this year as there's tons of mud slinging and maneuvering to obtain votes.

We also watched "Heavy Metal in Baghdad," which was good and sad. I also think it would be an excellent movie to show American teenagers to help them get one snapshot of their peers in Iraq.

In other news, yesterday was very productive besides all of the movie watching. We painted the guest room and it's pretty much finished besides a couple of touch ups. It's a spring green color and I like it very much.

Late summer
It's the last week of summer, and I cannot describe to you how fantastic the weather in Chicago is this week. Today we had a fire drill, and I was ready to drop everything and flee work so I could frolic in the streets. Or just lie on the lake front. It's sunny and mid-70s and breezy and it makes one want to weep at the beauty.

Anyway, last night we went to go see one of Todd's friends perform stand up in Berwyn. Where is Berwyn, you might ask? I don't really know myself, but it's just on the edge of Chicago. The standup was in this makeshift stage in the corner of a crowded, somewhat gritty, and wholly charming bar which hosts a weekly open mic. Adam, who is well practiced in stand up, was one of the regulars and it was clear, as he had the right rhythm for the jokes and the deliveries were right on. There were a few other good ones, but for the most part it was a glaringly painful experience. You watch these guys *struggle* up there, telling mind-blowingly terrible jokes, and literally sweating. I mean, I felt for those guys because God knows I wouldn't have the balls to do this, but I also have zero urge to stand there and do bits in front of strangers. One guy, who was up there for the first time, was so nervous that he was having breathing problems. He also told a joke about black people hating to swim. The last guy, who was in his 50s, wore a muscle shirt and a greased pompadour and spat out a string of totally gross, nasty, and mostly bad jokes that made me shudder. Oy.

Beyond that, life's just been busy with work and putting away wedding gifts, and vacuuming cat hair from the floor and carpet.

I'm picture crazy now that I am downloading pictures from my camera.
Last night I went to Octoberfest in Lincoln Square and Laura, Lauren, Megan, Katie and Chris.

One of our last shots taken in Barcelona: enjoying
over priced drinks on the roof top bar of
the Majestic Hotel. This is when the camera battery died fully.

More Sagrada Familia shots.

I finally downloaded all of the stored pictures on my camera. I'll add them the blog bit by bit. Here's more Barcelona shots!

One of Matt's photos!

Our awesome wedding photographer, Matt Veldhuis, posted some initial pictures from the wedding on his blog. Check them out!

More pictures from the wedding: this time from Katie and Chris!


Northwestern girls and us.

Although the wedding and the honeymoon were great, I admit that I miss the kitties terribly. We found some pictures of them on Todd's camera and I had to post them.

Preserved Roman Columns

eerie door.

Most of the doors in the old Gothic quarter were covered with graffiti, and I kind of loved them.

This was engraved on the wall during our walking tour along of the old Jewish quarters of the Barri Gotic. You can make out "Palestine Libre" below.

Cool, weird building a block from our hotel. Can you see the wiring on top?

Can you see the top of the monument in the background? Success! This is down by the Port Vell, and it was extremely hot that day. About half an hour after this picture was taken we treated ourselves to popsicles which melted quickly and were very sticky.

Todd would like to apologize for the poor quality of both of the picture and his face.

We've been taking a lot of our joint pictures ourselves with mixed results.

La Sagrada Familia
One of the Gaudi sites we've visited that is definitely one of the most dramatic. Unfortunately, a lot of the sites we've visited appear to be under some kind of construction. We contemplated going inside, but decided to just take photos outside since there were seriously like a katrillion tourists buzzing around.

Rooftop.

Views from the rooftop deck/pool/bar of our very chichi hotel, Hotel Majestic. Our location is excellent. We love the bar up there, but were scared straight by the drink prices.

Barcelona!
It's the late afternoon/evening here in Barcelona. We have one full day left, and it's gone quickly. Our days have revolved around doing maybe one tourist site a day, then stopping somewhere and getting a snack and a drink, then napping for a few hours (!), then a late dinner. I love Spain, partly because they also love: bread, wine, olive oil, and relaxing. The food is rich enough that my stomach is kind of wrecked this afternoon, but I will suffer through! I think our favorite is the pan amb tomates (don't quote me on the language), which is basically thick sliced fresh bread, amply brushed with olive oil, and then topped with fresh tomato guts. It's yummy, and can accompany every meal. Besides the food, Barcelona is hands down beautiful. Today we did a walking tour throuh the old gothic area/roman area and the lanes and buildings are breathtaking. There's nothing like it Stateside. I love how you peer down a skinny lane and in the background you see a mountain or a building or a church steeple peeking out above, so photogenically.

Wed!
The wedding went off without a hitch on Saturday and Todd and I are officially married. Hooray! The ceremony itself was in my parents' front yard, and the weather was phenomenal: it was sunny but cool enough to be outside and kind of rare for August. The reception at the Chinese restaurant was full of food and I danced like crazy, not a little because I was so gleeful that 10 months of planning was finished.

Tonight we leave for the honeymoon, and now we can enjoy life as married people.

Thanks to Suzi for the pictures!

Yeah..
The wedding is like five days away. I'm in VA prepping and there is a lot to do. That's why I'd rather write about the movies that I've watched lately.

1. "Persepolis": As good as you'd expect! It synthesized both I and II of the books and the art was wonderful. I probably learned more about recent Iranian history than I had ever known before. Maybe that says more about my own ignorance, though. See it!

2. "My Kid Could Paint That": Also really good! For those who don't know, the story follows the adorable 4-year old moppet who rocked the art world with her paintings that people compared to the likes of Jackson Pollack. The doc originally started out as a look at the world of contemporary art and examining how people qualify art as valuable. But, then it turned into a really interesting whodunnit, since many began to question whether the kid was solely behind those paintings. Incredibly intriguing and I know that I was convinced that she didn't create many of the paintings attributed to her, although the filmmaker never really came down on any side. Oh, and her paintings were selling for tens of thousands.

3. "Manda Bala:" I just watched this documentary about crime and corruption in Brazil. All I know is that after watching it, I was convinced to cancel any imminent trips to Sao Paolo. Kidnappings for ransom occur once a day there, according to the film, and now the rich are *helicoptering* to and from their locations and buying bulletproof cars in order to escape the kidnappers.

4. "SubUrbia": This was on IFC the other day so I sat and watched the entire thing. I didn't like it at all, and I can dig some Richard Linklater, usually. Maybe it's because every single one of the characters was irritating. Maybe it was because it was full of ennui. Maybe because, as I discovered afterward, it was apparently originally a stage play put to screen (I actually commented to Todd while we watched it that it felt like the lines were being delivered as if it were a play), and I didn't expect that.

5. "Lars and the Real Girl": I will admit that I teared up at one point in this movie about a man's relationship with his Real Girl doll. Still, though, I felt like it dragged. I do love me some Ryan Gosling--even when he's kind of puffy and wears an 80s moustache.