I’m sure I forgot to tell you, but I am somewhere very special this weekend. I’m camped out a church for a retreat thing called Chrysalis.

What is Chrysalis?

Chrysalis is a Christian organization that puts on 3-day retreats (we call them “Flights”) for high school kids. We basically set up camp at a host church (which changes from one to the next) on a Thursday night. Friday morning the young girls or boys (never together, we do separate retreats for each) arrive and that is when the real fun begins. We spend the next three days teaching them about Jesus Christ and showing them God’s love in some very cool, creative and often tangible ways (i.e. an endless supply of food). It’s a VERY AWESOME thing.

It’s a lot of work to put on one of these Flights and it can be exhausting, but exhilarating at the same time. I’ve been involved with Chrysalis for 14 years, ever since I attended as a young teenager in 1994. In fact, most of my very close friends are friends I met working on Chrysalis Flights. I love working these Flights. I love the people. I love the teamwork that goes on. I love that these young ladies this weekend will walk away Sunday knowing - really knowing - how much God loves them and accepts them for who they are. Did I mention it’s an awesome thing?

You know what else is awesome? Waking up at 6:15 am while other workers are still sleeping and having to get dressed in the dark. Fortunately, the iPod makes a great flashlight.

This summer has gone by kinda fast. I keep realizing I did fun things and I’m pretty sure I forgot to blog about them. Such as:

June:
R.E.M. Concert in Chicago. (Oh wait, I blogged about that. Well, it’s worth mentioning again!)
40th Birthday party for Matt
Date night with Mike
Birthday celebration with Heather
Dinner with Grandpa Selleck

July:
Fourth of July barbecue at Mom’s
My fabulous trip to Georgia
Tacos at Mom-in-Law’s

August:
Surprise 30th birthday party for Angie
Free pizza with the Johnson’s
Girls’ Night with a movie and margaritas
1st birthday party for Isaiah
Cook out at Sandy’s
Fun with friends and family over Labor Day weekend.

There was an understandable lull in the action in July due to my miscarriage but I jumped right back into the summer fun in August! Overall it was still a really good summer. I’m pretty fed up with the heat though, and I’m ready for cooler weather. Next summer will be better because we’ll have central air conditioning at home. We’ve been saving up for it and we’re almost there! Yeah!

Friday was my Rex Manning Day! My sister, Kari, and I spent a great day in Chicago and then went to see R.E.M., my all time favorite band, in concert at the United Center!

I awoke at 5:30 am ready for the day, but decided it would be in my best interest to get a little more sleep. I dozed off but was awake again 20 minutes later. You just can’t sleep when you’re excited about the day. I got up, got ready, and was on the road by 6:30 am. I called Kari to let her know I was on my way. She lives about 2 hours from me, so it gave her plenty of time to get breakfast ready for when I arrived. Once we had our vittles we packed our bags and hit the road!

The drive was pretty uneventful until we got to Indiana. Kari thought the speed limit on the freeway was 65 mph but the cop informed us (very rudely, I might add) that it was 55 mph. The irony was that when the cop flashed her lights, Kari pulled over and ended up parking right in front of the speed limit sign. We are lame about pictures and didn’t think to get a snapshot of it, so we took a picture of another 55 mph sign we passed along the way. You know, so we wouldn’t forget. Just picture less concrete and more clouds.

After an accidental detour and a $0.30 toll, we made it into Chicago just fine. I love Chicago. I LOVE Chicago. I am apparently a total city girl. Who knew? Kari lived there for about 2 years so she showed me some of her old stomping grounds. She had packed a picnic lunch - AMAZING chicken salad sandwiches, grapes, bananas, chocolate pudding, chips, oatmeal raisin cookies, ginger ale to wash it all down - so we parked in the Gold Coast neighborhood and walked to the nearest park to eat. We thought it was a dog park but it turns out it was just a dog-friendly park. Darn. I’ve never seen a real dog park.

I want to take this opportunity now to thank Jewel-Osco for offering public restrooms. We searched far and wide. Thank you, Jewel. You saved our bladders.

After lunch we still had plenty of time to kill, so we walked around and eventually found the coffee shop Kari used to frequent. Well, I guess it’s more than a coffee shop but we were going just for the coffee. We ordered two cups of the Turkish stuff and sipped and chatted for the next hour or so. The coffee was a little sweet for my taste but it didn’t matter because I was in great company having great conversation. Kari and I talk almost every day, but this was a day we could just chill and have fun without all the distractions of every day life. It was wonderful.

We went to La Pasadita for dinner. Kari used to eat there a lot and she has been raving about their tacos, so we had to go. Kari ordered the carne asada torta and I had the super carne asada burrito. People, carne asada is the way to go. This burrito was ginormous, and full of steak. It was the kind of burrito that just kept getting better, bite after bite. I was stuffed to the gills after eating half and saved the rest for later. Thankfully Kari had the picnic cooler because that second half made for a nice snack after the concert. When we walked out of the restaurant we mentioned that we should have taken a picture. I thought about it while we were there but we were the only white people there and I thought if we busted out the camera then we would really stick out like sore thumbs.

After dinner we did some shoe shopping, because La Pasadita is located in the Shoe Capital of Chicago. Haven’t you heard of it? We also found some cool clothing shops. One that sold super cute baby shirts that are printed with things like “Led Zeppelin” or “iPood”. Cute stuff but all overpriced. The other shop we liked was a consignment shop. When we entered we were greeted by the owner’s 20 month old daughter. The owner was a very sweet lady. She thought I was pregnant but I forgave her because she dared to walk around her own store barefooted. Oh, and her daughter had her own playroom which I thought was pretty cool. She had some nice stuff for sale. Most of it wasn’t my size but I did find a shirt I liked that I ended up buying and wearing to the concert.

Yes! The concert! And you thought I would never get there. I give you props if you’re still with me here. This is a long post. We arrived at the United Center super early and were the first patrons at a decent parking lot. It was nice to get there early and not have to contend with crowds. People really didn’t start showing up until the second opening act started playing, which surprised me. If I pay for an entire concert, I want to be there for the entire thing.

The first opening act was The National. I hadn’t heard of them and had no expectations so I was surprised that I enjoyed them so much. The lead singer had a nice deep voice and the melodies reminded me a lot of some of my favorite 80’s music, but without seeming like knock-offs. I also liked that they were a band made up of bonafide musicians. They played piano, violin, trumpet, and trombone. It was good stuff.

Modest Mouse on the other hand, was a complete disappointment. I have liked them in the past but their performance just didn’t do anything for me. That’s all I really have to say about that.

If you’re not an R.E.M. fan like me you could probably just skip the next two paragraphs. Just a warning.

R.E.M. was amazing. Outstanding. Far exceeding my expectations even. I was thrilled to see what a great time they were having on stage. Michael Stipe looked like he was just having the time of his life. I was pretty happy with their song selection, which was a good mix of the old with the new. They started off with some oldies like “Begin the Begin” and “These Days”. That made me glad I had listened to my “Life’s Rich Pageant” tape on the way to Kari’s so I could brush up on the lyrics. They played most of the songs off the new “Accelerate” album. I know I’m going to love that album even more now because every time I listen to it I’ll be reminded of how it sounded in concert. Some other favorites were ”Final Straw,” “Bad Day,” “Ignoreland,” “The Great Beyond,” and “Man on the Moon” (did you know the latter 2 were both written about Andy Kaufman?). They played for a solid two hours so I can’t recall all the songs but those are the ones that come to mind.

They played the usual audience favorites like “What’s the Frequency, Kenneth” (which I personally can’t stand… I could do without the whole “Monster” album) and “Losing My Religion” (which I’ve heard a million times but still can’t make myself hate it… it’s a good song). I was hoping for “Nightswimming” but didn’t have my fingers crossed because it’s not really a “concert” song (Are you getting tired of the quotation marks yet?). They didn’t play it. They didn’t play “It’s The End of the World” either, which I didn’t expect, but it would have been fun to sing along. There are so many great R.E.M. songs that I would have loved to hear but I especially would have loved if they had played “Outsiders” and brought Q-Tip out on stage to rap with Michael Stipe. If they had done that I might have crapped my pants.

All in all, it was a fantastic concert and a fantastic day. June 6, 2008 was my Rex Manning Day. Thank you, Jesus

Oh, this day has finally come! The day my sister and I will tool around and reminisce in Chicago, feast on the best tacos in the world (so I’ve heard), and tickle our souls and earbuds at the R.E.M. concert. Let’s see if I’m ready…

Coffee - check!
Concert tickets - check!
Weaver D’s “Automatic for the People” t-shirt - check!
Map of Chicago - check!
All the R.E.M. albums I own - check!
Goofy giddy grin - check!

I think that’s everything I need. I’m hittin’ the road!!

The Silver Bells in the City parade is tomorrow! I haven’t made it every year but I love it when I do. Just something about all the lights and music and the chill in the air makes me feel like a kid again. I checked the parade route and it goes right by our office building. I plan on picking Luke up and then coming back to park in our parking lot behind the building. We’ll be smack dab in the middle of the action, but can retreat for warmth and potty breaks if need be. I’ve already talked to a couple friends who are going to be down here for it and I hope to meet up with them. If you’re not one of them but you want to join me, let me know!

*Update: We had such a great time! We joined up with Heather & Josiah and got to watch the fireworks from the 12th floor. What an amazing view of the capitol building! The weather really wasn’t too bad. A little cold, but we came prepared. Here we are in all our bundled glory:

We had a great time at Greg & Liz’s new house last Sunday!

We tried taking Luke swimming…

…but the water was just too cold!

All that swimming tired him out and he took a really long nap with Dad. My two handsome Spartans:

What a busy day today was! Luke and I drove around running errands for awhile. Bank, post office, boring stuff like that. We did stop in between to visit with Great Grandma & Grandpa and we left with some fresh rhubarb and mint leaves.

Later in the evening Mike and Luke and I headed down to the Lansing Mall to meet Joel Zumaya and get an autograph. We made sure to get a picture of the occasion:

After that we drove downtown to meet Mom and Dave at the blues concert. Luke slept through most of it, but I think he had a good time.

So it was a big day, with a lot of firsts for Luke. First trip to the bank, the post office, and the mall. First autograph, first contact with a Detroit Tiger :), first concert. Now we’re pooped and ready for bed!

Normally I would not have noticed this link on the Wordpress home page, but we have tickets to this game. If people actually do this, it should be interesting.

Walk Out Announced for Detroit Lions Game

Personally, I would have a problem walking out half-way through a game I paid good money for. But then I’m not agonizing over all these losses either. I’m not into sports and I’m probably the least competitive person you’ll meet (unless we’re playing Euchre or Dr. Mario, of course). I’m just there for the experience.

And now for another collection of photos almost as exciting as the plants and trees!

During our visit to St. Gregory’s we stayed in the new guesthouse, St. Benedict’s. Last year we stayed in the old guesthouse of the same name (which has since been demolished, thankfully). Here are the pics of the new St. Benny’s…

Living Room:

Kitchen:

My Sandwich Station:

The Back Porch:

Views From The Back Porch:

Bedrooms:

Booger, aka Buster Lite:

XM: Sarah McLachlan - “Sweet Surrender”
Mood: Weary

I searched the thesaurus for some interesting mood descriptions but weary still fits best. Runner-ups were: mirthless, lachrymose and saturnine. I’m blaming the mood on hormones and patiently waiting for it to pass. (I’m reminded of the words of Vada Sultenfuss in My Girl: “Go away! And don’t come back for five to seven days!”)

Anyhoo,

Here is the hurried recap of our trip to St. Gregory’s:

(Subject to revision in case you can’t follow my disjointed thought pattern… I wrote it Monday on the way back home.)

Did a good deal of soul searching. Monday after Mass with coffee and monks was so nice. Brothers Martin & Cuthbert showed us a catalog of paper models of churches. Brother Cuthbert is almost finished with the Colonge Cathedral. He loves cookies and ice cream. Father William was in Goshen, IN but came back Saturday, so we had a chance to visit. Brother Martin seems to like the cats. The monks sing the Lord’s Prayer in harmony at Vespers. Beautiful. Went to Matins/Lauds at 5:30 am Sunday. LONG service. Went back to bed and missed Mass. I brought a million bags. We watched Davinci Code at the Three Rivers 6 on Saturday night. Ate at Piasiano’s Ristorante. Ursula was our waitress. We threw grapes off the balcony. We drank sweet tea and ate gourmet sandwiches. We went out on the boat with Brett after dinner. Scary. Important lesson learned: plug the bunghole. Climbed the hill twice. Very steep. Very tired. Legs hurt. Did not solve the Clue puzzle mystery. Met Buster Lite. Saw deer. (Chey, did I miss anything?)

That was it in a nutshell. Now to add coherency to some of those random details.

“Met Buster Lite.” The monks have three new cats at the abbey. All wandered in on their own and decided to stay once they found food and friendship. One of the newcomers is a black persian named Booger. This cat has several nicknames, and we were happy to give him another. Booger is identical to my Buster Brown, with two exceptions: Booger has the correct number of toes and he is more than a tad smaller than Buster. So we call him Buster Lite.

“Ursula was our waitress.” Seriously. After we were seated, she nearly walked right past our table and then came up to us acting a little confused. It was as if she didn’t understand why we were sitting there. But as soon as she figured it out, she asked if we wanted anything to drink. I said “just a water” and she started to walk away. Either she didn’t notice that Chey was sitting there or she assumed that I spoke for both of us. It just got weirder from there. As we were waiting for our food to arrive she came up to our table and asked what she could get us. (Our food, perhaps?) We stared at her, confused. Lightbulb flickering… yes! She got it. “Oh, I already took your order, didn’t I?” Wow. This was definitely Mad About You material. You remember Ursula, the waitress, don’t you? First on Mad About You and then on Friends as Phoebe’s twin sister. I didn’t think people like that actually existed.

“Did a good deal of soul searching.” I finished reading “Cure for the Common Life” by Max Lucado. There is an exercise at the end to aid you in discovering your ultimate passion and calling in life. The exercise is built around the acronym S.T.O.R.Y.
S trengths - how you get things done using your gifts
T opics - what you want to work with
O ptimal conditions - the environments where you work best
R elationships - the role & relationship to others you seek in tasks
Y es! - when you receive joyous affirmation

Here is the summary I ended up with (please don’t laugh and/or say I told you so… what seems obvious to others is never to us):

The themes in my S.T.O.R.Y. show that God has put me together so that I love to play with, talk to and teach children. I particularly like to do that with kids with special needs. I work best in optimal conditions that include an educational setting or a relaxed setting which leaves room for conversation and play. I am at my best when I’m in the role of mentor, guide, or friend. All these themes of my S.T.O.R.Y. work together so that I can empower children to become more confident and reach their full potential.

That’s all I’ve got for now. I took some pictures of the guesthouse so I’ll try to post those soon. I know this is kind of a lame report, but I’m just not in the writing mood (See above. Mirthless and lachrymose do not make for good blogging.) We’ll see if the fog lifts soon.