Firsts and Lasts

The past couple weeks have been full. Full of firsts and lasts. All good. I finally felt a sense of relief Sunday night. We moved Teddy into his new place on the 58th floor Saturday and despite Chicago traffic and the hoops the John Hancock makes you jump through to move in, it went better than expected and his apartment is pretty darn sweet. Moving into a high rise is no joke. We had to use two different freight elevator banks (one to the 44th floor and another on to the 58th), and we had our very own elevator operator. The four of us (mostly three of them) got the job done in two hours. After a couple trips I started unpacking and organizing. We make a good team, which is good as we have many more moves in our future. Luckily, we have this place for a year. Lily is the best sister ever because she spent her first day of freedom (Friday was her last day of school) schlepping her brother's stuff. We left him all set. The word thus far is that he loves his place, has enjoyed the gym on the 44th floor several times, explored his new city a little only getting a bit lost, and navigated his way via bus to his first day of work on time. He's off to a good start, meeting fellow interns, buddies and mentors and said he'll call again at the end of the week.

Sunday Lils and I attended our last show of the season. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was not our favorite, in fact we almost left at intermission, but I'm glad we didn't because the second act was much better and redeemed the production. It's a good reminder to keep an open mind and stay the course. Yet I was beyond excited to curl up under my favorite afghan with one cat or another for the rest of the evening watching The Wire.

The past week was lots of prep for the big move. Mike and I admittedly take on more than need be, but it's because we want to. Teddy was mostly focused on playing lots of golf, a little poker, and spending some time with friends at Windmill Beach. He's going to be a suit for the next 10 weeks so I understand the desire to front-end load the fun. Although, I have no doubt that he'll be having his fair share of good times in Chicago.

Lily graduates on Thursday. Then we are jumping right into what's next by attending student orientation next week where she registers for classes. Her roomie will be there so they'll get to meet in person and begin the planning of the room. Ikea here we come. She prefers a small graduation party, which is on my list to plan, and then a bigger 18th birthday blowout at Windmill Beach in late July. I am on board with that idea.

The other big first that took place over Memorial Day weekend was our virgin country music concert. We continued my brother's 50th birthday celebrating by seeing one of his favorite artists who is one of my favorite now too. Eric Church was incredible. He loves this country and the crowd loves him. He played for 3 hours straight wrapped in an American flag for much of the show. I had a little hope for this country after this experience.