Love in the southern drawl

The previous few weeks "out of control-ness" precluded any ability I might have had to write.   Nonetheless, the havoc did not prevent me from at least thinking about what I would like to say!  It think I'll do it in a form of a list, inspired by my friend Lynn, who on our road trip out west after college was the consumate queen of list making.  * of course Nick has mentioned a lot these things already.

Starting with somewhere in the first week of June:
Got offered a 4th grade position for next year!
Skipped town, and two days of school for Matt and Maggie's wedding
Drove back for the last day of classroom organizing and planning
Finished school officially on June 21
Went to 4 days of training at the CPS teacher summit and learned about some great teaching techniques
Visited and ate great food with Nana, Uncle Jeff, Yung Kuei, cousins Jen and Amy at their new (1 year), beautiful house in Aurora
Immediately following Aurora, drove to Iowa City to for visiting with family, and celebrating a birthday and a life
Drove back and forth from Iowa City to Dubuque a few times
Came back to Chicago on Wednesday
Had a fish and chips and peas dinner double date with Kristina and Paul, dear friends
Introduced Arnie and Mordecai, Laura and Tim's (dear friends) dog- the introduction also included a thunderstorm, a drunk man accosting us, intermittent and hugely loud fireworks. The pups were a "little" spooked
Witnessed the amazing hail storm also with Laura and Tim, in candlelight because our power was out
Departed Chicago the very next morning with Theresa, who picked us up at 8ish.  Arnie was in the back.
Drove to Cincinnati for a quick visit and a nourishing lunch with Mom and Dad.
Drove 6 hours to Wytheville, VA, because all the other dog friendly inns were full, slept in a Super 8 (where I found a bug on the bed that had wings, so it was not a bed bug, but I still had the same reaction and could hardly sleep)
Got up and saw the gorgeous, misty foothills surrounding the Super 8, and it was worth the rough night
Got back in the car, sat shotgun and promptly fell asleep
Woke up in North Carolina, in the heat and the drawls
Started to see other cars full of beach gear
Waited in line at the bathroom, when I left, it was 15 ladies deep
Arrived in Sunset Beach, NC (had to drive over the huge, new, obtrusive bridge = change is hard)
Relieved to see that nothing on the Island had changed because of the new bridge
Went straight to the beach
Did not get sunburned on the first day

Learned that Arnie is afraid of the water, waves, and anything that moves on the beach.  He skitters away, back up style, from the waves like they are coming to get him, viciously.  Now when he sees another dog, he sits down in pounce mode (looks like a coyote or cat), and waits for the dog to get closer.  And then, once in range to sniff and play, he juts forward and nearly takes my arm out of socket. Delightful.  We love him.

Last night, Theresa and I walked over to the little beach store and bought overpriced, but amazing fudge. I bought a whole pound so I could get the 1/4 lb free.  It's in homage to my family, whom I am missing terribly.  Mike is the fudge purchasing guy, he usually does the honors.  It will be in the freezer all week, and we will take slivers off of each flavor until they're gone.  Turtle is my all time favorite.

1 year ago today I married my favorite person, and today I woke up at my favorite place in the world.  Our lives have changed more than I ever could have imagined in one year, everything feels richer and more complete.


I promise pictures soon.  Uploading at the beach takes forever.