Windy City Rollers

Carrie invited us to celebrate her birthday with her on Saturday by taking in an evening of roller derby. Here we are--Julie, Diane, Carrie, Maria, Lisa, me, the Gooseman:


The four teams warming-up:


It may seem at first like roller derby simply consists of some hard-core women skating in a circle and knocking each other down, but there are rules and structure to the competition. A game or match consists of two 20-minute halves, broken down into rounds that last for a max of 2 minutes. In each round, there are 2 "jammers," one from each team, that start at the back of the pack and try to get to the front of the pack. The members of the opposite team try to block them, and can be pretty agressive. This picture isn't very clear, but the one in the red in the rear and the one in the blue with the green skates are the jammers trying to get through the pack:


Check out the website for more complete rules. I was surprised how much we got into it! If you have the opportunity to see a game, I would definitely recommend it. The atmosphere is great, with funny announcers and creative names for all. Some of my favorite player names include Yvette YourMaker, Hoosier Mama, Ying of Fire and Anne Putation. One ref is Sheik Yerbouti and the rules and regulation chair is Scorey Feldman. For much more interesting pictures and history of Chicago roller derby, check out the Windy City Rollers website.

There was even a half-time performance by the some go-go dancers:


Eric thinks I should try out next year, but I think the last pair of rollerskates I owned had My Little Pony painted on the side.

Some random pictures from the past week or so...

The World's Tallest (and Most Delicious) Garden Burger:


Here is Nico looking regal on a rainy walk while his owner basked in the sun on a Costa Rican beach:


Two Saturdays ago, Barrett had us over for an amazing eating event he and Megan hosted. We started with wine and cheese and finished the evening with enormous pieces of cheesecake swimming in chocolate--with a substantial meal in the middle! And of course, the evening was filled with great conversation and heaps of laughter.

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

Last night, Goose and I enjoyed the beautiful weather to the fullest by taking in a loooooong Cubs game. Amazingly enough, we arrived early! We were even in time for the free Cubs visors.

The game against the Pirates was close and exciting and frustrating! There were some great plays and amazing hits, but we also got to see lots of bad communication between outfielders, all sorts of men left on base, a bit of poor baserunning here and there... it definitely kept things interesting.

For it's 1...2...3 strikes you're out!

Not only did we sing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" in the 7th inning stretch (along with the lead singer of REO Speedwagon), we sang it in the 14th inning stretch! Who knew? Of course, there were a lot fewer people singing in the 14th, but it was still fun. We definitely got our money's worth and cheered a total of 15 innings before the Pirates scored and then Aramis struck out to end things. By the time we left Wrigley Field, it was nearly midnight! Watching the game definitely made me miss playing softball. I'm going to research some leagues and see if Goose and I can't get ourselves on a team.

I've been walking around all week just amazed by all the beautiful springtime smells! It's so crazy that during a long winter, you can completely forget that smells like this exist--but that makes them that much more incredible when they return.

More sweet than bitter, bitter than sweet

Last night Dan had a fabulous party to celebrate Katie, a good friend and the Garrett intern at Holy Covenant UMC who is leaving us in a few weeks for her appointment in Louisiana. We will miss her so much!! Dan lives in an amazing place in the South Loop, directly above the L tracks.


We shared memories of and stories about Katie, which was hilarious and also really nice. And the rest of the time we just ate and ate and talked and laughed.


Goose and Rich had some long, in-depth discussions about motorcycles, which Rich has been riding forever and which Eric will never ride if I have anything to do with it!


Rich, Katie, and Dan:


Katie and me:

The night before, Mike Moore flew in from California to stay with us for the night before heading out to Reynoldswood camp to visit his parents (they run the place). They're so cuddly with each other!


A lovely weekend with friends. We are so fortunate to know the folks we do!

MAY-be spring is really here

We are finally confident that it will not snow again for a few months (hopefully several). It has been wonderful to be out and about without burrowing our faces down into collars. And though springtime in Chicago is not nearly as colorful as in the Willamette Valley, the world is looker brighter and brighter every day! This tree will soon become leafy and block our view of the lake, but right now it looks amazing!

Walking under the L tracks on the day we pondered new apartments that are more in the *heart* of Rogers Park (it's so hard to believe that it's already time to sign a new lease--either here or somewhere else in the city!).


We've enjoyed time with Holy Covenant folks in the past week. This past Sunday was our annual U2 Eucharist, with a live band and our amazing choir that did almost exclusively U2 music. The service was centered around working to end world poverty and part of the offering went toward Dignity Diner, an outreach ministry with and for the homeless and hungry that our church hosts and participates in. Justin and Andria came in for the weekend and it was great to see them (and eat at the Wishbone again)!

We also had one of the largest turnouts for a "regular" Women's Group gathering last Sunday. I love these women!

On Monday, we gathered with other leaders from our Lenten Small Group series for dinner at the parsonage:

On Tuesday evening, we met Robyn, a Garrett friend who we just discovered still lives in Chicago, for coffee and dinner at one of our favorite Andersonville spots--Kopi. It was so great to connect again. I also got to see Joey on Tuesday after not seeing him for a while. We used to ride the train together on Tuesdays, but now that I'm not working down south, I don't take that train anymore! Here in the Macy's building, Joey declares that it's all about him:


After lunch with Joey, I joined in the May Day march as it approached Grant Park. The number of people who gathered to declare support for immigrant rights was estimated at 150,000--significantly fewer than last year, but still a pretty sizable group! I planned to wander around by myself, but ended up running into Anthony and Jonathan from Amate House (I traveled with them them to Georgia for the School of the Americas protest in November), Candice from Instituto, and Kristin from Holy Covenant. For more about the march, including a video, go to the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights website: www.icirr.org.




I wonder how long it will be before these guys trade in their horses for segways?


Last night, we helped Andy and Lewis with a BBQ for Andy's visiting Japanese friends that were so hospitable during his time there. The guys live in a building with fabulous front porch overlooking the park and the lake, but around dusk, the temperature dropped drastically, a heavy fog moved in, and then the fog became projectile mist...so we moved the BBQ inside! Here we are with Andy's friends, Andy's parents (who came in from Michigan for the week) and sister (who lives in Chicago) and Lewis and Niko (in front with Nico the dog).

I have had a few interviews for part-time ESL positions and am working on getting more involved with United Methodist Hispanic/Latino ministries in the area, so I'm feeling pretty good about all that. Eric's time at work has been exhausting and stressful this week due to a pretty serious incident that involved three staff people (outside of the work setting). So we're taking things day by day.

We're excited to see Mike Moore, an Idaho friend who is flying in today from California and will spend the night with us before heading out to the UMC camp in rural Illinois where both his parents are serving. He and Eric have big plans for future film collaborations, so that should be a fun visit.

To close this blog, I'd like to share a few fun pictures from the Sokols' video game dinner party two weekends ago at his mom's fabulous place in the south Loop. We enjoyed seeing how big Athanasius is getting and got to meet Isaiah for the first time since he was just a bump. Isaiah is about 10 months now:


Karl was recently awarded grant money to purchase a Wii and the Christian pop music version of Dance Dance Revolution for his church, so we bowled and boxed and danced into the wii hours of the night.



I tried many times to upload the short video clips of folks dancing, but it didn't work. It's too bad, because they are hilarious--especially the ones of Joseph. Who new he had so much sass?

Beautiful Day!

It was a beautiful day today! Yesterday, Andy and I attended a talk at Loyola by Erik Larson, the author of Devil in the White City. Andy asked the very last question of the evening, which had to do with which parts of Chicago really stuck with the author from his many visits here (while he was writing). He talked a bit about Graceland Cemetery where many of the people featured in the book are buried, but also mentioned the Lake. Lake Michigan was such an important part of the 1893 World's Fair and Larson said that it really made the scene come alive for him--it truly is a living entity which changes by the hour...and sometimes by the minute! And besides the change in the amount of garbage along the shoreline (thankfully, there's less now), the Lake is so similar to the Lake of 1893--similar in it's changingness. I thought that that was pretty cool to think about.

I took a picture today of my favorite tree in our park and was reminded of how the scene has changed over the past months. Here are pictures from October, February, and now:





I hear the weather will be even nicer tomorrow!

Catching up...

Mira here. I hope you are all well! It has been a couple of weeks since I have written and it feels like a lot has happened. We have experienced much sadness in the past weeks because of two family losses. First, my cousin, Renee, and her husband, Keith, lost their baby, Karly, after only 6 hours of life on April 1. Second, Jeff, the brother of Eric's brother's wife, Tanya, passed away last Thursday of yet unknown causes. So, if you would be willing to send comforting thoughts or prayers toward those experiencing these losses most deeply, that would be appreciated.

Thankfully, I was able to get to Cleveland to be with my cousin and her family. The Easter weekend weather was decidedly (and perhaps appropriately) un-springlike:

And of course, we are deeply saddened about the recent violence at Virginia Tech. What a dark journey of the soul it must have been for that young man to come to believe that this would be the only solution to his pain. How many others walk a similarly painful path but never act on it? The brokenness--both the cause and the effect--is overwhelming.

*****

We have been keeping busy in the past weeks. Eric spent three days last week video recording a preaching conference at Garrett Seminary that was led by Jeremiah Wright. Dr. Wright is the senior pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ, a black church on the south side of Chicago that has over 8,000 members and happens to be the church that Barack Obama and some other predominant leaders attend. He really was a very powerful preacher! Some of our Garrett friends (Karl, Steve, and Anne) were back in town for the event, and it was great to see them, along with lots of former professors and Garrett staff who are still around.

I just completed a five-day intensive foundation course in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages at Global TESOL College and will be receiving my Certificate in the mail sometime soon! There were only two students in the class, so that made for a very relaxed and open learning process. Soon I will begin an online specialization course in tutoring. Oh how I wish I had known back at Casa Metodista what I know now about teaching--both English and Citizenship! I am really excited about possibilities to teach within the Church and outside it. Also, if we ever decide to travel abroad for a bit, I will be qualified to teach in English-language schools all over the world!

We've also had some visitors in the past couple of weeks! Cessie and her mom spent the first days of their spring break (both are teachers) here in the city, and we had such a great time hanging out downtown!

On our way to meet them, we saw this interesting sight--yes, that's a dog in the driver's seat!

It seems his buddy was running into the corner store to grab some refreshments.

Cessie and Cindy had an amazing view of the Magnificent Mile and of the Lake from their hotel room:

Of course, we had to see all the landmarks downtown. You can see the famous Chicago theater sign behind us, but the more important sign (in my opinion) was behind the photographer here--Potbelly Sandwich Works (where we had lunch, of course)!


Long-legged beauties at Navy Pier:

Cessie la Loca and Miracita:


At the bean:
With happy, full bellies at Giordano's Pizza:

This is my favorite series from the day--who knows what they were laughing about!





This past week, Scott and Hilary were in town from Athens, GA for an *exciting* education conference (Hilary had to give 2 presentations). Several times in the past, Eric and I had walked past Leona's restaurant and seen people eating these giant ice cream sundaes, but we had yet to try one....so while Hilary was conferencing, Scott, Goose and I stuffed ourselves silly! The food was amazing, and the sundae was even bigger than it looked through the glass. And chocolatey-er. Here are the full boys:


The next evening, we met up with Scott, Hilary and Hilary's brother, Hunter (who was also attending the conference) and had delicious Thai food. From Thai pastry, we headed to the Long Room that Scott's friend, Jason co-owns. We didn't get a picture of all of us, but we did try out the new photo booth in the back. The one with Jason's head sticking makes me laugh most. I think Eric thought his face was in the frame. It wasn't:


It was so great to see everyone!

"How's work at the BFC?" - "Oh, I'm managing..."

Eric here. That's right, folks, I have reached the soaring heights of restaurant middle management! So far it has been a good experience learning the ins and outs of making schedules, setting up a usable training format, and being the general tough-as-nails, no excuses, grizzled authoritarian that you all know me to be. Seriously, I do hope to be a positive influence on the place, and hope to help bring the Blind Faith employees and their morale up to the standards it has set for itself long ago. My own schedule is more consistent and set (which is good for making plans more than a week in advance) and the pay is as good as can be expected from a medium-sized, labor-intensive, mostly organic, vegetarian (all of which equal "expensive operation") restaurant. Also, I get to wear normal clothes.

This week, I have been invited by Dr. Larry Murphy to film a preaching conference up at Garrett and to do some basic editing to make it classroom usable. It will be my first project!

I am also looking forward to spending time with my side of the family today for an Easter dinner celebration--I am thankful for family in such close proximity, even if I don't see them as much as I should...

On a more somber note, my thoughts and prayers are with Mira's family as her cousin and her husband deal with the loss of their newborn child. Mira traveled to Cleveland to attend the funeral and offer her support and will be returning today. As we celebrate the Resurrection, let us remember those who are experiencing loss this Easter season.