…to the show that never ends
we’re so glad you could attend
come inside! come inside!
–Karn Evil 9, First Impression, Part Two/Emerson, Lake & Palmer

our lives do feel a bit like a surreal vaudeville act recently, although in conversation, i can never seem to remember the details of what’s been going on. everything is a smiling, happy blur. it’s only now, sitting and reflecting, staring at the screen, that i can begin to piece together the myriad events that comprise the last six weeks or so. at this point, i’d clog up the internet something fierce if i were to attempt to recap it all. instead, i promise i’ll abbreviate.

most of you probably know that sheila is no longer our guest. she moved in with megan at the top of the month in an apartment in the same neighborhood comparable in size to our own. i was just there last night…it seems they’re pretty much settled, although i did happen to notice several boxes still hanging around in the living room! hop to it, ladies!

some of the best times i’ve ever had on st. patrick’s day took place this year when mandy and scott stayed with us for the weekend. we assembled a sizeable crew of friends and partied it up!

and…

all right, that’s enough embarrassment for now. take a look at our photos page to see the rest of them! i’m glad i had the opportunity to get to know mandy and scott. we didn’t really get the chance to hang when i was in new england for their wedding. now, however, i’m glad they had the chance to enjoy chicago the way we enjoy chicago. we look forward to seeing them again this summer!

*****

the previous weekend we went out to the corn fields to visit my parents. it was my mother’s something-somethingth birthday, so we took her to dinner at a nice italian place in geneva, illinois. we’re gonna go out there again this weekend, since we may not see ‘em again until next month.

here we are at the restaurant:

*****

oh, yeah, in other news, we went to the Tasting Room for our tasting. surprisingly, we utterly failed to produce any photographs of anything…we just plain forgot to whip out the camera! rest assured, though, that every hors d’oeuvre that we’ll have available that evening will be scrumptious! of course, no matter where you end up eating dinner that evening before the ceremony, you likely won’t yet be starving once the reception begins. however, all of the items we tried that night will be worth a small taste.

we’ve found a place that’ll do our cake at a discount, thanks once again to nicole’s work connections. that knocks one more detail off the list. she also booked the rooms in venice, completing our accommodation needs for our honeymoon. a few small details remain, like whether to take a car or trains during the first week of our trip, but i’m actually working on that research this week (whilst researching other italy-related things). hehe, i’m also ahead in the italian-learning race. i’ve spent about six hours on lessons so far, whereas she’s barely been through 20 minutes. as i suspected, i’m picking up italian quickly, thanks to my knowledge of spanish (and to a lesser degree, french).

i can’t think of anything else to mention at the moment, really.  so i won’t mention anything else at the moment.   no, really.