Father of the Year

Okay, so my Dad is officially Father of the Year.

Earlier tonight Mom had a birthday dinner to attend so he and I went to Whole Foods to eat dinner and then get some groceries.

All was well until we got to the parking lot. We were parked in the downstairs garage of the lot over in the corner and Dad sat me in the driver's seat of the car and went around to put the groceries in the passenger seat. Then he closed the door and as he was walking around to the driver's side I grabbed the keys out of the counsel and hit the old LOCK button. And that's when the fun began.

First he and I talked for about ten minutes. I had the wrong key but he talked me through getting to the right key but I just couldn't find the unlock button. I kept hitting the lock button over and over.

So Dad called 911 and explained what was going on so then a big fire truck came and four firemen began trying to rescue me. One of them actually sounded like he should've been selling hot dogs at a stand on 79th and Western... I mean, this guy's accent had Serious South Sider all over it. And they had these wires they stuck in the car trying to open the handle, then another contraption trying to push down the unlock button. That's me in the photo below standing up with my hands against the window.

In the meantime I dropped the keys on the floor and couldn't reach them and got a little upset. I was crying for about ten minutes when Dad mentioned that we should probably just break the window. But I didn't want any windows broken so I just stopped crying and sat back down in the driver's seat and took the whole thing in.

Here's where more fun started happening. See, the firemen were not in standard black and yellow coat gear so someone thought they were trying to break into Dad's car and called the cops. So three cop cars came screaming into the parking garage, lights and sirens a-blaring. They soon realized that these were firemen, not hoodrats, that were trying to break into the car, and they were doing it for good reason. One was a mom and got a real kick out of it because she just had the same thing happen to her over the Summer.
Then Dad explained to them how close I was earlier to getting myself unlocked so after a few laughs Mr. Hot Dog guy said, "Eh, let's give 'er another shot, ya know?" and they decided to put all their faith in me. A fireman used the hook to pick up the keys off the ground and drop them in my lap. Again, I grabbed the Honda key first and hit the buttons, hoping the door would unlock, to no avail. Then my head started spinning... I had six firemen (two more specialty lock firemen guys had arrived), three policemen and Dad telling me what to do til one of the guys said, "Hey, everyone be quiet and let her Dad talk to her." Thank God for that dude. So I got back to the right key (upon which one of the firemen said, "Whoa - she's pretty ----ing smart, man.") but I couldn't quite get that unlock button to press down. (And yes, Mr. Fireman Sir, I am pretty smart, but that language is unnecessary.)

All the while one of the specialty guys had gotten the hook back in the door and was pulling on the handle until... POP, the door opened.

I was pretty stoked to get out of there because the lights on the police car were still flashing and I wanted to see them from outside the car.

So that's my story - locked in a car for nearly 50 minutes, rescued by what seemed to be the entire Chicago Fire Department and three Chicago Policemen/women.

And then it was photo op time.

The moral of the story here is something like, "If you go to the grocery store with a Dad who is a candidate for Father of the Year and he leaves you in the freaking driver's seat with the keys right next to you and you lock yourself in the car, you will eat up approximately $8,257.23 in taxpayer money getting rescued." or something like that.

Oh well - all's well that ends well...

Weekend Getaway

So this weekend Mom, Dad and I went to Michigan with my boyfriend Jake and his Mom and Dad and his little brother, Gavin. Jake hopped in our car, threw his hat on sideways like the gangsta he is and off we went.
On Saturday afternoon we headed out to a pumpkin patch to bum around and we found this tractor.

The only thing we couldn't quite agree on was who was going to drive, so we both took the wheel.
Then it was time for someone else to drive us around.
The next day we headed up to a fantastic apple orchard and I did my thing. An inexperienced apple picker, I am not! First, you gotta rip them off the tree...
Then you gotta put them in the bag and tell Mom you can't wait for her apple pie.
Now I've seen some small apples in my day but this one takes the cake. Wait a minute, how'd this cherry sneak in here?
A stroll up the lane.
And then some playtime in the Pumpkin House with Jake.
Okay, now you may think that we were having fun, and we most definitely were, but we were just getting started. There was a stampede going down and I was determined to be part of it, so I hopped into one of the cows.
See back there, way in the distance, that's little ol' me, all by myself, riding a cow in the middle of a stampede.
And, honestly, what's a stampede if you can't share it with someone. Here's Dad and me bringing it home.
All in all, a great weekend! My parents finally met Jake's parents and now we officially have everyone's blessing to get married.

Grin and Bare It... All

Okay, so you remember the post about my horseback riding, right? Well, the other night we were hanging out and Mom said, "Hey Fin, why don't you try some bareback horseback riding." Well, after taking off my clothes and jumping on old Ralph, Mom had a very quizzical look on her face... apparently I didn't know that the "bareback" applied to the horse...
SIDE SADDLE!
Then it was off to the kitchen where I proceeded to put my shirt on... and Dad's hat.

Oh, and did you see that word I put together with my fridge letters - TUXJSHME - that actually means "soggy cereal" in Croatian. If you're a five-year-old kid over in Dubrovnik and you're misbehaving all day, your mom will make you eat tuxjshme for dinner... I won't mention any names, but I know some kids who are lucky they live in Chicago and not Dubrovnik; that's all I'll say.

Okay, then things got really crazy after dinner, when I proceeded to go "Spring Break '95" to help Dad put the silverware away. I'd like to thank my managing editor for the censor bar. I mean, everybody loves a cute baby booty but this blog is G-rated... okay, well, maybe PG, whatever.

Karaoke Dokey

So it was songs night at our house (which is almost every night) but this time the lights were turned on bright, Broadway style.

Do you have a favorite song? I have a bunch - I'm big on "I Don't Want To Live On The Moon" by Ernie (of Ernie and Bert fame), "Elmo's World," "Ants Go Marching" (not the Dave Matthews version) and "Wabba Wabba Boo Boo" (by Grover).

But my favorite song to sing is The People On The Bus. My bus is slightly different, though, than most. See, the X3 Bus, which I often pick up at 14th and Michigan to head up to the Art Museum or the Apple store, has a lot more than just people on it; as you will hear in my singing.


Quick water break to wet the whistle and then we sprinted into Old McDonald... and then... wait, what is that...


Oh, it's a picture on Dad's piano of Uncle Paul when he was a little boy. Uncle Paul, as most of you know, is nothing short of awesome. If you ever have time he's got some radical ghost stories to tell. Anyway, after recognizing it was him, I thought I'd circle the wagons and finish up "The People On The Bus" as a shout out to him. Rock and Roll, Uncle Paul!

Hi-Ho Silver

A few Sundays ago we were at Nana's and Mom came in and told me there was a big surprise waiting down the street for Sophie and me, so off we went down the block with Mom, Nana and Dad.
We headed into the backyard of Nana's neighbors. Their girls names are Allie and Faith, and they are quite cool so I was happy we were going to see them. Little did I know what they had waiting for us.
Yep, horses. See, Allie and Faith have three horses in a stable in their backyard and they had the horses out for us to see; I even got to give one a little love up close.
And then Allie asked if I wanted to ride one. Wait, what? Someone must've told Allie that I love horses, to the point that when we drive by a horse and carriage on Michigan Ave and then we turn the corner, I spend the next five minutes singing my own little song that goes something like this: "Horsey, where are you? Oh Horsey, where are you? (I know, amazing lyrics, right?)"

So Faith and I saddled up on old Gus (I think that was his name) and off we went.
Side note: I'm quite certain Faith has a bit of a crush on my best buddy Yaya. We were there for about 30 minutes or so and she must've asked Nana five times (with a little twinkle in her eye), "Is Isaiah at your house yet?" That, my friend Faith, would be a good catch.

Oh man, was it cool. Sophie, whom I called Tonto for the remainder of the day, then took her turn. And now every time we ride by Allie and Faith's house I wave and say hello to my new four-hooved friends.

Nana's Zoo

So as most of you know I'm at Nana's twice a week and, man, I gotta tell ya, a LOT goes on in those two days. The days are filled with a whole bunch of fun and activity... and, of course, Boss jumping in the pond next door and needing a complete hosedown before being allowed back in the house.

So without further ado, I give you the last month or so of me hanging out at Nana's (buckle up, folks, this is a long one):

Dad drops me off in the mornings and we always have a few yucks together before he leaves.

Then we start to get into some debauchery with a little trampoline time at the neighbors. Check out Eli pulling a reverse foot Ninja kick (bet you didn't know Eli was a Ninja, did you?)
Snack time with Boss and the Boys
Eli, at some point you're going to have to learn to feed yourself.A drum concert from Hannah in Nana's living room that brought me back to my first Nirvana concert back in '92. Hannah's like Dave Grohl, only about 47 times cooler.
Back outside and it's badminton time with Isaiah and Eli.
I don't know if you can see me - I'm over there on the left... with a helmet on. See, things can get dicey at Nana's because it's the boys, who are quite reckless and Boss, who has a bit of a space perception issue (and is often bowling me over at about 26mph) and little ol' me.

So, sometimes you just gotta protect your noodle. Wait... hold on... how do I get this thing on? Does this look funny? Something doesn't feel right.
Okay, here we go, much better.
LUNCH BREAK!!!
Now it's back outside for a little bit of yardwork
SNACK TIME! (Yes, already)
Sesame St. with my favorite little red furry buddy
And then it's down time... I kick the boys out of the room and have all the books to myself.
(By the way - this photo makes me think of the band White Lion. Remember them? They sang, "When the Children Cry" - decent hair band, great song, even better reading companion.)

Feel free to skip work any day and head out to Palos Park and join the fun.

Daniel, Son

Mr. Miyagi told me what I'm looking for in life is a pure soul and that can be achieved through hard work, perseverance and a dedication to quieting the mind.

I told Mr. Miyagi I'd get back to him a little later, I'm quite certain what I'm looking for is in here.