Mae's First Hawks Game

So it was time to introduce Mae to the old barn (the United Center) where the Blackhawks play. She had seen me walk out the door plenty of times and this time she was coming with us.

To get in without a ticket you have to be less than 36" tall. Mae is about 37.5" and yes, the lady at the door was very strict about her getting measured. What she wasn't strict about was the way Dad "measured" Mae up against the built-in tape measurer on the wall. Success!

We headed to our seats where Mae was actually way more into the game than I thought she would be. We got lucky because the two seats next to us were empty so Mae got her own seat and watched the entire first period of the game.

Then we went down onto the concourse during intermission looking for Tommy Hawk. He's the guy dressed in a black hawk outfit, like a bird, who bangs on the drum and everyone screams "LET'S GO HAWKS!!" No success. We didn't find him, but we found a cool Blackhawks necklace that we both loved so kind of success. You don't have to tell me, I know I kind of look like a gangster with the head tilt.

Had to show you my Patrick Kane shirt from the back. Mae had to show you... I don't know... just the back of her shirt.

As if the game wasn't fun enough, we headed for the door after the second period looking for a rickshaw. We couldn't seem to find one but as we were walking down the sidewalk a white stretch limo pulled up and offered us a ride for $20.

Where it got a little hairy was the fact that we were not buckled in and our driver was going about 50mph down Damen, very concerned that the cops saw him pick us up (limos are not allowed to scoot around the city acting like taxi cabs, big no no).

So Mae and I rolled around the back of the limo giggling like crazy and having ourselves a hoot of a time.

Mae's first Blackhawks game? Success.

St. Paddy's Day Ditty

So there is really no one else I know who loves St. Patrick's Day more than my Nana. So since it's so cool that my dad has a holiday named after him and it's all because of Nana's naming capabilities, we thought we'd write and perform this little Paddy's Day Ditty for Nana, and for the rest of you, to enjoy.

And if the above is not working you can also see the video HERE.

Twinkies

Check this out. Mom got Pax out of bed the other morning and brought him down and little did she know, until we pointed out, that she and Pax were TWINS!!

 Night before I hit up the Hawks game again with Dad.

And get this - on our walk back to the bus we ran into Harold. You remember Harold the Rickshaw Driver, from THIS POST? Well, that night we couldn't pay Harold because we didn't have any cash but he wanted to take us home anyway and said to pay it forward. So it was amazing that we could hitch a ride with him and pay him back from our last ride.

Harold had two humongous fur blankets that we had on in the back of the rickshaw to keep us warm, so of we went through the west side streets with the music blaring again - this time Prince - and Harold got us home safely yet again.

Pahk my Feet in Hah-vad Yahd

So my friends in Boston were strolling along Newberry Ave. and decided to turn on Clarendon. So there they are, walking along when they came across the FLOR Store.

And then they saw the nice picture in the win - BAM! - it hit them, they knew those feet! - the feet on the sign in the window - from somewhere.

Looked a little closer and realized those teal colored piggies were none other than Finley Skertich's. And the big kickers to her right are Dad's flippers.

My piggies are plastered across 21 store windows in 18 different cities and two different countries (I'm kicking it up on the window in Toronto, Canada as well). So if you're in the Big Apple, D.C., Hot-lanta, the Big D (Dallas), Denver, W. Hollywood, San Francisco and all the way from Seattle to Miami and you see some tootsies you recognize, you can say you knew me way back when.

9 Months of Sundays

Where have I been, you might be asking? Well, After 3.5 hours on the phone over two nights Dad finally retrieved all our pictures from iPhoto. And when I say "all" I mean there were a couple weeks we lost but we got just about every other photo back.

And these that we did not lose were some important ones. Here is my buddy Pax at 9 months old.

But before he went to his photo shoot, he had to brush his teeth.

Okay, now we're good to go. Yes, that's a clip in the first couple photos. Mae was nearby and requested it.

This is Pax's "say cheese" face.

And this is his "I'm done with this photo shoot" face.

The Big Dog Turns 6

Well, today was my birthday and it was a very special one.

I came down the stairs to find donuts with candles in them and Mom, Dad, Mae and Pax singing to me.

Then I went to school where I got to wear the birthday crown all day. My friends sang and we pretended they were candles and I blew them out and they all fell down.

Mom made me my birthday dinner request - homemade pizza - and then we broke into song once again and ate some cupcakes.

I had a couple gifts to open up, the first of which was a harmonica from my friend Kim and the second was a new swimsuit from Mae, since I'll be starting up my swim lessons again soon.

All in all, it feels good to be six, though I'm on my 10th day with no binky and that is still not feeling so good...

Mae's Work History

So while we ate cake the other night and basked in the glow of Mabel's birthday, we started reminiscing about the past, and all the unbelievable jobs she has held in her short time here in this thing we call life. It's actually amazing what she has achieved. So we thought we'd take a look back...

She started out at that dueling piano bar where there was never a request she couldn't fulfill.

The piano playing was a night gig so during the day she looped in with this Polish trio and covered the Wicker Park area cleaning houses.

On Saturdays she got a job at the local car wash. Turns out the manager had actually seen her her at the piano club and she was hired on the spot.

 Later she joined the MLS and took the Seattle Sound all the way to the final, only to see her team lose 1-nill on a questionable call that led to a penalty kick.

Her piano friends all had grandiose ideas of becoming bigtime musicians so she decided to become multi-faceted and started drumming for a band called Let Go of My Blanket.

Then the summer hit and it was all about the lifeguard jobs at the local pool.

And by night she was a starving artist who dabbled in painting and grafitti.

Her true love called in the Summer of '69 (hello, Bryan Adams) and she spent 3 months on a farm in Kentucky as a ranch hand with her Nana.

She moved back to Chicago and got a job working in the kitchen at a pizza place where Finley and Dad ate 6 times a week on her kitchen discount.

There she met a lady who owned a cake decorating company and asked her to come on board part time as a baker, which for a few months she felt like was her true calling in life.

Until she saw the broadway play CATS in London and tried out for a part as Mr. Mistopholes. She didn't get it, but she did get a part as a jungle cat dancer and was on stage for 6 seconds every night, which was a highlight of her life.

Being around musical folks every night brought her to her next adventure, which was lead singer of a wedding band that specialized in 70s disco music.

One of the weddings was a shotgun wedding and the bride, who was born and raised on the south side of Chicago, was looking for a nanny. She loved the way Mae sang that soulful 70s music so she asked her right there on the spot and Mae jumped at the chance and spent her days watching over a 4-month old while she dreamed of her next big adventure.

Mae - always looking for the angle, that kid.