You're the Swedish thing...

Hard to believe it's already been a year since I wrote my last little summary of Geneva's Swedish Days weekend. My gosh, so much has happened since then. And oddly enough, my overall feelings about these events and the city of Geneva haven't really changed that much. It's a beautiful area and there is certainly a charm about the location. But unless you really get into that whole Third Street shopping and have the extra cash just begging to spring out of your wallet or purse (I prefer the wallet), there really isn't that much to do.

Well, unless you have a kid. Then you can turn it into a little bit of fun. And this year's fun was almost a carbon copy of last year's fun. Face painting. A chance to climb the fire engine. Some live music. Even a demonstration by the fire department for kids detailing how to react in the event of fire.

This year, we even saw a couple of people we knew. Su's kindergarten teacher and a school friend of hers. Otherwise, no familiar faces. A few dogs being walked. Lots of school kids enjoying a brief amount of freedom sans parents.

Aside from the fire department demo, Su also went on her first small roller coaster. I tried my best to take a photo, but the delay on my camera made that an impossible task. I did manage to get part of the front of her body in one shot. But nothing else to show the joy on her face. The first moments, as the coaster jerked from its stopped position, brought about a sense of worry and anxiety. You could see it in Su's eyes. But after a trip around the tracks, suddenly the expression was one filled with absolute joy. The screams ("those were GOOD screams, mommy") were an indicator that this little girl was going to handle fast-moving rides much better than her parents!

Otherwise, not much else. It just made for a nice evening and a chance to walk off a little bit of dinner, mingle in the crowd, and wear down the little gal just in time for bed.

Next up: Good Old Days in Winfield. And by then, we'll be in walking distance. Two more weeks to go until moving day!

A day for dad

[There are 3 posts for the price of 1 today... read on!]

Over the last nearly 5 years, the term "dad" has taken on much greater significance for me. Each and every day, I get to hear that word escaping from the lips of a special little girl. And most days, it still leaves me a little speechless. Me? Dad? Coming home from work and hearing someone shriek out "Daddy!" as I'm entering the house. Does it get much better than that? Oh, sure. Max barks continually and spends the next 3-5 minutes whining. But it's not really the same thing, is it? And Anita stopped shrieking upon my arrival many years ago. Guess the thrill is gone. :-)

This particular Father's Day was especially nice from almost the first moments of the day. I started out with a leisurely morning run and got caught out in a storm for a bit. But it quickly passed and the day did nothing but look up from there. Su woke up in a great mood and greeted me with "Happy Father's Day!" Then Su presented me with her special gift -- a White Sox balloon to float proudly around the house! And that was capped by a wonderful White Sox sweatshirt, which will be worn with much pride during cool evenings in the fall -- as we cheer on another World Series run (Sorry, Cub fans, but your pitching isn't going to hold in the 2nd half. Lilly? Marquis? Ha!).

We went out for late breakfast/early lunch at our favorite local diner -- called The Geneva Diner (surprise). Some of the best casual dining in the area, though. Breakfast and lunch only. The place was packed when we arrived. Probably a lot of dad's getting honored at this point in the day. But we were able to sit down at the counter -- a new experience for us. There was something rather neighborly about the whole experience. Overall, it was a very pleasant lunch.

We then took a little drive into Winfield to glance at the new house for a tiny bit. Saw the current owners and chatted for a while. All parties are quite excited right now. In 3 weeks, we'll be in the house and neighborhood we've been seeking (since we left back in '04) and the current family will be heading off to Phoenix to return to family, as well. We drove around, looked at the parks, the schools, and then daydreamed about the very near future.

We capped the afternoon with a top at Graham's in Geneva for some world-class ice cream. We finished up just moments before the rains hit again and headed home. The rest of the day was spent relaxing and enjoying some free time before the next work day would follow.

It really can't get much more special than this.

Going home again

Returning to the neighborhood we love. Back in Winfield. Closer to work. Closer to Barone's. Closer to Ashoka. Closing July 9th. More details to follow.

What's all the racket?

Earlier in the spring, Su surprised us with the following declaration:

"I want to play tennis. Can I take lessons?"

What? You've never shown any interest in tennis. We don't watch tennis. None of your friends play tennis. Oh, sure. Why not? But here's the deal: If we sign you up, you've got to finish it out. If you don't like it, you have to see it through.

OK. That's fair.

So Su is playing tennis now through the Geneva Park District. And she's actually having a lot of fun. I had the opportunity to see her on her very first day. Unfortunately, the camera was not with me. The day pretty much went like this:

Swing and a miss. Swing and a miss. Swing and a miss. Oooh. A tip! Swing and a miss. Then the instructor worked on her 2-handed form. Swing and a miss. Oh, a hit! Cool! Swing and a miss. And then another hit! Sure, not far or fast. But she's making contact. Now THIS is getting excited. And where is my damn camera? Oh, yeah. On the kitchen table. Another hit! Whoo-hoo!

So we're in week no. 2 now. And we even picked up a used kid's racket for $1.50 at a garage sale over the weekend. So now she has a racket with her own name on it. And she's having fun. Not Bjorn Borg just yet. She's not Bjorn Ulvaeus, either (ABBA).

And she's not quite Bjorn to run... Ooooh. Sorry. That was really bad.

What? No "Danishes for Dad" Day?

This past Thursday, Su's kindergarten class had a special "Muffins for Mom" day in celebration of Mother's Day. Of course, Anita was thrilled to be able to spend some time with Su during one of her school days. But what was even more fun were the events lined up to pay tribute to "mom."

Miss Lefevre and the kids all worked hard to put together quite the production for their moms. There were several songs sung and even a very touching story read by a couple of the students, complete with on-screen photo support. Anita was able to bring along the video camera and capture some very special footage. And if I had any kind of free time, I'd convert some of the video and post it here.

Considering how little I've been able to contribute to this blog of late, just be content with what I can provide tonight. Su and mom are fast asleep and dad now has an opportunity to sort through the photos and place a bit of narrative alongside.

All in all, a very fun day for Anita. Su also prepared little gifts: a flower, a little piece of jewelry, and a beautifully colored butterfly. And, of course, there were the goodies. My understanding is that there were more than just muffins there. Sounds like many tasty treats were offered.

Note to Su: I'm expecting donuts on Father's Day!

Aluminum tunes and dusty vinyl

So, in case anyone missed it, Saturday was Record Store Day around the nation. I had mentioned it in an earlier posting, hoping it would drum up some excitement about an often-overlooked establishment -- and the true music shopping experience.

A quick link to the event website provided a list of participating stores. Our own suburban location was represented by Geneva's very own Kiss the Sky, located on 3rd Street in the downtown district. I was actually surprised that there had actually been a little press written about the event, too. Granted, no giant billboards or planes circling delivering messages in smoke. But, considering the state of the music world, any kind of recognition is a plus.

I managed to get over to the store late in the afternoon, probably close to 4:00 p.m. To my surprise, the place really was hopping. A wonderful mixture of young and old pouring through merchandise: CDs, old and new vinyl (yes, new vinyl is on the rise again...), t-shirts, posters, and other assorted items. There were snacks available like sushi, cookies, pastries, and a few plates that were already quite picked through (my punishment for arriving late). There were drawings for t-shirts, goodie bags with purchases, and sales on vinyl.

I managed to come home with a few goodies myself. I arrived carrying my 3-page long "wish" list and was able to cross a couple of the items off, as well as finding a few new releases.

If I had any complaint at all about the event, it was that ONLY the vinyl purchases were celebrated with discounts. And only when reaching a certain total. Now I do understand that vinyl is an important part of past glory -- and is even starting to find an audience with younger fans again. However, the bulk of the store is CDs. And considering that the CDs are already priced higher than any online source, it would seem to have been a great time to pass some savings down. The vinyl available at the store, while pretty tasty, wasn't extensive enough to satisfy the wish list anyway.

I did find one wonderful 3-record vinyl import release by Stereolab (Aluminum Tunes) in pretty good shape. And I picked up 4 CDs as well. But not the stash I was hoping to return with -- especially after saving my pesos for so long in anticipation of the event. And the record I did buy (not cheap by any means) did not produce any discount.

So, overall, I do feel some satisfaction in helping contribute to the bottom line of a local establishment. And I'm very excited to see that so many people came out to take part in the celebration. But I would like to see more done next year to make it worthwhile. There were a lot of folks there buying CDs for $16-$19 that commented on the cost. I can get a far greater selection and price online. So please make it just a TAD easier for me to justify paying out some bucks. I have a budget. And I crave music.

Also, I really wanted the Record Store Day t-shirt. When I asked, I was told it was only something that could be won with the drawing of names later. Employees were wearing this wonderful shirt and it was hanging up on display by the counter. What better way to advertise for next year's event? Sell me (and others) a shirt!

Better start saving now for next year's event.

A little bit of catching up

[Su's cousins, L to R: Joey, Reese, Noah, Su, Holly, Tommy, and Shelby]

I actually don't have much of a post. At least not in terms of providing exciting news. But I figured my long-haired photos of yesteryear were probably sitting at the top of the page long enough and it was time for something a bit more interesting.

Since the last posting, things have been busy in kind of a "quiet" way. Easter came and went. The daytime work schedule has been keeping me more than busy, with too many late trips back home. The construction has resumed on I-88, so now my drive has crept back up to being near unbearable most days. I've been supplementing with a lot of extra freelance work of late, too. A couple of large projects came up near the same time and I've been struggling to keep up. One large design project wrapped up last Thursday. One is in review mode by the client and I'm putting the finishing touches on one last smaller job. Then it's time for a break.

No news on the house. We had quite a bit of activity in the first 3 weeks after listing. About 10 showings to date. But this past week produced only 1. Weather was uncooperative, but I suspect that it's just an overall slowing period. While interest rates remain low and existing home sales aren't totally bottoming out, the pace isn't the same here in Geneva right now. It's pretty much hit-or-miss. A house near ours sold in about 2 weeks. Others sit for months. So we wait and remain a bit frustrated.

Su is doing well. The rapid rise to "girl" status is amazing. And spending a couple of nights with her cousins (Anita's side, not pictured) last month during a sleep-over brought about new additions to her vocabulary like "dude" and "awesome." Her cousins are teens. She's not yet 6. It's pretty strange to hear the words coming out of her mouth. But it's fun. She's doing well in school and her personality is strong and confident. She's also just started up in gymnastics this past week. So the confidence continues to grow.

And she has joined Dad for one more session of Tae Kwon Do at the Geneva Park District. You can read the earlier entry on the success of that program. It should be another 7 weeks of fun for the two of us. And I think Anita enjoys the small break. She continues to handle all in the household without complaint. She keeps everything running near flawlessly. And with so much going on between school, house showings, family events, and fulfilling all of the household needs, that's no small feat.

I don't really have much to add. It's kind of a scattered summary to throw out a few nuggets while hoping for free time to do more with the next entry. Hmmm... Record Store Day is fast approaching. Perhaps an update to the blog will be forthcoming. Plus, more birthdays and even a family trip to the dentist. OK. No dentist details.