Lukey-John, Patron Saint of Sleep

There's not a lot of sleep to be had here at the ol' Henderson household.  I worked until 12:30 last night and then had crazy work dreams about the shade of orange being used in an ad for pumpkins.  And I COULD NOT get the right orange and the project was going to fail and it was all my fault and AHHHHHHHHHH!  

Maybe if I said prayers before bed like I did when I was little I'd sleep better.  Every night, we'd pray to Matthew, Mark, Lukey-John to bless the beds that we laid on.  I was a little stunned to find out later in life that there were supposed to be 4 dudes looking out for me while I slept (Matthew, Mark, Luke AND John). 

I think if my sister ever gets an animal (and by animal, I mean a purse dog), Lukey-John is a good contender for a name.  Kath is really the one that hard-core had trouble with the whole Luke and John concept so we like to tease her about that. Who knew she'd grow up to be such a brainiac?  This is also the kid that used to tell everyone "don't foget your birthday" after they tucked her in for bed at night because she couldn't remember their birthdays and therefore, needed them to remember.  Lukey-John the purse dog probably won't be as beneficial to sleep as Lukey-John the bed-blesser.

Will pulled an all-nighter.  And at 7 am this morning, he went to the gym to work out with his personal trainer.  Me, not so much.  I hadn't gotten enough beauty sleep.

So now we're like the working undead.  Typing nonsense and making decisions on projects that we may live to regret. Also, I don't think this post makes too much sense.  I need more coffee.  And sleep.  And Lukey-John, can you come help me with that?

Last Minute Pays Off

Will and I rarely have life planned out too far in advance. Its not that we are last minute, late to the party, anti-planning, anti-organization. We just don't have a social calendar that books out months in advance. Which is kinda nice - I mean, we're both total homebodies. And hanging out at home with Will is good times in my book. But, last minute plans that get us out of the house are always fun and add a little spontaneity to life.

Will's former (boss/coworkers/friend/person - his job is a little free-form) called us last week to let us know that she was in town for the Monolith Festival and did we want free tickets? Ummm... sure!

One of my big regrets is that I didn't get a chance to go to a concert at Red Rocks this summer. If you live in Colorado, you have to have to have to go to concerts there. I'm sorry, the Pepsi Center and Fiddler's Green (or whatever Fids is called these days) is just not good enough. Red Rocks is where its at (two turntables and a microphone). Last summer we rocked out to Daft Punk and it was a total highlight of the year. This year though... not so much.

So, Jenny (Will's person) got us out of the house for some social time, got us to Red Rocks, and we got to catch up with her.

The concert itself had elements of fantastic. I love me some Vampire Weekend and they were really really good live. Plus, we learned of two new-fangeled bands that we really liked - Holy F**k! and Cut Copy. Good times folks - check them out!

We partied like rock stars with our Artist/Media passes and flashed our fancy wrist bands to get access to the artist tent for drinks & food & hobnobbing. We may have been rubbing elbows with the bands, but we're old and didn't recognize any of the young folks there.

All in all, it was a great day out of the house - and in the outdoors. And totally unplanned, which I think may have made the day even better.

It's Not You, It's Me

Dear Fall,

You know that I love you.  We had some great times last year.  And I know that I'll be able to love you the way you deserve to be loved soon.  Just not yet.

You see, I'm still holding out hope that I can work things out with Summer.  We've been seeing each other for about 3 months now and I think we have something special going on.  The warm, sunny days.  The sunsets at 8:30 pm.  The birthdays.  The happy tomato plants.  All of the horoscopes highlighting me for one glorious month.

Sure, we had a few rough patches.  I didn't appreciate the 20+ days of 90 degree heat.  But we tried to work it out and in the end and I thought our relationship was stronger for it.  I mean, I didn't think we'd end up breaking up over a few days of misery and discomfort. 

So, Fall, can you take your chilly weather and give me a few more weeks to get over Summer? Just a few more weeks, that's all I need.  Then I can love you and your colors.

-Anne

A Good Thing

Do you think that Martha Stewart would approve of me rockin' out to Guns 'N Roses while I made her chili?

The Beach

Growing up my family went to Michigan City, Indiana almost every summer to visit grandparents and cousins.  My mom grew up there, and we had a load of relatives still in the area.  The tradition petered off as we got older - I think the last official family trip was the summer I turned 16.  I remember having my driving permit and Granny Therese complaining that I didn't drive fast enough.  

I've been back once since 16 - work actually sent me out to South Bend (45 mins away from Michigan City) and I was able to see my Aunt Dianne & Uncle Bob.  But it was the fall, and I was there for a night.  We drove by the beach, but didn't get into the water to play.  As I drove around in my rented SUV, I had to look for street signs through misty eyes - it was no wonder I got turned around so much.  So many memories of the family the way we were when I was small.  But I had grown, and the town had shrunk, and most of the people that made the most special memories for me weren't there anymore (literally and figuratively).  It seemed like a piece of my life that didn't exist in the now.  

But things changed when my cousin, Amy, got engaged. At first, she thought she'd get married in California where she currently lives.  But sentimentality got the best of her, and the festivities were planned for Indiana for Labor Day weekend.  

When I was little, we'd stay with my grandparents - my brother, sister and I sleeping in the "bunk room" with the mural of the plane crop dusting the corn fields that my uncle painted when that was his room.  The house had one bathroom and well water that tasted nasty.  But it also had grandparents that would build us mud pits, and only get mildly upset when we headed back out to the mud pit after evening baths.  That house has been torn down and Granny Therese moved to Arizona a long time ago.

So this trip was different.  We stayed at a vacation house on the beach with GT and Aunt Mary.  And there are new people in the family. Will - who was convinced that we couldn't be going to a beach if it wasn't on the ocean (but who later recanted and even praised the virtues of a fresh water beach).  And Todd's wife, Judy.  And their daughter, Ellary, the first in the next generation of our family.  And of course, we were there to welcome Brad (or B-Rad as we lovingly refer to him) to the family through the ceremony and lot of alcohol afterwards.

But it was also the same.  My cousin, Tom, flipped through waves with us.  And we walked down to the lighthouse. And ate chili cheese dogs at Carlson's until we thought we were going to barf - and then we did it again the next day. We laughed, we bickered, we had a great time.  And I think we'll all do it again!