Sweet Home Chicago

I got in from Chicago at about 3:30 PM yesterday. The flight was uneventful except my iPod took a dump on me 45 minutes into the flight. Today it seems to have fixed itself so that's positive. Speaking of positive, I had an amazing trip. I learned SO much in five days. So much. I learned who my true blue friends were, I learned that I really don't care about most of my extended family and I reinforced what I knew about my strength and ability to reinvent myself and move forward. I was happy to get home to my honey, my job and my pets. As much as I enjoyed my visit, I was ready to come home.

My mother really bent over backwards to make the entire trip as wonderful as it could possibly be. It's always really hard to say goodbye to her. She really added her "Martha" touch to everything she did this weekend. My birthday cake was beautiful, the food was delicious and I got some really wonderful gifts including a large tote bag that is large enough to fit all my work stuff AND Keeper!

Lucero was Saturday night. I met up with Katherine for some Yummy Yummy vegan food. I almost forgot how delicious that corn soup was. OMFG, and the bubble tea.....wow. Austin needs to learn how to make a decent bubble tea. We went over to Piece, which I hate but did it to see Eli and Vee before going to Bottom Lounge where I met up with Kathy, Maddox, Katrine, Darren, Ryan and Jen for some LUCERO! I do have to say, after seeing the boys here in Austin, NO Lucero show will ever rock as hard. The crowd sucked it hard and I did my best to not be too rowdy even though I wanted to rock out. After the show, which WAS good, I met back up with Katherine, Vee and Eli for a few beers. I entertained everyone with some strange goat noises while they made fun of my apparent "Texas twang." I grew sleepy quickly and we went back to K's house to sleep it off. That slumber party will forever be known as Slumber Party of Dooooom!!!

Sunday was my birthday. It was mellow. The day seemed to come and go with little excitement. Everything was really nice and I was happy with those who came out. Well, mostly happy.....It's funny how family members can say hello, had you a card and proceed to eat and hide in the basement watching football. I don't think either of them asked me anything about how I was doing or how Austin was. I would have rather of had 25 minutes of talking to them rather than the $25 check they gave me. Don't get me wrong, I'm very appreciative but I would have rather had the small talk. Later that night I met up with CVES folk at Underbar. That was also interesting. It was nice to spend time talking to Dr. Beyer. She's always been one of my favorites. I drove over to CVES and was greeted with leg humps and "boob hugs." I got teary when I saw everyone. It was awesome.

Monday was fairly low key. I met Durso for lunch at Happy Elephant. I miss him so much. We had a great visit, drank bubble tea and he stole a small pumpkin off the table for me. It was just like old times. He gave me a pumpkin for Halloween every year and this year was no different! I visited my sweet grandma at the hospital. We talked about life and I showed her pictures of my life here in Austin. She asked about Stephen as my mom had told her about him. She asked if I think we'll live together and get married. I smiled really big and told her that it was too early to tell but I was really falling for him. I hugged her goodbye and went back to Mom's.

Later that night I picked up Aubrey and got some OES lovin'! We spent a little time visiting before going back over to Yummy Yummy for dinner. We met up with Selena, Darren and Katherine. Selena made me the best vegan cupcakes! Wow, that gal can really bake! She continues to be one of the cutest gals I know and I couldn't be more pleased that she is dating Darren. Seriously. Margaritas at Lazo's were next. MY Katherine, Lori, The Corey, Ing, Plate, Darren and Katherine joined. It was fun! Ingrid told awesome stories that shocked and amazed. Damn I miss her! The next step was a big one. One of which I wrote in the blog entry before this one. I faced Derek. I forgave him and I now know that I can move forward. I can't tell you how great I feel. I wish him all the best, I think I always have even when I was at my most hurt.

Tuesday I kissed Mom goodbye and caught the Metra to Chicago. I took a cab to Darren's where we spent some time trying to track down the new Larry Arms record for Stephen. Instead, Darren had made me a copy on CD for him and I purchased the record online. He'll have it in a few days. I'm focusing on being the very best I can be for myself but also for Stephen. I really, really like this guy. It always amazes me how you can be in a crummy relationship and then meet the man of your dreams. Yes, I'm pretty sure he is just that. Damn. After ordering the record, Darren and I went over to Orbit Room for Tuesday $4 burgers. We were greeted by Larry who looked great and bought me a few PBRs. It was nice to catch up with him. I was shocked to see Dennis AND Patrick too! I had my usual "burger, " a mushroom with goat cheese and crispy onions. I missed that damn meal!

After Orbit we went over to Club Foot where we were greeted by Chuck and more free beer. I couldn't have been more pleased to be sitting on a bar stool in my favorite bar again. Dr. Barry showed up for a while and we had a good visit. The regular crowd didn't show which really made me sad. I was expecting to at least see Silent Ron and Heather. Oh well. As I said at veggie brunch on Wednesday, the people I needed to see were there. The ones that REALLY matter. We had a fun night of telling stories and Eli gave me a "Pentipuss" necklace. It's super cute. That night I crashed on Darren's couch and slept well.

After meeting with Katrine and Katherine at Earwax Cafe and laughing our asses off, Katrine drove me to the airport. My flight was running early which may have been the most shocking part of my trip! I kissed Stephen like 300 times before dropping him off at home. So as I said, I'm happy to be home and back to life. Thank you to all who made my trip really special. I feel loved.