Weekend Update

First, I'm sure you're wondering about the air conditioner. It's fixed! And the Cantor survived his day of watching children so several friends and I could attend the homeschool convention. In fact, he didn't merely survive--he excelled! (Which doesn't surprise me . . . he has a way with kids . . . nevertheless, as the afternoon wore on he was happy to welcome an extra pair of hands with the arrival of one of the other dads, who got off work early and thought Phil could use some company. Mike organized a backyard game, Phil enjoyed the shower that had so far eluded him, and by the time my friends and I returned home the children were fed and our own supper was waiting. Phil did tell me later that days like this one always give him a deeper appreciation of what moms do every day.)

It was a treat to go to the homeschool convention with some friends, having a ladies' lunch, attending several workshops (and walking out of only one), and shopping the vendor hall ("What do you think of this? Or should I get that one?") Elephant's Child and Sparkle Kitty stayed overnight, so we had some extended homeschool mommy debriefing complete with an unseasonably hot, sticky walk on Friday morning (still wondering what happened to spring around here, since we seem to have jumped right from winter to summer). Friday night my older two children and I took part in a Brothers of John the Steadfast packing party, cutting and taping and preparing materials that will soon be mailed out to the charter members of this new Lutheran lay organization. Saturday I sneaked back over to the convention for one final vendor hall browse (I was blessed to have this statewide event taking place about 10 minutes from my house) before attending a graduation party with my family. Then Saturday night my husband and I went here:




It's an outdoor concert venue in Highland Park, Illinois, called Ravinia. There is a small amphitheatre, but most of the seating is on the lawn. Concertgoers customarily bring lawn chairs, blankets and picnic baskets and listen to the music under the stars. The headliner this night was James Taylor, whom my husband and I must have seen at least six times since we have been a couple. When we found out he was going to be at Ravinia, we immediately called for tickets, only to discover they were already all sold out. So how did we end up going? It turns out there were a limited number of tickets available on the terrace at one of the Ravinia restaurants. We had only to agree to purchase a meal in the restaurant to reserve a table for the evening. It turned out to be one of the best concert experiences we have ever had. We had gourmet food and wine while listening to one of our favorite singers in an exquisite setting rather than being squeezed into stadium seats with people crawling over us all night. We couldn't see JT, but even when we have been able to do so he's been a mere speck on the stage (or maybe a giant video version projected on a screen), and what do we really go to a concert for anyway? To see or to hear? So we quickly rationalized the expense (hmmm, both of our birthdays plus Father's Day and Mother's Day in a 3-month span--sounds like reason enough!) and laid down our money. I think Phil's glad we did.




I know I am.