I'm comin' to town.

I hadn't phoned a couple old school friends the last time I was in Chicago. It was strictly to hang with my mom and meet up with Catherine (whom I hadn't seen in eight years or so)It was kinda hard to do especially when you run into someone who knows the other one, who talks to her all the time, who's dating him, who's sister knows his brother, who you used to date. You get the gist.

There were many calls that got a first class ride to voicemail. Don't get me wrong, I felt silly to dodge these people but I only had three days of quality time with my ma and best gal pal. This time around I hope to see old faces, laugh about old times, have a couple of 'em pull out pics of me with braces my senior year of high school.

What's on the agenda?

Taste of Chicago. Great America. Painting mom's kitchen. Bob Chin's Crab House. Fireworks and BBQ's.

It's gonna be a busy four days and I'm looking forward to every minute of it.

I'm bringing ma a surpise. Went to Plymouth and bought 20lbs of Dungeness Crab. She's gonna have one of my favorite dishes ready Wednesday night. I CAN'T WAIT!!!

The best part of this whole trip. I'll be missing two stressful days at the office.

My face hurts.

Over the weekend, John and Kay invited Sean and I to sail out in their new, bigger boat. Fun was had by all, especially when a cigarette boat zoomed right past us leaving behind a wake that nearly tipped us over. Okay, I'm exxagerating but the boat did seem like it was about to. I giggled like a little school girl screaming out "WHOA!" It was really cute to see John all excited to give us a tour of Boston Harbor, more so when he took us full speed ahead. Hence why my face is hurting. It's a combination of a sun/wind burn.

Sunday was very relaxing, we dropped anchor over by an island, had lunch, read, and talked for a few hours. This boat is amazing, btw. It has two sleeping quarters (each can sleep two), a small kitchen with stove and mini fridge and a bathroom with shower. After our trip, Sean and I offered to stay behind while Kay dropped off John at work and then picked up her friends daughter, Lauren. I napped on one bed while Sean napped on the other, I woke up an hour later and started cleaning up shop. We surprised Karen by scrubbing down the floor and making sure everything was safe and secure. Finally Kay and Lauren arrived.

Lauren is so cute. She's six years old and her parents are going through a divorce. Kay had to pick her up from her father who has custody over the weekends. This was my first time ever meeting her, though I'd heard so much about her. We gave her a tour of the boat then headed back to the Jeep. I screamed out SHOTGUN! Lauren asked who was gonna sit in back of the Jeep with her and Sean said he was.

"Awwe." She says.

"Do you want me to ride with you in the back?" I asked.

She smiled big and nodded her head. She showed me her toy she got from McDonalds and asked me if I was Chinese. I let her know that I met her dog Rosie one day, she was very excited to hear that. We had a very entailed conversation.

We then asked her if she wanted to hang out with us or if she wanted to just get dropped off to be with her mom. I don't think she wanted to hurt our feelings:

"Lauren, would you like to hang with us or go see your mom?"

"UM...How about I flip a penny and heads I'll go with you guys, tales, I go see my mom. I don't have a penny, does anyone have a penny?"

Sean gives her a penny.

"Okay, I'm flipping the coin."

It was heads. She looks at me.

"I'm going to flip it again, just to be fair."

She flips it.

"UH OH IT'S TALES...MOMMY WINS!!!"

We realized she wanted to see her mom since she hadn't seen her all weekend. She's so fucking cute. Pardon my expression.

After we dropped her off, she gives me a hug and says, "Now, you come visit Rosie soon, she'll be so excited to see you."

She gave me a warm feeling in my heart. Meeting this kid reminds me of my nieces and nephew whom I miss so much.

Apparently Lauren is moving to Chatanooga, Tennesee.

I'm going to miss her, too.