Kelsey's High School Graduation Day

The day has arrived:  Kelsey's graduation from Oak Park - River Forest High School!  The weather held and the ceremony was held outdoors at the football stadium.  It was actually a perfect day for graduation:  high 70s and cloudy with a slight breeze.  It was so much fun to watch this group of kids close this chapter in their lives and celebrate with them as they "begin life as adults," as one of the speakers put it.

Kelsey and her friend Jake got to sit next to each other, which Kelsey said afterwards "made the whole thing bearable," as Jake was singing parodies to Pomp and Circumstance during the graduates' march to their seats.

She got her diploma and even managed a few smiles along the way!

When we caught up with Kelsey after the ceremony, she said she's glad the whole thing is over and done with.  She showed her silly side when we asked her to pose for pictures.

 

If you ever wondered why I call this blog The Five Ring Circus...

After the goofiness, we walked down to Klay Oven, Kelsey's favorite Indian restaurant, for a fabulous celebratory dinner.

C O N " G R A D"  U L A T I O N S   K E L S E Y ! ! !

Kelsey's Senior Prom

It's Senior Prom Night, and Kelsey's friends gathered at our house in the early afternoon to get dressed and work on their hair and makeup.  We invited a friend-of-a-friend, Caitlin, to do the girls' hair and wow!  Our house turned into a mini hair salon/beauty parlor as up-dos were created, nails were painted, and makeup was applied.

The result was three gorgeous senior friends on their way to an unforgettable evening at the Hyatt Regency Chicago.

Science Track Presentation

For the past seven months, Erin's been spending every other Saturday at Brookfield Zoo, participating in the Youth Volunteer Corp.'s Science Track Project.  Erin picked a project to work on, and then recorded her observations, wrote a paper, put her findings in graph form, and assembled a 3-fold poster board on her findings.  Today was her big presentation, and I was so proud of how hard she worked, and how well she discussed her project with those who were there.

Congratulations Erin, on a job well done!

Welcome Micah!

I was SO excited to get a text from my brother at 2:36 this morning, saying he and Julia were on their way to the hospital!  Micah Andrew Hunter was born at 9:16 a.m. today.  He weighs 8lbs 4oz, and is 20 inches long.

I cannot wait to get my hands on this little guy!

Congratulations Caleb, Julia, and big sister Lydia!

Jubilee, Interrupted

Last year

In anticipation of this year

I was blissfully unaware

Planning with certainty for an upcoming Year of Jubilee.

Last year

In anticipation of this year

I was blissfully unaware

Of the ominous changes lurking in the outskirts of my world.

Last year

In anticipation of this year

I was blissfully unaware

Of the malevolent tentacles silently strangling Mom.

This year

She celebrated 70 years

We were blissfully unaware

And together we made merry by candlelight with food and laughs.

This year

I was looking forward to Easter

And was blissfully unaware

Thinking the disappointment of pneumonia was just that – not more.

This year

In the blink of an eye it all changed

Unawareness became stunned shock

The PET scan revealed the Invader had overtaken her lung.

This year

Blissful unawareness was shattered

Struck and consumed by the evil

Invader known as Stage IV lung/liver/lymph node cancer NO! NO!

Can the Year of Jubilee survive?

SURPRISE!

Erin's been talking about her surprise sweet 16 party since the day Kelsey turned 16 two years ago.  Let's be clear:  Erin's the organized party planner of our family, and she's super smart when it comes to sniffing out secrets.  So even tho we've known for two years that we were going to surprise Erin for her birthday, Kelsey and I still had our work cut out for us.

As a parent, I try really hard to be honest with my kids.  I can't even tell you all of the elaborate ruses and outright lies that I have created over the last three weeks, all in the name of surprising Erin.  It was totally worth it!  We got her good this evening - she had absolutely no idea that 30 of her closest friends would be silently waiting in our living room when she came home from a Best Buddies function this evening!

A Cooking Collaboration

Our foreign exchange student Mi, and the B-P's foreign exchange student Mo, collaborated on dinner this evening:

They made us soba noodles and an egg-based dish that was topped with mayo, teriyaki sauce and dried fish flakes.

The B-Ps joined us for a fun, authentic Japanese dinner this evening, complete with chop sticks.

I cannot believe how fast these last two weeks have gone.  Tomorrow is our last full day with Mi.  Saturday is the farewell potluck.  Sunday we take her to the airport.

New Food

Drew's a picky eater.  A REALLY picky eater.  So last night when we were at Sen Sushi for Erin's birthday, I was really proud of him when he ordered a rather sophisticated dish to try for his first sushi taste ever.

He decided one bite was enough.  That's one small bite for Drew; one giant leap (hopefully!) for his taste buds!

Happy Birthday Erin!

Today is Erin's Sweet 16!  To help celebrate, the Renny girls came over with a big giant card:

Each year on their birthdays, the kids get to decide what they want for their special birthday meal.  Sometimes I cook, sometimes we go out to eat.  Mi was so excited to hear Erin wanted to go out for sushi for her birthday!  We headed over to Sen Sushi and spent a couple of hours eating our way thru several courses of sushi.

 H A P P Y   B I R T H D A Y   E R I N ! ! !

Week Night or School Night?

Usually when Kelsey and Erin have their friends over for the equivalent of a teenage play date, it happens on a weekend, not on a school night.  We've relaxed the rules a bit while Mi is here.

The foreign exchange students have been busy.  In the week that Mi has been here, she's seen the sights we showed her last Sunday, the Museum of Science and Industry, The Shedd, The Art Institute, State Street, shopping on Michigan Ave., the Frank Lloyd Wright houses in Oak Park...

A really great thing about this group of host families and exchange students is that so many families in southeast Oak Park opened up their homes.  That means it's super easy to find another student or two to hang with.  Even tho there's school tomorrow, Kelsey and NL wanted to show their students the world of paste-on nails:

What better way to end the evening than with a few rounds of Dance Dance Revolution?!

Showing Mi the City

Today was Mi's first full day with us.  We let her sleep in a bit, and then this afternoon we headed into Chicago to show her some of the sights.

What's a stop in Chicago without deep dish pizza?!  Mi's teacher at school described deep dish to the kids, but we wanted to be sure she experienced it first-hand.  What better place to take her than where deep dish began:  the Uno and Due franchise.  We landed at Pizzeria Due:

It's almost a requirement that you walk around for awhile after indulging in such heavy fare as deep dish pizza.  We chose Millennium Park and The Bean:

It was totally frigid so we didn't linger long.  The warmth of the Sears Tower was pretty appealing after enduring the bone-chilling wind that was whipping across the lake.

While we were out on the ledge, the sun was blasting its way into our space, masking it easy to forget how cold it really was outside.  Soon enough, the sun began to sink behind the clouds on the horizon, and the view out the windows changed.

A gorgeous sunset over a gorgeous city.  I really, truly, love Chicago.

Welcome Mi!

Tonight we welcomed Mi, who hails from Nagano, Japan, into our home.  Mi will be staying with us for two weeks as part of the exchange student program sponsored by the high school.

Exchanging gifts is a time-honored tradition in Japan, and Mi showered us with gifts:

Welcome Mi!  We're so glad you're here and we hope you have a wonderful time in America!

A Most Enchanted Evening at Kindred

I had made a reservation for 8 at Mel's underground, Kindred. When she confirmed, she called it "supper."  I beg to differ.

Supper [suhp-er]

noun

A light evening meal served in early evening

Dinner [din-er]

Noun

The main meal of the day, usually more formal

When the evening meal is served under a light that turns magical, looking almost like a painted jellyfish floating over a table of earthy treasures dancing in candlelight, the stage is set for the extraordinary.  Throw in eight wonderful friends dining on a 14-course meal over 3 hours, and you have nothing short of an enchanted dinner party.

The Rennys, M and Bre and Vic and J. joined Baird and me.  We caught up on each others' lives.  We joked and laughed our way through the most incredible meal Mel has ever served me.

The first four courses were an earthy theme:

Egg: maple. chive. cream. citrus.

Nest: salmon. honey. mustard. roe. cucumber. dill.

Seeds: sesame. chickpeas. coriander. cumin. bread. oil.

Garden: radish. watercress. asparagus. lavender. goat cheese. soil.

The Nest was a new dish for Mel and I couldn't believe how complex these raw flavors were.  And no, we didn't eat the twig, but it made a perfect home for the nest.

The Garden is a dish Mel's been working on for a few years.  I have been honored to participate in the evolution of this dish, having eaten two previous versions.  It's always been good, but each time it gets a little better.  I honestly think it's reached perfection.  The lavender goat cheese perfectly balances the olives, and the radish, asparagus and greens brought it all together.

With the nature metaphor exhausted, we moved to world-wide, world-class fare:

Dumpling: chicken. green. sweet. spicy. garlic

Potato: sphere. soup. parmesan. truffle. chive. butter

Donut: gruyere. beet. almond

Ravioli: sweet potato. sage. shallot

Fish: sea bass. cauliflower. puree. moroccan. raisins. red pepper. cinnamon

Soda Pop: lemongrass. ginger. bubbles. reprieve

Mole: chicken. ancho. waffle. pumpkin. queso fresco

Belly: pork. salt. sugar. hoisin. cucumber

Something in a jar: cake. kind of. lemon. blueberry

Can I just say, when you put sweet potatoes into ravioli, sizzle some sage and fry up some shallots, toss in a few pine nuts and add a little heat, and then present it in such a way as to make it appear to be sitting comfortably in a lounge chair...well, it was just exquisite.  The touch of heat lingered pleasantly into the beginning of the Fish course.

Ending our evening with a sweet-and-salty pork belly was fantastic, but most memorable was when Mel joined us at toward the end of our meal.  Having my Friend and the mastermind behind the food of this wonderful evening sit down and entertain us further with stories from her life was just the icing on the cake.

Yea, there's just no way you can call this event "supper."