Yes, I admit...

... that it's been over 2 months since I posted anything. So I'll try to make up for lost time. It might take a few posts, though.

September was a busy month. For starters, I finally got a new roommate to replace the semi-roommate I had from last November through this May. Grad student at Sac State. Friendly guy. Likes my cats.
(for those of you who picked up on the fact that I just said "guy", don't get excited - it's not that kind of roommate)

Labor Day weekend I went to Chicago to visit my sister Paige. Overall, we had a good time, and I saw many people I haven't seen in a long time. For instance, I caught up with my old high school friend, Saima, who just got married in June (unfortunately I missed it, since it was in Pakistan). She just started a podiatric residency in Illinois, and is now trying to import her new man, so she's quite busy as well. She told him I didn't approve of their marriage - I hope he knew she was joking!

One great thing about Chicago is that it is a very cultural town. We saw the new musical Wicked, which is the standard fare when anyone in my family visits (it was Paige's 5th viewing). I quite enjoyed it. After that, we went on the Art Tour, a self-guided walk around Downtown to see a number of public art pieces (including the famous Picasso, one of my personal favorites). A recent new addition was a work the locals refer to affectionately as "the Bean". Here's what it looked like from a distance:

And here's what it looked like up close:

In addition, we went to visit family in South Bend, Indiana. First we had lunch with some great aunts and uncles from my father's side of the family, with whom I've been sorely out of touch. Here we are:

After that, we were going to meet my aunt and cousins for coffee. I hadn't seen them in the eight years since my uncle died, and I wanted to mend the bridge, so to speak. I spoke with my aunt the day before, and she sounded like she was looking forward to seeing us again. Unfortunately, she passed away in the 24 hours between our phone call and our arrival in South Bend. We stopped by to see our cousins to make sure they were okay, but they weren't in the mood for visitors. It wasn't exactly the happy reunion we had hoped for.