July 17th, 18th, & 19th

My adventures in Los Angeles start now. In Vegas.

Aight so something about the States, some of them are farther than others. California is pretty far from Chicago. Just to give a nice image to it.

There we go. So the red line represents my flight to Vegas the blue line my flight to LA. I don't believe there are any direct flights from Chicago to LA you always have to lay over somewhere nearby. Most likely that's due to traffic not distance but this little map does give you and idea of how far I traveled. Not too shabby.

I spent around two hours in Vegas airport which was long enough. The staff might be immune to the slot machine sound effects but I'm definitely not. I-pods could possibly be one of the greatest innovations and headphones one the greatest inventions. It wasn't long before I was on my plane to Burbank.

Arrived smoothly, found my bag, and waited for my big bro to pick me up. For his amusement I was sporting some rather goofy looking sunglasses which made me difficult to miss. We hugged, loaded my bag into his corolla, and headed towards his apartment.

Once there I became settled in after saying hello to Tater Pete's roommate. I would be staying on an air-mattress which was fine with me, they are comfortable. The three of us then ordered Chinese and watched Adventure Time on Netflix. Well Pete and I watched Adventure Time cause Tater really hates that show. It was an early night since I had been flying all day but good to be with my big bro again.

The next two days included this,

Also this,

And a little of this,

Ah that LA sunset is wasted on my camera. Just imagine brighter hues and you'd have some idea of its marvel. The day was mostly spent with video games and movies, though mainly video games. Pete has an SNES emulator on his computer and well Super Mario World is an old favorite. Throughout the trip we played through it (I was Luigi as always) and beat everything. We had a few levels left in the secret star world but honestly that's trivial and something to do next time. We did discover new parts of the game which was weird after all these years. Just a quick "for example". Ahem for example there are pink apples that Yoshi can eat scattered in certain levels. If Yoshi eats two of them in a row then a cloud appears and drops smiley faces that give points. Random but not previously known to Pete or me. 

I did meet Jake and Mary my second day in LA so the 18th which was nice since I head so much about them, especially Jake. Pete and Jake went to college together and Indiana University so the fact that I haven't met him up until this point is somewhat ridiculous. Both of them are funny and cool just as I imagined. Plus their cats Juno and Penelope are eerily similar to Beast and Mystic. 

Really audience those were my first two days, hanging out with pizza and cookies. My parents arrived on Friday but I didn't see them til Saturday since I was extremely tired. It was awesome just relaxing with Pete, that's honestly what I miss the most about him living in LA. Last summer we spent every day together thus it was cleansing to do so again even if only for a few days. 

July Absences

Aight time for an explanation. I know I said I'd only write about exciting days and I have kept true to that. Audience here lies a series of photos as to what I've been doing the past few weeks.

Napping, often for several hours after breakfast.

Star Wars the Old Republic, because it is fun and fills my video game void.

Cleaning/sorting through childhood junk, what I'm supposed to be doing all day.

And here's Beast, with a few modifications

That's what I've been up to. A whole lot of dull and nothing. Fear not because this Wednesday I'm flying out to LA to visit my brother Pete. I'll be there for a week which should bring round some exciting stories. Til that time (most likely) these photos sum me up pretty well.

I know audience, what a rip off. Haha, later!

The Fourth of July

Oh my gosh it's America's birthday. I'd like to say this as professionally as possible. Holy fuck yes, fireworks!

The Fourth is a very important holiday for me because it means a mixture of mercury and gunpowder explode in the sky around nine thirty at four corners. Every single year! Now this Fourth started earlier than my usual ones since I was invited to go to Six Flags Great America with my friends Nay and Caitlin. If you click that link there it will take you to Natalie's blog which is pretty fucking amazing. Ah how I missed my relaxed use of swearing. I'm almost like a kid who's been released onto the world after being grounded. Unnaturally free.


At Six Flags the three of us spent most of our time waiting in lines. Wasn't too bad since we were together and could talk about everything under the moon. There were two things that pissed me off on an otherwise fantastic day. And time for you to hear them audience. Did ya miss my complaints?

Number one, flash pass. What is a "flash pass"? Well audience it is one of the most pen breaking (I have destroyed several bic pens over the course of my life out of anger) annoyances known to man. Amusement parks are already expensive for everyone. However there are those who feel the need to spend more because they can. They buy flash passes which enable them to cut in front of you. On a hot ass July day after waiting an hour for an awesome ride a group of spoiled children (they are the majority) skip in front of you because they have the flash pass. Now they aren't timid about it. No they like to gloat and act stuck up. Joy.

See I enjoy riding rides front row cause it's way more epic. Well a "premium" flash pass enables you to ride the ride again, instantly after. I threatened to kill four spoiled butter balls of kids because they did that on Raging Bull. They heard me. Most likely they fear short blondish white chicks now. (Although some of you may not understand why I was so furious you need to experience it yourself, you will want to murder any and all children who cut in the fashion of being proud of it).

Number two, overly excited man-children. Now I can be annoying as all fuck especially when hyper. Amusement parks are places to be hyper, in certain areas. Not in line. Don't be the douche who tries to go around high-fiving everyone at the back of the line of Superman. Especially don't be the douche who then talks about every controversial topic present in American news as if you have all the answers. My reply, go back to Starbucks you attention starved fuck.

Ahem, the rest of Six Flags was amazing. Superman kicks ass so much! It's a ride designed so that you "fly like Superman" and kicks even more ass in the front row. Natalie can scream though. I mean SCREAM. She must have circular breathing down cause I never heard her take a breath. Truly impressive my lovely Nay.

Batman was next of course. This time it was different, it went backwards. Holy hell that was cool. I've never experienced that glorious ride backwards. At night yes, in the rain yes, after a black out yup, but backwards?! Such an innovative way to make something feel new.

The last ride and my all time favorite was Raging Bull. If you want the smoothest roller coaster experience known to man, well challenge the Bull. I know coasters too. Trust me I've hit up so many theme parks including Cedar Point (go Dragster and Millennium Force) but none of them have a coaster smoother than Raging Bull. The three of us went front row and even took a pretty silly picture. Perfect way to end Six flags, with a cherry on top.

Then fireworks happened while the three of us sat on top of my mother's mini van. Best way to view fireworks. We played a few songs on our phones to reflect the mood of the night. Two I distinctly remember were "What a Beautiful World" and "Barlights". BOOM amazing fireworks courtesy of DG.

The three of us then lit of sparklers. We are silly girls.

July 1st & 2nd

I love it when the first of a month starts out awesome. Ah the word awesome feels delicious on this American's mind/tongue. Just, shiver. Ha, alright time to dive into what made this first so damn awesome.

It was Suzanne! My friends truly are important to me and make any day spent with them truly amazing. Today was another day of shopping though slightly different, we hit up Four Corners.

Four Corners is an outdoor strip mall of sorts partially in my town. Well two of the corners are in DG. The other two, one is in Darien the other in Woodridge. It is four corners that unite three suburbs. Real deep. In any case they have a BestBuy and a PartyCity. Dah real draw.

So as you all know I was recently a counselor for Wesley Woods camp and although I volunteer they still pay me one hundred dollars for the job. Doux. What does Mary love to do? Spend money on things she probably could live without. Do DVDs fall under that category? Naw, I can't live without a Blu-Ray DVD copy of the Hobbit. Or American Pie. Or Big Libowski. You see where I'm going with this. I walked out of BestBuy with seven movies that I simply adore. My movie collection needed them!

After that Suzy and I slipped into PartyCity which conveniently now is right next to BestBuy. It was here that we found these.

Such beauties.

I ended up buying a pair since I'm silly that way and because they will be perfect for LA. Yes later this month (the 17th actually) I'll be visiting my big brother out in Los Angeles. Should be epic. Back to today though. 

Later on Suzy and I returned to my house to watch a classic film. Anyone remember in my Spring blog when I watched Psycho? I do! So does Babe (my lil piggy). Well Suzy and I love Hitchcock and sorta have a thing for Norman Bates. We are strange (look above) and we're ok with that. Sides it is such an amazing film. If you've never seen it fix that error right away! Psycho is fantastic.

That sums up Monday rather nicely. For Tuesday. As I always say pictures are worth a thousand words. 

Spot the owl!

Heh, I wanted to "summer" up my hair a bit. I have to say I'm loving the added blonde bits just frames nicely.  That was the 2nd of July audience. And I have the entire month left to go.

June 29th

This particular Saturday was very special because a long time family friend was paying us a visit, Anne-Marie. She is a wonderful woman who often looks after our pets while we are gone because she is incredibly talented with animals. For instance my first dog Stormy was not the best at first impressions. Stormy often barked up a typhoon and growled at any newcomer before accepting them as a guest. First time she saw Anne-Marie she wagged her tail and greeted her with kisses. That is the natural glow of love that Anne-Marie has that all animals see.

Towards humans Anne-Marie is more "hostile" if you will but she's had a rather adventurous life. She hails from France and went to the States very young for summer camps that her mother sent her on. I'd love to record her entire life because it is fascinating and a heart-breaking story but I digress, this blog is for what is happening now. Another time I'll complete that project. 

Today Anne-Marie stopped by in the afternoon around three to have tea and cookies with us. That translates to sitting in our solarium talking for hours, an activity I am particularly good at. She had something special though, letters from when she was a little girl. They were all in French and were addressed to her stepfather and her grandfather. The handwriting was unbelievably neat (I guess nuns are harsh in that area) and the letters always ended with je vous embrasse très forts (I hug you very hard). The letters were a breathtaking view in history that occurred over sixty years ago. Simply amazing. 

Anne-Marie stayed with us for about three hours (swapping stories and awing over different pictures) before she departed on her way home. I love having her over since I've known her my entire life and she's always been a joyful part of it. Let's hope I can begin that project soon. 

After she left so did I, with Nay-Nay of course. Natalie had called me earlier in the day asking if I would like to go out with her for sushi later that night. I said yes since sushi is amazing and I love my Nay. We ate at RA a restaurant connected to my favorite mall Yorktown. It was a feast of sushi along with a few drinks (heh heh saki!) and plenty of talk. We walked around the mall before calling it night.

Nay dropped me off and I gave her a big hug. Hopefully I'll see her next week for the fourth or another date. For now it's time to sleep, MareBear is tired.

Wesley Woods Week Friday June 28th

The finale to camp, otherwise known as last minute cleaning and a relaxing two hour bus ride. Tommy insisted that I sit next to him since he was my long lost little brother. I agreed while scarfing down strips of greasy crunchy delicious bacon. Mmm bacon.

After breakfast everyone cleared out the cabin though I did a last minute check just to ensure everything was gone. Yup, all good. Time to load buses and say goodbye yet again to Wesley Woods. This year sure had a lot of ups and downs though more ups as it should be.

The bus ride was relaxing enough with Tommy (dah chatterbox of a lil brother) and my cabin surrounding me. The movie was the new Muppets film. I remember watching it with Pete last summer. It is amazing and has so many witty lines in it. Lil tip, if you rent the DVD press pause and see what happens. Trust me it's an awesome surprise.

Two hours later we arrived at FUMC's parking lot. I found my bags and spotted my mother out of the crowded. Before I left though all my campers ran up and gave me a big hug goodbye. And they wonder why I volunteer each year.

Never did use that poncho, darn.

Wesley Woods Week Thursday June 27th

The last full day of camp. My oh my it just flies by. Well today was a busy day so I'll try to hit everything without dragging on for too long. Hmm, this is going to be tricky.

Remember how we didn't have horseback riding yesterday? I know a tearful moment for the Junior High though the pizza was bitchin'. Well today we mercifully didn't have any rain the same as last night. Apparently some of the trails (muddy as hell) were safe enough for the horses. We went horseback riding.

Jason and I drove up separately since we were going to stay for both hours. We arrived with half of the Junior High and all seemed ok. Katie forget the safety waivers. Poor Katie. She hurried to the camp and back and a short fifteen minutes later she ran up with all the documents. Good thing was in that time all the kids found and put on their helmets, usually we're rushing them. As a counselor I did not wear a helmet for two reasons; first off they hurt since they are meant for kids and second if I fall off the horse it's my own damn fault. I didn't, Drifter and I seemed to be on the same level most of the time.

One by one the kids were picked from the group and pulled onto a saddle. I was last and given a grey horse with a few spots named Drifter. It was strange but we seemed to think similarly. Both of us are guided by our stomachs.

Now for those of you who ride horses or rode in the past fear not, I did not allow Drifter to stuff her face with grass and greens on the trails. In fact she was very good and listened to all of my commands. Rather when we returned for the second batch of children she wanted some hay. See I might be strong but when a horse wants to eat well there is no stopping it. Fortunately I yelled to one of the stable girls and she ran over with a handful of hay. Drifter you can pig out in the stables once I'm off your back and not at risk to be kicked or bitten by the horse you shove out of the way. In any case I held onto a little "road snack" of hay for Drifter.

The kids seemed to enjoy themselves atop the horses even the few who had never ridden before. Maybe one summer I'll work for a month or so in Iowa on a ranch, just so I can become more familiar with it. Heh, let's see that actually happen MareBear. Moving on to the rest of the tricky busy day.

So being the last night we had our talent show. The acts were scattered from all ages and included song numbers to simple skits. Jalyn one of my campers was set to read some of her poetry. Throughout the week I helped her practice by first reading in front of me, then the cabin, then a few more counselors. She was immensely shy about it however with that practice she was able to read aloud in front of the entire camp. I was her mic-stand, didn't want her to be entirely alone. She read a sad poem first about being alone or "the girl in the corner" then an uplifting poem about a guardian angel. Amazing but sometimes in strangers you see someone whom you used to be. Jalyn I'm so proud of you for overcoming your public speaking fear.

Afterwards was the slideshow which included some pictures from my very own camera. Of course everyone could tell the difference from Jade's pics compared to all the others; she has a kick-ass camera. Unfortunately there were three pictures of me included with bacon tape on my face. You'd think one would have sufficed. A few "it's bacon face!" were shouted  among the Junior High. Oh Will and Tommy, you're lucky you are young and adorable. (If Jade posts photos on Facebook I'll be sure to bedazzle these posts with them).

It's time for the grand finale! My favorite part in fact, t-shirt signing. I try to leave a meaning note for each of my campers and a happy note for the random campers I don't know who ask me to sign their shirts. Esther wrote how happy she was that I was her counselor and that she can't wait until next year. Jalyn wrote that I inspired her and ended with how much she loved me. Jade (a good friend and fellow counselor) wrote across the chest of my shirt that I was hers. Haha I love this night. When I'm home I'll hang the shirt on my closet wall sort of as a poster.

The night ended with everyone hyper yet incredibly tired. We had some pizza in the cabins and Maddie even did some henna for the counselors. I had an owl design done. Hoot. Time for bed, it's been a long few days.

Wesley Woods Week Wednesday June 26th

Power is back on, thank you coffee gods out there! I mean I could've dug the old school "cowboy" coffee technique but I'd rather just press a button and have coffee pour out. Just a preference.

Only problem, though we now had electricity it was still raining buckets. Sometimes this happens at camp, can't always have sunny weather. The issue was we were supposed to go horseback riding today. The paths were too muddy. Um, kids please don't cry.

None of them did, thank goodness. I mean yeah the Junior High is 12-13 but still they are kids. Instead we the counselors planned something else for the Junior High that day. It was a "surprise", one that I was excited for. Hmm why don't I just post a few photos of it. Pictures are always worth more than words audience.

My adorable cabin. Left to Right: Bethany, Jalyn, (Jason), Andrea, and Esther

Jason's Cabin the only boys in JH. Jay, Will, and Tommy

The counselors! Katie, Maria, Maddie, Moi (bacon face), and Rebecca.

Basically we took them out for pizza. It was a special treat they could enjoy as Junior High. Also the parlor made us "sticky fingers" for dessert. Essentially it was a giant cinnamon roll styled like a pizza, frickin' delicious.

Now some of you are probably wondering what the hell is on my face. Well long story short I lost a game called "What are the Odds?" and was forced to wear duct tape on my cheek for the rest of the day. The duct tape was colorful and had a bacon pattern on it. Thus the name "bacon face" followed me for the rest of the night. Oh, it also stopped raining after we ate pizza. Least there's sunshine for the all camp activity and this:

Jason promised that if the Blackhawks won the cup Monday night he'd jump into the lake with all his clothes on. A true man of his word.

Now for the all camp activity we did CIT (counselor in training) rotations. Basically the kids were divided into different groups and spent ten minutes at a station doing a team building activity. I stayed at the s'mores station in order to capture these moments:

Aren't they all adorable? Well I think so. Roasting marshmallows around a fire hoping they don't burn.

Aw Jalyn someday that talent of stuffing your face will be useful. For now it's very cute.


The night ended with communion and small electric candles while the others sang Sanctuary. Sorry but that song drives me crazy. Last camp Jay-Jay had them sing it almost all the time. I'm a looper but seriously dude pick another song that isn't so frickin' slow! (The only reason my language is a tad cleaner is because these are about Church Camp).

Needless to say Wednesday went better than planned. Although we didn't have horseback riding we're keeping our fingers crossed for tomorrow. Otherwise we have to pass out refunds to Junior High parents. Please be drier tomorro!

Wesley Woods Week Tuesday June 25th

I mentioned in the last post how I wasn't able to sleep Monday night. Unfortunately that was not due to the Hawks mind-blowing Stanley Cup win. No, it was due to rain, thunder, and lightning.

The only time thunder though more so lightning (get bent light) keeps me awake is when it is within thirty feet of my sleep vicinity. For those metric people that'd be a little over nine meters. Yeah, nice and cozy close. It was a vicious storm that boom and crackled the entire night. It also flashed many many MANY times near Mary's side of the cabin. I was a bit restless and took a few steps to gain drowsiness. Sheep apparently don't work for me. At least coffee would be waiting for me at breakfast.

But before breakfast (I find this funny) a small incident happened to our cabin. Rebecca and I had forgotten to lock the door Monday night, namely me. See after the Blackhawks game I was about to passed out in dining hall. Hockey drains anyone and everyone of energy, especially a match like that. So locking the door was not on my mind. Sides the "lock" is just a tiny hook that you prop into a ring, not exactly fortifying. Regardless it wasn't locked. Well the wind might have been incredibly strong that night and decided to knock at our door. By knock I mean bash open. Oh my little darlings all screamed and it was up to half-dead Mary to solve it. I stumbled to the door with a few "I got it, I got it," and put a chair behind it. There we go, problem fixed.

Well not exactly. I mean I fixed the issue of the door but um the next morning during breakfast the power died. Apparently a tree fell at that moment onto the power lines. Oh boy, the entire camp doesn't have power. Wait what? The entire town is in the dark?! Oh crap.

Thanks to cellphones (with limited battery life) some electrical workers were called in and began to install new lines right then and there.

Wow. Thanks guys. They did accidentally burst a pipeline with their first hole that caused some backup in the grass later on. Oops, big oops by them. Least their hard work eventually gave us power. Not until 11 PM but hey, that kind of stuff takes a while.

Until that time we did rotations in the dark and in the rain. Being me I didn't bring a jacket and didn't have a poncho. Good thing my hair dries fast since I was frequently drenched by the weather. Also I wore black, another good move.

Later in the afternoon it brightened up and the kids were able to go swimming and kayaking as well. I sat on my butt and watched them from afar like an involved responsible parent. Thank you piercing, I really don't want to tread water in that small slimy section of beach. Kayaking would've been alright but again we can't really "go" anywhere. Sides once you've swum and kayaked among the Thousand Islands there's no going back to the kiddie pool. Plus it's for the kids to enjoy not the counselors.

We didn't have an all camp activity meaning my girls stayed in the cabin making crafts. I began work on an anklet while they applied temporary tattoos and created rubber band bracelets. It's nice having a quiet cabin that enjoys crafts, makes my job less stressful. Again I love these kids, however in years past I required energy drinks to stay awake for all five days. So it's a good break.

Despite being dark today went pretty well. Hope tomorrow is similar. And that my phone doesn't die before the power is back on.