Exciting Weekend (image heavy!)

Thursday afternoon, we had a HUGE storm here. "They" recorded sustained wind speeds of 78 MPH at Wrigley Field, with heavy rains and serious flooding. After the storm ended, I walked to the bar down the street to meet Leah (4 blocks down the street) and I counted 13 trees down. It was the biggest non-snow storm I've ever seen. My street was blocked in 2 places by downed trees, and two of the three cross-streets I went by were also blocked. The city crews worked the chainsaws and claw trucks all night on the cleanup, and as soon as it was light enough outside, I walked around taking some photos.

My street:



One cross street:



Another cross street:



And a couple of the downed power/phone/cable/somethingorother lines:





Ugh, look at these cars:













Here is another blog with some fantastic photos outside of my neighborhood.

Luckily, my power stayed (mostly) on, but the cable (and therefore, internet) went kaplooie and just came back this morning. Oh intartoobs, how I've missed you so!

On Friday, Kathy and Emmy drove in from Cincinnati for the weekend. We had a great girly visit - Saturday morning we had mimosas and got mani/pedis, then Saturday night we went to the Roller Derby. I hadn't been before, and it was really interesting. I learned the rules and took blurry photos (those girls are moving FAST!):







Unfortunately, during the third match, a girl was very seriously injured - she couldn't feel or move her arms or legs. They stopped the game so her teammates could go to the hospital with her. The latest update I've heard is that she was in surgery all night, and they won't know for a while whether the paralysis will be permanent. We were all very shaken up, and she is in all of our thoughts. If you could keep her and her family in your thoughts as well, I'm sure it would be appreciated.

Kathy and Emmy left on Sunday morning, and Sunday afternoon Dan came over with his very well behaved kids for a knitting lesson. They both already knew the knit stitch, and N (11 year old boy) already knew how to cast on, bind off, and purl as well. I worked with L (7 year old girl) on casting on and purling, and taught N yarn overs - both with the k2tog and as dropped stitches. It was really nice to feel so very useful, and those kids are just great. I'm hoping they will come back for more lessons.

Yesterday I heard from my downstream Secret Pal - she got the postcard and gushed about it! I am positively beaming.

Ok, I think that's a long enough post for now, and it's past my bedtime. I'm sure I'll talk (type?) your ear (eye?) off again soon.