Mini parking spaces and summer concerts

Part 1: Mini parking spaces

I am a city driver. Growing up in the Chicagoland area has made me kind of an aggressive driver who knows how to get in and out of tight spaces. So when a few friends from Utah came to visit this past week, they got to see my city driving skills in a whole new light. They experienced Beltway traffic and the parking lot that is I-66. They white-knuckled it as I merged using 10-foot ramps and whipped around city streets. But the thing that made one friend truly horrified was the parking. And Tammy, being Tammy, took pictures of some of my parking jobs.

Tammy was just about ready to have a heart-attach when she saw me back into these teeny-tiny spaces, and the one of the left wasn't even all that bad as I only had a raised walkway on one side. She also couldn't believe I was willing to attempt parking between two concert posts like the one on the right. (Don't ask what Misheal and I are doing in this picture, because I have no idea, but it was hysterical at the time.) And that doesn't even touch all the parallel parking I had to do. I guess in a city where real-estate is such a hot commodity, you don't waste it on parking garages, a truism a country-bread girl from Idaho fond intriguing.

Part 2: Summer concerts

There is noting that says summer so much as music. I got my tickets to the NIN and Jane's Addiction tour, and I'm still hoping to find a group who wants to see Crue Fest 2 so I don't have to spend a fortune on tickets but can get the group rate. (I have to admit, I'm not so much a fan of Motley Crue as I am obsessed with Theory of a Deadman.)

Least you think I'm a total heathen and my mother didn't raise me to enjoy polite society, I'm also seeing Ragtime for the second time, and I'm hoping to catch a play at the newly remodeled Ford's Theatre. Then there's also Screen on the Green to look forward to, where the city puts up a jumbotron in front of the Capitol and people come to watch old movies on Monday nights. And of course my mom and sister are coming for the 4th of July concert as well.

I'm so excited for all the activities what will be going on this summer! I just hope I don't put myself into the poorhouse trying to do them all.

I love spending time with my little brother.

I guess my little brother really isn't all that little anymore. He's taller than me, probably smarter than I am, and has been able to take me in a tickle fight for about ten years now. But he's still my baby brother.

Michael's been talking about coming to visit since I moved to Washington, but because he's stationed on a Navy sub, that's easier said than done. He finally had a weekend off, and then I got sick. So he came down anyway. A nine-and-a-half-hour drive to spend two days with a mucussy, coughy mess of a sister--now that is love.

I haven't been the life of the party this weekend (in fact, he's downtown with friends right now, and I came home to sleep), but it's been nice to spend time with him. We talked late into the night after he got here, and then we went out to brunch and talked some more. We went and saw a movie, and then he hung out at my place while I took a nap. That was followed by more talking and dinner.

So here's to spending time with family. Though we may live far away from each other and have become very different people with different goals and ideals, we have a common bond that cannot fade with time or distance or experience. Call me sentimental, but that's what family really is.

P.S. We are finally getting nice weather again. The snow is all gone and the sun is shining.