Got a call from Justin in the late afternoon, and an invite out to the suburbs. He was planning to purchase a nice TV from a friend of Ben’s, and I decided to accompany him to visit Ben and Laura (and the kids).
Interestingly, the entire trip was a series of small tasks. In order to pick up the TV, Justin needed a larger vehicle. First stop – visiting Kristen and Brook, at their new home. They recently purchased a place, and I finally got to see it the first time (the night of their housewarming, I was off celebrating with the Chelster).
I didn’t end up taking pictures (felt a little awkward about it), but man – their place is sweet. Cozy all around, and quite spacious. I’m used to the typical Chicago apartment that’s really long and narrow, but these rooms were similar to the apartments I remember from Columbus. I’m totally jealous of Kristen’s study/office, which is a small sunroom off the main living room. Windows aplenty to watch the world go by as you type.
We all chatted for a bit, but sadly we couldn’t stay too long. We arrived to swap cars (using Kristen’s Hatchback to transport the TV). After a brief moment of terror when the car wouldn’t turn over… the thing kicked into gear and we were good to go. Fast forward through some shopping for wine and bread, and we arrive for dinner in the suburbs.
I haven’t been back here in a long while, and their house is markedly different from when I first saw it, so many months ago. The kitchen (which was being redone) looked amazing, and the living room area was full with toys and a recently-created TV cabinet.
Justin and I got to hang out with Emmett, Zion, and Josiah. Zion was a riot, and I hadn’t really seen him super animated before today. He and Justin got into a pretty shriek-inducing game of peek-a-boo, which was fun to watch.
Justin and I also got to admire Emmett’s story story entitled Cuppy, a story about a cup. He was learning about personification, and as part of that lesson he created a book (complete with crayon illustrations).
During dinner, Emmett talked about his interest in creating movies – and how he wanted to adapt his short story into a film. Quite the ambitious kid, Emmett – and a heck of an imagination to boot.
One of the highlights of the night (in addition to the great salmon we had for dinner), was when Emmett recounted a grammar lesson he had learned. I think it was something like the difference between good, better, and best. He was told that “bestest” was not a word, and he declared to the dinnertable that that word was “X-ed off the list.”
But as he did this, he was standing up and crossing his arms above his head. I’m probably not doing the scene justice, but he had everyone in stitches. Emmett had a remarkable knack for timing and repetition; he recognized what generated the most laughs, and he returned to it with the savvy of a seasoned stand-up comic.
Before we left to go pick up the TV, Justin and I ended up reading Emmett a few stories before bedtime. One of the stories we read was the one he wrote, Cuppy. Man, in hindsight I should have taken a photo of that book – it was awesome.
Around 9 PM, we said goodbye and followed Ben to his friend Neil’s house. There, Justin inspected the TV and agreed on the sale. Neil and his family are heading to Ireland (where Neil was born), and they’re currently in the process of trying to get rid of a lot (if not all) of their stuff. Ten more days, I think, and they were all getting on a plane.
Here’s the TV, out by the parking lot and next to Kristen’s car. As it turned out, the thing wouldn’t fit. And amazingly, Neil offered to load up the TV into his minivan, and drive it back to Justin’s.
I ended up riding with Neil, and the two of us had a really great talk on the way back into the city. I learned about his job and a bit about his youth in Ireland. We talked about the differences between cultures, in the States versus Europe. He brought up the importance of travel, and stressed how important he felt it was. To date, I’ve never travelled abroad… and hearing his stories, I’m regretting it.
On arriving, Justin tried to give Neil some money for his time and trouble (but Neil refused). We wished him good luck on his trip, and thanked him again for the help.
And here’s the TV, crammed into Justin’s living room. We were able to set up a temporary place for the television, and threw in a Ren and Stimy DVD to give the guy a test-drive. After viewing the “Space Madness” episode, I’m happy to report that the television works just super. 
