I am such a slacker! Between moving and being totally stressed out about finding a job, I haven't been doing a lot of writing, which of course means I didn't finish my manuscript last week. I still have nine chapters to write. That may sound like a lot, but they are outlined and not very long. Most of my chapters I've been about to finish writing in about two days--sometimes if I'm really lucky, productive and motivated I can even finish a couple of chapters in one day. So I am extending my deadline to the end of this month. And this time I mean it.

I went to the Naperville Labor Day Parade this morning with my mom, two of her sisters and various other family members. I haven't been to a parade since I went to  the 2006 Boise Thanksgiving Day Parade and the New York City St. Patricks Day Parade right after that. But I used to be in parades all the time when I was a marching band nerd. (In all honestly, can you really ever outgrow being a band nerd?)

     

The Naperville parade is a community parade through and through. All of the local high schools play, dance schools perform, clubs make floats, scout troops throw candy and politicians kiss babies. I can't vote in the Naperville elections, so I spent most of the time avoiding the flyers/head dresses/stickers/nail files/fans/frisbees people were shoving in my face and instead watched the kids around me go crazy over suckers and puppy dogs. The most exciting moment came when a local restaurant's ice cream float got stuck under the train bridge and held up the parade for quite awhile. The plumbers' union had to go around and the Wabansee High School marching band had to be held back until the float could be backed out and hauled away. This resulting in many waiting for the ice cream to melt on a hot day jokes and a special laugh on my part because I know the family who owns the restaurant, and Clinton will never hear the end of this.

(I'll post a picture of the ice cream float as soon as I get a copy from my mom, and we can all point and laugh together.)

Last night we had a big family picnic at my aunt's house. My uncle just turned 50 so we had cake and ice cream for him, but it was really an excuse for all of us to get together and have some fun. A bunch of my cousins were in town from school and jobs, and most of my mom's siblings were there (she comes from a family of 12 kids, good Roman Catholics that they are). My cousin had made his dad a bean-bag toss game for his birthday, so a bunch of use played that, but I lack the coordination it takes it get a 4-inch bean bag into a 6-in hole from twenty feet  away and ended up watching most of the time. Then my cousin from California brought out her bocce ball set, and I found that I am actually pretty decent at the game because it takes more finesse and  physics than actual skill and coordination. Hooray for European sports!

Now the holiday weekend is almost over. I'll have to get back to actually writing (I mean it!) and finding a job. Oh the glories of having a college degree and no job to show for it.