June 2004.  Does that seem right?  2004?  What the heck happened to the 90s?  I graduated High School in 1988!  SIXTEEN years ago!  Jeez-O-Man!  I guess I should quit complaining about getting old though, it's just giving me gray hair.  

This month was pretty uneventful.  The heat came on like a swarm of cicadas.  If you don't know what a cicada is, imagine a moth, then pump it full of steroids.  They come around the mid-west every 17 years, and they come in droves.  Lucky us, this is the 17th year.  I guess they mate and lay eggs, and it takes 17 years for the eggs to mature.  I read an article that said Cicadas aren't dangerous to humans, they're just very frustrating, especially when they get in your mouth.  You see, there are so many cicadas flying around at their height, that they get in your MOUTH!  I imagine we'll be spending a lot of time inside this summer.

I briefly mentioned on the front page that our neighborhood is turning into Lord of the Flies, and I really don't mind it.  There are four kids next door, four kids in the yard behind us (and they have a trampoline...whoopee!!), my buddy Tom just had one, there are three kids across the street.  It's like a block party everyday.  I come home from work and the kids greet me like Norm from Cheers.  BRIAN!!  -It's a dog-eat-dog world Sam, and I'm wearing milk bone underwear.  

I really am happy about the location of our new house.  When you think about it, we really got lucky.  I've mentioned before that I'm a fully qualified real estate agent now, and I've been searching for houses for a friend of mine for months now, and there's NOTHING on the north side of Chicago for under $350,000.  Unless you want to live in a swamp, or in Madagascar.  It's amazing.  In one year the house I live in went from affordable, to "we could never afford this house if we wanted to buy it today".  I'm just really glad we got in when we did.  I have a new neighbor buddy that plays cards with me all the time.  Maggie has a great friend in the lady next door...We're very happy.  We're just waiting for the other shoe to drop...I can't be this happy for this long without someone getting herpes or something.

I hope that all is well in your world.  Email me with an update on your life.  I'd love to hear about it!  You've been listening to ours for long enough...enjoy this month's pictorial.