Ending July with an Act of God...

UGH!!!  One of the most frustrating things that could happen to someone!  A pipe burst.  And to happen when I was at work.  I started to cry when my landlord called me.  I couldn't believe it.  To make matters worse, it was early in the morning too.  Around 8:30am.  I cringe just thinking about it.  Mostly because you feel helpless.  Mostly because you wonder why me?  My landlord called me back to explain the situation once he soaked up all the water.  He said it was an act of God.  But what did that mean? 
Sometimes in life, you wonder why certain things happen to you and not someone else.  Were you "chosen" to go through this?  What did this experience teach me?  Why was a pipe burst an act of God?  There will always be pivotal moments that will be unexplainable.  What matters in the end is how you react to these unfortunate incidents.
Let's face it.  We've all heard how bad things happen to good people.  Being "good" offers no protection from Life's misfortunes.  It's a terrifying reality that we face daily.  There are times when I think my life is pretty boring, but then I quickly remind myself that it could change in an instant.  It  could change into something I'm not ready to handle yet. 
At the time, my co-workers calmed me down a bit.  They re-assured me that my apartment is pretty old, and things will break down from time to time.  It happens.  That made me feel a bit better because they were right.  What was once new will become old.  This can be applied to ourselves as well.  We all will die eventually, this we know.  But how and when is the question. 
If it weren't for my friends at work, I would have been a mess for the rest of the day.  I went home early to see the damage myself, and luckily it wasn't so bad.  My landlord placed a bunch of fans around and left the air conditioner on to dry up the humidity in the apartment.  Unfortunately, my neighbors downstairs had it worse than me, which to this day I feel pretty guilty about it.  This affected other people and I couldn't help but feel responsible.  Since it happened on a Thursday, I stayed with a friend at their place that night, but on Friday when I came home from work, I went straight to the gym.  My apartment was noisy from all the fans that it sounded as if I had a  jet engine running!  I was getting aggravated.  Luckily my girlfriend wanted to grab some drinks at a rooftop bar.  I figured that will kill a couple of hours.  I showered up and ran out of there because I started to get a headache from all the noise.  We ended up at Kensington Roof Garden and then went downstairs to where Parliament Nightclub was located once it got late.  Due to the noise ordinance in Chicago, most rooftops are closed by 11:30pm.  We danced for a bit then headed to Room 7 and ended our night there.  I was happy my friends were around to hangout with me.  I had the fans running the rest of the weekend, and by Monday night, I felt my place had dried up enough to turn off the fans and air conditioner.  I had to get rid of a bunch of stuff too.  Mostly things that were under my bathroom sink.  Oh yeah, the water that was spilling all over the place was hot water.  Go figure...

Kensington Roof Garden was a great place!  Me and my friends had a great time there...

Checking out the scene at Room Seven...

A hot night in July but we made the most of it...

Throwback Thursday to my BIRTHDAY!!!

One of the things that bother me about my birthday (besides getting older) is the fact that it falls in June.  Although I DO love the summer, it is a gentle reminder that half the year has gone by.  Up to this point in 2015, my mom was taking care of her sick husband, who eventually passes away, resulting in her depression.  Yeah, so far I wasn't enjoying this year.  I was trying my hardest to get out of this funk.  My mom went into therapy with the suggestion of her doctor, but soon quit after a few weeks.  I wasn't expecting her to quit so soon.  I really wanted her to talk to someone about her emotions, mostly because I was feeling depressed myself.  I couldn't help her feel better.  I was failing.  I was not good at this.
It was a tough situation to be in because I saw no way out.  All I could do was try to visit my mom once a week, as well as call her every night to make sure she's ok.  I felt my brothers weren't doing enough to help me deal with her.  I felt I was taking it all in more than them, and it was making me upset.  I needed some time for myself. 
I joined my Firm's softball team.  I needed to do something to keep my mind busy and not have to worry so much.  They've been asking me for years to join, mostly because they need players badly.  I'm terrible when it comes to sports, but I agreed to do it. 
I learned a lot about sportsmanship.  I also learned I should have been doing this a long time ago.  When you're in a team, you NEED TO WORK TOGETHER, and a lot of people have a hard time doing this.  They don't "play nice".  I loved our pep talks before each game, as well as our talks afterwards recapping the plays.  We supported one another, and it's something I needed at the time.
I am doing the best that I can, given the situation at hand.  I tried my hardest not to let my teammates down.  And if we lose, we got another shot at it next time.  Plain and simple.  It reflected what I was feeling with my mom, and it made me feel better.  Not to mention, swinging a bat whenever you are mad at the world DID was pretty therapeutic.  There's no doubt about that. 
So once my birthday came knocking on my door, my friends wanted to do something special for me.  I just wanted to hangout with them and catch up, but they insisted on taking me out to dinner.  We went to Sunda and had sushi and then afterwards, went all over the place.  lol.  We stopped by Hubbard Inn, then finished off at Room 7 for some non-stop dancing.  I loved my birthday!  I forgot all my troubles and just focused on me for one night.  It was perfect.  I don't think my friends understand how much it meant to me.  Especially now with our busy schedules, it's getting harder and harder for us to get together.  The one thing that does matter is that we check up on one another from time to time.  If you wonder how someone's doing, give them a call or a friendly text!  You never know if they need a little pick me up.   

Wearing my birthday-gift-to-myself

Good times at Sunda!

Hubbard Inn for some champagne!

The next day we headed down to the Taste of Randolph fest!

Goofing around while waiting for the rain to stop...

Found a birthday party to crash ...

Another birthday wish...

LOVED my flowers and balloon!