After school today, I drove out to the Heartland to have dinner with my family, and sleep at my parents' house (pictured). We went to Sorrento's, a family restaurant outside of Sycamore. It's on Route 64 (people out here don't call it North Avenue), right across the street from Sycamore Speedway, the place where I first learned the beauty of Demolition Derbies and Dollar Drafts. I taught my family the Check Take game, where you open the bill after dinner and react to it. My mom had an amazing, totally disgusted checktake, and my Aunt Darla reacted so violently she startled the nice family dining behind us.

Afterward me and my sister and her friend Stephanie went to a bar called MVPs. We met up with my cousin and some of his friends. It's the Sycamore equivalent of John Barleycorn or Hi-Tops, bars that I refuse to patronize when I'm in the city, but for some reason are fun places to be when I'm back home. I always enjoy being Country Mouse again, if for just a day or two.