Approaching the Unapproachable

El Verano Proximo!

2005-11-21T21:28:00.000-08:00

http://www.continuing-ed.calpoly.edu/travel_mex.html

I am currently obsessed with the idea of studying in Mexico this summer. I do wonder how long this will last.

Perfection

2005-11-20T23:56:00.000-08:00

Sitting on the edge of a bluff overlooking a wide bluegreen ocean, the warm sun on my shoulders and a cool breeze on my back, eating a peanut butter, honey and raisin sandwich while watching shore birds and sea otters below, the sounds of the waves crashing into foamy white swelling over me.

Weekend Woohoo.

2005-10-30T22:01:00.000-08:00

Just in case you can't do math yourself:
"The UN Development Program reports that the richest 20 percent of the world's population consume 86 percent of the world's resources while the poorest 80 percent consume just 14 percent."

Here is my weekend without the pronoun "I": Had a fun weekend. Went to Disneyland --- looked in shops, rode the Matterhorn and Space Mountain, did really well in the Buzz Lightyear ride, explored Innoventions. Spent three hours at Marie Callendars with the Huberts and Hammorks (mmm lots of pie and quiche and salad.) Went to breakfast with Nana (mmm lots of tea and oatmeal and muffins and fruit and hash browns.) Carved a big pumpkin named Boofus and a little pumpkin. Had mucho funo.

This is one of my stranger posts. I blame it on my brain trying for the past hour to understand the WTO.

You Can Be Addicted Too!

2005-10-25T12:01:00.000-07:00

Here is a fun game that also strengthens your logic muscles!
Play Sudoku!
You need to insert the numbers 1-9 across all the rows, down all the columns, and in all the 3x3 boxes.

Pumpkin Patch

2005-10-22T20:11:00.000-07:00

Here is a true/false test for you:
T/F It is okay to leave bags of burnt popcorn in the middle of the parking lot.
T/F It is okay to move someone's doormat next to the mailbox.
T/F It is okay to throw giant chocolate chip muffins onto my windshield.

If you answered "false" to the previous three questions, you are a decent human being. If you answered "true," you are a careless person who lives somewhere near me.

We went to the Avila Barn today. It is super-crowded but fun to watch everyone and look at the animals and go in the hay maze and try all the free samples. I got three cute little pumpkins and one medium sized pumpkin.

Days left to CSET sectionIII.....14. Eeek.

Fall Retreat '05

2005-10-16T21:31:00.000-07:00

I just got back from Fall Retreat and it was so good. I met so many people this weekend and had real conversations with them – that was one of the best parts of the weekend. We stayed at the Hyatt in Thousand Oaks, which is a fancy-shmancy hotel that is gorgeous. There is a fountain inside and beautiful paintings, friendly staff and outside a nice pool and lawn and gazebo. We got some crazy discount because I think it is usually quite expensive to stay there. I drove down with Lianne and three guys, which was fun, and I crotched until it got dark. We got a late start so we hit traffic coming out of SLO but not in Santa Barbara or Ventura. I missed the first talk, but I met with my D-group (discussion group), which turned out to be who I hung out with a lot of the weekend. Then I went to my room and met my roommates (one of which was Erin, just by coincidence!) Saturday morning I got up for worship/prayer and a continental breakfast then Brandon Fisher spoke about our relationships with other people. For lunch we went to a nearby church and had Subway sandwiches and had time with our classes where we talked about our responsibilities and challenges as juniors. Then I watched a bunch of guys and eventually girls play a somewhat dangerous, painful and strange game called buck-buck. I went back to the hotel and worked on my linguistics homework in my room for a while and then I discovered the lovely back part of the hotel. I had dinner with my D-group at the hotel, and then we broke into men and women. Debbie’s talk was about loving other girls and was really good. After D-group, we all met in the main room for line dancing! It was a crazy good time that lasted well past my bed time. This morning Brandon spoke about being an ambassador of Christ. Then I said goodbye to my D-group and went to Lianne’s boyfriend’s house for lunch. His parents were so welcoming of a whole bunch of us and made us tri-tip and chicken that was super-yummy. Then I drove home with Erin and two guys that I met and we played “would you rather” and the alphabet game most the way home.

Butterfly and Sunflower

2005-10-11T11:34:00.000-07:00

My mom took this picture. Beautiful, eh?

(c) Joan Barnett 2005

Knott's and Fireworks

2005-10-11T09:16:00.000-07:00

Once again I am at work with nothing to do – yay! I had a really good weekend and wish I was a better writer so that I could tell you all about it in an interesting fashion. But I’m not, so here is a rough explanation of what I did. I had Friday and Sunday dinners with my parents which was so so nice. I went to Knott’s Berry Farm with the Huberts. My favorite rides were Ghostrider, Supreme Scream, Accelerator, Jaguar, and The Silver Bullet. We had Mrs. Knott’s Fried Chicken for lunch. Around 5:30, we drove over to Disneyland because I hadn’t seen the fireworks yet. We ate at McDonald’s right outside the park (I didn’t eat much since I was full from lunch) and then we met the Hammorks at that little restaurant we always go to that is at the hotel. We stayed there a long time just hanging out and then danced our way over to Tower of Terror. Toni just met the height limit so we took her on. She was excited at first, but after the first big drop didn’t like it so much. Then we got a spot in Disneyland to watch the fireworks and some of us went on Big Thunder Mountain. Disneyland is so crazy with everything blocked off for the fireworks, with traffic rules that make it slightly difficult to get to where you want to go. But the fireworks were sooo good. It was a representation of a bunch of the rides at Disneyland, some of the ones that aren’t there any more, but mostly ones that are. The Haunted Mansion part is the best. During the fireworks some old man tried to plow me over. I was right on the edge of the roped-off area, and he was in the walkway trying to pretend he wasn’t. Luckily some cast member came and told him he couldn’t stand there. After the fireworks we stood in a huddle mostly making fun of people walking by and talking about the fireworks. I felt like a rock in a river. All the people pushed past our little huddle. Then we sat on a bench while Stevie and Chip and Sammy and Cynthy entertained us with random dancing. On our way out we stopped at the candy store and I got a delicious peanut-covered caramel apple that I ate in the car on the way to the Hammorks and we all sang quite loudly the whole way there.
On Sunday we went to GSLC in Inglewood with Ashley’s grandparents. It was the church’s 70th anniversary, but kind of sad because hardly anyone attends anymore. Church was very weird to Ashley and Lindsay and Chip, but to me it just reminded me of my younger years at Good Shepherd Goleta. We sang hymns and did some liturgy and read a psalm and said the Lord’s Prayer and the Apostle’s Creed and all that Lutheran stuff. Then we went to the potluck, which was really boring at first because they made us listen to a bunch of people talk about the good old days without giving us food. Oh here is the funniest part of lunch. Ashley and Chip were talking about how the pasta salad wasn’t very good, and Ashley had a big pile of both pasta salad and potato salad on her plate. Then Grandma Bev comes over and we find out that she made the yucky pasta salad. So Ashley discretely covers her pasta salad with her potato salad so it doesn’t look like she didn’t like Grandma Bev’s dish. Later Grandma Bev, who is known for eating everyone’s leftovers, asks if Toni has any potato salad. She didn’t, but Mrs. Nancy says that Ashley does. Ashley keeps saying “I’m not done yet” and “I can eat all this” and Nancy doesn’t get the hint. So then I tell her what had happened and I’m sure Grandma Bev was wondering why the whole table was giggling. Later I whisked Ashley’s plate away as I refilled my drink.
Yesterday I had a midterm in geography. Now geography is a two hour class. It always had been a two hour class. It probably always will be a two hour class. But for some reason I had it in my head that I only had an hour to take the test. So I was rushing through the test because it was quite long, and I finished just in time and scooted out the door to math. As I walked into my math class, I really thought I was in a dream. The depth of my confusion is something I had never felt. The teacher was the same, but I didn’t know anyone. So I just stood there with a confused look on my face while the teacher handed me a sheet of paper. Then I searched through my backpack and found my schedule and read that I was supposed to be in geography for two hours. Ohhhhhh. I asked the teacher if I could stay in this section today, and she said yes, and that I had looked really confused. The feeling was so bizarre. And throughout the class I still felt like I was in a dream and kept checking to make sure that I had all my clothes on and weird things like that.
Last night for dinner I made those raviolis from Costco and I put fresh tomatoes and fresh basil on them and made green beans, all from farmer’s market and it was quite delicious.
Today is my busy day. Work to school to AWANA to IM soccer. 8am-9:30pm. I think I have an hour for lunch and an hour between classes, though. I have decided that I don’t really like the word “busy.” Everyone is busy, or could be busy if they wanted to. And busyness doesn’t really mean anything because you could be busy just because you are inefficient. And people like to use busyness as an excuse. I need to come up for a new way of saying I am busy. “How was your day?” “I had a full day today.” “I had a lot of activity in my day today.” “I accomplished a lot today.” “I worked on a lot of things today.” “Can you come to ___ this afternoon?” “No, I am planning on going to ___.” “No, I would like to spend the time doing some studying.” OK maybe people would just think I am strange.

New Church for Me!

2005-10-02T19:00:00.000-07:00

I'm being a procrastination queen right now, and have been for the past three hours. But I think it is okay because sick people are allowed to be lazy, especially when they don't really have anything due tomorrow. At least that is my excuse.

We went to Grace Church this morning and I am so happy because I liked it and I was was beginning to be quite dissappointed with churches in SLO and now I have a new church! Yay! And I signed up to help with AWANA and Sunday School. I knew all the songs and I liked the pastor and they have tons of things to get involved in and there are lots of different age groups there and college people got free pizza in the park after the service. Yay!

Yesterday Marissa and Jessie and I went to see the elephant seals. It was fun being with them and the ocean was gorgeous, but there weren't very many seals. In the evening we watched Gone With the Wind but I didn't really watch it because I was coloring a hot air balloon for my education class, putting all my summer pictures into an album, and crocheting. I am a very slow crocheter.

If I Had a Hammer....

2005-09-29T19:06:00.000-07:00

At work there has been a big metal sledgehammer on the production table for a few days for who knows what reason. Today it had a sign on it: "For use on printer."

I think it might have been 100 degrees out today. Why do we talk about the weather so much? It's not like it changes anything, and if you know it is scorching hot outside, your roommate and teacher and next door neighbor probably do too. So what compells us to talk about the weather? I suppose you can't really insult people talking about the weather, so it safe. It is also a common subject that you could have with someone else. Well anyways, it was hot today. Although I wasn't too hot except for in math and in the library and I wasn't miserable. Maybe being in Lancaster made me accept heat. As I was sitting on the fifth floor of the library, though, I felt sorry for the construction workers I was watching in long pants and shirts, on a hot metal roof, welding.

TRAIN!!!!

2005-09-28T19:32:00.000-07:00

Someone yells "train" every time the train goes by. And it goes by a lot. Guess what? I love my apartment. I love living with three other girls and cooking and eating together and hanging out together and all that. Oooh tomorrow we are each going to paint a picture to decorate the living room. There are some not-quite nice things about the location (beer bottles in front of my door, crazy people all over the place, a toilet that overflowed) but hey, I can deal with that. Recently my back had been hurting a lot, especially walking around and being the brilliant doctor that I am, I tightened the straps on my backpack and it really helped. Amazing how smart I am sometimes. Speaking of smart, my math class isn't all that bad. Some things are annoying to have to learn, but the teacher has a good method of teaching and actually demonstrates some of the things that I am learning in my education class, and so that is interesting to watch if I get bored with the subject material. I feel really dumb when I don't understand things in that class, though. I think I did all right on the first quiz. (Sample question: A sequence starts 2, 6, ... what is the next term if it is an arithmetic sequence?) Last weekend was fun. I watched Corpse Bride, Just Like Heaven, Pride and Prejudice, and Aviator. I learned how to crochet (it is painful!) I went to a BBQ at Thomas' friends' house. I hiked Bishop's with Sara. Lots of fun. This Saturday I'm going with Marissa to see the elephant seals. Here is a closing thought for you (thanks to linguistics): why do you say "big red balloon" and not "red big balloon"?

Tuesdays with Kimberly

2005-09-20T19:39:00.000-07:00

Reason #82 to change from physics to liberal studies: you have time to write silly things in your blog.
In case you were wondering what I did today, hour by hour, here is your answer:
7am-8am I woke up to my alarm and it was darkish in my room. I took a shower in my too-short shower and enjoyed breakfast of shredded wheat. I was thinking today about how I had really enjoyed my food and not just ate it. Yay for good food.
8am-1pm Work began right where I left off last summer, with random task galore. I re-organized the storage room, assembled three desk chairs, punched four documents, went to Staples, dropped a binder off at the county bldg, and set up a new computer.
1pm-2pm I had corn soup and salad for lunch.
2pm-4pm My 2-3 math class was cancelled (yeehaw) and so I wandered around campus. If I had a brain, I would have thought about where I was going instead of backtracking a dozen times. But I ran into a lot of people, which was fun and quite unusual for me since I would usually see a person I know and discreetly walk to the other side of the street, looking at the clouds or something so as to not make eye contact.
4pm-6pm I like my linguistics professor so far, although we didn't learn much at all the first day. But she is friendly and has a slight southern accent that is nice to listen to.
6pm-7pm Michelle made pot roast for dinner and I did dishes.
Now I am going to watch Gilmore Girls and do homework!

Living on the Corner

2005-09-18T23:18:00.000-07:00

My new apartment is wonderful! I unpacked today and yesterday and I like my nicely decorated desk area that I am sitting at. Today I woke up and had roommates to talk to! We all went to Food4Less and filled a shopping cart with groceries so we can cook each other meals once a week. I'm making hamburgers tomorrow. Tonight we all had spaghetti together. I wish school was not starting tomorrow, though. I'm not looking forward to homework and studying and all that jazz. I was going to write about the car crash that gave me a black eye (which, btw dad, did not get worse the next day, hooray), but I don't feel like it so if you want to know the details you can ask me.

Paper Voices

2005-08-30T22:28:00.000-07:00

Writing cannot be judged, for it may not be the reflection of a person, rather their fleeting thoughts. Or it may be that which they long to cry out, with written words as their only voice.

"You are somebody, a human being--no better, no worse than anybody else in this world. Gettin' someplace special is not an easy route. But don't study on quittin', just keep walking straight ahead--and you'll make it." --patricia c. mckissack, Goin' Someplace Special

Doobie Funk

2005-08-28T21:37:00.000-07:00

Last night I went to a concert with Peter and the Jacobsons and two other people whose names have fleed my mind. We had front row center seats. Ironic that some people back in the stands were probably so jealous of my seat while I didn't even know the bands that were playing. First Grand Funk Railroad played. The drummer reminded me of Bilbo Baggins and the lead singer could have played a very good Gilderoy Lockhart, in my opinion. Perhaps it was the vest with stars and moons on it (that I could see because I was in the front row!) At one point I was just listening to the music and I looked at the electric guitar player and he was looked at me and gave me a big grin, telling me to smile. So I smiled back at him and he nodded approvingly. Yeah, I was that close. I forgot that they could see me just as well as I could see them when the lights shined on us. I also admired all the lights and speakers and extra guitars and had fun watching the security guards trying to figure out what to do with a woman a few seats down who had a little to much alcohol in her system but wasn't really causing too much trouble. I thought she was entertaining to watch as she pretended to play all the instruments along with the band. At the end the guitar player threw guitar picks and one hit Peter on the head. Haha. Then the Doobie Brothers played and at the end Peter caught one of the drum sticks and he gave it to me so now I have a cool collector's item.

Now it is a strange thing, but things that are good to have and days that are good to spend are soon told about, and not much to listen to; while things that are uncomfortable, palpitating, and even gruesome, may make a good tale, and take a deal of telling anyway. -- J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit

A Weekend Worth Waiting For

2005-08-23T11:00:00.000-07:00

I don't think that title really makes sense but that is what popped into my head and I liked all the W's. My trip to Lake San Antonio was so much fun. Ashley and I were kind of glued to the hip all weekend like we tend to be on trips. In fact, at Heatwave one year Ashley, Sammy, Amy, and I got a prize for never leaving each other's side. Nine of us went – Ashley, Deborah, Vicki (who everyone calls Victoria now), Adrianne, Matt, Ben, Peter, Mr. Eggli, and me -- and we all know each other so it was fun. I went wakeboarding and skiing twice. I did really good on skis – I think he drove the boat slower so it was easier to stay up. I went back and forth over the wakes until I thought my hands were going to fall off. And Ashley and I did tubes and it was crazy but not as crazy as when Randy took me and Peter because I didn't fall off once. And we played King Jabba and hung out and ate Pop rocks and watched the full moon reflect over the lake and waked up cell phone hill (named by Ashley because that was where the cingular cell phones got service) and watched the sunset from there and slept outside under the bright white moon.

Proof I've Been Reading Too Many Children's Books

2005-08-16T00:09:00.000-07:00

As I breathe in the dusty wet air, beautiful rain falls, sounding like gems and trinkets bouncing off the porch roof. I stand with a little girl wrapped beneath my arms, her excitement echoing the spontaneous lighting that streaks the sky, followed by the courageous thunder. Surely God can be beautiful, powerful, and frightening.

Once upon a time there was a little brown cow named Humphry. He was a nice cow and lived in a little yellow barn. Yes, a yellow barn. As the old lady cows passed they whispered among themselves, and if you listened closely you could overhear words like “banana” and “mustard.” The young cows sniggered as they trotted past, for no upstanding cow would be seen in a yellow barn. But as the other cows traipsed back to their big red barns, Humphry just smiled as he sat in the door of his yellow home. For you see, Humphry was proud of the bold yellow paint that adorned his barn. Why, you ask me? Well let me tell you the story of that yellow paint. Once upon a time there was a young girl named Lydia. With her pale green eyes and straight black hair, many would call her beautiful when she grew older. Her favorite thing of all were her animals. She dispersed her love equally among her many sheep, goats, horses, and pigs, but her favorite animal of all was her cow, Humphry. She and Humphry loved to lay in the soft green grass under the large weeping willow that grew in the back of the farm. They would take walks together through the warm summer breezes, but in winter Humphry had to stay with the rest of the animals in the big noisy barn. One day, Lydia said to Humphry, “This autumn, I will build you a barn to keep you warm. A big red barn. That will suit you nicely.” All throughout the summer, Humphry's excitement grew as he watched the walls of the barn be built up. At the end of the summer, Lydia and Humphry went to the town parade. They laughed as the clowns and scooters and floats passed them noisily by. But when the fire truck's loud siren blared its way past, Humphry and Lydia looked at each other knowingly. The poor old fire truck was in dire need of a new coat of paint, and they knew they must give their precious red paint to the fire department. The next day they ventured down to the fire station, Lydia lugging paint cans and Humphry carrying paint cans on his yoke. The firefighters were delighted with the gift of paint and thanked them over and over. As Lydia and Humphry trudged slowly home, they could still hear the thank yous of the firefighters over their shoulders. Humphry spent the winter in his new barn, thankful for the warm shelter but still a little sad that it was not the promised shade of red. One day the following spring, just as the sweet peas were beginning to bloom around his front door, Humphry was awoken by a ruckus of banging and clanging all around his barn. He peered out to see a great group of townspeople painting his barn a lovely shade of yellow! The whole town had heard what Humphry and Lydia had done and decided to help them paint Humphry's barn. So they all searched their garages and storehouses for leftover paint. They met and scraped all their paint cans into one large basin and the mixture of the many colors, leftover from all assortments of projects, from Mr. and Mrs. Wallier's purple kitchen cabinets to Mrs. Gurner's pink and blue striped rocking chair. And as all the colors mixed, they formed the yellow paint that now was being applied to Humphry's barn. So you see, as Humphry sits in the doorway of his barn, watching the other cows go by, he knows that his barn is not only coated with sunshine yellow paint, but with the love of all the townspeople.
The End.

Traveling Pants

2005-08-11T23:55:00.000-07:00

“Maybe there is more truth in how you feel than in what actually happens.” -- Ann Brashares, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants

I haven't written all summer. Partly I was busy, mostly it just didn't seem important to chronicle my life. And maybe I was a little bitter that I have such a poor memory that for me to remember this summer next year I will need write it all down. Somehow not writing allowed me to deny the fact that life moves on and I probably won't remember this summer. Does that make it any less important?

Then I read this book that is all about the summers of four girls and afterwards I just wanted to write. Because maybe there is more truth to how I feel than what actually happens this summer. Five thousand different people could plan the same vacation but it is my feelings about it that make it my life.

And now that I am writing I cannot seem to write. I have written and erased seventeen sentences that began to explain my summer. But my life isn't a calendar where I can look at a date and remember what happened. My summer is Lancaster evenings, with the warm breezes bringing peace and happiness, reminding me to stop and enjoy. It's standing at the rim of Grand Canyon at sunrise realizing how small I am and knowing above all that that there is a God who created this earth and everything in it. It's swinging on a tire swing and picking red ripe tomatoes and riding for an hour in circles on a scooter even though it is ninety-five degrees, just because it is fun, and knowing I am still a kid. It's trying to love and show my love and not letting anger rule me even when kids can try my patience. It's being alone on a single ski rejoicing in the fact that I struggled to hold on and got up and there is that place where I am rushing along the smooth early-morning water and it is just me. It's coming home and being so happy to be home because my family loves me so much, even though my brother refuses to say it on the phone, which just makes me laugh because I know he does. It's playing board and card games for a whole weekend. It's having a dance party with my cousins in the living room, dancing and jumping and singing at the top of my lungs, off key. It's realizing that my cousins are growing up without a mom and wondering how it will affect their lives. Because it will. It's being with Allie at those times we click when I could just stay and talk with her forever. It's Brady hugs that clobber my whole body with his soft skin. It's late nights with Peter talking about not that important things, but realizing how good simple conversations are. It's knowing what the phrase “my heart sinks” feels like when I think about leaving. It's looking forward to the school year with both hope and apprehension.

A Day in the Life of a Mom

2005-07-06T22:07:00.000-07:00

Today was a full day! A&B requested chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast, then we went to Ross to get a new swimsuit for Brady (that came with a cute matching shirt) and to the grocery store and the pet store. Back home we had lunch and made pretzels. Brady made really cute turtle-shaped pretzels. After doing the laundry, we went to the beach, where I watched the kids play in the sand for a couple hours and then spent probably half an hour, 17 paper towels, and lots of goop removing the tar from their little bodies. After showers and baths, I didn't finish heating leftovers until almost 8. Then I turned SpongeBob on so I could take a shower and move their sheets onto Steven's bed, read them four books, put them to bed, mended Brady's pajamas and did the dishes. Whew!

Nannying: Day One..... Begin!

2005-07-05T22:21:00.000-07:00

Allie, Brady, and I all wore ourselves out at the Botanical Gardens today. After slathering on sunscreen in the parking lot, we explored almost every trail in the lower gardens. We stopped frequently to admire a plant or watch tadpoles or little fishies or a big red dragonfly. In the stream on the south end Allie and Brady had a jolly time jumping on rocks. The aqueducts excited Allie because she is learning about the missions. In the main garden we saw a king snake and cuuuuute baby quail that I wanted to hold in the palm of my hand. We ran around about the willow sculpture and headed down to the redwood forest. Allie and Brady were fascinated by the big redwood cross-section. The very middle is marked with the date 1130 and when I asked Allie what happened in 1130 she replied, "World War II?" Not that I was much better, since I couldn't remember what happened then either. We found clover with purple undersides and tried to reach all the way around a big redwood. We headed back on a fairly long trail, avoiding poison oak, and then I watched them play peacefully at the turtle pond.

Tonight we went to the Ebar with Cindy, Glenn, Lori, and Grammy where we all ate big dinners after a long day. We came back home...Allie took a shower and Brady took a bath (he's so cute singing in the bath with his hair all askew) and then I read them stories and put them to bed at 9:00 on the dot.

2005-07-04T11:21:00.000-07:00

This survey had some flaws (it was hard to change mistakes if you made them and some of multiple-choice answers didn't have an answer that corresponded to me), but you can help them out and take it if you have a blog.

Just a Post

2005-06-21T21:50:00.000-07:00

"A gray nervous cloud was scurrying eastward, searching for trees on which to rain." -- Steinbeck, East of Eden
There was not a cloud in the sky today--it was hot and gorgeous. I realized I have not been posting anything for summer and so this will be a brief overview of the past week or so.
Monday through Wednesday I went down to Riverside to visit Mimi. Thursday Steven graduated from high school! Yay Steven! His jazz choir sang the National Anthem and another beautiful song. I didn't watch much of the graduation because I was making an anklet, but it was a spectacular, clear day (a bit on the cold side, though). Friday I feel I spent most the day cleaning the house and making banners in preparation for Steven's party. We had the Barbarias, Olivers, Mr. J, and Ashley over for tri-tip and Steven opened his presents and we played games. Saturday we went to Lancaster for Brady's birthday party. His party was at the gymnastic studio and it was fun watching the kids tumble around and I got to do some of it with Allie. Being in Lancaster made me excited for the rest of this summer with them. We had cake at the party. Then we went to dinner at the Greenhouse Cafe and had Mudd pie. Then we went to Grandpa and Florence's and had chocolate cake. :) Sunday morning I realized it is impossible to get kids ready on time. We went to church and they and the children performed Joseph and the Colored Coat. It was the best kids performance I had ever seen and the end of the play transitioned from the Joseph story to the Jesus story -- tricky tricky and very cool. Then everyone arrived and we celebrated all the June birthdays with a salmon-kabob BBQ. Mmmm. This week I have been milling around trying to convince myself that it is okay to be idle and doing a pretty good job. I am halfway done with East of Eden, I went for a bike ride and got sunburned, I took pictures at VBS, I watched Batman Begins and Ocean's Twelve, and otherwise enjoyed being home with my family.

Things I Like

2005-06-05T12:40:00.000-07:00

I am cleaning my room and found a list that I had made when I was in a bad mood one day but remembered to "think of my favorite things."

pretty sunsets, rainbows, Ashley
Frog and Toad, That 70's show, my
mom, Klondike bars, the zoo, the
beach, reading, the rain, my home,
quilts, coffee shops, chocolate,
hillsides, parakeets, smoothies,
old wooden things, people, smiles,
scarecrows, jam, apple butter, smores,
wakeboarding, frogs, sunrises,
asparagus, picnics, hikes, homemade
ice cream, ponchos, plants, sweet
peas, black lab puppies, orchestras,
handwritten notes, tea, biscotti,
sporks, Disneyland, Amazing Grace,
porcupines, the Bible, God.

Kiss the Earth with Your Feet

2005-06-04T11:03:00.000-07:00

My apartment's mess was driving me a little nuts, so I went out this morning to find somewhere else to study. I went to Linnea's coffee shop and sat outside in their quaint garden with a trickling fountain and ivy climbing up the bricks. But it was quite cold so I tried to go to the library but it was closed. Then I saw that there was a "Fiesta del Sol" parade that amused me because it was a pathetic little parade that only lasted twelve mintutes and it was one of the colder days we have had here.

Yesterday evening I wanted to catch sunset somewhere, so I went to the Cal Poly Arboretum. I didn't really see the sun set because you couldn't see the sun from where I was and it was a little late, but it was lovely anyways. Some crazy birds tried to attack me. I think I was near their nest, because they were swooping at my head. Angry little critters. Then I watched hooded oriels for a long time. The males are beautiful and I could hear the baby birds but couldn't see them because they were on top of a palm frond. Then I watched horses run around -- they looked like wild mustangs tromping the hills of early California. But of course they weren't. I can imagine, though.

"Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy." -- Thich Nhat Hanh

I'm a Sim

2005-06-04T00:57:00.000-07:00

I am entralled by maps.google.com right now. I have been staring at it for about ten minutes hoping someone will walk in my apartment so I can show them how cool it is. OK, go there and look up your home city. First of all, I never knew my high school was so organized. It amazes me. Secondly, you can see my house! We have no lawn! They must have took the picture in the stage where our front and back yard were covered with redwood chips. It is actually kind of freaky. Reminds me of The Giver or 1984. But other than that freaky element it rocks my world. I think I could spend the whole night just looking at cities. This is the coolest thing since sliced bread. Who took all these pictures? I would be so sad if my house was covered up by fog like some of the ones nearing the coast. Oh my gosh I can't get over this.

Futtock: One of the curved timbers that forms a rib in the frame of a ship.

2005-06-01T00:01:00.000-07:00

I know it is not summer yet but it sure feels like it and I am anxious to go home and cannot do homework therefore I am creating a new summer blog. And it has a pretty lighthouse on it.

I had a wonderful weekend and wish to write about it. Why is that? I don't really know. What is it that compells me to represent a whole weekend with a few paragraphs of poorly written English words?

Thursday
Ashley and I headed home Thursday night after my last class, where I received a "much better" on my essay. The irony of a "much better" is that it isn't as good as I wish it was. I finished up some homework and we went to bed, ready for a fun and exciting weekend.

Friday
At 8am Mr. Mark began honking the horn and we were out the door by 8:10, ready to beat any traffic that dared to get in our path on Memorial Day weekend. In Camarillo we stopped at McD's for breakfast and continued over freeways and through windmills to Hadley's, some fruit-and-nut store with every type of dried fruit or chocolate-covered whatever you could think of. We came out carrying a weekend's worth of trail mix, cashews, chocolate-covered espresso beans, and candy sticks. Oh I forgot to say that the Hills came with us on this trip. Shelley is Mrs. Nancy's best friend, along with her husband Andy and their three kids Matthew, Spencer, and Lauren. So we had lunch with them at A&W, where my feast of a corn dog and onion rings began my healthy eating for the weekend. Once in Palm Desert, I sank into a lounge chair on the porch of the condo on the edge of a golfcourse, sighing, "this is the life." After about five minutes it got too hot and we went to the pool. During the days we played games like Five Crowns, Clue, and Gin Rummy. Every night we played games like Balderdash (hence comes the title of this post), Picture password, and Cranium and of course had lots of ice cream. We had eight adults if you count Chip so it was a good group.

Saturday
For lunch we dined at P.F.Chang's a delicious Chinese restaurant. We all shared everything and I was the only one who ate with chopsticks. Then we saw the new movie Madagascar and then went to Borders to buy the soundtrack so we had music to dance to anytime we felt like dancing. More pool time, game time, food time.

Sunday
Another day filled with more fun. I got about a third of the way through my book, The Timetraveler's Wife. It is interesting, but right now it is kind of slow. Andy made good chicken and risotto for dinner. Is it really possible to be in a good mood the whole weekend?

Monday
We sadly said goodbye to Palm Desert and went to Disneyland! Once again we left at 8am and headed to the happiest place on Earth! I bought a season pass (go to the far end and the line is way shorter-- in fact I think there are a lot of tricks to Disneyland to avoid lines because we hardly were in line the whole day.) We began our day at California Adventure at the famous Tower of Terror in Hollywood, twice. The best part of that ride is posing for the camera at the top while everyone else is screaming. Then we Soared over California and had clam chowder for lunch in San Francisco. Then we hopped over to Disneyland where it is sort of decorated for its 50th anniversary. They have a room full of neat stuff like the original plans and old pictures and maps and tickets and such that I think you could spend half the day in. We went on a bunch of rides and took pictures in a bunch of the things that are painted gold for the the 50th anniversary. We rode the monorail in the private room in the very back and then went back to CA Adventure for a silly parade. We finally left in the early evening and I slept half the way back and watched Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory for the other half. It took less than two hours to get back! Yay for no traffic!

*Pictures to come in the not-so-distant future