Middle of summer goodness

I love the summer, have I mentioned that? Well I looooooorve it. I love warm weather (as anyone who knows me can well tell you), I love lots of daylight, I love sleeping in past 6:45 AM (can I ever have a "real" job?) and I just love it all). To celebrate our fourth of July we enjoyed a neighborhood parade. My aunt and uncle and their four kids and one dog joined us. We all watched while the younger cousins, their dad and "old-glorified" dog randomly joined the parade. There were plenty of hogs and low riders, local neighborhood floats and lots of fun.

Ready for the fourth!

Parade fun!

We're blue...and black, brown and white...

M and I rode our bikes down to the end festival and then came home and organized, watched trash TV and got ready for the evening's festivities. Almost all of M's coworkers joined us for our family BBQ; there was much overeating and good times had by all. Our friend Cynthia's mom and sister, along with me and my mom all enjoyed our patriotic tattoos!

Picnickers and grill masters!

¡Colombianos!

Some of our dinner...

Los tatuajes...

We got home after the fireworks show (which I can't help but clap at every time) and tumbled into bed. There were various booms and explosions throughout the evening and early morning but none so potent as the sounds of the fire that destroyed a local elementary school. The neighborhood was all abuzz with activity and curiosity today and there's definitely no word yet on the cause, but it's just good that no one was hurt. Though the irony is not lost on me that as a kid (or teenager...or college student...) it would have been glorious to wake up and hear that school was not just cancelled but burnt down (though I honestly would never wish this on anyone/school). Memaw and I drove by (shamelessly) to check out the damage this morning and it was pretty brutal, but it's a good thing that school's not in session for quite a while and that no one was hurt.

M and I cleared out some large things from upstairs this morning in preparation for our forthcoming garage sale. We also pumped my flat tire (due to a nail, as I found out today) with that spray stuff and took it to Sears where the tires are covered on warranty. However that spray stuff apparently mucks up the insides of tires and kind of ruins them so they couldn't just patch up the tire but need to replace it...but this specific Sears doesn't have the correct tire so I need to take it to the Sears at Eastridge tomorrow (an excuse to roam a mall I don't ever go to! Jeanne's coming with me...); good thing that spray stuff will hold up overnight.

We finally dragged our carcasses out for three miles and then took my brother, cousins and neighbor boy out for a "thank-you" dinner and dessert (Aqui and WG Frozen Yogurt, respectively) for all of the moving help...thanks boys! I'm gearing up for more organizing tomorrow (will it never end?!) and a possible morning run. Enjoy the pics!!

Happy Independence Day!

fish burrito

It's been a good and lazy weekend so far. M watched soccer today and I slept and cleaned and got a good pile going for the garage sale. The organizing seemed/seems so daunting but so much gets done so quickly that I just know that I'll be done soon enough. It's also important for me to realize that I do not need to/cannot finish it all at one time; the more I can remember that, the better off I am. We didn't do a whole lot else today. We stocked up for tomorrow's festivities; the whole family and some of our friends are going to (***nerd alert***) the San Jose History Museum where they open up their grill and everyone brings picnic goods. There are fireworks to see too which is nice since it's away from the maddening crowd. My pops is making lamb, we're bringing brats and everyone's bringing sides, etc.; it should be yummy and fun...pics to follow I'm sure.

La abuela treated us to fish tacos tonight and I actually chose a tilapia burrito (M's choice last time and grudgingly I admit that he won) and mandarin fresco = delish. Here's our table card from tonight:

We're watching "Legends of the Fall" right now and mentally gearing up for tomorrow morning's long run; we've been pretty negligent about running the past few days which I wholeheartedly support considering recent activities. There's also a neighborhood parade (which M thinks is hilarious) in the am which I'm trying to make by running early. I've got some good glitter body tatoos and my tie-dyed dress to show my pride = I'm excited!

G'night!

Of tie-dyeing,l and other musings.

"D" is for "done"! Summer school ended yesterday with some psychedelic swirls of color. The kids were cute and we had our little art show. I kind of lazed around all day and didn't clean or organize or anything, nor did I run, which was supposed to happen. I chalk this all up as "OK" though considering all that we did this week. I deposited our friends at the airport after class and we said our goodbyes. M and I will surely be planning a visit to their neck of the woods soon.

I met M downtown at his job and we got a bite at Santé Grill (good "healthy" fries) and then we ended up walking around Music in the Park to check out the tunes and the plethora of humanity that shows up. It was very good people watching, if a bit breezy and cool for the first day of July (my 2nd favorite month). We got frozen yogurt and headed home for some CSI and bed, which was lovely. 

This morning M watched Brazil lose and I slept and then dropped him off at work. The dog seems pretty depressed right now, maybe about all of the confusion but more likely because I'm currently the only one in the house with him. I'll be working on all that cleaning, etc., today and then we're going to a co worker's happy hour tonight at her parents' house. I'm pretty excited since we'll be able to ride our bikes; this will be my third trip, the second being last Monday when I got my flat (which was thankfully at school) and walked to the apartment and then rode it to memaw's to get M's car. 

Here are some pics from yesterday's art show and tie-dyeing about which I had more excitement than any of the students and then some shots of our new abode, backyard style; there was a very pretty rust colored dragon fly hanging out all day! Also, check out this link if you want to read about something grossly (emphasis on "grossly") fascinating =) Happy Friday all!

 

Some of my students' artwork, about which I am quite proud. The first two are collages to represent a political issue that they feel strongly about (the environment and gay rights, respectively) ad the last is a painting to represent their cultural heritage...awesome job guys!

 

Rit fabric dye, both liquid and powdered (obviously) and a pretty color combination!

More dye and drying work. 

 

The fruits of my labor (and of a student who helped me): a patriotic outfit for this weekend. 



Dragonfly, Dragonfly, fly away home...or stay here and look pretty for us!

 

 Aunt-made lantern, backyard arbor, garage door...

 

???, garden contraption, a wise owl who feeds the birds...

 

Garden foliage and the creatures that lurk within it...

 

Hydrangea, grapes and a dog- always a winning combination...  

A pretty umbrella =)  

Movin' on up

Well we have officially moved. After a broken fingernail, flat tire, sore arms, chipped pedicure, and lots of sweaty lifting and driving, all of our belongings are back in my grandmother's house or our storage unit, however it's very very unorganized. Our goal was to get it all out of the apartment by today and then spend the next week or so putting it all back together at memaw's house and into storage. I would say that the hardest part is over, thank goodness, considering that we had a deadline, and even though the rest of the organizing/moving won't be loads of fun, it's just not the same as clearing out everything from an apartment with a time limit. Needless to say, there will be a garage sale next weekend, please come on by to memaw's if you want to add anything and possibly make a few bucks, I'll be making cookies and lemonade to sell also!

Our friends are miraculously still with us after all of our moving shenanigans. They had gone to San Francisco to visit with another pal and his wife so we picked them up at the train station after we turned in our keys and got the last of our stuff smashed into my grandmother's house and then we went out for pupusas to celebrate their Peace Corps experience meshed with local eating experiences. The pupusas were soooo good and actually better than the ones that I had with some other Peace Corps friends a few weeks ago (will post about that visit later!). We decided to get a hotel room for this night since our friends return to their home  and we officially go back to grandma's house tomorrow and our rooms there are full to the hilt. Here are some shots of the yumminess tonight. We're watching the Daily Show and figuring out the morning plans, which involve tie-dying for me! I'm pretty exhausted but there's still all that organizing to do and my aunt and I are going to make a float for the neighborhood fourth of July parade (it's going to involve many stuffed animals swathed in red, white and blue...we also have sequin body tatoos; you know you're jealous!) which I'm pretty excited for, but bed will still feel grooooood tonight. Enjoy the pics =)


Vicki's restaurant, ready for goodness!


Exhausted after three days of moving =)


"gnarrrrrrrr..."



Yummy pupusas!


Salvadorian beer, well deserved after a long day!


Fresh jalapeños for Katie.


Chilate con nuegados: yummy fried plátanos in a syrup and draped over a fried piece of happiness, to be drunk with atol = ¡qué delicioso!

Good night all and happy month of Independence!