Timeline of events

Friday

8 am – Leave for H and S’s house

9 am – Arrive at H and S’s house

12 pm – Head to lunch with mom

1 pm – Arrive at lunch location

1:35 pm – Say goodbye to mom, head to bank in order to hit the road

1:43 pm – Leave bank, realize I have mom’s keys

1:45 pm – Drop off keys and hit road twenty minutes earlier than planned

2:15 pm – Hit 7000 feet in elevation, without realizing that I’d climbed anything

3:45 pm – Hit 99 in Stockton; stop moving!

5:15 pm – Make it to Modesto, an hour early for dinner with Granny

5:45 pm – Drive by grandfather’s house, think no one is home, head to restaurant

5:50 pm – Get to restaurant, ten minutes early, Granny is waiting

7:30 pm – Leave restaurant after eating and talking (mostly talking!!)

7:40 pm – Arrive at grandfather’s house, he’s home, he’d stayed home on account of me and my cousins, oops!

7:45 pm – Grandfather has baseball on, it’s only the 2^nd inning, 0-0 score

8:06 pm – Power goes off at ballpark

8:30 pm – Play resumes

8:45 pm – Our video resumes, now we can see the field again

9:45 pm – Game over, A’s lose, oh well, the Blue Jays always win on my mom’s birthday, I can deal with that!

10:15 pm – Cousins arrive, we play Sims2, as there is no unsecured wireless access around (what’s up with that? I just want to go online!!)

Saturday

12:30 am – I fall asleep

6:30 am – I wake up

6:34 am – I’m ready to go, 26 minutes earlier than planned

7 am – I leave, everyone is fast asleep

8:15 am – I arrive in Oakland, decide to stop for Starbucks, as I have an hour before they start charging to park

8:35 am – I arrive at the ballpark, so good to be here. It’s been too long

8:45 am – Get out of car or else they’ll start coming around and I’ll have to pay which is not happening!

8:50 am – Walk up to BART station in hopes of catching glimpses of a couple Blue Jays players; I don’t have anything to get signed, but my friends do

10:30 am – Give up, having seen 2 coaches and about 2 players!

11:05 am – Gates open; run to dugout

12:20 pm – Leave dugout

12:50 pm - Sing Oh Canada! Followed by Star Spangled Banner.

1:05 pm – First pitch

1:10 pm – Our pitcher gives up grand slam without retiring a batter, doesn’t look good

2:20 pm – A’s take the lead!! And manage to keep it…

4:00 pm – Game over, A’s win!!

5:10 pm – Leave ballpark, head to location of bridal shower

5:17 pm – The road I’m supposed to take is closed, now what?

5:40 pm – Arrive at shower location, change clothes even though bride-to-be isn’t going to!

8:30 pm – Head to hotel

9:15 pm – Get checked in, realize I’ve parked forever from my room but it’s dark and there are far too many men hanging around outside

9:25 pm – No wirelesss! How wrong is that?

9:40 pm – Take shower, decide that even if local calls aren’t free I can spend a couple dollars on phone for 10 minutes or so to check email, I would have paid for wireless if it had been available after all

10:20 pm – Eyes closing, must sleep, getting up early in the morning

Sunday

5:35 am – Alarm goes off, I hit snooze

5:43 am – Second alarm goes off, I get up

5:47 am – I leave hotel room and check out

6:10 am – I arrive in Oakland

6:40 am – I continue typing this while waiting for gates to open at 8 for parking, 10:35 for game

8 am – Gates open to park

10:10 am – Get in line for gates

10:37 am – Gates open, race to dugout after grabbing bobblehead

12 pm – Head to seats

12:50 pm – Sing Oh Canada! Follow by Star Spangled Banner

1:05 pm – First pitch

1:06 pm – Second pitch; ripped to left field for a homerun, not looking so good for Shane Komine

1:20 pm – A’s pull ahead

3:50 pm – Blue Jays tie the game, and then go ahead, uh oh!

4:02 pm – Kotsay fouls off nine million pitches in a row (that’s what it seemed like anyhow!) but ends up with a walk

4:06 pm – Friend asks “if Bradley hits a walk-off will you like him any better?” My response? “No, I want DJ back NOW!”

4:07 pm – Bradley hits walk-off. Hmm, guess he’s not so bad!

5 pm – Leave ballpark

5:45 pm – Person in front of me pays for my toll on the bridge. Cool!

6 pm – Stop moving, stupid traffic

7:30 pm – Starbucks stop!

9 pm – Fire on the side of the highway, super scared Angela

10 pm – Get home

11 pm – Go to bed


Pictures to follow later. I want to put captions with many of them - which might make them more entertaining...

More to come... tomorrow

I'm home, but way to tired to actually post. I've got one started and pictures for tomorrow...

Great, but exhausting, weekend!!

Quick hi!

This may be costing me a small fortune I couldn't really tell if local calls were free.

Having a great weekend. So very tired. Driven 370+ miles in less than 2 days. Have 300 more to go before I get back home. At which time, I'll truly post. With pictures and everything!

Must. sleep. now. Goodnight!

Weekend plans are shaping up quite nicely!

This weekend is shaping up to be super fun. Not that I really didn't expect it to be, what with it being a baseball weekend.The first one in weeks, like forty days or more. That's a really long time for me. However, now I found out I get to go more than half way Friday night to surprise someone. I'm going to leave it at that because this someone might read this. I'm not sure, I haven't noticed them on sitemeter in a while, but you know if I say too much they'll visit!!

I'm so excited! I'm so ready to go, but not really. I have to shop tomorrow for a bridal shower gift (nope, not related to above surprise), a birthday present, and pack for the weekend. Especially since I work on Friday for about 3 hours with H and S and then taking my mom out to lunch for her birthday. Although, I might get my dad to actually take us out to lunch! We'll see if he ever hands me the money that I asked for. Right after lunch I'll leave and head to a town in central California. Driving over a potentially terrifying road that I've never driven over before. But, it will all be worth it in the end!!

I know that at least one of you (hi Betty!) will want details about the weekend. So, I'll try to do so as excitingly (is that a word? I don't think so! But, it is now!!) as possible so as to not bore the rest of you who couldn't care less about baseball. And maybe I'll even post some pictures. Probably not of me, but maybe of friends and the games. The A's are playing the team from the town where my mom grew up. So, we have quite the rivalry going. I asked if I could wear my shirt for the opposing team under the jersey, but decided I'd probably be disowned by my friends in Oakland!

Is it wrong that...

I just got a Google Alert email and the clip said "today's birthdays Huston Street 23" and the first thing I thought was "um, no way! His birthday's right before mine and right after my mom's?"

I then realized that it was actually highlights and history for the next week in baseball! But, for a minute there I really thought I was crazy!!

Sometimes she kills me!

K has gotten to the point where she has a make believe friend. At least, that's what we think. She has a name that she uses pretty much only when she's in a goofy mood or really tired and she'll tell us she's going to this person's house. But, sometimes she'll refer to one of her baby dolls with the name, and tell us that she's crying, upset, fussy, hungry, etc. Today she was super silly and I got that a lot. It was fun - sometimes she cracks me up. She's majorly into pretending - changing baby's diaper, feeding baby, going to work or the store. Going to work or the store involves getting baby all packed up in the stroller, grabbing a purse with cell phone, bottle, keys and walking to the kitchen! All while narrating!! Apparently we spend far too much time labeling everything we're doing. Because, she's got it all down.

We had to get ready for a picnic today and she chose to wear the skirt I gave her for her birthday. That four months later is still way too big. So I told her we'd try it on but if it was too big we'd have to change into the short overalls, which didn't make her too happy but she agreed. And then her skirt (which has a belt, that I had on the last notch) kept falling down. So we changed, without too much protest. Thank goodness. And right before mom got home she told "I all ready to go." Um, good? But there's nothing I can do until mom's here! They met B, dad and grandma at the park. B stayed (that word looks wrong, but is it?) with his grandmother for an extra week in "Cowa-wa-wa" (if you ask K!) and everyone was really missing him so it was good that he came home today!!

I know that I had more to say, but I'm tired (exhausted really) so I can't remember what it was! There are pictures right below this post if you didn't catch them earlier. Wait, I have something to add. I've been doing Mrs A's Daily Quiz (from Juggling Mother) for a couple weeks now. And today (well, really tomorrow but the clock resets) I actually got a 10! Perfect score, for the first time!! Yay for me!!

Pictures from my front yard

I went home for a few hours on Sunday and took pictures of the fire from the front yard of my house. Here are a couple of the better ones.


Right now, the fire is 100% contained, which sounds good but they can't actually extinguish it because they can't get there because of the rough terrain it's burning in. So, there is a line around the perimeter and it shouldn't spread anymore but it could be a while before it's out all the way!

What a great weekend for music!

Last night as I was driving into town to get movies and dinner I was singing along to Carrie Underwood's Before He Cheats. Which just may be the best song ever. And then I saw smoke and I froze which has become the default response to fire this summer. I freeze and try to figure out exactly where it is located.

Then, on the way back, Fireflies came on the radio. That song is one of K and mine's favourites, and I hadn't heard it on the satellite radio yet. So, I was super excited and I couldn't help but sing along to every single word of it. I pulled in the driveway right as the song was ending. Perfect timing, it made me remember how long it's been since we listened to that CD.

Today we were in the motorhome and my dad pulled out an old CD player, and inside was one of my favourite CDs that I haven't been able to find forever which was super exciting. I've listened to it like three times in the last 3 hours!!

I've always been a music junkie (well to some extent anyhow) and I've been missing out on some of my favourite songs lately. I keep forgetting to grab my binder of music when I'm home, and that means relying heavily upon the radio, which is tons of fun, but hard to know what you're getting. Especially if you really don't like one particular artist that is forever coming on the radio.

In other news, the fire is like 60% contained. The winds never picked up this afternoon and there haven't been any thunderstorms (finally, for like the first time in a week) so things should be okay. I have pictures, that I'll post later - I almost forgot!! I'm going to hop in the hottub since it's actually not raining for once!!

I feel highly repetitive this summer...

Okay, so right now, if I was home (I'm an hour from home, where I'm housesitting) I'd be seeing flames. That's right flames. There is a fire burning just north of the canyon road that I use to drive up and down the hill to a couple of my jobs. And the freaking internet isn't updating at all to give me details. Our local newspaper has nothing, only one of the news channels is even mentioning it - and only if you know where to click.

Supposedly there are no structures currently threatened. However, "As a precaution, (insert name of my county) County is setting up structure protection in the (insert name of the area where I live) area. Check with (my) County for further information." I wouldn't be so concerned if my parents weren't at a concert tonight. Yep, a concert. 60+ miles from home. Which hasn't even started yet. So they won’t be home for at least five more hours.

I saw the smoke instantly when I drove up the hill to go rent a movie and get something for dinner, but I didn’t place it at my house. I placed it up the hill from my house at the top of the canyon. Or in the same area as the last big one.

I’ll update when (if) I get more details. And, I had something else I planned to type tonight, not this. I don’t know if I’ll get to that though.

*Update:* Here's what I've got as of 20:34 (8:34pm, right? why'd they have to go get all military time on me??): 350 acres, burning juniper and pinon trees (I think that's good, most fires have cheatgrass which is highly flamable and easily spreads the flames). [Both counties near me] are establishing structure protection for the 200 homes in my neighbourhood (I'd estimated that there are 50-70 homes it'd have to get before it made it to my house, less if it's to the north of us). Location: 3 miles up canyon from my community (so, maybe like 4 from my house?? I'm not sure, because I'm not there to analyze exactly where it is), pushing towards my community because of the wind. More when I know it... */Update*

*Update #2* Rather than start a new post every hour or so I'll just update this one. So, those of you on bloglines are going to see what looks like a new post, but really just has a little bit added at the end. Okay, so at 21:35, the fire had taking at turn towards the north, actively moving and they were starting their "structure protection" activities near where H, S and X live. Which is kind of disturbing because I had just mentioned to H and S's mom that fires were definitely on my mind while I was staying up there, because there is so much that could burn near them. It's now estimated at 500 acres and about the same distance from my house just moving in the opposite direction. Wow! The news just stated that some homes are being evacuated near H and S, and since their home is one of the first ones on the outskirts I'd have to guess it might affect them. It's still 2 miles from that area. More when I've got it for you. */Update*

*Last update tonight (probably) 11pm* I don't really have anything new. One news channel states that it's 1000 acres. They finally have ground crews fighting it, but it's hard to fight where it's located. The flames are reaching as high as 50 feet and the wind really isn't dying down because of the mountains and canyons. I'm going to put on a movie but leave the internet up so that I can check for updates. */Update*

*930am* 1000 acres, "potential threat" to 200 homes and 50 outbuildings. Some voluntary evacuations, probably more towards H, S and X's homes. I talked to my mom and she said that after about 1am the fire died down for the night, but right now it's starting back up (that's the difference in night vs day time fires). According to the updates I'm reading the fire should continue moving uphill this moving, but definitely could change this afternoon. My mom knows I've got this house with 2 empty beds and a motorhome, plus we have a motorhome so there are lots of option if anything changes and now that they're home it's easier to anticipate needs. More when I've got it. */Update*

Well, that was fun!

I actually got to watch an entire ballgame today for the first time in a really long time - and immediately I thought for sure they were going to lose. They were down 5-0 before I knew it. I thought we got the bad Joe Blanton today (there's a good one and a bad one and it's anyone's guess who will show up any given day!) but then the A's scored 5 runs in the second.Five runs! This is the team that rarely scores five runs on any given day - let alone in one inning. They went on to score four more and won the game. And didn't allow any more runs to the Tigers. Yay!! And Huston got to pitch the ninth (it wasn't a save opportunity, but I think it's been a while since he pitched which might be why he got to come in). That was a fun game - it's always fun when your team wins!

Typing on the couch - with no power connection!!

I always forget that I don't have to be plugged in to use a wireless connection. I don't tend to use my battery very often (if ever) but right now there is a thunderstorm pretty much over top of me and I half expect the power to go out at any second. I have two wild kittens racing around the house - who just ran to the garage door to be let out. So, I let them out. If it wasn't raining I'd be sitting outside letting them play. Maybe later - or else tomorrow.

Last night, I slept in my own bed - at home!! I babysat for T and C until about 11 and instead of driving an hour to get here, I drove 15-20 minutes to get to my house. Which was nice, until I couldn't get in because of the deadbolt acting up again. But, my own bed felt great. My friend and I went to lunch today (the one who forgot about me the other night!), she called while I was driving back from H and S's where I finally caught up with their mom and got paid for the housesitting last week.

T and C like to play video games. And there is basically no limit to the amount of screen time they are allowed. Which is slightly refreshing compared to other families I work for where there is basically no screen time allowed. We played Roller Coaster Tycoon, The Sims 2 and Cruise Ship Tycoon. I played a couple board games with T while C continued playing The Sims 2 - which he loves. I may let him borrow my first disk since I use the fourth expansion pack and I wasn't really letting him play with the expansions.

I'm going to watch Failure to Launch and have a bowl of ice cream. It should be fun. I finally watched Charlie and the Chocolate Factory the other night. I was hesitant to watch it because I liked the first one so much. And, I was right in my hesitation I think. I liked the other one so much more than this one.

Angela wants...

I borrowed this from Mary - google your name, followed by wants and post 10 responses you receive. It's supposed to be the first ten, but the first ten for me were just about all the same so I kept going until I found 10 I liked - or were different anyhow!

• angela wants a man
• angela wants her independence back
• angela wants more
• angela wants to know what the turnout was
• angela desperately wants to win
• angela wants to say something to you
• angela wants to make a difference in the world
• angela wants to be accepted
• angela wants to have a family of her own
• angela wants to help you reduce stress
  

I'll be back later - I should write about last night

Projecting, much??

I think last night I must have been in a funk and apparently my post projected a little. I made people worry about me, both my mental and physical wellbeing. And, I thought I'd written kind of light-hearted in a fairly decent mood. Even if I was mentioning a couple not so great things. Oh, well, I'll have to be more careful from now on. Or be better prepared to explain myself!!

The fire seems to have slowed, or at least the air is much cleaner - the fire itself is about 40 miles away, so I couldn't really tell you what it's doing. The air was nice enough that I went to meet my friend for tennis this afternoon. Except she never showed up! So, I hit the ball against the wall for a while and then when a creepy guy showed up (and took over the spot where I was hitting the ball) and she was about 20 minutes late I went and got gas. Oh well, at least I got some activity in. I was supposed to take K to the park this morning but it was way too hot by the time we got out of parent-child gymnastics to even consider it. So we went to the children's museum instead. How many times can one visit the children's museum and not be bored out of their minds?? Too many apparently - we go about once a week. Number of days I'm at K's house every week: 1 (sometimes more, but one is a given!). Yep, that means that every time I'm there we go to the museum. She asks, I abide. The ladies at the front counter recognize us and don't care that we rarely have the membership card!!

I've got a couple of movies to watch and lots of snacks to eat (that's what you get when you go shopping after playing a sport - even if it's all by yourself!) and nothing to do tomorrow until 5pm. Unless I want to drive up to H and S's (no later than 1030am) to finally be paid the last 1/2 of what I earned for housesitting. Which I don't. I hate driving up that hill and my car sucks right now. It's clean - but getting 26 mpg - whereas it usually gets at least 30. I think that mountain did me in. And I know it's only 830 now but I was really hoping to sleep in tomorrow!

And, nobody's probably going to get this. Especially those who read through bloglines. 5 of my subscriptions (out of A LOT) that use bloglines don't have read exclamation marks. And this time the exclamation marks don't update. I know because I checked on one blog that posts almost every morning but didn't have a new one today!

Hmm, where to start? What to say?

Check out this sunset.

It's cool until you realize that it's being caused by a fire. 5 more fires started tonight about 6pm, due to lightning strikes. The one that's causing most of this smoke has been burning for a couple days (I think, I didn't know about it until I went to see my mom at 5 on my way to the this house, where I'm housesitting, basically for the next 21 days.) I just know that the air has been incredibly smoky for a long time. It's bad when you take care of children with asthma and this is the air that they get to breathe.





I posted some pictures from baseball on my myspace blog (which I might share if asked - there are a couple of you who might care!), the first time I'd used that blog since January when my friend passed away. I think I was disappointed in the response from so called friends. On here, I averaged about 5 visitors a day and I think that post stands at 8 comments. On myspace, I have 83 friends, most of whom are online everyday and I didn't get a comment until the end of last month. Right now, I have a comment on the baseball blog - from a friend who I don't even consider a friend anymore, she's just jealous that I won't take her to ballgames anymore because she won't pay her fair share!!

I spent the day at the Mom's Club picnic with a mom who had oral surgery yesterday so wasn't quite in condition to climb on the jungle gym with her children!! We had fun, but it certainly was nice to get back into the car with air conditioning. G's older sister and her friend washed the car inside and out, which was badly needed after where I was driving for the last couple weeks. That way, it was inexpensive and the kids earned a little bit of spending money.

Movie Time

So, I sent this to Rebecca last night when she asked about the movie (see meme post below) - and Mary just asked for details, so I'm going to copy and paste and slightly edit, because midnight emails lack grammar, more so than these posts have lately. Not to say that I'm anywhere near grammatically correct lately. I'm in trouble when it's time to write essays for school again. Although, maybe this is helping, because instead of taking 4 months off from all things related to writing, I'm a least writing something almost every day!

So, they were filming a Lifetime Movie in Los Angeles when I was born. They came into *insert name of hospital here* (maybe, because it was closest?? I have no idea why!!). I was the only white baby in the entire nursery - my mom said okay, they could use me, therefore I got to play the birthdaughter of Nancy McKeon (did you ever watch Facts of Life?? Every time that's on (or anything else with her!) we say "hey, it's my mom!!") who was adopted by Lindsay Wagner and Chris Sarandon. Much drama ensues, (because, you know, it wouldn't believe a Lifetime Movie without drama) - including a custody battle when Nancy McKeon's character changes her mind about placing the child.

My mom wouldn't let me watch the whole thing until I was pretty big, lest I believe that I was adopted!! It was on again lately, I noticed on the satellite at K and B's house and their dad recorded it for me. Which was good, because VHS tapes weren't meant to last 21+ years. Especially not when you only play one part of them, over and over again!! I'm only in about 3 shots, very quickly. But, it's me!

I need to get the VHS copied to a DVD sometime. That way it will be preserved better. I'm not in the credits, and last night I realized that they don't credit the actress who played the baby once she was out of the hospital either. Two people get credit for playing the little girl, but not until she was 1.5 and 2.5, interestingly enough. Can I submit my own name to IMDB (yeah, not that it matters that much or anything!)?

Why can't I sleep up here??

I started the morning at about 530 - after finishing last night's post at like 12am. Yep, 5 hours. I'm going to be so cranky tomorrow's it's not funny. Although, I'm already cranky because I've been stuck out here in the middle of nowhere for far too long. I didn't sleep in the bedroom because of the massive spider whom I thought I'd gotten three days ago. He was on the wall and moving quickly. So I chose the couch and had a dog sleep on top of me. Not cool. At. All.

I left here about 715, went to Starbucks before making it to the house that I was babysitting at. I decided to try one of their new Tangerine Fruit Juice Blends. It was good, I think I'm in love. But, I want to know what the Pomegranate ones taste like. If you've tried them, did you like it?? It's an expensive experiment to decide that you hate something. I watched G and his siblings for 3.5 hours and then left to go to the next job. Leaving the 12 year old in charge until her parents got home. At least I had that opportunity.

The next job was for two children, T and C, who I've yet to introduce, and don't want to right now. They are 6 and 9 respectively and incredibly shy. I'll be at their house at least twice a week until school starts. It only took me until the middle of July to find something to fill up my empty days. I've been searching since what? April? Maybe even late March. That's a long time! I was at their house for about 4.5 hours. Both houses today paid me extra. Which was nice. I have a car payment due tomorrow (although, I probably won't make it until Wednesday, yay for 10 days grace periods every month) and I have most of it from working the last couple days. Not to mention the fact that I'd left plenty in the account to last me until then. And now I don't feel as guilty about ordering new books as I did at the time.

I'm done at this house tomorrow at 6pm (or whenever I feed the dogs) and then I go to the next house. Actually, I think I'll go sleep in my own bed tomorrow night. That sounds really appealing to me. As does the prospect of food. I ran out of most food today. Except for Trader Joe's poptarts and granola bars. Not exactly dinner food.

Bold Meme

Bold the ones you've done..

01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink

02. Swam with wild dolphins

03. Climbed a mountain (I only live in the mountains!)

04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive

05. Been inside the Great Pyramid

06. Held a tarantula

07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone

08. Said 'I love you' and meant it

09. Hugged a tree

10. Bungee jumped

11. Visited Paris

12. Watched a lightning storm at sea

13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise

14. Seen the Northern Lights

15. Gone to a huge sports game (only about 22 a year or so)

16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa

17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables

18. Touched an iceberg

19. Slept under the stars

20. Changed a baby's diaper (Haha!)

21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon

22. Watched a meteor shower

23. Gotten drunk on champagne.

24. Given more than you can afford to charity

25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope

26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment

27. Had a food fight

28. Bet on a winning horse

29. Asked out a stranger

30. Had a snowball fight

31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can

32. Held a lamb

33. Seen a total eclipse

34. Ridden a roller coaster (yes, but I HATE them, I don't if I have a choice anymore)

35. Hit a home run

36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking

37. Adopted an accent for an entire day (this happens every time I go to Canada – I don’t know if it’s necessarily “adopting” but my accent certainly gets stronger for a couple weeks.)

38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment

39. Had two hard drives for your computer

40. Visited all 50 states (yeah, right. 7, I’ve been to 7 (unless you count three airport stops in other states)

41. Taken care of someone who was shit faced

42. Had amazing friends

43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country (is Canada foreign? Hmm...)

44. Watched wild whales

45. Stolen a sign

46. Backpacked in Europe

47. Taken a road-trip (about twice a month from April through October)

48. Gone rock climbing

49. Midnight walk on the beach

50. Gone sky diving

51. Visited Ireland

52. Been heartbroken longer thAn you were actually in love

53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger's table and had a meal with them

54. Visited Japan

55. Milked a cow (I was 7. And probably when I was four as well, I was at least involved in the process at grandpa's farm)

56. Alphabetized your cds (once every six months or so, or when I’m either really bored or really annoyed or both!)

57. Pretended to be a superhero

58. Sung karaoke

59. Lounged around in bed all day

60. Posed nude in front of strangers

61. Gone scuba diving

62. Kissed in the rain

63. Played in the mud

64. Played in the rain

65. Gone to a drive-in theater

66. Visited the Great Wall of China

67. Started a business

68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken

69. Toured ancient sites

70. Taken a martial arts class

71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight

72. Gotten married

73. Been in a movie (I was 12 hours old, want details?? I’ll share if anyone cares!!)

74. Crashed a party

75. Gotten divorced

76. Gone without food for 5 days

77. Made cookies from scratch

78. Won first prize in a costume contest

79. Ridden a gondola in Venice

80. Gotten a tattoo

81. Rafted the Snake River

82. Been on television news programs as an "expert"

83. Got flowers for no reason

84. Performed on stage

85. Been to Las Vegas (that should be like ½ bold. Last time I went, I was 6 months old. However, that should change in September)

86. Recorded music

87. Eaten shark

88. Had a one-night stand

89. Gone to Thailand

90. Bought a house

91. Been in a combat zone

92. Buried one/both of your parents

93. Been on a cruise ship

94. Spoken more than one language fluently

95. Performed in Rocky Horror.

96. Raised children. (you know, I’m going to bold this one, because I’ve certainly been involved in the raising of children.)

97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour

98. Created and named your own constellation of stars

99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country

100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over

101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge

102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn't stop when you knew someone was looking (Only ALL. THE. TIME. )

103. Had plastic surgery

104. Survived an accident that you shouldn't have survived.

105. Wrote articles for a large publication

106. Lost over 100 pounds

107. Held someone while they were having a flashback (What?? I have no idea what this even means. So, I’ll stick with no)

108. Piloted an airplane

109. Petted a stingray

110. Broken someone's heart

111. Helped an animal give birth

112. Won money on a T.V. game show

113. Broken a bone

114. Gone on an African photo safari

115. Had a body part of yours below the neck pierced

116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol

117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild

118. Ridden a horse

119. Had major surgery

120. Had a snake as a pet

121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon

122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours (I'm going to say yes, because sometimes when I'm sick getting out of bed is NOT. AN. OPTION. Not often, but occasionally)

123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states (no but for a long time I’d been to more provinces than states. And I’ve only ever lived in the states!)

124. Visited all 7 continents

125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days

126. Eaten kangaroo meat

127. Eaten sushi

128. Had your picture in the newspaper (only about a million times, gotta love small towns!)

129. Changed someone's mind about something you care deeply about

130. Gone back to school (I’ve only ever been in school, never had the chance to “go back”)

131. Parasailed

132. Petted a cockroach (Nope. Only squashed them.)

133. Eaten fried green tomatoes

134. Read The Iliad - and the Odyssey (yes for school, I liked one way better than the other, but don't remember which one!)

135. Selected one "important" author who you missed in school, and read (working my way through this now)

136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating

137. Skipped all your school reunions (yeah, ‘cause they have those less than 3 years after grad!)

138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language

139. Been elected to public office

140. Written your own computer language

141. Thought to yourself that you're living your dream (or pretty close anyhow)

142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care

143. Built your own PC from parts

144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn't know you

145. Had a booth at a street fair

146: Dyed your hair

147: Been a DJ

148: Shaved your head

149: Caused a car accident

150: Saved someone's life

That wasn’t so bad. I’ll be back with a post about today. But, I’ll start with this: 5 kids, 2 families, 9 hours.

This post is going to make me look like a total dork - and I'm okay with that.

So, I've never been one to care much about how people see me. I wasn't one of those kids in high school who did everything because it was "cool." Instead of playing on sports teams, I managed them. Not only was I on the yearbook staff, I was editor for FOUR years. Four years! This year they didn't even have an editor, because there was no one worthy enough for that position. I was on Academic team. I answered all the math questions. And some of the literature ones. And anything dealing with the Dewey Decimal System. (Okay, do you get the point that I definitely didn't choose popular things to do with my time. I hope so.)

And yet, yesterday when I had 43 visitors (43!!), I was super excited. It was my record day, and led to a record week - for the second time in 3 weeks (I already have a record week and I still have one day to go, cool! For some reason my "week" on eXTReME Tracking doesn't reset until Monday). And the visitors didn't all come from MIM because she posted something controversial, or BMC because she gave me credit for something. They came from around the blogsphere, and many of them didn't even have a referral address. That means people like me, new people. My last couple of posts have gotten several comments each (up from 1, maybe 2 just a couple weeks ago).

I helped someone figure out how to change their template AND post links within entries today. I updated my blog slightly too. Can you see the changes?? Maybe, maybe not, they were pretty little things. I think I need to update my blogroll, I'll check later, probably tomorrow. I finally figured out what people meant when they told me you type the link that you want the title to be connected to underneath the Title in compose mode. However, no one ever told me that in order to do that you have to have that option selected in your settings. Ah- ha, now I get it.

Good night. I have to be at work in 7 hours!

Pictures (and a question)

I have had to watch out for horses every day so far. Today, I didn't see any, but I didn't go very far.

These ones all hang out largely at the end of the street - I think one of the homeowners gives them water and/or food. Which really isn't that good of a thing - it's kind of dangerous and harmful to the horses.


And then there is the rabbit. This rabbit hangs out just about every day and the dogs alway want to go chase it. Most of the time I spot the rabbit before letting them out, but sometimes I fail. I've learned that whining means there is something moving out there, whether it be a rabbit, horse, bird or squirrel and most of the time I just don't let them out.
I watch X today for four hours, my last time with him before he turns one. And for like 4 weeks. Which is a really long time in the life on an infant who wants mommy way more than he wants anything else. And he was cranky today. Very cranky. But, we got over it and played for a long time. He likes to bounce, particularly while standing on the sofa. So that's what we did. I bet he's walking before I see him again.

Any book suggestions out there?? I've got House of Mirth from Susan, but I still haven't bought it, perhaps this weekend. What about The Devil Wears Prada? Is it any good? What else do you have for me?? I'm open to all suggestions.

So, this was going to be simple and on one topic...

...and then, I got sad news about a favourite baseball player and an interesting email from a new commentor without an email address to reply to, so I'll respond here. I think I ramble far too much!

Let's begin with what I was originally going to talk about. I had a google hit today from someone who used the search terms "kids that refuse to accept the new nanny." Right away I had some questions, and thought I'd bring them up here. First off, I wonder if the parents or the nanny were the ones searching? In either case, I'd have to start out asking, how long has the new nanny been caring for the children? And how old are they? After that, I'd say if it's been really short (under 2-3 weeks or so, give or take a little), give it a little more time. Some children have a difficult time with adjustments, and a new nanny is a hard one to deal with (especially if the old one was around for much of the children's lives). However, if it's been a month or more and the kids aren't adjusting for whatever reason, talk to them and find out what's going on that makes them unhappy with the nanny (maybe you should do this whether there's been a long adjustment period or not). Kids are smart, they can tell you what's wrong at a young age. Just ask Melissa, who found that out this week about her 4 year old. If there is something that raises a red flag in your mind as a parent, perhaps you should consider looking for a new nanny. Not all nannies are compatible with all families and vice versa. Okay, topic one, done!

Then, while listening to the baseball I read this article. It states that one of the players is coming off the disabled list, and one of my favourites is being sent to triple A. Minor leagues. No fair. You know, he was doing well. And it's hard to say that July wasn't working out for him, since he only got about 6 games to try it. And the one coming off the DL isn't much better (in fact, he may be worse; however, I don't like him at all so perhaps I'm slightly biased?). I was in tears for the one being sent down. And studying Sacramento's schedule. Because I need to be there to watch him play. On the bright side, at least Sacramento is a lot closer than Oakland. I can go to a game and still get home at a reasonable hour. All in one day! Topic two, done!

Sassy Student left a comment yesterday that said: "don't you hate it after a long day when you realize how many miles you've gone?" See I totally do, but I'm always hyper aware of miles I've gone. I can tell you how many miles it is from my house to K and B's or H and S's or just about anyones. And how many miles it is to school. So, it's not really a realization, it's just an awareness that I have built in since I started college. That's what you get when you live really rural and everything is far away. I bet for someone who lives in a city, there is more of a shock on long days, but I don't know because I've never been in that situation before. I have gas budgeted at $220/month (which is almost as much as the car payment) and if I'm going to go over that I stay home, and only drive when I have to get to work, because at least then I'm earning money for the driving time.

Oh, and I have a couple kids to introduce. But, since I barely met them, that will wait until after I spend Sunday afternoon with them. And, I owe you wild horse pictures.

You Are Grass Green

Down to earth and a bit of a hippie, you are very into nature and the outdoors. You accept the world and people as they are. You don't try to change things. You are also very comfortable with yourself, flaws and all. Optimistic about the future, you feel like life is always getting better.

What Color Green Are You?

Link via Granny

I guess this fits me. For the most part anyhow. I think it's interesting how Blogthings can guess your personality (or certain characteristics thereof) with only a few simple questions.

The Day in Bullet Points

Today I:

• Met with the family who I'll be housesitting for starting next Monday evening (as soon as I can get there from this house
• Worked at my mom's office for about 4 hours, she bought lunch yay!
• Decided to go to SummerVarsity, then decided against it, then decided that yes I would go
• Which means that I drove to the city where I go to school twice in two days. I don't even do that for school!
• Which also means that I drove for like 4 hours today without even trying. About 150, probably more, miles.
• Took pictures of horses, which I'll share tomorrow
• Drove my car down the hill that it's not supposed to be able to make it down - honestly, it was easier in my car than in the big truck!
  
• Got back here at about 10, and have been fighting with the internet every since. I don't know why but NOTHING will load properly. I cleaned up the files, tossed a bunch of things, including some programs that I never use. Like Bloglines Notifier. Nothing to severe, just little things that I don't need.
• Realized that I can access my AOL account because it will search for the best access and because I'm wireless, it can find the high speed connection. Which is nice to know since I had 51 (mostly junk) messages when I logged on to AOL this morning at my mom's office.
• Gave up fighting with the dogs about where to go to bed, especially after seeing a huge bug that I was not willing to step on barefoot
• Was frightened by a spider on my wall. I think I managed to smush it, but I'm not sure.

Tomorrow I will:

• Actually, I don't know. I don't have any plans tomorrow. I'll get back to you on that one.
  

Why does one building have two parking garages so close together?

So, I can't get the dogs to go to bed. Last night, it was just one who wouldn't go, tonight, neither one stayed in bed (they sleep under the covers in the master bedroom most of the time, but, since they won't stay there I moved their dog bed into the little hallway between my room and bathroom) - I give up.

I had a good time today, I spent more time in the city where I go to school than I have in a long time (a really long time if you discount time spent at school). I went shopping at Wild Oats and Trader Joe's, as well as met up with Rebecca (did you make it safely on the rest of your journey? I hope so!) for lunch - where we talked for like an hour and a half, maybe more, I had a great time. I got lost trying to find my car again, and then the stupid elevator in the parking garage took forever and managed to skip my floor the first time around. Argh! After lunch I went to buy frozen products, that I couldn't leave in my car while I was at lunch and managed to find my bank. Since I use a local bank, that was more difficult than it should have been, not to mention the fact that I completely spaced where it was. Yay for moms with phone books! I got back to the house about 3:30 or so and just hung out for the rest of the day.

I'm up to episode 13 of this season of One Tree Hill on YouTube and I Gameday'd (yes, that's a verb - if you've never used Gameday, you're probably not a baseball fan!) the All Star game, because I left my radio in my car a mile up the road and was not going back to get it. The AL won! Yay!! That means home field advantage for the American League for the 3rd (or maybe 4th, I'll have to check) year in a row during the World Series. And, since my favourite teams are all AL that's exciting to me!

Four quizzes from Granny (in the long run)

Granny took this one first - and then I took the others.

'What will your obituary say?' at QuizGalaxy.com

You will attain ultimate glory in ...

Hopscotch - your small feet are good for something

'In what rejected sport will you attain your greatest glory?' at QuizGalaxy.com

"Intellectually" Intelligent You're 'Intellectually Intelligent.' That pretty much means that you're good with theoretical ideas and concepts - but this comes to you naturally. More or less, you're a natural brainiac. Good for you. 60% theoretical intelligence 40% natural intelligence

Take this quiz at QuizGalaxy.com

Judeo-Christian Ethics (The Golden Rule) Essentially this ethical school of thought can be summed up in 'Do unto others as you would have them do unto you'. Only do something to someone which you would like to have done to you in return. This is the ethical principal which is least prone to criticism. How you scored, compared to others taking this quiz: You Other Quiz Takers Judeo-Christian Utilitarianism Kantian Ethics Ethical Egoism Ancient Greek Ethics 'What ethical system do you fit in with?' at QuizGalaxy.com

What is it?

Most of you have probably seen these at some point in time. But, probably not anywhere near where I am!! To me it looks really strange with the desert/mountain backdrop. But, look at the blue sky. It's beautiful. Yeah, I'm sticking this up now. I'll say more later. Possibly with more pictures.

Suddenly, life just got very busy!

Let's see. Okay, last week, I thought this week was going to be the easiest (although, stressful, for completely different reasons) week ever. All I had to do was housesit. No K and B, No H and S, Nothing until X on Friday afternoon. Yeah right!

I spent 6 hours today with a 2 month old, 2 year old and 4 year old. Yes, you read that right. What was I thinking? And, you'll be glad to know that I was paid closer to $15/hr than the $10/hr mom seemed to scoff at on the phone last week. Why, you ask? Because Grandma paid me, not mom! I think I could have handled a 2 month old, and possibly the 4 year old, if I didn't have the 2 year old thrown in the middle. A whiny, cranky, non-napping 2 year old no less. She fell asleep about 10 minutes before mom got back. In fact, when they walked in - everyone was asleep (well, except for me - I've only fallen asleep a handfull of times while babysitting, and usually not until after midnight or so). I was supposed to go back tomorrow, but they decided to do something everyone could be a part of, instead of just the couple older kids. But, that means I have time to go work at my mom's shop. Either way, I've got something going on!

Tuesday, the day of the week I do nothing all summer long, and suddenly I'm in great demand on Tuesday. Yet, I said no to people about Tuesday. If you know me, you know how big of a deal this is. I can't say no to anyone, especially not anyone who wants me to work. However, I also could not say no to the opportunity to meet Rebecca as she passes through on her way to her new job. So, I'm going to lunch - not work, not meeting, nothing. Just lunch (followed by some shopping while I'm in the city). Yay for that!!

Wednesday, I'm meeting with the next family that I'm going to housesit for. That job starts approximately 40 minutes after this one ends. Or however long it takes me to get down there. The perks? I don't have to be there every waking moment, in fact I don't even have to be there everyday. Good, because I have two baseball trips planned within the span they're talking about. One at the end of this month, and one 10 days after that for my birthday (did I mention that the A's are in town on my birthday? my 21st birthday? and that this is the first time they've been here for my birthday in like 4 years?). After meeting with them, I'm heading to my mom's shop. She'll have something for me to do.

Thursday and Friday are thusfar up in the air. But, I'll probably be working with my mom. Or something. Maybe I'll just be chilling. It'll be the first games back after the All-Star break, so I may need some baseball time.

That's all - I need to watch some One Tree Hill on You Tube (yay for You Tube, you can watch anything on there! As long as you have high speed internet of course!).

Stuck in the middle of nowhere

So, I listened to the starting lineup for the baseball game today, and our announcer started with the visitors, by saying : the visiting Angels of Los Angeles in Anaheim. Mmhmm, sounds about right. Yet, made me crack up, along with the other announcer! I think the reason that this is so funny to me is that we make up lots of names for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. There are a lot of things you can continue adding after "of Anaheim" - and it's fun to have something to say about your archrival! Everytime I write about baseball the A's lose, if that's the case today, I may quit mentioning them!! Seems to be bad luck! And since they're already down 2-0, it's not looking good.

I stayed up here with the dogs all day. It rained a little, but was nice and windy. That's important because I am on wind and solar power only for the next ten days. As long as it's one or the other I should be fine. We went for a quick walk, and the dogs were more interested in the construction that was going on at the nearest neighbour (actually quite a long walk from here) - we didn't go very far and I didn't feel like going much longer. It wasn't really nice out, but the dogs didn't get a walk yesterday so I felt like I had to do it today.

Last night I went to B's birthday party at the nearest mini golf course. K actually came running to me, even though she was holding daddy's hand and mom was right there. I was surprised! When mom and dad are around, I'm usually the last person she wants. But, we sat next to each other for dinner and pizza and most of the holes of golf (the one's she played anyhow, it mostly consisted of telling her to put the ball down, trying to help her hit the ball and then having her pick it back up again!).

Tomorrow I fill in for the Sunday school teacher - with the little guys. For a long time I taught the older guys, so this could be interesting. I think I'll have a 5 yr old, 4 yr old, 3 yr old, 2 yr old, 18 month old and 2 month old. Hmm, what will we do? That's a lot of really young children. After that I'm watching the 2 month old, 2 and 4 yr old and a 6 yr old. And the mom thought that my request of $10/hr was a lot. Hello? She has a 2 month old foster child that she's leaving with me. Definitely worth the money. Or a lot more!!! I also need to go shopping, as there is absolutely no food at this house. I ate leftovers from B's party for lunch and dinner today and I'm out of ideas for tomorrow.

Open minded? Or Not?

You Are 40% Open Minded

You aren't exactly open minded, but you have been known to occasionally change your mind. You're tolerant enough to get along with others who are very different... But you may be quietly judgmental of things or people you think are wrong. You take your own values pretty seriously, and it would take a lot to change them.

How Open Minded Are You?

I felt very close minded by this one (via Granny). I didn't check a single box for a really long time, and a couple of them could have gone either way!!

This is all for tonight. I was going to find another one to put up here also, but didn't find anything particularly thrilling.

I need to go through some pictures and see if I have any worth posting tomorrow. But, right now, I'm ready for bed!

Four

Four Jobs I have had

1. Babysitter
2. Daycare
3. Nanny
4. Um, does student count? How about Sunday School teacher? Volunteer? Yep, I’ve done a lot but not that I’d consider “jobs” really. However, in January 2008 I will be a teacher. Finally.

Four movies I would watch over and over

1. Raise Your Voice
2. The Parent Trap
3. Pride and Prejudice
4. And, I’m out. I’ve got nothing really. I don’t watch movies often.

Four places I have lived

1. Panorama City
2. Granada Hills
3. Reseda
4. Where I am now. But since I’ve never revealed that here before, why start now?

Four TV Shows I love to watch

1. Gilmore Girls
2. One Tree Hill
3. A’s Baseball
4. Full House

Four places I have been on vacation

1. Toronto
2. Oregon, Washington, British Columbia
3. Idaho, Montana, Wyoming
4. Wow, we’re boring people. We always go to the same places. Other than those three, just lots of camping at various locations, mostly in California. Does going to Oakland for ballgames count as “vacation?” If so, count that!

Four sites I visit daily (just four? That’s really hard! But, I’ll try)

1. Blogging Baby
2. Granny
3. Mary
4. Craiglist
   

I think most people have done this before - so even if I was one who would tag - I'm not going to ask anyone. If you want to, go for it!

I haven't shared fun K stories in a while!

K and I broke the cardinal rule at the table. “Don’t play with your food!” I made a trail mix of sorts for snack today (some raisins, dried tropical fruits, white chocolate chips, teddy grahams, chex mix, goldfish, a little of just about everything in the cupboard!). And I asked K for a teddy bear and she handed me both a bear and a fish, so I pretended that the bear ate the fish, and instead of calling me on it, she started playing too. So then, I told her that bears also like oranges and pineapples (yeah, I know, they probably don’t really, but it’s not like I really conned her into anything, she would have ate it anyhow!) and then we fed our bears oranges and pineapples, by popping them into our mouths. Ha! That got fruit into her and a lot quicker than just sitting there waiting for her to slowly take a bite.

After we dropped B off at latchkey this morning, K and I went to the park for a while, and then went shopping because it’s B’s birthday in a couple of days and then they leave for vacation for the next week, and he’s staying gone an extra week, so I wouldn’t be able to give him his present for like three weeks after his birthday. Anyhow, K and I are at the store and I’m letting her pick out the gift, without actually telling her who it’s for. Yeah, she saw right through that. “This present for B” Why would I give B a present? “It his birfday soon.” Yep, way to smart for her own good. She helped me decorate the bag (Walmart has 66 cent bags that you can buy stickers to decorate, otherwise they’re really boring, we made my brother’s a couple weeks ago the same way!) and the envelope for the card. And then, we put it up. With an understanding that you don’t tell B what’s in the bag. She says, “B has present.” That’s it – no “B has cool car, or anything to indicate that she’ll tattle.” I may let him open it today anyhow, depending on what mom says when she gets home.

She’s been very silly today, I’ll write more later when I have a chance!

A few changes around here

So, I updated my blogroll and added a sidebar that talks about what I'm reading. We'll see how long that lasts. I may be too lazy to update that near often enough. I go through a lot of books around here.

I'm sitting at the top of the mountain, overlooking the lake, where we will probably go out on the boat to see the fireworks tonight. Although, I'm kind of leaning towards not staying around that long. I have to work early tomorrow and I don't how much I'm up for a 2 hour long drive home tonight late. Possibly, longer because there are a million people around today. And we all have to get down the hill somehow. Not looking forward to it! I think I'll probably leave after dinner. There is a little guy here who turns 2 today. But, right now, he's napping along with just about everyone else. I figured I'd probably have a wireless connection if I wanted one while up here, so I brought the computer along. Good thing too - the television screen is broken and there's a baseball game on, that I have up on Gameday. Boring game though it wouldn't have been too bad if I'd missed it!

It's the Fourth for them...

Tonight's A's game was broadcast on the All Forces Network, in 177 countries for the Fourth of July. This allowed troops all over the world to watch the game, and they get to watch the fireworks after the game. It was really cool seeing families reunite with each other, even if it was through satellite phones. Such a special occasion, and I'm recording it. Not to mention that the A's actually won! It's been a while since that happened (well three games, but that seems like a looong time), and a really long time since they came from behind to take the lead. I saw the friends that I hang out with when I'm over there, which I have to admit is pretty cool. I usually see some of the girls, but not all of them.

I'm watching the fireworks now, and it makes me remember how much I enjoyed that game that I went to. I need to make it to one this year, but it doesn't look like that'll happen. It's really cool - you get to lay on the field after the game to watch the fireworks. Particularly if you sit in the bleachers, like I usually do.

Welcome to Cassie - who finally delurked today! And yay that I have a blog to link to for her. Most of my "lurkers" don't have blogs, at least not ones that they link to when they leave a comment!

Happy Fourth of July!!!

Party day!

Today, I attended two separate parties. Well, kind of anyhow. After church we had our holiday potluck barbecue which was a lot of fun, with a ton of food and good company. So that took up my time from 10am (when church begins) until about 2 when everything was all cleaned up and I was done chasing after my friend's little guy.

Then, I came home for about 2.5 hours before we left for a housewarming/get together at the home of one of the people my dad works with. That was fun, we were there from about 5 until 9. I'm tired to say the least. This party was much smaller and I got to know several people that I hadn't met before. That's unusual for me, as I almost alway cling to someone I know and don't venture off very often. Which I guess happened but because there were so few people it didn't really matter. You kind of had to talk to others! My mom brought a tub of Watermelon coolers that she bought at Bed, Bath and Beyond yesterday. All you had to do was add alcohol and put in the freezer overnight and they ended up all slushie. It was really good (hey, I actually drank some, and I'm really picky!), but too sweet, next time we'll add less of the sugar mixture to the bucket!

I'm surprised by how much my readership has grown in the last couple weeks or so. Where do they all come from? Well, I know towns and such, but how do people find me? It's exciting to have your highest number of visitors week, on top of the record month that was June. And my average hits have grown this week (again. I kind of go up and down in terms of visits). I think more people have me bloglined than I realized because many come right after I have a new post. Yay for new readers! Welcome to my blog!!

A day in which I did a lot, but not really

My mom and I spent most of today shopping. I need to get a new power cord for my computer, as this one is rather tempermental and frustrating. Everytime I move the laptop the power starts discharging until I place it just right. Who wants that in a laptop? Not I! So, we started at Best Buy, where I was informed I had to have the computer with me to make a warranty claim. Oops, didn't know that! So, I'll go back tomorrow or the next day or something. Whenever I have a chance. Then we headed to my favourite clothing store. Where my mom found more to buy than I did, although I did get a new shirt. And she bought, yay! We went to the World Market, which I love, for many reasons, not the least of which is the fact that you can buy candy usually only found in Canada. So, in honour of Canada Day, we bought Cruchie bars, Aero bars and Dairy Milk. The only thing you can't get there are Smarties, which I really want lately. Oh well, guess I'll have to ask my grandmother or aunt to send some to me!!

After we got home, we went to a party a couple houses down from us, where I ran into several people I hadn't seen in many years. That was pretty cool, I found out one person who I'd known since at least 7th grade (although probably much longer) will be attending the university with me next year; she'd had a scholarship to school in Kansas, but ended up injured and unable to play. So, she and her husband (who comes from a town significantly smaller than the one that I live in, which has grown a lot, but was never that small!) moved out here and are down the street from where I'm housesitting next week.

We hung out for a while, and then headed home. Where I decided to play The Sims for a while and just decided to get back online. I updated one thing on Granny's blog and checked baseball scores. All in all, a pretty uneventful day!