Summertime fun

Long naps in the afternoon = late nights.  I took a rather long nap earlier today and while I was still somewhat tired afterwards, I certainly didn't think I'd be up until after 2:oo and blogging.  Truth is I just caught up on reading others' blogs and felt the need to update ours.  It's been an enjoyable summer and I'm sad to see it coming to a close.  Yes, I realize it's not even mid-July yet, but I have one more week of doing nothing school related.  I have inservice beginning on the 23rd and then we start up again on the 4th.  I got bored enough, about 3 weeks into vacation, that I decided to go work somewhere.  I was also spending too much money and figured that getting a job would not only keep me from spending money, but would actually give me money.  So, I went back to the office where I worked before I began teaching.  Being there for 3 weeks helped me to realize why I left it in the first place.  This past friday was my last day (not as festivious as my first last day) and I could feel my brain starting to turn to mush again.  It made me grateful for my freshmen.

Any-hoo, the pictures below highlight a couple of things Ryan and I have done this summer.  At the end of June I had a mole removed from my foot (seriously thought about posting the pictures of my stitches) and had a sampling taken from a mysterious bump on my leg.  Lucky for me they were on the same appendage.  Otherwise it could have made for some seriously funny gait issues.  Results of the bump have yet to come in.  Having surgery (yes, I know mole removal is not really surgery, but you should have seen how she cut into my foot - I had 9 stitches!) on one's foot and leg makes it nearly impossible to get around comfortably and gimp-less.  Sitting on a couch does me no good.  It's nice at first that I have that time to sit there and read, but after an hour or two, I feel the need to be doing something else.  So, due in part to my cabin fever, we decided to take a trip - a road trip.  We went to a farmer's market that Saturday morning and bought ingredients for salsa (this was after the tomato scare).  We chopped up some salsa, grabbed a few other items (catch phrase in the car is a lot of fun), filled up the tank and headed up I-5.  We decided that we would stop if we saw something interesting or got tired or hungry or both.  We thought we'd be getting away from the smoky skies we'd been having, but we just drove into more of it.  We stopped in Orland (known for their olives) for a little break and olive tasting.  Later on we stopped in Willows for lunch.  We'd brought a picnic and wanted to find a nice park to stop at.  Couldn't find one so we found a church instead.  They're always nicely taken care of.  We both really liked the feel of Willows.  It's a cute little town and has some colorful locals.

Here's us enjoying our picnic.

After the stop in Willows, we continued on our way up I-5.  We decided to go to Redding.  My best friend's mom lives in Redding and I hadn't seen her in years.  I had a phone number for her and called.  The machine was a generic, "No one is here to take your call right now."  I didn't even know if that number was still good.  I did know that she worked at Lowe's and that if she wasn't there, I might be able to get some info on her.  We finally found the Lowe's, despite a local's wrong directions and proceeded to the kitchen creating section.  Lucky for me I knew which department she worked in. Lowe (ha ha) and behold, she was there.  She looked at me for a good 10 seconds before she realized who it was.  She had a client there at the time, but we made arrangements to meet up later for dinner.  Ryan and I went to the movies and saw Wall*e.  It was so cute.  And check this link out for something interesting on it.  Apparently this movie has been on Pixar's mind for over a decade.  The popcorn we got at that movie was some of the best movie popcorn we've ever had.  Meeting up with Mama Fiack was a lot of fun.  We were able to fix a broken souvenir of hers and eat lots of yummy watermelon.  We barely stayed awake for the drive home.  

I saw this leaf on the way in to work and thought it looked cool.

We also "enjoyed" a trip to the beach with the fam.  My brother Aaron came out from Texas for a visit and so he and Ryan finally got to meet.  He was the last family member Ryan had to meet.  Now, I use the term "enjoy" loosely because, well, I don't know how well it really was enjoyed.  As with almost every trip we take to the beach (we go to the same place every summer), we forget how much colder it is on the coast.  The wind whipped us around and as you can see Ryan is wrapped in a towel above.  Two seconds before this picture, I had two towels and a blanket wrapped around me.  The water was nowhere near an enjoyable temperature.  Why do we subject ourselves to this year in and year out?  It did warm up a little bit later and  I think almost everyone came home a little bit pinker than they arrived.  My foot surgery was still tender and not only did I have to quasi-hobble around on it, I had to be careful about sand getting in it.  I couldn't run and play as I am wont to do on the beach.  Ryan and I were able to take a long walk down the beach and I still feel bad that he didn't get to climb the ridge like he wanted to.

It has been a good summer so far.  Ryan and I have had a lot of laughs and a lot of memories.  He is so wonderful.  We have a fun trip planned for this coming week, but I'll keep you in suspense (and to actually make sure it happens) before I tell you about it.  No updates on a wedding date, but stay tuned.