I'm random, thanks for asking.

1. What sign marks the end of the summer for you?
Labor Day. When Target puts all the back to school stuff on clearance. Used to be when I actually went back to work as a teacher. Weather-wise, summer here ends about mid-October.

2. What plans, if any, do you have for the rest of the summer?
Work, including the strongly advised and/or non-optional OT hours they keep handing down. At least we get to choose the OT hours, as opposed to a few years ago when we'd be assigned 5 hour shifts, usually on one of our unscheduled days.

3. How would you describe your summer/winter so far – too hot, too cold, too wet, too buggy or what?
Monsoon actually happened this year. It rained this morning, then warmed up again, but the wind has picked up in the last hour. It won't rain, but it brings the temp down. Along with more rain (which is really not much but still more than last summer), it's not been as hot. I think last year had a record number of days over 110 degrees.

4. Summer often means open windows and the sharing of conversations, music, games and so forth with everyone. What sort of neighbor are you? Loud or considerate?
Hahahahahahahahahahahaha...hahahaha. Windows won't open until at least September, and that's only at night. I'm a considerate neighbor and try not to be loud.

5. Aside from spouses and pets, have you had any trouble with pests recently?
We still have the gnat issue. It's only like 1-2 a day. Still can't figure out where they come from. Oh, and today when I asked Sarah to check the air filter size, she found a termite trap behind it. I don't know how I didn't see that before. No termites or evidence of them were found when the house was inspected, and I haven't seen anything since moving in. But yikes, something to think about.

I'm spending the night at Natalie's tomorrow, because she lives 5 minutes from the airport and we have to be there by 6am. EEK! I'm going to England! Well, the UK...Cardiff, Wales, and Edinburgh, Scotland. And France! But mainly England. :D

I will try to post when I can, and I think I can post photos through the app.

Over the past 2 nights I watched Death Comes to Pemberley. It was far better than the book, and that's rare for me to say. Elizabeth actually had a role in the miniseries, and the plot was arranged in a better way. Way to make Colonel Fitzwilliam unlikable though! I woner if I missed that in the book, at least one certain aspect.

Watching that was my effort to keep working on my long Netflix queue. And yet, like last summer, I'm pretty much binging Once Upon a Time again. Not nearly at the same pace, however.

Let me try to post a photo using the app.

Reena and Michelle (and Loch) came over after a bunch of us went to breakfast yesterday. Once again, they were trying to convince me to watch or read the Twilight books.  Why does the word "twilight" suddenly look weird spelled out?  I mentioned reading Eclipse in 15 minutes which they think has prejudiced me against the movies.  Comparisons to Harry Potter were made, and wonder as to why I don't care for them either.  I said that I just never cared for HP, but Twilight I just find...goofy/laughable/mockable for some reason.  It's not even anything to do with vampires.  The plots and/or writing just seem LOL-worthy.   I did read a section of Breaking Dawn, by the way.  As I read, I was pretty incredulous as to what the appeal was.  Reena said I should at least give the book Twilight a try; she almost had me convinced.  Not reading them is sort of like a personal trophy for me, like how I've never smoked at all.  Well, oops, I did read that part of BD, dangit. 

We watched Persuasion 2007, then Reena chose Sense and Sensibility 2008.  Why are Austen men so awesome and yet can be such idiots?  Obviously some characters are exaggerated, but it's sad to think they were based on reality at the time.  Some rich people (Fanny Dashwood) were major snobs, some were complete idiots (Lucy Steele, Mary Musgrove), and the men run the full gamut.  

In other news: I just baked two batches of chocolate chip scones, my oven temperature is way off, I went swimming at Heidi's and got more tan/burned, and I have yet to start the books I bought yesterday.  One is a classroom management book, the other My Lobotomy which I've wanted to read for a long time.  I guess I should get off the computer and get some more chores accomplished. 

I've fallen victim to busyness and being too entertained by my flist to post lately. So, instead of cleaning or looking up cookie recipes, I'll post.

Sunday-Wednesday I was in Las Vegas for a conference. I drove up by myself, which I don't mind at all. I love road trips, but it still would have been more fun with someone. During the day we had to attend various conference functions, but the nights were free. Monday night I toured the strip with one teacher and her relatives. Tuesday night I finally saw a Cirque du Soleil show, Ka. Fantastic. My face was in permagrin mode. As soon as it was over, I wanted to see another show. Next trip, perhaps. Later that night we walked around the Venitian and Palazzo hotels. Gorgeous inside. On the drive home Wednesday, I stopped at the Hoover Dam and took a million pictures.

I need to travel more, see more of the country and the world.

Thursday I helped Alyssa out in her classroom. Friday was a movie day with Michelle and Reena, where we watched Lost in Austen and He's Just Not That Into You. Both were cute, but I think I'm more into period dramas than modern comedies/romances. Or, maybe it's jerky male characters that bother me, even though period dramas also have them.

Too much caffeine+not enough to eat=trembly. Need to eat more than just a Hot Pocket and some raspberries.

It rained tonight. Finally! I'm alwways confused by the sound at first, thinking something is leaking. Strange, it didn't smell like rain when I was out earlier. Luis said he was driving through a dust storm though.

I just panicked thinking I had something I need to do. Then I remembered, I don't. It's Saturday, and it's summer break.

Whew!

If I don't actually write myself a to do list, I'm never going to get anything done. Hmm, I'll write on the back of this receipt.

Yay list written! Now, to actually do the things on it...

It's 110 degrees out. o_O

I went to Kohl's today, where for once I was actually quite impressed with the selection. After looking through clothes, swim suits, picture frames, and linens, I left empty-handed. Now that I've got my blue wall, my bedding choices are severely limited. White sheets are not a problem, but I need a duvet or comforter that will go with it. Now, in addition to being picky, I have to keep the blue in mind when choosing a bedspread. I'll order my canopy bed when I'm in CA in a few days, and eventually I'll replace my grandmother's dresser with something darker to match the bed.

I'm having similar issues as npicklegrl when it comes to decorating. Trying to make this place into an adult space, as opposed to a hodgepodge of old furniture and knicknacks, is challenging. Part of my problem is I have one long room that is technically a dining room and living room. The dining room is my "office" and it has oak furniture and a big plastic storage container. The frame of my chair from Ikea is also oak, because it matched what I had when I moved in here. My tv stand and cd rack are dark wood, and my couch and chair are beige and tan. My sister and I contemplated painting a red accent wall in the living room, but decided to just stick with painting the bedroom for now. Instead, I'm looking for a framed picture with some dark red in it to go above the couch. Yet again, I'm picky. Picky and cheap :)

(Finally finished writing this a day later)

Three, if you count that I finally slept in as late as I wanted to today. I didn't have to get up at my usual work times, but I still had to be somewhere every day since school ended last Friday.

Ahhh, so yesterday I experienced two things for the first time. One was finally going to Mexico. Growing up in northern California, the closest I ever got was San Diego. My church always took the high school group on missions trips the week I wasn't on spring break. Shoot, I've been to Canada 3 times, and that's way farther away. On Sunday, Luis and I were chatting away, and he told me he finally has 2 days off. Since he had lived in Nogales for a while, and I had never been, we decided to make a day trip out of it.

On the way, we stopped at Picacho Peak, where there's an ostrich farm. For $5 you get a cup of feed for the ostriches and deer, and a little container of nectar for the lorikeets. A sign shows how to feed the ostriches, and claims they don't bite. Well, you get out there and big signs say they DO bite. They peck really, but have no teeth. Well, I held some food flat on my palm as shown, and they peck hard! The bird did pinch my hand a little. Man, those birds are scary! You can pour food into little trays but they attack almost before you get the food in. Too bad we didn't save any for the deer, which were way calmer and cuter. They make funny noises, and stick their tongues out wanting food. I wasn't able to get a picture with the tongue though. Next we went to the lorikeet house. As soon as Luis went in, one landed on his back and I totally freaked out. I finally did go in, and thankfully, no birds landed on me. They all liked him. We took pictures, which I will post later, bought a few postcards, and left.

Next stop was Tucson, or actually Oro Valley, at Luis's parents' house. We ate lunch and talked for a while. His parents are really nice, and his mom is a good cook. It's true, they totally spoil him. I love their house, and the dogs.

When you get past Tucson towards Nogales, the signs give kilometers instead of miles. Strange, but oh well. You can see the houses going up the hillside before you cross the border, and I don't know what is holding those things up. How they got a foundation in the side of the hill, or if they did, I don't know. We parked and then walked across the border. I swear, it was weird. To get in, you just walk through this turnstile gate, no one watching, no big deal. I had no idea where to go, so we just walked to where I could buy something. Ok, that's just about everywhere. The small, crowded huts, for lack of better term, were closer to the border. Since I just scream "tourist," they were all inviting me in to look at their wares. I didn't want to be rude, so I looked, and said no thanks to most of it. Really, there was nothing I wanted. After about 10 places, I finally looked at some bracelets, and bought one I truly liked. It's my souveneir of the trip, along with the pictures. Luis and I got all sorts of funny comments. The shopkeepers kept telling me that he was buying anything I wanted. We were refered to as honeymooners by one, and I swear another person refered to him as my dad (?!?). Afterwards, we walked further into town, to places Luis remembered. We ate at one little cafe; I ordered strawberry and banana creps but ended up with walnut plantain crepes. Plantains are ok, but not enough like a banana for me. I ate some, and about half of Luis's fries as well. My mango margarita tasted like frozen orange juice concentrate, but I still liked it.

Since we were on foot, we didn't get that far into town, but we did zigzag through several streets looking around. Luis kept saying how different it was, and pointed out places he remembered. The shops crack me up, with the variety of items they sell. Almost all carry the same things, and they are all packed with wares. On the way back to the border, we stopped at another restaurant, Kookarpacha's, with a nice outdoor seating area. I had a Coca-Cola Light, aka Diet Coke. The bottle was obviously returned/refilled from the wear marks. I wanted to keep the bottle, but didn't ask, so just left it. Walking back through the border, you have to declare citizenship. Basically, you just show ID. I guess beginning next year, you'll need a passport, so it's a good thing I went now.

We drove around Nogales on the AZ side, looking for Luis's old school, then headed back to Tucson, where I had my other "first." Ok, so there were several firsts that day, but this one is major: I got pulled over for speeding. I was crusing along somewhere around 85 in what I thought was a 75 zone. I saw the cop too late, which was after Luis pointed him out. I slowed, but he had turned around. Not sure whether he would come after me, since he had to let another car go by before he could get on the road, I pulled over to the right lane anyway, and sure enough the cop caught up to me. He asked me if I knew what the limit was, and I really didn't know, so I said 75, which was the last posting I'd seen. However, we had just gotten back into the Tucson area, so it changed to 55 somewhere. I gulped. He asked if I knew how fast I was going, and I sad about 80; he nodded then went to go write up the report. So, I'm sitting there, ready to take my ticket and wondering what my fine and insurance cost will be. I said to Luis, wouldn't it be funny if he let me off? So, the officer comes back and says that he's putting me down as 64 in a 55 zone, and giving me a waste of finite resources ticket. My fine is $37 and it doesn't go on my record or insurance. I was drop-jawed. He didn't explain why he gave that to me, instead of the $201 fine I should have gotten. My theory is that I cooperated and admitted fault, and/or I have a pretty clean driving record. My last ding was over 5 years ago. Whatever it was, I thanked him profusely, and was soon on the road again, with Luis constantly reminding me to watch my speed.

Not in a real hurry to get back, I considered calling mercuriehg but thought she might still be out of town. (Mer, we have to go to Eegees again!) Instead, we went to 4th street in Tucson, and stopped at a coffee shop whose owner goes to Luis's shop when she's in town. My vanilla au lait was pretty good, and it was nice to sit outside at the picnic tables. Around UofA reminds me of downtown Davis. The houses and little shops are similar, and a far cry from Phoenix and ASU. Afterwards, it was back to Oro Valley to give Luis's mom the vase he bought, plus pick up the Police concert tickets he's trying to sell. At last, we headed home, singing to the radio, talking about food, lack of time to cook, work, future road trips, etc. Even with the run-in with the law, I had a blast.