We all fall down
Who remembers "Toy Soldiers" by Martika. Awesome one-hit wonder!

Newsworthy events?

Some of you know that I'm singing at the City of Tumwater 4th of July celebration this year. I have to be honest, there are times I feel a little nervous. Jenn and I were talking about it and she mentioned something about how many people would be there. I guess 500 - city staff are guessing 9,000. 


Regardless, I was at work today and one of my co-workers stopped me. Apparently, my name is in the newspaper as the singer. Guess it's time to really practice...


Be sure to send good thoughts my way on the 4th, just before sundown. I have a feeling I'm going to need them!

Have I ever told you...

I love the Chevy Nova. I'm not sure why. I love front bench seats. Maybe that's it. I love the swoop of the body lines. I love the roomy back seat where three little sisters can sit comfortably. But not just for the sum of its parts, I love the Chevy Nova.

The other day I was on the way up to the airport in my mom's car to pick up her sister and family (they and their luggage wouldn't fit in mine) when I saw it. It had been a while since I'd seen one in the wild. My heart leapt. This was no rusted out beauty, this was a lovingly cared for Nova. I was 2-lanes from flagging that man down and begging him to trade. I'm sure my dad would have been fine with it, right?

On the other end of my ridiculous love spectrum is the SmartCar. When I see it I know it is a silly looking vehicle, but the love ensues. I saw one the other day and was glad to be alone as I actually snickered aloud. I wonder if that's how the people who love man-wagons feel when they spot one of those?

Always double-check

Finally, the end of another quarter. It was a fun quarter, although when I tell most people what I took they feel sorry for me. Statistics wasn't many people's favorite when they took it, but I certainly enjoyed working it out.

We were assigned to do a research project in groups then make a presentation to the class in the last session. My group was great and so much fun. We got together several times to prepare.

We had five minutes for our presentation. We cut things out to get it down to just the right time - 5 minutes. Our teacher had told us that we had to keep to our time, that there would be a timekeeper.

We got together before class to be more certain and to make sure that we were all ready. We had ten slides and came in right at five minutes. We were hoping to go first, just to get it over with. But we weren't quick enough. We were third.

The first group got up and they had 40 slides. And they were talking slowly. How were they going to finish in the five minutes?!? It got me thinking, so I slowly pulled out the syllabus.

25-minutes. Our presentation was supposed to be 25-minutes long!! I spent the next five minutes working to not throw up. And then I got to work. I let everyone in the group know and we all worked on lengthening our parts of the presentation. I, thankfully, had brought a few of my other notes.

We all lengthened our presentations. I, of course, talked the longest. We finished at 22 minutes. During the presentation, Cho passed me this note:

Like I said, I had a great group!

Not so much a lack of focus...

but perhaps staying focused on the wrong thing. The other day, back when it was nice outside, mom and I had just come home from work and parked in the garage. I don't remember where Sara and Kelly were, but it was just the two of us. We heard a strange noise from the window next to us. It was a bird. This little guy was so focused on getting outside through the window that he didn't notice that if he had just turned around he would have easily flown out through the huge car holes!

I found an empty popcorn bucket and mom got a vinyl tile. I caught that bird and let him go outside. It was kind of cool to have him burst out of the bucket that way.

New Lipstick

Jenn likes makeup. So when she asked me if I wanted to go to the new Sephora store in Tacoma, I knew we were in for something special. We shopped for a very long time and tried on lots and lots of testers. In fact, I wasn't wearing make-up when we got there but left with a face full of it. The one thing we both picked up was lipstick. Here is our modeling of said stick:

Easter

Sunday dinner with the family is always fun. But it is especially fun when there is a holiday that involves really pretty dresses and lots and lots of sugar.

We had a lovely time and spent lots of time together. Here is the photographic evidence of said good time:

Easter

Our Little Dogs

Harvey and Cooper get to hang out regularly. The other day when it was just the three of us, I brought out the camera. These guys have grown up so much!

Hard to believe they've been around for over a year!!

End of the Quarter

I don't remember how I felt at the end of the quarter at Ricks when I was young, but this feels great. My brain could use a couple of days off from all the reading!

Did I mention I liked Nicole Richie's dress at the Oscars? Maybe it's the geometrics of it all, but I'm really feeling it! Don't know why she was there though. I'l have to watch it to know I guess.

A Foggy Day

A foggy day is the perfect day to take pictures of naked trees.

This morning I was outside in the early pre-dawn hours and the fog was thick. It is interesting, the early dawn is a pretty quiet time anyhow, but the fog makes it silent.

It was a little eerie, but I really, really liked it. A very nice way to start a morning.