Karma, Karma, Karma, Karma Chameleon!

I really did expect to walk into the courthouse today to meet officers who would handcuff me and take me to jail since I failed to appear for jury duty. I was super anxious this morning and, of course, running late.

After parking and practically running to the doors, I found that they hadn't even opened yet. Score one for me. Then, when we were filing in, a woman leaned in and whispered "I thought we were going to get away with not coming at all." What? You mean to tell me that, though I totally forgot to call in, those people in my group who had been were not instructed to appear until this morning?!?! Score two for me. Then, after a two-hour orientation, our guide read a list of names of individuals who, while not done for the day, were able to take an extended lunch and report back at 1:30. Guess whose name was on it? That's right, yours truly!

So, I just woke up from a mini-nap and am gearing up for another "grueling" three hours in court. Wish me luck!

Oops!

I just realized that I was supposed to call in for jury service on Monday. I was originally called in April but postponed until the Monday after summer school let out. Time went by. I got a new jury summons in the mail, I got a reminder phone call last week yet I still forgot. I just called in and am expected to report tomorrow morning. I'm half afraid they will be waiting there with handcuffs, ready to arrest me for failure to appear.

If you don't hear from me for awhile...

What day is it again?

I've been on vacation now for, what, six whole days (including the weekend which, technically, really shouldn't count) and I have already seriously lost my inner sense of date and time. I have to check the calendar regularly just to remember what day is it. Incidentally, it is Thursday.

I made a pact with myself that I wasn't going to go to school at all this week to give myself a true break. What have I been doing instead? A whole lotta NOTHING. Well, I emptied six trash bags of clothes from our closets and donated them to the Salvation Army. I've re-watched two complete seasons of Dexter and am finishing up the third. I've started the book that Tabitha sent me for my birthday. I've been to a Dodgers game and taken Mark to the doctor. I've written thank you notes for my birthday gifts (they're in the mail). I've laid around. A lot. I've played with my Wii and left my car parked in the same spot for two whole days. I've been grocery shopping and am currently sitting up very straight so that the dye on my head doesn't drip down and color other parts of my body. I suppose it hasn't been too much nothing.

But I am now starting to find myself, after only six days off, bored. And ready to establish some sort of routine. Quote me on that come mid-October when IEPs are due and my CSULB classes are in full swing.

Formatting

My apologies for the lack of uniformity in my last couple of posts, I think I figured out how to make the changes I want and they should all look the same from now on. (I told you we're all on the spectrum somewhere!)

A sigh of relief...

Summer school is done and I am now officially on vacation!!! The five weeks flew by and it was much better than I anticipated it was going to be. Now on to more fun things...

Happy, happy day!

I love birthdays. I think birthdays should be a super special day for the birthday boy/girl and an excellent day to celebrate being you. My birthday always starts several days prior to the actual date of my birth. In fact, I enjoy celebrating my entire birth month.

I always hear people saying things like, "once you get to a certain age, it just isn't fun to celebrate getting older anymore." To which I reply, "Bull#&it!" The purpose of celebrating a birthday, to me, isn't to celebrate living another year or, as some pessimists out there feel, getting a year closer to death. No sir, celebrating someone's birthday is to take one day out the year to make a point to tell the people that you love that you are happy they're alive.

I found myself brought to tears on my birthday this year by the sheer volume of people who extended their well wishes and happy thoughts. Everyone from my students and co-workers to my family to Mark's co-workers and family called or sent cards or emailed or sent me a text message letting me know that they are thinking of me on my special day. I felt truly, truly humbled and blessed to have such special people in my life and I thank each and every one of you for your thoughts.

I had a terrific birthday this year, as I always do. Knowing how important birthdays are to me, Mark always goes above and beyond in making my day special for me. We were recounting all of the birthdays that I've celebrated with him and each one has been remarkable. This year was no exception.

While my co-workers and students had been celebrating with me since the 15th, Mark and I started our official celebration at midnight on the 17th when I opened the package that my mom sent along with one of his gifts for me. We stayed up late watching our TiVoed shows from the past week and enjoying being together.

Mark had the day off so I followed suit and called in sick. We woke up and got moving at our own pace, no need for alarm clocks and morning routines. In fact, I was happily awoken by phone calls from both of my parents and a text message from my brother. While I laid in bed, slowly welcoming in the day, Mark snuck off to finish wrapping my gifts. While it's clear to see why I am the resident wrapper in our home, I absolutely love the effort he puts forth just to make me feel special.

I was shocked and thrilled to open a Nintendo Wii, a Wii Fit, and the Personal Trainer! I'd been wanting a Wii since I first played it at Mike and Kristi's right after Colin was born. He also got me a new bottle of DKNY Be Delicious perfume, my signature scent that I've been out of for a few months, and a new Dodgers bracelet, I get one every season and hadn't bought a new one yet this year.
After opening my presents, we went to breakfast and the headed to the beach. We originally intended on going back to Salt Creek but because we had taken our time getting up and about, we opted just to go to the dog beach at Huntington. We had a great time with King and he even went swimming in the ocean for the first time. He learned to negotiate the waves the hard way (by taking a couple in the face) and it was hilarious to watch as he learned to lift his head and turn away from the water as the waves came toward him. As we were leaving the beach, King was even talent spotted and a lady wanted us to come to the studio for an interview. We opted against it as we didn't quite trust her but, still, Hollywood wants our Kingy.

When we got home, Mark's parents had a vase of flowers, a card, and a cake waiting for me. The card had a really great sentiment about how much they love me. Mark's mom asked me to read it out loud but there was no way I could because just the fact that they had gotten me a card brought tears to my eyes. Mark read it though and both his mom and I got choked up. It was a really nice moment.


Mark had told me earlier in the week that he made dinner reservations but wouldn't tell me where. After taking the strangest route possible and keeping me guessing the entire time, we arrived at one of our favorite restaurants called Dal Rae. We enjoyed a really nice bottle of Strasburg champagne, tableside Caesar salad, a really nice bottle of wine, Chateaubriand (also prepared tableside), and a delicious ice cream dessert along with great conversation and romantic time together.

After such a fantastic day and evening, mixed with a belly full of delicious food and wine, I went to sleep on Friday night thankful for the life that I get to live.

Another Pleasant L.A. Sunday

Well, really, it was a pleasant L.A. weekend but those lyrics don't fit as nicely in the song.

Friday started out a bit rocky. Mark went into work at 7:15 and didn't take a lunch break until after 4. His day didn't end until after 10 and then he went out with the guys from work for a few drinks. After all, they deserved them after working a 15 hour day! Meanwhile, however, I was home with a mini-migraine. I had my first migraine at the beginning of June and I went to class that night anyway, thinking it would go away eventually. It was so painful that, when the throbbing started on Friday afternoon, I didn't take any chances and spent most of the afternoon and early evening laying in bed in the dark with the fans blowing directly at me. I felt better by 8ish or so, thankfully.

Saturday morning I attempted to go to the lab for my blood work that the doctor ordered at my physical at the beginning of June. I know, I know...I should have gotten my booty there much sooner; however, I have to go on an 8 hour fast which makes it impossible to go anytime except in the morning and, in the morning during the week, I have to be at work. Well, when I got to the lab, the line was about forty people deep outside of the door. I have no idea what it looked like inside. I immediately turned around but then figured since I'd gotten up early on a Saturday to be there, I should just suck it up and wait. But, after moving three inches in 20 minutes, I left. I'm going to go Wednesday morning before work and if I'm late so be it. The blood work is to check my cholesterol and my thyroid. It's nothing life threatening or anything.

When I got back from the doctor, Mark and I went to breakfast and then to price doggy doors at Home Depot and the local favorite hardware store, All-American (the irony of the name is staggering). We had planned on getting a security screen with a door for King in it but it turns out that they are upwards of $500 so we then planned on special ordering a regular exterior door with a doggy door in it but then Mark's dad decided that he is going to attempt to install a doggy door in it. So, we purchased all of the pieces needed and shall see how this endeavor turns out.

We then went to The Comedy & Magic Club in Hermosa Beach with our friends Holly and Jake. Holly is a school psychologist in our district and was on my interview panel when I was hired at Cerritos. I knew then that we would be friends. She no longer works at my school but we get together for martinis at least once a month and the four of us get together almost as often. The club is celebrating its birthday and we saw 20 comics, each of which performed for about 5 minutes. It was a great time.

Yesterday, Mark and I were up and about fairly early, around 10 (which is early for the two of us). We hopped into his car, dropped the top, and headed south. We got off of the freeway at Seal Beach and drove on PCH for close to 2 hours. At around 1 we decided to stop at the next beach. We ended up at Salt Creek Beach (pictured above), which is beautiful. We swam for the first time this summer and had a great time. I learned that I just shouldn't try to catch a wave and body surf in. The waves were very large, at least for this Midwestern girl, and when I finally got brave enough to try to catch one, it swallowed me up and spit me out. When I finally had my footing again, I was almost in tears and about to puke. In retelling the story, I swear I was under water for at least a minute. Mark said it was more like 4 seconds! He tried to hold me back and I could feel him grabbing my legs but the wave was too strong and took me away. I hit my shoulder on the bottom and my boobs flew out of my suit, of course. Fortunately, I was able to cover up before I got out of the water. Needless to say, I didn't stay in the water much longer after that. I did, however, laugh about it the entire rest of the day. Before we left the beach, Mark ran back into the water to show me how its done and made body surfing look so freakin' easy! He grabbed a wave and rode it all the way in, I was quite impressed with how easily he did it.

Last night, we grilled steaks with Mark's mom and his sister, Tina and drank a delicious bottle of wine. When we sat down for our meal, I commented on what a perfect summer day and weekend it had been. It was Mark's last guaranteed Sunday off since they will be training 7 days/week from this point on. It was a great weekend.