It's Gonna Be Me, You, and the Dance Floor...

"Forever," Chris Brown

Tim and I spent last weekend at Jody and John's beautiful wedding in Aptos, CA. I promise to post about it, but right now I'm EXHAUSTED as I spent the entire day teaching The Crucible to 11th graders and Cry, the Beloved Country to 10th graders. I am spending the rest of the evening on the couch watching DVRed episodes of Friends and The Office. The only time I plan on leaving the couch is to answer the door to pay the delivery person for my and Tim's yet-to-be-ordered take-out. But I just wanted to post one picture to give an idea as to why tonight's wild and crazy activities will most likely not include wine. Or beer. Or champagne. Or tequila shots...

You Have Stolen My Heart

We watch the season pull up its own stakes
And catch the last weekend of the last week
Before the gold and glimmer have been replaced,
Another sun-soaked season fades away...
-"Stolen," Dashboard Confessional

"...the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars..."
-Kerouac

Lights Will Guide You Home

"Fix You," Coldplay

Bailey got lost yesterday. It was awful-- Tim called my classroom phone at about 4:30 to tell me that A) Bailey had knocked the screen out of the window and escaped, and B) I had left the refrigerator ajar all day and, consequently, all of the food inside had gone bad. My friend Amanda was in my classroom with me, and we rushed to my apartment to survey the scene. I was a crying mess of confusion and hardly could make it home, stopping at the train tracks on my way to aimlessly search, terrified at what I could potentially find. When we got to the house, Tim was already looking up various information about local shelters, all of which were inconveniently closed yesterday. In a flurry of genius, Amanda had printed out a stack of "Lost Dog" posters from my classroom, so we set out to start posting. We eventually went back to school to print more (complete with bigger fonts and Bailey's color photo) and proceeded to paste posters in the greater Carlsbad area (or, perhaps more specifically, within about a half-mile radius of our apartment). We spoke with neighbors, two of whom had seen Bailey lounging on the grass earlier in the day, but he was nowhere to be found. Once it was completely dark, Amanda (who, ironically enough, adopted her first dog today) headed home, and Tim and I resorted to the waiting game.

I woke up in the middle of the night, at 12:30, to find Tim standing in the doorway and Bailey jumping onto the bed. Apparently (and thank God for Tim's auditory abilities), Bailey had showed up on the doorstep and had proceeded to bark until someone let him in. He was dirty and covered in burrs, but otherwise seemed totally fine. We were relieved to say the least, and I've spent a good portion of today wondering where he WENT for 12+ hours. Could he hear us desperately calling his name as we posted the signs? Was he ever in someone's house? How far away from home did he go? I can't help but relate Bailey's situation to a teenager getting home late (probably after curfew) after a night filled with (probably illegal) adventure and mayhem. Of course, now he's sleeping peacefully and doesn't have a clue that, just hours ago, he put us through hell and I was seriously questioning my ability to forgive myself had he not returned. He also doesn't have a clue that, come tomorrow, he's going into the vet for a full check-up. AND microchip insertion--(which, contrary to popular belief, is not akin to a car's GPS tracking device system).

We Were Livin' for the Minute We Were Spinnin' In

"We Weren't Crazy," Josh Gracin

Tim and I went to Catalina for Labor Day Weekend. We left work on Friday and drove to Dana Point, where we caught the Catalina Express and made it to the island by 6:30. We stayed at the Pavilion Lodge, the same hotel we stayed at 4 years ago during our last dive trip to Catalina.


The weather was perfect, and we took our first dive on Saturday morning. The surface water temperature was about 70 degrees, and our bottom depth was only about 45 feet. The thermocline (at least, to 45 feet) was probably only a couple degrees. We stayed down for about 45 minutes, and the dive was awesome. The visibility was probably 60 feet or so, with only a small current.


We dove again on Sunday, and at first decided to go down to 70-80 feet to see some of the wrecks at the edge of the dive park. However, as we descended, at about 50 feet the water got much colder, and the visibility was significantly worse. We decided to head back up to 30-40 feet and cruise around in the warmer water. In addition to diving, we snorkeled, shopped, went out to a few nice lunches and dinners, and laid out in the sun. The weekend was absolutely perfect...


On Monday, we played 18 holes of miniature golf. I beat Tim by 18 strokes, and since miniature golf is practically the exact same thing as regular golf, it is now clear I am the better golfer. Understandably, this is a difficult fact for Tim to swallow, so please give him processing time to come to terms...

every star in the night

promises the dawn
i will be there if you fall
to ever so heavily rest upon

all that i can give you
is forever yours to keep
wake up every day with a dream
and happy everafter in your eyes

-Ben Harper

The Sea's in My Veins; My Tradition Remains

"Son of a Son of a Sailor," Jimmy Buffett

1982...

2008...

We'd Laugh Awhile and We'd Smile a Bit

"Butch Cassidy," My Morning Jacket

"In summer, the song sings itself"
-William Carlos Williams

In three days I go back to school. Students don't come in until next Wednesday, but I'm back to CHS this coming Thursday. I'm actually really excited and ready to be back in the classroom, which is a feeling I'm reveling since I know many teachers don't always feel like this at the end of summer; this level of excitement probably won't last for the rest of my teaching career. Over the last few days, I have:

1) Gone boating on Lake Mojave, which is just underneath the Hoover Dam and sits on the Nevada/Arizona border. Tim and I met his mom and step-dad up there, as well as Tim's brother, Nick, and his wife, Sara. We had a great time, ate lots of good food, explored a good portion of the lake, and laid in the sun all day. The water temperature must have been 80 degrees, and the visibility was awesome, so we spent a good deal of time snorkeling. I also caught a fish, (during the .5 seconds Tim asked me to hold his pole) which I forced Tim to let free immediately. The poor thing swam off dazed and completely confused. But hopefully, (as Mitch Hedberg would say) all I ended up doing was just "make it late for something."

2) Spent 3 days hanging in Carlsbad with my mom. We shopped, ate, and... shopped and ate. It was perfect.

3) Became mildly obsessed with watching the Olympics, which meant excessive DVRing (new verb), rewinding, gasping, cheering. The US swimmers were phenomenal. I know the athletes in other sports were as well, but I wear my heart on my sleeve for the swimmers.

4) Spent entirely too much money on anti-itch cream, shampoo, etc. for poor Bailey's summer skin infection. Subsequently, this also meant spending too much money on crap dog toys and treats, as buying the anti-itch collection meant entering PetSmart, the largest money-sucking conglomerate known to mankind. Every time I go in, I find myself struggling to justify why Bailey needs a new teeth-cleaning, bacon-wrapped, beef-flavored pack of rawhide treats that are shaped like chicken drumsticks and have...grill marks?

5) Gone golfing with Tim's mom. I can tell I am improving because I no longer find myself completely relieved/shocked/impressed when my club makes contact with the ball. We played 9 holes, and I think we're ready to advance to the full 18. So, Tiger Woods should watch his back. I'm just saying.

6) Surfed (pathetically, I should probably add) at Tamarack today. Tim and I are headed back tomorrow if for no other reason than so I can redeem myself. Suffice it to say it looked like I grew up in middle America and had never seen a surfboard.

7) Gone to the Padres/Phillies game last night. San Diego is in last place (go team!), but they surprisingly came away with a win yesterday. Chris was in town, so Tim, Chris, and I went with a group of Callaway people. The game was fun and the ballpark food was even better.

In three days, I go back to work, and the lazy-morning-double-coffee-cups, the Today Show, and the long mid-day walks with Bailey will be things of the past. I'm sure, in the not-too-distant future, I will be aching for just one more lazy summer day at the beach. But for now, I'm ready to meet my new students. I'm excited to jump back into The Crucible and seating charts; the Preposition Song and high-school humor. In the song "Timberwolves at New Jersey," Taking Back Sunday sings of "...fragment ideas and too many pronouns." Sounds like they're talking about a high school English essay. Bring it on...

It All Started Late on a Saturday Night...

"Officer," Slightly Stoopid

So, I've spent the last 12 days on a road trip around California. Two Saturdays ago, I drove up to Modesto for Jody and John's engagement shower, which was awesome and resulted in hours of hungover agony the following morning:


Sunday morning, I left Modesto and drove to San Francisco. Of course, I failed to remember to have cash on me for the toll to go over the Bay Bridge...thank God for GPS, because otherwise I would still be trying to locate Jen's apartment. I spent the next 3 days hanging out in the city and visiting Jen. Her new apartment is in Pacific Heights, and it's awesome. I went on a run and all the houses look just like the opening credits of Full House. I love it.


On Wednesday, I met up with my mom, Jon, and siblings and drove north to Rocklin. We spent the first night at our hotel, playing at the pool and eating too many complimentary cheese squares.


The next day, we went into downtown Sacramento to see my cousin Lindsey's wedding dress. It's absolutely stunning and she will be a beautiful bride...I'd post pictures, but I don't want Matt (her fiance and my future cousin-in-law) to accidentally stumble upon them. While the girls viewed Lindsey's dress, the boys golfed at Whitney Oaks.


Later that night, my Aunt Robin hosted an engagement party for Lindsey and Matt:


The "toasting table," complete with Jon's famous (and alcohol-laden) punch and a huge martini glass filled with Lindsey's favorite; Gummi Bears:


My beautiful mom and her beautiful sisters:


After the party, we went to a small Rocklin karaoke bar. Paul sang "Sharp-Dressed Man" and "American Girl"...not surprisingly, he was much better than anyone else that attempted to sing:


We spent the next two days wakeboarding, tubing, and relaxing on two different lakes north of Sacramento. It was beautiful and lots of fun...I wish Tim could have been there!


On Monday, I left Sacramento and drove to Moraga to visit Kristen and Scott for a couple days, then eventually made my way back to San Diego by Wednesday night. Tim had cleaned/rearranged the entire apartment and it looks amazing...

We are leaving later today to go camping and boating in Arizona with some of Tim's family. I have to admit, I could get used to this whole "summer's off" thing.