Lightening bugs

Hillsborough at dusk in the beginning of summer turns into lightening bug town.



A sea of light that a picture can not do justice.





And then it's dark, except for one.

To the garden!

It's late, I know. But today we gardened. We had to do something that grown-up people do on national holidays, and since we grilled and beered Saturday and Sunday, today had to be garden/yard day.

Jason tilled the earth and ate weeds while I planted. It was hot and I still smell of sunscreen and dirt, but it felt nice to get out in the yard a bit. This year, the word is simple. Simple simple simple. Just a few tomato plants, some basil, one squash plant and a pepper plant for fun. That is it. Last year we planted way too much stuff and the garden was out of control. We went to Guatemala and came home to a jungle of tangled gnarled vines and so many rotten tomatoes; I vowed to never garden again.

I'm excited about this year's low maintenance prospects. Surprisingly, a few plants will still yield enough goods for some yummy homemade pesto, delicious little tomato sandwiches and some fried squash. Can't wait!

Highlights from our garden adventures...

A shirtless man with a power tool thing in my yard.








Me, you know...just gardening.










Helper number one










Helper number two










Grow, little garden, grow!

My Favorite Student

I know, I know, teachers aren't supposed to have favorites. But, guess what? They do!

In some small way, all teachers have a favorite. We try not to treat any student differently because of this, but it is indeed a fact.

It is illegal for me to take a picture of my favorite student and post him on the internet.
So, instead I will post his animalification:



Yep. He's awesome.

An identity crisis

My blog is having an identity crisis. It cannot decide what color to wear, nor can it decide which template or format in which it would like to exist.

I mean, let's be honest, I am no internet aficionado or web "person", so I must resort to using the fixed templates that Blogger provides. This was acceptable until I realized that not only are there other blogs out there (who knew?) but some of them could be in the same template as mine! The shock and horror of knowing that I am just like everyone else sent me into a crazed state of trying out new templates, colors, schemes, etc... Do I want to be sassy? Earthy? Girly? Business? Simple? Should my links be bright orange or brown? It's enough to drive a blogger crazy! I've tried so many different combinations and contrasts, only to find myself back where I started, except green.

OK, fine. I'll settle for that. I choose my choice!

Could this be a life metaphor perhaps?

A kid's dream

In case you don't speak "broken kid writing", allow me to translate for you.

"When I grow up I want to be a police officer when it's my birthday. When somebody mess with a people and I stop them and I take them to jail."

An exception

About once or twice a year when Alex comes to town, I decide to cast away my nutritional scruples and go for gold medal of unhealthy eating:

The Bojangles Cajun filet chicken biscuit combo with seasoned fries and sweet tea.




Not only does this meal put a little hair on your chest and fat in your ass, but it also cures the severest of hangovers as learned during my wilder college days.

Once you begin to ingest this, there is no doubt as to why you've decided to make an exception and eat this; there is also no doubt as to why you only do this 1-2 times a year.

Lyme disease? Lets hope not!

Presumably this is not a Lyme disease tick bite. The doc says I have no need to worry. What it is though, I do not know. I suppose if I begin to exhibit signs of Lyme disease or turn the color lime, we shall have cause to worry.

Instead of worrying, we drink iced soy lattes and galavant.






Boom.

In the Sand

What a difference just one day at the beach will make! Like a good little documenter, I had my camera out and documented all of our beach fun from Saturday at Carolina Beach. Jason and I drove down Friday night and after an almost perfect veggie burger at The Copper Penny, we spent the night at Jessica's place. Saturday morning we woke up and got an early start. Coffee, Brit's donuts, and plenty of Zyrtec later, we were on the beach.

Here we are pre-sun, pre-ocean, pre-sand, just getting started.

Me getting my half moon pose on...ocean view.

Balancing stick pose with cocktails

Jason tried to catch some waves

Waiting for "waves" to wave

You can't tell I'm imagining how horrible it might be to be stung by a jelly fish or eaten by a shark

See those two poles back there? Jason and Bryce tried to climb them and got scraped up by barnacles! Silly boys.

Little love birds...

Cocktails under the umbrella.

And me, totally passed out on the way home

I wouldn't worry too much if I were you

This looks awfully familiar doesn't it? Just replace the date and you have the posters advertising the recent idea that the rapture/end of the world/apocalypse/second coming of Christ/etc... is happening tomorrow.

Now, I'm not much of a believer in this mumbo-jumbo-saved-souls-rising-into-the-sky-while-the pits-of-hell-open-beneath-us kind of crap; especially when we have no idea of if, when, or how it will actually happen. I mean, even Jesus himself (supposedly) said "But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only" (Matthew 24:36).

I do find it interesting that people are constantly trying to set dates for the damn thing. If we're all going to fly into the sky or burn in hell anyway, what's the use of trying to predict the day that it's going to happen...whoever guesses correctly isn't going to win a jar of jelly beans or anything. Should we be living in constant fear that it's going to happen any day? Minding our P's and Q's just in case of rapture? Probably not. Shouldn't we all be on our best behavior (karmically speaking) anyway, despite the fear of a burning eternity?

Furthermore, we are much more likely to suffer an "end of the world" type situation due to global warming, nuclear war, or some insurmountable natural disaster a la The Road, 2012 or The Day After Tomorrow. And there's definitely no way of predicting that and if one could predict it, it would also be pointless.

So, I hereby grant all of you the right to not be worried about tomorrow, 12/21/2012, or any other predicted apocalyptic due date. I, for one, will be drinking a cold one on the beach tomorrow afternoon and if I am swallowed up into the bowels of hell, then so be it.

Top 10 Things That Everyone Should Have For This Summer

With summer just around the corner, I find it quite important to take inventory and assess ones needs for a successful and awesome summer season. These are the top 10 things I think we should all have this year:


1) A great pair of effortless cut-off jean shorts



2) A good moisturizer with SPF



3) An array of tissuey soft colorful tank tops

4) A simple comfy black skirt

5) An awesome pair of shades


6) A great pair of running shoes

7) A great pair of flip flops and a comfy sandal shoe



8) A nice yoga mat



9) An easy little versatile dress



10) A nice cold glass of white wine on the porch



Numbers 1-4 and 7-9 are ready to go. Number 6 is in the mail. Number 5 is still in need; anyone willing to finance this?
And, number 10 will hopefully be happening in the near future.