The next day, we worked our way up scenic Highway 1. On our journey, we made some friends. Meet the chubby little squirrel-like thing that will be your best friend because maybe, just maybe you've got some food in your hand. That you will share. Fatty, I call him. Also, meet the perpetually lazy elephant seal,who will stretch up, grunt and yawn, move 3 feet toward the ocean, and need a nice long nap. They also like to throw dirt on themselves and slam into each other. Uhhhhhggggrrrrhhh... nap time.

Next on the itinerary was a trip to beautiful wine country. This is at the Gloria Ferrer champagne caves where we enjoyed a little of the bubbly. Wine country is absolutely picturesque. I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

The end of our Cali 2006 vacation was spent well touring the vineyards of Sonoma. This is our last stop (out of many) at the Cline Cellars vineyards. The day was absolutely gorgeous, with some fabulous wine. Jeremy and I bought a combined total of 11 bottles (at least one from every stop) to start our wine collection. We'll be enjoying California for months to come. See the photobucket link for more pictures! THANK YOU, Melissa for a fabulous vacation. It was a blast. You're the best!! Good to be back!

An early Father's Day shout-out

Since I'll be in Cali this weekend... a little tribute to my Papa Bear. Top 10 Reasons he's the best (there are many more, I just had to choose ten!):
1. He is in a house full of women. All the time. Even our dog was a girl, and he handles it so well.
2. He used to let me put barrettes in his hair.
3. He took me down to Murray Park to teach me how to ride my bike with the super sweet pink seat.
4. He has always worked hard to take care of us girls. And never complained.
5. He loves good beer. Just like his daughter.
6. He used to do the Donald Duck voice for me all time just to make me laugh. It would work every stinkin time.
7. He used to read books to me using the coolest voices. Sure, sometimes I wanted him to get on with the story, but it was hilarious. And he'd lick his finger about 50 times before turning the page cause he knew the suspense was killing me.
8. He knows when to let go of old clothes (or when we pry them from his grip). He hasn't even worn the velour 70s shirts in a while! Check out those shades. That man is stylish.
9. He likes to think that he's tough on boyfriends (casually mentioning a shotgun in the closet), but he's always looking our for our best interest. And we know it.
10. He started his own business, and I'm so proud of everything he's done. He's amazing.
Ok, I lied. #11: He's taking us to the airport at 5 a.m. tomorrow. He's the best. I'm telling you!

Happy Father's Day, Dad!

Wish I could have been there with ya... but I will definitely tell Hollywood you said hello. LOVE YOU more than you know! See you when we get back!

Can you dig it... man??

Cali in 1.5 days!! These are people I am fully expecting to run into (aka "stalk") and hang out with while there. I have full intentions of it. We'll be best friends, me and Seth Cohen. Many, many pictures to come. Meahwhile, go a little old school with me and enjoy some Pac and Dre for old time's sake. West side. Cause you and I know it's the best side.

Kids do the darndest things. Adults too.

Before explaining the pictures... a weekend update. Friday: Jeremy came home (hooray!). That night, we went to the Fountain. Good times were had by all. Saturday: I was a river queen allllll day. That night, went to a cookout. Venison and elk were had by all. Well, except me. Sunday: Jeremy mowed my lawn and did some serious damage with the weed whacker (what a man, what a man, what a man, what a mighty good man). Our backyard is less embarassing now. It was a jungle- a perfect home for ratsies. Arnie is happier. That night, I met up with Melissa, Greg, and Greg's kiddies at El Porton. Greg's daughter insisted on funny faces for the pictures. So, there you go... the explanation of why we look insane. Look at my tongue. Ummmm... yikes. By the way, my eyes were crossed for a really long time while she took the picture. That's why I'm not really looking at the camera. HA. And Melissa's a pirate. Arrrgh.
5 DAYS TILL CALIFORNIA (cue the theme to the "OC")!!

Hoorah!

Congratulations, Eric and Emily!! Wish I could have been there! Love to both of you!

A message from Cody and the gang...

Stay off drugs, kids. Or something like this could happen to you. Although, sometimes, if you're very lucky, you can kick that caffeine pill-poppin' habit and perhaps this could happen to you. But it's rare. Very rare. Caffeine kills. No foolin'.

PS, holla to my old friends Kyle and Jaime who silently stalk me and occasionally say hello. Miss you guys! Talk to me more often. It makes me happy. That part's from Elizabeth.

Word.

1. Update from our furry little rat-a-tat friends: they're still here and in full effect. Although last night I sat in the lodge and did not see one. But they were there the night before. We're trying to keep Arnie's food in the house and take away their food source.
2. Baseball game= fun. Did not watch 2 consecutive minutes of it. Uhhh... did we win? Dunno.
3. Midget wrestling= Bad Boy Brian won. There was only one match, which I will admit was a little disappointing. Sorry, no pics.
4. Saturday I saw "X-Men," which was awesome. I want to be Mystique, I've decided. Those would be some incredibly useful superpowers... the endless possibilities...
5. I am knitting again. Trying to finish up a blanket I started on Spring Break. Whoops.
6. Still haven't turned on the air conditioner in my house. It's all about will power at this point. So far it hasn't been bad at all. However, I predict a break-down of the will soon.
7. I'm going up to Fayetteville with my sister tomorrow! She has a deposition up there the next 2 days, so she's going to get a hotel room. So I'll stay with her and get to see my beloved Virginia! Hooray!

PS, this cartoon is called "Jeez, don't get huffy you're a rental" from Natalie Dee, which is funny cause the rats are living in the gutters. Sick. SICK, SICK, SICK.

Politically incorrect entertainment

It does appear that summer is officially upon us. Time for lemonade, swimming pools, grilling out, potato salad, and of course, the greatest game on dirt- the Travs. And tonight, it is midget wrestling, folks. Now THAT's entertainment.
Today is my first official day of summer vacation. I am on my way to meet some teachers for a little lunch at Gusano's, then this afternoon I am going to meet a lady about a nanny position. Gotta stay busy this summer, right? Have a good weekend, everyone! I will take pictures of the wrestling. Meanwhile, visit the midget wrestling museum site . Seriously, who knew?

Our house is under attack.

Last night I received a disturbing phone call while at dinner at Melissa's. It was Annie. She sounded upset. "Elizabeth," she said, "there are rats on the house."
"What?!" I said with panic in my voice.
She was taking Arnie for a walk, and when she got back to put him outside, that's when she saw the army of darkness. The rat brigade. ON the bars of our windows on our patio. ON THEM. Crawling DOWN them. She thought there were approximately 2-3 of them.
My solution was to call our landlord. That's what they do, right? Right?? They save us. There was no answer on his phone. My next suggestion? Well, call the cavalry, of course. Who you gonna call? Kat and Karl, duh. Karl likes to shoot things.
The good friends that they are came right over, trusty shooter in hand. The next few hours consisted of us sitting in the lodge, waiting for the little fiends to come down the window. When they would appear, I'd squeal, grab Kat's leg and Karl would go into stealth mode. He'd grab the beebee gun, dart outside, quietly open the gate, and they would inevitably run away. Every time. But he sure did give it a try. Thanks, Karl. You're our hero! What would we do without you??
The rats still live. I will keep you posted.

A little... uh... "Kat and mouse," anyone? Ohhhhhh I crack myself up.
It makes it classier to drink wine while shooting things, lesson learned.

Summer '06 has begun! Whoooo!

Summer '06 has gotten off to a rockin' start. Saturday was Emily's bachelorette party (I win! I'm the first to have pics- HA!), which was a freaking fun time. We started off at Kat's house for snacks (yum) and games.

Turns out that someone (who... ME??) got a little camera-happy. I swear I took 50 pictures. I tried to narrow it down, but I just like too many of them. So bear with me. Summer '06 (say: WHOOOOOOOOOO!)

Straight p-i-m-p-i-n-g in the limo

We then arrived at the River Market, ladies out on the town. Who's that random boy in the background? Sneaky of him.

Kat and Erika showin their jaaaaazzzzz hands! Ta da!

And the best photo of the evening award goes to...

Imagine you're a seahorse! Go with it!

Later, at Ernie Biggs, the piano men were kind enough to indulge us girls in a little Salt N' Pepa (you KNOW how I feel bout those songs!) with a little "Shoop" action. Yeah, we busted it out. Old school.

Here's Emily up on stage. Way to go, Em!

The next day...

Sunday after a much-needed meal at Damegoode with Kat, Karl, and Matty P., I went down to the ol' dirty river for a little river magic Memorial weekend. Gasp in awe at all the people. That's just one side of the island, people. There were many more people. Volleyball players and rednecks galore. Starting from the left in the Hawaiian shirt and moving clockwise: Benji (no clue how to spell his name), Jeremy, Kelley, Ben, Jamie.

Jamie and Ryan
And this is Julie and Jamie...

Look at those waves lap up on the shore. It's our very own Redneck Riviera. Beautiful, isn't it?

And the big finale to the weekend...

To finish off the weekend, we took the boat on the river to watch the fireworks at Riverfest. I kept trying to get a decent picture, but digital photography just isn't that fast. Every time I was like, "Oh! That one's pretty! Let me grab my camera, turn it on, wait for it to get in the right mode..." Snap... bad picture. The second one looks like the bridge was on fire. Don't worry- it wasn't. It was a fantabulous ending to a fantabulous weekend. And I'm proud to be an AmeriCAN (scream at the top of your lungs)!

Mere hours left.

And the clear winner is... "The Outsiders!" I got one vote for the "Karate Kid," and it was a sympathy vote because he could see my disappointment. That's alright. Just under 4 hours left! Nothing can get me down!
I will still be able to post over the summer because I actually have internet access at my house (a first ever). Plans for this weekend: Riverfest ya'll! And Emily's bachelorrette part-ay. Yeehaw!
Oh no! This is the part where Johnny kills that Soc! Got to go! Peace out, friends! Stay golden, Ponyboy. Stay golden.

1 day.

Ohhh the excitement is just climbing around here. Today I have no children officially until 7th period. But I am taking down all my classroom stuff and cleaning. Eeew. Tonight is 8th grade graduation. I am in charge of the reception afterwards, so keep your fingers crossed that the flowers arrive without wilting, the cake is spelled correctly, the punch is flowing and never-ending, and we have the best dang nuts and mints around. The kids wear caps and gowns now (we started last year), which is just fun. The teachers still sing a song to the graduates ("Go My Children," the same one they sang to us). So somewhere around 7:30 have a good laugh because you will know I am in front of hundreds of people looking uncomfortable and singing a little tune. It's fine- go ahead and laugh getting that picture in your head. I am.

2 days.

It's official. The kids have gone absolutely flippin' insane. Perhaps I have too. It's hard to tell.
Today I am screening kiddoes going into 3rd grade for the GT program. Tomorrow I have no kids except for 7th period. So I have to pack my room away. All those cutesie decorations I have worked so hard on need to be tossed out. Or put in the closet for next year. Friday is a half day (2 halves plus a whole= 2 days, that's my logic). I need to pick a movie to show my homeroom. It has to be G or PG. Any thoughts???
My ideas were "The Karate Kid," (HUSH, I freaking love it), "The Princess Bride," and the "Outsiders." It must be on VHS because my classroom doesn't have a DVD player, and I have those. Any other suggestions?

4 days.

Today are the primary elections, so get out there and vote! Vote Democrat, I mean. Only Democrat. Across the board. :) See your choices here. It's not only about Taylor and Katherine today, folks! Although, you should probably vote there too. Be a part of the process, people!
Cartoon from Married to the Sea

5 Days. Holla, holla, holla.

Today felt like a Natalie Dee day. There are officially 5 days left of school. The 8th grade is gone... I have no classes today until 5th period. And I'm giving tests. Whaa haa haa. It feels great.
Weekend: Friday I took Jeremy to a teachers' function at Juanita's. It's like meeting 15 sets of parents all at once. He did a good job. Saturday: Greek Food Fest (fabulouso- I have leftover black bean hummus for lunch today. Mmmm...) and fun on the river. That night we went to Brooke's going away thingy at Vino's. Good luck in Batesville, Brooke! Sunday: shopping with the Katie and fish fry at the principal's house. Thrilling, huh?
Still no job lined up for summertime. I'm starting to think that maybe fate doesn't want me to get one. Maybe it is telling me that I should enjoy my summer. Perhaps I will volunteer somewhere. That could be good. Have a good week, everyone. While you're working hard, remember... I have 5 days left. :)

Raise your hand if you're happy it's Friday!

I am! I am! Friday! Friday! Friday! Things coming up for the weekend: party with the teachers tonight to celebrate the 4th grade teacher's 36 years at CLS... Saturday Greek Food Fest... SPANAKOPITA (bless you!)... Sunday fish fry with the teachers... We go nuts when school starts to get out! Today is my last day with 8th grade, and next week I have sporadic classes with 7th grade, then I'm DONE. Holla holla holla holla! To help you have a happy Friday (as if you wouldn't anyway)... watch this hilarious music video . I totally want to make one of these. Very little else makes me as happy as some dancin' fools.
Have a good weekend!