Farewell Twenty-five.

So this is my very last week of being 25.

I will miss 25. It has been a great year. Lots has happened. I started a new job that I love, I did some travelling, made some new friends, learned some new things, and just had some really good times.

Soon I will be 26. I think that 26 is the perfect age. My friend Tina and I have had many discussions about this. When you are 26, you can be married with a couple kids and it's fine. If you're single and just doing the working and having fun thing, it's fine. You are a few more years out of college, so you are taken a bit more seriously by your bosses and colleagues. It's really, a perfect age.

Turning 27, however?? I am terrified. But I have a year. No worries. Plenty of time to dig myself deeper and deeper into denial.

Plans for the big day?? OH. Well, going camping with the other Alki gals at Maryhill State Park! I am very excited, for "God Bless America Tour 2008". It will be three days of hot hot hot camping, smores, silliness and maybe some windsurfing. This will be me:

So I have high hopes for 26. I think it will be a fantastic year!!

YES.

Another reason to love Summer....

... is lots of tennis. Namely, the Championships at Wimbledon.

I LOVE following this, the greatest championship in pro Tennis. And many years, I've gotten a bonus birthday gift of a Wimbledon final on my birthday. You cannot put a price on a Federer/Nadal final. And to be perfectly honest, some years, Wimbledon tennis has outshone any birthday gift I received. No offense, Mom. I just love this game THAT much.

Women's tennis? Ah. I can take it or leave it. Right now, the girls don't have much game. We've got the pretty, silly girls (aka Maria Sharapova.... and do not even get me started on Anna Kournikova, though I'm not even sure she still plays tennis, or if she ever really did) and the mean, self-involved ones (Williams sisters). Until the girls can step up with some class (aka Justine Henin, Steffi Graf), I will give a yawn and watch the boys play.

And for the record, I still miss Pete Sampras. Sigh.

Fremont on Parade

Today I went to the Fremont Summer Solistice parade and street fair with some friends. I had never been to this (in)famous event. I knew it would be crazy. I knew that there would be hippies everywhere, naked painted people on bikes, colorful costumes and probably a couple of political demonstrations. Nearly 7 years in quasi-liberal Bellingham did not prepare me for this. In the above picture, someone dressed as Dick Cheney is drinking a carton of motor oil while riding on a papier-mache tank covered in balloons. Of course the scene would not be complete without Papa Smurf on a bike riding alongside.

Additionally, I should have taken a picture of the 10 foot long marijuana joint painted like an American flag, complete with sign saying, "Weed, not War". In my state of shock/amusement/"what the..", my camera was long forgotten.

Sometimes when I observe these neo-political statements designed to offend, I think about Chehalis, my conservative little hometown and wonder what the rednecks and churchy grannies would think about THIS.

As shocked and fairly overwhelmed by such a display as I was, I find myself grateful for freedom of expression. It was a crazy, colorful and chaotic spectacle for sure, but it is always interesting and refreshing when beliefs, cultures, statements, and causes collide in one place, even on one little street.

For most of the humid afternoon, our little group of normally chatty friends was rendered speechless. Surely nothing on cable can compare to people-watching on the first day of Summer in Fremont. Eventually we peeled away from the crowd and sat on a curb, eating our Vietnamese chicken skewers, fighting exhaustion, and watching bleary-eyed as the crowd went by.

Our new friend Cody took this picture of Sarah, Natanya and I, which I felt was blog-worthy.

A fun, enlightening day for sure.

Now I am off to nap.

SUMMER

It is finally, finally here. After months of rain and wind and cold and gray and snow in April, SUMMER is here TODAY!

This morning, I excitedly threw on my white skirt and my new Nine West ($30 on clearance!) silver ballet flats to celebrate. I tossed my sunglasses into my bag, KNOWING I would use them today.

Words cannot express my love for this very season. Summer means sunshine (usually), BBQs, dusty flip flops, big coolers full of cold drinks, hitting the tennis court at 9 pm knowing you still have plenty of time to play, frisbees a-flyin, no more teachers and no more books, laziness, tans, watermelons at 2 cents a pound, eating outside, Mariners games with the roof open (ahem, more on that later), 4th of JULY (!!), flowers, gardens, and little ones splashing and squealing thru sprinklers wearing their teeny tiny swimsuits and not caring about a single thing. YES. I LOVE summer.

I have high hopes for this summer. I hope I get lots of cherry tomatoes off my one little plant. I hope the Mariners can get it together and preserve some kind of team dignity. I hope that Seattle gets the sunshine it deserves after a long, dark fall/winter/spring, and I REALLY hope to fully enjoy every little and big thing this season has to offer. Without spending $5/gallon to get there.

So. What do YOU love about summer? What are you looking forward to??

Let's do a blog...

I love blogs. I love discovering blogs that I love. I love writing and commenting on silly and somewhat important things. So I thought it was time to start a blog. Yes. Another thing to take up giant chunks of my time that is somehow justifiable because everyone seems to be doing it, and paying attention to it. These days, blogs have become entirely relevant (socially speaking), but what's great about them is that they are also personal and creative. And hey... even grandmas, school children and criminals have blogs these days! So it is time to blog.

This will not be a "let's transcribe my personal diary for the whole world to see" kind of blog. Oh no. I believe such things are meant to be private. I do hope to run commentary on the following:

-Random happenings, silly stories
-News, media and politics
-Seattle
-Religion (mine and others)
-Things I buy that I love
-Sports
-And whatever

Thanks for reading. :)