Solo Wheel High-Fives

Update 7/14 - 7/20

Early in the week, Jordan picked up some dinner on his way home and we went out on the boat with some friends.  One of these friends was a youngerish lad, let's say 12 - but I really have no idea.  Yes, a close friend.  Jordan asked lad if he wanted to drive the boat, and he was totally up for the challenge. 

Jordan: First rule of driving: kick the beer bottles out of the way.

I had to call the help desk at work, which is always fun. At one point, the guy asked me to do something, and then I tried to use a short cut to get to the site.

Help desk: I can see that you're a blonde, but I expected more.

Me: We'll, I've been on the phone with you for an hour and you still haven't fixed my problem so, I expected more, too.

This little girl from down the street came over saying that she had started a dog walking business. I asked her to come over on Friday night while I was home because Percy had never been walked by a stranger before.  She had to carry him to the street, but otherwise he was fine.  Then Ally came over on Saturday earlier than I expected, which meant that both Percy and I had to get out of the pool for the walk.  And then on Sunday she stopped by in the morning and when she returned she told me that Percy was exhausted because he was running up the hill so fast she could hardly keep up.  My only response was, “He’s exhausted?”  Later that same day, Ally showed up with a friend and said, “You probably don’t recognize me because my sister put make up on me.”  J She’s adorable and totally adores Percy – though I think Percy is just lukewarm on the whole situation.

On Friday, I came home to a bunch of fun people at the house including Elan, Raven & Eugene.   There were other people, but they aren't going to feature in any stories that I'm about to tell.  Okay, so for anonymity sake, I'm going to change some names here, hopefully the awesome of the story still comes through.

Elan got a phone call from an A list actor's PA on his cell phone asking for a meeting.  Elan took the meeting, to find said actor inebriated and pitching Elan an idea for to protect yourself from mountain lions.  Hmm stripping out all the details is really watering down this story... just remind me to tell you about it later. 

Eugene has bought this wheel to get him around - which is pretty much the closest I've seen technology get close to a hover board.  It's like a unicycle without a seat or pedaling of any kind, and really no place to put your hands.  His friend told him it's good for him to keep his hands free for all the high-fives people want to give him.  Here's a video of someone else rockin' the solo wheel:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rB1x7mO-Mb8

So, Eugene was telling us this story about his co-workers.  We'll call them Rose and Bill for funsies. At the end of a meeting, Rose told Eugene that she wasn't feeling.  A couple of hours later, Eugene had heard that Rose had been taken to the hospital. Surprised and concerned, Eugene drove over the hospital to see if she was okay.  That's where he got the real story.

Rose: I'm fine.  Sometimes, I get where I don't feel well, and I just need some space. 

Bill: She was in her office on the floor in the fetal position!

Rose: And I asked him if he would shut the lights off and tell them what you said.

Bill: I asked her if she wanted a coke! 

Rose: and I told him to F off - all I wanted was to be alone in the dark for a bit.

Bill: So I asked her if I should call the ambulance, and she said no, but then I left and called the ambulance.

Rose: and then he came back into my office and tried to pick me up and prop me up on the chair!

Bill: I didn't want them to come in and see her on the floor and think that she was worse than she was so I propped her up in the chair and told her to look normal.

And I bet he brought her a coke to complete the picture. 

And then I finished up the conversation with some Lite Briting with Elan (this was after I was playing with the etch-a-sketch, and before I knew what I was doing I had drawn a Halo Elite.)

I don't know if I mentioned that early on in our friendship, I found out that if Kelly could marry any of the animated Disney characters, she would totally go for Gaston.  Second to him, she's settle for Aladdin.  Anytime we've been in Disney, taking a picture with Aladdin was always a priority.  So, when I found out that Zach is working with someone that used to BE Aladdin at Disney, I couldn't WAIT to tell her.  Another topic of discussion around the pool was Kelly's recent trip to Austin and the fact that walking around topless is legal there.

Kelly: I don't know what the big deal is.  They are just boobs, you can see them in the Titanic.

Kate was also over this weekend to partake in the pool.  There were a series of innocent questions from "would you like something to drink" to "where did you bike from" all of which she answered one way and then changed her answer later.

Jordan: You're very nice but you lie a lot.

Kelly: I am going to need to hit Sun-In bottle hard.

I think we both did actually…

Also, this:

http://happyplace.someecards.com/products/its-5-months-until-christmas-but-the-best-nativity-scene-of-the-year-has-already-been-made/

Is this really a thing?

Man, it's been so long, I'm sure I forgot some stuff, but you don't mind do you? :)

Siri, Play the Tarzan Soundtrack

Update 6/30 - 7/7

On Monday, it was so lovely out, we went for a boat ride.  Percy and Casper were big fans, and also really nice fur blankets for when the sun went down.   I'm not entirely sure how it happened, but just after the poison ivy scare in NY, I ended up with the gift of Ivy de Poison.  Though it is suspiciously located where Percy's paws prefer to perch. Luckily, it's only in a small spot, but still hella annoying.  I was very grateful for easy access to spray benedryl. 

After work on Tuesday, Dawne put on a movie.  She told me it was a sweet movie about a man protecting his family.  5 minutes in a zombie came out of NO WHERE.  Percy ran to comfort me, and together we finished watching World War Z.

On Wednesday night, despite the 90 degree weather, I decided to bake 10 dozen Brookies, 5 pounds of Mac and Cheese and 3 pounds of ziti - all for the upcoming Lady Liberty Party.  It was ridiculously warm that evening, so cooking was a terrible idea.  Plus Zach was having fun in the pool with friends while I was all grumpy and hot.   The nice thing was that while making and baking, I was reminded of how my mom used to make brownies and cut all the crusts off for us.  Don't worry, crust-loving-weirdos, she put the crispy bits in a ziplock for Maureen's BFF, Doreen. 

The following day, Nater arrived in from Chicago for the weekend.  We all met in Seattle to go to an art walk that our friends Sandy and Zeynep were showing at.  Prior to the event, we grabbed some coffee and pizza.  This is when I heard the following conversation between Nate & Arda.

Nater: Pie is a basic right of freedom.  It's pie, then freedom of speech.

Arda: Wait, what about gun?

Nater: Oh right, pie, guns, speech and then knives and forks.

Nater: Did you watch the World Cup?

Lucas: No, I was hiking that day.

The art walk was super fun, even though I don't know how I feel about seeing paintings from Sandy's living room and dining room for sale.  Actually, I do know how I feel: not good. 

Sandy: I went out with my book club on Saturday for dinner.

Me: You're in a book club?

Sandy: Well, it's more of a wine club.

Me: Do you still read books?

Sandy: Yeah, but we don't actually read the same book.  In fact, last week we went to go see Funny Girl together.  However, we do all know HOW to read.

Dawne: Jordan and I went to a wine and paint class last week, but I was so embarrassed by our work I wouldn't let him take them home.  He offered to bring them for the bonfire, but I was afraid part of it wouldn't burn and it would get back to us. 

The boys were all deep in discussion on Friday morning when I heard Zach say, "Hey, (insert name of his alma mater) isn't hell.  It's just a low bar.  Maybe the definition of a low bar." 

Friday was also the big party day, so there was lots to do before hundreds of people arrived. Lucas and I took separate cars to do our errands.  While still in the driveway, we put our windows down and I heard Lucas say, "Siri play Tarzan soundtrack." When I left the party store and was trying to get the balloons in the car, a woman came up to me laughing and saying, "What's really funny, is there is a guy over there, also in a Prius that has his own share of 50 some balloons that he's trying to shove into a car just like you!" Yeah, that was Lucas.  For lunch we went to McD's, the most American place we could think of.  I then made us stop off for even more ice on the way home.  We had to park the cars up at the other house for space, but luckily, Lucas helped me carry the ice.

Me: You're so strong!

Lucas: That's why they call me macho man. It's not just my affinity for disco.

During the party, Amy and Tyler arrived - Amy holding a baby and Tyler holding a dog. 

Me: Did you bring me a dog?

Tyler: Kind of.  I found him on the road.

When we asked Dawne if she had ever seen the dog before she oohed and aahed, took him into the house and called him Jack, on account of the fact that he only had one eye.  Then she proceeded to get upset that he wasn't responding to his new name.  I told her repeatedly that we were NOT keeping Jack, the one-eyed pirate.  The pups had a kind of rough night actually with the fireworks, in fact at around 1 am, Casper and Nala ran away.  Well, Casper ran like 8 blocks away, and Nala was hiding under the bed. 

After the drama of looking for Casper we were so emotionally exhausted, we just went to sleep... forgetting to clean up anything.  Including shutting off the grill (which had a pot of chilly simmering on it), and never unplugged the crock pot and a host of other sadly wasted food. 

Otherwise, it was a pretty successful party.  We went through over 200 plates, which is kind of the only way to explain how many people were there.  On the following day, we were cleaning up and we found a yo-yo on the ground.

Lucas: What is this doing on the ground?

Me: I saw a little kid playing with it.

Lucas: What would a little kid be doing with a yo-yo?

Me: Seriously?

Lucas: Yeah.  It's like saying what would a little kid want to do with a spread sheet? Yo-yo’s are serious business.

As we were cleaning up some of the condiments, Luke told me, "When I was lil I used to feel bad for ketchup b/c it didn't get the same respect as all the other sauces.’Oh ketchup? You can get that over there.'  Why isn't it with all the other sauces?"

Oh! And we brought Jack over to the vet and found a flyer so we could return him home.  The rest of the weekend was spent in the pool or on the boat.  Seriously, all day.  And I know I'm old enough to know better, but I didn't reapply my sunblock enough, and got super burnt.  I think I was trying not to put the lotion on my sunburn, but instead I just got sunburned poison ivy.  Not my best work. 

Lucas: I need to get my phone from your car.

Jordan: What?

Lucas: I mean, your car that goes in the water.

On Saturday night, I was supposed to meet up with an old college friend, but he plane got delayed.  Instead, I saw this on Instagram from my other college friends, which is almost as good as an in person visit.

Becky still hung out with me on Saturday though.  We went to the iPic, but the fancy expensive seats were already sold out.  As soon as we sat down Becky turned to me and said, "I feel like a peasant."  I mean, seriously.  We had to bring our own adult beverages from the bar, and no recliners? Ridiculous.  :P

Hope you had a lovely 4th (if you can remember that far back. :)

Don't Be Weird

As you can see, I'm trying desperately to catch myself up.  After some serious craziness, I have finally found a moment to collect my thoughts.  Those of you who know me, know that every minute I'm late on these things adds stress to my life.  I understand this is a stress created and perpetuated by me and me alone, but there it is anyway.  Mo and Momela told me to just forget about it and start fresh.  Christy told me to just make a combo update.  Neither of these were acceptable of course because I haven't missed a week since 2008, and I'm not about to ruin my streak.  Thus, here I am, updating you on 6/23-6/30 so I can relax for the rest of the week. 

In my haste, I forgot to mention that Bailey starts her work in the lab down at Columbia on Monday.  Stacey has been trying desperately to figure out how to microchip her.  I support that cause - I mean we microchip our pets so they don't get lost, don't we?  Bails will be taking the train to 125th-Harlem and then a subway from there to Columbia.  Luckily, she found some buddies who, though working different hours, will travel together.  They also found a coffee place to hang out and wait for each other.  Pretty cool.  I asked her about how many credits she was going to have when she graduated HS, and from what I can tell, she'll basically be a Junior.  One impressive young lady - even if she did for a moment think she might have been at her grandparents 25th anniversary.  :)

Some other throw backs from the party:

Jackie: The boys are playing a game in which you can't talk - so naturally Morgan and Sam lasted all of 30 seconds. 

Mo: 100% of my students passed x regents!

Pause

Mo: I also only had one student.

Stacey: I was wondering when you were going to mention that.

Lucas has a couple of new bands, and in one of them his friend doesn't really sing as much as he screams.

Lucas: How do you scream like that?

Friend: Oh, easy. That's just how I talk to my parents.

Last we spoke, I mentioned that Lucas was off to his "Rite of Passage" trip, where he would be forever changed.  He returned after a week, gave me a card, told me he loved me and was incredibly grateful for me, and then said he would have to tell me the whole story later.  The next morning, he again said he would tell me about it, but that he needed props.  That he really did wanted to share with me, but every time he thought about it he got emotional so it had to be right.  Without props or the appropriate amount of tears, I will attempt to tell you about his journey into manhood. 

At the base camp, they bathed in the incense and ritual necessary to go forth into their individual journey's. They were asked to write down what they wanted to get from their trip, so if they were ever discouraged, they could remind themselves why they were there.  Lucas wanted to becoming an honest, thoughtful, loving, and forgiving person.  Before the walked into the wilderness, one of the adults told him, "If you meet other campers or hikers, don't be weird."  Naturally, he sees someone else and he is immediately weird.  They asked where he was from, and he said, "Seattle."  Then he remembered he was going to be an honest person and said, "Wait, no.  I’m from Bellevue!"  Hopeful and excited he hiked a lot that first day.  After spending all day with no trees talking to him and no powerful realizations, he climbed to the top of a ravine feeling very discouraged.  That's when he looked down to find an incredibly old and rusty can - the only thing still visible were the words, "Be kind. Don't litter."  Which clearly was meant to be his native American name. 

Meanwhile, another camper, had written a note about Lucas to their adult. (Each camper left notes for an adult every 12 hours or so as a check in.)  The note said that Lucas had found a real connection with one of the chaperones and she thought it would be nice if he left Lucas a note.  That is how Lucas came to find a beautiful poem.

A Father To His Son

By Carl Sandburg

A father sees his son nearing manhood.

What shall he tell that son?

"Life is hard; be steel; be a rock."

And this might stand him for the storms

and serve him for humdrum monotony

and guide him among sudden betrayals

and tighten him for slack moments.

"Life is a soft loam; be gentle; go easy."

And this too might serve him.

Brutes have been gentled where lashes failed.

The growth of a frail flower in a path up

has sometimes shattered and split a rock.

A tough will counts. So does desire.

So does a rich soft wanting.

Without rich wanting nothing arrives.

Tell him too much money has killed men

and left them dead years before burial:

the quest of lucre beyond a few easy needs

has twisted good enough men

sometimes into dry thwarted worms.

Tell him time as a stuff can be wasted.

Tell him to be a fool every so often

and to have no shame over having been a fool

yet learning something out of every folly

hoping to repeat none of the cheap follies

thus arriving at intimate understanding

of a world numbering many fools.

Tell him to be alone often and get at himself

and above all tell himself no lies about himself

whatever the white lies and protective fronts

he may use against other people.

Tell him solitude is creative if he is strong

and the final decisions are made in silent rooms.

Tell him to be different from other people

if it comes natural and easy being different.

Let him have lazy days seeking his deeper motives.

Let him seek deep for where he is born natural.

Then he may understand Shakespeare

and the Wright brothers, Pasteur, Pavlov,

Michael Faraday and free imaginations

Bringing changes into a world resenting change.

He will be lonely enough

to have time for the work

he knows as his own.

The first time he read it he cried, and then he proceeded to read it 15 more times.  He took what he learned to heart, yelling it at the top of his lungs.  Freeing him of some of the sorrow he had felt during high school.  And then, he sat down and drew these lovely thank you cards to his favorite people to show his gratitude and love for their presence in his life.  After reaching this great new level of awareness and finally feeling like the trip was work it, he still had a day and half left of the trip.  The most boring time of his entire life.  He said he was so bored, and had been hungry for so long, that even the pangs of hunger were boring.  But he's finally a man now, so totally worth it.  Here's the thank you that he gave me:

On Tim's Jalepeno Potato Chips

Dawne: They just taste green to me.

Oh! My mom found the receipts from when she was born.  What is especially awesome is that her dad made them give him a ten dollar refund for the delivery room because my grandmother had my mom before she got there. 

On Friday, Zach and I tried to go out and meet people.  Only, we're both so shy that we didn't talk to anyone.  Instead, we took two hours to play two games of pool and went home.  In case anyone was wondering why I'm still single... It's clearly my terrible billiard skills.

On Saturday, I did a bunch of work.  I know, lame.  But then I met Laina, her mom, and Shana at Key Arena to see Cyndi Lauper and Cher.  They were both awesome.  My favorite line from Cyndi was when she was setting up a song from Kinky Boots and wanted to apologize for her combat boots. "There are some boots made for walking and there are some boots made for lying down."  I have some cute stories from Cher too, but I'm a lil scared about quoting an "Icon" without getting in trouble.  I'll have to tell you about it in person.

Sunday morning, I took the pups to the park.  When Zach got to the house, Lucas walked up to him, pinched his cheek and said, "Are you excited graduation boy?!?" I drove down to Wild Buffalo Wings with Kelly, where we had fried food and beer.  Then we headed over to Laserquest for some serious laser tag action.  You know, typical college graduation party.  After that, we went to the iPic to see Maleficent, which was magnificent!  And then I was seriously exhausted from a full day of fun. 

I'm not entirely sure I covered it all, but I sure to hope I covered the good stuff. :)  Happy 4th weekend!

Lower Quartile Aged

(Update 6/16 - 6/22)

Monday morning, Lucas, the high school graduate needed help doing something that I learned how to do when I was 5.  I won't embarrass him with details, but it would be the equivalent of not knowing how to read and write cursive.  Either way, I was kinda nice still being needed, even if I was a little shocked by why I was needed. 

On Tuesday, I found out that Kelly is one of those people who can just be walking along and find a four leaf clover.  I am also hoping that this luck rubs off on me if I hang out with her enough.  I especially needed it the last couple of weeks!

I mentioned earlier that Lucas was going on a life altering camping trip.  As he told me that he would never be the same, I captured this moment in time of the kid I once knew.  And then we all just hoped and prayed that he would survive. 

Wednesday, June's Bark Box arrived.  Have you guys heard about this?  Basically, you get this surprise box of treats and toys for your pup every month.  It's always such a fun surprise to see what's inside. Plus, they donate 10% to shelters/rescue groups.   This month was themed French chic:

The Eagles have been very prominent lately.  Like 3 or 4 Eagles every night flying in and checking out the snack options, AKA, my pups.  We were in the pool when one swooped in.  Dawne and I both jumped out of the pool with our respective dogs.  She went back in, but to be honest, I feel like floating heads might be a target for those guys too.

There is a sign on our road advertising a handyman and painter.

Zach: I feel really bad every time I see that sign.

Me: Why?

Zach: Because the sign isn't painted well and it is poorly constructed.

This week was a very long, very stressful week, after a previously overwhelming week.  The kind of week where you get home and you feel the same exhaustion that you would feel after running all day, only you have hardly had time to get up from your desk. I was very grateful that as my chest was heavy with the weight of things not done at 430 on a Friday, my coworker Rick surprised me with a genuine offer of help.  Then I came home, picked up Percy and Zach, walked for 45 min and then jumped on a plane to NY. 

My nephew Patrick referred to his teacher as old.

Maureen: Old? She's 22!

Patrick: Fine, middle aged.

Maureen: That means that you think she's going to die at 44.

Patrick: Okay, lower quartile aged.

Mo's family were all playing Snake Oil.  Maureen got a card with "Honeymooner", Patrick with "Pregnant Woman", Pat got "Kindergartner", Kyle "High School Drop-out" and finally Kevin got "Bum."  To which Kevin said, "Hey! It's all the stages of life!

Mo put a list of her fridge entitled "Wondering what you can do for mom?" Turns out, Kyle volunteered to help clean.  He is also the kid that asked for a bucket full of cleaning supplies for his birthday (which is grandparents were happy to give him.)  So he pulled out his cleaning supplies to help, but was being frugal with the Pine Sol.  Later, after they had cleaned most of the house and moved onto the deck, Kyle went under the sink for a new sponge and shouted, "MOM! There's a whole thing of Pine Sol in here.  YOU DIDN'T NEED MINE!"

Last week, Mo and the boys did a lot of biking.  They biked 10 miles on Tuesday and Wednesday and then 18 miles on Thursday with her oldest and youngest (Kevin was playing lacrosse every night). At one point, Mo starts really going as fast as she can.  Kyle (who is always in the lead and has to wait up for her) starts to go faster so she can't pass.  Challenge accepted.  She puts the bike in a higher gear and starts pedaling faster.  Then I think for a second he's about to get upset as she's passing him but instead he turns to her and shouts "That's my Mom!"

On Saturday, we went out to dinner at Traveler's Rest to celebrate my parent’s 45th anniversary.  As soon as we sat down, Mo started sneezing.

Mo: I must be allergic to something.

Frita: It could be my deodorant, but I'm not wearing any.

We had a lovely dinner, even saw Eva's uncle.

Me: We saw Uncle Joe tonight.

Evivova: Did he recognize you?

Me: Nope. But I told him I had hung out with you and Freddie today and then I clicked.

Evivova: At least he remembered me!

On Sunday morning, Mo called to ask my mom if she should take Percy on a hike so that I could sleep in.  Only, Momela woke me up to ask me if I wanted her to take Percy to on a hike, so obviously I was going to get my lazy self out of bed.  It was a great hike, as always.  Half way through..

Mo: Are you allergic to poison Ivy?

Me: YES!

And that's when I saw that it was EVERY WHERE.  To ease my panic, Mo picked up some Jewelweed just in case.  As soon as I got home, I washed Percy, then through my clothes in the wash and took a shower.  I wasn't taking any chances.  After church, Bailey and I went to lunch together.  When I got back to the house, she was waiting for me on the patio.  She looked up and said, "I just realized, I wasn't at their 25th anniversary!"  Considering that I was younger than she is now at my parent's 25th, I surprised that this just occurred to her.  :) 

Frita, earlier that morning: You know where we were 45 years ago? 

Momela: Yeah, getting back from the airport because you promised our relatives that we would get up early the day after our wedding and drive them.

Frita: That's right!

Later that evening, we had a little party to celebrate - all the cool kids were there.  I had drawn our family as stick figures to demonstrate that we were going to take a picture at the party and give it to our parents as a present.  It was quality work, I must say.  One little girl kept trying to pet Percy, and after about the 5th time of him shying away, she walked off announcing, "THIS IS WHY I HAVE LOW SELF-ESTEEM."

Over all, it was a very quick weekend trip, but also very awesome.  Plus Bella girl was being an awfully patient cousin the whole weekend. 

Almost caught up!

Nerds in SIlly Hats

Update 6/9 - 6/15

I met Zach and Dawne for lunch on Monday, which happened to the right after the E3 announcements.  When they asked how my day was, I mentioned the briefing and what we announced. 

Zach: After 10 years you're finally sounding like a geek.

Is that all it took?  :)

On Wednesday, I got up early for a 6 am swim with Lucas and Percy.  Then got dressed and met Kelly and Piper at the park at 7:15.  I also brought my aunt's dog Shorty, so all told the pack was 5 deep. And, by 9:07, I was at my desk working away and feeling pretty good about myself. 

I forget what the term is when you're voted "Most likely..." in a yearbook, but both Lucas and Arda were both voted in.  Lucas, most likely to have been born in another decade and Arda was most likely to sleep in class.  Arda was pretty angry about his reputation being marred, but probably less angry about all those awesome naps. 

Me: Are you graduating with honors like your brother?

Lucas: Which brother?

Me: Zach.

Lucas: Nerd

Me: At least he would have if he had responded to an email before graduation.

On Thursday, we all gathered in the red Prius on our way to Lucas' graduation.  We were cutting it close by only giving us an hour to get to Seattle Center.  Jordan was, as always, highly stressed about the situation.  Meanwhile, I was taking selfies and posting them on the interwebs. 

Zach and I walked Lucas to where he needed to be at Key Arena.  Then we met the grandparents and aunt and uncle for MOD Pizza. There were a bunch of speeches, some awful, some were mediocre, but there was one excellent.  The kid basically said he was never going to have captive audience this big ever again so he was going to use it to self-promote his business, which he did.  And then he gave an insightful mini-history lesson that was both interesting and amusing.  And then Lucas graduated. 

Me (pointing the holder): Look, you put your diploma here.

Lucas: Yeah, It might be the only one I get!!

After the normal picture fun, we headed over to Full Tilt for ice cream and pinball.

Lucas: Wow, I'm not doing very well.

Me: Oh, yeah, did we forget to tell you?  After you graduate, you lose your ability to pin the balls.

As we were leaving, Zach says to me, "That was a bit much; next time let’s try the half tilt."

On Saturday, I actually worked a bit, in between going to the park three times.  First by myself, second time was with Kelly, and then when I was getting back from that trip, Zach asked me to meet him and his roommate Tristan.  Then we ran to the grocery store and got some steaks and had them on the grill when Aunt Pat and Uncle Ray got back into town.

On Sunday, we got to have another big day.  In Chi-town, D&J were celebrating Nate's graduation and party.  And then back here in Seattle, we had Zach - man graduating.  I got up early to bring the pups to the park, and then picked up Zach and brought him over to get some donuts for breakfast.  Then we drove over to University of Washington.  We got there early, so we made a detour to UVillage to walk around the shops.  Against his will, I dropped him back off at the arena to get ready for the graduating (AKA standing in line for an hour.)  Then I met up with Mort and Judy, and kinda met up with Aunt Pat, Uncle Ray, Lucas and Mariana, before heading to the arena.  Lucas was wearing a fedora, and then turned to me and said.  "Look at those guys.  I wouldn't be caught dead in a silly hat.  And look at those guys (referring to the doctorates).  Those guys are ready for a renaissance fair!"

Zach: This is like being on a plane only the seats are less comfortable, you have less to entertain you, and at the end, you aren't at a new destination. 

It was a long graduation, with over 1600 graduates who all walked individually.  But it was totally worth it, right Zach?  Afterwards, Mort and Judy had everyone over to celebrate, which was lovely.   Then I dropped Zach off at his apartment.  When I asked him if he had a good day he said, "Those donuts were awesome."  :)

More to come!