Peach Fest Day 1

Always a fun time going home for the Peach Festival...and this year started earlier than usual! I got up at 7:00 to get in line at the Tech dairy for the once a year phenomenon that is peach ice cream. And no, I was not the first in line.

So funny ice cream story--- the signs said there was a limit of 6 1/2 gallons per person. I'm standing there thinking wow, 61/2 gallons is a lot, but they only make it once a year, so I'll get the limit. Now supposedly the word "containers" was on the sign, meaning six 1/2 gallon containers, but I never saw that. I grabbed a crate of ice cream (8 containers) and started stacking more on. This lady that had arrived much later than me runs up and yells that I'm taking more than allowed. This starts a whole conversation about exactly what the sign says, the whole while people are coming in and grabbing ice cream. I did not stand in line for an hour and a half to watch peach ice cream sell out so I grabbed my containers wrapped in a beach towel and hightailed it away from this woman. They do not mess around during the Peach Festival!!

The rest of the day was spent perusing the sidewalk sales, visiting old friends and attending concert in the park. Local bands playing fun covers, and the weather actually cooled down (although the rain did have everyone worried for a bit). Ran into old friends and visited with others in town for the festivities until late in the night when mom and I decided to search for the peach treasure in the dark. It would have been a humorous event, if the stupid thing hadn't actually been found there the next day!

I'll be humming it all day....

I always though my life would be really cool with a soundtrack that played behind me all day long. Now I know what I can start each morning with. Your Theme Song is Beautiful Day by U2

"Sky falls, you feel like It's a beautiful day Don't let it get away" You see the beauty in life, especially in ordinary everyday moments. And if you're feeling down, even that seems a little beautiful too.

What's" Your Theme Song?

Sunday Funday

I thing I'm finally back on Texas time. Saw Love Guru today. Classic Mike Myers...some truly hilarious moments and an ok plot. It was nice to see Justin Timberlake totally make fun of himself as well. After the movie I went to hang out with some friends and had a great chicken burrito dinner. So nice to have adult conversation over dinner! Came home to measure the living room for this week's project: laminate floors. I'm going to Home Depot tomorrow to try to track down the laminate I want and to make sure they have enough. So excited about this! I'm also excited about the Peach festival this weekend. I'll be driving in sometime Thursday and staying through the weekend. I can taste that peach ice cream now...

Oh yeah, ummm I decided I was going to do something a little crazy since school was out and I don't have to fit the "teacher mold". I now have several hot pink strands in my hair, but you can only see it in a ponytail :) I'll post a picture when I find a good one of the back of my head.

California Dreaming...

Whew... It's nice to be back in my own bed! California was incredible. Flew into San Jose and with the help of the nice Garmin lady I eventually made it to the thriving metropolis of Turlock, located in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mts. It felt like I had stumbled into a Steinbeck novel... farms and foothills all around. If you look closely, you can see the wind turbines.

Bob spends most of his time rehearsing the brass line on whatever field they can find. I found a quiet place to read to help me pass the time. That's me and Mr. Twain.

Most of the week was spent driving from the hotel in Turlock to the practice field in Hilmar (home of the Hilmar Cheese Factory... I took the tour!). Everyone sleeps on the floor in the gym. How cozy :) We did get a hotel room for a few nights since it would be a long time till Bob sleeps in a real bed again, plus it was nice to have a real shower! Here's Bob at rehearsal.


On Wednesday they had a free day and it meant a car ride into San Fransisco. We took the brass staff with us and learned that you can have 5 or 6 conversations going at the same time while Bob is driving, but you can't do it while he's parking...

The Tigers were in town to play the Giants and we are not ones to turn down a baseball game. AT & T park is an awesome stadium to watch a game, though we did switch our outfield seats for some slightly less sunny in the upper level.

From the park we hit Pier 39 and Fisherman's Wharf. Such a touristy place, but it had its moments. We made the 5 block trek uphill to see Lombard Street, the "crookedest" street in the world. Sunset on the beach was too good to pass up, so it was off the Ghirardelli Square to wait.

I'm still a bit jet lagged and have many more pictures from the trip, but they'll have to wait for another blog. All in all, it was a great trip and I'm so glad I got to spend a little bit of my summer with my husband (for a change!)

Leaving on a jet plane...

My bags are packed, I'm ready to go...

Leaving for San Jose today. First trip to California, so I'm pretty excited. A little nervous too, because Bob usually does the navigating, but this time I'm on my own. For those who have never tried to give me directions, I am somewhat challenged in that department. I rarely travel into downtown Austin by myself for fear that I'll end up somehwere off the beaten path and never return. However, Budget is prepared for people like me and has this fantastic GPS unit for the rental car. I may just make it. Plan is to drive down to meet the husband and experience the joys of working on the food truck for a few days in support of SCV. Hoping to get up to San Francisco for a Giants' game on Wednesday. I would love to add to my ballpark tour :)

If ever there was a time to get out of Texas, it's in the midst of our current heatwave. Day 27 of temps near 100. High in San Jose is mid 80s...hallelujah!

I do all my own stunts

Just got back from my Friday the 13th booking. I wasn't sure what a scene in a horror movie would involve, but I was practiced my "terrified face" all day. Turns out I should have practiced my fainting. We did the screaming and running scene, then the director asked us to faint... all 50 of us. It was humorous to watch as a wave of people began to fall like dominoes. I did a quick check to make sure there was no ant bed around me then flopped down spilling the contents of my purse on the ground. It was soooo cheesy! They told us to check the special features on the dvd, so I'll be sure to let you know if I made it. I thought I'd let you see my facial expressions since I practiced so hard :)

ARRRRRRRRHHHH!

It's not an emmy, but I'll take it

Squad won a superior trohpy. My arms hurt from doing cheer motions for two hours. I can't remember my phone number, but I can do 3 cheers an xtreme routine and a hip hop dance with my eyes closed. Scary.

Should I be scared?

I just got an e-mail about some "extra" opportunites here in Austin, and found myself booked for a scene in the Friday the 13th remake on Thursday. It's supposed to be a park scene, so it seems relatively safe I guess... Unlike the Friday Night Lights episodes we "extra-d" in last year, I don't think I'll be having a screening party for this one! I hated Freddy movies when I was in middle/high school. I can't think of a single one I watched all the way through!

Silence is golden

I must admit my first few days of summer vacation I spend doing as little as possible. In fact I try to spend as much of it sleeping as I can. It takes a little bit to adjust from the constant stress and chaos of a middle school classroom to the laid back days at home. Which is why my system goes into shock when I turn around 7 days later and take the cheerleaders to UCA camp. If you thought a kindergarten playground was loud, they have nothing on 11, 12 and 13 year old cheerleaders. I heard every animal possible spelled out today (H-HI-Hippo, J-A-G-U-A-R-S, P-PA-P-A-N-T-H-E-R) and in case you didn't catch it the first 6 times, they continued to proudly shout their mascot the entire length of the hallway, across the courtyard and into the gym. Oh they've got spirit, yes they do! I think most of the neighborhood had spirit by the end of the day. If they didn't, it was because their hearing had been destroyed by the shrieking and "wooos" of the spirit stick award ceremony. I sat in my car for 10 minutes in silence before I could figure out my route home yesterday. I came home to silence that was beautiful! No TV, no radio, no phone... it was golden. I just sat on the couch soaking it in. Today I actually fell asleep 10 minutes after I walked in the door. It is exhausting trying to match the energy level of 20 pre-teens! But I only have one more day, and then they belong to their parents for the rest of the summer. It's the only thought that's getting me through this.

I have had plenty of Wii time since I don't have to compete with husband or child this week. It's been great for some late night entertainment when I can't "turn off my mind".

Home Alone....

Last week I took Will to Louisiana to spend a month with his grandparents. This morning I took my husband to the airport for his month with Vanguard http://www.scvanguard.org/ . Which means for the next 4 weeks I will have the house all to myself... well, myself and the cat. I think she's quite pleased to have me all to herself.

My plans for my 4 weeks? Plenty of pool time, a few good books, movie marathons and getting sod in the backyard. I also have plenty of time to devote to guitar hero so I can beat Bob when he gets back home!

We went to Joe Dimaggio's for our "last dinner"... Bob has to eat off the food truck for most of the summer and I don't cook for one :) Such a swanky place, and such incredible food. We both had to take part of our entree's home in order to fit in some tiramisu. I am a sucker for a good creme brulee or tiramisu, and JD's did not disappoint. Here's a post-dinner picture.