My Boy, Ethan

Here are a bunch of photos of my boy, Ethan from our California visit.

Year of the Zoo: San Diego

We went to the Denver Zoo in March and when making plans recently I realized I'm going to visit quite a few zoos this year. I declared this year of the zoo! Yesterday we went to the San Diego Zoo with Ethan, Tiffany, and Robert. We were there a long time, but didn't get to see the whole zoo! I got some great photos and we got to see animals we'd never seen before--like a porcupine!

The porcupine ran into his cave and we thought we wouldn't see him anymore, but he ran back out. Yes, ran. And he put on quite a show.

Ross is getting better with the camera. He took this great photo of a big cat that we could barely see in the back of his enclosure.

 Green tree snake.

Kolala and  baby. Lots of the animals were napping.

The peacock also put on quite a show.

My favorite animal was the tiger. I got a few great shots of the tigers.

Texas Law Review

I loved my job at the Texas Law Review. It was the best job I ever had. I truly treasure the swag I got while I was there. I still have two T Shirts that I can't bear to part with--no matter how ratty they are, and I had 3 mugs and a couple of hats. Well, one of the mugs had a cracked handle, so last week I decided it was time for it to go--the last thing I wanted was to pick it up one day and have the handle break clean off and spill hot tea on my crotch causing third degree burns that I couldn't sue anyone for.

Yesterday I was reaching for the spoon out of my cabinet at work and my knife slipped off the shelf and hit my TLR mug really hard. A big chip flew out of the mug, and I noticed a through and through hairline crack that wept when I put hot water in the mug. So, today I brought in a new mug for work and laid my favorite TLR mug to rest. I may eventually have to give up my pieces of the TLR, but a piece of me will always remain with the TLR, in the TLR, in hundreds of copies in law libraries across the country.

8 lbs!

Yesterday we went and picked strawberries--8 lbs. of strawberries. Ross washed them and I hulled them all. I put some in the freezer and left some out to eat. We've already eaten a bunch. I'm hoping to make an Almond Cake today and we can have that with strawberries on top for dessert tonight.

A Lifetime Ago

I was joining a livejournal community so that I could post a comment, and turns out I already had a livejournal account, and a journal! I guess it was my first blog. I had all but forgotten about it. If you want to see what I was doing 10+ years ago....check it out. I was always obsessing--more than I do now. The last entry mentions a "freak out" that I remember as the beginning of my tailspin into madness. I guess that's one of the reasons I stopped posting. I was too busy "freaking out."

Catch!

This morning we headed down to the Navy Ship Yards in D.C. to take our third trapeze class. Today's class was outdoors. Ross and I both really like the outdoor rig. It was such a nice day to be outside. Of course I applied my sunscreen before leaving the house, and took it with me---and shared with my classmates.

We got there really, really early, so we walked around the park by the water and did some stretches. Then we got belted up to start flying. I practiced the heels off on all my turns. Ross practiced his knee hang and back flip dismount, then heels off. By the time we got to try and catch I was really comfortable with my trick. I had a successful catch on both my catch attempts! So did Ross! Yeah!

The bruises are already showing on the back of my right heel. Because I didn't practice the knee hang I shouldn't have any bruises on my calves this time, but I think I have one on me knee from climbing the ladder.

We had a really great time today. After class we got some lunch at Potbelly and ate it in the park. Then we ran a couple of errands on our way home. I think our next class will be while my parents are here. We are going to register for an indoor class so that my parents don't have to sit out in the sun/heat and the class has no chance of being cancelled (due to weather).

Enjoy the videos

The sirens during Ross's video crack me up. Woop-woop Ross!

My Almost Afro

I wore my hair with the front twisted earlier this week. When I took the twists out to wash my hair I almost had an afro. It was so cool that I was tempted to wear my hair like that to work. I chickened out. I washed it and wore it to work slicked back in a pony tail.

Luster Birthdays

The Luster girls have both recently had birthdays and we got to celebrate with them both. Julia is now 4 and Evelyn is now 8.  They both got great presents, and great cake that they each helped make.

 Julia with her new scooter.

 Julia's castle cake--Valerie decorated it all herself!

 Julia had had enough of the photo taking.

 Evelyn was excited to open every single present.

 Evelyn blowing out the candles.

Super awesome rainbow cake!

69.1

Almost every day I see a red wing black bird on my way to work. Sometimes I even see it on the way home. I see it on one of two or three trees at mile marker 69.1. Taking a video or a photo of it when travelling at 75+ mph hasn't worked out, so that's a photo from the web. I form odd attachments to things, and I have definitely done that with this bird. I'm a little sad if I don't see it on my way to work.  On my way home today I actually saw two. That made me happy.

Taking the Leap

I found out yesterday that the Trapeze School is offering a 10 week workshop. Basically 10 weeks of class at the same time with the same folks. I was thinking of going a lot in June anyway. So I called up the school to ask them some questions. One of the options was already sold out! I signed up for the Saturday classes beginning on June 16th. Classes start at 8:15 am. I'll have to leave the house earlier than I do for work!

The classes will culminate in a show on August 24th. I'll be sure to keep you posted on how I progress.

Sweepsland Haul

I spend a good deal of April in Sweepsland. I won 7 different prizes. The best thing I won was a free bag of cat food for Bailey. I also won some CDs and DVDs--which I will attempt to sell on eBay. I got pretty obsessive about trying to enter every contest. I'm tired of all the time and effort it takes. I didn't win any great prizes. I have other things I should be doing, so I'm going to step away from Sweepsland for a while. A bunch of the giveaways I entered don't end until later this month, so I might still win some prizes this month.