July, July

Oh, and as usual the summer is getting away from me!  How is it mid-July already?

So far the summer has been pretty uneventful - movies, Farmer's Market, bike rides with the husband (when it hasn't been ungodly hot), working on TMI costumes... a few photo sessions sprinkled here and there, but not too busy.

I watched Avatar: The Last Airbender (the series) and found it enjoyable - a unique blend of classic high fantasy, kung fu movies, and traditional anime.  While the plotlines are simple and easy for children to follow, the characters are rather developed for a modern child's show, and the concepts are well-executed.  Overall, it's either a pretty decent show for adults or one of the best children's shows that has been made in the past 30 years.  I prefer to think of it as the latter.

I had a marvelous Fourth of July party, with great friends, backyard karaoke, a hot dog bar, sparklers, and a jet engine fan due to the 100 plus degree weather...

I visited my Grandpa for his 80th birthday.  I don't know if I ever blogged about his stroke in May, but it was a very scary time for our whole family.  My grandparents are very independent people, and they also tend to underplay situations... luckily my dad and his siblings teamed together to get Grandpa to the hospital, and after a lot of physical therapy he is doing much better.  It was great to see him.

I visited my dear Francine TWO WEEKENDS IN A ROW, which was marvelous and unusual.  I can't really say any words about her, except that I was having breakfast with my mom a few days ago and we were talking about how friendship is not competitive or envious, it's a place that you can rest your head and let down your guard.  She was mentioning that she's never found that.  I feel like most people haven't, and I am so SO blessed that I have.

A few of my other friendships have been growing as well.  S and I performed at a karaoke competition at the casino, and celebrated our utter mediocrity with red velvet pancakes at IHOP.  And then sat in the Bay City Fireworks traffic for over an hour and a half.  It could have been a disaster, but the company made it a great night.  D and I had a great time as usual on our coffee/Farmers Market morning a few weeks ago.  I am excited to have a friend so intelligent and passionate in my life.  I also reconnected with my high school friend A (again) and am enjoying getting to know him as an adult.  I hope that we can keep in touch now that he's back at work.

I spent the day yesterday doing costumes for CATS.  It was a long and hot day with quite a few hiccups, but very productive.  I think that people were very pleased with what I've done so far (Which is good, because it is a crap ton of work!)

I'm sure there's more than this, but Husband is out of the shower!  Have a marvelous week!