Aug 8th. an important day in my ancestry.

Today was my dad's birthday..... We went out to Dinner at Mr. B's. It was the nicest meal i have had in a long time and probably will be for a while. I ordered Saltimbocca Chicken, which is chicken wrapped in proscuitto and grilled with spinach and rosemary potatoes. Mark got the ribs, mom salmon, jim scallions, rick & dad steaks.

Oh what a night.

Dessert:

We will be celebrating his birthday a second time next weekend.

KY

I went to the red. as in red river gorge.... and it was awesomee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The people were wonderful, the inter-climbing activities were spectacular and my body is more-or-less broken.

Anyways I went in a car with J.J. and Lauren (remember them from before? They visited Javi and by default me in Spain) and David Nimmer. David Nimmer is a climbing super hero. I know, that was a bold statement, but I'm gonna stick with it.

We met up with 3 other goons who came down in another car: Greg, Alex, and Chubs.

This is Alex and David Nimmer.... They are so silly.....

According the David, "the best climber in the world is the one that has the most fun."


After the trip nature and I are not on the best terms in the world......Day 1 Lauren, JJ and I all got stung by a species of killer bees. It really hurt, but probably not as much as when Alex got bit by a copperhead snake.....



After a hard day of climbing we headed out to an authentic Kentucky Ho-down. We learned a lot of ho-down dances. It was interesting to say the least. They also gave a step-by-step lesson on how to do the hokey pokey :) Right after the hokey pokey Greg got a phone call..... Alex got bit by a copperhead snake. (above picture)



While Alex was in the emergency room we decided to stop by the drive thru liquor store....

That's Greg and JJ. As you can see Greg has the best car for a drive thru liquor store, as well as off-roading. (Sorry if this gives you a headache)

In lieu of the snake-bitting incident we decided to stop by the reptile zoo to see snakes in cages, alligators and turtles.

As it was a climbing trip we did climb some. The picture below is the closest to proof of climbing that I have. Notice we are in the forest. I'm not sure why JJ was so sad.

Here is more evidence that we at least climbed a caboose....

We did do a lot of real climbing. Seriously, but I know that most people that read this dont care about it.....

The big question.

So I have been asked about the celebrations in Madrid upon winning the World Cup...... My correspondence in Madrid sent me the following pictures:

It appears to be a lot of people and a little craziness. :)

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An exciting day of Amaya, Henry and a cake. I am soo happy to see the babes. They are soo much fun and I got to be with them both.

I haven't left the house all day. I thought about shopping, but then decided to go into the deep dark basement and look through my old stuff. I came up with three pairs of pants, a tie that looks like a fish for Jim and a new bright nail polish. Why go shopping?

Here's my cake. You can tell who I think about EVERY day. :)

Tomorrow's the Big Day

In the past two days I have sat in front of the television approximately 8 hours. I have finally caught up on my pop culture and reality tv.... TLC, MTV, VH1, CMT, etc. I forgot how entertaining the television can be. Now I am going to start my summer reading. It consists of finishing three books with I have started:

-Diario de un Erasmus (spanish)

-Abril Encantado (Spanish)

-Brideshead Revisited (English)

I have love hate relationship with reading, but I know that it is good for my brain so amidst all the fun and exciting things around here I have set reading goals for the summer. Like most goals.. we'll see how they turn out.

I am also, as usual try to keep up with my blog, with the usual problem of having NOTHING interesting to say. I will try to do new and interesting thing everyday at least for the sake of having something to write about.

Tomorrow: World Cup Final. :)

YEAH!

(bonnie's beautifully decorated porch)

So, I'm back at the other home again! I've been up to friends, family, babies, world cup and the climbing gym.

(singing of star spangled banner)

My first weekend was dedicated to Bonnie and Katie Pryor in Chicago. Then I trained it up to home and played with both babies on both Monday and Tuesday. I approve of both of them. They are coming along very well. I love them both so much. :)

Today I finally went to work with my mom, watched the world cup with my bro and went to the gym with Jenna, then I topped it off with "so you think you can dance" with mommy. Life is good.

(Yes we have the Spanish flag flying on our pole)

I forgot how much I love watching that show with my mom and my sister. Unfortunately the later is still far far away.

Anyways thats a quick little update..... I'll post something good the next time.

Its freaking hot here.

Yesterday I was walking in the middle of town (walking due to a strike in the metro, but thats a whole nother story) and I walked over one of those giant grate things and it blew my dress practically up to my head. Of course, naturally, I screamed. Luckily there was only one other person in the area, and logically he turned to see why I was screaming. We just cracked up laughing and headed our own ways.

Yesterday I also saw someone beating the pay phone with the reciever. He wasnt even pissed. Just methodically and pyschotically smashing the phone.

I just got back from taking my suitcase down to the pharmacy to see if would meet the weight limits. Down the stairs and down the street. For 20 cents the machine not only weighed my suitcase, but also measured its height. Then it analyzed its height and weight. Its BMI is 40.31. My suitcase is officially considered obeise.

I recieved the book "Brideshead Revisited" as a gift from a student. I dont know why I never heard of it before. Im excited to start reading it.

Well, back to those student reports and evaluations. Its gonna be a long night.