Back to School Special

While this summer has been wonderful, I am actually glad to be starting back to school. (As a teacher, NOT student). Every summer feels shorter than the last. I can't figure out if that is an actual reality or if it is just a side effect of getting older. I'm hoping for the former reason. But, I digress...I am happy to be getting back to the day-to-day routine mostly because I have developed some not-so-healthy habits over the course of the summer.

For starters, I got this amazing chocolate chip recipe from my friend. So, duh, I have to make them that very day...and the next week...and the next week. Seems harmless, right? Not quite. I have gotten to the point where I make a fresh batch of dough to keep in the refridgerator and make a tray of fresh cookies every other day or so. Wait, I am not done....then, I make homemade cookie ice cream sandwiches every night. They are seriously the bomb and I am addicted. This madness has to stop!! What started as a little innocent baking has become a full-fledged obsession. Help!
Moving on....before the Olympics, there was seriously nothing on TV. So I started recording this show on A&E called Intervention. In all fairness, it is an excellent show and has been nominated for an Emmy. BUT, this show follows around hard core drug addicts and contains illicit drug use. Every time I watch it I have to close my eyes and I get a knot in my stomach. But every week, I find myself watching more. I think I hang in there because I love the actual intervention and seeing them after rehab. But still...this show is seriously unhealthy. I watched 3 episodes one day and had to take a major break for awhile. It is just a little bit too intense. On the upside, I AM pretty drug savvy now...


And lastly, while I have many more horrible habits, the last of the new-ish bad habits that I will share is that this summer we have totally let our dog sleep in our bed. While this picture is creepy, this seriously might as well be Romey. Point being: she has taken over!!
We used to let her out of her cage at like 6 am when she would start to whine, and she would climb into bed for just a little while before we got up. Then, it just kept gradually getting earlier. Now, she literally climbs into her cage for 1 minute and then starts to whine. I know it is our fault, but we have created a monster! Relaying this story reminds me of that church parable where the camel gets into the tent, but it just starts with his nose. While I am certainly not comparing Romey to Satan, (it's not THAT bad...yet), my quality of sleep has gone downhill in a major way. With no hope of reprieve anytime soon. Is this what it feels like to be a new Mom? If so, I feel sorry for all of you.

Anyways, like I said, I am excited to start work again on Monday.

Marky Mark

While I think that Samantha Ronson is nothing special, (not to mention her poor choice in girlfriends), I do have a thing for her brother Mark. This Royal Tenenbaums photo of their fam is pretty clever. His album 'Version' has some good tracks on it. One of my favorites is this Radiohead cover. The video is a total play on the original 'Just' video. The singer is Alex Greenwald from Phantom Planet. It won't embed, so click here to watch.

Europe '08

We got back from Europe a couple of weeks ago. We had a great time traveling all around. We went to Italy, France, Spain and England. I had never been to Spain or England before, and while they were great, I think that Italy is still my fave. The Cinque Terra is so amazing...if you ever have the chance, you should totally go there!! Time for picture overload...

Here is Peter giving one of the 5o stray dogs at Pompeii a little drink

Sorrento, Italy

Even though we found all of the people posing for these Tower of Pisa "action shots" ridiculously funny, we decided to try some of our own. Syd's was by far the best.

This is in Monterosso...after dinner one night. The food in Italy is TDF.

Hiking the Cinque Terra took about 4 hours. Here is one of the cities we hiked from...the scenery was SO beautiful.
Italy was SO hot. In case you don't believe me, take a look at this:
Capri
The Blue Grotto

Constant traveling....here we are waiting at a train station with all of our junk.

Nice, France...best crepes. Ever.

Also best gummies.

Awesome pottery store in Spain.

Really good dinner...(if you think that a European vacation does not revolve around food, you are sorely mistaken.)

I can't remember what this is called, but basically you climb inside this big, inflated ball with some water in it and they push you down a hill. Super fun.

Here is the rock of Gibraltar.

These monkeys are EVERYWHERE on the rock. Somehow they manage to simultaneously be cool and creepy.

Waiting in line in Seville, Spain for our 10 pm flamenco concert.

One pic from London of "The Eye".
Whew! If you made it through all of those pictures you are probably related to me. If not, consider yourself a good friend for sticking it out to the end.