thanks, mom and dad edwards, for the fun round teapot set! now i need to make (and serve!) some tea!
matt and i went to another free concert with our friends last night. this band is called "flock of 80s", and they play all 80s music. we saw them at octoberfest here last year and they were so fantastic! so they were playing in pacific beach last night so of course we couldn't miss it. most of the time we were the only ones on the dance floor--but it was so much fun! lots of the cure, modern english, a-ha, U2, men without hats---really good 80s music.

i helped our friend desiree move all of her stuff into a uhaul today. she hardly had anything--it literally took 4 of us 10 minutes to load up the van. i remember when matt and i moved out here we fit all of our belongings into an 8 (length)x5 (width)x10 (height) foot space. and i was impressed with that!!! but now that we live in a bigger place, of course we have filled it with things! we couldn't pull that off again!

so, this weekend will be very fun but a little bit sad, since des is moving. we have plans for friday night and all day saturday. saturday, we have a day filled with her favorite things. her favorite tv show is "amazing race", so i've created a fun scavenger hunt (amazing race-style) all around san diego, where she has to complete different tasks to get clues to the next place. all the places have meaning for her so it should be a fun way of getting in some memories without getting too emo!

in the meantime, i'm looking forward to seeing ryan, michelle, and hannah banana in exactly one week from today!!! yay!
welp folks, i'm outta here!

when summer started, i had a list of things that i wanted to get done before school started. as of sunday, none of it was done! so i spent yesterday and today taking care of things with the car, going through closets and organizing, getting retirement/investment things taken care of, creating a new budget, planning a going away party for our friend desiree, and returning calls and emails of faraway friends. whew! i think one more day of this and i'll have everything completed on my list! pretty impressive, eh?

matt and i went to see a free lassie foundation show last night up in orange county at this bar called the "detroit bar". hearing the name alone made me sort of nervous, but it ended up being in a nice area and the actual interior was very cool. mare, you would have loved it--all cool 60's "down with love"-type decorations and tv screens and sitting areas. it was a fantastic show and worth the drive. plus, the drive was actually fun. you know the feeling you have when it is night time and you're starting out on a road trip and the stars are out and the air is cool and everything smells fresh and new? that's what it felt like.
it made us want to take a real road trip...

matt is dealing with the aftermath of my organization--meaning, he has to sort through his stuff now.
i am a tosser or donater. this means if i haven't worn or used something in 6-12 months, and don't intend to wear or use it again, OR if it is taking up space and cluttering the house, it goes to goodwill or in the trash. matt is a saver. this means we have large collections of magazines that have been looked at once and then put away because "someday" he may want to read it again. additionally, it means he easily has 3x as many clothes as i do. and this is not an exaggeration. when we were first married, i made the mistake of throwing out some things that i knew weren't being used and would probably never be used again. apparently, i had discarded something precious to my poor husband (whoops!). therefore, i remain a tosser/donater with my own stuff, and encourage him to do the same--but i never toss his stuff. i learned that lesson the hard way! so blog poll: who is a saver, and who is a tosser/donater, and who is conflicted? ha! i can predict who is who, but i want to know how you perceive yourselves!!!!

a song you all should check out is "nearer than heaven" by the delays. i happened to be listening to it when i was looking at my friend's pictures of breaching whales she saw in baja mexico--amazing. i think i like the song even more because of the images it provokes now.

mom edwards, i'm so glad you feel at peace with your decision!
welp, i'm off to help matt (or read a book, whichever is actually more helpful to him:)

peaceful days over broken waves...
...look inside the ocean
-lassie foundation

whoa.
it's been almost 2 weeks since i've blogged.
welp, i'm back.
we just had a really fun week with mom and dad good. highlights included (but are not limited to...): the field, coronado beach, walks in the morning and sunsets in the evening on sunset cliffs, surfing/beaching in encinitas (matt and i surfed, mom and dad watched-and dad marinated out in the ocean), a spontaneous pedicure-ahhhh...., farmer's market (they bought me some raspberry mango jam-yum!) and sea world (really fantastic shamu and dolphin shows). we had such a great time and just got back from dropping them off at the airport.
we have a week and a half to recover and then ry, michelle, and hannah come. then 4 days later jeb and jay come, then a couple weeks after that mom and dad edwards come. whew! it's been a busy summer, that's for sure. we still need to find time to take a vacation for ourselves. although i don't think that's going to happen now that matt has his new job and i go back to work on aug. 31st. oh well, we live in a vacation spot-can't really complain! maybe we'll do a long weekend somewhere in the fall...

tickets for the price is right arrived the other day!!!! yes!!!!
michelle and i will get on for sure this time! i think we're buying some cheap chairs at the dollar store, getting in line around midnight or so (maybe we'll be the first ones in line!), and waiting all night until 7:30, when the doors open and we get interviewed to be on the show!!!! this is our third (AND FINAL) attempt to get on the price is right. we will be VICTORIOUS!!!

wow. i'm really tired. i think matt has the right idea about taking a nap this afternoon. i'm going to join him. nighty-night!

rock stars!!!!
yes, people, that is what we were last night!
it was so much fun--everyone went all out in their costumes and were easy to identify (except for one girl, who was from siouxie and the banshees, which only matt guessed correctly---of course---so she didn't have to buy any drinks or do any embarrassing thing in public)! we also had sonny and cher, billy idol, the blues brothers, coolio, and matt and i were billy ray cyrus and cyndi lauper. when we went out, people were so into us. everyone laughed at us (especially matt with his mullet and eddie--who normally has a totally shaved head--in his sonny outfit) and chatted with us. it was really fun to be someone who was recognizable because people would say, "hey cyndi!!!" as i walked by. to commemorate this evening, matt and i will make a cd including at least one song from each person's character!

matt and i had a cookout planned for the two of us on the beach today. he's still sleeping, though. and it's cloudy. therefore, i won't wake him up until the sun comes out. which is fine because i need to do some laundry and get the guest room ready for mary and casey's visit on wednesday. mare, we'll get the padres tickets for friday--and real seats are totally fine--any preference of section? i can't wait to see bo at dog beach!!!!!! we have to be subtle with him at our place, though, because we're really not allowed to have him here. but there's a great place for him to run in the field behind our place and also a fenced in dog run just across the street, if he still requires physical boundaries :)

about "the village":
you guys all have me excited about it now.
but, justin--would it be too scary for me? remember after we watched "stir of echos"? it was nice to have you telling me when a freaky part was coming in "the sixth sense", too (which i really liked).
also, my friend from junior high, judy (evans) greer was in it. she was the blondish chick who was also in the wedding planner, adaptation, and also recently played the secretary on arrested development. just a fun fact!

and anyone who wants to have a baby someday should read michelle's blog, about that hannah peanut being able to communicate through sign language before she can use actual words! thye use an awesomely created program by a speech therapist designed so that normal-ha! people can teach their babies how to use simple signs to communicate (called babysign). babies can learn gestures typically before they learn to speak and if you teach them a few signs before they start talking, research has shown that they will typically say their first words earlier, and have a much larger expressive vocabulary (even at ages 2 and 3) than babies who have not been exposed to sign language. plus, michelle and ryan know what she wants and don't have to guess why she is crying (if it even gets to that point, which it usually doesn't). it's something i've always planned to do with my babies and it is so fun to see ryan and michelle doing it with hannah and seeing it work so well. it was also awesome to be in home (cincy/ky) when she learned "milk" and "all done"--you can literally see her little brain working--so amazing! the best was when grammy was feeding hannah a bottle and the entire time she was just laying there, all relaxed, except for her tiny fat hand signing "milk" the whole time she was drinking! well that's enough auntie tracey talk from me!

but my hand was made strong by the hand of the Almighty...
-bob marley

yes, michelle, i was so excited to hear that hannah is saying "up"!!! (matt actually was, too). i can NOT wait to see that banana in august!!!! and even a 2-word sign---doing "more book" (which i bet she did :)--when i read about that sweet baby, i actually squealed and clapped in our guest bedroom here--what a nerd auntie i am!!!

i actually got up with matt this morning and took him to the train station, since i had to take the jetta in for service. yikes! what a sleep head i have become this summer. i usually am up by 7:30 or 8:00 every day, but i'm going to have to start training my body to get up at 6:00 again, since my first teacher day is august 31st. but let 's not talk about that right now!

did matt or i mention that we're having a rock star party with our friends on saturday? we're all dressing up as rock/pop stars and getting together at a couple's house, having some food and drinks, taking plenty o' pictures, and then going out into public!!!! we'll probably go to pacific beach, because there are some fun places to dance there. our costumes are supposed to be kept secret until the actual party. and if no one can guess who you are, there is going to be some sort of penalty such as buying everyone else drinks or having to do something embarrassing in public. no one from the party reads my blog, so i'll tell you all about my costume: cyndi lauper. because girls just wanna have fun! i have a perfect strapless, teal, fluffy, 80s dress to wear. along with fishnet stockings, red 80s pumps, giant earrings, loads of bracelets, and wild makeup. yes! the only thing i haven't worked out is how to get the orange hair. it will be either by buying orange hairspray or maybe even a wig. i'll let matt tell you about his own costume--his will be hilarious!

mare, speaking of triathlon training, i need to get up and go swimming tomorrow morning. i've been a huge slacker on the swimming portion of my training, i must say. i'm averaging about one practice/week. thankfully, the swimming part of the race is not that long. maybe if i swim tomorrow morning my reward can be surfing later on. i think yes on that self-discipline reward. i bet the new michelle can relate to this bargaining going on in my head and on my blog! one thing motivating about going swimming is the lifeguard who sings at the top of her lungs (off key, by the way) to bad whitney houston songs. that, alone, is both entertainment and motivation to get moving!

can't wait to see england/scotland pictures from edwards family members!!!!!
the weekend is almost here-yay!

i don't believe something like living for myself...
-denison witmer

amazing surf sessions two days in a row....
perfect weather, perfect waves--3-4 feet and glistening (except for some 5-7 footers, with which i was quite uncomfortable).
harr and i went up to enicinitas to surf yesterday--he did pretty great for his first time. we were exhausted and starving by the end and then met up with matt and we all went to the padres game, which was fun! and then on for a drink at the W outdoor beach bar. i was supposed to take harr to the train station at 10:00 today, but when i went to wake him up he reported that he was going to be able to stay until the afternoon. therefore, we naturally decided to have a repeat of yesterday. first stop: subway (which we took down to the beach and ate at our outdoor restaurant called the beach!), second stop: ocean waves--oh my, so perfectly formed and spaced!, third stop: collapsing on my towel on the sand, and then repeat stops 2 and 3 several times. the last time i went out i got pounded by some 6-7 footers, including one that flipped me under the board. the fin ended up scraping the back of my thighs, which are now swollen and bruised. ouch. i guess i'll take a break for a little while.
oops, sorry to cut this short but the amazing race is on--i must go!

happy birthday mary (a little late!)!!!

i love reading the blogs of the people who are in england and scotland right now--it sounds so fun!

harr is in town visiting with us. he arrived on thurs and will stay until tues. we've been having a fun time eating, going to the beach, shopping, etc. i just dropped matt and harr off downtown for a boys night out at the cigar bar or something. last night we went to the del mar race track, which was really impressive. very clean, beautiful, and there were two ponds and palm trees in the middle of the grassy area of the race track. we got there in time to see 4 of the races. i bet on 3 of the races and won each time!!!!! yay!!!! it ended up being $15 total, because i was only placing $1 or $2 bets. but still, it was so much fun to yell and cheer on my horses and then to celebrate when they won!!!! :) after the races, jet played a concert outside the stadium structure. matt gives a funny account of the action where he was in his blog. my friend sue and i scooted our way up to the front of the crowd and danced and made new friends :). they gave a great live performance, too.

today was so gray and gloomy. it figures now that we have a visitor in town the weather would act ridiculous!

matt and i bought the sealab dvd, which is hilarious---we laughed so hard!

welp, i'm all sleepy so i'm going to try to take a little nap before i have to go pick the boys up...nighty night!

it's wednesday.
i have to keep reminding myself of what day it is now that i'm not working.
and i'm always surprised when i hear the actual date--what? july 21st??
how did the time go so fast?

here are how most of my days go now:
7:00 or 8:00 wake up
8:00 or 9:00- 11:00 run, swim, bike, fitball, pilates, or yoga (or any combination of those activities)
11:00-12:00- come home and eat lunch and do a few little chores
12:00-4:00 beach (read, drink water, pray, look at the ocean, and thank God for my wonderful life)
4:00-5:00 get pretty for my husband
5:00 matt comes home
and now this schedule is getting ridiculous so i'm going to stop!!!!

harr comes in town tomorrow and we have a full long weekend planned with him.
friday night we're going to the del mar race track (we wish gramps and dad good could come--they would love it)
and then jet is playing a show there after the races are over. not bad for $2.50, eh?
we'll get a padres game in there at some point and then the usual tourist/beach/restaurant deal....

after he leaves, mary and casey arrive a few days later and then mom and dad good come in town a few days after that! yay!
i love summer!

deep calls to deep
in the roar of Your waterfalls;
all Your waves and breakers
have swept over me
-psalm 42:7

get swept away with God

matt andi loaded up the car last night so we'd be ready to hit the beach first thing this morning. all we have to do is throw the surfboard on top of the car and food and drinks in the cooler, and we'll be off!
it has been really hot for the past few days, a "heat wave", the news stations claim! so we're escaping by going to the beach. along with a ton of other people, i'm sure! but we'll be in encinitas, the least busy beach of all.

mom edwards, good job on your walking! mary and i have found that if you have a training program with a goal at the end it is very motivating.
here is a sample of one: http://www.halhigdon.com/10ktraining/10kwalk.htm
this guy also has a schedule for completing a 5k, but it seems like you've already been doing a decent amount of walking, you might want to do the 10k training program. and maybe if we do thanksgiving here, you can join in with me and mare and dad and walk the thanksgiving day race! don't forget to do a little bit of cross training 1-2x/week, like biking, so you can give your walking muscles a rest and work some other muscles.

my visit with "the running doctor" (heehee) went well. i'm getting orthotics, which i had when i first started getting injured in high school. where did those things go, i wonder? i went in for a consultation-just to see if he could do anything for me- and all of the sudden he's adjusting my feet, ankles, knees, and hips-whoa. the best thing is, if the orthotics (which are expensive) don't work, he takes them back and we try another kind (free of charge) until we find some that do work! yay! mare, i won't slow us down in the running portion of this race!

last night we watched "shattered glass"-very good movie. plus, it had paul giamatti in it, who i love. and also the softspoken bald guy from high fidelity and jerry macguire (the babysitter).

matt's taking me out on a date tonight so i can wear those great sandals i bought! ha!
welp, time to head out, matt is stirring. have a great weekend everyone!

yum, lobster tacos $1.50!
that's where we went last night---well, we didn't go to a place called lobster tacos. actually, i forget what the place is called, even though i've been there several times. anyhoo, it's on the ocean, so you get a great view and great food and lots of laughing with great friends.

i have felt wierd for the past couple of days now. not sick (i haven't been sick for 3 years now!!!!!, besides a cold last superbowl, and i don't really count colds because you don't miss anything with a cold). anyways, it seems that through all my ordeals starting 6 years ago (strep, sinus infections) and working with kids for so long, my immune system is finally built up. so i just fight things now, i just get a half of a cough, or congestion for a day or two, but i don't ever feel bad in my body. same deal with right now. and i still worked out for awhile today.

by the way, i tried yoga.
which is awesome!
they have this non-new-age yoga at the ymca and i couldn't believe how hard it was!
i thought yoga was just simple positions (with odd names) that you hold.
which is, i guess, true to some extent. however, the stretches are difficult and actually build muscle because you end up holding them for so long. i felt exhausted and great after the class! everyone should try that if you can find a yoga that is not too creepy... :)

tomorrow i have a free consultation with "the running doctor" (mary, do you remember that literature from the marathon?). ha! it is actually a chiropractor who specializes in running injuries--how perfect is that? we'll see if he can do anything for my legs!

i'm excited to hear that mom and dad edwards may be coming out in sept for a long weekend!

welp, matt has a happy hour thing at work today so i think i'll go ride my bike, seeing as he won't be home for awhile!
have a great friday everyone!

i woke up this morning and decided to take full advantage of my ymca membership today. i went to an 8:00 pilates class--and i'm just now starting to feel sore throughout my ab/torso area. not a good sign for the next few days... then i made an appointment with a fitness trainer (i get one hour of free training with my membership) for a couple hours later. since i had some time to kill, i did some laundry, cleaned up the place, took a walk--the sun was out early today-yes! then i went for my personal training, which was basically a weight training program, since i prefer to do the cardio outside. i just can't see getting on an exercycle (or treadmill, etc.) when the weather is beautiful and there are a million beautiful places i could ride a REAL bike (or run/walk on REAL legs, er, REAL ground-heehee)! then i came home and decided to go for a run. ha! apparently, since i've been an exercise slacker for the past week, i decided to make up everything i've missed in one day!!! :) and all this before lunch! so then i went to the beach for 3 hours--i think it was deserved, don't you?

our next visitor is mike harr, from BG, in a week and a half... visitors are pretty well spaced out this summer. well, that is, unless people do some impromptu visiting, which is fine as well... :)

i got this great new pair of sandals at target so i made matt promise to take me out on a date this weekend so i can wear them.
speaking of target, matt and i are headed there in a few minutes, so i must get going!
have a great week everyone.

p.s. i'm on another modest mouse kick again. it reminds me of staying in austin with justin, when mary and i took over his apartment and his life. "justin, can we do (fill in the blank)?" "justin, can we go (fill in the blank)?" "justin, can we...?" poor guy. the two of us never stopped talking or asking him if we could do things!

i had a fun time with amanda henry and her 2 friends. great catching up and showing them around san diego. i actually got to see the "real world-san diego" house for the first time, since they wanted to see it-ha! it really is huge, i must say. we ate at a great italian restaurant and i showed them around OB, la jolla, and downtown. very fun time!

man, justin, i wish i could have seen denison witmer live---i'm so glad to hear he is fantastic live! someday i'll see him...
i feel like we were seeing live music almost every weekend there for awhile and now it has slowed down. well, for me at least. matt had his nerdfest-er, i mean, rush concert--earlier this week. the next thing on the list is jet. we'll be seeing them for free at the del mar racetrack--2 fun events in one. and then for an epic pixies reunion later in september. it will be so fun to see the band that i loved as a junior high school student, and a band that was influential in so many bands today.

matt and i had a perfect day today.
we went up to encinitas and hung out by the ocean, took a long walk on the shore, played aerobie, ate a pizza, and read good books.
ahhh.....

tomorrow i'll get some household stuff done, hopefully get to the beach, and get back on my training program---huge slacker over here!!!!! oh well, my body is in decent enough shape and it is early enough in the program that i'll be okay. i wouldn't want to be pulling this in a couple of months, though!


it's a beautiful day
-U2

it's thursday and i'm waiting for my friend/(family, really) amanda henry to get into town.
more visitors and me still without my guestbook done. dang! i keep setting goals to have it ready by the time the next guest comes, but i keep forgetting or other things come up, etc. etc....

but i'm making a light dinner, since i don't really know when they'll arrive. then we'll probably go out to pacific beach or downtown later this evening. they'll be heading to the zoo tomorrow but i'll meet up with them later for some possible beach time and dinner.

it's fun to catch up with family and faraway friendsand it seems like it happens all at once.
of course i was visiting with the peeps back home for a nice long time and then i got to have a nice long chat with emily the other night!
i do miss the entire edwards clan, as well!
mare, i need to talk to you--i'll probably call in the next couple of days.
i was doing so well with my training but i have now become a slacker, due to a bunch of reasons that i don't feel are real excuses.
time to get back on the plan tomorrow!

michelle--nice job on the new you! i KNOW YOU CAN DO IT!!!!!!

welp, i must finish cleaning this place up.
have a great weekend everyone!

um, dad edwards, i am really disturbed by that bird mask. yikes!
but on a less disturbing note, at dinner tonight there was a guy sitting next to us who was talking about how he attended a jackson browne concert (late for the sky tour). we thought of you.

wow.
i've been a blog slacker!
but that's how summer goes, eh?

i just arrived home from a long visit in cincinnati. and i still didn't get to see all the people i wanted to! ridonkulous!
it was a fun time, highlighted by great times with family, (especially watching baby hannah be so cute), catching up with some old friends, and just enjoying cincinnati. it was hard to be away from matt for 3 weeks, though, so next year it will be a shorter trip--i missed him so much. and i got homesick for san diego. i haven't been homesick since my freshman year in college! :) it was so nice to arrive back here and breathe the salty air and see the ocean again. ahhhh....

i can't write much now due to mail and bills and household stuff, etc. that have piled up for the past 3 weeks, so i must be a grownup and get things done! it's been fun to catch up on everybody's blogs.

friday night!!!
last day of school---woooooooooooooohoooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!
and it's been such a fun week that it feels like my vacation started early.

i know most of you reading this also read mary and matt's blog, but i'm also going to give my report on the past week. so some of this stuff will probably be repetitive, but with my own commentary and perception...
*saturday: mary arrived around 1:00 and we hung out for awhile, then napped, then went up to solana beach to see phantom planet. a good, fun, and relaxing show that started off the week of great music. we came home and ate some food and had some drinks and chatted and laughed some more....

*sunday: we went to ocean beach and it was more windy than it has ever been since we have lived here! i thought i was in big sur! matt and mary bucked up and went surfing (i did not, due to mary using my wetsuit--and you're crazy if you think i would go in that freezing cold water without a wetsuit--i was wearing a hooded sweatshirt while i was on land, for goodness sakes!). so matt and mary got beat up in the ridiculously choppy waves. when they had enough, we went to hodad's for a yummy lunch and the world's best chocolate milkshake!!! then we headed downtown to watch a padres game, which was sold out. :( but we shopped around and messed around and ate some more before we went to see the shins concert. wow. such a fantastic show!!!! i loved every song on their cd anyways, and they really are even better live. such clear vocals and guitar and great stage presence, as well. i would go see them again any day...

*monday: matt and i worked. when i came home, mary and i went mountain biking in tecolote canyon. the mountain biking book i have said it was "rolling hills". apparently, "rolling hills" means "straight up and down hills". it was a fantastic workout--so exhausting and fun (and scary) on the steep downhills. not quite as much fun on the steep uphills! we have some great pictures that capture the ruggedness of the place. then we went to filippi's italian restaurant for yummy pizza and then to our friend eddie's to see his new puppy. so cute!!!! we came home and watched (er, fell asleep to) the season finale of sopranos.

*tuesday: after work, matt and i each raced over to our encinitas campground, where mary had set up camp earlier that day. we charged out to the waves (this time the water was warm enough for no wetsuits for some) and caught some great waves. we all stood up on our boards many times and it was sunny and so satisfying. exhausted and happy, we cooked out hotdogs over the campfire. ahhhhh.... as it grew dark, we listened to music and chatted and ate campfire chocolate eclairs. then matt left around 10:30 or 11:00. i hadn't planned to spend the night, but it was too perfect to leave, so i slept there with mary and woke up the next morning at 5:30 (due to ridiculously loud crows--didn't they know my alarm wasn't going off until 6:00 am) and drove home to get ready for work.

*wednesday: raced to encinitas for more surfing directly after work again. the waves were really rough and the undercurrent strong. we all took a shellacing from the sea, and when we had enough, came up and showered and ate some more hotdogs and grilled cheese. then there was a beautiful sunset, which we watched as we played aerobie, tossed the football, and played horseshoes. matt stuck around until 10:30 again and we had our routine of chatting and laughing and listening to music. i slept over for real because i took thursday off of work to hang out with mary...it was a much better night of restfulness.

*thursday: i woke up around 6:30 and watched the ocean from our campsite (did i mention that we could see it? so relaxing, and great white noise to fall asleep to, as well!). then i went for a nice long walk on the shore. when i got back, mare was still asleep, so i made some eggs and read "my utmost for his highest". then mare got up and we had an early morning surf session. the sun was shining, the water was nice, the waves were still a little choppy, but not as strong--so we had a great session. such a great way to end the camping trip... then on to sea kayaking. you can read mary's blog for her rendition of her fiasco with getting out into the calmer portion of the ocean :) hee hee. yet i was not laughing in about 30 minutes from then. we kayaked out to some sea caves, which were very cool looking but too dangerous to kayak into. we saw a friend called a sea lion who popped his head out of the water about 10 feet from us and stared at us for awhile. so cute!!!! more sea lions on a big rock quite a ways away, barking and yelping. then i started feeling a little queasy so i put a little cool water on my head. "do you have a migraine?," asked mary. "i'm just a little seasick," i said. "me too! i was trying to buck up since i had a hard time getting out, but..." the we both started paddling back to shore as fast as we could (which was about a half an hour away, which may not sound long to you, but when you're battling nausea on a rolling ocean, every moment seems like an eternity), taking breaks and trying not to throw up. we finally made it back to shore and sat there, trying to recover for awhile. we didn't even use our kayaks for the full rental time. a waste, you may be saying to yourself, but so much better than the sickness option. we got in the car (more motion) and headed home. being home was so refreshing that we got our second wind after 45 minutes and we headed out to sunset cliffs and watched the ocean and chatted. then matt called us as we were on our way home and we went to play tennis. i was sort of losing steam but i bucked up and played (and may i add, very poorly?). remember, i had been doing constant activity since 6:30 am, people!!! then we showered, ate wahoo's with our friends sue and tom, and went to see our 3rd concert of the week. stellastarr was great (the portion we saw, at least), the killers were fantastic--the lead singer was such an entertainer. then the yeah yeah yeahs were funny at first--insane--and then just too dark and scary and sad for me to handle. i had to go wait outside in the hall until it was finished. then back home to collapse into bed. whew!!!!!

*friday, today.... i worked my last day--yes!!! then when i got home, mary and i went up to torrey pines and had such a great hike and more great chats. we came home and had chicken tortilla soup and sangria for dinner-so yummy. now we're getting ready to go see "saved"--the first movie we've seen in a theater since i can't remember even....
it's been an awesome week--thanks mare, for the fun and talks and laughs and pre-triath training!

i head to cincy on tuesday!!!!!!!
can't wait to see the good side of the family!!!
i'm out.
tracey

p.s. hi kim! i do read your blog--i hope that's not too creepy!!!! :) but i enjoy hearing what is going on with you!!!!

hello everyone.
it's friday night and i'm cleaning and matt is doing some editing work for scantron.
mare will be here around noon tomorrow-yay!
and then on to see phantom planet play in solana beach in the afternoon
(and maybe see the stills play in the evening)
and then sunday we get to see the shins
and then camping in encinitas
and exercise/triathlon training mongrels of mary and tracey throughout the week....

oh yeah, matt sort of got guilted into helping a friend's wife paint their new house tomorrow morning (but his friend will actually be out of town and he called a bunch of people to go help his wife--ha!) so wierd. not the best timing, but this guy and his wife are so nice, so i guess it is hard for matt to say no.

this week i met the boy counterpart of myself at age 6. nonstop talking from his teeny little mouth.
he was so cute, though.
when i went to get him in his classroom i said, "you get to come with me to my room today" (i see another little boy in his class, so he knows who i am). and he yelled "woohoo!!!" in the tiniest little voice! i was cracking up!

i love working with elementary aged children, but i really do miss working with babies (16 months +), toddlers, and preschoolers. that was one of the best things about working at toledo hearing and speech center. the little ones are too young to follow direct instructions with speech and language, so you have to address it all through play therapy. it is the most fun thing in the world--plus, you get to see their little brains actually working and language literally developing before your eyes.

anyways....

inspired by justin's top ten list of music this year, here's my own list (in no particular order)
-snow patrol
-the shins
-all things bright and beautiful
-belle and sebastian
-deathcab
-postal service
-(new) get up kids
-the killers

that's all for now...
have a great weekend, everybody!!!!
ry and michelle--have fun in myrtle beach!

welp, we're back from mexico.
such a fun, fun weekend.
it was one of those deals where the days seem so long.
we just hung out on our own beach (the house was right next to a nature preserve, so there were miles of untouched beach beauty (i.e. no houses, condos, highrises, etc.). our house was awesome, just the right size, and with a huge deck outside. the weather was perfect--sunny and breezy (a little windy the first day, but not out of control--enough to make cool patterns in the sand). we relaxed and read, played horseshoes, bocce ball, aerobie, and cards. one night we went out on the town to ensenada, which was crowded and not a lot of english spoken. slight culture shock, but we had so much fun. then we went to a cool place called la boufadora. there is a formation of rocks along the shore that when waves come crashing in, there is somehow a pocket of air that gets pushed up and sprays water maybe 100 meters into the air! they call it the blowhole, because that's what it sounds like. but on the way to that spot, many vendors have set up shops and it was bargaining time for tracey! it reminded me of nairobi's city market. i did end up getting a prada purse for a good price and some earrings for matt's boss, who gave him $ for me to buy her stuff (a little bit of pressure, i must say...) hopefully she likes what i bought her...
i ate so much good food (and probably more lard in those 3 days than i have in the rest of my life put together!) we went to this big fish market that was right on the bay and ate at a taco shop right there. the fishermen were literally bringing the fish into the restaurant and the workers were preparing it right then. so fresh and so good. mmmmmmm.....
i enjoyed runs and walks on the shore by myself every morning (of course i was the first one up! but no one slept in really late--i think the latest was 10:00, so not bad). i didn't mind, though. early morning walks on the beach by myself are one of my favorite parts of this life on earth.
tracey

p.s. can't wait to see mary in a few days!
p.p.s. finally! a blog from casey! er.. i mean... from bo!

i hear american idol in the background.
dang, that diana chick is annoying.
the only thing good about her being on stage is matt's funny and horribly mean comments about throwing an apple up on stage so she can have it in her mouth (uh, like a roast pig). sorry, matt. after your blog where you just got right with god, i had to go and blow your cover. but i'm worse, because i laugh every single time and then yell, "matt, that's mean!" as i'm still laughing.

just a few more days to get through until we are relaxing on our beach in mexico.
matt bought a big aerobie and horseshoe set (rydogg, you'll be into that when you come out here, eh?), our friends have bocce ball, our other friends have snorkel gear, the house has boogie boards, and we're all bringing cards, catchphrase, etc. it's fun to have friends who are gamers. there's always some fun game or competition going on. for example, this house we're staying in has 3 bedrooms, but the master bedroom has a jacuzzi and other fun stuff. so to be fair we played roulette to see which couple got which room. and then while we were playing we decided each couple could have the master bedroom for a night. matt and i won and picked the last night (we're working our way up from the ghetto rooms!!!). but i love that instead of being awkward and trying to figure out who deserves the best bedroom/who needs the best bedroom, etc., it turns into a game and no one even cares about the bedroom anymore--it's all about the game (michelle, i think you can relate!).

i'm off to ice my shins and read harry potter (#3). i'm saving #4 for the beach this weekend.
hey justin, remember when you were on the junie b jones kick and we would sit in the living room and read them? and then one of us would laugh and the other one would say, "what?" and the one who just laughed would read the funny part out loud to the other one? (you and me had some fun that year....)
today in speech i read "three billy goats gruff" and thought of my granddad, who used to read me that story all the time when i was young.
and then i thought about my first boyfriend who had a mechanic's coat and he had written in the name "billy" where the name tag was supposed to be, and then he said, "it's my billy coat!" and then i thought of kevdogg, who shares my love of goats, but to the extreme!!! when we were in high school, we tried to talk my dad into getting us a goat for the back yard. he didn't go for it, surprisingly....

have a great night, everyone.

another monday down...
and only 1 more monday left to work, since i have next monday off! yay!
12 more days total....
yikes. how will i fit it all in? oh well, i have to.

lately when i check on peoples blogs, it keeps giving me a url not found error message. maybe blogger is updating? or having problems? anyone know?

this weekend i was so lazy! well, i did finally paint my wine nook purple, which looks very cool. but that was the most exercise i got all weekend. the rest of the time was spent laying around on the couch, in the bed, on the beach.... i did, however, exercise my brain and read the first 2 harry potter books over again. so good! if anyone reading this has not read those, you really should. they're very clever and use decent vocabulary and are so great for the imagination. i think i will always have extra fondness for those books just because i read them in africa when i was awake at 3am, due to time change issues. nothing was better than being awake and reading and seeing matt come down the stairs all sleepy, then mary, and hearing justin and michael upstairs (still hadn't started their night of sleep yet) chatting and laughing about pseudobook (mom and dad were asleep, of course). and then reading some more and playing video games and eating with matt and mary, and then finally going back up to bed around 8 am, when mom and dad were just getting up...

matt and i heard this band called the veils last night on mtv2 and they're pretty good. you peeps should ch-check it out.

well, we're going to go and watch the sun set.
so have a good evening everyone.