Just kickin' it.

Maryn has just been kickin' it on the couch. Maxin', Relaxin', ya know, just kickin' it.

The First Annual Last Fling Party

By naming it the "first annual Last Fling Party", I am implying that there will be a second annual, and a third.....
Because it was that much fun!
We called it the Last Fling Party because it was the possibly the last time the crew could get together before the school year started (3 of us are teaching) and the grape harvest started (2 are working at a (killer) winery), and before Lis overflowed with baby.
Here is an equation for you:
(Friends + Family that are like Friends + Fantastic Food + Great Weather + Lawn Games + Board Games)^margaritas = fun! (that is fun factorial, not just an enthusiastic fun)

I am really sorry now that I didn't take more pictures, but here are a few.









The only hiccup was that our friends Lis and Troy couldn't make it. Because Lis's water broke, and they were having a baby while we were munching on shrimp tacos! That is about the best excuse I've ever heard.

What could possibly go wrong?!

When you try something new, you might have an idea in your head about how it will go. You know something will go wrong. It couldn't be that easy.

Say, for example, you've been hired to teach college chemistry and you only have 9 days to prepare.

You work hard and get things ready, and when the day comes you feel ok about it.

But in the back of your head you know you'll forget something, or you'll have totally overestimated how prepared the students will be, or you'll loose your keys, or the students will not take you seriously (because honestly, the dean just mistook you for a student when you started talking to him).

You set your sights low. You just need to survive and make sure no one kills themselves with the sole graduated cylinder you've provided them with.

But the class time roles up, you go through your lessons and the activities you prepared and at the end your standing in an empty room. You realize that nothing went wrong. Everything went as well as you could have hoped. The worst problem is that too many people wanted to take your class. So, lesson learned.

Sometimes things don't have to go wrong.

Sometimes you are really as prepared as you need to be.

Sometimes you are as capable as you should be.

Sometimes it's really as good as you imagined in your head.

Sniffle-rific

Sometimes new "developments" could also be considered "wierd personality quirks".
And because we're addicted to You Tube, we have an example:

It might have all started with the dogs. They sniff at her a lot, and she loves it. So we started sniffing at her too. Now she sniffs too.

On other fronts, Brian went for a bike ride this weekend. Can you tell what he forgot?

On the other, other front, I teach my first class on Tuesday. Can you tell what I'm nervous about?
I got to check out my rooms this week and learned all about how so much of teaching has nothing to do with teaching.

Cabin Sweet Cabin

A&B were kind enough to invite us up to A's family's cabin in Tahoe for the weekend. We ate a ton and played Apples to Apples, which is the new favorite gamey-game.
M did ok, although I think the altitude gets to her. She had super rosey checks all weekend:



We didn't really leave the house very much except for a nice walk through the neighborhood meadow and a trip to the lake on the way home. The weather was perfect!


The water was so cold, M didn't know what to do when it touched her feet.
















A nice weekend all together!

First Job Application : A Revised Graph

Things can change in a blink of an eye, or the ring of a phone. Please see revised graph below.

Bottom line: Crap. I have a job. I guess those mornings of leaving the house in what ever clothes were the closest to the bed are gone. Well, really only on Tuesday & Thursdays.

Dogs+Carpet +Broken Vacuum = Gross

So..... it's a little embarrassing. Like showing our freezer, but worse.
After trying to fix the vacuum and giving up, Miss M and I made a 10pm dash to Target to get a new vacuum. Then I used it. BIG MISTAKE!
Here are the results.




















Area Vacuumed:



















Yeah, that much dirt in 30sq ft. I know, it's gross.
But knowing is half the battle... right?
I'm feeling a little better about playing with Miss M on the floor now. So here are some gratuitous baby pics.