Figuring it all Out...: June 2007

I know I have been slacking. I have many things to write about, but most of them are too big to write about quickly. After Alaska I met up with Joy and her fam for a fun weekend of Fishing in Bridgeport, CA. I caught some fish, gutted em' and drove them back to camp on the front window of the car (good thing it was a rental). Saw some pretty impressive camping, including a bright orange extension cord running from a fully hooked up camper to a tent. Interesting... Saw some friends in Davis for a couple of meals. Flew red eye back to Houston and worked the week. I then had two weekends of being in Houston, which were actually really nice. Granted, most of my time was spent inside, in the AC, working on my thesis, which has now been sent back twice for revisions. I might just finish it one of these days. I then flew back to California for graduation. I did the grand tour of California, flying into San Jose from Houston (via LAX), driving from San Jose to Berkeley to Davis, to Sacramento International, back to Davis, back to Sacramento INternational, back to Davis, back to Sacramento, flew from Sacramento to Burbank, drove up to Carpinteria and back, and then finally, Burbank to Houston (via Phoenix). It was quite the whirlwind weekend, with a heat wave in Davis on the day of graduation making that cap and gown so enjoyable to wear. I will post some graduation pictures when I get a chance to upload them. I will also post camping pictures, since we all know that the pictures are really what you want to see. So, I was home for the week after graduation, and then Joe came in Thursday night. We drove (seven hours in on again off again rain) to South Padre, where is proceeded to rain all weekend. So, no beach for us, but the hotel pool had a luke warm hot tub that we made do with. I had my Pina Colada on the water and we ate some good seafood and laughed a lot, so it was worth it. I did come back with a great shirt that I will be wearing on a future California visit. So, now I am almost through this work week, and tomorrow I fly out of IAH for London. This trip came on quickly, but I am excited to see the family, and to have a whole week off (even if it is unpaid). I will be back July 8, and then I am off to Napa that next weekend. Soon after that, I can hopefully actually write more often on this blog, or atleast add the last month's worth of pictures.

In work news, I am doing some teacher professional development in which I show teachers how to build solar ovens out of Pringles containers (girl scouts, where was this when we were cooking meat in the ground?). Anyway, I need 25 Pringles cans. So, the office is currently inundated with Pringles. People send me threatening emails about the flavors I am putting out, and I think somewhere, there is a Weight Watchers Coach looking for me. Thus far, the favorites are Sour Cream and Onion and BBQ. I am trying to push the Loaded Baked Potato and the Bacon Ranch, but they aren't going over too well. The least like flavor is Spicy Guacamole, which I actually don't find too bad, although the green color might turn some people off. Yum!

Alright, the greatness of my trip to Anchorage has been weighing on me, and I know I am supposed to write this huge blog about my trip, but I just think I can't put it all into words. It will take me too long, I will want it to convey the amazingness of the whole thing, and it won't, and I will become frustrated. So, instead, I present the pictures from my trip. These, by the way, do not do any of the scenery any justice, they cannot possibly look as cool as the real thing, but since I have over 300 pictures from the trip, I thought posting a few might be nice. Perhaps, if you are lucky, I will caption some more of them eventually...