Caravan

(ignore the random "Friday" text in the upper left corner... I can't seem to undo that)

So old college boyfriend did give me a ticket to go with him to see the Dave Matthews Band Caravan in Atlantic City. And his free tickets turned out to be VIP passes. That meant we got a great spot to stand, dinner in a fancy tent and VIP bathrooms. He was a bit blase about the whole thing, but I thought it was great. It was a really fun night, even though I didn't take too many pictures. My feet ended up being so filthy that it took about four showers to get them clean (and the shoes I think are just a lost cause)....

Summer isn't summer without a few outdoor concerts, so hopefully that won't be the last.

sad but true

What I'm Loving Wednesday

Linking up to This Kind of Love for What I Love Wednesday....

I'm LOVING this nail polish: Sonic Bloom -the color on my toes currently. Sort of an electric tomato color. Plus I combined a coupon with a great sale and got it for like 1.50. Wahoo! LOVE a great deal.

I'm LOVING this song Good Life by One Republic:

I LOVE that Isaac and I were both cavity free at the dentist. Yay! After all of my dental nightmares this year, it was a relief to get the all clear finally.

I LOVE the Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I need to buy the other two books in the Trilogy and get reading.

and lastly I LOVE that I've gotten back in touch with some old friends.

"Different, Not Less"

Now that it's summer and I'm enjoying "funemployment" (to steal an expression from the Mormon Child Bride) I'm finally working my way through my Netlfix queue. i'm great about he watch instanly queue but the DVDs seem to sit on my counter for months.

Anyways, I recently watched Temple Grandin, an autistic woman, which originally aired as an HBO special.

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Here is a great review of it. It is based on her book, Thinking in Pictures which I read ages ago. Temple perseveres through life in a time when mother's were being blamed for autism in their children and were being told to institutionalize their children ASAP. Being an autistic support teacher, this movie has been recommended to me by many different people. Our classroom assistants even got to watch it as an inservice one day. It didn't disappoint and of course I found myself crying through it as she struggles to be understood and especially in some scenes with her mother. I definitely recommend it and I love that it could give people a more realistic looking depiction of a person with autism, beyond the Rainman. Claire Danes really captured the nuances of her behavior: her loud unmodulated voice, the difficulty of sustaining eye contact, even her odd gait.

Anyone out there seen it? What did you think?

whirlwind

What a crazy weekend! Friday night my mom and I went to see Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at the Fulton theater in Lancaster. I had never been there before and had pretty low expectations. Especially since I saw Chitty Chitty Bang Bang in the West End in London. I was pleasantly surprised, however. The Fulton was a beautiful old building and the production was great.

The next day I met up with a good friend from college, Nicole. She was in town visiting her father. That has been a fun part of my parents moving to the Lancaster area: we end up in town a lot of times for holidays. I had only intended to stay an hour or two but it was so pleasant floating around in her pool that I ended up spending most of the afternoon there. I had put sunscreen on my face but I ended up up with a bad burn on my chest.

After that I dashed off to a graduation party at the TrueDeeva's house and spent the afternoon giggling at her former mother in law's antics being shocked at how much all of the kids had grown up. I think her daughter was in first grade the last time I saw her, and now she looks like a young lady, ready to go off to middle school. I managed to avoid drama with Isaac's daddy (We had both been invited and I had asked that we go at different times because I thought that might confuse Isaac. His dad didn't like that suggestion, but it worked out in the end.)

From there I met up with my friends Becca and Jami. She is officially moved into her house in Fishtown. It was such a nice night that we ended up wandering around the city from place to place. We checked out Stephen Starr's newest place Frankford Hall. Although I don't have much use for a beer garden, it was a really neat place, with a huge outdoor courtyard and ping pong tables and girls walking around selling huge pretzels. We also walked to PYT in Northern Libs but was disappointed by horrible service. Seriously, the worst service I have had in ages. We were this close to just walking out, which is a shame because the food was really good.

Sunday I squeezed in a walk with my friend Kim, before we were back to Lanc for a nice meal with my dad. Joe grilled steaks and I had a turkey burger. At first I was sad and it was one of the first times int he past year that I really found myself wanting to eat red meat. But once they were there on the table, they looked less appetizing and I was fine with my turkey burger. It was a great weekend.

feeling crafty

Last year I bought this cute little buckets in the dollar section of target but had no idea what to do with them. When my friend Diana loaned me her big shot die cutter to make all those bridal invites Isaac and I decided to play around with it.

We made this out of things completely around the house. I just used a cereal box with the flower die cut and then modge podged random scrapbook paper on. I used a straw with a pick up stick inside to jab into some craft foam and then I just shredded the leftover scrapbook paper to cover up the foam. The ribbon was leftover from the curtains in my office.

P.S. Last day of school today!!!!!

An interview with Isaac, as he graduates kindergarten

I was inspired by Sarah over at Clover Lane:

I am really good at: math

I like to: do the monkey bars at recess

Someone that makes me laugh: Damien

One word that describes you: difficult (I swear, no prompting from me on that one!)

I am really happy when: it's my birthday

I am really sad when: I have to wash the dishes

My favorite book: The Story of Darth Vader

My favorite TV show: the NBA

My favorite vacation: Orlando, FL

I like school when: it's calendar time

I don't like school when: we have to be quiet

My favorite season: Summer

My favorite toy: Wii

My worst nightmare: the one about Michael Jackson's Thriller with zombies

Things that make me mad: when mom takes my Wii away

Favorite sport: Basketball

I like my Dad because: he takes me to play with Junior

I like my Mom because: she lets me use the computer

I like my family because: they are fun