Jumping for June

House sitting: Had the oddest house sitting gig of my life this month... no strange pets to feed/take care of, no delicate plants to water, no teenagers/college students to babysit... pretty much all I had to do was spend one night, bring in the mail and newspaper, and call it a day AND I got to watch regular cable tv (I chose to watch the NBA Finals and cheer on my Spurs! Who did not win, but played well. I consider it a complete score... and I got paid really well. BEST OF ALL WORLDS.
Fake Birthday Party: In order to throw my grandmother off the scent of her big surprise 80th birthday party this month, the local members of the family took her out to dinner at The Swiss, a steak house in Santa Maria...and it worked, because the look on her face when she walked into her surprise party was truly priceless.



surprise!!!!

Surprise Birthday Party: For the surprise party family came in from all over California to celebrate the day with my grandmother, we had dinner at a local Chinese Restaurant, and it was great to visit with family that I haven't seen in a long time, there were lots of laughs and tons of food to share.

Twinsies!

More Birthday Parties: The last weekend in June was filled with birthday parties for little ones. One of my best friends (that I've known since 7th grade) had a party for her two year old twins, and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. There weren't any major toddler meltdowns. The weather was semi-cooperative (was a little hotter than I would have liked, but no rain, so that's nice), and it seemed like everyone enjoyed themselves. All in all, a successful party. The following day I went to a birthday party for a 5 year old that used to live with one of my really good friends (he's her former roommate's son) that made a request that I attend his party. There was pizza and face painting (although I didn't stick around long enough to get mine done) and lots of little ones running around. I think the highlight of the day for me was watching the kids play with light sabers made out of pool noodles. I wish I had taken a picture of them because it was so creative, and the kids could smack each other around with them without getting hurt.
Long Lost Friends: I am REALLY regretting that I didn't take pictures when I got to visit with one of my really good friends from college this weekend. I haven't seen her in years and years, and we're only really able to keep up with each other via facebook... and I had my phone with me the whole time, no excuses! But we had a great visit at Avila beach, saw some dolphins and seals frolicking in the ocean, and splashed around in the surf with her daughter. I'm hoping that I'll get to see her again sometime next year when I travel to the east coast for a friend's wedding, even if we just get to grab coffee (although I think where I'll be and where she lives is at least a 4 hour drive if not longer, so we'll just have to play it by ear).
Movie Nights: This month I went to the movies much more frequently than I normally would, I saw Star Trek: Into Darkness, This is the End, and Monsters University.  I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed all of them, even though there were many moments where just myself and the group of people I had seen the movie with were the only ones laughing. For Star Trek and This is the End, I can blame it on the adult beverages, for Monsters University? It was mostly because so many parts of the movie struck so close to home and I was there with a good chunk of my family. This is the End was a movie I didn't really have high hopes (no pun intended... I don't do that) for but it pleasantly surprised me and even scared me in a couple spots... who would have thought an apocalypse movie with that particular cast could have some scenes that would make a grown woman scream... then snort with laughter a mere seconds later. Good job guys.  Star Trek had a lot more emotion than I would have expected from an action movie, there may or may have not been a moment when I wanted to yell at the screen "For all that is good in the world, Kirk stop crying already, I'm uncomfortable with your man tears!"... again it really could have been the wine... and I'm hoping it was a whisper and not a whisper shout.  Monsters was everything a Pixar movie can be, it had enough humor for the adults to get a kick out of it... maybe more than enough because there were moments when my cousin (he's 11) would tap me on the arm and say "Lauren, you KNOW only our family is laughing at this... right?" Which would usually make me laugh harder... because it's not my fault the rest of the theater doesn't get the jokes.
Hazard Canyon With Mom: On Saturday the 15th my mom and I decided we would go for a hike/walk in the Montana de Oro State park, specifically at Hazard Canyon, neither one of us had been there in years (for me it was pre-driver's license, British Knights wearing days) and I wanted to give my camera a good workout. The weather was the right temperature, but it was a fairly overcast day. The ocean and coastline were gorgeous and just what I remembered. You can see some of my favorite photos here. 
Glasses: Woot! Finally got in to the eye doctor and found out that prescription I've had for years is not correct for my vision and that I need new glasses...which is good, because the glasses I've had went MIA about a month ago, and will most likely only reappear when I'm wearing my new frames. They're so stinking cute I can't stand it, and while I won't receive them before the end of the month, they've been sized and ordered and I think can be included in this post.

We're half way through the year folks. Next month is birthday month and I can't wait to share the shenanigans that usually surround July. Stay tuned.

January: First Month of the New Year

The month of January seems like a weird time warp for me. Parts of it seem like it happened so long ago that it's hard to believe that it's all been in one month, and part of it seems like it went by really fast. While I'm looking forward to whatever the future may bring, I'm a little sad to see another month go. I know January isn't technically over, but I think this one is ready a couple days early.

• Life of Pi: This was the first movie of the New Year for me, and let me tell you, it did not disappoint. I won't spoil the movie for you, but I was blown away by how beautiful the cinematography was, and how touching the story could be. I haven't read the book so I wasn't sure what it would be about, but I'm so glad that I went to the 3D flick. I'm usually dubious of 3D features, but they seem to be getting better with time. The glasses don't hurt my eyes as much and the motion sickness is basically non existent. So yay! Go see Life of Pi.
• The Best Girlfriends EVER: So the break up wasn't as terrible as it could have been. It was bad, don't get me wrong, but my girlfriends were super heroes getting me through it. They made sure that for the first week back in the realm of the single life that I wasn't alone and that I always had a shoulder to cry on. They let me know how much they loved me and that things would get better. And it worked. I still have moments where I'm sad and cry, but I know my girls are there to cheer me up. They listen when I'm being crazy and illogical, the offer advice when they think I can handle it, and they are quiet when they know I'm not ready to hear certain things. They are loyal to #TeamLauren, all while never really saying anything negative about him. They remind me that while it's okay to hurt and be upset, that things will get better, and this was just a quick stop on the big journey. It was real and important, and that it is okay to grieve over what was lost.
• Blu Ray + New TV: I finally joined the 21st century with the help of my parents and Christmas elves. I am now the proud owner of a 32" flat screen TV and a blu ray player to make my home movie experiences that more enjoyable. Next step is trying to figure out how to afford Internet at home so that I can stream movies and click on all those bonus features.



at the Cal Poly
Performing Arts Center

• Live theater: Hair. It was interesting to say the least. It contained nudity, orgies, bad drug trips and draft dodging all set to a psychedelic rock soundtrack. The music was fantastic, I was entertained, awestruck, and horrified all at the same time. So good work. I can't say that i would be excited to see that particular play again, but i am glad that i went. It was a one night only show at the Cal Poly Performing Arts Center. I can't believe I went to school there for 3 years and it was my first time inside the building. Was a great venue and I can't wait to go back in a couple of months to see Broadway's Beauty and the Beast. 

• Moving Crew: No faithful readers, I didn't move this month, but one of my really close friends did. She got this adorable upstairs studio that has a view of the pool. One full moving truck and 3+ sweaty hours later we got all her stuff in her place... the couch only got mildly stuck in the stairs, but yelling "PIVOT!!" like Ross from FRIENDS seemed to help lighten the mood, and bring the neighbors running to help these damsels in distress. Best way to relax post move? Chinese food and a long nap.
• The Great Flood of 2013: Okay... so I didn't technically need to build an ark or anything remotely close, but I did have a small moat around my house and spilling into my pantry one Friday night this month. One of the waterlines to my house burst and created havoc. Luckily Jack's Plumbing came to the rescue and stopped the gurgling stream that was coming from my house. Nothing was ruined, except for a bunch of junk mail I've been meaning to destroy, and a few spiders probably got flushed away.
• Zombie Fun: While the Walking Dead is on it's winter hiatus, Girls' Night has kept with the undead tradition and have taken to watching horror/comedy flicks in it's absence. Shawn of the Dead made an appearance in the DVD player, it wasn't really what I was expecting (had no clue it was British) but it was funny in that dry way that the Brits are known for. Does I Am Legend count as a zombie movie? They weren't really undead, just scary cancer survivors, but they looked like zombies...anyway it made the cut this month too. I was less than impressed {beware spoilers ahead} the dog died AND Will Smith died? WTF man? Not cool man, not cool.
• Dream Journal: Finally after years of having really weird dreams and never writing them down I decided to start logging what goes on in my head after I fall asleep. I'm publishing them here in the bloggy blog as a series "Dream State Escalate" I don't plan on sharing them with the social networks, but they are available for your viewing pleasure. I tend to write them as I'm waking up in the morning, so please understand that they are raw and not especially well written. I just want to get the words out before pieces of them start to slip away.





Pismo Beach Pier
 

• Taking Time For Me: For anyone who has seen my calendars (yes plural) you know I jam pack my days. This month I've taken time off from that. I don't need to fill every waking second of my day, and I think it's helping my health a bit. There for awhile I felt like I was constantly on the verge of being sick and I was having a really hard time sleeping. Last week and this week for the most part my evenings have been pretty quiet after work, and I go to bed when I feel like it, not when it is "bedtime" sometimes that means 8pm, sometimes it's more like 11 or later. I don't feel the need to escape my house every night and I'm enjoying curling up with a good book again. A couple weeks ago I drove up to the beach by myself and took a ton of pictures of the ocean and finally started to feel like me again. I'm teaching myself how to use Photoshop and am learning how to make the landscape photos I enjoy so much even better. For the most part the post-break up anxiety is gone and I'm comfortable in my own skin. This doesn't mean I don't still have moments where I'm fighting back tears at my desk or wanting to throw things across my bedroom, but it does mean that I can control the impulses, and that they are happening less frequently.
• Speaking of The Break Up: I've noticed this strange trend... and I don't like it, guys who I thought were my friends (and some were Internet only friends at that) suddenly seem to think that because I'm not seeing anyone, that I'm suddenly available and wanting to date/hook up/be more than friends with them... and they've been pretty vocal about it. Like they're entitled to a piece of me, a piece that has never been offered to them before I've had a boyfriend, and certainly not days after. I actually had to tell someone "dude, just because I'm single doesn't mean I'm ready to date or up for grabs" and then he had the nerve to be upset because I "took it the wrong way" and that "we've been friends for such a long time, it's a shame to throw a friendship like ours away" um I'm not the one who was posting inappropriate things on his facebook. I'm not the one who was flirting in a way that made anyone feel physically violated just by reading it. So he crossed my boundaries, and by me calling him out on it, I destroyed our friendship. Cool bro, guess we weren't friends anyway. Guess what... I miss you about as much as I miss having athlete's foot.  As for my real guy friends... you're amazing. Seriously, for you to be there for me while I cry about other guys, for you to make me laugh when I feel like playing in traffic, and for you to calm me down when I can't sleep, I can never thank you enough or fully explain how much you mean to me. Thank you for being a real friend... not just some guy waiting to pounce because I'm vulnerable. You're different than my best girlies in that you can offer some insight into the male mind and help me understand whats going on outside of me, and even though I don't always like to hear it, I do appreciate it. I'm a lucky girl, because I really do have the best friends in the world.