Summer Is Here; So Am I

Wow. It’s been a while, hasn’t it? Well, come on in – the coffee’s hot and strong.

Just how many weeks has it been since we talked? Two? Three? More??

I honestly don’t remember talking about anything that’s happened in May. But now, the school year’s over and I’ll have a *little* more time to stay caught up with y’all. Fingers crossed, of course!!

Way back in April, the seniors went on their senior trip to Orlando, Florida. One of them brought me back my very own Oscar statuette! Of course, as a huge Office fan, I’m calling it my “Dundee”.

Did I tell you I went through bouts of vertigo over spring break due to caffeine withdrawal? Not fun at all, I tell you what!

May 4th I ran a 10K. It seemed like a good idea at the time: thanks to my “early bird discount” the 10K was the same as the 5K. What wasn’t the same was the course. After three miles the course didn’t loop; instead; it went into a mile and a half of sand. Sand is awful to run on and I didn’t train for it. It’s my own fault since I didn’t even look at the course map until two days before the race, despite having signed up for the race two months prior. I finished in just under an hour, and would have had an even worse time if I hadn’t come across someone else struggling just as much as I. We finished together, and by the time I made it home he’d sent me a Facebook friend request. Huzzah!

I’ve made progress on this years’ cosplay. There’s a lot of small-ish items to be done. I took apart, gutted, and reassembled a Guitar Hero guitar. I also designed a grappling hook, which Krystal improved and built (without me asking her!).

As an end-of-year treat, my Physics class made rock candy. We had an extra jar and couldn’t resist this Emperor’s New Groove shout-out:

What was it with me an running this month? One week after that sand-cursed 10K, I realized I’d signed up for another 10K. The good news: it was virtual, so I could run wherever I wanted. The bad news? It was scheduled for the same day as our school’s annual field day. So after spending 5+ hours outside corralling students into their respective activities, *then* I got to go an run another 6 miles. Fun times. But hey, the shirt is awesome:

This year I was asked to speak at our school’s Spring Formal, which was 1920s/Gatsby themed. Of course Krystal and I pulled out all the stops:

As far as me speaking went, several of the chaperones said they’d never seen the students that attentive to the speaker before. What an encouragement, especially since I didn’t think I did that well. I suppose we’re our own worst critics.

Speaking of critics, I’ve got a few more reviews on Stories in the End:

Thank you Jay Eldred and Mr. Tom for allowing me to sit at the table with you because that is where I felt that the book took me. What a joy to read! – Glenda on Facebook

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The book gives you a glimpse into the mind of a man from the Greatest Generation, a generation we tend to overlook. The unique tone allows the reader to feel as if you are sitting next to Mr. Tom at the kitchen table listening to his stories. You laugh. You cry. You feel more connected with years gone by. You remember that the trivial things of this world take up too much of your time, and you want to sit around your own kitchen table with family sharing stories, stories like these. Because one day they will be gone, and you will only have the stories. -Carolyn on Amazon

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This past week was the last week of school. How did it go for me? Well, I was stress eating in my sleep. No kidding. One afternoon I came home, sat down to open my mail, and woke up four hours later with chocolate all over my fingers, a chocolate bunny box on the floor, and an empty bottle of Dr. Pepper on the table next to me. I have no idea where the soda even came from, let alone remember drinking it.

One thing I did buy on purpose? This limited edition box of Banana Crème Frosted Flakes:

They are amazing. Krystal gags just thinking about them, so even though she’s not allergic to any of the ingredients, I guess that means there’s more for me.

I also started some summer reading:

I even got a few authors responding to my tweet!

I also had one person jump in and criticize my choices, saying I needed more women/minority writers.

I’m sorry, but unless you follow me on Goodreads you don’t know what I’m reading. I tactfully informed them of the books I’d just finished reading and the books next on my list, all of which would satisfy their demands. But again, why even bring that up? I have almost three months of summer; I’m going to read a lot more than those five or six books. In fact, I’ve already read two of them since sending out that tweet.

Of course, now that I have more time in the house I’m certain I’ll be missing Smokey even more. But that’s okay. I’ll manage.

What have you been up to?