4th of July

I was four years old when I was in my first parade. It was the Pioneer Day Parade in SLC. I had a purple bike with a banana seat and long purple and pink streamers from the handle bars.

I started marching band in 5th grade and played in Christmas and 4th of July parades until 8th grade. I've been in a couple of Mardi Gras (not in New Orleans) parades and got to toss out candy to the specators. Any time I've not been in a parade, I've gone to watch the parade go by. I LOVE parades!

Last Tuesday I recieved an email via a listserve asking for volunteers to carry flags or balloons for Friday's 4th of July parade. I RSVP'd immediatly! I was so excited about it that I even convinced one of my co-workers to joing up with me.

Here are a few photo's from the parade:

It's about 8:00 am. The balloons are getting pumped up and ready to go.

I'm a star! My co-worker and I are each on a point of this star. There was a lot of waiting. More waiting than marching. We were 'float' number 83 out of 150.

Watching Uncle Sam enter the parade.

A view of the White House while in the parade.

It was sooo much fun. Hot and tiring and I couldn't beleive how much my arm hurt from waving, but I would do it again. The only down side to being in the parade is that you don't get to watch the parade.

Sweets

Pet Peeve: grocery clerks who make comments about the food you are buying.

Purchased:
Spinach salad bar
bottle of Ken's fat free sundried tomato dressing
2 plums
2 nectarines
2 peaches
cup o' miso soup
whole wheat bagel
box of whoppers

"I love all your *health* food and then this box of whoppers."

Yep, I eat candy. Almost everyday. Not really a grocery clerks business to make snide comments about what I buy. Isn't it in fact their business to talking me into buying more?

mmmm...I can't wait to eat those whoppers!

Indian Style

There are not many possesions that I need, but the one thing I do need is a chair. I can live without a bed, I don't care much for clothes, I can find ways to cook without pots & pans, but I hate not having a chair to sit on.

Which is funny, because I often times kneel. At work, doing homework in my bedroom, working on a project. I really like to kneel. But without an anchor to kneel against I need to sit and sitting Indian Style hurts. This might say something about my posture...

Recycle

I have been doing major spring cleaning, using up old stored products and spending very little money the past two weeks. I needed to do a load of laundry today but was out of laundry detergent. We contemplated using dish soap but was afraid of a Brady Bunch episode in my kitchen.

What I used instead was a cup of old baking soda and the final dredges of my milk & honey bath soap. THIS was amazing! My laundry is so clean and fresh. Tons better than *real* laundry detergent. I don't know if in the end it would be more cost effective, or if it's really good for my laundry, but I really liked this load. I can't wait to sleep in my sheets tonight!

new bubble gum recommendations

Try - Extra Strawberry-Banana: Good flavor, not overly sweet, and true to Extra brand, long lasting. Not crazy about the packaging but I prefer the good old fashioned five sticks in a pack style.

Don't Try - Bubbilicious Inked: Sometimes I like fun gum. This is a new gum that 'inks' your tongue blue/purple. The 'inking' juice feels like pure acid on your tongue. This is probably the only pack of gum that I've never finished. I tried two pieces and threw the rest away. I'll stick with Freshen-up if I want squirty gum.

air conditioning

In my youthful Southern days, the only place we ever had air conditioning was when we lived with my grandparents. Which was off and on. Being normal active kids, we were often lectured about going in and out, letting out the cold air and wasting electricity. (we were taught many lessons about not wasting things when we lived with my grandparents. I still save used aluminum foil.) So I've spent a fair amount of time living in the very hot and humid south withouth air conditioning. And usually heat doesn't bother me. But I am not covered in fur.

The past few days here in Boston have been HOT. Friday night I was wearing sweat pants and a jacket around the house. Sunday? 100 degrees. The funny thing is I didn't realize I was hot until I got home from church to change my clothes and my dress was soaked through. And I'm used to suffering through the heat so I don't really ever think about using air conditioning. But my poor cats are prostrate against the bathroom tile trying to stay cool.

An old roommate left their window air conditioner installed in the upstairs bedroom, so, despite my aversion to air conditioning I turned it on for the cats. But they won't stay in the room alone! It's a baked 100 degrees on the main floor, but if I'm down here, then the cats will be too. They'll stay in the room if I'm there with them, so, in an empty room with no tv, no internet, no furniture or anything else but that air conditioner, I sit and read a book or write or take a nap. (I did try to take out the unit to move it down stairs, but it really is a two person job...)

I'm hoping that tomorrow's weather is cooler.

The Manual

Do you have a box of stuff that you just move from place to place? You're not entirely certain what's in the box, but every time you open it the top contents indicate that "yes. there are some important things in there but nothing urgent to deal with." so you close the flaps back up and promise to deal with it on a rainy day?

I'm going through that box right now and I just found my Diamond Back bike manual. First, I've been riding a bike since I was five. Do I really need a manual? Secondly, my Diamond Back, a wonderful bike, met it's demise on a June Monday evening around 6:00 pm in Liberty Park. In 2000. Yeah. EIGHT years ago!

I think I can safely throw this bike manual away. (Though I am thinking of replacing my Specialized with another Diamond Back...)