Eruantale

We had a fun, but different 4th of July this year. My cousins came to visit, which is always exciting. Long time readers of my blog may remember an old, deceased post entitled Five Girls and a Coconut, in which my cousins, my sister and I attempted to open up a coconut and made a mad dash to get the taste out of our mouths when we finally did try the coconut’s milk. Yes, those cousins came to visit, as well as one of Matthew’s friends.

There is a tea house in Ilwaco called All the Tea and China. I’ve only been there a few times, but it’s one of my favorite places to go. I love scones, and theirs are amazing, and I also love cute, mismatched china and feeling British for an hour. Unfortunately, it’s closing. So, after taking Matthew there once, he suggested we visit again on the last day they would be open. (I love that boy. Most guys run away from the tea house.) I had an apricot walnut scone—my absolute favorite—and bought some of their yummy Peach Spice tea before we left. Then we met up with everyone else and browsed through Saturday Market along the port.

My Grandma, who lives just a mile or two away from us, had us all over for dinner. We decided to play Redneck Life after dinner, a board game loosely based on the game of life, except with a redneck twist. Your goal is to be the one with the most teeth at the end of the game. Reverend Uncle Pappy may throw a Bible at you and knock out a tooth, or you may end up with three young’ens named Phil, Jill, and Tater. For the record, I ended up with -1 teeth.

Tired of the board game and boisterous company, my cousin Jessica and I walked into town together to play some games at the arcade and get some ice cream. Jessie is going into 8th grade. The rest of us each have a cousin who is within a year of our age, but not her. So, it was nice to hang out one on one for a while. I got two jackpots for her at the arcade on one game where you have to hit a button when a certain light bulb is lit up to win. It’s been my go-to game at the arcade since I was in 5th grade, because I can always win. She got a bunch of tickets, but didn’t spend them.

Long Beach was ridiculously busy this 4th of July because a few cities cancelled their fireworks. It’s a tourist town and businesses rely on weekends like these. Thus, I was not surprised that we had to wait in line for twenty minutes to get ice cream. I eyed the case of Hagen Daaz while I waited, but ultimately, the waffle cone won me over and we stuck it out. Jessie and I both like eating the cone almost better than the ice cream, although she likes regular cones. She ordered Bubblegum and I got Chocolate Peanut Butter.

On our way home, I was amused by a silver bullet trailer for sale and I made Jessie stand in front of it for a cell phone picture. Once we got back, we turned around and went to the beach with everyone. People had been camped out on the beach all day long, lighting off fireworks. This beach is twenty-eight miles long, hence the name Long Beach. We describe it as a war zone every 4th. You can see fireworks for miles and miles. We picked out our spot, sat down, and then managed to drop three cell phones into the sand, including an iPhone and two slider phones. Don’t worry, they all recovered.

The “big” fireworks that the city puts on seemed different this year. We initially thought that they couldn’t afford much and decided to space the fireworks out so that the show was painfully slow, but then we realized that there was no wind. I think they had the same amount of fireworks as usual, but they had to slow everything down because the smoke wouldn’t clear. So, this year, they went out with a fizzle instead of a bang, really. We couldn’t see half of them. We had fun regardless, but it was a bummer.

The cousins stayed until Wednesday and helped us with VBS crafts this week. All in all, my extended 4th of July weekend was pretty fun.

Because my mind is made up of lists, lists, lists, lists and my living area is made up of stacks and piles, stacks and piles. My life is consolidated into one tightly bound, carefully organized, and neatly printed little blue Franklin Covey Planner that I got on clearance at Target for $10 and a tree of folders inside my poor, abused HP laptop, organized with such care that my pictures reside in individual folders all labeled first with the year, then with the month, then with the date, and finally with the subject, so I can view my life chronologically in full color.

Organized. That’s the word that many people use to describe me, but I currently sit on the outermost corner of my bed, leaning back against a pile of clothes, bedding, stuffed animals, and even a lunchbox that really need to be put away. Some people have a hard time making lists, but I don’t. I can sit down on a Tuesday evening and type up a list of 101 things that I would like to do in the next three or so years without any qualms, but hanging my laundry onto hangers is a huge challenge to me.

By all rights, my clothing should be hung in the closet, sorted by type, and then by height and color, for aesthetics, just like my books that sit on my bookcase right now, but they’re not. My shelves should be labeled with my Dymo Label Maker, and the contents of my desk drawer should have tabs for easy reference, with colored dots on each one marking how often I should refer back to each item. Should I look over them daily, weekly, or occasionally? If I looked over them more often, perhaps I would be able to find the stapler when I need it. But for some reason, no matter how hard I try, that never happens. I purge, clean, sort, organize and purge some more to my heart’s content, yet I still don’t know where the stapler is, and I even once lost my social security card for an entire year until I finally found it tucked somewhere safe and completely illogical.

I know precisely when I will need the stapler, because it’s written right here in my little blue planner on my next actions list. I will need to staple together my math homework on Monday. My math homework is entry #12 on the list, and the due date is 7/6/09. I can see that it’s not done yet, because the box next to it does not contain a perfect little checkmark. I know I need to send a thank you card to Mr. and Mrs. So and So, who were invited to my wedding as a party of four, because they have two kids named Johnny and Mary. I also know that they did RSVP and they are from out of town, and they gave us the lovely gift of a gift card for this exact amount, and I can see that I haven’t yet sent them a thank you card because the little box is not filled in with a checkmark yet in my thirteen column wedding excel spreadsheet. I could tell you exactly what park we will be visiting in Disney World on which day and where we plan to eat at precisely what time and even what I intend to order, because that is all in my Disney World spreadsheet. Yet I still have a pile of laundry on my bed that has resided in hampers for quite some time, and I have no idea where my stapler is.

Aren’t humans strange contradictions?

First of all, why don’t you have prices on every selection?
Can’t you just be upfront about these things?
I know you enjoy making me play guessing games, but I don’t appreciate it.
Second of all, why is the small bottle of Propel fifty cents,
while the large bottle is $2.50?
That doesn’t make any sense.
It’s really annoying that the thing I’m craving
is always the thing that’s lodged up against the glass
with a 10 bottle pile up behind it because
an optimist thought they could dislodge it with another bottle.
Whoever created you must be stinking rich by now.
Also, why did you have to trick me by having a 10 button?
I wanted a Butterfinger bar, so I pressed E and 1.
As my hand moved to the 0 button, I realized
you were already dispensing a beef and cheese stick.
This, I thought, was really very rude,
for a beef and cheese stick is nothing like a Butterfinger bar.
No other machine has a 10 button, so why are you the only one
playing these dirty tricks?
Now I’m eating room temperature beef and cheese
wondering what sort of chemicals I’m ingesting.
Your other offense against me is that you lie to me
by having a quarter slot, but you never accept my quarters.
My quarters go straight through you and are returned to me.
Are my quarters not good enough for you?
Are you too high class for a quarter?
It’s irritating to have to chase down someone with a dollar bill
when all I have are some quarters I grabbed from my change jar
this morning specifically to feed you.
Why is there no consistency to your daily offerings?
Sometimes you have Cheetos.
But other times you have strange, rubbery, beefy things
that smell and taste like wet dog food.
One time I was starving, and I looked to you for aid
but the only snacks available were hot and spicy.
Spicy Jerky, Jalapeno Cheetos, Hot Beef Sticks
Hot Hot Hot Doritos, and even Spicy Gold Fish.
Where on earth did you find spicy gold fish?
Couldn’t you at least offer me regular goldfish?
Every time I’m hungry and desperate, I visit you crossing my fingers
as I insert my money and make my selection.
But the only thing I can really count on is that
inevitably every class I take in this hallway
will eventually be interrupted by an enraged jock
body slamming you because you denied him his Cheez-Its.

#1, #7 and #24: For years and years I have always said that I had to go to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival when they finally performed Hamlet again. Well, yesterday I looked at their 2010 season and found out they will be doing Hamlet! So, plans are in the works to take a trip to Ashland that summer to see Hamlet, Pride and Prejudice, and Twelfth Night. I could kill three birds with one stone by going on the weekend and taking the train.

#8 and #9: Matthew and I are taking a trip to Disney World in September, so while we are there, I plan on doing #9. #8 is easily accomplished at home.

#14: I’ve been dying to make tamales for weeks, so we are planning to have a tamale night when summer term classes are over. Right now, with Matthew’s work schedule and my night class, we never get to have dinner together.

#27: I have NO clue how to actually submit something to PostSecret! They have no information on the website!

#45: This is going to have to wait until next year. Matthew works on 4th of July, so we don’t have any big plans.

#56: I’m registered to take ASL at school this fall.

#58: Since I’m an English major and prefer to read books in one sitting, this shouldn’t be too difficult for me. I’m currently reading Elijah’s Cup for my Autism in Literature class.

#59: We have no balance on our credit card. Hooray! Once I close it, I will get out the scissors.

#60 and #63: The savings is in the budget. Now we’re just waiting for the paychecks.

#62: I may change this to buy a camcorder. Matthew already has a good camera.

#64 and #66: We should be able to order these soon. I can’t wait to get all my dishes!

#76: On today’s to do list.

#81: So far I have a B in the current one. Let’s hope I can keep it up.

#82: As long as I pass my math class this term, my GPA should hit that mark.

#85: I’m halfway there!

#100: This blog post makes 2 out of 50!