In June...

School ended.

Summer began.

The longest day of the year came and went.

Books were read.

Lots of shoes were bought. (Most will be returned.)

It was hot...and thunderstormy.

Pools were swam in.

Nails were painted.

Kidlets were tutored.

Parents traveled to Alaska.

Houses, dogs, and grandpas were sat.

Woodchucks wreaked havoc.

Movies were watched. Movies that rhyme with Tragic Bike. 

Summer Fun lists were made.

Wedding invitations were made.

Dresses were tried on.

And so many hours of Dawson's Creek were watched.

June flew by...as all the months seem to do recently. The absence of a schedule always throws me for a loop. At first, I cannot fathom filling the empty time and I become antsy, lonely, and generally lost in space and time. But as the days pass by, I slowly get used to the idea of staying up late and sleeping in, spending entire afternoons reading books, and making plans for Sunday nights. And before long, I cannot fathom the idea of ever returning to work in the fall.

I guess it's a good thing that there are almost 2 months left of summer vacation!

Summer Fun List 2012

Number 6 on my 30 While 30 List is "Compile and complete a Summer Fun List". Around the blog-o-sphere the Summer Manifesto is quite a popular phenomenon. I went with the good old fashioned list because manifesto is such a fancy pants word...and frankly when have you ever know me to pass up a list?

So here is my Summer Fun List. Come do things with me!

MASSACHUSETTS WOMAN GETS CAUGHT IN WHAT WAS POTENTIALLY THE WORST THUNDERSTORM OF HER LIFE.

June 23, 2012

By EverydayA

(Maine) - A beautiful day quickly turned scary when torrential thunderstorms passed through southern Maine. Returning home from the town beach, Amy headed to Walmart to purchase a floaty raft. She had every intention of returning to the beach to float in the lake and sun herself like a painted turtle on a rock.

      When she left the house it was 86 degrees and humid. But the thunder came swiftly and loudly. During the 20 minute drive to the store, the temperature dropped a staggering 17 degrees. Then the skies opened up. If one were to judge the intensity of the rain on the "drizzle to cats and dogs" scale, it would be classified under elephants and rhinos. It was the kind of rain that causes flash floods. The kind of rain that creates lakes in front yards and rivers on each side of the road. The kind of rain that requires your windshield wipers to be on speed "crazy fast" and even then you can't see more than 10 feet in front of you.

      Driving 15 miles an hour, Amy finally arrived safely at the store. Many older folk were huddled in the entrance way waiting out the storm but Amy had little patience. With flip flops in hand, she sprinted through a newly paved parking lot. The older folk looked horrified, a young mother grinned. The Massachusetts woman stepped confidently back into her flip flops, wiped the rain from her face and entered the store determined to find a floaty raft.

     After surviving such a harrowing ordeal, Amy had this to say, "I had trouble deciding whether to get the floaty tube or the floaty raft." By the time she made her decision, the sun had come out and the rain had gone. Alas, the thunder lingered, preventing the Massachusetts woman from using the very floaty raft she braved the storm to purchase.

     Well, you know what they say about the rain in Maine...it gets everything wet.

Update: to this date, the floaty raft, in all of its translucent pinkness remains tightly packaged in its box.

Maine

Morticia

Not the Addams family, but a plant.

Boston is all in a tizzy because the Red Sox can't get out of their own way Morticia the corpse flower is blooming.

The flower is 4 feet tall and only blooms once every 15 years! When it does bloom it wilts after 48 hours. Talk about making every second count. 

The thing about the corpse flower is that when it blooms it smells like rotting flesh. Disgusting but awesome.

File under: #things that amaze me

     

Cooking with Amy: Sunflower Cupcake Edition

Last weekend I had a compulsion to bake. So I jetted to the store to buy the ingredients for sunflower cupcakes...but then...instead of baking, I just ate the oreos.

Fast forward to five days later and I once again headed to the store to buy the ingredients for sunflower cupcakes (a.k.a oreos).

First, I whipped up a batch of from-the-box chocolate cupcakes. And I (think) I've learned my lesson about using bowls that are too small for the task. I invested in some bigger Kitchen Aid bowls so I can mix until my heart is content.

My whole apartment smelled like cupcake! It was glorious.

After they cool, you cut a cone shape out of the top of each cupcake. Thus, you are left with a bowl of cupcake middles. What to do with them?

Put a dab of icing in the hole then shove an Oreo into the depths of the cupcake.

Then you whip up some green icing and make some leaves. Don't worry if they are messy/ugly because you are going to cover them with yellow.

Finally, make a whole lot of yellow leaves. They look best in layers but no need to worry if they are neat or if others could make them look better. People will still be impressed with your baking skills because they are so cute and cheery!

Then nom them until you feel sick. P.S. they are super messy to eat because when you take a bite they pretty much collapse because you cut the middle out of the cupcake. It's best to just try to shove as much of the cupcake in your mouth as possible.

    

Local Field Trip: Concord, MA

One thing I want to do during my 30th year is explore my surroundings. Recently added to the 30 While 30 list is "Take 10 local field trips." Now, local may mean the town next door or somewhere in New England. My first local field trip was to a place I've visited several times before: Concord, MA. (FYI: it's pronounced Concerd NOT Con-cord.)

On a beautiful May day, I headed to Walden Pond. I walked the loop around the pond twice stopping during my second loop to dip my feet in. There were so many kids swimming and I REALLY wanted to go in, but I real people clothes on and I knew there were going to be other stops on my field trip so I only went in to my knees.

After Walden Pond, I headed to Sleepy Hollow Cemetery to visit some of the greatest authors of our time. Henry David Thoreau and Louisa May Alcott have quite simple headstones. Ralph Waldo Emerson's is a tad bit fancier.*

On my way out, a black Porsche sped through the cemetery. (Side note: every time I see a black Porsche...especially old ones, I think it is Dylan McKay.) When I drove to the North Bridge I had to circle the small parking lot several times because it was FULL of Porsches. There must have been 15 of them. Is there a secret Porsche scavenger hunt that I don't know about?

I finally found a spot to park and headed across the road to the bridge. One of the awesome things about growing up in Massachusetts (aside from the fact that it is fabulous) is that you can easily visit some of the most important historical sights of our country's history. It's crazy that however many years ago, British and American soldiers fought for their respective countries right at that spot.

My trip to Concord was perfect and it is one that I intend to repeat frequently but I do want to visit new-to-me places around Massachusetts and New England. If you have any ideas or want to take a field trip with me let me know!

* If I ever publish a book I will most definitely publish it under my first, middle, and last name because it obviously will ensure success.

 

Cooking with Amy: Funfetti Cookie Edition

Remember the time I fell in love with Pinterest and pinned lots of yummy things to cook/bake/eat? Well, be prepared for a summer full of recipes and kitchen disasters. First up, was Funfetti cake batter cookies. You mix a box of cake mix with eggs and some other stuff then you dump in ALL the colored sprinkles you can find. It looks beautiful!

You mix it all up and bake them like cookies.

They come out of the oven all puffed up like a cupcake top. But give them a few minutes and the sink down into a delicious soft cookie. Make sure you don't brown the bottoms. They should be soft NOT crispy.

I couldn't resist breaking off a piece right out of the oven.

Don't they look pretty stacked up?

I ended up with 30ish cookies so I brought them to school so I wouldn't be tempted to nom them all myself.

Will definitely make these again. Delicious and so happy looking!

   

Don't Judge a Book by its Cover

Dear Library,

I recently read the following book:

On the side of the book you affixed the following sticker:

Obviously you have not read this book. The only animal in the story is the horse that pulls the plow. In fact, it is a story about a young boy with promising intellectual abilities who leaves school to return home to help care for his father who has just had a stroke. The boy learns to communicate with his father who can no longer speak and decides to build a barn with his brother and sister. He hopes that having something to look forward to will help his father get better. The boy finishes the barn late one night and decides to wait until morning to show his father. Now, I don't want to ruin the end of the story for you but guess what happens to his father that night?

So dear library, you really shouldn't judge a book by its cover (or title). Some poor, unsuspecting child is going to pick up this book expecting to read about piggies and get quite the life lesson instead.

XOXO,
Amy

I STILL Love Dawson's Creek

A little birdie told me that Dawson's Creek had come to Netflix Instant so basically my life is now complete.

I've marathon-ed my way thorough two seasons so far and I have lots of thoughts.

Dawson 

The show's namesake is sooo dreamy dorky...with his loose flowing flannels and his giant head, his ugly crying and whiny disposition...and those eyebrows! Was anyone on Team Dawson?

Joey 

What a crabby wench. Although I suppose living on the couch with your sister's interracial baby crying in the other room while your dad sits in prison on a drug conviction would make anyone a little bit disagreeable.

Pacey

The love of my life. I still love teenage Pacey. He was just the right amount of mischief and awesomeness. So happy that Joey ended up with him!

Jen 

I forgot how slutty she was. And her hair cut was awful! She had a rough life in Capeside.

There are so many wonderful things about Dawson's Creek: Churchy Grams and Gay Jack living under the same roof. Pacey sleeping with Miss Jacobs. Crazy Andie was so crazy. Dawson's dad subbing at school...what a nightmare.

The only thing I miss is Paula Cole's "I Don't Wanna Wait" at the beginning of every episode. 

#TeamPacey4Life

No Apologies

So I've been MIA for like 600 years but I've been busy doing things like:

• Watching entire seasons of Dawson's Creek on Netflix Instant.
• Decluttering.
• Interviewing for a job.
• Losing out on said job to the principal's niece.
• Making summer plans.
• Hanging out with second graders.
• Going on field trips with second graders.
• Emailing long lost friends.
• Cooking.
• Making my apartment super messy.
• Walking and running and walking.
• Reading kid's books.
• Buying maid of honor dresses in guava!
• Painting my nails.
• Visiting Maine.
• Cuddling with puppies.
• Drinking iced lattes.
• Avoiding my blog like the plague.

But after some much peer pressure from the madre and the amigos I am back to regale you with my summer adventures.

Four days of school left baby!

   

Ode to June

In June

School will end paving the way for summer to begin. 

The days will get longer then start to get shorter. 

I will sleep in late and stay up later. 

There will be sunshine and laughter. 

I will write and read and walk and swim. 

I will eat a lot of popsicles.