So I haven't posted all summer, but stuff has definitely been happening. As Jen pointed out to me, this is unacceptable behavior. Thus, this post will hopefully be rather long, but satisfying to my past roommate and future travel companion. :)
The summer started off fairly low key. The weather was fairly bad, so we weren't doing a lot. We didn't even get the boat in the water til almost August. Still, we would spend weekends up at the lake doing puzzles and going on walks. We like to leave the dogs off-leash which the dogs love, but has led to several mishaps. The first was the burrs. Still not quite sure what type of plant it was, but it was like cheatgrass enclosed in some weird sticky mud. It plastered itself down to their skin and we could not brush it out. This is how I learned I do not have a calling as a dog groomer. Even with a professional dog razor they looked awful. The first day it was just Riley, but the next morning they both found it. John had to take them to get professionally done several days later, but at least we got the muck out of them for the time being.
Shortly after this was the Fourth of July. Since there had been so much rain and snow this spring, all the rivers in the area were really high. So John went and bought us river rafting tubes so we could go down the Priest River. When we first went to step in, it was frigid! But after the first set of rapids, it suddenly didn't seem quite so cold anymore. Still, it would continually catch me off guard when I got a face full of ice water over my head. None the less, it was a ton of fun! We only wished it had been nicer earlier in the season so we could have gone when the river was higher still. But as John put it, it probably wouldn't be fun to get in water that cold when the air was equally as cold.
The next day, Jeanne, Brandon, Hailey and Holden came up to the cabin for the day. Hailey and Holden were master butterfly catchers. I believe their grand total for the day was 19. Hailey even caught 3 in one swoop at one point. The kids splashed in the shallow water while the rest of us enjoyed the sunshine. Jeanne and Brandon introduced us to their "spicy lemonade." It was so good! It had jalapenos and basil mixed in, which made it quite possibly my new favorite lemonade. After awhile, Jeanne and I decided to be brave and just dive in off the end of the dock. Brandon was laughing at us for quite a while for all the noises we made as soon as we surfaced. Still, the experience was fun, and we all got a good laugh at the end.
The following weekend was the Portland Antique Show. Deena, my mom, and I had a space rented and set off at 4 in the morning for Portland to go buy, sell, and have a good ol' time. It really is an amazing show, and a lot of fun. Deena was pleased that she sold many of the things she has trouble selling here in Spokane, my mom got to both shop and sell, and I learned about diamonds. Deena taught me a few basics and then sent me out to scout the show to compare prices for her. I have never before liked diamonds on myself, but I found a diamond ring I would have been happy to own. Unfortunately I apparently go straight for the big boys and became attached to a several thousand dollar ring. The one nice part about it being so far out of my price range is it kills most of the attraction to it.
On Saturday, I met up with Anne Peasley and headed downtown. I had received an invitation the week earlier to show up for the filming of the Portland scene of the next "Where the Hell is Matt." If everything goes well, I could be in the 2011 video, unless the location gets cut. Fingers crossed! Not only was this experience a ton of fun, but I also got to meet Matt, who is pretty much my hero for finding a way to get paid to travel like this. The people who were there were hilarious too. We were told we could come in costume, as long as it wasn't trademarked, to identify ourselves in the video later. There was a giant head of broccoli, the SST (supershottwins) who had canisters, each with a shot of vodka, strapped all over their chests, someone with a flaming pitchfork, and several other highly amusing costumes. Everyone had a great time, doing silly dance routines. My favorite was, and a quote his dance move terms: Lasso, Lasso, Stomp the bug, Stomp the bug, Feet together, Hop, Left, Right, Laaaaaaaaaawnmower!
I bought Matt's book and the "I danced with Matt" shirt and he signed both. He also let me take a video dancing with him. It is very dorky, and makes me exceedingly happy every time I watch it. The book was a very poor choice for me though. I read about his experiences (even the bad), and all I want to do is go to these places and encounter such things. It is all so exciting! (Hey Jen, 56 weeks!)
The following morning, I had to open at the bagel shop, but my mom got me off early so I could go have lunch with Heather's family, followed by watching the movie once more with them. Heather and I wore our themed T-Shirts and had a great time watching it once more. Heather even came prepared with Kleenex for me both times. She knows what a movie sap I am. Then we went to her parents condo and made Harry Potpies, Cockroach Clusters, Butterbeer, and had Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans out. It was all delicious, particularly the Potpies and Butterbeer. Ron ate most of the Cockroach Clusters, so they were definitely a hit too.
Finally the Harry Potter craze slowed down in our lives and the summer started to kick into full swing. We've been bridesmaid dress shopping like fiends all summer for Heather's wedding, only to have something foil the ones we like at the last minute and have to start at ground zero all over again. It is very frustrating. We are currently still without dresses, though Heather has found cake she likes. It was progress of some sort.
Then came the Priest Lake excursions. The whole family made it up this year, mostly overlapping, and it was incredible. I got the full week and a half off of work and spent most of that time in the boat every day. To summarize it: biking, hiking, surfing, skiing, wake boarding, climbing, wandering, remembering, tubing, snaking, roofball, swimming, diving, tanning, lazing, eating. Got it?
The first day everyone was up there was Jinnie's memorial service. Everyone spoke at the table, and some people even flew in only for the day to be there. It was very nice. Even Kashi, Brian, and Scott made it, which I think meant a lot to different people in the family. We ate some of Jinnie's signature dishes, and told and listened to our favorite stories. It was sad, but wonderful.
After that, the adventures began. David would pile us into the boat first thing in the morning to begin the water sports. We started with the usual. Everyone tubing, some skiing, me surfing. Then the sports exploded. All the kids tried and succeeded at everything. It was so much fun to watch them all find their favorite sport. Gaia was an amazing surfer, and even caught some great air wake boarding. Ainsley looks like a natural on the wake board. Liam is an awesome little skier. That got me to try wake boarding again, which I was finally fairly successful at, and all the adults tried surfing. Paula even got to the point of propelling herself! David just pulled us all day long. Except when we went to Hill's for drinks and pickle ball, or the sunken island for a mid-lake swim.
Every morning most of us went on a 6:30 bike ride, to try to see the moose. We never did on that ride, but it was always fun and beautiful at that time of day. Very peaceful. Then we let "Ranger Dave" direct us. We all ended up pushing our bikes up steep gravelly hills, hitting dead ends. Really, every one of us should know better than to follow David's directions.
And yet, the following day we did it again. We went to look for the rock slide at Lion's Head on the north side of the lake. It's a natural rock slide with water over it which forms a perfect water slide in nature. Following David's map reading skills, we ended up fording the creek as a human chain to pass bags and kids along, hiking for hours up the mountain (in bad water shoes), before turning around and going home. The hike was a lot of fun, but it would have been more so if it had been planned and we hadn't all ended up tired and with bad blisters from the shoes we wore. We did get an excellent view and found some huge huckleberries though. David wanted to go try again a couple days later, but no one was backing him on the idea. We did have fun teasing him about his ranger skills though, and comparing him to Bob Gregory, who would have never got us lost. Good thing David's a good sport about the teasing, I think some of those are going to be around for awhile.
Next, David and Meridith rented jet skis. We spent the next couple days speeding around the lake on them and having a right good time. I Photoshopped a picture to trick David into thinking he had missed seeing Ainsley ski too, which was actually successful for awhile. We also played a lot of roof ball, ping pong, hunted for snakes, went on a ton of walks, and played a lot of cards. We had several multi-player solitaire games and a couple Gin Rummy tournaments.
Partway through the week, I came back into town for the Michael Buble concert too. My mom, Courianne, Jeanne, Wendi, Becky and I all went together and had a great time. We had an amazing dinner at Clinkerdaggers, before wandering over to the arena. Becky brought us flamingo straws for our drinks, and Courianne got the amusement of seeing my mom get slightly intoxicated. Michael's opening act was a band called Naturally 7, who imitated instruments with their vocal cords. They were incredible! My favorites were the electric guitar, the bass, and the drum set. They sounded just like instruments and got really into their parts, air playing and having a great time on stage. Then following them up with Michael was the icing on the cake. He had fun sliding on his stage ramp, teasing his band, and the audience. After several hours of amazing music, we went out to where we could meet Naturally 7. I bought their CD, they signed it, posed for pictures, and got to meet all their players. It cracked me up how shy the bass player was off stage, when he was one of the more active ones down there.
The night after I got back to the lake was the big pig roast. Al had dug a hole, done months of research, and was roasting a whole pig in the ground Hawaiian style. We all helped him prep the pig, (me by recording the whole thing) which included hauling it to the hole in a wheelbarrow, seasoning it, stuffing its skin with garlic, putting an apple in its mouth, filling its chest with hot stones, wrapping it in banana leaves, foil, and wire mesh, before burying it in the ground for 24 hours. My favorite line of the night was Liam asking, "So, did you just find it dead somewhere?" We all had a good laugh at that, and John had fun daring the little girls to tough the eye and its teeth. Gaia was the only one brave enough, and not squeamish enough to do all the above. In the end it was quite delicious, though not nearly as good as John's pulled pork. They are talking about making it a yearly tradition, so who knows, we may get to do this again next year!
Eventually though, I had to come back to work. I did get to go spend a day on Schweitzer with Heather and Alex though, as they happened to be up there and call me as I got off work the evening before my day off. We played cards, drank huckleberry beer, watched the stars (trying to remember as many constellations as we could, but my astronomy class is rather quickly fading out of my brain), and went huckleberry picking. I had never been up there in the summer before, and it was a fun new way to see the mountain. The view of Pend O'Reille was beautiful, as in the winter it is usually obscured by fog and clouds. It was a fun mini trip, and I enjoyed spending the time with them. I don't get to see nearly as much of Heather as I used to, and it is always good to be able to hang out with her for awhile.
After coming home, my mom and I began painting the house. She had spent all summer trying to pick out colors, and after Judy and I finally told her to just pick one and stop getting more samples, she did. It is going to look amazing! We are doing the main part a rich grey tone, with a hint of purple to it, with cream trim to match the white bricks, and we are doing a deep red accent, including the front door being painted red. The door is what I am most excited about! The colors look amazing together though, and they really make my mom's plants pop out, especially the yellow of her black-eyed Susans. I do enjoy painting too, so its an enjoyable way for me to pay her "rent." She and John gave me permission to stay at home for awhile to save money so that I can try to afford going to Abu Dhabi this year, as well as Europe next fall. I'm sure I can make it work now, and I am really excited whenever I think about these trip potentials. I can't wait to get in touch with Kate and Steve about it, though I am waiting a bit as I know they are doing several different weekend trips to see their friends and for work. I have plenty of time, even if I am antsy to go somewhere new.
Now we are getting ready for GU to start up again at the bagel shop. All the freshman started moving in today, and we are slowing getting back to normal. We were prepping everything really well, and I was even sharpening the knives. Of course, being classic me, I sharpen all the knives with out incident and then as I finish the last one, drop it can catch it just in time to yank it across my own hand. Now I have a lovely deep gash across the side of my palm. My only consolation is that since I had just sharpened the knife, it is probably about the cleanest cut I could ask for. At least it doesn't hurt most of the time, though it is highly obnoxious when it pops open when I try to use my hand too much. I just figured my hands wanted to match with bagel shop knife battle wound scars. My best one up until now was my pinky one from trying to cut the turkey across the sinks. Poor life choice there. At least they make good stories. Now if only it would heal so I can use my hand properly again. Anyway, that about sums up my summer in hyper drive!
