Summatime

Mom and a margarita. (I love tequila and alliteration.) Her first Bomber's visit. Let the celebrating begin!

The end of the school year is always bitter sweet.  The beginning of vacation is exciting.  But still, I always feel a little bit sad on the drive home.  There's a lot of good byes and see ya laters, loose ends left untied, new friendships cut short, reflections that feel like they're left hanging.


Okay, so I know you're not feeling sorry for me at all.  And you shouldn't.  It's obviously still awesome to be on an 8-week "vacation."  It's one of the few perks to teaching... you know, besides sculpting America's future. (Actually, that just kind of depressed me again...)  And my summer has barely started and I've already gotten to do a ton of fun things.

Beautiful sidewalk art in Troy.

I love the 90s. You know you do, too.

Local hiking with friends.

The view from Thacher. Gorgeous, right?  

Food wise, I ate really well and really terrible (I'm hoping that it just evened out).  I fall apart without my routine :-/

Some of the good:

I tossed that (blanched) broccoli rabe with some spicy sausage, penne, and a light alfredo (melt butter, half and half, cheese, go).

We had a few fresh and fruity salads.

My boyfriend can make a mean salad.

Grilled up some homemade garlic scape and chive chicken patties.  (He's also a Grill Masta.)

And ate a light cucumber salad at a pool party (two of us counts as a party, right?)

Erin's Cucumber Salad for Two

Mix together:

a cucumber, chopped

plain yogurt

1 T white vinegar

the juice of 1/2 lemon

a garlic scape, diced

fresh dill

In honor of this week's heat wave, I'll leave you with this poem that was one of my students' faves this year (I may be on break, but I'm still an English teacher). Remember, we waited a long time to be this hot!  

Summer

I like hot days, hot days

Sweat is what you got days

Bugs buzzin from cousin to cousin

Juices dripping

Running and ripping

Catch the one you love days

Birds peeping

Old men sleeping

Lazy days, daisies lay

Beaming and dreaming

Of hot days, hot days,

Sweat is what you got days.

                                - Walter Dean Myers

                 

Later,

D