11:49am:  This is known as "church hair."



12:33pm:  P-town!  Main road up into the residential hills. There are neon green hills here too. 




12:50pm:  Backyard Creatures Photo#1 - Garden Lizard.




12:51pm:  Backyard Creature Photo#2 - Casey the Monster Dog.




1:32pm:  Decorating eggs with my Dad





1:58pm:  My mom, teaching me how to make deviled eggs.




2:07pm:  My masterpieces.  We had chubby eggs and the little cardboard decorations wouldn't fit, so they sort of looked like Rambo Eggs.




3:07pm:  Went to visit Nani at the nursing home.  My aunts got her that Bunny.  It sings Brickhouse (or some other song that requires the white-man's-overbite dance moves) and the ears swing up and down to the beat.  Cute...wonder how long that will last before the nurses take it and toss it so they don't have to listen to it anymore...




8:23pm:  Enjoying too much wine at dinner means I forget to take photos of the pretty table or all the guests.  I took these as people were leaving.  I said "smile," and for some reason my brother and sister decided to pick up/show off the sugar cookies that were on the dessert plate.  Then they put the cookies back after their dirty fingers were all over them.




8:24pm: The parental units.

Sorry to be short and sweet tonight, but I'm tired and need as much sleep as I can get since this week seems pretty daunting as I try to prepare for my two-week vacation starting this time next week.  Lots to do and people to see before I go and not a lot of time to do it all in.  Breathe....breathe...Italy in T-minus SEVEN DAYS!!!!!!
 

I. Am. Exhausted.  But my sister's bridal shower was a lot of fun today and everyone said that they had a great time.  I need to go to bed, but here's one of my favorite shots from Friday night's wedding in Livermore at Derek's wedding.  Being around my friends from high school in the past two days has made me happier than I've been in a long time.  It's just so nice to be around people that love me and know me so well, and it doesn't even matter that we haven't talked to or seen each other in months, we just love each other and I know I'm not trying to be anyone else but me when I'm with them.  It's so relaxing to not worry about what I say or how I act, because I know they accept me for me - dorkiness, loud mouth and everything in between.



(L-R: Me, Jimmy, Laura, Stuart and Elisha)

ok...so while I'm at it, here are a couple more.  But only because I promised...



Monica walking down the aisle. She had to put the lei she's carrying around Derek's neck, which symbolized her saying, "I choose you as my husband."



Here's the end of the ceremony - they put each of those leis on the other and shortly after, Derek leaned in to Monica and loudly said, "Are we married yet?"



Here's a better angle of her GORgeous dress.  She was radiant.



This is me dancing at the reception.



And the whole gang with Derek.

ME:  You know what I'd really like to do?  Do NOTHING for a weekend.  Honestly – not go anywhere, not do anything, just sleep, or watch a rented movie, and order pizza and hang out with someone cool, like my best friend.  Yeah, that would be awesome.  I'm so sick of everything else.

Boomie:  Well - I actually am flying home in two weeks...So maybe, what I was thinking, maybe you can come out to the 'burg on Friday after work - we can do the all night movie thing at my parents house or maybe at your parents house on Friday night...and then have some of the ever famous - REALLY filling spam, eggs and rice for breakfast !!! 

ME: OMG, that sounds like THE BEST thing in the WHOLE WIDE WORLD.  I neeeeeed some spam and eggs with rice. It's a necessity that has been ignored for too long.  It's in the calendar.


Spam and eggs with rice.  mmmm.  Now that's a symbol of home.  My heart feels at ease just thinking about how awesome hanging out is going to be.