Another day, another drive across the state

I'm leaving again.  This time my bro and I are driving across the state for Hoopfest, one of the largest 3-on-3 basketball tournaments in the nation.

Along the way we'll pick up my cousin, who's playing with us.

I should point out that I haven't touched a basketball in about 6 months, which should help us be very successful this weekend.

But it's not about winning, it's about fun.  At least that's what I keep telling myself.

We're ready, mostly.  We've ordered our jerseys and turned in our registration.  We have a place to stay (for free--thanks Sis!) and gatorade to help us stay hydrated under the hot (finally!) summer sun.

All that's left is the 400-ish miles to get there.  States don't come small on the West Coast.

On top of the basketball, which will probably leave me exhausted, I'm going to hopefully catch up with a few friends and have some fun.

And maybe if the weekend goes really well, I'll actually take some pictures, too.

The Farmer's Market

One of my favorite parts of summer is the local farmer's market.  I don't get there often, but when I do, I always enjoy the visit.

On Saturday morning I had the chance to spend some time with my friend downtown.  And after a stop by a favorite breakfast spot, the Little Cheerful, for some peanut butter and chocolate chip pancakes (delish!), we decided to meander over to the market.

It was a lovely Saturday morning, which have been few and far between here in Bellingham.

My friend and I took advantage of the weather and the market.

The result: henna tattoos and smoothies we mixed ourselves.

The smoothies were the result of genius and a bit of true local flavor.  My Northwest town has a strong hippie vibe and a very strong desire to be green.

Part of being green often involves riding a bike instead of driving (although, not for me because I'm scared to death of riding on the main street we live off of).

The smoothie stand uses bikes attached to blenders to create the smoothies.  With just a minute or two of peddling, you can have a fresh, delicious smoothie.

It was wonderful.

Too bad I don't have a bike.  I might try to rig to it at home, too.  Think of the possibilities: blenders, food processors, mixers...powered all by bicycle.

For now, I may have to settle for another trip to the market.

Back on the Benchpress Again

I hit the gym today for the first time in about a month.  It's been long enough that the guy working at the front desk said, "I haven't seen you in a while."

I like to think that was a compliment to my previous attendance.

And I have been busy.  Seriously.

The good news is that I've been mowing lawns all spring, so while my muscles will be stiff and tight in the morning, the workout itself went pretty well.

And I've pretty much eaten whatever I've wanted without seeing any change in my weight.  Ideal, no.  Awesome, yes.

I did a workout circuit, 9 exercises back-to-back-to-back, 10-15 reps of each exercise, and going through the circuit 3 times with a couple minute rest in between.

I like the circuits because I keep my heart rate up and they go more quickly than if I did each move individually.  Plus, you can change the exercises you do every time to keep things interesting.

After I stretched it out a little (not that stretching will make a big difference tomorrow), I ran just over 1.5 miles on the treadmill.

That was probably the best part for me.  The run was easy and smooth, and it came after lifting.  Overall, an excellent trip to the gym.

Here's to hoping it's not another month before I go again.

Runaway Buggy

The most ridiculous moment of the wedding weekend took place on Saturday morning.

My cousin, Sarah, and I headed in to town in her Chevy, with the wagon, loaded with the buggy, attached to the back.  We had to park the wagon/buggy at the church so the horses could be hitched in time for us to drive to the reception site.

The ride went fairly smooth until we arrived at the church.  The place we had hoped to park the buggy was full of cars, so we had to improvise.

(Everytime I say "we," I actually mean Sarah.  I was just along for the ride.)

We decided to briefly drive the wrong way on a one-way street, pull in the church parking lot to turn around, and park the wagon on the perpendicular street.

The idea seemed straight forward (even if my description didn't), but turning out of the parking lot onto the street turned out to be a problem.

I was on the phone as we made the turn, and Sarah had her car up on the curb to get the wagon out of the street, when we heard a snap followed by a dragging sound.

Sarah swore and jumped out of the car.  I turned, saw the wagon no longer attached and rolling backwards down the street, hung up the phone, and took off running.

The hitch had broken.  Free from the attachment to the car, the wagon decided it had other places to be.

Luckily Sarah caught the wagon before any damage was done.

Then we used our burly muscles to park the wagon draft-horse style and borrowed a couple blocks to act as brakes.

Everything turned out fine.  The wagon carried us to the reception and made it back home.

But, oh, if you could have seen us running down the road.

Burgers.

I mean to get to the past weekend eventually, but for the moment I need to talk about a more pressing matter.

Food.  Something that I take very seriously.

More specifically than food, I want to talk about 5 Guys - Burgers and Fries.

I'm pretty much always behind the times and very uncool, but I just went to 5 Guys yesterday for the first time.

I would definitely recommend it for a good burger.  It's very basic, just burgers (and a couple other sandwich options), fries, and soda.  But it is good.  You choose the toppings you want, all for free.  And you can see your food being made.

There are even peanuts to snack on while you wait.

If you haven't tried it, you definitely should.

In Recovery

I've been gone.  Out in the country, east of the mountains, for 5 days to get my cousin married.

It was fun, exhausting, exciting, long, and beautiful.  It left me with stories and bags under my eyes.

We got home last night at 10:30 p.m.  There was a Sunday brunch, followed by present opening.  And since this was a wedding of somewhere north of 300 people, the presents took about 2 hours.

And while my mom, brother, sister and I were partying in the Palouse, my dad was dealing with a sick dog who took multiple trips to the vet, all the while mowing lawns.

I plan to catch all of you up on the shenanigans of the past week, but first I need to veg out a little.  I'm still trying to recover from all the blog reading I had to catch up on this morning.

Not to mention the way too early wake up for another vet visit.

Movies These Days

I'm so behind on updating the world about my life that I can't even handle it.  So instead I'm going to write about an unrelated and inconsequential topic.

Movies.

I was looking at Blockbuster's website today for New Releases.  Because I rarely make it to the movie theaters, for a plethora of reasons, I can pretty much always find a new release that I have been meaning to see.

This week my mission was complicated by the fact that I am supposed to be searching for the "ultimate chick flick," for the girls to watch the night before my cousin's wedding.

I haven't really been given that many responsibilities for this wedding, so I feel like this is something I can't mess up.

The pressure is on, people.

Which is why I found myself on Blockbuster's site, not somewhere I usually browse on a weekday afternoon, or ever.

And I was far to distracted by some of the movies coming out to seriously consider my mission.

First of all, Getting High in the Barrio.  I don't feel like I need to say too much about that one besides "what the heck?!".  I didn't read the movie description so there's always the chance it has some hidden meaning other than the obvious, but I kind of doubt it.

Secondly, Ghostwriters.  Raise your hand if you watched that show growing up.  *Hand raised.*  That show is the reason my brother wanted to be Jamal, I'm pretty sure.

Finally, the title The Suicide Terrorist also caught my eye.  Who comes up with these movie ideas, and better yet, who feels the need to fund them.

All that said, I'm no closer to a movie for Friday night.  Any suggestions (new release or classic flick) would be welcome!

Upsetting

Today started out less than amazing.  I was getting ready for the day, when suddenly I felt light headed and nauseous.

And let me just say that I do not have a weak stomach.  I can read in the car, see blood, guts and gore, ride rollercoasters all day without any ill effects.  So anytime I feel nauseous, it freaks me out a bit.

Luckily I made it through the day without vomiting.

With no help from dinner, though.  My parents and I had gone over to the grands to help them with a few things and the next thing we know, we're having dinner at IHOP.

Seriously, when the grands get something in their heads, just find something to hold on tight to.

After a very lackluster (half) of a veggie omelet, and mediocre pancakes (at IHOP no less), I definitely felt the need for something more.

My solution: Coldstone Ice Cream.  Perhaps not the healthiest choice, but definitely a delicious option.  And very hard to say "no" to.

I am finishing up my evening with a little work at home, while Brooks & Dunn: Last Rodeo that I taped a few weeks ago.  I'm a big fan of country music.

(I understand if you're not, though.  Country music definitely isn't for everyone)

Sugarland's version of Red Dirt Road was pretty dang amazing.

I'm going to sit here, relax, and hope that my stomach is feeling a little more steady tomorrow.

Catching Up

Somehow, somewhere, I misplaced the cord for my camera.  So haven't gotten pictures off of it in a few months.

Two pictures, to be exact.

I thought I'd give you a recap of the last few months in pictures.  At least the pictures I managed to take.

I need to get better about that whole picture taking thing.

My sister came home for spring break.  She's now a few weeks in to her summer.

While she was here for the week, we took the dogs to the lake to swim.  That was back when the weather was nice.  June 1, not so much.

Flowers bloomed in our yard.  Again, that was back when the weather was nice.

I've heard rumors that summer is coming.  I'm not a believer yet.

It was Mother's Day.  We celebrated by planting flowers with/for my mom.  It's a family tradition.  

Since that was May, I guess I can't complain about the weather too much.

There were a few more pictures than that.  But most of them are about the same events.  

I did attempt to take before/after shots of getting my hair done, but the quality of the pictures is such that you can't really tell the difference.

I need to work on my skills.