A Tropical Heat-Wave (Minus the Tropical)

It's hotter than blazes.

This is exactly how my mother would put it, and somehow not having her here to tell me so makes it almost seem like its unreal. Granted, this is one of those things that I wouldn't necessarily mind being unreal. Try as I might, however, I cannot turn this heat wave into a figment of my imagination.

I suppose if I had decided to continue riding my bike this week, I might be having some figments by now, but luckily, after commuting my twelve miles on Monday and practically being forced into an icy shower when I got home (apparently looking like someone had thrown me into a vat of grape juice), I decided that perhaps biking in this weather was not the most reasonable thing to do.

Now, I must say, I've acclimated to a slightly colder climate pretty well. While this reminds me significantly of my days of moving into dorm rooms and college apartments during the hottest weeks of the year, my body seems to have started to go a little senile as far as those memories are concerned. But somewhere, deep down, this reminds me of home. And I've got say, there are many things about my childhood that were definitely favors from my parents, despite what I thought of them at the time.

For instance: My father despises air-conditioning.

I sounds cruel, but its just the way it was.

"Mom, why don't we have air-conditioning?" I remember asking this years ago, but not until the end of middle school when it finally dawned on me that air-conditioning was allowed in homes and not just in schools and malls.

"Because your father doesn't want it."

Clearly, this had been a battle that my mother didn't see fit to fight. That, or she had lost. Either way, I knew who to ask next. I can't actually remember what reasons my father had for his dislike of air-conditioning, but I am pretty sure that it went something like this:

Air-conditioning is not a necessity, and is in fact a waste of money. Before we moved, your grandmother had a pool and so did the parks, and now we have a pool too. If you're hot, put some sunscreen on and jump in.

Jumping in the pool fully clothed was a favorite past-time of mine and my sister's, especially after particularly brutal volleyball practices on the beach. Now, mind you, spandex shorts and a sports bra is the closest you can come to a bathing suit, but I was also known to come home from school in jeans and a tee-shirt and dive in head first. Sometimes, Roxanna and I would feign pushing each other in. I can't say I ever put up much resistance.

So here I am, sitting in a dark apartment. Closing the blinds and running every fan in the place has kept the temperature very reasonable, even comfortable (I consider low 80s comfortable). And slowly my tolerances are being rebuilt; its a shame is won't last.

Its also a little sick that something in my brain actually thought up that last sentence. But I suppose this is why I insist that I love Tucson, Arizona (and home).

Keep Cool.

One Month Later

Grandma has not been doing her job! I haven't been harassed once since my last post. I suppose I have to be a big girl and keep track of my blog myself, though :)

Let's see, where have I been since the last post?

I've completed two summer courses, both technology sequences for the mathematics classroom. The first focused on calculator use, and the second focused on programming. Each ran for two weeks.

On the weekend sandwiched between the two weeks of the calculator course, Alex and I went to Idaho for his cousin's wedding. I have to say that my activity presentation suffered for it, but it was nice to meet and spend time with the extended family; met a few new faces.
On the following weekend, Alex and I headed out to Astoria to celebrate the fourth of July with his parents and old family friends. I admit, that without any projects looming over me, I had a bit more fun. Alex and I spent the first hours we were there in Fort Stevens State Park, which was used as a coastal defensive base from the time of the Civil War through the end of World War II. They have some really nice bike trails there that connect all the battlements. Granted, before we could use them, we found that we had a screw in the front driver's side tire of the car, and we headed back in to town, where there was luckily a Costco, where they patched my tire for free (seeing as how I still have Costco tires). After riding through the park for a few hours and trapsing all over the battlements, we headed into town to find dinner and ate at the Fort George Brewery. It was pretty delicious and they're beers and ciders were pretty tasty too. After filling our bellies we were off to the family friends' house where we washed off our sunscreen and promptly fell asleep at 8:30 not to wake for about 12 hours.

The next morning we went to a restaurant right next door to the brewery and sat for a bit reading and eating with a view of the Columbia from our seats at the window. We then set out for Cannon Beach and got sunburned at a park concert. Then it was off to Long Beach, WA for the fireworks to be watched from the balcony and then back to bed. We went home the next morning after a full weekend at the coast.

The next weekend, my sister and brother-in-law flew into town, and we were able to have dinner together with my brother-in-laws parents. They were off for Washington the following morning, but it was nice to see them for a little while all the same. They got back the following Monday and I was able to spend some good time with my sister despite having a summer class to attend in the mornings. We spent most of that Thursday afternoon together and then went to the airport to pick up my mother, scouting out Ross and Home Goods while over there to get some ideas for her new house.

After claiming my mother from amongst the anxious arrivals, we were off to Biwa for dinner, where Alex joined us later. I think we were there for over 2 hours, but its quite a fun atmosphere.

Friday was shopping and the newest Harry Potter movie (I have since finished the last book). Saturday was the zoo, and a lovely dinner at Alex's sister's house which they and his mother were all gracious enough to pull together at the last minute for us all. Sunday was breakfast then a search for a motorcycle gear store that was closed, followed by new shoes at REI and then picking up Alex and going to the Pittock mansion before dinner. It was quite the fun filled weekend!

And that's the recap of the excitement! But now I should try and do something with my day as I have spent most of it in bed.

Here's hoping its not another month before I update again!