I finished it! 
So. Much. Mud.
After getting hosed off by a fire hose.
Next Day: Whimsic Alley & Malibu
I am planning on putting up pictures of my classroom soon, as well as a recap of my first (super-busy) month as a full-time teacher!
On Monday, B and I headed up to the mountains to go to “Skinny Dip” (that’s the name of the place; we didn’t actually go skinny dipping 
).
But first we stopped for lunch to use a Living Social deal I’ve had for awhile.
We went to Scoop’s, which is a cute little sandwich, soup, and ice cream shop. I had a turkey sandwich (mediocre) and a salad (pretty good). Both B and I also had an unpictured scoop of cake batter cookie dough ice cream (sooo good!).
Then we were on our way!
We parked the car in a clearing and then hiked about 1 1/2 miles until we found the “secret” trail.
We came here a couple years ago and it took us awhile to find the trail then. We kept saying, “Okay, it’s probably just around this bend.” This time was no different, but at least we recognized the trail once we saw it. (We also had to sing “Just Around the River Bend” from Pocahontas a few times )
On the trail:
Yay! We made it!
So beautiful.
A few minutes after we got there, two guys showed up who had come there to jump off the waterfall ledge into the deep pool below.
B and I weren’t up for jumping, but I got some cool pics of the guys:
Crazy!
After enjoying the view for awhile, and sticking our feet in the cold water, we headed back up the trail. Since it was well past dinner time by the time we got back to the nearby town, we decided to stop and get some Japanese food. I totally forgot to snap a picture before digging into my chicken teriyaki bowl, so here is a dinner-in-process picture:
We got back pretty late, and my tailbone was pretty sore from sitting in the car so long, but it was well worth it! I’ve missed being in the mountains, and I love how secluded and beautiful Skinny Dip is. It was a good day! 
Question: Is there a special place you love to go where you know you will leave feeling relaxed and recharged?
About a week and a half ago I apparently bruised my tailbone playing softball. I was going for the ball and my stupid ankle gave out on me, and I fell on my butt. I’m so graceful.
At the time I was more worried about my ankle, but two days later I noticed my tailbone was starting to hurt. Now it’s gotten to the point where anytime I sit down I’m in discomfort.
I keep thinking it will go away, but it still hurts pretty bad. And I’m not sure if exercising is making it worse… I’ve gone running a few times and I did kickboxing yesterday, and I’m worried that maybe that’s preventing it from healing… Any ideas about this?
I’m thinking I might go to the doctor just to see what he says about it… The Survivor Mud Run is coming up in less than 2 months, and I need to be training, but I don’t want to make it worse…. I’ve also been having ankle pain (but on the inside of my ankle, above my arch), so I also need to go visit an ankle specialist again…. This is frustrating. 
………
On a happier note, yesterday was my papa’s birthday (I won’t mention how old he is 
). We went down for a late lunch and brought pizza and cake (I know, we’re so fancy).
Papa’s wife, Faye, got home from visiting her sister in France a few days ago, so we got to visit with her, too, and see pictures of the beautiful places she visited.
(B, are you giving me a peace sign with your crazy fingers?)
(That salad hit the spot… thanks Faye!)
(The ice cream cake suffered some minor damage from an earthquake… in the form of B knocking it over on the drive down… still tasted good!)
(My yummy out-of-focus slice of cake)
(It’s a new Kindle!)
(Hey, ZZ and Bo!)
(Hey, Dobbers and B! Lovely pose in a skirt, B! )
(Dobby’s got his turtle- time for a nap!)
Hoping my tailbone can handle a two hour drive up to the mountains on Monday- B and I are going to Skinny Dip!
(Hahaha, not really, that’s just the name of a swimming hole up near Yosemite– people don’t actually skinny dip there. 
)
I was supposed to go hiking this weekend, but now it looks like there may be lightening storms in the mountains, so I probably won’t be going. 
I haven’t been hiking since May and I miss being in the mountains. It about a 2 hour drive up there, though, so I have to really plan for when I’m going.
I’m really hoping I’ll be able to go hike Half Dome on August 5th (I was able to get a permit to hike up the cables for that day- you had to reserve them three months in advance!).
I hiked Half Dome (in Yosemite National Park) about 5 years ago, but I did “Dome at Dawn,” which meant we started hiking at about 10:00 PM and got to the Dome around dawn.
I didn’t do so well on that hike. I am the type of person who needs her sleep, and some meds I take at night make me drowsy, so by the time I got to the cables to climb to the top of Half Dome, I knew I shouldn’t go up them. People have died falling off Half Dome, and I just didn’t have the strength to pull myself up there.
So for the past 5 years one of my goals has been to do the hike again (in the daytime) and make it up the cables. This summer I was finally able to work it into my schedule.
I don’t know if I’m in shape enough to do this hike (it’s about 15 miles), but I’m hoping I’ll be able to do it. If I end up going, I will be sure to take pictures and let you know how it goes!
………
Yesterday my sister, B, and I finally went to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. I’ve been dying to go since it came out, so I was excited to say the least.
I can officially report that I really enjoyed it. There were quite a few parts that were different from the book, but most of them worked with the flow of the plot.
B hadn’t read the second half of this book, so a lot of it came as a surprise to her. It was kind of funny hearing her saying, “What?! Oh my gosh!” all through it. 
I told her she needs to finish the book to get the whole story.
……….
I spent today running around shopping for school supplies at GW (huge warehouse FULL of school/teaching stuff at 20% off = AWESOMENESS!) and Staples (yay penny folders!). I spent some of my own money and a lot of the school district’s money.
I came home with my stuff and I seriously felt like it was my birthday.
I can’t wait to start getting everything in my classroom!
……….
Time to get ready to go to my softball game! Hopefully we finally win one!
Stop and Smell the Wildflowers 