Awesome times for which I have little to no photo documentation

...at least for the most part. For the sake of getting caught up, I'm just going to give you the basics. If you want the deets on anything, all you have to do is ask.

* While I was still in Idaho, my whole entire family came to visit. That's 14 adults and 12 grandchildren. It was insanity. I loved it. What I didn't love was that my recovering feet kept me from entertaining the children in my normal fashion (fortunately, the kids seemed to understand that it was just my shoes that were making me so boring, not that I had actually become boring myself). David picked up the slack for me with the kids, because he's cool like that.

We also had a surprise 60th birthday party for my dad, and he was actually surprised. I am shocked that he didn't find out. I guess it helped that his birthday is actually in November, so even when certain nameless people did accidentally slip up, he didn't even question it. This party was complete with delicious goodies, friends from all over, and the grandkids singing "Yellow Submarine" inside a giant cardboard yellow submarine. If you want to see more pics, they're scattered all over my family's blog over the past few weeks.

* School started! I am still trying to adjust to my backwards schedule with class at night. This goes against some serious morals of mine - I've always made it a point to get off campus ASAP once it gets dark. Now, that's when class begins. But I'm slowly but surely finding my groove. I'm really enjoying my classes and my two jobs - all of which are forcing me to use completely different parts of my brain. Ahhh, education. How I love thee.

* Marcia, Darren, and I got to see Lord of the Rings with the National Symphony Orchestra and a choir performing the soundtrack music. It was superb. My geeky musical self couldn't stop watching the conductor - he had a screen that was playing the movie. It would flash for every downbeat, and a line would go across the screen to signal when he needed to start up again.

* Jazz from the Navy band on the Capitol steps + warm summer evening - humidity + David + Indian food = I love DC.

* David and I took advantage of the long weekend and went to Ocean City for Labor Day. This is where I ran my marathon three years ago, but I never got to see the beach. It was mental and emotional therapy to get quality time with the sand and the ocean. I was so enthralled that I neglected to snap a single photo. But if I had to pinpoint my favorite moment, I think it would have to be when a plane flew over us with a banner in tow, advertising for a doc who could take care of toenail fungus. Since my mind is easing back into the business school mentality, I had to give the guy credit for marketing to people right at the exact time when they'd all be barefoot and checking out their little tootsies.

We got a chinchilla! His name is Desmond and he lives in our front room. He pretty much has the softest fur ever.
I'm getting a new car. Stella (my trusty Civic) wasn't getting it done for me anymore. And by that, I mean the transmission stopped working once she collided with another car's bumper and State Farm decided she wasn't worth reviving. :( But on the plus side, now I can get that Corolla S I always wanted since before I met Stella. :) To all of you who have been carting me around since I'm not yet able to walk all the way to the bus stop to take the metro to school: you are saints and I love you.

I got to start wearing normal shoes again this week. While I still miss flip flops, it's nice to not have to explain my cute blue velcro open-toed shoes with socks all the time...although now when I park in handicap spots, I feel like I should pretend to walk with a limp, in case anyone is watching and thinks I'm an impostor. My feet are recovering great, but I don't feel like I can start running yet. I've picked up swimming to fill in the gaps, but man do I miss the running. It very well may be the greatest test of patience I've ever had, to learn to bide my time until I can be physically back to normal.

That is all.