Time For A Vacation

A week or so ago, I took some vacation time and escaped to the lake for a few days. My parents and sisters do not live in the same place that I do, but the lake makes for a nice meeting point, as it is an equal distance from my parents' house and mine.

We went while pretty much the entire country was immersed in hell in the middle of a heat wave, so we didn't spend too much time outside. I am pale as a ghost on the fair side in terms of skin, so I usually don't go out in the sun too often. But when it feels like 107 outside, the only way to cool off is in a pool, even if it's just for a few minutes...

My mom.



One of the few pictures of me. Proof that I was actually there...



My sisters got these hideous special sunglasses. Nice, no?



My sisters and my dad.



It would probably be better if I had put in the shot of the water splashing, but oh well...it's harder than you think to keep a camera away from splashing water when the person jumping in is a grown up!

Serious Skill

Once upon a time, I taught gymnastics. For many years, in fact -- 10 years. Which, I think, is a long time to do anything when it isn't your profession. But anyway...

I taught non-competitive gymnastics, for little ones in parent child classes all the way up to grade school girls. While I am not flexible by any stretch of the imagination (we can all remember the bag game, right?), I am fairly strong. Which means that, while not incredibly graceful, I am not too bad at tumbling.

But even I wouldn't dare to try and do things over concrete. At least not if I wanted to survive without a head injury...

These were some of the street performers at Venice Beach. And while I am not a huge fan of crowds (do you SEE all of those people?!) and tend not to be attracted to the incredibly strange eclectic individuals to be found around Venice Beach, these tumblers were not only incredibly entertaining but seriously skilled.

Not to mention nuts brave...do you have any idea how much it would HURT to fall on that concrete?!

Views from the Boulevard

I'm pretty sure looking at vacation photos on the internet still constitutes torture, so I'm trying to spread it out a bit... :)

You're welcome.

My sisters and mom are celebrity crazy. They read People and US Weekly and watch Entertainment Tonight and The Oscars and whatever else. They know who is dating who, who is wearing what, and all about the latest trends.

I, however, am tragically uncool. I have no idea what's hot and what's not, I couldn't tell you what was nominated for the Oscars, let alone who won anything, and I have no idea who is married to who. I don't pretend to be cool...but even I was somewhat amazed at all the hustle and bustle on Hollywood Boulevard. There were A LOT of people...and it was the middle of a weekday! Seriously, does no one in LA work? I know, I know - it was probably people on vacation, but still...the crowds! Sheesh!

See, I told you! Look at all these people!












My sister got us tickets to Jimmy Kimmel Live, so the first night we were in LA we saw a taping of the show. Which I had to drive to. In rush hour traffic. In LA. When I had no idea where I was going. Which, as you can imagine, was quite the experience. But we got to see a taping, which was interesting. And see a celebrity -- the show had Zac Efron on. Who my sisters say is very famous.



You could even see the Hollywood sign from the outdoor mall. And let me tell you -- even the mall is fancy in LA!

Santa Monica Pier

Another little bit of warmth for everyone else who still living in a frozen tundra...

The Getty

I don't think that I ever managed to write about it, but over the summer I took a trip to LA for a little vacation. It was quick, but I had never been there, so it was nice to see new things. One of the things that we did while we were there was go to The Getty Center. While I'm not a huge art museum person, there was a ton of interesting stuff to see, including a photography exhibit (which didn't allow photos in it) and some beautiful gardens.

Not to mention the views were nice. And seeing the pictures reminds me of warm weather...a big contrast to the current sub-zero weather outside my window...

Dreaming...

...of vacation...






But instead of vacation, I'm spending the weekend studying for my neuroanatomy final. And if you don't think that sounds like a good time...well, you'd be pretty much right about that...

Best Shot Monday - Craving Vacation

I know that I was just on vacation, but with as hectic as normal life is (and it always is, isn't it?), a return to vacation sounds awfully good to me...

For more great shots, see what everyone has to share at Tracey's!

Wordless Wednesday: Colors Blend

More Wordless Wednesday!

Numbers

No, not the tv show (although I do intend to make time to watch that season finale at some point...I can't believe that I am so far behind on my tv!)

1: patient sent to the ICU. Who was the sickest patient I think I might have ever had. Ick...I hate when that happens. (Although I do secretly love it to...not the sad parts, just the adrenaline rush...I know, it's sick.)

2: Number of nights off I will have before I have to go back to work. Yay!

3: Number of days spent at Disneyworld!!

4: Average number of hours of sleep I have had, daily. For the past week. Conclusion? Probably not enough.

5:55 Time I went to bed this morning. Wake up time? 9:00. Bummer.

9: My stress level, on a scale of 1-10. Number of things I would trade right now for a lower stress level? Zero...I might be busy (and who isn't?!) but I have got to be one of the luckiest people I know.

12: Number of productive hours I am hoping to have today. So far...I've managed to check Facebook. But hey, you have to start somewhere...right?

608: Number of unread posts in my Google Reader. And here I thought I was going to catch up before I was on vacation...ha ha HA!

1,000: Number of pictures taken while I was in Florida. Hopefully I will get them sorted today...it was so fun and I can't wait to show everyone!

Best Shot Monday: Under the Sea

I am so far behind on processing photos that I can hardly even stand it. Included in the large list of things to be processed are those from my weekend in Chicago with my sister -- but this was one of my favorites from our visit to the aquarium. (Or at least it was the one that caught my eye after being up all night!)

For more best shots, check out things at Tracey's!

Summary Saturday 2009: Project 365, Week 11 & 12

Because I am horribly behind in posting my project 365 (to the tune of three weeks - gah!), I am going to post two weeks this week and two weeks next week. And then I will stay on top of it for the rest of the year...probably anyway...


March 7:

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