Squeezing some fun from the last days of summer

This has really been a difficult summer. Between grieving my grandmother's death, taking a taxing (but wonderful) course at IU, and working a job at the local amusement park, I have truly been in a fog for the past couple of months. Now that it's August and almost time to go back to school, I feel like I am emerging from my stupor, only to ask myself, "What happened to summer???"

Yesterday afternoon was my last day of work at Holiday World. Since I got off at 2:00, I decided that Seth and I would have time to take advantage of the LAST DAY of my employee pass. I get

in free, and Seth was able to use one of my comp. tickets earned by working each week. We

started out in the water park, which was great fun! In addition to enjoying a few familiar slides from a trip two years ago, we got to try one new (to us) slide. It was a nice long slide, dark the whole way, with lots of twists and turns.

After leaving the water park, we had a wonderful pizza dinner (40% off with my ID), and then we tackled the roller coasters. First was the Voyage! Now I have worked in the Voyage Gift Shop all summer, but I haven't ridden the ride in two years. When guests have asked me what it's like, I have had to answer in generalities because I didn't remember. Wow, it was rough! That first drop with exhilarating, but the rest of the ride was pretty painful. My favorite of the three coasters was actually the Raven. Even though it was short, it was smooth and absolutely

delightful! At one point, the track swerves and it looks like the car is headed right into the lake!

Before we left, we had some yummy ice cream. It was a great date!

Today was another awesome summer day because Linda came to visit! She was my cooperating teacher for my student teaching experience and remains my mentor and my dear friend. The picture below is from those 3 + years ago during student teaching. I cannot seem to find a more recent picture!

Let me tell you about our day. First, we visited while I fixed lunch. On the menu was grilled chicken salad with pasta salad on the side. I used food I already had in the refrigerator and freezer, and it turned out to be light and tasty. Next, we "took the town." Our first stop was to my eye doctor to pick up my new glasses! I like them a lot, and they have the advantage of being lighter weight than my older

ones.

The next stop was to the Scrapbooking store. Linda is very involved with scrapbooking and always enjoys hitting the stores whenever she travels. I used to be quite involved with it as well but haven't created much for a couple of years. Still, I found some fun papers and die-cuts to use for framing or card making! I even found a cute owl die cut!

Next, we enjoyed waffle bowl sundaes at Dairy Queen, which just about put us both in a chocolate coma! Because we had decided to see a movie and still had some time before the show, we took a short walk along the river near the new mill/visitor's center. It was such a lovely afternoon--not too hot with a nice breeze.

A few minutes later we were at the movie theater to see Beezus and Ramona! Both of us had wanted to see that movie but didn't know who we would take with us (not a "must-see" for either of our husbands). What a perfect activity for our ladies' day! Although I had to go and remind the movie-theater people that they needed to start the show (how pitiful is that?!), the movie was absolutely charming and refreshing. The "film" Ramona was exactly as I would have pictured her to be from reading the books as a little girl. The writers did a fabulous job of capturing the imagination of such a creative little girl. At one point, when Ramona "runs away," she is pictured walking down the sidewalk away from her house. Gradually cartoonish scenes from all over the United States appear in the background--the Statue of Liberty, etc. Even though Ramona has only made it one block, she might as well be a world away. I would highly recommend this movie to those with children or to anyone who is a kid at heart looking for wholesome entertainment.

Our last stop was a wonderful dinner at one of my favorite locally-owned restaurants. Even though Linda and I weren't very hungry, we enjoyed a couple of appetizers and had a lovely visit. We covered a lot of ground in our conversations; we cried together and laughed together! What a fabulous end to a difficult summer. Thank God for good friends!