The sun is mean. This heat is not fun. ESPECIALLY when you take into account that I work OUTSIDE with kids. Yeah...today was a scorcher, to say the least.
Last night Chris and I went to the Old Hallowell Day festivites. It was really fun! That first shot (which I am quite proud of) is of the fireworks, the second shot is of the ever-so-charming hick crowd that Old Hallowell Day attracts, and the third is of Chris and me waiting for the fireworks to begin. It was a very fun evening. We started the evening off by going out to dinner at Cafe de Bangkok, and if you haven't been there I suggest you go. Excellent Thai food! I had the yellow curry, which I always get, and it was, as usual, scrumptious. I saw my brother's girlfriend Heather, her sister, Ashley and a couple of my bro's guy friends, Matt and Brian there too. Whaatta coincidence! My brother was at basketball camp all weekend and was super bummed that he had to miss Old Hallowell Day. So anyway, after dinner we had some time to kill so we went to the bank and then stopped at Chris' new organ gig for the summer, Penny Memorial Baptist Church. He wanted to show me the organ and I needed to pee, so it worked out well. :-P The church is very pretty and the organ, from what I can tell (I'm no organ genius), is really nice. So that was fun. After that we headed back to Hallowell and got some fried dough at the fried dough stand (yum! yum! yum!). Then we walked around for awhile and I saw lots of people from high school and whatnot and then the fireworks began. They were really good! Way better than the 4th of July ones I saw this year. Alright, well I am going with my mom to Waterville in a bit to pick up my brother from basketball camp and then I'm going to rehearsal later this evening. So, I will write more soon!!! Later, gators!!!!
My knees, ladies and gentlemen. Sunday I had a 4 hour dance rehearsal. Wait, let me take that back. Sunday I had an hour of a full body work-out and then a dance rehearsal for 3 hours. Yesterday I also had a 3 hour dance rehearsal. That totals 7 hours. This is what my knees look like because of it. There's a lot of dropping to the ground on our knees in the choreography and the result is as such. Plus, for anyone that knows me..."dancer" is probably not the first word that comes to mind when my name is thrown around. Actor?...maybe? Singer?...sure. Dancer?.......not so much. I am learning a lot though and it's good for me so I am not complaining. I love every minute of rehearsing for musicals so banging up my knees (and being so sore that walking is a chore) is a small price to pay for how great it will all look in the end.
Well, not really. There are many things I love about America, but there are some things that just baffle me. I saw Michael Moore's "Sicko" last night and it really opened my mind to the enormous healthcare problem we have in this country. I don't understand why countries like Canada, France, and England all have universal free healthcare, but the U.S can't seem to get with the program. The film is very sad. It emphasizes that those that are lucky enough to get healthcare in the first place usually get screwed over anyway. The healthcare industry is a big money-making scheme when it should be about getting people better. For instance, I got teary during a part of the movie where this woman was talking about her husband and the fact that he had come down with Cancer. The doctors told him the only way he would be able to live was if he had a bone marrow transplant. So, they tested his two brothers and his youngest brother was a perfect match. One would think that things would be hunky dorry from this point on. They had insurance, they had a match...but no, things were not hunky dorry. His insurance company DENIED the bone marrow transplant and claimed that it was an experimental procedure (even though the doctors said he needed it). A few months later the man died. This ISN'T RIGHT. Why the hell should insurance companies be playing God and determining who lives and who dies!?
That picture is from the D.E.W Animal Kingdom wesbite, which is where we took the kids on a field trip to today! It was a lot of fun. You can get so close to the lions and this one to the left is their only male lion and he blew me away. When you go to the D.C zoo you can only see the lions from quite a distance, but at this place they are so up close and beautiful. He was so regal and majestic...it was wonderful! I tried not to think about the fact that these animals were being kept in cages a tad bit too small than I like and just enjoy them. The kids loved it.
