part one of family reunion

family reunion part 1. we got here in one piece..i got pulled over by a cop because he was coming the other direction and he must have been driving pretty high speed because i didn't get enough of a chance to slow down enough before he clocked me and turned around....i proceeded to take the radar detector out of the window and when he walked up he said, do you know how fast you were going? i looked up and said no because i wasn't exactly sure. i feigned surprise when he said he clocked me at *87, and it took everything within me to not sigh relief and say, "good, i'm glad that's what you clocked me at because it might have been closer to 94."

we went to my aunt beth's house and another of their sisters and her daughters and grandkids came over and we had some kfc. when we drove by where my grandma's old home was, and it has since been leveled and turned into a park and walking trail. it has changed so much! almost unrecognizable.

then we played a game called wazzit...it's one of those with phrases that are written in a way to make you figure them out like: talk talk would be double talk. anyhoo, it was running long, but of course we couldn't stop in the middle of the game without finishing, because that would go against board-game etiquette...although, in order to get done quicker, we may or may not have all had a hand in cheating to help each other reach the end so we could get a winner (none of us really cared who won...) cheating in order to finish...principles, principles....

we checked into a red carpet inn earlier today (it was a cheap one near the park, that accepted pets)..

well, all i can say is that this hotel should probably be picked up and moved to the little town of halfway down by mom and dad's because the management seems to be just that. they haven't even been at the counter any time that i have walked by. the vending machine has about 3 choices...and i think i might be in a smoking room that they just pried the little smoking sign off the door...not sure. it should have been a hint when i called to make the reservation and had to ask the person to repeat everything twice- it seemed like i had been routed through a customer service center in india, but no, not to my surprise, there was an indian boy that checked us in...and tonight his mom had to re-key my key card because i couldn't get in my door...bruno and chaco were probably playing a prank...

now it's time to get some sleep so that i can talk to people tomorrow and come up with things to say and stories to tell-i have a crazy, silly imperfect family...but it doesn't even matter because at least it's MY family! i wouldn't have it any other way!

julie

mural blues and costa rican memories prompted by a switchblade and towelettes

yesterday morning i was not planning to go to school today tow paint murals, but ms. camacho caught me in the afternoon and said that she and tony were going in today from 9-12 to paint and dr. hughes told her to let me know in case i wanted to come up. as much as i didn't want to, i decided to go ahead and go in because the week is going to be busy with a monday meeting and tues/thurs tutoring.

so today was a blues day...i fixed water around the world(s).

they were a straight, flat, dark blue, so i decided to lighten it up so that when we go in and add the tropic lines and the equator and the ocean names, they will be legible.

 there is still so much left to do! boo.

while i was painting i remembered a story shea told me over spring break about buying a switchblade in mexico and it reminded me of when we lived in costa rica for our first year. i was in 5th grade and my brother was in 7th. he bought a switchblade when we were there. it was an interesting year of transition. i remember loving it when we were downtown and got to stop at kfc...they had the best-smelling moist towelettes to wash your hands with. i think it was the familiarity that i loved more than the chicken. well, once they started serving breakfast in the classroom here at our school(which, if i haven't mentioned it before...even if i have, is a waste), one of the bags had moist towelettes that smelled just like the ones of old...great memories!

and of course that memory took me back to a couple of others, like being in downtown san jose and smelling the helotes-corn on the grill. i also remember being on the bus and seeing the sign that said 'no fume' but i thought there were plenty of bad fumes on the bus. and more than once while we were on the bus, people would touch my hair if they were sitting behind me (that kinda' freaks a kid out..what am i, a lucky charm?)

oh, and the church we went to when we first got there was way across town. i remember one sunday they had a birthday party after the service and they scooped ice cream into cups. no problem-i have no problem with that. what i did have a problem with was when they ran out of spoons and just waited for someone to get finished and wiped off the spoon and re-purposed it into the cup that was handed to me. gross. pretty sure i "accidentally" dropped the spoon and just ate it like a cone. (i didn't eat the styrofoam cup like a cone, i just kinda' drank-ate it).

other costa rican memories...my brother had a texas instruments computer and the coolest game-a space ship that moved up and down and straight forward with a burst of speed...thriller...total eclipse of the heart...box turtle named relampago (lightning), playing charlie's angels in the apt. courtyard-behind and around the banana trees...strange new fruits including the star fruit and mamones...punta arenas and limon beaches....amy and billy my best friends...gaither band....school bus driver with creepy goatee that looked like a child molester and once in awhile he would stop at a push-cart vendor and get us all ice cream-cicles...thanks costa rica, you were fun!

all of that because of shea's switchblade and our towelettes!
julie