Last Day of Freedom

*Big heaving sigh* Well, today is the last official day of summer for me. Tomorrow starts a week chock full of inservices, the purpose of which is to thoroughly numb my brain and make me long for June 13th when I can come in, submit my grades, and be gone for yet another blissful summer.

This has truly been the most enjoyable summer I've spent since 2007. I haven't had to look for a job and my main goal has been to be out of bed by 11, or noon at the latest. I've been trying to exercise and run my mile and, when not sidelined by back injuries, I've been successful. I've read a few books (none of them the req'd book for school) and have traveled through the south with 2/3 of the rest of my family.

And now the party is over. *Another big heaving sigh* This morning I woke up at Missy's just before 7 am and drove home to go back to sleep. I slept until 10:30 and then decided to make a plan for the day. I wanted it to be purposeful, yet fun. I decided to go to REI for their sale, Lifetime to work out, and then Punch for lunch with my buddy Bryson.

I started out at the REI in Bloomington.


Since it's the annual end of summer sale the place was packed. It's amazing how slow outdoor enthusiasts can go at 11:30 on a Sunday morning. I somehow got behind three of them before I even got to the clothes. My goal was to get two pairs of Teva Mush flippy flops, some Cliff Shot Bloks, and some protein bars, all of which were on sale. They only had one pair of said flippy flops in my size, but was directed to customer service in order to procure the other pair. They had all of the Shot Bloks flavors I wanted (I eat them during tennis matches to keep my energy up), but none of the Cliff Bar flavors. I decided to try two Luna protein bars.

The girl at customer service, Kym, was very helpful, although I think I stressed her out a little. There are roughly 30,000 different colors of Teva flip flops and she looked slightly exasperated while trying to find the one I wanted - Hawaiian Sunset Coffee - or some such ridiculous name. She finally found it, but they didn't have it at the master REI warehouse. She called over to the Roseville store and found a pair in my size. They put it on hold for me and I happily drove north on 35W to Roseville.


This REI is in a very small strip mall with a furniture store and an urgent care center. Usually the parking lot is so full that you have to park in the overflow lot. Surprisingly, I didn't have to do this. Inside was rather sedate as well. I guess everyone went to the Bloomington store this morning. When you enter the store there is a little Life is Good accessories display. The sign said clearance, but the bags still said the regular price. I picked one up anyway because it has my motto for this upcoming year of my life. When I got to the register it was nearly 50% off! Score! Cute, inspirational bag for $13! I also picked up a Life is Good purse that I had been eyeing in San Antonio. It was down to $15.


I picked up my flip flops at the back of the store and was on my way to Lifetime Fitness, Roseville. This is an interesting little gym. It's located in the basement of a large strip mall that's starting to look a little desolate. Linen N Things used to anchor one end, but has since gone out of business. JoAnn Fabrics used to be on the main level, but that's gone too. Anchoring the other end is an Old Country Buffet. I'm pretty sure that's not going anywhere. This Lifetime is also women only and it was odd not to see any men at the gym. But then I noticed that everything was clean and tidy and neat and I liked that.


I did a quick 25 minutes on the recumbent bike and then sat down to stretch. I found that I was able to touch my toes for the first time in 2.5 weeks! I went down really slow on each side and I could go all the way down! This is a major breakthrough and I'm glad I'm finally back on track.

Finally, it was time for Punch pizza. I drove to the Grand Ave. location and took a seat at the bar by the window. Even though it was past lunch time, the place was full. I like sitting at the bar, but inevitably, just as I'm raising a gooey slice to my lips, head sideways so as to catch any sliding cheese or sauce, someone walks right by the front window and catches me in this ridiculous pose. This happened twice today. No doubt they hardly wonder why I'm sitting at the bar alone... But I had my latest Bryson with me, The Lost Continent, and I was content to sit, read, and devour my yummy pizza while giggling at his commentary about driving across the United States.


While driving home over the High Bridge I noticed two police squad cars parked on the bridge. One was on top of the median facing north and the other was on my side of the bridge facing south. I thought this was odd, as they both had their lights on, just sitting in the middle of the bridge. I can only assume that they are discussing their strategy for tonight when all of the teachers living in the area descend upon the bridge in order to fling themselves off of it instead of following their fate of going back to school for another year. There should really be more squad cars. Two won't be nearly enough.

So now I'm back at home. I've read up a little on what's happening in the NFL, posted a cute Urlacher interview to Facebook, and have written my blogs. I think I will continue reading Bryson outside in an attempt to forget that I have to get up quite early tomorrow...