Happy Belated 4th of July!

Mood:


Sorry, that it's so late.But, the 4th is one of my fave holidays. Watching the fireworks, the food, dressing up in red, white, and blue, it's all fun.Only, sadly this wasn't the best 4th of July for us. We watched the fireworks on TV, and the ones that were going off in the neighborhood from an upstairs window.The ones in our neighborhood looked too big to be legal.At one point, it sounded like someone or something had fallen on our roof and was walking or sliding across. We've had fireworks land on our roof before, but it's kind of scary.


It's been really nice out the last couple of days.Around 80 degrees. On the 4th, we spent most of the day in the ER with Mom. Her leg ballooned the night before. She called her doctor, and he told her to go to the ER since it might be a blood clot.After about 4 hours, they ruled out the blood clot. So, we still don't know what the problem is.It was scary because not only is she a cancer patient, but the next day she was going to have surgery. 


Yesterday, we spent the entire day at the hospital for her surgery.It was to remove a defective port, and put a new one in on the other side of her chest. It's so they can draw blood or put her to an IV, without searching or damaging her veins. Easier on everybody. If it works, that is.The defective one was leaking. We were there from around 9:30am to 5pm. They were also worried about her leg.


There wasn't much to eat there. We searched around when Mom was in the recovery section, because she needed to rest. Their cafeteria didn't have any hot meals at the moment, and there was very little other stuff. So, we went to an espresso stand. Dad and I shared an apple fritter and I had a praline Italian soda. I needed something in my stomach, not just because I was hungry, but also for my meds. So it was kind of serious for me.It was good, but it wasn't much.


When we finally got out, Mom was hungry too. We decided to eat at Taprock. It's a pretty good restaurant, and has a varied menu. A bit expensive, though. I had their halibut and chips. It was so good!Huge pieces of fish. The steak fries were good too. Wish they had a little malt vinegar for them, though. The coleslaw wasn't bad either. Barely dressed, and nothing like JJ's. Their coleslaw is strange. They add a lot of dressing, poppy seeds, and lemon. Mom got their chicken pot pie, and Dad got their shrimp and chips. The pie looked good. Later, we had the cherry ice cream that was at home. Really good dinner all around. And, very satisfying. 


So, I didn't have much time to blog or even just to play my clarinet the last couple of days.But, I did have time, while we were waiting, to start Timeline. It's good so far. And, it's been a fast read. I was able to write out the contents page for the June issue of You Maga, too. Worked on some crossword puzzles. Oh, Friday night I made some cinnamon tea from scratch. It was an Armenian recipe. Simple, but really good.Especially with the right amount of sweetener. And, Gintama on Friday was awesome! Gave me goosebumps. It just keeps getting better. (It's never been horrible, though.)

This is this month's wallpaper. It's Hetalia-themed again. This time with South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Japan as kids with China as an adult. Thought it was cute.Their expressions are funny too. I feel sorry for China, with them ganging up on him like that. My Japanese wood block calendar isn't very impressive this month. So, I don't think I need to show it. My Jewish calendar has a fancy ר or resh. 


These are the month-long holidays: Cell Phone Courtesy Month, Eggplant and Lettuce Month, Family Reunion Month, Mango and Melon Month, National Black Family Month, National Blueberries Month, National Grilling Month, National Ice Cream Month, National Horseradish Month, National Hot Dog Month, Nectarine and Garlic Month, Social Wellness Month, Tour de France Month, Women's Motorcycle Month, National Baked Bean Month. Some are important causes, some are to make you think and appreciate things you may take for granted, or they're just for fun. 


deviantART faves: July 1st kitty nap Little Russian Blank OC Design Mix Meme APH: Mochi America I did not make these! First, a drawing of Hong Kong and Canada from Hetalia. Celebrating Canada Day and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Establishment Day. Kind of cool. Second, a cute and simple drawing of a cat dreaming from an artist I watch. Third, a cute pic of a Russian dwarf hamster sitting in a cupcake wrapper. Fourth, a pretty cool and interesting meme. Kind of like, what will happen if you mix and match parts of various ocs to make a new design? Things like a hair style from one, eye style from another, different parts of clothing from other ocs, etc. Fifth, a cute drawing of Mochi America from Hetalia. (All countries have a mochi version in Hetalia. Almost all of them have cat versions too.)


Youtube:
Another cool Gintama amv:

A cool Kpop song by Hot Potato:

Happy 4th of July!

Mood:


Or Independence Day! Wahoo!  Hope it's been a safe and fun holiday. The fireworks from downtown and in our neighborhood, freaked out our cat yesterday night.  She kept looking at us with big eyes, and ran up and down the stairs. Tonight should be even harder for her. During the day, there's been a lot of fireworks going off. Why during the day? You can't even see them! Even if their not the colorful ones, they're usually cooler at night. So, I don't get it. I do love one of those things I used to get as a kid. You throw them on the ground and they pop loudly. They're not dangerous, just loud.  We used to throw them at each other. Oh, and those sparkler things on a stick. Those were fun too! It's sad it had to be so cold today. 


On Saturday morning, we went to a Bar Mitzvah. We first went to the family's house for a Friday night Shabbat service in their backyard. It was a lot of fun!They had maracas and tambourines for people to play during the service. We sang a lot and the Bar Mitzvah guy played his guitar throughout. (That's pretty cool in front of that many people, and being a little nervous about his big day.) We knew a lot of the people that showed up. The only problem with being outside for it, was the mosquitoes. I was slowly being eaten, but it didn't matter to me. Since, I was having fun. Later, I found out I was bitten right in the middle of my forehead. Yay!  I do have a large vein that pops out sometimes, maybe they saw it as a good opportunity? 


After that, there was like a dessert feast. They were set up outside, but people took them inside because of the bugs and how cold it was starting to get. There was such a variety! Things like brownies, apple pie, apple cobbler, mini eclairs, cookies, lots of fruit, cheesecakes, rumballs, and more. All good stuff!  I couldn't have everything, because it was just too much for me. They're punch was nasty though. 


The Bar Mitzvah service in the morning was very nice. Yet again, he played his guitar. The only problem was how close together the chairs were. He had a candy shower at the end. Which was us throwing balls of gummy bears.  He had a helmet and catcher's mitt. I love how he had a sense of humor about the whole thing. He sped through a few prayers and some of the Torah readings. That's ok, it's kind of to be expected. He was nervous.  After the service, we were outside for a bit. It was at a beautiful lodge. They had to set up for us. 


When we went back inside, they had chocolate lollipops with name tags on them. Which also said which table we were assigned to. Since I told her I wasn't sure if I'd sit with the high schoolers and college students or my parents' table; she put both on. The tables had balloons and halfway up the string, had record covers hanging. These were the 'labels'. My parents were at the Pearl Jam table, and my other choice was at Led Zeppelin. (By the way, I like both, so it was a hard choice still. ) I couldn't find the Led Zeppelin table, so I stayed with my parents.  They had decorated the tables with guitar picks and a record at the center. Kind of a cool idea.  I knew everyone at the table, and they were all good family friends. The food was amazing! Lots of fruit, salmon, an awesome Caesar salad, pesto ravioli with a ton of cheese in the middle, and garlic bread. (There was also a marinara choice for ravioli.) They also had a band playing. Eventually, people started dancing off to the side. 


Then, they started doing some Israeli dancing. I was watching off to the side debating whether I should join them.  After a while, they all came over to me anyways, and made me the head of the 'snake'.  We were doing like a hora thing and picking up people along the way. I didn't expect them to grab me and make me lead it.  I did it for a while, weaving through the tables and the sides of the room. Then, there was a slight obstacle. Someone's chair and stuff was in the way.  So, there was a mini jam. Then we split up and went to the front of the room. While I was leading the line, the Bar Mitzvah boy was playing a song with the band. When he was done, he sat in a chair in the middle of the circle we made at the front of the room. The guys hoisted him up, while we sang and clapped. That was a lot of fun too. After that, it was back to Israeli dancing. This time, I immediately joined in.  It was so much fun, then the band switched to an undanceable song. So, we got some of the cake. I met a couple of the college students, which was nice.  I got the chocolate cake. Which had very thick sweet icing. So good!  Then we sat outside for a while, and eventually went home. We didn't get back until around 3. 


That night, we watched District 9. It was very good, and a bit disturbing. Really sad how the humans treated the aliens. The ending kind of left it open for a sequel. It would be interesting to see the next one, if they make it. 


I also started playing the Sims 2 again. This time I decided to make it a bit more fun and interesting.  I made a Sim that looks a lot like America from Hetalia.  He was pretty easy to make. His personality's similar too. Not only that, I also put him in the Strangeland neighborhood. It's one that's right next to a UFO crash. Supposedly, there are aliens there. Perfect for that character. In the anime, he has a pet/friend named Tony who's an alien. Fits a little too well.  More things happen in this neighborhood than the normal one. So, it's been a lot more fun. 


Tonight, we're going to have the 'patriotic' cookies we bought at the market. Thick sugar cookies, white icing on top, and blue and red star shaped sprinkles. It looks good!  Then, we'll watch the fireworks from Seattle on TV. Might look out our window every once in a while to see some of the neighborhood fireworks.