we frolicked about in our summer skin

i must be getting old. the first day of full time work (or lab, as it was for me today) is always so difficult, and makes me wonder if i can handle an "adult-job" that is approaching one of these years. that is why my ploy to stay in school forever and garner at least three degrees is so danged brilliant! however, these intensive, "job-like" lab days make me rethink my enthusiasm. perhaps it had something to do with returning from my fabulously tiring trip up to seattle at 11pm last night and attempting to sleep in an apartment that was 92 degrees.

however, the trip up was so great! i got to stop in and see my cousin chris and his girlfriend jenny in portland, and we took a bike ride around the city, which was wonderful. i spent some good family time on wednesday and thursday (well, mostly good, except mom's hives and dad's bike accident that i got a front row seat for), and then tried to cram every minute of the next 3 days with as much friend-time as possible. i had a total blast dropping in randomly on people, surviving the seattle heat, and simply enjoying new memorable moments with the people i love.

i will admit, even after living in eugene less than a month, i felt like a tourist. two more sites were crossed off my "to-do" list: discovery park and the locks (i know, it's amazingly pathetic), and i found myself bemoaning the traffic in the city i have called home for the past 4 years. still, i wouldn't trade the last 6 days for anything. i continue to be struck by the importance, meaning and utter joy that friends and family bring to my life, and maybe it takes weekends such as these for me to be reminded. watching my dad crash into the side of a car was obviously not a highlight, but it certainly inspired me to be more thankful for every moment and to be a safer cyclist (and conversly, driver).

i don't really know what i'm saying (it's the methanol, styrene and toluene vapors i breathed today, i'm sure), but i just keep thinking how completely blessed i am to have so many amazing people in my life. i had several friends over to my parent's house for some swimming and waterskiing on saturday, and after they left, my mom and dad told me over and over how much they loved my friends and getting to meet and chat with them! at the beginning of my senior year, i prayed for solidified and deep friendships; something i feel i always need to work on because of my "the more, the merrier" tendencies. God granted my prayers and then some - i have awesome relationships with old and new friends, and i haven't been this close to my family since the carefree days of pacifiers and legos.

so, now that my bits and pieces of "summer breaks" have officially come to a close and lab is now my life for the forseeable future, things will be that much easier when i remember laying in sand in seattle, a fantastic culinary experience at Cutter's (and an interesting encounter with an intoxicated man who insisted he was a musician, not a bum), finally seeing my bro track race in the top category, treading water for hours, sweating profusely while playing "round-robin" ping-pong with 10 people, and one last frisbee-toss in the loop. thanks for a great visit, everyone.