NonChronos

I have been delaying posting lots and lots of blogs--mostly focusing on our dating life and how insanely busy we've been since the wedding--but ever since blogger changed their photo uploads, it takes sooooo long. Now that I am on summer vaca, I will hopefully get up to speed.

The other reason I have not posted is because I am so anally Type-A that I can hardly stand to not start in the beginning and move progressively toward today. Therefore, this blog is entitled "nonchronos". I figure if I just put it out there, that things aren't going to be sequential, then I'll have to deal with it. So, now you know.

Friday, June 13, school finished and I got to see another batch of my former students graduate. I taught the valedictorian as a sophomore, and I coached the junior girls powderpuff game last year, so I watched all those girls, now seniors, finish their high school work and receive a diploma. I coached many of them in track, and I know them because they are involved in the Invisible Children club I advise on campus. I have to say that the class of '08will forever retain a special spot in my memory as a 10th grade English teacher. After the graduation was done, I was done too: this is just one more year that I am moving classrooms and I worked hard to have all my assignments graded, all my boxes packed and all my check-outs finished on Friday. Tim and Mom came to help me pack and label my boxes and that was so helpful. Both of them are so willing to serve and assist me, and I am truly thankful for their hearts.

On Saturday, the 14th, Tim surprised me by taking the day off and planning a fun adventure date. I woke at 6:00 and made us french toast. We dropped the pups off at Mom and Dad's around 7:30 and headed for Escondido. Anyone who knows D-do knows that there really isn't anything that fabulous there (except the Calles fam), but as we headed past the civic center, I started to piece together some portion of Tim's day planned especially for me. We pulled into a parking lot and got out of the car. We were at the Sprinter station, a light rail train that departs from Escondido and terminates in Oceanside. Wonderful Tim knows that I am a fan of public transportation, and as I reiterated this to him on the train he said, "then you'll probably like today." We sailed smoothly through Vista and Oceanside- stark social economic lines were evident- and arrived in Oceanside in time to have a snack and purchases tickets for the Coaster, a rail line that goes to San Diego. We decided to try and eat places that we rarely, if ever, visit; therefore, the Burger King mini-cini buns and coffee were perfect for a upper-level, ocean-view, canyon-twisting slow ride to downtown. It's amazing how wonderful our day was, and all this time not driving gave us time to talk and joke and enjoy each other immensely.

We arrived in San Diego at the Santa Fe terminal, where the Amtrak trains arrive too, and we walked over to the trolley. From the trolley, we grabbed a bus at Central College and rode a bumpy ride to Balboa Park. We've been here before, and I am sure I will have to post about the hippo fun we had, but for now I'll just continue this story...Remember those sophomores I had two years ago that I just watched walk across the stage as graduating seniors? Well, one of those students gave me tickets to the Natural History Museum way back then; two years later, Tim was taking me to see the exhibits. The focus of the museum was volcanoes. They also had a movie on Pompeii. We loved the black and white photos of the southwest featuring volcanic/earth movement features: alluvial fans in death valley, pinnacles in Monument Valley, etc. We also enjoyed creating our own earthquake on a seismic measurement exhibit. Lunch on the grass outside the museum and then back in for more, we had an amazing day. We decided to hoof it back the mile to Central College and shop at Horton Plaza. We tried on shoes, clothes, visited the Sanrio shop, got some new threads and decided we were having SO much fun that we would skip the 7:45pm train and leave on the 10:40. The only problem with this is that we would be in Oceanside with no way to get to Escondido for the Sprinter stops running at 9:30.

We decided to wing it and after more shopping (which we are both actually bad at and dislike ironically) we headed to Buca Di Beppo. Tim had never been to this restaurant and it is a fun and funky place that appealed to him. Few people know how much of a goofball Tim is. We enjoyed some good conversation over a good meal and then walked arm in arm to the train station. We fell asleep listening to music on the train, ended up paying for a 24 mile taxi ride (ouch!) and then drove home and finally crashed into bed at 2am. We had a sublime day.

I am so thankful to God that I have a creative and fun husband who takes the time to research and plan days like this. This day was wonderful, but it wasn't the first or only time Tim has created special memories for us. I look forward to all the days that we spend together, but I am happy that we had this special Saturday to celebrate another work year finished. Love, Lauren