Massive Update: Summer.

I have to tell you, I really thought I left this blog in a more concrete place than where I did. Apparently, this blog post will be one of the biggest updates I’ve ever had to give—but hey, at least it’s given, right? ;)

I had an exhausting but rich summer season back in my hometown. My job as a Lead Teacher for Pacific Science Center's summer camps—solar cookers and Legos and submarines, oh my!—was a feat that drained me often of patience and energy, usually simultaneously. Kauai was also beautiful and a fantastic way to get over jet lag with the rest of the family (what better way to do it than be exactly 12 hours different?). Living in South Park/Georgetown was positively delightful: such an underrated community, rustic and humble and crazy (taco trucks, Vietnamese and Mexican neighbors, exiled Seattle artists, women walking wolves, an indoor volleyball court amiable toward graffiti, and a beautiful little sherbet green house...)

All in all, it was a well-deserved break. Here are some highlights:

•         My baby brother’s graduation and consequent grandparent visit
•         Snorkeling with the octopi in the clear, clear ocean of Kauai
•         Weekend morning markets in Georgetown and Ballard, with borrowed glasses and amiable pals
•         Pulling back the dusty tarp on my beautiful red scooter
•         Meeting kids and hating kids and dismissing kids and loving kids
•         Blissful Whidbey and dancing in our seats in the setting sun
•         Waiting on the curb of 201 Elliot Street for a maroon Nissan Maxima
•         Seeing an old friend join the rest of the cool kids in Seattle
•         My first viewing of Pulp Fiction in the cool night air
•         Port Angeles dreams and Kingston realities
•         Honing my car make-up skills and morning coffee technique
•         Realizing the full compassion of my parents over sushi
•         Whole Foods raids and cart stealing 
•         Meeting David Flopster Wallace and getting margaritas
•         Tandoozy and the smell of Theo’s
•         Seeing my Swedish and Seattle life merge at the Crumpet Shop
•         Painting dragons and dancing in the kitchen
•         Appreciating science at New York’s American Museum of Natural History
•         Cocktails at Louis and a late-night pizzeria bathroom run
•         Sunshine and moonlight cigs on the stoop of South Director

And now, ladies and gentlemen: Ireland.