Shady

True!!!

Just because

Sunglasses

I have a thing for sunglasses.  I haven't counted lately but I'd guess I have 40 pairs.

Not expensive, designer sunglasses.  Quite the opposite actually. Most of my sunglasses were under $10.  The most expensive pair was $20.  

I buy them anywhere and everywhere.  From a beach vendor in Puerto Vallarta, at the Walmart in Palm Springs, from online vendors, and occasionally even from the Dollar Tree.

I don't need my sunglasses to be "high quality" or to last forever, because I have so many and am always looking for new ones, its OK with me if they aren't heirloom quality.  

Here's a pair I bought online from Zulily a couple years ago.  They had a clearance sale and I believe I paid $5 or $6 for these.  I think they're really cool and haven't seen anyone else with sunglasses like these.

But do these sunglasses make my nose look big??

Weekend

Its Friday night... welcome to the weekend!

Beardy boy

Love

Word!!

Just because

Happy birthday!!

Saturday was Spouse's birthday!  And Walter's birthday!

This year I planned a very social weekend away for Spouse's birthday but kept all the details a secret.  I told him to simply pack casual clothes and don't try to figure everything out.

So Sat morning we drove to the DC area where we used to live and arrived just in time for lunch at the Taco House with our friends Jeff, Shaun, Brandon and David.  Spouse was happily surprised to see them, and of course equally happy to eat at our longtime favorite Mexican restaurant.  I'd emailed in advance to be sure the owners (who are also friends) Juan & Gloria would be there, so we had a nice reunion with them too.  Unfortunately I took no photos.

Next we drove over to have a short visit with our good friends Bugsy & Roger.  It had been about a year since we'd seen them at our house so we enjoyed a nice, relaxing visit at their home.  Again I took no photos.

Then we drove several miles south to the area where I grew up, but that has changed quite a bit.  Spouse knows that our friend Carl lives there so he guessed we were either going to Carl's house or meeting him somewhere for dinner.  But instead, we arrived at a hotel and checked in.  After a few minutes of relaxing and changing our clothes, we went to a hip bar/restaurant nearby.  Waiting for us to arrive was Carl, Kerry & Hugh, Kelly, Kim, Justine & Liz, Harriet & Bob, Ana & Jose, Javier, and Emily & Brandon!  This time I managed to take a few photos but they're pretty bad.  

L-R: Kelly, Javier, Harriet, Bob, Jose, Ana, Hugh, Kerry

L-R:  Carl, Kim

L-R: Kerry, Justine, Liz, me

The birthday boy

I didn't give people time to look at the camera or smile, I just snapped away.  As you can see from the table, alcohol was involved which likely contributed to the (non-)quality of the photos, but at least its better than no photos.

About 3 hours later everyone left except Kerry & Hugh and Carl, so the servers moved us to a smaller table where we ordered a couple desserts to share and continued visiting.  We had a lovely, lovely birthday dinner, as well as a fun day overall.  We got back to the hotel and crashed.

The next morning we showered, checked out, and headed back north to Spouse's sister's house.  Waiting for us there was his sister, her husband, her 2 sons, and Spouse's brother and his wife.  'The family' had a yummy brunch and visited for a couple hours before heading home to DE.

Spouse complimented me on the terrific birthday weekend and said it was probably his favorite ever.

Sharing Spouse's birthday, although completely overlooked this year, is Walter who turned 5 years old.  We adopted him in Sept but were told he was born on July 20, the same day as Spouse.  That is why Walter's middle name is the same as Spouse's first name.

Friday refreshment

This evening Spouse & I went to dinner with our buddies Steven & Thad at a waterfront restaurant and ate outdoors since the temperature cooled off.  The scenery was beautiful, but to be honest on a Fri evening after a long week, I was more interested in this scenery:

Beardy boy

Hot!!

OK, I know its July which is usually considered the middle of the summer and when we should expect hot weather.  But I was not prepared for THIS:

This is not one of those situations where my car was sitting on hot black pavement, causing the temperature to read artificially high.  Just the opposite!  My car was sitting on my concrete driveway. And as I drove past a bank with a digital thermometer display, it also read 100 degrees.

Living so close to the ocean our temperature here is moderated by the ocean water temperature.  Inland just a few miles it may be as much as 10 degrees hotter in the summer and 10 degrees cooler in the winter.

I won't even begin to talk about how hot it FELT due to the high humidity.

Let's hope this heatwave doesn't last!

Just because

Sunglasses

I have a thing for sunglasses.  I haven't counted lately but I'd guess I have 40 pairs.

Not expensive, designer sunglasses.  Quite the opposite actually. Most of my sunglasses were under $10.  The most expensive pair was $20.  

I buy them anywhere and everywhere.  From a beach vendor in Puerto Vallarta, at the Walmart in Palm Springs, from online vendors, and occasionally even from the Dollar Tree.

I don't need my sunglasses to be "high quality" or to last forever, because I have so many and am always looking for new ones, its OK with me if they aren't heirloom quality.  

Here's a pair I bought online.  I'd seen someone wearing a pair in Puerto Vallarta but was unable to find them there, most likely because they were purchased elsewhere, so I ordered them from Amazon.  I think the blue/green all-over mirror finish coordinates nicely with my shirt.  Note: there is no frame/lens distinction.  

Friday funny

Have a terrific weekend!

Beardy boy

You

As I read through this I knew it was something I wanted to share.  Even the most confident people sometimes doubt themselves.  Sometimes wisdom tells us one thing but self doubt tells us another.

But after reading it a few more times, the thing I choose to highlight is the phrase

"the openness that grows friendship"

I believe that I wouldn't have nearly the quantity nor quality of friends if I weren't an open person.  I don't take myself too seriously, I share in (mostly) appropriate levels, and I let people in.  This is how friendship has a chance to grow.  If you are closed, keep to yourself, and don't let people get close to you you'll likely have a hard time making meaningful friendships.

I don't mean to sound like I'm bragging!  But I believe openness can be hard for some people who consider themselves private or for those who've been hurt in past by being vulnerable.  But I believe being open and vulnerable are absolutely essential to making quality friends.

Just because

Sunglasses

I have a thing for sunglasses.  I haven't counted lately but I'd guess I have 40 pairs.

Not expensive, designer sunglasses.  Quite the opposite actually. Most of my sunglasses were under $10.  The most expensive pair was $20.  

I buy them anywhere and everywhere.  From a beach vendor in Puerto Vallarta, at the Walmart in Palm Springs, from online vendors, and occasionally even from the Dollar Tree.

I don't need my sunglasses to be "high quality" or to last forever, because I have so many and am always looking for new ones, its OK with me if they aren't heirloom quality.  

Here's a pair with mirrored lenses that sometimes look amber and sometimes look orange.  My orange shirt coordinates well with them I think.

 

Waiting

4th of July

Today is Independence Day, also called 4th of July, a day we celebrate our nation's independence from Europe with patriotic parades and cook-outs.

Last year we had several friends over for drinks and appetizers, went to watch the Doo Dah parade, came back for a cook-out, then went to see the fireworks.  It was great fun but also a lot of planning and work.

So this year we kept it simple.  Our buddies Steven & Thad came over for a snack, we watched the Doo Dah parade, we had a cook-in, and skipped the local fireworks.  Instead, we watched them on TV from the comfort of our home.

Spouse & me waiting for the Doo Dah parade to start

Beardy boy

Just because

Mon

Over the weekend Spouse & I had a rare opportunity for a bit of a date night.  We typically eat out Fri, Sat, and Sun evenings with our buddies Steven & Thad (and occasionally a few others join in) so we welcomed this opportunity.

We went to our favorite Mexican place and I ordered a Blue Curacao Margarita that was delicious.

After a leisurely dinner and easy conversation, we went for a nice summer night drive, stopped for a few minutes at the beach to look at the water, and then watched a little TV with the pups glued to our sides.