Thoughts on Exchange Students, Sleep Deprivation, and Mischief Managed

Our exchange students arrived Thursday night. They're pretty adorable. Hopefully I'll get some pictures of all of us soon, and then I can show all the readers.

Anyway, it's been interesting having them with us. Wendy and Rose are pretty quiet, and spend time hanging with us or in their room when not at school. We've mostly been watching Pixar movies, or anything in our collection that they recognise and want to watch.

Last night we were at a barbeque/potluck with them and their classmates. Some of the girls jumped when a chicken randomly wandered onto the deck. It was happy to be fed, and just chilled on the deck by the table watching everyone. The kids had fun exploring the house/property we did the potluck at. We didn't get a chance to roast marshmallows, but perhaps another night.

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Thoughts on Theno's Dairy, Hits to the Face, and Allergy Medicine

My hometown has a lot of great things going for it. It's a major technology mecca, home to two major companies - Nintendo and Microsoft - has a pretty healthy economy, and is the perfect distance from everything.

For those that like wine, there's a town not far from here that has plenty of wineries and breweries to sample the Northwest flavors. Plenty of pups, bars, taverns, etc. for the drinking types. Several playing fields, parks, and venues of the outdoorsy type. There's an outdoor mall, two bookstores, lots of eateries, your typical fast food, and several grocery stores. And, it's not that far off from being able to "get away" into the farms and get some space. But I think what really makes this place feel special... Is Theno's Dairy.

It used to actually sell milk that they bottled on site, along with cream and butter. My mom actually still has several bottles and a carrier in our garage. But now, they sell handmade ice cream and fudge. There's nothing better than snagging a cone after a long, hot day at work.

Besides coffee, vanilla, and rainbow sherbert, they've got plenty of flavors to offer that you can only find at their dairy. July 1st will be the first day that their summer special, Cantaloupe ice cream arrives. Right now they have strawberry rhubarb. During the holidays, they have pumpkin pie and peppermint. They've done a fantastic job at withstanding a tough economy everywhere and serving people a delicious treat that isn't fast food or soft serve.

Best part of my home town.

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Thoughts on Love, Being Overtired, & Bathroom Acoustics

I am currently watching The Matrix for the first time.  I feel like it's constantly on TV, but the Fates always conspired to keep me from watching it - something else more interesting is on, Mom is home and won't change the channel, I turn it on too late to understand anything.  Like I always like to say, I'm also not usually the top to just sit myself in front of the television and turn on a movie.  I always feel like there's something more important I could be doing.

I also think the bellybutton bug freaked me out the first time I tried to watch this.  Because my dad, knowing how soul twin-ish we usually are with all this kickass sci-fi/fantasy action/adventure/sentient computers, was all, "You're gonna love this!"  And then I was all, "I'm eight and WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED."

Anyway, we just saw the part in the movie when Neo (Keanu - whoa! - for those of you who aren't pop culture savvy) goes to see the Oracle, the awesome old black woman who tells him not to feel bad about breaking the vase.  To avoid spoilers and give some focus to this little vignette, I'll just focus on the line that made me go all warm and fuzzy inside: "No one needs to tell you you're in love.  You just know it, through and through."