I’ve been quite uninspired to write much lately.

My mood (due mostly to PMS) has been sour, and I’ve just been very negative about a lot of things. I relate it to Slytherin vs. Gryffindor (yes, another Harry Potter reference), where anyone in the Slytherin house acknowledges and touts their dark sides. But students in the Gryffindor house are all about being courageous and just.

Well, you know what? Sometimes I just want to be a Slytherin…it’s too much work to be like the Gryffindors. Sometimes I feel like it would be so much easier to complain and be bitter. There would be less of that battle within me. But as with all struggles, people root for the good side. They want good to prevail and evil to be diminished. That’s why, at the end of each school year, the Gryffindor house always gets the most points. Even if Slytherin seemingly wins, and all the banners are in green and silver, Dumbledore *always* pulls out more points for Harry and Co. so they just so happen to have a few more points than Slytherin. All the banners change to gold and red, [cut to the disappointed faces of the Slytherin gang], and we all cheer because, once again, victory belongs to the good.

But, man, it’s draining.

Anyway, so instead of complaining and wallowing in my wave of PMS misery, I want to share a few cool things in my life…

This morning, on the way to work, we saw a bald eagle flying low over the freeway. It was holding a little critter that, sadly, was coming apart and dropping onto the freeway.  I’m not a fan of birds AT ALL, but eagles are truly beautiful creatures. We’ve seen them at Seward Park, too, and I feel so privileged that we get to share that space with them.

Matt and I just so happened to be at church on Saturday and found out the church (which doubles as a performance venue) was hosting a breakdancing performance that night! Twenty teams battled each other, vying for the opportunity to compete at an upcoming event in Canada called Cipher Famous. Matt and I only stayed for two hours, but during that time, we watched bboys (and, sadly, just a few bgirls) for two straight hours!!! I was so inspired. If I could do high school all over again, I would beg, plead, bribe my friends to show me how to do all those things. Not to say 30 is old, but it’s hard to feel like I’m in my prime when a 7-year-old kid is outdancing me, you know?

After several weeks of watching my butter lettuce get nibbled on by some invisible culprit, I finally took steps to take back my veggie plot! I was tired of tearing off all the lettuce leaves that had bite marks. Matt and I constructed a chicken wire barrier that surrounded all of our veggies, still not knowing if the culprit(s) could fly or just stay on the ground. The next day, our housemates told us they had seen little birdies hopping around outside of the “cage.” Since birds are deterred by shiny things, I strung up some sparkly gold ribbon, foil, and an old CD on the cage. It must have worked because I haven’t seen any more bite marks on the lettuce!!! Granted, it’s only been two days, but I call it a huge success! With the lettuce leaves and the few cherry tomatoes that are ready to be picked–we’re finally going to have salad!!!

Our backyard is finally coming together. After having the blackberries removed (which I posted about earlier), we hired someone to come in and build a rock wall. He’s actually building two rock walls–one at the base of the slope, and the other halfway up the slope, creating a terrace between the two walls. Also at each end of the yard, he’s putting in stone steps and a small planting area. I’m sooooo excited to see it all come together–just in time, too, since berry bushes and ivy were growing back already!! Now, I have to figure out what to plant. Dad, help!

After camping with our friends over July 4th weekend, we realized camping with young kids is very possible. It may involve packing more kiddie stuff than camping stuff, but having kids definitely should not deter us from continuing our yearly camping schedule. Of course, I’m looking at it from an outsider’s perspective. I was not in the tent in the wee hours of the night when the babies were crying (nor did I hear them, surprisingly!), but it seemed like our friends still had a lot of fun bringing their young boys on the trip, and we certainly enjoyed spending time with them.

And, lastly, but certainly not least, my sister and her bf (ahem, fiance now) are engaged!!! Congrats Na and Christopher!