Britain for the weekend...

I know, I know. The blogging hasn't exactly been a regular occurrence for me! I'm sorry! Nothing terribly exciting to report over the past week, I suppose. But now.... :)

First off, school has been, well, pretty much the same. Still learning about renal function, pigs, and how to run the veterinary practice that we will all own one day (!?!?). Kirsten, Amanda & Beth had their first spay last week! Kirsten was the surgeon and did a fantastic job (yay Kirsten!). I wasn't there, but I saw pictures.

So, the weekend: (although I did not get to see Shelby this time, I'd have to say that overall, it ranked much higher than last year's Labor Day). Hamburgers at Kirsten's on Friday (Kirsten: "we like meat in this house!") and Shrek II ("Whatever happens, I must not cry!!") at the cheap theater on Saturday, followed by a fascinating (err, maybe I shouldn't go quite that far) few hours spent reading my surgery text.
Sunday was where the crazy weekend really started...I took a random spontaneous trip to The Dalles along the Gorge (now I've always wondered, is it THE Dalles or just Dalles? What ARE the Dalles? Where did they come from? How many of them are there?). The adventure began at 6:30 am, an hour that even Maia could not comprehend (you know it's early when even the cat continues to sleep on the bed after you've gotten up). Anywho, some of the highlights (aside from great company): the Maryhill Museum which is located off of Washington's SR 14, east of The Dalles and overlooks the Columbia. Beautiful area and some interesting exhibits (best of all, the chess sets from all over the world - perhaps slightly more entertaining for my chess-savvy friend, but I liked them nonetheless). The lawns surrounding the museum provided a perfect place for a nap-on-the-grass, and only once was I threatened by a bee (see post below). Word of the day with new meaning: scuttle (scut-tle) - verb used to describe the attempted "flying" of a peacock (demonstrated by the resident Maryhill Museum peacocks). The real excitement came when we drove up to Washington's very own Stonehenge!! Built as a memorial to the soldiers of Klickitat County who lost their lives in WWI, it is a full-scale replica of the original Stonehenge (and you can even rent it out to have parties, weddings, etc! Who knew?!). It was almost like being in Britain for the holiday... :) (well, I guess it wouldn't have really BEEN a holiday there, being that Labor Day is an American tradition :))
Very fun, unexpected weekend, for sure.

Today: class, a NAP (yay! I love naps!!) and then went to kickboxing and the abs class with Amanda. Ugh. Talk about being tired. A and I were trying to punch the bags but could barely get our arms up to hit them. It was almost like we were in some slow-motion scene in a movie - you know, when they edit it so the hit takes about 20 seconds to make contact. Yeah, that's us all right - "Kung Fu fighting...fast as lightning" :) But luckily we negated any positive effects that the working out may have had and went to Pizza Hut for dinner. And not only did we have pizza (but NOT naked pizza :)), we also ordered those so-bad-for-you-they're-good cinnamon stick things with frosting dip. Wow, do I feel healthy.

Last but not least, the quote-for-the-night (can anyone give me the origin? This one's pretty easy... :))
"Make your choice, adventurous Stranger;
Strike the bell and bide the danger
Or wonder, till it drives you mad,
What would have followed if you had."