So a lot has happened.

On Thursday (the 1st) I went off roading with some friends. We drove out to a meadow filled with redwood stumps left over from the logging days. It was kind of sad to see so many fallen giants and I couldn't help but wonder what the place looked like when they were still standing. Being that person I decided to climb the tallest stump which stood at about fifteen feet. It's been so long since I've done any climbing so even doing that small of a scale felt great. Unfortunately it was also covered in soot from being touched by a recent forest fire so I also got covered in soot.



On the way home I took a trail I'd been down before, but it had been a while and the recent seasons hadn't been kind to it. There were several times where we were at about a 70° incline either horizontally or vertically. I honestly thought I was going to roll the car a few times. Thankfully that never happened and now I know I can basically handle anything a trail can throw at me. Even though I'm now going to do everything within my power to avoid ever doing that again.

On Saturday we had our Hoe Down to celebrate the 4th of July. There are two parts to the Hoe Down. The first part is a barbecue and competition for the Golden Hoe. The games look less like games and more like a confused mass of 300 people who are getting points somehow. Ever since that summer my knee became a jumbled Rubix Cube during the festivities I've been more than glad to sit out. The fact that I'm full time food service and so I have to work during that part just gives me an excuse.

The second part is by far the superior part and that's because it involves two of my favorite things: Not Being Covered In Flour (dressing up) and Dancing. This year was no exception. We had swing and square dancing with a couple of line dances thrown in for fun. I danced with friends old and new, and even got asked to dance by quite a few guys that I've never met before. I ended up going to bed exhausted and sore in the best sort of way.

Unfortunately the good lord has made me terrible with names and faces so come Sunday morning I had forgotten most of the guys I'd met at the Hoe Down. This made it fun when a few of them tried to approach me for conversation throughout the day. One of my friends started referring them to my One Dance Stands.

I had made plans to visit my parents for the 4th in part because I wanted to visit, but also because I needed some distance between myself and where I'm at due to some things happening. Even if it was for a few short days. Just the physical distance sometimes helps with clearing my head, you know? Unfortunately my off roading shenanigans messed up my tire alignment and I hadn't had time to drive into town to get it fixed. So I was stranded. This left the head space feeling all sorts of messed up, but fortunately I had some friends who came in clutch with coffee and conversation.

We had our second swing dancing class and even though we've only covered the basics and like four additional moves, the students are starting to gain confidence and it's kind of great to watch. We even talked to the RDs and they offered to let us have a Swing Night Under The Stars at the end of summer so people can show off what they've learned. Just the thought of it gets me hyped.

My usual dance partner wasn’t there and he came up to me the next day to apologize profusely. Honestly I hadn’t even really thought about his absence, but he seemed so sincere in his apology so I told him I forgave him. Also since our conversation about his Oatmeal Raisin addiction I’ve started to make sure I always have a couple cookies stored away for whenever he comes to visit me at work. It payed off when he came in looking really tired from a hard day last night. It’s nice to be able to do little things like that for people.

Yesterday was amusing when I literally took one step into the bakery and one of my staff told me "There was a cute guy looking for you. I did a ring check. You're golden." I just gave her a blank stare and asked her to elaborate on that one. She told me that she didn't get a name, but that the guy had brown spiky hair, brown eyes, was white, average height, and slightly muscular build. Given the fact that she just described like 90% of the guys on staff I just deadpanned, "You might as well have told me he had a face."

Turns out the mystery man was an old coworker and friend. One that last summer's staff wanted me to go out with, but the two of us were strictly bros. It was so good to see him again given the fact that our goodbyes happened during the middle of an evacuation. Man that was a weird time.

Speaking of my staff, the girls started making justgirlythings parodies based off of things that happen in the bakery.

Have I mentioned how much I love them?