it's june

so today . . . i am home alone.

my house is very quiet. diandra is in texas visiting her cousin. and rollie is at a lakers party.

yes, you heard me. rollie is at a lakers party. i was invited, but i declined to attend. i can think of nothing i would hate more than spending the evening surrounded by people dressed in purple and gold, cheering on a team that is my evil nemesis.

june in los angeles is not my favorite time of the year. we have this weather phenomenon called "june gloom." our mornings are cloudy and a little bit damp--kind of like when you are at the beach. on most days the sun comes out around 11:00, so it does warm up, but not every day. i guess it is good, because without those morning clouds it would get pretty hot. but it means i have to wear a sweater on my way to school, and then drag it around with me all afternoon when it heats up. and then, find it again when i go out at night. it also means the top on the convertible goes up, then down, then up, then down.

june also means nba playoff games. this creates conflict in my usually happy home. rollie has converted to the lakers, while diandra and i maintain our status as the only trailblazer fans in the southland. during the playoffs, laker talk is everywhere--there is no escape. in the interests of peace and harmony, i have learned to tolerate it, but it makes me feel just a little bit cranky. unlike the laker car flags, which make me feel a LOT cranky. and when things don't go well for the lakers? oh boy oh boy! their fans get ugly!! (not rollie, of course. he is always cute!) so sometimes it is best to just hope they win fast and get this thing over with . . .

and my kindergarteners graduate in june. this means choosing a song, choreographing a song, practicing a song, thinking up costumes, memorizing a speech--all for a five minute performance. one of the teachers has been working on her costumes for about six weeks now. each one of her 14 students will be dressed like an animal or bug. i am sure they will be very cute, but it is going to be a nightmare to get all 14 of those excited, wiggly children into their costumes in time to get on stage for their performance. and i am pretty sure the worm is going to be dancing around the floor while the butterflies smack other kids in the face with their wings, and the fuzzy bears will probably be yanking on the octopus' legs and the elephant's trunk. in fact, i am pretty sure that between all of that, and the parent's jockeying for position with their multiple cameras, no one is even going to hear the song. and maybe that is ok. as rollie said, it isn't really a performance so much as it is a photo op for the parents.

then again, june does mark the beginning of my summer vacation. and diandra's birthday. so it isn't all bad. in fact, i think i will go have some ice cream to celebrate . . .

. . . of course, that means a trip to el pollo loco. which means i will have to find my sweater. and put the top up on the car. no wait, maybe if i wear the sweater it will be warm enough to leave the top down on the car.

ah, l.a. in june . . .

what's next?!? purple ketchup to dip your gold french fries into???

so today . . . no blog.

i'm having sinus issues and trying not to get sick again. that means more rest. so even though under normal circumstances i might start a blog at 10:25, tonight i'm not--i'm going to bed instead. it doesn't mean i don't love you--it just means i ran out of time. i don't know where the evening went! so i will just leave you with this . . .

on tuesdays rollie works at home writing his sermon, so he always brings me lunch. i only have half an hour for lunch, but it takes him about an hour and a half to make it happen--he has to go get the lunch from somewhere, bring it and eat with me, and then clean up and head back home. i really, really, really appreciate this. not only the food, but the time and effort too.

until today.

today, i had to drink my soda out of this cup:
i have come to terms with living in lakerland. they are on the news. they are on the tv in the man room. i have to endure their gold and purple flags flying off of cars during may and june. and i have learned to cope with all of that pretty well.

but on my drink cup?!?!

i commented on this unfortunate situation at lunch today, and rollie kindly said that next time he could bring me a small soda instead (which does not apparently sport laker propaganda.)

i don't know . . . maybe i can just ignore it. how long can they have these cups anyway?? basketball season only has six more months to go . . .