Schlueters

Well.  I've got family coming in starting tomorrow.  

We're having the big old family reunion on Saturday.  I mean there's going to be 80+ people there, most of whom I do not know.  This should be interesting.  And the heat's not going to help.

My mom's one of six and is the 27th of 28 cousins.  Wow.  Her oldest cousin is 71 and has great-grandchildren.  So one can see that the numbers are big.  And what's scary is that we all look alike.  So I guess if one was to come by Pavilion 2 in Forest Park on Saturday, you'd be able to see my scary cult-like family.  But I would definitely advise against it.

The other fun to add to the situation is that there will be at one point or another, an extra 9 people in my house.  That's a lot of extra people.  My mom recently bought a new bed, for my room when I'm gone, and she's just going to set it up in the front room.  No big.  I'd be scared to sleep up there anyways.  

So, I hope that I don't get overstimulated or anything.  Here's to family.

I promised...

Here's some cool photos from my summer galavantings!

Here's me with my favorite ride from Cedar Point...it was awesome.

Standing in a glass box 1030 ft. in the the air.  No big deal.  (In the Sears Tower)

Oh and the view straight down.

The Shedd Aquarium.

This Walrus guy was really cute.

As was this little sea turtle.

See?  I told you all that I've had fun this summer...even if it doesn't happen at work!

Water Your Mind

AND READ!

Summer reading.

The St. Louis County Library has a new summer reading program.  It's something about how we should grow with reading so we need to water our minds.  Or maybe that's the other way around.  But, needless to say I'm doing it because I love the summer reading program.  If you read 10 books you get entered into a drawing for free stuff.  How cool is that?  Especially since I love reading.  

So far I've read two new books and re-read one.  The new books are The Girl Who Chased the Moon by Sarah Addison Allen and Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay.  The latter of the two was really good, but a sad one.  The first one was good but left a lot to be desired.  The book that I re-read was The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.  Obviously that's a good book.  In fact, most teen fiction geared at younger teens is great (i.e. The HARRY POTTER series).  Not that I like that one.

The current book I'm reading is entitled Say You're One of Them, which is a collection of short stories, based in Africa, put together by Akpan Uwem.  It's hard to get through because it is so sad.

Finally, I'm waiting for a book called The Magicians.  I'm just going to link it so that anyone who wants can look at it.  I'm very excited.

Reading is one of my favorite pasttimes because it allows me to have an outlet into other worlds.  Which is pretty great. 

Summer is on June 21st.

So here's an update of my almost-summer...well I've had "summer break" since I literally broke my ankle, but now it's hot too!

1.  I went to Cedar Point with my dad.  It was AMAZING.  My dad's favorite was called The Maverick.  It is the future of roller coasters with a super smooth and fast elevator lift and speeds of 92 mph.  And the first hill was only 100 ft, but went 100 degrees - you seriously feel like you're falling.  My favorite was Millinium Force.  It was built in 2000, and the first hill is 300 feet.  And it was pretty awesome.  Just saying.  

2.  This past weekend I went to Chicago with one of my friends.  It was fun, we visited the Sears Tower, Shedd Aquarium and the Chicago Premium Outlets.  We also hit up a White Sox game.  The sears tower now has a new dealio where you can step out onto a glass box and look straight down, 1030 ft.  This was also super-de-duper cool.  

3.  The weight loss is going pretty well.  I've lost 11 pounds.  Lose It! is working.  Whoop-de-doo.  I hate being healthy.  But unfortunately, I need to be, so I'm keeping it up.  For reals.

4.  Work is crazy.  There's so much drama going on and I try not to get involved, but it's difficult, especially since I'm one of those not-taking-sides people.  But, I'm quitting in exactly 6 weeks and 3 days.  

5.  I'm glad to see my friends who are home!

6.  I've got my crazy family reunion coming up here soon.  I'm sure there will be not only a halt on eating healthy but also some good stories.  Or rants.  

That's pretty much all I've got right now.  I do have some pictures of the things that I've been doing...roller coasters and Chicago, etc.  I promise to put them up later, just as soon as I find my camera cord.  It's mysteriously missing.