I'm blogging, I'm blogging... I can do it to, Amanda... I knew I'd eventually prove it you all. I actually have less time than ever right now because those 4 weeks and counting are a really big countdown for me. I've never felt so much pressure about time or had so many things to do at once that were all priorities, but so far I've survived. I've been working hard to tie up loose ends in my research with people here, teaching two summer classes, and getting ready to move, all of which are a huge deal. However, I've been putting the most effort into enjoying my time with Dmitrius, a few close friends here, and the gorgeous Pacific NW scenery. Though I've barely had time to think about it, I'm totally stoked to see you all, too.




Speaking of the outdoors, I love to see the pics of your adventures, Amanda and Shyama! Those critter pics are fantastic (even though you didn't take them all!). Hopefully after our drive, Steve and I will have some crazy wildlife sitings to post about, too. I've been doing about a hike per week around here, too, which has been good for my soul, but I've not seen much wildlife. I have, however, seen some great wildflowers, which have been blooming late this year because of the onset of the summer. The ones in this pic were on the edge of a cliff on the Cape Horn hike that I re-did after doing it with Steve like 3 years ago, and the other shot is just a good one looking straight down the Gorge, which I'm sure you do miss!

I also coached Dmitrius' t-ball team, which was an experience that I can only describe as being akin to trying to herd cats, since this was the first organized group activity for most of these kids. It was great though because it was a bonding experience for he and I, he's an awesome ballplayer already (good coaching, I'm sure!), and most of his teammates were kids recruited from his preschool. I'm putting our unofficial team photo up, too, but the photos are coming out in the wrong order because I'm an idiot with this blog.

He and I have been taking lots of other adventures, including a trip to meet my old VT friends, Sam, Sam, Ashley, Andrea, Corey, and Corey, in Pinchord-Giffort Nat'l Forest. We had a cabin for a night that was on a river that ran right between Mt. Rainier and Mt. St. Helens, and we brought a pinata (D's idea!), squirt guns, and lots of beer. You can see him chasing Sam with a squirt full of snow melt river water that was about 38 degrees! He was a trooper though, as he even got all the way in with me.

He's also been a huge reader and writer at school (or learning to be one), and before school let out he would draw pictures and write a few words to make about 2 books per day. He also says he wants to be a teacher and an author when he grows up, which doesn't suck to hear! His teachers say they've never seen a kid take to writing these books so much, and they have a junior author hat that he's wearing in this other picture.

My favorite activity that he and I have done together has to be the composting that we set up at his school. I even got to come in and teach the kids about it and show them how it works, then they got to help us put the dirt and newspaper into the bin to get it started. That's where the shot of him on my lap is from, as well as the one of him reaching into a bucket.

That's about all that I have time to post right now, but know that I love you all and can't wait to see you!

taj