Suburban Bliss:: Birth Control Via The Written Word

Still Meh

Sorry guys I just can't seem to get something written. Maybe next week.

You can follow me on Twitter where I'm cryptically having a meltdown.

@melissasummers

Weee!
Sigh....

Meh

I'm not sure why everytime I sit down to write I'm struck with absolutely nothing to say.

My life is currently full of thoughts that shouldn't be published. Which, technically, is what most of this website is...stuff I think that I probably shouldn't write.

But where's the fun in that.

In Old San Juan I lost my luggage. Every day thousands of people lose their luggage. It's no big deal, I told myself. Keep it together! Don't be such a baby! Don't make a big deal about it and then be all embarassed when your bag arrives good as new.

I tried. I really did. I wanted to be the type of person who doesn't act like a god damned baby when things don't go as planned.

And as the day loomed on and I thought I'd have to find a whole new wardrobe. And a bathing suit.

The bathing suit was the thing throwing me for a major anxiety filled loop.

Maggie suggested I just "grab a crappy bathing suit" so I'd have one.

Isn't that nice? How my friend Maggie lives in a self confident world where one can put on any old bathing suit and face the light of day in it.

I live in a world where I didn't wear a bathing suit for 5 years before I found one I could tolerate.

At around 4 o clock, I was on hold with Delta, trying to make sure my bag had been found and would be delivered before I was forced to purchase a whole new summer wardrobe composed of pieces found in various souvenier shops around Old San Juan.

My frustration was mounting. I had emailed Logan who told me to talk to someone from the airline. And told me not to let this minor thing ruin my trip. My frustration was reaching critical mass, but what kind of baby cries over lost luggage. Get a hold of yourself!

While I was on hold Maggie called the automated line I had called 20 minutes earlier to be told there was no available information about my luggage.

When she called they said they'd found my bag and it was being delivered shortly.

I excused myself, went into the bathroom, called Logan

and had long, sobbing, totally baby-ish cry.

And he's been with me long enough to know that that's what I need. I don't want him to say or do anything but rub my forehead and say poor little bunny.

After my cry, I came out of the bathroom and Maggie had fixed me a drink and found the roof deck at our hotel. We went upstairs and looking out at the ocean and over the city, it felt like I'd hit reset.

Those cries are the equivalent of me writing out things that probably shouldn't be written. If I don't release the pressure valve it stays with me. It stops me up and makes it impossible for me to think about much of anything else.

I'm typing this with my fat fingers on my tiny phone so I'm not sure this is making sense or if my phone's auto spell is inserting nonsense words all over the place.

I guess what I'm saying is I feel a little stopped up right now because I'm trying to not be a baby.

If you need me I'll be over there in the bathroom sobbing until I can hit 'reset'.

The last time I had a week long vacation was 2006

I realize I've been incredibly absent from this website. It's the daylight burning......not enough time to sit around thinking funny things.

Here are my pictures from my fun trip with Maggie Mason to check off "Swim with BioLuminescent Plankton" from her Mighty Life List. 

Bad: I lost my luggage on the way down and on the way back and faced buying a Puerto Rican flag string bikini if my things did not show up.

That changes a person.

Good: Swimming with water that sparkles off your fingers is one of those things you didn't know existed a few months ago and yet, you got to do it and that is amazing.

Oh Internet, you expand my tiny world. And I'm not just talking about the porn.

....and the winner is me. And Buffy.

Oh hey. I'm just sitting around on Vieques having my mind blown over and over and over.

I'm lifting my head out of my Midwestern Mouth Gaping (Lizards? Bats!?) to announce the winner of the Sandisk Slot Radio contest.

The winner is #37 Buffy!

Hooray! I will have your radio in the mail just as soon as I get home.

When they drag me off this island by my hair kicking and screaming.

Sandisk Slot Radio Giveaway #2

Remember last month when you told me all about your dads? It's time for my second Sandisk Slot Radio Giveaway.

The slotRadio™ player is a small, stylish, portable music device that comes bundled with a slotRadio™ card preloaded with 1,000 handpicked songs featuring artists from Billboard®'s charts, and professionally arranged into a variety of genre-themed playlists.

The die-cast aluminum player also features a 1.5” OLED screen for viewing artist and song information, a FM radio and even an integrated, handy belt clip for hands-free listening.

Additional 1,000 song, genre-specific and themed slotRadio™ cards. Digital music has never been this easy – just feast your ears!

"Feast your ears...." nom nom nom nom.

For this giveaway I'd like you to tell me about your summer travel plans in order to enter and since Summer Travel doesn't rub any salt in the wounds of my tragic childhood, I thought I'd share my plans with you.

This summer we have some budget savvy travel plans, like most everyone. Right now I'm in Puerto Rico with Maggie Mason checking off an item on her Mighty Life List. (Thank you frequent flyer miles!) Logan is heading up north to a friend's parent's place for a guy's weekend where he will mostly eat his favorite wings at Peegeo's and play video games. 

As a family we're heading up to the cabin of a friend where we've been going, well since I was 15 and babysitting for my pseudo-family. It's up north on Grand Traverse Bay and one of my favorite places on earth.

We're going camping with a bunch of families from our elementary school in August. We did this trip last year and survived, in spite of the rain. PS: Rain ruins camping. I am hoping against hope that rain will not be a part of our trip this year.

We're also going to stay up with our friend's Tom and Leslie at their parents place up north. The place we stayed last year and were nearly mauled by a bear. Not really but if that bear figured out how to open the door and climb the stairs and find us, then we would have been mauled. It was a close call!

Tell me your summer vacation plans, even if you're staying close to home. Your comment is your entry, here are the rules.

You can enter until 12am EST Friday July 10. The winner will be selected randomly from the entries and announced later that day.

Thank you to San Disk for sponsoring this giveaway!

Life List: Rough Draft Volume 3

Please see Volume 1 and Volume 2.

1 Take an annual picture of each of the kids with some sort of prop or cool setting, starting this year.

(I need to think on this more.)

2 Go horseback riding

(This is one that I don't necessarily love. But I just think it's stupid I've never been on a horse. At the same time I'm never going to add Learn To Ski to my list because, skiing is for assholes. You know what I mean.)

3 Grow sunflowers

(I've tried, bugs always eat them. I will persevere.)

4 Host an annual party everyone wants to be at.

(Some of the items on my list are party ideas, I don't know which one will spark interest but I want one to be the one everyone thinks about and looks forward to each year.)

5 Knit Baby Sweaters for every baby my friend's have from here on out.

6 Find a babysitter we can have stay for the weekend

7 Plant a small garden with the kids.

8 Make our backyard into a bird refuge.

(I have a really weird love of birds. I've named some of the ones in our yard, like Robirda (the robin!) It's scary, I know.)

9 Get new wedding bands we both love.

10 Spend a day shopping with Maddie and buying her a lot of the clothes she thinks are "cool".

11 Sew some lovely things.

12 Take the kids to the candy store and give them $10 each to spend as they wish.

(Their heads will explode)

13 Take the kids to Storybook Gardens in London, Ontario.

14 Do karaoke as a family.

15 Ride the swan boats at Belle Isle

16 Find a perfect black dress.

17 Buy a house our grandchildren will visit us in.

18 Go to a U Pick Orchard

19 Visit the Sting Ray Lagoon at the Grand Rapids Zoo

20 Learn to use knives

(for Cooking!)

21 Make tamales with friends

22 Make new Christmas stockings for the whole family.

23 Plant a garden of succulents

24 Throw a memorable baby shower.

25 Have a sleepover party for Maddie's friends with Root beer Floats.

*I should really add visit Puerto Rico and swim with bioluminescent plankton to this list because that's what I'm doing next week. But alas, that was not on my life list. How lucky am I to get to tag along on this amazing adventure?

"There are just so many wines for under $15!"

On Saturday Logan and I went with our friends Joe and Cari on a Taste-full Tour to explore Ann Arbor.

We explored several spots in Ann Arbor, this picture was taken at Everyday Wines in Kerrytown. ("For days ending in Y")

Joe is a photographer and here's the thing about photographers, even the pictures they take with their iPhones make you feel a little envious. 

Joe took this picture of Logan and I, I've dubbed it "Taste-Full Tours Is For Lovers"

*On August 8th Taste-Full Tours is heading back to Ann Arbor for a full Zingerman's tour. If you like food, you MUST visit Zingerman's.