Weaving In and Out of traffic lanes, my body still full of sleep, I wondered: did I think about her this much when she was alive? Some things serve as triggers, but I don’t really know what these things are. It seems like it can be the most mundane things that you wouldn’t otherwise notice. Or maybe it’s all the good things I see that remind me of her.
One story always comes to my mind when I think of her: the way her enthusiasm escaped her as she pointed and exclaimed, “LOOK! It’s a rainbow!” Everyone else around her chuckled and looked at her with bewilderment, they told her that rainbows always look like that. It wasn't her first acquaintance with the rainbow either. It is only that she appreciated every little thing and everything was more beautiful to her.
Which is fitting, because she was more beautiful than most.

How Did I Get Here???

How did I get from lying on the beach with a picnic basket and cruising around Mexico to where I am now? HOW???

Last night I dreamt that I woke up at 6:45, drove an hour to my internship, drove an hour back to school for classes, stuffed dinner down my throat, and went to a meeting that ended at 12:00am. Oh no, wait, that wasn’t a dream, that’s my life! And I suppose you have to sleep to dream.

Years ago I saw this funny comic on our Dean’s door. It shows a guy drunk out of his mind passed out in a pub, and the caption states, “Is law school leading you to the wrong bar?” At that time I thought it was hilarious, at this time I’m thinking, DUH! NO WONDER!

Who am I kidding? I suppose to be passed out in a bar would mean that you actually have the time to go to a bar, or for that matter, the time to drink. I’m off now, to read 50 pages of legal jargon before my 4 hour nap so that I can get up at 6:45 in the morning and drive an hour through traffic to work… *sigh*

OH MEXICO!

Having lived 30 minutes away and never been to it for two years now, I finally crossed the boarder yesterday afternoon into Mexico with some good friends. I loved the numerous taco stands aligned in a row, with fresh meat roasting for all to see; the markets where little girls give you flowers for "free" and then ask you for money; and the mexican bakery emitting sweet smelling breads strategically located right next to a modern coffee shop. Baja California was exotic and yet familiar, like one of those strangers you think you've met somewhere before.

I bought a painting in the market, it's a black and white portrait of some part of Paris that's $30 complete with frame. After our market adventure we went horseback riding on the beach. My horse (which I named her "Maddy" and you'll see why) apparently had a grudge against her employer and refused to turn around and go back. She kept going along the beach and eventually they had to send out a 10 year-old kid to coax Maddy back to her employer. The kid tried everything and asked me to control the horse. I pulled and tugged on the reins while screaming my head off and the horse under me started galloping into the ocean. The little kid came around, stopped Maddy in her tracks, and finally used a rope to tie his horse to mine. The kid then started riding his horse back, and Maddy refused to move. Finally, after much effort, I made it safely back to the original point of departure. Happy that Maddy left me alive, we had a drink at Papas and Beer and headed down the Puerto Nuevo for an amazingly delicious lobster dinner. I had two medium sized lobsters, rice, beans, guacamole, tortillas, and a margaritas for a total of $13 dollars! I don't know how else to describe the deal other than amazing.

After dinner we drove across the boarder back to the United States. We all practiced saying "USA" in the car while my friend retold the story of this non-responsive girl he went to Mexico with one time who could only say "Citizensssssss" and delayed the entire group for hours on end. Ah, that story just gets funnier and funnier everytime I hear it *tear*. We all clearly annunciated "USA" and "Deutschlander" without incident. Back in CA now, will update soon on whale watching adventure.

Winter Break

Enjoying a few 80-degree-winter-days in San Diego and the vacation thus far has been wonderful. Yesterday we drooled over the baby panda, chowed on fish and chips in a restaurant overlooking the embarcadero, and strolled down to sea port village to spend the rest of the afternoon there. Today we packed a lunch consisted of: cucumber finger sandwiches; turkey and smoked gouda finger sandwiches; avocado cream cheese with tomato, cucumber, and turkey finger sandwiches; fresh Persian cucumbers stuffed with havarti cheese; grape tomatoes; sweet potato chips; and finally, fresh sliced gala apples. We opened the sun roof, donned our sunglasses and enjoyed the sunny So-Cal day. Driving towards the beautiful Coronado island, we had a picnic on the beach and read our books next to the crashing waves and curious sea gulls. Our stomachs content, we satisfied our curiosity with the daring trespass to room 3312 – the room belonging to Hotel Del’s most famous guest: Kate Morgan’s ghost. We looked for the room really just for kicks and giggles, and while we didn’t see a Victorian woman haunting the halls, it was quite creepy to be there. We finished off the evening with happy hour in Old Town and reading Harry Potter at our very own, newly opened Starbucks down the road. Three o’clock now, I am off for bed. I am hoping for fresh sea food tomorrow and must wake early.