The Full Monty On The Way To See The Full Monty

I took a trip to the city with the parental units to watch a fun play.  I saw the movie version a long time ago and remembered thinking that it was cute.... it's the male version of Calendar Girls.  

These ordinary men decide to strip to make money for their families, which is pretty funny.  It's a little awkward to watch actors doing a play about trying to striptease next to your father.  Towards the end of the play, the characters decided that, to fill the seats and make enough money, they have to go the "full monety."  Which means that in the end.... they be completely naked on stage.  (No worries, you don't see it... the lights go out, they are backlit for about a second (to show their silhouettes) and then the lights go out and the play is over.)  And there is a nice little message about accepting and loving who you are.  All in all a light hearted funny story.

However --- the ride to the show wasn't so light hearted and friendly.

Have you ever had one of those moments where you look at something and realize that something is a little off, but your brain doesn't register what?

We were driving on the Embarcadero in San Francisco and saw a group of bicyclists standing around on the sidewalk.    It was a bunch of men with their bikes.  They looked like they were waiting for a race to start, or to go on a San Francisco bicycle tour or something.  

But something was off and I couldn't place what it was. There something was strange about these men. 

What is? I kept asking myself.  What???..... OH CRAP!  I know what's wrong!  They are all in their birthday suits!  These men are completely naked!

A whole street, full of completely naked men awaiting a bike ride. 

I was so sad that I couldn't figure it out faster.  My eyes saw much more than I would care to admit. 

Oh San Francisco, why don't you care about indecent exposure?  I didn't need to see the Full Money. 

I tried to drown out the memory by eating my first ever cake pop.

It was pink and yummy.   A much better memory.

OSU Class of 2012

My commencement ceremony was wonderful.  Can you tell I was excited?  There was a lot of waiting in lines, but finding snipers on the rooftops was a fun distraction. 

The place was packed.  They had more people attending this year than they have ever had before.

It was pretty easy to find my family in the crowd.  They are the people huddled under the orange OS blanket.   It was a little chilly in the shade and these poor Californian's kinda froze.

I checked to make sure my name was in the program.  It was there, I really did finish.

I was pretty close to the front, which made me think I might be able to get a glimpse of our commencement speaker, Michele Obama.

She was given an honorary doctorate for her numerous programs and work with the young people in America to proved them with rich lives.

It's too bad that the graduation gown covers up her sculpted arms.  They are pretty impressive.  I wish that I had arms like Michele Obama.

I could see her much better on the screen then I could from where I was sitting.  That little black dot, on the stage, in this next photo is her giving her commencement speech.

I should have gotten a picture of my actual diploma, but I didn't think about that then.  Oh well.  It's real, and I held it.  It has my name on it and everything.

After they handed it to me, I shook the hands I'm suppose to shake, and smiled for the Cameras, I opened it up to see if my name really was there.  Did I really finish?  There must have been some snafu somewhere.  I have to retake a class, or maybe I missed one completely.   This isn't really real.

And there it was.  My name.  Britta Rae Sinex.  The recipient of a Bachelors Degree in Animal Science.  My eyes got a little misty as I realized the fight and struggle was over and now I was reaping the benefits.

Just then my phone buzzed with a text from my husband.  He just saw me and let me know that he was so proud of me, even he got a little choked up.

It took me a little longer than planed.  And I went through more crap in the years getting here than I could have ever imagined.  I mean, who gets their house flooded the week after her husband leaves for boot camp and the week before finals?  Yeah, me.  That's who.  But I still got all A's and B's on my finals.  And I came out of the whole things sane.  At lest I hope I did.  If that's not the case... could someone please let me know?  Thanks.  If that is not a testament to how much I've grown through these years, I dunno what is.

I'm so glad that I was able to share this day with my family.  It's so much more fun to celebrate with your siblings, even though my not-so-little-brother-Ricky (whom I utterly adore) was across the pond in England.  I knew he was proud of me even though he couldn't be there either.

Michele Obama talked about living a rich life.  To let people know that you love them, to use your struggles to build yourself up --- not to break down, and to do what you love --- not what is expected.


It was really good and if you have about 20 minutes, here's the link so that you can watch it too.

She couldn't have described any better, what I strive for ever day.

I could not have done this on my own and I'm very grateful to all the wonderful friends, family, and professors that have made my goal attainable.  You constantly build me up and make me feel like I can do anything.  Thank you!

I did it.

Time for a new adventure.

Best Birthday Present Ever!

I got the most wonderful gift from the hubby for my birthday!  

I was supper excited when I saw a long, skinny box, with my name on it, waiting for me on the porch.  Bounded inside with my present and waited for Nathan to get on Skype.  It's not nearly as much fun to open presents by yourself. 

He told me that this wasn't my real gift, that one would be arriving later.  This one just made him laugh.

He gave me a Spider Catcher!  Can I just say, I was more than thrilled!  He was shocked at my joy.  He thought he'd get something more like and eye roll when I saw it.  

You may remember my current method for dealing with my eight legged frien-emies in a previous post .... it doesn't go well for the spiders or my conscience. 

Nathan decided to remedy that situation and now I have a spider catcher. 

The spider catcher comes with a plastic spider for practicing.

So of course I had to test it out!

The catcher has these soft bristles that open and close so you can gently catch the spider and release the little bugger in a more desirable location.

Sorry the pictures are a little blurry, I was too excited to sit still.

Success!

I was pretty impressed with it.  The long arm makes it so that you are very far away from the spider at all times and its also gentile so I don't have to be mean to them.  Just because we don't get along shouldn't mean that we should be destructive to each other.

I'm in love with my gag gift!

And!  I got to use it this morning!  Went to hop in the shower and guess who was sitting on the ceiling?

Yup, and eight legged frien-emy.  I told him to stay there and that I'd be right back.

With my new favorite tool :)

I got my trigger finger ready...

Reached up to grab the culprit....

And success!  It caught him.  This thing is like handcuffs for spiders because the plastic fibers trap all his little legs.  This little bugger is not going anywhere!

And then I released him... outside, of course.

And he still had all his legs!  He was a little confused about what just happened, but unharmed!

I told him to enjoy his new home, courtesy of Nathan Thomas Sinex.

Enjoy your new pad spider!

Thanks Nathan for protecting the lives of all the spiders that cross my path!

Nathan Got His Orders!

I guess you know what this is about since the title kinda gives it away, but NATHAN GOT HIS ORDERS!  He made me guess where were were going and I eventually got it.

Its not in the states.  I'm so glad I didn't get stuck in the middle of no where Montana for three years.

It's not in Europe.  I was hoping we'd go there so I could see my bother who's in England, but I guess I will just have to visit.

It's in freaken JAPAN!  This was one of the top places we wanted to go.  We are so happy that we got it!

Come November, we will be stationed, for the next three years, at the Kadena Air Base in Okinawa Japan!

I'm googling and wiki-ing and thinking of the travel books I should buy and deciding how to best start learning Japanese!

I'm am so excited!  And I'm impressed that I was able to stop dancing long enough to type all this!

Bah!  I need to update my passport!

Little League

It's the end of the little league season.  I love watching my littlest brother up at bat.

Even if he hasn't gotten a hit this season.  But he's good at stealing those bases!

He's more interesting to watch play ball than his older brother.

Well, he was fun to watch too.  It's just that it wasn't because of how into the game he was.  He had much more fun talking to the bees on the clover and looking for birds in the sky.  He often didn't know when a ball was headed his way.  If you ask me, that's pretty funny to watch.

In other words, I love baseball and I love my brothers, no matter what their idea of playing ball actually means.

Celebration!

Photo Credit

Even the Heavens were celebrating my birthday yesterday.  Venus transiting the sun.

Yeah, I had a good day.

A Day at The Beach

I treated myself to a day at the beach.  I went to one of my favorite beaches in Santa Cruz, Natural Bridges State park.

I thoroughly enjoyed feeling the sand between my toes.

And I could spend hours watching the tides ebb and flow.

I went on an adventure to the tide pools over this beautiful rock...

Over this ledge...

Watch out!  Don't fall!

You can kinda tell how long people have been taking this walk to the tide pools over these rocks.  Those indents are from years of people's feet walking this path.

Finally at the tide pools.  I love watching the crabs scuttle around.

Watching the sea anemones...

Well, more like poking sea anemones

Being fascinated by creatures that can bind themselves to surfaces by creating a mucus through their foot.

And then I feel a little guilty thinking that they look very yummy.

This little guy thought that he was well hidden, but I found him.

He tried to make a sneaky escape while I wasn't looking...

But I saw him.

And watched him climb into the neighbor's pool.  He hid in a hole that someone else was in.  The crab that was content in his hidey hole then kicked out someone else from their hole... and that went on for about four more crabs... it was funny.

This is the natural bridge that the park is named after.  There were two bridges when my dad was growing up, but the years have eroded the other one.

This park is also known for being the winter home for the Monarch Butterflies.  Obviously, it's the beginning of summer right now, so there aren't any butterflies there now... but it's still a beautiful place.

The first time I came here, I can remember just being in awe of their beauty.

These trees were alive with the fluttering wings of these amazing critters.  Floating from tree to tree and sunning their wings.

It's truly a magical experience.

I believe that I will still be here come October, when they start taking up residence in Santa Cruz.  And if so, I've practiced my picture taking skills lying supine and I will be able to share with you the magic of being surrounded by Monarch Butterflies.