Dress Up, Dine In

Where in the world is Britt-any Bremer? ( try singing it to the Carmen Sandiego theme song) This is what fall looked like to me: hot pools courtesy of Lava Hot Springs snow and reindeer pajamas the University of Florida (and my brother) old lives old pastimes same great family (missing Lauren though) It's funny how such whirlwind trips turn into such amazing times. I lost myself in consecutive weekend escapes and found myself in the middle of December.

I'm constantly haunted by songs from my former life (or lives). They come on the radio on my way to the gym. They catch me by surprise when I'm lounging on the couch. They're in my head when I wake up some mornings. With a couple remembered/misremembered lines I'm back on a road trip, lying on a red bed under twinkle lights or in the Thunderdome. It makes my heart twinge a little at all the people I used to be in those moments. Then the music stops and I'm back in my present life thinking that soon today's songs will be tomorrow's ghosts.

What today was like: * Skipped the gym and tried to take Tezzie for a walk instead * Skipped the walk because Conor & Sake (in their jealous craze) wouldn't stop barking and it was only 8 am * Drove around to the food banks to see how much pet food they needed from the food drive (please donate at your closest Petco until Saturday the 15th) * Hit up Tabula Rasa for desk supplies * Had lunch with the hubs * Went to work and tried to make sense of my new classroom * Went to Jamba Juice with Jayda * Took J to her mama's work * Ordered pizza (against my better judgment) * Finally took Tezzie on his walk * Was really proud of him because he met the neighbors' huge Rotts without being grouchy * Came home and blogged about the whole thing in case anyone liked getting into people's business as much as me I get the feeling that summer is over already. Enjoy it while you can! :)

Sometimes you meet people whose lives are such a grand story that there is no way you'd ever be able to participate in all of it. If you're lucky you get to be in it for moments, days, a year. There seem to be an infinite number of days. Until suddenly there aren't enough. Even though you're states away and haven't seen that someone great in a couple of years it still hurts your heart. You realize through a terrible moment that memories have no sense of time. Friendship has no sense of distance. You've been included in a grand story that now has a new beginning. If there's karaoke in Heaven, I'm sure you're singing away!

Florida comes back to me in mysterious ways. The most recent of which was in the car on the way home from Seth's birthday dinner. The XM radio was playing a random song and we both looked at each other and said "did they just say 'Ybor City'?" And they did. my favorite part from The Hold Steady's "Slapped Actress" Don’t tell my sister about your most recent vision. Don’t tell my family—they’re all wicked-strict christian. Don’t tell the hangers-on, don’t tell your friends. Don’t tell them we went down to Ybor City, again. Don’t tell the dancers, they’ll just get distracted. Don’t tell the DJs. They already suspect us. Don’t mention the bloodshed, don’t mention the scams. Don’t tell them Ybor City almost killed us, again. We are the theatre, they are the people—dressed up to be seated, lookin’ upwards and dreamin’. We’re the projectors. We’re hosting the screening. We’re dust in the spotlights…we’re just kinda floating.

Last summer I was navigating my way through the grid system and trying to find a decent mall in this state. This summer I'm embracing my inner Mountain Woman and figuring out what all the fuss is about. I'm doing this in designer jewelry though...that's my compromise. 4th of July weekend gave us the perfect excuse to pack the car, drop the puffs off at the Farm and road trip to southern Utah. W e proceeded to experience some of the more am azing things in our own backyard. Like... ... Best Friends : The animal sanctuary where the sh ow Dogtown is filmed is my new "happy place." It's home to dogs (of course), cats , birds, horses, pigs, and bunnies who are looking for their forever home. In the meantime they are taken care of at the sanctuary where they get to spend their days in the appropriately named, Angel Canyon. ... the North Rim of the Grand Canyon: When you're heading to the "less popular" area of the GC, you don't expect

Spring Break comes at 25, comes at 12:46 on a Friday afternoon, comes with the patter of rain, comes with receding snow lines. Spring Break promises at 25, promises you'll forget job insecurities. promises you'll have palm trees and Tiffany's, promises you'll make up for lost time. Spring Break still comes to 25 year olds, comes to those who teach, comes to those who are still learning, comes to those who need the reward. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Spring Break starts with puppy graduations.

And so it begins...