4th of July and Random Ramblings

Yay! 4th of July! Oh, the overwhelming sense of patriotism that invades me as I eat my fill of ribs and chips, while watching things explode in the air. There is nothing like blowing things up and overeating to make you feel in unison with your fellow Americans.

(For those of you who know me, you would identify that passage as belonging to my slightly-off sense of sarcastic humor.)

We hosted the annual Bryden 4th of July Party, and I think it was a success. My friends came, which made me incredibly happy... especially since I haven't been able to see many of them due to work, and them moving away, and the general responsibilities of life that slowly take over your free time making it impossible to coordinate spontaneous activities with friends. So many people came to my house. My room was turned into "the bag room" and it was barely big enough. I spent hours cleaning my little house so that it would be presentable, and now I shall spend hours cleaning up the mess that the 50-odd people left behind. (BTW: A special thanks to those who took the time to help out a little before they left.)

I saw the Alameda Parade, which is always a joyous experience. I see the same parade every year, and every year it touches my heart. I love the small-town feel that it marches down the main streets of my little island.

The one thing I absolutely abhorred about this 4th of July was the day it happened to fall on. It should be illegal to celebrate national holidays in the middle of the week. Alan couldn 't come, and everybody kept asking me about him so I had to explain, what felt like a million times, that he was sick and he lives in Monterey and he has to work tomorrow... It was so hard to get up this morning; I barely got any sleep at last night. And today I am probably going to stay late at work because I have so much work to do. Ugg!