hmmm...

looks like the summer is over for some of us. sorry, cindi. and we didn't even get to grab some pizza...sigh. i saw somewhere in the paper that the 'average' american eats around 47 slices a year. i wonder if i fall in that category? can you join a support group? yeah, my name is Spencer and i wanna join Average American Anonymous. ya think they have their gatherings in households with 2.3 children?

argh. i am in some real blogging funk right now. i've just been popping in on others while mine has remained very quiet. been thinking of a lot of things, just not wanting to put them down. bleah.

visited with my eldest sis, shirley, last saturday. she had spent much of the day shopping for her maid of honor dress for susie's wedding. guess it all went well - the dress fit beautifully and it was less than $100.

anyway, we headed out to the airport to pick up her 13 year-old, elizabeth, who had spent three weeks in Florida, with her big sister, Natalie. it was a bit long...about 80 minutes of driving and 90 minutes waiting...but great to hang out since i haven't seen much of her over the past year. if i wasn't helping her with chemistry or algebra (she's enrolling in dental hygiene school next fall), the only social functions were familial obligations.

afterwards, they went to see mom & dad for a bit. i'm glad that elizabeth has no problems with hanging out with her grandparents; many teenagers don't even want to be seen with their own parents, let alone grandparents.

so saturday night was a lazy one (like all the others). i was planning to make ham (egg) foo young, until i realized that we had everything (ham, bean sprouts, green onions), but no eggs. guess that ain't gonna work...ended up going to Chipotle for some burritos and beer instead ;) not in a coffee mood, we skipped *$$ and strolled to 7-11 for some evil ice cream treats. i got a cherry garcia ice cream bar and lois, a triple cholcolate drumstick...

in our hyperglycemic stupor, we plopped down on the couch and watched ColdMountain. great movie...i can see why ReneeZellweger got the best supporting nod...she was phenomenal.

although the movie clocked in at about 2.5 hours, it didn't drag at all; the acting and storytelling were seamless. i thought the film was more deserving than LOTR:ROTK...but hey, the only academy that would want me is the driving academy.

thought this past weekend would be chock full of movie watching since we had rented two and bought three at Video One on friday, but we only got through two (City of God was the other). the other three, waiting in the wings, are Pushing Tin (w/ John Cusack), Auto Focus (the movie made about Bob Crane's life and murder), and Old Gringo (Gregory Peck and Jane Fonda). we couldn't pass them up for $3 apiece! probably should go back and pick up a few more that i passed up ;)

anyway, i did manage to make the foo young last night, which was scrumptious, and opted for some watermelon on the front porch - such a beautiful evening - instead of popcorn and a movie. we even sipped some liqueur (Amaretto & Cognac and Xtabentun) as night approached.

btw, Xtabentun (pronounced shta-ben-TUN) is a Maya liqueur that is similar to a sweet anise liquor, think of a honey flavored Ouzo. you can get it in Mexico City, Mérida, or Cancún for about $5-7 a bottle...or $30 at Argonaut Liquors (in a hokey bottle that ain't worth $25 more). a shot from a freshly opened bottle has quite a kick. if the open bottle actually survives a night of drinking w/ yer buddies, over a few months it'll mellow with sweetness and the licorice rush won't be so strong. sure, it's nice to bring back tequila, Kahlua, and mezcal back from Mexico, but it's Xtabentun that finds its way into my backpack :)