lauren laughs

though i see my family pretty regularly, very rarely are all 5 of us in one place at one time. i mean, it’s been way over a year. so while this weekend marked several celebrations, being with my parents and brothers was chief among them. saturday night we had a nice dinner at pazo… the food was spectacular. the waiter even threw in his favorite dessert dish and said, “happy graduation!” on the way over, we all piled into my little cabrio convertible (which is for sale still). seeing all three boys crammed in the back was quite comical. they got a few shout outs from peeps on the street. mom took this pic of them, which i love.

my office is having a surprise party for me today… they’re in the next room whispering about it… shhhhh….

i’m so excited!

a few updates that slipped my mind…

after 5 wonderful years together, lily (my computer) suffered some serious brain damage (translation: her logic board is malfunctioning). she collapsed literally 5 minutes after i finished (and backed up) my thesis. it’s sad to put the girl down, but lily dos arrived last week. we’re still getting to know each other, but already i’ve been able to use ichat to talk to anna in australia for free! it’s weird to talk to your computer, but also very cool. let me know if you have AIM and we can talk for free while i’m in africa! i’ll probably get skype too.

also, my car is for sale. i put the cabrio on autotrader last week. anybody want to buy a convertible? hard to believe i’ll soon be unemployed and car-less.

lastly, i enjoyed a wonderful evening of sailing yesterday. forgot to take my camera (next time), but it was sooo relaxing… even though we were racing. maybe that’s because we got a late start, putting us dead last with no competition. we passed several boats before the finish though. j’s a good coach.

i was in lex this weekend for w&l alumni weekend. it was fabulous. i ran in to lots of friends and spent some quality time with my family, mary carol, and prof. velasquez. oh, and the knit shop. one of my favorite places on earth. carol and guy (owners) found a bunch of chickadees without a mom, so they were peeping away in a little box. i was trying to hold one so my mom could take a picture, but the baby bird pooped in my hand and then jumped to the floor. humph! still, cute. i also got to spend some time with alvin, who just published his first book, legacy of honor: the values and influence of america’s eagle scouts. i haven’t read it yet, but i do have a signed copy, which i will read promptly. alvin’s book signing saturday was a huge success… only tom wolfe has sold more books at a w&l signing. way to go, a-train.

the young adults of christ lutheran church (and other friends we found along the way) celebrated cinco de mayo a little early. the upstairs bar at metro was packed, tony made delicious food and susanne made some kickin’ brownies. kickin’ because she added cinnamon and chipotle powder. mmmm… chocolate with a mexican twist. pastor fries brought a pinata that some of us tried to break open with a broom, unsuccessfully. i whiffed it twice before hitting it on my third try. sad to say, my eyes weren’t even closed. looks like my softball career in benin is doomed. diane had much better luck (pictured… note pastor dubsky flinching in the background), but still no breakage. chris finally broke it over his leg, spilling chocolates all over the floor. yum. i’m going to miss these peeps and these parties.

last night i attended my first ever poetry reading. i mean, i’ve been around people reading poetry before, but this was actually a legit purposefully poetic event. i’ll be honest… i wasn’t too excited. i pretty much only went because i’d do anything for my friend susanne, the hostess. but i liked it! really, i did. and not just because susanne makes the most amazing food ever (fried risotto balls with fresh mozzarella inside… delicious…) but because i felt like i tapped into something pretty intimate, even though i was surrounded by strangers. i read pablo neruda, in english then in spanish. some read their own work. it was really pretty special. nobody snapped, though. i thought that’s what you do at poetry readings… i guess not.

less than 2 weeks of class to go! yes, graduation is fast approaching. i keep getting reminders to pick up my announcements, cap and gown… and yesterday those graduating gathered for a class picture (though half the class is missing). it’s going to be quite a shock when i go from full-time career and full-time student to graduated and unemployed (for a month)… hello butterflies in my tummy. the guy with the odd face would be alex, who was kind enough to snap shots with my camera so we wouldn’t have to pay the school $20 for pictures. he snapped a lot of other shots too (feet, ears, backsides) which were promptly deleted. thanks alex.

boordy vineyard has live blue grass and wine tastings every sunday in april. it’s about 10 miles north of the baltimore beltway, amid rolling hills and flowering trees. i really felt like i was in virginia. i’m not one to listen to blue grass on cd’s (much), but if it’s live music and there’s grass between my toes, i couldn’t feel more at home. pictured are kim, christina, me, michael and andy.

this is my new favorite album for a bit: sufjan stevens’ seven swans. would have been sooner if i had heeded chris’ blog. it’s like iron & wine or nick drake found Jesus. lyrically and musically brilliant… you should check it out. you may recognize sufjan’s sound from the little miss sunshine soundtrack, which is also good.