For the 4th of July last year, Mols & Trav were in town, and we went to friend Jen's to hang out, watch fireworks, and so Trav could swim in her pool. Molly and I didn't bring our suits, though, and Trav needed help, so I got in the pool in my clothes to swim with him and ended up soaking wet. This year on the 4th, I was in Oregon City visiting Mols and Trav, and once again I ended up soaking wet in my clothes. We went to a little mini-festival at a park, and there was one of those little fountain parks for kids there, so Trav and I--and eventually Molly and Joe--ended up playing in the water. It was cute and fun! At first Trav seemed unsure about playing in the water in his clothes. My hope for him is that he will take every opportunity to engage in unabashed silliness and fun in his life, and I encourage that whenever I can. This is why I danced and skipped and ran through the fountains with him and all the other little kids on Saturday. He got into it. At the end he had this little plastic container from our shaved ice that he filled up with water and would say, "Baaaaaaay-con, I have some soup for YOU!" Then he'd toss the water at me, or whoever his target was at the moment. This was fantastic in the 90-something degree weather.

The weekend away was lovely and relaxing, minus the traffic. Mols showed me around Oregon City. We went to the farmers market and shopped for Molly's place. We went to a farm to pick raspberries. They are so incredibly delicious! We played badminton. We barbecued and ate tasty food. We did fireworks at the house and watched the neighbor's impressive display. The neighbor came over to introduce himself and to invite us to watch. He said something, in his stoner voice, along the lines of, "Hi there, my name is Charlie, and I live across the street. I've lived here for 15 years. We have, like, four hours worth of fireworks, man, and you're more than welcome to come over to watch." When Trav heard this he turned to me to say quietly, "Charlie. Like Charlie the Unicorn" and grinned all pleased with himself. Trav and I went to a cute little park and swung on the swings. We played with his Thomas trains. My sister and I talked and laughed.

Before leaving to P-town, I saw the Hangover with friends. Very funny movie with a lot of great lines. Loved it!

More soon, my friends, but for now I must sleep. In doing things to help with my overall physical and mental health, I'm making changes that ultimately will be very good, but for right now in the transition, I have an ongoing headache. Bleah. It's a bit rough, and I'll be happy when this phase is over. The best news is that I now have a prescription for monthly massages and, after a lot of thought, I've decided to take a new, more natural approach in dealing with my predictable cycles of dark. After a nice appointment with my doctor to discuss possible options, I realized what I've been doing isn't working, yet I keep sticking with it. I'm not sure why. I think I keep hoping it will work, even though it hasn't felt quite right to me for a while now. In talking with my doctor, I realized I'm running out of options there that don't involve putting some sort of medication or hormones in my body. After researching the latest thing she wanted me to try, I decided to opt out. I definitely feel western medicine has its place, but I'm also interested in and believe in alternative methods of healing. I haven't explored that yet for this issue, and I think it's time. I want to give this approach a chance, and give myself a chance to really be in tune with myself and determine what is best for me. I'm open to blending western medicine with alternative healing if that ends up being the right fit, but for now I'm focusing on finding a naturopath and an acupuncturist (which I keep wanting to spell with two c's like acc. Sigh). I'll certainly report back on my experiences.

Oooooooo, and to change things up further, Em came over tonight and helped me switch my meditation room and bedroom around, so I have a new bedroom. Mostly I did this because my old room is right below the neighbors living room space, and I was finding myself increasingly annoyed by the noise. I'm hoping this new arrangement will help with that, but it may be time to start thinking about moving on. However, the change itself is refreshing. The old meditation room is smaller, but with the switch it feels like a cozy little sanctuary. Crossing my fingers that it's a QUIET little sanctuary.

Nighty night!