On the Seventh Day of Carolinimas...

...My boyfriend sent to me a vase of flowers.

I could have chosen any number of things to write about. It was the last day of school (thanks District!); I don't have breast cancer (yes, I had a scare); I went out to dinner with friends (yay for friends and dinner). However, the highlight was coming home from all of the madness of the day (and two hours hanging out with a bunch of women who have been told to not wear deoderant or perfume is trying), and finding flowers on my porch. It was a very sweet ending to my day.

On the Sixty Day of Carolinmas...

...My mechanic gave me a car that was fixed.

Yeah, it was making some evil noises and shuddering at high speeds. (This all came to a head when I was driving to Berkeley.) I finally remembered my Car Talk and realized it was pretty dangerous. If a part of your drivetrain or axle fails while driving, it's very not good. Anyway, I (slowly) drove to the shop and it was done by noon.

On the Fifth Day of Carolinimas...

...I grilled out in the backyard.

I'm also making some Vichysoisse with the leeks I grew in my backyard. It's still on the stove, so I can't tell you exactly how good it is, yet, but I bet it'll be awesome. Potato leek soup is good anyday, but with homegrown leeks? Yummy.

Also on the menu, grilled sausages on grilled Italian bread and grilled asparagus. Maybe some arugula salad with strawberries and locally-produced swiss cheese. I'm getting hungry and tired, though, so am losing my momentum for salad-making.

On the Fourth Day of Carolinimas...

I went wine-tasting and to dinner with a friend.

I went to "my" winery and bought a few more bottles before I have to give them up. We then went around the corner and spent too much money on dinner in Carmel Valley Village. The food was good, but I don't know that it was that good. The bread was awesome, my Ceasar salad was tasty, but I was a bit disappointed with the Margehrita pizza. The tomatoes weren't fresh... so it was a bit acidic. Still, it was nice, just not great.

On the Third Day of Carolinimas...

...I went to prom.

I had a delightful dinner with some friends at a Santa Cruz eatery. The highlight was getting the "treasure chest" at the end of our meal. The chest is filled with cheap plastic toys. I took a shark. My friend's friend took a lobster. My friend took nothing -- for fear she was taking something from a kid. Um, the thing is FILLED with toys, I think there will be some left for the next kid when they finish their meal. And we paid $40 each, I think we deserve a plastic toy.

Prom itself was sorta lame. The music was all techno, but I was not dressed in techno attire, nor was I prepared to dance to techno at my age or in front of students. It just takes too much energy.

However, afterwards we walked down to the ocean and trashed the dress. I know, you're supposed to do that to wedding dresses, but it works with prom, too. We didn't get totally soaked (it was chilly), but it was fun. When I get my hands on some photos, I'll let you see them.

(I'll probably get the dress washed, but I also spilled sauce on it at dinner, so it might be trashed already anyway.)