*Tracy, Bridget, Officer Brett, me, and Vanessa*

The weekend before last, I took a roadtrip down to Red Bluff with my friend Bridget & her two friends, Vanessa & Tracy. We were supposed to go to the rodeo but never made it, due to some inconsistencies between the internet ad & the reality of our reserved motel room which escalated into a "situation" that caused us to call the police. When the owner refused to give us our money back even with the assistance of Officer Brett, we turned on the hot water in the shower, cranked up the A/C full blast & went on down the road to a clean motel room for half the price, where we got ready for the big event of the entire trip: The Palamino Room. Once we arrived, we paid our cover charge of $8 each and did a little bit of dancing (VERY little on my part, as I am still trying to recouperate from the hip & rib injuries from the 4-wheeler accident). We decided it would be more fun, not to mention quite a bit cheaper, to drink the drinks we brought with us & basically had us a ho-down tailgater party in the parking lot of The Palamino Room. Bridget was in cowboy heaven! I ended up drinking entirely too much wine, threw up, & had to be driven (lying in the back of the truck bed) back to the motel room to sleep it off.

We awoke the next morning & went out to breakfast before heading back home in time for Tyson's basketball game. Needless to say, I wasn't feeling all that fabulous, but it wasn't until the next day that I realized that I was actually sick. And it wasn't until a couple days after that that I could hardly breathe, my throat was so swollen. When it progressed to the point where I was waking up crying because my throat, ear, & head hurt so bad, I finally bit the bullet & went to the doctor. (When you're uninsured as I am, you tend to avoid doctors & heal on your own.) He informed me that I had strep throat & prescribed some antibiotics. It's been a rough month!

I have, however, managed to stay on top of all my homework & transcription, as well as work on creating an advice column with my friend, Ganey, for the college newspaper (complete with online blog so students can post their questions anonymously: http://askanythingthosegirls.blogspot.com/). It came out in print today but they haven't posted a link to it online. I'll post it here when they do - I'm really excited about it!

Briefly, other stuff that has been going on includes:
* Tyson is playing for two basketball teams - Ashland & Phoenix/Talent (& starting on both, co-team captain of the P/T team). At one of his games yesterday alone, he scored 24 of the 38 points!
* My nephew, Johny, is coming next week to stay with us while he looks for work & gets a place of his own.
* My friend, Lisa, was let go from the Siskiyou Eye Center.
* I think I'm going to pass on the Italy trip since I can't take Tyson with me. I'd love to go, but am not devastated by the idea that I may not. It just doesn't feel right & I know while there may not be another opportunity like this one, I will eventually get to do my traveling.
* My new friend, Clay, colored my hair a cinnamon brown... Let me know if you like it or the frosted blonde look better.