So, about summer.

It's about that time of year again. The wind is blowing, but it's warm this time, and the leaves are green this time. The world seems smaller and friendlier. Because of the newfound sun, numerous friends are now hooking up and making it "official", just in time for junior/senior banquet. Subway business increases, making me stay longer and longer every time I work. I still don't have a car, which means I have about $500 in checks to deposit but have to wait till somebody can take me to the bank. At least that'll happen today! Unfortunately, I'll promptly spend much of it on a formal dress, shoes, earrings, and a birthday present for my roommate.

Yes, the dress is for me, not my roommate. And yes, I'm going to junior/senior banquet. And yes, I have a date.

I think this post was going to be about summer memories or something. I was just remembering how I used to walk to the library. It was over a mile, and it was just so beautiful - I can see the whole thing in my head. I remember taking the "short cut" through the blackberries and the apartment buildings. Haha, becca, remember whenever you were driving to my house after that, Kaitie would say "why didn't you take the shortcut?"

Kaitie's pirate party happened on a sunny day. So did becca's surprise party, but I only know that because I remember she was wearing shorts.

Before we could both drive, we'd walk from our houses toward the other and meet in the middle. I don't know why, maybe so one person would have company on half of the way there. Except usually I'd call becca and say "I'm leaving" and she'd say "Me too, in like one minute." So of course I'd wait a few seconds to grab some water or something, and I'd leave right then. And I'd show up at her door like "Hi, I'm already here" and she'd be like "You walk fast" and I'd be like "Yeah, whatever." We'd go to Safeway, and sometimes we'd get chow mein, but I think our summer thing was really root beer float bars. We'd buy them and then try to get them quickly back to her house unmelted and in the freezer before the rest of her family saw them. I think the box held six and we each ate two on the way to her house. And then sometimes we'd let Kaitie and Matt have the last two.

Summer was also when we went on our "hike" down that street, whose number I can't even remember now. 140th. Right? I bought some fruit snacks and ate the entire box on the way down the big hill. Then we got down there, and walked along Cedar River, looking for "the bunny place", a place becca insisted was somewhere around there. But we ended up wandering off the trail into stinging nettles and spiderwebs. It was at least two miles, mostly uphill, back home, so we kept going. We walked into downtown Renton, caught a bus (we had exactly enough money for the fare) and went back to becca's house. We were soooo tired.

Summer afternoons and evenings, of course, we'd just sit out on the sidewalk in front of becca's house (sometimes my house, but more often hers. I liked her house because with more people, it was more interesting). We'd make arrangements with pine needles (remember the speed bump?) in the road. Once we drew with sidewalk chalk, too. Sometimes we'd walk to the park and throw a frisbee or play freeze tag. We'd make tea but we'd be too hot to drink it, so we'd just sit and smell it.

Once when we were sitting outside and talking, Josh came out briefly, then said "I'm going into the house" but we both saw him duck behind a tree, hiding from us. After exposing him, we said something like "So, whenever you say 'I'm going into the house', you really mean "I'm going behind a tree'!"

For a while we had an inside "joke" that involved people meaning other things, and I think it may have stemmed from that. Do you remember, becca? Because we'd be watching a movie and someone would say "She's not really talking about the horses" and everybody would crack up.

That's all I can remember right now. Help me, becca! Let's show our readers what a perfect summer looks like!