Summer

Uh oh, guess what day it is! GUESS WHAT DAY IT IS! Huh? Anybody? Come on, I know you can hear me. What day is it? Tell me what day it is!

Hump Day!?

Technically no. But it is the first Thursday of the new school year and we all know what that means! That’s right folks, it time for my first blog post of the year. Yes, my nation of loyal followers – all 3 of you – can rest easy because I am back. You can now send away that eternal darkness that was settling on your soul ; I am here and will once again shine some beautiful rays-of-Brad into your life.  

Oh it has been a while since we last met, and I have done a lot in the past few months. I would ask how your summer went, but this format really precludes any call-and-response sessions. Although if you want to, please feel free to yell into your monitor all the things you did this summer, preferably while you’re at work.

June15th was an exceptional Farmer's Market. June 16th I mowed the grass...

I went back to Texas for the summer where the temperature was often over 100⁰. And it was…Awesome! What did I do with my time in Texas? Well, I installed a sprinkler system, taught tennis camps, drove a golf cart, almost flipped a golf cart, saw the Rangers lose to the Astros, watched This is the End, watched This is the End again, won money at a casino, went to Shreveport then lost money at a casino, spent the night in a national park, spent the night in a state park, went to New Orleans and heard some jazz, ate a beignet, and drank a lot of latte’s; went to the beach for a week; went to Austin for a wedding then ate some tacos and saw hipsters; went back to Dallas and saw the Rangers lose again, ate some more tacos; then ended up back in Iowa. Overall, not too shabby of a summer if I do say so myself.  

This is obviously just the summary of the Cliffs Notes version of everything I did. I know after reading that list many are probably appalled at my outward level of social interaction all of this must have required. Well don’t worry, I’m still the non-social butterfly I always was and awkward situations still happen to me at an alarming rate. It’s like watching a mallard duck trying to ride a bike; it’s strange for everyone involved. In recognition of this, I decided to document everywhere I went to celebrate of this achievement.

Here I am forgetting how restaurants work and mistakenly thinking I am supposed to hold up the wall.

Then I decided to go for a bike ride but instead just stood on the trail. I got confused and froze.

Of course I was hungry after this so I decided to eat again which I believe is facilitated by starting at the store sign and then freaking out once you get your food.

When I eventually made it to the beach I was saddened to learn I would still have to interact with other people. There are an especially alarming amount of children present at beaches.

"Um, go away? Or am I supposed to help?" 

And as I’ve documented before, I have no idea what to do in coffee shops. This time I even brought along an honest-to-God barista and I still ended up like this

I know I'm doing something wrong, just not sure what it is.

So there you have it, a short pictorial history of my time over the summer. I hope it was just as awkward for you as it was for me. I obviously didn’t take those pictures myself (I haven’t developed that superpower yet) so to those behind the camera I will simply say thank you. They went along in celebration of all our awkwardness and made it a great summer to remember. I hope everyone had a great time this summer and are ready for what this new season will bring.