Happy Dance

So, on Friday we (two of my brothers, my dad, Antonio Ledesma, Brandon Andersen and me) are driving back from Christ the Redeemer camp, and we're all groggy and, well, yeah. So we drive to Antonio's house to drop him off, and Dad says I should help him bring his stuff in. Okay, so I do that. When we get into his house, Antonio's sister, Victoria (who is coincidentally one of my good friends from school) is there to greet us. I observe streamers and balloons on the walls. Hmm...kinda weird. After hugging her brother, Victoria says that she has a surprise for me. She directs me to the doors to their den/living room, opens them, and suddenly:
SURPRISE!!!!!
Did I mention that Friday was my birthday?
Anyway, a good number of my friends and all my non-camp-participating family were lurking behind that door, waiting to give me a coronary. They all did a good job, too. Upon seeing this spectacle, I jump about three feet in the air and immediately run in the opposite direction. Eventually, they help me come to grips with this surprise party. To be honest, it didn't seem real at first. Ever since I'd left camp, I'd been expecting to go home, zonk out for a while, and celebrate my birthday the following Saturday...not immediately after simply dropping a friend off. It was awesome, though. Those moments when I was initially surprised and when I came to realize that my friends and family had been planning this for months, totally without my slightest inkling, are probably going to be burned on my memory. And then, of course, there was the actual party, but that didn't quite have the flashbulb quality of the moment when I opened those doors.
Anyway, in short, I love my friends. I have some great ones. And what's really great is that my family (hooray for them, too, 100,000x) threw another party for me on Saturday, during which I got to see even more people that I hadn't seen the previous day. And then there's also the fact that my parents and grandparents pooled their resources to get me this SCHWEET digital video camera. Hahahaha, gloatgloat. My amateur filmmaking career begins now.
Wow. Just...wow. I'm such a lucky dude.

First post in, like, a million years

Today is the second day of summer. On Friday, I, about a half dozen friends, and various members of my family kicked it off with the best kind of bash: a (mostly) spontaneous one. It was awesome. After going to see Mission Impossible III (one of the few movies that you can actually burn calories by watching, I'm willing to bet), we decided to all head over to my house, and, amazingly, when we got there my mom had ordered six pizzas and was in the process of making other things, i.e. salad. It was incredible that she was able to just do that, after receiving forewarning from my dad. I wuv my pawents.
And later traffic on Swift Ave. found us stage fighting in the islands in the middle of the road, and imitating Abbey Road on the crosswalks. We're probably the weirdest bunch of hooligans society has yet seen. And all without drugs!
And lastly, possibly most spontaneously of all, we ended the whole glorious thing by dancing in the living room to the likes of The Police, Queen and Aretha Franklin. Wheeeee...
Now it's Sunday, and that Friday night seems, well, like a long time ago. Since it is still the weekend, the actual feeling of summer hasn't yet hit me, but mental aspects of it have. And it's weird.
Now I'm largely deprived of the company of people I've seen 5 out of 7 days of every week for 9 months (a few of whom I'll likely never see again). I'm not depressed about this; it's just weird...well, yes, a little sad. For three whole months, I'll be sort of isolated, at least compared to before. Also, while school life kept my schedule going at an almost psychotic pace, it has now slowed down to near nil. I have a grand total of three things to worry about now every day: practicing drums, practicing singing, and rehearsals in the evening for the Wizard of Oz. I hate to whine, but it's a fact: boredom looms.
So now I'm forced to come up with inventive ways to occupy myself. Here are some things:

• See all those movies I've been wanting to see but never had time to
• Blog more (no guarantees, though)
• READ MORE!!!
• Spend time just lounging at the library
• "Go nocturnal," occassionally. That is, go to bed at seven P.M. and get up at 3:30 A.M. to roam aimlessly around town until dawn, when NO ONE'S AROUND!
  
• Swim at the pool a block away
• At some point, walk across the Tri-Cities with my friend, Randy.
• And other things, but they're not coming to mind, so yah.

Anyhoo, hope y'all have as kewl a summer as mine has the untapped potential to be.