Happy 4th of July! (autopost)

If you're reading this, then the auto post thingy really does work! I have been sitting around a good portion of today and yesterday trying to come up with stuff that I can write while I'm "in Mexico" because as you see, while you're currently reading this, I am currently in Mexico... however, while I'm actually writing this, I'm in front of the same computer I use right here in good ole NY. Hopefully there will be a few of these... just in case I don't have internet access the way I hope to... but I am going to be trying desparately to get online down there because I know how much you will all miss me and my amazing pictures *cough cough*

and so you can tell the difference between the real time posts and the fake "auto posts" i'll spell it out clearly in the titles. For example: this post is titled "Mexico day #1 (autopost)" where the real time posts will NOT say "autopost" get it? ok ok i'll stop... enough is enough.

So today is Thursday. It is currently the 5th consecutive 4th of July that I have not been at home. And out of those 5 away for the 4th, I have only once been able to take in that great American tradition of fireworks. (i'm secretly bummed that this is the 5th year only because it would have been really cool to write "4 years on the 4th" *blah*)

So lets begin with a little lookback shall we?

5 "4ths" ago was 2004. It was my first year as a camp couselor. I was chest deep in role playing as Alice in Wonderland. We had tea with the Mad Hatter, and consequently on our WAY to tea, we did a "4th of July" parade down the main road of the camp... the caterpillar kept coming apart... it involved two 6th graders and a large green sleeping bag... maybe a pipe thrown somewhere in there. But THERE WERE NO FIREWORKS.

4 "4ths" ago was 2005. Year #2 as a camp counselor. Honestly, that was kind of a bad summer all around, and I have NO idea what we did on the 4th of July. I vaguely remember burning a flag... but I'm not sure. And lest you think that burning flags is some sort of Nazi/America hater tradition, let me assure you that in this case it was not. There is an actual ceremony for flag burning and a proper procedure for doing so. It's not a disrespectful thing at all, in fact it's intended purpose is to "retire" an old flag so that a new one can take it's place. But anyways, I digress...

3 "4ths" ago, 2006, I was in Michigan at the Cherry Festival in Traverse City. That was a lot of fun... and it was also the year I got to see fireworks!

2 "4ths" ago was last year, 2007, and I was on my way to India. Not IN India... in fact I'm pretty sure that I spent it in Dubai. There is a long tale of the troubles I had on my way over there... here is the condensed version and the only part that really matters anyways. From the time I arrived at the airport to leave to the time I reached the base, 112 hours had passed by and I had slept for approximately 12 of those. That is INCLUDING fitful rages of attempted sleep on the airplane/bus. Maybe sometime I'll write about that trip...

1 "4th" ago - oh wait, that's today! - is RIGHT NOW!

I'm fairly certain there will be no fireworks for me today either, but that's ok, because there's nowhere else I'd rather be at this moment.