Goals Be Good

So sometime last year, I had a series of goals. I actually did pretty well on several of them. Several petered out as goals are wont to do. But it is fall and although fall is the season where things start dying , it is also the time when school starts so that somehow seems apropos that goals start. Right? I've found that when I write them down in this forum, I'm more likely to do them. (Not always a guarantee. I totally flopped at getting my finances into some semblence of order which was one of last year's goals. But there's some warped accountability thing happening if I talk about it. Plus when I actually get stuff accomplished, I can brag about it here and get the reinforcement that I need to keep going.)

So here's my plan of action:

1 - Clean the living room. (I know I talk about cleaning a lot. The truth is, though, that even though I talk about it A LOT, I rarely do it. Currently I have a sewing machine with old mail stacked on top of it and a bunch of library books with I think more stacked mail underneath it. And a bunch of recycling to take out and some other crap in the middle of the living room. I need to be able to move around in the living room to do goal 2.

2 - Work on some core strengthening exercises. I've printed out a bunch of them from the Mayo Clinic website. (Basically I googled trunk strengthening exercises and decided whose site looked the most trustworthy.) Heel/ankle is still swollen all to shit (Like there's a giant egg just sitting on the back of my heel) so I still can't do any wildly aerobic exercise except swimming*. But I think that I need to do some more exercise to strengthen my torso to help with balance and to alleviate some of the back pain I seem to suffer more often than I feel I should. Hence, core strengthening exercise. But I need the space freed up from goal 1.

2 A - here leads me to a question of those who are in the know. Many of the exercises I have on my list suggest not doing this on your hardwood floor, but instead put something down to cushion. Short of buying a gym mat, what do y'all suggest? Towels? A polar fleece throw?

I'll come up with more goals as the ideas swirl around in my head. I'm sure there should be something about WC in my goals... as in by this date I will have either finagled something to do with him or I will give up altogether.

*I am a morning exerciser. After work, I do not want to stick around to do exercises. The pool here at my job opens only 1 hour before I actually have to be at my desk. I don't think that's enough time to exercise, shower, change and get to my desk so I don't swim here.

Trauma & horoscope

I just discovered something I never knew... you cook all shellfish while it is alive. The oysters we put on the grill were still alive when we did that. I may be a little traumatized by this. I know they aren't so smart or anything but I've never cooked a chicken that was still bwaking at me.

All my horoscopes for the day seem to be pointing to good things. I mean I know that it is just a bunch of hooey anyway, but it is nice to read that good things are coming. Even if it is just something to hope for.

Quickie: Isn't it romantic? Get ready for love. It's about to enter your life in a big way.

Overview: Beauty surrounds you, and you know it. Take advantage of it, and soak it all in. Write out what you're feeling if you wish, or just enjoy relaxing in the soft, pleasant glow of life.

Daily love (by Astrology.com)The pieces of romance are falling into place. You have ideal communication, beauty and the intuition to make them work together. Now all you need is someone special who can really finish off the picture. They're coming.

Daily extended (by Astrology.com)It's a dandy idea to regularly schedule time to put your feet up and appreciate all the wondrous things that abound in your life from the very smallest joys (caramel-covered apples and multicolored Post-It notes) to the largest (friends, family and nature). So even though you have tons of bubbling energy to spare, give yourself permission to do not a darned thing with it except enjoy the life you have.

Pictures!

Here are some of my Oregon Pics!

Sunrise over the dunes.

Cooking breakfast 1st morning.

Roommate and I at the Tillamook factory. "I'm not touching you!" :)

Pretty rocks on the drive up to Tillamook.

Coworker cooking the oysters.

Joanne's cool fire!

Friend hanging out in the trunk. She may have had too much to drink. :P

Goonie Rocks!

All of us at the rocks. Roomate, me, coworker and friend.

Goonie house!

Gang at Goonie house! Me, roommate, coworker, friend.

Back from camping! yay!

I wrote in my little book over the weekend so I'll just post what I wrote. And I have some pics to add. Well, and Sunday's entry because I haven't written that yet.

Friday: Nehalem Bay, OR
We didn't manage to leave Seattle until 4:00. This meant we hit horrible traffic. It took us 2 hours to drive from Seattle to Tacoma. There was some horrible issue in Fife which tied up the freeway forever. We amused ourselves by trying to get coworker to flash men in blue cars. Didn't really work though. We stopped for dinner in Centralia at around 7ish. The place was called Burgerville. Pretty good. We laughed and talked the whole way down, which was a lot more fun than I thiought it would be. I've been a little anxious about much of this trip. I sometimes feel so much older than they are (which I am- 6 years) but it was so good to have girl talk again. I hadn't realized how much I'd missed it. The kind of talk you can't have with a gay man even because really, they don't understand. We got into Nehalem at 10:30. It's so dark way out here. I'm fascinated by all the stars. It's been awhile since I've seen that many. I set up my tent with coworker while roommate & friend set up the other, fancier tent. A bonus I hadn't anticipated... yard sale tent is really easy to put up. :) The sounds way out here are amazing and different. I can hear the ocean as if it were just a few feet away. In the morning I'll find out how near it really is. I can also hear the hushed talking of the other campers. Fires crackling. When we first pulled into the campground, the smell hit me. God I love that smell - wood smoke & green. I miss this. The waves sound like a rain storm and I can smell the salt water mixed in with the woodsmoke. It's about as chilly as I expected, so I'll have to pull on my sweatshirt and quite possibly some socks. I've got a blanket because I'm hoping to not have to sleep inside the sleeping bag. I always feel so constricted inside them. At camp I would put sheets on my bed for the month and use the sleeping bag and moose blanket for warmth, only I should've brought the green 'camping' sweatshirt. I can put the hood up and tie it and it holds the heat in. God I used to get teased at camp for that but damn was I warm! I'm glad I have my tent to myself. I like having my own space. They'll be far warmer, though, lucky ducks. :) Tomorrow we head to Tillamook factory. We're all fairly excited about that. mmm... behold the power of cheese. :) Crap I think I'm almost out of cash.

Saturday:

It is early afternoon and I'm sitting at the picnic table at our campsite by myself. The girls are on the beach lying in the sun. Apropos of nothing, I love how children are able to form these almost instant friendships with each other often based on little more than a similar bicycle or a love of apples. There are a lot of kids in the park. Next to our tent is a couple of dirty hippies with their twin daughters. Mostly the daughters are allright, but they sometimes cry in the night. (Babies) They are freakin' cute though...

Sat Evening:

Today was a long yet fun day. Woke up at 5:30 and wandered around until I found the beach access. The dunes to get to the beach were really difficult to hike up. I got tired and had to stop a couple of times. My feet kept sinking into the sand up to my ankles. My sandals and socks were full of sand when I was done. I took some early morning shots of the beach and walked back to the cabin. I laid in my tent and read for awhile until the girls got up. After a great breakfast of donuts & bacon (for me) and bacon, eggs & rice (for them) we headed to Tillamook OR to see the cheese factory. Yum. Free samples too! We also got ice cream (at like 10:30 in the morning). We came back and had some lunch and headed to the beach. It was still really difficult - worse than slogging through the snow. I dozed off on the beach and now the backs of my knees are sunburned. Is it slightly wrong that I keep thinking that this will help me keep a little bit warm tonight. :) It was seriously cold last night. I had to sleep inside my sleeping bag and zipped up. I hate that! I came back earlier than the girls because my stomach was a wee bit upset and I didn't want to have to make a mad dash across the sand or anything crazy. So I sat at the picnic table and people watched and read my book. We had bought stuff for dinner at the store. I had 2 kabobs and they had oysters and crab. Coworker just put the oysters on the grill without opening them or shucking them or anything. Apparently you can just do that and they open themselves when they're cooked. I never knew that and it was kind of cool. (I might love Mr. Park Ranger right now. He just told the noisy people in the yurt across the way to STFU). Anyway, ate some dinner and toasted marshmallows. All the stuff you do while camping. I'll have y'all know that the Girl Scout leader was able to actually light a damn fire without lighter fluid. Some had been purchased and I was hoping to not have to use it. I lit one but it went out before the logs could really really catch so I had to try again. Third time was a charm - coworker and I got a great fire going. Pine needles make great tinder. I had heard from one of my kids to stuff the chocolate piece into the marshmallow then toast it. She was totally right. It was yummy that way! I sat and watched the fire for awhile, put it mostly out. There were a few embers still going but pretty limited amount. Then turned in. The noisy people across the way were noisy again but quited down eventually.

Sunday:
Best day ever! :) We were up at around 7ish. We had breakfast. Donut and bacon for me and bacon and egg and rice for the girls. (Camping with Asians. Every meal we had with rice.) We packed up everything and headed out. We stopped in Cannon Beach and took pictures of the Goonie Rocks! YAY! (Haystack rock I believe is the real name.) The tide was way out so we walked almost out to the rocks. The water was very cold. There really big crabs in the water and there were kids just catching them. That was kind of cool. We then went to Astoria found Mikey's and Data's house. And as an added bonus we found the elementary school from Kindergarten Cop. Yay! After poking around, we continued on toward home. Ate lunch at Burgerville again. Eventually made it home at about 4:00. I have no clean clothing (and unfortunately the machines were full) so goodness knows what I'm going to wear to work tomorrow. :) But damn it was a good trip and I'm glad I went!

First you gotta do the truffle shuffle!

On our trip down to Oregon this weekend, we will be passing through Astoria. Do you know what this means? DO YOU?! Astoria is where much of the movie The Goonies was filmed and thanks to Goonies dot org we will actually be able to see the house Mikey had lived in and Data's house. We could also see the jail and some of the other sites, but I don't want to push my luck with the girls. The people who own Mikey's house are apparently very cool. They have a sign that says something to the effect of yes this is the house. Please feel free to take pictures. But park at the bottom of the hill and don't be an ass. I'm SOOOO taking pictures. :D (T-minus 14 minutes until I leave for the day. Who knew I'd be this excited?!)

'Borrowed' from Poppy (Because I'm not feeling creative today)

1. IF YOU COULD BUILD A SECOND HOUSE ANYWHERE, WHERE WOULD IT BE?
The coast of Alaska or Washington or Oregon. (or hawaii!) :P

2. FAVORITE ARTICLE OF CLOTHING?
Gray sweatshirt that I wear all the freaking time.

3. THE LAST CD YOU BOUGHT?
2 by Bjork for Matty for his birthday. For me, Probably Pearl Jam's 10.

4. WHAT TIME DO YOU WAKE UP IN THE MORNING?
6:15

5. WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE KITCHEN APPLIANCE?
Freezer, that's where all the ice cream is! :)

6. IF YOU COULD PLAY AN INSTRUMENT, WHAT WOULD IT BE?
Harmonica

7. FAVORITE COLOR?
Green
8. WHICH DO YOU PREFER, SPORTS CAR OR SUV?
Hybrid

9. FAVORITE CHILDREN'S BOOK?
Too many to count! But Bridge to Terbithia is a favorite. I also have Cinderpenguin at home that a student gave me. Very cute.

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SEASON?
Winter! Snow! yay! Then Spring. Then Fall. Then summer. I dislike summer.

11. IF YOU COULD HAVE ONE SUPER POWER, WHAT WOULD IT BE?
Fly.

12. IF YOU HAVE A TATTOO, WHAT IS IT?
Dragonfly

13. CAN YOU JUGGLE?
Um, I can throw 1 ball in the air and catch it while throwing the other ball into the air so if that counts. But anything more than 2, not so much.

14. NAME ONE PERSON FROM YOUR PAST YOU WISH YOU COULD TALK TO.
Either the sasquatch or Junna my best friend from elementary school.

15. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE DAY?
Sunday because Sundays are for adventures!

16. WHAT'S IN THE TRUNK OF YOUR CAR?
No car, so no trunk but carried in my backpack regularly is soda, my wallet, cellphone and mp3 player.

17. WHICH DO YOU PREFER SUSHI OR HAMBURGER?
Oh please, Hamburger totally.

18. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE DESSERT?
Varies depending on my mood. Flourless chocolate torte is high on the list. As is a cupcake from my GF restaurant. or Ice cream. Ice cream is the best fallback.

19. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE MEAL?
Bah! Tacos!!

Yay camping!

Yay! We're leaving for camping tomorrow after work. I'm kind of excited. I don't have an overwhelming quantity of friends here to do stuff with, so this will be good. And I'm going with girls! No gay men allowed. We're hoping for good weather, although the forecast looks iffy. The top of my tent is open if I don't put the rain fly on and I'm hoping I can keep it open and don't have to put the fly on. It would be so nice to be able to lie under the stars, but still be protected from mosquitos. :) We're taking two tents, even though the girls keep laughing at me. Apparently I'm going to be the only one in my tent. They're both 4 man tents and really, 4 people is cozier than I would like to be in a tent. Hell, 2 people in my queen size bed is more cozy than I like to be. :) My coworker's roommate just came by and picked up all my crap. I knew there were 4 of us in the not so huge car (Camry sized) so I was trying to be cautious, but I still think we may have too much stuff for the car.

Poor newlynonvirgin coworker. I warned her. If you're going to have sex, you should make sure you can have a steady supply because after that first time or two you're going to want it a lot. It'll be all you can think about. Today she was saying it is all she can think about. I'm kind of amused. Now she's all curious about various things and wants to check stuff out. Poor girl, though. She is so the boy in this 'relationship.' She just wants to have sex, and he's a serial monogomist. Who ever heard of this in a boy? So weird. She thought he was a player and huge flirt and all that. He isn't. AND he knows she was a virgin. He swears he understands it was a 'right time/right place' thing, but I have to agree with Matty and say he hears it but doesn't believe it. She's in trouble. :)

The new Burger King commercials scare me. The ones with the guys dressed up like chickens in the band. Those are like nightmare furries or something. (hmm how many hits am I going to get off that reference...)

Yay horoscope!

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): A lot can change in a day, and today is one that can bring favorable results. Partnerships and creative pursuits look good. A love connection is looking positive. 4 stars

C'mon that's good right? A girl can have hope right?

And to answer Fishy's question, I got the shower curtain from Archie McPhee. My sister finally gave in and got it for me and my mother contributed by buying the matching trashcan and bathmat. :)

Two more books read

I just finished Good Grief and Stone Garden this week.

Good Grief made me laugh because Michelle has a link on her site to Jennifer Weiner's site and at one point the cover art for Good Grief was supposed to be for one of Jennifer's books. But the book was pretty good. A woman in her mid 30's loses her relatively new (3 years) husband to cancer and has to learn to cope. I liked it. Some things were a little too pat for me, but you want a happy ending and all that. Some of it was hysterical as hell. I can't imagine how crazy that kind of thing would make me, but I could see myself falling to pieces as badly as Sophie did.

I was really on the fence about Stone Garden, but kept reading. I think I was on the fence because of the whole 'soul mate' concept. A senior in high school finds out that her best friend since kindergarten, 'soul mate', has been murdered. She too goes off the deep end. (What the hell was I thinking when I checked out these books? I had the murdered woman, the cancered husband and then the murdered teenager. And every one of them made me cry although that's not a shock.) She is really trying to cope with the loss of her best friend and the guy she really loved. The one part that required too much of a suspension of belief was that she was doing her senior project at a prison, teaching writing. She really spent a lot of time with the prisoners and I wonder, especially since they were murders mostly, how unlikely was that. Because really, not so likely to me.

Rigby and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day

Remember in the previous post how I thought it was funny that Rigby fell in the bathtub. Really I have to learn to think ahead. I came home at 6:30. I had to go to the chiropractor, the library, and I stopped to get tacos so I was much later than usual. Of course, I had to pee the moment I got home so I went to the bathroom and there was Rigby. In the tub. Where, judging from the amount of poop in the tub, she spent most of the day. She also damaged my very cool devil duck shower curtain in her efforts to get out of the tub. Poor little girl.

Learn something new everyday

Who says TV isn't educational? Yesterday while watching The Amazing Race, I learned that Mumbai and Bombay are the same city. Today while researching why that is, I learned that the Indian government is reverting the city names back to their original names and that Calcutta and Madras are no longer the names of the cities either. Very interesting stuff I think.

This morning I was in the shower and Rigby was putzing around the bathroom floor. The door to the bathroom doesn't shut well and they can usually knock it open if they try, unless I lock it and since I live alone, why bother with that? The only reason I try to shut the door is that I don't like all the cold air coming in from the rest of the apartment and to try to stave off shower curtain billowing. Anyway, she was climbing around the trash can and ends up sitting on the edge of the tub. You know how the corners of the tub are bigger and people balance like soap and shampoo and all that there? That's where she was. She knocked off the shampoo & conditioner. So then she starts walking down the side of the tub and I figure let's see what happens here. My tub is very rounded, unlike the very square one I had growing up. She slides off it onto the bathroom floor. Now I figure she'll be smart enough to not try this again, right? Wrong. About 45 seconds later she is on the corner of the tub again and then... bam into the tub. Hee. Since I was almost done with my shower, there was some water built up on the floor of the tub so Rig was standing in water. And she kind of wandered around for a few minutes until I think the wetness started to really permeate to her skin through her thick fur. Then she started jumping against the side of the tub to get out. I took pity on her and picked her up and grabbed my towel and dried her off a bit before dropping her on the floor where she proceeded to groom the heck out of her legs and tummy and tail. And then I was able to finish my shower. :) Silly Rigby.

2 ferrets 4 sale... cheap!

Ok maybe I'm just kidding about that... MAYBE. :) Since it is all my fault, I shouldn't try to sell off Tess. I had just set a fairly new can of soda on the bookshelf next to me. I knew Tess was checking it out. I knew I should've actually paid attention to what she was doing. She does, after all, regularly knock plants off the radiator cover. But did I? No. Why? Apparently because I'm an idiot. She knocked the can of soda off the bookshelf. Upside down. Onto a pile of things by the bookshelf. So now I have soda all over the floor, under the sofa, all over this bucket of little things, all over some pony beads from a Girl Scout project. And better, they decided to help me clean it up. Good golly. Silly brats. :)

I am done with the Elysian Brewery. Matty & I went there for dinner. This is my 3rd time trying them. Once, long ago, Michelle and her friend Rona and I tried it. It was only eh. Matty & I have been there twice now and I've always been unimpressed. I'm sure it is good for other people, but I don't think it is good. I tried the tostadas this time. The blue corn tortilla was not as good as I know they can be. (Not there, but I know blue corn tortillas are good in general.)

Tent

I know I shouldn't complain. My parents buy me stuff sometimes when I ask for it. But would it kill them to once in a while buy stuff NEW?

Two years ago, my car was broken into parked and locked in the locked parking garage in my building. The tent I used to use when camping and carried around in beloved Bronco was stolen out of it. (Among other things. Also taken was some soda, apple sauce (I used to eat breakfast in the car on the way to the casino where I worked. You'd be amazed how easy apple sauce is to eat when driving but I digress from my digressing.) and a few other random things I carried around.) So I mention to my pop if he sees a tent on sale or for the next gift giving holiday I could use a new one. Eventually my pop sent me a tent he bought at a yard sale. (This may be why I ask for gift cards from them. Guarantee a non-used item. I'm not above used items, but within reason. I asked for a sleeping bag from them many years ago and they sent me my father's old one. Yes it is sentimental and we had good times in it, but the inside flannel is worn through etc and it is probably over 20 years old now...) So tonight, I figured I would set up the tent in anticipation of going camping this weekend with the girls. I wanted to be sure I could do it and that all the parts were there. They are more or less. There are 4 tent poles. At least they're in pairs and it isn't 4 completely different tent poles. This tent uses only 2 poles and one short pole for the rain fly. No rainfly tent pole at all. Sigh. But I was able to put it up. All by myself. It smells old and musty. If I had a back yard I could leave it outside all day to air out, but I'd rather not do that here. I don't think it'd get stolen, but one never knows.

All the little parts neatly on the table.

Hmm. 2 sets of poles. 2 different lengths. Which to choose? I tried the slightly shorter black ones and they worked fine. I suspect the gray may work even better.

Here it is up! Loosely up but up! I kind of like the top that's all open. I may not put the rain fly on if I don't have to.

Here it is with the rainfly. I've just draped it over. There are hooks to tack it down.

What's wrong with these instructions? Ahh yes. It is for a different tent. A hexagonal tent, not the square tent mine is.

Lesbians aren't so special

Matt & I were talking today about going to dinner tomorrow. He suggested lesbian tacos and that if I would just go and be nice I would find it is fine. Which it is, really. The thing is, it isn't so much that I'm prickly towards lesbians. I'm prickly in any group situation where I have to make small talk. I give off little waves of stress any time I'm surrounded by people I'm going to have to be friendly with. Now in some scenarios, like the coffee shops we frequent or many of the restaurants we go to, I'm fine because it is pretty rare that either of us know anyone there. However, in the bar, he knows everybody. Coworkerfriend has told me on 3 separate occassions that one of the cult of the virgins has said to her "Joanne doesn't like me, does she?" No. You're a stranger. I don't like you. Eventually I might. Hard to say though, since I don't like some of the oddest people.

Oh, and I'm vaguely sorry I had to add that word thing for commenting, but I'm sick of spam comments. 2 in the span of an hour showed me the way. Well, technically Poppy Cedes showed me the way, the 2 in the span of an hour encouraged the way.

Fait accomplis

I've gotten a lot done in the past 4 hours. Really if I could just get moving for the entire day my apartment wouldn't be such a disaster, but somehow I sit down and get sucked in to TV and computer and other time wasting crap and I sit... and think ok 15 more minutes. :) Doesn't work so well. Anyway, I've done dishes. Thanks to the Gluten Free Pantry, I made scones. Last time you will recall they were freakishly dry. (I know they are supposed to be dry but I think those went beyond the appropriate dryness. I don't remember my cool Irish student teacher friend Marion's being that dry. Her's were amazing. but I digress) So this time I used apple sauce instead of butter and yogurt instead of buttermilk. They were definitely stickier than they were last time. I rolled the whole mess in cinnamon & sugar (like snickerdoodles) and baked. When they came out of the oven I had to have a tiny taste. Which led to another tiny taste. Which led to me just giving up and eating one. It was GOOD! I also realized I hadn't eaten since earlier in the day and what I had for lunch? Lays chips and cheese. Not really a meal I suppose. Right now I have Moroccan Chicken cooking and I'm watching Video Mods. Of all shows on MTV2, I find Video Mods the most fascinating. Maybe because it is the closest thing to videos that MTV2 shows. :) But they take songs and create a music video out of video game characters or video game beasts. It's pretty cool in a totally geeky way.

Pepper jam recipes?

Ok folks. I have a smallish jar of pepper jam given to me by an old boss. (The 4 oz size I believe, wider than a babyfood jar, but that same height). What the heck do I do with it? I was thinking of making something with chicken with it, but I haven't the foggiest idea what. And strangely enough I wasn't getting good results on the net.

My own strength

I just knocked the toilet paper holder out of the wall. Not the wooden dowel that holds the toilet paper, but the cement holder that was set into the damn tile wall. (I hate my tile walls in case I've failed to mention this before.) Now I have to figure out how to get it back into the wall. Sigh.

Fuzzy bunnies

Here's a couple pics of the kittens too.

Tess in the cage. She is littler than Rigby and has a black nose.

Rigby sleeping. And part of Tess's back. The rest of her body is hidden under a chair. For some reason she loves to sleep under the chair.

WWWW (World Wide Weasel Wrestling).

A few matty birthday pics

Here are some of the photos I took at Matty's birthday the other night...

Matty & Rachel. Rachel & Matt play darts together on Thursday nights. She's also in a band and I think I'm going to go see them play a week from Tuesday.

Just before blowing out candles. Take note of the shape of the cake... Actually the next shot will give you a much better view.

Hacking into the cake. Getting rid of some pent up aggressions you think?

Matt & Adrienne. He has such a way with the ladies...

Matt & Vlad. (And with the men...) Actually that's the infamous Vlad, we all went to college together.

sleeeeeppppyyy

Last night was Matty's birthday celebration. At the lesbian bar* he usually works at. Matty's 30th birthday celebration. I had to go. Although when I was walking with friendcoworker after work yesterday I told her I didn't want to go and several times while I was walking to the bar I thought about chickening out, but I went. And it was not a bad time. I had a vanilla stoli & OJ and then noticed something even better on tap. Spire Mountain Pear Cider. I've got about 4 bottles of their apple cider in my fridge right now. I like it. So I had a cup of that too. (Yeah, because I never really drank beer in real bars, I really did ask for a 'cup of spire mountain cider.') I always joke with Matt that I don't know any of the other people he hangs out with. There seems to be method to this madness, though as Matty knows a lot of different types of people. V & the trannys were there (they usually play darts together on Thursday night) forming their own little clique. The lesbians and the bar regulars were there forming another little clique. And then there was me... a clique of 1. I know some people from both groups, but I am significantly uncomfortable in group settings where I won't know anyone or don't know anyone that well. They gave Matt a cake. It was hysterical. A penis shaped cake. Matty hacked right into it as if he were getting back at someone for past transgressions. :) At about 10 the party started to peter out as various folks left. We ended up being the last ones there, until about midnight. He continued on to go dancing and I headed for home. Not an awful time. I survived. I may even be willing to hang out there again with him sometime in the future, but don't tell him that. :)


* I am slowly losing my fear of gaggles of drunk lesbians as I spend more time with them. Apparently lesbians in lesbian bar (on non crowded nights, I still ain't going in there on a Friday night) are much more mellow than lesbians in a gay man's bar. (Which is where I've been manhandled by lesbians several times despite in one incident assuring the woman I'm straight. That didn't seem to faze her.) I'm well aware that the gays as a whole aren't out to convert all of us straights, but there are a distinct few who are. For at least 1 guy I know, it's a bizarre badge of honor he wears at how many 'straight' boys he's had. Plus I'm going into a lesbian bar, there's kind of an implication there.

Happy Birthday Matty!

Somewhere I belong

Michelle sent me this link today that is supposed to help you find the place you really really should live. The number one spot I should live in? Danbury Connecticut. Also I'm apparently good for places like Oregon. (Dammit I'm more dirty hippie than I thought!) Here's the whole list:
Danbury, Connecticut
Eugene, Oregon
Corvallis, Oregon
Hartford, Connecticut
Williamstown, Massachusetts
Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts
Medford, Oregon
Worcester, Massachusetts
Johnson, Vermont
Salem, Oregon
Middlebury, Vermont
Providence, Rhode Island
Northampton, Massachusetts
Burlington, Vermont
New Haven, Connecticut
Amherst, Massachusetts
Bend, Oregon
Brattleboro, Vermont
Cape Cod, Massachusetts
Portland, Oregon
Andover, Massachusetts
Astoria, Oregon
Woodstock, Vermont
Sheboygan, Wisconsin

Naming things

Matty & I are having a discussion about the name of his computer. He swears that he offered up an opportunity for people to contribute a name for it. I swear he did not because if he had I would've killed him with name suggestions. And how do I know that I would've done this? Because I LOVE naming things. My computer - Sampson (for power and strength). My MP3 Player - Pip (because that's cute and musical sounding). Old beloved bronco - Ben (manly bronco, manly simple name). Old truck I drove in high school - Bessie (Something about a cow and being reliable, I was 16 it made sense then.) Old computer that V currently has - Jakob (I like that name). Older still apple computer housed in storage in basement - Zelma (after my very 1st landlord my first summer in Alaska during college). Michelle & Janel's spider plant in college - Simon. (They had a name our plant thing. I think I contributed the bulk of the names they had to choose from.) I am that dork, that's how I know there was no opportunity.

Hearing things

One of my least favorite employees is in a motorized wheelchair. The wheelchair, obviously, is not the reason she falls into the least favorite employee catagory. The angling to get better deal, treatment, benefits is what does it. She keeps coming in and asking for sick leave donation when she has to be out for an issue, yet she's not eligible for it (because she has both some sick time and plenty of vacation time to cover and our policy requires you be out of both to get to use sick leave donation). All these types of things. So now I get tense whenever I hear what I think is her motorized wheelchair coming to see me. Usually, it is one of the other 2 people who zoom around my building in motorized wheelchairs. Yes, there are at least 3 people on campus regularly enough to be in my building once daily in their motorized wheelchairs.

Nap in the sun

I volunteered today over at 'the greenhouse' as Matty calls the offices for his work. Initially I started out perching on a chair, using his own personal ibook, Humphrey. Luckily the old guy using my usual computer left and I got to move to the more comfortable spot at a real desk. The afternoon sun was glaring in on me and it totally took me back to college. I found myself getting drowsy. I was on the sunny side of my dorm, and when the sun started to come back, I'd find myself just lying in the warm sun soaking it up like a cat. I kind of wanted to do that today. :)

Completion

Book
I am this close to finishing a book and it is killing me that I had to come to work today instead of finishing. It's killing me that I have* to volunteer tonight instead of finishing. I was up until 1:00 this morning reading it. This morning when I got up, after I showered, instead of getting ready for work I sat down and read. I have been sucked into Speak Softly She can Hear. I picked it up at the library on Monday night because I was waiting on Matty to go to dinner. I had read 75 pages by the time he showed up about an hour later. (I was there early having come from my chiropractic appointment and he was running late due to a new hippie tenant.) It's a psychological thriller (Voltaire! I hate that phrase) about a girl who makes a bet with her friend and they decide they are going to lose their virginity to this guy her friend knows. An incident happens that night, and all 3 of them end up burying a dead body out in the snow. The guy convinces Carole (main character) it was she who killed the woman. And spends the rest of the book tormenting her with this info. She keeps running away (to protect herself and her family. The guy tells her that her father will be ruined if it were ever to be found out... the dad is an attorney). He keeps finding her and screwing with her life so she runs again. On the one hand you kind of know the guy's version of the story isn't right, but at the same time you are wondering, if not then what the hell did happen. And once she finally spills the secret to her live in boyfriend, you just feel this great sense of relief for her. I think I have 2 chapters left. I may have to be rude at lunch today and read while the cult of the virgins talk around me.

*I don't HAVE to volunteer tonight. I choose to volunteer tonight. I made a commitment yesterday that I'd go there today and I don't want to back out even though I'm dying to finish this goddamn book.

TV
Last night on GSN (Game Show Network) was the conclusion of Season 3 of The Amazing Race. I can honestly say that if this were the first season I had ever seen of the show I'd never have watched it again. The very worst possible people won. (Person actually, her partner wasn't that awful although kind of passive.) My favorite team, of course, did not win. I did get all excited, though, for 2 reasons. 1 - Part of the leg they were in Oahu and I recognized part of their location, although not most of it. Mostly the driving bits. 2 - They ended in Seattle so I recognized a lot more of their location and that made me happy. It doesn't take much sometimes, really.

Another book
Over the weekend I finished The Genius Factory: The Curious History of the Nobel Prize Sperm Bank. Another really good read. Dr. Graham (the brain behind the Nobel Prize Sperm Bank) may have been a complete loon (and partially a racist but nowhere near as bad as the most notorious of his donors a William Shockley who was one step away from the KKK I'm sure), but he completely revolutionized the way people are able to have choice at sperm banks in this country. There was some history about both artificial insemination and sperm banks in general. I found that somewhat fascinating. There was a lot of discussion about the backlash Graham faced as a result of only recruiting champions in their field. (Gold medal winners, business men, geniuses) But at the same time, these days, if a person is going that route, most people want the best sperm money can buy. Healthy, intelligent, handsome, etc. He then also talked to some of the donors and some of the kids. Unfortunately at least one donor turned out to be a total waste. Not a genius, and really just an ass and kind of an awful guy. And in one notable story, he matched a donor up to his acutal child and the mom and child and donor all spend time together and they regard the donor as more of a grandfather figure which seems to work for them all.

Volunteer moratorium over

But first to round out yesterday's post. I feel pretty darn good today. There was a little bit of twinging this morning but nothing like it had been earlier in the week (or even yesterday). Dammit that means the chiropractor actually helped! :) Hence, I told MP I'd publicly admit that I was wrong so here it is. I was wrong. Chiropractors are not all quacks and schysters as I have previously believed. There may be something after all to rock and twig medicine. And she was nice. So I'll go back. So there you go.

Since my volunteer moratorium was only technically for the summer (and I've already violated it multiple times) and the summer is almost over, I've gone ahead and started signing up for volunteer opportunities for the fall. The first up (besides starting my Girl Scout meetings again) will be the Oktoberfest in Fremont. I regularly volunteer for the spring brewfest that supports the Northwest Folklife Fest (another thing I volunteer for) and decided to give this one a go. The spring brewfest is pretty fun so I'm hoping this one will be too. If it isn't, no harm, I just won't volunteer again. :) I'm also considering picking up assistant duties with another Girl Scout troop. Not that I would be their leader but there's so many kids they need helpers. It's for kids in foster care so how could I pass that up? I have to think on this one a little longer, though. To be sure I want to do it, because I definitely wouldn't want to start and then have to back out.

Oh and as a last little tag on... spent like 15 - 20 min chatting with WC again. I think he is completely oblivious to my obvious lust for him but I can keep lusting. And as Michelle pointed out to me, even if nothing ever happens there, he's good practice for others.

Views

Dammit, I may have to change my views. I hate it when that happens. How can this be? Although as I learned from Dogma (great movie by the way) a belief is really hard to change so it is a good thing this was just a view and not a belief.

I went to a chiropractor today. Now ordinarily I am whole heartedly against chiropractors. (Sorry Freemindsprite) But I'm sick of being in pain and grumpy as hell and desperate for something to make it better so with that mindset, I go to a chiopractor. She's very nice, but a wee bit hippie. Here's the first lesson of hippies, they are not on time. It was 5:50 before I was seen for my 5:30 appointment. But that was okay because I was SWELTERING from walking up there so it was nice to cool down and not be a total ball of sweat. Chiropractic adjustment was an interesting experience. She went down my back and pushed different points looking for pain. She had me move all different ways. AND she did the scoliosis test. (Ha!)* Apparently I have good range of motion. So then I was starting to get worried because I have pain but nothing she's doing is making me have pain so is it all in my mind? But then she moved me a couple of different ways that totally confirmed it was not. So ok this part is actually useful because it seemed like she was accomplishing something and not like normal doctors. But here's where she lost me. She thinks it is definitely not a reinjury of my disc (which is fine I didn't actually figure it was). But it is a 'shadow' of the pain from then? What? Weird. Then she has me lay down and does all these different pushing things. She concentrated a lot on my pelvis because she was trying to 'rebalance' it. Again with the what? Mostly fine, though, except one spot that made me yelp because it was too much pressure on my chest. The worst part... I'm actually feeling better. Dammit! Although I'll know for certain when I try to get up in the morning. But, I can't be against chiropractors if she actually helped! AND I'm going back on Friday.


*I was having nervousness about going and could only remember seeing the chiropractors at the fair asking people to bend over and crap. I asked Michelle if they ask you do something like that and she didn't know. And then I said, or was that the scoliosis test in elementary school? And we both laughed. So when she had me bend over I asked her if that's what she was looking for, and it was!

Vacation destination Orbitz

I've been watching The Amazing Race this summer. I'm totally now getting why people love this show so much and why I'll be tuning in in the fall when the new season starts. It is awesome. But I digress. The past couple of episodes they've been in Switzerland. Now I've never had a huge overwhelming desire to visit Europe. Except maybe Ireland. But most of Europe, nah. Although now that I've seen Switzerland, I may have to change that view. Because Switzerland is gorgeous! So now Switzerland is being added to the list of future vacation destinations. But not this year. This year is Michelle's for Thanksgiving and the parents' for Christmas. That visit will require a lot of alcohol on my part, but I told Poppy (what I call my dad) I'd visit for Christmas. 1st time in 3 years and all that.

Vacation destinations:
1 - China
2 - Japan
3 - Switzerland

What's wrong with this picture?

It is 8:00 PM (It was when I took the picture) and it was 84 degrees in my apartment. Crikey, you don't even want to move when it is that hot.

Another guilty pleasure

I love the movie First Daughter. It's been on HBO for the past couple of days and both times I saw it on my little guide, I turned to it. That's what I've spent the morning doing. Laundry and First Daughter. Does it get any better than this??

Quest for the Perseid

Yesterday I had this brilliant idea that I wanted to get out of Seattle and watch the Perseid meteor shower. When I was younger I was kind of a space geek and at one point even wanted to be an astronaut. I had been trying to decide to go either early early AM or late night. At midnight when I was still awake and not really feeling signs of sleepiness my mind was made up. I check out a flexcar at 12:30 and head out east on the 90 (towards Bellevue) to try to find a good spot for viewing the shower. Unfortunately my quest was a total failure. :) I attribute this to 3 reasons.

1 - I didn't have a plan so I didn't really have a good place to go. I just drove out the freeway and pulled off about 3 different areas to try to view the stars. There was a great view of the stars, the sky was dark and I could see them very clearly. But...

2 - The different spots I chose had too much tree cover. There was quite a bit of space between the trees, but mostly straight up. I had no way of looking around the sky. When my family and I used to go out to veiw the meteor shower when I was little it was never a problem. Of course we lived in Arizona and we had wide open skies. I had just taken it for granted that I'd find that again. Not so much.

But I think the biggest reason I failed was:
3 - I'm a big scardey cat. I went out by myself. I normally have no qualms about going out by myself. I know that all those stories are just myths and legends, there'll be no hook on my car door, there won't be a guy in my back seat going to kill me, no deranged axe murderers live within the trees. But once I was actually standing out there by myself under the black night and barely able to even see the car, my imagination just got the better of me so I would get scared and hop back into the car. :)

Late night adventure

I'm going on a late night adventure! (No not THAT kind of late night adventure. Y'all don't really think I'd tell you if I were doing those kinds of things do you?). I'll bring the cam but don't suspect I'll get good pics. See ya in the morning!

What do I want?

Apparently someone almost the dichotomous opposite of me. I'm not at all surprised because I'm well aware of my limitations and I would want someone who compliments my personality, not IS my personality. Although I do take umbrage with (Hey I just got that that the teacher in HP was umbridge which if you say it sounds like umbrage which is to take offense anyway...) the use of the word provider. I can provide for my own damn self thank you very much.


ESFJ- The Provider

You scored 75 I versus E, 100 N versus S, 40 F versus T, and 80 J versus P!

Your ideal partner is known as the provider. As a romantic partner, they work hard to nuture and protect their relationships. They go to great lengths to maintain harmony and are motivated to resolve conflicts. They have a very clear idea of what is important to them and do best when their partners share those same values. They want their partners to be loving, committed, and willing to support their frequently overwhelming feelings and reactions. They feel most appreciated when their partner is kind, considerate, and helpful, and compliments them often on their hard work on their partner's behalf. The group summary: Guardians (SJ) The Type Summary: ESFJ

Who am I? Who am I? I am a walrus...

Ok maybe I'm not a walrus but I am:


INFP - the Healer

You scored

9% I to E, 26% N to S, 19% F to T, and 57% J to P!

You are more introverted than extroverted. You are more intuitive than observant, you are more feeling based than thinking based, and you prefer to go with the flow rather than having a plan. Your type can best be summarized by the word "Healer", which belongs to the larger group of idealists. You have a capacity for caring that is deeper than most. You strive for unity, are fascinated by the battles between good and evil, and can be something of an idealist. Only 1% of the population shares your type.As a romantic partner, you are usually supprtive and nuturing, however, you have a high need for individuality. Harmony is extremely important to you as you are very affected by conflict and tension, which also makes you resist confronting your partner directly about problems. When you get angry, you usually blame yourself, rather than your partner. You can also be stubborn and unyielding when you feel you are being criticized or mistreated. You feel the most appreciated when your partner listens to you carefully. You need to be understood. You need to hear your partner express their feelings, the more often, the better. Your group summary: idealists (NF)Your type summary: INFP

Fabulous morning!

Thus far this has been a great morning! 2 reasons...

1 - This horoscope: PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): The more aware you are of what everyone around you is doing, the better. A chance meeting with someone special can change your life. Love is present, so make the best of it. 5 stars

(Ok really I don't take too much stock in horoscopes, they amuse me and sometimes I'd LIKE to see them come true but I don't really expect them to, still it is a nice idea.)

2 - Coworker and the Italianguy (of the cult of the virgins) went to Indian food last night. Above the Flying Apron Bakery. After eating food, they went downstairs and bought me GF treats! They rule!

I don't think I shared this story of theItalianguy from earlier this week. Hmm... I need another moniker for newlynonvirgincoworker... Coworkerfriend I think will do. Coworkerfriend was in Vegas the early part of this week so othercoworker and I had lunch together 3 times. On Monday, I was microwaving some food in the little microwave vestebule in the student center when someone snuck up behind me and grabbed my arm. People who know me personally know how psychotically high strung I am, so I did what I always do when startled, I shrieked. TheItalianguy thought this was hysterical. He laughed and carried on. He's very loud and boisterous and as a result, a professor came over and shushed us. Which set Italianguy off. He's 20 (I believe) and a business student and full of that bravado that only a 20 year old male business student can have. He amuses me. Othercoworker, not so amused. He joined us for lunch and spouted much of his politics, which I either ignore or argue with him depending. After lunch othercoworker turned to me and said, "Never again. We are never eating with him again." Hee.

I've been discovered!

At lunch today I mentioned Michelle's blog about her juice fast and this prompted a discussion between collegestudent and me. He discovered I had a blog. And I wouldn't tell him the addy. Luckily I think I have edited any incriminating things out (anything I may have said that was mean about him that is. :P) Although I probably have new mean things to say since he went searching for it...

Peculiar

I was just randomly hi sweetied. I was getting tacos for dinner and as I was walking out this guy with longish dark hair said Hi Sweetie and tapped my upper arm with his knuckle. I turned back to see if I could recognize the person but he had turned away so I just left. It was weird. Probably mistaken identity.

Well I tried

I was sitting in the caf with coworker (not the former virgin coworker, but the other one, the one I went to Thanksgiving with) when WC came in. By himself. And he sat at a table 2 tables over (his usual table). SO mustering up every ounce of courage I have in my notso little body, I say "Hey if you're by yourself, you're welcome to join us if you'd like." But no, he'd rather sit and read his book. So there you go. Now I'm not assuming total failure because he did come over and we talked about books for a moment. AND I had a book sitting on my tray actually. But y'all can get off my motherfuckingback about making some sort of move that indicates interest because I think I have indicated interest. (Michelle, does this violate the no asking him out rule?)

What's going on for Thanksgiving?

Do you guys want to come visit me? I promise to cook a real turkey and not a tofurkey.

Volunteer embargo over

So today, in a fit of volunteerism that violates The Summer of Joanne AND my own personal decision to not volunteer for the gays, I volunteered at Matty's work at the film festival. And apparently I'll be going back there on a semi-regular basis for some time to help clean up the data on the members and enter new member info into a spreadsheet on an Apple. I point THAT out because it's been long while since I've actually used an Apple and I'm having a bit of a difficult time remembering how to do shit because although it is similar to windows, it is just enough different to make me work a little harder. Plus the mouse doesn't have a right click (what kind of mouse doesn't have a right click?) or a little wheel to make scrolling easy. Something's off about the desk set up and I can't figure out what it is... One would think it is a left handed thing, but since I do some things like a righty that's not it. (I operate the mouse with my right hand which leaves the left open to write and stuff like that).

My eyes are tired today, I'm hoping to shower and head to bed early. (After tonight's rerun of The Amazing Race that is)

You ever think you're over something or that something doesn't bother you and then all of a sudden you're confronted with the fact that you're not? That something still can rear its ugly head and send you into a vortex you really weren't expecting? Today while playing with MP I discovered one of those such things.

Today I was standing in a toy store with Matty and there's an entire section of Breyer Horses. And all I could think of was how much my older sister loved those stupid horses. And how much my family scoffed at her for them. And it made me sad which made me quiet. Matty & I had been talking about something else earlier and he assumed my quietness was related to that and that I was sulking. Not a bad assumption since sometimes Matty has all the sensitivity of a bull in a china shop (to quote my poppy). (Seriously Matty, sometimes you can just say "maybe there's a better outfit for you to wear" rather than "yet another potato sack") :P And I found myself quite surprised to be crying. And I couldn't help but think, what the fuck... how can her death still bother me three years later? But I guess it does. Who knew?

I smell something burning

All evening long, at first I thought it was like a barbecue grill. But the longer I smell it, the more it reminds me of camp because it is a firewoody smell. I wonder what it is.

Most Exciting Part!

I almost forgot the most exciting part of our adventure. While up on Queen Anne, when what to my wondering eyes should appear... but a paint your own pottery place. I LOVE paint your own pottery. I think I'm going to take the Brownies up there sometime. They'd like it I think.

Oh also, as we were stopped at a stoplight there was a guy totally rocking out to System of a Down's BYOB. It made me laugh my ass off. But I do love that song. (MP their families are Armenian, which is not at all a country that starts with an L)

Joanne is a Pack Rat*

For proof, compare the picture of her freezer in the previous post to the picture of my freezer below. To be fair, I just cleaned out my freezer, but that just meant throwing away a few packs of frozen vegtables and some old hamburger patties. Whenever we go on a new diet, we throw out all the food in the house that isn't part of the plan. I am just not one for freezing things. No matter how well-intentioned I am, I never end up using whatever I freeze.
*She knows she is.

Another day of decadence

Today was another day in the weekend of Joanne. I went to lunch with MP. Had chicken and fries. The chicken was yummy as always. I also picked up cinnamon rolls and cupcakes. The cupcakes are to die for. I swear when I get married I'm so having that place provide the food. It is too yummy not to.

Did some more shopping. Drove up Queen Anne hill and had coffee. I think I want to like Italian Sodas, but so far, not so much. I think I am not fond of the cremes.

I had a cupcake after getting home. Delish!

Weekend of Joanne!

If I can't have the summer of Joanne work out the way I want it to, I can have the weekend of Joanne right? Such decadence I've had so far today, and will have tomorrow.

I was up early and showered and headed out at about 11:00. I had a package to mail to my dad so I walked down to the post office. I finally sent him the white ginger plant and orchid I bought for them while in Hawaii. I'm hoping the orchid isn't too dead. And then I headed over to Pikes. It was a nice cool gray Seattle morning.

Up in the gray cloudy is the Bank of America tower. It is the one the firefighters climb during the stair climb in March that benefits the Lymphoma and Leukemia Society. You can also kind of see the library a little tiny bit.

Sunflowers are in bloom all over the market. I love sunflowers! They are such a happy flower.

I walked home through the convention center like I always do. I picked up some tacos because I was starving and how delicious are tacos? Walking through Freeway park, I snapped a few shots, like these hydrangeas. I had never really seen hydrangeas before until Michelle had them in her table settings at her wedding. They are all over here, which is so cool. I really love them!

There's this gazebo in Freeway Park that has George Washington's head as the top, which I find kind of weird, but sometimes I think that would be such a beautiful place to get married. I don't know that many people and I don't have that much family so for my side we'd fit. :) Of course we'd have to chase out all the homeless so, probably wouldn't work. :)

This fountain is by the gazebo. The whole park is full of fountains but most of the time they aren't running.

While I was at Pike's I treated myself to some flowers. I bought Teddybear Sunflowers which are just gorgeous. In the upper left hand corner of the pic is a framed pic from Michelle's wedding. The one in the upper right hand corner is me at about 8. You can just see the corner of the fish bowl and my magic 8 ball. I've had it so long it is in tune with me. ;) Or something like that. :)

I also bought Dahlias. I really like the dark red wine color of the ones I got. I seem to like dark dark colors on flowers. My favorite tulips are the almost black variety (I can't remember what the name is though). I'm not really so good with the arranging of flowers. I mostly just put them in a vase.

And finally, to complete my day of decadence. They've opened a Cold Stone Creamery on Pike. I bought of my absolute favorite (sweet cream, chocolate chips and just the juice from the dark cherries) home for a treat. And I'm watching Blast from The Past which may be one of my favorite guilty pleasures. It just makes me laugh.

Tomorrow I hit my favorite restaurant for baked goods and lunch!

Such an easy mark

I was walking home earlier today and there were these 2 young men selling candy bars on the street corner for their football team. Because the Brownies and I stand out on street corners selling cookies for hours on end, I feel a strange compulsion when I'm approached by children bearing candy for their causes. If it is something I can consume, I'll buy some. Actually even if it isn't, I buy it and bring it to work. I know how hard it is to be out there in whatever the elements are trying to get somebody, anybody to buy your crap. So I pull out a 10 and ask for Snickers and one little scammer says, and what's the other kind you want? The other helpfully adds, 2 for 10 bucks. So I hand over my 10 and walk away with 2 packages of snickers. They were selling their candy for their football team. One was a running back and the other wide receiver. I don't know what that means, but I'm going to ask these types of questions when I buy candy from kids. I ask the campfire kids what they're saving money for. I ask the band kids what they play. Etc. So I go in and buy the groceries and come out and head upstairs. And there's a young man with his AIDS Walk sign up. He gives me a spiel about how he's doing the walk to fulfill his community service requirement to graduate from high school. So I pull out the 10 bucks I had gotten out at the grocery store to buy flowers down at the market on Saturday and hand it over. What's a gal to do?

Yay easy!

I just called my gluten free restaurant where I'm going for lunch on Sunday. I have asked to put aside some scones and some cinnamon buns. And it was so easy. I didn't have to leave a credit card number or anything. Just my name. And now I'm all excited because this means next week I don't have to bake anything for breakfast. Sigh, it is so easy to make me happy sometimes.

I'm thinking of cutting the hair short again, but I can't decide. Right now it is just long enough to french braid (which I do to it on days I don't wash it... so if you see me today, you now know a secret). Otherwise it is ponytailed or twisted up in a clippy. I have a lot of hair, but each hair is just thin. I have a round face. I don't like hair in my eyes. Ever. I haven't had short hair since 5th grade. (short short. Just above shoulders is not short). I was traumatized in 5th grade because some 6th graders teased me about my hair and calling it boys' hair and I was already incredibly painfully shy and self conscious enough then that that pretty much hurtled me over the edge. I think my face might be too fat though to do short hair well. And I don't want old lady cut. Sigh. Maybe I just go back to super duper long and worn in a clip all the time.

Another nap

Sigh. Another 2 hour nap was just taken. The problem is that my livingroom is unbearably hot because it gets the afternoon sun. So I boil in the livingroom. Instead I go into my bedroom and read. Which is how I end up dozing off.

I think that all those couples who go on The Amazing Race to 'test their relationship' are idiots. Especially if they've been having problems, like somehow this is going to prove to them that they belong together when usually it doesn't.

To sleep perchance to dream

I'm tired. I'm very tired. I fell asleep on the sofa yesterday at 6. I woke up at 7 and went into the bedroom to take off my socks because my feet were hot and ended up falling asleep on my bed for another hour. So now it is 8:00 and I haven't eaten dinner. I was seriously contemplating just eating ice cream and chips for dinner, but then figured I'd be starving in the morning if I did that. Plus I needed left overs for lunch today so I had fried chicken. And then I was awake. And awake. And awake until after 1:00. 6:30 came very early this morning. Luckily I had taken a shower at around midnight so I didn't actually have to get out of bed until after 7:00.

Upon Michelle's recommendation, I've been reading The Time Traveler's Wife. Excellent book. I highly recommend it. I haven't been this engrossed in a book in awhile (Harry Potter notwithstanding). I can't wait to finish it.

For the past 2 days workcrush has been walking back and forth past my office a lot more than usual. I found out today why. Our telecom guy is leaving and WC is being trained in telecom. I'm hoping that this means WC will become the new telecom guy. Because then his office will be 2 doors down from mine. 2 doors down! That would be sweet. :) Although with my luck, he's probably the next one to quit. :) Edited: Yay! I have confirmed he's moving into that job!

I'm having an unsatisfactory hair day today. I don't know why but no style I try to put my hair in is making me happy. Sometimes I think about just shaving my head entirely.

Last night I had very destructive dreams. I meant to write them down while I still could remember them but they were so vivid I thought I would in the AM. But now by the light of day I can barely remember. One had something to do with a helicopter on a barge that I tried to climb up on and the barge sunk on one side causing the helicopter to slide into the water. I had to swim out of the way so it wouldn't suck me down a'la the Titanic. My father was in the water too but not my real dad, but the man in the dream was just identified as my dad. Probably because I called him father. :) I was trying to help him swim away so he too wouldn't get sucked down with the helicopter. There was a lot more to the dream but I can't remember it.

It's a racearoundtheworld!

Thanks to Game Show Network, I've been catching up on episodes of The Amazing Race. I'll admit it, I only started watching this season. And only because Rob & Amber were on it. And not because I liked them but because I wanted to see them lose. AND Veronica Mars was in hiatus otherwise I wouldn't have started. But now I get why people love this show. There's something very innately cool about it. The challenges and the roadblocks and all the fabulous places they get to see. I would never be able to do this show. I would spend so much time stopping to smell the flowers or touch the plants or interact with the children or ... or... or... we'd be eliminated first thing. I'd be like Tess & Rigby, the attention span of a gnat.

Unfortunately my horoscope was incorrect. I did not get hit on by Mr. Right. I didn't even get hit on by Ms. Rightnow. I went to a block party on Cap Hill in my coworker's neighborhood. Firemen, cops it was supposed to be a cool thing, right? Not so much. There were 2 hottie firemen who had to leave with their truck to go to a fire. There was like a cop auxiliary person, but that was about it. There were also a lot of small children and families. As fun as it was to see the little kids and play with them, not really conducive to my situation.

How do I know these people?!

It is bad enough I know a person who actually has purchased this ugly hat. And LIKES IT! But, now she wants me to help her find shoes. I suggested pointy black cowboy boots. No. She wants freakin' tiger print shoes to match the hat. That's just so sick and wrong... Please note in the descriptor... the hat is plush velvet. Seriously sick & wrong.


Cowgirl hat in plush velvet with tiger print. Hat is made of plush molded velvet and is 14" long and 6" high. Brim is 3" wide.

Horrorscopes are fun!

I wonder what the likelyhood of today's coming true?! :)

Are you in a fairy tale? You finish all your tasks with miraculous ease. Meanwhile, Prince or Princess Charming is waiting in a snazzy new chariot ready to take you to far-off lands. What are you waiting for? Move!

Finally! Someone who appreciates your unique brilliance. And who has romantic feelings for you and enough confidence to be clear about it. And who is totally adorable. Your eyeballs are heart-shaped.

I did it...

I signed up for the Celiac Singles website. We'll see what happens. They are very small and new so there's not too many people signed up for it yet.

It's like they're the hunter mafia

When I got my mail today, I was excited to see a really thick catalog. The new Ikea catalog is due so I totally expected it to be that. There's little more exciting in the mail than a new Ikea catalog! Imagine my surprise when I discovered it wasn't the coveted new Ikea catalog, but a Cabela's catalog. Not just a Cabela's catalog, but their 711 page MASTER CATALOG. This fucker is longer than my Harry Potter book! Of all people, I am one of the least likely persons to need this catalog. What do I need with about 13 pages worth of guns. (Although 13 out of 711 isn't a huge percentage of gun pages when you think of it. But that doesn't count the pages with gun accessories, just guns). There are some interesting things in it, I noticed when I glanced through it briefly. There're some cool binoculars, which if I were a more avid hiker/birder would be handy. There are some very cool tents and other camping gear. But all in all, costs far more than I would use the stuff. So here's the question, how in the heck did I get on Cabela's mailing list? Well, when I lived back in Alaska, I used to get catalogs. Tons and tons of catalogs. All Alaskans do. This was pre-internet. So if you wanted specialized or just cheaper stuff from the lower 48 you ordered through catalogs. One of the catalogs I used to get was the Sierra Trading Post. They were great for cheap t-shirts, socks, undies stuff like that. At the time they were a subsidiary of Cabelas a company who does hunting, fishing and outdoor gear. They may still be for all I know. About once a year I'd do an order from Sierra Trading Post and that kept me on their catalog list for another year. I left Alaska in 1997 and have lived in 4 states since. And yet somehow they have hunted me down. The creepiest part? The hunters posing with their kills. I'm okay about people hunting (A sign of growth, I used to be wholeheartedly opposed to it, but living in Alaska can help change your views), but I don't really like to see pics of one and his giant moose.

Sometimes I just want to be grumpy

So stop trying to cheer me up. I'm hot. My ankle hurts. I'm stuck at home most of the time because I'm not supposed to be doing extra walking. (Although periodically I do, I have cut back significantly).

Although 2 bits of news to cheer me up. They definitely aren't inspecting my apartment on Thursday, I just called to confirm that. And my apartment manager is going to write up my new lease with no raise in rent. Yay!

I am going camping!

Yay! With coworker and her roommate and another friend. I am so excited! We are going the weekend of the 26th of August. We are going to Nehalem Bay state park. Which is the one we originally wanted to go to but there weren't any reservations open for our weekend that weren't handicapped accessable, and for those you must be handicapped. I double checked just in case just now and a spot was open! YAY! I am very excited. Coworker's roommate wanted this campground because she's been there before and it is the one near the Goonie rocks! Yay camping! (Crap, now I have to find all my camping gear. :) )

Cell Phone

Sigh, I have to use my cell phone more often, or put less minutes on it. Because I did it from home without being online to see exactly what I was getting, I put $25 on my cell phone just about 3 months ago. Apparently that translates to 130 minutes. I've used 60 minutes in 3 months. I am about to lose 70 minutes. UNLESS, I put more minutes on. Which continues the cycle since I haven't even used the minutes I have. If I were to put 100.00 on, I would get 1000 minutes and a year to spend them. That may actually be the best (albiet weirdest) option. Then I wouldn't have to think about this for a whole year, although would I really go through 1000 minutes when I average 20 min/month?

Maundy Monday

Today is gray and gloomy outside. I love it! I would love it even more if it rained. The city stinks when summer hits. As I was walking on Friday from the Library to the Group Health clinic in the mall (so weird to me) then on to the movie theater at Pacific Place, the stench of urine was strong everywhere. The rain would help wash all that away (at least briefly).

My achilles tendon is not healing. It still hurts. It is still swollen. In a month if it isn't better my doc wants to talk about immobilizing it. I'm kind of against that because it will make my walk to work more difficult. I am still not supposed to excessively walk. I have taken steps to reduce my walking. I hit the grocery store on the way home instead of a special trip on Saturday and most sadly I have completely given up on Sunday adventures. Do you know what this means I do on Sundays?! DO YOU!? I sit at home and usually take a long Sunday afternoon nap which screws me up for Sunday night sleeping. I seriously did contemplate cleaning. I even bought the necessary accoutrements (more trashbags and papertowels, I only had 1 trash bag left and I have a lot of recycling to take down to the bins) to start but then it was too hot. I know that some of you are suffering through 40,000 degree heat and humidity so I shouldn't complain, but I'm going to anyway. Because I don't have ac. I have 2 fans that work currently. They are on 24/7 which I'm sure is bad for something. (including their little motors). (which could be why the other 2 fans don't work actually).

I really do have to clean, because I've discovered Tess & Rigby are chewers. I kinda knew it with Rigby because she kept eating styrofoam (despite my best efforts to eliminate all styrofoam from my house). But Rigby came into the livingroom twice this weekend carrying a battery (2 different batteries, I threw it away each time I took one from her). I think she found them in the bottom of my backpack, or in the camera case. Either way, that's the last thing I want her chewing on. Tess chews on cardboard. All of this would be very bad for their digestive systems. So, since I'm apparently unable to be clean for my own sake, I need to be cleaner for their sakes.

I saw that dog movie this weekend. Must love dogs. I liked it. It was fairly cute. It had John Cusack so it was an automatic that I'd love it. I had a couple of issues. 1 - How could preschool teacher and former wife of a fire fighter Diane Lane afford the beautiful house she had, IN CALIFORNIA? I know firemen make pretty good money but they were divorced and I don't know that they make THAT big salaries. This house was seriously beautiful and big and on a big lot. 2 - If the John Cusack character never sold one of his boats, what the hell did he do for money for his day job?

There is a new singles site that I'm thinking of joining, although I'm pretty sure it would be a fruitless effort. It is for celiacs (my wheat free condition). It is new, but I just did a search and they have no males between the ages of 29 - 40. Never a good sign. :) I would, however, actually pay money on that site if for no other reason than to keep it going for other people. The website, because someone asked, is www.celiacsingles.com.