3 Strikes we're out...

Three times in 3 years I've taken my girls camping. Three times in 3 years it has rained on Saturday. I know I live in Washington state and all but I would really REALLY love a camping trip with nice weather the whole time.

I also have to figure out how to handle this encampment director/troop leader position. The obvious and easy answer is to not be the encampment director, and after this year I am tempted to throw in the encampment director towel. I like the organizing and the putting together ideas and all that. I like to be the boss too, ;) but I really can't keep doing this to my girls. It isn't fair to them that I keep running off to do encampment stuff. I also struggle with when I am with my girls am I missing something I'm supposed to be doing for the encampment. This year, though, it did work out for us better though. One of the troops that was in an indoor unit (as opposed to our 1 wall and 3 1/2 walled cabins) left Saturday night instead of Sunday. I snuck my girls over. We slept in relative comfort (it was still a bit cold but not COLD like it was going to be).

I did have some trouble really early on Friday night. One new troop who had never been out there was really bitter about their location and their cabins. I can't totally say I blame them. Their cabins were more 'open air' than ours. Imagine a diorama box. That was their cabins. But the bottom line was they had too many people and I would've had to put them either in 2 units or in this 1 big unit. I had just arrived when they came stalking over all pissed off. The cabins were bad. They were too spread apart. They thought they were going to be all in 1 giant cabin. Blah blah blah. So I placated as best I could which wasn't at all and sent them on their way. Then a short time later, they were back and yelling all over me. My moms amuse me... they were inside the lodge and ready to come out and have my back in case I needed it. :) Later I discovered there were 2 cliques in this troop. Clique 1 was fine with it and coped and were actually VERY helpful in the kitchen and all that. Clique 2 were the bitches and not fine and not helpful and generally in the way acting all entitled. The interesting thing, they were all the same type of background (fancy private school kids, high powered moms).

I spent most of Saturday wet. It started raining in the early afternoon (I think during lunch) but we persevered. We hiked around the lake and I got soaked. Then we hiked further to look at a bird blind and I was still soaked. By the time I got my wet tennis shoes and socks off my feet were dying from being so wet the whole day. My tendon is also looking very bad today. I just couldn't boot it in the rain. All the rain ruined my favorite part about camping... the shower after camp where all this woodsmoke and out door smell just totally seeps out of my pores while I shower reminding me of camp. Not so much this time. We did campfire indoors and I just smelled of damp and must and ickyness.

The most important part, though, the kids had fun. I even heard from some of the nonbitchy moms from bitch troop that their girls enjoyed themselves and wore their sleeping outside like a badge of honor. They all really liked the painting the pots and the moms thought it was a clever idea and were, of course, pleased. So that's the best part. Oh and the volunteer I had from my employer rocked! And the quantity cook I managed to secure was also awesome. It was a good trip on the whole.

I'm off!

I have confirmation from my remaining volunteer that she's coming, and that I'm picking her up at 3:00 PM.
My cookie mom has turned over the deposit receipts and we have found the cookie money! (Thank goodness!) (Although I do have to go to the bank and convince them that there never was supposed to be a savings account and move all the money.)
I have nothing packed (but will do that in a moment.)
I have arts & crap supplies coming out my ears and ready to be put in boxes to load into the car.
I have kids who are probably bouncing off the walls on their field trip today because they're ready to go.
I have a rental car waiting for me down town.
I have activities planned... activities planned... activities planned.
I have to stop into Kinkos to print some things out (not having a printer is a tad inconvenient).
I have potentially fun and exciting news but that you're going to have to wait for next week for. ;) (Ok just cautiously optimistic news) (Well I don't know...)

I'm off! Have a good weekend one and all and I'll post a long dirty filthy camping message on Sunday.

While Joanne was away...

While Joanne was away from her desk this morning, being schooled in company rhetoric, my regular source of IM distraction (that being Joanne) was cut off and I was forced to turn to an alternate: my husband. He is not as good at it, so I spent a portion of my time drawing pictures for him in MSN Messenger. Here are a few that I couldn't bear to lose forever once I close the IM window. Also, Joanne is back now, so I can resume chatting with her.

Seinfeld imitating life

Someone I used to know used to (and probably still does) harbor dreams of playing backgammon with certain famous people. Last night while I was watching Seinfeld, Kramer went on an adventure to someplace hot & sunny (Cayman Islands I think). He ended up on a nude beach playing backgammon with Elle McPherson, naked. That made me chuckle a little bit.

I have 2 volunteers signed up from my university to help with my encampment this weekend. I just got an email from one of them. She can't go. Sigh. Now her reason is so beyond understandable and I couldn't imagine making her come given the circumstances (we recently had a student die suddenly and that was her friend and there is a memorial), but now I'm down a volunteer. Although in one respect it does help me since I have this one annoying leader who apparently did not read the pre-registration form where it says "Activity you would like to share." And the confirmation form where it says "Activity you would like to lead and share" or the 2 emails where I asked about the "Activity you would like to lead or share." And apparently she didn't listen during the conversation we had about the "Acitivity she could lead or share" where I even gave her a bunch of suggestions of "Activities she could lead or share." She emailed me yesterday when I put on the schedule "unknown activity from ..." asking if she had to lead or share an activity. She thought I just assigned her one. But now I have to do some schedule adjusting and I just did schedule adjusting. My fingers and toes are crossed that my other volunteer didn't know this girl too.

A little bliss...

Is there anything better than warmed cinnamon rolls and milk for breakfast?? (Ok so these were warmed in the microwave and are gluten free but the sentiment is still there.)

I'm old

It is official. At least according to one of my girls I'm old. On Thursday night I was sitting in my chair talking with my girls about our upcoming camping trip. One of them was petting my hair. She really likes it. (She's African-American, my hair has quite the different texture than hers.) So she's hanging out patting my hair and she says "Joanne, you have gray hairs." So now all the other girls have to check it out and I have 10 little eyes looking at my hair. She then says, "Joanne, you're OLD." in her cute little girl voice. And I say I'm 32 and she says that's younger than her mom. Then she throws her arms around me and says "Joanne, I don't want you to grow old." It was endearing and yet troubling at the same time. I had to shoo them all from my hair because by then it was freaking me out a little bit. Apparently it is time to dye again. I think I'm going to have to start going to an academy, I'm just not independently wealthy enough to go to a regular place. And since I like such strong colors, I'm unwilling to try it myself since if I screw it up it is expensive to fix.

Oops, I should've checked before I got into it...

What a great day!

Last night I went to the slumber party with the girls at the gymnastics center. It was REALLY fun. The girls had such a great time. They did a craft, and got to jump on a trampoline and work on the bars and beam. Their favorite thing was the rope that they got to swing on and fall into a foam pit. At about 11:30 we curled up in our sleeping bags on the floor (it is a mat) to watch movies. I started to doze about 1/2 way through Chicken Little. But then something happened with aliens (I don't know) and the noise startled me awake. Then the kids watched Narnia. I was lying there with my eyes shut and dozed off again for awhile, but by the end totally startled awake. Finally at the end I think I managed to sleep but not well. I really loathe sleeping in sleeping bags, especially the one I currently sleep in. It was my fathers and the flannel inside is rather thin and it is just so constricting. Plus it was HOT in the gym. So I think I eventually ended up sleeping on top of it. I took a forever nap and am now cooking jambalaya! There were these 2 snotty girls near mine who just annoyed the shit out of me. I kept having to shush them and asked them to turn off their flashlights twice. Grr. It did remind me that when I do the encampment before both of our evening activities, I'm going to do a flashlight game (like Simon Says with flashlights and then the last 'says' is turn it off and set it beside you until it is time to leave, but it gives them the opportunity to do all that silly shit they like to do with flashlights.) There's another leader with a troop near my girls' neighborhood who has a very multi-racial troop told me that she took her kids to one of these activities and it is the whitest white activity ever. She wasn't kidding. I could count probably on 1 hand the amount of kids who weren't white out of over 100 girls. (And 3 of those are mine)

Here's where I should've checked before I started. About 3/4 ths of the way through I discovered that the pot I have is not big enough for the amount of jambalaya that I am making. So I had to wash a 2nd pot and hope I pulled about 1/3rd out to cook in a 2nd pot. This is a buttload of jambalaya. I'm excited about it though, since I like it but haven't had it since V's birthday maybe 2 years ago? Or 3. I made a non-seafood kind because I don't like shrimp. I'm very excited about this dinner!

The results: Pretty dang good. The only bad part is that not all the rice absorbed water and got soft so every once in a while I find a crunchy rice piece. Otherwise I'm pleased. I'm going to have to love it since I have a ton of it. (some of it is going in the freezer).

Happy happy joy joy!

Oh happy day! I got a letter in the mail yesterday from my gluten free restaurant. They have reopened! Unfortunately they have reopened as a bakery and place for pastries so no more yummy nummy burgers or chicken strips, but the pastries are as good as ever! I stopped there today and got cinnamon rolls and muffins and cupcakes. I'm terribly excited and happy that they're back. Plus they are much closer than before and I could ride the bus even!

After that I headed to Michaels. I got my patio paint and cute little wood shapes that I'm going to glue pin backs on so they can make name tags with for the encampment. It was fun just buying all these different arts & crafts things. I can't wait for next weekend!

Date of death?

Michelle & I were talking yesterday about dying and if you had the chance to know the exact date you were going to die, would you want to know the date. My answer was no. As in hell no. So this prompted further discussion of course. Michelle is very organized, she would totally want to know. I think I would always feel like that was hanging over me and prevent me from really enjoying life. She then asked if I wouldn't want to change anything about my life if I knew I was going to die next year. I thought about it, and realized that there isn't really anything I would want to change. I would maybe travel more and see the destinations I wouldn't ever get to see. But I would also pull back a lot from people who know me and I wouldn't get involved with new people because of the loss (both to me and them).


So the question du jour is: Would you want to know when you were going to die?

Challenge extended

Imagine hearing that in the voice of Ross from friends.

In case you've never noticed, I have a link on the blogroll for Donors Choose which I think is an awesome website. Teachers write proposals for activities that they think will help their classrooms and then people can go in and donate part or all of the money to do the project. Today I got an email from a fellow blogger who pointed me to Donors Choose blogger challenge to the word out about Donors Choose. So I've set up a blog challenge. I'm hoping that some of you readers will join me in contributing to 2 projects I felt I had a connection to. As y'all know how much I love my adventures, one I could relate to was a bird watching field trip. The other one is bringing some hands on science to kindergarteners. They'll be getting snow in North Carolina!

Help Public School Kids by Funding my Challenge at DonorsChoose

So you know if you want, but you don't have to, but it would be good karma maybe. :)

Drowning

Apparently my dreams are trying to tell me something. I had a dream in which I was drowning... several times. Like I'd catch my breath or pull myself out of the water and then somehow I'd end up drowning again. And then at one point, I was reading a book about the ocean and it morphed into like a giant imax screen and it was drowning me.

Drowning: To dream that you are drowning, signifies that you are overwhelmed by emotions or repressed issues that is coming back to haunt you. You may be proceeding too quickly in trying to discover your unconscious thoughts. If you drown to death, your relationship will fail or you will suffer major business losses. If your survive the drowning, then your relationship will be rescued by some intervention. You will rise to a higher position of wealth and honor.

Exhausted

I never realized how tiring it is being 'on' all the time but damn today I was and it wiped me out. The morning started early enough - 5:30 and then I was out of my apartment by 6:50 to catch a bus downtown to a class. Luckily I allowed for extra time as the damn Chinese president's visit was causing major traffic malfunctions and I had to change busses downtown (which normally I wouldn't since the bus I was on would go all the way to where I needed to go) and a trek that would've taken me about 30 minutes to walk took me 50 minutes by bus. So that kind of sucked. Got a ride to work with my boss headed straight to an interview. Then orientation. Then lunch. Then about 45 min at my desk and then another interview. And on and on. I was in meetings for +5 hours of my 7.5 hour workday. AND we didn't find a good payroll candidate so I may have to go through this all over again. Sigh.

I can't believe I'm saying this...

But I really hope my recent bout of irrational irratibility is because of PMS and not heretofore unexpressed bile, vitriol and bitterness. PMS at least has an end date.


In other thoughts, what are you looking for?

I'm so vain... I probably think this song is about me.

I'm wearing a skirt I particularly love. I FEEL really good when I wear it. It makes me incredibly happy. Hence I act a little more frou frouey and I like to be told I'm cute. I mean who doesn't like to be told they're cute? :) So at lunch today, Isa points out that my skirt makes my ass look good. That's nice. :) Oh and the italian guy (student, so hands off) said I looked good. Sometimes it doesn't take much to make me happy. :)

Spring Goals!

I walked to work this morning for the first time in a long time. I discovered 2 things... 1 - The boot paired with my Dansko dress shoes (to wear with a dress not the other pair) doesn't work well because the heel is too high on the dress shoes and that bugs. 2 - I miss walking to work. It is such a great time to clear my head and since it is GORGEOUS out lately I want to get back into it. So I decided to make a new list of goals. But before I can do that, I wanted to look at my New Year's goals to see how I did and see if they needed to be added to or changed or incorporated. They were:
1 - Less judgemental. I'm still working on that but I feel much better about my judgementalness. I definitely think I've made some strides.
2 - Yoga - I had a class, but then it finished. I want to find a new class better add this to new goals list.
3 - Meal planning. I was doing it but now I'm not and I want to get back into it so better add it to new goals list. :)
4 - WC. Oh please who was I kidding with that goal? ;) Not added to new list. Patience will win out I'm sure. (Or not if I meet someone else then I do and it is bye bye WC.)

SPRING GOALS:

1. Find a yoga class. There are a ton of them around me I just have to sign up and go.
2. Go back to the gym. I went the week before I went on vacation then went on vacation and then got sick. I need to go back and since it is so light so early in the AM it will be easier now I think. Plus more students are not going to the gym because we're getting towards mid terms.
3. Meal Plan. I must do this to save money.
4. Save money. I have a weird budgeting system where I use only $500 for everything else (besides bills) for the month (includes groceries). I want to cut that back to $400/month or $100/week. It seems like that should be easy to do but somehow it isn't.
5. Walk to and from work. I already walk home most days (in the boot thank you very much). I am going to start walking in the AM too. I miss it and I didn't realize how much until this morning.
6. SUNDAY ADVENTURES! I miss Sunday adventures. I am going to start doing them again. Unfortunately they are almost out for this month as I have the brownie overnight this weekend and camping next weekend (which is a Sunday adventure of sorts.) But in May I have 3 Sundays free and I will find an adventure for each of them.

I think these are all doable. Most were stuff I was doing before and got out of the habit of. I'm excited! :)

What if...

You open up a new post window all prepared to type and find you have nothing to say?

Yummy!

As if I needed a reason to see X-Men The Last Stand, I found this guy on MSN's page about the movie. Daniel Cudmore is his name. He may have just beat out Heath Ledger as my Hollywood boyfriend.

Saturday Night Live is not good.

I'm watching SNL because Pearl Jam is the musical guest. I am having a hard time actually staying awake (clearly a sign I'm old.). But so far, 40 minutes into the episode, all I can think with each skit I've seen is, "Is it done yet?" Sadly the answer always was no.

An adventure dreaded...

I have to go to Wal-Mart. I haven't been into a Wal-Mart in 3 years. BUT as much as I don't want to go to Wal-Mart, I do need what they have and it will be cheaper to get it there than at a fancy schmancy craft store. (And honestly of the craft stores on my list Wal-Mart is closer). And on to why I have to go to Wal-Mart.

As one of the projects for the Encampment, I bought 3 inch flower pots. The girls are going to paint them and we'll pack them together with some potting soil and seeds and they can give them to their mother or other special person for Mother's day. (Or keep them I've got no opinion.) I went online to discover that painting terra cotta is not nearly as easy as I apparently wanted to believe it is and it has to be sealed first and then polyed after and on and on.... OR... I can use Patio Paint. And where can I find Patio Paint? Wal-Mart. I'm really excited about this craft. And actually I'm getting really excited about the whole encampment. We've got some hikes, we have field games we have all sorts of arts & crafts. I'm hoping a good time is had by all.

Quantity cook

I have found one! My encampment is now falling together! I am so excited I can hardly speak. Everything is working out and that is exactly what I needed to happen.

Peculiar day.

So I spent much of my day off just reading. Lying in bed reading. Sitting on the sofa reading. Reading. And watching TV. :) I watched Days of Our Lives so now I know what is going on and won't have to watch again for another 4 - 5 months. (side note, there is this really really terrible commercial going on on TV right now that is one of those craptastic local kind. But I digress. And a 2nd digression, I'm watching 28 days right now and this one scene has been edited out that doesn't make a lot of sense to me. The scene where they are making wishes and in the original the gay one asks for his foreskin back, but in the edited version he asks for the Abba box set. That's weird. I wouldn't have thought foreskin would be something so controversial.)ANYWAY...

I headed out to catch the bus to run multiple errands. I've gotten really lazy about using the flexcar lately so I was on the bus. Bought the ferrets new treats and headed over to Target. I had a few things to pick up. I'm barely in the front door when I run into our current student worker. We chat and then proceed to shop together. She is quite the talker. Which is good, actually, because I am quite not the talker. We were talking about eating and she was hungry, as was I so we ended up going to get dinner together. We chatted over dinner, hit the Cold Stone for some ice cream and then she dropped me home. (That was nice, not having to ride the bus. :) I feel sad for her a little bit. She doesn't have a lot of friends. I don't but I'm okay with that, I would rather do things alone. She wouldn't. (Ok it was the 4th mention of not having people to hang out with today that made me say oh we should go to dinner.)

Die

Somehow watching Days of Our Lives reminded me of this. I had a dream last night that someone choked me. And I died. And my tongue turned black and protruded out of my mouth. That's fucking creepy.

Die: To dream that you die in your dream, symbolizes inner changes, transformation, self-discovery and positive development that is happening within you or in your life. Although such a dreams may bring about feelings of fear and anxiety, it is no cause for alarm and is often considered a positive symbol. Dreams of experiencing your own death usually means that big changes are ahead for you. You are moving on to new beginnings and leaving the past behind. These changes does not necessarily imply a negative turn of events. Metaphorically, dying can be seen as an end or a termination to your old ways and habits. So, dying does not always mean a physical death, but an ending of something.

On a negative note, to dream that you die may represent involvement in deeply painful relationships or unhealthy, destructive behaviors. You may feeling depressed or feel strangled by a situation or person in your waking life. Perhaps your mind is preoccupied with someone who is terminally ill or dying. Alternatively, you may be trying to get out of some obligation, responsibility or other situation.

Strangulation: To dream that you or someone else is being strangled, denotes that you are repressing or denying a vital aspect of your expression.

Tongue: To see your own tongue in your dream, signifies the things you say and express. You may have said too much or you may need to express yourself.

Black: Black symbolizes the unknown, unconscious, danger, mystery, darkness, death, mourning, hate or malice. (Although I don't know that the color black applies to this dream since I think my mind incorporated the black tongue because I've seen that on TV when someone is strangled.)

Worlds collide!

From 1998 - 1999 I taught 6th grade in the town I grew up in. I was a terrible teacher. Well wait, I'm not a terrible teacher, I'm a terrible horrible classroom manager. But I digress. While on My Space tonight, I was at my high school's My Space page. And on the front page in their little classified area was a person looking for an apartment. I recognized the name and clicked on it. It was one of the kids I taught. He graduated in 2005. Holy crap. I feel weird about this.

Ok so I went through class of 2005 and found at least 1 more of my students. The kid I had to kick out of my class due to my inability to control him. I really liked him, but there was no way I could cope with the combination of him and several of the others. It bummed me out a little.

I wish...

That like pizza or Chinese food delivery there was chocolate delivery. I'm sitting here thinking how fabulous a Cadbury egg would taste right now. (Or maybe some ice cream.)

Another benefit to working for a college...

We get random days off. Tomorrow is Good Friday so my university has given everyone the day off. What to do with my 3 day weekend. Up until yesterday, I was going to go to Michelle's in CA and go to her mom's birthday party and all that jazz. Then I logged into the America West site (where people with flight benefits go) and discovred that I could leave Seattle. I may even be so lucky as to get to California, but coming home wasn't going to happen. All the flights from Phoenix or Las Vegas to Seattle on Sunday and Monday were over booked, by several people. So I will stay here. Now what to do what to do... Unfortunately it is going to be raining at least all day Friday and quite possibly the rest of the weekend so any sort of adventuring where I'm outside is not in the stars. I am working on a new book, science fiction (or science fantasy more accurately since the sci fi nerds are all over the difference between the 2). I could read for the whole weekend. I think some cleaning will be happening. I need to take the recyclables out. I got my new recycling bags in the mail recently and I like them. They aren't as stiff sided as I expected and I'm wondering if there'll be a note on the door to the garage from the trash nazi about just throwing the recyclables in the bin without them being bagged. (She's frequently leaving notes about no lids on the bottles and this 1 bin is for cardboard only [whatever] which I frequently throw other stuff in there and on and on...) Ooh and I could play my new computer game. Oh and I have to go to the library for new books and to return old ones. Looks like I can fill the weekend. I wonder if something interesting is playing at the movies... :)

So much to say, and yet not much to say.

Just a few thoughts for a Wednesday...

1 - I'm losing my voice off and on. My throat doesn't really hurt but speaking is just weird. And sometimes my throat gets this really dry pocket where I try to speak but no words come out. If I cough I can speak again. When will this be done?

2 - I went out with some friends I hadn't seen in awhile last night. It was fun in a phew I'm glad I don't do this too frequently kind of way. Actually it was really good to see some people that I really like, including my gay pothead bartending husband. (Not really my husband). Apparently he has found himself a husband which is very good for him. He's a good guy and I'm glad he has found someone. We played darts. I suck at it now that I don't play too often.

3. I may have found a quantity cook for my encampment. I'm so happy I could cry, although now I'm waiting to hear from council if it will be okay that her food handler's permit is expired. With my luck, it probably isn't. So then I'll have to negotiate if I have someone with a food handler's permit in the kitchen even though that person isn't a quantity cook with the quantity cook will that work. I'm going to be optimistic.

4. Artist formerly known as work crush brought in some Reeses peanut butter cups to replenish the stash he is frequently consuming. I think there has been some flirting going on. Isa says there is when she witnesses our interactions.

5. I keep trying to not wear the boot for the tendon figuring it should be better by now, right? I keep getting smacked down by tendon and having to put it on. I need to just wear it consistantly and not try to push things. But I'm so sick of that being a problem too.

6. It was raining this morning, but now it is sunny! Yay for sunny!

Oh my eyes!

Tonight I was agonizing over what to have for dinner and Michelle gave me a great suggestion. BBQ beef. She emailed me her recipe which is divine. DIVINE I say! (Seriously, you should ask her for it.) I hit the grocery store on the way home and rediscovered an important fact. Buying food when you're a singleton kind of sucks. In general I don't eat or use onions and celery so the fact I have to buy a whole onion or a whole bundle of celery kind of sucks. Luckily in the organic foods area, I can buy 1 stalk of celery. (A whopping 15 cents.) I also bought an onion. I haven't cut an onion in years and it is still killing my eyes. But I did discover I can cut up the entire thing and freeze it for use in the future. Very nice. :)

Dream of late

This morning I had a dream where I was visiting my family. My back itched for some reason and I couldn't reach it to scratch it. My mom offered to put some itch stuff on it but I couldn't raise my shirt to have her do it because of my tattoo that she doesn't know about. So I went into the bathroom to see if I could pull up my shirt in a way she wouldn't see the dragonfly and there was a 2nd tattoo lower on my back than my regular one. (More towards the middle). I can't remember what it was but then later in the dream I had this idea that I was going to get a Jiminy Cricket tattooed on my shoulder but kind of up my neck so you could see his face when I was wearing a t-shirt because he was my conscience and that way I'd remember to do good things.

Tattoo: To dream that you have tattoos, signifies that some urgent and difficult business will call you away from your home for an extended period of time. It may also signal a new stage in your life. (hmm a new stage with wc?) :)

Itch: To dream that you have an itch, refers to sexual urges. Alternatively, you may have been anticipating to do something for a long time. (Ok getting weird. Let's hope it is the alternative meaning)

Scratch: To dream that you are scratching yourself, symbolizes a minor irritation or frustration. Perhaps something that began as minor may have the potential to become worse. Or that somebody may have hit a sore spot in you. (Hmm since it was my mom doing it perhaps she is the minor irritation. :) )

Secret: To dream that you or someone has a secret, represents hidden power. It suggests that something needs to emerge from your unconscious.

Cricket: To see crickets in your dream, represents introspection. You are seeking guidance. (Interesting, of course there was no entry for Jiminy Cricket but he was acting as my conscience so to know that crickets themselves mean introspection I find kind of interesting).

Mirror: To see your own reflection in the mirror, suggests that you are pondering thoughts about your inner self. The reflection in the mirror is how you perceive yourself or how you want others to see you. You may be contemplating on strengthening and changing aspects of your character. (I wish I could remember what that 2nd tattoo was of. I think it might be significant in terms of this. I think it was square shaped like a flag or something.)

3 Good Books

I've recently finished a whole glut of reading and thought I'd share in case any of y'all were looking for something good to read:

The Ha-Ha by David King: I found this book to be excellent. Basically it is about a guy who came back from Viet Nam with a massive head injury that has screwed up the language center of his brain so he cannot speak, read or write. He lives in a house with 3 other people but they all kind of do their own thing. Then he gets a call from a woman who was a girl friend before Viet Nam but now just mostly uses him and she needs him to care for her son while she is in rehab. He takes the kid in and blah blah blah Hallmark moment kind of thing. But what really makes the book is that although it is kind of a Hallmark type story, at the same time it isn't. You really get a sense of the guy's frustration at being unable to communicate even though his brain is still fully functioning. A fabulous read and I think I only spent like 2 evenings on it (evenings until 1 AM because I was so hooked).

After that I wanted something light so I went with:
Confessions of Supermom by Melanie Lynn Hauser: This was a fun book. A divorced mother of 2 hits her head after mixing a bunch of cleaning chemicals and ends up with super powers. A spongelike material on her right hand and the ability to squirt cleaning solution out of a finger. She begins cleaning up her town. Of course she ends up with an archnemesis in Lex & Patty Osborne (an homage to Superman and Spiderman perhaps? Lex Luthor and Harry Osborne) who run a local food manufacturing plant. It is funny and sweet and rather a light read.

Finally I just finished:
If You Could See Me Now by Celia Ahearn: Another cute book based in the fantastical not necessarily reality. The main character, Elizabeth, is raising her sister's son and works as an interior designer. The nephew develops an imaginary friend named Ivan. As you read you realize that Ivan's world really does exist and that imaginary friends appear to those who need them, frequently children because their minds are open to the possibility. Eventually they disappear again because their purpose to the children is finished. Except eventually Elizabeth can see him and she thinks he is a real person. And she falls for him, and he falls for her. It ends in the way it needs to but I thought it was a great book and I enjoyed every minute, especially the believing in something fantastical.

Currently I've just started the Jasper Fforde books that I couldn't find in the library last year. I'm only on like Chapter 1 of the first book but I'll let you know how I like it when I finish.

Joanne & Big R's weekend of FUN!

What a fabulous weekend I have had!

Saturday: Big R, Curly hair, me and Boston all went to House of Hong for Dim Sum. Well I didn't have Dim Sum because I can't eat most of those little things so I just had Mongolian Beef. I LOVE Mongolian Beef. So then we headed to Alki. Unfortunately it was rainy so we didn't do much. Just got coffee and that's about it. After that we headed to Target. It was such a nice evening. I cooked a roast beef (although I over cooked it slightly) and a baked potato (unfortunately I undercooked it slightly). Watched some Fraggle Rock and life was glorious.

Sunday: Did my usual Sunday morning activities but then Big R called and we were off on a Sunday adventure. We went shopping, first to Factoria but then that Target didn't have what I wanted so we went to Issaquah. I've never been there. We shopped and shopped and that was nice. I got a new computer game and a dvd. The babies are now proud owners of new treats. Then we drove around Issaquah and he showed me where he grew up. After that we drove back to Seattle and then headed over to Alki for supper. We went to Pepper Dock for hamburgers and they were totally what I didn't know that I wanted. After that we walked up and down the boardwalk and watched the waves and talked. There were a lot of kids there and families and that was cute. There was this guy who had a remote controlled glider and we watched him. It was glorious. I think I could totally live out there. The sun was shining and the air was cool. We headed back to the car and discovered much to Big R's chagrin that he had left the lights on. Sigh, dead battery. So we sat and waited for AAA to come, but we talked the whole time. It was just so fun. (Now if only he was straight. :P ) Life is good.

And then I found the body...

One of my souveniers from Disneyland was a keyring with the ears and a 50th anniversary thing on one part and a tinkerbell on it. Yesterday when I got to work I discovered a very sad thing. Just a head on my keyring. She lost her body. So you can imagine my joy when I got home and there was a little gold body in the hall in front of my door. Yay. Now we'll see if Krazy Glue can really bond anything instantly.

I am very excited about tomorrow. I am going to have a Sunday adventure with Big R and the Italian Guy and Curly Haired (she's new) from the cult. (They really aren't the cult of the virgins any more since one virgin has left the cult and one has become a non-virgin so now the non's outnumber the virgins.) We're going to Alkai Beach and wandering around. I haven't been there and have wanted to for awhile. I'm going to take lots of pictures! :) Apparently Big R is planning on roller blading. I don't think I'm quite that adventurous. :)

Then Sunday, I am going shopping! YAY! Michelle gave me a gift card for my birthday and I fully intend to spend it frivolously. Double Yay!

Quantity cook

What I wouldn't give for a Quantity cook for my encampment. We have 2 pages worth of people to contact. I have emailed way more on that list than I care to think about. They should be thrilled I'm emailing, doesn't put them on the spot. If my latest round doesn't net me any results, I'm going to have to resort to calling. I HATE to call people.

*In order to cook meals at the Girl Scout properties a person has to be specially trained by the Girl Scouts. For the encampment the Service Unit provides 4 meals and the girls cook their own meal on Sat night. If I have to readjust so that everyone cooks their own meals, this will be a big problem.

Alarming!

Today my office is getting an alarm system. Sometimes I think that I missed my true calling in life. I totally should've been one of those people who works with wires and putting crap together. I'm fascinated by it all. My office holds confidential information. Tons of confidential information. Because of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, (known as HIPAA to you) my office files need to be more secure. We tried initially to get fire king file cabinets (really serious filing cabinets, difficult if not impossible to get into and fireproofed.) However, we discovered that my office (that hangs over the bookstore) would not support the weight of them. (Roughly 1500 each empty). The office would fall off the edge. It totally makes me laugh to think of that. So in compromise, I get an alarm system and the guys are in today putting it in. I'm not going to get anything done today because this is just too fascinating for words. And I checked, Michelle, no loud alarm noise will sound if I accidentally set it off, BUT public safety will come running with large flashlights bared.

What a great day!

To be happy about today:

1. The sun is shining which always makes me happy.
2. I got the confirmation for the Brownies overnight at a gymnastics studio. The activities the girls will be doing are so cool! The girls will get to jump on a trampoline, do a giant obstacle course and use other real gymnastics equipment. And then we sleep over and have breakfast in the morning. Of course since quiet time is from midnight to 3 AM with full lights out at 3, the next day is going to be a bit rough, but that's okay.
3. I am making enchiladas for dinner. I LOVE enchiladas for dinner. Plus that means I'll have stock again and I've been out for a few weeks. I'm going to make them a little differently though. I'm going with more like an enchilada lasagne type of thing. Tortillas in the bottom of the pan, sauce and meat and cheese then tortillas and then sauce and cheese.
4. I got my first volunteer response for the encampment. A girl who has experience with Girl Scouts. That's very exciting. (Yes I've gone back to just using it, KTP was right, I'm being overly cautious since there are probably a bazillion links when one googles Girl Scouts)
5. Comcast has a new on screen thingie so that I can now delete from my channel list all the channels I hate. I love that!

Ok the less exciting things:

1. I believe I definitely have Isa's sickness. I opened my mouth twice today to talk and couldn't squeak out a word. My throat is getting worse. :(
2. I can't find a quantity cook to cook the meals for the encampment. That was the biggest pain in the ass 2 years ago and apparently will be the biggest pain this year. Luckily, I have email addresses though so I feel a little better about emailing the people so they can think about it and not be on the spot.

Whispering

Ok I know this is weird, but whispering kind of freaks me out. You can imagine, then, my consternation when I picked up the phone to a guy whispering. He was talking to someone while waiting for me to pick up the phone but it jarred me a tiny bit.

Happy Feet

(Photo by Dan DeLong of the Seattle PI)

On Broadway we have these feet embedded into the ground that portray dance steps. I find them really fun and silly and cool. Apparently they've been there for about 27 years which is also very cool to me. Here's the article all about them. I remember when I first visited here and walked up Broadway with V. I thought they were so fun and got V to try one of the dances with me. I think I got confused by them, but I remember wondering about them and where they came from. Now I know. :) I think I'll know the right guy for me if he's willing to dance the feet with me. (Well besides V who is gay).

Unkind

I was unkind to someone today and that bothers me. However I'm also stubborn so this creates a bit of a problem for me. I don't like to be unkind, if I can avoid it, however I'm really unwilling to make up for this unkindness. Perhaps I can balance it with being kind to someone else that I don't want to be kind to. Oh hell, I already do that. :)

In unrelated news, my throat is starting to hurt. If I'm getting a different sickness now that I'm mostly over the sickness of last week I'm going to be unhappy. Very very unhappy.

April fools

Last year, I had the best April Fool's gag ever. I'll never top it which is why I didn't try this year. (Ok I had an idea but forgot to do it.) (Really I WILL brag about this one forever because I think it is honestly the only time I've been able to fool anyone. I'm terrible at thinking them up and terrible with execution.)

This year I got my leg pulled and it was so funny I have to share. It is from Flexcar. It took me 3 reads to realize it was a joke.


We're diversifying our fleet! We've heard you members: you want far more spacious vehicles and far more of 'em. So we're pleased to announce the conversion of the Flexcar fleet to ripe-banana-colored H3s, effective April 1. Operation Hybrids-to-Hummers (H2H) will take place overnight utilizing next-generation, military-issue Parking Space Expansion Devices (P-SEDs) and an estimated million gallons of Cloak-Curb© paint.
We hope our members will be patient during the transition from the new Smartcards to the still newer GasGuzz cards, which will entitle you to triple the fuel credit limit. And remember to carpool; with so much seating the H3s promise dramatic improvement in the Flexcar fleet's fuel efficiency.
Comments? Send them to aprilfools@flexcar.com.

Oh so sad...

I rented The Brothers Grimm for the weekend. I love me some Heath Ledger so I was looking forward to this. I got about 1/2 way through before I realized I was not paying any attention and that this was not a good movie. It was mostly boring and strangely difficult to follow. I think this is the first Heath Ledger movie I've watched that I really actively disliked and actually didn't watch the whole way through. (I didn't love Brokeback Mountain but I didn't totally hate it either.)

Also, completely unrelated, I made banana nut muffins this afternoon and they turned out FABULOUS! I think I finally have the mystery of how to make them taste good and still be gluten free figured out. Whee!

Busy day busy day

This morning I had to take Tess to the vet. Unfortunately Dr. Dan (who is not the vet I like, I think I like the woman better) confirmed what I already knew. Tess has Adrenal Disease. (Fairly common in ferrets, tumors on the adrenal gland). Now she'll be going once a month for shots like Baxter did. If it isn't one thing, it is another with pets. And I just realized that in June she'll have lived with me for a year. So she really isn't 4 no matter what I think. (She was between 4 & 5 they weren't sure when I adopted her.) So if what happened with Bax is any indication we've got about a year or so of time left. That's a good amount still to hang with the fuzzy bunny. :)

This afternoon I took a nap and then went to a barbecue with my friends Isa, Big R & Isa's former roommates. (She moved out this month). I played ball with her dog for like an hour. That was very fun, I really like playing with the dog. The funny thing is, though, that the dog usually hates me. I can't be around without the dog barking its fool head off at me. But towards the end of the evening after we had played she actually let me pet her so I thought oh look we're doing well. In the car, though, bark bark bark. She's a scrappy little thing, though and it is nice to play with a dog. Especially a dog I don't have to clean up after. :D