Naptime

I've just woken up from a nice nap. Now I'm freezing. FREEZING.

This morning I volunteered at the Firefighter Stairclimb. Lyday and I volunteered in the Rehab section which was a lot of fun. More fun than I originally thought it would be. My voice is still a little hoarse from my cheering and yelling. We were at a station that had cookies and water and fresh oranges. The guys who had finished the race would come by and get snacks. It was a lot of fun. I was also near where they go by at the start of the race so we watched that. There was this teeny tiny girl, no older than 3 or 4, who was giving out cards with her picture on them to certain fighters. I think they were running for her. She was really cute. Which makes it really sad. There was another kid who was cheering for someone named Ryan. It was really a fun time.

Yesterday I sold cookies with the girls. I spent 4 hours outside a grocery store. It was good. We sold about 40 boxes per 2 hour block. Only 3 more site sales to go.

14 Days

It is officially 14 days until I turn 34. THIRTY FOUR people. Do you know what this means? I'm in my 30's. Not even in my 30's. I'm in my mid-30's. If I were going by my plan, I should be beginning the wheels towards adoption next year. I am so not ready for that. I have a whole long post rustling around in my head about that but that's for another time. Instead ponder this. Thirty four.

This post brought to you by the numbers 3 and 4 and by the letters D L and O.

Learn Something New Every Day

I was just checking on Metro's trip planner and I was thinking, how am I going to know which way to walk once I get to a place. This is a frequent wonder for me because frequently I'm going somewhere I've never been before. I never noticed before that they actually have walking directions for the rest of the route. How cool is that? Very cool I say.

Totally unrelated, I went to see Be Kind Rewind over the weekend. It was HYSTERICAL. Seriously probably the funniest movie I've seen in a long time. It also was really different than I expected it to be. I don't know how to explain that and I can't tell you what I was expecting, but it was different. It was very sweet. Maybe I've got a preconceived notion of what Jack Black movies are like, but I found it really very good. My only complaint is that some of it is shot as though it is an old movie and so the projector 'flickers' and I had a headache already and that seemed to encourage it.

My feet are hot

I'm wearing wool socks. Today began the month of Volunteering heck. (Although maybe this year won't be so bad??) I was up and out at 6:50 (that's WAY before I ever leave for work folks). I caught a bus up to an elementary school where the cookies were delivered by big giant truck. Then I spent the morning unloading cookie boxes and moving them around the playground. It was good work, but hard work. I now have 3 cases in my apartment that I now have to pass out. (Ok 15 of those cookies are mine. That's sad for me.) :)

Next week I've got site sales and the Firefighter Stair Climb. The following week is more cookie site sales. That may be it for March for me. For some reason I thought March was usually a busy volunteering month for me. ( I still think it is, I just think I can't remember the other things.)

March is moneylicious

March is going to kick my ass fiscally. I have used the Flexcar a ton this month at $10.00/hour. And... drumroll please... I went to the podiatrist on Wednesday. Apparently I need custom orthotics to begin to help the achilles tendonitis and bunion. My insurance company does not cover them. I have emailed my contact to find out why and she doesn't really know why either. But these fabulous things will cost me $470. Yay. If they will help, awesome. And for $470 they better fucking work. They're going to watch me walk and take the cast of my feet on the 6th. Yay. (Or something) But this does mean that I will not be buying a new sofa soon. Maybe after the other IRS rebate check.

Rhetorical Question

Why are all the outlets in my apartment in retarded places? If I want to have the new air purifier I just bought anywhere near my entrance I have to either a - put it in the bathroom and keep the light lit at all times (because for some unknown reason the outlet does not work when the lights are not on). b - Plug it in part way down the hall (this would work but since it is the only one near the cable cord I have a power strip plugged into it for all my TV needs and it is where my wireless box is connected). c - plug it in the living room, but this outlet is on the switch so it only works when the light is on. d - in the closet in the bedroom (who puts an outlet in the closet??) or e - next to my bed where my bedside lamp and alarm clock are already plugged. Seriously. I need more outlets.

Je fait du camping

Lyday and I went camping Friday - Sunday morning. We went to Battle Ground Lake State Park. It definitely was cold. Saturday's high was 51 degrees. It was fun, though. I had a good time and really liked the place we were at. It had several trails. We spent two hours hiking around on Saturday early afternoon. When we got back we had a campfire. We went into town for dinner with a friend of Lyday's and that was fun too.

My new tent. My mom sent it to me for Christmas. I had never set it up before. When I opened it I discovered that the cables that hold the poles together in one long pole were all broken. So we had to put each individual segment together and push the pole through the sleeve. It wasn't insurmountable, but it was annoying.
Broken cord.

Early in the morning I got up before Lyday and went walking down to the lake. A dad and his son were fishing. It's very cute to me.

The lake. It is very pretty. There is swimming and apparently when it is open for summer, there are paddle boats that can be rented. Now I want to go back in the summer.

We hiked both the high lake trail and the regular lake trail. While on the trail, we saw a bald eagle flying. That was seriously awesome. I've seen them before in the wild in Alaska.

Another shot of the lake. There were a lot of people fishing. It seems to be THE place to fish. I talked to a lot of the different people asking how they did. Most had not caught much, or had just gotten there.

Tree hugger!

Another side of the lake. It wasn't a huge lake, but it was pretty.

Bat box! I like bat boxes mostly becacuse I like bats. There weren't any up in the box though.

This rock and fern section was so cool. I really liked the cascade of rocks.

Rocky! The rock looks like a person. And it was pretty.

Campfire. I always take a picture of my camp fire because I'm always a little amazed that I can make one. :)

In all my scout camp years, I wore the same sweatshirt and I would put up the hood and pull it tight around my face. It kept me really warm. I used that technique again camping. Seriously you stay warm.

On Saturday Lyday decided she needed an air mattress. So she bought one. You can tell she is much happier with the air mattress than the thin camping pad. :)

Guess What Came In?

Guess? Go on...

My passport! It was in the mailbox from Saturday I guess. Yay! I can now go anywhere I want. :D

Could've been worse... Could've been better

Happy Valentine's Day y'all! Was it a good one for you?

Mine could've been better. It wasn't nearly as bad as The Worst Valentine's Day Ever, but not as good as the Best Valentine's Day in recent memory. (Only slightly related, I just reread all of February that year. That was a funny month, although it did make me sad and miss MP a bit, but I'm already over it.) Anyway, I had to take Rigby to the vet in the AM. She has an eye infection. Much better than the last time I had to take a ferret to the vet, but still kind of unpleasant. Rigby never goes so she gets really weird about the whole thing.

Work was interminable.

I went out to dinner with Lyday and then to a movie. Dinner was yummy. I got Mexican food at the mall. We sat for about 20 minutes and there were no rumblies in my tumbly. We went to the movie about 40 minutes before the movie started and there were no rumblies in my tumbly. About 15 minutes into the movie... massive rumblies. And we were in the center of the row. I bailed out and left the movie and spent about 45 minutes tripping from the movie theater to the bathroom and back and forth. I never went back to my seat because, well those people would hate me, and instead just leaned against a wall watching so I missed the entire middle of Definitely Maybe. Sigh. What I saw was cute.

Now, given all that, I could have had the Valentine's day of the young lady I saw arguing in the lobby. Apparently there was some shoving. I am unclear as to who shoved whom as they both seemed rather adamant that the other started it, but she was sobbing loudly boo hoo hoo and saying to him "I can't believe you are doing this on Valentine's day." She clearly had a worse day than I did.

Longass Week

And it is only Tuesday! Actually, after today everything is down hill because I have no more meetings this week. Yay!

Last night we had our cookie site sale meeting. We've got sites and that is all that matters.

Tonight is Thinking Day. I've ordered Sambusas from a local Somali restaurant. I have high hopes for them. A mom from the other troop made coconut bread for Jamaica. I carved stamps out of pink erasers to stamp the passports with. It was both easier and harder than I thought it would be. I cut a star out of the middle of one for Somalia since their flag is a white star in the middle of a blue field. For the other I carved out a palm tree. In retrospect it may have been easier to just dig in the basement for my arts & crap box which has stamps, but whatever. All the letter boxers carve their own stamps. I'm just practicing. Yeah, that's the ticket. :)

Camping is probably on for the weekend. It is supposed to get to highs of 60. Yay! Lows in the upper 30s. I'm excited about that.

I'm going to the movies on VD with Lyday. We're seeing Maybe Definitely or something like that I think. She was not down with the 2 hours of things blowing up. Although looking at the movie list, I don't think there's something that falls into that catagory I want to see anyway.

Moving

Whenever I start to think about moving away from Seattle, I need to go down to the bakery in Maple Valley and be reminded I'll never find a place that awesome anywhere else. I spent a scandalous amount of money there this morning but... everything is oh so awesome. I've already eaten two donuts. TWO!

I've received a response to a personal ad I have on one for fatchicks. I haven't written back because I don't know what to say. :) He said I was beautiful. Do I say he's attractive back? He isn't unattractive. Do I ask questions? He didn't ask any questions of me. Why don't I know how to do this anymore? (Oh because I've had personals online before and nobody ever responds to them.)

I may not be going camping next weekend. I am fine with going caming in the cold. I am not fine with camping in either the rain or the wind. According to weather.com, there will be mucho raino on Sat, Sun and Mon. Camping in the rain is miserable. We'll check it out again closer to the weekend. Since it is winter, you can't make reservations anyway so it wouldn't be a big deal if we decided not to go. I tested out my little propane heater and my lantern. Both work so that's nice.

When I got back from Maple Valley at about 10:05 there was a guy waiting for the Flexcar. He said he was just about to call. I have the car until 10:30, I replied. No, says he, I have it at 10:00. Well he was wrong. As I was walking away I noticed he kept trying to unlock the door with his key card, which of course didn't work because his reservation was 10:30.

Wiped the fuck out.

I'm tired. This has been a long and fairly weird day.

1. I made a faculty member cry. I feel really bad about that, although in reality it wasn't ME that made her cry - just some information. She is worried her contract may not be renewed next year and I gave her the COBRA information.

2. I spent this morning putting together some numbers for a meeting this afternoon to be told 10 minutes before the meeting that I probably didn't need to do that.

3. I lost two of our insurance bills. I put them some place for safe keeping. I have no idea what that place is, but I spent over an hour looking for that safe place.

4. My benefits committee meeting was actually pretty good. That was a high point.

5. We went to coffee this afternoon so no work got done this afternoon.

Clearly I have SOME standards. :)

Subtitled: Maybe Michelle was right. (Who am I kidding? Maybe??)

I've said that I am pretty open minded towards guys. I've even joked that they have to be breathing and heterosexual and that's all I'm looking for. Monday night I was given the chance to put my money where my mouth is. As Lyday and I were leaving a restaurant to the parking lot, two guys walked up to us and asked if we had any cigarettes. Neither of us smoke so we said no. Then one of them looks at us and looks at his friend and he says "Hey, there's two of us and there's two of you" and kind of gives that head jerk. He says "We've got the alcohol, you've got the transportation, where's the party?" Lyday and I look at each other and I respond with Fred Meyer (which is where we were headed) and she replies with "Not in my pants, thank you." And we both head to the car laughing. These men were older and drunk and quite possibly regularly so. So Michelle was right in that improving ones appearance improves ones odds of picking up a guy. :) She hadn't specified what kind of guy, just that it improves the odds. :D

Weird things

You know how I've mentioned before how frequently I get calls that are wrong numbers. I just received one today on my cell. Even weirder, I called the person back to tell her. I only did it because she was talking to the person explaining how she needed the person's numbers for Girl Scout cookie ordering. If it had been for any other reason I wouldn't have bothered. :) She didn't pick up so I left a message saying that she had called me by mistake and that I didn't want her to miss out on her cookie orders but that the number she called was wrong. And I gave the number so she wouldn't try calling it again.

Unrelated, my job is getting weirdly uncomfortable right now. It is all transitional stuff so hopefully temporary, but still. I don't want to blog about it because I've realized I don't like to blog about the bad stuff. I don't want to reread that years from now. Well, plus I'm paranoid. :)

Accomplished a lot today!

I'm so pleased with everything I got done...
1 - Took Tess to the vet for her shot.
2 - Went to the pet store to get them new food.
3 - Went to the close GF bakery (not the one in Maple Valley) and got a few things.
4 - Went and got passport pictures taken.
5 - Applied for a passport. (yay!)
6 - Filled my apartment with smoke.

Whoops #6 was not an accomplishment that I should brag about. I was cooking a hamburger and apparently burned it a bit. And then when I took the burger off the pan, I forgot to turn off the burner so even more smoke started billowing in the kitchen. In related news, apparently my smoke detector is not working. I'll have to get on battery replacement. :)

I may be an idiot

But I've just agreed to go camping with Lyday President's Day Weekend. Yes. That would be February 16. Am I high? Possibly. We're going camping at Battle Ground Lake State Park. Yay! I'm getting excited about it, although it will not be a warm trip. I'm going to have to acquire some more long undies. I can't find the silk ones I used to own.

My sleeping bag is good to 20 degrees. We've bought extra propane and a tarp for under the new tent. Somewhere in this apartment is actually a small propane heater we can use if we need to. I think it will be good. :)

Cognitive dissonance avoided

I hate You tube. I mean I really HATE You Tube. I also hate it when people send me You Tube links and expect me to look at them as if I care and then ask me questions about it. So you can imagine my chagrin when I was googling Somali children's songs and getting hits that brought me to you tube. Oh no, it could prove helpful! How to readjust my thinking? Luckily I didn't have to. The links were totally not useful. Phew. That's much better. My world remains in place.

Unrelated, I have a bunion. What the hell is that about? I went to the store to buy bunion pads or something and the best I can do is buy moleskin. The bunion pads are more to protect the foot on the side and I need to protect the bottom and then I was also reading about putting a spacer between the big toe and next toe to force the big toe back into alignment. (because that's what a bunion is... a growth that causes your big toe to start moving towards the little toes.) Seriously, we could amputate my right foot right about now and I'd be fine with that.

Passport

I've printed out my pre-filled in application for a passport. Now two pics and $95 later, I will be on my way to passport status. Yippeeee! The last passport I had was issued in 1986 when I was 12. And the pic... oh so unflattering. Maybe I'll take a picture of it and post it because it is funny.

Checkin' it old school

Robin would be glad to know that use of the libraries is alive and well. I spent quite a bit of time at the library on Sunday trying to find out about Somalia. My troops have Thinking Day in two weeks and for the little girls I decided to pick a country rather than ask them to pick one since we've got such a short time. I chose Somalia because I have two girls from there (as they remind me almost weekly). Little did I know that according to google, Somalia's only characteristic is that it is a war-torn country. That's all I could find using various searches, including words like somali children's games and somali culture. Wikipedia gave me some information, but I needed more. So off I went to the library where I found that not only are there plenty (well 4) kids' non-fiction books, but there is apparently enough of a Somali population in Seattle and I found a bunch of children's books in Somali or in Somali with an English translation. I thought that was cool and checked all those out for use on our display table. My next quest... to find an easy to make food that the girls can give out to sample Somali food.

Prettyified part 2

Well obviously married Michelle knows something. I've gotten several compliments today. :)

New Websites!

Two websites I'm currently smitten with...

Discover Ireland. Com

And

Visit Dublin.com

I know I talk a good game sometimes, but I really really think I'm going to do this vacation! :) (Of course it could mean top ramen for the rest of the year but whatever.) :)

Prettyfied

So over on Michelle's new blog, I asked how a spinster like me can improve her odds at finding Mr. Right (NOT by asking out every guy who may catch my eye, Stephen). To that end, I've got a new goal. I'm going to try to make an effort by wearing a bit of makeup every day and doing something with my hair. Today I'm wearing it down with a headband. I'm also wearing a bit of eye shadow, mascara and lip gloss. I think I might take a bit of my tax refund and buy some matching under garments. I remember back in college my mom went on a weird buying spree and bought me quite a few matchy matchy things and although nobody else saw them, I still felt kind of sexy wearing them.

So today's outfit: Off white sweater that I always have liked, blue jeans, white socks with cute flowers on them and brown mary janes that show the cute socks. :)

Ending on a high note!

So today obviously started out grumbly and gripey. But now it has ended in a pretty good way.

1 - I had to call the candidates we didn't hire. That wasn't as bad as I worried it would be. It did make me sad to do it though, but I survived. :)

2 - A faculty member who I helped a couple weeks ago brought me cookies today. AND she is wheat/gluten free too so they are GF cookies! Awesome!

3 - I'm doing a study tonight that will pay me money. Yay!

4 - I'm leaving in 2 minutes and am picking up tacos. Yay!

Further Gripeyness

I cannot get warm. My office is like a refridgerator. I want to go home!!!

3 Things that might make me lose my shit

1 - Committees: The biggest thing I miss about the corporate world (besides corporate world salaries) is the lack of committees. Decisions just get made. You don't have to have a 12 person panel to discuss something to death. At least one of those 12 people doesn't feel that s/he should be on the committee since they "don't represent the people" or some such shit (I dislike those people the worst.). And at least one of those 12 people doesn't pay attention and so gets confused and asks a lot of questions. One of these days I may just stand up in a meeting and say "Just make a decision already!" Of course 10 minutes later I'll be cleaning out my desk but I'm sure it will be a cleansing moment. It will also be a blaze of glory moment which Michelle and I have talked about doing before.

2 - Panhandlers: I am fairly liberal. I regularly contribute money to the food bank and 2nd Harvest. I volunteer for food drives. I am pretty sure that I get panhandled every day I leave my apartment - either actively or passively. (Actively being the "Spare change?" or "Got a dollar?" and passively being just the sign that expresses their need and "God bless".) It's exhausting. It is also the number 1 reason I do not carry cash.

3 - My right foot: So the tendon with the achilles tendonitis hasn't healed yet. That's fine. Whatever. (Ok it isn't fine but I'm dealing.) Recently the joint where my toe and foot join up has decided to get in on the act. It is painful to put weight on it, to bend it one way or really bend it the other way. I think it might be gout. Or else the fact that I'm frequently walking on tiptoe on that foot anyway (due to the tendon) and now have done something icky to that spot too. Either way... walking SUCKS.

Safeway might Rock!

My friend Lyday just called me to tell me that a specific stain remover I have been searching for is sold at Safeway. Rit Super Stain Remover is the most awesomest stain remover I have ever found. (Do I sound like a commercial for them??) I mostly use it for those weird dark spots I get on my solid t-shirts (grease? Maybe??). But this morning I used the last of what I had on two sweaters that had these mysterious spots that apparently only appear in the flourescent light of my office (I've missed them twice when putting on the sweaters at home). Both stains are gone. How awesome is that? It's probably got all sorts of terrible horrible chemicals that are polluting the environment and my boobies (since that's where the stains usually hit) but whatever. At least I'm not totally THAT girl. :)

Sofas!

So if I'm buying a new sofa, I'm trying to get a balance between the crazy expensiveness that they can be and Ikea. Buying a sofa is a big commitment for me. I originally thought that the commitment fear was being a grown up, but I actually realized that my fear is because I'll own it practically forever. I'm trying to find a balance between the holy cow that's so expensive and Ikea.

I like these two from JC Penney.com. But I think I'd have to go to JC Penney to sit on them to test them out. I'll also want it to be in a dark color (like the top one) and hopefully a microfiber.

What a great day!

I'm having an awesome day today.

1 - I have my last candidate interview in about 15 minutes. I have really strong candidates so I won't have to do a second round of this. (Although the hard part is picking a person. Yikes!)

2 - I got to tell an employee who had a back injury that we've been fighting Worker's Comp on that they have finally agreed to pay up and she will be getting a check for all her sick and vacation she had to use due to her injury so she'll be able to buy it back from us. She was speechless.

3 - An employee who yelled at me several years ago because we do not offer reproductive assistance just handed me a form to add his new baby to the health insurance.

4 - I did my taxes last night. Apparently my refund will be enough to do BOTH - take a vacation and buy a new sofa. Yippee!!

5 - EEK! I have a new hire. Now I just have to call and make her the offer (and yuckily enough call the other two and say no. :( )

Vacation!

It has come to my attention that I have not had a vacation in a long time. And by vacation I mean a trip where I go somewhere and stay in a hotel - not in friends' or family homes. (Although technically I did go to Disney with my sister and niece in July but only for 2 or 3 days and the other days we were at her house and I am sorry Mandy (who reads this) but sometimes I want a vacation without family.)

I've been thinking about my tax refund. You know I get one every year. I've already calculated what I think I should be receiving. I was originally thinking of spending it on something useful and slightly necessary - a new sofa. But now I'm thinking vacation. I think Ireland might be nice. I can fly on my sister's benefits. So I would just need hotel/whatnot in Ireland and food. I'll have to stew on this.

Oh so busy!

Today was a relatively really good day, but ever so busy. Work is kicking my ass right now, but I did get all my interviewees called and scheduled for interviews. They'll be coming in on Wed, Thurs and Friday. I feel kind of bad that I am going to have to turn two of them down. They all seem rather nice.

I went to my first water aerobics class of the quarter tonight. That was fun! Totally different instructor than we've had before. My only real concern is this is shallow water aerobics (4 feet) which doesn't diminish the joint impact the same way deep water aerobics does since we are still jumping up and down and touching the ground. Also... when I'm wearing my bathing suit and jumping up and down the top of my suit dips down low enough that my tattoo is visible. Also... unlike the other classes I've taken, this one is not so great for the tankini I usually wear. It floats up and down as I jump. Although this all may be moot as again... there are only 2 people signed up for this class. Sigh. It will probably get cancelled.

Then I had my service unit meeting. I hate that meeting BUT tonight was actually good. We made ice cream and did something with eggs and it was all very cool. What a good day! (Does that mean tomorrow is going to be crappy??) :D

Shop til you drop!

On Saturday I left my apartment at about 10:30 in the morning. I didn't get home until 4:15. That's a LONG day of errand running for me. (And then I left again at 4:45 when I went out to dinner with a friend.) But it was an awesome day.

I mailed out a bunch of cookie order forms to my little girls. I hadn't had them on hand when our Wednesday meeting rolled around. Cookie sales started Friday. Support your Scouts. :) (If you click on the link it will take you to the cookie website where you can do a zip code search for your local council.)

I picked up my present from the Peevery white elephant exchange. I was briefly worried that what I sent wasn't up to par and then I opened it... Hahaha. I am now the posessor of Dream Angels Heavenly scented lotion.

I then caught the bus up to Northgate. There I shopped! I had a bunch of things to return so I ended up doing things like getting the Juno Soundtrack for $2.00 because I had books that I took back to Barnes & Noble. And I got two new Nintendo DS games for $16 total because I had taken back 3 DVDs. Life is good. :)

I also picked up the right kind of wire to try potato batteries with my girls this week. I had bought one kind of wire last week but it was too thick and it was too difficult to twist without pliers. I got some from Radio Shack and it is thin so I have high hopes that we can make it work this week and it will be cool. Of course they'll be annoyed that they have to do it again but too bad for them. :)

Tim Lykis/Danny interview

So several of you wanted to know what Danny said... What I managed to find didn't have the whole interview. I know this because I know that at some point Adam C actually called in to call Danny on his shit. So I only got to listen to the part where they were both being very self congratulatory about how their shit don't stink. Ultimately Danny said that originally he didn't know what was going on and that he came in one day in December (just before their hiatus) and Adam wasn't there and Teresa and the sound guy were panicking about no Adam and he (Danny) took control of the situation and being the professional he was did what he had to do. And that Adam didn't do several things that week including his own party with the fans. This is true. He implied Adam wasn't a professional for skipping out on that and that he (Danny) had done over 100 radio appearances to Adam's 7 for the year. He also had seen Adam in the audience at various events when Adam was supposed to be at a radio function so he knew Adam wasn't sick. (Like in the audience at a Jimmy Kimmel show which was taped at the same time the party was recorded.) He then went on to say that he got a letter over the break about his new show that would be on the 2 - 3 slot every day at his same contracted rate. He knew what that meant and interpreted it as Adam being threatened by Danny. Adam also wrote him a letter but I can't recall what the details were. I know there was something about a band not having two lead guitarists and that was what it was like with him and Danny. Danny mused that bands should have 2 lead guitarists... that makes it the best band ever. (I can agree with Adam on this. Danny needs his own back up guy. He's not good at playing second banana.) Then they started taking callers and everyone was fawning over Danny and how it is great he has his own show blah blah blah.

Could've been worse

In general I don't talk about my work too much here. Mostly because I ultimately have fears of being fired. I don't know why. Currently we're so short staffed the rest of us could show up drunk and insult the president and we wouldn't be fired. (Ok maybe if we did THAT.) But you get my point...

Anyway, since I've been here (4 and a half years) we've been trying to figure out how to get an online benefits solution going. Currently everything is done paper to pencil. Ew. So finally we were on the dockett for the committee that decides the IT stuff and the subcommittee I worked on had two different proposals for that committee. (Remind me sometime to expound upon how much I hate that colleges all use committees to decide everything. The profit world was so much easier on crap like that. We just did what we wanted - with input of course - but we weren't stuck examining our navel for meeting upon meeting upon meeting..) Our proposals were 1 - expensive 3rd party option (oh please yes!) or 2 - less expensive but time consuming and soul crushing letting our IT department build it and take 3 years to do it option. THREE YEARS. (Oh god no!) Well I met with the chairman of the subcommittee who is on the real committee and she had well not the best news but really not the worst. My biggest fear was that we were going to get approved for the 3rd party option but when the budgets were decided we were going to be denied the $50k annually needed for the project. That would've defeated me. I was also braced for the build it ourselves possibility. Not horrible but really not good either. I wasn't prepared for the answer I received... The committee thinks we (the college) needs to fully look at the system we are using for financials and payroll and HR and determine if it needs to be replaced or whatever. On the one hand it means I continue to limp along with paper and an instable Access/Sequel (I know that's not the right spelling) database. On the other... we could be out from under the oppressing thumb of the most crappy HR/Finance system known to man. I can live with our current situation for a bit longer with that as a possibility. However please feel free to remind me of this post 5 years from now when we're still with crappy system and still doing benefits by paper and I've become a depressed drone... Because well... that's how long committees take.

I hear the bells

Is a song by Mike Doughty. I love it. I think I first heard it on Veronica Mars. My favorite line: You snooze you lose, well I snozzed and lost. It cracks me up every time.

Wrong...

Is it slightly wrong that I'm listening to Tom Lykes (Lykis?) in my office when I work in Human Resources?? :) (I'm listening to an interview with Danny post firing from the Adam Corolla Show)

Crazy dreams

I had a dream that I was at the Pioneer Woman's house. I don't know why I thought it was hers but it was in my head. But I wasn't there as a guest of her, it was like I knew a person who knew a person so we were there. She introduced around a bunch of people. Then they all left and for some reason I was on my own. In the foyer I could sense ghosts. So then I end up in a sort of telekenetic battle to get the ghosts out of the house. And it is all very ghostbustery but without the ghostbuster tools. I don't even know how to describe it but the room is whirling around and kind of gray and green and purple. But I win against the ghosts and they all leave. So trippy. Maybe it was my potato & chicken casserole that gave me weird dreams...

Worst radio commercial ever.

I was listening to the radio this morning and I heard a commercial that was just horrifying. It was a commercial for an at home DNA testing kit. Now I don't really have an issue with one of those. Whatever. My horror was at the ad itself. A woman is going on and on about how her husband doesn't believe that their child is his despite her assurances that the kid is. So she got the test and proved it was. Here's my issue... well there are several. 1 - These people obviously need therapy. Either she cheated on him or they had the kid before they were married (and she cheated on him) or he's a total control freak. In any case... it doesn't sound like a healthy stable marriage and a DNA test won't really help it. 2 - What advertising firm thought this was the best way to go? And for that matter what marketing department thought an ad was even necessary. It isn't like it is a product that most people will use. Know your audience. It is a niche product at best. Unless they were trying to hit the men since they played it during the Adam Corolla Show. Maybe it was trying to appeal to all those guys who listen and who aren't sure if they are their baby daddies. I don't know.

I can't decide...

If the annoyingness of Hulk Hogan outweighs the awesomeness of the new American Gladiators. Because seriously... I love this insane show.

iPod

So I posted a posting on craigslist. I also tried to post on the PI site but that one wasn't working for some reason. (You can post found things for free.) The iPod still has music on. I meant restart not reset. So the ad says that they have to let me know color, style and some of the music on it. I can't identify everything on my iPod but I'm pretty sure I could identify a lot. Actually now that I think about it, all I'd have to do is open iTunes and there'd be pretty much everything that is on it. Although now I am thinking I should've gotten my email engraved on the back. I think I figured that if it was found they probably would keep it anyway.

I don't really expect a response, truthfully. But in any event, I feel better that I'm at least trying to do the right thing and not just keeping it outright.

What am I not doing today?

I'll tell you what I'm not doing. I'm not doing laundry. I'm not running things down to the basement to put into storage. I'm not taking out the trash. And why... why might you ask... the fucking elevator is broken AGAIN! AGAIN! Today is what, Jan 4th or Jan 5th (Apparently Jan 6th). The elevator has been broken 3 days of the 6 days this new year. Ridiculous!

Also ridiculous. I went down to the post office to pick up my package that came in while I was gone. It came in on the 24th and I returned on the 1st. I wasn't able to go to the post office until yesterday because the post office has such ass hours. (really 7 - 4:30, I have to be at work at 8:00 how would that work?) Well apparently the post office returned it because I didn't come in to pick it up. Are you fucking kidding me?! The guy asked if I wanted to talk to the manager and I was like, what is that going to do for me? That won't bring my package back.

WWYaD

(What would y'all do?)

Whilst walking home from Stephen's car tonight I noticed something shiny on the ground. It was an ipod mini. I picked it up and looked at it and continued into my building with it (it was 1:15, there was nobody on the street who potentially could've dropped it). It seemed to be stuck but I did that thing where you push the top and the center button and it totally reset. Do I

A - Turn it in to the police station?
B - Advertise in lost & found on Craigslist and in the paper and in my apartment building?
C - Turn it in to the police station and advertise on craigslist and the paper that it was found and turned in to the police station?

Smugpants gets punished

I was feeling all smug because I didn't catch Michelle's cold over Christmas break. Heh. Ask me today about sneezing and tired and well really just the sneezing. I definitely don't think I have it too terribly badly. I haven't even broken out the medicine yet. I'm hoping I don't have to...

Also I was feeling pretty groovy about my tattoo. No problems blah blah blah... Today and yesterday. Itchy. So much itchy I just want to spend the whole day just scratching the hell out of my chest. According to google, this is normal. I don't remember it with my back one but whatever. Also is normal the faint peeling that it is doing. Good to know because I didn't remember that with my back either. Of course it could've but how would I have known since it was on my back.

New Tattoo Picture

This may be more personal than you all want to see but that's the new tattoo (Actually, oh please it isn't like there's a nip in the shot. :) ) I like it.

2007 in Review

I had to post this second so that in 2009 I didn't have this be the first post. :)

January: Round two of pictures from Long Beach with my usual silly commentaries. Strangely it was actually the first round of pictures I actually posted. So weird. :)

February: The lady from the management company called me back this morning.
The first of two rent increases in my building this year. And yet... today the elevator is broken AGAIN and I had to climb 4 flights of stairs lugging a 40 lb suitcase.

March: I just got flowers in my office!
A gentleman at work gave them to me. How nice!

April: I have put off posting because I was going to post this long April Fools Joke post, but then when I thought about it, I felt bad because I didn't want to trick anyone.

May: Forgive me a moment or 4 of bragging. A work post about the benefits fair that I put on. Crap, now that my employee is leaving I'll have to do it again.

June: I have blogger's block. Apparently that struck me semi-frequently in 07. I noticed several posts about blogger's block.

July: Actually I'm back, didja miss me? I had come back from Michelle's baby shower in CA. CA is nice.

August: I have a 3 year plan. Who am I Stalin?

September: Here's another option for the potential tattoo in November. It was a forget-me-not. I love that flower.

October: Saturday morning I volunteered with my employer's Day of Caring. I volunteer a lot, although I notice that I don't do it too often on the first of the month.

November: Ok so now the last thing... shoes. You, the readers, got to control what I wore. In reality you all could probably control what I wear far better than I can. :)

December: Go on... Guess! It was snowing. I LOVE snow!

I'm Home!

Did you miss me?

Oh and Happy New Year!

Fucking Blogger just ate the post I typed so this is not going to be nearly as clever as the other one was. (Ok the other one wasn't clever either but whatever.)

I've just gotten back from CA and my visit with Michelle and baby and her hubby and the whole rest of the clan. I had a good time. It was very relaxing. I got 3 books read and napped in her big comfy leather chair and ate at all my favorite restaurants. One of my favorites... El Pollo Loco. I wish they would have one here. If I had a million dollars I would totally open an El Pollo Loco franchise here in Seattle. How could I not, they're awesome. Oooh also I played with her little baby who is cute and funny and makes me laugh.

We spent New Year's Eve chilling. All we did was watch movies and well watch movies. I actually dozed off during Transformers. We toasted at like 9:30. That's enough I think. :) I think next Christmas break I'll stay home. Oh of course I will because I'll be married and my new husband and I will be planning our life together. ;)

I am not looking forward to going back to work tomorrow. My employee's last day is Friday. I have to hire a new one. Yuck.

Tattoo #2

I went today and got tattoo #2. I am now sporting a very red horseshoe between my b00bies. I'll post a picture later this week. Michelle and I went to a place in Ventura today. The guy who did it was nice. I also appreciated the fact that he both showered recently and was wearing clean clothes. This was important as he spent most of the tattoo time sitting on the table just above my head with his left arm just above my face. Here's what I've learned... getting tattooed on the sternum HURTS. It hurts in a way that my spine did not hurt. Holy hell. After we were done it was still like I was getting pricked. I am pleased with the way it turned out though. :) HOWEVER, I will have to cancel my next blood donation appointment since I now can't donate for a year. You know, unless I don't tell them I've gotten a tattoo in the last 12 months. It isn't like I had seks with a man who had seks with a man in the last 12 months or that I'm a intravenous drug user or anything. It was clean and he used sterile needles and gloves and what not. That's an interesting concept... my blood is helpful to people. I know that the place I went to was sterile and that I didn't pick up hepatitis, but I can appreciate the Red Cross's rules about it. At the same time it is an archaic rule and they test the blood all to hell anyway. So do I lie on the form or do I deny them my lifesaving blood for a year for a dumb archaic rule? Oh please, I'll probably be honest. :)

Happy day!

From what I understand it snowed in Seattle while I've been gone. I'm sad to have missed that! It has not snowed here but it is a bit chilly.

We went and saw Juno yesterday. It's really good. I highly recommend it. We had originally been planning on seeing a sneak preview of 27 Dresses but we missed out on that because there was only 1 seat left and two of us.

I think we're doing arts & crap today and I've got some glass things to etch. I'm happy about that. :) I also have a scarf to finish for a coworker. She admired it during the white elephant gift exchange.

V might come out on Saturday and spend the night. It will be good to see him. I hope he really comes. I bet he won't though.

Christmas was nice. We were all at Michelle's mom's house. They had a lot of people over for breakfast and present opening. I'm always amazed at how many people are in Michelle's family. There are 7 of us total in my family right now. A few cousins and one uncle I've never met on top of that, but that's it. I've not seen one set of the cousins since I was like 8 and the other set since I was about 12. I wouldn't know them if there were 3 of us in a room together.

We did PYOP (Paint your own pottery) yesterday. I LOVE PYOP! Oh actually I think we did that the day before yesterday. The days all run together, especially when there's nothing on TV. I've never noticed how much I've relied on the TV schedule to tell me what day of the week it is. I know some people use those silly things like calendars, but whatever.

Hope y'all are having a good holiday!

In CA

Do you miss me??

I got here on Sunday. It is HOT. Much hotter than I'm used to and it surprised me.

Michelle's baby is cute. She posts pictures on flicker but those do the kid little justice. Seriously. I just like touching her head because she's fuzzy and soft. She's a good baby. Between Kenna and my friend Janel's baby Trygve I may not dislike infants as much as I think I do.

Totally unrelated, I was talking to lyday the other day about adopting kids. My theory on this is that I meet up with a social worker and say you tell me who would do good with me. I do fear adopting a black baby though. Only because I've been listening to my scout moms talking about what you have to do with little black girls' hair and it freaks me out. Hot combs. Wax or something like that. Seriously it is intimidating. Lyday, who is 1/2 black herself, gave me a compliment. She said she thought I'd be great with any kind of kid really. That was nice of her.

So far, we've gone to Mongolian bbq and hung out. Michelle's grandmother, aunt and other aunt came by for dinner tonight. That was a ... tiring meal. It was nice and her hubby cooked a fabulous dinner. One of her aunts, though, had an anyuerism a few years ago and it definitely has affected her. There were kind of weird conversations going on, but in reality every one was nice and civil to each other so that beats most meals with my family 100%.

Slightly related... I wonder if my mother ever told my grandmother about Kayla before my grandmother died. When my grandmother heard Amanada got married, she implied that Amanda HAD to get married. In a fit of righteous indignation my mom lied and said no she didn't. Rather than do the logical thing like announce the baby a year later and just keep Kay a year younger than she really is, she continued to deny the existence of Kay. So weird...

Still on the agenda:
Christmas tomorrow at Michelle's mom's house.
Arts & Crafts projects - Maybe glass etching. Definitely scrapbooking.
A movie - I want to see Juno. Looks funny.
After Christmas shopping
And perhaps tattoos. I am still thinking a horseshoe and now I'm waffling on placement. I originally was thinking between my boobies and now I'm thinking the top of my left foot.

Recently I saw Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox story. HYSTERICAL. Definitely see it. Tonight we watched Spider Man 3. I can't help but think that may have been the most boring movie ever. Ok not EVER, but it was seriously boring.

Merry Christmas!! Have a wonderful day tomorrow and I hope Santa Claus brings you everything you want!

A sign I'm truly designed for my job...

Upon arriving at work this morning, I hear that an employee died on campus today. My first thought was "Crap, I hope it wasn't work related."

Cute!

Last night my new brownie troop and I had our investiture ceremony. They were so cute! My littlest one is 5 and she was so excited about her shiny brownie pin. She ran over to her aunt to show it to her right away. I wasn't sure about this new crop of girls, but I'm starting to dig them a lot. I'm really starting to get a sense of who they are, and who their parents are. It's interesting. And they're a lot of fun, but I really have to watch myself with them about what I say we may do. If I don't follow through they get REALLY upset. Last week we had practiced our ceremony and I said we may be able to play a game. Well we practiced our ceremony a 2nd time and so we ran out of time to play a game and the youngest one cried. I felt really bad. They're really eager to help, which is cute. They're just such fun kids. Although I'm alarmed by the fact that when committing to this new troop, I've now signed up for a good 10 more years of scout leading in Seattle... Holy crap. (That's if they all go into high school. Most of them won't.)

Am I psychic?

I think so. Here's how I know. I was at the deli counter and I noticed a guy off to my right and I thought 'Hmm... that guy looks like guy I used to know.' While I'm standing there I think that I need a basket because I'm buying too much stuff so I head to my left to where the baskets are located. Who is standing in front of the baskets... guy I used to know.

Of course if I AM really psychic then I'll be marrying the guy in the elevator yesterday evening with the amazing eyes but sadly walking the tiny dog that is either a girlfriend's or a boyfriend's with my luck. :)

Oh holy hell...

I just had a bite of the sugar cookies I bought from my bakery. They are so good I could die. I'm totally regretting only buying one package of them and thanking the fact that when I go down to pick up Stephen on Tuesday night it'll be too late to pop in and get some more. Nobody would get presents. I would just get COOKIES!!

Did you hear the alarm go off?

At around 4:30? That was my biological clock. I spent the morning and early afternoon with my friend Janel from Alaska. She was here with her son, the one that was hospitalized last year in Portland. He was at some doctor's appointments to figure out why his blood oxygen sometimes drops. She had been staying at Ronald McDonald House (totally related, the next time you eat at McDonalds, you should throw your change into the little Ronald McDonald House container. They do AMAZING work). But she was booted out on Saturday. She went down to her husband's grandmother's house south of Tacoma but wasn't sure how she was getting back to SeaTac and what to do on Sunday. Thanks to Stephen who is out of town until Tuesday night, I actually had access to a car (and one big enough for a baby and all his accoutrements) so I went to get her and then we went to my bakery and then to JoAnn's Fabrics. It was such a good time. And when I was playing with the baby I started feeling the pang...

After dropping them off at the airport I had to drive up to MOHAI (Museum of History and Industry) to see one of my scout's dance recitals. She was very good, but there was a group of teeny tiny girls dancing and they pretty much sent the pang over the edge. When I adopt, at least one has to be a little girl so I can torment her with dance class. :)

10 Things

Once upon a time a blog reader suggested to me that I should identify the 10 must haves in a future mate. She said to forget about the laundry list of nice to haves and identify the 10 most important things. Then she said to only date people who fit that 10. I told that to Lyday the other day and she mentioned she'd had a list - but of course like most women it was huge and she wasn't sure she could pin down 10. I mentioned it to Stephen and he's afraid to make the list. :) So he asked me mine. I thought about it and came up with several and now I'm writing them down. These are my 10 must haves. (Although they might differ from what I told Stephen because I've already forgotten most of those. :) )

1. Kind
2. Wants children (willing to adopt)
3. Can make me laugh/sense of humor
4. Accepting/non judgemental
5. Non smoker & drug free
6. Is attractive to me. (I have liberal taste remember)
7. Financially responsible
8. Has a job he enjoys or is working towards getting a job he enjoys
9. Willing to volunteer with me
10. Finds me hot. :)

(If I could have an 11 and this isn't really a must have but a would be nice, willing to dance with me on the feet on Broadway)

Update: so I fixed job he enjoys to working towards getting a job he enjoys. I see Michelle's and KtP's point. However, when I say willing to volunteer with me, I don't mean every single volunteer activity I do, but willing to go volunteer someplace with me. It doesn't have to be one of my usual volunteer activities (although I do have quite a variety of volunteer activities), but since volunteering is so much a part of my life, I want it to be a part of my kids' lives and I think in order to be successful with that my partner should do it to so we could do it as a family. Am I possibly being a bit idealistic? Sure. But it's my list. :)

CEBS

Mishka asked what exactly is this CEBS test I'm taking. Well, once upon a time (last year to be exact) my boss of the time mentioned on my performance review that I should become a Certified Employee Benefits Specialist. (CEBS) I said I had thought about it but it was cost prohibitive (tests are $265 with study materials running $120 and you can't pass the test without at least the study guide and possibly the book too (another $120ish)). So I am on my way to becoming an official Certified Employee Benefits Specialist. There are 8 tests to take. I've taken 4 and the one tomorrow will be my 5th. Next quarter I've decided to take two so then the spring quarter I'll take one and be done. This is in case the new boss is a tool and I have to quit sooner than I want to. :) The tests will help me out in the real world make a lot more money. theoretically.

Uh Oh

My employee quit today. I'm fine with it. I knew it was a possibility. Whenever I asked if she wanted to order business cards she'd say "Let's wait and see shall we?" She doesn't want to work in benefits anymore. I can respect that. The uh oh is more for me. Now I have to hire someone. This stresses me out for many reasons:

1. I have the worst taste in potential hires. I'll hire the one who has the saddest sob story about why I should hire them.
2. I am going to have to be the one to call the candidates that we aren't going to hire and say "Sorry, we aren't going to hire you."
3. Did you see line 2?? There's a reason I'm not a recruiter and line 2 is it.
4. I'm also going to have to phone screen people and interview them and all that. I guess that's what being the boss is all about.
5. See #2. No really. See it.

Two chapters left

I'm studying for my next CEBS test which is on Friday. Like the procrastinator I really am I hadn't really started studying until last week. There are 12 chapters in the study guide and I have two left. Phew. I was starting to get worried. On Monday night, I got through chapter 8 and I thought crikey I'm never going to finish this. Then I discovered there were only 12 chapters in this study guide as opposed to the usual 15. Score! :)



Next quarter I'm signed up to take two tests. I want to get this done before the new boss starts. That way I'll have it under my belt for when and if I have to go job hunting.

Smith Tower

Today Lyday and I ventured to the Smith Tower. I've wanted to go there for quite some time, but haven't made the time. The elevator is one of the last manually operated elevators. The building was built in 1914 and I believe the elevator has been in operation the whole time. The view from the top is supposed to be awesome. Let me tell you, it is. There's another reason I've wanted to go but I'll detail that later. :)

This is the exterior of the tower. We couldn't have picked a more beautiful day to go. It was so clear outside. The sky was beautifully blue. It was great!
This photo is the south of Seattle. If you look carefully in the sky you can see Mt. Rainier. I like how it is floating above the lower clouds making it look like Mt. Olympus or something.

Yeah, I have no sense of direction. I think this is southeast. I just like how the city sprawls so far out. Also I like how the cars are little like matchbox cars.

This is the Columbia tower. That's the one I volunteer in in the spring for the Stairclimbs. Isn't it cool? It's seriously tall.

That's the waterfront (obviously).

Can you see the Space Needle in this picture? I like that building with the green dome on top.

I like the juxtaposition of the teeny tiny church with the giant Columbia Tower. I also like the shadow that the Smith Tower is casting.

The cool thing about the Smith Tower is the Chinese Room on the 35th floor (same floor as observation deck). It's just beautiful! This is the ceiling of the tower. The whole room is supposed to be extraordinarily full of good luck. There are phoenixes, cherry and plum blossoms, peonies and the little bird all in the ceiling. There are several dragons and shi dogs. Everything is hand carved. (Totally unrelated I like how Seattle seems to have some very obvious websties... the Woodland zoo has zoo.org, the Smith Tower has Smithtower.com and the Chinese room has Chineseroom.com. That's kind of funny to me.)

Here's a close up of one of the tiles. It is the cherry blossom tile. They are so colorful and are carved in Teak. I believe that Teak is a very hard wood. (I could totally be wrong about that.)

There's also a rather famous chair up in the top of the tower. This is a detail in the back of the chair. Can you see the dragon's face?

This tiger is in the back of the chair. Isn't it exquisite? The chair is carved Mahogany. Isn't that also a hard wood?

And here's me in the chair. The reason the chair is so famous? It is the Wishing Chair. From the website:

Be sure to take a look at the famous Wishing Chair. Legend has it that a single woman who sits in the chair will marry within a year. Happily, this legend came true for Smith's daughter.

Of course I believe in this so y'all are invited to my wedding around this time next year. :)

I will say that Lyday found a blog where it totally worked for a friend of the blogger. And it wasn't like she was dating some guy for years and he finally proposed - she was totally single with no prospects. I believe. I do.

Which is better?

Option A

Option B

Which is better? Option A or option B? I'm crocheting a scarf and a hat for my white elephant Christmas gift thing at work and I can't decide which pattern I like better. Although now that I look at what it could look like I'm leaning towards B. Give me your advice! :)

Oh ho the rattlin' blog

The blog down in the valley -o. Did we ever sing that song at camp, Michelle? We sang it in AZ I know. :) Ok it wasn't about a blog but whatever.

There's a whole bunch of stuff going on lately. (I just realized I tend to say an assful or assload and I heard it the other morning and discovered it is a morning DJ thing. I listen to Adam Corolla and he says it. Weird that.)

1 - I walked all the way to the grocery store last night to pick up stuff for my scout meeting. I had a basket full of things I needed. I got to the check out and realized my wallet was back at my office in my backpack. I put all the groceries away and left with my tail between my legs. I took it as a sign we weren't meant to do science last night but art instead. I had art stuff.

2 - Lyday and I are going to the Smith Tower tomorrow. We are going to the top which will be pretty and we are going to sit in the Wishing Chair. Allegedly, when a single gal sits in the chair, she'll get married in the next year. I have high hopes.

3 - Sunday Stephen, Benjammin and I are going to the Pacific Science Center. I'm looking forward to that too because I love the Pacific Science Center. It's awesome! And I've not been with a little kid in a long time. I hope he'll have fun!

4 - I have been having some pangs of regret recently. Sometimes I go back and reread a blog post or two to remind me about why things had to end the way they did.

Note to self

Despite your thinking otherwise, Southwest Airlines still do not have assigned seating. In the future don't book with them. You should've held out for getting a flight discounted through your sister you dumbass.

Flux

I was driving a Flexcar the other day and I thought that it might be nice to own a car again. It isn't likely I'll get one while I live in my apartment, but since I'm bitter about the place I am still hoping to move sooner or later. Ultimately, though, everything hinges on something else. My boss is leaving. Not my immediate boss whose job I now have, but my big boss. He's been on a leave of absence for the past few months and will not be able to return from it. I'm feeling anxious about this. I wouldn't feel so anxious if it weren't for the toolman. My boss's boss. I don't trust him. I don't trust him to do the right thing for our office. I'm planning on sticking it out until next fall at the earliest. I want to finish my CEBS certification and that's when I'll be done. After that... who knows. It could be good. I'm trying to remain optimistic. The toolman could hire someone who'll be great. Yes. He will hire someone great. (See positivity!)

Wussy

I'm turning into a wussy. I need to run a bunch of errands and since it is raining outside I don't want to go. Maybe in 45 minutes when I'm done watching Grease 2 (I know I should be ashamed but I'm not. I LOVE this movie) I'll feel like putting shoes on and venturing out.

Unrelated, well maybe a little related, remember a good year year and a half ago I lost my crystal that I've been wearing since college? I thought it disappeared on the bus (which made sense since it was shortly after I got off the bus I noticed the string I was wearing it on was broken.) apparently it wasn't left on the bus. Somehow it ended up in my sofa. So weird. But I'm thrilled to have it back. I think I'm going up to this bead shop on Broadway to get a new silver chain for it. That's one of my errands.

Santa

I'm watching an old episode of the Brady Bunch in which Cindy goes to see Santa. There were many things notable about this episode... 1 - Mike leaves her in line while he goes to exchange a present, she's 6. 2 - She doesn't carry on like a fool while in line by herself. She just stands there properly. 3 - There's not the photo elf which seems to be the only purpose of mall Santas these days. 4 - I'm such a sap I started tearing up when Cindy asked Santa for her mom's voice back so she can sing in the Christmas concert.

It also made me cry for a different reason. When I lived with the kids while my sister went through a bone marrow transplant, my nephew was 11 and my niece then must've been about 7. We went to see Santa at the pet store. (In fact I still have the picture of Minka and their ferret Slinky with Santa. That's just funny.) Despite the fact that I don't think he still believed in Santa at that point he asked Santa for a gift. His mom to get better from her cancer. Santa looked sadly at him and said he would do what he could but he couldn't make any promises. Poor Santa, what a hard job he must have.

Guess what's happening outside!!

Go on... Guess!

It's SNOWING! Yay! It isn't supposed to stick. Allegedly it will be just a light dusting. But it still makes me happy.

Dude, I'm like totally stoned right now...

Ok I'm not. BUT I did just eat some awesome Gluten Free Pizza I bought here on the hill. It's made from hemp. I find that peculiar but it is good pizza. I'm rather pleased. It's within walking distance from my apartment so I work off the pizza before I eat it by having to walk up a giant hill to get home. The crust was an odd shade... kind of gray, but whatever. It tasted good. AND unlike the other GF pizza place I go to this is real crust made by the guy right there. The other place uses the same Kinnikinnick foods crusts I can get at the health food store up in Northgate. (They add good things to it, don't get me wrong, but it isn't the same.) All in all two thumbs up.

What the hell?

Did you ever wake up from a dream so befuddled by it that you're thinking What the Hell??? I did. This morning I was dreaming that I was dating someone I know. And I was happy about it (in real life, I am not interested in this person like that and do not want to date this person.) and we were even adopting a kid together. It was so weird. The kid WAS cute though. A girl, all cute little girl haircut and cute little girl teeth.

According to dreammoods:

Kissing: If you are kissing a friend, then it represents your respect and adoration for your friend. You are seeking some intimate closeness that is lacking in some waking relationship. It may or may not signify a romantic interest for him or her. (Not helpful dreammoods!)

Date: To dream that you are on a date, suggests that you are getting to know some hidden aspects of yourself. You are acknowledging your hidden talents. Alternatively, it may reflect your anxieties about dating or finding acceptance.

Daughter: To see your daughter in your dream, represents your waking relationship with your daughter and the qualities that she projects. If you do not have a daughter, then it symbolizes the feminine aspect within yourself. (I'm cute and have little girl teeth?)

Adopted: To dream that you or others are adopting a child, indicates that you are taking on something new and different. Ask yourself what is missing in your life that would make you happy.

Hmmm... If I were to hazard a guess I'd say it may be time to find a date or two. Sigh.

IT Rules!

I emailed one of my buddies in IT asking if they had an AC adapter I could borrow and they totally did! Yay!! I think this means I can't say anything bad about IT for a while. :D

I survived

I leve in a few short hours and there have been no meltdowns or serious drama. That's kind of exciting. I'll be without computer tomorrow :( Hopefully my new adapter comes in SOON.

Kinda cool

I'm going to hang out some time today with my best friend from elementary school. I've known her longer than I've known anybody outside my family. Kinda cool... kinda weird. :)

Awesome...

Been here less than 24 hours and there's already been one screaming match. Luckily I was not involved in this one. It would be my parents with each other. Awesome. That's not at all uncomfortable.

I've arrived!

Well I survived the first part of my family visit. I'm here in Arizona. We'll see how thing go. I find myself very tense here... not just due to the events of the last time I was here, but because there's ALWAYS someone around me. It's already killing me. Also I'm politically ideologically different than the whole fam so they frequently make comments that grate.

I am almost done with my scarf in pink and purple that matches my hat. :) I had a lot of time to crochet while waiting for planes and even while on the plane.

Another reason why Canadians are cool

While I was doing laundry this morning I discovered something weird at the end of my roll of quarters. There was a bit of color and I thought it was a sticker on the end of a quarter but I scraped it with my nail and nothing happened. So I flipped the roll over and dropped all the other quarters out to see what was going on. It's a Canadian Quarter. Apparently a few years ago, they released a Breast Cancer quarter. How awesome is that? I think I'm going to save it in my jar where I save other interesting money. It's kind of cool.

Totally unrelated, I think I want to watch TLC's new show London Ink. Two reasons for this... 1 - Hello, accents are HOT and 2 - One of the artists... even hotter. :)

I'm hungry

And I don't know what I want to eat. Although last night I had 1/2 a piece of chocolate cake and it was AWESOME. I love it a lot! (The pieces are kind of big so that's why I only eat 1/2.)

I didn't make it downtown yesterday so I need to leave soon to go get new tennis shoes and marzipan. I think I'll pick up lunch downtown too. :) Mmmm... tacos!

I'm searching for my airline ticket for CA for December and it seems like all the sites are the same now. I tend to go through the list... travelocity, orbitz, expedia, kayak, farecast... and there's no real variation on what they come back with. Oh well.

Crash Boom Bang!

I got off the bus this evening after going to the library and as I'm walking towards the stoplight to cross the street I hear a guy screaming obscenities. I, being the curious gal that I sometimes am, wonder what's going on and turn my head and pull off my headphones to see a bus and a Porsche in a dispute over who belongs in the lane. Specifically the bus won. It appeared, from my untrained eye, that the bus was in the right of way and the Porsche clipped the bus. In any event the meathead Porsche driver (so judged based on his appearance and his total lack of control over the bus/Porsche incident) was fairly certain the bus driver was at fault and as I walked away was shouting obscenities at him. In one way it was awesome, but mostly I felt bad for the bus driver. I know how I feel when I've wrecked my car. It must be worse when it is your bus!

Totally unrelated, I'm going to Maple Valley this weekend for Gluten Free goodies! I am totally stoked! (I also think I'm going to Pike's Place market because I think I can get my mother some Marzipan and I know she likes that.)

Yummy

The girls and I made cinnamon applesauce dough tonight. I used a variety of tips I found online and added glitter to the dough and I had the girls mix their own dough in a ziploc baggie. We made a mess, but these girls are good at cleaning up after themselves. They made a variety of shapes and some used cookie cutters. My hands still smell awesome of cinnamon. I have to set the ornaments out to dry now. Luckily I almost never use my oven since I don't think there's a flat ferret proof surface in my apartment. :) I can set them all up in there. On Monday, I bought a ton of cinnamon so now I have some left over. I also have some dough left over so I can do my own. Yay! :)

Apparently I have a quality?

Today Lyday and I went out shopping in the afternoon. We shopped a lot. Among the things she was shopping for was a new TV. At not one but TWO places we went we were presumed to be a couple. What the hell? Can't two women, one wearing fleece and the other a green lantern sweatshirt and jeans, who bicker not shop for a TV without people judging? Well, maybe we do have a quality... Lyday did prove a point when she hauled her new TV out of the cart and put it into her car as though she were picking up a piece of paper.

(There I fixed the comma, happy grammar police?!) :)

Two Things

1 - The post about publishing a NaNoWriMo blog was my 2,000 post. Who knew? 2,000 posts in 4 years. That's a lot of talking without actually saying anything.

2 - Once upon a time, I was a freshman in college. I remember laying across my bed one day listening to Pearl Jam on my Walkman and singing along. My friend, who lived across the hall from me, Shelley, walked in and without a word took the tape from my Walkman and went back to her room. Apparently according to her and Kate, I should not sing. I'm sure my neighbors this morning would agree with that. I've been lying in bed all morning long listening to my iPod and playing solitaire and singing along with the songs playing. It was awesome.

I feel pretty... oh so pretty...

I just got home from my fancypants gala. Well, actually I just got home from hanging out at Bauhaus with Stephen after the gala. (Ok technically I'm now writing this on Sunday morning since I got totally tired last night and couldn't finish)

The gala was really fun. There was a bit of miscommunication between Stephen and I which resulted in him hanging outside my apartment for 30 - 45 minutes and me sitting at the gala going I hope he's on his way. He emailed me that he didn't have his phone which I translated to with him in Vancouver not the real thing which was he didn't have his phone which is broken so he won't have his phone. :) So I called and texted him after I left for the gala on foot. He only got the voicemail through luck. But I can rest assured that my building manager will not give out my information. Of course that's probably because he doesn't seem to actually know who I am but whatever.

Ok so my dress was awesome and I got complimented a ton. And it was fun seeing who didn't recognize me all fancified. The food was also awesome - so yummy. I had risotto which I've never had before. THAT'S yummy! I did get tipsy after 2.5 glasses of wine and I was actually willing to dance but I didn't mention that to Stephen until it was too late and the last song started playing while I was in the bathroom. The Temptations played which was cool. I liked it more than I thought I would. After the gala, we went to Bauhaus to sober up and closed the place down.

I wore the little black strappy shoes and discovered they suck! The strap across the back heel wouldn't stay up so they were flippy and then I ended up stepping on the strap. I took them off to walk down to the Westin because it was easier than wearing them. Sad for my pedicure, but totally much easier to walk that way. Apparently you can take the girl out of country but you can't take country out of the girl. :)

Hurtling towards insanity

Michelle just kindly reminded me that Thanksgiving is less than 2 weeks away. TWO WEEKS AWAY PEOPLE! Do you know what this means? (Do you?!)

1 - It means I have 2 weeks to Christmas shop for the fam. I would rather either buy the stuff there whilst I'm in AZ or buy it here and schlep it down there with me. Anything to avoid actually having to ship stuff.

2 - I have to go to AZ in two weeks! I don't know how this will go. I'm sure anticipating high drama will ensure it will happen. Is it too late to get valium? (kidding.) (Well sort of) :)

Wiping me out!

Those little girls wipe me out. Last night I got home at about 10 til 8. I ate my tacos and watched America's Next Top Model and then I couldn't find anything else to watch. So I looked at the On Demand stuff and picked Dirty Dancing. I love Dirty Dancing and it's mindless and perfect since I was mostly doing other stuff anyway. Apparently somewhere around the "Penny's in trouble, Baby" part I fell asleep. I woke up when Johnny and Baby were dancing in the rehearsal room after they'd already done the show at the Sheldrake and all that. And then apparently I dozed back off and woke up again at the end of the movie. And I only had 3 girls show up. I can't imagine how tired I'll be when the others regularly show up.

Apparently I need a new DVD player. I went to open mine last night to watch my latest Netflix DVD and it wouldn't open. Not even a little bit. Not at all. Sad. It is probably hmmm... I've lived here 5 years now and I bought it with Michelle in CA at KMart at one of the after Thanksgiving sales so I'm going to go with it is at least 6 years old if not older. I suppose I could get a new one. But then what do I do with the old one? Hmm...

Three things

1 - I just squashed 2 ferrets who were happily sleeping on my bed. I feel a tad bit guilty about that. Poor girls.

2 - Whilst at QFC picking up juice boxes and snacks for my scout meetings this week I picked up a box of Capri Sun apple juices. I put them down in favor of Capri Sun flavored water drinks and discovered, much to my chagrin, one of the pouches had leaked and fermented maybe? Whatever... it was leaking fluid and that fluid did not smell good. Unfortunately I got it on my jacket so now my jacket stinks.

3 - Whilst trying to buy nail stuff at Bartell, my damn credit union bank card for my Alaskan account was rejected. That's always embarrassing. I got home and discovered that I have money in the account so I have no idea why it was rejected.

4 - (ok so that's more than 3) I'm crocheting a scarf to match my hat. It is cute and pink and purple. Clearly I'm regressing back to being 6.

Hmmm... Do I make it public?

I'm doing Nanowrimo again this year. I do it every year with the best of intentions and then never finish. My I suck. :) I think last year I got the closest I've ever gotten which was 25k words. Not too shabby. Already it is the 5th of November and I'm behind. I should be doing 1166 words a day. I'm at 155. Total words. Sad isn't it? I'm kind of excited about the story I'm writing and I'm considering blogging it. A lot of people do. The complicating factors are as follows: 1 - I'm terrified of judgement. I don't want y'all judging me. 2 - I'd want to post the link on my nanowrimo page so that people could see it which, if I used my blogger id, would lead to the potential of the former WC and another person finding this blog. I think. Ok I see that actually I can remove all the different blogs from my profile. Phew. BUT we're still back to concern number 1. I think I'm going to do it. It'll make it easier to post from various spots like work and home. Coo'

Vote

Ok so now the last thing... shoes. Which pair is better? Both are in flat black not patent leather (which Michelle recommended) for two reasons. 1- Avenue didn't have any patent leather shoes. and 2 - This way I can wear them with other things.