Happy Halloween!

Please enjoy this Obama pumpkin of hope and optimism.

Photo by Tony Delgrosso

And! Ballard has made the New York Times today. We're that cool.

I may be living in West Seattle next weekend, but for one more week, I'm a Ballard Gal.

Represent!

Undecided? Really?

My friend Dan's most recent post turns our attention to Margaret & Helen's blog. And boy howdy, Margaret is on fire about this election.

I choose not to blog too much about politics and my opinions. I think you know my opinions. And I think you know who I'll be voting for. But if I were to blog about politics, I wouldn't be able to do it as well as Margaret. She's blunt, honest and doesn't give a shit if you agree with her or not.

Her current post speaks directly to that person who is still undecided about who they'll vote for.

Undecided. Really?

Well, if that's the case, or if you're just curious, check out Margaret's blog.
She's quite persuasive.

Insight To My Future?

Best search term EVER to find my blog:

raechelle pornstar

Nice. Very nice.
One other Google search of interest:

I get headaches at the smell of cookies

Poor thing. That sucks.

By far though, the Google image search for homecoming mums is still the number one search driving traffic to my blog. A close second is a search on the word “hyperosmia”.

Gotta love Sitemeter.

Red Hair

Dee asks for a photo, so she gets a photo.

It's not bright red. Deep, burgundy red. I'd like to get it done professionally and just have it flamin' red. Ah, one day.....

For the record, I don't like my nose.

Weekend Update

TBBE does a great job of laying out the actions of the weekend, which makes it so much easier (and quicker) for me to simply throw in my little random thoughts and tidbits. Because, as I may or may not have mentioned, my new job is surrounded by people who actually adhere to the 30 minute lunch rule (so we're only at work 8.5 hours a day, as opposed to 9) which doesn't leave me a whole lotta time to blog because my blogging includes 20 minutes of self editing.

And I just used up 10 minutes on that paragraph (while eating my salad). Ack.

So!

Did you know that blackberry bushes leave little infected welts on your skin when they poke you? Yeah, I didn't either, or I would have worn gloves when we were cleaning up the bushes next to the carport. Man, my hands hurt today. I've got four major owies. I've been pouring hydrogen peroxide on them, but that's not helping the pain. See why I avoid manual labor? I get hurt. I never get hurt when I'm sitting on the couch watching football. Never.

Unless I pull something while screaming at the TV.

Speaking of which, holy crap, we finally won a game! We beat the 49ers. Which, come on, they were 2 and 5. But hey, we won. Yippee.

Update: 17 minutes left in my lunch. Pardon any typos from here on out.

I got my beautician on last night. I colored Kayleigh's hair bright strawberry so now those blue eyes and freckles stand out even more. I was going to wait to do my hair (dark red) until Thursday, since it's a temporary color and I wanted it bright for Halloween, but I was jealous that K got transformed so I ended up doing my hair, too. I feel like a hottie.

And then I ordered fishnets with built in garters from Amazon this morning, so now I'm just feelin' naughty. My semi-respectable costume (albeit, still slightly trashy) is slowly morphing into Great Big Whore. And I don't care. It will make for good pictures when I'm 75 and looking back at photos and pining for my youth.

And in other news, my calendar is clear this week, as I must start packing. Must. Well, maybe there's a walk in there. And maybe dinner with Jamie. But that's it! I mean it.

**********
Best Quote of the Weekend:

Kayleigh (grabbing a pair of 3 inch black, shiny stilettos at DSW, with a big smile on her face):

"These will definitely make you look like a slut. Try them on!"

Alone and Productive

So, I finally finished the infamous magazine project. Whew!

Jamie gave me an expanding pocket filer Monday when we went to dinner. She asked if I needed it for anything (HA! Of course I do!) and that's when it hit me. I should put the pages that I rip out from magazines in these pockets (organized by beauty, fashion, household tips, decorating, holiday decorating, etc...... you get the idea...) rather than in the sheet protectors in the three ring binder. Easier access, easier to actually put them in the filer and the thingy zips up all nice and pretty!

In a mere three hours this evening I finished up the project. And it was just what I needed. Some alone time, in my sweats, on the couch, doing something for me. I haven't been doing a lot of that lately, have I? Yes, I'm enjoying the organizing and cleaning at Todd's and yes, that's for me so that I can get my stuff in there, but it's not really mine. This magazine project, regardless of how small and inconsequential this is, it's something I've been wanting do for two years.

And it's done.

Now what can I obsess over?

An Iron Is An Iron Is An Iron

So, here's a funny little story for you, as I begin to clean out my hall closet.

(Yes, still having dinner with Jamie. Just not until 7:30pm.)

When I moved out on my own for the first time, my Other Mother Mary bought me an iron. I think it was Mary. Anyway, this was a good iron. I don't iron much, but dammit, I had a good iron now.

I brought it with me when I moved to Seattle. I kept it when I lived with my roommate because he was a dude and didn't own an iron. I kept it when I lived with Mike (yet another mistake from hell) even though he had an iron. It was fortuitous. We broke up a month after signing a year's lease.

Then came the back-n-forth living situation with Steve. Still kept my iron. He had an iron, but since we lived together for a few months, then apart for a few months, then back together for a few months, I just kept the iron. It was almost a security blanket at this point.

After five years of living together, that iron found a home in the bottom drawer of the spare dresser in the office. I said something to my mom about it one day, how I really should get rid of it because we don't need two irons. But for some reason, I just couldn't bring myself to put it in the Goodwill pile. Mom called me a weirdo.

"It's an iron. You can buy another one if you ever need one. Just get rid of it!"

But the iron stayed in it's place in the bottom drawer.

Then Steve and I broke up. Ha, Mother! I don't have a bed, a couch or an apartment, but by gawd, I HAVE AN IRON!! VICTORY IS MINE!!

Let's skip ahead.

Two weeks ago, I was looking for an iron at Todd's. I couldn't find one. I finally asked him if he had one, he said yes he had one, and went off to fetch it.

Then he came back and said he was misinformed.

He did not, in fact, have an iron.

[pause]

Get it?

I have an iron! I shouldn't have had an iron, but I do! And Todd doesn't!

See how everything in the universe just falls into place? It's craziness!



No, I haven't been drinking.
Why?

Autumn Has Arrived

If I were in Texas right now, I'd be running for the closet in the middle of the house. Holy crap, that cloud looks bad.

But I'm in Seattle, and I've been here long enough to know that this is merely the First Creepy Storm of the Season. I knew it was coming, yet it still puts me in awe.

If you could see further west, over the water, you'd see that it's just solid black now and pouring the rain. But just a few minutes ago, you could see the sunset over the mountains and the sky was pink.

I love living here.

One October day, a few years ago, Steve and I sat out on our balcony, facing west, and literally watched the first storm of the season move in over the span of two hours. We started out in shorts and t-shirts because it was warm and sunny, but then the wind started so we each threw on a fleece. You could smell the air change and feel the weight of the storm. The clouds got thicker, the lightning started up and we could hear thunder rumbling over the water. The temperature dropped about ten degrees, so we grabbed blankets and curled back up in the lawn chairs. But we sat out there until the rain drove back us inside.

It was beautiful.

And now, it's autumn again. The storm tells me so.

At Last....The Boudoir

I know you all have been waiting on the edge of your seat for the boudoir to be finished. Alas, it was not meant to be as I have a mere three weeks left here and should probably begin to think about packing.

But I thought I would give you a couple of pictures of how far we came.

You'll have to just imagine the bed. The plan to sell it came about rather quickly and I didn't have a chance to take photos before it went bye-bye.

(photo taken pre-bed-go-bye-bye)

Notice the damask pattern on the inside of the lampshade. Which matches the curtains perfectly.

Sigh.

Don't get me wrong. I'm happy to be going to Todd's and decorating his bedroom with him. We've already looked at bedding we like that will incorporate what we both want and I absolutely LOVE that all of his furniture matches. I never got that far. But I'll just save my curtains and lampshades so that when we have an extra bedroom one day, it will be the Damask Room.

And since I never took any updated photos of my living room and dining room, once I actually got settled, here ya go.

And as a bonus, here are my Halloween decorations. These are from the same woman who made the Santa and reindeer.

Weekend Update In Random Thoughts Form

Shaun finally made it to a movie night Friday night and met my Other Friends, Trish and Dan. Worlds collide. And I was reminded of this exchange from Seinfeld. Elaine has invited George’s girlfriend, Susan, to join the group for something and George is freaking out to Jerry.

GEORGE: Ah you have no idea of the magnitude of this thing. If she is allowed to infiltrate this world, then George Costanza as you know him, ceases to exist! You see, right now, I have Relationship George, but there is also Independent George That's the George you know, the George you grew up with -- Movie George, Coffee shop George, Liar George, Bawdy George.

JERRY: I love that George.

GEORGE: Me, too! And he's dying Jerry! If Relationship George walks through this door, he will KILL Independent George! A George, divided against itself, cannot stand!

**********

I sold my bed. It's official now - I have to move. McP is off to San Diego and, as luck would have it, needed a new bed. Whew. I was dreading listing it on craigslist and only getting a third of what I paid for it.

Looks like I'll be on the couch for a few weeks. Unless I can get rid of that, too. It's a sleeper sofa! And it's free! Unless you want the red pillows with it. Those puppies weren't cheap.

I'm also selling the brand new dresser that I assembled ALL BY MYSELF. The determination and sweat I put into that baby is worth at lease $150, don't you think?

**********

Ruby got her 15,000 mile check up Saturday. She drove away with a clean bill of health. Except for the rear brakes. Apparently, we're at 30%. And apparently rear brakes cost around $200. Ha. I laugh at rear brakes. I have brakes on the front, right? I should be fine.

*********

Saturday night, we went to see Night of the Living Dead at the Seattle Children's Theater. Odd, you say? Yes. It was. But it was also very funny.

**********

Sunday was spent gathering Halloween costumes for the post Halloween party, and I am SO EXCITED! I will say nothing except the pointy-toe stiletto heeled boots are part of the costume. ROWR!

You'll just have to wait for pictures.

**********

The reality that I am moving in in a mere three weeks hit home yesterday, so we have cleared our calendar for this coming weekend. We need to prep for the party on November 1, then the move the following weekend. Believe it or not, there is still cleaning to do, which includes some dump runs and organizational purchases.

Yeah, I said it. Dump runs. And I'm not going to re-word it.
It makes me chuckle.

Anyway, we got things to do.

In the meantime, however, I have a jam packed scheduled this week. Dinner with Jamie this evening (drinks beforehand with Cyn were cancelled. Whew.) Bob Schneider at the Triple Door tomorrow night. A Gilda's Club panel, in which I am supportive arm candy, on Wednesday. Walking and (hopefully) dinner with Shaun on Thursday. Then we're back to Friday, movies and oh, what's that? A five month anniversary.

**********

Don't even mention the Seahawks game to me. Just don't.

Damn Flu Shot

Flu shot time
They say it's voluntary
But they lie
Free shots from 8:00 - 10:00am
Get a piece of candy!
I have candy in my cube, thankyouverymuch
Suck it up
Be a big girl
1...2...3...
Prick
No big deal
Would just like to have the choice

Three hours later
Ooooowwwwwww
Arm is sore
Feeling tired
Want my jammies

Damn flu shot

Kitty Yoga

When you're stressed and ready to kill someone, follow the Kitty Yoga......

(more animals)

No Book To Read, But At Least I Have Doritos

I finished "Breaking Dawn" last night. Fan-freakin'-tastic. Can't wait for the movie!

But now I have nothing to read at lunch. So I blog.

And I eat Doritos. Because I can.

As long as I don't look at the list of ingredients, they're quite tasty. But the paragraph long list of words I can't pronounce totally kills the joy. So, I dump them out on a plate and throw the bag away. Clever, aren't I?

I'm also eating a sandwich from the little deli downstairs. Not bad, but it has mustard on it. I don't like mustard. Not a big mayo fan either. But this is "stone ground" mustard, so it has a bit of a smokey flavor. Better than yellow mustard. Yuck.

There's swiss cheese on my sandwich, too. Man, I love cheese.

Sigh.

You've missed me, haven't you?

Little Ol' Update

While my new job is fantastic, it really cuts into my blogging time. And when I get home from the fantastic job, I'm too busy doing administrative stuff/taking out the garbage/cleaning/reading/sleeping to write a post. And weekends are out because rarely do I even have time to check my email from Todd's. There's cleaning to do!

So I thought I'd just take some time this evening to update you.

First, my new desk. It's no green closet, but it's mine. And it's homey.

And it's blurry, I see now. Crap.

See those windows up there? They're frosted, but that's about the only daylight I really see, if I don't leave the building. I asked my buddy why they were frosted. He said those windows are at ground level (the building backs up against a hill) and they overlook a parking lot. Where homeless people hang out. And those homeless people were peering in at my co-workers all day. So the windows got frosted.

And my name plate. Pardon my horrible handwriting.

Speaking of work, the first "con" has appeared. No more individual, unisex bathrooms. My old department had a typical ladies room, but it also had four unisex bathrooms. Nice and private. Now I'm running into co-workers on my pee breaks and am forced to make small talk. Really not my idea of a good time.

Other than that, the new job is great. My co-workers are fabulous (even though I don't like making small talk with them in the bathroom) and my boss is a complete delight. It's nice to not dread going to work in the morning. Oh, I still dread getting up. And I'm sure it irks Todd when I'm whining at 6:30 in the morning that I HATE getting up early and it's too cold and it's too dark and just give me five more minutes!

But once I'm up, it's all good.

Not much else to update you on.

Oh, I had a letter taped to my front door when I got home today, notifying me that the apartment management company had received my Notice to Vacate and would begin showing my apartment so could I please be sure to tidy up.

[pause]

Um....do you even know me? My place is pretty "tidy" on any given day, but now that I'm really just sleeping here four nights a week, there's even less to clean up. I did wipe down the stovetop because the months of dust that has accumulated on it looked icky. Hard work, I tell ya.

Okay, that's about all I have to update you on. Now I'm off to soak. I have three chapters left in "Breaking Dawn" and we're down to big battle. I'm going to need bubbles for this.

We're Gonna Need More Rope

I said to Jamie months ago that I loved my apartment so much that I was going to need something bad to happen that will make me want to leave it. And Jamie, being the optimist she is, said, “How about needing something good to happen to make you WANT to leave it?”

That’s why I love her.

So, while yes, there are good things happening that make me WANT to move in with Todd, a bad thing has happened to make me want to leave my apartment.

Potato, potahto.

Last night, I discovered that I have a new downstairs neighbor. That’s what I get for not being home for the last 10 weekends. It was the recent loud music that made me suspicious. Suzanne, my former downstairs neighbor, was very quiet. Hermit-like. So, Monday, when I heard the thudding music, I just thought Suzanne was feeling a bit perkier than normal. That’s cool. Even heard some booming male voices. You go, girl!

But then there was loud music Tuesday night. Until about 11pm. Suzanne told me, when I introduced myself to her last year, that she went to bed early and got up early. Huh. Maybe she changed jobs.

But then. Music again last night. Many booming voices last night. Maybe Suzanne has turned her apartment into a brothel. Maybe she now has male clients. I’m all for small businesses, so good luck to you, Suzanne. Just turn the music down a little. That beat doesn’t really sound like bellyrubbin’ music, anyway. Too fast.

At 11:30pm though, it occurred to me that this was a new pattern. And I haven’t been home much lately, so if Suzanne had moved out, I probably wouldn’t have noticed. So I put my jammies on and went to the mailboxes.

Sure enough. No more Suzanne. Now it’s K. Somethingerother. Kevin? Kasey? Who knows. I do know that he likes rap music. And he doesn’t go to bed very early.

So, now we’ve got Esther, her heavy feet and her drum upstairs and K., his buddies and his rap music downstairs. Sigh.

You know where I’m going with this, don’t you?

The Universe is hanging up more red, velvet rope.
“This way, please…..that’s it….right this way.…”

But you know what? I’m one up on her.
I turned in my Notice to Vacate letter today.

I'm moving in with Todd on November 8th.

My Dove Promise

Yes, I'm eating chocolate. A lot of chocolate.
And know what my Dove "Promise" said?

Kick a bad habit today.

Um. Like eating a lot of chocolate? Is that the bad habit to which you are referring?

Well, screw you, Mr. Dove.

Because chocolate is the only thing keeping me happy today. Dark chocolate. Milk chocolate. Chocolate with peanuts.

So there.

Sigh.

I want a cookie.

Horoscope

From Yahoo:
Don't have expectations that are too high, today. You need to slow down, anyway.

Your emotional state is a bit off right now, but that doesn't mean you're in a bad place. If you can just reconnect with what's real, you should be able to settle some old scores and move on with your life.

I don't think I need to elaborate. Same shit, different day.

I do think it's funny that I was talking to Jamie just last night at dinner about being happy, but still.....homesick. For something. Not sure what. So yes, my "emotional state" is "a bit off" right now.

I also cancelled a few plans for the week. That's part of the emotional stress. Too much going on, not feeling like I have any downtime to just be. The 16 year old in me is pouting, but she'll get over it. I'll make her read "Breaking Dawn" tomorrow and Thursday night. She'll like that.

Port Townsend - She Said

The weather, and other maddening factors, are threatening to dampen my mushy weekend high, thus sucking the humor and life out of this here blog post.

But I will persevere! Despite PeopleSoft and it's infuriating glitches and personality disorders. Despite getting absolutely drenched on my walk to my car after work (even with my very expensive rain coat on). Despite the thudding music I'm hearing from my downstairs neighbor right now.

TBBE summed up the weekend pretty well, even in his grrr state. The poor baby is in pain, he's aggravated, but still funny as hell. What a guy.

What can I add?

(Todd, fainting. On the fainting couch.)

After exploring the lovely room, we had a fantastic dinner at the Fountain Cafe.

You know how I am about eating out. Yes, it's about the food, but it's 95% atmosphere. I'll admit I had a slight panic attack when we walked in. The restaurant was extremely "cozy". Rae-rae don't do cozy too well. Makes me claustrophobic. But this place was lovely. The wine I had was lovely. The corner little window table was lovely. And having a fantastic man gaze at me from across the table with those blue eyes was just......lovely. Sigh. We're our own Nora Ephron movie.

Anywho, dinner was good.

And then there was private, adult time that I am not at liberty to blog about.

Side note: I thought the bed was just the perfect size.....for me.

Saturday was a typical blustery autumn day. Complete with a parade. We had a simple, little breakfast, I bought hats, then we headed back to the room for some ain't-got-nothin-to-do-but-cuddle-and-snooze time.

Then out for more food. And some posing in my new red leather jacket.

(Rock.Star.)

After dinner, back to the room for more adult time.

Like telling each other jokes and laughing our heads off. Yes, we're mushy, but we also crack each other up, so sometimes it just comes down to who can get the loudest snort. Good times, I tell ya. Good times.

Sunday morning, we had another lovely, chick flick breakfast at Sweet Laurette & Cyndee's Cafe. Yummy poo! I had the Frenchman's Toast. French toast with an entire baguette, powdered sugar and fresh berries. I normally don't go for syrupy breakfasts but I thought it was a fine weekend to go all out and treat myself. Ooh boy.

And it was on the way back to the car that we learned the Seahawks were down 6 to 27. In the top of the 3rd quarter. Suddenly, the vacation was over. Crap.

Now, we're back to real life. And autumn. And rain. Cow pissin' on a flat rock rain. And darkish. At 6:15pm. And cold. Turned the heat on. Brr.

I'll have to dig out my little pumkin candle holders that I bought last year. That'll warm the place up.

The New Job

Holy crap, life is good!

First, FREE COFFEE. Yes, Radiology had a little coffee pot in the kitchen, but rarely would anyone really make coffee and it was strong, bad coffee. Purchasing had a nifty commerical type coffee maker. No more $1.31 cup of coffee per day. Now if I can just keep (good) milk in the fridge, that'll save me $400 a year!

Second, not one person came into my cube and asked me where someone was today. It was heaven. It's so quiet, but not lifeless quiet. A lot of people have their earbuds in, since we're in cubes, so I can take mine tomorrow and rock out.

I spent most of the day training with one of the other buyers. After five or so reqs, I could process them without looking at my instructions. There's the possibility for some glitches, but they're pretty easy to resolve. It's repetitive work and I love it. I've used this particular system for the past three years, so I'm starting ahead of the curve. It feels good.

And I was less tired when I got home today than I've been in a year. Yes, it was a bit tiring meeting all the new people, remembering how to get to the kitchen and maneuvering through the internet without my Google toolbar, but just being able to focus on one, maybe two tasks at hand instead of 20 is a fantastic feeling. They also want me to do a database clean up project. Entering info, making sure it's consistent, being thorough. Sounds like a dream job to me.

I left alittle after 5 and stopped by the store on my way home to pick up a rearview mirror for my monitor (it's nice to be able to see people coming up behind you) and Clorox wipes. My new desk is filthy. The Swiffer just isn't good enough. I also grabbed some tortellini for dinner along with a bottle of wine. I am looking forward to a hot bath, a glass of wine and "Breaking Dawn", the fourth of the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer.

A side topic: I am ADDICTED to these books. Trish told me about them and loaned me "Twilight" in August. The movie is coming out in November and she said I needed to read the book before we went to see it. I flew though the book and begged her for the next two. I had to wait FIVE WHOLE DAYS to get the fourth one. I'm already half way through it.

As much as I love having a book this good to read, I'm already dreading finishing it. What am I going to read next? It's very rare that I find a book I can get so engrossed in. I'll take any suggestions you have.

Okay, off to do some household admin stuff, then on to the soakie.

Ah....what a nice evening.