Incommunicado

TD here by Raechelle's request, letting everyone know that she is out of town for the next two weeks and will have no internet during that time. I will be giving status updates on my blog for the next week, then I'll be gone too. I'll be taking the laptop with me, but it remains to be seen what kind of connectivity I'll be able to get.

Until then, have a wonderful New Year and Raechelle will be back in the blogosphere in a couple of weeks.

Cheers!

Merry Belated Christmas!

What a week we've had.

Home on Monday. Made it to work on Tuesday, thanks to a co-worker who lives nearby and her all wheel Honda Element. Home on Wednesday. Christmas Day! And home today.

Actually, Wednesday and today are vacation days so I don't feel so bad about being home.

Christmas was lovely. The kids let us sleep until 7am, then started banging on the bedroom door. We were scheduled to go to Bellingham to be with Todd's family, but the roads were still icy, so we planned a second Christmas in January. In the meantime, Gavin, Michelle, Doug and Ann all came over for breakfast and presents, then headed out to beat the freeze. So the Downing clan and I had a nice Christmas dinner, just the four of us.

And would you believe it? It snowed yesterday. Really. Big fluffy flakes. Now we're above freezing and it's just raining, but it's still icy and slick out. I need to shovel the driveway a little more and clear a spot for Ruby as I will attempt to get her out of the carport today. Todd got Sportacus out yesterday, but it took a few tries. Hopefully, he cleared enough of a path for Ruby to follow.

Because I'm supposed to have dinner with Jamie tonight! My first outing since Sunday, Dec 14th. Todd and I are both going stir crazy. He went to lunch with a friend today so when he gets back, I'll head to Jamie's.

Again, provided I can get Ruby out.

What Is It About Kids and Eating Snow?

Even after their father tells them it's loaded with pollution, they are not deterred.

And please note the layer of snow, layer of ice, then layer of new snow. Good times, I tell ya. Good times.

Snowpocalypse, Day 9

Things are starting to thaw, so there's hope that Snowpocalypse will be ending soon. We may even get to leave the house! We haven't been anywhere (except Westwood Village) since last Wednesday. Ruby and Sportacus are both covered in snow down in the carport. We think the worst might be over, but there's still snow in the forecast sporatically through the rest of the week.

My department was actually closed today. They put out an email yesterday after a conference call among the gurus. It was nice to not have to wake and pretend to debate if I'd go in or not. So we went down and bought sledding disks this morning and played with kids for a couple of hours. Until Todd took a tumble. Then Todd's fun was over.

He and I have been making the most of this WINTER STORM DISASTER. Bride and groom questionnaires, guest lists, ideas. And we get to soak up as much of each other as we can possibly stand before I head to Texas on Sunday.

So, no. I'm not really complaining at all.

Walkin' In A Winter Wonderland

(Our snowy cottage)

So, here we are at Day 5 of Snowpocalypse '08.
Un-freakin'-believable.

And we've got a housewarming party tomorrow! Damn you, weather!

Since I had another snow day today (that's two this week, for those of you keeping score) TBFE and I walked down to the Village to do a little shoppin' and gawkin'. And I remembered to take my camera! I'm such a good blogger.

(My Man - How much do you love me, Todd? THIS MUCH!)

(The Village, with people)

That's a road that those people are walking on. Really.

Tomorrow is a crapshoot. The high is supposed to be 25 degrees, and the forecast is for clear skies. So, no new snow, but nothing is thawing. Hard to tell what the roads will be like. Todd and I have gotten in the habit this week of waking up around 6am and turning on the news to watch LIVE THUNDERSNOW TEAM COVERAGE of road conditions and news people showing us how icy it is by ramming their heels on the ground. Riveting coverage. But it's much more pleasant than just getting out of bed in the dark and stumbling to the bathroom half asleep.

This morning I waited until 8am, then called my boss to tell her I was going to wait a couple of hours until the roads cleared up. But at 9:30 it started snowing pretty hard, so...uh...that plan backfired.

Guess I'll wake up tomorrow, turn on the news, check West Seattle Blog and decide then.

Yes, it's very exciting here in Raechelle-land.

Random Thoughts

Ruby finally left the carport this morning. She’d been trapped there since Saturday. The dirt driveway was mostly snow covered ice. The street that runs in front of our house is a sheet of ice, with carefully placed patches of dry. Not enough of them, though. I didn’t make it to work on Monday and a co-worker drove me in on Tuesday, but I had to walk up the hill to meet her on a dry street.

**********

Our high for Friday is 26 degrees.

Speaking of our cold weather, we put new carpet down in Tyler’s room, so we had to move everything out of Tyler’s room. We put his desk out on the carport so I could spray it down and clean it. I sprayed it with Simple Green, then got a phone call. When I got back out to the carport, the Simple Green had frozen on the desk.

Granted, the dirt chipped off pretty easily, but I had to bring the desk in so the Simple Green would thaw and I could finish wiping it down.

Funny.

**********

Signs of age:
I can’t see my eyebrows to pluck them. My vision blurs out.
After sitting on the bed for 30 minutes, doing Christmas cards, I creak and hobble when I get off the bed.
My hands cramp up and ache while I'm blow drying my hair.

**********

I have run out of people to squeal appropriately with about my engagement. Who doesn’t know yet? Who can I call?

**********

Remember that whole branching out in the blogospher and blogging for the Seattle PI?

Yeah, that’s done.

I was using that blog to spew about what I’m seeing and learning in my new ‘hood. And I was getting nice little comments telling me that I should be blogging about the current goings on and the events in the neighborhood because no one really cares about me and I only had three posts and I was already blogging about a stupid flag?

Um. Okay. If you want news and happenings, that’s what the West Seattle Blog is for. My blog is not news. I am not a journalist. I do not want to be a journalist. I had no intention of writing what these people want me to write about, and that makes it kind of like work, so I had the blog removed.

Oh well, that was fun. Now what?

**********

My business cards just arrived!
I’ve never, ever had business cards before. Well, when I had my cleaning business, Mighty Tidy, I made up cards – Cleaning Enthusiast.

I wanted my cards to say Shopping Enthusiast, but my boss said no. Poo.

**********

Last night, TBFE and I laid in bed after the kids were tucked in and talked about our wedding. And I laughed until I thought my throat was going to explode. My gawd, the man is funny. I was also reminded of how we are damn near perfect for each other. I would think "Oh, I want this and this, but I don't want to say it...I'll just wait and see what he says..." and inevitably, he would say exactly what I was thinking.

Sometimes I think he's put a chip in my head so he can read my thoughts. That's probably why I'm not sleeping soundly through the night. He wakes me up when he does the download.

Got a bit a bit sneakier than that, babe. I'm on to you.

He Proposed

Saturday morning, on Alki Beach, in 30 degree weather, with waves splashing up over the wall. Then we ran inside Alki Cafe and got breakfast.

Funny thing that I couldn't mention earlier. I told you we called mom and dad on Thanksgiving. What I didn't tell you was that Todd asked for their blessing during that call. And he got a pretty good idea of just what he was getting himself into.

Todd: I intend to ask your daughter to marry me sometime in the near future, and I would love to have your blessing.

[chirp, chirp]

[uh oh....]

Mom: FINALLY!
Dad: Take her! Please!

I just looked at him and said, "Are you sure? Really?"
Apparently, he is sure.

My Horoscope

From the Seattle Times:

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Someone loves you, warts and all. You might only see the warts when you look in the mirror, so you'll be pleased by reassurances that come from loved ones. Don't take criticisms from strangers to heart.

Funny too, because I have a bigass pimple on my cheek.

I thought this crap was supposed to end after high school?

And I got a criticism from a stranger (not about the pimple).
But I'm not taking it to heart. My horoscope says not to.

Seattle PI Blog

I am branching out in the blogosphere.

I now have a reader's blog with the Seattle PI. Please note the link on the sidebar.

I figured, maybe blogging about West Seattle though a newbie's eyes would get me more integrated in the neighborhood. Look at it with a different interest.

We'll see how it goes. I haven't really had time to explore my new 'hood, so the blog posts aren't flowing. And since it's neighborhood specific, I can't really blog about my boot fetish there. I need to keep it a little more focused.

But keep in mind, I am no reporter. So if you're looking for news about West Seattle, your best bet is the West Seattle Blog. Not me.

Goodnight, Sweet Boot

It is time to retire my very favorite pair of boots.

I noticed at the holiday open house we went to on Sunday that the leather is cracking and peeling.

Sniff.

Remember when I first bought these boots? A mere $7.
Ah...they were good to me.

Goodnight, sweet boot. I will miss you terribly.

But guess what I have to do now?

Yep. Boot shopping.
So I guess it's not all that sad, now is it?

Blue Decorations

Let me tell you about my mom.

My mom is an impulsive gal. She gets something in her head and BAM, done. Sound familiar? She decided a year or two ago, she wanted hardwood floors in their house. Two weeks later, they had hardwood floors. Most people would deliberate a while. Not my mother. She wants it, it’s done. And that is why I love her.

It was the same with our houses. I think I’ve mentioned I lived in about 10 different houses growing up. We rented, so when the lease was up, we’d, more often than not, move. I don’t know what Dad would say, but I know Mom would get bored with the houses. It's funny, I can still remember the names of the streets. Austin (rust colored carpet), Glenview (for two weeks and we were there over Halloween), Molina (grey arches on both sides of the fireplace), Remington (bushes out front that smelled like cat pee), Papoose (trampoline!), Whitefeather (on the golf course, 2nd hole), Something Bear (red kitchen countertops), Appaloosa (on the lake, hot tub – our own little mansion). Then I moved out on my own (and had three different addresses in three years).

I think I’m missing one between Austin and Glenview.

But I digress.

If you remember, I told you that when we first moved to Texas, we didn’t have a lot of money so Mom and I made Christmas decorations. But then Mom got her job as a legal secretary at a swanky law firm in downtown Houston and boy howdy, no more making decorations! We BOUGHT decorations.

You could say that the money went to our head.

One year, when we were living the Molina house, Mom got a wild hair and declared we were not doing red this year for Christmas. No sir. She wanted blue decorations. So off to TG&Y we went to buy blue lights, blue garland and blue ornaments. I wish I could find the picture of our house decked out in blue lights. The vision I have in my head is a little gloomy.

This is what I see in my head whenever I hear BB King’s “Blue Decorations”. Our blue Christmas.

The next year, Mom was over the blue and declared we would do white decorations. We did white for a few years in a row after that. Then Dad got all cranky because he had been begging for multicolored for years and we kept vetoing him, so we gave in and let him have his multicolored decorations. I’ve never been a fan of multicolored.

Anyway, I’m doing manual labor at work today and listening to my Christmas playlist on my iPod. And when “Blue Decorations” came on, I thought of our blue decorations on Molina Street.

Well, first I started shakin’ my booty.
Then I thought of the decorations.

Old Fart

When I was young, my parents had a rule. No phone calls after 9:00pm. Mom and dad usually went to bed at 9 and they didn’t want my friends calling and waking them up. I think I probably had to go to bed when they did, or at least go to my room. And I remember thinking, “Ug, gosh!! It’s only 9:00!” And then I’d curse them.

Mom and dad, I’m sorry I cursed you. I totally get it now.

Todd starts the bedtime process around 9:30pm. It takes a half an hour to get jammies on, teeth brushed, guinea pig fed, hugs and kisses, etc etc. Once the kids are tucked in at 10:00, then Todd and I bed down. And then we end up talking until 11:00 and then 6:00am comes and I’m cranky. And every morning I say I have to get to sleep by 10:30 at the very latest. The VERY latest.

Because I just absolutely hate getting out of bed. Once the alarm goes off (and I’ve made the decision that I cannot hit snooze anymore because I’ve already shorted the morning process by not washing my hair, just wearing jeans, not having coffee and eating breakfast at work), my 15 minute process starts with cuddling, then I moved away from the cuddling, then I kick one leg out from the blanket, then that leg hangs over the edge of the bed, then I sit up (eyes still closed), then finally I stumble (eyes still closed) to the bathroom.

And I’m grumbling the whole time.

Once I’m in the shower, I’m all good. I laugh at Marty and Jody on the radio. I sing along to the songs. By the time I’m saying goodbye and hugging the kids, I’m damn near perky.

And this morning was no different. I hit snooze until 6:35 and whined and moaned that maybe I should just work 9:00am to 5:30pm. That’s when Todd said we need to have the kids in their rooms, settling down by 9:00, so we still get our talking/cuddling time and I can be asleep by 10:00.

In bed by 9:00. I get home at 4:30pm. That’s four and a half hours of “life” after work and that’s just sad. Makes me feel old.

On a side note, the mega millions is up to 170 million. I think we have tickets.

Weekend Update

The weekend was good. But the week leading up to it was….off. Stars out of alignment, bad juju in the air, the Universe had PMS….I don’t know. But suffice it to say, here we are at Monday and everything has shaken out and life is good again.

Saturday was muey productive. Shipped mom and dad’s Christmas box home, went grocery shopping as Kim-n-Tim were coming over for dinner, vacuumed the upstairs (utter joy!) and helped TBBE hang the Christmas lights.

And here’s my I-am-woman-hear-me-roar story. We don’t have an exend-o ladder. Just a regular ol’ five foot ladder. You know I’m not good with measuring and math and all that, so when Todd said he was going to put lights up on the house, I envisioned the lights going up along the roof, which included the point above the front door and porch.

But the five foot ladder wouldn’t reach the point, even with a 6’4” tall guy on top of it.

Well. This would never do. The vision has been created, and you know I cannot deviate from the vision. If we couldn’t do the point, then I didn’t want lights on the house at all. I even walked down to the neighbor’s house because I saw an extend-o ladder in their carport (taunting me!) and no, I didn’t know them, but dammit, I wanted lights on the point!

The neighbors weren’t home. And their very large great dane was not happy that I woke him up.

Then there was talk of getting on the roof. Sure, Todd could get on the roof. He’s done it before. But Todd is a big man and if he falls, it’s going to hurt a lot more than if I fall. And I’m the one with the health insurance, so…..

Up on the roof I go! Because I wanted the lights on the point! And you know what? Roofs in Seattle are a bit more slanted than the roofs in Houston. And they have moss. I used to get up on the roof every year with Dad and hang lights. Well, he hung lights. I watched and generally just felt cool being up on the roof.

Roof is a funny word when you type it a lot.

Anyway, up on the roof I go. Trying to squeeze the staple gun was the hardest part of the process. That and leaning over the edge to make sure I was stapling them in a straight line. Cause you know Rae-rae – if they’re not in a straight line, what’s the point?

But all ends well! I survived the roof and the lights are in a straight line. For the most part. Now we just need to do the long side of the front and maybe, if we have enough lights, along the carport.

Sorry we slacked on taking pics.
But please enjoy TBBE’s rendering of the event.

That evening, Kim-n-Tim came over for some of my delicious veggie enchiladas. Milo stayed at home to chill with Grandma and Tyler and his buddy were holed up in his room, so we had some nice adult conversations, followed by a game of Apples to Apples. It was good to hang out with them for an extended period of time. And they had only met Todd at Milo’s birthday party back in June, so Saturday, everyone really had a chance to get to know each other.

That night, upon getting ready for bed, I made the mistake of taking two Benadryl. Elvis had been lovin’ on me and I had some itchy patches on my neck from him.

Well, just a warning. Two Benadryl is one too many. Knocked my ass out. At 10:30 Sunday morning, Todd came in to wake me and tell me he had made pancakes and I was still at the drooling stage of my slumber. Knocked.Out.

I finally got up and made it to the table for breakfast, but I was in a sleepy haze and barely remember eating at all. After breakfast, and checking my email, I laid on the couch and dozed alittle more. But we had a holiday open house that afternoon so I had to bring myself around sooner rather than later.

The open house was lovely. Yummy food and a great lesson on making turtles. The candy. Not the reptile. And funny thing – the host is a friend of Todd’s and a reader of our blogs. She and I have emailed about books and West Seattle, but I’d never met her before. This blogging is a funny thing.

And after the open house, back into the jammies just in time to watch the Seahawks completely screw themselves out of a win against the Patriots. They were winning!! The whole game, they were winning!! And the fumbled. Patriots won. Ack.

Then came home made pizza for dinner, followed by a couple episodes of Buffy, all the while doing laundry, followed by Sunday night animation. And at 9:30, bed. Blah.

Whew!
More info than you ever wanted to know about my weekend, huh?

The Universe Is A Strange Bird

Sometimes, there are just clear signs of not meant to be. Almost creepy, blatant signs.

Man and woman meet online.
Man and woman date for two years.
Man plans to propose to woman on rock on beach, but woman is carried off by a rogue wave just seconds before.
Poof. Gone.

How sad.
And how very weird.

My Horoscope

From Yahoo:

Quickie
There is a real problem with a co-worker -- and it won't go away until you two talk.

I checked with my two co-workers. It's not them.
Whew.

Wonder who I have a problem with? I'll ask around....

Best Search Phrase EVER

Someone found my blog by googling this phrase:

todd sniffing my farts

How fantastic is that?
And no, Todd has never sniffed my farts. It was just the collection of words that led them here.

Conflict of Emotion

I don’t like to see a local business close, but I really never understood how Bella’s stayed in business as long as it did. The one time I went in there, I fell in love with some pajamas. They were $119. Huh. For cotton pjs. Wow.

I don’t know of many people who would spend the kind of money Bella’s was asking for, but I’m sure they’re out there – maybe the same ones who paid $400,000 for a new one bedroom condo in the neighborhood?

I know I'm not a Ballardite anymore, but I'm sure West Seattle is going through the same thing. Tons of great little boutique shops that are so expensive or overpriced that I (nor any of my friends or family) will never be able to buy anything in there.

And, call me cheap, but even if I could afford $119 pjs, I wouldn't buy them.
Because they're PAJAMAS.

Random Thoughts

I think I'm poor.
No, I know I'm poor. How do I know this?

I've been eating Cup O'Noodles or Top Ramen noodles for lunch for three weeks. Four for a $1! But I'm kinda sick of noodles now. I'd like some fresh vegetables, please.

**********

And I think I'm morphing into a mom. How do I know this?
I can't remember when I painted my nails last. Just can't seem to find the time to either.

So Jamie and I have manicure appointments tomorrow evening. Gift cards are a beautiful thing.

**********

I haven't shaved my legs in over a week either, but I thought that might be too much information.

I did, however, "schedule" a bath for this evening, so we can remedy that. And yes, I shower every day. Just so you know....

**********

The Christmas cards are almost ready. The address and return address labels are typed; we just need to sign them and stuff them and stamp them.

There's another sign that my free time has dwindled. No homemade cards this year. Oh, you still get a picture, but we bought these beautiful Papyrus cards and just did up some Word labels. Much quicker.

**********

I bought my plane ticket to Texas for the big retirement move.

Did I not tell you about the big retirement move?

My parents have sold their house, so I'm driving with them from Texas to West Virginia, up to Pisswilly Ranch. This trip was originally supposed to be next summer, but once the house sold, mom and dad said there ain't no way they're waiting. So, we're shippin out on December 29th. I shit you not.

The ranch has already gotten about 8 inches of snow. Should make for a fun drive.

And, of course, there will be a stop in Louisiana for a little gamblin'. Cause that's whatcha do when yer retired.

**********

Work is work. Not too bad. Except for the whole getting-up-at-6:00am thing. Well, 6:15am. Sometimes 6:30am. Cause Rae-rae ain't so good at early.

And apparently, just typing about West Virginia makes me twang like a country bumpkin.

Yeehaw.

**********

Okay. Lunch is over.
It was nice chatting with you. Do be sure to stop back by.

Crazy Busy. Can't Form A Thought. Feeling Guilty For Not Posting.

Turkey day good. Bird still frozen. Almost five hours in oven. No one got sick. Lots o'wine. Shaun came! Called mom and dad. Both in rare form. Raunchy jokes abound. TBBE still loves me.

Black Friday. Minimal shopping. Couldn't find JoAnne's. Must have closed. Didn't get stocking hangers. Dammit. We survived Home Depot. Got a trash can.

Decorating that afternoon. Pretty tree. Lots of memories. Some sad. But good. Feelin' the spirit.

That night, girlie sleepover. K's friend. Watched Sixteen Candles. Donger need food! In bed early.

Saturday. Uh....

Wait. Gimme a minute.....

Slept in. I think. Pancakes for everyone. Twilight plans dashed. Dinner instead. Kyle at Kiss Cafe. Sleepovers for both kids. Partying it up, kidless style.

Sunday. Really slept in. Lunch. Wrapping presents. Twilight with Trish and Dan. Oh gawd. At least Edward is pretty. Goulash for dinner. Mom would be proud. Sunday night cartoons with the kids. Bed.

Today.
Ack.
I see wine in my near future.......