Weekend Update

Let me just say that last week was absolutely insane at work. Cra.Zy. So Friday night movie night was very welcomed.

But before the festivities, Todd and I walked to the little produce stand a few blocks away. It was a lovely evening and I got to explore a little bit of my new ‘hood. It made me really crave summer when we can go for long walks and look at all the pretty houses.

Around 6pm, a bonafide Scottish friend, complete with accent, and her husband came over for Braveheart, one of the many movies I've never seen. And apparently, it’s a requirement to marry a Scottish man. Who knew?

Oddly enough, I really, really liked it. Even though it was Mel Gibson. This was before he went batshit. It was brutal, but not gory at all. There was just implied goriness.

So, movie, then bed.

Saturday, Todd and I were up and out early to take Ruby and Sportacus for servicing. (Hee….servicing.) Ruby got her oil changed (and a free car wash, which CarPros has stopped doing, but Helen, the gal in the Service Department likes me) and Sportacus got his 25,000 mile service. Todd and I had (a very crappy) breakfast at Shari’s then shopped at JoAnne’s and The PaperZone.

I love the PaperZone. I have no idea what to do with half the stuff in there, but I love it (and want it) all. I did pick up some bags for the wedding. It was very exciting.

That afternoon, Kayleigh went to a sleepover and Tyler got a wild hair to mow the lawn and clean his room. Huh. We don’t question these things. He had plans to bike over to his friend’s later, so Todd and I took off and had dinner at Ama Ama at the Junction to celebrate our 11 month anniversary (a day late). We had plans to attend the grand opening of the Feedback Lounge, but after driving by there and seeing people literally spill out of the place, we continued on home. That wouldn’t have been fun for anyone.

Once home, we got into our jammies and watched an Australian, modern day version of Macbeth.

I actually enjoyed this one as well. Go Todd!

It didn’t hurt that all of the actors were just hotter than hot. So, give them machine guns and have them speakin’ the Shakespeare stuff, and boy howdy, that's a good movie. And, in one scene, Macbeth wears a leather kilt with combat boots. I think I know what I’ll be gettin' TBFE for his birthday this year.

Sunday, Todd took me and Kayleigh to Starbucks for breakfast, then the whole fam (and Tyler’s friend) went to see Monsters vs Aliens. My first 3D movie. It was awesome. And, in a couple of scenes, nauseating.

After the movie, we grabbed some dinner, the retired for the evening. Because Rae-rae had had her feel of people and driving and obnoxious asswipes who blare their gangster rap and dogs and bugs and sunshine and I just wanted to hole up. And color my hair. Which I did. It’s red. And it stinks. But it’s pretty.

And here we are at yet another week. It’s just a continuous loop, isn’t it? Busy busy week, fun weekend when I get to sleep in, busy busy week, fun weekend when I get to sleep in…..sigh.

Looking at snazzy hotels and sandy beaches for our honeymoon isn’t helping any. I want November to come right now. RIGHT NOW.

Please?

How Tired Am I Today?

I just bought 40,000 gallons of alcohol (200 proof) from my vendor, totaling $2,483,898. I meant to buy four gallons. Just four. (And yes, it’s for a lab. Not for me.)

Luckily, I have a have a very fun relationship with this particular vendor, so he called and asked if I could make that check out to him, rather than the company. I didn’t know what he was talking about. Then I looked at my purchase order.

Ah, crap. I don’t know how a two million dollar PO even got through the system.

I need to go back to bed.

My, What A Year Can Bring

It was one year ago today, that I met TBFE.

I had driven to this stranger’s house on my lunch hour to sing for him. I remember exactly what I was wearing. Black top, black pants, black patent leather ballet slippers (which just made me even shorter, and him, even bigger). And I had my big, puffy coat with me, along with cds and I was discombobulated when I was trying to set my stuff down and Wiley was oh, so excited that there was a new person in the house to smell and Todd went to get me water and I looked around the house and though, “Damn, he’s cute. This may be a problem.”

And look where we are today.

We’re engaged.
Man, what a year.

We celebrated last night, spontaneously. Dan and Trish gave us tickets to Spinal Tap, Unwigged and Unplugged, since they’re sick and didn’t feel up to going. And since we were going to go out to dinner tonight, we just turned it into a big evening, with dinner at Il Fornaio. It was a great evening.

But the best commemoration of this day is the article that came out in the PI this morning. It could not have been timed more perfectly.

To quote Kyle Stevens, love wins.

RAWK STARS

My rawk star birthday party was last night.

I got a tat just for the occasion.

(Oh, calm down, ma. It's fake.)

Luckily, things went pretty smoothly and we didn't have any incidents. The staff did a good job. Even though Doug the Doorman passed out on the job.

How ya like them shirts? TBFE goes all out for these theme parties. There were badges and buttons, too. And you had to get your hand stamped at the door.

Kayleigh was on duty, as well. She's become our staff photographer. She had the video camera last night.

We haven't had a chance to watch the video footage yet. I'm scared. If the camera adds 10 pounds, how much does a videocamera add?

Johnnie Cross and his woman showed up.

(My co-worker, and girlfriend, who really didn't have to "dress up" for the party. They're just that cool all the time.)

Kayleigh eventually skipped out on her duties to belt some songs on Rock Band.

Her voice is trashed today.

She also helped me learn how to play the guitar, while Ms. Johnnie Cross sang and Todd hammed it up for the photographers.

I finally got the hang of it.

All in all, it was a small, but lively party and the last guests left around 1:30am. Cause we are CRAZY PARTIERS like that.

Johnnie says, "Thank you, and GOOD NIGHT!"

More photos here.

Random Thoughts

Foot season is upon us. People are starting to wear flip flops and sandals to work.

And I am not at all happy about this.

I do not like feet. They’re right up there with birds. Once I get to know the feet and if the feet are clean (no wirey hair or toe jam), then I can accept the feet and maybe even touch the feet. Maybe.

I have a pedicure tomorrow. So my feet look pretty. I don’t much like my feet either. Maybe it’s just the toes. I don’t know. But it takes a lot of gumption to get a pedicure. Don’t like people touching my feet.

So there.

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We had a beautiful couple of days this week, but now we’re back to 50 degrees and rain. Rumor has it, this weekend will be sunny and warm. Which is nice because…..

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I’m sleeping in tomorrow, then going to get a little breakfast on Alki, then have a mani and a pedi, then a few cocktails at happy hour with Jamie, then it’s time for my birthday party. I couldn’t take my actual birthday off (see: -2 hours vacation time in the bank) so I’ll do my dip in lake me on Saturday.

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We’re back to looking at houses again. A few have popped up on the market that have gotten us excited, but then after looking at them, I just get depressed. One house was unacceptable because the beams in the ceiling we low enough that Todd would smack his head on them. Fantastic.

Our real estate agent has now added 7 foot ceiling requirements to her search for us.

Speaking of giants, did we tell you that Tyler is 5’9”? And I’m 5’2”?
Yeah, how intimidating can I possibly be, as I’m pointing my finger up at him?

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Astrological Forecasts for 04/14/2009

Aries (March 21-April 19): Today is a 7 -- One thing after another doesn't go as you expected. There are detours and other complications at every turn. In this situation, it's OK to procrastinate. Wait until tomorrow.

Oh, okay. This is why we didn’t get to go to the aquarium (DMV took two and a half hours), didn’t get to ride the water taxi (the sign said they don’t accept FlexPasses, even though their website says they do, and the times were confusing because we forgot there was a Mariner’s game) and therefore, didn’t get to eat dinner on the waterfront (no way in hell are we driving downtown at 5pm to look for a parking spot under Aurora).

We ended up having dinner at the Bamboo Bar & Grill on Alki. Which was fine. Just not anywhere near the original plan.

I did get a very hot bath later and was asleep by 9:30pm. So, the day ended on a high note.

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And now my day is almost done. We’ve got some last minute food and drink shopping for the party this evening, then movie/pizza night. I think Bolt is on tap. I don’t have very high hopes for the entire movie, but the preview of the little hamster in his plastic ball, saying “I have a ball” is just freakin’ hysterical. I’ll watch the whole movie just for that line.

Okay, time to finish up and get out of here.

Happy, happy weekend!

Reason # 36 Why I Love My Co-Workers

I just heard Metabulor leave a message for one of our customers.
All he said was:

“I want my two dollars.”

Then he hung up.

I laughed out loud and said, “Nicely done.”

Sweetie Pie didn’t get it. He just kept say “What? What?!” as Metabulor and I cracked up even more. Sweetie Pie isn’t so hip on the movies.

Sigh.
Yes, sometimes I love my job.

Happy Birthday To Me

Can I just say how awesome my co-workers are? Even though they're trying to make me fat?

I arrived at work at 7:00am this morning (I know!) to find Mr. Cranky Non-Decorating Co-Worker with three boxes of cookies, a card and a handful of chocolate for me. So his new nickname is Sweetie Pie.

Sweetie Pie and my other co-worker, Metabulor (he’s 6’4” and skinny, skinny, skinny) invited me to coffee with them so they could buy me a birthday treat. Who am I to say to no to a birthday treat? So they bought me to a spinach feta croissant. Yummy poo.

Upon returning from our coffee break, we noticed a large collection of balloons rising up from my cube. CB, my yoga buddy (ha! We don’t do yoga anymore), and another co-worker had decorated my cube all up!

And she brought a box of ooey gooey donuts and a lovely beautiful smelling plant that, after buying it, she realized it was an Easter plant – a Star of Bethlehem. Very funny. Let’s see if I can keep it alive.

And while my co-workers are awesome, let me tell you how awesome TBFE is. After arriving home last night, I found a hollow chocolate Easter bunny on the bed, with a sappy birthday card that brought tears to my eyes. He’s taking us to the aquarium tonight, then to dinner afterwards. And then this weekend will be my birthday party. That I didn’t even know I was having until I saw it on the calendar.

I love my Scotsman.
Thanks, babe.

Doesn't it look like I'm covered with gray hair? That's kind of how I feel today....sigh.

It's actually a bittersweet day today. Last night, I started a downhill slide into ick. But I think I've finally pulled myself up out of it. I have a habit of remembering back to where I was a year ago, at any given day, and sometimes that makes me sad. Not because I'm not happy now, but because things are so very different and, in some ways, unfamiliar. There were a few other contributing factors, including the thought of Steve's dad, who passed away in February and with whom I share a birthday. I'm still close with Steve and his family, so I can't help but think of them and how sad they must be today.

Anywho, we're on the up and up now. I'm leaving at 2pm today, I've had lots of sugar, I have a beautiful plant, I have lots of sweet cards, I got a Habitude gift certificate from a couple of fantastic people and my fantabulous honey is going above and beyond by throwing me a big ass Rock Star party this weekend.

What on earth do I have to be sad about?

Bring on year 34!

Northwest Profiles

I’ve always wanted to tell you guys about the Northwest Profiles that Pemco insurance does, but I’ve never gotten around to it. Until today. Because I’m bored and I have nothing else to blog about right now.

So, Pemco has these commercials on TV and the radio. The announcer starts to describe a specific type of Pacific Northwestern, and at the end, the tag line is: “We’re a lot like you. A little different.”

I absolutely love these commercials. The profiles are right on and the announcer has such a great, sarcastic voice when describing them. He also does commercials for the Northwest Ballet, and I get so excited when I hear the beginning of those – I think it’s a Pemco commercial. But no. Just the stupid ballet.

Anyway, you have to check out the profiles. And when you click on some of them, there is an option to hear the radio ad or see the TV ad. They are well worth the time and energy it takes to watch/listen to them.

If I had to choose one to describe myself, it would probably be # 64 – Green Lake Power Walkers. That’s where Val, Rachelle and I walk most of the time. We don’t wear the spandex or the baseball caps, but we gab just like the announcer describes in the commercial. It’s one of my favorites.

That one and profile # 4 - 4 Way Stop, You Go. No, You Go. No, You Go. Guy.

Sigh.

So true.....

Allergy Update....and then some

For the last week, you would have thought I was in an allergy commercial. Except there were no bees or flowers around. But I have been sneezing my head off (20 sneezes at a time which is just maddening) and rubbing my itchy eyes (ooh, “iiiiitchyyy eyyes….”) and making odd sounds to try and ease the scratching at the back of my throat and in my ears.

Then, I broke down and bought Claritin.

Holy crap, that’s good stuff! I didn’t sneeze once yesterday!

And I was rifling through my purse yesterday to scrounge for change for the vending machine, I found seven generic loratadine tablets. I may have cursed a little. They were there the whole time I had been suffering.

Whatever. I have Claritin now.
Except I forgot to take it this morning. Still doing okay though.

And I have two, big cystic pimples on my face. I look like I'm in high school. Damn PMS.

I love my uterus!

A Tour Down Hair Lane

Let us take a brief stroll down hair lane. I can't remember all of the years, but I think we're starting in 2003.

Pixie.

Chunky pixie. I love this style. I wish it would do it all of the time.

Growing out the pixie (and apparently, not too happy about it).

Growing out. And highlighted.

Hippy medium. No bangs.

Medium. Pretty bangs.

Longer medium. With heavy bangs.

Long.

Uber Long. Hippy, out of control, I-can't-afford-a-haircut long.

And now.....

CRAZY. Because I can.

It's good, right? I mean, the red just makes my eyes POP. And I figure, it will grow out before the wedding. And if not, I'll just dye it. No biggie.

Oh, I joke.
I'm not THAT crazy. Although I love the length. Very....light. Maybe after the wedding.

So here.
My hair, sans 6 inches.

And I don't have to put it back in a ponytail when I eat now!!

Comicon Panic

The costumes at Emerald City Comicon were actually very cool. Very creative, and some, a little scary. For the most part, I wasn't really affected by any of them.

Except this one.

(photo by Joshua Trujillo/seattlepi.com)

I was waiting in the hallway while TBFE was in the men's room. While I was waiting, this "man" walked out of the men's room and headed straight toward me. It was absolutely surreal. For a split second, I felt like I was in a movie, and this was the bad guy, getting ready to rip me limb from limb.

Swear.To.Gawd.

He didn't pay me the least bit of attention, but after he passed, I felt myself let my breath out.

I was surfing the PI a bit ago when I saw a link to these photos. I'm so glad Josh captured this guy. By the way, Josh is the same photographer who accompanied the PI writer who did the story on us last Thursday night.

He's nice.
Go look at his photos.
There's a link of the front page of the paper.

Weekend Update - Now With 40% More Links!

Nichole emailed and asked how my weekend was, and I actually replied “So busy that I’m dreading writing a blog post about it.”

So why do I cram so much into a weekend if all it does is exhaust me?

I don’t know. I guess I feel like I can’t get much done during the week because of this stupid job thing, so we try to fit everything in on the weekend.

So this tells me that I need to quit my job. We’re much too busy for me to working full time. Sheesh.

Okay, weekend update.

Friday. Um.
Hang on….give me a minute….

Oh, right. Friday was Jamie’s birthday! (I actually had to go back and look at my own blog to see what happened on Friday. Sad, sad, sad….) We went to Quality Sewing & Vacuum, in Ballard, so that I could sell her on a Ricaar. Jamie was very impressed with the Ricaar’s beautiful colors, hepa filter and easily detachable power head. But then the little salestwit interrupted with her “selling” and as soon as she heard that Jamie’s apartment was a mere 500 square feet, she said, “Oh! You just need a stick vac!”

Ha! I laugh at stick vacs. Yes, they’re light and compact, but for those of us who love our attachments (and Jamie loves her attachments as much as I do), the stick vac is right up there with the Kirby. You have to damn near take the thing apart just to use your crevice tool. Well, we are busy women and we do not have time to break down our vacuums so that we can suck the dust off of our lampshades. Trust me.

However, Jamie is a polite person so she let the salestwit give her information on the Miele stick vac. But I think she’s still sold on the Ricaar Pristine. It’s just a matter of coughing up the oodles of money. Once that money is coughed up, though, that Ricaar will last her 20 years.

Man, I love vacuums.

Speaking of, I introduced Kayleigh to my vacuum. She’s used to using Todd’s Dyson, but we were upstairs and I keep the Ricaar upstairs (better for the hardwoods, I think) and the Dyson stays downstairs by the washer and dryer. So, Kayleigh was bored and I casually said, “Wanna use my vacuum?” Her face lit up and she said, “Sure!” So I showed her all the ins and outs and how to take the wand out of the power head and how to use the attachments. She was quite entertained. For about 15 minutes. Then the newness wore off and she wandered onto a new project. But I was a proud mama for those 15 minutes.

So where was I?
Oh. I only made it through vacuum shopping?
Talk about a tangent.

After vacuum shopping, Jamie and I had dinner at Moshi Moshi, a new sushi joint in Old Ballard. (Is there really such a thing as “Old Ballard” anymore? It all seems pretty new now.) Moshi Moshi was nice. Good food. Treated ourselves to a glass of champagne to celebrate the birthday. We thought about walking up to Volterra for dessert, but it was getting late and I needed to head home to take over childcare duties while Todd was at a play.

So, I dropped Jamie off and headed back to the West Side.

The kids were occupied, so it actually took me a while to figure out what I wanted to do. An unplanned free couple of hours? Oh my, the possibilities!! I choose to hog the big screen and watch a little Buffy.

Kayleigh eventually joined me, then Todd got home, so we all retired to our rooms to bed down.

Saturday morning.
Emerald City Comicon and Duo shoot.
Up at 7:00am and none too happy about it. I withered around, I whined, I demanded not one but TWO lattes. Todd was patient (being a parent comes in handy when dealing with me sometimes) and after I was in the shower, life started looking up. We were out the door by 8:00am and at the Convention Center at 8:30. And it only took one latte.

Emerald City Comicon.
Very interesting.

I felt a little plain, but I still made cute arm candy. I was again the script supervisor, but there were no lines in this scene, so I had an easy day. The actually filming took all of 30 minutes. The rest of the morning was spent wandering around and practicing my neutral face. As opposed to my oh-my-gawd-what-the-hell-are-you-supposed-to-be? face. I think I did okay.

And I got my caricature drawn by Todd's friend, Steve.

Yeah, I'm hawt.

We left the comicon at noon to have lunch with our peeps – Dan, Trish, Jess and Eric (the elusive Eric – Afriel in Ordinary Angels. I’ve met most everyone else from Ordinary Angels except Eric. So I told Todd I didn’t think he existed. Snuffleupaeric.)

After lunch, Todd and I made the excruciating trip up to Northgate to get birthday party supplies at Display & Costume. Some very intelligent people decided to close three of the four lanes of I5 on a Saturday afternoon. Brilliant!! Being familiar with the hood, though, we exited the parking lot of a freeway and worked our way up the back streets. Because we are AWESOME.

Let’s see, a little shopping for supplies, a fun wig for me (pics later, I promise) and then on to Macy’s to try and use up the rest of a Christmas gift card. And mission accomplished! We bought two new rugs for our bathroom. Yay!

We picked up one rug, both fell in love with it, thought it was perfect, then saw it was $85. On sale. Um, no. Not for something that goes on the floor and gets wet. No.

So, two cheaper rugs. And new sheets.

Back home to West Seattle, to regroup, then out for some much desired Mexican food. Then off to pick up one kid from Gavin’s to take her to an overnight, then apparently three kids, as Tyler’s friend Miles had joined them at game and Tyler didn’t want to stay, then just two kids as Tyler wanted to stay longer, but Miles needed to go home.

Whatever. Todd treated us to ice cream at the Husky Deli, so it’s all good. Literally.

We dropped Miles off, we dropped Kayleigh off, we went home to curl up and enjoy the silence of the house. I think I fell asleep before Tyler even got home.

And now, Sunday!
Want a pee break? That’s fine. I’ll still be here when you get back.

[Jeopardy theme]

Okay, Sunday!

Snoozed until 9am. Beautiful.

Then texted Val to solidify a plan, then up to get ready for said plan of the day.

And what a fantastic day it was. Sunny and blue skies. The temp hit about 70 degrees and the pale Seattleites came out in droves to soak up the vitamin D. And 80 percent of them were at Greenlake. Val, Rachelle and I walked the lake, then had some lunch. It’s been months since the three of us have gotten together for our walk. Val now lives in Kirkland with her fiancé and I’m out in West Seattle, so trying to coordinate schedules is difficult. Add the fact that Val is getting married in two weeks and Rachelle is now teaching classes and is on the board of her condo and well, maybe we’ll shoot for once a month rather than once a week now.

After lunch, I stopped by the Ballard Goodwill to drop off some stuff and shop around. Walked away with a cat toy and food dish. And that’s all. Crap.

Back home to piddle out in the yard with Todd and Kayleigh, then a big breakfast for dinner. Note to self – stop eating bacon at night. No good comes of it.

And then the nightly bedtime routines and then curling up and downloading and then finally, some much needed sleep.

Whew.

Suffice it to say, we have not made a single plan for this Saturday. The kids will be volunteering at a gaming convention so Todd and I have the whole day to do nothing. May go on a picnic, may clean the office some more, may lay on the couch and pick our bellybutton lint.

I just hope it’s still sunny……

Hair Update

I just pulled a white hair out of my head that is 19.5 inches long. I am not kidding.

Thank gawd I have an appointment Wednesday.
This crap is coming off.

Lazy Eye

I have the song Hungry Eyes stuck in my head (I know, I know), but I’ve replace the words “hungry eyes” with “lazy eye”.

My right eye tends to droop a little when I’m tired. And I’m tired.

Believe it or not, that’s the most interesting thing I have to share with you today. Well, that and it’s actually 59 degrees and sunny here today. Talk about a heat wave.

Wow.

I could get more excited about this if 1) I could actually SEE the beautiful weather and 2) I could be outside ENJOYING the beautiful weather. Poo.

It's Just Sad Now

I have just punctured the skin on the side of my middle finger.

How did I do this, you wonder?
A hangnail on my ring finger caught it.

I need a manicure.
Stat!

Random Thoughts

Today is Jamie’s birthday, so we’re going shopping for a vacuum cleaner and dinner. My favorite kind of birthday celebration.

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My right leg is aching so bad, I may just use my scissors to cut it off. I think that would help a lot.

Damn PMS. I love my uterus!

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It snowed here on Wednesday.
And I’m freezing. I just want sun. Just a little.....

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I’m eating a yogurt parfait. And I hate yogurt. But this thing has strawberries and granola, which I love. So once I run out of solid good stuff, and only have ooey gooey yogurt remaining, I’m done.

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I had a hair appointment on Tuesday, but a big project came up at work, so I had to reschedule it for next week. I was R E A L L Y looking forward to this appointment. My hair is past the middle of back now and it’s extremely annoying. I want this crap off.

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As TBFE said, we were interviewed by the Seattle PI last night. We’ll let you know when that’s up and available for you to read. Providing I look thin in the pictures (and Josh took a lot of pictures). Otherwise, I’m not linking to it.

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I think I’m so tired today because I’m already exhausted from the upcoming weekend. That’s kinda sad. But I am looking forward to Emerald City Comicon. I just wish we didn’t have to be there at 9am.

Shoot me.