Happy Father's Day/Summer Solstice

Happy Father's Day!
And Happy Summer Solstice!

The family had a busy today. Donuts for breakfast, lunch at Lombardi's in Ballard, the movie Up at the Majestic Bay (a must see Pixar movie, but be sure to bring tissues) then a graduation gathering for Michelle, Todd's sister-in-law.

Whew!

It was a tad chilly here, but otherwise a beautiful day!

We didn't make it to the Solstice Parade yesterday. We were both exhausted from a very long week, so after taking care of an ant infestation (no more eating the bedrooms!) we headed to the Cactus Cafe on Alki for a much needed margarita (or three).

Then, on to dinner at the Celtic Swell with Steve, Stephanie and Isabella. Afterwards, back to Stephanie's where we all played a round of Apples to Apples, and the Todd and I went home and curled up for a viewing of Dirty Dancing.

Don't judge me.
"Nobody puts Baby in a corner!"

So, yes.
A very nice weekend, indeed.

Hmph

I am not having a good week. Too much to do at home, too much to do at work, and all I want to do is sleep.

I hate moods like this.

I was home yesterday, for a Tyler appointment, so I got in a good two hour nap (while Tom curled up on me, which is never a bad thing). But when bedtime rolled around, there was just too much rolling around in my head and I didn't fall asleep until it's way too late for me.

At least we got to hang out with Trish and Dan for a bit last night. They just found out they were pregnant, and it's just impossible to be unhappy when talking about the arrive of a cute little baby. Especially with these two people, who have been waiting so long, and are so excited.

Tomorrow is the Solstice Parade. I thought I really wanted to go. Even made a plan with Steve and Stephanie and Isabella. But, right now, it seems like a lot of work. And we'd have to get up early in order to get to Fremont and snag some space along the route.

Sigh.

Did I mention that I just want to sleep?

Mother and Daughter

I have nothing of interest to share with you today so please enjoy this photo of me and my little girl.

Who is taller than me because she has on her 2" heel boots.

This was at her band concert last Thursday. I took her (all solo parenting like) while Todd recovered from the flu. Kayleigh gave me permission to read my book ("You don't have to WATCH us. There's nothing to see!"), so I read while listening to all the different bands. A nice evening. Although, they really need pillows for those folding chairs.

Ack.

Dear Universe

Can we please end this test that you seem to be having so much fun subjecting me to this week?

Please?

I believe that, up until this morning, I have passed with flying colors. I have kept the children fed and (somewhat) clean. I've intercepted calls and emails from case workers and school officials. I've gotten Kayleigh to school on time each day. I clean up the cat puke each morning. I am using Purell like it's hand lotion. I keep Todd's nightstand stocked with all of the standard flu goodies. I bring him soup and crackers regularly, and I am sympathetic and compassionate when he vomits for 10 hours straight.

I was even very supportive while Todd was getting his IV in the ER Tuesday night. Yes, I thought I was going to throw up, even though my back was to him, and yes, the nurse advised me to sit down and put my head between my knees because she said I was pale and was afraid I was going to pass out, but I stood strong (after putting my head between my knees). I was fine once we covered his IV with the blanket. I held his hand and made him laugh. I answered all of the doctor's questions and took notes when he recommended something, just like a good wife.

Okay, yes, this morning I may have been a bit overwhelmed and snapped a little bit. I think I'm allowed one little breakdown, don't you? And I may have cried on the phone to Nichole in the Rite Aid parking lot because who the hell would have thought that the pharmacy doesn't open until 9-freakin-AM?! I mean, when people are sick and have been up most of the night, they can't wait until 9am to get their cough pill things! Why wouldn't the pharmacy open when the actual store opens?! At 8:00am, which is when I was sitting in the damn parking lot!

Sigh.

Wait. Is this about the glass of wine I had Tuesday night while Kayleigh was in her tae kwon do class? It was one glass! What's so wrong with that?! To be honest, I think we should all be thankful that I haven't downed whatever liquor we have in the cabinet.

I am happy to prove myself to you, to show you that I can do this mothering stuff, but for the love of puppies, enough already. And now we see that Kayleigh has a band concert tonight! Because we don't have enough on our plates? Really?

I will continue your little test until this weekend. If you are not sufficiently happy with my performance, well, I don't know what I'm going to do. Maybe get an exorcist to exorcise the flu from Todd. Would I get bonus points for that? For my creativity?

Once again, I beg of you.
Knock it off.

Sincerely,
Raechelle

Because There's Just Not Enough Going On In Our Lives...

There was a wee bit of conflict this morning, so I stayed home to "run the show", as Todd put it. Because Todd was hacking up a lung and could barely get around. So, in the midst of emailing and calling case workers and trying to get some work done, I made a doctor's appointment and took TBFE in to get checked out.

And whadya know?
TBFE has influenza A.

Fantastic.

Now our house is under quarantine, the kids both have doctor's appointments tomorrow to get swabbed, and I have to start Tamiflu because I've had a little cough for the past three days and the doctor just wants to be proactive. Todd is curled up in bed, practically unable to move because everything in his body hurts. I've got him on a schedule of the prescription cough syrup (with codeine. Oh yeah.), ibuprofen and Sudafed. There is 7-UP, tissues, cough drops, water and a trash can by the bed, as well as his lap top close within reach (he's been watching the old Star Treks all day). Tomorrow we start the flu treatment. Rite Aid was out of it today.

Looks like I'll be home for the next few days. We can't have anyone in the house until Todd's temperature has stayed at normal for 24 hours. He's currently hovering around 100. I've emailed everyone we've come in close contact with in the last few days to warn them (per the doctor's instructions) that if they develop a cough, get it checked out. Might be more than allergies.

Sigh.

Back when Todd's house burned down, he wrote:

If any of you guys have an "in" with admin, can you please find out when they expect to send the locusts? I'M KIDDING. DO NOT SEND LOCUSTS.

I've used this phrase a few times today. My co-workers have been incredibly understanding and supportive during the time I've had to take off of work to go to meetings and counseling sessions and just generally catch up on my sleep since some of these conflicts go until midnight or later.....to have to email them today and say, "Hey, by the way, I'm going to be out for a couple more days. Todd's sick, the kids may be sick, I may be sick, we've all got doctor's appointments and the house is under quarantine" makes me feel like crap.

But my co-worker emailed back and assured me that they understand and everything is under control there. My other co-worker, CB, brought me a bunch of stuff from my desk, so I can at least get caught up on some things.

And thus is the life in the Marsh-Downing Household today.
Good times, I tell ya. Good times......

Random Sunday Post

What's this? A post on Sunday? With pictures

I know. It's crazy.

Yesterday, Todd and I went to Tim's (of the Kim-n-Tim fame) 40th birthday party. The first half was All Ages, the second half was Adults Only because it was at a local pub. We only attended the All Ages part.

Oddly enough, TBFE and I were the only ones there without kids. Our kids were much too cool to go to a party with a bunch a toddlers. Their loss, I say. Because the little kiddies were so cute!

I did have a few slight oh-my-gawd-this-is-my-life-now moments. I am a parent. I go to parties where there are just as many kids as there are adults.

(Gaggle of children)

(Kim & Milo)

(Milo. Cutie pie, no?)

(Mother-daughter moment. I love this picture.)

(Me and Isabella. I asked her to smile. This is what I got.)

(Steve doing art. Chalk feet outlines were all the rage.)

(Me & Stephanie)

(The obligatory self portrait. My man's so cute.)

Wrastlin' Cats

Todd swears the putties like each other. I can't tell. Seems like there's some aggression there.

They're still cute.

Feel The Love

You may have noticed a new box over to the right of this screen, entitled “Wedding Registries”.

Tacky, you say?

Oh well, it’s my blog. And I know my friends and family will appreciate having these links at the cute little fingertips because I know they will lose these links as soon I give them out (because they asked, not because I’m greedy. But, come on, who really DOESN’T want prezzies? Hee).

So, by posting the registries here, at the center of my universe, friends, family, strangers, loyal readers I’ve never met, and stalkers will have the opportunity to feel the love and maybe feel compelled to help us afford (ahem..excuse me....ENJOY!) a honeymoon.

See? It’s a win-win situation for everyone.

Putty, Putty

Here are some pics of Tom, in two of his favorite resting spots.

My chest.

And Todd's arms.

What a precious putty!

Except we think that the precious putty gave Elvis a cold. Poor baby is sneezing his head off. Todd took him into the vet and he's running a little fever. He's been curled up on our bed for most of the last few days. The vet says he's young and healthy, so he'll be okay. We just have to let the virus run it's course.

I'm Very Deep

Steve and I have been emailing a little today. He knows about the challenges in my household right now and is always quick to ask, “How are YOU doing?”

So, today in our exchange, he asked how things were going this week and if there was light at the end of the tunnel. And I replied with:

“I can’t even see the end of the tunnel. But when I come to one of the little joints in the ceiling, where the light shines through, I just stand there for a minute and rejoice. It's like a reset button. Gets me through to the next crack.”

I’m very deep, aren’t I?

That’s where I am today. I’m under one of the cracks and the sunlight is warm and bright. I think I’ll stay here for a couple of days, if I can. And that might actually be possible. Kayleigh is off on a band trip until Sunday evening and Tyler will be crashing over at his uncle’s after game on Saturday, so Todd and I have about 24 hours to recharge and pay attention to each other and laugh our asses off.

Don't expect any blog posts.
I sense we'll be occupied.

Weekend Update

I barely have enough brainpower to form a coherent sentence, but I’d still like to give you an update. I just don’t have a personality right now. Therefore, I give you…..BULLETS.

* First, fantastic weekend weather. Blue skies. 75 degrees. Beautiful.

* Friday, my belated birthday dinner with Jamie. Volterra. Yummy poo.

* Saturday, cleaning and organizing with Stephanie. She warned me her garage was in bad, bad shape. But I scoffed at it’s “bad shape”. Todd’s bedroom was worse. And look at it now!

* Also, I clicked a very bad link in an email and now my computer is dead. Todd installed a anti-virus thingy (a bit late, I realize) and it found 22 viruses. And I can’t even open my email. He had a buddy come out today and it doesn’t look good. But he says it’s not hopeless. Just one more reason I’ve been non-existent. And stressed.

* Saturday evening, Val’s wedding reception. Knew three people. Looked at babies. Ovaries screamed, but not too loudly. They knew better. They know the work that lies ahead for those poor mothers.

* Sunday, just wanted to relax in the sunshine and read my wedding book. But got uber productive. Re-organized the shed with all of the yard tools and did a little weed whacking. Good stuff.

* Sunday evening, dinner at Ray’s. Our one year anniversary of dating. It was a lovely time.

* Monday, Star Trek at the Cinerama with the whole family, and Miles. Lunch afterwards at Red Robin on the waterfront.

* Side Note: The movie was pretty good. I don’t consider myself a trekkie by any means now, but the movie was okay. Very entertaining. I even got a few of the references.

* Monday night, a bit of conflict. Not too bad. But enough to make me stay home on Tuesday, and get some me time in that afternoon. Shopping. Semi-productive shopping, but shopping nonetheless.

And today, well, I’m here. That’s all I got for ya.
But I think about you. Really. Life is just so chaotic right now. Looking forward to some normalcy. If there is such a thing.

Uh oh.

What if this IS normal?

Oh, good gawd, we’re gonna need more wine.

Food

I love Sun Chips, but they're too big to put a whole one in my mouth, and I hate being a loud eater so I don't want to bite them in half and make that crunching sound. So I break them, while they're in the bag, which slows my eating down.

Speaking of eating, I looked at swimsuits online yesterday and now I don't want to eat. I asked TBFE if maybe we could honeymoon in the Swiss Alps or Antarctica, rather than Kauai. He said no. Hmph.

But! I learned a nice little trick last night. Kayleigh, Todd and I went to The Charleston Cafe for dinner after Kayleigh's tai kwon do class. I wasn't too hungry and I knew the portions were huge, and my eye kept going to the chicken tenders on the kids' menu ($4.99!) So I asked the waitress if I could order off of the kids' menu. She said "Sure, but for a dollar more."

Sounds good to me!

The chicken tenders came with a salad, so that, plus the three large pieces of chicken filled me right up. Actually, I couldn't even finish the third tender. No one can really ever say that I eat too much.

Our Family is Getting Bigger!

A few of you just had heart palpitations reading the title, didn't you? You thought I put the baby meter back together and wound it up. Ha. Silly reader.

This is Tom.

Elvis has been lonely since Wiley left, so we decided he could use a buddy. Tom is precious and very loving. He'll climb right up on you and nuzzle you. He's a rescue. He'd been kept in a chicken coop, with chicken poop, which burned the pads on his paws and made some of his fur fall out. But that was a year ago, and since then, his fur is coming back and his paws are all better.

So far, he and Elvis seem to get along just fine. We thought Elvis would be the alpha male, but no. He just flops over on his side and meows at Tom. He was rushing Tom last night, but once he'd get up to him, Elvis would just stop and just look at him. Silly Elvis.

Rude Much?

A cow-orker just asked me if I was planning to lose weight for my wedding.

Um. No. Why?
Do you think I need to lose weight for my wedding?

You’re a bit on the hefty side. Why don’t YOU lose weight for my wedding?

I was actually very nervous when I was trying on wedding gowns. I thought there were going to be bulges and dimples and I would become one of those women who declared she would lose 20 pounds before her wedding day.

What a load of crap.

These are the happy times! You eat, you drink, you be merry. That’s makes a diet plan very hard.

Luckily, my dress is designed so that the dimples are hidden, the belly looks flat, and the hips are cleverly hidden. I look damn fine in my dress.

So I merely said, “No, I don’t plan to lose weight. My dress is a size 12 and I am perfectly happy with that.”

Now, I don’t plan to GAIN any weight either. Which is why I tell my co-workers to quit shoving chocolate at me.

The honeymoon, however, is a completely different story. It's gonna take one magical swimsuit to make me feel at ease on a beach.

Or a lot of cocktails.

Which I think can be arranged.

Random Thoughts

I’m smelling football players.

I used to be a football manager in high school, which really meant I got boys’ athletics, I did the team’s laundry, I helped load the buses for the out of town games and I stood on the sidelines to do anything the coached yelled at me. Good times.

Anyway, the bus rides with the football team had a very distinct smell. Some of it was sweat, some of it was the material that the jerseys were made out of.

I’m smelling that right now. I can’t pinpoint it.
Maybe my jeans are dirty.

**********

Todd, Steve and I went to see Bob Schneider at the Triple Door last night. He is a fantastic performer.

It was so good to have a night out (that didn’t include therapists or case workers) and forget about all the challenges for an evening. We had a great dinner, a few drinks, and finally got home at almost midnight (Steve did not come home with us).

It’s making for a difficult day today, but it was well worth it.

**********

One of my customers needs to order a dongle, but I’m having a hard time locating a vendor so I’m saying the word “dongle” a lot. Which makes me chuckle. Which is keeping happy.

**********

I also had to order a Protease Inhibitor Cocktail Set when I first started.

I have no idea what it actually is, but I would have no problem coming up with all kinds of good stories about it.

**********

I have not ordered shoes yet.
But I wore my red Anne Klein babies to the show last night.

So pretty…..

**********

Rumor has it, it's sunny outside. I wouldn't know. Cube and all.
But I bought a poster of a beach scene and put it up on my wall, so that's helping.

**********

Well, would you look at the time?
I'm outta here.

Overdue Update

As you may or may not have noticed, TBFE and I have been a bit incommunicado lately. Our deepest apologies.

Last weekend brought about a major conflict with Tyler, so this situation has been eating up most of our spare time and brain power. Though we don’t feel it appropriate to go into detail, just know that Todd, Kayleigh and I are fine, and Tyler is getting the help he’s been needing for a while. We have a wonderful, supportive team of friends and family, both near and far, as well as Tyler’s therapists, who are all devoting enormous amounts of energy and time to ensure Tyler is well taken care of.

Ironically, this was how I spent my very first Mother’s Day. Trial by fire, I say. And I am happy to report that I have escaped unharmed! Well, except for maybe a singed hair or two. But we all know I have too much hair as it is, so it’s no big loss.

Actually, aside from the challenges, it was a lovely weekend. Todd and I attended the Collider CD release show at the Showbox on Friday night and, boy howdy, it was rockin’. We hung out in the back, since Todd was filming the show, and gabbed with a couple of friends while speculating about a “couple” seated near us. She was youngish, carried a stuffed teddy bear and openly flirted with other men. He was extremely obese and tracked her every move, as if watching a TV show. Voyeur, perhaps? Who knows. I love downtown. Not really.

Saturday was absolutely gorgeous. It’s that kind of weather that keeps us here, even through the six months of winter. Just beautiful. Todd and I made a Costco run for his film shoot that was supposed to take place on Sunday and picked up his German chocolate birthday cake from Morfey’s.

Then, Saturday evening, we had an intimate, little birthday dinner at Duke’s. And some of the party moved back to the house afterwards to gab a little more.

And, due to said conflict, the shoot on Sunday was cancelled, so we spent the day in an exhaustive state. Trish and Dan came over to keep us company, and give us hugs. We watched The Onion movie and some Saturday Night Live Best Ofs. And Kayleigh walked down to the store and brought me back a Mother’s Day card. One of those that sings a song when you open it. There were cowboy boots on the front and a Tim McGraw song inside. The girl knows me, doesn’t she?

We’re trying to get back in the swing of normalcy, but it’s not easy. There are a lot of calls to make, papers to sign, red tape and hoops to jump through.

We know there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
But that tunnel is so long it’s quite daunting.

Send good juju.
And wine.

Happy Freakin' Friday

I am having one fantastic Friday. I just can’t tell ya.

The stars are aligning, things are falling into place, life is good. TBFE and I are going out tonight to the Collider show and party it up like a couple of 20 year olds. We may pay for it tomorrow, but so be it.

So, to get my party on, I’m listening to my Bitchin’ playlist. Songs that get my booty shaking and make me feel all superior.

Get This Party Started by Pink
Ah, my Friday night song. The work week is over, let’s get this party started. I’m cool, all my friends wanna party with me. Yeah….you know it…..

Walk Away by Kelly Clarkson
Whatchoo want, baby? Make up your mind. Grow a pair. Don’t wanna be with me? Well, then just walk away.

Single Ladies by Beyonce
You had your chance, mister. Suck it up.
"If you like it then you shoulda put a ring on it."

Check On It by Beyonce
Yeah, you know you want me.

You Know That I’m No Good by Amy Winehouse
I’m horrible. I’m wretched. I suck. But you love me. It’s your own fault, sugar.

Irreplaceable by Beyonce
This one actually slows me down. But it makes feel pretty.

The Tiger and the Lamb by Bob Schneider
If you really pay attention to the lyrics, it’s nasty. I like it. But I can’t find it anywhere on the interwebs. Sorry.

New Warrior by Bob Schneider
He’s wrappin’, he’s partyin’, he’s the new warrior. Yo!

Should’ve Said No by Taylor Swift
My token twangy song. First, apparently there is no official video for this song. And apparently, it is a huge karaoke hit. Every video you find on YouTube has lyrics. Complete weirdness.

I’ve never had a man cheat on me. Let me rephrase that - I’ve never confronted a man who has cheated on me. Because I’ve never found out that a man cheated on me. But I’ve known women who have had their husbands cheat on them, and they should have kicked their ass to the curb. But they didn’t. So I belt this out for them.

The only drawback to rockin’ out with my earbuds is that, if I’m chewing gum, my earbuds work their way out. So I have constantly adjust them. And I like chewin’ my gum when I’m rockin’ out. Makes me feel tough and cocky. I like to chew gum when I’m driving, too. Probably best to be tough and cocky when I’m driving.

But I digress.

Happy Freakin' Friday!

Best Misspelling Yet

My name gets butchered. A lot. But I'm used to it. People also pronounce it Michelle, Rachel, Raquel or Rochelle. They spell it even worse. Richelle, Rochelle, Rayshell, Raychel. I once say To get people to understand, I've sometimes written it out like this:

R'shell.

No emphasis on the Rae (sounds like Ray) part. Just R'shell.

I call orders in all day long and I am always asked my name. Sometimes the customer service rep is merely looking it up, because I've called before, but sometimes they actually type it as I'm saying it. If I hear them typing, I'll usually say, "That's spelled R-A-E-C-H-E-L-L-E." And they appreciate it because they were undoubtedly spelling it incorrectly.

Yesterday, I placed an order, I said my name and I listened for the typing. I didn't hear any, so I figured she was looking me up. But apparently, she was a very quiet typer.

When I got the confirmation, I saw my name in the Order Placed By area.

Reshell.

Very nice.
Just like it sounds.

Work No-No #48

There is absolutely no reason whatsoever to clip your nails at work.

NO REASON.

And we're in cubes, for gawd's sake!

Why not just go ahead and pick out your toe jam, too? Make it a complete little grooming session?

Okay, yes, maybe I'm a smidge irritable because I was up most of the night with a stuffed up nose and cramps and a noisy gut because, even though I know better, I had steak for dinner.

And maybe I'm a little cranky because I went upstairs to sleep on the couch so my tossing/turning/churning/sniffing/cramping wouldn't disturb TBFE, but Elvis got excited that there some some to to cuddle with so he laid on my chest, purring louder than a jackhammer and nuzzling my neck. Which was not helping the stuffiness, but goodness he's so adorable!

And then lets throw the 30 mph wind and rain and hail on top of everything, and for love of puppies, why can't you just let me sleep?!

I am so tired. There is no amount of coffee that will wake me up.
I think I will spend my lunch napping in my car.

Weekend…er….Week Long Update

My apologies for being non-existent recently. Life has kind of gotten the best of us recently, but I think we’re on the upswing. Just in time for Mercury to begin it’s retrograde on Wednesday. Fantastic. Guess I should enjoy today and tomorrow.

Last Monday, Stephanie and Isabella came over for dinner and I made my veggie enchiladas. The gals were quite impressed. Well, Stephanie was. Isabella just ate some pasta and then an entire bowl of black beans with her fingers. There were black beans on her, on Steph’s pants, on the chair. If she wasn’t so cute, my head would have exploded.

I finally got to hang out with Darragh Tuesday evening. It’s been a long time since we’ve gotten a chance to sit and catch up on each other’s life, and so much has happened in the last few months. We ordered some Pagliacci’s, opened some wine, and curled up on his futon for a few hours. It was a nice evening.

Wednesday, TBFE and I got a last minute invite to dinner from Dan and Trish. Yummy Thai food up on Queen Anne. It’s been a while since we’ve seen them one on one (or, two on two) so there was much catching up on this night, too.

Wednesday night was a long, eventful night, which led to working from home on Thursday. Really, not so bad. It was a beautiful day, so Todd, Kayleigh and I had lunch at the Celtic Swell and played on the beach for a bit. We were rejuvenated and Thursday night was much more restful.

And Friday night came none too soon. We watched The Longest Yard (the remake with Adam Sandler) for our Friday night movie and retired early. It was a rough night, for a myriad of reasons, so were up much early than I prefer on Saturday. We were productive from the get go, then the kids were off to game at the uncle’s, so Todd and I took advantage of the quiet house to lounge, snooze and watch TV. Until we got hungry and headed to Café Revo for dinner.

And we would highly recommend it to everyone. It’s a new Italian place down on Avalon that we’ve been wanting to try for a while. The food was fantastic, the waiter was attentive, the wine was lovely, the atmosphere was cozy but spacious and the prices were not too shabby.

Afterward, we attended the annual Cinco de Mayo party at Brittany & Erik's, who, coincidently, is making our wedding invitations. It’s good to know creative and talented people. While we didn’t partake in the yummy Mexican food at the party, we were all up in the Rock Band. I played bass (yay!), guitar (eh..), drums (oh, shoot me) and sang a few songs. I think the bass was my favorite, in addition to singing. Because, ya know, I’m like a rock star and stuff.

Home early from the party to curl up in bed and watch TV until the kids to got home from game. And then, thank goodness, a quiet and peaceful Saturday night.

I say, right on.

And Sunday was simply a beautiful day. You know those days when the stars align and everything just falls into place and you can’t help but smile?

Todd went off to coffee with his friend and I slept in, until Kayleigh knocked on the bedroom door. She had been invited to a friend’s house and needed permission. I said that sounded fine, and she said, “Okay, thanks. Sleep in some more.” She’s a good daughter.

But Tyler was up too, and there was no food in the house, so I was a good mommy and got up to scrounge up some breakfast. By bribing the children to walk down to the store and get syrup. We had everything else for pancakes. Just no syrup. And they were more than willing.

So, I made breakfast, then Kayleigh got picked up to go to her friend’s house and Tyler rode my bike to the park to meet up with his friend. Todd and I made a huge grocery shopping trip, then a huge Target trip. Then there was a little cleaning and organizing, then we each went off to pick up a child, then back together again to make a lovely dinner of hotdogs and pasta salad. And since we had been talking about Die Hard at dinner, we curled up for a Sunday night movie. Nothing like Bruce Willis killing German terrorists to wrap up a beautiful weekend.

Whew. I think you’re all caught up.
Now we can get back to posts about shoes and stuff.

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.

**********

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…..

**********

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.

**********

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?

**********

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.

**********

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.

*********

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!

**********

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

**********

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.

**********

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.

**********

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.

**********

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.

We Love The Voodoo

So, after being awakened at 3:30am by a couple of kids on spring break, then realizing on my way to work that I forgot my wallet and when reaching for my cell phone to call TBFE to see if he could maybe meet me half way if I turn around to get said wallet, I realize I have forgotten my cell phone, it was a nice surprise to find a present on my desk.

One of my co-workers (not the cranky non-decorating one) gave me a wedding voodoo doll. I was touched.



And I’ve already stuck some pins in some appropriate places.
I feel much better.

Yoga, Vertigo & Entertained Police Officers

TBFE summed up our weekend very well, so I can skip over the details. But I will say this, Bikram’s yoga may not be my friend.

The first class CB and I did was great. I felt good. Saturday's class, however, was pure hell. I don’t know if I didn’t hydrate enough or didn’t digest my breakfast enough or what, but I spent most of the 90 minutes laying down. I was nauseous and miserable. I will try one more class (in the EVENING, thankyouverymuch) and if it’s not better, I give up. I will find another type of yoga to do.

That evening, at Doug and Ann’s reception (a fantastic evening, by the way), I felt relatively fine. Even had a couple of cocktails and was steady on my feet. I finally got to wear my new babies and got numerous compliments on them.

And here’s where I could make some raunchy comment like, Oh, the police officers didn’t compliment my shoes because I wasn’t WEARING my shoes, or anything else, when they saw me, but I won’t. Really.

I just hope the light was flattering.......

Anywho, I’m not sure if the events are related (the yoga event, not the other stuff), but I spent yesterday, and a little bit of today, in a dizzy fog. Needless to say, brunch at the Space Needle (a rotating restaurant that's 500 feet off of the ground) was not entirely enjoyable. During the times I was actually standing, I was holding onto or leaning on Todd. I don't think anyone noticed. Shopping and registering later in the day was also quite the challenge. And I think the nausea that hit around 8:30pm last night was due to a swimming head for the past nine hours.

Today, we’re just dealing with a headache. I’ve had my earplugs on most of the day, but I've taken them out as the headache has lightened up a little.

I'm thinking I will be in bed very early this evening. And you can be sure the blinds will be tightly closed.

Maybe.....

Icky Day

Although, this photo makes me chuckle, so there's a perk.

Happy Friday.
Thank gawd.

I Survived The Yoga

And in my Hanky Pankies, no less. Talk about adding to the challenge. Apparently, when I attempted to throw my regular ol’ undies in my backpack Tuesday night, I missed completely. And I was not made aware of my sucky aim until changing into my yoga clothes after work. So, it was either Hanky Pankies or no pankies at all. Which would have just been weird.

Anywho, my buddy, CB, and I survived our first night of Birkram’s yoga.

She never left the room, which impressed me since she was so worried about a heatstroke. She kept up until we were down to 20 minutes left in the class, then she just did one set of the poses and rested for the other set.

I kept up, doing both sets of poses, until about 10 minutes left. Then I started to get a bit claustrophobic and wanted to just get out of there. But then came the cool down, where you just lay on your back and relax, and the instructor turned the overhead fans on, so getting that breeze helped tremendously.

And I remembered how good the challenge felt. Focusing and holding my balance on one leg. Stretching from my toes to my fingertips. Sweating so much that I can literally wring my bra out. And because you face a mirror the whole time, staring at my cleavage which, I must say, looked amazing in my tank top.

Afterwards, the 40 degree Seattle weather felt fantastic. CB hung her out with window like a dog for most of the drive home. At one point I asked her a question and after a minute, she just looked at me said, “What?” I believe the brain was fried. But she gave it a big thumbs up and said she felt really, really good.

We have plans to go back this weekend.
When I have on regular underwear.

This May Be My Last Post For A While

My buddy and I are taking a Bikram’s yoga class tonight, and well, I’m not very confident about surviving it anymore. Oh sure, when I did this stuff eight years ago and I felt great and I was going a few times a week. But time has not been kind to this here body.

In it’s defense, I really haven’t been helping, have I?

My buddy is a little worried as well. She emailed me a minute ago (which is very funny because I can see her in my monitor’s rearview mirror):

“Ok - so I'm getting a little nervous about the heat stroke coming. We'll have to make hand signs so you know if I'm in trouble.”

I told her I think the look on her face will be enough of a sign.

“I know my face gets quite red when I'm overworked so don't go just by that. If I'm holding my chest or pass out - that can be a sign too.”

Good to know.

And now she’s got me freaked out.

So, if you don’t hear from me for a while, it’s because I don’t have the strength to lift my arms or I’m recovering from a heat stroke. TBFE can keep you updated on my progress.

Pray for us.

But What If Chicken Isn’t In Season?!

This wedding stuff is funny business. TBFE and I seem to talk about it constantly. Not in a oh-gawd-we-have-nothing-else-to-talk-about kind of way, but in a we’re-so-excited-we-can’t-wait-nine-more-months kind of way. My mind is constantly thinking about details and the itinerary and the food, ah yum, the food!

So, last night we chatted for a bit about nothing in particular, then drifted off. Well, Todd drifted off. I laid with my head on his shoulder, my arm around his chest, and my eyes closed, and thought about the wedding.

And after about 10 minutes, I sat up and said, “What if we get the RSVP cards done before we’ve finalized the menu with the caterer and we put on there ‘choose chicken or veggie’ and then the caterer can’t do the chicken for some reason, but we already have the RSVP cards printed up?! Or what if we just decide to do a foo foo pasta instead of chicken at all but we already have the RSVP cards printed and they say CHICKEN?!”

Todd snorted awake, then sighed that sigh that I’m becoming very familiar with.

[In thick, sleepy talk]

“Raechelle. Why wouldn’t we have the chicken?”

“What if the chicken isn’t in season or something?!”

[Now realizing this freak out really doesn’t even warrant a response…..]

“Colonel-Sanders-in-Heaven, Rae-rae, the chicken will not be out of season. I could go into great detail about why the chicken will not be out of season, but I don’t think I need to do that, do I? There is no reason why we won’t have the two options… it will be fine to go ahead and print the RSVP cards before we finalize the menu….really….[deep breathe]…..it will be fine. Maybe we should just elope…..it’s not too late to go to Vegas……you like Elvis……”

[snore]

Hmph.
Well, okay fine. We’ll go ahead and print the RSVP cards. But if something happens and there is a sudden chicken crisis, I get to say I told ya so.

Weekend Update

My weekend started with a breakdown. I love that.

I just wasn't able to wake up the entire day, and then I sat in traffic for an hour (which is quite unusual), so when I got home, I just wanted to lay down. Just for a bit. But the Friday night schedule had changed and, while it really didn't affect my personal schedule, I still felt pressure to things I didn't want to do, even though Todd said I really didn't have to do anything and well, that made me cry.

It's funny how I don't think I'm stressed, but then the stupidest things make me snap and cry. Maybe I should just suck it up and admit it.

I am stressed.
There.

I have a lot going on in my little ol' bubble. It may not seem like a lot on a day to day basis, but step back and take a look at the whole picture.

I am stressed.

Luckily, the crying and the snapping was short lived, so I was better by the time we made our french bread pizzas and sat down to watch "W". It was really good. You know how when you watched "Walk the Line" you kind of forgot what Johnny Cash actually looked like because Joaquin did such a great job? Same thing here. Josh Brolin did an amazing George Bush. The movie is a bit too long, but all in all, a thumbs up.

And you have to wonder, does Bush really talk with his mouth full all the time?

Saturday, we headed to Eiffel Printing in Ballard to visit Todd's friend, Brittany (the owner), and talk wedding invitations. One hour later, we had a demo in our hands and order placed. Easy as pie. It really helps when the two people getting married tend to agree on just about everything from graphics to fonts to how sparkly the paper should be.

After that, a quick lunch at Blue C, which, in hindsight, was just dumb when your fiancé is allergic to shellfish. TBFE never actually ate any shellfish, but he had a cucumber roll and apparently there was cross contamination because that evening he got sick. Really sick.

We had plans to see ThorNton Creek play, but instead, we curled up in bed while the kids were at game, and watched The Black Swan, Todd's most favorite pirate movie ever. I left briefly to pick up Trish and Dan from the airport, as they were returning from their lovely Hawaiian vacation. I did not give them a hard time, but I did mention that it snowed here while they were gone. I'm sure they got my point.

Sunday, Todd was feeling better so he went off to coffee and I slept in until 10:00am. And thus, begins the most fantabulous day EVER. I cleaned and cleaned and then we shopped and then we came home and I cleaned some more, then I got a little manic at 6:30pm and decided to rearrange the downstairs/laundry area to tidy up and make room for Elvis' litter box and bowls. The litter box was in the kids' bathroom, but that made an already small room even smaller. So now the kids' have some more space and Elvis' has less privacy. He doesn't seem to mind.

I finally came down around 8:30pm. I poured another glass of wine and took a hot bath and dipped my hands in paraffin wax*, then curled up to watch Family Guy with my family guy and a big bowl of popcorn.

Then at 10:00, the kids got tucked in and Todd and I got tucked in and then [blog material censored by the author] and then out like a light. Whew.

**********

*So, you know how you say "I am never going to be like my mother/father!"

Well, yeah. Good luck with that.

It seems that I may have arthritis in my hands (and probably even my knees). My left thumb joint started aching when I was in West Virginia in January, but I thought I had just hit it or bent it the wrong way like I do because I'm a klutz. So, I didn't really think too much about it. Then, I got a pinch in my neck that ran down my right arm and literally prevented me from using my right hand for two days. I got a massage and thought that would fix the problem, but here we are two months later and both of my thumb joints ache like a bitch most of the time. I'm sure it doesn't help that I type and mouse as much as I do.

Mom has arthritis in her hands (and her spine and her neck and her arms), as do (did) my aunts and my uncle. So, looking at heredity, that's probably what I'm dealing with.

Mom had purchased a paraffin wax dipper years ago for her hands, but upgraded to a commercial grade/size model that would accommodate most of her forearm, so I got the little one. The thing is fantastic. I did two dips last night (you just dip, wait for the wax to cool, then slide it off) and my thumbs feel much better this morning. The only drawback is that this thing takes 2.5 hours to heat up, and even then there is still a ball of wax in the middle. I don't know what to do about that ball of wax. It just won't melt.

Anyway, you have to plan in advance.

So, we're at achy hands, cracking knees, bad eyesight and gray hair. Hard to believe I'm only going to be 34 next month.

*cough*April 14th*cough*

Ahem....

Ballard Condo Update

Oh, this makes me happy.

The brand spankin' new condos that are taking over Ballard are sitting empty. Those condo overlords that thought they could sell one bedroom condos for $400,000 are losing oodles of money every day.

Build, build, BUILD, they said! Who cares if the ones we built a year ago aren't selling, BUILD MORE! Tear down the old houses, build! Tear down the bowling alley, build! Tear down the Denny's.......well, I support them wholeheartedly there. That freakin' place gave me food poisioning.

I'm sorry to see Ballard become somewhat of a ghost town with all of these monster buildings just sitting empty, but I'm happy that greedy corporations aren't profiting from these eyesores that took over a quiet, little neighborhood.

Need More Sleep

Why?

Why must I get up when it's still dark? Why must I crawl out of my warm, fluffy bed, away from my warm, fluffy man to sit in this cube? Why?

It's not fair.
I'm sleepy.

Preach it, kitteh kitteh. Preach it.....

You can't make me shine, dammit.

I'm So Torn.....

I just read about this on KomoNews.

An alcohol delivery service.
Oh, gawd help us.

Luckily, TBFE and I can just walk down to QFC if we need more beer or wine (that doesn't sound good, does it?) But for people who don't live within stumbling distance of a grocery or liquor store, and we don't want those people driving, they can order in.

I can see both pros and cons.
Discuss.