Weekend Update

It was a good weekend. Lots of social time, lots of house time and very low stress. I like weekends like that.

Friday night Todd and I hung out the Celtic Swell and decompressed and talked wedding stuff. We even had the waitresses helping. So how can that not be fun?

Saturday, we continued the wedding fun and visited the Sanctuary at Admiral again to get some measurements, look at the tables and arrangements and time the walk down the aisle. We figured out where the chairs would be, where the cake will be, where the jugglers will be.

Just kidding. There will be no jugglers. Sorry.

That afternoon, Todd finished up the new railing on the porch and I detailed the inside of Sportacus, his truck. He’s cleaner than Ruby now. I’m not happy with that. So guess what I’ll be doing this coming weekend?

That night, we traveled to Ballard to see Thornton Creek play at Egan’s. Egan’s is a great little venue with wonderful food and a homey, friendly vibe. We sat with a few of the Millers and visited throughout the show. I’m very lucky that Todd likes them as much as I do. And they seem to like him, too. I also saw some acquaintances I hadn’t seen in years, so I got to tell the whole I’m-getting-married! story again and introduce my fiancé. Who knew there was anyone left that I hadn’t gushed to?!

Sunday, the wedding fun continued as Kim and I went and bought her Best Lady dress. Then we just wandered around and oohed and ahhhed over all the frilliness. I told Kim, whenever I’m in bad mood, I’m just going to go to a bridal shop and hang out. You can’t help but smile when you see the little flower girls running around in their pretty dresses, or the young brides in the big, poofy gowns.

I told Todd a few days ago, I’m almost sad that the wedding is so near. I already miss the conversations about what color theme we should have and do we want a buffet or a family style dinner (family style. Definitely.) All of the decisions we had to make in the beginning and buying my first wedding magazines and ripping out pages of dresses that I liked.

Sigh.

He said I’ll get to experience it again when Kayleigh gets married. I keep asking her if she has a boyfriend yet, but she just rolls her eyes at me.

The rest of Sunday was spent doing some house cleaning, making some dinner and then watching the repeat of the first preseason Seahawks game that originally aired on Saturday but I missed it because I have completely lost my mind and can’t even keep track of when football starts. I hate myself. And now the Seahawks are going to suck this year because I wasn’t there at their very first kick off, in my Seahawks sweatshirt, with my Seahawks coasters, screaming for them to KICK SOME ASS.

Please forgive me, ‘Hawks. I just have a lot going on right now. What the hell was I thinking, planning a wedding during football season?! I promise to not miss any more games. Well, except September 27th’s because that’s my bridal shower and I don’t think football factors into my mother-in-law’s vision of wine and cupcakes and then on November 15th I’ll be drunk out of my gourd on a beach in Kauai, so unless I can find a battery powered TV, no can watch. I hope you guys understand.

Maybe the Seahawks don’t need me, because they beat the Chargers, 21 to 14. We sacked the Chargers’ QB 4 times and made 2 (or 3?) interceptions. That’s a pretty good start to the season.

And all of the games are now on the Google calendar. So, I have no excuse.

Sunday night, Todd and I tried to go bed early, but I got a wild hair to make a present for a friend and then we both laid down, but neither one of us really slept all night. Well, until 5:30 this morning.

Why is that? You lay awake all night, unable to sleep, tossing and turning. Then your alarm goes off, you hit snooze and BAM, you’re out like a light, dreaming and everything, and then you wake with a jolt and you’re late for work. When you should have just gotten up at 4am and gone on in early, rather than continuing to try to sleep, only to actually fall asleep right when you’re supposed to be getting out of bed.

Yes, you could say I’m a bit cranky today.

But my day is almost over, and it hasn’t been too terribly bad. So here’s hoping for a good 10 hours of sleep tonight. Gotta catch up.

Go ‘Hawks.

General Life Update

To answer the question that is on everyone’s mind – there are no new updates on the houses, the old or the new. We’re assuming the bank is still taking it’s sweet time approving our offer on the new one, and the old one hasn’t had a showing yet. But we are not deterred! Since our closing on the new house isn’t set until September 30th, we really don’t want the house to sell right away. Because then where would we live? If we get to September 15th and we still haven’t had any showings or offers, then I might panic. But it’s too soon for that.

Look at me, being all level headed and practical.

Todd’s stepdad was down last week, helping put up the new porch railing, when he came into the kitchen and said, “You know, you seem to be doing pretty well with everything that’s going on.”

I replied, “It’s the alcohol.”
Bob said, “Oh…that’ll do it…”

My therapist tells me I appear to be holding it together pretty well, too. I’m flattered. I really don’t FEEL that stressed – like crying at the drop of a hat, or screaming my head off for no reason stressed. I think my stress lives solely in my brain.

It’s hard to tell what’s natural and comes with aging, or what is simply losing my mind. For instance, I lost a credit card. Never in my life, even as an irresponsible 20 something, have I ever lost something so important. And now, I’ve lost a credit card. I lost Jessica’s wedding invitation. I moved a box of tissues when we were taking photos for the listing and could not for the life of me find them after the shoot (an hour later, I found them behind my dresser. Wha..?)

I forgot to shampoo my hair one morning. Went straight to the conditioner. Then couldn’t figure out why my hair was so greasy later that day. And sometimes, I have to ask what day it is.

Funny. These are also symptoms of perimenopause. Wonder if the hot flashes and night sweats are signs of stress, too?

My therapist suggests I take a little time each day, just for me, just to let my brain have some quiet time. I’ve told you about my Tom therapy. That helps. Being able to decompress and download to Todd helps, too. Just to get everything off my mind at the end of the day.

And I feel like we’re in a lull right now. We can’t actively do anything to sell the house (except clean. And build a railing, but that’s finished now.) or buy the other house. So I’m in hyper wedding mode.

I have contacted my friend who is making the wedding cake and there will be a meeting next week about the details. The invitations are done, but those don’t need to be mailed until September. I’ll probably contact the caterer in September as well, to finalize the menu and all that fun stuff. Todd and I have been compiling music and sketching out the itinerary for the ceremony, so that makes us feel productive.

And Kim and I are going dress shopping on Sunday!

Speaking of Kim, I thought of her when I saw this LOL cat.


She’s already married, though, so it shouldn’t come to this.

(Late) Weekend Update

In bullets!
Because I’m lazy (loaded word).

Friday

* Attended the opening of Kayleigh’s play, The Music Man, at West Seattle High School. After first having dinner and margaritas.

* The play was great, Kayleigh was great. Here’s a pic from the West Seattle Blog.

* We forgot to get flowers, but took her out for ice cream afterwards.

* Home. Bed.

Saturday

* TBFE and the kids painted the new railing to the porch and cleaned off a patio set that magically appeared Friday morning. Real estate agents are sneaky that way.

* I made banana nut muffins for breakfast, did lots of overdue admin work and contacted a plumber to come out and see why there was water on the kids’ bathroom floor.

* Plumber came out, and it appears the toilet overflowed, yet no one noticed. Until late Thursday night. Plumber fixed the toilet. All is well (and dry).

* Todd and I went to Costco to prepare for Sunday’s shoot and then hit the grocery store.

* I made dinner (baked spaghetti) and we watched Serendipity while Kayleigh was at her play. Cute little movie.

* Then bed.

Sunday

* Todd was up and out at 8:00am to shoot the next Duo short.

* I slept in, then took two hours getting myself together. I plucked, shaved, exfoliated, blow dried and painted stuff. It’s a rare day when I get a chance to groom.

* I took Kayleigh to her matinee and then joined Todd at the shoot.

* We wrapped about 4:00pm, then headed across the street with Trish, Dan and Dan for some munchies and beverages at The Bohemian, our new favorite little bar.

* Picked Kayleigh up after her play, headed home and vegged for the remainder of the evening.

* Then bed.

Yes, it was another one of those weekends.....whew. The fun never stops!

My Horoscope

From The Seattle Times:

Aries (March 21-April 19): Work out your plan so that you know exactly what you're doing. You always find it comforting to have a blueprint.


Well, duh.
Tell me something I don't already know.

Random Thoughts

I started taking prenatal vitamins. I call them my baby pills. Which makes Todd laugh and cringe at the same time. No, I’m not trying to get pregnant. Although I have this secret fear that taking prenatal vitamins makes my body pregnant. Todd assures me that’s not how it works.

I just want my hair and nails to be healthy and pretty.

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I’m also using moisturizing body wash now, in order to make my skin silky smooth and hydrated. My Big Ass Wedding Book told me to. And I must listen to The Big Ass Wedding Book.

Although, I’m not a body wash kinda gal. I was raised on soap and a wash cloth. The loofa is weird and I can’t keep a hold of it. And it just doesn’t feel like it’s getting me clean, especially after this particularly hot and stinky week. But my skin is smoother, and Todd says I smell good, so I guess it’s okay.

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Speaking of the wedding, I had a dream last night that it was the wedding day but everything was off. Todd was watching me get into my gown and I was thinking, “He’s not supposed to see me yet!” And my hair was down, but pulled back a little (not at all what I had in mind) and I didn’t have earrings but I thought, “Oh well. Who will notice?” Ha! Not at all like me. Then I couldn’t find my Schedule Enforcer, Julie, and was thinking maybe she didn’t even show up, and the hair and make up gal wasn’t there, so I was trying to put on enough eyeliner to do that smoky thing.

But I also noticed my dress was a smidge looser. That made me happy.

Eventually, I realized everything was awry because we had moved the wedding up. By a couple of months. Then everyone started leaving, but they were walking across my very long train (unlike my dress) and I was gathering up it in my arms yelling, “THIS IS A THOUSAND DOLLAR DRESS, PEOPLE! GET OFF MY TRAIN! YOU GUYS SUCK!”

Weird, no?

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And one other wedding note, due to timing issues, the part of the Best Lady will now be played by Kim (aka Kim-n-Tim-Milo). Not to worry, Jamie and I are a-okay.

Kim, however, is very enthusiastic and has made the mistake of telling me she welcomes my barrage of wedding emails. So she may end up quitting before the big day. We’ll just see how much she really loves this stuff.

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General life update: our house hasn’t sold (dammit!), we still haven’t heard back from the bank regarding the new house, and things with the boy are calm and pleasant. I’ve seen Kayleigh for maybe two hours total since Sunday. She’s been at her friend’s and then at rehearsal until 11:00pm. Quite the flourishing butterfly she is.

And I’ve been having crackers or a bagel for breakfast, noodles for lunch and pasta for dinner for too many days in a row. I need some vegetables.

And it's darn near chilly today. Thank goodness.

Therapy

This is my new therapy. Tom Time.

Tom and I spend a little bit of time every evening snuggling. Normally with him laying on my chest, right around bedtime. It makes me stay in one place, and it makes me look at him and coo. How could I possibly be stressed or upset when watching such a loving kitty sleep on me?

We laid on the couch this evening, when I got home from work. Kayleigh was at a friend's, Tyler was in his room and Todd was doing some work on the computer. The house was quiet and I wanted to just rest my eyes. I called Tom up on me and I laid and looked out at the backyard, at the sun going down and the locust tree swaying in the breeze.

We laid like this for about an hour. Then it was time for a meeting, then dinner needed to be made, then the dishes cleaned up. Now it's almost time for bed.

But I got my Tom Time in. Just a bit of quiet and stillness each day. I think it's doing some good.

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I like this photo, too.

Reason # 3 Why I Hate My Job

Letters like this:

“Dear Valued Customer,

Beginning in August 2009, Ortho Clinical Diagnostics (OCD), Therakos, Inc. and Veridex, LLC will implement changes to our Customer Services to align with those of other Medical Devices & Diagnostics Companies of Johnson & Johnson. Our goal is to provide simpler, more coordinated processes for order management, billing, returns and inquiry resolution. To do this, Customer Services previously managed by OCD, Therakos and Veridex are transitioning to Johnson & Johnson Health Care Systems Inc. (JJHCS).”

Um. What?

This is what happens when a company gets too big.
Just tell me who I need to call to order crap.

Weekend Update

I told Todd last night that this was one of the best weekends I’ve had in a long time. Now, that’s saying something.

Our weekend started Friday night with the traditional pizza movie night. We made pizzas, instead of ordering in, and watched Transporter 3. I am now a huge fan of these movies. It helps that Jason Statham is just beautiful, but the fight sequences alone are enough to have me on the edge of the couch. Just awesome.

This movie, however, was probably the weakest of the three. Jason gets the woman in every movie, but why on earth did he even want this woman? I wasn’t convinced that he liked her, let alone loved her and took her fishing with him. Gimme a break. And the little strip tease scene? Lame. Jason can kill a man with his dress shirt; why on earth would he tolerate this rich little twit demanding he do a strip tease to get his car keys back? I don’t think so.

Don’t get me wrong. I didn’t mind WATCHING the strip tease. Even though he only took off his jacket, tie and shirt and he really wasn’t “teasing” at all. It was still good, cheap entertainment.

After that movie, we watched 10 Things I Hate About You because it was Eric Riedmann’s first movie and well, how could we not? (Eric played Afriel, Protector of the Children, in Todd’s movie Ordinary Angels. My mother probably gave Eric the highest compliment when, after watching OA, she said, “I really believe he would protect the children!”.) We cheered when Eric said his one and only line, then critiqued the rest of the film and tried to figure out where they were since it was filmed in Seattle.

Earlier in the evening, I made the declaration that I would be sleeping in on Saturday. And I promised ice cream to those who worked hard to help make that happen. Kayleigh obliged – she went to spend the night with her friend. Tyler obliged – he slept until 10:00am. And Todd obliged – he snuck out of the bedroom at probably 6:30am or so. I didn’t even stir until 8:30 and at 9:15, finally decided that I was sufficiently rested and got up.

And wow, what a difference sleep can make! It was a beautiful sunny day, and only really warm, not oh-please-kill-me-I-can’t-take-this-heat hot. Todd and I had some coffee and breakfast, then tidied up for the first of two open houses for the weekend. Kayleigh was hanging with her friend all day, Tyler finally got to hang out with his buddy for the day, so as of 12:45pm, Todd and I were on our own!

We went to check out some wedding bands. Muy fun. We went to look at the tux that Todd picked out and size up the colors. So pretty. We had lunch at Blue C. We swung by Costco for kitty litter. We toured a couple of hotel rooms downtown to get an idea of what we wanted in our wedding night room. And then we headed to my co-worker’s BBQ. Which turned out to be a great time. There were only about 15 or so people, but it made for a nice circle around a plastic, kiddie wading pool. The yard was huge and sunny (and hot) with the exception of a nice shady patch in the back. People threw the ball for the dog, there was a dart board and horse shoes, and her husband grilled up yummy salmon fresh from Alaska.

It’s been a long time since I’ve had such an carefree, relaxing evening. New people made for fun conversation. Todd and I throw parties all the time, but I’m in such host mode that I don’t take time to enjoy those parties. I’m too busy making sure everyone else is having a good time.

Keep this in mind if you’re coming to the wedding.

Slight tangent:
When we met with the flower guy, I was asking questions about delivery and would we need to pick up the flowers and how would I need to set them up…. The guy stopped me and said, “You are the bride. You don’t do that. WE do that.” Then he looked at Todd and said, “Tell her she doesn’t have to do anything.”

I don’t have to do anything? But..but…I don’t want to inconvience anyone!

This will be my great challenge. If you see me clearing plates, stop me. It’s a habit.

Anyway. Where was I?
Oh yes. BBQ. Fun time. Much needed.

Sunday was yet another open house (and there was maybe more sleeping in) so we got up, had breakfast (Todd made homemade cinnamon rolls – reason #74 why I love him) and then all headed out. Kayleigh went back to her friend’s, Tyler hung out with his uncle Gavin, Todd had a production meeting with Trish and Dan, and I met up with Jamie for lunch. After lunch, I stopped by to visit Kim-n-Tim-n-Milo, which I hadn’t done in ages. It was a good three house of just chilling out and catching up. Milo didn’t wake up from his nap until about the time I needed to leave, but I got to see him and say hi. He’s two now. I can’t believe how time flies.

After my visit, I picked up Tyler, we hit the grocery store for a couple of things, then arrived home to find Todd bustling around in the kitchen, prepping dinner. We had a lovely sitdown of cold pasta with basil, olive and tomatoes, as well as a Caesar salad. And then it was time for some HGTV House Hunters (I am officially addicted to this show) in the bedroom. Where it was much, much cooler.

And with the exception of the leaf blowers flaring up at 5:30am and Elvis knocking my glass of water off of my nightstand and into my slipper, it’s a pretty good Monday.

So far.
Check with me at 4pm.

How Hot Is It?

It’s so hot that our annual summer work bbq (which is now an “ice cream social” to save money) has been moved INDOORS. Is that irony?

It’s so hot that I didn’t even bother to blow dry my hair this morning.

It’s so hot that, for dinner last night, we had a picnic of meat, cheese and fruit on our bedroom floor.

It’s so hot that my head is pounding and my stomach is sick and all I’ve been able to eat today is a banana.

It’s so hot that public libraries are closing because they don’t have air conditioning and the heat levels inside are nearing “dangerous”.

It’s so hot that I thought the poor lady who bought the VERY LAST FAN at Rite Aid last night was going to get mugged on the way to her car.

It’s so hot that I can’t even contemplate having a cup of coffee. And that just pisses me off.

It’s so hot that I have worn nothing but skirts and dresses all week. I miss my blue jeans. And my sweatshirt.

It is so hot that we can’t even think about anything else. It’s all we talk about, think about and complain about. Oh, there a few people (like my mother, who doesn’t even live here) who absolutely love it. No one is really talking to them, though. It was fun to hit a new record, but okay, we’re done with it now. Let’s get back to that cold, dreary weather we all love so much.

Oh! According to Weather.com, it looks like we might get some showers on August 7! Woohoo!

Ud pate....so....hawt....ug

We hit 101 degrees today. In Seattle. The same city that was snowed in for three weeks last winter. Now we're burning up.

But global warming is a myth.
Yep.

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So, what else is going on, besides our famous weather? No one came to our open house on Sunday. That was a bit disappointing, but the house hasn't even been on the market for week, so it's a little early to start freaking out.

Oh, but you know me. It doesn't take much for me to freak out. Like Sunday morning, for instance. We were rushing around, trying to clean up and get out of the house by 10:30am because the open house was at 11:00am and it was already hot and for the love of puppies, why the hell can't you just PUT YOUR SHOES AWAY??

I may have had a meltdown. I may have thrown the garbage in the garbage can a little too forcefully. There were tears. And comments like "What the hell was I thinking, taking all of this on RIGHT NOW?!"

I may have scared Todd a smidge.

My therapist suggests that I am slightly stressed. Who knew?

But not to worry. All is good. Stress is to be expected during all of this. We're tacking the three biggest stress factors, all at once. The key is look at the big picture. Just a few more months and our house will have sold, we'll be moved into the new house and we'll have gotten through the wedding festivities. Then we'll be sitting on a plane, headed to Kauai.

Oh yea.

And we will not be moving, selling or marrying EVER AGAIN. Life will be gravy from here on out. Well, except for the whole teenager thing.

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The rest of Sunday was lovely. I took off and had breakfast by myself down at Alki, then sat and watched the water and talked to a friend on the phone. Then I drove down to Nichole's baby shower. Lots of cute things. And when I got home, Trish and Dan were here, so we made a little deli dinner and chatted about our wedding and their pregnancy. Everyone seems to be in some form of change. Pregnancy, buying a home, having a baby. Big year.

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And this week is just spent laying on the floor in the basement. This is the only time I love having the bedrooms down here. It's like a different climate.

We've got another three days or so of unbelievable weather, but then we drop down into the 80s this weekend. Ha. "Drop down". Funny.

Feelin' Hot, Hot, Hot

Please send snow.

House For Sale

It's official.
The house went on the market yesterday.

After five days of busting our tushies, putting stuff in storage, wiping down walls, window sills, windows, doors, door frames, kitchen cabinets, dusting, polishing, sanding, painting, and hiring people to do the yard and haul junk away, we are EXHAUSTED. I have never known this kind of tired. And I don't know how people do this more than once in their lifetime.

Oh, I've MOVED a lot. I am an expert packer and mover. Moving is one thing. Selling is a completely different beast. We had the house ready to show yesterday, although it didn't get on the market until last night, and it was a good thing. We got a call from an agent at 10am, wanting to come by in an hour. So we woke the kids and took them to Denny's. I can see how this will get old really quickly.

So, let's hope for a quick sell, shall we?

My Horoscope For Today

From Yahoo:

Quickie
Go ahead -- be daring. The universe will rise to meet you in your endeavors.

Man, I hope so.

I feel like we’re leaping through the air, flappin’ our arms, trying to keep ourselves up until we spot that metaphorical net. You know, leap and the net will appear?

Okay. We’ve leapt!

Where the hell’s the net?

Overview
You're feeling the buzz today, and you can't help but share it with others! Now is the best time for you to get folks together and see if you can't make something extra-crazy happen!

I don’t want “extra-crazy”. My life is “extra-crazy”.
At this point, I would be happy with “secure”.

I don’t ask for much.

What Would Happen If I Actually Stood Still?

Gawd help me, we made an offer on a house.
Actually, I made an offer on a master bedroom closet. Trust me. It’s totally worth it.

It’s a custom closet, complete with little shoe racks that you stand your shoes up on (My babies will love it!) and pull out shelves and little cubbies for your socks. There’s a vanity IN THE CLOSET with a sink and a cabinet and I can get ready in the morning IN THE CLOSET, surrounded by my shoes. I may just sleep in there.

Okay, the house that is attached to this closet is really nice, too.

We’ve been house hunting off and on for about year. You know this. We’ve blogged about it. But last week, a house that we’d been stalking for a couple of months finally dropped into our price range. So we pounced. And whadya know, the sellers actually accepted our offer. Huh. It’s a short sale, so we won’t know anything for a few weeks (funny, huh? Short sales take so much longer….weird) but man alive, I’m learning some grown up stuff. The mind boggles.

To add to the fun, we sat down with our agent on Saturday and filled out all the paperwork to list our house (well, Todd’s house really. But he’ll correct me and say “our” house. So okay fine, OUR house. But it’s still Todd’s house. I didn’t sign anything).

We filled in all the cute little boxes that say how great the house is (soaking tub, bath off master, high-speed internet, carport-attached) and signed and initialed a bunch of papers. It was all very exciting.

And I will say the question that asks “Has this property ever been involved in a fire, flood, earthquake, yada yada yada” was THE MOST fun to answer. We needed an extra sheet of paper.

Oh, but then it was all very nauseating because our agent said she wanted to list it on Thursday.

THIS Thursday. Five days from now Thursday.

Um…then we should get to cleaning, yes?

And we did. At 6:30am on Sunday. Todd was awakened early (by my snoring. Sorry sweetie.) so he got up, and that woke me and then my mind started racing (see: panicking) about everything that had to be done, so I just went ahead and got started. We were muy productive. We two trips to storage, each in our respective cars, we cleared out the office, we cleared out the bedroom and closet.

We finally came to a stop at 6pm so we could clean up, take Kayleigh to rehearsal and then go out for a much needed margarita.

So, this week is about cleaning. Deep, deep cleaning. Like, wiping down the baseboards and doors and walls and the inside of the fridge and the windows. And taking my wedding dress to the seamstress for hemming. And rehearsals. And counseling appointments. And movie meetings. And movie shoots. And listing a house. And waiting to hear back about the new house. And tae kwon do. And belt tests! And baby showers (yay, Nichole!!)

Ack.
What day is it?

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This post brought to you by wine and chocolate. Because I see a lot of it in the near future. Tropical honeymoon be damned.

Lessons About The Facebook

I would like to give props to my Mama. She accidentally got herself a Facebook profile!

Isn't that the coolest?!

I'm still waiting for her to update her status.

But be careful!! Some people just don't understand how to use the Facebook. As evidenced here.

Although that the first one is hysterical.
Because it's true.

Oh, She With The Curious Mind

Back in 2000, I started temping at WRQ (a software company, not a radio station) after I quit my jobs at the montessori school and at the dance studio. I had been working 15 hour days, and had no social life.

So I decided to suck it up and go back into an office. Easy money, 8 to 5 day, and health insurance. My assignment was for four months and it was mindless work. I moved information from one database to another, to get ready for the implementation of a new customer service database named Siebel.

Well, four months turned into six months, and six months turned into a year and then I finally got hired on full time. And my boss was a nice man named David.

David gave me more responsibility. I was in charge of cleaning the database. I merged duplicate entries, I retyped information so that it was all uniform and consistent (yes, it was a dream job). But in the process of cleaning this data, I started to notice that the sales people were using it in different ways. Therefore, the data was being entered inconsistently and I was having to retype everything. I realize now that was simply job security, but I’m all about efficiency and doing it right the first time.

So I started to talk to the sales people and ask them about their processes. How did they use the database? What information did they need to extract from the database? What part of the database did they not use? What part did they hate? We ended up making some changes to the database and doing training sessions for the sales people, so that everyone was on the same page and using the information the same way. Go Raechelle.

When it came time for my first review, I was praised in most everyway. I was a good worker, I was fast, I was punctual, I was fun to work with. But David gave me one ding. He said “Raechelle needlessly concerns herself with tasks that do not relate to her job.”

Um. Needlessly?

I’ve been telling this story a lot lately. As a buyer, I’m buying things that are very foreign to me. Pipette tips, hexahydrate, a geneamp PCR. Stuff like that. And I like to ask my customer what these things are used for, so I have a better understanding of what we need should the vendor ask me when I’m placing the order.

And I can hear David in my head saying, “You’re just the buyer, Raechelle. You don’t need to concern yourself with what this stuff is. Just do your job. Just buy the stuff.”

I tell David to shut up.

Because my inquisivitiveness has paid off. I am in the middle of trying to get these cartridges from our vendor, but our vendor ran out completely, so we only got seven of the 30 we ordered. I had no idea what these things were, only that our lab folks were calling on a daily basis says, “We REALLY need these! We’re running out. PLEASE see what you can do!” (This is the part of my job I don’t like so much.)

And the kicker with these cartridges is that they all have to be of the same lot. I had no idea what this meant, but I kept telling the vendor “Yes, please send the remaining cartridges, but please make sure they are of the same lot.” The vendor should know what that means, right?

Finally, the manager of the lab called me to get an update. She’d been hearing updates, but wanted to know first hand where we stood. I had been doing everything in my power to get these freakin’ cartridges (not really even knowing what they’re for) but the vendor kept telling me they just don’t have any, but they would be getting a shipment of them in soon. I told all of this to the manager, and she was very sweet and thanked me for doing what I could. Then I asked her, even as I heard David’s voice in my head, “What do these things do? Why are they so important?”

Well.
Before these cartridges came along, our lab people had to manually separate blood samples. Pull the white from the red, then extract DNA then separate something else. These cartridges do all of that for them in one spin. What used to take them hours to do now, with these cartridges, takes seconds.

Sold!

I called the vendor back and asked to speak to a manager. I said we would be out of these cartridges in the next five days and if we do not have our remaining shipment, there was going to be hell to pay. And these puppies MUST BE from the same lot because if they are not, we have to test that lot and to test a lot uses four cartridges. FOUR WHOLE CARTRIDGES. So, by gawd, they better be from the same lot because a case of 100 cartridges (tiny, little cartridges) is $800 and we are not wasting FOUR CARTRIDGES to test these lots because you can’t seem to get them all from one lot when THAT’S YOUR JOB.

Yes, yes. Feeeeeel the power.

Well, the cartridges came in, and they were all from the same lot and the manager of the lab thanked me profusely for keeping on the vendor and I look like I know what I’m doing. And now when the order comes through for these things, I AM ON IT.

So.
In my opinion, asking questions isn’t such a bad thing, now is it?

Weekend Update

As per usual, this weekend was a non-stop, breakneck speed whirlwind of productiveness and socializing. I fear the day when all of this catches up with me.

Friday night, I caught a ride with my work buddy CB to the Junction after work to meet up with Todd and enjoy my first festival of the summer (in mid-July), the West Seattle Summerfest. We saw the band Gunbunny (the drummer was in Ordinary Angels), met up with some friends for happy hour and food, then toodled around until Mudhoney came on.

Slight tangent: For those of you not from ‘round here, Mudhoney is one of the very first Seattle grunge bands. Their song “Touch Me I’m Sick” was referenced in the movie Singles. Matt Dillon’s band’s song “Touch Me I’m Dick” was a wee bit of a rip off.

Anywho, we listened for about 15 minutes, said, “Woohoo, we saw Mudhoney!” then went and got another drink.

Saturday, up and out early to pick up Ruby. Apparently there was a broken cable in the driver’s side door which was shorting out a specific fuse. Who knew? So everything is working now. Except the tachometer is a little sticky. I’m not so concerned about that, though.

After picking up Ruby, we went by Metropolitan Market and ordered our flowers for the wedding! The Flower Dude said we were very easy (he has no idea). We went in saying “We need this many boutonnieres, this many bouquets and this many centerpieces. We want this color, and this flower.” BAM, done! Except I forgot about corsages. Crap. Sorry, mom. You gotta wear a flower. Deal with it.

And after the flowers, a quick bite to eat, then on to Lincoln Park to attend a friend’s birthday picnic. And boy howdy, it was hot. I think it got into the 80’s on Saturday and sitting outside in the sun was a shock to the system. Luckily, half of the picnic table was shaded, so there was relief.

Then, back home where, after a quick nap, I got a wild hair and washed Ruby. While listening to thunder! It was just like being in Texas again.

And later, there was curling up in the bedroom, watching X-Men, which I had never seen. And I liked it!

Sunday, up early again, this time due to a certain 15 year old who was up early. But that’s okay. Jamie was due to arrive at 10:30am, and then she, Kayleigh and I were off to shop for bridesmaids’ dresses.

I was in a bit of a panic at this point. Since I only had two dresses to think about, I thought, oh, we’ll just go to David’s Bridal and (hopefully) buy off the rack. Kayleigh is 11, growing like a weed and not enthusiastic about wearing a dress at all, so I wasn’t going to put much effort into it. But after hearing through the grapevine that bridesmaids’ dresses take about four months to order and get in, I lost it. Official wedding panic set in and it lit a fire under my ass. What if I have to actually ORDER ONE for her? So, off to David’s Bridal we went. Luckily, we found one that she’s comfortable in, and Jamie even found a couple that she liked, so whew, we don’t have to order one. We do have to go to another store, as the Southcenter David’s Bridal didn’t have the correct size for Kayleigh, but that’s easy enough. The Lynnwood store does, so we’ll just go up there this week sometime.

So, flowers, done! Dresses, done!

Now I need to make an appointment with a seamstress for my alterations on my dress. It’s really just hemming it up and putting on a bustle. No letting out or taking in. Anywhere!

Let’s see….where were we?

Ah, David’s Bridal.

After dress shopping we stopped for a quick lunch, then dashed back home, so Todd and I could go look at yet another house. Which was just okay. Sigh…..but! It was right across the street from one we had looked at a month ago, and that house has since dropped in price, twice! So we looked at it again. And found even more great things about it.

We’ll take the kids to look at it this week and then figure out what we want to do at this point. There will be more pros and cons lists. I’m sure of it.

And after looking at houses, we slowed things down. Made dinner, ran Kayleigh to rehearsal, and settled in for some Family Guy.

This week looks to be just as jam packed as the weekend. Tae kwon do classes, another visit to a couple of houses, lunch with friends, counseling for everyone and then the reward for a busy week, the Kirby Krackle show on Friday!

I can’t believe it’s only Monday.

Update on the Edith Macefield House

If you remember, back in February of 2008, Edith Macefield turned down one million dollars when developers tried to buy her house. Then Edith passed away in June of 2008 and left the house to the construction supervisor.

Yesterday, in the Seattle Times, there was an article about Edith’s house being sold to a motivational speaker.

MyBallard.com also has a informative article about plans for the house.

I'm not so sure how I feel about the plan. Seems shady to me. But at least the house isn't getting torn down.

In the end, Edith wins. Her house still stands.

Weekend Update

A brief recap of our long, holiday weekend.

Friday, I made the trek to Ballard for the much anticipated pedicure, followed by some errands and a trip to Goodwill. When in Ballard….

That afternoon, Todd and I met up with our real estate agent to look at a couple more houses, one of which may be just the break we’ve been looking for. But it’s too soon to talk it about or get our hopes up.

Unfortunately, our hopes are up because we spent a few hours at Home Depot on Saturday pricing stoves, refrigerators, cabinets, countertops, flooring, tile, front doors and other fun house stuff. There may be a spreadsheet. I’m not at liberty to say, really.

Sunday was the day to try on The Dress. I picked up Stephanie and Isabella and we headed off to I Do Bridal, where Jamie was waiting for us. There was much oohing and ahhing as The Dress fit P E R E C T L Y. I’ll need to have it hemmed up a couple of inches and have a bustle put on, but other than that…..like a glove. Despite being bloated! (I love my uterus!)

To celebrate The Dress fitting perfectly, we went out for crepes afterwards. I’m bettin’ that dress don’t fit so perfect anymore. Ack.

After crepes, I took Stephanie and Isabella home, and, so as not to tempt my fiancé, I hung my wedding dress in Stephanie’s closet. In my ex-boyfriend’s girlfriend’s closet. Stephanie likes to say we are so “new millennium”.

Back in January, Todd and I were talking about our wedding party and how we’re happy to only have two people standing up there with us. Todd rattled off the names of the men he could possibly have, if we were doing a large wedding party, and I rattled off three names, then hit a wall. I don’t have too many close girlfriends. But then Stephanie’s name popped into my head, so I looked at Todd and said, “How fantastic would it be to have Stephanie up there with me?!” Heads = exploding.

Anyway, the rest of Sunday was very domestic. Grocery shopping, cooking dinner, making s’mores, then doing a little more purging of some random boxes and filers. Just when I think we’re finished and have cleared out every box or bag of papers, we find another one. It’s job security, really. Keeps me busy.

And welcome to Monday.

When’s the next holiday? September?
Crap.

Happy Fourth of July

Like the red, white and blue cocktail picks in our margaritas? This was the extent of our partying for the holiday.

We didn't really do much today. Kayleigh is at a sleepover. Tyler is playing games in his room. I made potato salad (from scratch!) to go with our hot dogs and watermelon for dinner. Our dessert was cake like sugar cookies with blue frosting and red and white sprinkles.

Maybe we'll watch the fireworks on TV later. Ooh. Maybe on the big screen. Feel like we're RIGHT THERE. Because we don't really want to be RIGHT THERE. Because there's too many damn people RIGHT THERE.

Happy Fourth to you.

I Broke My Own Rule

I wore flip flops to work today.
And I annoyed myself as soon as I walked to my cube.

But it's supposed to be 80 degrees and it's the day before a holiday weekend and I have on my brand new-I-don't-care-if-it-looks-like-a-nightgown-I'm-bloated-and-it's-comfy-dammit dress and the only "shoes" that look good with it are my black flip flops.

Oh, but let's up the Raechelle Is Crazy anty, shall we?

My toenail polish is chipped.

I KNOW!

Not only am I showing my toes AT WORK, my polish is disgusting. Red, chipped and disgusting. And I don't care.

Because I have a pedicure tomorrow. Hee.

Every now and then, when the circumstances are just right, I can not care. It's rare, but it happens.

I'm sure I'll be wound up and back to normal tomorrow.
At least until my pedicure....

Giddy

MY WEDDING DRESS IS IN!!

A whole month early! So, I have an appointment on Sunday at the shop to try it on and make sure it's what I ordered. Jamie will accompany me.

And no, that's not a picture of my dress, silly.

Weekend Update….and then some

Let’s see…

The last you heard, TBFE and I had jaunted off to the romantic city of Tacoma (ha!) to see Adam and Kris. And now I am hell bent on going to Portland during the only possible weekend that will work for the next three months - last weekend in July. I think Todd and I deserve a few days away to remind ourselves why we like each other. We tend to forget these things. Or maybe it’s just me. Todd seems to remember better than I do. I get bogged down with real life. And laundry.

So, if you’d like play family and have your very own teenagers for a weekend (Fri thru Sunday), please contact me. The rental fee is small.

Where were we?

Ah, Saturday.

On Saturday, I got up early (9am, which is early for me) and set out for Jamie’s. But there was a marathon going on and the normal 20 minute drive took 50 minutes because 99 was closed, as was 1st Ave downtown, which I did not know about, so I ended up on the freeway, which was a parking lot, like always, but finally! I arrived and was welcomed with mini quiches and chocolate croissants and coffee and mimosas. Because Jamie loves me.

We cleaned out her storage area in the basement and man, I wish I’d taken before and after photos! It was amazing! You'll just have to imagine it. Before: stuff piled high and crammed in. After: stuff neatly organized on shelves and enough space to actually crawl into. Wow!

After our cleaning fest, I headed back home (after receiving a text from Todd that simply said “Kill me.”) to help prepare with Kayleigh’s End of School Luau. She had three friends over and I’m guessing they had something that included a whole lotta sugar before I got there. They were running circles in the house (we have dubbed the upstairs “the dog run”), squealing at the top of their lungs. Ah, youth. Good times.

Todd and I took turns supervising, then hiding, until finally the pizza arrived and the girls sat to eat and watch Dr. Horrible. Todd and I watched, too. While we drank pina coladas. Tyler pretty much hid in his bedroom the entire night. Except when he’d emerge for food.

Two of the girls ended up staying the night, which wasn’t bad at all, and after they settled down in Kayleigh’s bedroom, Todd and I retired relatively early.

Sunday morning, Todd went off to coffee with his buddy, Ron, the photographer who did our Christmas photos. Ron has also agreed to be our wedding photographer, as well.

Speaking of the wedding, FIVE MONTHS, people. FIVE MONTHS AWAY. Crazy.

While Todd was at coffee, I made pancakes for the girls, then got on a cleaning bender. By the time Todd got home, I was full of energy and ready to go do something productive. So we headed down to Alki to collect some rocks for something (can’t tell ya) then to Metropolitan Market to make an appointment to talk flowers for the wedding, then to Petco to get Tom a tag (and some kitty pillows and some mylar balls and a little fuzzy ball on a spring….love the kitties) then back home, where we made nachos for dinner after laying around in the sun for two hours. What a lovely Sunday.

And thus begins a short week!

We get Friday off, so I’m thinkin’ Rae-rae needs a pedicure (UPDATE: pedicure scheduled). I still have a very generous Habitude gift certificate to use, but I’ve had option paralysis and can’t decide what I want to do with it. I think a pedicure is justified since we’re finally in flip-flop season. Maybe a facial, too. Never had one.

I also need to take my car back down to Goodyear. Oh, slight tangent.

Happy anniversary, Ruby!!
It was our three year anniversary on Sunday, Summer Solstice. I didn’t even give her a hug. Crap.

But she’s needs some attention now. There are things that aren’t working. The remote door locks, the interior lights, the radio, the clock. The needles on the speedometer, the tachometer and the gas gauge flip out when I start her. Dad and Todd both said it's a bad fuse, but when looking at the fuse chart, it looks like some things on a particular fuse work, while one thing doesn’t. Now I’m wondering if it’s more rat damage that’s either 1) just surfacing because the cable finally snapped or 2) we have a new rat. Dammit.

So, I'll go by Goodyear at some point and have them check her out. I should probably do it soon. I really miss my radio.

Spontaneous Impromptu Adventure

We had a couple of Tyler appointments today, so I slept in a little and then worked from home. Quite a nice perk of the new job, lemme tell ya.

But our 1:00pm appointment had to cancel on us, and since I got a text from Adam (of Adam+Kris) last night saying they were playing at the glorious Bite of Tacoma this afternoon, Todd and I made a spontaneous trip down to see them. In Friday afternoon traffic. And it took about about 50 minutes. And we missed the entire 45 minute set. But got there for the very last song, "I Row The Boat." And Adam saw us and I waved and he waved and smile and told Kris we were there.

And it was totally worth the drive.

Totally.

After their show, we said hi, chatted quickly and updated each other on our lives. Adam is the proud father now to a little boy, Mason, and lives with the mother. Kris has moved out of the pond-front home and is living on her own. Things are changin' in Portland.

After catching up, the band had to jet back so Todd and I walked around a bit. I got a Hallie Berry kabob (chocolate covered strawberries on a stick) and Todd treated himself to a Big Kahuna shaved ice.

Yes, a fun few hours indeed. It was like a vacation.

Ahhhh...

Kickin' Ass and Takin' Names

Apparently, the Universe is one ticked off little chicky.

It's rumored that Micheal Jackson has died. This new drama just adds to an already surreal week of celebrity news. Farrah Fawcett is gone. Ed McMahon is gone. We all know there's a third on the way. Maybe it is Michael, but don't we usually get a little break in between?

Not today.

We have been bombarded with some clear signs. We are getting older. Our idols and teen crushes are dying. Is this how people felt when Elvis died? Someone completely larger than life passes away and all we can say is, "Huh." Or we start reminiscing.

I had Thriller posters on my wall. I'm not embarrassed.

Todd and I were singing a Michael Jackson song last week. "Rock With You", I think. Kayleigh asked who sung it. And our jaws dropped. So, Todd pulled up the video on YouTube. She said, "Oh! I know him!"

Whew.

Because if Kayleigh didn't know who Michael Jackson is, I would lose it.
I mean it.

Random Thoughts

I do love me some Jason Statham (he was Handsome Rob in remake of The Italian Job) but I had never seen any of the Transporter movies. Until last night when Todd introduced me to THE BEST MOVIE EVER.

Oh my.

Jason, kickin’ ass and takin’ names. But, yet, so kind and compassionate. He would never kill the bad guy. Just stab him in the leg or arm. See? Nice guy. But tough guy.

I now want to take kickboxing classes.
Except….

**********

Remember the doctor’s appointment for my knees? Maybe I didn't blog about that.

They crunch and hurt and the doctor said they were just inflamed and all I needed to do was take some ibuprofen and ice them and all would right with the world again?

Well, I tried that for a week and the pain actually let up.
Until two days ago when I popped my right knee because I could feel it catching and thought, oh, let’s just give it a little kick.

Bad decision on Rae-rae’s part.

I could barely walk down the steps today. I can’t bend it backwards very well. Forward it fine. Backward hurts. A lot. I made Todd put his hand on there while I bent it back and forth and his reaction was, “That ain’t right.”

Not sure what my next step is.
Ha. Get it?

Step?

Ha.

**********

Somehow, I got a Dixie Chicks’ song stuck in my head this morning.

White Trash Wedding.

“You can’t afford no ring, you can’t afford no ring. I shouldn’t be wearin’ white and you can’t afford no ring!”

I always said I should wear black to my wedding. Or red. Cause, gawd knows, I have no business wearing white.

So, I went with ivory. Hee.
I’ll fool them all!

**********

I’m having nose ring troubles today, after almost 10 years of being pierced. It was a little tender this morning, so I took out my stud. Just for a little bit.

And now, I feel naked.

**********

I just learned that when you "Enter", while compiling a blog post, it automatically posts the blog. Fantastic.

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.