Wow this weekend flew by. Friday night, we stayed in and watched movies with Amanda. Saturday, we went out to brunch with Chris. Sunday, we woke up early to go snowboarding. I am getting so much better! We went to Stevens Pass this weekend and I got to go up on a higher slope. At first it was daunting, but I'm really getting the hang of things. I did get hurt a couple of times getting off the lift, but just bruises. They will heal. It's all good. Getting off the lift is so hard! Tony says I am doing better than both he and Julie on their third day out. I don't fall that much, but I'm still pretty cautious. Strangely enough, my legs aren't sore like I expected. Granted, I am sore, but that's due to falling.

I lovelovelove snowboarding!

3 days until X-mas!

I had a phone interview this morning at 9:00am. It lasted 20 minutes. But it's OK! So yeah. This job is perfect for me. First immediate connection: it's for the Windows Media Player Digital Rights team. I worked intensively with WMP DRM during my time at Intertainer. The program manager knows my former bosses. He was one of our main contacts at Microsoft when we would find bugs in WMP with our product. So yeah. It helped lots. The interview was very easy. He mainly told me about what the team does and the role the coordinator plays in it all. Asked me only a few questions which is a-okay. I will have the rest of my interviews with other team members after the holidays.

Last night, I went over to Tony's and he was going to help me get ready for this interview. I was so not in the mood and couldn't get motivated. Now I don't feel so bad since I really didn't need to prepare that much for this phone interview. Now I have two weeks to prepare for my live interviews. I think I am going to be the master interviewee at the end of all of this.

.................................................................................................
Waiting for the phone to ring for my phone interview.
Wait.Wait.Wait.Wait.Wait.Wait.Wait.Wait.Wait.Wait.

My apologies for the previous short post. I was headed to Tony's to catch the season finale of "King of the Jungle". Snowboarding on Sunday was funfun (of course) and I did much better this time. Granted, the bunny slope at Crystal is MUCH easier than the one at Steven's, but it allowed me to practice balancing, stopping, turning and stuff. I didn't fall down as hard this time and did not end the day with a sore butt/ankle/wrist. After getting back from the mountain, a few people came over and ate chili I made the night before. Mmmm...chili.

This week has been pretty uneventful so far. Watched Margaret Cho's movies "Notorious C.H.O." and "I'm the One I Want". She is very entertaining. Job postings have been minimal...I am hoping that will change with the new year. The phone interview I was meant to have tomorrow got pushed back to Friday. More time to prepare, I suppose.

I can't believe I am going to be in Florida next week. Crazy. I'm trying to put together a little gifty for everyone...we'll see if I can pull it together in a week or so.

OK...stuff to do before going over to Tony's tonight. Amanda wants to make us dinner :-)

Crystal Mountain 12/14/03

The thing with Parker went well, but they don't have any placements right now. Bah. Paula called me on Wednesday to set up another interview - this time it will be a phone interview first. It's next Thursday. I will prepare even more for this one.

Argh! All this stress has caused my shingles to reappear. Ow! Ow!

Tuesday night, I went to dinner with Teresa at Hattie's Hat. That place has some yummy food! Good talks all around.

Wednesday night, Amanda, Tony and I went to a musical put on by Seattle Central Community College. Amanda went to school there for a little bit and knew most of the people in the cast. It was so long and wasn't very good IMO. Reminded me of plays from high school. Runaways I think it was called. It was written in the 70's. After the play, we went to the club for a little bit.

Thursday, Tony & I went to Goodwill. He ended up getting several coffee mugs and some other kitchen stuff. Thrifting is fun!

Tonight is birthday party night. First, we'll be going to Teresa's celebrations early in the evening. She is doing a bar-hopping thing in Ballard with a bunch of her work friends. Since neither Tony nor I can afford that right now, we will only be able to make an appearance for a short period of time. Later tonight is Stine's b-day party down at Open Circle. It will be a bunch of theater people which always makes things interesting.

We are going snowboarding again this Sunday! Yay! I am so excited!

Saturday was a very lazy day and it was lovely. I finished a book I had been re-reading and that's about it. We went out to the club that night since I had a little extra money after getting the unemployment check. Did some socializing and stuff.

I made these yummy cheese stuffed mushrooms on Friday night from a cookbook Sandi gave me for taking care of her pets. There is also a recipe for Stilton & Celery soup that I will have to make for Teresa. She fell in love with it on the cruise; I hope this recipe is just as good.

I had brunch with Sandi & Christine on Sunday before going to this little festival thing where Sandi was performing in the choir that she is in. It was a little thing at the Phinney Ridge Community Center where they were selling overpriced arts & crafts stuff. Their performance was quite enjoyable and it made me think that it would be something both Mom & Dad would enjoy. Yes, I'm talking to you! You know you like to sing! Dad should wait until he's retired, though. You are too busy now to get involved in another activity. Mom, I think it would be a great activity for you and help you find the joy in singing that I know is inside of you. A community choir isn't a whole lot of pressure. Really!

The job thing: I got a call from Paula this afternoon regarding a few more positions that she will be submitting my resume to. She heard back about the Recruiting Coordinator position and the same thing happened - they chose someone who had previous Microsoft experience. They also do not give her feedback on how I interviewed even though she asks. They say fine, but we decided to go with someone who has MS experience. These other positions that she told me today sound much more interesting, so more finger-crossing that they will want to interview with me.

I finally got a call from Parker Staffing (the agency I worked with when I lived here before) after sending them my resume weeks ago. I have an interview/testing scheduled with them on Wednesday. They will be the 4th staffing agency. Why do I get this feeling that I am going to end up signing up with all of them?

All I want for Christmas is a job.

I went over to Tony's last night so he could help me prepare for my interview better. He was such a big help in giving me feedback to the questions that Jenn gave me to prepare myself. He got a call this morning seeing if he was available for an interview at Microsoft at 1:00pm today. Uncanny, no? So off we went to our interviews.

Mine took about an hour and I interviewed with 2 different people. It was for a Recruiting Coordinator position. They asked me kooky questions like, "Describe how you would make your favorite sandwich" and crap like that. Both were really hard to read so I'm not sure how I did (if they liked my answers or not.) The job didn't sound too exciting to me.

Tony didn't do so well in his interview. He was told that it was just going to be an informational interview and not a technical interview, but it was totally a tech interview that he was not prepared for. My boy has a hard time with interviews and his brain freezes up because he is so nervous. If you have any suggestions on how to help someone gain confidence while interviewing and to not be so nervous, please let me know. I have no idea how to help him with this. Now he's being hard on himself because he failed the interview when he knew the answers to the questions but just couldn't make his brain work. He did find out that he wouldn't have really liked the job anyway, but still.

So that was our interviewing adventures for the day. Staying in tonight and watching the telly.

I waited until 3:30pm on Wednesday before calling Paula back - I got her voicemail. Left her a message but never heard back from her that day. I did, however, hear from her this morning. I have an interview scheduled for 1:00pm on Friday! She didn't have much of a job description, so I'm not sure what team it is for or anything. I suppose I'll find that out tomorrow.

A phone call got me out of bed this morning. It was from the person I was waiting to hear from (Paula at CoreStaff) but wasn't exactly what I wanted to hear. She informed me that she heard from another manager that is interested in interviewing me for another coordinator position. I asked about the previous one - she said he found someone that had worked at Microsoft as a coordinator previously, so he went with that candidate. That's understandable. So now I wait for another call to see when my next interview will be. It sounded like this hiring manager needs someone asap, so hopefully the process shouldn't be long.

*shimmyshimmyshakeshakeshake*
I got an unemployment check in the mail today!

Had a busy 4-day weekend. On Wednesday night, we went to the club for a little while. Thursday, I was up early again to go take care of Sandi's animals. Went home, made purple mashed potatoes and went over to Tony's to pick him up to go to Ira's. We went to Ira's for a little bit before having to leave to go pick up Amanda and go feed Sandi's herd again. Got back to Ira's shortly before the feast. There were between 10 and 20 people there throughout the night. The marshmallows on the yams caught on fire when baking in the oven when no one was paying attention. Catastrophe was avoided and the yams were still edible. Lots of yummy vegetarian food. Unfortunately, I felt quite sick later that night.

On Friday, I was still feeling pretty ill so I didn't do much. Tony took care of me and I felt better by the night.

Saturday was an early morning. I had to get up at 6:30am so I could feed Sandi's herd before meeting everyone at 7:00am for breakfast before heading out at 7:30am. We went to Steven's Pass this weekend. Go check out the pictures here. We got to the mountain around 9:30am, so I missed the 10:00am class. Tony took me down the run once before lunch. I was even impressed with how much I improved from the top to the bottom. After lunch, I went to the 1:00pm class. I learned a lot about balance and how to go in the direction you want. It was tons of fun. My class ended at 3:00pm and I met up with Scott. We sat in the lounge for awhile before Julie met up with us. Around 4:00pm, Tony & Chris joined us and we headed out. I actually didn't experience too much muscle soreness but plenty of pain from falling down. My butt, right wrist and left ankle hated me. My butt is still a little bruised today, but my wrist and ankle feel all better. After getting back to Seattle, Tony & I went over to Chris' for soup, spiced wine and video games.

I woke up Sunday morning with a head cold. After taking care of Sandi's herd, I pretty much laid in bed until 1:30pm. Didn't do much yesterday or today due to being sick. After I finish eating dinner, I'm going to go take care of Sandi's herd before picking them up at the airport around 9:30 tonight.

I hope I hear about the Microsoft job tomorrow. If I'm feeling better tomorrow, I'm going to call around to the agencies I have signed up with and see if there is any temp work or something. If there isn't, then I'm going to send my resume off to a couple of other agencies. I just wasn't feeling well enough to do any of that today.

The interview seemed to go well. He didn't ask me questions that were too hard to answer. He did tell me that he met with 4 other people and will be making a decision next week (due to the holiday). So now more waiting.

I am sleepy since I got up at 9 this morning. I tried taking a nap, but that didn't work too well. Yeah, this is boring.

OK...I finally got the call. I have an interview at Microsoft tomorrow for a sales coordinator position. I am nervous!

This weekend should be fun! Tomorrow night, we are going to the Mercury. According to Tony, it's one of the busiest nights of the year and is tons of fun. Thursday will be filled with lots of Thanksgiving partiness. I think we are going to try and go to Julie's during the day and Ira's that night after Amanda gets off from work. Friday I think we may be going snowboarding at Steven's Pass. Julie has offered to lend me her old equipment and Chris has offered to pay for a lesson and lift ticket for me. I am a lucky girl. I am also excited! Expect more pictures!

I hate waiting for the phone to ring!

Here are the pictures from Saturday. Notice all of the snow on the tree branches! It was gorgeous. Words do no justice.

Spoke with Paula at CoreStaff today. She's going to submit my resume for 3 different coordinator positions at Microsoft tomorrow. More finger crossing please!

The LotR Two Towers extended version rocks! Go rent it or buy it!

I'm going to be taking care of Sandi and Jim's pets while they are gone for the holiday. Since they have a doggie, I have to go over there twice a day. Must. Get. On. Schedule.

I haven't been home much since Thursday. On said day, I went to Apple One to sign up with them. Since it was late in the day, I had to go back on Friday and take the tests. They are submitting my resume to 3 different positions. Keep your fingers crossed for me! I am also going to send my resume to Addeco and Kelly. I never heard back from Parker which makes me think they don't have anything right now. Even the temp market is bad right now.

We got up really early on Saturday (7am is really early for me!) to make breakfast before going to Crystal mountain. It was amazing how much snow there was! It was soooo beautiful up there. I didn't realize it until we got there, but I had been there before. When I lived in Seattle previously, Dad took me up there to see Mt. Rainier when it was the end of the season. Anyway, I took my camera to take some pictures. I took a few and gave it to Tony so he could take some pictures from the top of the mountain. When he went to take a picture, the battery died. Bah! Once it recharges, I'll upload the pictures that I did get. I need thick socks for my boots. My feet were very cold. I stayed in the lodge and read while the others snowboarded. They were all afraid that I was bored, but it takes a lot for me to get bored; especially when I am in such a beautiful place.

We got back to Seattle around 6:30pm. I ran home and ate some dinner before going to pick up Sandi to go to Jose's show. OMG it was great! It was a tribute show to They Might Be Giants and it was such a good time. Yay!

Tonight, Chris is having a Lord of the Rings movie night at his house. He's got one of those projector screen TV's. It's so fun to watch movies over there.

I spent 2 grueling hours testing at Office Team yesterday. My brain felt very mushy by the end. Anyway, I did well on the tests and all, but then found out that they have no positions right now! Usually, I do not get called by agencies unless they have something in mind for me that will start right away. Bah.

I set up an appointment with AppleOne for tomorrow. Yes, more testing. I'm hoping that they will have something. I'm tired of not working!

The temperature is dropping here again. It really seemed like it was going to snow last night, but it didn't (at least not in the city). We are going to the mountains this weekend so Tony, Chris and Julie can go snowboarding. I hope to start taking lessons once I can afford it. I'm going with them so I can play in the snow :-)

This has to be quick cause I have to go get ready.
My weekend wasn't the best at first. Mainly because my unemployment benefits are on hold until they figure out the deal with Product Partners.
Weekend was a-okay. Yesterday, I called Corestaff (I will hopefully hear from them by the end of the week) and sent my resume to Office Team and Parker. Got a call from Office Team about an hour ago. I'm going in this afternoon to do testing and whatnot. Hopefully they will find me a placement next week or sooner so I have some money coming in. I gotta run since I'm bussing it down there and am not sure how long it will take.

I decided to do a google search on "Snake in Seattle" and look what came up: PKSnake's Xanga Site Beware of the music! I have never heard of Xanga before. I like Blogger. So a kid 10 years younger than me also refers to himself as Snake.

I haven't been up to too much lately. I've been organizing my apartment and computer and looking for jobs. I had to go to Corestaff yesterday to sign a different release form specifically for Microsoft. I didn't get to talk to the rep I met with before; she was in a meeting. If I don't hear from her by Monday, I'm going to give her a call.

Tony & I went to Chris' last night and played this snowboarding game for most of the night. It is so fun and addictive! I'm looking forward to actually being able to go snowboarding soon (if I have the $$).

Tomorrow night, I'm going to a party with Teresa. On Saturday, I have book club and then Julie's party that night. Sunday, we get to pick up Chris from the airport. It will be a busy weekend!

The weekend was pretty mellow. Watched some movies. Played some video games. Did some laundry. Hung out with Tony. Enjoyed the lunar eclipse.

We have cloud cover again so the temps are warming up. There has been snow in the mountains which is always exciting.

So maybe i'm not in the writing mood right now. My apologies.

Hey lookie! You can leave me comments now! I don't know why I didn't look into this previously...

:-(
I got a call from unemployment. Product Partners is denying that I was ever an employee. But I was. The call was stressful. Now their claim is under investigation.

Tony got a job! Yay! It doesn't start until the middle of this month so he is a little paranoid that something will fall through, but I don't think it will. It's his ideal job, too, so it seems almost too good to be true.

After looking for jobs for a month, I've come to the conclusion that I'm pretty much going to need to go through a staffing agency. They are quite popular around here. I'm going to hold off for a week or so to see if CoreStaff can get me placed at Microsoft. Problem is, I can't get ahold of Patricia to see if she received the form in the mail. I'm afraid she moved and didn't get it. She hasn't responded to my emails and I just called her today and left a voicemail. If she doesn't call me back today, I'm calling the agency and requesting they send one to Greg.

The weather has been very clear here which means it has also been very cold. It got in the 20's last night and it wasn't the first time! I need more warmer socks - especially boot socks. It's very nice out today. I love Seattle.

Ack. I can't believe it's November already. This year has flown by!

This weekend was fun (of course!) and full of costumes. I actually didn't take very many pictures because so many other people were. On Friday, I picked out this religious-themed robe from the Open Circle closet with a little halo. Wasn't really sure what I was going to do with it. Went over to Tony's and he helped me complete my costume - Druid High Priestess. I guess it worked out OK. Tony was originally just going to be a suicide bomber, but he changed it to Wiccan Religious Fanatic to not offend anyone. His costume turned out really well. He had this fake bomb he made years ago, so he took it apart and made a bomb vest.

First, we went to a party out in Redmond. There were some pretty creative costumes there. After running out of mixers, we called up some friends to see how the party they were at was. They said it was too crowded and kinda sucked, so we planned on meeting at Mercury. After last call, no one was ready to go home and Tony ended up having a little impromptu party.

Saturday night, we went to Natalie's bad 80's prom party. Tony & I dressed as the kids too cool to go to the prom. Not too many people dressed up as that theme, but there were still lots of costumes. It was weird teasing my hair to make it big again.

Sunday, Tony and I went and had brunch at Mae's. Since he doesn't eat big meals like me, we can easily split one dish which makes eating out affordable on our limited incomes. We had to pick up Chris to take him to the airport for his New Zealand trip. After getting back to his house, Amanda came over with The Italian Job. That was a fun movie. We then decided to get Legally Blonde II. Now that was an awful movie. Seriously.

OK - go view Halloween pictures here. I will be adding to this gallery once I get some pictures from Amanda and Chris.

And I finally got the link to the fashion show. Go view it here.

I did well on the tests and interviewing process, but that doesn't mean i'm going to start working on Monday. My references have to fill out a form that I mail to them and then they have to mail it back. Isn't that nuts?! The rep I spoke with today said there are tons of positions at Microsoft and seemed pretty positive about being able to place me there. Thank goodness I have unemployment.

I have an interview tomorrow for a customer service rep position at Speakeasy. I don't think I'm going to go. I really don't want to do customer service again for a 24-hour call center. Plus, it would be a step backwards. I don't want to go that far backwards. I also don't want to work weekends.

It's cold here.

Good news: I'm going to hook up with Stine tomorrow and she's going to take me to her theater group so I can find a costume for the Halloween parties this weekend. Yay! Tony still doesn't know what he is going to be. Maybe something as simple as Mr. Clean. It's not easy coming up with costumes when you have no money.

According to Rob Brezsny, I'm supposed to dress like a relative for Halloween this year:

ARIES (March 21-April 19): You have two biological parents,
four grandparents, and eight great-grandparents. You wouldn't
be you if it weren't for those 14 people. The legacy they
bequeathed you played a major role in determining your talents
and flaws, your predilections and aversions. And this is a perfect
astrological moment to get to know them better. In fact,
deepening your connection to your family's history will provide
crucial clues as you seek to reinvigorate your tired old
perspectives on long-running dilemmas. Are you brave enough
to mutate your understanding of where you came from and
where, therefore, you belong? Halloween costume suggestion:
the ancestor who fascinates you the most.

I have an interview/testing with the agency that works with Microsoft in filling their administrative positions at 1:30 today. Keep your fingers crossed for me! I don't know how well I'm going to do on the PowerPoint since I haven't used it in a couple of years, but I'm going to read up on it before I go.

It was supposed to rain all day today, but instead the clouds just hovered and made it very dark here. It was nice.

I got an email & call about a job as an employee relations rep. I do not have experience doing this, but something made the Volt rep contact me. We are going to talk more tomorrow morning. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

I went over to Tony's last night and made stuffed red bell peppers. Chris & Amanda came over and we watched "The Whale Rider". Very good movie.

Not much else is going on here :-)

I carved a spider into my jack-o-lantern. It's pretty nifty.
The fashion show was fun. I'll post a link to pictures once I receive it.
Sunday I was TIRED. Didn't do much of anything except worry about Jenn & Duncan. I knew that there were fires in S. Cali, but I had no idea how close they were to J&D. It is so scary.

I posted some pictures that Tony took at the Arboretum. You can go look at them here.

There isn't much else going on right now. It's supposed to get really cold here this week. I hope I stay warm enough. I'm buying my tickets for Florida today. I'll come up with the money from somewhere.

Last night, we went over to Chris' to watch a couple of scary movies. The first was called Audition - it's Japanese. It was scary enough, but not nightmare-giving scary. There was one part that scared Tony so much that he hurt my hand from squeezing it so hard. Wussy ;-) The second movie, In the Mouth of Madness, wasn't scary. At all. It was pretty stupid like most American horror movies. We recently watched The Eye - it's Chinese. That was pretty scary. Are we watching all of these scary movies to prepare for Halloween? Maybe. I dunno.

We are going over to Teresa's tonight for a pumpkin-carving party. I honestly can't remember the last time I carved a pumpkin. I hope mine doesn't turn out awful. Tomorrow is the fashion show - I have to be there at 3:30 and the show doesn't even start until 10. It's going to be a long day and might be quite tiring, but I think it will be fun. I'll be modeling for Xenoware - I won't know the outfit until the show. Sunday will probably be a lazy recovery day because, you know, that's what Sundays are for.

I've been rearranging my apartment and trying to settle in more. Might as well make use of my time! I also got my unemployment form in the mail today. I'm pretty sure this means I qualify. Everyone keep their fingers crossed for me. It would relieve the stress of feeling like I have to find a job ASAP.

I haven't gotten any responses from the resumes that I have sent out so far...I know it takes time. I mean, I've gotten emails for things I have no interest in whatsoever like selling cars or becoming a financial advisor. How am I qualified for either of those jobs? Whatever. The job market is less than desirable, but we all know that. I am trying but feel like I should be trying harder. But, I really don't want to take a crappy job out of desperation.

I just received this week's Free Will Astrology. The beginning of the email starts like this:

We here at Rob Brezsny's Free Will Astrology Newsletter
want to know
if you're willing
to push hard to get better,
improve your attitude,
grow your devotion to the truth,
fuel your commitment to beauty,
refine your emotions,
hone your dreams,
face your shadow,
cure your ignorance,
raise your IQ,
and soften your heart,
even as you always accept yourself
for exactly who you are
with all your so-called imperfections.

And my horoscope:

ARIES (March 21-April 19): I confess to have fallen prey to a
sin that has become widespread: overusing the term "sacred." To
my credit, I haven't sunk to the vulgar depths of New Age
hucksters who offer workshops in "sacred e-mail marketing" or
"sacred dog-walking." But still, I want to be more spare in
invoking the term so that on those rare occasions when I do, you
will be appropriately awed. Like now, for instance. I predict you
will soon be roused to reverence by a visitation that fits the
description given by Phil Cousineau in his book, *The Art of
Pilgrimage:* "If you aren't trembling as you approach the
sacred, it isn't the real thing. The sacred, in its various guises
as holy ground, art, or knowledge, evokes emotion and
commotion."

OK, world. Show me something sacred.

This just seems too wrong to be true. Why do people think that this is OK? I don't care what age the person is, s/he should know that doing something like this to an animal is wrong.

I had a nice, mellow weekend. On Friday, I took a little walk around Wallingford to take some pictures of the trees starting to change. You can see them here. Last week, it was very windy out and still was on Friday, but it wasn't raining. Friday night, I went over to Jose's so we could exchange TMBG stuff. We both lamented on how it was likely we aren't going to be able to go to the show in a couple of weeks since we are both jobless :( It happens. We'll just have to catch them next time. However, if I am gainfully employed by 11/2, we are so there. Friday was the first night I went to see Jose's new place and it is HUGE! He totally scored on finding a sweet place. He pays $45 a month more in rent than i do and his place is easily 3x the size of mine. And, it has a washer and dryer! *sigh*

Saturday and Sunday were warm and dry. On Saturday, Tony and I went for a motorcycle drive to the arboretum to take pictures. There were several people there to do the same. We had his camera - I'll have to find some time to get on his computer so I can add those pics to my gallery. That night, we went to Teresa's to hang out.

Sunday was a mellow day of not doing much. That's what Sundays are for, no?

It started raining again today. Heavy rain for this area. It makes me feel all cozy.

Where did all of my cookies go? I hate it when they disappear when I don't delete them.

It's very windy here. Yesterday, it rained hard (for Seattle) most of the day. Fortunately, it stopped enough for us to walk down to The Crocodile to see Edward Ka-Spel of the Legendary Pink Dots. Interesting show. It rained a little on us on the way home.

Tuesday, I went over to Teresa's after she got off of work. I made us some dinner and we watched the television. My week hasn't been too eventful. Spending time on the computer looking for jobs and posting my resume to job websites. It seems to take a lot of time.

It's so sad. I'm ready to get a job so I can spend money again. I am such the consumer and it makes me feel guilty. I mostly want/need new clothes. I really don't have many clothes for the weather up here. I spend much of my internet browsing time window shopping. Sad, sad.

I rearranged my room yesterday to get my bed out from under the windows. I could feel the cold air on my head at night. I'm still not done...I want to set up one of the corners for art projects. I think I'm going to move my dining table into my bedroom until I can afford a new table for art stuff. More stuff to buy.

Yes, I am a consumer but I'm not proud of it.

Both of my kitties are trying to sit on my lap again. It just doesn't work so well.

Friday night, Tony, Chris and I went to see Fatal Peril - it is the production that Lyam is/was in. It ended this weekend. UMO ensemble does a variety of avant-garde theater such as clown work. It's hard to explain, but it was unlike any theater experience I had ever had. The dialog was minimal yet the story was extensive. It was haunting and enthralling and I thank Lyam for giving us his last comp ticket so we could afford to go :-)

Saturday flew by as usual. I think I did productive stuff or something like that. Saturday night, I picked up Teresa and we met Tony and Chris to do a little bar hopping. We ran into some other people at Mercury and all ended up back at Tony's for a late-night party of sorts. Much silliness ensued and was fun as always.

Sunday was a very lazy day. Had brunch with Chris and Tony at Julia's on Capital Hill. I love me some brunch. And then, I ended up with a belly ache for a good part of the day so Tony took care of me cause he's a sweetie like that. We watched Buffy and that will usually always make me feel better. I chose not to go out to a birthday celebration since I wasn't feeling well.

It rained for a lot of this weekend and stuff. We had some really high winds on Sunday and that was pretty exciting. But, it seems that many spiders have taken refuge in my dry household. I am OK with a couple, but this many weirds me out. Plus, I've been finding those weird bites on me again. I think I'm going to have to do a little eviction later today.

it's been a few uneventful couple of days, so not much to write about. i baked another quiche for Angel night at Tony's last night. Stine & Lyam came over which was cool and Chris bailed on us even though it was his idea to have Angel night at Tony's. I just don't know if I can get into this show like I did with Buffy. After Angel was over, we watched the musical. Ah, it was wonderful.

It rained lots today and my manager turned on the heat so my apartment is nice and toasty. I kinda wish I had some control over the temperature :p

Yahoo! News - Polls: Davis Out, Schwarzenegger Wins Oh shit.

Have I mentioned how in love with this city I am lately? Fall is on its way and the leaves are starting to change. I will take pictures when the change is in full-force. I'm laying in bed yesterday afternoon resting for a bit and just listened to the lovely rain. I went for a walk a bit ago and went down to the park to sit on the hill and read a resume book. The wind was blowing so hard that it made it very difficult. Plus, the book didn't have what I was looking for, but the sit in the park was nice.

My kitchen sink has been clogged for days now. I finally got some Drano crap, but it hasn't done a lick of good. The bad thing is that Screech likes to drink the water that has been sitting in the sink.

Oh- another gross Screech story. I come home the other day to find that he had ripped open the bag of litter and decided to eat some. Not only did I have to clean up a bunch of litter, but I also had to clean up kitty vomit. Although the litter is made out of corn, it isn't very digestible.

What is a girl supposed to do with a crazy cat?

Pictures from the party at Chris' house. I did not take these pictures and they are not edited. There are pictures of panties and boobies and girls kissing and all-around silliness.

On Sunday, Chris, Tony and I went to a gallery showing of one of Tony's friends. Her and her boyfriend recently got back from Tokyo and New York where she had showings. Here's the website Tony built for her. Later in the day, we picked up Teresa and went to go see Spellbound. Teresa and I have been trying to see this movie for a couple of months now. We all thoroughly enjoyed it. If you like documentaries, go see it!

Saturday night, I decide to make this quiche from a recipie in Vegetarian Times. I go to the store and buy the ingredients - one includes flour. I get home, unload the groceries, and leave the little bag of flour on the counter. When I get out of the shower, I find the bag ripped open and flour everywhere. I'm pretty sure it was Screech since I couldn't see flour on him if I tried and Persephone was clean. At least he left me enough to still make the quiche (it was a hit!) I have a very strange cat.

What happens when you try something new and different? Sometimes it's good, other times it's not so good. On Thursday, Tony gives me a call and asks if I want to go see the Blue Man Group on Friday. His friend has some free tickets and has offered some to us. I said sure...why not. Later we find out it's in Auburn. No big deal. Friday rolls around and now we are thinking that we prolly don't want to go. We contemplate giving away the tickets, but decide to go when we find out that Chris is also going. We drivedrivedrive over the mountains and through the woods until we get to this amphitheater. We weren't dressed for an outdoor show. It was kinda chilly and the place smelled like cow manure. We meet up with Chris and some other people, get our tickets and go in. There were opening bands...we waited in line for bad coffee through one band's complete set. The show finally starts and, well, it sucked. It was a bad "rock" concert or whatever. Needless to say, Tony, Chris and I took off about 20/30 minutes into the show.

The nice thing about that night: the fog was thick and heavy. Driving wasn't so fun, but the city was gorgeous. We got back to Tony's house where we met up with Amanda and watched "Identity".

Amanda, Tony and I went to Mae's for brunch this morning. Oh, how I love that place. It's just plain yummy.

Why I love Rob Brezsny:

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Today and every day, five million
lightning bolts will flash between earth and sky somewhere on
our planet. At any given moment, two thousand thunderstorms
are raging. While you may not be in the literal presence of one of
these elemental outbreaks in the coming week, Aries, I believe
you will channel a similar kind of energy: You'll be fiercely and
tenderly alive with the blended force of primal fire and water.
This doesn't necessarily mean you'll careen out of control; you
may be able to express the booming power in its most
constructive form, cleansing and clarifying everything you
touch.

What kind of thinker are you? Take a little quiz and find out. I am apparently Interpersonal:

Like to think about other people, and try to understand them
Recognise differences between individuals and appreciate that different people have different perspectives
Make an effort to cultivate effective relationships with family, friends and colleagues

Like interpersonal thinkers, Leonardo had lots of friends and contacts, and was a popular figure at the Italian court. Other Interpersonal thinkers include Winston Churchill, Mother Teresa, William Shakespeare

Careers which suit Interpersonal thinkers include
Politician, Psychologist, Nurse, Counsellor, Teacher

And if you are really bored, take another quiz. This one is a personality test. I took both of these quizzes last night and don't recall the results on this one.

I find these quizzes on my friends' livejournals/blogs. It's a fun little source of entertainment.

My last day of work was filled with scurrying to finish reports that Joe requested the day before and making sure everything was updated and instructions written. Right after I finished working, I started to get ready to go over to Stine and Lyam's house and also talked with Dad & Carolyn. I didn't get to hear too much about the Panama Canal cause 1) they were still tired from the trip and 2) this was the first time I had the opportunity to tell them my job sitch. After talking with them for a little bit, I finished getting ready and headed out for the night. I knew I needed to surround myself with friends that night or else I'd just sit around and feel sorry for myself.

Wednesday was weird...stayed up late the previous night because I could and slept late on Wed. I woke up feeling like I was supposed to be doing something...oh yeah! Working! Duh. Anyway, since Tony is also recently unemployed and has free time, he took me to a vegetarian restaurant close to the U-District. Very yummy! There are so many more places to eat veggie in this city compared to L.A. Afterwards, we went to Trader Joe's. It's important to eat at home when on restricted funds. After buying lots of food, I took him home and came home for a nap before hanging out with Teresa.

Teresa and I have been trying to see "Spellbound" for months now. We go to the theater to see it and it just left. Well, last night we were going to go see it and I had the theater all wrong. It was at this theater in the UD last week, but apparently left this past weekend. Since I do not remember the name of the place, when I looked online I assumed it was at the same theater. I was wrong. D'oh! We didn't get to see it last night, but it is still showing at the cheap theater in Shoreline. So, this Sunday, we are so there! I figure we just weren't meant to pay full price for the movie. And now, $3 is a lot better for me than $9. Since we didn't go see the movie, we went back to her place and watched Tivo'd Sex in the City and ate popcorn.

It was a good way to spend my first day unemployed.

Today, I write up different versions of my resume and look for jobs. Later today, Tony and I are going to the Seattle Art Museum to take advantage of the free admission. The first Thursday of every month, they let you in free. We also may go down to the Pioneer Square Art Walk. It's good to find the free/cheap stuff :-)

One more day of work. I'm going to miss watching lots of birdies and having kitties sleep on my lap while working. I've been spoiled.

If we converse in the very near future, please don't inquire how the job hunt is going. It will only put me in a foul mood. I don't want to talk about it. Give me a chance to deal with being laid off again. Thanks.

So the parties were fun. Friday night, I thought Amanda's party was pretty mellow, but someone actually called the cops and made a noise complaint. Didn't stay there too late - prolly until 1:30am or something. Disappeared for a little while to go to Jose's roast. We got lost getting there and couldn't stay too long, but what we did see was quite amusing.

The party at Chris' house was full-o-drinking as usual. He always has the alcohols that I have never heard of and would never have the opportunity to try if I didn't know him. We didn't stay up until sunrise this time, but it was early morning before we headed to sleepyland. There were 2 people with cameras at this party. If I can get ahold of them, i'll upload them to my gallery also.

Had brunch on Sunday with a few people cause Murray was in town. This was the first time I got to meet the Murray and he is quite the friendly dude and seems to know everyone. Really. He's never lived here and knows tons of people. It's uncanny, I tell you. The rest of Sunday was quite mellow due to the need to recover from the prior night.

I should think about making some dinner now and being somewhat productive with my evening.

Pictures from Alaska! I haven't put comments on them yet, but feel free to take a peek.

Horrah!

Alaska!

As many of you know, I had my reservation about going on another cruise. This time, we were on a different cruise line so the ship's environment wasn't gaudy and huge like the previous cruise I went on in 1997. It was like being in a nice hotel. The first couple of days were difficult because we didn't stop at all until Monday and were away from the shore for most of Sunday. But, the beauty of Alaska made up for it. This region is so green and lush. So much of it is untouched and appears pristine. I know that these cruise ships and tourists definitely have an impact on the area, but I think it makes people appreciate what is here and they will fight to keep it the way that it is with the deforestation and oil drilling. Yes, I am a bit of an idealist.
This makes me sad.

Anyway, I wish many of you were here to see just how gorgeous it is here. I cannot describe how it makes one feel. The water, rain, trees, fog - it all works together perfectly and is absolutely breathtaking. It's like living National Geographic if that makes any sense. So here's what I did on my trip:

Saturday, September 6th

Jenn, Duncan and I met Kate at Mae's for a yummy brunch. We go back to my house and Kate takes J&D to the ship. I stay and finish cleaning and packing. Tony comes over to pick me up and then we go pick up Teresa. He drops us off at the ship around 2 or so. We check in and head to the ship. On our way up, we see Dad, Carolyn, Jenn & Duncan waving at us from D&C's balcony. We meet up with them and then I think Teresa and I took a nap. Jenn comes and gets us when we start to leave Seattle.

We pretty much just hung out until dinner. I think we slept some more. Both T & I got little sleep the night prior. We met up for dinner with everyone (Dad, Carolyn, cousin Becky, cousin Anne, Jenn & Duncan) at 8pm and gorged ourselves. After dinner, we went to the show that night. It was an illusionist; he did some pretty cool tricks, but wasn't too funny.

Sunday, September 7th

This was our first full day on the ship and it was all travel with no port stops. We were going pretty fast and the boat was quite rocky. Lots of people experienced seasickness on the ship, but only Anne did in our group. Teresa and I got room service for breakfast. We lolled around for most of the day and ate a lot. We did go to this nature slide show that bored me to sleep. After eating too much again at dinner T&I went back to our cabin and watched a bad movie on the T.V.

Monday, September 8th

We docked early in Juneau; I think many were happy that the boat was no longer moving. Jenn, Duncan, Teresa and I decided to forgo any of the overpriced cruise tours and took a shuttle to Mendenhall Glacier Park. Unfortunately, we didn't do any hiking. Most of the trails were closed due to the rain and some didn't want to hike in the rain. We did get some good views of the glacier, but much was hidden with fog. It was still beautiful. We stayed for about an hour before heading back to town. The four of us had some coffee and went our own ways. Teresa and I did a bit of shipping - she got a moose and I got a backpack. After getting bored with the touristy shopping, we decided to tour the local bars. This town had many, but we only went to two. They made the drinks cheap and strong in Juneau. Apparently, they are also not used to getting tipped. The person working at both places tried to give us the tip back like they were confused. It was strange. After enjoying the dive bars, we head back for the ship for a quick nap and shower before dinner. After dinner, Dad, Jenn, Duncan, Teresa and I went to the little movie theater and watched A Mighty Wind.

Tuesday, September 9th

Today was another onboard day, but we were sailing through Glacier Bay Park. This was by far the best day of the cruise. Teresa and I got up around 9 and had breakfast. We met up with the rest of the crew in Becky and Anne's suite. They were in the large one with a huge deck. We stayed there for most of the morning and early afternoon. When we were in front of the Margerie Glacier, T&I went up to the top deck to take pictures. This large hunk of ice is just too huge and beautiful - I do not feel I can adequately describe it. While we were up there, a huge chunk fell off into the bay. It was very exciting! We went back to B&A's suite and while we were there, another huge chunk fell off! Dad laughed at my excitement :-) Around 2 or so, Teresa and I went up to the lounge at the top of the forward of the ship to wait for the aquatic mammals. Around 3, we went outside to the observation deck. At first, we didn't see too many. I think the first thing we saw was a sea otter. A very cute sea otter of course! And then the whales came. We saw several humpback whales and I got to see at least 15 killer whales! It was so exciting and everything I hoped for. At one point, I was running from one side of the ship to the other to see all of the whales and then I realized that there was no one else on the deck. It had started to rain really hard so most had gone inside. I couldn't let the rain and wind stop me from seeing the whales! We also saw lots and lots of porpoises. Oh, it was a great day. After we got out of the main area with the aquatic mammals, Teresa and I went back up to the lounge to warm up and continue to look out for more whales. We had to leave to shower before dinner and again ate too much. Well, I didn't. My dinner wasn't so good that night. We did play some Simpson's Bowling afterwards :-)

Wednesday, September 10th

This was our second day in a port - Sitka, Alaska. It's a smaller town than Juneau. Jenn, Teresa and I went ashore mid-morning to walk around town. It was very crowded since there were 4 ships in the port. The shops were touristy, be we did find a good coffee shop. We didn't spend too much time in town before heading back to the ship. I regretted not doing any hiking because it seemed a good area to do so. When we got back to the ship, we ate lunch and went our separate ways. I went and worked out for a while and relaxed for the rest of the day before dinner. At dinner that night, we noticed our server wasn't his usual chipper self. We found out that his brother had just died and they wouldn't let him leave the ship early to go home. So, so sad.

Thursday, September 11th

We arrive in Ketchikan, Alaska early in the morning. Jenn & I decided we were going to hike around, so we took a little nature walk and did some exploring. Not only did we get to walk through some old growth forest, but we also saw thousands and thousands of salmon. We were only at the port until 1pm. We tooled around on the ship for a while. T&I decided that tonight was going to be Sintastic. After dinner, we went to the casino where Teresa proceeded to win $176 on quarter slots. It took about 10 minutes :-) We chose not to press our luck and went up to the Crow's Nest to have drinks. Jenn & Duncan hung in there until around midnight. Towards the end of the night Teresa and I were dancing to 80's booty rap music. Aw, jeah!

Friday, September 12th

We docked in Victoria, BC in the late afternoon. Jenn, Duncan, Teresa and I went to town for dinner. We didn't do too much exploring since we only had a few hours and it was cold and dark. We did eat some really yummy food at a British Pub. I think we watched another bad movie that night.

Well, there's not much more to tell. We got back to Seattle very early on Saturday. J,D,T & I were the last group to get off the ship. We took Teresa home, went back and picked up Duncan and had lunch at Saigon Pearl on Cappy Hill. And the rest is no longer Alaska history :-)

Duncan flaked on me, so i get two nights to stay at home. Last night, I did some much needed cleaning. Unfortunately, there is still much to do. I had to run some errands after work, so I decided to walk. Dusk weather was pleasant and the sunset was absolutely gorgeous, so I walked around for awhile dreaming of owning my own house. Must go cook dinner now.

I swear I'll put up the Alaska update as soon as I have some free time. I've been very busy. So, I'll do a week's worth of updates.

Tuesday night, went to Mercury (a club) I think. I know I definitely went on Wednesday. Wed afternoon, my boss calls me and tells me that he has to lay me off. I have until the end of the month. I wasn't surprised to hear this, but I was hoping that the job would last until the end of the year. The team I support has been doing pretty poorly as far as sales go and they just couldn't afford to keep my position. Now I must prepare for the job hunt. Ack.

Thursday, I went over to Teresa's house. We made fajitas, chatted a bit and watched some T.V.

Friday I was feeling ill so I went over to Tony's so he could take care of me and make me feel better :-) We watched 'Road to Wellville'. I love that movie. By the end of the night, I did feel better.

Saturday I had a book club meeting to discuss 'A Lesson Before Dying'. I didn't really like the first half of the book, but the last half was pretty good. We had a sunny day yet still cool. Lovely! Afterwards, I dropped Teresa off at her house and came back home for a few. I went and picked up Tony and we went back to Teresa's for a night of gin indulgence which is always fun.

Sunday was sunny and warmer. Tony & I went out riding on his motorcycle after lunch at The Globe (it's all vegan!). This city is just so beautiful. It was fun to ride around on a bike - it was my first time and all! Around 4, we went over to Chris' house to hang out and ended up staying there until after midnight. The time just flies when we sit around and chat.

And that brings us to today. Been doing the worky-worky. Tonight is Mercury. Duncan is in town this week on business - I hope to get together with him on Tuesday or Wednesday. Thursday is the Cruxshadows show, Friday is Jose's and Amanda's birthday parties and Saturday is Julie's & Natalie's birthday party at Chris'. Yep, another busy week.

I woke up this morning to the sound of rain. It was lovely. It's typical Seattle weather today and it makes me so happy. I don't think the kitties are enjoying it - they aren't used to the chill. Screech is sitting on my lap now which is rare and Persephone just doesn't know what to do since she also wants to be on my lap. It has made her grumpy. I want to go for a long walk, but must work instead. The days are definitely getting shorter as fall arrives.

Got back in town on Saturday. Jenn & Duncan left today. I did offline journal while on the ship. I'll transcribe it later. I've also uploaded my few Alaska pictures to my computer, but still need to create the gallery. I'm just not in the frame of mind to do it tonight. The ship didn't sink and I didn't get eaten by a bear, so all is good :-)

I installed the new Google Toolbar and am loving it so far. I highly recommend it.

I've been trying to get ready for our cruise to Alaska. Actually, I've been getting ready for my visitors more. Anna is going to housesit/kittysit for me which makes me very happy. It's great to be able to exchange favors and they both be very beneficial to both friends. I wish she wasn't leaving so soon, but I understand why she must go.

Screech is trying to discreetly make his way to my waffle and is sitting on my mouse. He's so silly. It's making it difficult to get work done.

I did a socially inept thing last night and I still can't forget about it. I'm sometimes too hard on myself.

Good news for a change.

I need coffee. I ran out before I left for L.A. and haven't had a chance to get to PCC since being back. I've been going up to Irwin's everyday, but I feel guilty spending $4 on coffee every morning. Yesterday I bought drip and it just wasn't as good. I am glad it's Friday and a 3 day weekend.

I just had a geek moment. I'm cleaning up the leads for the team today and see the name Michael Dorn. I picture Worf doing Power 90. Heh. Geek.

I had a pretty good time in L.A. I did realize that I haven't been in Seattle long enough to want to go on vacation if that makes any sense. And now I go on vacation again in a week. But then I won't leave for awhile.

I need to get to work. I might have time for more of an update this weekend, but somehow I doubt it. Sorry :-)

Snake's in L.A. right now. Got here yesterday afternoon. Lyssa picked me up from the airport and then we went to Del Taco. When we got back to her house, I tried to work but could not connect to PP's common drive. I could do no work. So, took most of the day off and relaxed.

I'm at work today and am now eating my favorite sammich from the deli. Mmm! Unfortunately, I'm getting sick. My throat really hurts. I can't be sick for several reasons. 1) I have to work. 2) We have to play all day at Universal on Saturday. and 3) I want to see Mathilda and will not risk getting a little baby sick. I need to hunt down some of those herbal pills we have that work so well. Anyway...

Since I can't work at Lyssa's, I'm going to try and head back to Seattle earlier. I just can't miss more work and I won't be able to get to the office on Monday. Ack.

OK, must get back to work.

This makes me sick. Stupid. Stupid. STUPID. I can't rant about it because I will get too angry.

I'm having VPN issues again and it's nothing that is simple to figure out. I need to go run out and get a network card for my laptop so I can figure out if the issue is with my ISP or my desktop. It's just poopy because it makes work much more difficult.

I only have a few more days until I go to L.A. for my little trip. I've decided to rent a car for a couple of days so I can get to and from work easily. I need to train Patricia on how to do my job for when I'm on the cruise. Problem is, I don't even know how to pull reports from the new system. It's up this week, but since I can't get into the VPN, I can't do anything. I'm hoping that Joe will say it's OK if the reports are delayed a week.

Sleepy is me. Watched the moon rise last night over the mountains. Saw Mars also. There was a meteor shower starting last night, but it was more like early this morning. Did get to see a few shooting stars. I love living in Seattle.

I've been dealing with spotty internet connection since yesterday. Even though my PC was not infected with this worm that's going around, I've had problems with connectivity. I think it's finally fixed, but it wasn't my doing. I don't know whos it was and I don't really care. I'm just glad I can work again.

I unpacked all of my boxes on Sunday! Now, there's just a bunch of crap everywhere! It takes awhile to organize it all, but I must get it done before I go to Alaska. Teresa and I did not get to go to the play because it was sold out. They extended the showing, so we are going to try a different night.

I need to get back to work.

Do you see this? Do you see? I say I'm going to post daily and now I'm totally slacking! I'm not really slacking - I just haven't been home. I talked to Jenn on Friday and was telling her about how I wasn't going to make any plans for Saturday so I could stay home to clean and unpack. Later that afternoon I made plans. Went out to lunch and hung out with a friend on Capitol Hill. Came back home and left immediately to Sandi's. We went over to her friend's house to have dinner and watch the filming of this unusual comedy routine called "Puppetry of the Penis." It was strange and that's all I'm saying here. So yeah, I didn't get anything done in my place yesterday.

After work on Friday, I picked up Christine and we went to the opening night of "Action Movie, The Play." It's the new show that Lyam and Jose' are in and it was just too funny. Sandi and I are prolly going to go again after the show has been running for a little while.

Tonight, Teresa and I are going to the play "Point Break Live!". This should also be a funny one. Since it doesn't start until 8, I have time to actually work on my apartment. I also was out on Wednesday and Thursday, but I don't feel like typing all of the sordid details. I pretty much just hung out with friends and had good times.

I awoke to the sound of rain yesterday and today. What a gorgeous sound. As I laid in bed this morning listening to the rain, it thundered twice. It doesn't thunder much in this area. I've been waiting awhile for this weather. It makes me a very happy Snake.

On Monday night, I went bar hopping in my neighborhood in hopes on finding a cool hangout. No such luck. The places around here just aren't my thing. Oh well. I had fun nonetheless.

Yesterday was productive. After work, I went to the pet store and then to Trader Joe's. I now have lots of food. I did go to PCC on Sunday and stocked up on fresh produce. Healthy eating is good eating! Now I just need to start working out again. It seems that since my social life has picked up, I need to work out in the morning or during lunch. I just need to find my motivation to start up again. Did I leave it in L.A.?

Speaking of L.A., I'm going to be making a trip there shortly for a long weekend. Work is throwing a summer party so I decided to go. The great thing is is that I don't have to take any time off from work! I'll be working wonky hours on the days that I am flying, but my work can and will get done. I am excited to get to see several people. I know I won't be able to see everyone, but I think I'll get to see most. My friends Dean and Amy are about to have a baby so I really want to go see them.

Time to get back to work!

Saturday, I was not productive at all before going out. But, Jose' and I had a good time. Good discussions about stuff. Sunday, I went over to Stine's with Sandi and we had a girly day. We ate chocolate, swam in the pool, watched a movie and talked about boys. We also decided that it should be a regular occurrance. It's great to get quality girly time. It was late when I got home, so no productivity on getting stuff done. I did pay my bills and started to make a list of things I need to do, so that's a start.

This week is already filling up. I have plans tonight, Wednesday and Friday. I might still have plans on Saturday to go hiking, but we'll see. I need at least one night to not do stuff.

I'm eating an apple right from the core and it's great! It's the little things that make me appreciate not having braces any longer.

Happy Birthday, Dad! I'm sending you lots of love and hoping that your trip is going well in your new van. You will get your gift when I see you in September :-)

Does this describe me?

Wow! I didn't realize it had been so long since I put an update in here. I've been busy. Well, not today. Today I have been lazy.

Wednesday, I went to Discovery Park after work. Very cool place - must go again. Thursday, I was sick. My body was all out of wack. I think I let my blood sugar level drop too low and I just couldn't recover quickly. Everything I ate made me nauseous. I was also shakey throughout the day. Took most of the day off from working and laid in bed.

Last night went to a joint called Park Pub down by the zoo in Phinney Ridge. I've adopted Teresa's work buddies. She'll invite me out with them about once a week. They are an interesting bunch and that's all I'm saying.

Today I slept in and it was great. I got up, ate breakfast, and then took a nap. Lazy! I then fixed some lunch and watched Donnie Darko. Pretty good movie! Now I'm thinking I might have to be a little productive before I go out with Jose' tonight. I have plans for all day tomorrow so I must get stuff done today. Yet, I sit here. Heh.

It's HOT HOT HOT for Seattle today. The temps are in the upper 80s. I'm suffering! Stop laughing all you people in the South. It's hot here! I know it's in the 100's there, but that's why I don't live there! So there :p I can tell the kitties are suffering also.

I went to Staples last night and got a new chair for my desk. I'm still not sure if I like it. I need to make my desk more ergonomic. As it is right now, my keyboard and mouse are too high. I should get one of those under-desk keyboard trays, but those things can be just as expensive as getting a new desk! Maybe I could find one that's used...

I tried to register my car today, but their computers are down. I will definitely call tomorrow before I go down there. Once I get that done, I will have all of those errands taken care of. I got my driver's license in the mail today. I don't think the picture looks like me. Oh well.

Bob Hope died today at the ripe age of 100. I just can't imagine living to be that old.

I went to a joint called Hattie's Hat last night. I had been there before with Teresa. Good food, good drinks and good crowd. It's in Ballard, so I do have to drive. I need to find a local pub in my neighborhood. There are like, two places or something. Wallingford isn't a big going out neighborhood. It's very family-oriented. I do need to check out those few bars though.

We are supposed to have a heat wave this week. I'm not looking forward to it since I do not have air conditioning. Having a fan does help, but it could get into the 90's. I think I need more coffee today. I'm tired.

I dyed my hair all by myself this weekend. The color actually turned out and it's even! Yeah! I've already gotten many compliments on it. Moreso than in L.A. even though it's the same color I had down there. I think people here just talk to strangers a lot more. I don't mind talking to people I don't know. It's fun as long as they don't get too friendly.

I uploaded some more pictures, so go look at them. One of the pictures from when Dad, Carolyn and Leslie were here. The others are from when i went to Gasworks the other day.

There was a little get-together at Christine and Lyam's house last night. It was great to get together with everyone. We played Cranium which was a surprisingly fun game. Took Anna to the bus station. She's headed to Oregon for a month to learn how to build bicycle frames.

Dad, I did what you suggested to the freezer and now it smells funny. I do hope it goes away because it's just weird.

I've been making SLOW progress on unpacking the rest of the boxes. I get distracted very easily. Obviously. I'm writing this, aren't I?

This is a special post for Jenn & Duncan.

I went to Capitol Hill this morning to get a massage. Afterwards, I decided to have lunch at Saigon Pearl. Guess who was there? Henry! I was surprised that he recognized me since it has been over 3 years. Anyway, he asked how you guys were doing and asked how many kids you have now. Heh. He even remembered my usual! I don't know if you knew this, but he had moved away from Seattle shortly before I did. Come to find out that he was in Orange County and moved back to Seattle last September. Unfortunately, the cause of his move was divorce. He has custody of his son right now. He's looking forward to seeing you two again when you come for a visit :-)

p.s. You know why the bun at the Vietnamese place in San Diego makes me feel sick? It's made with CHICKEN BROTH. D'oh!

Call me soon!

Things are in a strange state right now. Last night (actually, around 4:30 this morning), I woke up in extreme pain. I had this unbearable pain in my lower back. It didn't feel like muscle pain. Maybe it was my kidneys? I tossed and turned in agony until I fell back asleep. I was in so much pain that I was seriously considering getting up and going to an emergency clinic. When I awoke this morning, I was still in pain, but not as much. I am still experiencing discomfort, but nothing I can't handle. It's very strange and disconcerting.

The other thing that is really messing with my head right now has to do with work. Damn. I can't write about it here. Anyway, it's a sticky situation and is freaking me out.

I just got off a business call. While I'm trying to talk to the person, Screech is in the kitchen trying to get into the cabinet where his food is stored. He's knocking stuff down and making a mess of noise. I just don't know what to do with him. First, he was climbing up on the counter by using the drawers as a ladder. Now, he's figured out that he can jump. I think I need to go shopping this weekend to get a microwave stand to put beside the fridge. Gotta figure something out.

Whew! Tired. Just got back from washing my car. I took off work early today to go get my driver's license. Because it had been less than 5 years since I got my last Washington State d.l., I didn't have to retake the test. Now I have to go somewhere else to register my car. Why can't they be in the same location? Tomorrow I get to take Persephone to the vet. I want these errands to be over soon.

I finally got my futon cover. It's much more of a purple wine than deep burgundy. When I was putting it on, I experienced another instance where living alone is difficult. It's those little things - futon covers, assembling futons, carrying big things, back rubs - where having someone else around would make it much easier. I'd still rather live alone than have help :p

Oh my poor back! The other night, I slept on a pillow that is too high and now my shoulders have been hurting for the past few days. I made an appointment with Stine, but the earliest I can get in to see her is Saturday morning. Ow!

The color turned out even, but it's just not my color! It's much more copper than I'm used to. I think I'm going to have to go buy some of the color that Riley put on last time she did my hair. There is a place in Belltown that sells the brand. Maybe I go tonight after work.

The report I'm pulling is taking a day and a half! The VPN is now configured properly as of yesterday which is cool. I need to install some firewall software. Zone Alarm maybe? It's free. Or, I could buy Norton and write it off when I pay my taxes. Decisions, decisions.

I'm dying my hair myself for the first time in about 3 years. Much more difficult with it being longer. When it was short, no problem. I miss Riley! I hope it turns out OK. The color isn't going to be the same, but what can you do?

After I finished working today, I went for a walk down to the park and read for a bit. I was hoping that I could see Mt. Rainier from the top of the hill, but no luck. I did take some pictures - I'll upload them later. I'm going over to Teresa's on Wednesday - she has a fantastic view of the mountain from her rooftop deck. I really need to pull out one of my SLRs, get a new battery and some film to take some quality photos. Not that the little digital camera doesn't take quality pictures, it just doesn't work so well for landscapes.

My scalp itches but I can't scratch it. Ack.

My god is it hot in here. I've been quite the unproductive snake today. Sitting in front of my computer since I rolled out of bed around noon. No, I wasn't sleeping that late, I was just lazy. I did make hard-boiled eggs for the first time and poached an egg also. Overcooked the poached egg. Oops. There's a learning curve, right?

I took Screech to the vet on Thursday. He is very healthy. I was worried that he had lost weight because he had worms, but it was a healthy weight loss. I suppose the lo-cal food really does work.

Just uploaded some pictures. Go take a look.

Good day. Good day it was. But now I'm kinda too tired to post. I suppose I should do a bleary-eyed post.

After running an errand this morning and doing stuff around the house, Sandi stopped by and scooped me up to go to a classic VW show. Too many cool cars. Boy, there was this one Ghia that was for sale - she should have been mine. I had some people trying to convince me to sell my Saturn to buy her or another. One day, I will own a Ghia. But not today.

I just got back from a gathering at Teresa's. It was a poetry party. There were 7 of us there; we sat around on her rooftop deck, drank wine and read poetry. Also discussed it a bit. Good time had by all. Something I could never see myself doing whilst in L.A. Didn't have enough friends that read. Got to hang out with some pretty fantastic people, eat some good food and drink some good wine. Tired now. Must go to bed.

*yawn*

I shouldn't be tired. I just had coffee.

Yesterday morning, Screech knocked over my coffee cup onto the floor. Coffee everywhere and very broken cup. It made me sad cause it was the one that Leslie just gave me :-( It was not a good way to start my day. He made up for it this morning though, by getting under the covers and snuggling right up next to me. Too cute.

I went out and bought the coaxial cable and adapter to hook up my tv and stuff. Still putting it off. I only have one outlet that is 3-pronged in this whole place. That's what I get for moving into an older building. I don't really mind, though.

Spiders everywhere! Ack! Last night, as I'm doing my dishes, I notice a large spider hanging from the ceiling in my bedroom enjoying easy catches. I let her stay there until I went to bed. She was pretty easy to catch. When I first moved in here, I noticed that one of the corners in the bedroom wasn't a complete corner. Like it had been patched or something. I thought it strange but thought nothing more of it. Well, since I've been noticing the plethera of spiders hanging out in my place, I took a closer look at it last night. It really looked like a web, but I wasn't going to deal with it then. I did, however, remember to deal with it about an hour ago. I was gonna just cut it down, but what if there was a bunch of little spiders in there? Mr. O suggested that I spray window cleaner on it (I don't own bug spray) and vacuum it down. I tried just that, but the thing was so strong it wouldn't vacuum up! With vacuum in one hand and long knife in the other, I proceeded to cut the web down. Fortunately, it wasn't full of little spiders, but there was one spider in it. She survived the ordeal, but her eggs did not.

Wasn't that a fun story?

I went to the Fred Meyer superstore last night. It was fun! They had all sorts of stuff that I needed which totally rocked. I've been supporting the economy a lot lately, but I think I'm done for now.

Went yard sale shopping with Sandi and Jim on Saturday. Annalicious was having one and I picked up some clothes and great books. Such a steal! We also got to cut some fresh lavender at another. We went to 5 and skipped others that we drove by. Crazy yard sale heaven!

I still don't have my futon cover. The place was supposed to get a tracking number for me today, but I haven't heard back. S'ok. I'm gonna rearrange my bedroom tonight. I got to do 4 loads of laundry today while I worked. So productive am I! I also just installed the latch for the kitchen cabinet so the kitties can't get under the sink anymore. No more garbage can on top of the refridgerator! I had to keep it there cause Screech was getting into it. Now I get to keep it under the sink like normal.

I haven't been very good about taking pictures. I forget to take my camera when I walk out the door. Must be better about that!

Argh! Pttth. So I got my USB cable last night and i still can't get this freaking thing to work. The machine does not want to stay powered up long enough for me to install in on my computer! What's up with that? I keep thinking "That's what I get for buying the cheap one" but should it really matter? Come on! Work! Work! Argh.

*sigh*

This day has not been going as planned. Not at all.

I shopped a lot this weekend and one of the things I bought was a printer/copier/fax machine. I neglected to read the box to see that the USB cable was not included. I need to print out and fax my W-9 and timesheet into work. *sigh* It will have to wait another day.

Work was a bit crazy. The agents were having issues with logging on to the network and it took up a lot of Sonia's time. Needless to say, we were not able to get the reports out on time. I had to work 2.5 hours extra, but they are done and sent. I have got to get out of this chair and do other stuff before heading to bed. Just needed to vent. Weekend update will have to wait.

You know, I thought I did an update here yesterday, but I guess I only did it in my head. Heh. Hate it when that happens.

Yesterday, I went to the bank to open a checking account after I stopped working for the day. Afterwards, I went and got an awful drink at Tully's. Ick. Won't be getting that one again. I have 3 chain coffeehouses in my neighborhood (walking distance) - Seattle's Best, Tully's and Starbucks. The one local joint closes at 3. What's up with that? Where was I? Oh yeah! I was walking home from the Tully's and heard quite the lovely sound. Tree leaves rustling in the breeze. Music to my ears. It was such a gorgeous evening, so I decided to walk down to the park and explore around there. One of the things that amazed me were all of the people who had their front doors wide open to let the evening breeze in. In L.A., you couldn't leave your front door open like that b/c of fear of crime.

Bad things about hardwood floors and cats - they track litter dust everywhere. Especially on my new futon and desk.

I went to Home Depot last night. Needed to get a latch so the kitties stop going under the kitchen sink. I was hoping to find some inexpensive plastic shelves for my storage room, but they only had pricey ones. I did get a new toolbox since my current one is too small. And, I got to use self-checkout for the very first time. It was pretty nifty.

Time to go to work!

My futon came today! Yay! It sure is pretty, but it was quite difficult to put together by myself. I was too impatient to call someone over for help :-) BUT, I did get it together after making much noise. My downstairs neighbor didn't complain. It took so much work that I felt like I build it from raw wood. If anyone asks, i built it all by myself. Yep. That's the story. I didn't get the cover, though. Waiting to hear back regarding that. It's a bit too big for my space (I'm gonna have to rearrange things) and a loveseat would have suited the space better, but I felt that I should get a futon. Why you may ask? Well, I got it for you for when you come to visit me. You need something comfortable to sleep on, right? And what if there are two of you? It's queen size for extra room and comfort. Want to come visit now? Sure you do! It was much more affordable compared to a sleeper sofa and I believe it should be easier to move. Anyway, it's time for me to start investing in furniture I actually plan on keeping for some time (unlike the Ikea crap that fills some of my house.)

One of the reasons why I started this blog was due to so many people asking me why I was moving to Seattle. Of course, I really only got this from my L.A. friends (I miss you guys!) because anyone that's known me longer knows why I moved back here. I went to my local coffee joint during lunch today to grab a latte. I must admit, it's difficult to resist this urge everyday. It is just so gorgeous here. So many trees and flowers. The smell is sensational. I am very sensitive to my environment which is one of the reasons i disliked L.A. The beauty here almost brings me to tears on a daily basis.

I just uploaded some pics. Bookmark this album - I plan to add to it. Snake in Seattle

Feel free to check out the rest of the albums. Thanks to Doug for hosting them all for me :-)

I woke from a strange dream this morning. I was getting married. It was my wedding day. Very strange it was. My soon-to-be husband was very rich - an inventor of some kind. All I remember was all the hecticness going on before the ceremony. I was also trying to frame this old-looking portrait of him. I just couldn't center it in the oval mat properly. When he would try to frame it, it would be a portrait of me. I woke up before I actually got married, so I'm OK. Heh. And my hair was blonde. I suppose I'm safe as long as I stay a redhead, right?

I made some progress last night on unpacking. Also moved some stuff around in my bedroom. I still have about 7 more boxes to contend with. I love the fact that I have a huge storage unit in the basement. I worry about bugs getting in my stuff if i put it down there.

The bugs like to come visit me at night. I had to remind a medium-sized spider that he lived outside last night, but maybe he should live inside my apartment to eat the bugs that visit me and my lights. Both Persephone and Screech got a late-night moth snack. What a fate for a moth.

It's sunny here again. Where is my rain? I know, I know. I'll get plenty of it soon enough. I'm going to take some stuff downstairs and start my laundry before I start working at 9. Fun stuff, I tell you.

So I finally get connected to the VPN at work and it goes down. PLUS, it disables my home internet use. *sigh* I need to get this resolved so I can do my work! But, this also means that I will not be working until midnight again.

Persephone is having a staring contest with a squirrel that's outside the window.

I got a call today that my futon will be arriving tomorrow! yay! I have sooooo many boxes to unpack tonight to make room. I need to get my tall bookshelf fixed so i have a place to put the majority of my books.

I really should go outside. It's been overcast all day and quite lovely. When is it going to rain? I want rain!

Happy Birthday, Doug!

I try to unpack. Really, I do. I just don't know where to put all of my stuff.

Had to work for most of the day playing catch-up. I still can't access the network via VPN, so reporting has been a pain in the ass. These long days are throwing me off. It's after 9 and still light out. It cannot be after 9! So my coworker was talking to me about the whole drama going on at work. It reiterates how lucky I am to work from home so I don't have to put up with that. There are just too many clashing personalities in my department.

Although I cannot figure out where to put all of my crap, I'm really liking my new apartment. I get great morning light - Screech is loving the napping in the rays of sunlight. This is the first time in years that I have a decent apartment managers. The building is owned by a wife & husband that look like they are in their 50's.

I meant to go out for a walk today but got caught up in work. At least the view is nice.

Should I go to the kaitO show tomorrow night? I just can't decide.

My goodness where did this day go. Made a trip to Ikea and scored the stuff that I wanted. I now have a place to sit down and eat and a place for my TV. I needed something inexpensive for now and Ikea furniture will do. I finally made it to Trader Joe's yesterday and stocked up on food. It's so nice not to have to eat out every meal. That gets old after having to do it for 2 weeks.

My house is an awful mess and I must get stuff done. I've uploaded some pics, but don't have time to post right now. Sheesh.

Damn did this week fly by. My family just left this morning and now it's time to get down to business and unpack. First, a recap of this past week:

- Last Saturday didn't go as planned. Spent most of the day packing and waiting for U-Haul to call me to tell me where to pick up the rental truck the next morning. I called them around 4:30pm and they said someone would call me by 7:00pm. By 6:45pm, I still hadn't heard from them so I gave them another call. After waiting on hold for 25 minutes, I was told that I would have to call back the next day at 9:00am because the office had already closed. This pissed me off greatly because I had put off having dinner with Doug to wait for this information and I was supposed to pick up my truck at 9:00am! Went out to dinner with Doug at the Spaghetti Factory. We said our goodbyes - I insisted that he go out with Lyssa and F because I would rather imagine myself hanging out with them instead of packing. Plus, having him there would have made everything harder emotionally. I got back home and started packing again. Ran out of boxes before I was done which totally sucked. Too tired at this point to go get more boxes, so I went to bed.

- Woke up at 9:00am on Sunday and called U-Haul. I was on hold for 30 minutes until someone picked up and put me back on hold. On hold for 5 minutes and then the phone started ringing and ringing and ringing. No one picked up, so I hung up. Called some local U-Haul places but they couldn't help me out. One place did give me the local number for the regional office (the place that tells you where to pick up your truck) and so I called that number. On hold for another 30 minutes. Finally talked to someone and got the location for me to pick up my truck. By this time, Adam was there to drop off his TV that I was buying from him and take me to get the truck (heh- he forgot the TV and had to go back later in the day). He was also a sweetheart and got me food and coffee. After eating, we head out to get the truck to find that my family has arrived. They went upstairs to wait for us to get back. Go to U-Haul to pick up the 10-ft truck and some more boxes. The truck is pretty old and running hard, but I figure that's typical and drive off. We get back to the apartment and everyone gets to work. Packing and cleaning ensues with the help of my dad, step mom, sister, cousin and Adam. It was pretty nuts. We didn't get finished and on the road until 7pm. This was not the plan. We were going to leave so much earlier, but I just couldn't get everything packed on time. Next time I make a move, I must take some time off from work to prepare. Everyone was such a big help and really helped my stress level. Granted, Dad & Carolyn were disappointed that we didn't head out until 7, but they didn't complain or make me feel guilty one bit. We drive up to Bakersfield and stay the night. We also discover that the U-Haul is horrible. Dad had to put 2 quarts of oil in the thing!

- Monday morning we get off to an early start. The truck is running a bit better this day, but Dad insists that he be the only one that drives it because it is so difficult to drive. The traffic isn't bad and we had no mountains to deal with. We drive all day with no incidents and stop in Yreka, California for the night. It's a little gold-mining town close to the CA/OR border. Quite charming.

- Tuesday is a short driving day, but not easy on Dad & Carolyn. By this time, we are driving through the Cascades in Oregon. Although the drive was rough, the scenery was breathtaking. Absolutely gorgeous. We stop in Portland mid-afternoon and spend time with Dad's longtime friend, Maggie. We went out to dinner with her family and had a nice, relaxing evening.

- Wednesday was a quick jaunt to Seattle. Traffic stayed moderate and we made it in by 12:30pm. Got to the apartment and met up with my new manager, Lance. He and his daughter were finishing some last-minute things on the apartment. Did a walk-through with him and then Dad, Carolyn, Leslie and I went to lunch at a lovely bakery/cafe in my neighborhood. I really enjoyed it, but it wasn't for Dad & Carolyn. We went back to the apartment and unloaded the truck in less than 2 hours. Much easier than packing it up! We literally had to throw everything in and leave to go find D&C a hotel and get cleaned up to have dinner with business friends of D&C. We ate at a seafood restaurant on Eastlake called Duke's. They were very good about my non-meat eating habits and even made sure I wasn't vegan. One of the reasons why I love Seattle :-) Dinner was lovely. Dropped D&C off at the hotel and Leslie and I came back and sorted through the boxes. My phone was meant to be turned on by now, but I still didn't have service. What's up with that? Anyway, found the sheets, made up the bed and went to sleep.

- Thursday, Leslie got up early and went to a tai-chi class in a park that wasn't too far away. I had to stick around for the cable service person to connect my internet. Since my phone still wasn't hooked up, Leslie planned on calling Qwest when she got to D&C's hotel room. I did a bit of unpacking while I waited. Leslie got back around 10:30am with news that there was a problem with my order but they would expedite my order and I would have service by 5pm that day. Cable guy comes at 11 and hooks me up. Sweet! At least I can now communicate to others somehow! After cable guy leaves at 11:30, we head out for lunch. After lunch, we go to my local used bookstore and peruse the selection. Great selection! I even have a comic book store and a couple of record stores within walking distance. I love my neighborhood. We go back to the apartment and plan to head over to the hotel to coordinate dropping off the U-Haul. D&C had lunch plans with a friend. They got back around 3:30pm and we take off to our destination. Unfortunately, they weren't really clear on the location and we got separated for a bit. They did make their way back and we got rid of the truck. We head out to Northgate for a Target shopping trip. I needed stuff like broom, mop, microwave, phone and then some. Spent a lot of money, but it's stuff I'll have for a long time. Filled up 2 baskets. We head back to town and grab some dinner. After dropping D&C off at the hotel, Leslie and I head to Capitol Hill for a quick trip to Payless Shoes and Fred Meyer. She picks up a couple of pair of cute sandals (I also got a pair) and I get a mirror and water filters. Head back home and unload my shopping booty. Find that I still do not have phone service. Another long day.

- Friday was a fun day. We got to sleep in! Got up and head over to the hotel to pick up D&C. We had to go to Mae's on Phinney Ridge for a yummy southern breakfast. I had biscuits and gravy! After brunch, we go to Seattle Center and visit the Space Needle. It was my first time. The views were great since the day was mostly clear. We were then going to go to the Experience Music Project, but only had an hour left which would not have given us enough time. We did walk through the inside and sat in the restaurant for a bit before heading out to the airport area. D&C were worn out from the long week and needed to rest. After we dropped them off, Leslie and I headed to Teresa's to see what she was up to this weekend since I could not call her. Fortunately, she was home and we made plans to make an Ikea trip on Sunday. We then head back to my place to drop off the car. Things were going to be crazy around my neighborhood that night since I live 4 blocks from Gasworks Park, where the big 4th celebration is based. We drop off the car and catch the bus to the International district. We walk about the I-district for a couple of hours, but most of the stores are closed for the holiday. We do get a bit of shopping in and Leslie finds a book that she has been searching for but could not find. We head back to Wallingford and have Indian food for dinner. After dinner, we go to the park for the fireworks display. It was pretty impressive. I can't believe the advances that have been made in fireworks! We head back to my place and go to bed so we can get up early the next day.

Well, that's the recap. Took Leslie to the airport this morning and now I must get to work on unpacking. Lots to do ahead of me. Today is the first overcast day since I've been here. It's lovely! I will upload some pictures later and post the link here, so check back. I would like to thank everyone again that has helped make this move possible. It would have been so difficult without you!!

This city smells. L.A., that is. It's my last day here and I've got far too much to do to be sitting down at my computer, but a woman has got to eat sometime.

I woke up this morning to the sound of kids playing outside. My head is screaming at me for some unknown reason - that is not a good way to start the day. Since I'm lacking food, refridgerator and coffee, I throw on some clothes and walk down to my local coffee shop to grab a cup of joe and a scone. It's a hazy day out and very stinky as usual. As I walk, I try not to think about my sock that is quickly scrunching up in my shoe. I ponder what I will miss about this city. I've had some fun times for sure and met many wonderful people. It's my peeps that I am going to miss the most.

Last night, Doug, Lyssa, F, Wayne and I drove down to a club in Long Beach. It was a fun time had by all. It was hard to say goodbye when they left. It really hasn't hit me that I am not going to see them again for many months. I know I'll be missing them fiercely when I'm up in Seattle. Well, not really Wayne. I don't know him very well. Heh.

*sigh* It's 11:30. Gotta get up off my ass and get shit done. Leaving tomorrow.