Then God is 7

Oh lordy I am grumpy today. I slept poorly last night due to a snoring Tony and mind that would not shut off. *grump*

Although there is no new snow, we may still go snowboarding this weekend and just deal with the crappy conditions. It's too hard to wait! We don't have any other plans for the holiday. It's all about the low-key.

This weekend was filled with pinball playing fun and dancing fun. Tony & I stayed in last night and watched the movies Safe and A Simple Plan. Both were very uplifting. NOT!

OK, lots of work to do.

Comfortable seats for my bruised butt

Tony & I are now the happy owners of a 2001 Volvo V70 Cross Country wagon. It is a joy to drive and ride in! We already have a snowboard rack on top and it's been put to use. It holds lots and lots of gear which is why we chose it.

Last week, I had a head cold. I got over it. That's the way it goes.

After work on Friday, we met up with Chris and Ira and drove up to Whistler. I am happy to report that our car easily carried 4 people, 6 snowboards and the 4 people's luggage & other gear. It was a comfortable 5-hour ride.

On Friday, it rained instead of snowed. That made for very unfavorable conditions on the mountain. It was icy like I've never seen before. Ira had just waxed his board. All signs point to trouble. He broke his wrist before he got to do one run. Poor Ira.

The only other injuries all weekend were bruises. By the end of Saturday, I was trying to board on solid ice and it didn't work so well. It was not fun. However, it did not stop me from going out on Sunday. Things were better on Sunday since I knew what runs to avoid. I remembered how to turn properly and that made me very happy.

Since the conditions were crap, we left Monday morning instead of going back out for a 3rd day. As we were leaving, it started to snow. Typical. Even though the conditions sucked, we still had tons of fun.

It's been unseasonably warm here which means no more snow for now. We'll be refraining from snowboarding this weekend since the conditions will still be poor. I'm just hoping that we'll get to go out on X-mas day.

Work has been keeping me busy which is why I haven't posted much lately. Sorry about that.

Damn

something to tell but I can't say until it's actually in our possession...

No snowboarding this weekend :(
Only shopping instead.
Picked Chris up from the airport on Friday. We all went out for dinner that night and then went back to Chris' to view his pictures from his trip.
On Saturday, it felt like I was coming down with a cold, so we stayed in.

Not much happened this weekend except for, well, maybe I'll write about it tomorrow.

The good, the bad, and the fugly

Amazingly enough, our house was in great shape by the time our guests arrived on Thursday. Tony & I made Tofurky, Tofurky gravy, gravy from scratch, garlic mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, stuffing, a broccoli-parmesan dish and a spinach & asparagus salad. Everything was from scratch - Tony even made the dressing for the salad. We learned what recipe not to use again for gravy. Everything else turned out wonderfully. Sol brought more stuffing and the most delish pumpkin pie. Amanda brought a corn casserole that was straight from the south. Sandi & Jim brought pumpkin pie and cranberry relish. It was all so wonderfully yummy.

After our feast, we went over to the house where many friends live and hung out for awhile. Fun was had.

We were very lazy for the rest of the weekend. Nothing interesting to report.

Weird things are happening at work. People clashing. Arguments happening. Disappointment. Why can't everyone just get along?

The snow is falling in the mountains and we hope to get out this weekend. Next weekend will be our first trip to Whistler this season. I am so very excited! It's so nice not to have to worry about figuring out how we are going to pay for lift tickets and food when we go snowboarding like we did last season. Being gainfully employed is great!

Yarg! I am a Pirate!

I've had one too many tootsie rolls today. Why aren't they all gone yet?

My brain is thinking about all I need to do at home tonight. Our place is not ready for people to see on Thursday. I must finish finding places for all of my crap, go grocery shopping, clean, cook and bake. I would like to be on my way to the gym right now, but Tony is in the middle of something. I will be patient.

Tony made a little movie out of some of the footage he took at Mt. Baker on Sunday. Watch it here. It doesn't look like any local resorts will be opening this weekend afterall :(

Guess what? Exciting news! I got a raise today! Yay! It also looks like I'll be getting to do some Project Management. Very exciting for me!

Yay! Yay! Yay! Yay!

Mt. Baker is opening on Sunday! Tony & I reserved a cabin for Saturday night :) I am so excited to try out my new gear.

This is going to be a busy winter. We have an out-of-town snowboarding trip planned each month and are talking about going to Utah in February.

Working out has been going really well. Tony decided that he really likes weight training, so we stopped doing as much cardio and started doing more weight training. I just know this will help with soreness from snowboarding. I guess we'll find out on Sunday!

I am so excited about getting back out on the mountain. I have missed it so much this summer!

Carrots make my hair orange

I put things in my mouth that I know are not good for me whatsoever. Like a brownie. Tony bought us Vietnamese Iced Coffees this morning and also purchased a couple of brownies. It took me all day to eat mine.

And then we had pizza for lunch.

Tony is a bad influence! Bad Tony!

I'm eating carrots now in hopes that my body will forgive me for the rest of the crap I've put into it today.

Doodeedoodeedoo

Friday night, Tony & I had our first visit to 24-hour Fitness. That night, we were scheduled to meet with trainers. Well, Tony's trainer didn't show up. All we did is talked to the trainer I was scheduled with. She didn't take us through a routine or anything. It was a waste of time. We didn't have much time to work out that night since we had plans to go to Sunny's for a movie night.

Saturday, we had brunch at Broadway Grill and ran a couple of errands. After getting back home, I unpacked for a couple of hours and then we went to the gym for a little bit. Before heading home, we picked up some food at the grocery and invited Chris over for dinner. He hung out for awhile and then Nat & Cody came over to retrieve him for a night of dancing. I would have liked to have joined them, but we are watching our funds right now. After they left, we just hung out and watched the TV.

We stayed in on Sunday; most of my day was spent unpacking. Amanda came over that night and brought Ju-On (the original The Grudge). It wasn't as scary as the American version, but it was fun to see the similarities & differences.

Yesterday was our first long workout at the gym. I made Tony use the weight machines and I made him work hard! He was pretty exhausted afterwards, but I think it was because he hadn't eaten enough all day. Before we went to the gym, I had my second appointment with the endocrynologist. They drew some blood and will test it to see if I'm on the right dosage of medication. He was surprised that I hadn't lost any weight since starting the medication. *shrugs*

Coming to terms with the next 4 years

You all know that I am a liberal, left-wing Democrat. There is nothing Republican in my beliefs. I can deal with having a Republican president, but not this one. He lies about really important things like why he took us to war. He's arrogant. Listening to the press conference this morning on NPR, he made clear once again that he is clueless.

I worry about laws being passed that will restrict my rights.
The Patriot Act is one of the scariest legislations to come out of our government in years.

This administration scares me with what they might do in the next 4 years.

It is hard for half of this nation to figure out why their fellow American voted for Bush. 20someoddpercent did because he is a Christian and they voted because he has Morals. That's a bunch of hooey to me. He's a president that took us into war under a false pretense and now hundreds of thousands of people have died. How Christian is that?

So half of this nation can ignore the horrible things this administration has done to this country. They probably think what has happened is so bad.

It makes me want to cry, so I try not to think about it. Everyone has their reasons on why they made the choice they did.

OK, I was not planning on making a ranty post. I could go on and on and on and on, but I will not. It's probably good that Kerry didn't get elected so Bush is the one who is responsible for cleaning up the messes he has made. I (and many others) fear that he doesn't know how.

I did some unpacking last night. The process is slow, but it will get done. We want to try and have a housewarming party before Chris heads to Chile for a few weeks. It would be good to be settled before snowboarding seasons starts. As of today, it looks like Crystal will be opening on the 20th. Guess what I'll be doing for Thanksgiving? Yep - snowboarding.

You voted, RIGHT?!?!?

I came in a little late today so I could go vote to avoid the after-work lines. I haven't been this anxious about a presidential election EVER. This election is bringing out so many first-time voters. All I can say is WOW. We are having people over tonight to watch the election coverage since we have cable.

On Friday, I totally had the intention to do some moving and cleaning. But then, we started talking about going to see The Grudge with Chris. Guess what we did? It was a Very Scary Movie! I loved it!

Saturday, we slept in because our new bed is too fabulous. After finally dragging ourselves out of bed, we tooled on down to my house to deal with that. Chris came over and helped us move a couple of car loads of crap. That night, we went to a Halloween party at Ira, Joel and Mark's house. It was fun even though we didn't have the time or money for a costume.

Sunday, I got up early-ish to go back to my old place to clean. After I was done with that, I went home and got Tony and then we did the same to his place. We finished about 10pm.

It was an exhausting weekend and our new place is an absolute wreck. I'm trying my best not to get too stressed about it, but it's hard. I have so much crap that it almost brings me to tears.

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The Blogger server has been going down lately :/

The move of the Big Furniture on Sunday went smoothly. All friends agree that our new place is awesome. I still have lots of crap at my old place; it's overwhelming me. I wanted to sort through it all and give away lots, but I just don't know if I'll have the time. Maybe I'll kick some major ass on Saturday and get it all done. If I don't, it's all getting thrown in the car and sorted later.

We shopped for a bed for a week and finally came to a decision on Monday. Our bed was purchased and delivered on Tuesday morning. It is glorious!

There was a little episode on Tuesday. The plan was for me to go to work at the normal time and Tony stay home to wait for the bed to be delivered. After the arrival of the bed, Tony couldn't find Persephone. To make things harder, our electricity went out and we had yet to bring over a flashlight. I go back home to pick Tony up and he tells me that Persephone is missing. I'm thinking she ran out the door when the delivery guys were there. We look for her for awhile - inside and outside - calling out her name the whole time. No Persephone. We had to stop and go back to work. After my boss left, we left early to go home and search some more. After combing the neighborhood and house, we gave up and Tony started making a flyer. I started doing stuff around the house when Persephone sauntered out from her New Super Secret Hiding Place.

Bad Kitty for not coming out when we called her!

Anyway, we LOVE our new place. Come and visit, ok?

In other news, it's 43 degrees outside right now.

Too tired for my own good

Coffee is the only thing barely keeping me awake. I feel like I didn't sleep at all last night. We went out to see The Cruxshadows. I spent most of the night catching up with everyone. It was fun. So many people from Florida have moved to Seattle the last couple of years. And, they all love it.

I am not alone.

I think I must leave soon before I fall asleep.

Time escapes me

I'm sorry for not updating lately. I stay busy at work and haven't sat in front of a computer at home in some time.

Tony's mom left this morning. We didn't get to San Juan Island this weekend as hoped due to rainy weather. We did, however, eat lots and lots of good food. Vietnamese, Flying Fish, The Capitol Club, Mae's and more.

A friend from college, Tate, is in town for a visit. We hope to hang out Thursday night and Saturday for brunch. I haven't seen him in years!

The rest of my time will be dedicated to the packing and moving thing. The first thing we moved in? Flowers! Yesterday, I took over stuff to clean with and dirty laundry. The machines at our new place are half the cost at our current apartments. I'm going to hang out there tonight and do a load of laundry while wiping things down. The place is clean, but the drawers and shelves are a bit dusty. We're moving the big stuff on Sunday and will be taking things over all week long. We are also shopping for a new bed since both of our beds are 15 years old and worn out.

OK, much work to do. I miss my commute-home conversations with Mom & Jenn.

Good things

My apologies for the lack of updates. Work has been keeping me busy which is A Very Good Thing. I am enjoying the work and atmosphere. All is good.

My life has been watching The Debates, watching The News, watching Documentaries, listening to NPR, thinking about all of you that are far away and lamenting not talking to you on the phone enough, getting adjusted to The New Job and stuff.

Tonight is Eric's 30th birthday party. It shall be fun. We got him new pool balls for their pool table since the current ones suck. We are hoping that they won't mind if we watch a bit of the debate tonight :-)

Tony's mom is coming to town on Tuesday. We will spend time this weekend cleaning his place. We get the keys to our new place next week! Have I started packing? No! I have acquired many boxes, though. I hope to spend some time this weekend doing the packing thing.

OK, must get back to the work thing now.

October: The Month Of Changes

Today is my last day working at AHP Services. I will miss my coworkers and will miss the scenic drive to the east side in the mornings.

Last night, after signing the lease for our new apartment, we went and saw Shaun of the Dead. Funny movie! Tonight, we watch the first presidential debate. Tomorrow, I'm getting my hairs cut, washing my car, and doing whatever.

So, you probably want to know about Our New Apartment. It is lovely. 2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, 2 stories, hardwood floors, dishwasher, courtyard...just come see it for yourself. As always, I'll take pictures. Our lease starts Oct. 15th. Yay!

Two more days!

Although my job is boring, I will miss the people that I work with. Debbie is throwing me a farewell party on Thursday. I am getting excited about starting My New Job as Executive Coordinator at Millennium Pharmaceuticals. I have to say, I need to practice spelling it. They actually spell Millennium with one 'n'...I'll need to ask why.

I finally got the application. Hopefully, Tony & I can coordinate and drop them off tonight.

I must get to the gym today. My body is aching!

Fall is upon us

The trees are changing and it is beautiful. We have had some glorious fog in the mornings as of late. I love this time of year.

This weekend was full of fun. Thursday night, we took Dad & Carolyn to Broadway Grill for dinner. They enjoyed it muchly. Friday night, we went to Fremont to a place called Dad .... i forget the last part of the name. They enjoyed that muchly also. Saturday morning, we were meant to view an apartment, but it was postponed until Sunday. We went to Mae's for breakfast before heading to Vancouver. The drive wasn't bad. After dropping the parents off for the cruise, Tony & I went to a trendy restaurant for a tasty, late lunch before heading back to Seattle.

Oh yeah - the party Friday night was fun. It was the biggest party at Chris' that I have been to. He has got a large house that is good for the parties. Plus, he likes to host them for his friends. Great gift if you ask me.

Saturday night, we were tired from the drive and decided to stay in. Amanda came over and we watched Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Love that movie! We then started watching Envy and I promptly fell asleep.

We awoke on Sunday to go view the apartment. We are going to apply for it. The manager was meant to fax me the applications today since she was out, but I have yet to receive them. We want to do it soon so we can get an answer before rent is due. I'm refusing to get excited until a lease is signed. You will get no description until then! We met up with Chris & Katie (friend of his visiting from out of town) for brunch at Cafe Flora. It was tasty as usual. Afterwards, I headed home to hang out with the kitties for a bit. I went back to Tony's around 6:30. We then went downtown to see if we could get a ticket for Amanda for the Siouxsie show. Unfortunately, we had no luck. We hung out with Eric & Cathy in the bar before the show. The show itself was Excellent! Siouxsie is fabulous. *sigh* It was one of those shows that I did not want to end. Dean & Shannon drove up from Portland for it - we didn't really get to hang out with them because they showed up late and then decided not to go out afterwards. Dean said he was disappointed in the show, but I didn't get to find out why. I think anyone expecting to hear Siouxsie & The Banshee stuff would have been disappointed. They did a lot more Creatures songs. Anyway, we had a fabulous time.

It was a late night and now I am very tired. Must get back to work now!

Busy

Work has been busy with new business and wrapping things up. Not much free time to post.

Life has been busy with fun stuff and apartment hunting.

Dad & Carolyn will be arriving this afternoon and we'll be driving them up to Vancouver on Saturday. It will be a busy weekend.

OK, back to work.

No.

We were meant to sign the lease tonight. He just called to say he decided to rent it to someone else who wanted it sooner and doesn't have pets.

I am sad now.

New residence!

We got the place! Signing of the lease will commence at 6:30pm today. Allow me to describe:

- 10ft ceilings
- hardwood floors
- woodburning fireplace
- living room/dining room = 500sq ft/ whole apartment is 1200sq ft!!!
- new appliances including dishwasher
- basement with full-size washer & dryer
- front yard = old elm tree
- back yard = plum tree
- parking space
- excellent condition
- owner is cool and looks like John Kerry :)

Here's the problem: this place is beautiful. We are going to be moving in and bringing our unmatching, mediocre furniture with us. It will look funny. We will want to buy all new furniture. There is no way we could afford to do this anytime in the near future. I think I will have to unleash the supreme craftiness in me to make our furniture look good. I'll need to accomplish this before snowboarding season starts in a couple of months.

Things

My sciatica has been bothering me something fierce lately. I was so hoping the chiro treatments would fix that. :(

The trees in front of my office building are already changing color. Apparently, they turn early.

The apartment we viewed last night is beautiful. We are going to apply for it. Keep your fingers crossed for us, okay? I really think it is going to be as close to perfect as we can get while still staying in our price range.

The giving of the notice of resignation went well. It was announced to all today at a company meeting. I have received many 'congratulations' and it is nice. No more anxiety about that!

Tonight, I go visit Stine and her computer to get her up and running again.

Tomorrow night, Tony & I go to Teresa's to hang out with her and Robert.

Weekend plans are still up in the air. There is a wedding in Wenachee, but Tony hasn't decided if we are going yet.

Nervousness

Offer made and accepted. Start date: October 1, 2004.

I now must give my notice today and I am too nervous. I like Debbie. No one is expecting me to leave. They count on me.

My weekend was good. Cathy's b-day party was on Friday and it was muey fun. Saturday, we slept in and went to see The Village later that day. We stayed in Sat. night due to lack of funds. Amanda came over and we watched a movie that I do not recall the name of. Sunday was more of not doing much. We were meant to look at an apartment but chose not to after seeing the outside.

I made a plum crumble last night and it was a big hit. Sweet.

We are going to view another apartment tonight. I drove by it last night: it's a duplex - the house was built in 1910 and it looks very cool from the outside. Tony is so hard to please, though. He's kinda anti-duplex. The place is just a one-bedroom, but it's 1200 square feet. We'll see.

the Pixies rocked!!!

I don't recall what I did last Friday. I think we stayed in and watched movies or something.

Douglas & Lorian got married on Saturday. It was lovely. We were there until about 4:30pm. I dropped Tony & Amanda off and went home to nap. That night, we went to the Mercury to get our boogie on. Oh yeah. We went to Charlie's for dinner. I ordered the field roast philly cheesesteak. When I got my sandwich, I took a bite and realized, "Hey, this isn't what I ordered!" Instead, I was given a roast beef sandwich. Ugh. Fortunately, it didn't make me too sick.

Sunday started off with brunch at Charlie's with Tony, Chris, Scott, Jeremiah and Julie. We then jetted off to Ski Bonkers. I am now the proud owner of my very own snowboard, boots and bindings. I LOVE THEM! OK season, you need to start now! Afterwards, Tony & I went for sushi at Blue C. Yummers!

I did a whole lotta nothing on Monday.

On Tuesday, we left for Vancouver mid-afternoon and got there around 7pm. The Pixies show was crazy and wonderful and all kinds of good things. After the show, we went to a pub and ate crappy food and drank mediocre drinks.

Wednesday felt like Sunday. We drove back after lunch in lots of rain. Everyone was tired. It was an excellent 5-day weekend. And now I only have a two-day week! Sweet!

I'm meant to hear from Ralph today. I am anxious. I want the job now, please.

It was not meant to be

Yesterday, I called and found out that the huge apartment has been rented. We floundered too long. Oh well. We have an appointment to look at another place today. Trying to go apartment hunting when you are already busy is not the easiest thing to do.

After work, I headed off to Ralph's office and proceeded to get lost. He wasn't answering his phone and Tony wasn't answering his phone (I was hoping he could mapquest for me). Finally, Ralph called back and he said that he couldn't meet and had called Aaron to call Tony to tell me. Anyway, we are meeting today for lunch. He's coming out here.

Around 8:30pm, Tony calls me and left me a message that Ralph couldn't meet with me. Duh. I called him back; his phone was still on silent from when we went to the movie the previous night. He does this almost every time unless I remind him. Heh. Oh well. I suppose it was meant for me to get lost due to bad directions (Ralph hadn't realized a new light had been installed on a specific road).

I got tons of sleep last night yet can't stop yawning. What is up with that?

Is it just me?

It seems that the world is in so much turmoil lately. Russia, Sudan, Iraq and more. It is so depressing to read the news every day. I want to take all of my friends and move to the mountains with no television or internet. *cry*

Last night, we went and saw Napoleon Dynamite. T'was funny. During the movie, my left hand started iching. When we got out of the movie, I noticed that it was swollen in a couple of places. Today, it is very swollen and ichy with a rash that is now moving up my arm. WTF?

Tonight, I go meet with Ralph who is one of the main investors in Millennium Pharmaceudicals to discuss a possible job working mainly with him. We are meeting to see how we relate and if we are on the same wavelength. Keep your fingers crossed that all goes well.

Why must they keep it so cold in here? Brrr! OK, back to work.

Happies and Sads

Friday night sushi was excellent. Tony was very surprised with the avalanche tranciever and likes it muchly. After dinner, we went bowling! I still suck.

On Saturday, we went to brunch at B&O Espresso with Chris & Sol. We were disappointed in the food and service and will not be going back. Afterwards, Tony, Chris & I went and picked up my rad, new glasses and then we went to Bon-Macy's to pick up wedding presents. I then took off to get ready for Suzann & Mark's reception that started at 6. They had it at a place called Jillian's that is full of games and stuff. I hung out with Teresa & Robert; fun was had by all. After leaving there, I went over to Tony's and Amanda came over. We watched Ali G - the DVD Sunny gave Tony for his birthday. Funny stuff!

Sunday, we went to brunch with Chris at Broadway Grill before heading to Jessica's memorial. It was on the UW campus. I had never been there before; it is quite gorgeous! The service ended around 4/4:30 and I headed home for a bit before going back to Capitol Hill for her wake at the Mercury. We stayed there until around 9:30 and then went and picked up a movie to watch before heading to bed.

We've decided to apply for the huge apartment. Wish us luck!

I love salad!

The trip to Southern California was great. My nephew is the most adorable, squirmy baby EVER! I'm so looking forward to seeing him grow up.

Tony realized that San Diego really isn't that bad. He still doesn't like L.A., though.

Also, I FINALLY GOT MY DEPOSIT BACK FROM THE PLACE IN CULVER CITY!!!! Woot!

We went and looked at the huge 2-bedroom yesterday. From the way it is laid out, it looks like it used to be 2 separate apartments. The decor has not been updated in years, but it has been kept up well. There are things we don't like about it, but I think we like it overall just because it's so HUGE. 1400 square feet!!! We'll continue looking around to see if we find a perfect place.

Something may be happening on the job front and that's all I'm saying 'cause I don't want to jinx anything.

Today is Tony's birthday! Yay! I'm taking him out to dinner and then we are doing a friends celebration tomorrow of sushi & drinks. I hope he likes what I got him.

Oh yes: the pills work. I didn't realize how crappy I felt before until I had several days of not feeling crappy. Go me!

I went to the dentist yesterday to have a yucko filling. My jaw still hurts from the stupid novicaine shot. They also did this bleaching thing that sucked. Never again.

It costs a lot of money to be healthy

I like my body to function properly. I really, really do. But damn does it cost a lot of money that I don't have.

- I've been going to the chiropractor for about a month now. For a few weeks, it was 3x a week. Now it's down to 2x a week. My co-pay is $10 each visit.

- The trip to the endocrinologist was $10 co-pay. I received the invoice for the lab tests: $122. 3 month supply for the medication: $15.

- Trip to the dentist last week didn't cost me anything, but I have to go back next week to get a filling: $65.

- My eyecare insurance only covers 20% hardware. New, rad glasses: $250.

I'm trying not to stress about money too much. Along with spending lots on medical stuff, there are several b-days this month, trip to SoCal and 3 weddings and 2 trips to Vancouver. OK, gotta stop even thinking about it. I'm gonna cry. I really need to make more money just to do any of this stuff. Deeper into debt, here I go!

Ta-Da

I am too sleepy today for no good reason. Ptttth.
It's a little chilly here! Yay!
I went glasses shopping this weekend and found a pair of rad frames. When the guy called my insurance, they said "20% off" when I was told by my employers that we have the best coverage. My employers were wrong :( Oh well. I'm having to spend money like I actually have it.

Friday night: Went to Amanda's and watched Margaret Cho: Revolution. That is one funny lady. Oh and we went to sushi beforehand.

Saturday: looked at an apartment that was ugly and then went to brunch with Chris at Saint Cloud's. Afterwards, went glasses shopping and then napped for a bit before going to see Garden State. It's a sweet movie. I made us some fajitas for dinner and then Sunny, Amanda & Chris came over to Tony's to hang out for a bit before heading to the club.

Sunday: slept in and then went to a bbq at Julie's house in celebration of Douglas' birthday. I then went home for a bit to Get Stuff Done like laundry and bills. Later, I went over to Tony's and we watched The Bourne Identity.

And that was my weekend. Ta-Da. No, I didn't finish my resume or sell those cds or do that other stuff I told myself I was going to do but oh well. I've got a trip to get ready for now.

Welcome to this world, Zavyen!

Angie & Jessie had their baby last night! It was a successful home birth and all are healthy and happy. Zavyen Skellington was born around 8:40pm on 8/11/04; he's 8lbs 9oz. Yay! When we're in L.A. next weekend, I must buy him a little devil hat from Retail Slut. You should see the nursury. They painted all these spooky, dead trees on the wall. It's so Nightmare Before Christmas :)

Needless to say, this weekend was emotionally draining.

Friday, I got off from work early to go to the endocrinologist. He's pretty sure I have hypothyroidism and will send me the test results and a prescription if necessary. Two viles of blood taken from my body. Damn vampires. Afterwards, I went to Tony's for a little bit. Chris and Ira were there. The mood was solomn of course. I hung out there for a little while before heading home to take care of my kitties and stuff. Tony ended up throwing an impromptu get-together. There have never been that many people in his apartment before. It was good for Chris since it's really difficult for him to be alone right now. It was a long night.

Saturday, we met Chris and Sunny for brunch at Crave. Afterwards, we went to the fish store and bought new fishies for Tony's tank along with some wood. It looks veddy nice. We laid around for the rest of the afternoon and were thinking about going out for sushi when Eric called and invited us over to bbq and stuff. We went over there and bbq'd some lovely blackened catfished and corn and had a good time playing pool and air hockey. They had only invited me, Tony and Chris and it was good not to have so many people around.

Sunday, we went and looked at an apartment before meeting up with Chris for brunch at Cafe Flora. Afterwards, the three of us met Natalie and Evgenia at Greenlake for some frisbee and hanging out in the park. Tony & I took off to get stuff taken care of including dinner at Blue C Sushi. That night, we went over to Chris' for a movie. At one point during the day, Chris turned to me and said, "you know you don't have to hang out with me all the time." Well, duh! I think he forgets how much time we spent together before he started dating Jessica and feels like we spent so much time with him out of obligation.

I skipped the gym on Monday and went over to Tony's so we could go drive by a couple of houses. One of the houses was adorable but, moving into a house means cost of living goes up. It's so tempting, though, but no way I could afford it with my current income. We aren't in a rush to find a place and still have time to contemplate how much we want to spend each month. We then went for a quick dinner before I headed home.

It was terribly hot and humid yesterday and my sinuses are hurty. Bleh.

Goodbye Jessica

It's raining today. It's been too long since we've had a good, solid rain. It is very good that we have this weather on this solemn day. Jessica was found last night in her apartment after missing since Sunday night. She was found dead, cause unknown.

The first time I met Jessica was at Ira's house on Thanksgiving. She and Jeremy arrived after we had feasted. I'm not really sure if we talked at all except to compliment her on her fabulous dress. She was the quiet observer. After that night, I didn't see her again until my birthday party at Chris' house. She came to the party, invited by Chris, and proceeded to spend the whole night with him. Around 4am when the rest of the guests were leaving, she stayed behind. And that is how their relationship began.

I didn't have the opportunity to get to know her well, but I did like the times I did get to spend with her. She had a great mind and would say the oddest things. It was often hard to hear her because she had a tendency to mumble. The last time we hung out was at the zoo. She called all of the animals "snacks" and was very mad at the people who brought their dogs to the bunny gathering in the park.

The hardest part so far is watching Chris torture himself over 'what ifs'. Last night, after he found out, he went over to Tony's. He was the last person to talk to Jessica on Sunday. They hadn't hung out that weekend because Chris' brother was in town. Jessica hated staying at home alone and wanted to come over on Sunday night. Being that Chris had to be up at 5am to take his brother to the airport, he asked if they just wait to hang out again until Monday night. So, they made dinner plans.

Even though they dated for 4 months, Jessica never took Chris to her apartment. He knew what building she lived in, but did not know the apartment. When he couldn't get a hold of her on Monday, he thought it strange. As the week progressed, he started calling anyone he could think of. After a missing person claim had been reported to the police, her mom came down with a key and found her in her apartment.

He wants to go back in time and tell her to come over. She would still be alive then, right? We'll never know. He is in so much pain and misses her more than he ever thought he would. It happened so suddenly and nothing can be fixed.

It's hard for Tony because he doesn't know what to say to Chris. He wants to make him feel better and reassure him that there was nothing he could do and it can't be changed. He also can't help but think, "What if I lost Kris all of a sudden?" You want to make sure that if someone were to die unexpectedly, you said everything to them you wanted to say. But relationships aren't like that.

It's going to be hard for everyone to reconcile Jessica's death until we know what happened. People aren't supposed to just up and die at 30 years old, but they do. You are missed, pretty lady. It was too soon.

Last night, Ms. Martha from NYC was in town. We had a little get-together even though Stine was still in recovery from her surgery. In attendance: Me (duh), Tony, Sandi, Jim, Darius, Stine, Lyam, Jose', Martha & Doug. Stine & Lyam are housesitting for a friend who has a condo by the piers downtown. Veddy nice. We ate yumtastic food, drank ze vino, and chatted it up. Good times, good times. I will post the pictures as soon as I can. After leaving, I was so freaking tired it hurt. I hate feeling like that. I kinda feel like that today. Plus, I'm uber bored.

Going to SoCal in a couple of weeks! Plane tickets purchased - check. Car reserved - check. Hotel reserved - not check. Leaving Aug. 18 and returning on the 22nd. Rockin!

Next weekend = Portland
Weekend after = SoCal
Weekend after that = Suzann's wedding
Weekend after that = Lorian & Douglas' wedding and then Vancouver for Pixies show
No plans for the two weekends after that YET
Sept 23rd = Dad & Carolyn are coming into town. I'll be driving them up to Vancouver on the 25th.

We are talking about going to NYC for Halloween. How fun would that be?! For Thanksgiving, we're talking about going to Utah to visit Tony's family.

This weekend, I hope to Get Stuff Done. I need to go get new glasses. It's ridiculous. My current ones fall off my face. I also need to dye my hairs. Next Tuesday is the photo shoot for Juliet's new line.

Work is calling. Too bad it bores me to tears. /complaining

Adam - yes, he still has his girlfriend, the snake. However, he doesn't hump it as often. And what are you eating to make you gain that much weight and have your blood pressure and cholesterol go up like that? Damn, man! Take care of yourself. Hugh!

I went to the doctor last week for my annual exam. She noticed that my thyroid gland was enlarged so she drew some blood for a test. The test came back abnormal indicating that I have hypothyroidism. I go to see an endocrinologist this Friday for further testing. So now I know why I gained 10lbs in 6 months (or less). The fatigue, the skin dryness, all those symptoms I attributed to other things. I know hypothyroidism is a commom issue for many people (especially women) and it's possible I will not need to be on medication for very long, but it still makes me uncomfortable knowing I need medication to make my body function properly. I know, I know. The joys of getting older. I am kinda excited to see how I feel with my thyroid functioning properly.

The housewarming parties were quite fun. Eric & Cathy made their basement into a gameroom including a sweet pool table, air hockey, video cabinet and game console. We got them a dart board to make it complete.

Murray came up from San Francisco this past weekend. T & I took him to Crave on Saturday and now he knows the greatness of the place. Unfortunately, he missed brunch with us on Sunday at 14 Carrot Cafe on Eastlake. We dined with Julie, Jeremiah, Natalie, Sunny & Garrett. Yummy foods!

That night, Murray, Natalie, Amanda, Tony and I went and saw The Corporation. Another excellent documentary. So many have been put out this year! We are going to go see The Hunting of the President with Cory sometime this week. Can we get enough of the political documentaries? The answer is No.

OK, I suppose I must work now. And, of course, congratulations to the new parents!

"I appreciate my running mate," said Bush. "He's not the prettiest man in the race, but he's got sound judgment."

WTF??? I don't care what our politicians look like. Why did Bush comment on Cheney's looks? Because he thinks Kerry chose Edwards for his good looks? Heh. Dumbass.

Contemplate, contemplate, contemplate.
Le sigh.

Job here: boring as all. Most of the people I work with are friendly. Hate the afternoon commute, but now I go to the gym and that makes me happy. Good benefits. Not doing anything that may advance my career. I would like another job, but time to search for another job can't happen here and other opporunities are slim.

Yesterday, Tony told me that the company he works for is looking to hire an office manager. Yes, i am interested. Drawbacks: start-up. Although they are already making a very good profit, I still wouldn't feel secure. No benefits have been put in place yet.

I still need to update my resume. I could have done it last night, but for some reason, I felt like organizing my cds was much more interesting. Why do I dread the resume business so much? Bleh. Blehbleh. I think I shall email aaron and tell him that I am interested and will get him my resume soon.

Sure, having benefits is nice, but my brain needs some activity. It's so hard to get up and come to a job you don't like. I've been here before.

Inducement happens tomorrow evening. Although Cameron has been content hanging out in Jenn, I hope he doesn't take too long to enter this world. I've heard labor is only easy with drugs.

I'm going to the chiropractor now. 3x a week for awhile. I should get all of this stuff done while I have benefits. The Dentist is next!

This weekend, it was hotter than hot. Somehow, we survived.

Thursday night: Goldie's = pool & darts. Tony & I are both getting better at the pool playing, but we still aren't good. I still suck at darts, but I just started playing.

Friday: I got to leave work 30 minutes early, but it took me 1.5 hours to get home!!! I hurriedly took a shower before Tony came over. We then met Julie at Blue C Sushi for some yummy eats and then finally went and saw Spider-Man 2. Afterwards, T & I headed back up to the Hill for a drink at Broadway Grill.

Saturday: too hot to do anything! Tony & I went to brunch at Crave and then drove around on his motorcycle in a feeble attempt to stay cool. I had a massage appointment with Stine at 2:30. T went to the grocery while I was there to pick us up some dinner. He then picked me up after my massage and we went to my house for a little bit. We then went to his house and sat around trying to move as little as possible because it was so damn hot. Later that evening, we went over to Amanda's cool basement apartment to watch Hellboy.

Sunday: it finally cooled off a bit. Yay! Chris came and picked us up and we headed to Angie & Jesse's baby welcoming party. It was fun! They figured they should have a gathering before they had the baby and their lives become focused on the little one.

I found this article very interesting. Both Tony & I have gained weight this year for no particular reason, so I've been reading up on lots of stuff.

If you read this, send me an email. I'm curious to see if anyone reads this.
krishaw@gmail.com
Thanks.

Why did I buy a sugary snack food at Trader Joe's earlier this week? Because I was hungry! I regret it now! I am far too sensitive to sugar now to eat that crap without it causing a spike in my blood sugar. It makes it so difficult to sit still!

This weekend: baby shower
Next weekend: housewarming party
Forever: everyone's is growing older and settling down. yet, I don't feel old.

I don't know what to get my parents for their 60th birthdays next month. Tony's b-day is next month also. So is our year anniversary. Yes, a year. Holy guacomole!

Tonight, I'm going over to Teresa's to meet her bunnies and to have dinner with her, Leslie and Darlene. Teresa is an aunt as of last week. Jenn, I'm ready whenever you and Cameron are! I even set up an online gallery. Where's my nephew?

Must focus on the work now. I wish my back wasn't giving me the pain. Bleh.

I am bored.
I am so bored that I am finding it difficult to motivate myself to do anything.
I really, really hate this kind of boredom.
I am in need of a job that stimulates my brain.

Last night, we watched Outfoxed. It wasn't the best of documentaries, but it was alright. I'm not recommending that you go out and buy it, but watch it if you know someone who did buy it.

On Wednesday, Tony & I went to Goldie's for some cheap pool playing fun. Only $.75 a game! So much cheaper than the Garage. We also played some darts and couldn't avoid listening to the karaoke contest going on. We had fun :)

Tonight, I'm meeting Amie, Natalie, Sunny, and Julie at Broadway Grill for drinks and nachos. Tomorrow, it's party time at Ira, Joel & Mark's house. They've got a pool and a hot tub!

OK, I suppose I should try and muster up some brain activity and do some "work".

The low down:

- Screech is fat. He's too fat to clean his butt now. It's grody.
- I've uploaded new photos in my album. Check out Bunnies, Portland and July 4th
- I have been eating enough fish to deplete the ocean. Last night, Tony made us dinner - lovely seared tuna steaks. They totally reminded me of filet minon. He looked at me funny when I said that, but it's been so many years since I've had the steak.
- Sunday, Sandi had a bbq. We had salmon burgers. They were pretty tasty.
- Saturday, we went out for vonderful sushi at a fancy place. Oh my it was glorious.
- Friday, we had no fish

In other activies:

Friday, we met up with Julie, Scott, Jerimiah, Chris, Sunny and Sol at Broadway Grill for the nachos and the drink. Garrett met us there later. We then headed to Sunset Bowl where we met up with Ira, Johnny and Ginger for a fun night of bowling. Everyone had a blast. Tony bowled a freaking 215!!!

Saturday, we went to this place called Crave for brunch. It was the yummiest! I had bagel with lox & cream cheese. Oh my! That afternoon, we went and saw Anchorman with Julie, Will and Sunny. T & I thought it was just OK, but the rest loved it. After indulging in sushi with Chris, Tony & I went to the Garage for overpriced pool. $14 an hour! Jeezumcrow! Although we had fun, we will not be going there again. After the pooling fun, we went to the Merc for a very short while. After arriving there, I realized I was not in the mood to dance.

Sunday, we met up with Chris and went to Crave again. Serious! It's that good! That afternoon, we bbq'd with Sandi's crew and Stine. Joser showed up much later. That night, T & I hung out at his house and watched a DVD of _Dead Like Me_ I suppose it's OK.

Yesterday, I bought our plane tickets to SoCal for next month.

Oh yeah! Teresa is now a bunny addict. She's adopting two bunnies this week and bought a pen to keep them in in her condo. She's the bunny queen!

Last Wednesday, we saw another excellent movie called Control Room. It's release is quite limited, but so worth it if you are able to catch it.

We pondered going to see Spiderman 2 this weekend, but ran out of time. Instead, we shopped and shopped and shopped. On Saturday, we got me a new helmut and now I feel much safer on the back of Tony's motorcycle. We also got Tony a fish tank w/ accessories. Fun!

On Sunday, we went to a made-up Superhero themed bbq. It was quite fun. I'll post pictures as soon as I can. After the bbq, we went over to Sol's house to watch the fireworks. I must admit, they are much more exciting from Gasworks Park.

Monday, we lazed around and didn't do much of anything. I took Teresa to the bunny gathering again (she's addicted) and then we went out for yummy Thai food. Afterwards, I went home and dyed my hair. Exciting stuff, I tell you!

Still, I wasn't quite ready for my weekend to end. Now, we plan our trip down to SoCal.

*cry*

I am so sleepy and I don't know why. I got plenty of sleep last night. I think it's the food I eat. Stupid food. I don't need more caffeine, but maybe I need less carbs or something. This sleepiness is not common, but it sure is a pain in my ass. I can't seem to concentrate on work.

Maybe I'll have a soda. Yeah, that's it. A soda with sugar and caffeine in it. Forget this healthy eating thing I've been doing.

It's backwards time again!

Teresa and I went out to dinner last night at a new place on Wallingford called Clara's Food for the Soul. It was unusual. She tries all the weird places with me. Before we went to dinner, however, I took her to the bunny gathering at Woodland Park. She now wants to move there. Two guys that were there had a bag of carrots and gave her one. She had bunnies crawling all over her and they let her pet them and everything.

Sunday, Tony and I did nothing except go to brunch at Mae's. It was lovely. Oh wait...we rented a couple of movies. First, we watched The Fog of War. Excellend documentary that I highly recommend. Second, we watched Woody Allen's latest, Anything Else. Don't bother with this one. Woody Allen has lost the talent he had. He keeps making the same movie but gives the characters different names.

Friday night after work, Tony & I drove down to Portland to visit Dean, Amy & Mathilda. We got there late and met Amy downtown and then went to their house and hung out for a bit. On Saturday, we drove over to their place, went out to brunch at Village Inn. When they come up for a visit, we'll have to show them what brunch is all about. Afterwards, we took the speed mass transit thing that I can't remember the name of to downtown and tooled around a bit. Man, it was hot. Tony & I left around 3:30pm to drive back to Seattle to go to Fahrenheit 9/11 again. T got sunburned on his head. Ouch.

So yeah, that was my weekend.

Yay! Friday!
It's been a busy week at work. Winn has been gone all week and I've been in charge of processing the new business. It's made the week fly by.

I've been able to work out every night this week. Yay!
We went to a midnight showing of Fahrenheit 9/11. Yay!
Tony & I are going to Portland tonight to hang out with Dean, Amy & little Mathilda. Yay!

I have to get back to work now. Yay!

I ended up getting The Sick that Tony had, but not as bad. A whole week of not going to the gym makes me sad. I am feeling much better today, but not 100%. Due to The Sick, we stayed in on Thursday and Friday night. On Saturday, however, we had the good medicine that masked our symptoms sufficiently, so we went to the SuperMall in Auburn. It was the outlet mall. I was hoping to find shoes i like, but had no luck. Tony, however, got himself a new snowboard, boots and binding for a steal of a deal. On our way back into Seattle, we stopped by Cathy & Eric's house that they recently moved into.

Saturday night, we went to the club and it wasn't anything too exciting.

Sunday, we went to brunch with Chris & Jessica. That afternoon, the 4 of us went to the zoo and ended up running into a bunch of people we know. The zoo was fun, but we barely got to see much of it. Afterwards, we went to this place in the park where hundreds of bunnies live. They are so used to humans that they let you get really close. I took pictures and will upload later. After the zoo, we went to dinner at DragonFish and then went and saw "Saved". It could have been better and the ending sucked.

Today, I have no nausea, no stuffiness, and just a little sore throat. It's hot and sunny outside and I plan on making it to the gym after work. And that's my exciting life as of right now. Must get back to work.

Dear Journal,

Today, I am sleepy for no good reason. My Favorite Boy is sick and says he wants to die. I got up early this morning to take him sore throat medicine to find out he has more symptoms. This is the first time he has gotten The Sick like this since we have been dating.

Speaking of The Sick, I was nauseated for days last week. I was feeling Much Better yesterday morning, but then my tummy hurt so much I wanted to cry. It's all better now. I fear I might be lactose intolerant or at least intolerant to something. Time for me to start documenting what I eat and how I feel afterwards. I was feeling absolutely craptastic on Monday. Sunday night, I slept on my back and my muscles didn't like that too much. I woke up in SO MUCH PAIN that I knew I couldn't drive until I felt better. I called in late to work and ended up getting in around 11. My back is still a little hurty but doing much better. I have an appointment with Stine on Saturday.

Needless to say, I haven't worked out this week and I miss it. I am going to the gym today after work and then going to Tony's to take care of him.

In other fine news, we had fun with Betsy during her short stay in Seattle on her way up to Vancouver. We went to a place called Blue C Sushi - it was tons of fun! Sushi on a conveyor belt! Afterwards, we stopped by my house and then rushed her downtown to her shuttle. I got to meet her parents for the first time in the 8 years that I've known her!

Friday night, we went to a bbq with Ira at Sam & Amber's house. We met lots of new people and got to know some other people better. Saturday, Tony & I hung out for a little bit in the early afternoon at his house. We got to deal with the nutty LaRoche kids, an anti-Bush caravan and a gang of naked bicyclists. It was funny. That afternoon, I went home and was productive. We went to the Skinny Puppy show that night and then to the club. Sunday consisted of sleeping in and spending lots of time in bed due to nausea. Stupid nausea. Sunday night, went over to Tony's and watched movies with him and Natalie. We finally saw Kill Bill and Monster. Monster was fantastic even though it was depressing.

If Tony feels better quickly, we are going to Xentropic at the club tomorrow night and to the KMFDM show on Friday. Other plans for this weekend have yet to be made.

Well, Journal, it's time for me to get back to my boring job. If Tony is still feeling ill this weekend, I will have to spend some time looking for a better job.

Love,
kris

Things That Are

- I tried switching the kitties' food and now Screech has diarrhea again. *sigh* At least it's not as messy this time.
- I didn't get much sleep this weekend and I have no good reason other than it's rare that I sleep in nowadays.
- I was so freaking sleepy yesterday but I went to the gym anyways. I knew that it was risky for me to drive while so sleepy and was hoping that the working out thing would wake me up. I lasted 25 minutes on the elliptical before leaving. I really felt like I was going to fall asleep while exercising.
- My library book is several days late. I keep forgetting to return it.
- I cleared off a big pile of papers from my desk last night. This makes me very happy!
- Tony & I went and saw the Director's Cut of Donnie Darko last week. I must own this movie when it comes out on DVD.
- No, I have not looked for a job. I can't do it when I'm home due to lack of internet access and when I'm at Tony's place, we end up doing other things.
- Speaking of jobs, I suppose I should do mine now.

Oh yeah! Betsy will be in town briefly on Friday. Her family is going on an Alaskan cruise!

Weekend, shmeekend

Actually, I had a very fun-filled weekend.

Friday: my commute home from work was great! There was barely any traffic since so many people took off from work early to start their holiday. After doing the stuff at home that I needed to, I headed over to Tony's and we went to Bimbo's Bitchin' Burrito Kitchen for dinner. They have the yummy food! Afterwards, we headed to Chris' for movie night with Ira, Natalie, Jessica and...I think that was it. We watched "The Cooler" and "Cure"

Saturday: brunch at Cafe Flora with Tony, Chris and Jessica. Later that afternoon, I had book club where we discussed _Ella Minnow Pea_ Afterwards, I went home for a nap before heading to Broadway Grill for nachos and drinks with Tony, Natalie and Sunny. We then head over to Sunset Bowling for a fun-filled night of knocking pins over! Grandma would have been disappointed in my poor scores. I'm not a very good bowler, but I don't do it ver often at all. Oh yeah, I took a few pictures before my battery died. Many turned up for the bowling: me, Tony, Chris, Jessica, Garrett, Sunny, Jason, Natalie and Erik. We decided that it needs to be a regular thing. For some insane reason, we decided that going back to Chris' house to watch the movie we didn't get to watch the prior night was a good idea. By the time we started the movie, it was 3am. I slept through it.

Sunday: Tony & I lazied around until Natalie's bbq. We hung out there for awhile. That evening, a bunch of us went and saw The Day After Tomorrow. It was exactly what I thought it was going to be. We laughed lots.

Monday: me, Tony, Sunny, Garrett and Chris went to the IMAX theater for 3-D Bugs! That movie was so much cooler than the one we saw the night before. Afterwards, we went out to a late lunch of Vietnamese. I left Tony at home and did a bit of shopping at Ross & Target. I found no pants that I liked and it made me sad :( I went back to Tony's later that night and we watched Pieces of April.

It was a good weekend with little rest :) This weekend, the only thing we have planned so far is a party on Saturday night. One of these days, I will have time to do the whole job-hunt thing. Honestly.

Atkin's story of the day. Do you know what ooks me out the most? The dude was trying to lose 8 freaking pounds! He weighs 140lbs and has serious heart problems!! Warning! Warning! Don't eat the really unhealthy meat full of the saturated fat as your main food! You might kill yourself. Seriously.

So.Tempted.To.Get.On.Soapbox.But.Will.Resist.

Dear Laundry,
Please wash yourself. I've run out of quarters and do not feel like devoting more time to dealing with you. Therefore, I would like you to change to the self-cleaning variety. OKthxbye.

If I were to win the lottery, I would give you money. I would buy myself a shiny, new hybrid Honda and Tony a shiny, new Audi wagon for the snow sports. I would pay off all of my debt, invest lots of money and buy a house. I'd throw a big party and invite everyone. These are the things I think about on my drive to work. But I will never win the lottery. I don't play.

I'm going to start sending my resume to jobs at UW. I could ride my bike or walk to work every day. I could start taking classes again. That would be so cool.

I made dinner last night and used ONIONS. I cooked the hell out of them and I ate them. I never would have thought I would concede to cooking with onions, but here I am. What's going on? I hit 30 and I start eating fish again and I start eating onions. However, I don't think I will ever like them raw. They gotta be super cooked.

It has been rainy here so far this week and this weather is to continue for the rest of the week. Although it rains, it is still spring warm. I enjoy this weather, but it drives the spiders into my home since I keep the windows open. So far, the kitties have been good about controlling the population.

Persephone now sleeps on my back. It is very weird to wake up with extra weight on me. I don't know why she finds this to be comfortable.

Whistler Trip 5-20 to 5-23-04

After leaving work on Thursday, I met everyone at my house. We piled into two cars and started the drive up to B.C. We stopped in Bellingham at Red Robin for a late dinner. The drive up was easy compared to last time since we didn't have to battle with snow.

Since there was no fresh powder calling out to us on Friday morning, we slept in and took our time getting on the slopes. On our way up to the part of the mountain that still had snow, we saw a momma bear and a baby bear :D

The 6 of us stuck together (Me, Tony, Chris, Sunny, Natalie & Sandi) for the first two runs. We were headed back up to the lodge for lunch when it started to sleet on us. Ouch. As we were getting off of the lift, they told us that the lift was closing and to head to the gondola. Shortly thereafter, they had to shut the gondola down due to the thunderstorm. We were stranded on the mountain! Fortunately, we had plenty of food and drink to keep us happy. If the storm didn't cease, they were going to transport us down on Catamarans. Unfortunately, the lightening did go away and we rode the gondola down.
After our exciting adventure, we went back to the condo, cleaned up and went out to a yummy dinner in the village. We came back and did a bit of hot tubbing before going to bed.

That night, we were in luck. The precipitation and colder weather made snow. Not a lot, but some. Saturday morning, we headed out kinda later than we wanted to. Chris, Tony and I did the runs at the top of the mountain. It really felt like winter up there! Needless to say, we were quite happy with the conditions. There was one point where we were going along a cat trail and there were narrow strips of snow surrounded by dirt and rocks. It was very surreal to be snowboarding in spots with so little snow. The boys wore me out that day! We met up with Natalie and Sandi in the lodge and headed down to the village. We stopped by a cheesy bar for a drink and snack before heading back to the condo. We got ready all quick-like and went out for a fun time eating sushi and hitting the hokie clubs in the village. I was so freaking tired, so Tony & I headed back early to go to sleep.

Sunday morning, we loaded up the cars and went to brunch in the village. I think it will be the last time we do that. This past time was one of the worst dining experiences I have ever had. After we finally got out of the crappy restaurant, we did a bit of shopping. I scored the most kick-ass jacket that everybody wants. Seriously. I'm going to try and find a picture of it online somewhere. Sandi, Tony & I headed back to Seattle and that was the end of our vacation.

The end.

Pictures

Going to Whistler for the weekend. Leaving tonight.
My digestive system is not happy with me for reasons unknown. I just hope I am all better before we leave after work.
Happy Birthday Duncan!
I cut my hair short. Will post pictures soon.
Speaking of pictures, here are the pictures from my birthday party.

I no longer have broadband at home. I now connect to the internet using my mobil phone. How cool is that?? Thing is, it's really slow. Going back to dial-up is weird, but will save me a good chunk of money every month.

OK, back to work.

Week in review by Kris

I'm going backwards because I can.

Right now, I stay up because I am going to go pick up Natalie from the airport tonight. Unfortunately, her plane is an hour late and won't be landing until 11:40pm. I could go to bed now. She's coming back from a weekend in SoCal.

Last night, I did much of nothing. Yesterday, I felt crappy. Skipped my workout.

Sunday, Tony & I went for a ride on his motorcycle to Edmonds. We went to the beach and were going to play frisbee, but we went and ate at an overpriced restaurant instead. The food was disappointing for how much it cost. That night, we rented "Big Fish". I enjoyed it greatly.

It is official. I eat fish again. not the Tim Burton kind, but the kind you get at restaurants.

Saturday, we went out for brunch. Just the two of us. Our regular brunch dates were all out of town. As we left to go eat, Tony locked his keys out of his house. Fortunately, Amanda has a spare, so we went to her house after we ate. I had a massage appointment with Stine mid-afternoon. That was lovely. Afterwards, tony picked me up on his bike and we went downtown to do a bit of shopping for him. That night we went to Jai Tai where we met up with Amanda & Emmett after they got off from work.

Friday night, Tony & I went and saw "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" and both loved it. Charlie Kaufman has yet to disappoint me. I think he is GRRREAT! You know, Tony the Tiger great. From the commercials. Don't mind me. I'm a nut. A big, fat macadamia nut.

Thursday night, we went out dancing at the Mercury. The music was old school EBM/Industrial and I dance a lot and had much fun.

This past Sunday, I went and saw Edmond. Stine, Lyam and Jose' were all in this production. Good play, but not uplifting whatsoever. Before that, Tony & I hopped on his motorcycle to meet Chris in his neighborhood (Madrona) for brunch. Yum!

All day on Monday, I was feeling utterly exhausted until I left work. Yesterday, I was having waves of exhaustion. I'm thinking it has to do with something I'm consuming, so today I avoid drinking the one soda I usually have with lunch. We bbq'd in the back and a soda sure would taste good with my veggie burger, but I resist. I'm writing down what I eat and when I experience these waves of exhaustion.

I've been working out regularly and have not taken off one pound. I've been watching my consumption of breads and stuff and upping my protein. Let's see if there is any change.

OK...back to work.

I love my iPod! Woot! Woot! I enjoy working out much more now and my commute - man does it make my commute better. Best gift EVER!

Thursday night, Tony came over here and we tried going to the best sushi place in the city, but it was closed already. That place is ALWAYS packed. One day we'll make it there. We went to Murphy's Pub instead and ate pub food. When we got back to my place, Tony set up BlueTooth on my pc so I can connect to the internet using my cell phone. Since I no longer spend much time on the internet at home, my plan is to get rid of my broadband internet connection and my land line.

Since Tony was in Vancouver (not Victoria) for the Pixies show last night, I went out with the girls. Julie, Sunny, Natalie, Amiee and I met at Broadway Grill for margaritas and crack nachos before heading to the club to shake some booty. Much fun was had. I didn't stay out too late due to the tiredness. It was so nice to be able to get 8 hours of sleep last night.

Now I do laundry. I am actually excited to have all of my clothes clean at once. It's been a long time since I've been at home long enough to do 3 loads of laundry. Today reminds me of the days when I used to telecommute. Ah, the good old days.

I'm also in the process of moving all of my galleries to Tony's website, but things have not been going smoothly. We didn't have time to work on it the other night, but I hope to have him help me figure out the issue soon. People need to see pictures, you know!

My weekend ended up not being so lazy. Friday night, we went out and that was fun. Saturday, I took my car into the shop to get the oil changed. Earlier in the week, the "Service Engine Soon" light came on so I had them check that out also. Apparently, my car's computer needs replacing. It's a $900 part! Fortunately, it's covered under some Federal warrenty that I've never heard of before. Maybe it's new or something. Afterwards, I met Tony & Solomon for falafals and then Tony & I went to Ikea. It was an absolute zoo. He got a new desk that he deparately needed. We then went to Bed, Bath & Beyond where he bought a bunch of other stuff for his apartment. Saturday night, we stayed in and painted his coffee table.

On Sunday, Tony, Chris and I went to brunch. Then, Tony & I went to Target for more stuff for his apartment. I dropped him off at home and went home to do some laundry. I went over to Tony's later to watch the Simpsons and then we did something else but now I forget.

Blahblahblahblah

Tony's going to see The Pixies on Friday in Victoria. A friend of his had an extra ticket. I am not envious, I swear!

Guess who's bored at work? Me!

This week has been pretty mellow. I've been able to go to the gym after work every day except for Wednesday. We went to Julie's for TV night. Last night, we went to the club for Xentropic.

I'm so happy it's friday. I get to be lazy this weekend. The one errand I am going to run is taking my car in for a much needed oil change. As I was driving last night, a little light came on on my dashboard that says, "Service Car Soon" or something like that. I hope it's nothing major because I cannot afford it.

I've been pondering getting a second job, but I'd want it to be one where I worked from home and could create my own hours. Like, data entry or something. And I'd only want to work 10 to 15 hours a week. I don't want a second job, but having a little bit of extra income would definitely help out right now. Pttthh.

Waaah. *cry* I did my taxes and owe more than I expected and now am sad. I was hoping to make a trip to SoCal if I had the vacation time, but now I know I can't due to lack of money.

Alright, I'll try and be upbeat here.
My weekend was fabulous. The birthday party was a great success and all had fun. My friend, Murray, took Tony, Chris and me up in a single-engine plane for a 2 hour sunset flight. It was so cool. I'll put up the link soon. Sunday, I actually slept in until noon! It was wonderful. We went to an annual Easter party...t'was fun.

I didn't want to come back to work yesterday, but I did. Time to be a grown-up!

Poor Screech. The antibiotics gave him diarrea and it's been a mess. I stopped giving them to him on Saturday, but he's still got it. I feel bad for him :-( I also don't like waking up to poop smears on my pillow from his runny butt. Gross!

This is my last day. Yes it is.

I am getting the passport for when we go to Canada. I also hope to get off this continent one of these days. Cereal. The acquiring of the passport has been a very large pain in my ass. I forgot my birth certificate on Tuesday, so I couldn't do it during lunch on that day. Wednesday, I met up with Chris for lunch. Today, I was given the incorrect directions to one place. When I went to the courthouse later, they told me they only take checks even though the application states that they accept major credit cards. I don't typically carry around my checkbook. I'm not going to deal with it tomorrow since tomorrow is going to be about fun.

Today has been very bleh. I've had a headache all day long. I took Screech to the vet this morning to get his teeth cleaned and have exams & stuff. He's healthy but does have a bad case of gingivitis. I get to give him antibiotics. Yay. But, it's good to know that he doesn't have problems with his thyroid. When I first moved here, he weighed in at 10.5 lbs. He's gained two pounds since I started free-feeding him.

Life at my house has been so much better since I started free-feeding him. It's great. I can't believe I withheld for this long!

Thank you to J&D for the REI gift certificate! I'm going this weekend! Thank you Dad & Carolyn for the check! I'm going shopping tomorrow! I want a new dress for the party.

If anyone wants to reach me tomorrow, call my cell phone.

Saturday, I'm going to Stine's for a massage. From 6 to 7:30pm, I'm gonna be flying around over the city in a little plane. I have a friend that recently got his pilot's license. Whee! I hope we also go to brunch in the morning.

Stupid headache. We have plans to go to Ira's tonight for dinner. I hate feeling crappy.

This weekend, I only got to do about half of what I wanted to do, but that's OK. Life is fun.

Hanging out with Teresa = check
Snowboarding = check
Going out saturday night = check
Q.T. with my favorite boy = check
Made brunch on Sunday = check
Bookclub = check
Called Mom = check
A load of laundry = check
Made two delicious quiches = check

The things I did not get to do = two loads of laundry, motorcycle ride through the arboretum with Tony, trip to Ikea, passport photos. I took care of the photos during lunch today and will drop off the application during lunch tomorrow. I'm having dinner at Teresa's tonight - I'm taking one of the quiches.

I need to put "Doing Taxes" at the top of my priority list. I would have done them ages ago, but I've been procrastinating because I have to deal with the income from contracting and unemployment. I sure do hope I do not have to pay a lot. Bleh.

I get to be in my 20's for 3.5 more days.

I was meant to help Sandi paint her old place on Monday night, but she never called. So, I helped her on Tuesday. Last night, I went over to Tony's and he dyed my hair for me. Wednesday nights are TV night - Chris and Amanda were also over. I hate the day after I dye the black part in my hair because it just looks funny when I have blonde roots on the other half. I can see people notice it. I will fix it tonight when I dye the red.

I'm meant to hang out with Teresa tomorrow night, go snowboarding on Saturday and do the other stuff on Sunday like finally have book club. This is the last weekend of snowboarding before Crystal is closed. This winter flew by so quickly. BUT, it's not the end of snowboarding this season. We are taking another trip back up to Whistler in May. It is going to be super, super, super cheap. Yeah, the snow isn't going to be so great, but we'll still have tons of fun.

I turn 30 in 8 days. Ack. No, not really. I'm not ack. 30 just sounds so grown up and i surely don't feel all grown up.

Work has been busy. Social life has been busy. This means I do not post as often as I would like. I should post some pictures soon. The weekend before last, we went up to Crystal Mountain for snowboarding. Tony & Chris took me up way high and the wind was crazy. It was blowing me around like a rag doll. I did get some great pictures of Rainier. I should post those soon.

What I did last week:

Wednesday: went out to the club and shook the booty.
Thursday: went to a friend's house for a dinner party.
Friday: left for Long Beach for the weekend. We had so much fun. Natalie's parents have a cabin that we stayed in. On Saturday, we went to the store to pick up food and then we went to lunch. After lunch, we played frisbee. It was fun! That night, we made dinner and then went out on the beach to have a bonfire and play in the waves. I didn't play in the waves, but the boys did. They were being very silly.
We left Sunday morning since we all had places to be. Natalie and I had originally planned to go to the VegFest, but we got back into town too late. As previously planned, we went over to Julie's for a bbq for awhile.

News flash: I decided to do a test this weekend. I put out a bunch of food for Screech and Persephone instead of getting a kitty sitter. My fear was that Screech was going to eat himself to death. Believe it or not, when I got home, there was food still left. Screech also had a Very Big Belly. My cat got fat in a weekend. Crazy. The great thing is is now I know I can go away for the weekend and the kitties will be OK. I have also decided to start free-feeding them again because it makes us all happier. When I got home from work today, I was able to prepare and EAT my dinner without Screech bothering me once. It was so nice. He's actually acting like a normal kitty. Yeah, he may be fat for the rest of his life and die sooner than later, but at least it will be a happy life.

Jenn & Duncan - you should read this when you have some time. I found her blog about a month ago. If you have time, read more of her entries.

Scrubbing the bathtub is not easy to do after working out. Damn that was tiring.

Before I forget, here are my pictures from the trip this weekend. I also recommend checking out Chris' pictures.

When I came home from work last night, there was a message from cousin Tom. He brought the kids out to Stevens Pass for spring break. I'm going to try and meet up with them tomorrow evening for dinner.

I have collard greens and i'm not really sure what to do with them. I just don't want greens like you get in the south and i can't find a recipe for anything different online. harumph.

I was busy busy last week. I hung out with Teresa Tuesday night, hung out with Tony Wednesday night and laundry/packed Thursday night. We left for Mt. Baker right after work on Friday. It was a fu-un trip. The snow was crappy on Saturday due to the lack of cold and precipitation and many of us got sunburn on our faces. Saturday night, it snowed a couple of inches but it made a big difference when we went snowboarding on Sunday.

Stay tuned for pictures and videos from the trip.

My back is achy. Bleh. I need a massage, but Christine is very, very busy right now. Harumph.

This week, I will be busy reading _The Brothers K_ for bookclub. We have a tentative meeting this Sunday. I'll also be going to a birthday party on Saturday.

Girl's night eating crack nachos & drinking margaritas = Fun
Making spinach & mushroom omelet with a side of potatoes = Yum
Seeing Stine & Jose' act in a play with Sandi & Jim = Fun
Going out to the club and hanging out with a bunch of cool people = Fun
Having boyfriend make you breakfast = Yum
Going to the gym and doing lots of ab exercises = Ouch
Making apple-chard quiche for some peeps = Yum & Fun
Driving eastbound to work when it is very sunny which causes people to get into accidents and makes my morning commute almost an hour = Unfun
Eating the salad I brought from home for lunch = Yum

Does anybody still read this thing?

We went snowboarding this last Saturday and I had a fantastic day. I am getting so much better. Tony & Chris even took me out on a black run. It was steep and I had to snowplow down the very steep parts, but I still made it. The rest of last weekend was spent relaxing because that is what weekends are for in my book.

This weekend, there will be no snowboarding. My bank account is not allowing it since it is still recovering from the Whistler trip. But, I do have plans to go out with Natalie & Aime tonight for some quality girl time and am going to Stine's play tomorrow night with Sandi and maybe Jim.

In other news, I have defeated the temptation of the jelly doughnut and signed up for a gym membership at Bally's yesterday. I am very excited! The gym is very big and it was not packed which makes me happy. I am determined to comfortably fit into my pants again! Plus, I really enjoyed being in shape last year. I had so much more energy and strength which will really help with snowboarding.

I have found that my family is surprised that I snowboard and love it. This is perplexing to me. Do you really perceive me as being lazy and not liking physical activity?

My tummy has been doing the hurty thing after I eat dinner the past couple of nights. Last night, my belly got so big - I looked about 5 to 6 months pregnant. Tony fed me tonic water and made it all better. It doesn't hurt during the day - just after dinner. I can't figure it out.

Another annoying thing - I started feeding the kitties different food and now their poop is super stinky. I don't think I'll get that food again. Stinky poo.

I have been up to much of nothing. I cooked beets for the first time ever and found out that not all beets are red. I made a beet salad and it was tasty. Work is fine; busy right now processing new apps. Went to Stine's last night and worked on her computer some more and made it happy. She lent me Buffy - Season 5 so I went to Tony's and we got our fix. Tonight, I cook up some rice and spinach stuff before going over to T's to watch Angel and South Park.

It's kinda nice to look forward to weekends again.

Before I forget once again, here is the link for video cd software for those of you who do not have a DVD player or your player doesn’t play video cd’s. Now you can finally watch my X-mas movie!

We went to Crystal yesterday for the snowboarding. All of us had a really good day. Sunny & I practiced our new skills we learned at Whistler and neither of us broke!

My birthday is in 6 weeks. If you wanted to get me something for the big 3-0 and still do not have an idea, I can tell you what I want. Snowboarding gear. More specifically – REI gift certificates. Since my birthday is towards the end of the season, I should be able to get all my stuff on sale.

Mmm. Hungry. Must go fix some food.

This picture makes me laugh so much. This is one of the pictures taken on Chris' camera at Whistler. Since Tony & I weren't there at the time and Ira took the picture, Tony photoshopped us in. Too silly. Here are the rest of the pictures Chris took during the Whistler trip.

This week was filled with the studying. It paid off because I passed my exams. I will soon be a licensed life & disability insurance agent. Weird. Anyway, the job is going well. It's nothing too exciting. I mean, come on. It's insurance.

I have enjoyed my Saturday except for not being able to get tickets to see the Pixies this morning. Damn them for playing in the small venues! After we tried to get tickets for over an hour, we gave up and went to The Globe for some brunch. It took too long and the dude forgot to write my order down and then he tried to charge me for it again when I went to go ask for my food. Whatever. At least they made it up with putting extra gravy on my biscuts.

After brunch, I came home and called the Houston family. I was thinking of enjoying the clear day out, but instead took a lovely 2-hour nap with the kitties. I just got done dying the hairs the super red - I hope it turned out since I had some visible roots. Now I must go get some cleaning done.

Snowboarding tomorrow! Yeah!

I just got off the phone with the family in Houston. It was so good to talk to dad after that scare. It's also good to hear that his heart is healthy. Now we've just got to get that stress under control!

After all that happened yesterday, I have decided to get a cell phone. Yep, yep.

Sunday and Monday sure were doozies. I did enjoy having a 3-day weekend, but MAN.

Saturday, Tony, Chris, Solomon an I ate brunch at Cafe Flora. It was my first time there. Tony & I were pondering going to see Big Fish, but decided to wait a bit more. I've only heard really good things about it and both of us are Tim Burton fans. Anyway, we laid around for most of the day and went out for an early sushi dinner. I ate a little bite of fish! Seriously! And when I say little, I mean little. I made Tony feed it to me while I squeezed my eyes shut. I was too nervous to really notice how it tasted. I am such a wimp.

That night, we met everyone out at the club and had a very good time. Happy belated Valentine's Day!

Sunday, we went out to brunch with Chris, Solomon, Julie and Will at El Greco. They have this wonderful omlete with avocado. Yum! After brunch, I took off and did a little bit of shopping at Target and then laundry all day. Sunday night, went back over to Tony's to hang out with him and Brook.

On Monday, we wanted to go snowboarding, but the conditions sucked. It's been to warm and sunny here lately. So, I got another day of sleeping in :-) Tony and I went out to lunch with Chris at our favorite Vietnamese place. The food was so spicy that Tony cried. Another big yum! I pretty much studied for the rest of the day before heading home and learning that dad was in the hospital. No more studying for me that night. I was tootoo worried.

I just had to lock Screech in the bedroom because he was trying to eat my yam. Freak. I should go let him out before the neighbors complain.

I was planning on doing a catch-up post, but now I'm in no mood. Too worried :-(

For your reading pleasure, I will be writing in great detail about my Whistler trip. I’m feeling verbose today.

Thursday, 2/5/04 – It was my last day of insurance class (thank maude) and we got out a little late. I raced home in bumper-to-bumper traffic and did all those last minute things one must do before going out of town for the weekend. I tool on over to Tony’s and we load up the car and head to Chris’ house. Ira beat us there. We loaded up Chris’ car and hit the road.

We stop in Bellingham for some tasty Thai food. Mmm…Thai food. Shortly thereafter, we crossed the border with barely a question. The drive was uneventful until our ascent on the mountain. It was snowing pretty steadily and the plow trucks were still trying to tackle it. Thank maude Chris has 4-wheel drive. We slowly made it up the mountain with no major catastrophes. By this time, it was about 1am. We hung out for a little while to unwind before going to bed.

Friday, 2/6/04 – We arose early to be at the customer service place to buy our express passes at 8:30am. I found out that lessons were only $8 more, so I bought one. Sunny, Scott and I took an all-day lesson together and learned how to connect our turns without falling down every time. Great progress was made and we had tons of fun as always. After the lesson, we head back to the condo to meet up with everyone.

After everyone got cleaned up, we headed over to Gray and Will’s condo where we feasted on pasta and stuff with the whole SeaTown gang (there was a total of 16 in our group). Julie, Jeremiah, Tony and I headed back early cause we were tired. We mellowed for the rest of the night before going to bed.

Saturday, 2/7/04 – Another early morning! Scott, Sunny and I left after all the other kids since we weren’t planning on meeting up with Gray and Lorian until 9. We got down to the Village a little late, but so did Lorian & Douglas. We waited for Gray, but he never showed up that morning. Off to the slopes we went to practice our new skills. Lorian hadn’t been skiing since last season, and her boots were making her feet fall asleep. And then Sunny ragdolled something fierce and broke herself for the rest of the day. We ate lunch and Scott & I did a few more runs before meeting Sunny, Lorian and Douglas down in the village. After a short stop into Lush for smelly stuff, we had a quick beer at the pub before heading back to the condo.

All the other kids went out for sushi while Tony & I stayed home due to our tight budget. We hung out for a while until they called us to tell us where to meet them. We did a little club hopping in the Whistler Village and had too much fun. Chris, Tony and I headed back to the condo around 1:30am, but not before stopping for some of the best veggie dogs ever. Yum!

Sunday, 2/8/04 – We got to sleep in – no snowboarding today. Plus, everyone was pretty hung over from the previous night’s festivities. Everyone packed up except those in Chris’ car and we ate brunch in the Village. After the other kids left town, we hung out and took our time leaving. No one was ready for the weekend to end. On our drive home, we stopped several times to enjoy the breathtaking beauty of the place. We left reluctantly, but we’ll be back next season.

The unfun stuff: We got stopped crossing the border and the car was searched.

If you made it through all that, kudos to you! Here are the pictures I took.

Hi there. We got back last night from Whistler. It was so much fun. I'll give the details later. I've been pretty beat since getting back. I promise to find the time for stories very soon.

Just for Jenn & Duncan: madmadmadmadmad!

Funfun snowboarding on Sunday. I was super tired when I got home an actually got to bed at 10pm. I had to be up earlier than usual this morning since I started my insurance class at 7:45am. I was late. The drive took longer than expected. I learned lots about life insurance today. Oh boy. It was fun. Really. No, not really. But at least the instructor is entertaining.

This week is going to be busy. Whistler this weekend! Yay! It is going to be so much fun. There is going to be 8 of us just in our condo alone. Craziness. Tomorrow night, my kitty sitter is coming over (Natalie) around 7pm so I can show her the ropes. Then, Tony and I are going to Trader Joe's to get food to take with us this weekend. Then, I must go to Stine's to try and get her modem to work. After I upgraded her to 2k on Saturday night, I found that her modem driver doesn't work with the OS. And, the driver was not on the modem installation disk. Must get it from the internet and burn it to disk before going over there tomorrow night. Wednesday, I get to do laundry and packing. We are leaving shortly after work on Thursday and getting back late on Sunday.

That is what my week looks like so far. I am very excited about the weekend trip. It's gonna be mad amounts of fun ;-)

I'm not too good with getting to bed early.
It never did snow this week.
Work has been going well. I'm still not as busy as I would like to be, but that will hopefully change soon. I have been told that they are happy with me so far.
Next week, I will be in insurance class Monday through Thursday and then off to Whistler. Wheee!

I went out to dinner with Teresa tonight. We went to this place on 45th called Kabul. It's Afgan cuisine - unlike anything I have had before. I had this really tasty eggplant. Yumyum.

This weekend will be pretty busy. Tomorrow night, we are going to a going-away party. Saturday - brunch, oil change, goodwill to drop off stuff, hang out with Stine and fix her computer/maybe get a massage. Sunday is snowboarding. Sweet.

Bad me not updating yet this week. I must go to bed now. Will post tomorrow night.

I have mad amounts of food in my kitchen now. Since I'm working once again, I should be able to get back on a schedule and eat regularly again. I made vegetable stew today to take to work with me. Mmmmm...stew.

This weekend was on the mellow side. Friday night, Tony and I hung out at his place watching the evil TV. He has a tentative phone interview tomorrow and wanted to study on Saturday, so I made a trip to Target where I spent too much money that I don't have yet. But it was all on stuff I needed. I came back home and dyed my hair. I think people at work are going to be shocked because I got the impression that they think I'm a natural red head. That night, I went over to Tony's and Chris & Amanda came over. We watched Underworld. We all thought it was entertaining for a vampire/werewolf movie which was surprising since it didn't do so well in the theaters.

Now I can't decide if I'm tired. Am I tired? I shall go read and try to go to sleep. I didn't sleep so well this weekend. My body has already adjusted to getting up at 7am even when I go to bed at 2am. Like last night. I hate to think that I can't sleep in on Saturdays and Sundays. I love the sleeping in.

It is meant to snow next week. Yay!

Work has been picking up. Debbie, operations manager (and also my boss), has been out of town the past couple of days. I've gotten to use her computer and have actually been working. There are lots of processes we do when it comes to insurance coverage & agent credentialling. Is that even a word? Anyway, I've been learning all of the procedures and stuff that I will be doing. It seems easy so far - it just takes good organizational skills. I have mad organizational skills.

The commute across the bridge is weird. It doesn't take me as long in the mornings, but I think that's normal. But, the time it takes me has varied by 10 minutes which annoys me a little bit. My commute home definitely takes longer. It took me an hour yesterday! I'm really not complaining, but I do think I'm going to look into the bus and also carpooling. I really don't like to drive that much.

Oh yeah. If you watched/listened/read the State of the Union on Tuesday, Bush mentioned Association Health Plans:
"On the critical issue of health care, our goal is to ensure that Americans can choose and afford private health care coverage that best fits their individual needs. To make insurance more affordable, Congress must act to address rapidly rising health care costs. Small businesses should be able to band together and negotiate for lower insurance rates so they can cover more workers with health insurance. I urge you to pass Association Health Plans."

If it does get passed, it means the company I work for could expand nationally. Now that's some growth!

I should try and get to bed now. I'm looking forward to sleeping in this weekend :-)

p.s.- AHP Services = Association Health Plan Services

First day of work = boring
I don't have access to a computer yet. There is not much for me to do w/o a computer. We hopes to have one soon.
I filled out new employee paperwork.
I read boring insurance stuff while fighting off the dozing.
I filed a little bit.
I made some nametags.
I watched Lynn, the woman I am replacing, do some stuff.
And that was my day.
Lynn informed me that it will be kinda boring for the first few weeks...especially before i get my insurance license. The class is the first week of February.

I kinda expected it to be boring at first. Most jobs are.

I got home from work shortly after 6. I changed clothes and went over to Sandi's to pick up my portion of our bi-weekly shipment of organic produce. I came back home, started some laundry, cleaned the leafy greens, cooked up some food, talked to Jenn, finished some laundry, cooked up food for lunch tomorrow, read some emails, painted my nails and chatted with Tony. I think it's time I go to bed now.

I can say with confidence that the interview today went well. I've been home for 30 minutes and have already received a call offereing me the position. I start tomorrow at AHP Services, LLC. I "interviewed" with the whole team today - 8 people to be exact. It was pretty much them seeing if they like me and it appears that they do. They seem like a good group of people that enjoy working together and like to laugh a lot. Yeah, I think I can get along in that environment. At first, I'll be doing general administrative work and will probably take over the Excel reporting part for the team. Also, the company is growing and they are having to fill the position because they are promoting the person who is currently dong the job. It seems that there is definite growth potential there which is one of the reasons why I accepted the job. The pay isn't what I was looking for, but it is enough for me to live off of. Saving up to buy a house will just take longer and I'm OK with that.

The Atkins diet causes gout?

I never heard from Paula after Thursday which means the PM did not contact her to schedule the final interview. Maybe I just not meant to work at Microsoft.

We watched Freaky Friday and Old School last night. Freaky Friday was funnier than I expected and I can't say I liked Old School. Nope. Not at all. After talking to Tony & Amanda about comedies, I've decided that I need to watch Zoolander.

Today, Tony & I went to Half Priced Books so he could sell a bunch of old computer books he no longer needs. I think he took in over 10 books and got $6.25. That's it. I can't imagine that outdated computer books sell well, so it makes sense. While there, I finally picked up The Culture of Fear: Why Americans Are Afraid of the Wrong Things. I've been wanting this book since seeing Bowling For Columbine but could never find it used. When I tried finding it at the library, there were 50+ people with a hold on the book! I'm pretty happy to have gotten it new for $8.

After the bookstore, we walked down to the revamped library on Capitol Hill. It looks much bigger on the outside than it actually is on the inside. They did have lots of fancy computers with flat panel monitors and everything. Unfortunately, they didn't have the book Tony was looking for.

To nap or not to nap - that is the question.