How the days fly by!

First news: my assistant quit today via email. Lame! It was her first office job and she didn't have the guts or experience to talk to me about it in person. Oh vell. Now I must hunt for another.

We went to Crystal this Saturday and it was so much fun! The visibility was pretty crappy on the side of the mountain I was on so I didn't take any pictures to speak of. However, Tony got some pictures when he and Chris hiked in the backcountry. Sunny's boyfriend, Chrisbee (we call him that to lessen the confusion), went snowboarding for the first time and loved it. Yay! Another convert!

OK, time to focus on work.

Frosty the Snowman

Now I have the song, "Frosty the Snowman" stuck in my head thanks to Kik. I shake my fist at Christmas jingles!

So...I never really wrote about our trip to Florida. The majority of the readers of this blog were there, so it hasn't seemed very urgent. I have yet to upload the pictures from my camera, even! The shame. Tony did, though. Here are the pictures. Enjoy! You can see what we did while in Naples. I took the pictures while we were in Tampa. We had a fabulous time and are very thankful to those that let us stay in their homes. We are also very thankful that Betsy & Lindsay came up for the weekend. After we left, Tony said to me, "I don't know how you can bear seeing them so little." I told him that we've just gotten used to it. It's still hard, though.

Our Thanksgiving was a vegetarian feast! Natalie, Amanda, Sol & Jeremy came over to eat and then Chris showed up later. I love cooking thanksgiving food. I now know how to make a tasty vegan gravy. Mmmmm!

Last Friday, we headed up to Mt. Baker for fun times. We ended up only snowboarding on Saturday. Tony felt sick again :( He's going to the doctor today to see what is up. He gets this awful cough whenever he exerts himself and also experiences nausea. It's no good. Chris took some pictures when they were hiking in the back country. Check them out here.

We haven't been doing much of a whole lot this week other than work & stuff. Jenn! I've been meaning to call you back but we've been going out to dinner pretty much every night and then I forget to call you. I will call you this weekend!

Alright - I have work to do now. We are going to Chrystal tomorrow and it's going to be rad.

Snow!

It's snowing right now! yay! I wish I were stuck at home instead of at work. it's not sticking - let's hope it stays that way. Traffic will be hell if it does decide to stick.

Internet boredom

I am bored with the internet right now and can't do a decent post right now. I will come back later.

We are all safe here and are expecting snow tonight - in the city! You know we are excited about boarding this weekend. It is going to be awesome!

Back later. Promise.

Flying on a jet plane

I think we found our favorite rental at Whistler this past weekend. The house we rented out was recently redecorated and it was actually done tastefully. You see, most of these places are fodder for fun-making. The place we reserved for our December trip has a green, plaid sofa. Seriously!

We found the place we stayed this weekend for super cheap since the season started a few weeks before usual. The slate floors were heated and it has a private hot tub. it would have been better if the thermostat wasn't broken on it, though. However, the management company was very apologetic about this and mentioned trying to work at a discount for us the next time we stayed there. I think we'd all be down with that.

Chris, Julie, Tony and I left for Whistler after work on Friday. We made a dinner stop at Casa Que Pasa on the way up. We woke up early on Saturday to head to the mountain. The lift tickets were discounted and we soon found out why - the conditions were still quite early-season. We boarded for a bit and headed in for an early lunch. Tony had started mentioning feeling ill the night before and it had only gotten worse. After lunch, we boarded for a little bit more and then decided to head down since Tony was not feeling any better. We went into the village and picked him up some medicine and headed back to the house.

Poor thing - he was in and out of a fever and couldn't get rid of the nausea. We hung around the house for a bit feeding him toast and Aleve and finally he started feeling more human. We decided to go out for sushi since that is what tony was in the mood for (he hadn't really eaten since the night before). The sushi was absolutely fabulous. After dinner, we headed back to the house and ended up going to bed really early.

The next morning, we slept in. It had snowed a bit throughout the night and there was a nice coat of white covering everything outside. So Beautiful. Tony still wasn't feeling great, so we decided to skip snowboarding on Sunday and headed back to Seattle.

I wish I could say that i got pictures, but my battery needed to be charged and i didn't check it before we headed out to the mountain. Oops.

I'm pretty much packed for our trip and will be getting up early in the morning to head into work for a few hours before we catch our plane at 1:15. I checked the weather forcast today for Naples - the highs are meant to be in the mid-80's! We are so not used to that kind of heat! I keep telling everyone that we are going to get tans on our vacation. We'll see if that can actually happen :)

This and that and somethingsomething

Interview process for my assistant is done. I'm going to make an offer to April this afternoon.

Snowboarding on Saturday was so fun. I couldn't help but laugh most of the day. The snow was better than any day at Crystal last season.

Sunday, I went over to Julie's around 10am and Natalie came over a little later. We kicked some ass and cleaned it up. Julie's house is now on the market

Last night, we went to go see They Might Be Giants. They put on a fun show as always.

It will be busy week & weekend until vacation. I am very excited about our trip to Florida next week!

A post that is NOT about snowboarding (kind-of)

Today, Tony & I went to the dentist to get our teeth cleaned. This was the first time he had been to the dentist in 10 years. No cavities or gum disease! Good job, Tony! After the dentist, we went to the pet store to get the kitties some food and stopped by the Mac store to get me an iPod Shuffle. It's cute and little and light and much more compact than my regular iPod.

We are a full-on iPod family. 4 iPods: i have my two and tony has a Nano & Video. We picked up mine today because I like to listen to music while snowboarding and I tend to fall a lot. Last season, i fell so hard that i kind-of crushed my iPod (the Apple dude was able to fix it). I needed to get something that would be harder to break.

Apple loves us. We have 3 macs and 4 ipods. We are good consumers!

My Weekends by Me

This weekend: Snowboarding on Sunday and helping Julie with her house on Sunday.

Next weekend: Snowboarding at Whistler

Week/end after that: Florida!

Weekend after that: T-giving yummies and then trip to Mt. Baker

December:

Snowboarding, snowboarding, snowboarding at Whistler, trip to Texas and then more snowboarding.

When I'm not snowboarding, I'll be working. I started interviewing for my assistant today and hope to have someone hired before the end of next week. Gotta focus on work right now since Tony & I are leaving early to go to the dentist.

The Awesomist!

Lots of snow will be falling in the mountains all through the middle of next week! Crystal is opening THIS WEEKEND! I get to go snowboarding locally THIS WEEKEND!

This is so awesome especially since we had such a craptastic season last year.

In other news, Julie's house is going on the market this Monday. I'll be helping her get it cleaned up this week/weekend when we aren't snowboarding.

I just want to cry!

Serious! Whistler is OPENING THIS WEEKEND!!! Now I can't concentrate on work because all I can think about is SNOWBOARDING!!!! We aren't going to go this weekend, but will likely be going up next weekend to get in some snowboarding before we head to Florida.

The beautiful rain has been falling here the past few days. Forcast looks good for the snow to fall and stay in local mountains. It's likely that we'll be snowboarding Thanksgiving weekend and will be able to do so locally.

Halloween pictures

Here are the pictures from Tony's camera
Here are the pics from Sol's camera

Everyone had really good costumes this year and it was a lot of fun. We went to Andrew's party, Natalie's party and then the Mercury. As always, fun was had!

I sure do hope we get trick-or-treaters tonight.

Pic of Mt. Baker

This is so exciting I might pee my pants!

Yay!

Mom & Paul have their power & water back now.
Do you have yours back, Betsy?

I wanna be a cowboy, and you can be my cowgirl

Tony & I are dressing up as cowboys for Halloween. I wanted him to dress up as a cow and I'd be his cowgirl, but he wouldn't do it. Jenn told me last night that Cameron is dressing up as a cow (i guess it would be calf). Oh how I wish they lived closer. I would love to take Cameron around as our little calf.

We have two Halloween parties to go to on Saturday. Fun will be had!

Spooky!

Chris, Tony & I carved pumpkins last night. I bought a lopsided pumpkin and carved the face lopsided. I think it's more interesting that way.

The more I read, the more I worry

I know the media is known for exaggeration, but the pictures worry me.

How bad is it?

A sigh of relief

From what I have read, it looks like Naples didn't suffer any significant damage. There is flooding in the streets, but I recall that happening during any heavy rain. I haven't seen much news regarding loss of power. I'm hoping Mom, Paul and the people they were caring for are able to go back to their homes soon.

I'm hoping that Kiker & Bets can update their blogs soon so I know they are OK.

We're going to be in Florida in 3 weeks, so no more hurricanes allowed :p

Now you can post, too!

So, I finally changed the setting where people that do not have an accout with Blogger can post to my blog. Sorry it took me so long!

Wilma

From Weather.com:

The interaction with land as the hurricane brushes past the Yucatan Peninsula plus the increasing influence of westerly shear and even some mid-level dry air intrusion could weaken Wilma considerably before it directly affects Florida.

I'm really hoping that this is the case. I sure do feel bad for the Yucatan Peninsula right now, but I really hate worrying about all of my loved ones in Florida. I know you all will be as prepared as you can be, but that doesn't stop the worrying.

House Hunt revised

We put our house hunt on hold for awhile after Tony received a letter from the IRS wanting him to pay them for past taxes. oops. We knew this was coming, but just didn't know when. He's working with a tax attourney to get a decent payment plan worked out. We're aiming for 3 years.

I don't want to wait 3 years to buy a house - I want to invest much sooner than that. Our plan is for me to get a loan on my own and buy the house on my own and he helps me pay the mortgage. I sent my info to the mortgage officer that we were talking to before - he should have some information for me by Monday. My fear is that I won't qualify for a loan that will get us a large enough house or condo. Although I've made a decent wage in 2005, my wage in 2004 was a bit wimpy. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

Betsy sent me this so I'm posting my answers here

1. What time is it? 2:30pm PT
2. Name as it appears on birth certificate: Kristina Joy Shaw
3. Nicknames: Kris
4. Piercing: multiple
5. What is the most recent movie you've seen in the theater? Good Night, and Good Luck
6. Eye color: blue
7. Place of birth: Louisville, KY
8. Favorite foods: Thai, Vietnamese, the fries from 22 Doors, the veggie cheesesteak from Elysian, I could go on and on and on...
9. Ever been to Africa: I wish!
10. Ever been toilet papering: when I was a wild youth
11. Love someone so much it made you cry: yah
12. Ever been in a car accident: 3 :(
13. Croutons or bacon bits: yuck. sunflower seeds for me
14. Favorite day of the week: Saturday
15. Favorite chain restaurants: PF Chang's
16. Favorite flower: dahlia
17. Favorite sport to watch: soccer or hockey
18. Favorite drink: Non-alcoholic: coffee, water
alcoholic: negroni, gin & tonic
19. Favorite ice cream: ben & jerry's
20. Disney or Warner Brothers: don't care - not into either whatsoever
21. Favorite fast food restaurant: Ummm...none
23. How many times did you fail your driver's test: 0
24. Before this one, from who did you get your last e-mail: bookclub friend, Sunni
25. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card: REI
26. What do you do most often when you are bored: watch tv
27. Bedtime: during the week: midnight
28. Who will respond to this e-mail the quickest: N/A
29. Who is the person you sent this to that is least likely to respond: N/A
30. Who are you most curious about their responses to this questionnaire? N/A
31. Favorite TV shows: The Daily Show
32. Last person you went to dinner with: Tony
33. BMW or Lexus?: Lexus
34. What are you listening to right now? the CSRs talking to customers on the phone
35. What is your favorite color: red
36. Lake, Ocean or river: river
37. How many tattoos do you have: 4
38. Favorite Vacation Destination: a mountain with snow
39. Favorite Clothing: pajamas
40. What perfume/cologne: the stuff makes me sneeze. I use Amber oil
41. The one thing you would buy if you could, would be: a condo or cabin at each ski resort in the PNW
42. Religion: what about it?
43. Favorite Hobbies: snowboarding, snowboarding and more snowboarding
44. If you could pick a new career what would you want to be? I'm pretty happy with the one I have right now

I like Thursdays

It means the weekend is very near! It's not that I don't love my job (because I do), but I really enjoy having time to do whatever I feel like.

This weekend, we are going to see Bauhaus on Friday and go out to dinner on Saturday for Chris' birthday.

I've had another hair change and plan to take pictures this weekend when I'm feeling really cute. Tony is also going through a hair change - he's planning on growing his hair out! I'm bleaching what hair he has tonight.

Ok - back to work for me!

Oh jeez!

I didn't realize it had been so long since i posted. Sorry!

Work keeps me very busy as always. I don't have time to give a full update right now on what I've been up to, but I did want to post that if it's showing in your city, go see Good Night, And Good Luck. The release is very limited right now, so keep an eye out for it.

They say it means somethingsomething

I was told today that I have been made an officer in our two main companies. My new title is Vice President of Administration.

I'm a VP. It makes me laugh because it just seems so surreal.

Since the boss isn't in yet...

Fall is here and the trees are changing. This is one of my favorite times of year - it is so beautiful around here! We all get excited when Fall appears because it means that we will be snowboarding soon.

This weekend, we took Sherry & Stephanie to Snoqualmie Falls. I didn't realize it, but Tony has never been there before. Due to our recent rain, the falls were raging! It was so purdy. We did the hike down to the river and then it started raining with thunder & lightening. It was wonderful!

Saturday night, we took them along with Tony's brother, Greg, and his girlfriend to Jeremiah's going-away party at Julie's house. It was the first party that all of the siblings went to with their mom. It was silly.

On Sunday, we went to see the movie Serenity with Julie, Jeremiah and Solomon. It was even better the second time! For dinner, we went to a thai restaurant - it was Stephanie's first time eating Thai food. Unfortunately, the dish she orders wasn't very good :(

I've been having weird dreams lately. I have let my life get too busy to keep up with correspondence and it's really starting to bother me since I've even let it happen with work :/ I am going to do my bestest to get back on track with it. I feel way too out of touch.

For now, I must get back to work.

I have 12 minutes to write this post

I am being naughty and spending the last few minutes of my workday writing this post. Here is a summary of what's been going down in SeaTown:

Last night: laundry & cleaning fun
Monday night: Painting at Julie's
Sunday: lunch with Natalie, Julie & Tony at Blue C Sushi before helping Julie with house stuff. Dinner at Hopevine with Natalie, Chris, Chrisbee, Sunny, Tony and brief appearances by Cody, Josh and Brian.
Saturday: brunch at 5 Spot before heading over to Julie's to help with house stuff. Birthday party for Julie & Natalie at Chris' house that night.
Friday after work: NIN concert with Julie and then party at our house for Amanda's 30th birthday.

Weekend before last, we had people over on Friday night for Jeremiah's birthday party. On Saturday, we saw Dead Can Dance at the Paramount. Amazing show!

So yeah, I've been pretty busy. Tony's mom & sister are arriving on Friday. Stephanie will be leaving on Monday (sis) but Sherry will be staying all week.

Slack time = 0

I bought our tickets for our Florida trip in November. Whee!

Eeep

Chris posted the pictures he took when we went camping.

Busy as always. It was fabulous to see Jenn & squirmy monkey this past weekend. Next time, my visit will be all about spending time with them.

Florida trip update: We'll be moving it up a month to early/mid November. It looks like we'll be making a trip to Houston in late December thanks to Dad & Carolyn, so we don't want to take two weeks off in December. I'll let you all know after I talk to my boss. He's on Vacation this week, so it won't be until next week.

Oh and Bets - it's actually less expensive to fly into Tampa and out of Ft.Lauderdale. Go figure!

Back to work!

Visit to Florida

My 1-year anniversary with Health Solutions is October 1st. This means I finally get paid vacation! I'd like to plan a week-long trip to Florida in December. I just checked ticket prices - only $225 each! Here's my idea: we'll fly into Tampa and visit with family & stay with Kik & Amy if they will extend their hospitality out to us :) We'll then drive down to Naples and hang out with the parental units for a spell. Our trip will finish with a visit to Ft. Lauderdale to spend time with Betsy & Lindsay before flying out of the Ft. Lauderdale airport and hopefully they'll let us crash at their place until we leave.

We were thinking early December. How does that tentative plan sound to you?

Weekend in the woods

hello!

three-day work weeks always kick my ass.

Weekend update: Tony, Chris, Natalie, Julie and I headed to the Northern Cascades Saturday afternoon after Nat got off from work. We arrived at the campsite a couple of hours before dark and set everything up, started a fire and then cooked dinner. While I was packing earlier in the day, I pulled my upper back a little. When I woke up Sunday morning, I could barely move. I haven't been in that kind of pain in quite some time.

the plan for Sunday was to do this cool hike. I could barely move, so I stuck around with Julie (she wasn't planning on going) and we went to town to find some stuff that might provide me relief. It rained a bit Sunday morning and proceeded to rain throughout the day. We put up a tarp for protection before the rest of the crew got back. We were quite glad since it rained on and off for the rest of the night. We did the dinner thing again and then sat around the fire. That's what you do when you camp, right?

My mobility was up on Monday and I felt OK enough to do a bit of hiking. However, Natalie & tony were pretty wrecked from the previous day. We packed up camp and then headed to the hike that Cathy, Eric, Tony & I went on a couple of months ago since it's not too strenuous of a trail. After hanging out at Blue Lake for awhile, we headed back to the car and headed home.

We all had fun even though I was in pain. i'm still not quite right. The crew said the hike was awesome, so we definitely plan on going back next summer. The camping season is official over.

Laundry is calling...I'm headed off to San Diego tomorrow evening to help Jenn move into her new condo (we hope!)

Busy-ness & birthday

Last Friday was Tony's birthday. We took the day off from work to sleep late and have a lovely brunch at Coastal Kitchen. We lazed around the house until it was time to meet friends for dinner at Flying Fish. Ye-um! Afterwards, we did a bit of bar hopping around Belltown. There was crazy fun happening that night.

The next day, everyone had a serious hangover. Damn.

Saturday evening, we went over to Cathy & Eric's for bbq fun. Sunday, we slept in for a bit. I went over to Julie's in the afternoon to help her paint and put together some stuff.

I am feeling condensed.

We looked at 5 houses this evening.

Since I'm condensed, I'll have to leave you hanging. No, we didn't fall in love with any of them.

Pictures!

Go here to see pictures from Sunny's birthday dinner & the wedding.

And I was just reminded

I was looking through the Daily photos on Dooce and saw the bike accident one. It reminded me of the incident that happened on Saturday.

Saturday morning, Tony & I are hanging out and we get a call from Natalie saying, "Let's go have a celebratory lunch!" since she just finished her last final of this semester (working full time and going to school ain't easy, kids). After our lovely lunch at El Greco, Chris, Tony & I head to Chris' car to go shopping for wedding presents & stuff to wear to the event. As we are walking up the hill, a guy flies by us on his bike. Then..the CRASH.

Poor guy...the grocery bags he had HANGING FROM HIS HANDLE got caught in his wheel. Duh. We stayed with him until the medics came. No serious injuries...maybe a dislocated shoulder. He did have lots of scrapes. Poor Forest. He was totally in shock...I felt bad for the guy. At one point, he told the medics that he had been in a bike accident before and had post traumatic stress disorder from it. My question is...then why weren't you wearing a helmut?!?

Kale woes

I love me some kale. I would also love me a variety of recipes on how to use this Superfood, but all I find are stews/soups & greens & beans. I think I might need to come up with some new recipes. I can only eat so many greens & beans.

I love the bounty of produce I can find at the farmer's market. The eats I get there make the stuff I get at Safeway & Trader Joe's look like plastic. It makes me want a farm. I sure do love my vegetables. This week, I picked up some broccoli, corn, chard and butter lettuce. The broccoli & corn will be consumed tomorrow night alonged with marinated, baked salmon. Some of the chard will be used for a fabulous apple chard quiche. The butter lettuce will be consumed in salad form.

We viewed a fabulous house on Thursday. It was so freaking huge! We hope to speak with a loan officer at WaMu this Friday. This Friday is also Tony's birthday. We are taking the day off of work (paid because our boss rocks) and getting stuff done before meeting with friends for dinner.

We went to a wedding this past Saturday. Alls i got to say is, "Damn. My man looks HOT in a suit". pics soon.

Happy Birthday to a Sunny!

Sunny turned the big 2-9 today. A group of us went to Benihana for some eatertainment (one of many coin phrases uttered by Sunny). The company was good as always.

We haven't looked at any more houses since the last one but did get a good faith estimate from one broker on what we qualify for. Tomorrow night, we are meeting with Dustin (apartment manager & realtor) to go over the whole process. Yay!

Report

I will miss Peter Jennings.
I have been using Blogger since 2002. Over 3 years of blabber. How about that?
I played on a jetski today and was afraid to go too fast. I am wimpy. I also wore the mega sunscreen since I am also afraid of skin cancer. This is not wimpy, but is me being cautious for a good reason.
I bought us a bedspread for our bed on Friday so our bedroom looks more "finished". It matches the color of our sheets perfectly. I made a good guess!
We looked at a house on Friday because it has a great yard. We fell in love with the yard, but not the house. We may consider buying sooner than later. First, we need to talk to a mortgage lender before we start seriously looking. It sure does help that our apartment manager is also a Realtor.

Almost every day, i think about how lucky & fortunate I am to have so many wonderful people in my life. Many are too far away, but I still feel lucky that we still are in touch.

My second home

We are all moved in to the new office. I worked a 12.5 hour day on Friday since the movers showed up with a too-small truck and it took them 11 hours to move all of the office furniture. ugh. But it's done! And that is good news, folks. After being at the old office all day on Friday supervising the sweaty men, I took off to the new office after they left with the second load. As soon as I walk in the door, Eric starts complaining about his office. I was a bit aghast since he was the one who chose not to give any input and pretty much said he didn't care. I essentially said that we weren't even going to think about making any changes right now since we just moved in. It made him mad, but jeez! give me a break, guy! I fretted about it a bit this weekend, but all was good by today. I think he realized that he was being a dummy.

Other than that, everyone else loves the place and is very happy. however, Friday was a day where I really needed to be in two places at once. It was a little stressful at the new office since no one was stepping up and making sure things got done. According to Tony, everyone was just wandering around as if they were lost and forgot they had jobs to do. After getting annoyed by everyone, Tony decided to start directing people into getting stuff done even though he doesn't like to take the leadership role. After telling Ralph what happened on Friday, Ralph has decided to officially announce to everyone that when he's gone, i'm boss. We'll see how that goes.

i was pretty pooped after leaving work at 9:30pm on Friday. Tony was a sweetie and stuck around with me until the movers were done. We drove back to the city and then tooled on over to Chris' to hang out for a bit.

Saturday, i dragged myself out of bed to go get poked by needles. Afterwards, i scooted to Target to try and find camping chairs for tony & I. I just wasn't impressed with the selection. I scooted on back home and then Chris came to pick us up and we went out to brunch. I spend the afternoon napping and being lazy. Tony & I then went to a fabulous restaurant to celebrate our 2-year anniversary. yay!

Sunday, we went over to Chris' house again to watch The Blue Angels fly around Lake Washington for the close of SeaFair. It was loud and full of testosterone. After the show ended, T & I went into the office to do some unpacking and organizing so things would be nice-looking and functional for everyone when they got in in the morning. We then headed back to the city to meet up with Julie, Natalie, Chris and Sol for dinner at Jai Thai. Mmmm!

That was my weekend in a nutshell. I am tired.

Spittle

Work = sooper busy getting ready for the move. Ralph fired our CTO on Monday. Ralph just told me today that I'm getting another raise. I think I've gotten 4 raises in the 9 months I've worked here. Go me!

Home = sooper productive this last weekend. Did lots of cleaning at home on Saturday and then went over to Julie's house on Sunday to help her clean. She's preparing to put her house on the market.

Family = Cameron's first birthday was Sunday but he & Jenn were out when I called :(
Jenn, I'm worried about you since I haven't heard back from you yet. I will give you another ring tonight after Cameron is put to bed.

OK, must get to work!

The Grind

Office move: was meant to be this Friday but has been pushed back until next Friday due to things beyond my control. Yes, I am irked by these things. Today, Tony & I got up early to get to the new office by 8 for the delivery of our new furniture. They didn't show up until 9:15. The new stuff looks great and it makes me very happy. My Very Own Office has a view of downtown Bellevue & the top of Mt. Rainier. Big Windows! Privacy! Yay!

Work Busy. Must go. sooo much to do and not enough time!

Back from the woods

We awoke to rain Friday morning as did Eric & Cathy. We were still at home while they were in the woods trying to keep the important stuff dry. Fortunately, the rain only stuck around for Friday morning. Unfortunately, it brought about mosquitoes.

We left work early on Friday and took off from the house around 4:30. It took us 3 hours to get out to the campsite due to bad traffic. Friday night, we had a feast of marinated salmon and corn on the cob while swatting at the bugs that make you itch. After dinner, we took a walk down to Baker Lake and enjoyed the clear skies and mountains while sitting on the floating dock.

Saturday, I awoke before everyone else so i took a little walk down to the creek and then to the lake to take some pictures. By the time I got back, Cathy was up so we cleaned up from the night before and waiting until Eric & Tony got up before making breakfast burritos. After eating, we ventured off in the car to locate Rainbow Falls. According to the book, it was supposed to be some fantastic falls. We drove up to the site and couldn't find the waterfall or a trailhead. Granted, the view was fabulous, but the lack of falls was disappointing. After venturing around a bit, we found a trailhead and started hiking up. The trail went up and up and up and it felt like it would never end. Keep in mind that we were hiking in moist dirt & mud...let's just say we broke in our new hiking boots. After it got really steep and we didn't encounter the waterfall, we turned around. After reading the book again, we realized that the waterfall was so far away that we could only enjoy it using binoculars. We drove back to the campsite and I think we walked to Baker Lake again to check out other hikes. After getting back, we had halibut, baked potatoes and roasted vegetables for dinner. Before and after dinner, we enjoyed playing Yatzee! and Uno! After the games, we went back to Baker Lake to watch the Moon rise over the mountains. It was absolutely breathtaking.

Sunday, we all slept in. It really is nice waking to the noise of a rushing creek. After getting out of tent, we made some breakfast, packed up camp and headed back to Baker Lake to rent a boat. The plan didn't work out and we have now noted that we should plan/reserver a boat the day before we want to go out on the lake. After we found that we couldn't rent a boat, we decided to hang out by the lake until we decided what we would do. While sitting under the trees, we all notice that there is a hornet's nest above us. A second after, Eric gets stung on the face. Ack! Fortunately, we found out that he is not allergic to hornets. That was a sign for us to leave Baker Lake. We drove up to hike to Blue Lake where we were attacked by black flies. This weekend was filled with bugs! It reminded me of Florida. After the hike, we headed back to Seattle.

Tony put up most of the pictures here. I took pictures of the creek, but those were left out. It's likely we'll camp here again next year.

This weekend was lots of fun. We are now organizing our next camping trip for labor day weekend.

I love living in the PNW.

Too much to do

Hello!

Work has been busy as usual. We've been busy after work mostly every night. This weekend, we are going camping by Lake Baker and will be hiking to see waterfalls. I haven't been camping in forever! We finally bought hiking boots and I hope just having them around will inspire us to do day hikes on the weekend. We are leaving right after work tomorrow; Cathy & Eric went out to the campsite this evening. It's been too long since we've been out of the city!

In other news, Cameron is officially a Toddler and will be turning one next week!

The other thing

I went to the doctor a couple of weeks ago for my physical. I heard back on Monday that my test results came back wonky for my thyroid and she upped my dosage. I was glad to know that my tiredness wasn't in my head. Previously, when I felt like crap, I wanted to say that something might be off with my dosage, but then worried that it really was just my imagination and I just needed to sleep/eat better/exercise. I have noticed a difference this week. I'm also documenting how I feel after I eat. Apparently, it's not good to eat soy if you have thyroid disease. I've been trying to cut back but it is so freaking hard since soy is in so much of my diet. The other day, I had some roasted soy beans for a snack and then couldn't stop yawning for an hour afterwards. I know a couple of people that experience the same symptom when they eat anything with soybeans in it.

It makes me sad. I love my soy products :(

We hired a new CTO (chief technical officer) at work and no one is quite sure how they feel about him. The guy is full of knowledge, but he's a little high strung and brings this frantic energy with him to work. How long should you give someone before you can tell if he is a good fit in the company? Work has been super busy this week, but that's nothing new.

I sure do hope Jenn & Cameron are having fun with Mom in hot, hot Naples!

Thank you!

Betsyroo! Thank you for the gifty :D I happened to be wearing my T-shirt with a graphic by the same artist the day it came in the mail. How funny is that?

My back has been in bad shape this week. uck. I believe I've been sleeping in poor positions lately and my back muscles have been spasming. I need to concentrate on strengthening it.

Last night, we went over to Cathy & Eric's house to plan our camping trip. I'm excited! So many of the prime spots were already reserved, but we did finally find one by a creek.

Tomorrow night is our second night of our Intro to Wine class. It's fun and we are learning a lot, but it sure is hard tasting so many wines in a short period of time.

If my back is feeling better, i hope to get Tony out of the house to go kayaking on Saturday. Sunday, i'm going thrift shopping with Sandi & Stine in hopes to find some summer clothes.

Hello!

Where have I been? I don't know!

Let us see...

Um...

Well...

Here's some pictures from the party at Chris' house.

July 4th weekend...Friday, we went to Bleu Bistro for dinner and then hung out with Chris & Natalie. Saturday, I was laid up with a headache all day. That night, we stayed home and watched movies. Sunday, we went to Sunny's for lakeside hanging out fun. Monday, we did a bit of shopping at REI before going to Solomon's for hanging out fun and fireworks.

Later this month, we are going camping with Eric & Cathy. Lots of camping stuff to buy!

We've been busy going out and doin' stuff. Right now, I be hungry for dinner, but Tony is taking a nap. i think i must eat without him!

Happy Summer

We started our summer off right with cool weather and rain. I love Seattle!
Tony & I went to the Home Depot yesterday to pick up some soil, pots and a few plants. We replanted a few things and Tony set up a terrarium. When we stopped by Walgreens the other night, he picked up a venus flytrap and thought it would grow best in that environment.

Wow. How unexciting is that?

Miss Betsyroo! I miss you! Come visit soon :D I will call you this weekend.

Mum, I plan to give you a ring, too.

Screech gets to go to the vet this weekend for a check-up and to get his cough checked out. He was coughing lots and then after I made the appointment, he stopped. Typical. Chris is having a beginning of summer party saturday. Fun will be had!

Eat, Drink and Be Merry

Happy Day-After-Father's Day!

My weekend was :( and then :)
While at work on Friday, a headache crept up on me. The Advil did nothing. It hurt. It made me nauseous. After dinner, I took an Advil Cold & Sinus thinking that it might be my sinuses. Alas, the headache did not go away. I felt like poo, so I stayed home while Tony went to Natalie's for hanging out fun.

Saturday morning, my head was still hurting slightly but was not horrendous. Natalie came over and she, Tony and I went to The Globe for brunch. It's a vegan hippy dive down the street from us. Holy cow. It took an hour to get our food! We had to shove it down our throats since I had book club to go to. I hung out with my book club girlfriends for a few hours before heading home. Tony & I then went to see Batman Begins. It was good! Afterwards, Natalie & Amanda came over for hanging-out fun. My headache did finally go away around midday after I took an Aleve.

After making brunch on Sunday, I headed out to pick up Stine & Sandi for thrift shopping. I scored on some cute shoes and other items. We also had lunch and chatted for a bit. Fun day! I finally made it home around 7:30pm. Tony & I had some dinner and watched a depressing documentary called Children Underground.

Work is a'callin. Gotta run!

Michael Jackson is innocent

My weekend by Kris:

Friday: tour of bed & breakfast places on Capitol Hill. No rooms were available due to graduation weekend. We went to Coastal Kitchen for dinner. After Dad & Carolyn headed to their hotel, Chris & Natalie came over to hang out.

Saturday: treated the folks to massages from Stine. We went to see Star Wars at the Cinerama in the afternoon. Afterwards, we grabbed some good eats at Six Arms.

Sunday: I was hoping we could take a day trip to go whale watching, but it just wasn't feasible with the ferry schedule. Instead of going to the San Juan Islands, we headed to Snoqualmie Falls and then had a late lunch. Afterwards, we headed back home to sit around and chat for a bit before Dad & Carolyn headed back to their hotel and then home this morning.

OK, time for bed!

Oh no I didn't!

I have a confession to make:
We moved into this apartment in November and I just finally dealt with the Piles of Crap that were sitting in the bedroom that I hadn't bothered to put away for all of these months. Our bedroom has looked a mess ever since we moved in because of my procrastination. We haven't had a housewarming party because of the Piles of Crap. Well, I couldn't let family see my Piles of Crap. So i did it. I figured out what to do with it all.

Now the bedroom looks very empty. We desperately need to decorate. I'm not sure how to hide the elliptical machine. It is large.

Before I got off my ass and stopped procrastinating, we went out to dinner with Dad & Carolyn to Ivar's Salmon House. Everyone else ordered the halibut fish & chips except for me. If I'm at a restaurant that specializes in salmon, I'm gonna order salmon. It was delish! Everyone else thought so and wished that they had ordered it, too! I have leftovers for lunch tomorrow. Yay, leftovers!

Dad & Carolyn also shared cruise give-away fun stuff like feather boas, chocolate and wine. Decadence! They also gave me one of Grandma's watches from Shaw Jewelers. It is lovely!

Squirmy monkey!

Wanna see more pictures?

Let's see...what has been going on...
Oh yeah - Friday for lunch, I picked up Dad & Carolyn from the airport for lunch before they headed downtown for their convention. Friday night, we went out for dinner and drinks with a bunch of people. We were able to keep ourselves under control for once. Dinner at Jai Thai and then drinks at Bad JuJu Lounge and Barca. We ended the night with Frites!

Saturday, Tony & I did a little shopping and now have a proper coffee table. Our living room is shaping up! We also saw The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and thought it was lots of fun. Saturday night, we went to the Mercury and hung out with friends.

Sunday, we were lazy. We did get out to the Farmer's market that is on Capitol Hill on Sundays, but that was it. We purchased lots of lovely organic produce that was grown locally. I was a little productive and did a couple of loads of laundry. i would have done more but the dryer was being lame and eating my quarters. We stayed home that night and watched Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events. The visuals were nice, but the movie was only OK.

OK, I should get to bed now.

Back in Black

My trip to San Diego was good. It was hard to leave. Jenn & I went shopping Monday afternoon while Duncan watched Cameron and I was already missing the little squirmy monkey. He is just a doll. I hope to put up the movies I took very soon along with the pictures.

Having Monday off put me quite behind at work. There is so much to do and not enough time! What? What is that, you say? Why yes, I am writing this while at work! I have to take a brain break once in awhile, you know?

My heart weighs heavy with some things going on right now with people that I love dearly. I worry. I wish I could fix things. I hope everything turns out for the best. I miss you.

Hello internet land!

This past Monday, we went to go see Peter Murphy at the Showbox. His shows are so different every time I see him. I can't say he was sporting a good look for him, but the show was good. Afterwards, we went to Fenix Underground for some dancing fun.

I did boring stuff the rest of the week (grocery shopping, laundry, etc)

There was weirdness at work this week. I use livejournal to have conversations with my friends and Alysa & Trish found it. It creeps me out that they are reading my personal stuff. For all I know, they could have found this journal, too. I hope not. It's just creepy.

I am really looking foward to spending this 3-day weekend in San Diego. I'll be taking Tony's camera in hopes of taking movies of Cameron crawling around.

OK, I must get up. My sciatica is bothering me :(

More consumption and changes at work

In our quest to procure better furniture, we bought a proper TV stand yesterday from Best Buy. Previously, our TV was sitting on a little table and it looked tacky. After dinner, we unload the heavy thing and proceeded to put it together. it was much more complicated then Ikea furniture. I think it took us about 2 hours.

Our couch is meant to be delivered today. The delivery people are supposed to call us an hour before they arrive, but we still haven't heard anything from them. Their window for delivery ends in an hour. *twiddles thumbs impatiently*

Oh! So the work news! Dennis got let go today. There has been lots of work politics/drama as of late so we hope that this step will put all of it to an end. It will be good to get a systems administrator in here that knows what s/he is doing. Also, Tony got a pretty hefty raise.

OK, must get back to work.

No place to sit and a bump on my head

In preparation for the delivery of our fancy new sofa, I sold our futon. I posted it to craigslist yesterday and someone bought it today! I was really happy that it sold that quickly. Being that we have no place to sit, I'm guessing we won't be watching the Mork & Mindy DVDs that our in our player right now.

I saw the opportunity to mop our wood floors since the biggest piece of furniture was gone. At one point, I was reaching under the kitchen sink to get a sponge and hit my head on the edge of the counter :( It still smarts and I have a nice lump there.

My back got the special treatment of a chiro adjustment and acupuncture today. Debbie, my acupuncturist, did cupping on my upper back for the first time. It felt so weird! I also had Dr. Ellison refer me to a physical therapist. I'm hoping to learn some exercises for my upper back. I know how to stretch and strengthen my lower & mid back, but am at a loss when it comes to the top part.

Our coworkers, Eric and Jessica, will be moving in to one of the apartments in our building next month! They are brother & sister and are cool kids. It sure will make carpooling easy. It looks like Ralph has decided on the new office so we should be moving soon. I will have my very own office! I feel so grown up or something!

We are great consumers!

Last week was the week to buy Shiny New Things. On Saturday, we went to Macy's to do some clothes shopping for Tony. After picking him up 4 new pairs of pants and 3 new shirts (most on sale), we headed up to the furniture department to check out the sale. We walked out with a heavy receipt for our new sofa! It is meant to be delivered on Thursday. We are so excited! I'll be sure to post some pictures. Speaking of, I need to find someplace to host my pics since my old gallery was on the broken server.

OK, must go hang out with My Favorite Boy now.

The pains! They hurt!

I so enjoy hearing New Music that makes me dance. I am thoroughly enjoying The Faint right now.

As some of you know, my body has been yelling at me and didn't like me sitting in front of a computer for so much of my waking day. This meant that I was only in front of a computer at work and not at home. Since work keeps me hella busy, I have lost touch with so many. I think about my far-away family and friends quite often, but am also so bad about picking up the phone and calling.

With that said, the acupuncture treatments have really helped with my sciatica. Who would have thought? Also, i have very exciting news (to me)! Yesterday, we went and got me a shiny, new computer! A Mac Mini! I love it! I haven't found it very difficult to transition from PC to Mac, either. Plus, it's so damn cute!

So...I'm guessing I will want to spend time in front of my fun, new computer! Yay! I mean, come on! It's 9pm on a Friday night and I'm at home sitting in front of my computer. Is that excitement or what? Actually, I've had a headache for 2 days and flaked on our plans tonight. Amanda is going to come over for Movie Fun and we are just going to take it easy.

I went to the Western doctor yesterday per Tony's request to see about my back. She did just what I expected - prescribed me pain killers and physical therapy. I'm going to talk to my chiropractor on Tuesday about the physical therapy. She said she's got a really good therapist that specializes in backs. The pain killers I plan on only using when my back pain disturbes my sleep. The western doc also recommended that I start taking Aleve every day to help with the inflammation. I hate taking pills :(

Stay Tuned for more frequent updates! Now I must do it since i told The Internet that I'm going to.

workplayworkplayworkworkwork

This last weekend, I did a bit of birthday shopping on Saturday with Miss Natalie. She was shopping for her cruise to the Amazon with her mom. Dood, we shopped for 6 hours and only hit Ross and Target!

On Sunday, Chris, Tony and I went to Crystal. The snow was pretty nice. We are going again this Saturday for my birthday. Wheee! And then we are having a few friends over Saturday night for a small celebration of ME! Being Born! Yay!

Since the jet stream is finally cooperating, the snow hasn't stopped. Whistler has gotten tons of snow lately. We cannot resist the powder and will be making a trip up there next weekend. Yay! The lodging is pretty cheap, too.

The weekend after that, we hope to go back up to Mt. Baker. Gotta get in the snowboarding while we can!

Now that Trish is gone, I get to take care of the office manager duties. With that being said, I really shouldn't be taking the time to write this, but I must. :)

Oh! Congratulations to Rachel and Kevin! they are now the proud parents of little Aiden.

Also, thanks to the Davidson family for the REI gift certificate. It was put towards new snowboarding boots that are desperately needed :)

OK, back to work!

Oh Wait! The Good News!

The work drama will lessen soon! Both Alysa and Trish will be leaving at the end of this month! Yeah!

Where has the time gone?

Last weekend, a trip was made to the beautiful Whistler, British Columbia. Mother Nature decided to play nice and dumped a good portion of snow on us whilst there. Adrianne, Julie and I participated in the Roxy snowboarding camp for women. I learned a bunch of new things like jumping! I fell in a tree well while doing a tree run. Oops. No worries - I wasn't hurt and had my whole group to help me out.

As always, tons of fun happened. Except, well, Julie fractured her thumb. It's minor, but is still The Suck.

Mother Nature is now giving us a bit more snow. Tony, Chris and I will be venturing up to Mt. Baker on Saturday evening for a fun-filled day of snowboarding on Sunday. Wheee!

My time has been filled with the random stuff. Work keeps us busy as always. Movies are watched often. I started seeing a new chiropractor to help with the sciatica. She rocks. I still need to get up off my ass and get back to the gym. We fell out of the routine in a hard way.

OK, must get back to work. Happy Friday!

Blue Hair!

My newest color!

California is getting all of our rain

It isn't fair. Chris and I went snowboarding on Saturday at Crystal. The mountain was pretty void of people and snow. This has been a sad, sad winter.

Work has been uber stressful for Tony due to Alysa. She's just not easy to work with. I had my run-ins with her when she first started so now I only talk to her when I absolutely have to.

Due to the stress, we haven't been in the mood to do much except stay at home and watch movies. We did go out last night with the peeps for dinner and drinks. Tonight, we are going to Chris' for movie night. After we launch our new product, we're hoping that much of the stress will be alleviated. We haven't gone to the gym in forever. I miss working out. We originally stopped due to the NY resolution crowd. We hope it has died down by now.

OK, I should get back to work. Oh guess what? I changed my hair color! Tony picked this one out - electric blue. It's very different than the blue i did in 1998. Yes, I'll take some pictures soon.

New Year's Eve Fun!

OK, so it's a little late, but here you go!

Mt. Baker fun

After work on Friday, Tony & I picked Julie up and went over to Natalie's house to meet with her and Chris so we could caravan up to Mt. Baker. We made it to our cabin around 10/10:30. Shortly thereafter, some friends of Natalie's came over to hang out for awhile (Elan, Bryan, Eugene, Raven). Somehow, all of us fit into the hot tub at the same time. Needless to say, about half of the water spilled out. Due to complications, that was the last time the hot tub got used this weekend :)

Saturday morning, we arose early and headed to the mountain for snowboarding fun. We met up with friends staying in another cabin (Jill, William, Scott, Gray). We dispersed around the mountain in the morning, met for lunch where we ran into Elan and then snowboarded for the rest of the day. It snowed all day! That night, Adrianne, Josh, Jason, Kristen and Wyatt showed up. A few more people showed up to Elan's cabin, too, and they all came over for potluck and board game fun.

Julie & I headed out to the mountain before the rest of our cabin on Sunday morning. It's hard to get so many people up and motivated at 8am! It didn't really matter since Tony, Chris, Adrianne & Josh were snowshoeing/boarding and not taking the lifts that day. With all of the snowfall on Saturday, we got some excellent fresh powder runs in the morning since we were on a lift that wasn't open on Saturday and wasn't groomed. It was so rad. We boarded so hard that day and now are exhausted. Hiking all day wore Tony out, too. We met up with about half of our total group and ate some yummy italian food before heading back to Seattle.

To sum it up, it was a successful snowboarding trip. It's been snowing in the mountains around here and it looks like Stevens Pass will be open this weekend. It actually snowed here this morning but it didn't stick. Keep sending your good snow thoughts because it seems to be working now!

Thank you for the good snow thoughts!

Utah was a-okay. I got to meet all of Tony's immediate family. They are all pretty nice and laid back. We took his 10-year-old nephew snowboarding for the first time on Friday. He picked it up so quickly and was doing extremely well by the end of the day. He's converted now - let's just hope his parents support him in his new sport. Tony has dreams of him being in the Olympics one day :)

Utah is weird, though. The mormons are all about the big family and they look down on people that aren't mormon nor have large families. A family with 4 kids is considered small. It's quite obvious why Tony had to leave because he just couldn't fit in.

Work is still busy but not as busy which is why I have time to write this now :) I spent most of my night last night organizing pictures. There is still a lot for me to do but I will get them up as soon as I can.

Mother Nature decided to be nice to us and is dumping a fair amount of snow on Mt. Baker. It's not record snowfall, but it will make for some nice snowboarding. They got 32" last weekend and are expecting about 16" more this weekend. Everyone is very excited!

So I checked out plane tickets for Memorial Day weekend and it looks like I'll be able to afford to go down to San Diego w/o taking any time off from work. Although my boss is okay with us taking time off, other people in the office have been making a big deal about it. They are so weird!

It would be nifty if Mom planned to visit San Diego at the same time *hint*hint*

More snow, please!

Whistler fun! Pictures coming sometime in the future.

We are leaving tomorrow night after work for a long weekend in Utah to visit Tony's family. We'll also be going to Park City for a day of snowboarding. Wheee!

OK, back to work. I hope to get on the computer more when I get back from this trip. Next weekend, we are going to Mt.Baker for a weekend stay in a cabin with many friends. Please send lots of snowfall thoughts our way!

I always have good intentions

Hm. I wrote this on the 18th and it didn't publish yet. Let's try this again...

A List of Things To Do always sits in my head. It is constantly growing. There are not enough hours in the day.

My days of work are filled with no free time on the internet. I have fallen behind on correspondence and I don't like it one bit. I have to decide between writing in here or writing back to someone. Yet, my chances to do either are rare.

The conditions for snowboarding have only worsened. It has been raining here like crazy and we've been experiencing record high tempurature. We have adventures on the weekend. I should be more diligent about writing about them here before I forget them. Although the conditions have sucked, we've still managed to go snowboarding every weekend. However, there will be no snowboarding this weekend since all of the resorts have closed due to the rain & warm weather.

What is up with this weird weather everywhere?

Apologies

Allow me to apologize for not responding to your email or calling you back yet. I will do it soon. Promise.

I have a head cold. Last night, Tony gave me Nyquil and I passed out in 10 minutes. I had plans to Get Things Done, but that didn't happen.

It is supposed to start snowing in Seattle tomorrow afternoon. It's been very cold here (for us) this week.

Work was filled with icky drama last week, but all seems better now. It's amazing what a long weekend will do for people's perspective.

Work,work,work,play,work,playplay

Work has been very busy and my nights have been filled with non-computer stuff.

Christmas was fun and relaxing.
Work has been "interesting."
New Years Eve was tons of fun. We had a few people over and then we wandered out for a night of debauchery. I would show you the pictures, but mom would see them and then i would be embarrassed!

Saturday was spent cleaning and recovering.
Sunday was spent snowboarding at Crystal. The conditions were less than ideal, but they weren't scary like Whistler.

Oh wait! I almost forgot the news that will make all of my family members worry! Christmas weekend, we got up insanely early and drove up to Mt.Baker. it was me, tony, natalie & evgenia. We met up with Chris when we got there. On Evgenia's second run, she broke her arm! Tony & I were out on another part of the mountain and didn't find out until we met up with Natalie for lunch. Nat & I got the car and pick evgenia up from the medic station and drove her back to Seattle. She was admitted into the hospital and had surgery the next day. Yes, her arm was that badly broken. She now has a plate in it.

2 friends have broken themselves this year already! It is so The Suck!

p.s. happy new year!

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!