It's been one of those weeks

Whew! Work has been exciting but not in a good way. It's been keeping me awake at night thinking about it. Nothing devestating, but one thing after another keeps happening.

I brought the banana bread into work and it was a huge hit. I highly recommend the recipe.

I'm finding the movement of lil' bean to be very comforting. I still don't feel like I'm eating enough...I'm always hungry! There is never enough food around. I am one pound away from my prepregnancy weight - I think I'll be back up to 125lbs next week!

Thanks to generous birthday gifts from the parents, I now have a better desk chair for home and will be ordering a deep tissue back massager. I was able to sit at my desk for 3 hours last night without any back pain. Fabulous! From friends, I received lovely bath items for the much needed baths to soothe pregnancy pains that will come in the 3rd trimester. I'm also wearing the new earrings that were also a gift.

A Very Nice Sunday

As Tony was helping me with my Calculus homework last night, we discovered why it seemed so hard to get the correct answers: my lovely Mac OS was not displaying the equations correctly. Bah! If my score is low, I'm going to email my instructor. We reinstalled Windows on the laptop so I won't have this problem any longer.

A coworker brought in very ripe bananas into work on Friday. I grabbed them and am currently baking banana bread. I've never made it from scratch before. The recipe got very high ratings on VegWeb so my expectations are high! I do have to admit - I used eggs instead of egg substitute. If any of my vegan / egg allergic friends come for a visit, I'll make it without eggs for them :)

We received large baking potatoes and leeks in this week's produce box. You know what that means: potato leek soup! Still have to squeeze in the soups before the warm weather is upon us. It will serve as a few tasty lunches this week. Last weekend, I made a vegetable soup that was quite tasty if I say so myself. I should go check on the status of my boiling potatoes.

Popcorn

After a couple of days of feeling lil' bean move around, I didn't feel much of anything until Thursday. Tony felt him moving around, too! Bean's been pretty active the past couple of days. The best way to describe it is it feels like popcorn popping in my belly.

School went pretty well this week. I'm going to need to put in a lot of time into the Calculus class outside of class. I am slow when figuring out problems on my own - this is a problem when we do our group assignments at the end of the class. I feel bad for not contributing because my other group members figure the problems out so much quicker than I. Fortunately, the instructor put all of the Powerpoint lectures up so I can actually look ahead to see what we'll be going over in class to prepare myself. Now I just need to start doing that! My plan for today is to study up on the math, complete my homework that is due on Monday and maybe start on my taxes. I want tomorrow to be my fun day in celebration of my birthday. We are having dinner with several friends at Tamarind Tree tomorrow evening. Tony & I enjoy the food there immensely and it will be the first time for many of our friends. My mouth is watering just thinking about it!

The First Comment

When my belly is bare and I'm showing it off on purpose, I look pregnant. However, I think that it may be iffy to a stranger. Yesterday, I was wearing one of my regular t-shirts that still fits so it was pretty tight. While I was out shopping for clothes for Tony, the salesperson helping me asked me about my pregnancy! You know, is it a boy or a girl and when your due date is and whatnot. This was the first time a stranger said something about me looking pregnant!

Honestly, I think that people might be afraid that I'm not pregnant and that if they say something, I'll be offended because I look pregnant but just have a belly. I know this will be changing in the next few weeks as my belly continues to grow.

I'm still fluctuating between 123 lbs and 124 lbs. My pre-pregnancy weight: 125 lbs. I promise that I am not starving lil' bean. I feel like I'm eating all the time. Speaking of eating, I hear a baked acorn squash calling my name...

The belly grows

A little movie Tony made to see the comparison of the belly growth. 7 weeks, 15 weeks, 17 weeks, 19 weeks and 21 weeks.

And..AND...I can definitely feel the little guy moving around today. This ain't no fluttering, I tell you. All of the books say it will feel like a 'flutter'. It's much more definite to me. I felt something strange on Friday as we were driving home from work and thought, 'maybe...' but then didn't feel anything again. This morning, I was laying in bed with a kitty wrapped around my head and another on my legs. My hand was resting on my lower abdomen and I felt him move under my hand. Surprise! I thought my brain was playing tricks on me because there is no way I can actually feel movement with my hand this early in the pregnancy, right? But then it happened again. I have felt him multiple times since sitting here writing this post. I think it was the rich, fancy French food I ate last night at Jill's birthday dinner.

What to call him?

Tony thinks I should stop referring to the growing baby inside me as lil' bean because he's much bigger than a bean now. I like the nickname. His recommendation? The parasite.

Brenda (Tony's sister) found out today that she's also having a boy. We'll have to converse to make sure we don't pick out the same name :)

Schoolin'

My First Week of Graduate School
by Kris

My schoolin' week started out with Business Ethics & Social Responsibility on Monday. The instructor is not boring and fellow classmates are friendly and willing to discuss things in class. I will be spending plenty of time reading and writing outside of the classroom. First homework assignment due tomorrow.

Today was Business Calculus. I attempted my first homework assignment that was meant to be completed before today last night and promptly realized that I had forgotten everything I 'learned' while studying for the GMAT. The class was good and it was helpful to have the instructor go over things step-by-step. When we broke up into groups to do the in class assignment, I found that I was not the only one who was rusty on the math skills. I think I will be spending extra time going over algebra on my own in hopes that the class won't be too much of a struggle. First homework assignment isn't due until April 9th which is Awesome. This class isn't as hard-core as my other classes will be: it's non-credit and pass/fail. Doesn't mean I'm going to slack, though!

Must get some rest now. Very sleepy.

Soyogurt...the verdict

I have tried multiple kinds of soy yogurt and have never found one that was tasty. Yesterday, at VegFest, I tried a sample of Wild Wood Soyogurt and actually liked it. Amazing! I'm just now finishing off a tub that they gave me. It's not real yogurt, but it's definitely the best soy yogurt that I've ever tasted. Unfortunately, it's not made with enriched soy milk or active live cultures so the calcium isn't where I'd like it to be.

The Turtle will not be decapitated

The pictures didn't come out that well. In my 'free' time, I'll try and see if I can get a good scan. Here's the Turtle picture:


Check out my Flickr gallery for the rest.

The night before the Ultrasound, I was kept awake with the question, "What if Tony wants lil' bean to be circumcised if it's a boy?" We hadn't had the discussion yet so I didn't know his views. I did know, however, that it wasn't something I could compromise on. I'm not sure how it came up, but we discussed it this weekend. It went pretty much like this:

Tony: I'm against circumcison.
Me: Oh good! Me too. I was all afraid that you would want lil' bean to be circumcised.

And then we went and talked about the many reasons why The Turtle will not be decapitated and I also told him of the recent issue Chuzzle's moms went through. If you go to her home page and scroll down, you will find multiple links with info on circumcision.

In the nearish future, we'll need to have the diaper discussion. Tony goes for convenience, but may just change his mind after I give him all of the stats on one-use diapers.

I've also gone and created a new blog that has more of a focus. Check it out!

Cognizant Living

Because, you know, I'll have tons of time to keep up with two blogs - especially since my classes start today! ;)

Turtle

Now that I have spoken to all of my immediate family, I can post it here. We had the ultrasound yesterday and lil' bean is growing as he should and looks healthy. Yep, I said he. We're having a little boy! The tech pointed out the 'turtle' as she called it. The scrotum looks like the shell and the penis is the turtle's head poking out. So silly. When I put the pictures up, I'll be sure to point it out because she is right - it does look like a turtle.

I was busy running around yesterday. I got home around 10 after dropping Tony off from work and then had to leave at 11:30 for my massage appointment. After that, I got my hairs cut and then my school orientation. I ended up not getting home until 7 because I thought I was supposed to meet Tony on Capitol Hill. He was going to get a ride there after work. However, I left my phone at home and didn't have any change to call him from a pay phone. I ran around to his regular haunts but didn't find him. Gave up and went home to find him there. It's times like those that remind me how dependent we've become on mobile phones.

Candy is EEEVVVIIILLLLLL!!!!

Someone in the office keeps buying candy and filling a very large bowl with it for everyone to put their sticky hands in. I can't stop eating it! I don't need all of this sugar. Lil' bean is going to be a sugar addict if I'm not careful.

Good news: my forearm pain is very minimal now. This also means I haven't been on the computer to speak of in the evenings. I need to get wrist supports for home and start using my laptop on my desk and connect it to my monitor & keyboard.

I haven't been reading my books as planned. Tonight, though, Tony will be at Amanda's house so I can read while sitting in front of the fireplace. I find it very difficult to read while the T.V. is on and Tony always seems to be watching something.

We went over to Chris' house last night for Movie Night and watched the new James Bond movie with a bunch of peeps. My back didn't start hurting really badly until the end of the evening and fortunately, the pain didn't last until today. Looks like I'm on the mend!

OK, before this gets any more boring, I'm going to stop with the writing and read Maggie Mason's book. I'm putting myself to sleep.

Two more free weekends

I'm using a gel wrist support with my mouse at work and that has really seemed to help with the forearm pain. I have to be honest - I believe it's my laptop that is the culprit since I use it while sitting on the couch. I'm not sure it could get less ergonomic than that.

It's the weekend! Horrah! Sleeping in! Horrah! I have two more weekends to be lazy before school starts.

My favorite internet past-time lately is looking at design & home improvement sites. I am inspired to do fun things with the house, but we just don't have the money right now. These are the times where it's dangerous to have credit cards. We've been really, really good, but the temptation to use them is still there. We racked up a good amount of cc debt with our wedding & honeymoon and I'm not willing to rack up any more until we get that debt paid down significantly.

OK, done with the blahblahblah. A few books I ordered last month finally arrived yesterday. One of them is No One Cares What You Had For Lunch: 100 Ideas for Your Blog and I'm on a mission to get some good use out of it.

Another thing that makes me a little odd

I get great satisfaction out of paying my bills and balancing all of my bank accounts down to the penny. What does this say about me?

I have pains in my right forearm. It's no good. Makes typing very, very unpleasant.

The Poop Mystery

I arrived home yesterday to find poop on the floor downstairs and it smeared across the floor for about 3-4 feet. Gross! I had dropped Tony off at Amanda's, so he wasn't there to clean it up immediately. I sent him a text message informing him of the treat he'd have to deal with when he got home. This type of behavior is not typical of the kitties and it was likely that the pooping action was causing them much discomfort. After multiple text messages, Tony admitted that he had gone to Taco Bell the night before while I was out getting my eyebrows waxed and shared part of his steak burrito thing with the kitties. It was likely his fault that this happened because the burrito caused him great discomfort and it probably did the same to the kitties.

Poor kitties. He totally deserved having to clean that mess up.

What 'the books' say

They say that by this point in my pregnancy, I should have gained 10 - 13 pounds. The books that I have do not say this can vary widely between women. I think it's a ploy to make us nervous.

To this date, I've lost two pounds and gained three. I, however, will not listen to the books. If my doctor shows concern, then I will be concerned. I also think it's time to find some new books.

By Proxy

One of the many reasons to support NPR: This American Life. And now, it's coming to TV - Showtime. I sure do hope we can buy them off of iTunes. We subscribe to the podcast and are currently listening to the most recent show: By Proxy.

The shopping trip with Julie was successful and only a little painful :) I think I'm set for a little while. Our brunch today was a great success. In attendance were: the hosts, Chris, Jeremy, Julie, Jeremiah, Sunny, Cory, Solomon, Lauren, Steve, Em, Natalie, Rob and Damon. Who knew waffles were so popular? Mmmm...waffles!

Bedding update

Every time I make our bed, I'm reminded to tell the internet that I wouldn't recommend the bamboo sheets I acquired from Bed, Bath and Beyond. I don't know if it's just the nature of bamboo fabric or if it's just the way these are made, but the pillowcases wrinkle terribly. It annoys me so. Although the sheets feel super soft, the bottom sheet has pilled on Tony's side. I'm not sure what he does, but he makes some sheets pill up. Since we've lived together, we've only had one set of sheets this hasn't happened to and it's our high-count Egyptian cotton set. Of course, this set of sheets is black and doesn't go with our new duvet cover at all. Woe is me.

Work was pretty busy this week and my back has been hurting a lot more than usual. Hence, the lack of posts to the blog. Tuesday night, we went over to Natalie's to hang out with a bunch of peeps in her new place. It's really too cute! My back didn't like it at all - it's very particular about support and many people have smooshy couches that provide no back support whatsoever. My back was a'hurtin at the end of the night and it just hasn't fully recovered yet. The think that irks me most about it is that it really restricts what I can do. I can't handle going to see a movie or even go over to Chris' house (he was having pple over on Wednesday night). Time for me to stop complaining. I grow tired of hearing myself.

I am going shopping today with Julie for maternity clothes. Ugh. I tried wearing pants a couple of times this week and it was so uncomfortable. Also, my belly keeps showing because my shirts aren't long enough. The day that I did wear the one maternity shirt that I do own, everyone said that I looked really pregnant that day. My guess is that the cut accentuates the growing belly.

We are having many friends over tomorrow for brunch. I am determined to get social time in before school starts - pains in the back be damned!!

Kill me now!

I registered for classes last week: Business Calculus and Ethics & Social Responsibility. The B.C. class is a prerequisite and I am dreading it so. The class is 4 hours long on Wednesdays. Shall I start crying now? I hope it doesn't make me cry. Chris has already offered to tudor me if needed. I be lucky to have smart friends :D

Friday, we shut the office down early and went bowling. It was tons of fun! I posted pictures in my Flickr gallery if you are interested. In other work news, we had to let someone go today that I really liked. I so did not enjoy that and will miss him. He was a good employee, but he just made a mistake that couldn't be overlooked. Crap happens sometimes.

This weekend flew by and I was just a big homebody. I'm trying to make the most of my downtime before I no longer have any, but I should also try and be more social since I won't have time to socialize once school starts later this month. Natalie moved into her new apartment on Saturday so Tony was off helping her move. I thought about doing some shopping, but just didn't have the motivation to go out and spend more money. I did do a little bit of internet shopping - I bought our plane tickets to San Diego! We're going during the last weekend in April. Yay! Tony hasn't been since little C was 3 weeks old and now he'll be 3 this year. Time flies way too quickly.

Learnedededed

In a few minutes, I'll be leaving work early to head to Seattle University, the place that will be taking lots of my money in return for a quality education. I will be learning about my program and what classes I need to register for and when. One prerequisite that I need is Business Calculus. Scary!

Urge to spend money

It doesn't happen very often, but once in a while I actually get the urge to go shopping. I have that urge RIGHT NOW. Here's a list of things I would like to procure:

- bookcase for our living room
- maternity clothes
- vase & something to go in them for our fireplace mantel
- window coverings
- jeans for Tony
- barstools
- bedroom suite

The bedroom suite, barstools and window coverings are unlikely ATM. I have my eye on a bookcase at Ikea that's $80. I know I can find the mantel solution at Michael's for less than $30. However, I would feel guilty for spending money on any of the above things because they are wants and not needs. But, then again, Tony just spent a good chunk of change yesterday on snowboarding which was definitely a want. Why do I have such a hard time spending money? Although we are in debt, we aren't poor.

It's already Friday

This week has flown by. I can't believe it's Friday already! The only thing I didn't get done on my cleaning feat list was the bathroom on the first floor. This weekend, I'm going to sweep our drive & patio if it doesn't rain. Tony will be out snowboarding on Saturday so I'll have the house all to myself. Bookclub is on Sunday.

Last night was busy. Always Chiropractic was having their 2-year birthday celebration. Tony & I went right after work to celebrate, eat and catch up with Stine & Lyam. We then went and picked Teresa up from work and then headed over to Twist in Belltown for a fund raiser for Jill's brother. He was in a hit-and-run accident as a pedestrian back in early December when we had the big windstorm that knocked out power in much of Seattle. He just got out of the hospital this month and is making marked improvements. $14k was raised for him last night! Afterwards, we went back to Teresa's house for a bit so Tony could meet her little puppy, Piper. He's in love now :)

Too ambitious?

As we work on decorating our house, we're not finding any curtains/drapes that appeal to us for our living room. I have this idea that maybe I should sew them myself. I haven't broken out my sewing machine since moving to Seattle. Is it too ambitious? Am I willing to risk spending money on fabric and then the curtains turn out poorly? What I think may be a good idea may indeed be a bad one.

I didn't get through my feat list. That was too ambitious. However, I am confident that I will get through the list this week. I dyed Tony's hair yesterday and now there is dye all in my clean tub. So disappointing :(

Amanda - I have been known to clean people's houses when I visit them. Especially if they have to work and I am carless. Just ask Betsy!

Weekend feats

- Scrubbed the master bath from top to bottom (except the walls)
- Installed new bathroom fixtures in the guest bath (we've had them for MONTHS)
- Made vegetable stew (potatoes, carrots, collards, kidney beans, tomatoes, onion)

Now that I list it out, it seems like I didn't get a lot done yesterday. Today, my goals are:

- Clean guest bath, half bath & downstairs bath (no tub to scrub so it won't take as long)
- Vacuum
- Organize downstairs guest bedroom
- Take out recycling
- Laundry

Poor Tony is sick with another cold and isn't feeling up to doing much of anything. Teresa was going to come over tonight but we may have to cancel if he's not feeling any better later today.

Make it so

If I tell the Internet, I'll be more likely to do it.

I fully intended to get some cleaning done tonight. Instead, I read my Real Simple magazine, talked on the phone with Jenn, sorted through the pile of mail, paid bills and then wasted time browsing the internet. I have two cleaning goals this weekend: vacuum the house and clean ALL of the bathrooms.

ShooshShooshShoosh

We heard lil' bean's heartbeat today so we know I'm still pregnant. My diet has been poor (for me) and I've been paying for it with constipation. Yeah, I know constipation happens when your pregnant, but I also know you can prevent it if you eat enough fiber and I have not been eating enough fiber lately. That will be changing now because I am not liking this constipation deal AT ALL. I've got the bloating pretty much under control. Eating smaller meals at night means I wake up ravenous, but oh well.

Tony & I are now having to have the discussion on whether to test for down's syndrome or not to test for it. I don't want to do the test and he does. The test could give false positive results. He says he will be too anxious thoughout the rest of the pregnancy unless he knows. The only comprimise I can come up with is that I get the blood test done and have the doctor call Tony with the results.

What today means to me

I've never been a big fan of Valentine's Day. It's a Hallmark holiday and I don't want Hallmark telling me when I'm supposed to give something sweet to the person I'm romantically involved with. Tony, however, likes Valentine's Day. He likes it so much that he proposed to me last Valentine's Day.

February 14th is the anniversary of our engagement. That means a lot more to me than a Hallmark holiday. We're going to dinner and a movie to celebrate. I bought my sweetie a bunch of tulips and hid them in the car for when we leave work.

Out of the closet

I finally came out at work about lil' bean. I'm in my second trimester now and will be showing soon and was tired of making up excuses about so many doctor's appointments. My next appointment is Thursday - we hope to hear lil' bean's heartbeat. The bloating is probably the most uncomfortable thing about my pregnancy so far. I've been eating junk food and still have yet to gain an ounce. I expect to start putting it on soon :)

Utah was a relaxing time. We pretty much just hung out with family. Tony took Casey snowboarding on Saturday. I don't think I left the house once! The kitties sure did miss us.

Our new blinds arrived at the end of last week and we installed them last night. Fun stuff! Unfortunately, one of them got slightly damaged when being shipped, so we must go return it.

Family Weekend

We're off to Utah on a jet plane this afternoon. Whew! It's been a busy week. I hope to have some downtime so I can upload some pictures and catch up on responding to email. Work has been busy and productive and I don't know where my free time goes. Really, I don't.

Jenn, I missed talking to you this week. I will try to give you a ring if I have a free moment this weekend.

A Very Large Shell

Yesterday evening, we returned home to find a notice in our mailbox that the postal service had a package for me at the post office. An unexpected package! We were planning to go to the post office anyway to pick up a certified letter we received (another bleeping lien on our house) so now there was a bonus for me!

The box was square and somewhat large. The return address = unknown. A mystery! We get back into the car to head to work and Tony opens the package - it's a large conch shell. The note that was included only confused us more because it made no sense whatsoever. The person who sent it to me hoped that I enjoyed my visit to Barbados. I only wish I went to the Carribean!

How could someone accidentally send me a conch shell? Our address is brand new so no one has ever had it before. It took me awhile to figure out where it might have come from. I called Dad & Carolyn later in the day - it was from them. The dilemma they faced after purchase was how to send it to me. They asked the diver if he could ship it. He had his daughter take it with her to the states and she shipped it from Florida. Mystery solved.

The Evil Bloat

Starting on Friday, my belly has been severely bloating and hurting after at least one meal a day. It doesn't happen at breakfast, but can happen at lunch or dinner - mostly dinner. It's extremely uncomfortable and i don't know why it's happening. Hating the Evil Bloat!

We arrived at Whistler around 11pm on Friday. After unloading our stuff, we headed over to the condo where Chris, Julie, Adrianne, Lorian and Douglas were staying to hang out with them for a bit. On Saturday, I wasn't planning on boarding but Tony was. Unfortunately, he was still not feeling well enough to go up on the mountain. Instead, we headed to the Village so he could get one of his bindings repaired. We met up with Julie and then went to visit Jill, William and Zach at their hotel room. Zach (9) was grounded for misbehaving the prior day so they decided to head back to Seattle in the afternoon after Jeremiah (11) got back from his day-long boarding lesson. Before they left, the lot of us grabbed lunch at our favorite Irish pub (minus the 3 that were boarding that day). We offered to have Jeremiah stay with us if he wanted to board for one more day. After lunch, we headed back to our lodge so Tony could rest and I could go swimming and take a bath. I love that I can go swimming outside while it's snowing! After my bath, Jill dropped Jeremiah off and we all got ready for Lorian's birthday dinner at Teppan Village (Japanese steakhouse). Fun times!

We got an early start on Sunday - we didn't want to miss out on the little bit of snow that had fallen the previous day. Towards mid-morning, we noticed written notifications on the lift signs about 99 (the main road to get to/from Whistler) was closed due to a landslide. Oh crap! By this point, it had started raining so we decided to head down the mountain around 1:30pm to figure out a plan. We found that they were working on clearing it out and hoped to have the road opened by 5pm. We hung out for a bit and then headed back to Seattle around 5. Strangely enough, we saw no evidence of the mudslide other than a little bit of traffic. We dropped a very tired Jeremiah off at his parent's house around 11pm and then headed home to lay our own exhausted heads down for the night.

What is it with these delays on getting home from Whistler?

Complaining time

My belly is bloated and it hurts. Hating it!
The lawyer that we met with last week is dragging his feet on sending a letter out to the seller. We are so done with dealing with people who are nonresponsive. My guess is that he's not putting forth the effort since he isn't going to be making much money off of our case.

Oh lookie! Time to go home, feed the kitties lots of food, pack up the car and head to Whistler for the weekend!

Puppy dog eyes

A friend of ours, Diana, is an artist. For our wedding, Diana and Cory gave us a print of the below image beautifully framed.

Diana is having a showing tonight during the monthly art walk in Pioneer Square. Tony found out that she's reduced the price on the original of Alien Girl. He came into my office and gave me the puppy dog eyes. Seriously.

We just forked out $900 for car maintenance. That boy has the hardest time with a budget. I'm doing our best not to increase our credit card debt since we loaded up the card during our wedding & honeymoon. *sigh*

Quashed!

My ideas of what to eat today have been very good until this afternoon. For breakfast, a bowl of cereal. Lunch, mushroom barley soup and kale & seaweed salad. Snack, red bartlett pear. And then, the bad idea came into my head. I was craving something salty & crunchy (i.e. chips) but I knew my tummy would regret indulging in a bag of Cheetoes. Then, I remembered. I brought in rice cakes. Rice cakes saved the day! Sure, they lack flavor and they were so dry that they stuck to my lips, but I no longer craved chips. Bad idea QUASHED!

I had to take Tony home this afternoon. He's not feeling well and is running a fever. Poor Tony :(

Still, no new snow in the mountains and no predictions of snow in the upcoming week. We're going up to Whistler this weekend and this was my last hope of snowboarding this season(I'm only comfortable doing it in great conditions right now). The trip is still going to be lots of fun. It's a bigger group going this time: me, Tony, Chris, Julie, William, Jill, her 2 kids, Douglas, Lorian. 10 of us total. I'm kinda bummed that the kids' first Whistler experience is going to be on mediocre snow.

The story I keep meaning to write about

In an earlier post, I mentioned that I'm back down to my pre-hypothyroidism weight. Although my pant size hasn't really changed, my ring size has. We had my ring made when I was about 8-10 lbs heavier. A few weeks ago, I shook my hand and my engagement ring flew off and hit Natalie in the back of her head (I was giving her a shoulder massage). Ack. I thought to myself, "Always keep your fingers bent when shaking your hands". Great plan, right? Ha!

About a week ago, I was moving a neighbor's recycling bin out from our driveway. When I tipped it to roll it to their property, water that was sitting on the lid poured onto my hands. First reaction? Shake the water off. First realization? Oh crap! I didn't keep my fingers bent! Both my engagement ring and wedding band flew off my finger onto the rocks and dirt in their drive. It took me a good 15 minutes to find both. I was so thankful it wasn't raining at the time! I moved my rings over to my right hand for the time being. If I stay at my current weight for the next few years, I'll see a jeweler about resizing my rings. We also need to get on the ball and get this engagement ring insured.

I am...

Many people who have widely read blogs call themselves 'writers'. I write a blog and I suppose the act of writing means I'm a writer, but I'm not a 'writer'. I guess a 'writer' is someone who considers writing to be her career. Sometimes I wish my job description was just one word. I'm an organizer, analyzer, processor, trainer, mediator, thinker, writer, buyer and talker. I'm getting my MBA so I can do it all with a degree to back me up.

I've been having that Lottery dream again. You know, the one we all have. If I won the Lottery, I'd quit my job to be a full-time student, full-time parent and a full-time homemaker. I'd dye my hair funny colors again. When the kids start school, I'd start my own business of selling refurbished furniture that I refurbished myself. I love making old stuff look nice and pretty again. I might have to develop my own non-toxic wood stain & enamel. It's all about being green, folks. Chris says I don't need to win the Lottery to do this which is true, but it sure would make things easier. We're about to go into some serious debt for grad school, so my pipe dreams will be on hold for awhile.

Right now, I am tired. My weekend wasn't nearly as productive as I would have liked. They haven't been so productive lately which kinda bums me out. I really enjoy being productive.

Almost Fainting & Yummy Food

Last night, Chris & I went to see the Cruxshadows. It was great to catch up with old friends. Rogue and Jessica are finally getting married after dating for, let's see...14 years. Jessica was one of the first people I met at FSU when I first started attending the school in 1993. Her and Rogue had just started dating. My how time flies. We arrived around 10 knowing that there was 2 opening bands. Unfortunately, things got off to a late start and the Cruxshadows didn't start playing until almost 12:30! We had been standing around for a couple of hours at that point. I started not feeling so well: nauseous & dizzy. After about 3 songs, I told Chris I needed to go so we started to walk out. I was walking ahead of him - the dizziness increased and my vision started to tunnel & darken to the point where I couldn't see at all. He had been stopped by a friend to chat so I grabbed onto the bar and then crouched down onto the floor. I sat there for a couple of minutes until my vision came back and then I stood up and told Chris that I needed to go (he didn't even notice me crouching on the floor). As we continued to walk out, it started happening again. Thankfully, there was a stool that I could sit instead of having to crouch on the floor. Chris was finally able to get me outside where the cool air helped.

I've never fainted before but I've heard of what it feels like. I think my blood pressure just got too low from standing in one place for so long. I need to be careful! I've felt just a little dizzy today when standing up from my desk. If it continues throughout the weekend, I'm calling my doctor's office on Monday.

I made a yummy dish last night. I added one thing, though: tofu.

Oh lame. I just tried to find the recipe on Vegetarian Times but it's not on there yet. It's from a recent issue. It has soba noodles, a peanut sauce made from scratch and Napa cabbage. Oh vell.

Pining for The Fancy

One day, many years ago, I came across beautiful bedding while wandering around The Bon (now Macy's). I immediately fell in love with Calvin Klein's bedding line but could never fathom spending so much money for designer sheets. However, my pining for the CK never ceased. It has always been a want of mine. I've never had fancy bedding and for the past many years, my bedding has come from Ikea.

When it came time to register for wedding gifts, I put a CK set on our Macy's list - the full shebang: duvet cover, bedskirt, shams, throw pillow, sheets. The total amount of the full set came to an obscene amount (around $1k). It even went on sale. I kept my fingers crossed, but not a pillowcase was bought. My dreams were dashed. We did receive a new duvet, so I started hunting for reasonably priced bedding.

During moments of boredom, I would venture over to Macy's website to pine. Then, the set went on MegaSale: 50% to 75% off. And, we also received our annual bonus. I asked Mr. Kris if we could spend a portion of our bonus on new bedding and he said Yes! The CK was all mine. I sent him links to a couple of different sets to see if he favored one over the other but he didn't seem to care. Even though everything was on MegaSale, I couldn't bring myself to spend so much money to get the complete set. I purchased the duvet cover, a set of pillowcases and the bedskirt. I then hunted for a set of blue sheets to bring out the blue in the CK per Tony's request. I ended up buying the queen set of the bamboo sheets we received as a gift for our guest bed. Bamboo is lovely!

Here's the before picture of our plain, Ikea bedspread:

And here's the after picture:

Go to my Flickr gallery for more pictures.

Now I pine for new bedroom furniture. Ideally, I'd like to find the perfect pieces gently used and will have the time (ha!) to refinish them. We'll see if that ever happens. Here's the new stuff I'm pining for:

Yesterday was full of bad ideas

After the frito incident, I made two more bad decisions about what I ate yesterday. As we were driving home yesterday, the hubby and I had the usual discussion about what to eat for dinner. I was feeling exceptionally lazy and mentioned Taco Time. I had been craving salty beans all day. I consumed most of a bean & cheese burrito before heading out to do a bit of shopping. When I got home from my shopping adventure, I ate another ice cream cone. Tummy was feeling OK. Then, Tony grabs the pint of Coffee Heath Bar Crunch and I proceeded to eat about 5 bites of that before heading to bed. Not only did my upset tummy keep me up, but I think the caffeine from the coffee ice cream did, too. I be tired today. My fruit & vegetable consuption yesterday was pathetic and that always makes me feel like crap.

Today, I ate a salad for lunch and will be eating some black bean soup soon. We're going over to Cathy & Eric's for dinner tonight - kale is on the menu and I sure do love me some kale. Today, I have (mostly) good ideas about what to eat.

Speaking of eating, I am back down to my pre-hypothyroidism weight. Strangely, though, I am still the same size pants (10). I think I've lost a lot of my muscle tone since I stopped working out. Snowboarding on the weekends just doesn't cut it. I hope to find a new gym that is close to home and our new office location. My back is not liking my inactive lifestyle :(

Stupid ideas

On occassion, I get this idea in my head that some Fritos would be a good idea. I grab a bag from our little snack area at work and munch away. It isn't until a few minutes later that I remember that eating Fritos is a bad idea. Although they may taste good, they make me nauseous. Stupid ideas. Why don't I learn from my mistakes all the time?

I love this picture of Screech

So I must share it. I took it using the digital macro feature on my camera.

I found myself one of those "best" husbands

I say to Tony, "I'm craving ice cream." He says, "Want me to go get you some?" I say, "No, but Yes." And he asks, "What kind?" I reply, "Cherry Garcia ice cream bars. But, if they don't have those, then Heath Bar Crunch."

He comes back from the store with Cherry Garcia ice cream cones b/c they didn't have the bars and Coffee Heath Bar Crunch b/c he wasn't sure the cones would satisfy my craving.

Did I mention that I am fully capable of going to the store myself and that my husband loves me so much that he indulges me and lets me be lazy?* That's why he's one of the best husbands. He also went to the store on Friday night to get me ice cream, too.

*I was actually folding his laundry so it's a fair trade ;)

Teh Show + Teh Sick

Emily Haines, the lead singer of Metric, is playing a solo show tonight at The Crocodile. I am very excited! I love me some Metric and am looking forward to hearing her solo music.

I am also sick. Feeling better today than I was yesterday, but still not well. It's a little cold. I get grumpy because I'm just not used to being sick. Bleh. Tony & Chris are out snowboarding today while I sit at home and rest. I want to feel better by tonight so I can enjoy the show more.

Snowboarding Misadventure

Yesterday, Chris & Tony went snowboarding at Crystal with Ira. Ira used to go boarding with us frequently until about 2 seasons ago when he broke his wrist. After taking some time off, he decided that he was ready to start boarding again. I love Ira, but he did a very stupid thing which put himself and my husband in danger.

Ira isn't very familiar with Crystal - he's a Steven's Pass boarder typically. Chris separated from Tony & Ira to go look for some other friends on a different part of the mountain. Tony & Ira headed up Chair 6 with the intention of doing the bowl over there. Well, Ira jumped off the lift and before Tony knew it, he saw him go under a boundary rope.* At first, Tony thought he might have slipped under the rope by accident. He waited at top expecting Ira to climb back up. After about 10 minutes, Tony decided to go find Ira. He told some people that were there what he was doing and gave him his name and Ira's name. Tony followed Ira's trail (this was easy since the snow was untouched) until he came upon Ira under a tree. Fortunately, he didn't fall into the tree well, but he did run into the tree and hit his head.

So it seems that Ira purposely went under the rope because he wanted to get the fresh lines in the untouched snow. This displeased Tony greatly. To make a long story short, Tony & Ira had to hike many miles to get to Chris who was waiting for them at the road. At one point, they ran into a couple of skiers who had a cell phone that had reception. Tony was able to call Chris to tell him the situation.

They arrived home a few hours later than expected. After Tony recapped the story to me, it seemed apparent that Ira had a slight concussion. Tony thought that he might have had too much to drink but Ira hadn't had that much at all. He was having trouble keeping his balance and was making foolish decisions the whole time Tony was trying to get them out of the situation and to safety. It didn't dawn on Tony that he was acting like that due to his head injury.

Needless to say, Tony & Chris will not be snowboarding with Ira again at Crystal. I also don't think Ira will do something that stupid again. If Tony didn't follow Ira to make sure he was OK, Ira would have gotten lost on that mountain.

*For those who are unfamiliar with ski resorts - they set a boundary of the resort. If you cross the boundary ropes, you head into unpatrolled areas that you aren't meant to be in. If you get hurt, there is no ski patrol to come rescue you. There is also no avalanche control in these areas.

This Crazy Winter up here

We are going through another cold snap in the PNW. It snowed in the city again on Wednesday and then we've had very cold weather so it's no melting and the roads are staying icy. Fun stuff! I am so happy that we have all-wheel drive.

A new administrative assistant started this week. I sure do hope she works out. This time, I'm managing her which really simplifies matters.

We now have internet at home thanks to Clearwire. It's not as fast as cable or dsl, but it's a whole lot better than nothing!

That Graduate School Business

It's true - I haven't said a peep about grad school since I took the dreaded GMAT. It was unsure if my math score was high enough. I just found out today that I have been accepted into the program! Wahoo! (that was for Jenn)

After taking the test, I was hearing crickets from the direction of Seattle University. I then got distracted with the wedding, honeymoon and house-buying. I finally contacted them a week or so ago and it turns out I needed to make an official request to have my application moved to a different semester. It's possible that I could have started this semester, but oh well.

On March 26th, I'll be a grad student. Now I need to figure out how I'm going to pay for this. I know there has been talk about making some trips this spring - I'll have to see what my schedule will look like now. Classes are over the first week in June. I'll be sure to keep everyone updated.

The everlasting headache

It started last night and has yet to subside. I'm done now.

We've been blessed with lots of snow in the mountains this last week so snowboarding was very fun yesterday. Powder! However, not everyone's day was great. Actually, it turned out to be pretty terrible. Sunny & Chrisbee went up to Crystal, too, and were meant to meet us for lunch. We didn't see them at lunch, so we thought they didn't make it. Tony got a call from Sunny at about 4:15pm wondering if we could tow Chrisbee's car that had broken down in Enumclaw. She was on her way to the hospital in his car because, you see, that's where Chrisbee was taken...by an ambulance. Oh dear. Seems like he caught an edge and fell pretty hard. Ended up with a concussion and a couple of bruises on his spine. Yikes. He was taken to the hospital b/c at first, he could not feel his arms and the ski patrol feared the injury to his spine was much worse. This was Chrisbee's second time boarding. Needless to say, he's giving up the sport as is Sunny. We ended up not towing Chrisbee's car - we had no idea how we were going to accomplish this anyway.

Just to reassure all of you - everyone I know who has gotten hurt has hurt themselves when they are beginning. I am way past that point and don't even get bruises any more. I am a very cautious rider, know how to fall correctly and even wear a helmut.

After multiple conversations, i realized that I did not post an update here about the house situation. When Dustin got back from his holiday, he called around to bug some people. Talked to the building company who has the contract on this project. Unfortunately, they will not be doing any more work on this project until they get paid by the seller and the seller ain't payin'. We are the ones who suffer. Windermere will be covering the cost of a consultation with a real estate lawyer and will also be filing an official complaint. If everything is not done by the end of this month, we will be suing the seller. Ugh. I really don't want to have to go there. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that another unit will sell soon so he has money to pay the builders or his investors front him $$. Blech.

Happy New Year!

2006 was a big year for us starting with our engagement in February, wedding in September, Honeymoon in November and new house in December with lots of other fun stuff in between.

We also welcomed Charlotte, Rowan and Alyssa into this world - it was the year of girls.

We can't wait to see what 2007 brings!

Cathy & Eric had a pirate theme party last night. It was full of fun. We're now watching Dune and will be going to work later today to catch up on stuff.

Happy Holidays!

It has been a crazy time here. My last post about the weather? Well, that storm not only brought snow in the mountains but also brought high winds which proceeded to knock out power to over a million people in Washington. Our power at home went out Thursday night around 10:30 and came back sometime on Friday. The power at work was out for 4 days. Poor Chris was without power for 6 days. Work was hectic last week and then we've been busy with family in town.

The holidays have been great so far. I was bad and didn't take any pictures. My camera battery died and I haven't bothered to recharge it. Me is lame!

We found out some news about our place today. John the Builder, who wasn't returning our calls, is no longer working for the building company. The building company wasn't sending out anyone to fix the rest of the stuff because they thought all of it had already been done. Sooo...someone is meant to call us tomorrow to schedule an appointment so we can show them all of the things that still need to be completed. It better happen and soon. I'm so ready to have internet at home!

Lovely, lovely precipitation

A nice storm is passing by this week and is expected to dump 1-3 feet of snow in the mountains. Oh, the joy of snowboarding in powder.

There was a rumor that the PNW would have a crappy season this year. Those rumors have been proven incorrect so far. It seems the rest of the WORLD is having the crappy season. I'm feeling lucky!

Email from Officer Noon

Dear Mr. Johnston,

I monitored the condition of the fellow in the red car over the course of the evening after you all left. Initially he took a turn for the worst and his condition was very grave. Some how though, he pulled through and is expected to survive. He has many injuries and has many surgeries in the coming year. The other driver was released from hospital the following day. Please have a look at our webpage www.westvancouverpolice.ca in the press release section for an update.

Again though, thanks for helping us out. In times like these, where we are unsure of the survival of an individual we must get as much info as we can. The four of you certainly helped us out.

All the best,

Dave Noon

The Unfortunate Event

First, the fun stuff: We leave Seattle around 6:45 as planned. Traffic wasn't bad and we made it up to Bellingham by 8:00 PM with the intentions of eating at our favorite rest stop: Casa Que Pasa. Our disappointment was great when we found it is closed for an undetermined amount of time. We found a pizza place with tasty pies.

Our arrival time at Whistler was around 12:00 AM. The roads up were a bit icy, but not too sketchy. We awoke on Saturday to disappointment: no new snow the night before. We headed up Whistler mountain to find mediocre conditions. Julie and I decided to stop boarding after lunch in favor of shopping in the Village. We met the boys back at the condo and then went for sushi at Sushi Village. Yum!

A little bit of snow fell Saturday night, so the conditions were more favorable on Sunday. We boarded all day and had great fun. It wasn't an epic powder day, but it also wasn't icy and crunch like the day before. We headed down the mountain around 3 and then stopped for some eats at our favorite pub before hitting the road around 4 PM.

We were a bit sad to leave since snow was in the forecast for all week. Evidence of this was the rain we had to deal with on the way down the mountain which made the driving conditions unpleasant. Mountain roads are often dangerous - especially when drivers go far too fast. We were about 10 minutes outside of West Vancouver when the Unfortunate Event happened.

We are behind a pick-up truck that is going the speed limit or below - he's driving very safely. And then it happens - a little red car comes around the bend and comes right into oncoming traffic. I see the car go completely into our lane and yell, "Oh Jesus!" because I knew what was going to happen. SLAM! It has a head-on collision with the truck that is in front of us. Amazingly enough, there were no oncoming cars in the northbound lane and there just so happened to be a small, paved shoulder to the side. Tony manages to get our car across the other lane onto the shoulder. Within those few seconds, I was bracing myself for the collision we were about to be in. I am baffled that we did not hit another car, drive into the ditch, drive into the side of the mountain or be hit. Anti-lock breaks and Tony's quick reflexes spared us from our own accident.

We came to a stop and looked back - the accident was pretty bad. The truck was on its side pinned against the guard rail. The front half of the car was smashed and the smell of gasoline was overpowering. People started pouring out of their cars to check things out and several started calling 9-1-1 (including Chris). The first Paramedics arrived 5 minutes later. Soon, multiple fire trucks and paramedics arrived. They had to use the jaws of life to get the driver out of the car. At one point, they pulled out a booster seat and infant car seat from the back seat of the car. Fortunately, both were empty. We aren't sure how long we were there. We had to go to the police station in West Vancouver to give official statements and left there about 9:30 PM.

The driver of the truck came out of the accident with minor injuries. The driver of the car was taken by helicopter to the hospital in Vancouver for surgery. The officer that took our statements will be keeping us updated on how the driver of the car is doing.

It's events like these that remind me of my own mortality and how dangerous car collisions can be. Please drive carefully and defensively and give the ones you love a big hug.

sssswwwwoooooossssssshhhhhh

Hello!

I haven't forgotten about you. Promise. We still don't have internet at our new house and work has been very busy the last couple of weeks. Here's a brief list of what's been going on:

Finally closed on the house on Monday.
unpacking, unpacking and more unpacking.
Buying stuff for the house.
Tried to get internet installed on Wednesday but the joiner box was nowhere to be found.
We still don't have a mailbox or garbage bins.
unpacking, unpacking, unpacking.
Going to Whistler this weekend with my Favorite, Chris and Julie. Swoosh!

The ongoing headache

Finally, the Certificate of Occupancy was issued today. We are staying at our new house this weekend even though we aren't closing until Monday. Dammit. Me, Tony and Dustin are all in the pissed-off mood with how this closing has happened.

We are going to skip snowboarding this weekend to finish moving the last of our stuff (kitties! computers!) and settle down into our new abode. Our friends will be sad, but they will understand.

OK - must get back to work.

Did I mention the snow?

The fluffy white stuff is not helping at all with getting stuff done for our new house. The snow and very cold weather in the city has prevented people from getting to work. The status right now: the inspection has been done by the city for the certificate of occupancy, but the person who is meant to process the paperwork hasn't been in the office. Lameness. We were at our apartment tonight trying to get as much cleaning done as possible but left when it started to sleet. The roads get pretty treacherous when they get icy due to all of the hills. Although our lease ends tomorrow, we were given permission to take a bit longer to move out of our apartment. Dustin called the owner of our building and told her our situation (he still works for the company managing another building). Since our apartment hasn't been rented yet, she gave the OK for us to take a couple of extra days to move out.

The waiting game continues.

The saga continues

Woe is me. Our poor kitties must spend another night alone in an empty apartment. The excuse today? Snow. That's right folks - it's been snowing in the city a little and snowing a lot outside of the city. Apparently, the key people to make the Certificate of Occupation happen are snowed in today. Somehow, i don't believe them. All of our stuff sits in our new house that we cannot occupy. Our furry friends along with the ones that live in tanks must stay in our old apartment. We've been staying at Chris' house.

There has been other things that haven't been happening as they should be, but I don't feel like going into that house drama. I'm tired.

In other news, the snowboarding at Crystal this past Saturday was fantastic! We've been experiencing a nice front that has been continuously dumping snow in the mountains. We may have to make an impromtu trip to Mt. Baker this weekend so we don't miss out on that fluffy goodness. They've been getting tons of snow! Next weekend, me, Tony, Chris and Julie are headed up to Whistler for our first trip up there for this season.

More good news! Alyssa Wolff was born on Saturday, 11/26 at 1:15 AM. She is precious! Tony & I will need to plan a trip to Naples soon to meet our newest niece.

Intermission for a house update

I have the basis written for our honeymoon story, but there are revisions that need to be made. My extra time right now is being devoted to getting ready to move.

It hasn't been going as smooth as hoped. We've been meeting with delays at every corner that are out of our control. We signed all of the paperwork today, but Title is still waiting for some info from the seller. This info should have been requested a week or so ago but it was not. Now we wait. Fortunately, Chris the Seller is very understanding and will be giving us the keys tomorrow when we do the final walk-through so we can move over the weekend. It has been an unexpected nightmare, but we'll get through it. Our evenings have been spent packing in preparation for the movers on Friday. The closing may not occur until next week :(

It has been raining here and cold enough for snow in the mountains. Yay! We did go snowboarding last weekend but the conditions weren't good. The snowboarding this coming up weekend will be much better. Yes, we are going to take a day off from moving to go snowboarding. We just can't help it!

Long overdue

Honeymoon Day 1

Our flight to NYC left Seattle at 7AM on Saturday with a layover in Cincinnati. We arrived in Cincinnati to find that our connecting flight had been cancelled. Delta put us on a flight that went to Atlanta and then to NYC. No thank you! We requested to be changed to a different flight going into the NJ airport. Due to the cancellation, they gave us a couple of food vouchers so we had some lunch while we waited for our flight. We arrived at our gate to find they had overbooked the flight and were asking for volunteers to take the next flight. After some discussion, we decided to take the $400 in flight vouchers and more meal vouchers and spend a few more hours waiting in the airport. Plus, we flew first class. Finally, we arrived in NY around 10PM. We checked into our room that Jill reserved for us with her frequent traveler points and found she had ordered us a bottle of wine and cheese plate that was waiting for us in our room. Unfortunately, our luggage didn’t make it at the same time we did. However, our luggage was delivered to our hotel by the time we woke up in the morning. We went out to find a place to have a drink but found only disappointing atmospheres. The people in New York are much yuppier than I expected.

Honeymoon Day 2

We didn’t have any definite plans for our first full day in NY except to have brunch with Brad. We decided to walk because the best way to explore a city is by foot. We met Brad and his friend, Megan, at a vegetarian restaurant that he picked out. After a tasty meal, we parted ways with Brad & Megan and strolled through Central Park. The area was really crowded due to the NYC Marathon. As we were walking by the Children’s Zoo in the park, I spotted Estelle sitting in the zoo. She, Jean, Charlie and a couple of their friends were headed out of the Zoo so we met them at the exit. We knew they’d be in NYC at the same time we would be, but I didn’t imagine we’d randomly run into them! We chatted for a bit while walking out of the park and then parted ways. Our next stop was The Apple Store on 5th Avenue. We picked up a few things and then headed out – the store was too crowded to spend much time there. After that, we wandered around the city exploring the different areas. One of our stops was Macy’s – the store was huge and confusing. One fun thing was riding a wooden escalator – who knew there was such a thing? We continued to explore with no particular destination. At one point, we were hungry and needing some food but could not find a place to eat. Our legs were tired and we needed to rest so it was a little frustrating to be a little lost. Finally, we did find a place to rest and afterwards, we headed over to Greenwich to get some dinner and catch the movie, “”Borat”.

5:20 AM in Prague

I didn't do so well with conquering the jet lag. We didn't sleep much on the plane ride here which wasn't a surprise. I fell asleep between 8PM and 9PM Prague time and woke up around 2AM. Not sure what to do to help me get some sleep.

My first impression of Prague: I am so surprised with how modern touristy it is. Very Old Buildings everywhere and the street level floors have been converted to retail/dining space.

I will tell the stories later and post more pictures. Promise.

Amanda - the internet is about the only way we are reachable. Would we have to rent a car to get to where your friends are?

The best thing about NYC is

You and Me!

Here's the brief list:

Delayed lots in Cincinnati - didn't get to NYC until 10pm.
Wandered lots on Sunday - had lunch with cousin Brad & Megan, ran into friends in Central Park (for reals!), visited the Apple store and wandered around a LOT. Oh yeah! Rode on a wooden escalator. For reals! In Macy's: the most confusing store ever.
Monday - MOMA and East Village.

Fun stuff! New shoes! Leaving for Prague tomorrow!

Kale chips! Kale chips :p

I love me some kale. Being that it is one of nature's 'superfoods', I was excited to try this new way of making it that I found on Hungry Girl. Kale chips! Yes, it was too good to be true. I made some Kale Chips last night and they just tasted like burnt paper. So disappointing.

We had our inspection yesterday and everything went really well (as expected). Too bad my GMAT exam didn't go as well. I'm unsure if the score will be high enough to get into the program. Let's hope they don't make me wait too long to find out.

I forgot my camera yesterday so there are no new pictures of the place :(
Jenn - I asked about the fireplace and they are putting up tile all around it. We'll just have to wait and see!

It will be weird. We leave for our honeymoon this Saturday. As soon as we get back, we'll be doing our final walk-through and signing the paperwork. So exciting! Dustin's going to check in once in awhile to make sure they are progressing on schedule.

Too nervous for a title

3.5 hours until my exam. I'm trying not to be too nervous. Nerves do not help with the standardize test-taking. If all goes well today, I won't have to fork out another $250 in an attempt to get into grad school. I figure if I can't get a high enough score today, I shouldn't be attempting grad school anyway.

So tonight, I will get to socialize and not feel guilty that I am not studying. Tomorrow, I want to have a leisurely brunch, do a little shopping, do some cleaning around the house that I've been neglecting and finish up paperwork (voter's ballot, Escrow, mortgage).

Thank you, Jenn, for the message this morning :D

Inspection has been moved to Tuesday at 1pm. This weekend, we will be filling out as much paperwork as we can - I think the last thing that will need to get done for the homeowner's insurance ppwk is the appraisal. That really can't be done until the house is finished a bit more. Need to get that all set up before I can send back the Escrow ppwk. Our goal is to have everything done before we leave next Saturday so all we have to do is sign the closing paperwork when we get back from Prague.

Time to do some last-minute review of the math problems that give me anxiety!

Didn't get the memo

I really enjoy taking a bath once in awhile. However, I don't enjoy taking a bath in a tub with glass doors on it. No thanks, I say! So, when we went to go see our place on Monday, I remembered that I wanted to make sure they didn't put doors on the tub in the master bath. Unfortunately, I didn't remember to say something until after we got home. I called Dustin and left him a voicemail. He then called the seller, Chris, and left him a voicemail. Apparently, he didn't get the message.

I got a somewhat distressed call from Dustin yesterday afternoon informing me that they installed glass doors earlier that day. The seller requested that we take a look at it just to make sure that we didn't want them on the tub. We made a little trip to the house last night and verified that no, we do not want the doors. The silicone hadn't even set so it won't be hard for them to take them out.

We were really happy that we went to the place because 1) we got to meet the builder, and 2) we got to see our appliances. The builder's name is John and it was obvious he is very proud of the project. He took us around and showed us this and that and raved about the quality of the materials. He explained why the light fixture was off center in the guest bath and assured us it would be fixed before we moved in. We discussed putting in a soaking tub in the master bath in the future (my dream!) and the reason why he chose cherry wood for the floors and maple for the cabinets.

Our washer and dryer have been installed - front loading washer! I am so excited about this. Our refrigerator - side by side with an ice/water dispenser in the door! We are very happy with the quality of appliances.

The iffy news: John is not sure they'll be done enough for the inspection on Friday. He's going to give Dustin a call tonight to inform us of the status.

House pictures

We showed up for inspection yesterday at 1pm to find that they weren't far enough along for us to have the inspection done. It's been rescheduled for Friday. I did snap a couple of pictures - it will be nice to see the progress. We were pleasantly surprised to find they built a little awning for the front of the place:

Our boss, Ralph, was in the neighborhood visiting a friend so he stopped by. He was very impressed with the cabinets:

Here's Tony & Dustin discussing things - this would be close to our eating area:

Our gas fireplace, slider door and big window. There are big windows throughout to let lots of light in:

Stairs going up to the top floor. The skylight is a nice touch:

Upstairs guest bedroom:

Master bedroom:

I'll take more pictures on Friday. We are very anxious to move in!

Progress

Just wanted to pop in and post a little something before I delve back into studying. It was tough at first, but things are coming back to me. I'm still disappointed how quickly I forget formulas - if I don't use it, I definitely lose it.

Tony made me lunch and dinner yesterday - I could totally get used to that! However, he doesn't know the concept of vegetables. I don't think he would eat vegetables at home if it wasn't for me. He'll eat them when we go out to dinner but doesn't think to prepare any when making a meal. I'll have to see about changing that habit since he'll likely be the one doing most of the cooking once I start grad school.

The fear of the GMAT

With taking a little break from studying to get married and stuff, I thought it would be easy for me to do a quick review of the math and I'd be back up to speed. This is not the case so far and it makes me worry. I really wish someone wrote a quick review instead of these monsterous books :( I'm also finding it increasingly difficult to stay focused in the evenings after work. I review the work, but just can't seem to concentrate enough to get it. Ugh. This weekend will be all about the studying - my test is next Saturday!

Our inspection was pushed back until Monday, so you'll have to wait for the pictures. The appliances are being installed tomorrow and I'm excited to see what they look like. I have been reassured daily that we made the right choice - there have been no new listings on the market that are even remotely appealing to me.

Negotiations

Eeeeep! So, the seller counter offered our original offer with a $356k asking price and $1k in closing costs. We replied with $356k asking price and $5k in closing costs. He replied with $356k asking price and $3k in closing costs so we are going with it. Dustin will be faxing the paperwork over shortly for us to sign. SO EXCITING!!!!

We'll be having the inspection later this week - I'll be sure to take my camera and get pictures of the inside.

Prague Hotel

Here is the hotel we are staying at in Prague. Wheeeee! Thank you to Dad & Carolyn for scoping the place out while there and getting us a great rate!

Hotels in New York are freaking expensive! We may just go with a hostel if it will save us a good chunk of $$. Tony's on the task since he knows New York and has an idea of where we want to stay.

Let's try it again

We put up an offer on another place today. This one is a brand-new townhouse in the Mt. Baker/Columbia City/Rainier Valley/Genesee area. The area is going through a lot of changes (bluntly: Gentrification) and the location is prime. The pictures aren't much to look at since the places aren't even finished. However, I can say that it is the best laid-out townhouse we have viewed and it is really well-built.

We came across this place when we first started looking but didn't jump on it right away because we weren't really sure if we wanted to buy in that area and we were hoping that we could find a house. The last few weeks have been a great learning experience and it really helped us figure out what we want right now for our money. At first, we thought we'd want a smaller place where we could build a lot of equity quickly by making renovations and then sell it in 2 years. However, the houses that we were finding were at the top of our price range and we wouldn't have the money to do the necessary renovations within the next two years. We did see a condo this weekend that was well under our price range where we could easily renovate the place, but then we decided that we wanted someplace bigger. There was the one townhouse that we've had our eye on that is in the Central District, but it just didn't feel right. There were issues about the layout that we didn't like so we didn't make a move on it since it's at the top of our price range.

After much discussion and a second look, we knew this place was the best we could find for our money and in a location we'd be happy with. It's also large enough so we won't grow out of it anytime in the near future. And let me tell you, the place is swank.

Dustin presented the offer to the listing agent today who also happens to be the builder/developer. We are offering a lower amount than the asking price, so keep your fingers crossed that he agrees to our offer and there is no counter offer!

The call from Dustin

My phone rang at 10 AM on Sunday - it was Dustin. The seller pulled her house off the market. Apparently, she's done this before. The listing agent believes she needs the money but doesn't want to sell her house so she keeps changing her mind. Oh well - things like this happen. We'll keep our eye out to see if she relists it.

We are pondering putting up an offer on this place. The value will definitely increase in the very near future due to the location, but it has some quirks that we'd want to change. However, I told Tony that I don't want to pay more than $350k for it. I'm willing to go over our limit if it's a house, but not a townhouse.

Tuesday is the most popular day to list new properties. We're hoping to see something we really like this week!

Fingers crossed, please!

So we're putting an offer up on a house - our agent is on his way over with the offer letter. An offer was already submitted to the owners but they sent it back so we still have a chance. If a bidding war starts, we'll likely have to bow out since the house is already above our price range. Per Jenn's request, here's a link to the place.

The price is a stretch for us, but it's doable if we watch our pennies. The updating we want to do to the house will definitely increase the value without costing us too much. Plus, it's a place that is large enough for us to stay in once our family starts to grow.

Keep your fingers crossed! I'm not allowing myself to get too excited yet.

A stumble

I was in the middle of printing a mail merge and my printer ran out of ink. D'oh! I decided to take this pause in work to post here because I can.

I must buckle down and start studying for the GMAT again. I scheduled my test for October 28th and making sure I take a print-out of my confirmation this time.

This week, our nights have been filled with TV Season Premeirs. Summer's over and it's time to start watching our TV shows again! We've added one (not sure what I think about watching more TV): Heroes. So, Monday is Heroes, Tuesday is Veronica Mars, Wednesday is Lost and Thursday is The Office. That 3.5 hours of entertainment a week - a.k.a. study breaks.

The gym I was going to during my lunches closed down :( My body is a'hurtin from the lack of exercise. I don't want to pay another sign-up fee and then our office move in 6 months. Ugh. Yes, i know there are other options to gyms for exercise. I could start taking walks during lunch or something. I've been so busy during my lunches that I forget to get up from my desk. Meh.

Julie's mom is arriving in Seattle today. She hasn't come for a visit in 7 years. We are having a big dinner at El Gaucho tomorrow night. It's a pricey steak place, but isn't so pricey for me since their non-meat stuff isn't too expensive.

OK, so maybe the pictures do it justice

The place at the top of our list right now

House Hunt revisited

On Sunday, Dustin (our Realtor), came over at 1pm to whisk us away to view houses & condos for six hours. It was exhausting. There were a few that we could totally see ourselves in, but we've decided to wait a week before we make any decisions to see what else comes on the market. We also had a heart-to-heart last night about how much we really want to spend on our housing each month and it ruled out 2 of the contenders that were high-priced due to ideal location. The one that's at the top of our revised list is a cute townhouse on Beacon Hill. We've decided that we are going to buy bicicles when we move because it's likely that our home will not be within walking distance of anything and we'd prefer not to drive. I also made a Very Good Point that living away from the ease of going out to eat whenever we are hungry will definitely cut back on our expenses which is something we will have to do when we buy a house.

I would link to the place that we are eyeing, but the pictures do not do it justice.

This is a very exciting time and, unfortunately, it keeps me up at night. I lay down to do to sleep and I start thinking about owning our own place. *sigh*

Yesterday was our one-month lunaversary. Yay! We went out to 22 Doors to celebrate and try out their new menu. I made the mistake of ordering something without checking to see if it had meat in it. I didn't eat but a few bites and then I was going to eat something when we got home but then I totally forgot. Oops.

Belly full of chili

I know it's not chili season (it's still quite warm here), but it looked good and convenient. I have been eating far too many convenience foods lately. We've been a little busy.

This past Sunday, we went to dinner with Julie & Friends to celebrate her birthday. Monday, we went out for drinks with Natalie & Friends to celebrate her birthday. Tuesday, we went to dinner with Amanda & Friends to celebrate her birthday. Natalie wanted to dinner on Wednesday to celebrate her birthday some more, but ended calling it off due to illness. We grabbed a quick dinner with Sunny, Chris and Amanda at Broadway Grill instead. Tonight, we are going over to Angie & Jessie's for dinner. Tomorrow night, we are having a party to celebrate the birthdays of Julie, Natalie, Amanda and Adrianne. Are you tired yet? I sure am.

This weekend, we'll be looking at houses. Very exciting!

A week-old crazy squirrel story

I promised Jenn I'd write about this and I always try to keep my promises.

Last Wednesday was my night to stay at home and Get Stuff Done like laundry. Our laundry facilites are in the basement of our apartment building. To get to the basement, it's easiest to go out our back door. I head out to put the first load in while it's still light out. I started to head down the basement steps when I was startled by a little squirrel. I like squirrels and all, but I'm used to them being a little cautious of humans. The little guy wasn't scared of me nor did he try to run away. I stood there for a bit trying to persuede him to leave the steps but all he would do is run down to the basement door like he wanted to go inside. I finally gave up and gingerly walked around him with hopes that he wouldn't jump on me and sink his little teeth into me. There was no jumping - he just sat there as I got within a foot of him. When I walked out of the basement, I was able to shoo him up the steps, but he still showed no fear.

I didn't think about the little guy again until...

The timer went off for me to go get my last load of laundry from the dryer. By this time, it was well after dark. I open my back door and was greeted by a ruckus. I couldn't see what was making all of these funny noises, but I definitely knew it didn't like me being where I was. Finally, after scanning all around our back steps, I spotted the little guy crouching in the corner between our back door and screen door with his back against the wall. Eep! I thought I might have injured him or something, but he looked OK. No matter what I said, he just wouldn't move. This is very strange behavior for a squirrel! Anyway, I had laundry waiting for me so I let him be and retrieved it from the basement. To be safe, I walked around and entered the house from the front door.

And then...

I walked into the kitchen and found the back door ajar. Oh no! I didn't close it completely due to being startled by the ruckus! I thought for sure the squirrel was somewhere in the house. After all, all actions made it seem he was after me. Fortunately, he didn't come into the house and was still sitting in his little corner between the doors. I closed the back door very carefully to make sure I didn't squish him. I called Tony to tell him of the creepy squirrel and he said that strange behavior like that can sometime indicate rabies infection. Eeep! He came home shortly thereafter and the little guy was still in his corner. Tony decided that he was going to make him move just to make sure he was OK. Finally, with the help of a little nudging from a stick, the squirrel left his corner and scurried off. We haven't seen him since but keep an eye out for him everytime we take out the garbage.

Haircut

I haven't forgotten

I've just been busy lately. And my downtime has been filled with busy-ness.

Happy Birthday to the wonderful Kikaroo! I heart you!

Work has been very busy so I must get back to it. I will try to post sometime this weekend before my crazy-busy week begins next week. Social events every night starting on Sunday - ack!

Haircut

Well, folks, I'm pretty excited. I haven't cut my hair in months in preparation of The Wedding Updo. Now that it's all over with, I am going to get the hairs cut off tonight after work. You see, when my hair gets below my shoulders, it's stringy and flat and BORING. I get bored with my hair pretty quickly which is also why it's always changing color. I'm going to be sticking with the blonde for a bit longer, though.

In other news, I woke up with a headache and it has yet to go away. Lameness.

We went to Utah this past weekend for a lovely family wedding reception. I met all of Nathan's family (tony's stepfather) for the first time. His family isn't nearly as huge as his mom's side. I'll post some pictures to my Flickr account soon.

My eyes burn from reading the computer

I was talking to my step sister-in-law this weekend in Utah and she was telling me about my step nephew's experience as a sixth-grader at a private school (I have step relatives now that I am married, right? If they are step relatives to Tony they are now my step relatives and vice-versa?). It seems they have done away with the textbooks and are doing everything on computers now. We talked about the pros: up-to-date information, reduction in overall costs, etc; and the con: how hard it is to read a computer screen for a long period of time. I realize that many of us look at a computer screen for a good part of our work day, but we aren't trying to read chapters in a textbook. Maybe it's not like that at all, but i do know that if I get caught up in reading blogs for too long, my eyes start to burn and it gets hard for me to focus.

Speaking of reading blogs, it wasn't until somewhat recently that I realized that people read blogs as entertainment and some writers can actually make a living off of writing blogs. Yes, I realize I was behind the times for quite some time and didn't realize this until one of my favorite people wrote about how she reads people's blogs for fun and linked to a few. There was a post that linked to a blog that has a sidebar with links to many blogs. I started reading a few of these other blogs and recently a couple have gone away. An event or maybe more caused these writers to decide to stop sharing their lives with The Internet and it makes me wonder why. The bloggers started sharing about these life-altering events and then just stopped. These blogs were read by many people and several of these people would decide to post responses to whatever the writers decided to share with The Internet. Unfortunately, strangers sometimes say mean things to writers who decide to write about their lives on The Internet and I think this may have contributed to the end of these blogs that I speak of.

The Internet is a weird creature.

Hello! I am married now! part 2

So where was I? Oh yes - Julie & I arrived at The Smith Tower at around 6:45 and saw that a few guests were still arriving. We head up in the elevator with my dad, Betsy, Kik & Amy. They drop me off on the floor below to wait for everyone to get seated. When I stepped off the elevator, I ran into Photographer Chris and he took me into the bathroom for a quick photo session before he headed upstairs. Jenn, Manda and Dad came back downstairs and we continued to wait for about 20 more minutes for the final guests to arrive and all to be seated. Finally, things were ready to start. The ceremony was sweet and I cried. Afterwards, the family went downstairs for pictures while our guests stared with the drinking and the eating.

The reception was a fun party and the night flew by. Everything ended around 11:30. Sol & Lauren gave us a ride home. Once we got there, we discovered that neither of us had our keys. Oops! Sol gave Tony a ride to where Amanda was to pick up his keys while I hung out with Jessica in her apartment.

Pictures!

Sol's pictures
Murray's pictures
Natalie's pictures
Amy's pictures
Betsy's pictures

Hello! I am married now!

Why did I wake up before 8 AM the day after my wedding? I did this yesterday, too!

This week has been fantastic. Jenn, Cameron, Mom & Paul arrived last weekend/beginning of the week. We got to spend some quality time with them and celebrate Mom's birthday with her. Dad & Carolyn arrived on Wednesday and they kept busy for the rest of the week by picking up the rest of our out-of-town guests up at the airport.

We both took Friday off from work. During the day, Mom, Jenn & I went and got our nails done by the fabulous e. Marie. My nails still look great! Friday night, we had all of the family and a few close friends over to our house for dinner & socializing. Thank goodness for family-sized frozen lasagna! We still have a ton left over. Everyone had a good time.

Saturday, my eyes popped open shortly before 7:30 AM. I was just too excited to sleep. I got out of bed and wrote the ceremony for our wedding. Yes, we hadn't really had much written before the day of! After writing it out, I took a long shower and then got Tony out of bed so we could go over it before our officiant came over (Murray). He arrived shortly after 10 and we hung out for a bit before Jenn & Cameron came over. Elna arrived after 11 to start doing our hair. Natalie, Brenda & Stephanie came over to put together the centerpieces and bouquets. We bought the flowers the day before from the farmers at Pike Place Market. It was fabulous - we did our flowers for $80! - 7 centerpieces, 2 bouquets, 5 boutonnieres and flowers for the cake (all Dahlias) and it looked gorgeous! We bought our vases from Ikea and Carolyn made lovely bows out of ribbon to go around all of the vases. We spent the day getting ready with a quick run to the Chinese Room for a rehearsal and to drop off the centerpieces, cake and liquor. Ton

Jenn, Julie & Natalie spent the rest of the day with me helping me get ready. Around 6:30, the towncar came to pick me and Julie up to head to the wedding (everyone else went in their own cars).

Life is The Busy

I was pretty engrossed in studying until a couple of weeks ago. When I went to take my test, they told me I wasn't on the roster. Apparently, I didn't finish all of the steps to reschedule even though I thought I did. I thought I rescheduled and didn't think about it again. Like, I didn't think to look for my confirmation email. My own fault. So now, I'm not thinking of the test until after the wedding. Not starting school in the Fall means we have much more flexibility on when we take our Honeymoon.

We had a lovely visit from Anna. She lives in Eugene, Oregon and teaches at a school where you learn how to build bicycles. We hadn't seen each other in 3 years. It was really good to catch up.

We are now wrapping up loose ends re: The Wedding. I got my eyebrows waxed today and have my make-up consultation tomorrow. Jenn & Cameron got into Seattle on Saturday and spent the night with us. Mom & Paul got in today and we had dinner at Elysian.

Last Friday, I woke up to a sore back. I slept in a weird position Thursday night and have been in pain since. Ow! It has been so bad that I had my prescription for Tylenol 3 filled. Jenn has been a goddess and has been rubbing my back daily. I am so done with this pain!

I am very excited to see lots of family & friends this upcoming week. Our wedding is going to be so much fun!

quickie

Pictures

Test didn't get taken. More on that later.

Tomorrow is Tony's birthday! Wedding is a week away!

Prioritizing tasks

It is crunch time right now and I'm feeling it. I can get everything accomplished. At least, that's what I have to tell myself everyday.

I may be absent even more than I have been as of late. Gotta focus!

Dur

Birthday boys = We got to celebrate Cameron's 2-year birthday on July 31st and Dad's birthday on August 4th. Yesterday was the 3-year anniversary of 'the' First Date.

Birthday Boys and Family Reunion

Life has been keeping us very busy. Last Thursday, Tony & I got on a jet plane and flew to Pennsylvania for a family reunion. On our flight out, we met up with Jenn & Cameron in Dallas where we changed flights. We started out on Friday in Philadelphia with a lovely lunch with Howard, our far-away 'boss' at work. After lunch, we started on the long drive to the small town of DuBois where we met up with Dad, Carolyn, cousin Steve and his wife, Doreen for dinner at the hotel. On Saturday, we went to a picnic at cousin Cindy's farm. Tony just couldn't get over how beautiful it was out there. Sunday morning, we loaded everything up and drove to Lock Haven to the official Hanna Family Reunion. This reunion has been going for 70 years! I've been to 4 in my lifetime. The Hanna Family is pretty large - 5 generations with about 460 relatives. My grandma was the 9th child in a family with 11 children which explains why the family is so large. It was really good to see so many relatives that i hadn't seen in some time. We all had a really good time. Thanks again to Dad & Carolyn for making the trip happen for us! Check out the photos here

The Heat is On

The West has been experiencing record heat. These are the days where I wished we had central A/C. Poor Jenn & Cameron have it much worse so I can't really complain. The poor kitties look so miserable!

My arm pain has pretty much diminished. Yay! I've been studying today like a good pre-grad student with the occasional distraction of laundry & eating. I am sticky from sweating and am reminded of what it's like to be in Florida. Tony & I are going to escape to an air-conditioned restaurant soon for some dinner & a cold beer. There is nothing like a cold beer on a hot day like this.

gimp

i am hunting and pecking. my right forearm is waging war on me and it is causing great disruption in my studies. it lays beside me like a limp,wet towel. i can only guess that the pain is caused by repetitve motion something-something. it is not fair and it makes me grumpy. i wish i could write with my left hand.

Oh Look! A week later.

Where does the time go? I do not know.

This weekend was great fun. Tony & I took off from work a little early so we could be sure to grab the best site at the campground. We set up camp and then our friends showed up a couple hours after we arrived. The camping crew on this trip was Me, Tony, Chris, Heather, Natalie, Jeremy and Kristin. Saturday, we went on a 5-hour hike up to Shannon Ridge. Sunday, we boated on Lake Baker. See the picture evidence here. Driving 2 hours out of Seattle to have a fun weekend like this is one of the top reasons why I love living in the Northwest.

Far-away family & friends - if you want to plan a camping trip up here next summer, I'd be totally down with that. The best months to camp are June through August.

*gasp*
It has been a week since I have posted. Crimminy!
Too bad I don't have time to post right now. Busy Monday as always!

Anniversary

Yesterday was my 3-year anniversary of moving back to Seattle.

Tony just called - PomPom passed away.

Well-rested

I fell asleep arount 1 AM last night and didn't wake up until 9:55 AM this morning. I really cannot remember the last time that happened.

I dropped Tony off at the airport yesterday - he's in Utah for the week. They are taking his Grandma (PomPom) off of the respirator. Tony's mom, Sherry, asked him to come out there to give her support. The antibiotics helped PomPom fight off the infection that the doctors didn't think she would survive, but that doesn't mean she is well enough to leave the hospital. The docs say that she needs to breathe on her own without the help of the respirator. Thing is, her body may be too weak but they won't know until it's done. It's a little scary.

Yesterday, we went to brunch with Amanda, Julie and Natalie. Afterwards, I helped Tony pack and then sent him off. I decided not to spend my afternoon studying but rather to take time for myself. I talked on the phone with Jenn, read my Vegetarian Times, took a little nap, ran a couple of errands and then did a major cleaning of the bedroom. Tony finally agreed to let me get rid of the Elliptical Trainer he bought from Sunny when we first moved into the apartment and then he proceeded to never use. It has only taken up space and collected dust in our bedroom for the past 1.5 years. I put a listing on Craigslist and voila! it was gone. I really hope the new owner puts it to use! The floor underneath it was covered in a layer of dust. This inspired me to move all of the furniture and dust & mop the floor. When you have hardwood floors and furry animals, the fur gets in every little crevace. I love how the bedroom feels so much cleaner. And, it looks so much bigger without the huge piece of exercise equipment in it. Ah, the little joys in life.