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.