Moving...

Sorry for being absent.

I am in Super Moving Mode.

I got my brother to help me with the big furniture

and now I need to pack my kitchen, bathroom and a couple odds and ends.

I am in search for strong people to help with heavy boxes...

I wish.

Pictures to come!!

I left the cord to my camera at the new place but only have Internets at the old place.

Night Drive

Tonight's the night when you wish you were treated terribly all the time...

I just drove Allie home and on the way home, I looked to my left and saw a boy hanging out his window yelling at me with one arm in the air and the other swinging round and round.

He wanted me to join him playing the air guitar.

I yelled back playing dumb. "ME? What?!? I don't play guitar. I play the piano. Sorry."

He had no idea what to do.

So...this is the night when you wish this happened to you all the time. That way, you could play horrible jokes on these boys.

If I could do it again, I would have followed them to a bar, waved excitedly, and stepped out of my car in my gray, 3-year old, sweat cargo capris.

Yeah!!! That'd teach them.

Last Weekend

I did so many things! I was home alone with no plans just waiting to see what would happen...

I hung out with my Tif & Kyle, shopped at the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale, purchased a beautiful large coffee table with a shelf, made a wish list, went to my cousin's baby's one year bday party [I got him "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible No-Good, Very Bad Day" and "Where the Wild Things Are"], spent time with my grandma at the train station, read Harry Potter, watched Gilmore Girls, organized my closet, finished laundry, fed plants...

but you know what's really exciting?

Having the apartment to ourselves. Our roommate moved out this weekend, which isn't a good or bad thing. But it means that I can put flowers and plants around in the living room and not be afraid that the cat will eat them!!

And come mid-August/September 1st, we are moving next door into a cozy little 1-bedroom. We will be moving a grand total of 4 feet. :) AWESOME!!

Lil Thriller

One week ago today, I participated in Trivia Night at The Quarter Lounge. My friend Claire is a bartender there.

My team did fairly well [if Travis had been there the whole time, we would have done better].

Long story short, we tied with two other teams for 4th Place. 4th Place wins the opportunity to choose a theme for the next week's Trivia.

And, of course, the way they break ties is a Dance Off! So, I volunteered, and the song was Thriller.

And I totally know the dance...by heart...thanks to these lovely ladies.

I ran around, winning the crowd just like Michael does around his scaredy cat girl.

Then Claire insisted that I hop up on the bar to dance.

So I did.

The crowd went wild and I was declared WINNER!

The point of this story is that I have been using crutches since that night.

You see, it was the dismount from the bar that got me. It's a pretty high bar and I landed on my left heel.

Don't worry. Nothing's broken. I just sprained or tore something, so I can't bear weight on it. Lame.

Babies

Everyone around me is having a baby!

What's the weirdest is seeing babies show up suddenly through facebook.

It's like people are just getting married and having kids instantly.

Just add water or something.

Anyhow, this is just an observation.

I guess I'll get over it now.

What did you do today?

I sat in a surgery waiting room

for 13 hours today.

To be specific,

from 5:50am - 6:50pm

You see, this silly boy

did something HEROIC today.

He donated bone marrow to a lady with multiple myeloma - a blood cancer. And the doctor was very impressed with the quality of his blood cells, I might add.

I ate two cafeteria meals, which was great, because I ate what I would have eaten in Gwinn at SPU.

Eggs and tater tots for breakfast.

Gardenburger & cottage cheese for lunch.

And I got to spend the day with Travis' mom, Cindy, & brother, Jeff.

[He thought that this was pretty great.]

Anyhow, I had to spare Travis the camera post-op. His surgery was only 2 hours, and they assured us he would be ready in an hour. But instead it took him over 8 hours to recover and to come completely out of the anesthesia.

My favorite moment was when I got a call in the waiting room and was requested by him to visit. <3

We could only be with him one at a time.

His mom went with him to pre-op.

His mom saw him in PACU right after his surgery.

So, I was DYING to see him and make sure he wasn't too miserable.

These are this hero's trophies until I find a real one.

a super cute card

and a stuffed lemur.

He loved them.

Thank you to his left-handed doctor, Dr. Fero.

Thank you to his nurses that helped him turn, throw up, and de-IV.

Thank you to Cindy for sticking it out with me and picking up broths and juices afterward.

Thank you to Jeff for helping me pass the time.

Good luck to the lady with multiple myeloma, wherever you are.

June 6, 2009

Joined a gym.

Yes, a second one.

But Gold's Gym wasn't awesome

and I'm ready to be smokin' hot!

So, 24 Hour Fitness was the wisest choice.

And Tiffany joined with me!!!!

We enjoy classes like Step, Turbo Kick Box, Yoga & Amp'd Abs.

Do you take your receipts?

Sometimes people don't take their receipts from the USCAN lines.

Sometimes it makes my day to see what others have purchased.

M&Ms and a water gun.

And they used a card.

Awesome!

So, we went camping a while ago...

...it was Memorial Day weekend 2009.

We made reservations over the phone at Tower Rock campground near Mt. St. Helens. Take Exit 68 - the Mossyrock Exit - and go east toward Helens for 50 miles.

Except we didn't know it was 50 miles and there was no service after about 15.

Then the journey through Confederate Flags, Gun & Burl Stands, Garage Sale Signs began.

We followed the signs to Tower Rock

down Road 28, then Road 76 - past a school zone & RVs.

Until we hit a rundown Texaco that has gas for $9.54.

We had arrived at

Tower Rock * UFish * RV Park

...apparently.

Here is what we saw:

Awesome, right?

Now please add dozens of kids running around to pair with the dozens of RVs lined up.

We find a guy/boy loading firewood into a tractor lawn mower, drinking a tallboy of Coor's Light. We told him we were there to check in.

He calls over Hank, let's call him, and he only looks at us confused when we tell him our reservation name.

Then he calls over Shirley, let's call her, and she also looks confused. "Did you make reservations online?" she asks.

"Yes," Travis says, "we called the number."

Pause.

"Oohhh! You're looking for the OTHER Tower Rock campground!" she says.

THANK GOD!!

They give us directions to this lovely government-made sign for Tower Rock Campground.

And then, aside from a van that whirred each time it unlocked, and the same baseline from our neighbors' music, we had a fantastic time

playing Scrabble,

drinking delicious beer,

building fires,

looking for a river that didn't exist,

reenacting Lord of the Rings,

meeting fuzzy friends,

& patiently melting bottles.

Oh, and this bathroom almost made me wretch!

Here is how we left the site. Nice and clean with walking sticks, a fire stick, & rope for hanging a lantern.

Here's to Tower Rock! May we never return but never fear a new campground.

Am I the record keeper?

Richmond Beach Rehab has been

AT CAPACITY

meaning

out of our 140 beds, all of them are full...

meaning

we don't have any male OR female beds...

meaning

we don't have any isolation beds either...

and, Wendy,

"unfortunately, I'm unable to accommodate them..."

since Sunday, May 31st.

I've gotten so much done!

YES!!!

Grown up

I've been so grown up this week.

Yesterday, I braved the dentist. I hadn't been in a year. And let's be honest, I haven't cared for my teeth very well in the last year. I don't floss as often as I should. So, I was scared to death of having disease in my mouth.

But they were fine. They even took some stains off for me. :)

And tonight I met with a financial advisor after work. I learned many things that I already knew about my finances. But the hardest thing to learn is always

Living Within Your Means.

Yuck. I also learned how to make an emergency fund for myself, which was my favorite part, because the motto to that is

Pay Yourself First

Sounds nice, right? What it means is that once you are paid, you set aside money for yourself before paying any bills.

I think I'll hurt for a while at the beginning, but then once I have a couple of things paid off, I'll be so excited to have the extra money!!

Here's to saving and living at lavish retirement. Wish me luck.

sick

Bleh. I'm sick, but I don't have the fever to keep me home from work. Bleh.

But I did get to partake in the Shrimp Fettucini Alfredo that was prepared by our kitchen for lunch today. Delicious. Soon it will be time to go home, get gyros and veg out to Lost.

Meetup

I was online searching for a way to edify myself and meet new people and I ran across a Seattle Book Club.

So, I joined and signed up to go to the actual meeting this past Sunday. It was held at Half-Priced Books and there were 5 people there including me [I think it was the sunshine].

It was kind of a waste of time, because I hadn't read the book they were there to talk about but I'm very excited about the new book.

hooray for new stories!

Tonight was

bedtime

so what's the difference between the couch and the bed?

i always seem to pass out on the couch before bed and then follow it up with a restless period before i'm able to fall asleep again. sometimes i even have to sleep with my head at the foot of the bed or sideways. i wonder if i need a nice matress topper made of dense, moldable foam. yummy.

Goodnight.

The Good Samaritan

So, two weekends ago, I took a trip to Wax On for a maintenance appointment. Boyface came with so he could get our name on the Coastal Kitchen wait list during my...session.

I was in the lobby waiting for my turn, looking at the photo album of other satisfied customers, when I see Travis entering the little boutique. Following right behind him was a small, old, Russian lady with red, drawn-on eyebrows looking so confused. I assumed she didn't want a man invading her sacred waxing place that morning. Travis asked me for my cell phone, and I handed it over. The esthetician and I exchanged looks and I assured her that I knew him.

Then, he started to show my phone to the old lady saying, "so, what's the name of the place? where is it? seattle?" Slowly but surely I began to understand that this lady was not only lost but she also didn't speak English enough to even remember what neighborhood she lived in with her family.

Poor lady, right? But thank goodness Travis was the one to find her wandering around with no clue where she had come from and no way to explain how she came to be lost. He spent over half an hour talking to her outside in the cold and rain, waiting for the police to come to the rescue. And when I found him, I practically had to peel him away from this poor old lady.

My only thought about her was, "Man, those eyebrows." And there was Travis, the Good Samaritan, hoping with all of his might that she made it back home.

What a good guy.

i'm late

I'm late, I'm late

for a very important date

No time to say,

'hello' 'goodbye'

I'm late, I'm late, I'm late!

Too busy to post.

MWA!

Fresh Facials

Tonight I received a fabulous and fresh facial. First one, in fact, and it was lovely! I should have done this a long time ago.

The atmosphere was soothing like a spa for massage, the products were all-natural, and Jessica, the esthetician was maybe the sweetest human being I have ever known. Go to her. She also gives 20% off for the first facial.

I HEART

I HATE

driving in the afternoon. People are so unpredictable. The road is one of those places where it's best to predict what people will do. Believe it or not, 7-8am and 5-7pm are the best times to drive. In order to go 60-70mph the majority of the way home, I just stay to the left until I get to about 80th and then move further to the right near Westlake. Before I know it, I'm off at James...

and home preventing/fighting a fever.

My God, is it Thursday already? Tomorrow is Friday?

I suppose it's time to make room for these guys then...

This weekend will involve record browsing, planning for a marketing outing on Monday, books, bed, and perhaps even my keyboard.

Hello, Weekend!