the Storm

David and I went to a great game last night.  We got tickets from one of the clients of David's work to the Seattle Storm game.  For those who don't know, the Seattle Storm is our WNBA team.  Basketball!  When we got to the arena and walked in, we had no idea where to go for our seats.  We asked the ticket person and she said that we were in a Suite!!!!   So we went up to a special level, showed our tickets to a "concierge" just for the suite level, and then she told us where to go.  When we got there, it was great.  There was a private bathroom, and some really comfortable seats.  We cheered on the Storm (especially Sue Bird), even though they were losing the game.  It was fun. 

 

It was David's first professional basketball game EVER.  And it took me back to my days playing b-ball in grade school and high school.  It was a great experience for us both. 

cookies cookies cookies

Our mentoring program had an event at the end of last week for which they served tea and cookies.  The leftover cookies got put on the lunch table for anyone to eat.  I gave in yesterday and had one.  Today at only 10 am, I've already given in and brought two to my desk.  Sweets are my weakness!

the distinguised senator from Illinois

The highlight of today was the 10 minute talk by Barack Obama at the end of the meeting. He is so cute- and intelligent- and smooth- and just generally had a good aura around him. I sort of feel like he is the modern day J.F.K. He has some of those same qualities that made Kennedy such a popular president. Although, I hear that the odds of going from a senate seat to the presidency are pretty low, and he would have been better going into the House, he sure seems like a possible candidate. He just has to make sure he doesn't try to become all things to all people.

Also had dinner with Jen, which was great. I even got to see her "badge" which gets her onto military bases. quite impressive.

I'm feeling really tired now. It is time for me to go to bed- I didn't sleep very well last night so I'd like to try and get some good sleep tonight.

first night in d.c.

I arrived in D.C. this evening and went straight into a meeting for work. Luckily they fed us. Otherwise I would have been seriously hungry. I'm really not that great at networking. I need to get better at it. I just feel uncomfortable. I'm supposed to be meeting people, but when they are talking with other people-- it can be awkward to just walk up to the group and stand there until they recognize that you've joined them and say hello. I'm trying, but I have to admit that after the meeting was over this evening, many people stayed around talking to others, and I went and introduced myself to someone- but then I left. I just couldn't take the discomfort any longer.

I think part of the problem is also that I don't like to talk about myself or talk about what i do. I'd much rather hear about someone else's life and ask them questions about it. Maybe that is part of why I am uncomfortable networking. I don't like talking about me. I feel like I'm always stumbling over my words and searching for the most intelligent way to say things. arghh. It makes me frustrated with myself. For awhile I thought my social skills had really increased, but I think I've sunk back to previous levels.

Tomorrow is a full day. 8 am to 8pm. or as I'll be feeling it: 5am to 5pm. ouch.

cross your fingers (and your toes)

I am thinking positive.  I am sending these "starting to feel sick" feelings to someone in idaho.  I just can't get sick for this trip.  I leave tomorrow morning bright and early, and I won't be back until sunday.  This will be a horrible trip if I get sick.  Which is why I'm going to try to take extra good care of myself during the trip. 

 

tires

I've been tire shopping lately.  Apparently all 4 of our tires need to be replaced- and badly.  We've put it off for a few weeks, but I finally hopped to it and made some calls today.  I had done some research and decided on a good all-season that has a 80K warranty.  I even got the guy to drop the price to match one I had gotten elsewhere.  It was empowering in some ways, and not at all in other ways. 

 

For example, I felt good when they would say.."okay what kind of car do you have", as if they were going to have to find out what size tire I needed.  Instead I said, "actually, I can give you the tire size...p205 55r16."  He sounded kind of surprised that I already knew what size tire I needed.  And then when he asked what kind of tire I was looking for (all-season, touring, performance).  I could tell him two specific models I was interested in.  I had already done my research and wasn't going to be taken.

 

But on the other hand, I felt like one guy was trying to sell me something that wasn't necessary and cost a lot more than if we had it done when we get a tune-up.  I told him no.

 

Tomorrow we'll have 4 new tires and our checking account will definitely be lighter.

on a roll

I am on such a roll this week.  I've posted everyday so far.  I couldn't let today go by without another post.  It is almost like the good old days when I posted all the time.  Hopefully those of you whose faith in my blog was lagging will be heartened by the new energy I'm putting into it. 

 

And don't forget to comment!  I feel sad when I don't get any comments.  Especially when I put so much work into a post (ie. the dining room light post).  Not one comment--I expected for sure at least one.   (Yes, this officially is a guilt trip--come along for the ride).  I'll do my best to respond to comments by adding another comment.  That is something I haven't been doing...some comments are hard to respond to, but I find that many say things that I can add to.

 

 I'll be traveling most of next week, but I'm going to try to stay connected, if I can.  Back to D.C.  Luckily, I'll be staying at a much nicer hotel this time.  And, I'll get to see Jen while I'm there!

the medical establishment

I had a doctor's appointment today at 11:30.  Just a yearly check-up sort of thing /get prescriptions written again.  They had paperwork for me to fill out so they asked me to get there at 11.   I tell you this because I want you to understand the timeline of my doctor's visit.  I'll start from the very beginning.

 

10:45 leave work and walk to doctor office

11 am arrive at doc office

11-11:30 fill out paper work

11:30  Find out doctor is running 30 minutes late

Noon  I am taken into a room and given a gown to put on.  Doctor's assistant says she's not sure when the doc will be in.

12:00-12:15  Read a magazine from thanksgiving time last year.

12:15-12:40  Curl up on the examining table, fall asleep.

12:40  Awoken from my nap by doctor opening the door.  I quickly wipe up any drool ;-)

12:40 to 1:10  Meet with Doctor, get exam

1:10-1:15  Wait for Doctor to write prescription

1:15-1:30 walk back to work

 

 

It took me a little under 3 hours to see the doctor today.  She was actually running more than an hour behind.  When this happens, I always think- next time I'll call before I go and see how late the doc is running.  But then I always forget.  Wouldn't it be nice if the doctor's office called you when they were running behind and told you what time you would be seen at?  Then you could make an informed decision about whether you had that much time to spend, or were able to re-arrange so you weren't sitting in their office for half the day.  I could have brought work with me to do, but I didn't think that I'd be that long.  Oh well.

 

 

a mistake

You know that pretty picture below of the new maple in the half wine barrel?  Well--we didn't quite do what we should have done to get the wine barrel waterproofed.  The main mistake was letting it sit on the porch for a week before we filled it with dirt and plants.  It dried out and the wood contracted so that it was no longer watertight. 

 

We planted our tree in the barrel last night and watered it....there very well have been more water on the deck than in the pot.

 

Suffice to say, we are headed to the nursery tonight to buy a ceramic pot to re-pot our pretty little tree.  I don't think the barrel is salvageable as a planter.  And I have no idea what else we could use it for.  I hate the idea of throwing it out. 

 

At the same time, I am concerned with the weight of the pot and the tree and dirt when it all comes together.  Our other plants are quite heavy and david and a guy friend had a heck of a time hauling those up the stairs to our condo when we moved in.  I'm not worried that there will be too much weight on the deck (although there is a little bit of paranoia in me about that-if I am honest with myself), but really more worried that we won't be able to move it to our next place (wherever or whenever that is.)

 

ah, life lessons.

Dining light

One of the big projects for the weekend was to install a dining room light. Here is a before picture of what we have been living with for many many months now. I'd almost venture to say we've been living with it for years. In fact one of the first things we did when we moved in was to take down the existing ugly chandelier. I'm pretty sure we've been just using a bulb since then (about 2.5 years ago)!

So, we bought a track lighting kit at lowes that had three nice small amber glass pendants. We thought the track lighting would be a fun addition to the room, and the pendants would add both color and interest. Here we are trying to design possible track scenarios given where we thought the lights should go. We even used a protractor to measure the angles of the lights in relation to the center of the room.

Here begins the options that we tried out in terms of the track placement. Guess which one we went with...

Here is what I call the S curve or snake track possibility. You can't see in this picture, but we made little mock-ups of the lights so that we could visualize what it would look like.

Here are the mock up lights with the spiral configuration. One option was a smaller spiral that didn't extend quite as far, but this one looks more like a spiral and we thought we could use 2 of the little track lights to spotlight our art on the bookcase.

Here is the question mark track possibility.

We also tried a version with the lights all in a row at the same length. It just didn't seem right/didn't fill the space like we wanted to, so we kept trying to decide between the other curvy track schemes.

Here is your chance. Guess which one we chose before you scroll down any further.

OH- I forgot--here is a new Japanese Maple tree we bought yesterday. It is a sturdy little tree and has very beautiful leaves.

This is the groundcover we are going to use in the pot. I love how bright green it is!

Here is our old Japanese maple, and some ornamental grass.

And finally--what you have all been waiting for (not really, but it makes it sound important). Below is the light we finally chose to put in our dining room. If you answered "none of the above" you were correct. (I know-trick question)

After all that work, and more than half the morning, we decided to take the track lighting kit back to lowes and figure something else out. We again considered making our own fixture. We browsed the high end lighting store in seattle. Then, when we were at Home Depot later that day, we saw this and said--$ 40 and we don't have to make it and it can be installed today? Sign us up! So here is the simple pendant we bought and David installed yesterday. It is on a dimmer switch, which makes it really nice to change the intensity of the color and light.

As David said..."This place is starting to feel like a home".

health and fitness flash

I've been getting SELF magazine for awhile now. Scattered throughout the magazine are different 1 page summaries of things related to, health, fitness, beauty, etc.

I saw a couple that I thought were great information and thought I would pass them along. More evidence that walking is GOOOOOD.

• Walking to work (or any other place for that matter) can keep your legs AND lungs in shape. Most particle pollution is found inside cabs and cars, not outside, a study in Atmospheric Environment reveals. In fact, a five minute taxi ride exposes city dwellers to twice as much dirty air as a five minute walk.
• For a calmer head, take a brisk stroll. People on the verge of a panic attack who walked 30 minutes were twice as likely to dodge the episode as those who rested quietly, a study by Charite University Hospital in Berlin reportes. Get out for a trek as soon as you feel yourself nearing the breaking point, scientists suggest, because anxiety can escalate in only 5 to 10 minutes.
• Workouts can deliver dramatic health results long before you hit your goal weight, a study from UCLA shows. Overweight non-exercisers who walked for up to an hour a day for 21 days lowered their cholesterol by 20 percent. What's more, half of those with type 2 diabetes normalized their blood sugar.

If you didn't guess already, David and I have been on a fitness kick lately. We've been to the gym 3 times this week already, and have some more exercise planned for this weekend. And I attribute my lack of weight gain after getting Maggie and after stopping our working out, to all the walking I do (both with maggie and without her). I think the walking has also changed the shape of my legs a bit.

Well, we are headed to a Mariners game tonight. Don't know who they are playing, but it should be fun. It has been a beautiful day again today, and so the game will be especially enjoyable!

good intentions

I had the best intentions yesterday morning to post before things got crazy at work.  Well, they got crazy about 15 minutes after I walked in so I wasn't able to post when I wanted. Now it is the next day and I'm trying again.

 

I don't want to be a complainer, but I'm sure you've noticed my sparse postings lately.  They are the result of work taking over my life.  And it has been like this for about a month, and it looks like it will be this way for the foreseeable future.  After my trip mid-may, I will have been on 3 work trips in 30 days.  And I've got so many meetings, that I hardly have time to do the work we talk about in the meetings.  ALSO, I've had a low-grade headache for the past 24 hours, and I'm pretty sure it is related to stress.  (maybe now is a good time to use my massage gift certificate ;-)  Amazing how stress manifests itself physically...I've also got little lightning bolt blood vessels in my eyes that have become very visible (they look more than just bloodshot), and my dry skin on my hands has gotten much worse.

 

On a lighter note, I wanted to say that my meeting in D.C. for the NanoPolicy conference went well.  I met some good people, and felt like I got a good lay of the land in terms of nano-policy issues.  ALSO, I was not the youngest person there, although I didn't card anyone to make sure.  But there were a lot more young looking people than I would have thought, and an equal distribution of gender. 

 

I also went for my first jog/run in months.  I had dinner in dupont circle one night, but I wanted to go see Adams Morgan, since that is where Jen will be living.  So, I set out from my hotel with a map of d.c. memorized in my head (the map became a little fuzzy after the first wrong turn), and jogged up Massachusetts avenue to new Hampshire Ave to 18th Ave, through adams morgan and then down the street that turns into Connecticut and straight into dupont circle.   Once I got to the busy area of Dupont circle, I started walking.  The sidewalks were busy (it was about 6pm), and I didn't want to upset anyone by running past them.  It felt great to run, although I was sore in odd places the next day (like my upper back). 

 

Pass me some more of that Pearl Jam, please!

Damn, that’s good stuff! Okay… I know I’m preaching to the choir here, but the new Pearl Jam album is outstanding! I’m still assessing its rank amongst the others… perhaps as good as “Vs.”, but not quite a perfect “Ten”. Did everyone go out and get their copy this morning? I was outside of Sonic Boom Records with my nose pressed to the glass at 9:50 AM. At 10:00 AM, when the store opened, it took just three strides before my prize was in hand and one more to the register. I had it unwrapped and ready to load before I was back in the car. I haven’t stopped listening to it since!

FYI… I have never failed to pick up the latest PJ album on its release date. Wait, I take that back. I wasn’t there for the very first album, “Ten”, but definitely every time after that. I’ll always remember scrambling to the record store during my 30-minute lunch break in high school to buy “Vs.” We loaded up the Jimmy with a half-dozen classmates and raced a couple other carloads to the store to be first in town with the new album. My subsequent purchases were much more low-key, I assure you, but nonetheless timely.

This is Pearl Jam’s eighth studio release, and their first for their new label, J Records. The album is self-titled. WARNING: it’s politically charged with roaring songs like “Life Wasted” and “World Wide Suicide” that will not resonate with Right-wingers! But I’m thrilled to hear PJ saying what I, and many other Americans, have been thinking and feeling about this current administration. Thank you, Pearl Jam!

in dc

I went to dupont circle for dinner tonight--saw the proper topper where I bought a hat with mom and fuddruckers which reminded me of our family trip to california.

 

Unfortunately the hotel where I am staying has been flooded with 7th graders tonight, and I think most of them are on my floor.  I'll be lucky if I get to bed before 11 at this point.  They are talking loudly in the hall in groups of 10-12.  Arghh!

 

that's all the energy I have for right now-- I woke up with a crick in my neck, so I really need to get some relaxing sleep.

To Bushie land---again

I'm leaving tomorrow morning to head back to the wonderful city of Washington D.C. This will be a quick trip, as I'll be returning on saturday. I've got a nanotechnology policy conference to go to all day friday. And I'm sure my hand will hurt from the end of the day from taking copious notes.

I have to psych myself up for these sorts of things where you network and talk with many people you don't know. It is hard to do, and this time I won't know a SOUL there, so there is no back-up plan. I also often feel like I'm just a baby compared to most of the people there. I feel like they look at me and think-geez she sure is young--she can't know anything of value! And I am a newbie compared to most of these folks. That will be my goal- to find someone younger than me there.

Today's happy image: Standing at the bus stop after a day at work, I look up into the sky and see a big black bird (probably 10 inches from beak to tail feather) and then see that it has a long piece of material, probably twice its length, hanging out of its mouth. I couldn't help but think that the bird was pretty happy to have made such a good find. Using something like that in a nest is probably like us installing marble countertops and hardwood floors. That birdie got back to its family and was probably the talk of the roost. I was happy for the bird--even if it wasn't happy itself.

Back in the Saddle

I'm back at work today after a whirl-wind 5 days away from work (but doing work stuff). 

 

My meeting with the NSF in D.C. went well.  I did some "networking" at the bar one evening and got some good info on a possible grant opportunity.  Only two things went wrong while in D.C.--my wake up call never happened the day I was supposed to leave D.C. for Boston, and I forgot my travel pillow in my rush to get to the shuttle on time.  It all ended up happy and fine, but it was stressful there for awhile on friday morning (although they still haven't "recovered" my pillow).  Also, the Super Shuttle drivers there in D.C. (I guess I can only say something about-just the two I experienced) are totally unprofessional, and unsafe.  I was scared to be in the van with them.  I'm not sure that a cab would have been better, however. 

 

Boston was great with Em and Mel.  They were wonderful hosts and made me feel very much at home.  I even slept better on their blow up mattress than I had on the bed at the hotel!  Friday night they made a wonderful chicken, vegetable, curry soup, and we just hung out at their place.  It was a good time to catch up with them.  Saturday emily and I braved the cold with hats and gloves to walk the freedom trail in downtown boston.  We did the whole thing.  We didn't always stop at all the "stops", but it was a great way to see Boston.  We had lunch at a wonderful little italian restaurant (caprese salad, tortellini soup, bread w/ oil, and a glass of chianti)  Yum! 

 

After all that walking we went home and took a little nap, then went out to dinner.  It was a great day.  Thanks Emily and Melissa for a great time in Boston! 

 

safely to boston

I have made it safely to boston, and just witnessed my first architecture review.  It was exciting. 

 

Had a rough morning, but that is over now, and it is sunny and beautiful and not too cold.  (but quite windy)

 

I'll write more later.

poor maggie

It just hurts my heart to see maggie uncomfortable or sick.  Last night she got sick a few times (okay more like 5 times) from 11:30 pm to 2:30 am.   You could just tell she didn't feel well.  When I talked to the vet today, she asked if maggie had eaten any foreign objects etc.  I can't think of anything that would have made her as sick as she was.  She didn't eat anything out of the ordinary yesterday.  It almost seemed like a virus or something.  like a 24 hour bug? 

 

This morning I didn't give her any food, in case her tummy was still upset, and I have been slowly introducing small portions of food this afternoon.  She wasn't drinking water or anything for awhile this morning, but she seems to be drinking more water now.  But she is still quite lethargic and just doesn't quite seem like herself.

 

I really hope it has run its course.  David and I need to get some sleep tonight.  4.5 hours is just not enough.  My body is used to 8.5. 

 

anyway,  I went to work this morning to have a meeting for 1 hour and then I booked it home and have been working from home since then.  I am just amazed at how productive I am here at home.  There is no one to interrupt my writing, and so I've gotten quite a bit done.  And that's a good thing, since I'll be leaving on wednesday for a work trip to d.c.  and I'll get to see em and mel too.  My meeting lasts until friday, and then I'm flying to boston to visit.  I'm excited as I've never been to boston.

just two

I think I mentioned awhile ago a project that David and I were working on. We decided that after living in our condo for 2 years, that it was time to put some art up on the walls. We had only hung a few photos in one cluster in the living room. The rest of the walls were devoid of art.

David found some good pictures we had taken on various trips, but mostly pictures from Italy, and we had them printed at a print shop in Ballard. To save money, we wanted to mat and frame them ourselves. We called around to get estimates to have someone else do it all, but not only were they tremendously expensive, but we like to do things ourselves that are do-able. So, we went out and bought a quality mat cutter, some nice museum board, and some frames.

Here are the two groupings we have done so far.

Watch out for the glare above!

We will be matting some batiks that David got from his dad, but we haven't figured out what color the frames should be for those. So those are on hold. But David has gotten quite good at using the mat cutter.

See--I promised I'd post some pictures...now I just need to get the other ones scanned.

good news

I got good news from my old friend Jen from Cincy today.  She and her husband are pregnant with their second child.  The baby is due on September 8th.  They already have one cute 19 month old named Sarah.

 

And, You all know Mikie is pregnant right now with her first child. 

 

Just a quick update on friends!

 

Now on to Family,

 

Suzanne Lammert (my dad's wife) is walking in the Kansas City AIDS walk.  On April 22nd, She is walking a 5 K in the 18th Annual AIDS Walk Kansas City.  The money raised for this event supports 5 local agencies that serve HIV patients, including Kansas City Free Health Clinic (where she works).

You can support her in this wonderful cause (even $5 or $10 would help), by making a donation online at

http://www.firstgiving.com/kcfree

David and I walked here in Seattle 2 years ago and raised some money.  We've already donated to Suzanne's walk. She has a $250 goal, so each little bit really counts!

 

turned into a pumpkin

Last night I was at risk of turning into a pumpkin earlier than normal, so I took matters into my own hands and went to bed early.  For some people, early might mean 9:30, or 10 pm, or anytime before the evening/late news.  Well, last night my throat hurt so badly, and I was just feeling exhausted, that I went to bed at 8:30 !!!

 

I'm pretty sure David thought something was seriously wrong.  But I had no problem sleeping until 7am, which means that my body really needed the rest.  And though I woke up with a sore throat again, it hasn't gotten worse throughout the day.

 

I'm hoping to get a few more nights of good sleep this weekend.  I've got to get myself strong again, because I've got two work trips scheduled before the end of this month.  Both are to D.C. and they are only about 1 week apart.  I'll definitely be taking a non-stop!

 

 

pictures pictures

I'm waiting to get some pictures back from the ski trip and my orcas island trip so that I can post them. I was also going to post a pic from my birthday dinner, but david and I can't find a good one. So, soon, very soon, you will probably be seeing many pictures. Those are always the fun days to check the blog---yea for photos!

Wonderful Birthday Dinner

Last night David took me to Canlis (www.canlis.com), which is perched high above lake union.  It has great views of the lake and parks, neighborhoods, etc.  Our reservation was for 6:45, so we got there well before the sun was to go down, and we stayed until after the sun set.  It was really pretty. 

 

Although we felt a little out of place (it is out of our typical price range), I think we got comfortable after we ordered our food.  It is one of the few restaurants in seattle where they RECOMMEND that guys wear jackets.  They don't require it, but just about all the men had jackets on.  We speculated that the ones without jackets were regulars who hit it big in the dot.com industry and thus don't feel a need to wear a jacket, because they are there often.

 

I'll give you a run-down of our meal.  We decided not to order wine to make dinner more affordable.  We ordered ginger ale instead.  It tasted a bit like an adult shirley temple, which led me to believe they were not out of the can, but were created on the premises.

 

They immediately brought fancy crackers to the table with butter.  When they got a batch of hot rolls out of the oven, they brought those around too.  The first course was a lightly breaded calamari with a wonderful pesto type sauce with it.  The second course was the "Canlis Salad" that we shared.  We got the recipe for it at the end of the night.  David ordered the Scallops and I ordered the Petite Filet Mignon.  The dishes were beautiful.  Everything had wonderful presentation and looked quite appetizing.  And it was delicious.  We both really enjoyed our meals.  We had pre-ordered the chocolate lava cake, because they are cooked to order and take quite awhile, so after the meal was over and we were given some time to let the food digest a bit, they brought out the lava cake with icecream, a strawberry, and a port wine/raspberry reduction sauce.  It was heavenly.

 

I'd say it was one of the top 2 or 3 meals I've ever had.  Definitely a good birthday present!

neatly tied up

Boy, the past few days have been tumultuous for me.  But, I feel that at least a few of the issues have been neatly tied up and I can now stop worrying about them.  

 

I'm leaving it all behind for a trip to Winter Park with my family and wonderful husband.  Last year I wasn't able to ski because I had sprained an ankle a few weeks prior, so I've been having these very real images of getting hurt on the slopes again.  I think last year was the first time I had ever been injured skiing, and I've been skiing for probably about 25 years.  I'm not sure the exact age I started skiing, but I know that the pictures of me sure look young.  I look like a mini stay-puf marshmallow.  I was a hot-dogger on the slopes when I was little.  I liked going fast.  I'm not quite as bold anymore, but I still enjoy a little speed, as long as there is plenty of control with it. 

 

 I'm going to help David learn to ski better on this trip.  He has been skiing multiple times before, but wants to learn more so he feels more comfortable on the slopes.  He has asked me to give him some lessons, and I'm happy to do it, but I've already put out the disclaimer that things may not go well.  Sometimes teaching your spouse or partner is not the smartest thing to do.  But he insists that he won't have any problem with me giving him direction and advice.  So I'll do my best to teach and We'll see how it goes. 

 

I'll be back on sunday evening.  I do apologize for the sparse postings.  I've had alot on my plate, and since most of it is  bad stuff, I just didn't want to broadcast it to the country.

quick hello then another absence

I've been so swamped at work that I haven't even been able to think about what I want to write on the blog.  I work late and then take things home with me to read.  and I haven't really wanted to think about other things that are on my mind--because I was afraid I might write about some of them.

 

My good friend Jen is leaving seattle at the end of the month for a rockin' job in D.C. with the Feds.  Since I'll be on the ski trip when she leaves, we needed to make sure we got some quality time in...thus....the two of us are going to Orcas Island for the weekend!  I can't wait.  We're staying in a cabin near the water, and have use of the kayak, a hot tub, there are nearby hiking trails, and we might even go horseback riding.  It should be fun.   I leave tomorrow afternoon and won't be back until sunday, so I'll be out of touch for a few days.

 

 

weekend o' fun

I'm really looking forward to the weekend.  Carolyn and Steve are here and will be staying with us tonight and tomorrow night.  I just hope Maggie doesn't become too annoying to them.  We'll be having fun, whatever the activity.  Having guests in town is always fun because you get to do things you don't normally do.  It is good to break out of habits sometimes. 

 

Gotta go--need to do more work before I leave.

 

 

ridiculous

My paper to the ASEE (American Society for Engineering  Education) conference got its final acceptance yesterday.  Now I just have to pay for the privilege of having the paper published in the proceedings and pay for the privilege of going to the conference to present it.   The proceedings fee isn't too bad at $75, but I am shocked at the registration fee.  I know I went last year and I now remember it being quite expensive last year as well, but I guess I had put it out of my mind until I was reminded just now.  Just to register for the conference you have to pay $407 .  They don't provide meals or anything for that amount.  I find it amazing.  Other conferences I've been to don't have nearly the fee as ASEE.  I wonder if it is an engineering thing? 

 

rough saturday

For the past week or so, there has been a leak somewhere underground near the entrance to our condo building. Water just streamed down toward the door and went off into the gutter. It would be leaking and then it would stop for awhile and then it would leak again. The city came out to figure out what was wrong, and it took them about 5 days to decide what was the problem. Each day I would come home and see a different color of spray paint on the blacktop with arrows and descriptions.

Well, saturday morning as I took maggie out for a long morning walk/run, there was a gaggle of workers (probably about 8 workers happy to be getting overtime) near the leaking area. One asked me "Are you planning on going out at all today?"

I said "um, yeah, Why?"

He said, "Well, we are going to dig a hole in the middle of the entrance to your condo parking lot, and so if you want to use your car at all today, you should move it to the street right now."

I said, "okay"

Then, I had one of those silent conversations with myself... Why are we just finding out about this now? Shouldn't someone have given us advance notice?

I took maggie back up to the condo and The president of the board called and asked me to go around and knock on doors (wake people up-as it was around 8:30 am), and tell them that if they want to use their cars they better move them now. Let's just say that some residents were none too happy about this development. It is tough being the bearer of bad news.

The certainly did dig a hole in our driveway...it has a diameter the size of a small bicycle. I'm not good with estimating the # of feet, so i won't even go there. Suffice to say it was a big hole! That is, it IS a big hole. They covered it with a big plate so that people didn't fall into it, and I assume they resumed work on it today. We still haven't returned the car to the parking lot--I'm afraid we'll get stuck in there and won't be able to get the car out. Of course, we park it in a different place on the street each time, so the last time I went to go get the car, I had to walk around a bit to find it--I'm not used to remembering where I park it at home.

this is not a sign

I repeat, this is not a sign.

 

Although some of you may want it to be a sign (mom, grandma?)...but I had a dream last night that I was pregnant.  I had the big belly and everything. 

 

I know it is not a sign because I was talking with some friends last night about having kids, deciding to have kids, waiting to have kids, psychologically screwing up your kids, and other such topics.  And I got an email from Mikie which made me think of pregnancy because she is more than half way through her own pregnancy.  So it was obviously in my mind when I went to bed which explains the pregnant dream.  I don't feel any more ready or willing to have children right now. (sorry to those of you who were hoping for a different response).  But, I'm just not getting any 'pangs' of the clock or any such thing.   

 

But boy did it feel funny in the dream.  I wonder if it would feel the same in real life?

 

pedestrian friendly

Seattle is a fairly pedestrian friendly city.  Usually if you step off the curb a car will stop for you.  When I walk maggie, I stop at a corner where there is a crosswalk painted across the street and wait for the cars to stop.  The first car doesn't always stop, but usually it doesn't take more than 5-10 cars before someone notices me and stops.  I don't even need to step off the curb to get them to stop. 

 

HOWEVER,

 

There are also streets where cars just assume they have the right of way.  They won't stop for you even if you are at a non-signalled intersection (which by state law, means that cars have to yield to pedestrians).  One such street is the one just east of our condo.  Many cars speed along with no concern for pedestrians who have been waiting to cross.  I've stood there trying to cross for more than 5 minutes sometimes.  Lucky us, though, because one block north of our condo, the city has installed a crosswalk signal.  It isn't fully operational yet, i.e. you can't push the button to make the light turn red, but it is a flashing yellow light with a crosswalk painted across the road.  I saw the most amazing thing today.  Even with just a flashing yellow light, 2 lanes of cars stopped for a pedestrian who wanted to cross at that intersection.  She hadn't even stepped into the street.  It was great!  I can only imagine how wonderful it will be when pedestrians can make the light turn red which will guarantee them safe passage across the street.  I'm very excited by this new light.  Can you tell?

Finally a new vacuum

We finally got a new vacuum last night.  I put it together after dinner and then was so excited to vacuum, I could hardly contain myself.  This one is a bagged model.  the last one we had was bagless but boy was it messy to empty.  You had to stick your hand in it to pull out the hair that had accumulated.  Didn't seem like it was very sanitary.  We may spend more money on bags, but I'm happy to do that, knowing that all the dirt is contained.

 

It worked well.  And the brushroll was so strong it just about pulled the vacuum along and felt sort of self-propelled.  I went to bed a content woman.  I'm going to do another pass at the carpet tonight.  Very exciting!

 

I won't say what age she is...

but today is Jodi's Birthday!!!

Happy Birthday Jodi! I hope you had a great time in Mexico and I love you very much!

new home improvement push

As my mom said, "there's just something about the Spring". It makes you want to get things in order, complete projects you've been thinking of for awhile, and just do some STUFF...it is energizing.

Well, we are feeling the effects. We went to Ikea this saturday and the Home Depot and Lowes on sunday. I don't think we've been to the big box stores for at least a few months now.

We found the perfect cabinet door/drawer handles. We are going to replace the old ones with the new ones, and we are also talking about moving the cabinets up and replacing the wall cabinets with 42" ones that go to the ceiling. We did some pricing for that, and since our cabinets are pretty cheap as it is, it looks like it will only cost about $300. Then we can get a microwave for above the stove to free up some counter space, and then we can get a new dishwasher, and then a new sink and new countertop, and then....

You can see where this is going. One thing leads to another. We do have some money budgeted for home improvements, but certainly not enough to do all this stuff right away. I personally like the little changes that have big impact but are cheap. The cabinet pulls is one example of this. I'll post a picture when we get them all on. We'll move along as we can afford these things.

tgif

And I mean it. I need a break!

reading

Have you ever read a book and wanted to write down everything the book said? I just started reading a book and there are so many things in it that strike a cord with me that I might as well just copy the whole book. It isn't my book (I'm borrowing it), so I can't highlight or anything like that, but I'm seriously considering buying my own copy so I won't have to take such copious notes.

And I have to say, I'm happy to be reading a book, even if this is a "good for me" type of book. I've gotten out of my fiction habit. I don't think I'll be going to the next library book sale--I haven't gone through enough books to make room for the new ones.

As an FYI to seattleites-- this sunday is the Swedish pancake breakfast--David is counting down the hours...okay, maybe not the hours, but definitely the days.

Happy Birthday - one day late

Happy Birthday Matt!

Sorry I didn't post this yesterday, the day of your actual birthday. I hope you had a wonderful day, and make this a great year!

the 2006 SELF challenge

Every year the magazine "Self" has a fitness/diet challenge. For 3 months you make a commitment to eat better, do exercise (cardio and strength), ie. be healthy. Last year I tried to do it but had to stop when I sprained my ankle.

I'm trying it again this year. I started last thursday, and I've already done some things I shouldn't have, but I am trying not to dwell on those. Self has a food diary for each person you can log everything you eat, and a workout log to log your exercise. They also calculate approximate calories burned for each workout. I like that it isn't a quick fix, nor does it promise results for doing nothing. If anyone wants to do it with me, there is a place where you can list your 'challenge' buddies and you can look and see their progress, and in that way, you keep each other accountable.

I'm feeling pretty good about my progress today. I had a yummy spinach salad for lunch and then took the 2nd part of my lunch hour to go for a walk with some co-workers. It was a good combination. I'd like to do it more often. As the weather gets nicer, it will be even easier to go for a walk after lunch.

our little sock fiend

Cute little maggie. She is a sock fiend. We give her old socks to carry around and get dirty, but occasionally she digs one out of the laundry basket. We usually realize she's gone digging b/c the sock in her mouth is totally white and clean.

Occassionally we like to mess around, like in this picture where we put the sock on her snout and then had her focus on one of her toys. She didn't bother to get the sock off b/c she was so focused on her toy. You can tell she's interested in something because her ears are sort of perked up in this picture. She's so cute.

already wednesday?

I guess that is what happens when monday is a holiday. I have a feeling that the next two days will go quickly.

I've been working on one of my infamous 'lists'. Every once in a while I start to feel overwhelmed, and like I can't hold onto any idea in my head, and so I start a list, so I don't have to worry about remembering everything. Well, the current list has been sitting on the kitchen table for about 2 weeks. Not until this past weekend did two things get checked off. 1-bath for maggie and 2-finish taxes.

I have to say, I completed 3 more things on the list today. Two of them were just making appointments at places, but still! I may go home to find only 1 or 2 things left on the list. And I know that one of them is actually a David list item.

I'm not sure if it is the weather or what, but I've been really sluggish all week. I've had an especially hard time waking up at my normal time, and I don't really feel 'awake' most of the day. I think I've also just got alot of things I'm thinking about that are overwhelming me. Trying to deal with all these issues really makes me tired! But I haven't given up quite yet. Actually, I don't plan on giving up anytime soon.

submitted!

I just submitted the conference paper I've been furiously working on for the past two weeks. Yea!!! I may have to revise after I get comments back, but this stage is D-O-N-E, done.

Now I'll get started on some revisions for an NSF grant proposal due next friday.

Yesterday I was walking back from the College of Engineering office, and noticed some of the cherry trees are starting to blossom. Beautiful pink petals. I couldn't believe I hadn't noticed them before---I keep telling myself that they opened up overnight, and it isn't that I've just been so wrapped up in my own little world that I didn't notice them until now.

But, that is probably what the problem was. I've got to peek out from under my cocoon sometimes!

Happy Birthday Carolyn!

It's yo' birthday
Ya gonna party like its yo' birthday?

Hope you have a good one today! I remember you telling me about a tradition in your family related to calling very early on birthdays. I hope that tradition still occurs. It sounds like a fun one.

happy v-day

I would like to wish everyone a happy valentine's day.

In honor of V-day, I'd like to tell you about a dream I had. (Actually, I just want to tell the dream, it really doesn't have anything to do with V-day)

Underwater logging is the way of the future. Somewhere in the depths of the ocean, previously undiscovered, are whole forests of trees. These trees can be harvested for our needs in the future, and they grow back quickly, providing a renewable resource. Additionally, the ground/sand that the trees grow in (in the depths of the ocean), is full of minerals and special compounds that will help us to cure disease and provide new treatments for old problems.

I couldn't stop laughing writing that paragraph. What a crazy idea for me to dream about! But in case it ever happens--You heard it here first!

make up your gosh darn mind--and a birthday wish

Happy Birthday Will (Mr. Litzler)! Today is his birthday, and I'd like to wish him a wonderful birthday DAY, and a fabulous year.

As for the other title section: This weather is driving me nuts today. This morning it was gray and spitting rain. By the time I got to work, the sun had come out and the sky was blue. I thought maybe we would get lucky enough to have blue skies the rest of the day....but Now we're back to gray and spitting rain.

And another thing...is there really that little going on in my life that I have to talk about the weather? Well, I have to say that the weather does influence me and my mood, and so I can't help but mention it sometimes.

daffodils

This morning on my walk to school from the bus, I saw a daffodil. I had already seen the crocus coming up, but hadn't seen any in bloom, but this daffodil was definitely in bloom. We've had a few days of sunshine and temp's in the mid 50's; so I guess that was enough for this little daffodil to think it was okay to come out. I love the first flowers after winter.

I don't think I ever noticed things like that before a few years ago. Have I become sentimental? It seems like it means so much, seeing the first flowers after winter. I can't help but smile at the brave ones who dare to poke their heads out.

In other news, I have been swamped at work. Thus, the reason for few posts this week. I have a conference paper due next friday, and the database guy just got me the data yesterday to do my analysis. And I still had to pull the data out of access to put into spss. I'm thinking that I'll be working this weekend for sure. Otherwise, I'll be seriously stressed all next week.

pics to share

I just wanted to share some pictures I took yesterday morning on a walk to Fremont in the morning. It was around 7:50 am when these pictures were taken. The sun was just coming up.

The hustle and bustle of cars crossing the Fremont bridge.



A serene and beautiful morning. The rowers probably felt funny being photographed, but oh well. The big bridge you see is the Aurora Bridge, and I'm standing on the Fremont Bridge. Lots of bridges to cross all this water! See--the sun does shine here!

Dog and Pony Show

Today, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is defending the legality of Dubya’s domestic spying program, and he’s doing so without being sworn in under oath. That means he’s free to say anything he pleases without fear of legal repercussions… in other words, he can lie to Congress and America and we’re expected to accept his testimony as truthful and factual.

Let me ask you all this, what is the point of Senate hearings that do not guarantee a shred of truth? Why wouldn’t you want Congress and America to have confidence in the truth of your words? If there’s nothing to hide, if the program is legal as the Bushies insist, if they want to demonstrate to America that they are NOT corrupt, then put our minds at ease by saying so under oath. Make your words mean something!

This hearing is a joke, but it’s business as usual for the Bush administration. They pulled the same crap when Exxon and Chevron executives testified during the 2005 Senate hearing on big oil price gouging that led to the largest corporate profits in world history. The execs too were liberated from the burden of truth by not being placed under oath. Why? Wouldn’t you like to know?

These hearings are a dog and pony show, and nothing more. Their sole purpose is to enable the Bushies to say, “You got your hearing. We investigated OURSELVES and found nothing wrong or improper (surprise, surprise). Now sit down and shut up.” It’s ridiculous and disgusting. How does anyone believe or trust this administration? They need to answer the questions, and they need to do so under oath.

going to watch the game

We don't get the channel the Super Bowl is being broadcast on, so we are going over to our neighbor's condo to watch the game.

The odds are against us, as first time Bowl 'go-ers'. Truth is, I don't really care. I think it would be great if we win, but just the excitement of the Super Bowl has energized the city. That is the best part, I think.

We watched two good movies this weekend, both of which are nominated in some way for the Oscars. The first was "hustle and flow" . It was a great movie--had moments of laughter and seriousness and sadness etc. I'd recommend it. We also rented "Murderball" which is a documentary about quadripilegic rugby players who play in the olympics. All the hype about that movie is true too...it will dispel some myths about people in wheelchairs, and was just a really well done documentary. You would not believe the violence they put those chairs through. It is like football/bumper-cars in wheelchairs.

Time to leave work and go eat chips/veggies and dip, cheese, guacamole, etc. I love the food that goes with the super bowl. We aren't even really doing it up with wings, queso, and all the other things, but this will be a treat.

at least we got in the record books

This past january was the third-wettest month on record, with 11.65 inches of rain, according to the National Weather Service. The wettest month on record: January 1953, with 12.92 inches. The second-rainiest was December 1979, with 11.85 inches.


see chart below (if you can read it)

worse than i thought

hand much more swollen today
sausage fingers
can't type
will call doc
hurts more

kiss my boo-boo?

This morning on my walk with Maggie she got scared by the sound of a garbage can scraping across the sidewalk. It was pretty much blocking the sidewalk so I was moving it off the sidewalk. She bolted when she got scared--and I mean bolted. Not just pulling, but full out running. I suppose I could/should have let go of the leash, but I was afraid she would run away and I guess part of me thought I could stop her.

That's one strong doggie. She pulled me over. In my slow motion fall to the ground (amazing how much can go through your mind in those few seconds), my first thought was--Damn it! I better not get my pants dirty--these are good work pants! So in my attempt to save my pants, I landed on my hand/wrist, and bent it backward pretty far. By this point I had let go of the leash, and maggie was running back to me and trying to jump on me like she does when she is nervous. Again making me worry about the nice work pants. The wrist hurt. I blinked back tears and walked her home (with the leash in my other hand).

It really isn't that bad of a sprain/strain. I still have movement, and the swelling is minimal. Of course I have been following RICE religiously. I immediately iced it when I got home, David went and bought an Ace bandage for compression, and I'm trying not to use that hand for weight bearing activities. Typing doesn't hurt too much, but writing with a pen does. I've been icing at work, and trying to keep it elevated as much as possible (any time I'm not typing). I'm sure it will be fine in a few days.

FYI--the pants turned out fine--not a speck of dirt on them!

nano nano nano

As I'm working on a project at work related to nanotechnology, I thought I would put a question out there for all my readers that might help me with my work...(Deb- you know all about this!)

How many popular movies, books, tv shows, etc. can you name that deal with nanotechnology in some way? What are they?

For those of you not "in the know", Nanotechnology deals with things on the nano-scale which is a little larger than the size of individual atoms. A nanometer, one billionth of a meter, is about 10,000 times narrower than a human hair. ps--I wasn't 'in the know' until just a few months ago-so don't feel bad.

Here are a few ideas to start you off:
Prey by Michael Crichton
Spiderman 2
The Stepford Wives (newest release)

c'mon--now use your abundant knowledge of popular culture to help me come up with movies!

Time for taxes!

I think we have finally received everything we need to do our taxes. It seems that every year we do them, some new wrinkle, or complication comes up. Last year it was the first year we really had mortgage interest deductions. This year, we refinanced, and we have to deal with both of our workplace savings programs (last year we only had D's plan).

Call me weird, but I always get energized to do my taxes. I have no desire to wait to the last minute to do them. I want to do them now and get them out of the way so I can hopefully get the refund that is coming to me/us. I suppose as they get more and more complicated my energy might lag a bit. I know Dad always puts them off for awhile b/c they are so cumbersome.

Things I need to do some more research on...the AMT, simple-ira's....and there was something else, but I can't remember now.

Happy 30th Sweetie!

Now that you are an old man...your cake will start to look like this one!

As long as you don't start to look like the old man ;-)

Love you lots sweetie! I hope you have a wonderful birthday and birthday weekend. Because let's face it...when your birthday is on a friday, you get the whole weekend to celebrate.

And celebrate we will! We've got Ellen's Eggs Mornay on the menu for saturday breakfast, and then a fun day to do whatever you want.

Unfortunately, David is feeling under the weather today on his birthday. It may be the flu since his co-worker had it and refused to stay home from work. Here is a quote from David from this morning, "If this is what getting old feels like, I don't want to get old".

Decaf…I said DECAF!!!

What is it with coffeeshops in Seattle acting like decaf does not exist?

This morning I met a prospective RA at a coffee shop at 9 am. I ordered a decaf mocha. I do this all the time. Even with the small amount of caffeine in a decaf and in the chocolate it doesn't usually affect me. They made the mocha. I drank the mocha. It was a good mocha.

About 30 minutes later, I was feeling a little light-headed, and was shaky. But I got a lot done at work. The room started spinning. I was talking extra fast and thinking even faster. I was making lots of mistakes typing. I was doing 5 things at once.

hmmm...it seemed like the symptoms of a caffeine high.

But I said decaf!

I admit it. I'm caffeine sensitive. Most of you know that. Most of you would laugh at me on a caffeine high. But here it is, 3:10 pm and I'm still shaky, still moving a mile a minute, and my stomach is starting to hurt. I don't like the general symptoms of a caffeine high, but I especially don't like the stomach pain symptom. When will this stuff wear off? I had better be able to sleep tonight!

My co-worker suggested that I will probably crash early this evening. With the way I feel right now, I can't imagine crashing ever.

This has happened to me before at a coffeeshop. I asked for decaf, sat down to read some Durkheim, and when I got up to get a refill on my drip decaf coffee, and asked them for a refill on drip decaf, they said " oh- we don't believe in Decaf". What!? You don't BELIEVE in decaf? No wonder my knee was bouncing like there was no tomorrow. You'd think they could have told me that with my first cup- I would have ordered herbal tea!

Seriously- I hate this feeling. While I appreciate the productivity, it is not worth it.

I really don't want to have to give up ordering fun decaf coffee drinks. I live in the city of coffee. Do I really have to repeat myself each time I order decaf. Do I have to act like the baristas are stupid? Do I have to say, "I'd like a tall nonfat decaf mocha please. It is very important that it is decaf"

I will continue to trust the local barista for now. But if this starts to happen more often, you'd better believe I will start repeating myself.

more fun with animals

Here is a new "fun with animals" straight from David's creative mind. Makes me laugh.

Can I get you a napkin?

No, I'm good... thanks.

thanks for advice

Thanks Ann and Mel for the advice on the vacuum situation. I still haven't taken it in to get an estimate, but hopefully they won't tell me it is without hope. I'd rather not spend the money on a new vacuum right now.

And truly, I think if I had an extra 600 bucks lying around (in my dream world), I would look into buying a dyson or miele. The dyson has an "animal" vacuum that I would love to test drive.

In other news, the day of doom is fast approaching. (Day of doom meaning a 30th birthday).
I've heard of many people getting upset and bothered by turning 30. Things like--I thought I'd have 5 kids by now, I thought I would have sailed around the world already, I thought I would have my perfect job, etc. David has been mum about such things. If he is upset by this 30th birthday, he is keeping to to himself.

I'm not sure how my 30th will progress. I don't think I'll feel sad that I haven't gotten very far. In fact, I feel like I have gotten quite far in my life, and I am happy with my situation. I've got a wonderful husband, a sweet, if sometimes too loving dog, we own our home, and I've got a good job that pays me much more than I was making before I got a master's degree. I feel like things are moving along.

However, I reserve the right to be crabby and sad and cranky about turning 30, if that is what I choose to do/be. But right now I just don't think I'll feel that way.

poor craftsmanship?

Last night I was starting to vacuum the carpet when I realized that the brush wasn't turning. Last time this happened (and yes it happened before) David spent practically the whole night taking the vacuum apart, fixing it, and putting it back together again.

It has also been putting out a burning smell occassionally. Combine that with the high pitched scream that sounds when you run it, and I think we may have bought a lemon of a vacuum. I'm going to take it in to a shop to have it fixed (don't I wish grandpa lived in seattle!), but I'm getting fed up with this vacuum. We just bought it about 3 years ago! It isn't that old. Before that I was using an old ugly green vacuum that had been used my my family for years. I probably would have been better off keeping that one.

I have to admit, I didn't get a subscription to consumer reports to do my research on vacuums before we made a decision. But I figured hoover was a good name---so how bad could it be.

Last night I borrowed my neighbor's vac instead. It was so quiet you hardly knew it was working! But it certainly picked up the dirt! It was a Eureka. I really hope it wasn't a bad decision, but instead is just is a little thing that can be fixed easily. I know we put it through a lot of work picking up all that dog hair, but it shouldn't be affected this much from dog hair!

anyway, I'm going to go pay $38 to have it fixed and hope that it doesn't break again for another 3 years. Otherwise, we will seriously have to consider using this one for a coat hanger and getting a new one.

I forgot about the record

I meant to update you all on the rain record...

We didn't make it to day 33. Only 27 consecutive days of rain and then last sunday was dry dry dry. David and I were kind of sad. You don't trudge through 27 days on your way to a record, just to have one day of dryness screw it all up. And wouldn't you know it- monday it rained, tuesday it rained....

Couldn't we have gotten just a little rain on sunday to keep it going?

no more

No more shopping when hungry. Last night we went to the store to get some simple cheeses and crackers. However, when we left that particular store, we had spent about 70 dollars and left with Mochi, salmon, chips, cottage cheese, wine, mineral water, cookies, and other things I can't remember.

Then we went to the second store. Goal: buy mushrooms. that was the only thing we needed from that store. Well, we walked out with 2 bags and a case of soda.

I was so hungry everything looked good, and my willpower went way down. I was saying yes to everything. Triscuits-yum, goldfish crackers-oh they are on sale and david loves them...hot chocolate mix--because we were almost out....two boxes of tea--who doesn't like chamomile?

I even saw a huge chocolate bar, and had a horrible urge to pick it up and take a big bite (before I had even bought it!). Luckily, I was able to stop myself from buying the chocolate bar.

Lesson: eat something before going to the grocery.

today was a rough one

I barely had time to eat, it was so busy. But I got a lot accomplished, including submitting a final draft of my paper to a conference where the abstract was accepted. Now we'll see if they like the paper as much as they liked the abstract.

It is nice that the week is on the down-swing already. Thank goodness for holidays! I'm plotting and planning for David's birthday. His 30th!!!!! is coming up next week. Gotta make it good. However, I don't know how I can top the trip to the San Juans where we stayed in a bed and breakfast that was on a boat.

ah well, at least that was a good one.

I've got to make this one a good one too! (David I know you are reading this...which is why I am not giving away any hints! ---Love ya!)

King Kong and bird flu

A quick update on David: He's doing better. Think it must have been one of those short things, or maybe just a reaction to some bad food. In any case, he has plucked his feathers and is feeling better.

Now on to King Kong: I was pleasantly surprised by the movie. Sure, there were leaps of logic that one had to take to believe the story, but let me tell you this....I cried my eyes out at the end. And I don't mean just tears running down my face, but more like trying to keep myself from making those crying noises you make when you are really bawling. I never thought I would feel so strongly about a computer generated character. I really did believe there was a relationship between Ann Darrow and Kong--a friendship that crossed the boundaries of humanity.

I think Jen has it right with her theory. Any movie with animals as main characters are ones that she will like or feel strongly about. I understood that because I really felt bad for Kong--he was just being an animal and people were killing him for it.

I like the movie on an emotional, suspension of disbelief level. If you have no problem believing stories that don't quite explain some big things-then you'll be fine and will probably enjoy the movie. Probably the biggest break from logic was that they never showed how they got Kong back to New York on their little boat. There would be no way to fit him on the boat! There were lots of other things like this, but I had no problem ignoring them for the 3 hours of the movie.

growing feathers

All of a sudden today David seemed to come down with something. He says he might be growing feathers out of his armpits. We'll keep checking to make sure it isn't the bird flu ;-)
He's feeling nauseous, achey, and just plain tired.

The only problem with getting sick right now is that we have already bought tickets to see King Kong tonight with Jen. I guess if he is feeling bad enough we'll just eat the cost of his ticket.

I'm feeling torn about seeing Kong. I haven't had much of a desire to watch the movie at all, but it has been getting lots of good reviews, and everyone says it should be seen on the big screen. So I guess in a way, I'm giving into peer pressure. Putting a little more of my money into Peter Jackson's pocket. Like I told Mel, I hope it proves me wrong. That way I won't feel bad about spending $9.50 a ticket.

"raindrops are fallin' on my head"

and my feet and my legs and my arms.....

We've made it to Day 25! I've decided that being excited about the possibility of breaking a record is the only thing that makes this much rain seem cool. If we didn't have this countdown of days, there would be every reason to hope that it stops raining. But the countdown almost makes me hope and wish for rain. Yes, this perspective is a little demented, but it helps me copes with the rain.

Maybe it is a conspiracy. The government knows that when there is this much depressing rain in a place that they have to do something to squelch the distress from the population. So they make up these "records" about consecutive days of rain to make people excited about all the rain. Yes...that's it. ;-)

Day 24

Wednesday is the 24th straight day of rain in Seattle, closing in on the record of 33 consecutive days of rain set in 1953.

Can you believe it? I wonder how close we'll get. No wonder I've been feeling gloomy, and wanting to eat comfort foods!

It is causing some flooding and mudslides, but I don't think it is anything compared to the flooding in other parts of the country, like california.

the promised picture

Here is the new haircut. took the picture this morning. Not too bad, but definitely isn't chin length. Don't feel obliged to comment. I'm not fishing for compliments AT ALL.

new hair-do

Last night I went to an appointment at my local salon to get my hair cut. I purposely scheduled with a "New Talent" because they only cost $27 for a haircut, which is great when you consider the scalp massage and wonderful products they use.

I'll call my new talent "M". M was very nice, and kept a good general conversation going. I'm not much of a conversationalist with a hairdresser, so I usually don't try to keep things going. But M made it very easy to talk a little and then be quiet. A good sign.

M asked how I wanted my hair cut. I said it would be pretty much the same except shorter. I also said--it looks really bad when it is shorter than my ears, and it usually looks the best when it is about chin length.

Maybe I needed to be more clear that I wanted a haircut that was about chin length. My new 'do is just barely below my ears. I'll have to post a picture to prove it. It doesn't really look all that bad, but it isn't what I wanted. It is a good haircut, only 2 inches too short.

I think I'll continue trying the "new talent"...this experience won't sour me on this affordable haircut option. However, I think I'll be more explicit next time. And, I'll probably be waiting awhile for this cut to grow out!

new office

I officially moved into my new office today. It is bigger, and is more centrally located so I can be in the "thick" of it. The only problem is, I keep forgetting where I put stuff. I've got a big filing cabinet, but I can't remember what is in the first drawer or the third drawer. Too many drawers!

I really should use this opportunity to do some organizing of my files. But I've got too much to do right now, so I think I'll maybe wait until a weekend or stay late some night to work on it. Did I mention that my boss submitted paperwork to get me a promotion and a raise? I think my title may change too, but I'm not sure what it will change to yet.

That is it for now--more later.

eleven minutes, 21 seconds

That is my new fastest time on an "easy" web sudoku. Hope I can continue to get better with practice!

New Years Eve

Here is a picture of part of our new years eve dinner. We sort of ate in courses over a span of a few hours. First was the veggies and dip (you can see we did a number on them). Next came stuffed mushrooms. And lastly were these dungeness crab and bay shrimp cakes. The recipe is from David's boss, Linda. The sauce is a yogurt-cilantro-green onion combination. The champagne punch in our glasses was also pretty yummy!

After dinner, we watched the 40 year old Virgin, which was really funny. There was a scene in it that made David laugh so hard we had to put the movie on pause and wait a few minutes until the laughing subsided. They did a good job with the movie. We had to stop the movie to watch the countdown until the new year, and then we started it again, after we had done our celebrating.

It was a good year for us (and our friends and family), I think.

We adopted Maggie in March, finished our wall re-model project, I transitioned out of grad-school into a great job, we celebrated our 2 year wedding anniversary, saw Will and Sandy get married, I recovered from a sprained ankle, saw Cara and Craig get married, then Lori and Jon get married, I went to Las Vegas TWICE, saw Pearl Jam in Vancouver B.C., Emily and Melissa got engaged, Emily started grad school in architecture, Carolyn celebrated 5 years, Mikie got pregnant, I brought in my first grant, Mom found a wonderful man to spend her time with, Jen successfully defended her dissertation (congrats Dr. Edwards), and we bought a car. I'm sure there are other things that I'm missing.

This new year brings both of our 30th birthdays and who knows what else. We are looking forward to it. A toast:

To a new year full of possibilities and new experiences. May we grow kinder and happier with each new day.

Happy New Year 2006

quick one

I'm leaving work in 7 minutes, so I need to make this quick...

Happy New year to everyone! I hope you all celebrate in the way most fitting for you. David and I will probably stay home, but may take a walk with maggie to see the fireworks at the space needle around midnight. Depends on the weather. A co-worker gave me a bottle of champagne, so I'm going to find a good champagne cocktail recipe. Bellini's are great-but peaches really aren't in season, so I'm going to look for something else.

Any favorites?

web sudoku

Okay, I don't consider myself a super competitive person (others may disagree), but I am feeling pretty incompetent with this web sudoku. I was just playing a couple of games during my lunch break, and on the www.websudoku.com site you can check to see how your time compares to others who have solved it.

I can do the easy ones with no problem, but they take me between 13 and 15 minutes. My fastest time is 13:09 so far. When you finish a sudoku it takes you to a screen and you can click on a button that says "how good is my time?". I was feeling okay about my time b/c, hey- at least I finished the puzzle, and I look up my time compared to others and 90% of people scored faster than me on that particular puzzle. Some people have times of under 3 minutes for an easy sudoku!!!!! How do you even do something like that in under 3 minutes? I have no idea. I'm sure that with practice I'll get faster, but I'm pretty sure I'll never get a sub 3 minute time. The median time for that puzzle was about 7 minutes. I feel slow!

Anyone else want to share their time on an easy web sudoku? Am I doing them wrong and that is what is causing my time to be so long? arghh..well, maybe I am a little bit competitive--even with people I don't even know and who don't mean anything to me.

a few more pictures

Couldn't resist a few more pictures. Here is Jodi on christmas eve.

Opening presents...I think we were joking about who got to open the "joint" gift. Looks like I won.

Emily looks so funny here! and Mel looks great! They are such a cute couple!

Christmas morning breakfast/brunch. Can you see the Goetta on the table? It was yummy!

Another christmas eve picture.

christmas pictures from kansas

Here are few of my favorite christmas pictures from Kansas. If I can get some from Oklahoma I'll post those too.

Here is a picture from Christmas day. Everyone is there, but not the 4 dogs and 1 cat.


The table decorated for Christmas dinner.

Opening presents on christmas morning/afternoon. Brittany has Prince in her arms.

Emily the Bat. Funny story about how she and Suzanne were chased out of the house one time by a bat. Emily got this fun mask to remember the event.

And Nathan got a Darth Vader mask. I love this pic of both of them with their masks on.

Here is a great picture of Brittany and Nathan. Don't they look cute?

Stephanie in front of the fire with Prince. I was very very tempted to post the picture of Steph opening her 10 lb. bag of pinto beans, but decided against it. She was so funny when she opened that present! I loved the look on her face! But, I figured Stephanie might not be too happy about having that picture posted.

Here is a picture of us going through some of the christmas ornaments on christmas eve when we were decorating the tree.

bleary eyed but working

We arrived back in seattle and to our home last night around 2:00 am. David and I are both working today. I just hope we can make it to the end of the work day. I can already tell it is going to be a long one.

We had a great time on our trips to Kansas and Oklahoma.

Emily, Melissa and Jodi were there from the Lammert side of the family, and Nathan, Brittany and Stephanie were there from the Allen side of the family. We had a great time hanging out, walking Cho, Cedric, and Casper, and cuddling with Prince (who reminded me a little of Jazzy). Many enjoyed spirited games of Mexican Train Dominoes, and the home-made Kahlua and Mulled Wine.

I think David and I got everyone addicted to Sudoku, a sort of number based crossword puzzle that operates entirely on logic. It is quite fun! For those interested in trying some online puzzles, I like http://www.websudoku.com . www.sudoku.com has some good instructions and hints for how to play sudoku. I dare you not to get addicted!

We had a great christmas dinner with ham, turkey, all the fixin's, apple pie, oreo pie, wonderful wine and engaging company. It was fun hearing about everyone's engagement stories at the dinner table. Will Dietz was able to join us from Lawrence, which was nice.

On monday we drove to Oklahoma in Suzanne's car. They were so nice to let us borrow it. It got great gas mileage! Took about 4 hours to drive to Bartlesville. On monday night we had a great dinner with Will, Sandy, Matt, and Amy. We watched a funny movie after dinner called "Army of Darkness". I think it is one of these "cult" classics--I'm happy to say I can now say I've seen it. However, I'm not sure that I would watch another one. Tuesday we toured the only Frank Lloyd Wright designed "Skyscraper", the Price Tower. It was a neat tour, and we got to see the top three floors of the building, many of which still had the original furniture designed by Wright. We also got to see Zaha Hadid's plans for an addition to the Tower. It looked very cool!

It was a very good christmas, although I am definitely looking forward to some down-time this weekend. David and I have both been feeling like we might be getting sick, so we need to get some extra rest to ward off a cold/flu.

attachment bonds

David just dropped me off at work after we drove downtown to drop maggie off with the Boarding people. I know we are only going to be gone for about a week, but I'm sad! I have become seriously attached to Maggie. I got a little teary when the guy put her in the back of their van. It is like I don't want to let her go. I told her that we would be back for her in a week, but it is still hard to give her to someone else to take care of.

I don't think I ever felt this close to any pets as a kid. Maybe because I wasn't very involved with their care. They were also outside animals, so it was easier to maintain a distance from them. How do you maintain emotional distance from an animal that sleeps on a doggie bed at the foot of your bed? I actually don't want the answer to that question. I don't want to have emotional distance from Maggie. I guess I'm just amazed at how attached and bonded I am to her. I can understand how mothers have a hard time leaving their children with sitters.

We are leaving tomorrow for Kansas and Oklahoma. It's going to be another whirlwind christmas. I think some year soon we are going to boycott and just stay home. It takes a lot of energy to do all this travelling. So, for many of you-I'll see you soon. For those I won't see soon--I love you and have a wonderful christmas and holiday season!

vegas pics finally!

We finally got the vegas pictures back, and David scanned them for us. Here are some of the best and my favorite pictures from the trip.


Here we are on one of our fun nights out. This was the night we saw the two N'sync boys.

Jodi and me on one of our mornings "after", eating in our hotel's restaurant. We look pretty good for being up so late! I really really like this picture of us. This one is low-res, but the original is great.

Look who's got the magic touch--no fancy photography here-just luck!

And I couldn't resist posting the tigers from MGM Grand. They were laying on plastic sheets that were on top of a tunnel people could walk through. They were so cute! We were basically standing right underneath them and they didn't seem concerned or the least bit interested.

More David Horsey Cartoons

You'd think we were groupies or something! Actually, we did behave a bit like groupies at an event we went to a year or two ago. David Horsey was sitting at the table next to us with a staff member from Sociology, and I asked her to introduce us to him. She did and we gushed to him about the great work we thought he was doing. I recall being quite nervous to meet him.

Anyway, David just sent me two great David Horsey political cartoons that he wanted me to post. His Mac at work won't allow him to post graphics on blogger. These deal with two big issues right now--tax cuts for the rich (which I've commented on before) and now illegal and unconstitutional wire taps on citizens.

As always, take what you want and leave the rest (a saying I got from Mom).

almost a week!

I can't believe it has almost been a week since I last posted. Holy cow! This christmas stuff really takes over your life. We've got so much to do before we head to KC and OK for the holidays. I think we are done with presents (except for each other), but we've got loads and loads of laundry and other things to take care of.

The cold hasn't completely gone away yet--still pretty congested, especially in the morning and evening. I hope that means it is on its way out!

Here is a little holiday picture to get you in the mood. The builder of this "snowzilla" certainly is dedicated. It is 16 feet high and hand packed. If only everyone could be so festive! Where do you find so much snow? Alaska.

Tax cuts for the wealthy

Here is a great cartoon by David Horsey that David sent to me today. I haven't yet been able to get a good explanation on why tax cuts for the wealthy help the vast majority of americans.
Okay, Okay, I know I can be a 'bleeding heart' sometimes, but how can we cut services for those who need it most, at the same time we give money back to the people who need it least?

I'm home sick today--My cold and I battled all last night for who would have control of my body. I think I won out around 2:40 am. I've been sleeping all day to give my body more energy to heal. I'll get to bed early tonight too.

brrrrrrr

It's cold in here! I just got to work, and the heater is not working in the building I work in. The thermostat says it is about 52 degrees in my office! If they don't get it working soon, my fingers will be too cold to type.

Swiss Cookies

Here's a glimpse of what I spent part of my weekend doing: Making Bratzeli cookies. These are traditional swiss cookies, made in a pizzelle iron. I got the recipe from one of David's co-workers whose aunt passed this cookie recipe down to her family. They are super yummy, and beautiful to boot. I made a bunch to give to my co-workers at work as a holiday gift.

Here is the Bratzeli or Brazeli close-up (two little dots above the 'a's). They can be made like this, with a sort of snowflake pattern, or with a bit more dough so they have an even round edge.


I made two batches; the cookies you see below are just ONE batch. We've got cookies coming out of our ears!

Another view to show you how thin they are. Very crispy cookies.

I couldn't resist this picture... The mess I made in the process of making the cookies. However, if you look closely, some of this isn't even related to the cookie-making. I'm not sure if that is a good or bad thing!

back to reality

I'm back from Vegas. Got in this morning around 9:20 seattle time. I'll post some info about the trip in a little while. I'm really worn out- and because I was feeling nauseous on the plane, I took some dramamine, and that is making me even more drowsy.

We had a great time, and I have to now get back in the groove of work and a more structured existence. We took some photos, so I'll see if I can post them when I get them developed.

Vegas Baby!

Sunday I am heading to Las Vegas for an award trip of Jodi's. We'll be staying at a fancy hotel, and even though it will probably not be warm enough to get some "pool time" in, I think it should be wonderful weather for walking the strip.

I also want to take a trip out to red rock canyon (if that is what it is called) and do some hiking there. Jodi and I have divided up the trashy magazines we are bringing, so we'll have hours of gossip to read about. Fun!

And maybe we'll even see some celebs like last time! We'll see if we can get Nick Lachey to hit on Jodi or something.

I've been remiss

I totally forgot to say that it has been snowing here all day! It isn't sticking where we live, but it is sticking in our old neighborhood, and further north. There were big fat luscious snowflakes coming down--so pretty! If only it would accumulate!

sad maggie dream

I had a really sad dream about maggie last night. I'm pretty sure I was yelling or at least crying in my sleep-so I'm surprised I didn't wake David up.

Here is what happened in my dream:

David and I took maggie shopping with us. We couldn't take her in the store, so we tied her leash to something outside and went in the store. When we came out of the store, She was gone. I started calling her name, and that escalated into screaming her name. I kept asking people if they had seen a golden retriever go by but no one had seen her. Finally I asked someone and they said they just saw a man with a dog go in one direction.

I ran in that direction and saw a truck pulling out of a parking spot. In the back of the truck, sort of hanging over the tailgate, was the back half of maggie's body. I didn't know whether she was dead (and the man had killed her) or if she had just been tranquilized. I pounded my fists against the side of the truck and yelled for him to stop. He finally did, and I told him that the dog in the back was mine. Actually, I was doing more than telling him, I was crying and yelling at the same time. I was so scared she was hurt. I remember waking up at the point when I was crying and yelling, and because that is when I'm pretty sure I made a loud noise (like a sob or something).

I don't know why I had this dream. I can't think of anything specifically maggie related that has happened lately to make me have a dream like this. I can't think of a good interpretation of this dream. Anyone have any ideas?