Let it snow.....then rain...grr..

The snow started up full force last night around 8pm. We stood at the back door just watching it for at least 20 minutes. It was amazing. Huge snowballs falling from the sky. Growing up in Wenatchee I saw plenty of huge snow storms, but there is something different when it comes down in Seattle. I'm not looking forward to my trek to the bus stop this morning, since the rain followed the snow. I'm sure it is a slushy mess! I think the Diva Dash on Saturday is going to be quite interesting if this weather keeps up....

Review - Pike Place Brewery

So we'd heard that the Pike Place Brewery's original owners had returned and were going to be making some changes. We were very happy about this considering how disappointing it had been the last few times we'd been there. Here are my notes from our trip last night.
Remodel - Looks like it's going to be nice, but isn't quite finished yet.
Beer - Wonderful as usual
Food - Still just as horrible. They haven't made any changes to the menu yet, nor to their method of preparing the food. This should be done soon!!
Service - Still sketchy. Our waitress did not want to be there. She wanted us to eat, not drink much, and get the heck out of there. We wanted to drink, eat slowly, and visit with our friend Matty. She brought us our check before our plates had even been cleared. We stunned her by ordering another beer. She was not happy at all with us. We weren't happy with her. Game on.

I am consumer - hear me roar!

Yes I broke down and ordered a new iRiver. No, I can't wait until Christmas. I even ordered it with EXPEDITED shipping. I love how I'll spend 2 weeks deciding whether or not to order something and then spend the extra $5 for expedited shipping because all of a sudden I need it tomorrow. That is me....yep. It is the iRiver H10. A newer version of my old H320 and about $200 cheaper. My friend Roberta bought this model based upon my love of iRiver and she said it is great. I trust her....so I got one. I can't wait for it to get here. Should be here by Thursday! NPR will return to my morning routine. Yay!

The weather outside is frightful...

...but my walk to the bus will be so delightful....umm yeah, right. We actually got more snow last night! If anyone was watching the Monday Night Seahawks game they'd know that. Our teacher let us out of class early last night to get home before the snow really hit. I think mainly because he didn't want to drive back to Everett with all of the drunk football fans. Either way, I was pretty happy to get home earlier than usual. And to top it off, Chris waited downtown for me so that I didn't have to ride the bus. This was a very good thing...when I walked by most of the bus stops, there were hordes of people there waiting for buses that hadn't shown up. This city basically shuts down in the snow. Today is supposed to be sunny and clear....we'll see about that.

Sometimes We Dance

Ugh...Monday

Well it started snowing again last night before I went to bed and today the road in front of our house looks like an ice skating rink. I wonder if my bus will even be running. Guess I should go find out. It looks sooooo cold out there, I'd much rather stay in today....

Alas.......

It is 6:07am on Sunday. Dad and I are supposed to leave the house in 38 minutes to get down to the starting line. It is about 34 degrees outside. The wind is blowing up to 30 miles an hour. It is raining to our right and snowing to our left.....very very hard....Oh, and I've had a sore throat for 4 days.
Needless to say, we've thrown in the towel. The weather has won, it has beaten us down and ridiculed us. Who's idea was it anyway to try and do a 1/2 marathon in November? Oh yeah, that was mine........silly silly girl.
In my embarrassment of missing the event, I did just sign up for the Diva Dash next weekend (www.divadash.com). Hopefully the snow has stopped by then...if not, I'm doing it anyway. This is angering me!
The cats are ready to have the house back to themselves. They can't figure out why all these people have been around their house for 4 days straight. Last night they were both upset because the humans were taking up all the chairs and they had to *gasp* sit on the floor to watch TV with us. They both are currently sitting in the bathtub waiting for someone to come and turn the water on for them.....oh...and they'd love it if Mr. House would get up and put wet foods in their bowl.....but it is way too early for that.

So yesterday we went to Bainbridge Island to visit Nancy. Her house is just as amazing as I remember. She's been sick with Distonia for a few years so it is pretty grown over, but she's doing better now and has big plans for the spring. I do believe she talked Chris and I into coming over to help.....She took us to the Bainbridge Island winery for some wine tasting (and buying of course) and then to the Clearwater Casino for a buffet lunch. My stomach is still recovering, but it was fun to visit with her. She's just as sharp and funny as ever.......Sure glad we went.

The turkey has come and gone....

Happy Saturday
Our Turkey Day went off without a hitch. Mom and Dad made it over the passes. There was a wreck on Snoqualmie, but they bypassed it by stopping to use the restroom (according to dad). Chris made an amazing dinner (as usual) and I fell asleep on the couch at around 7:30pm. Business as usual.
Yesterday Dad, Chris and I braved the crowds. We went to the Volvo place in the U-dist. to get a part of their car. Then we went to the sale at REI! It wasn't nearly as busy as we thought it would be. Dad tried to buy one of everything though, so that took a little while. After that we went to the Westin to pick up our numbers and t-shirts for the 1/2 marathon tomorrow. It was insane! There were people EVERYWHERE and there was no order at all. We got into the line as it wrapped around past the front of the line, and when the doors opened we "accidentally" got in front of the line. There was so much confusion I don't think anyone noticed. And if they did, oh well, they'll probably just trip us on the course tomorrow! After that we came home and put up Christmas lights!! I am so excited to have Christmas lights on my very own house! Dad climbed up on the roof for us to get them on the tippy top peak. It looked really scary, I'm glad it wasn't me up there! He seemed just fine with it though, walking around all over the roof, hanging over the edge, and what not. I keep saying I'm going to Home Depot to get the LED Giant Penguin I saw there yesterday to put in the front lawn. No one will believe me......just wait.
Today Dad, Chris and I are heading over to Bainbridge Island to visit my dad's cousin Nancy (did I mention that mom has a really bad cold? she's been staying here at the house and cleaning.....typical). Apparently we're going to lunch at the Casino because that is where Nancy likes to go. Be assured there will be more on that later.....

Happy Turkey Day

Do you know how hard it is to type on a laptop keyboard with a 21 pound cat determined to actually be on your lap at the same time. Now he's licking my hand as I type. Apparently he has something to say here. I think it is "why haven't you fed me wet foods yet this morning, quit typing and feed me wet foods". Yep, I'm pretty sure that is it......

My parents should be here in 5 to 6 hours. Turkey is in the brine, pie has been made, sweet taters are ready to go, cranberry chutney is finished, and the kitchen is sort of clean. I think we're about ready. Of course, I went to bed at 9pm last night and Chris did all of the work (except for the pie, I made that!). I haven't been able to eat much this past week, so hopefully Thanksgiving dinner doesn't kill me!

I should go walk today. The 1/2 marathon is in 3 days.

Ok, apparently Percy really needs some attention, more later.....

Thanksgiving Eve

Today is the day before Thanksgiving and I'm sitting here at work. Only a few more hours and I'll be off for 4 whole days!! Tonight Chris and I will prepare the house, and the kitties, for the invasion of my parents. I'm pretty excited, and Chris is handling it very well. Percy is going to get a bath in anticipation of Grandpa's arrival. My father is allergic to Percy and it helps if I give him baths. I'm sure Percy is very excited.

Last night was Chris's company Holiday Party. They held it at the Sheraton this year. We met up with some of his coworkers beforehand at Palomino. Was a very nice evening. I love getting all dressed up fancy for a night downtown. And Chris looked damn handsome in his suit!

Dream Sequence Part 2

I was traveling to NYC with my parents and we ended up at Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville which was apparently a man made island off the coast. There was a giant statue of Jimmy Buffett, that if you put a quarter in it would talk to you. I put a quarter in and it sang Cheeseburger in Paradise. Also at Margaritaville I swam in a pool of margaritas with dolphins and sharks, and was playing a game with a cast of pirates to be the first to find the salt. Some little kid beat me to it and I gave him a dirty look that made him cry. According to the map on the wall of my hotel room (which was way out in the suburbs, while my parents were staying right downtown) NYC is a suburb of Pasco, WA. So, instead of meeting my parents downtown, I went and met Chris to go fly-fishing. And then my friend Matt walked by pushing a corpse on a gurney.

I'm pretty glad I woke up when I did.

Dream Sequence

Chris and I were living on a boat in Las Vegas. It was MUCH bigger than the boat he lived on here. I kept trying to figure out why he wouldn't go anywhere with me during the day, but he'd stay up all night long. Turns out he was a vampire. I wasn't a vampire. Doesn't really seem like a match that was going to make it work. Needless to say, he was plotting to bulldoze the Luxor hotel. He created a little replica of it and kept showing me how this giant bulldozer was going to demolish it. Of course, when I asked where he was going to get this bulldozer he got mad and bit my neck. I then woke up to my alarm.

I've set my alarm to the country music station so I'll immediately wake up and turn it off. It works pretty well.

Preparations

Luckily I'm feeling better today because the house is a disaster and my parents are scheduled to arrive in 4 days!! I'm currently doing laundry and waiting for carpet cleaning stuff to dry (damn cats and their puking - must teach them to use toilet).

I went shopping at Safeway. It is Sunday, and not just any Sunday, but the Sunday before Thanksgiving. What the hell was I thinking! People were everywhere, fighting over turkeys, pushing others out of the way so they could get oregano, spending hours deciding between Ocean Spray jellied cranberries and the Safeway Select brand. I'm surprised I made it out alive. However, fridge is stocked and ready for the Holiday Weekend!

I was supposed to walk 10 miles today, in preparation for the 1/2 Marathon a week from today. However, it is pouring down rain, I'm still recovering from yesterday, and the grocery store done wore me out. Perhaps later I can get up the energy to at least go for a 5 mile jaunt.....no promises at this point.

Oh, washing machine is done. Ta Ta.

Asian Fusion VS. Courtney

You know how people are always encouraging you to try new things? Well, I did, and I suffered all day yesterday for it. On Friday night my friend C from work took me out on the town. She had tickets to see the Decemberists and suggested pre concert apps and drinks at Dragonfish in the Paramount Hotel. I'd been wanting to try the place for some time. Everything was great, yummy drinks, delicious apps, and splendid company. After we went shopping at Nordstrom (yay!!) and then went to see The Decemberists. The show was great, however it was general admission and we couldn't see a damn thing behind all of the giant people. We left a little early because we're old and tired and went home. I was so tired I went to sleep....then BAM! 3am came and it was revenge of the Asian Fusion. I'll spare the details, but lets just say, this is pretty much the first time I've been able to sit up, out of bed, since. Luckily for me, Saturday is Chris's day off and he took oh so good care of me. Again I note, I have the best husband ever. I haven't talked to C yet, but I wonder if she got the poison as well, or if it was just me. I have a notoriously sensitive stomach, so I wouldn't be surprised.......

However! Because I wasn't feeling good I got to stay in bed all day watching movies I haven't seen.
- The Family Stone - highly recommend it. Great acting, predictable plot (aren't they all), perfect for the holiday season.
- Match Point - Woody Allen delivers a hit again. I must say I was totally creeped out by the end, but again, I highly recommend it.
- Elf - Ha, ok I've seen it before, but Will Farrell cracks me up......another perfect holiday season movie....
- Bubble Boy - Ok at this point I must have been a little delirious because I was laughing way too much at this silly movie.

Yay Heat!

Chris is a genius. We came home last night after a very nice dinner at Elliot Bay Brewery and sat down at our respective computers to get to work on researching furnace repair or replacement. After a little while Chris all of a sudden goes "OH!". He jumped up and ran into the furnace room and shouts "I know how to fix it!". So we cut the power to the furnace, he reaches in, he puts the FAN BELT back on its runner, we turn the power back on and cross our fingers. 2 minutes pass and we're about to get back to research and BAM! it comes back on, blower and all! It is a bit (lots) louder than before, BUT WE HAVE HEAT!

Chris is my hero.

The end.

They come in threes

Well our furnace is now on the fritz. It heats up, goes chug chug chug, heat comes out, but it doesn't BLOW to the rest of the house. Hmm...I do believe the "blower" may be out? Which, upon some research based upon what type of furnace we have, etc, leads me to believe we're going to need a new furnace. No biggie right, they're only about $1,000. Oh, but wait, people charge an arm and a leg to put the damn thing in!!! Ugh....well, we'll have someone out to look at it, hopefully on Friday....and hopefully they giggle something and it works.......keep your fingers crossed.

Again, if it is raining and you have a GIANT umbrella, STEP OUT! Leave the eaves for those of us darting in and out of them with no umbrella, just trying to get to our destination without sopping wet hair!

Today is our annual Thanksgiving potluck at work. This will be the first year since I started there (my 4th Thanksgiving Potluck) where I haven't brought a dish to share. Between Mocksgiving, school, furnace, sewer pipe, and stolen items I am not really feeling much like it. However, I may stop and Bartells on my way to work and get some canned olives. Weee....

Cheers!

My Space

I cannot stand people in my space. I'm not sure what it is, but if you get to close to me I feel uncomfortable and have to move. Unless I'm related or married to you, or know you really well, of course. If I'm at the gym, I'd prefer if there was no one on the machines on either side of me. I try to pick a machine near the wall to at least only leave one chance. I really don't like it when you stink like 3 day old gym clothes and you choose the machine next to me. I also don't like it when I'm in line for a salad, and you insist on standing 1 inch behind me. There is plenty of room, back up!! Oh, and please please please don't eat off my plate. Even if I do know you.....

*sigh*

Another Monday come and gone....

Storming continues both outside and in my pm group. We seem to have come to a consensus though and given in to the member with the most stubbornness. Let her rule, we'll follow and pass the class, the end.....I hope. Again, 7 PMs on 1 project is 6 too many.
Mom & Dad made it safely to Seattle and I'm waiting to hear how their drive over the passes last night was. The passes were supposed to get 1 foot of snow, luckily Dad is good at driving in storms. He got us home safely many times.....
Got a new laptop at work yesterday, not as pretty as my old one, but that'll do pig. Also got a new water bottle that says "Hydrate or Die". Seems fitting...... A new PackPack has also been purchased. It is the campus version. Not nearly as cool as the 101 version I had before, but it was $30 cheaper.....
Microsoft announced the new Zune down in Westlake center yesterday. And, even though I tend to say "Down with Microsoft" I kinda want one........well more than kinda.....It has been added to my Amazon.com wishlist and moved to #1 priority....the new version of my lost iRiver sits at #2. I'd probably be happy with either, but all the fanfare........it was contagious.
Time to get ready for another bone chilling walk to the bus stop. Yay Winter!

On a side note, ski areas are opening around the area this week...........

Sunday Morning

*phew*
Mocksgiving 2006 was a great success (at least to me). I must give a shout out to Chris for all of his hard work. It's great to have a husband who is so damn handy in the kitchen. He made an amazing turkey, tasty cranberry chutney, delightful sweet potato casserole, and still had time to watch some football. What a guy.......

Found out how to report my passport stolen (http://travel.state.gov/passport/lost/us/us_848.html).

Ok, I've calmed down...

Found IT guy, said company would report laptop, not to worry, he'll turn off card key access today. Talked to insurance agent, said to just count the rest of the stuff as a loss since the deductible would be too high to matter. Put alert on credit, no one can try to use our info to get a credit card, etc without us getting a call. Not sure what to do about my passport. I suppose there is somewhere I can report that to, I'll need to find out.....
Needless to say things are leveling out. Turkey is stuffed and in the oven, table is set, now I just need to clean up the leaves out front. Mocksgiving 2006 will be one I not soon forget.... :)

Will it ever end?

Well, yesterday should have been a great day, but due to one stupid mistake I'll be dealing with crap for a while.
We went to see Built to Spill last night (awesome show) and when we got back to our car it had been burglarized. Stupid me had stored my backpack in there for the show. My backpack with my work laptop, my iRiver, my glasses, the wedding pictures I just had printed out yesterday, my passport, my favorite sunglasses I've had for years, copies of our marriage certificate (which yes contains both your social security number and your mother's maiden name...great) and my new checks from my bank. Needless to say, I freaked out last night. Called the police and reported it. Called the bank this morning - well it's veteran's day and they are closed. Trying to find serial number for iRiver. Trying to find our IT guy at work cell number because in addition to the laptop, my work card key was in my backpack. I'm sure somewhere in the backpack was also the address for our office. Ugh.......

So, not a lick of sleep last night, just made 3 pies and mocksgiving is in 7.5 hours.....weeeee

Finally Friday

Tomorrow is Mocksgiving and I'm so excited I could barely sleep. I got up at 5:30 this morning just to lay out all of my pie ingredients for tomorrow morning. Chris is going to get the fresh turkey today and put it in a brine bath. This will be my first experience with a brine bath. I hope I like it....I've been known to be a bit picky.

In other news, tonight is Built to Spill at the Pyramid Get Snowed in Party. It benefits Mountain Search and Rescue, and with my luck I may need them someday. The new BTS album is awesome and we listened to it all summer. I'm very excited for tonight, not as excited as I am about Mocksgiving mind you, but excited non the less.

We're going to try the new Elysian Fields restaurant for dinner. I hear they have a great Pumpkin beer on tap right now. Hopefully there is still some left for me to try. I've checked out the menu and it seems a bit much for my taste buds, but I'm sure they have a hamburger I can try.

I can hear the wind and rain outside and I'm not looking forward to my walk to the bus. My body would really like me to give in and drive to work, but my mind remembers that a. it costs $10 to park, b. tonight is BTS at Pyramid. Pyramid = yummy Snow Cap beer. beer = no driving, c. i hate driving downtown.

Therefore, bus here I come!

Rumsfeld Resigns and other victories

Donald Rumsfeld resigned yesterday.
The Democrats took back the House.
The Democrats are poised to take back the Senate.
Maria Cantwell beat Mike McGavick soundly!
Yesterday was a great day.

Sadly I had a huge case of melancholy. I think it is because of the fact that my group for my PM courses has entered the Storming phase of group development. We are all keenly aware of this, but none of us are stepping up to resolve it. We're subgrouping and forming alliances. Last night our presentation was ok. Just ok. And for a control freak perfectionist like myself it was a bit difficult to stomach. I am happy to say that the entire group is aware of our situation and I think by the next meeting that we have we will begin to phase into Norming. At least I hope......

Impending Doom

Things that upset me yesterday:
My ex-best friend sent us a wedding present. Brought out all sorts of emotions.
It was raining....again....which isn't the bad part. The bad part is all of those people walking around with huge umbrellas who take up all of the sidewalk underneath the eaves. You have an umbrella, step out!!
I can only run 3 miles on the treadmill before my calve starts to hurt. This wil not bode well with the upcoming 1/2 marathon.

Things that made me happy:
Wheel - of - Fortune! A new found joy.
Pizza from Papa Murphy's and watching Angel Season 5 with Chris
Winter Beers are here!

How Many of Me??

HowManyOfMe.com

There are: 27 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

TIDBITS

-Rain is relentless when you're trying to get home late at night
-Chicken Fingers & wine before bed lead to bad dreams
-7 Project Members on one team leads to conflict
-You must have a server to install our software, it is client-server architecture
-You might have touchy feely benefits, but I have an office with a view
-Mocksgiving is so close I can taste it
-My parents flew to Mexico yesterday - missed first leg of flight due to weather. Arrived in Cabo ahead of schedule.....
-Seahawks won Monday night football....not that I really care, but it is knowledge by association
-I'm wearing jeans for the second day in a row to work and it is only Tuesday..Apathy? Or just lack of clean laundry

10 Miles!

My dad and I are planning on walking the Seattle 1/2 Marathon the weekend of Thanksgiving. We were going to do the full Marathon, but realized with everything we have going on, that was not realistic. This morning I went down to Alki and did a 10 mile walk. I did it in 2 hrs 15 minutes. 20,000 steps! Now I'm sleepy........
Time to do homework.

Oh!

I forgot to add the other interesting things that happened yesterday.

-Purchased one Pirate TV tray and one Flames TV tray
-Chris decided to make butternut squash for dinner
-I decided to do all the laundry (sheets, towels, etc) that I'd put off due to puddles
-Power went out
-House was completely dark ....found candles
-Drank cocktails, ate cheesy poofs, played Yatzee, watched soup mixings start to go bad
-10pm decided to go to bed, had to put on back up sheets, etc. due to the fact that primarys were in the idle washing machine (no power)
-3am wake up to find all lights in house on, soup finished on the stove, Chris asleep on couch in basement. Coaxed him to bed and turned off all lights.........

What a day.

Entering the World of the Blog

Ok, so I'm about 3 years behind most on getting on the blog bandwagon, but better late then never. Yesterday was a very stressful day and I realized that getting things off my chest and out into cyber space would be a splendid way to deal with my stress. I doubt anyone will EVER read this blog, but I'm hoping it helps me......

We just bought a house about 7 months ago. It's an older house and cost us the max that we wanted to spend. After searching and searching for months we bit the bullet and bought. We LOVE the house. It's the perfect size for us, it's in a great neighborhood, and the yard is being transformed into a garden paradise. So two weeks ago our basement had a huge puddle of water in it. We called Roto-Rooter. Salvador came out and diagnosed it as roots in the pipes. $500 later they said we should be all better and left. Yesterday morning, puddle in the basement. We had a 6 month guarantee so we called Salvador on his cell phone and he came back out. He used the pipe camera and found a break in our pipe. This was letting dirt into the pipe and blocking the drain. He cleared it out the best he could and stated our guarantee was now void. He had to recommend repair. He gave us a quote of $5,000 (low end) for the repair of the pipe.

Now to some people $5,000 wouldn't seem like the end of the world, but to me it did. I had what is commonly referred to as a panic attack. I felt like I couldn't breath and I started to feel like everything was crashing in on me. I know that my reaction was unreasonable but I couldn't help it. We were just getting to a point where the wedding stuff we were responsible for was paid off and I was starting to save for Christmas presents. We were talking about replacing our broken dishwasher and maybe upgrading one of our cars. I know that this isn't the end of the world and we need to be grateful for everything we do have. But it still pisses me off.

Glad that is off my chest.

Today is gathering numbers to get more quotes for the repairs. We have also done some research on the new technology out their that allows for repairing the pipe without digging a trench(??) need to do more research first though......

Oh and tonight, Indigo Girls. Yay!