Jenn's Blog

Never Gonna Be Alone (Nickelback)

2010-03-05T20:11:00.000-08:00

There's a line from this song that instantly came to mind when I was just looking at my last blog post... from 13 months ago!!

♪♫♪♫♪♫♪

Time is going by

so much faster than I

and I'm starting to regret

not spending all of it with you

Time has gone by & I don't even know where to begin on updating this blog.

Let's see... Last March, I went to Disneyland with Joanna:
It had been a super long time since I'd been there last (at least 10 years). California Adventure was new to me. Several of the rides have been renovated/updated (CARS, Finding Nemo, Pirates of the Caribbean, e.g.).

We had a good time, but let me tell you, my feet were SO tired & sore. I think they're finally getting back to 'normal'.

I participated in a fundraiser with some folks from my company for the Tukwila Food Bank.

This was my team - Steve, Aimee, Lise & me

Since the popularity of social network sites, I was able to reconnect with several folks from my past. In April, my old girl scout troop got together for a potluck / reunion. It's been roughly 20 years since seeing some of these girls & their mothers.

In May, I went Walking with the Dinosaurs at Key Arena. It was dark & my camera isn't the best. Much of my photos were blurry.

In May, I also participated in my annual fundraiser for the March of Dimes. Kinda sad that Trina wasn't there to walk with me (she's my MoD partner), but she was living in Las Vegas at the time.

I went on my first (& only) meetup group in June - a "hike" in Maple Valley. I say "hike" in quotations because it was more of a leisurely walk - on a paved/flat "trail". It was a very dog-friendly meetup group.

On July 4th, I trekked over to Eastern WA (Toppenish) for a mini-family reunion with my dad & sister. It was nice to see some family that I haven't seen since the last funeral (about 4 years ago)

In July, I Rode the Duck with Jeff, Michelle & Brett, his sister & niece. It's something I had wanted to try/do since the Duck fleet came to Seattle awhile back. It just looked fun. And it was. I really enjoyed myself.

The Link Light Rail project from near SeaTac airport to downtown Seattle was completed in July & I rode the inaugural weekend. Even got a sticker to prove it. I have been on it twice since then - both times was to get to downtown for a musical (Wicked & Sound of Music sing-a-long).

In July, I was also invited to go on a sailing/camping trip with Jaime & her family to Saddlebag Island. Even though I stayed for just one night, I REALLY enjoyed this trip (until I got stung by a bee). It was really cool to sail to our destination.

In August, Jeff & I attempted a hike up Mt. Si with Michelle. I had completed this hike back in 1993 with my high school's hiking club & I remember it being very difficult. I had forgotten, apperently, JUST how difficult it was. We got a bit up the mountain & decided not to continue (Michelle did go back up a week or so later & finished). On the way back down, I got bit twice by a horsefly or something with fangs. That sucker took a bite & would not let go. OUCH! I swore on that mountain that day.

For my sister's birthday, I took her out (for lunch & stuff) & she wanted to stop by our mom's gravesite. I don't find it necessary or rewarding to visit the cemetary, but I did bring my camera with me to take a few pictures from that day. Hope you're R'ingIP, Momma Lou.

September brought the 3rd annual Girls Night Out at the Melting Pot. A bit of a bummer that Airi wasn't able to make it, but Mickey joined us this time. Yay! I love my girls & my cheese!!

Jeff purchased his 16th car - a 2008 Volkswagen Rabbit. Stay tuned for his 17th. Not sure what or when, but inevitably, it's coming.

Jeff & I had talked about moving & if we did, that meant fixing up our home to get it ready for selling. Over Christmas break, we painted our tall wall, rearranged the living room furniture, repaired the bathroom wallpaper, hung up some picture frames & clock, finished painting the fireplace & hung up a rod in the closet in the den (a.k.a. office). After all this was completed, we kinda both thought, "I actually kinda like this... let's stay."

I've kinda been slacking on photos as of lately, but here's a rundown of other things that have been going on:

Jeff received his layoff notice. After 10+ years of employment, April 23rd will be Jeff's last day with The Boeing Co.
We are going to Maui for 10 days in July for my sister-in-law's wedding
I bought a wii last spring & am now ready to sell it (yeah, that didn't last too long).
I bought a laptop last November. I like it, but wish I had an actual mouse to use for navigation.
Jeff & I finally caved (after many hours of research - primarily on his end) & bought smart phones. We gave up T-Mobile for Sprint. It just made sense for us financially, especially because we weren't sure when Jeff's job was going to end.
Joanna & I had talked about going back to Disneyland. In fact, had we gone, we would be there right now. For financial reasons, we chose to stay home
As of January 31st, I am no longer a Stampin' Up! demonstrator.

Today, I am thankful for:

1. Community

2. Continued employment

3. Facebook

4. My slippers

5. Boyshorts

Reunited (Peaches & Herb)

2009-02-11T20:50:00.000-08:00

February 2nd came & went & aside from being Superbowl Sunday, Kim was in town & we had a small gathering at our home before she left. Regardless of the reason, it's always fun to get together with friends & this time was no exception. This was the first time Tialen, Ann & Nicholas were over at the McCarthy home.

2009 marks the 15th year since I've been in high school. Since so many of us are now on social networking sites (i.e. MySpace & Facebook), a few of us thought it would be fun to catch up face-to-face. There was somewhere around 25 or so alumni that gathered at a local bar. But I want more.... So I am going to help plan another 15 year reunion that shall take place later this summer. It probably will be semi-comparable to our 10 year reunion.

Today, I am thankful for:

1. Chili & Rice
2. Facebook
3. Sale-A-Brations
4. Thank You's!
5. FREE Starbucks coffee & hot cocoa

A Change Will Do You Good (Cheryl Crow)

2009-01-27T19:34:00.000-08:00

Can I just say WAHOO?!?!!? I am SO incredibly super excited to have a new president living in the White House. I'm not much into politics, but I think this election had me paying more attention than I ever have in the past. I just hope that Obama can fulfill his many hopes & goals he campaigned about.

Last Monday, Martin Luther King Jr holiday, I spent the day with Kat. We had a great time. After driving around for what seemed an eternity, we finally settled on where to go for lunch - Greek food at Costas Opa. We both agreed that next time, we need to try the thing they light on fire (a few tables around us had it & it looked delish!).

After lunch, we went driving around some more, this time to Fred Meyer so I could find some slippers that Tubbs so lovingly destroyed. I had no luck in finding slippers, but I found a pair of sunglasses that I wish I hadn't bought.

The afternoon was still young & so after Fred Meyer, we drove out to Golden Gardens for about 10 minutes. It was a gorgeous day outside, but frikkin' freezin'. Kat snapped a few photos, but we were eager to get back into the car. Sorry Amish guitar player. We'll have to watch ya next time.

What better way to spend a cold afternoon than enjoying some ice cream? I had Salty Caramel ice cream while Kat enjoyed some Honey Lavendar. We definitely wanna go back & check out some of the other awesome flavours Molly Moon's had to offer.

Finally, it was time to call it a day. Kat dropped me off at my car in Factoria where I proceeded to attempt some last minute shopping on the way home (still wanted to find some slippers). Once again, no luck.

I did, however, stop at Joanna's on the way home (there was too much rush-hour traffic on the 167 & the backroads took me right by her place). I had two pieces of business to take care of with her - 1. drop off something she had ordered through me before Christmas & 2. plan our trip to DISNEYLAND!!

Today, I am thankful for:

1. Travel deals
2. Free popcorn
3. Lie to Me
4. Suze Orman
5. Love You Much Bundle

Bad (Michael Jackson)

2009-01-12T19:59:00.000-08:00

I've been really bad lately about taking pictures... though some might disagree! This is the only picture I've taken in awhile!

Trina came up for a few days & we all got together for some yummy Chutney's brunch. I love me some tikka masala! And wherever there's bacon, you'll find Steve.

I hosted a game night this past Saturday, but for one reason or another, the majority of people who were invited didn't want to come. It ended up being a small crowd w/just 5 ladies. I, along with my friends who came, had a good time. Since we started around dinnertime, I suggested a potluck. I made Shepherd's Pie, Debbie brought a tasty (albeit garlicky) pasta dish, Aimee & Tracy brought some little breads & cucumber & cucumber dip (tastefully simple is always tasty!!) & Kathy brought a wonderful caesar salad, complete with my fave: avocado. We played Scattergories & Balderdash, of which, I rule! Maybe that's why others didn't want to come - they knew I'd kick their butts!

Sunday night, I babysat my train friend Amy's son, Derik. At 8 months old, he's still such a good baby. He likes to play with his noise-making toys, jump in his bouncy-toy & eat his sweet stars. Oh, and he really doesn't like being on his back (for a diaper change). I hope his diaper stayed on... it's a bit of a challenge diapering a baby from behind. Heh.

Today, I am thankful for:

1. No floods in our home
2. Store-bought grated carrots
3. American Idol starting up tomorrow
4. Haute Couture
5. People who want to buy my cards!

These Boots Are Made For Walking (Nancy Sinatra)

2009-01-01T19:35:00.000-08:00

After our (not so) wonderful cold & snowy weather the past couple weeks, my co-worker decided (& I agreed!!) that it was time I picked up some winter-y boots. This is what I got. Sorta. Mine are black/stone color. It's a Sorel Carabou boot, rated to -40°. My friend says this is what they wear in AK. They oughta keep my piggies nice & toasty (& dry!) next time there's any snowfall in these parts.

Summer (Alien Ant Farm)

2008-12-28T10:41:00.000-08:00

I am SO ready for summer to be here. For about a week prior to Christmas, I was staying at my dad's house. I figured it would be easier getting to work if I walked to the bus stop vs. driving down a potentially icy road. It just kinda sucked not being in my own home (sleeping in my own bed, using my own bathroom, etc). But, on the other hand, it was quite nice to have my dad there, making me breakfast (waffles & bacon) & dinner (pork chops & potatoes, fried rice) everyday.

Work was only closed for half a day (on the first day of snow), but nobody from my dept came in that day. We didn't want to risk the treacherous roads. Really, do you blame us?

Christmas was to be a low-key day. There was minimal gift giving - I gave Jeff pajama pants & an ornament - two things I give every year. His mom couldn't not give us anything & so from Cost Plus/World Market, she gave us some guacamole stuff (just add avocado), chocolate/peanut butter covered pretzels, soup mix, a beer for Jeff & some shower stuff for me, an Amazon.com gift certificate & tix to a M's game next year.

I bought my own Christmas gifts this year - two sweaters & a pair of black corduroy pants from Eddie Bauer - all on sale, of course. I also picked up a pair of (snow) boots from Nordstroms, albeit a little bit too late for the snow we just had. Oh well, they ought to last me quite some time & I'm sure this isn't the last of the snow in W. Wa.

Next year, we're trying to figure out a way to go to Hawaii for the holidays. Originally, I wanted to go for Christmas (while Jeff already had the days off work), but that may not happen now because his mom can't get the time off her work. Bah!

I'm really looking forward to some new shows starting up again in January - Biggest Loser, American Idol & then Survivor in February. Three of my favorite shows.

Today, I am thankful for:

1. no snow in the forecast
2. 2008 is almost over
3. fried rice recipes
4. installed camera software
5. 4 wheel drive

Merry Christmas!!

2008-12-25T07:41:00.000-08:00

All For You (Sister Hazel)

2008-11-17T20:01:00.000-08:00

I'm not quite sure what I did to deserve this, but I'm SO VERY THANKFUL that the light was on & that I looked at my slippers before putting them on when I got home tonight. Thanks, Tubbs. I love you, too.

Friday, I was driving along & flipping through the radio stations & came across 106.9 playing their Christmas music already. The DJ guy came on & said they had been playing since 3pm. Sheesh! It's not even Thanksgiving! What's next year going to bring? Christmas music from Halloween forward (I hear the Christian station was playing Christmas music on Halloween night [only] for a more "positive" sound).

Saturday, I hosted my annual Stamp-a-Stack. Lots of folks making lots of Christmas cards. The Christmas Music station came in handy to get folks in the mood. Bonnie even broke out in song. It was awesome! Now I have to figure out what I'm going to do for my Christmas cards. Ugh!

Oh, but one cool thing I did was catalog all my old/retired stamp sets. I now have a binder full (well, not full, but you know...) of all my stamps. I can page through and say, I want to make a card with a flower & then go through & find all my flower stamps. Awesome. Organization is cool.

Sunday was a lazy day, really. Randy came over & the boys watched the Seahawks lose. Big surprise there. But first, we got lunch from good ol' Taco Bell. And, then I had to go back to TB & give them a piece of my mind after they shorted us nearly half our order. Seriously, I realize that counting to 12 requires more than 2 hands, but take your shoes off & count w/your toes if you have to. Cripes. And yes, I also realize that I may have ate some other bodily fluids while enjoying my 7-layer burrito, but it was worth the rant at that restaurant. Go, Jen go.

Sunday night, Kat & I (et al.) spent a couple o' hours at the Supermall for their Night of Giving. Most stores offered some kind of sale - 10 - 30% off, BOGOs, etc. I'd say the best deal I got was a pair of tennis shoes from Naturalizer that were originally $69 that I paid $18 & change for. Score one for me.

Today, I am thankful for:

1. Time off work
2. Games
3. Food Savers
4. Health
5. Disposable slippers.

I'm Yours (Jason Mraz)

2008-11-11T18:42:00.000-08:00

I'm kinda sad about it, but my 5 day weekend is quickly coming to an end. I had a busy weekend, for sure. I think that's why it seemed to go by so quick.

My long weekend started on Thursday night when I met up with Kat, Aimee, Desiree & Tracy for Girls Night Out at the Melting Pot. For only $24 per person, we enjoyed some mighty tasty cheese fondue, salad & chocolate fondue. Yes, I was just there, but oh, it was SO worth it to go back!

Friday was busy day full of errands to the dentist (no cavities, but I got a cool little [I mean little] toothbrush), the hairstylist (just a trim, kids) & the doctor (to get a couple [yes, two!!] inhalers.

Saturday morning was a blur. Saturday evening, I met up with Kat in Factoria (where I purchased my long-awaited Food Saver) & we went to my holiday dinner at Salty's. Some of our holiday parties have been boring or the entertainment was no good. Not this time, though; I had a blast! There was an incredible buffet, a live band, a game of limbo. Oh and lets not forget about the wonderful prizes, of which I didn't win (boo).

Sunday night, Jeff & I met up with my friend Jen to watch another co-worker in her first Improv performance. It was her 201 class just doing a bunch of games. Some were better than others, but ALL were better than I'd ever be. After the 201 class performed, the 301 class performed a bunch of games. Afterwards, Jeff & I headed to one of our favorite northend places for some Happy Hour dinner. Yum.

The only thing planned for Monday was to see Jason Mraz at the Paramount Theatre. I didn't realize this, but I only know two JM songs - You & I Both (which was performed MUCH slower than I was accustomed) & I'm Yours (one of 5 songs he did as part of his encore). It was a pretty good show, even though I didn't know most of his music. The best part had to be when two girls stood up & were dancing to some song & an usher came & told them to sit down. Many people (myself included) clapped when they finally did sit.

Tuesday was reserved for stamping & I wanted to do a little cooking. I finished prepping for my Christmas card stamp-a-stack scheduled for this upcoming weekend & I made 4 cards that I sold to a co-worker. I have to admit, it took a little bit longer than I had anticipated. I only had time to cook one thing today - a Rachael Ray version of Shepherd's Pie recipe, w/a couple of adjustments based on some of the reviews. It was FAN-TAS-TIC! Definitely going in my recipe box for future dinners.

Happy (Sister Hazel)

2008-11-04T22:09:00.000-08:00

This was me doing the HAPPY DANCE tonight as Barack Obama was announced as the President-Elect:

Yeee!!

The Gift (Jim Brickman)

2008-11-02T07:21:00.000-08:00

Last week, I get an email from Jeff that said my gift has just arrived. When I got home from work, I didn't see anything unusual laying around. So, I asked him (in between his calls) if my "gift" was from one of the kitties. He says no. Thank goodness. The last thing I wanted to do was clean up some puke piles.

So, after he was done working, he leads me down into the dining room where my new KitchenAid stand mixer was. Yeee!!! I've been wanting one of these for a long time, if for no other reason, they just look cool. And now, I have to figure out what I'm going to do with it (I don't bake, I cook).

Do you have any suggestions? Please, let me know.

Home (Daughtry)

2008-10-26T17:11:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I was up in the Northend and, on my way home, thought I'd stop at the hospital to see how my dad was doing. He was to have been discharged from the hospital today. As I walked up to his room, that wasn't my dad in the bed. Thank goodness, I didn't go all the way into the room before I realized that it wasn't him.

The gal at the nurse's station said he was discharged earlier in the afternoon. So, I went to my dad's house & sure enough, he was there. He was quite a bit more coherent than the first time I saw him (the day after his surgery). He was still moving around like he was in pain, saying he was only going to be traveling from his bedroom to the bathroom to the living room chair & that it hurt to spend much time on his feet.

He said that the surgeons had to move his diaphragm & so now he is constantly hiccuping. While, physically, he may have been in pain, vocally, he didn't show any signs as he went on & on about the life my sister has chosen for herself.

Today, I brought him a lasagna to Food Save & freeze for future eats as he's not able to eat much right now. He was up on his feet for a good 15 minutes (at least) while we took care of the lasagna.

I think he's well on his way to a good recovery.

Doctor Doctor (Thompson Twins)

2008-10-22T21:21:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, my dad had bypass surgery & an aneurysm repaired. Today, after work, my sister & I went up to the hospital to see how he was doing.

We only got to spend maybe 10 minutes with him because about 2 minutes after we got there, the nurse came in & gave him a shot to put him to sleep. He conked out relatively quick after the shot.

The surgery went well, but my dad said it wasn't as expected. I don't know if he meant that something happened in the surgery itself or if the healing process is different than what he expected. He wasn't 100% coherent, so it was hard to hold a real conversation. But he kept saying that he was either really, really hot or really, really cold & he appeared to be in pain & the only pain meds he was being given (I think) was an epidural.

But, here's Dad giving his thumbs up that he survived the surgery. There's still a LOT of recoverin' left to do.

Finally Found (The Honeyz)

2008-10-17T18:21:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago, we replaced Jeff's wedding band with a new titanium band, with the thought of as soon as we replace it, the old one will show up again. Guess what showed up again? The ring.

So, which ring is he wearing now? He isn't.

Ring of Fire (Johnny Cash)

2008-10-12T16:21:00.000-07:00

Last night, Amy, Derik, Aimee, Nicole & I went to Auburn's 4th annual S'mores Than You Imagine event held at Game Farm Park. There was S'mores (of course), Starbucks provided some warm beverages (coffee, cider & hot chocolate), face painting, a bon fire & ghost stories.

It was kinda a neat family event (read LOTS of kids running around). The night was perfect - no rain, full moon & thank goodness I had that blanket in my car to put on the metal bench.

Though, we didn't stay for the whole thing, I would go back next year (as long as it wasn't raining). I'd be sure to wear much warmer socks, too. Oh, and I'd get in line as soon as the Starbucks arrived. Good times!

Ring Around the Rosie (Various)

2008-10-06T21:26:00.000-07:00

Jeff lost his ring sometime around the time we went camping back in August. We've looked just about everywhere for the darn thing & couldn't find it. So.... Last Saturday, we went back to the Shane Co. & bought a new ring for him.

The original ring was a simple white gold band. To get the same ring was going to be upwards of $500.

After trying on several titanium & tungsten rings, Jeff opted for the $70 titanium ring.

If he loses this one, we're not out a super-huge ton of moulah.

What's Going On (Marvin Gaye)

2008-09-30T12:31:00.000-07:00

Man, it's been F-O-R-E-V-E-R since I've posted anything. I've been such a slacker! Or, maybe not a whole heckuva lot has been going on since I last wrote in my blog.

I did a vendor fair a couple weeks ago. I got a couple leads on that for stamp camps & made two sales. Yee!! Doesn't sound like much, but these vendor fairs typically aren't very successful anyways.

We did our annual Girls Night Out at the Melting Pot. Tasty as always & this time, there were 8 girls instead of last year's 6. Yee!! I only wish Amy & Kim could have been there. Next year, girls. Next year.

I'm getting over some sort of sinus deal. Not sure if it's an infection or what, but I'm glad it's nearly over. Unfortunately, because of it, I spent much of last weekend doing a whole lot of nothing, but fortunately, because of it, I got to spend much of the weekend doing a whole lot of nothing (read catching up on shows).

So, after chatting with Airi last Friday at our Goodbye Trina dinner, I realize that I watch FAR too much television. I'm just not entirely sure which shows to stop watching just yet. It's still early in the season and, well I'm a couch potato apparently.

This morning, the bank across the street from my work was robbed & a suspicious backpack was left behind. We had to evacuate my side of the building for about 25 minutes while the investigators were investigating.

Jeff's sister & her boyfriend purchased their first home down in P-town. We were invited for a bbq this past Sunday. It's a quaint (read TINY) little place, but it's so stinking cute! It's perfect for a pre-kid, first home. I gotta say though... DON'T TAKE DOWN THE RHODIES!!

Today, I am thankful for:
1. www.allrecipes.com
2. neti-pot
3. fast acting tylenol
4. in-home laundry facilities
5. HOT water

Somebody's Eyes (Karla Bonoff)

2008-09-05T19:10:00.000-07:00

For the past several months, I've been a loyal lurker on Matt Logelin's blog & today, he just announced the launch of his online store, Garden of Awesome.

I encourage you to visit Matt's blog, read up on what an amazing father he is, then go buy as much cool stuff as you can to help support him and his beautiful baby, Madeline. You, too, can be a ~~stranger~~ friend.

Warning: You'll need lots of time & lots of tissues if you're going to read his blog (especially from the beginning) but it's worth every tear you shed.

You Can Run But You Can't Hide (Triple Image)

2008-09-01T21:13:00.000-07:00

Tubbs & Shiggy aren't very good at playing Hide & Go Seek.
I found both of them & took their pictures.

After the Rain (Nelson)

2008-08-31T20:17:00.000-07:00

Here's the before & the after of the house where the tree was struck by lightning.
It had to come down.

Now the house is... Bare. Exposed.

So weird to finally see this house after 5 years of living here.

Baby Face (Art Mooney)

2008-08-29T23:11:00.000-07:00

My good friend Amy has submitted her son's picture in a radio contest - Cute Baby of the Week. He made it into the top 10 & is needing some votes. Not that he NEEDS votes (he really is a cutie patootie), but they really want to win so I'm encouraging you to go ahead & vote for Derik.

All you have to do is send an email to warmcutestbaby@gmail.com & reference baby #6 / Derik. You can vote once per day until next Thursday. It's that simple.

And then, I think Mia's picture should be submitted for the following week's contest because she's so stinking cute too!

The Best Things in Life are Free (Janet Jackson)

2008-08-29T22:58:00.000-07:00

This morning I was sitting on the train, reading a Dean Koontz novel & listening to my mp3 player when I faintly heard the familiar ring that is T-Mobile. The gal across from me looked at her cell phone & then put it away. Crap, that means it's probably mine & who's calling me at 8am on a Friday? It's my good friend Kathy, who I haven't talked to in several weeks, wanting to know if I wanted to go to the Seahawk game tonight. "Well, I really don't care for football," I tell her, but she says, "Who cares? It's free tickets to a sold out game!" Good point. "Okay, I'll go."

Aside from the Bacon Bowl several years ago & the annual March of Dimes walks that I participate in, I had never been to Qwest Field. Our seats were up on the 300 level & several rows up at that. Quite reminiscent of the 'nosebleeds' at Safeco Field & the view was just as good. Other than the fact that it was very cold & very windy up there, I had a great time; I'm glad I went.

Today, I am thankful for:

1. Winning sports teams
2. $9 dues
3. ATM projects near completion
4. Mel's Market
5. Free parking

Take My Breath Away (Berlin)

2008-08-24T08:12:00.001-07:00

Mother Nature - 1, Jen - 0

Friday night, Jeff & I went camping with his parents. It was kinda a last minute trip. Sorta. Well, there were a few requirements (not too far, must have toilet, must have fires allowed, must have availability).

It turned out to be more last minute than I think anyone wanted it to be. We've known for weeks that we were going camping, but nobody would make a reservation. And by the time we were ready to make a reservation, there was nothing available. And where there was something available, no fires were allowed. Ugh!

We ended up going to The Dalles, about 25 miles east of Enumclaw, early Friday morning to see if they had anything available (we knew they had [stinky, hole in the ground] toilets & fires available). We reserved a spot & drove back to Enumclaw to let the 'rents know we got a spot secured, did a little grocery shopping & headed back to The Dalles & waited.

We were both exhaused from waking up so early, quickly packing the car, eating a big breakfast at The Lee & then driving out to The Dalles. Once camp was set up, I had to close my eyes for a few, but we had no air in the mattress so I sat in my chair, trying to sleep.

Bob & Penny made it out to the site a couple hours later & we learned while setting up their tent & stuff that they didn't have the plug for their air mattress. Crap. Bob drove back to Enumclaw to pick up a new, er, make that 2 new twin sized air mattresses to put in their tent. As it turns out, 2 twins is NOT the same size as 1 queen. It was quite funny watching Bob & Jeff get the twins in the tent & even more funny watching them try to zip the tent closed. Good times.

Once I laid down in bed, I absolutely could not breathe. I don't usually use my inhaler so I didn't bring it. I should have brought it. I was up ALL NIGHT LONG, coughing & wheezing. I think I got *maybe* 3 hours of sleep Friday night. I offered to go back home Saturday to get my inhaler, but was told that was silly. Let's just all pack up & go home.

So, we did. But first, let's have breakfast together. We ate at The Kettle & it was DELISH!! It just might be our new spot on the way out for breakfast.

Today, I am thankful for:
1. The Olympics being almost over
2. New shows about to begin
3. Van Hoof
4. Credit Cards
5. Trees that can survive 700 years

Summer (Alien Ant Farm)

2008-08-18T20:36:00.000-07:00

Man, I gotta stop doing this. It's hard to remember what's been going on when I wait so long in between posts.

At the very end of July/beginning of August, I went to my first Stampin' Up Convention in Salt Lake City. It was VERY warm (upper 90's - low 100's). I had an incredible time!! I learned a lot of various things that I want to incorporate into my SU business. We'll see how long the momentum will last.

Speaking of stamping, my company has asked me to make the invitations for our 'Autumn Extraordinaire' a.k.a. holiday party. I've got the invite all planned out, but I'm just waiting on approval for the verbiage to use.

And, when I was showing one gal on our Social Committee who was approving the design, etc. of the invitation, another gal came over & wants me to make some invitations to a Soup Party she has each year. I already have the design down on that one, but am waiting on the color choices. Perhaps we'll get it figured out tomorrow.

I'm super excited about these!!

Next on the agenda is to get a stamp camp planned for my home & then start working on my Christmas Card Stamp-a-Stack, where you'll get to make 16 cards (4 each of 4 designs) for just $20. How nice will it be to have all your Christmas cards done early so that by the time Thanksgiving or Dec 1st rolls around, all you have to do is drop your cards off in the mail? I would LOVE for this to be me this year. Even though I make cards, it still seems as though I tend to slack on sending them out.

One of my goals this year is to make birthday cards for all my co-workers. With 130ish employees, it's a mighty task, but I'm up for the challenge. It's fun receiving home-made cards, don't ya think?

Girl's Just Wanna Have Fun (Cyndi Lauper)

2008-07-27T09:40:00.000-07:00

I was planning on having a stamp camp using all retiring stamp sets on July 26th, but for various reasons, not very many people could attend & so for the few that were attending, I decided to take my stamp camp to them. But first, we were going to do a Girl's Day Out.

Aimee, Nicole, Tracy, Debbie & I went to breakfast at Chanterelles. I'm not a huge fan of coffee, but I drink the ocassional cup o' joe & I know what tastes good & what doesn't. Chanterelle's has the BEST vanilla latte ever AND it's the size of your head. All for under $3. You can't beat that!

Next stop: Edmonds Museum Summer Market. Lots of booths selling lots of cherries & flowers & hand-crafted jewelry & such. I bought a pair of pretty earrings to go with any of the pink shirts I own. I also bought a couple forks for camping (Jeff will be able to roast his hot dogs over the fire with these bad boys). Seriously, some people are so innovative (I like thinking inside the proverbial box, I suppose) - these forks have golf club handles & actual silverware fork tips attached to the end. I haven't used them yet, but I'm guessing the only downside to these is that because it's an actual fork, you can probably only roast one hot dog at a time. Good thing I bought two.

Can't have a girl's day out with out getting pedicures so Kara Nails is where Tracy & I headed to next (while Aimee & Nicole went to the pet store & Debbie went home to install her new garbage disposal). Tracy & I just had regular ol' pedis, but the gal who was already in the chair before us was having a honey pedicure. I had never heard of this before, but the gal said it was Heavenly. Tracy & I agreed we WILL be back for it. You can count on that!

Last stop was to Tracy's house where we did end up doing the Adios Amigos Stamp Camp afterall. Just a few girls, but it was A-OK. It went by rather quickly (quick enough to get Nicole to the pool for her swim meet.

Aside from girl's day out, I have been mighty busy making card fronts (they're not complete cards - it's just the front & looks quite like a postcard) to swap with other demonstrators when I go to my Stampin' Up Convention next week in Utah. I am making approximately 140 card fronts. Most of the time, I get my ideas from other demonstrators who've posted pictures of their cards on a website I frequent. But, since I was swapping this card, I didn't want to accidentally swap with someone whose card idea I stole. So, this one is all on my own. What a mistake. I think it's a lovely card, but there's over 1200 pieces (of various sized cardstock) that needed to be punched out. I have punches, but now, I also have a very cramped hand.

Last weekend, Kathy, Jeff & I went to the Mariner's game at Safeco Field with my company as part of our Summer Event. The M's lost, of course, but I had a good day. Took lots of pictures, of course. Check 'em out & tell me what you think (esp. of my artsy-fartsy purse picture).

Today, I am thankful for:

1. Friends

2. Flickr

3. MyPublisher

4. Free Games

5. Mono-Adhesive

Don't Wait Too Long (Tony Bennett)

2008-07-13T18:56:00.000-07:00

Cripes. Where do I begin. When I started this blog, I didn't think I would go this far in between postings. Well, things happen & look. It's been a month and a half. Big deal. At least I'm posting now, right?

Back at the end of May, Jeff & I went to our first M's game of the season. It was the train car giveaway. If I go to no other game, I MUST go to the train giveaway game. I have all the trains since they started giving them out. This year was the JJ Putz Flamethrower Express train.
Jeff & I didn't stay too long, though. The M's had given up something like 4 runs in the first inning. We left The Safe & went to Greenlake Bar & Grill for some real dinner.

Thanks to Facebook, I was able to find a friend that I had gone to college with over 10 years ago. Kat & I met up with Alicia for some tasty Happy Hour goodness at Newport Bay Restaurant down in the Southcenter area. Funny thing - As it turns out, Alicia is my Aunt Jane's neighbor.

Kat & I met up with Trina at good ol Chutneys for some tasty Indian grub. Mmmm... We love Chutneys!!

Steve celebrated his birthday with the Groovy Franken Friends. He wanted to try some place other than Famous Dave's. So, we all met up at The Outback in the Southcenter for some ok steak-y type foods. I think Jeff's prime rib was still moo-ing.

This past weekend, the GFF's (minus the Lee clan) got together for some camping action at Hause Creek. Jeff, Randy & I drove up Friday afternoon (first stopping at the liquor store for Randy, FedEx for Jeff & then The Lee for all of us to get our lunch on). Trina joined us late Friday night, er, shall I say EARLY Saturday morning (after 1am). David & Katherine joined in on day two for one night only. While there, we checked out Rimrock Lake, which is absolutely beautiful! We didn't go in, though. Too many frogs on the shore. It was a long drive to & fro, but overall, I think everyone had a good time. Next time, we'll find a place that's just a tad bit closer.

Kinda sad about one of my pictures that didn't turn out when I uploaded it on Blogger. The other day on the way to work, there was a motorcycle that pulled out in front of me in our community. I could tell there was someone on the back. When I got up closer, I could see this someone was a rather large ogre. It was Shrek! This guy had a huge Shrek doll on the back of his bike. I only took a couple of pictures (I was driving afterall).

Today, I am thankful for:

1. Warm camping temperatures
2. Spaghetti w/taco meat, carne asada, Caesar salad & garlic bread
3. Easy camp set up
4. Easy camp tear down
5. Not needing jumper cables afterall

Time After Time (Cyndi Lauper)

2008-05-29T19:57:00.000-07:00

Cripes! It's been nearly a month since I blogged last. I think this is the longest I've gone in between posts (whereas Katt is going for the record & hasn't blogged in over 1 year [hint, hint] yet still has her blog up for us to look at & wonder if she's ever going to do anything with it. You never know...). Anyways, I promise I'll try better at keeping it up-to-date. Bah, who am I kidding... You'll get your updates when I'm good & ready to post 'em.

So, what's new?

Last I posted, we let Shiggy out on the kitty leash. We attempted to let Tubbs out recently & he squirmed out of the harness & tried running away. Bad kitty.

One of my friends had her baby at the beginning of the month. I met Derik for the first time last Friday & he's so stinkin' cute!! A big boy, too! In the first 12 days he'd been out of his momma's womb, he's grown a whopping 1 - 3/4"!!

My parents-in-law + Jeff & I met up with Steve & Airi for a Steve-prepared BBQ lunch a couple weeks ago consisting of halibut, steaks, shrimps, caesar salad, asparagus, mushrooms & probably something else I'm forgetting. I say it everytime Steve cooks for us - YUMM-O!! Steve is the Grill Master & I long to be just like him.

Speaking of Grill Masters... Last weekend, Jeff & I picked up a new CharBroil Dual Fuel BBQ. It's Dual Fuel because it can either be hooked up to a propane tank or to the natural gasline attached to the house. Finding this grill was a bit of a challenge & I don't know how many miles were wasted going back & forth trying to find a grill that would support both propane & natural gas. Much of Saturday & part of Sunday were spent assembling the new grill. Next on the to-do list is finding out if our grill model is compatible with the conversion kit we bought to go with it.

While doing all this driving to find the *perfect* bbq grill, I had seriously contemplated getting rid of my Xterra for a more fuel efficient vehicle & then thought better of it. While the X is still a "gas guzzler", it's very close to being paid off. I decided having no car payments for awhile would benefit me far more than having car payments for the next 5 years. Perhaps I'll sock away a little stash of moolah & use that for my next vehicle rather than finance 100% of it.

I'm all set to go to Salt Lake City for a Stampin' Up convention at the end of July. This will be my first time going to convention & the primary reason I'm going this year is because it's SU's 20th anniversary & I just feel they are going to do some extra special things for the demonstrators in attendance. I could be wrong, of course, but I just have this gut feeling that I shouldn't miss out on this one particular convention. Besides, I don't foresee myself being a demonstrator during the next big anniversary celebration (5 years from now).

I'm really proud of my old buddy, Scott, who trained for & ran his first (full) marathon in Memphis a few weeks back. He raised money through Team in Training for leukemia (I believe). He's really taken to this running thing & has signed up to do another marathon, this time in San Fran. If you've got a spare dime & wish to donate to yet another wonderful cause, feel free to click his link above. I'm sure he would appreciate your support.

I too have taken up a (small) liking to running. It all started over a year ago when I said I think I might want to try this running thing. Trina & I ran a VERY short distance at the March of Dimes walk in 2007 (because I was carrying a camera, a medal I had won, keys, etc. - not very conducive for running). This year at the March of Dimes walk, we ran quite a bit further (I left the camera in the car this year, therefore very few pictures were taken). Since then, I've actually gone on my own a few times around the neighborhood.

Today, I am thankful for:

1. So You Think You Can Dance
2. Stimulus packages
3. Aspiring to be the next Grill Master
4. Becoming friends with other people's friends
5. Summer is virtually here

What irks me today:

It's been quite sometime since I've posted "what irks me today". Today, I was totally annoyed with people who were just unaware (unaware = rude) while walking outside today. One man was so enthralled with his conversation with his pal that he nearly ran me over in the crosswalk. Another guy wasn't paying any attention to his surroundings that he just about walked in front of me (I ended up going around him the other way, otherwise, I would have ended up walking into a tree). Grrr...

Chains of Love (Erasure)

2008-05-01T18:55:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday was a special day for one of our kitties: Shiggy got to go outside. In the 4 or so years that we've had him, the only time he had been outside was when we took him to the vet.

It was a pretty nice day outside. Jeff, Randy, Trina & I were sitting outside, enjoying cool beverages along with some chips & dip when Trina asked about letting the cats outside.

We had a leash, but the last time we tried putting the harness around Shiggy, he was so squirmy that we never tried again. This time, Trina helped & Shiggy squirmed, but we were able to get it on him. He was a little wary at first, but was mostly just curious about what was going on outside (smelling EVERYTHING!!). I don't think he'll try to escape the indoors like Tubbs does, but we won't let Shiggy out every day either.

And no, we didn't tell Tubbs that Shiggy went outside, nor did we let Tubbs see Shiggy out there either. Don't wanna have jealous kitties.

Today, I am thankful for:

1. Que Pasta Mexican Mac & Cheese
2. Blooming shrubs & trees
3. Not having allergies
4. Receiving SU goodies
5. Kitty leashes

Fever (Peggy Lee)

2008-04-14T19:27:00.000-07:00

I'm blaming it on the exercise.

Last week, Jeff & I had a conversation about how we need to be more active (actually, he was doing most of the conversing while I listened, nodded my head a few times & threw in a couple of "uh-huh's"). I agree & admit, though, that I especially have been on the lazy side as of lately. I wake up early, work all day & the last thing I want to do at night is make sweat pour out of my pores.

But, I mustered up the strength last Wednesday & spent 20 minutes on the elliptical, though, if I'm being perfectly honest like Simon Cowell always is, I was pretty much ready to be done after 2 minutes. I kept going though. Jeff would have been proud of how I persisted through.

After my 20 minute stint, I happily got off & unplugged that so-called fat burning machine, said good night to John Tesh & went back inside the house. And it all went downhill from there.

Here I am, 5 days later, still feeling like poo. I've done nothing but lay on the sofas downstairs, watching television, sweating & complaining about how hot I am in between slightly restful bouts of sleep.

The NyQuil isn't doing much to make me sleep any harder & the Riccola isn't making my sore throat any less sore. I'm just a funky mess!

Yeah, I'm blaming the elliptical.

In spite of feeling like death warmed over, I can still find things to be thankful for:

Today, I am thankful for:

1. Having 130 hours of Personal Leave for moments just like this
2. Lots of recorded shows to catch up on
3. OJ (The juice, not the accused murderer)
4. Cool showers that helps to ease my aching hair
5. My spouse who is graciously putting up with my bitching, coughing, sneezing, nose blowing, feverish, lethargic self

Baby, Baby (Amy Grant)

2008-03-26T22:12:00.000-07:00

My cousin, Deborah, had her twin girls tonight (about a month early). Sarah Faith weighed in at 5lbs at 8:47pm & Naomi Hope was born 4 minutes later & weighed a whopping 4 lbs 10 oz. It sounds like the labor went REALLY fast (less than 30 minutes of pushing).

My cousin, Molly, had her first born about 2 weeks ago. Owen Cosmos (my cousin-in-law is a huge Carl Sagan fan I'm told) was also born a few weeks early. I haven't talked to Molly, but according to her mom, Molly & baby are doing okay. It's taking a little bit to get used to motherhood, but they're doing fine.

And I can't forget to mention baby Mia, quite possibly one of the cutest babies I've seen in a really long time. She looks an awful lot like Steve. I hope she doesn't start snoring like Steve does, though.

Next Tuesday, I've got a baby shower for baby boy Buscarino (a co-worker who hasn't named her son yet). Next Saturday is Amy's baby shower for her soon-to-be born son, Derik Braden.

What is with all these babies lately? I'm glad I didn't drink the water last summer! Perhaps next summer, I'll take that big gulp, though.

Today, I am thankful for:

1. Healthy babies
2. Happy new parents
3. Speedy deliveries
4. Raising money for those premature babies
5. Those sponsoring me in my March of Dimes walk

2008-03-11T18:23:00.000-07:00

I have been in such a blah blogging mood as of lately... So blah that I haven't even wanted to update my blog. Maybe there's just not much to write about that my (few) readers would care to read about.

Steve & Airi had their baby girl 3 weeks ago. Baby Mia is so adorable & looks just like Steve.

Kim & Henry got married this past weekend. I've been thinking about her (& London) a lot lately & hoping they're having a marvy time on their honeymoon. I'm counting down the months before we'll get to travel across the Atlantic to visit with the Romero's.

I've recently tried a new home product called Two Sisters Gourmet. It's quite similar to Tastefully Simple (as far as products & prices), but there are a few differences. I tried 4 different dips this past weekend & I'm hooked! I'll be having a party at the end of April to help spread the word... Let me know if you're interested in coming or sampling some of the goodies.

Tomorrow, I celebrate my 7th anniversary at my job. It's the longest commitment I've ever had & it's passed in a blink. Crazy! Even moreso, my co-worker Faith (a.k.a. Hellboy) celebrated her 30th year today. We ordered a German Chocolate cake from Borracchini's Bakery (talk about delish!!) & had a mini party, complete with balloons & champagne poppers.

Today, I am thankful for:

1. Greek starting up again in 2 weeks
2. Flickr
3. Corporate credit cards
4. LOW insurance rates
5. Baked chicken

Hey Baby (No Doubt)

2008-02-17T12:12:00.000-08:00

Last night was the couple's baby shower for Steve & Airi & their soon-to-be child, that I planned for them. I've never put together a baby shower before. I've never put together any kind of shower before. I think it turned out pretty okay, though, if I do say so myself.

I wanted it to be pretty low-key, yet fun & still kinda 'shower-y' so that the guys wouldn't feel totally out of place in what is typically a "girl's event". As it turned out, the guys were almost more into it than the girls were, especially with the games.

We played 4 games, of which the guys won 3 of them:

1. Guess how many 'poopies' were in the diaper - Steve came closest & won movie passes for two, plus some candy.

2. Guess the baby animal - Jeff had the most correct & won a nice big tub of animal cookies.

3. Guess how big Airi's belly is (with a piece of yarn) - Ann won a Famous Dave's gift card for coming closest.

4. Identify the jars of baby food - David & Katherine tied at this one, both guessing 5 of the 7 jars correctly & won a certificate to The Met.

Woo! Good job & thanks for playing.

Next, presents were opened by Steve. A few of the items received were receiving blankets, swaddlers, onesies, bibs, socks & the well needed diapers (direct from Randy's personal stash - thanks, Randy!).

Finally, what's a night with the GFF's without poker? For those who stayed & played, $5 was the buy-in. I was down to $1.85, but two wins back-to-back got me back up & on my feet again. My high point was $9-something, but I lost a few to Randy in the end. When I cashed out, I was still above my original $5. Good times, my friends. Good times.

Today, I am thankful for:

1. Get togethers with friends
2. New poker "felt"
3. Punch
4. Leftover party foods
5. Poker

Jingle Bombs (Achmed, the dead terrorist)

2008-02-10T01:03:00.000-08:00

Dashing through the sand

with a bomb strapped to my back

I have a nasty plan

For Christms in Iraq

I can't believe how much time has passed since I last posted, yet not a whole heckuva lot has happened. Same ol', same ol' really. Let's see if I can remember the highlights...

I cooked a turkey dinner last Saturday for my dad & Helyn, who came over for the first time in 4 1/2 years specifically for dinner. I've been to his house for BBQs, but he's never come here for dinner. Until now. Maybe that will change now that he knows I "can" cook. Probably not, though.

I'm done kitty sitting Nutmeg. I enjoyed Nutmeg's company, but she's not exactly a next door neighbor either.

Superbowl Sunday was spent at David & Katherine's home. There was a ton of tasty foods (including my contribution - enchilada ring). We met Tialen & Ann's 2 month old daughter, Lauren. We played a little bit of Texas Hold'em on Steve's new felt. And, Airi & I were the big winners of the mini-superbowl pool that we made up that afternoon.

I had my annual review last week & it was confirmed that I'm just like Mary Poppins - practically perfect in every way. Just kidding. I know areas in which I can improve, but I'm not going to complain about my 2nd raise of the year. Ch-Ching!

Joanna, Kat & I went to see ventriloquist Jeff Dunham tonight. I've seen him before on some tv special, I'm sure. What a funny guy! If you haven't seen him before, check him out on some YouTube videos. My cheeks were definitely hurting from laughter.

Jeff let me know this morning that he saved me from something really awful last night. While laying in bed, he told me to look on the floor on my side of the bed. There was puke down there, no biggie. He said Tubbs was standing above my head when he started doing the "I'm going to puke any minute" gag & so Jeff pushed him onto the floor. I'm so thankful that Jeff was 'awake' enough to get Tubbs away from my head! I slept through all of this & had NO idea it was happening.

Today, I am thankful for:

1. Hybrid cars

2. Recycling

3. Rechargeable batteries

4. Energy saving light bulbs

5. Reusable grocery bags

What Do You Say (Reba McIntyre)

2008-01-20T09:11:00.000-08:00

Her every breath is weaker than the last.
And lately when she sleeps she talks about the past.
Her husband knows she's tired of holdin' on.
She looks at him and says I want to go home.

Sadly, Erin went 'home' on Friday evening.

From my previous post, here's what's been going on:

* I got my Market Salary Adjustment. Not 15% like I thought it was going to be, but 8% isn't bad either. I'll take it!

* I went to Kim's bridal shower & had a hoot. She got some cute & crazy gifts. My personal favorite was the red flower shoes & the worlds ugliest light fixture.

* I'm in the midst of planning Steve & Airi's baby shower. I think I've got it just about all figured out. Now all you folks need to RSVP back to me.

* Jenny had her baby about 2 1/2 weeks early because of her size. Little Fiona wasn't so little; she came into this world at 9 1/2 lbs!

* Cousin Deb found out that her twins are going to be girls. Yay!!

Last Sunday, it was absolutely gorgeous outside. Cold, but beautiful. Jeff had a hard time staying home & so we drove up to Snoqualmie Falls for all of about 10 minutes. Like I said, it was cold! So, on the way back home, we stopped at Jamba Juice because we weren't cold enough.

While I don't fully get it, SMCU is starting some new marketing thing about the 7 Principles. There are a couple YouTube videos out there. They took video & still photo shots of some employees & you never know... I may be on a video someday talking about what makes me feel good.

Today, I am thankful for:

1. The time I did get to spend with Erin
2. Honey Nut Cheerios
3. My camera
4. Recorded shows to watch later on
5. A clean house

Unbelievable (Diamond Rio)

2008-01-01T15:36:00.000-08:00

It's crazy to think that another year has just begun. There are a few things I'm looking forward to in 2008:

Market Salary adjustment of 15% (if my calculations are correct)
Kim's bridal shower/bachelorette party
Meeting Steve & Airi's baby
Meeting Amy & Jeff's baby
Meeting Jenny & Todd's baby
Hearing about the birth of Deb's twins (boys? girls? one of each?)
Going to Mike & Amanda's wedding
Possibly seeing Gina's play in NYC
Paying off all debts (my car & credit card)
Finally making Suze Orman proud & establishing a real savings account
Buying (& using!) a Food Saver

And one unavoidable thing:

Erin's passing

Many of my readers remember my friend Erin. She was my dancing buddy (many weekends, we could be found at Polly Esthers, dancing the night away. She was also the "cheapskate" who came to Las Vegas & refused to pay for the buffet & got caught eating food she didn't buy). Erin was diagnosed a few years back with a cancerous tumor in her brain & over the past couple months, hasn't been doing too well. Now, it's just a matter of time before she passes & obviously, it makes me sad to know that this once active gal has deteriorated to nothing (both physically & mentally). I just hope when she goes, she goes quickly & that I'm not at work when I find out.

In more happy news, recently, I became in touch with my old friend Scott, who I hadn't seen in I don't know how long. It was long enough that he didn't know I had gotten married. Wow! As much as I really don't care for myspace, it did help us get in touch again. Yay for that!

I also just signed up for facebook because another friend had it. I really don't 'get' it. Perhaps someone can tell me the difference between myspace & facebook and help me navigate my way through it. As it is, I'm pretty much clicking on stuff & I have NO idea what I'm doing, exactly.

Today, I am thankful for:

The health I do have
The Lee
Waterfall cards
Digital cameras
Rechargeable batteries

What irks me today:

Today, I'm not really annoyed or frustrated by this, but I think it's not quite appropriate to wear your pajamas &/or slippers in public. More & more, I see these (not always) young girls wearing their PJ's & slippers out and about. Sure it may be comfy & warm, but those are the clothes you wear to bed - not out to lunch.

When It's Over (Sugar Ray)

2007-12-26T21:02:00.000-08:00

The holidays are, for the most part, over. Okay, I suppose we still have New Year's Eve to look forward to, but for all intents & purposes, it's over.

Christmas Eve, I worked til 3p & then came home, cooked a little stuffing (no, it wasn't Stovetop, though it was cooked on the stove top) & then headed over to Steve & Airi's for a Christmas Eve potluck. It was just a small crowd as David & Katherine couldn't make it out due to other family obligations & I guess Popeye made Trina sicky-poo. Boo! Here's a few pics from Xmas Eve.

Christmas Day was supposed to be very low key this year. In fact, I posted about the rules that Jeff & his father came up with & shared with me. Unfortunately, someone failed to include the other McCarthy Women in the rules. These were the rules as set forth by the McCarthy Men:

Limit spending to $50 on each of the other two couples (his folks, his sister & boyfriend) so that only $100 total gets spent on each other
Go out to dinner on Christmas Day somewhere (I'm a bit skeptical if this really happens)
Each couple volunteers in some way (either by donating money, time or gifts) & lets everyone know what they did at Christmas dinner.

The key tab there is the first one. We wanted to tone down Christmas this year to 1 - save some money & 2 - to not go overboard buying things that nobody needs/wants. The first gift we open was from Erin & Aaron & it's a $100 gift card for Travelocity. I am in NO way nonthankful for this gift, but what about the rules? So, I ask Jeff, "Uh, Jeff.... why didn't they follow the rules?" He looks at the card & the questions go flying. They (mom & Erin) say they never heard about the "rules". Faster than you can say Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, Jeff was on the laptop buying a gift certificate for Hawaiian Airlines for E & A.

Merry Christmas everyone... and next year, how about a bit more communication, eh?

Today, I am thankful for:

No more Christmas music on the radio
Leftovers (thanks to everyone who donated to our fridge)
Returning 2 gifts (so far) with ease
Grey's Anatomy, season 2
Pat being back at work

What irks me today:

Today, I was annoyed with the girl behind the "fine jewelry" counter at Macy's. I had a pair of earrings to return & had approached one of the counters & after interrupting the employee from her conversation with the other girl to ask if I could "return these here", snottily, she replied, "No, you have to go over there" and pointed to another counter. Man, she was so 'tudey.

P.S. We had a wonderful ham dinner at home (with spinach salad, cheesy potatoes) and TONS of cookies, bars, jalepeno pepperoni sticks, chex mix, cheese & wheat thins, artichoke dip & another kind of cracker, hummus & yet another kind of cracker, Maureen's famous garlic dip & chips). What a spread of food to munch on all day long!

Against All Odds (Phil Collins)

2007-12-22T17:17:00.000-08:00

As Christmas quickly approaches, we've received several cards from our friends & family members. I had to laugh when we received virtually the same card from two different people. What are the odds of that happening? Well, I guess technically, one in 4 as this is one of four card designs that these two people made at my stamp-a-stack last month.

Today, I finished up my Christmas shopping. I wasn't going to go out & buy something for everyone I know, but still ended up buying a gift (card) for people I wasn't going to buy for in the first place. In fact, I told folks not to buy us anything as we weren't going to do a gift exchange. Well, it's not about the getting, but the giving, right? I'm okay with the not getting part.

Monday is going to mark the first year we changed our Christmas Eve tradition. I enjoyed the tradition that Joel started with us many years ago (gathering together with your friends, late at night on Xmas Eve at whatever restaurant that was open - usually a Denny's or Shari's, for some not-always tasty & sometimes crappy service & leaving a very large tip for our server). Steve suggested still getting together with friends, but doing a potluck instead, much earlier in the evening.

Yesterday, our TV, Comcast Cable, Receiver or some component thereof decided to crap out on us. Jeff called Comcast & they said it could be the box & so we exchanged it today, hooked up the new box & the picture is still not cool. Basically, the hi-def channels work just fine, but every other channel is highly distorted (the picture is super-enlarged & shifted to the right 2/3 of the screen). What really sucks is that we had some shows saved on our DVR & 1. if they were recorded on the regular channels (most were), they played distorted and 2. all shows saved were lost when we brought the old box back to the Comcast store. Boo!

On Thursday morning, the Sounder train had some technical difficulties. I've been taking the last train into work because I've found some decent parking that works for me (I used to take the earlier train just so I could have a parking spot in the garage; that no longer works for me). Anyhow, we pull into Kent Station & we sit there. A few minutes go by & the conductor announces that the engine is having issues & that they're working on fixing it. After sitting there in Kent for 50 minutes, I ended up getting on a bus to Seattle. This is the 2nd time I've been kicked off in Kent & told to find my own way to my destination. I'm thankful there's buses in Kent to take me to where I need to go.

I'm finding myself really enjoying the new show that's been on ABC this week, Duel. I like trivia, especially when it comes to stuff I *should* know. And, this show also has a gambling component to it. Here's one question from the show:

As of October 2007, which state had the least # of Starbucks (Scroll down for the answer)?

Utah
Washington
Vermont
Alaska

Today, I am thankful for:

Our newest remote control - to the fireplace!
Employment
Taylor Swift
restaurant.com
Nearby friends to help out in a pinch

What irks me today:

Today, I am obviously not happy with the tv situation, but I'm not going to dwell on it. Yeah, it's annoying & frustrating, but perhaps it's a sign of me watching too much television. Maybe I'll play a game or something more 'interactive' tonight instead. ....wishing I had a wii....

Duel answer: Vermont with 5 Starbucks. WA had 640, UT had 60, AK had 30

O Tannenbaum (Various)

2007-12-11T19:37:00.000-08:00

I was wrong. We DID get a Christmas tree this year afterall. Mind you, it's only about 8" tall, but by golly, we got one! It sits upon our mantle & is the perfect size for our village. I tried tying some ribbon on it to make it a little more decorative, but the ribbon just kept falling off & so I just tied a bow around the base there. It's cute. And, once the holidays are over, we'll plant the tree outside & hopefully it will thrive.

Kat & I did our 4th annual volunteer work this past weekend, stuffing stockings for over 2,400 homeless children. It just amazes me how quickly it goes: all the stockings stuffed in just over an hour. Wow! As chaotic as it is, it truly is organized. I don't think I could do it any better if I had to organize it.

After volunteering on Friday, Kat & I went to Happy Hour for a little bit at the Pyramid Brewery so that we wouldn't be smack dab in the middle of Friday night rush hour traffic. We got 2 appetizers (nachos & fries with a curry dipping sauce) & a BBQ Pork sammy that we split. The BBQ Pork was mighty tasty! The nachos weren't bad either. The fries/curry sauce could have been better, though I don't know how. I wouldn't order it again to give it a second chance. Neither of us drank beer, but I did buy a 12 pack of Hefe for my husband.

Saturday, we finished our volunteer work & Kat was so thoughtful & nice to offer to buy me some birthday lunch. I chose to go to Qdoba for two reasons: I got a BOGO coupon for my birthday & they're mighty tasty! I love me some nekkid burritos & 3 cheese queso.

Later that night, Jeff suggested we go out to get some dessert of sorts for my birthday. We ended up going to Trotters, a local family restaurant, here in Auburn because they have a giant menu of sundaes. However, we didn't have any dessert because we were full after having dinner. Trotters used to be my favorite local restaurant, but once they changed owners, the menu changed & they weren't all that great anymore. This time, they were a bit better than just okay. We'll probably go back, but they're still not my favorite.

On Sunday, Jeff's parents, sister & boyfriend came over to celebrate all the Sagittarius birthdays by watching the Seahawk game, dinner & a movie in the theater room. I also baked cookies for a cookie exchange at work. I wish I had a KitchenAid mixer. I'm also convinced I need to get a FoodSaver as well. I do see this in my not too distant future. Yee!

Today, I am thankful for:

1. Department lunch
2. A warm bed
3. 2 weeks until Christmas
4. Being done with my Christmas shopping
5. Goose down vest

What irks me today:

Once again, my procrastination is getting me down. Tomorrow, we're doing a gift exchange at work & I've got my gift(s) for my person, but now I have to wrap them. I usually enjoy wrapping presents, but right now, I'm feeling absolutely no motivation to do it. And, I kinda want to go to bed early tonight, but I must get this wrapping done first.

O Christmas Tree (Various)

2007-12-06T21:08:00.000-08:00

See those two little trees over there? That's about the extent of our Christmas tree set up this year (And the past 2 years as well). While we have a decently sized home, we don't exactly have room for a full-on Christmas tree at this point & so we get to decorate in other ways, such as with my little winter village. Jeff did say the other day that once the holidays are over, we should go all out & buy a ton more decoratives. I agree. Watch out after Christmas sales, here I come!

I don't think I wrote too much about it in earlier posts, but Jeff & I decided not to "do" Christmas this year. Instead, the intent was to save as much money as possible so as to pay off the debts we accumlated from the past year (including Christmas, where we went overboard). My mother-in-law was quite adamant about doing some sort of "Christmas" & here's what was decided by Jeff & his dad:

Limit spending to $50 on each of the other two couples (his folks, his sister & boyfriend) so that only $100 total gets spent on each other
Go out to dinner on Christmas Day somewhere (I'm a bit skeptical if this really happens)
Each couple volunteers in some way (either by donating money, time or gifts) & lets everyone know what they did at Christmas dinner.

*Last weekend, Jeff & I each spent about $25 at Walmart (my favorite store!) on toys to be donated to the Salvation Army for the kiddos. I thought I would dread the day when I had kids of my own because I thought buying birthday/christmas presents would be way expensive. We actually bought quite a bit of stuff for the $50 we spent. And, I can't speak for Jeff, but I really enjoyed the shopping.

*Last week, I anonymously donated 16 hours of my Personal Leave to a co-worker who had none left & needed to take some time off so that her black eye (caused by her abusive husband) would heal without too many people knowing about it. My department & her department are also "adopting" her two boys so they can have some fun gifts from Santa.

*Tomorrow marks day one of two of my annual volunteer work in conjunction with the Coast Guard, stuffing stockings for homeless children. Tomorrow, Kat and I will arrive near 1pm to help sort all the donated goodies. On Saturday, we'll spend a couple hours helping to stuff over 2,000 stockings. It's chaos & I usually dislike it when I'm there, but I always feel good afterwards. And, well, now it's like a tradition that Kat & I do together. I don't want to quit this.

Today, I am thankful for:

Cooking my first pot roast
Having my last stamp camp of the year
No more rain for the next couple days
Dreaming about my next vacation
Going nearly a week without being "sick"

What irks me today:

The fact that the squeaky wheel gets the oil... We have a member where I work & she is really not a nice person. Just mention the name & people cringe. Seriously. I honestly do not understand why this person is still allowed to be a member. Anyways, in an effort to make something look better & it not working, things are more "messed up" than before I touched it. At least I didn't have to talk to her to explain what happened.

Torn (Natalie Imbruglia)

2007-11-29T19:14:00.000-08:00

So, as the title suggests, I've got a little bit of conflict going on right now. I'm torn. I don't know what to do. We've known all along that Kim was going to be getting married in a few short months & I've said all along that we would go no matter where it was as our airline miles would cover the air part of the trip. Who knew there were other things to pay for when going on a vacation abroad (accomodations, food, activities, traveling about once at said destination)? Apparently, I didn't think about this too much when saying we would go "no matter what". And now, after talking about the other expenses, we don't think it's best for us to go to London at this time. But, we said numerous times in the past that we would.

So, do we ditch our budget to witness a one of a kind event for our good friend? Or, do we ditch our promises & commitments to save a buck or two? I don't know the answer. Those who know me know I'm BIG on commitment & I feel like an ass even suggesting not going. But, then again, I didn't think it was going to cost $2k either.

I'm torn. What would YOU do if you were in my shoes?

In other news... last Saturday I went to Brazilian food at Ipanema's in Seattle with Jeff, Kat, Steve, Airi, David, Katt. The food was decent, in my opinion. I kinda compared it to the Melting Pot. Something that might be a fun experience every now & again, but not something you wanna do all the time.

As seen in the picture to the right, our server, Apolo Ohno is carving some meat off the large skewer. Jeff eagerly awaits!

Today, I am thankful for:

1. Christmas plans have been decided by someone other than me
2. WW points posted on Lean Cuisine's & Lean Pockets
3. Black Eye Pea special for $3.99
4. Understanding, patience & forgiveness
5. Receiving my passport in less than 3 weeks - WOW!

What irks me today:

I'm not super savvy when it comes to computer stuff. Sometimes I have Jeff "fix" whatever is bothering me. Sometimes I "make do" with whatever is bothering me. I am really frustrated at the fact that sometimes when I post something & especially when I add pictures, it deletes my paragraphs (or makes my post one giant paragraph). If you ever see the little apostrophe's in my post, the reason is because I can't 'fix' this problem on my own.

If You Don't Know Me By Now (Simply Red)

2007-11-18T22:01:00.000-08:00

If you don't know me by now (If you don't know me)

You will never never never know me (No you won't)

If you don't know me by now

You will never never never know me

My birthday is coming up in about 3 weeks. I'm not saying this because I want everyone to go out and buy me something. Gifts are nice and all, but what I really dislike about giving is the fact that so many people don't know what to buy others. And so they ask, "what do you want for your ___?" You can fill in the blank with Birthday, Christmas, Shower, etc. Any gift giving reason, really. I know I talked about this once before (last Christmas, perhaps), but I despise "the list". Jeff's family is always big on Christmas lists. I hate them. I feel like if you wanna get me a gift, then you should at least know me enough to know what I like & dislike. I don't want to have to write a list so you know what to buy me. Sweater, check. Perfume, check. DVD, check. There's no joy for me to know what to expect as I'm unwrapping the gifts.

My company dinner was last night. Originally, it was to be a murder mystery on the dinner train, but about 3 weeks ago, the dinner train closed their doors for good. So, acting quickly, our social committee booked the Argosy cruise as the venue for the murder mystery. It was just okay. Not a huge amount of people went, but I think more went on the cruise than had signed up for the dinner train (due to the more centralized location). And, the murder mystery bit was kinda lame, but it beat the improv comedy troupe they had booked 4 years earlier on the Argosy cruise. And, the hilight of the evening was winning a gift, even though I didn't take it: a year's membership at LA Fitness gym. They called my ticket number & I told them to draw another number because I know I wouldn't have used the gym membership, especially considering the closest one is in Fed. Way.

Today, Kat came over & we went to lunch in Federal Way at Azteca thanks to some free dinners I received for replacing my windshield several months ago. After lunch, we went to a few stores: the Orowheat discount store, WalMart, Top Foods. After our running around, we came back here & made cookies. They, too, were just alright. I dunno why... they just didn't taste all that great to me. I see some cookies in my co-workers near future. Heh.

Today, I am thankful for:

1. Winning raffle tickets

2. Purchasing our London airline tickets already

3. My new MP3 player (that I didn't ask for- thanks Jeff!)

4. Jeff going to Randy's to watch football & Family Guy

5. Brown

What irks me today:

Today, I am irked by the fact that I didn't really have anything "nice" to say in my post. Each of the things I wrote about (excluding what I'm thankful for) was all kinda negative. Boo! I'll try harder next time to be nice.

Don't Dream It's Over (Crowded House)

2007-11-13T17:04:00.000-08:00

Hey now, hey now

Don't dream it's over

Hey now, hey now

My 5 day vacation from work is just about over. It was a nice 5 days off. That is, as nice as 5 days off with nothing planned can be. Usually, I like to have things planned to do. Otherwise, I'd rather just save my time off for something better (going somewhere or cashing out my hours - cash is always good, if you ask me). But, I got 5 days off with only using 16 of my hours & Friday was, in fact, a busy day. So, really, I only took one day off with nothing planned. Justified? Well, it's my hours so yes.

Last night, one of my SU customers asked me to do an Ornament Camp & so today, I ran a few errands, finding stuff to make such ornaments. I think it will be a lot of fun for a few reasons:

1. I'll get to meet new people

2. I'll get to make something new (some of these I haven't made before)

3. I just love Christmas themed stuffs (snowmens & snowflakes & reindeers & santas & apple ciders & trees & ornaments & JOY & NOEL & PEACE & LOVE & you get the idea. I love it all).

Yesterday, I went to the grocery store & bought a few things I've never bought before. We had porkchops for dinner last night (that was a first for me) along with wild rice, veggies & caesar salad. In the near future, I see a beef stew (something Jeff has been asking for) & beef stroganoff on the menu. Tomorrow, however, I'm going to have Jeff throw a few items into the crock pot when he wakes up for a BBQ pulled pork recipe I have. Tasty!!

Can you believe it? Thanksgiving is just next week? And Christmas is like 42 days away? I've seen a pretty cute christmas countdown sidebar on a few blogs I frequent, but don't know how to add it to my own. Instead, I'll just tell you. 42 days.

Have you even thought about your Christmas shopping yet? I haven't. In fact, I'm doing VERY LITTLE holiday shopping this year. Instead, I'm donating to some sort of charity. Perhaps, adopt a family in need. Perhaps, give to a local food bank. Perhaps, give to the Salvation Army bell ringers. Perhaps, all of the above. Perhaps, more.

Today, I am thankful for:

1. The option of taking time off work

2. The option of cashing out my hours

3. The option of donating my hours

4. New recipes

5. New friends

What irks me today:

Yesterday, I was flipping through the channels & came across what seemed to be a pretty cool 'reality' tv show on the FOX Reality station called Boot Camp. It's channel 159 or something like that. Anyways, it looks like this show was on back in 2001 & I missed it. That's okay. But I can't tell from the comcast description what episodes are new. And with all the episodes lasting an hour or more, I don't want to record all of them. And, I really don't need to be sucked into another show, but I'm curious... who wins? By the way, I don't want to read the spoilers online. I wanna watch the show in order, no repeats, all the way to the end. Too much to ask? Oooh, a Boot Camp marathon is what NEEDS to happen.

The Entertainer (Billy Joel)

2007-11-11T09:48:00.001-08:00

I am the entertainer, and I know just where I stand,

Another serenader and another long-haired band

Today I am your champion, I may have won your hearts

But I know the game, you'll forget my name

And I won't be here in another year

If I don't stay on the charts

It's no wonder that Billy Joel is one of my Must See's as far as musicians go. He is an amazing entertainer. Even after all these years, he still sounds incredible & he really engages the audience (unlike other concerts I've been to where they get up on stage, do their thing, then leave). If I ever get an opportunity to see Billy Joel in concert again, I'm SO there. He was worth every penny, in my opinion.

Today, I am thankful for:

1. Qdoba

2. Leftovers

3. SNL

4. My in-laws

5. Naps after a long day

Today, I am irked by:

Usually I am awake long before Jeff ever gets up. Today, however, I was waken by his alarm clock going off at 9a. Now, this normally wouldn't have bothered me, but it was really, really loud & I don't know that I was really ready to wake up just yet. But, I did & Jeff is still in bed (an hour later).

Piano Man (Billy Joel)

2007-11-07T20:52:00.000-08:00

Sing us a song, you're the piano man

Sing us a song tonight

Well, we're all in the mood for a melody

And you've got us feelin' alright

Hearing Billy Joel sing always makes me feel alright and I'll be feelin' alright tomorrow night when Jeff & I go see Billy Joel in concert at Key Arena.

I enjoy going to concerts. There's a few I've gone to with others (Rod Stewart, Michael W. Smith, Neil Diamond).There's a few I've been to by myself (Bon Jovi, Matchbox 20). There's a few on my "must see" list (Elton John, Billy Joel, Kenny Loggins), that is I'd pay almost anything to go see them perform once last time before they stop performing altogether.

I had the opportunity to see Elton John earlier this year in Las Vegas with Kat. Interesting show. He's still a great singer, in my opinion. I was excited when I found out Billy Joel was coming & even more thrilled when Jeff bought us tickets for our one year anniversary, last month. I was sad, however, when I heard Kenny Loggins was coming, to the Emerald Queen no less (sorry to hear your career is over, Kenny) on a day when I absolutely couldn't go. Darn it!

I'm looking forward to this weekend for a few reasons:

- Friday- I took the day off work so that Jeff & I could go get passports (watch out London, we'll be there in no time). I'm also going to the dentist, which, for the most part doesn't bother me. I like my dentist; I've been seeing her religiously every 6 months for at least the past 8 years. I may also be the new owner of a Kitchen Aid mixer that I found on Craigslist (if she doesn't sell it before then - I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it's mine, all mine).

-Saturday- I'm selling some things in a craft fair at a local church. I'll be taking some lunch tins (for cards, recipes, anything small enough to fit), name frames, cards & some of my latest CD creations. Check out my other flickr account for pictures.

-Sunday- No plans, but to hang out with my husband (maybe go on this drive his dad keeps talking about)

-Monday- No plans

-Tuesday- No plans

That's right, I've got a 5 day weekend! Yeeee!!

Today, I am thankful for:

1. Baby Showers - past & present

2. Being able to see my "Must See" music groups

3. Five Day Weekends

4. Chili Mac with added veggies

5. Having a bad day

What irks me today:

Did she really just write that she was thankful for having a bad day? Yes, actually, I did. Yesterday, I had a pretty bad day at work. I was so frustrated with my boss that I literally was ready to throw in the towel. So, why am I thankful for it? Having a bad day every now and again gives me perspective on just how challenging my job can be at times & it makes me thankful that I don't have my boss' job. So, what irks me about having that bad day? Pretty much just the way my boss was harping me for answers I didn't have. But, it's giving me learning opportunities for the future.

Something So Strong (Crowded House)

2007-10-30T20:42:00.001-07:00

A little of this:

'

Plus a little of this:

Equals this:

Which inevitably leads to this, at 8:21pm:

So, Jeff called out "sick" again today. I wonder if my sick time was given as it's own separate bank of hours (as opposed to being lumped with our vacation hours), if I would call out as much as Jeff does. I really do like that ours is lumped together as Personal Leave. If I'm sick, I call out. If I wanna take some vacation, I take the day off. If I need some cash, I can cash out my hours. I like having that flexibility to do with it as I want. Our only requirement is that we must take 5 consecutive days off work each year. I *think* I can handle that (& still have plenty of hours to cash out or take random days off here & there).
'

Today, I am thankful for:

1. Saving up my PL for use as I see fit
2. Halloween potlucks
3. http://www.allrecipes.com/
4. I'm almost caught up to "real time" Grey's Anatomy (1 episode to go)
5. Not waking Jeff up when I took that picture of him.
'

What irks me today:
Each year, my company provides the opportunity for our staff to contribute to the United Way through either payroll deduction, monthly billing, or one time donation. I think giving is great in general, but giving particularly to the United Way is wonderful. I like to give for several reasons - you can confidentially give as much or as little as you can afford; you never know when you might be in a situation to where you might need some help; karma's a bitch. I started giving to the United Way when I first started at my company nearly 7 years ago & I only gave a dollar per paycheck & have increased it each year by a buck. It's kinda like your 401k. You learn to live without that contribution & by increasing the amount you contribute by just a small amount or percentage, you hardly notice it's gone from your bi-weekly paycheck. Anyways, I'm frustrated at people who can't even find $1 to donate every two weeks to a worthy cause. It screams selfishness to me, especially when I see these people buying their Starbucks or Seattle's Best or Tully's every other day.

Keep on Moving (UB40)

2007-10-28T16:55:00.000-07:00

So, there's this guy that I met a long, long time ago. Okay, maybe not *that* long ago in the scheme of things, but I met him a good 4 years ago. His name is Maurice & he rides the train from Auburn to Seattle. He's an older man. Reminds me an awful lot of Bill Cosby for some reason. It could be because he is an older black man & it could be that he seems to be wise in his older age.

One thing that I think is so *neat* about Maurice is that he is, without a doubt, a "ladies man", but not in the creepy-oompa-loompa-I-just-wanna-get-in-your-pants sort of way. No. Instead, he actually knows a LOT of women on the train. Well, maybe he doesn't KNOW us, but he knows our names, at least. In my opinion, I think this is a pretty cool trait to possess - to know all these women & not come across as some perverted, dirty old man.

Maurice is in seemingly great health. He was in the military many years ago. He's mentioned to me that he stays in shape by working out frequently. When he'd take the stairs at the train station, he'd climb them two at a time. For the past several months, however, I noticed he's been squeezing himself into the elevator & riding up the two stories to the skybridge & then once into the garage, he'd take the elevator up the flight or two to his car. I'm kinda baffled by this because I'm still certain that he could take the stairs if he wanted to. I don't talk to him all that often, except for a passing "Hi, how are ya?" otherwise, I'd ask him why he insists on taking the elevator. I'm going to make the assumption that it's because he'll have a few more minutes with the ladies.

As for me, I've decided that as long as I am physically able to, I am going to take the stairs up & down the few flights of stairs at the train stations.

Today, I am thankful for:

Working limbs
Recycling centers
Good hair days
Keeping up on my other blog
Comments from my readers

What irks me today:

Several weeks ago, my department approached our boss to find out if we could alter our schedules so that 2 people can get off work earlier than 5pm. As it is, we have 6 in our dept: one is off at 4pm, my boss leaves at 4:15, and the remaining 4 leave at 5:00. Is it necessary to have four people there til 5p? No. So, we came up with a schedule where in alternating weeks, two people could leave either at 4p or 4:30. After some hesitation & thought, she reluctantly agreed to it, but said she will not babysit it AND we can't start it until the new year begins. Cool!

Jump to this past week. I was bored & thought, 4 - ten hour days would be pretty cool & with 5 working employees & 5 days in a week, well, you do the math. Without ANY hesitation, denied! I tried to tell her it would work. She didn't care if it work, she wanted nothing to do with it. No was her final answer, Regis. I altered it a bit, rotating it from each person having a day off every week to one person having a day off each week & the weeks would rotate . It too would work. Not even a budge. No was her answer once again. This time, she offered the explanation that we don't have enough work to do in our daily routines to constitute working an additional two hours a day, for four days.

I think she had thought long and hard about what reason she would give when it was brought up again, but actually getting a reason made me feel "okay" with the result. As it is, I really don't have enough to do to fill an 8 hour day. I honestly don't know what I would do with a 10 hour day. Still made me mad though.

Cryin' (Aerosmith)

2007-10-21T18:35:00.000-07:00

I was cryin' when I met you

Now I'm tryin' to forget you

Love is sweet misery

The plan was to catch up on Season 3 of Grey's Anatomy before watching Season 4. Well, I didn't entirely watch all of Season 3 before seeing the first episode of Season 4 a few weeks ago. I don't entirely know what's going on with everyone, but I haven't been living under a rock for the past year either. I know Burke & Yang were engaged to get married & didn't. I don't know who Ava is. This morning, I watched episodes 9-12 from Season 3 & boy was I balling. See, episode 12 was where George's father died. I think anyone who has lost a parent would completely understand the tears I cried this afternoon.

The past week was fairly uneventful.

Last night, we had an unexpected, unwanted shortlived houseguest. It's hard to tell from this picture, but the sucker was ginormous! The body of the spider was a little bit larger than a quarter.

Last Thursday, the local weathermen predicted some wind storms. According to Jeff, the lights flickered off & on all day & Shiggy hid under the bed. Scaredy cat! We weren't really affected at work. I didn't go outside except to walk to the train station. Fortunately, I had my trusty ol' umbrella to keep me dry. And, even better, it didn't flip inside out in the winds.

Coming home, was another story. The train folk decided they weren't going to drive any further south than Kent (there was powerlines &/or trees on the tracks) & I would have to find my own way home. I didn't have my cellphone with me & so, couldn't call anyone to come pick me up. I ran into Randy on the train who was going to hitch a ride with some girlfriends of his. I ran into Katt among the crowd of passengers who said David was going to come & get her from Kent Station. I found a bus & was lucky to get on AND get a seat. Even better, it was an "express" bus & so it didn't stop at every single stop between Kent & Auburn, which was nice. By the time I walked into my house, it was only about 35 extra minutes than it usually would have taken. Not too shabby.

Yesterday, Jeff & I helped Kat move into her new/temporary residence: with her friend/co-worker Laurie. Laurie lives with her husband & daughter up on the Issaquah Plateau. Or, is it the Highlands? Either way, she has an incredibly beautiful home.

What's on the agenda for the week? Tuesday, I'm going to Famous Dave's in Tukwila with Joanna & Kat. Yummy! Maybe I'll even bring a rib home for Jeff.

Today, I am thankful for:

Sam's Club
Getting paid to stamp
I can get all my laundry done in a day
Tacos
Big-girl panties

What irks me today:

I'm not saying I'm perfect, by any means, but I wish people would update their blogs on a more regular basis. By "regular" I think weekly or bi-weekly is a good timeframe (not monthly or bi-monthly). I know folks with blogs & other online sites where they *could* be updated more frequently & they're not. How do I know this? Because I check. I check. And, I check again. Is it a waste of time? Perhaps. But, there is the off-chance possibility that I could be surprised with an update of what's been going on in their lives. Plus, I'm nosey. I *want* to know. So, if you think nobody reads your blog, you're wrong. I may not post a comment, but I do read 'em. So, post away!

When I Said I Do (Clint Black & Lisa Hartman Black)

2007-10-14T18:53:00.000-07:00

When I said I do, I meant that I will

'til the end of all time

Be faithful and true, devoted to you

That's what I had in mind when I said I do

Hard to believe an entire year has passed since I said my vows to Jeff on a fabulous Hawaiian beach in front of our friends & family.

This weekend has been pretty low key for us. Friday, I was in Portland for a Stampin Up conference & didn't get home til late Friday night. Saturday, I tried to organize my stamp room some, but got distracted by all the television shows that were waiting for me on the DVR. I caught up on most of 'em, but there's still one or two waiting for me. Today, Jeff & I went to The Melting Pot for dinner. Very tasty, but man, I am SO full!! I love melted cheese!

I *finally* got all my photos uploaded on Flickr. I even got some of Jeff's galleries on there too (most of our vacation pics are from his camera). It was a little time consuming, but I'm glad it's done. In the future, it won't even be a big deal because I can upload them as I take them (for the most part).

Yesterday, Jeff's folks came up to drop off some ground cover & we all went to lunch at the Performance Grill. While there, we were reminiscing about Maui & talking about how we all are wanting to go back. I see a Hawaiian vacation in my future. We'll be going to the U.K. in the spring for Kim's wedding, but perhaps, Christmastime 2008 I'll be soaking up some tropical sun.

Today, I am thankful for:

My husband
Celebrating anniversaries
Love
Song lyrics online
Happiness

That irks me today:

Today, I am frustrated that I have a stamp camp in less than two weeks & I still need to come up with a 4th card. My 3rd card took some time & I'm not 100% happy with it. I may tweak it some, but only if I have time to do so. For now, it'll have to do. I was hoping to get my 4th card designed today, but I'm thinking I won't get to it til tomorrow. I've got a husband that needs my attention tonight.

My Favorite Things (Julie Andrews)

2007-10-07T12:46:00.000-07:00

There are a few things I love about this time of the year. I love all vibrant colors that fall brings as the leaves change colors. I love watching & listening to the rain fall. I love the smell of soups cooking in the crock pot & I love the warmth the fireplace puts out.

Most of all, I love looking forward to & celebrating the anniversary of the day I wed my best friend.

Take a Picture (Filter)

2007-10-01T22:47:00.000-07:00

I finally did it. I joined Flickr. I was holding off as long as I could, but I couldn't hold off any longer. The reason: I just didn't want to pay for this kind of service was one reason. The other was that I didn't think I 'needed' this kind of service.

A few days ago, I was reading someone's blog & they had a "freak out" moment where they thought their hard drive had crashed & along with it, all their digital pictures. That got me to thinking, what if MY hard drive crashes. I will have NOTHING. All my digital memories are on my computer & nowhere else.

Not quite a year ago, a co-worker recommended Shutterfly. It's quite similar to Flickr, but free in all aspects. I could keep my digital pics there. I could share certain pics. I had my wedding photos on there & just gave out the password/username to my friends & family who wanted to see all the albums. I was fine with this because it didn't cost me anything & I had nothing but wedding pics on there. Well, then I started uploading all my other pictures (for back up) & then thought I would like to share some of the pictures, but maybe not all of them & I don't want to give out my password in this situation. Come to find out, I can only share 250 pictures. This simply won't do.

Next stop, Flickr. I went back to Flickr to find out exactly what I get for free. Well, 3 sets & 100 MB of photo upload space per month. I started uploading & come to find out, this really isn't much. So, I caved. I paid the $24.95 for the one year subscription & you'll find the link to my Flickr Account to the left. The sets really aren't in any kind of order, but I was able to get most of my 2006 & 2007 galleries posted, a few comments made & the photos within the sets are organized to the best of my ability.

If you would like me to add your Flickr, Picasa, Shutterfly or any other photo gallery, just send me the link & I'll be happy to add it to my blog.

Today, I am thankful for:

Digital photography
Blog links
My computer not crashing
Portable cameras
Flikr

What irks me today:

Today, I am frustrated with all the dirty laundry that has been piling up in my bedroom closet for the past week or so. It's kinda "my job" to do the laundry & surprisingly, I do enjoy doing the laundry. Most of the time. I just have very little motivation to START doing the laundry. I think this is because our dryer takes 2 hours to dry each load & I get so discouraged, thinking, "the laundry is going to take too long so why bother?" You don't need to tell me that makes no sense; I know it doesn't.

Bad Day (Daniel Powter)

2007-09-30T15:59:00.000-07:00

Friday morning wasn't so good for me. I woke up just a little bit later than I like to. Really, only by like 5 minutes, but 5 minutes can make all the difference when you're rushing in the morning.

When I opened the shower curtain, this little guy (or girl) was laying there in the tub, belly up. I wasn't quite sure what it was, but it's antannae was moving; the little bugger was alive. So, I had to get my camera & take as many pictures as I could. And, I had to get close enough to get a clear picture. But not too close. That's just gross. And, I had to see if I could get a picture of it on it's belly. I did, but not as good as this one on it's back. And then, I had to dispose of it because, well, I wasn't up for the company while I showered. He now resides somewhere in the sewer. Rest in peace, little one.

Then, I was getting dressed & I gained thought I could squeeze into a pair of jeans I had from my pre-fat days. Yeah, I shoulda tried them on the night before & I would have known that I haven't lost enough weight to wear them just yet. At least not without showing a little camel toe. So, I opted for another pair of jeans that were the same size, but much better fitting.

Next, it's breakfast time. I'm running late so I couldn't finish my entire bowl of Cheerios. I wolfed down what I could inside the house, but there's still a lot of milk & a few O's left so I thought I'd bring it with me & eat it in the car. Not a big deal as I've done it a multitude of times before. Well, I set it on the console & as I got into the car, I proceed to dip my elbow into the bowl. Damn it! Now I have milk all over me. Time to change clothes again!

Fortunately, I made it to the train station & find myself a rather decent parking spot. The rest of my day was rather uneventful.

Today, I am thankful for:

Panini sammies
Digital cameras
Fat free sour cream
Low fat mayonnaise
Tastefully Simple

What irks me today:

Today, I am irritated with the price & selection of jackets at Macy's. Jeff & I still have a few gift cards leftover from our wedding (almost one year ago!) & I went to go buy a jacket for myself with no such luck. There were plenty of nice rain jackets, but I already have a one of those & I couldn't justify spending that much money on something I don't need. One of these days, I just might have to make a stop at (gasp!) Burlington Coat Factory. They should, for sure, have a jacket that would suit me.

That's What Friends Are For (Dionne Warwick & Friends)

2007-09-24T19:56:00.000-07:00

I cooked my first ever "thanksgiving" feast yesterday. I've always wanted to cook a turkey dinner, but Thanksgiving was always "taken" by one relative or another. So I suggested doing one last hurrah for Kim before she leaves the good ol' U.S. of A. for good. The Groovy Franken Friends offered to bring anything we may need/want for dinner, but the point of me doing it was so that I could cook the entire meal. I don't want to toot my own horn (toot, toot), but I think I did pretty darn good. Unless people were just being polite, I didn't hear any complaints & most of the food was eaten (see post below about what was made).

Last night, Jeff took the leftover turkey carcass & put it into the crock pot for some turkey soup. I finished it off this evening by adding some cut up onions & celery (thanks, Kat!!), pasta & added a few seasonings. Oh man, that was some good stuff right there.

Friday, Jeff & I went to the Puyallup Fair. We kinda had debated about going since we had just gone the year before & the fair really doesn't change all that much. We were there for *maybe* 3 1/2 hours. We mostly just walked around, checked out what the vendors had to sell, watched a few rides & ate just a couple things: Peroshkies & Earthquake burger & fries. Mighty tasty, if you ask me. My hilight of the afternoon: We walked into the horse barn & I said I wanted to see a horse poop. Well, sure enough, the first horse to our left lifted it's tail & well, it didn't poo, but farted instead. Even better in my book.

Friday evening, we trekked back to P-Town (along with Steve & Airi, David & Katt) so Jeff could get his rib on at Famous Daves BBQ. Me? I just had a salad & Dave's famous chili. I was so stuffed afterwards. I would definitely get that combo meal again.

Saturday, while mowing the lawn, Jeff broke window #2. The first time, a small hole went through the first pane. This time, however, the entire pane shattered. It's a little hard to tell from this picture, but believe me, it's broken! Next up on the home improvement list: buy bullet proof glass. Ha!

Today, I am thankful for:

My Groovy Franken Friends
http://www.allrecipes.com/
Theraflu
FroYo
Double pane windows

What irks me today:

Today, I am irritated at procrastination. It seems as of lately, my schedule is quite busy & there are so many things I want to accomplish, yet there's never enough hours in the day. I have a stamp-a-stack in two weeks & I know I need to order supplies for it, but I don't know exactly how many supplies until I make up all my stamp packs, but I can't make up my stamp packs until I organize my stamp room, but I can't organize my stamp room until I put together the table up there & instead of putting together the table, I'm blogging about my procrastination & how much it annoys me.

Another Year Has Gone By (Celine Dion)

2007-09-16T21:32:00.000-07:00

I was just peeking at my past blogs & hard to believe, I've been doing this for over a year now. Crazy how time has gone by!

Even though I think I mentioned it a few posts back, it feels like summer is really officially over. Friday night, I wanted to turn the fireplace on for the first time. Jeff wore jeans for the first time in a long time today. I closed the windows in the house today. I'm itchin' for some homemade soups! It's time to dust off the ol' crockpot.

Trina finished moving her stuff out last week. Her new residence is with her new man, Jon Stewart, in Renton. It's nice having our house "back", but it almost seems a little empty. Now, we have two rooms to spread out in once again. It's kinda nice not having stuff in those rooms, though.

Turkey dinner (for 13!!) is quicky approaching (just one week away!!). Here's tentatively what the menu may consist of:

Turkey (of course!)
Stuffing
Mashed potatoes & gravy
Corn
Sweet potatoes
Green bean casserole
Dinner rolls of sorts
Cranberries
Pumpkin Pie
Apple Pie (maybe)
B. Y. O. Beverage

Am I missing anything? The kitchen sink, you say? Got it. Be sure to bring your appetite!

Today, I am thankful for:

Taking the Sounder to the M's game
The Mayan
Entertainment Books
Hooded Sweatshirts
Cheese

What irks me today:

Today, I am really peeved by the fact that we "have to buy" tickets to ride the Sounder Train (either for commuting to work or to a 'special' event), but the Conductor doesn't check for tickets on a regular basis. This morning, I told Kathy to buy only a one way train ticket because last time we rode the train to a M's game, they didn't check tickets. I suspected it would be the same today. I was right. However, the security gal was there to help her get her ticket & she ended up purchasing a round trip ticket. Kathy was following the rules, which is the right thing to do, but I just feel it was a waste of money since nobody even checks the tickets anyways.

Oooh Oooh Child (Five Stairsteps)

2007-09-09T21:35:00.000-07:00

The Groovy Franken Friends found out last night that there will be an addition to the group. A GFF, jr perhaps? Or maybe it's a 2nd generation of GFF's? Either way, we're all very happy & excited for Steve & Airi who are expecting their 1st born on March 9th.

What's really funny about this pregnancy was that Kat & I had gone to the liquor store & I said to her, "I don't know if it's true or not because I haven't heard anything, but I think Airi's pregnant." She was going to do some investigations when we got back to find out. Was that wine that Airi was drinking? Nope. It was apple cider. Uh huh... Could it be...? Yes! Steve made the announcement & it's confirmed. Wow! & Yay!!

I also found out last week that two of my cousins are expecting babies & they're due around the same time Airi is. For my cousin Molly & her husband Greg, this is their first baby. This is wonderful for them because they had been trying for quite some time to get pregnant & now it's finally happening. For my other cousin Deborah & her husband Abe, well, this is #5. While having babies, I suppose, is fun and exciting and some people are just "good at it", I can't help but wonder at what point do you let the "social responsibilities" take over what the "lord" has in store for you.

I told Katt I would blog about the sideways poo tonight. So here it is. Poo is just funny because everyone does it & has experienced most (if not all) poo's. I looked up the poopy list to find the definition of the sideways poo & I think this is the closest I found:

The Caesarian Dump - Pain, that's what this dump and childbirth have in common. Its simply a case of too much dump trying to go through too small a hole, and there's no obstetrician to help.

In other "gross" news.... I learned last night that even though my cats were neutered, they still have penises. Yes, I probably should have realized this long, long ago, but I've never seen it & really, I don't watch them pee because they're in a "sheltered" litter box. And, even when our cat growing up had an "open" litter box, they just squat; you can't really tell where their urine is coming from. So, after we got home last night, I got an anatomy lesson. Thanks Jeff for pointing out the general area where the penis lives & thanks to Tubbs for letting us check out your underside.

Tonight, the girls went to the Melting Pot for dinner. This was in lieu of Girls Camping that most bailed on back in August. Good food & even better company. I'm for sure going to miss Kim when she leaves in less than a month to live across the Atlantic. I have to say, though, it was really nice to spend more time with Katt. We really don't spend a whole lot of time with her & she's a super cool person. I'm glad she's become a Groovy Franken Friend.

Today, I am thankful for:

1. Melted cheese

2. Melted chocolate

3. Girlfriends

4. Pregnancies

5. 3 pronged forks

What irks me today:

Today, I am annoyed by people who bail out on plans that were made long ago. I feel that if you've made a commitment for whatever, then you should stick to it. If something "better" comes along, then you should say, "I'm sorry I can't go; I already have plans."

Signs (Five Man Electrical Band)

2007-09-04T20:51:00.000-07:00

Over the past two days, I've made two name frames. One for Jeff to place above his theater (or is that "theatre"?) room. I couldn't get a very clear picture on this because 1. it's hanging up above the door already; 2. there's a hallway light directly in front of it so there was some "lighting issues"; 3. it's behind glass creating other reflective/lighting issues. You all will just have to take notice of it as you enter the McCarthy Monoplex. Speaking of the McCarthy Monoplex... I FINALLY saw Pirates of the Caribbean - Curse of the Black Pearl. Yes, it's the first Pirates movie. Yes, it's been like 3 years since it's been out on video. Yes, I'm a little slow. Yes, I loved it & can't wait to watch the two sequels.

The second frame I made was for my Tastefully Simple consultant, Shayna. This is her family name & I'm told it will reside in her Hawaiian themed room, hence the "bolder" colors. At first I wasn't quite sure what I was going to do with this designer paper. I also *thought* her name may have been too long because the other name frames I made had only 6 & 7 letters. Bridgman is 8. As it turned out, I made the letters a little bit smaller than my other frames, but bigger than I thought I needed & it totally turned out A-OK. I also at last minute, added some ribbon to give it a little more color or "life". I REALLY like the way it turned out. I hope she does too & will recommend my frames to other friends &/or family members.

Summer, in my mind is officially over as of September 1st. Sure, we'll have a few more warm days ahead of us, but for all intents and purposes, it's done. Labor Day weekend has come & gone. The kiddos have gone back to school. Last night there was a rain & lightning storm like there's no tomorrow.

Things to look forward to in the upcoming months: Veterans Day (our next 3 day wknd & the start of many holidays right after one another). Rain & lots of it accompanied by umbrellas broken in the wind. Dark mornings & lots of medium extra hot, non-fat beverages courtesy of Seattle's Best Coffee. A scaled back Christmas.

Today, I am thankful for:

1. My SMCU umbrella I received 4 years ago

2. Having enough time in the morning to eat breakfast AND pack a lunch

3. Birth control pills

4. Greek

5. Water

What irks me today:

Today, I am irked by people who are blindly unkind towards others. I'm especially talking about those who talk about others behind their back regarding things they may not have control over. There is a man who rides my train & he is not the most pleasant looking or smelling man. I'll admit that much. But, I've never actually spoken with him. I've seen him roaming around the Value Village area of Auburn & my guess is that's where he shops for clothing & household items because that's either all he can afford or all he chooses to afford. At any rate, I can't make judgments about him because I don't know his situation. But, it really makes me mad that there are others on the train who have made comments & gestures amongst themselves regarding the smelly man. Perhaps he can't help his situation & he's doing the best he can with what he's been given.

I Think It's Going to Rain Today (Bette Midler)

2007-08-19T18:50:00.000-07:00

Last night was supposed to be Girl's Camping, but for one reason or another, most of the girls couldn't make it. Kat & I weren't going to bail on each other so we made plans to go to dinner somewhere. As it turned out Trina & Jeff were available as well & so the 4 of us went to an Italian restaurant in Auburn called Auguri.

The food was decent, but the service, in my opinion, was terrible. The waitress didn't offer any fresh ground pepper for my caesar salad, she put a lime wedge into Jeff's beer & she didn't ask if we wanted extra bread or cheese. I was really unimpressed. Would I go back? Yeah, I'd probably give them a second chance with the expectation that the service would/could be lacking.

After dinner, we went to see Superbad at the Supermall theater. I have NEVER been carded at the theater & the teeny-bopper tried to card me. "Are you kidding me?" I said to her, "I'm 32 years old!" Okay, I lied. I'm only 31, but in less than 4 short months, I'll be 32 & besides, I don't even LOOK like I'm under 18, nor does anyone I'm with look under 18. Not to mention, when we bought the tickets, we weren't carded yet you're going to try & card me as I enter the theater. Please. Don't give me the "this-movie-is-rated-R-and-so-we-are-checking-everyone's-ID" B.S. spiel because I don't buy it.

After watching the movie, I did understand why it was rated R. Definitely not suitable for the youngsters. Funny as all get-out, but not appropriate for the youths.

This morning, while looking for something in or near the built-in bookshelf in the living room, Jeff noticed the floor was wet. My first thought was it was Shiggy peeing on the carpet, but he said, "No, it's REALLY wet." Then I felt it & saw what he meant. It really was wet. After realizing it was the hot water heater, on the other side of the wall, my next thought was, "Oh crap! This is going to be expensive to fix" followed by, "How am I supposed to shower?" Priorities, you know.

I called my dad & he came over about 45 minutes later with his two wrenches & 'fixed' the leak in the pipes. Seriously? Yeah, seriously. Just a loose fitting in the pipe. I was/am SO thrilled it was that easy to repair. He also took out his handy dandy moisture meter & was able to tell how far out in the carpet & up the wall the water had seeped. Fortunately, the water won't cause much in the way of damage; it'll dry up in several days with the help of the vornado & a dehumidifer my dad has graciously let us borrow.

Today, I am thankful for:
1. Dad's owning all kinds of neat tools.
2. Discount movie tickets.
3. Dehumidifiers
4. Dead Ants
5. Division signs

What irks me today:
Today, I am irked by people who try to take advantage of or use others for their own benefit. Well, really, why would you take advantage of someone else, except for your own benefit? Anyways, this irks me because I feel like if someone offers you something, it's not necessarily because they want you to have it all, but rather, perhaps they are just being polite. In return, you should graciously accept what is being offered to you, but don't ask for & expect more.

Fly Like an Eagle (Steve Miller Band)

2007-08-15T20:25:00.000-07:00

As the song lyrics go, time keeps on slippin' into the future... Seriously. Where has the year gone? I was at Rite Aid the other day (no surprise, I'm at the one across the street from my work all the time for one thing or another) & they ALREADY had Halloween candy in the "seasonal" aisle. This was BEFORE July had even ended. If I need a cheap chocolate fix, I know where to go for some "fun sized" treats.

Just an update on the train/I-5 situation: I've been taking train #2 to Seattle. It departs out of Puyallup so there is a seat on the way to work; don't have to worry about the additional passengers that would be getting on in Tacoma on this one. Coming home, I've been lucky to find a seat everyday I've taken the 1st train home. Getting out of the parking garage has been a different story. It seems there's a mass exodus in the evenings in Auburn & so it takes a few minutes. I've learned to just chill out in my car & wait for the bulk of the cars to leave before I even start my car.

Today, I bought a travel guide (things to do & see, where to stay, eat, shop, etc) for London. I've never been to Europe & I'm excited to get my travel on. I'm hoping once Kim moves over there in 7-ish weeks, that she & Henry will be able to gives us some ideas of fun things to do (not just museums & galleries, because the book says we should go). For sure, on my list of stuff to do is the London Eye.

Today, I am thankful for:

1. Shiggy telling us in his own way we need to change the litterbox
2. Bryan finally selling a house
3. Speedy deliveries
4. Peas in my salad
5. Barnes & Noble discount cards

What irks me today:

Today, I am irked by adults, especially women, who still wear digital watches. I learned how to tell time (by non-digital means) when I was in 2nd grade or so. You must have learned about the same time I did. Why must you insist on wearing that ugly plastic thing on your wrist? Are you trying to make a statement of sorts? It couldn't be a fashion statement. Maybe that's the one part of your childhood that you can hold onto forever.

My Baby Takes the Morning Train (Sheena Easton)

2007-08-13T18:55:00.000-07:00

Boy was it CROWDED tonight on the train, coming home. With all the I-5 construction going on, many commuters decided to give up their usual routes (via bus or car) & opted to try out the Sounder Train instead. I think it's great that people want to find a better way to work (& then home again), but when the train is this crowded, it's not fun for me. Yes, this is my blog & therefore, it's ALL ABOUT ME!

With all kidding aside, thankfully, I was able to change my shift from a 8:30 - 5 to a 7:30 to 4 shift. I wasn't worried about the train itself being so crowded (I can stand for the 30 minute ride from Auburn to Seattle); I was moreso worried about not being able to find a parking spot at the Auburn Station Garage.

On a normal day of commuting, I take the 3rd of 4 trains, though in reality, I could easily get by with taking the 4th train to Seattle; it will get me to work by my regular start time. The problem lies in the parking situation in Auburn. The 6 story garage fills up mighty quickly & so I take the earlier train just so I could have a parking spot inside (on top of) the garage.

This morning, I took the 3rd of 5 trains & the garage was filling up FAST by the time I got there. The streets surrounding the parking garage would normally have been my back up had the garage been full. By the time I got to the garage, the street parking was already gone. A co-worker took the 4th (of 5) train this morning & couldn't find parking in the garage or nearby streets & ended up parking in a nearby Safeway parking lot. I hope he wasn't towed or ticketed today.

My predictions for tomorrow? Everyone who got to the garage "late" (after 6:40am), will arrive earlier tomorrow so as to get a parking spot. For me, I'll be doing the same thing: instead of taking the 3rd train, I'll be taking the 2nd train. Starbucks better have my cup of Joe waiting for me.

For my sister's birthday, she wanted to go shopping so my dad gave me some money to take her shopping. The stipulation of this shopping trip was that she couldn't purchase anything that I didn't approve of. I knew how much money there was & what I wanted to do with it (shopping, hair cut, lunch) & so I tried to get the most bang out of my dad's buck by suggesting Walmart. Okay, so I know it's not the best place to go shopping, but it was worth a shot. We went to JCPenney's instead where my sister got some killer deals. She got $231 worth of clothes for only $88 or so. Next stop: haircut. If I had known there was going to be so much money leftover, I would have skipped lunch & made an appt to get her hair hilighted or something. Last stop: lunch at Azteca (I wanted Qdoba, but alas, it was her birthday afterall). It's okay though. My lunch lasted me 3 meals, actually. Sweet!

Today, I am thankful for:
1. working an earlier shift
2. having a seat on the train
3. not falling asleep & missing my stop
4. finding a parking spot at the train station
5. knowing the chaos of everyone else riding the train will soon be over

What irks me today:
Comcast. That should be enough said, but I'll elaborate. I really don't hate Comcast as much as I hate only being able to record 2 shows at a time & that's it. Tonight, there are a couple shows I want to watch & won't be able to watch/record because we can only record the 2 shows & one of those shows is the M's game for Jeff. The other two shows I'll be missing is Hell's Kitchen & Fat March. Tonight is the season finale of HK & I figure I'll read some forum that announces the winner. FM is a new show that I started watching last week, but will miss because I don't want to miss Greek for the 2nd week in a row.

Movies (Alien Ant Farm)

2007-08-04T22:45:00.000-07:00

Jeff & I just got back from seeing Live Free or Die Hard. I've been wanting to see this movie & I'm glad we did. It got great reviews on Rotten Tomatoes. I usually don't care much for action flicks, but I like the Die Hard trilogy, so I figured I'd like #4 too. I have to admit, it had it's fair share of cheesy moments where I thought to myself, "yeah, right" but overall, I liked it.

In other not so new news, Trina & David have called it quits & she is now staying with us for awhile. I really enjoy having her here, though, she isn't really here all that much it seems. Right now, she's in CA to see a concert with her bud. Don't fret. She'll be back soon.

Tomorrow, Jeff & I are going to watch the Tacoma Rainiers play some ball. I've been wanting to go to a Rainier's game & here's my chance. Though, really, I know nothing about them as far as how well they're doing. It'll be fun to get out there in the sun & just hang out & have a good time if nothing else.

My company had their summer event last Sunday: a picnic at the Woodland Park Zoo. Jeff & I went, but didn't stay long. We were at the actual picnic for about an hour - enough time to eat the catered Longhorn BBQ lunch that was provided & then leave to go wander the zoo with Aimee & her daughter, Nicole.

On Wednesday, I'm taking the day off to visit my favorite doctor: the FUN doctor. I'm also going to give my toes a nice pedi. It's been a month since my last one, so they're due for another. And, perhaps I'll meander on over to Jaime's house to visit with her & Kaveen. I'm sure she'll love having the company.

Anything else? Ummm... Happy Birthday, Joel. Okay, that's all folks.

Today, I am thankful for:

1. Movie passes
2. Movie popcorn
3. Bathrooms close to the theater
4. McCarthy Mono-Plex REALLY near completion
5. The theater being close to my home

What irks me today:

I hate it when I get an email (or anything in writing) from someone and they use the wrong spelling of a word (i.e. too/two/to, their/they're/there, etc). The other day, our AVP of HR sent an email & asked if our interest was peaked yet. Last I checked, my interest can not come to a point nor can it be sickly. So no, my interest was not peaked. Piqued, perhaps. But, definitely not peaked. I hate this because it shows either stupidity or laziness & that's not cool, especially when it comes from a Sr. Manager.

When Can I See You Again (Babyface)

2007-07-18T22:37:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of Jaime's youngest son, Kaveen Austin KC. Just two days old, he's such a cutie pie! It seems that often times you can tell at birth (okay, after they've been cleaned up a bit) which parent the baby will look more like. Kaveen has the mixed coloring (his mom is white, his dad is from Nepal), but at this point, I really can't say who he looks more like as he doesn't really look like his mom or his dad.

By the way, Kaveen means poet in the Nepalese language. I guess it was the best name they could come up with that pleased both parents.

Today, I am thankful for:

1. Alarm clocks
2. Umbrellas
3. Quick fix meals
4. Double dipping
5. Water

What irks me today:
I hate it when I say the word, "gyp" or "gypped". I had learned several years ago that it was derived from the gypsies & that is how the negative connotation that is associated with it came about. I really hate it because of the negative connotation & there are SO many other words I (& others) can use in it's place to say what is really meant without offending a whole population of people, such as cheated or betrayed.

Eat It (Weird Al)

2007-07-15T08:59:00.000-07:00

I kept thinking I was going to post *something* on here, but then thought to myself, "I'll wait til after X happens." And then, next thing you know, it's been 3 weeks & so much has happened.

In my last post, I mentioned possibly not going to camping due to weather. Well, we did go camping & had a fabulous time. The temps were perfect, there was running (cold!) water & even better, fire was allowed. Good thing, cuz otherwise, what would we have done with that tree that the boys cut down?

Kim had made reservations at a campground nobody had been to before: Hause Creek. It wasn't *too* far past Bumping River, but far enough to where I think next time, I'd want to go for more than one night. Our site was pretty secluded & quite large. We had 6 tents set up there. There were two picnic tables for all of our food stuffs. Also, an actual bathroom not too far away made it very nice for those who aren't used to peeing in the woods.

We got to spend some time with Kim's fiancee, Henry. I hope he had a good time camping. We got to experience some tasty goodness from London, courtesy of Henry. He brought a variety of chips over to share with us. I think my favorite by far was the roasted chicken chips. The beef chili chips were pretty good too. My least favorite was no surprise: Tiger Prawn (I think that's what they were called). Nasty!

Last night, we helped break in David & Katt's new bbq with a bbq with a few Groovy Franken Friends & some other honorary Groovy Franken Friends. We had a magnificent feast of ribs, buffalo burgers, apple-chicken sausage, salmon, shrimp kebobs, corn on the cob, pasta salad, puppy chow, chips & dips, asparagus & lots of beers to go around. Too bad I didn't get any pictures of the feast & friends; I didn't bring my camera.

Yesterday, I went to Jaime's house to help her put together a dresser for their new baby, due in 2 weeks. I was going to come back today to help finish up putting the baby's clothes away, etc. but as it turns out, I got a call from her mom saying Jaime went to the hospital last night. I can't wait to meet Kaveen Austin KC. Surely, he's going to be much smaller than I had dreamed he was several weeks ago. In my dream, he was like 3 feet tall, probably 65 lbs & already walking. I know this isn't the case in real life because Jaime is having a human baby & not an elephant. Not to mention, in her 8 1/2 months of pregnancy, she's only gained about 20 lbs. I hope I only gain as much as she did when I am pregnant.

Some of us Groovy Franken Girlfriends are trying to plan a Girl's Only Camping trip or Girl's Night somewhere in a month. I am really looking forward to this as I love my girls!

I think I know what I want my next tattoo to be: a sun. I think I could get some brilliant shades of yellow & orange & it would just look very cool. I would get it on my lower back.

Today, I am thankful for:
1. New babies
2. Forever friends
3. The Secret
4. Strength
5. Mono Adhesive

What irks me today:
I hate it when you invite someone to something later on down the road and they say something like, "Maybe, I'll come" or "I'm free right now, but I'll have to see what happens closer to the date". I hate this because it always makes me feel like whatever I'm inviting you to is fine for now, but something more fun might come along & you're not worth committing to.

Take Me Out to the Ballgame (Various)

2007-06-24T21:59:00.000-07:00

Today, I went to Safeco Field with Jeff, Bob & Penny and Erin & Aaron to see one of the greats, Ken Griffey Jr, return to the Pacific Northwest. It's just amazing to me how Griffey, our opponent, still gets the cheers, the screams & of course, the standing ovation when he's at bat, hitting home runs & catching fly balls from the Mariners. Even with his 2 solo home runs today, the M's still managed to win. Go M's!

This upcoming weekend, I'm going camping with almost all of my Groovy Franken Friends. Kim's soon-to-be-fiancee is flying in to Seattle on Friday & we're going to rough it at Bumping River. I LOVE camping at Bumping & so I offered to go up on Friday (along with Trina & David) to try & secure the best camp site ever up there (everyone else is coming up Saturday). Unfortunately, according to www.weather.com, it's supposed to be a wee bit chilly (mid 50s is all) & wet. I have a sneaking suspicion that we may not go camping afterall.

Today, I am thankful for:

1. Processed cheese food
2. Kaveen Austin
3. Internet
4. Birthdays
5. Winning

Kitty (Presidents of the United States of America)

2007-06-10T21:39:00.000-07:00

Tonight, we were supposed to meet up with a few of our Groovy Franken Friends & catch the new movie, Ocean's Thirteen. At the very last minute, Shiggy decides he's not feeling well & so we took him to the vet instead.

He was "normal" this morning & then this afternoon, when he jumped off the couch, he kinda stumbled a little bit. I thought maybe one of his paws was, perhaps, asleep. Maybe he was feeling little pins &/or needles in his paw & so he couldn't walk right. I dunno. That was the first thought. But, then he was just acting kinda weird. He was walking really slow. He wouldn't lay down for very long at all. He appeared very uncomfy when he was walking. Just unusual behavior.

So, I tell Jeff that something's not right with Shiggy. He says he's probably spooked by all the noise in the house (Jeff was pounding something while working on the theater room). After Jeff was done working in the HT room, he saw for himself that Shiggy wasn't right: he got up & then kinda fell over again. He says, "we can't go to the movie; we gotta take Shiggy to the vet."

Where are you going to find a vet at 4pm on a Sunday? Well, right here in Auburn of course. Fortunately, there's an emergency vet in town. I was worried it was going to cost an arm & a leg to take him in, but it was only $60 for the visit (+ whatever meds). The doc couldn't really find anything "wrong" with him, though. He thought maybe he had sprained or twisted his arm when he jumped off the couch. He gave him a shot of pain reliever in the neck & sent us on our way.

I kinda don't think that's what's wrong with Shiggy, but I'm not a veterinarian. A year or so ago, we took him to the vet & he was dehydrated & was given some fluid, subcutaneously. He's kinda acting the same as that time (real lethargic). We're watching him & hoping he'll be up & about, but if not, I suspect we'll be visiting the (regular) vet again.

Today, I am thankful for:

1. Emergency vets
2. Pets
3. Clean desks
4. Quick moves
5. Papa Murphy's

Eat It (Weird Al)

2007-06-02T23:03:00.001-07:00

Tonight, Jeff & I met up with our Groovy Franken Friends for part 2 of trying something new: International Cuisine. Tonight, we had Greek food at Costas Opa's in Fremont.

The service was terrible, but the food was delicious!

We started out with some tasty appetizers that consisted of lots of pitas & some dips for them. I think most of us were pretty full after the appetizers, but that was only the first "course".

Next came the soup. I had the Fasolada (bean & veggies), while most of the others had avgolemono (a lemony soup). Yummy.

Above, is a picture of my dinner plate after I had already had several bites from my Happy Greek platter. There's a beef slouvaki, dolmades, mousaka & spanakopita, along with rice & veggies.

At Costas Opa, they have belly dancers for entertainment on Friday & Saturday nights. Here's a picture of the dancer tonight. She performed for about 35 minutes & was pretty good for what she did.

Next cuisine? Someone threw out Chinese Harbor as a suggestion, though I don't know if we'll really go there next.

Today, I am thankful for:

1. Not too warm weather

2. My Groovy Franken Friends

3. Dolmades (am I the only one who likes these??)

4. On the Lot

5. Band Aids

Finally (CeCe Peniston)

2007-05-27T09:39:00.001-07:00

Somewhere between 5 & 8 weeks ago, I started putting together this 1000 piece puzzle. Yesterday, it was finally completed. Thanks to Erin, Penny, Katt & Jeff for your help on it. It took about a month & a half to put it together & about 5 minutes to take it apart. I've got two other puzzles, but those will have to wait. Jeff says I can't use the dining room table for the next puzzle (while the puzzle was out, the table was out of commission for use). Since I have a stamp camp in 3 weeks, I can't use my card table for my puzzle... So, I'll have to wait on starting the next puzzle when the stamp camp is over.

I bought a book on Friday on tent camping in Washington. It looked pretty good (when I bought it), but now I am considering returning it. There's a map in the front with a bunch of "tent sites" marked with numbers. Throughout the book, there's several campsite details, but I don't see where the detailed pages match the map locations in the front.

With summer quickly approaching, I'm looking forward to camping with my groovy franken friends & floating down the Yakima a few times each, at least.

I'm also looking forward to going to a few more M's games. My next game is Friday - it's the collectable train car giveaway night (I have all the collectable train cars so far). Anyone interested in getting a group together & eating some overpriced garlic fries & hotdogs this summer? Mmmmmm....

Finally, this comes from Kim's brother's blog:

Please take a moment to remember those who gave their lives and why they fought. Regardless if you think this war is worth their lives, the point is that they thought it was worth it. Thank God that my day is in November, the day for those who served and did come back. Monday is their day because they didn't come back.

Today, I am thankful for:

1. Camping
2. Rafting
3. Cooking
4. Walking
5. Shopping

Dancing Queen (Abba)

2007-05-24T22:20:00.000-07:00

I think most people who really know me know that dancing is a passion of mine. I've always said if I could do anything & be successful at it, dancing is what I would choose. Needless to say, I love almost all things dance. I love watching dancing movies (Dirty Dancing is at the top of my list of all time favorite movies, with Center Stage & Footloose also in my top 10 fave movies). I used to love dancing at the clubs in my single days (you could always find me at Polly's on a Friday or Saturday night). Even to this day if a good catchy song comes on the radio or tv, I can be found bopping around to the beat. In fact, just a short while ago, I was dancing to Jump (Pointer Sisters) in the living room.

So what about this dancing bit? Well, one of my favorite shows has just started up again tonight: So You Think You Can Dance. Yay!!

Today, I am thankful for:

1. Ballet
2. Jazz
3. Hip Hop
4. Swing
5. Breakdancing

What a Feeling (Irene Cara)

2007-05-20T21:37:00.000-07:00

Last night, Steve & Airi hosted a potluck & poker night for the Groovy Franken Friends. This was the first time in quite some time (at least it seems...) that we've all gotten together and played Texas Hold'em poker. If I were a gamblin' woman, I would have bet money on Steve to win the most monies for the evening. As it turns out, that would have been a losing wager because I was the one who won the most. I turned my $10 into $61-something. Not too shabby considering Steve is the pro poker player of this circle of friends.

Today, I am thankful for:

1. Chili & baked potatoes
2. Nickel-Dime-Quarter poker
3. Steve's culinary skills
4. Generosity among strangers
5. E True Hollywood Story

Again (Janet Jackson)

2007-04-29T10:03:00.000-07:00

Once again, some of us groovy franken friends got together for a health conscious potluck at Trina & David's house. We brought a WW caesar salad & asparagus, Kim brought a yummy nacho appetizer of baked blue corn tortilla chips & lowfat cheese, beaners & tomatoes. Kat brought a whole wheat pasta salad. David & Katt brought a shrimp salad (not sure how this one was as I didn't have any. Shrimps = grody). The Warkinator showed us his mad BBQ skills on the grill with the ribs & steaks. Yumm-O! Last, but certainly not least, Trina made a delicious dessert using some No Pudge brownies, chocolate pudding, cool whip, strawberries & bananas. MMMMMMM....

I'm looking forward to the next potluck. I like to eat.

I went to Vancouver, BC for a Stampin' Up regional conference Thursday night & came home Friday evening. I wasn't sure what to expect at the border. Going in to Canada, it wasn't all that bad. The gal grilled us as to why we were there, but the wait itself was nothing. Coming home was another story. We left the Convention Center at 5:30 & it took 2 hours to get to the border from the Gastown region. Much of that was driving through the rush hour traffic & the other part of it was the line to get back into The States.

The conference itself was pretty okay. I was really super excited to be there in the morning & then after lunch, I just wanted to go home. I was tired (I had very little sleep the night before) & was just having troubles staying alert. I did get some great ideas & samples of projects. And let's not forget the best part: a free stamp set that will appear in the 2007-2008 catalog. Yay!

What's on the agenda next? Get myself (& Jeff) a passport. I think it's much easier to travel with a passport than having to get out the birth certificate/drivers license

Speaking of drivers licenses... sorta... I went to renew my tabs last week & saw in the licensing agency place a poster with a bunch of special license plates. I contemplated getting one & then decided against it thinking that's $40 I don't need to spend. Well, then I kept thinking about it & changed my mind. So, this is going to be my new license plate... Except it won't say, "SMPLE"; it'll have numbers on it.

Work is going okay. We're still in the middle of our merger. Our overtime has been eliminated until the wknd of the merger when we will be having mandatory overtime. Our department is at maximum occupancy for our space & we are getting one of the other CU employees & so what does this mean? We are moving to another area of the same floor & I will have a window as part of my cubicle. Yay! Not a terrific view or anything, but a window is a window

Funny story... I went to Jeff's cousin's bridal shower at Emerald Downs last weekend where one of the friends of the bride (I think she's also a bridesmaid) looked SO familiar to me. We didn't really get a chance to talk to figure it out, but as it turns out, we were in 3rd grade together. Yes, I looked through my old class photos until I found her

My March of Dimes walk is next Saturday. I hope the weather holds up. The last 3 years I've done it, the weather has been gorgeous (for that early in the a.m.). I'm really pleased with the amount of money I've raised so far this year. Thanks to everyone who has helped to support me in this very worthwhile cause.

Today, I am thankful for:
1. Lasting friendships
2. Sunshine
3. Sunglasses
4. Aspirin
5. Waking up at the butt-crack-o-dawn

The Gambler (Kenny Rogers)

2007-04-14T11:09:00.000-07:00

I'm back & finally blogging about my trip to Las Vegas. Overall, I had a good time & would love to go back before the end of the year to go check out Celine Dion. This is her last year performing, afterall.

So, in case anyone reading is interested, here's the trip in a nutshell:

Sunday - we arrive at the airport & have lunch at Qdoba while waiting for our take-off time. Not a bad wait. Not a bad lunch. I was even able to buy a new shower sponge thingy & shower gel as I had forgotten to pack my own. After landing, we picked up our checked luggage (we had to check luggage due to those darn fluid restrictions) & headed off to our hotel, The Excalibur. Kat & I unpacked & then it was off to the Rio for our 7pm showing of Tony & Tina's Wedding. T&TW was just okay. I'm glad I saw it because I had heard of it before & wanted to see it, but I wouldn't see it again. It was just... weird. Different. A bit too chaotic for me. It's an interactive dinner/theater where you're a guest at Tony & Tina's wedding. After T&TW, we caught a (free!!) shuttle back to Caesar's Palace, walked over to the Bellagio & took a few pictures & walked back to The Excalibur.

Two things I didn't know about prior to this trip: The Aladdin is now (or is becoming) Planet Hollywood. The sign currently says, "Planet Hol". The Barbary Coast is now Bill's Gamblin' Hall & Saloon. And, while we didn't stop for greasy late night breakfast "goodness", I did read the sign on the side of the building that read it's now $4.95. So much for cheap eats. Heh.

Monday began with breakfast at the Sherwood Cafe, the 24 hour diner at The Excalibur where I had a philly cheesesteak & fries. Yumm! Not the most conventional breakfast, but it was mighty tasty nonetheless. We then went over to The Luxor, Mandalay Bay & MGM Grand to check out the lion exhibit. After that, it was off to the M&M Factory & Coca-Cola Store. Yeah.... I just can't get excited about candy & coke like Joanna can. Man... Well, she didn't buy anything, but still... I could have gotten by on this trip without going to these two stores.

On the way back to our hotel room, we stopped and picked up 3 Yards of Margaritas. Mine was peachy & mighty tasty. It was right about this time that my head started pounding. I don't think I can blame the 'alcohol' because I really don't think there was much in it. But I was in pain pretty much the rest of the day from this point forward & we still had lots to do. We went to see Tournament of Kings at The Excalibur & afterwards, we caught the hour long $2 busride up to Fremont Street so Kat & Joanna could check out the Fremont Street Experience. I did muster enough energy to play some $5 craps.

Tuesday wasn't so bad. We started out with breakfast at America in the NYNY Hotel & Casino. I did have eggs, hashbrowns & toast here. I was, afterall, still not 100% from the day before. Well, that & all they had to offer was "breakfast" foods at the time we were there. From here, we walked to (& through) the Desert Passage at the Aladdin/Planet Hol where we each bought some aloe lotion stuffs. Next stop, Paris where Joanna had to have her pastries. By the time Kat sat down with her Creme Broule, Joanna had already downed her 4 pastries. This is a pic of Kat's creme broule. Very tasty, Kat. Thanks for sharing even if others didn't want to. Next, we were off to Caesar's Palace where we picked up our Elton John tickets. And, you can't go to Caesar's Palace without doing a little shopping in the Forum Shoppes. Joanna bought some opal earrings there. Ch-Ching! Let's just say, opals aren't cheap & leave it at that.

When Trina went to Vegas a couple weeks earlier, she mentioned eating at Emeril's restaurant at the MGM Grand. I couldn't imagine spending that much money on a meal & said we probably wouldn't do that. But then there was this seed planted in my head... it *would* be fun to eat at a fancy schmancy restaurant. So, that's what we did. We ate at Emeril's other restaurant, Delmonico, in The Venetian. It was remarkable! The service was extraordinary & the food was outstanding. Two thumbs up from me.

After Delmonico's, Joanna rushed off to the MGM Grand for her show, Cirque du Soleil's Ka while Kat & I headed back over to the Coliseum at Caesar's Palace for the Elton John concert. I'm glad we went albeit weird. He sounded fine, but he had random film playing in the background that made no sense to me. But what really made no sense was the inflatable fruit & other stuff on stage... like the banana with 2 cherries at it's base. The hotdog. The lipstick. The ice cream cone. The boobs hanging on the wall. It was just so random. Afterwards, Kat & I walked back to the hotel. It was a relatively early night for everyone since we were waking up at 6am the next morning.

And here we are... home again.

Today, I am thankful for:

1. Past & future vacations

2. Friends who don't drive me crazy after a day together

3. Ranch

4. Digital Cameras

5. Using my own bed & towels.

Fun Fun Fun (Beach Boys)

2007-04-01T00:14:00.000-07:00

Two posts, back to back. Whoa!

We got home about an hour ago from Kim's place in Ballard. Lots of good eats shared among friends. My favorite was, by far, the artichoke dip. Yumm-O!

Next time we play Scene It, I want The Warkinator on my team!

Today, I'm thankful for:

1. Overtime
2. Roast beef
3. Edamame
4. Laughter
5. My husband (I love you!!)

What's Going On? (Four Non Blondes)

2007-03-30T20:32:00.000-07:00

It's been a long while since I've posted anything. So, what's going on?

Jeff & I went to see Rod Stewart at Key Arena a few weeks back. Good show, but the (old) man can't dance & should stop trying; he just looks silly.

Jeff went to AZ with Randy to catch a few M's Spring Training games & hang out with Ryan.

I am leaving in a week to Las Vegas with Joanna & Kat.

Joanna wants to get rid of her cat because it's now "high maintenance" (it poo's on her carpet & she doesn't like it (!!)

I am putting in a day of overtime tomorrow to work on merger stuff. Ch-Ching!

Had some mighty tasty ribbies at Famous Dave's for David's birthday on Wednesday.

I'm still trying to collect monies for my March of Dimes walk on 05May07. Please, feel free to donate at the above link. You can use credit, cash, check, paypal.

My jury duty is over. I had a really good time doing it. It was fascinating; I wasn't bored at all. I imagine if I wasn't selected for a jury, I might have a different opinion of it. In a nutshell, my case was a civil lawsuit between two neighbors where one had cut down 147 trees on the other's property, claiming they had permission. We found in favor of the plaintiff, claiming the defendants didn't have enough 'proof'. The plaintiffs will win upwards of $260,000!

Today, I am thankful for:

1. Leftovers

2. Bleu Cheese

3. Google Images

4. Vacations

5. Puzzles.

If You Wanna be Happy (Jimmy Soul)

2007-03-05T19:12:00.000-08:00

I really didn't have anything specific to post about tonight so this post may be very short & sweet or it could end up being random & long. We'll see how it goes...

I had this whole bit typed up & then deleted it all because I think it was a little 'too' deep for the mood I'm in right now. As random as it is, this was all I saved & I'm leaving it at that:

I believe having a positive outlook on life has been something I've been blessed with & for that, I am thankful.

I have to post about my great find over the weekend. I got a coupon in the mail a few weeks back for a free (yes, free!!) panty from Victoria’s Secret. Also, in the flyer was a mention of $25 off 2 bras. All girls (& probably some guys too) know how expensive VS is so when you have free anything from there & $25 off other stuff, you gotta jump at it. The bras I normally get I couldn't find (& I was in a hurry so I didn't want to take too long searching) but I found one that was similar for $24 each, but on sale for 2/$39. And, with my $25 off coupon, that came to $16 & change for 2 bras & a panty. Score one for me!!

There's this billboard at the Auburn train station that's had my eye for the last couple weeks or so. It clearly reads, "5 tacos + soda for $4.99". I love tacos & I love cheap. Why hello, Taqueria El Reconsito. Jeff & I finally checked out this hole in the wall, chain restaurant on Saturday & had our fill of tacos. A serious dive, but from what I understand, the authenticity of the cuisine was very close to that of Mexico. Yumm!

In other news, I think my lump is healing nicely. It's not really tender to the touch anymore. The bruising has faded. The hole isn't crusted over & nasty. I'm not wearing bandaids anymore. As Bo Bice would say, "it's a good thing."

Speaking of American Idol... Did anyone see the result show last week? I am not a fan of Kellie Pickler, but did she get a little augmentation in the bustal area since her last AI appearance? Yikes! She looked like she was about to have a wardrobe malfunction & bust out of her top!

Today, I am thankful for:

1. Forgiveness
2. My health
3. Somebody moved my cheese
4. Diversity
5. Not having ‘quiet hours’

Overjoyed (Stevie Wonder)

2007-02-28T19:19:00.000-08:00

As I was laying in bed this morning, I was kinda hesitant about getting out of bed because I knew this was the day that the wick was to come out & after experiencing the pain I felt on Sunday & Monday, I was NOT looking forward to inflicting that upon myself once again. I did, however, suspect that it wouldn't be nearly as bad as just a few days ago because the wick hadn't been in as long as that one was.

So, I got up. Went potty. Pulled the gauze off my leg. Yep, wick still there. Look out hot shower (doctor's orders), here I come. I still wasn't looking forward to pulling it out, but carried on about my business by washing my face & then onto my hair. After I rinsed my hair, I look down to see my wick is missing. It must have fallen out with the water pressure on it (it wasn't a very long wick to begin with). Yes!! I don't have to pull it out, afterall. Needless to say, I was superthrilled!

What's more, I poked at it a little bit to see if more pus/stuff would come out & it didn't hurt at all. Woo!! You can kinda see in the picture where the hole is & how big it is. There is a little bruising around it, but the skin is mostly irritated from the tape being on it.

Amerian Idol is in full swing. This week, the boys were FAR better than last week. The two that I thought were the weakest & likely being sent home were Sanjaya & Brandon, though that saddens me because I really liked Sanjaya in his auditions & want to see more of him. A couple of the guys sang songs that I didn't know or like & so it was really hard for me to tell if they were singing them good. For example, I wasn't impressed by Sundance (I'd like to see him go home) & the judges just raved about him.

Tonight, after watching the girls perform, there are 3 that I would not be surprised if they were voted off: Antonella, Haley & Alaina. I don't think Antonella will be going home this week for two reasons - 1. I think she's this season's Kellie Pickler (cute, but ditzy & can't sing) & 2. there's some buzz going around about some naked pictures of her on the internet. I haven't seen them, so I don't know for sure, but I think she'll get a fan base because of it.

Today, I am thankful for:

1. Mountain surprise
2. Bike shorts
3. Having multiple TVs
4. Approved overtime
5. Marie Callender's delivery

Better Off Dead (Bad Religion)

2007-02-26T21:12:00.000-08:00

So today, I pretty much wanted to die. Okay, not really, but severing my leg at the groin would have been A-OK with me. Man, this whole infected sweat gland thing isn't fun. Lucky me, eh?

So, when I went to the doctor on Saturday, she said it was looking good & healing nicely. Yay me. She left the wick in & said to pull it out about 1/4" each day & come back on Wednesday. Uh... What?

Sunday afternoon, I went to take a shower & gave my wick a tug to no avail. It hurt like a mutha. At that instant, I swear I was about to pass out. I started shaking & sweating, nausea nearly took over me & I was out of breath. If Jeff had seen me, he probably would have dialed 911. But, I'm strong (sometimes); I knew this would pass & it did... several minutes later. I covered up the wick w/a waterproof bandaid & got in the shower. Near the end, I started feeling a bit woozy once more & quickly got out so as not to fall down in the tub. As Ryan would put it, "that's bad." I spent the rest of the day on the sofa.

This morning (monday), I went to give my wick a tug again & it wouldn't budge, but it did hurt an awful lot (& once again, the sweating & shaking ensued). So, I left it alone & carried on about my business & went to work. I called the doctor & told them that this wick pulling wasn't working for me & made an appointment for later on this same day. The doc looked at my leg, said it was healing nicely as well. Then she took out the wick & Oh My Goodness!! At that point, I wanted to die. She said she could leave it be & use a local anesthetic on it (like they used when they cut it open 5 days earlier) & try pulling it out once it was numb. I told her it wasn't necessary because her pulling the wick out felt just like the needle giving the anesthetic did (a local pinpoint "prick" feeling) & that it would be over soon, so please hurry :o)

She was going to just leave it open & let it close, but then at the last minute, she changed her mind & put another wick in. NOOOOO!! But, she said to go ahead & pull it out on Wednesday. Basically, what had happened with the first wick was my lovely goo (pus) had kinda grown on/around the wick & it was blocking it from coming out with ease. Again, lucky me. But, with this new wick, it will only have been in my leg for less than 2 days (surely not enough time for the goo to attach itself to my wick... or is it??).

So, what's on the agenda for now? Moist heat compresses on my leg. Continue with the antibiotic regimen. I have the option of going back in on Wednesday, but I'm guessing that won't be necessary. Well, we'll see. Seeing how my luck has been, I'll be back, I'm sure.

Today, I am thankful for:

1. Mid-day busses going home
2. Lamb in Love
3. Drive thru dining
4. Food Network
5. Independence

Lump (Presidents of the United States of America)

2007-02-22T19:22:00.000-08:00

Last Friday, when I went to bed, I noticed a marble sized lump on my inner thigh. Of course, I poked & prodded at it all night long to make sure it was really there or if it had gone away yet. And, of course it hadn't. Instead, I think I made it bigger or at least more tender & gave it a bruise. My first thought? I have leg cancer. My second thought? Who gets leg cancer?

When it didn't go away on Monday, I made an appointment with good ol' UW Physicians. My doctor poked at it some, asked if it hurt (yes, but not unbearably so) & then diagnosed it as a "not uncommon" infected sweat gland. Doesn't that sound pleasant? She wrote a prescription for some antibiotics & told me to take a hot bath (as hot as I can stand) several times a day or put a heating pad on it & come back on Wednesday to drain it. I like baths, but that wasn't going to work for me. I took one that night & the next day after work, bought a heating pad.

Wednesday, I went in to get the sucker drained. Two doctors looked at it this time (one was consulting the other to see if it was liquified enough to be drained). They decided to give it a go. The most painful part of the day was getting the local anesthetic. That needle hurt!! But, once it was numb, I didn't feel the scalpel cutting my skin. Didn't feel the doc squeezing the pus out of it (by the way, the pus looked like mom's secret sauce - you know, ketchup & mayo mixed together). Didn't feel her inserting the gauze into the hole (yes, INTO the hole). She sent me home with some gauze, tape & a medical glove to put it in. After my fun appointment (which lasted close to an hour), I went into work & only then, after walking for a short ways, did it start to hurt. The doc had offered some drugs (vicadin) for the pain, but I didn't think I needed it. And, I survived without it thus far.

So, here I am with what looks to be a candle's wick poking out of my leg. It hurts some, but it's not totally excruciating. I think I'll survive.

Saturday, I go in to get my wick either replaced or removed. I'm not sure which. Either way, I'm honestly NOT looking forward to it. Thinking about the wick makes me nauseaus. Literally.

Today, I am thankful for:

1. Doctors able to see me 'last minute'

2. Aleve

3. Bruno's

4. American Idol

5. Food Network

Sunshine On My Shoulders (John Denver)

2007-02-17T08:17:00.000-08:00

This morning, I woke up about 10 minutes after 8 & the sky is, for the most part, blue. I absolutely love it when I go to bed & it's been kinda nasty out or dark & grey and then the next morning, it's so clear outside. Seems it's most often like this in the spring. I love it!

Thursday night, I had gone up to Joel's & Mickey's house to check out their Fortune presentation. When I was just about home, the time/temperature sign at the bottom of the hill said it was like 49° & my car said 51° (my car, for some reason is always 2° higher than that particular sign). Mind you, this was close to 11pm. I was kinda surprised how 'warm' it was for how late it was for how early in the year it was (it's still only mid-february afterall).

I thought the Fortune concept was interesting, but since I still have a few unanswered questions, I won't post my opinion on here of the whole thing just yet. Joel, I'll get those questions to you in the next week or so. I'm not necessarily interested in becoming a manager, but just have general questions on how it'll all work out, etc.

Tonight, Jeff & I are hosting a potluck & games night with our friends. It originally started with Trina & David coming over as a thank you for having Jeff & I over at their house several weeks ago for dinner & a really bad movie. She asked if we wanted to invite others over & make it a group shindig & I said sure; I love my friends so c'mon on over. I'll be making some meatballs in the crockpot. Mmmmm!

Yesterday at work, I was chatting w/a co-worker via email about our plans for the 3-day wknd (President's Day is on Monday, ya know). She said she was going up to her cabin on Camano Island & invited me & Jeff to come along to hang out & play games. I said no because they're going up on Sunday & I have a Stamp Camp on Sunday & we wouldn't get there til late anyways. But, I invited her & her husband to our game night. It might be a little awkward because Mindy & I have never actually hung out outside (or inside) of work; she works at our Kirkland branch & I'm downtown Seattle. We talk on the phone a bit (when she has work related questions). Anyways, though I have a feeling they won't come, I hope they do. It's nice to make new friends. Kat & I have talked about this before: you don't get many opportunities to make new friends when you're older. And we all know about the social butterfly that I am.

Today, I am thankful for:

1. My Valentine
2. Rod Stewart
3. Kitchen scales
4. Melonballers
5. CHOCOLATE!!

Lady in Red (Chris de Burgh)

2007-02-05T21:41:00.000-08:00

It's been a pretty busy few days since I last posted. At least it seems that way.

Friday, a bunch of us met up in Seattle at Bandit's Bar for two reasons: to help celebrate Kim's 31st birthday & to meet the love of her life, Henry. It was quite crowded as Kim is the popular gal with all her friends so unfortunately, we didn't get to spend as much time as I think any of us would have preferred to spend with either Kim or Henry. But, from what I can tell, they are both very much into each other & are quite the happy couple. Sounds like there's some great plans for them to see each other in the not *too* distant future as Henry is coming back to N. America & some possible co-habitating plans are in the works.

I wonder what it takes to get a passport these days... I see some traveling in my future...

Saturday, Jeff & I took 3 big garbage bags full of clothes to the Goodwill. We also tried to give them 2 microwaves, but they wouldn't accept 'em. Not quite sure why on that one. They work just fine. If you're interested, leave a message on here. The microwaves are free. I was *kinda* sad because I did give away my prom dress & two other formal dresses I had. Okay, not like I'm ever going to wear any of 'em again, but they were pretty dresses. Or, at least back in the day, they were.

Saturday night, Jeff & I spent the evening together, playing cards, watching a little tv & drinking. I had my fair share of Smirnoff Ice. I've got two bottles left & after that I am done. Blech! I wasn't totally wasted, but was in bed before midnight. Of course, that's not any measure of anything... I'm usually in bed before midnight on every other night.

Sunday, I awoke with a headache, but was still able to do all the things I wanted to / had to. I cleaned house some (there's always dishes to do around here...). I made yet another crotch pot meal - split pea with ham soup. Yum! I went to David & Katt's house for some Superbowl goodness. And, I watched several cooking shows I had recorded.

Today, I am thankful for:
1. Aspirin
2. Hot & Spicy drumsticks
3. Easy to make split pea soup
4. Belly dancing classes
5. Tupperware

I Wanna be Rich (Calloway)

2007-02-01T22:05:00.000-08:00

I got an email from my boss this morning saying she had my review done, she tracked down the paperwork & would I be available at 3:00 for my annual review? Holy cow & heck yeah. My review was actually processed on time & ready for me on time. This is awesome! Now I had to wait all day (well, til 3p anyways) to see the results. I knew it wasn't entirely bad because she eluded the other day that I did, in fact, get an increase. Just how much was that increase going to be?

A year ago, when I started working in the department, I had a goal in my mind of how much of an increase I wanted. After realizing I was slacking in an area or two, I thought to myself, "there's no way I'm getting my desired increase." I was, however, pleasantly surprised with the amount she gave me. It was less than my desired amount, but more than what I thought I was getting. Actually, it was just about in the middle of what I had originally wanted & what I thought I would get.

What's also cool, in my opinion, is that I'll be getting promoted to the next "tech" level shortly, so that's another 5% increase in pay. Hopefully, that will happen within the next month. Ch-Ching!! I so can't wait.

With my additional income, I'm going to work at paying off my car even faster. According to the online calculators, I *should* have it paid off by 9/08 rather than 5/09 IF I am diligent in making those extra payments.

Today, I am thankful for:

1. Grilled cheese sammies

2. Chicken noodle soup (condensed)

3. Bourbon street salad from Beba's Deli

4. Raisin bran cereal

5. Fiber One &/or Kashi cereals

I Fought the Law & the Law Won (Bobby Fuller)

2007-01-31T20:24:00.000-08:00

I hate it when I'm trying to scam someone/something & they stop my scam mid-way through. I got a call a couple weeks ago saying I had entered some drawing & while I didn't win the "grand prize" - a bbq, I did win a free trip to one of 4 places - Orlando, Jamaica, Cancun or Las Vegas plus dinner at some restaurant. Sweet... Sorta. All I had to do was listen to some 90 minute spiel about this new "travel agency". Nothing to sign up for. Nothing to buy. Just to "think of" this travel agency next time I wanted to do some travel. Okay, I can do that. I've sat through a Trendwest presentation before & I suspected it was a timeshare-type deal I was going to have to listen to.

He'll deny it, but I swear Jeff said he would sit through this thing with me. We bailed on the presentation I had signed us up for because Jeff wasn't happy about having to do it & I would rather have spent time with my husband, not in a hostile mood. We went to dinner instead & had a great time.

A day or two later, the people called me & asked what had happened & would we be willing to reschedule. Sure, I'll reschedule & I'll go alone this time. Only, I won't tell them that I'm going alone because they're expecting Jeff to be there.

So, I show up without Jeff & the receptionist gal tells me we're going to have to reschedule for when the both of us could make it. I then tell her point blank that if that's the case, I'm not interested in what she has to sell me & I walk away. We'll see if they call back to "reschedule" once more. I suspect not, but if they do, someone will be getting an earful from me.

Is it wrong to scam? Sure. Do I feel bad about trying to scam this company? Of course. Am I angry they wasted my time? You better believe I am. She turned me away, claiming the need to reschedule, without knowing my situation. She was quick to pass the judgement & for that, I would not go back. Incidentally, I did sit through a TrendWest presentation several years ago, alone, because my significant other wasn't available at the last minute.

Today, I am thankful for:

1. The law

2. Law enforcers

3. Law abiders

4. Boston Legal

5. Leftovers

Whoomp! There it is (Tag Team)

2007-01-29T19:17:00.000-08:00

It's about time that I get another update on my blog. I was going to use Staind, It's Been Awhile for my blog title, but I've already used that once before. And, it's my goal to not duplicate my song titles. So, Whoomp, there it is...

I've started to listen more & more to 92.5 (Moving) and less & less of 101.5 (STAR). I don't think my tastes in music has entirely changed, but I'm liking that I can hear Neneh Cherry's Buffalo Stance, Usher's Caught Up, Christina Aguilera's Aint No Other Man & Tag Team's Whoomp, all while getting ready for work in the morning. They're fun songs with an upbeat beat that makes me wanna shake my moneymaker. How am I supposed to booty-pop to Anna Nalick's Breathe, Hinder's Lips of an Angel or Sister Hazel's Mandolin Moon? It's just not happenin'.

Kat, Joanna & I have booked our trip to Las Vegas for April 8-11th. I think we got a pretty kick-ass deal: we're staying 3 nights & paying only $280 each & that includes air & hotel (at the Excalibur). It's not the best hotel on the strip, but honestly, how much time do you actually spend in your room? I wanted to try out a hotel I haven't stayed at before. It was a toss up between the Excalibur & Luxor. Excalibur won because it was slightly cheaper. I'm saving all my money for shows.

Originally, we talked about going to Las Vegas because Joanna wants to see the Cirque Du Soleil show Ka. I wanted to go because I wanted to see Celine Dion before she ends her concerts there (she's not going to perform beyond this year, I hear). As it turns out, she's on vacation for the 2 weeks around the time we're there. So instead, I'm going to watch another from my list: Elton John. I'm actually really excited to see Elton John. I'm weird, I know...

So, either I'm SOL on the Celine Dion show or I'm just gonna have to go back before the year is over. I suspect SOL is the more likely option.

Well, I've made it one year in my department at work. It's so crazy how fast the time goes by! What's really cool is that my boss actually has my review done on time. She's fairly notorious for being late with those things. What's even more cool is that I will be getting an increase. I was pretty worried because there is one area of my job that I have not been doing. At all. Not because I don't want to do it (okay, maybe a little), but I just don't "get" it. And, because I don't get it, I just don't want to do it. BUT, all that is changing. I'm starting to see all the pieces of the puzzle & it's becoming clearer & clearer to me what it is I'm supposed to be doing. I hope my raise is more than a piddly nickel.

And by the way, my old boss still sucks. Funny thing is we do these surveys on each other & without revealing my sources, I hear she tied for the lowest rating. But, I guess the joke's on us because she's not paid like the rest of the staff who gets rated, but rather like the senior managers (who aren't rated at all). She gets a payout regardless of how little the staff likes her.

I bought a Fix It & Forget It - Lightly cookbook. It's light meals for the crock pot. So far, I've tried 3 recipes. The first two were decent (I thought. Jeff didn't like them until day 2), but the one I made yesterday was nasty boring. It's supposed to be a sweet & sour chicken over potatoes, but it was SO very bland. Blech! Ick! Grody!

Last Saturday, Kat & I went to Aimee's Tastefully Simple party. The lady she used was MUCH much better than the lady I used. It seems to be a successful party for her. So much so that she may start selling it herself. If you haven't heard of or tried Tastefully Simple, next time I have a party, you should definitely come. The foods are SO tasty & VERY easy to make. The dips really only take sour cream, mayonnaise or cream cheese. And, if you're watching your figures, you can use the non/low fat options. Oh, and the beer bread is divine!!

A couple Friday's ago, I went up to Joel's place & played the wii. I'm trying to convince Jeff that we need to have one of these. Though I didn't play a super huge ton amount, I had a blast. That game is fun.

My cousin Deborah's daughter, Julia, was in the hospital last week with RSV. Fortunately, she's out of the hospital now & doing well. Seems like it would be scary to have a child with RSV. They had spent several days in the hospital with her. She was hooked up to a few monitors & stayed under an oxygen tent. Abe, her dad, has some videos & pictures on his blog, too.

I'm happy to announce that one of my favorite shows has started up again. American Idol is just starting with their in-city auditions. Next week, they should start my favorite part of the show: when they go to Hollywood & start kicking people off.

My Stampin Up business is doing really well right now. I've had 2 camps in the last 3 weeks or so & 3 more coming up over the next month. Yay! One gal I work with asked me to do a camp for her and her friends who are "experienced" stampers. They want more "advanced" techniques. I thought this was going to be challenging for me, but I don't think it will be afterall. My biggest "challenge" (if you can even call it a challenge) is hoping they like my projects enough to want to continue having me do camps for them. With the help of the SplitCoastStamper gals, I don't think it will be a problem.

At Aimee's Tastefully Simple party, Shayna (the consultant) said that when her neighborhood does their annual yard sale, she gets her friends who are also DSAs for various companies & invites them to set up tables in her home with their products. She invited me to participate with my Stampin' Up stuff when they do this. I'm super excited about this opportunity.

Lastly, the Superbowl is this weekend. We had invited folks to our place to watch, but David & Katt has decided they want to throw a party instead. We weren't going to throw a "party", but rather just watch the game, the commercials, eat some nummy grub & drink a drink or two. So, we're going down to P-town to watch & enjoy our FrankenFriends.

Okay, see what happens when I don't blog for awhile? My blog is super long.

Today, I am thankful for:
1. My fabulous hubby who washed my car & changed my wipers without being asked
2. Mariners Collector Train Night 30th Anniversary Car
3. Being able to sell stuff using retired stamp sets
4. SBC Cocoa Trio
5. Employment

The Future's So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades (Timbuk 3)

2007-01-07T19:18:00.000-08:00

In the past, I've had a few cases where I just *knew* something was up. A premonition, perhaps? A hunch, perchance? Maybe I've got a little psychic capabilities within me. Here's the 3 that come to mind when I think of these things:

1. I was dating a guy who took me to a bbq where I met a bunch of his friends for the first time. When he introduced me to one of his female friends, with absolutely no reason to think this, I thought, "I wonder how far along she is..." Shortly after, a bunch of girls were standing around her, shrieking their congratulations to her as she just announced she was pregnant. Oooh, weird!

2. Remember that old movie Parenthood? I loved that movie when I was younger. Okay, I admit it, I still get a chuckle out of it (when your sliding into home and your pants are filled with foam.. diarrhea.. diarrhea..). Anyways, one day out of the blue, I was just wondering to myself, "I wonder whatever happened to Ivyann Schwan..." She's the one who played the little girl, Patty. A few days later, I went to a Mariner's baseball game & she sang the National Anthem. Oooh, creepy!

3. I used to work in a building where the employee bathrooms were in plain view of my cubicle & one day, the branch manager walked into the bathroom & it just popped into my head, "Janet's pregnant." I didn't know Janet on a personal level so I couldn't exactly come out and accuse her of being pregnant. But when she did make her announcement, I felt like I had already known. Oooh, strange!

So, what does this have to do with anything? Well, today was kinda another one of those days. Tonight, Jeff & I were driving towards Federal Way when out of the blue, I asked him, "If I knew we were going to be rear ended, would you want me to tell you?" The reason I asked was if you "know" you're going to be in an accident, you tend to tense up & it can hurt worse than getting his without knowing/without tensing up. Lo & behold, we were driving to Azteca when boom, we were rear ended. Oooh, freaky!

Thankfully, everyone was okay (as far as I can tell thus far). We were at a stop light where I stopped, then pulled forward a little bit more to turn right & almost went, but there was a car coming & so I actually stopped again. That's when the little Acura hit us. He had gone under my car a little bit & I could only tell this when we got out of the cars & looked at whatever damage was done. My car was fine. His, however, was not. His hood was smashed up a little bit, one of his headlights was broken & there was black all over the front end of his hood, from my spare tire that hangs below the trunkal area of my Xterra. I wish I had my camera with me.

He said we had two options - exchange info or not exchange info. Since he didn't have insurance (bad driver!!), he'd prefer if we didn't, but understood if we did want to go that route. He knew it was his fault & since the damage was to his car only that he'd have to pay for whatever to fix it. Since there wasn't any damage to my car, I didn't see any reason to involve the authorities or our insurance companies.

Today, I am thankful for:

1. 10 free Ateca dinners, courtesy Speedy Auto Glass
2. $5.99 movies from Best Buy
3. 40 free Blockbuster flicks
4. 1 Jesus shoe & shell necklace found in borrowed suitcases
5. 7 grams of fiber in my air-popped popcorn

Santa Claus is Coming to Town (various)

2006-12-25T01:54:00.000-08:00

Well, technically it's Christmas day. I'm so sleepy. It's 2:30am right now & I have no idea what I'm still doing up. I'm not a little kid anymore, waiting for my parents to go to bed so I can sneak downstairs & peek into my presents. In fact, I think Jeff is wrapping gifts for me & the only thing that separates us is a sofa.

Earlier this evening, we did our traditional Christmas Eve deal where we get together with our friends. We did a gift exchange at David's house in Puyallup, which by the way is incredible. We did dinner at Denny's. We didn't, however, leave our big tip for our server. We didn't have the worst service ever, nor was it the best. I think most people felt it wasn't that great & so, let's not leave a tip. It was decided that we would collect our monies (& then some??) & donate it to a charity of sorts instead. I'm not sure if it was 100% decided, but many were leaning towards some kind of animal charity such as the Humane Society. I'm cool with that.

We did our version of the white elephant gift exchange. I don't know if we did it right, but we did it & we had fun. I went home with a drink making set (comes with shaker & some other utensils used to make drinks). I'm really excited with what Jeff came home with (since I'll most likely use it more than he will) - some small bowls that are perfect for storing small amounts of food or for food preparation (maybe holding some chopped onion or something like that, a silicone basting brush (coulda used one of these yesterday) & a DVD: Love, Actually. The weirdest gift would have to be from Steve - a shocking game. You hold on to these joystick-like things & when the music stops playing, the last person to press their button gets shocked. When David, David, Katt & Steve were playing.. it looked pretty darn painful. I'm glad I didn't end up with that gift!

Oh, one funny thing happened tonight during our gift exchange. We hadn't planned for everyone to do a gift exchange for everyone, but Jeff & I wanted to give a picture from our Hawaii trip to everyone who was in it - a picture from our wedding day where we all stood giving our best impression of Frankenstein. Great minds think alike because David & Katt had the exact same idea. So, now we all have two copies of the funniest picture ever!

Jess - I don't know if you read this anymore, but if you do... happy belated birthday. Hope yours was spent with those you love. I was thinking about ya.

Today, I am thankful for:
1. My Stupendous Spouse
2. My Fabulous FrankenFriends
3. My Dynamite Dad
4. My Incredible In-Laws
5. My Kooky Kitties

Do Re Mi (Julie Andrews)

2006-12-23T17:37:00.000-08:00

I'll be the first to admit we have a pretty crazy work dynamic in my department. My boss is sometimes the root of all that's evil, but mostly, she's just being her micro-managing self & I accept her for who she is. And, it's those times when she's being her goofy self that I really laugh out loud & enjoy working with her.

The other day at work, Faith was talking aloud & all she says was, "So...." to which Debbie answers (like she often does when someone says "So..."), "A needle pulling thread."

Usually, this mini-convo ends right there, but Faith continued with a, "La..." to which Debbie answers, "A note to follow so"

I pipe in with, "Ti..." to which Debbie answers, "And A". That was followed with about a minute of uncontrollable laughter as I was not expecting that answer from my boss of all people!

I love my job.

Today, I am thankful for:
1. Sense of humor
2. Envelope systems that work
3. My shortest post yet
4. Non-Lasagna
5. Employment

After the Rain (Nelson)

2006-12-17T20:39:00.000-08:00

Who would have guessed what was going to happen after all the rain fell in November? It's been a crazy, crazy autumn season: Record rainfall in November. Enough snow to close my work for a day. Windstorms that caused power outages to much of the Puget Sound area. Crazy, I tell ya!

Thursday of last week, on my way to the train station after work, there was torrential downpour. It was almost reminiscent of being in Hawaii on October 16th. I can't tell you how many of those running ballerina jumps I did to try & avoid the giant puddles that accumulated at the curbs. The water was so deep in areas that I couldn't tell where the curb was; water was in the road & up over the sidewalks. My umbrella was pretty much useless because it kept turning inside out in the wind gusts. Well, regardless of how much I tried to avoid it, I was soaked by the time I got to the train station. Then, before we got to Tukwila even, the conductor stopped the train for about ten minutes while they decided if it was safe to continue Southbound. Fortunately, it was & I got home at a reasonable time (that is, after I finished some Christmas shopping for my in-laws).

We were fortunate to not have lost power at our house. I can't say others were as lucky. The other four in my department had all lost power on Thursday. I know how much fun it isn't to try & get ready for work in the dark. On Friday, Steve & Airi were going to stay over at our house as they had lost power at their house. When Jeff called to find out what time they were coming, their power had just come back on. Kat, who lives not too far from Steve & Airi wasn't so lucky; her power has been out for the last 4 days & she's staying with us until it comes back on.

Work on Friday was a little exciting. The building hadn't lost power, but the air conditioning in our server room had broke at some point & our IS team was scrambling to get the temperatures under control. Senior management, at one point, had "closed" the Credit Union. However, while waiting for a ride home, they told us to stay for a few minutes. Then they said we would open at 10am, but since some had already left for the day, they gave us the option of staying or going, but if we stayed we'd get a comp day. I opted to stay, but was a little frustrated that I hadn't left while I had the chance.

On Friday, we were going to have our department lunch at 13 Coins, but since Faith chose to leave, we didn't go to lunch; we are going on Monday instead. I'm looking forward to it, for sure. Trina & I used to recommend the restaurant to the hotel guests when we worked at the Hampton Inn a decade ago.

Saturday, we celebrated Jeff's 33rd birthday at Famous Dave's BBQ Restaurant down in Puyallup with Steve, Airi, Kim, Kat, David & Katt. I'm not a huge bbq rib fan but that's only because I find them so messy to eat. These ribs at Famous Dave's were SO delicious that the next time we go there, I just may get myself some ribs. On Saturday, I had a burger & it was mighty tasty! The fries weren't all that great, but the burger... Oh man! Drool....

Afterwards, we had a group shopping trip at Target. In a rather weird way, that was kinda fun to hang out with everyone at the store with everyone doing their own shopping. Some shopped for Christmas gifts while other shopped for their own personal items they needed at home. After the group shopping, we all came back to our place and watched a little VH1 I Love the 80's 3D. Talk about memories. Poor Katt... Maybe next time we'll watch some I Love the 90's.

I'm going to finish up watching another episode of Grey's Anatomy here in a second so I'm going to finish this post.

Today, I am thankful for:
1. Gas fireplace
2. Indoor heat
3. Generosity
4. Trotters
5. Red Door Revealed

They Say It's Your Birthday (The Beatles)

2006-12-10T09:24:00.000-08:00

My 31st birthday was on Friday. Don't quite know what to say about it. My birthday has never been made to be an occasion where the day was all about me. So, today, in my "adult" years, I still feel it's like an ordinary day.

On Friday, I put in a half day at work & then Kat & I went & did our annual volunteering for the folks who make Holiday Stockings for homeless children possible. This volunteering event is a two-day process where on Friday, all the donated items gets sorted into age-appropriate tables & day two is when the real chaos begins - when the actual stockings get stuffed with the items. Then, let's not forget that throughout the year is when all the REAL work gets done - making (yes, making) over 2,000 stockings & collecting donations (money & stuff). For the past 3 years, I've only helped sort & stuff the stockings; for this upcoming year, I want to help making stockings & do some collections at work. This year, Kat & I were co-captains of the table for 4-5 years olds & we quickly ran out of hats & scarves. So, next year, I want to put a collection box out at work for those items.

After volunteering, Kat & I met up with folks in the Southcenter area for dinner at Claim Jumpers. While the spinach-artichoke dip was mighty tasty, I could have done without the rest of my meal (turkey supper). It was just 'okay'. Thank you, Trina, for my warm jammies. I'm wearing them right now. I love 'em & you're gonna love yours, too. I guarantee it.

I got THE best birthday present in the mail when I got home Friday night: Our marriage certificate. I've been waiting on that sucker so I can go get my name changed finally. Woo!! I'll probably take a day off this week to get that done. Though, I'm told I still need to work on my new signature. That's going to be a tough one to 'perfect' as I've been signing my scribble for so long now & I've grown to really like it.

My stamp camp was moved from yesterday to today & I'm still not quite done with my cards they're making. David, Katt & Randy are coming over to watch the Seahawk game today & I'm making a (pampered chef recipe) chicken enchilada ring & (tupperware recipe) guacamole. So, I better step away from the computer & get those things done.

Today, I am thankful for:

1. Ovens that work

2. Friends who celebrate my (non)birthday with me

3. Wine

4. Easy camp cards

5. Volunteers

Here I Go Again (Whitesnake)

2006-12-02T23:39:00.000-08:00

Earlier today I started another blog to go along with my Stampin' Up!® business. I figured once I have my last name changed, I'm going to have to (eventually) order new supplies, including business cards. On my new business cards I'll reference my new blog, jenstamps.blogspot.com. On my new blog, I'll list SU company specials & any I'm offering for that month. I'll show pictures of my camp cards & projects. I'm hoping to somehow have a calendar on there too, but I'm not sure that's going to happen. More code to learn & learn to manipulate. Hmmm.... I'm guessing the calendar won't happen anytime soon.

Tonight, my company had our annual dinner at the Hall at Fauntleroy. Though there was a fairly small turn out, it still turned out pretty nice, I think. Dinner was mighty tasty - mixed fruit, caesar salad, chilled grilled veggies, meat & veggie lasagna, chicken skewers & dinner rolls. Dessert consisted of some chocolate cake/brownie of which I had none. I was busy gambling courtesy of West Coast Entertainment. How it was set up, each employee was to get $30,000 to play with & they did a raffle drawing at the end of the evening where based on how much money you had left over determined how many raffle tickets you got. I went through my $30k, Linda's $30k & Doug's $30k (Linda & Doug don't gamble, even if it's pretend money). However, as part of the regular raffle done throughout the evening, I was the lucky recipient of a gift certificate to get my nails done at some place in Tukwila. Woo!!

Tomorrow is my Tastefully Simple home party. I made 5 of the dips tonight in prepping for the party tomorrow afternoon. The directions I had for making these dips was to use regular mayo, sour cream & cream cheese. I used non-fat/low-fat mayo & sour cream. When I taste tested off the spoon, I thought they tasted rather scrumptious. I'm really happy about this because many of the ladies coming to my party are watching their weight in one way or another. How could I expect to sell this stuff if you're only supposed to use the full fat creamy white stuffs?

Could this possibly be my shortest post yet? I think so!!

Today, I am thankful for:
1. Mary Kay
2. Mickey
3. Craps
4. Free fun
5. Veggies

I'm So Excited (Pointer Sisters)

2006-11-30T21:56:00.000-08:00

I'm excited for a few reasons:

1. I think I've blogged more in the past week than I have since starting this darn thing & that excites me. I didn't intend for this blog to be a once a week occurrence, but rather have more daily updates.

2. Aimee & I went to our WW meeting this afternoon & we're both down for this week's weigh in. She is down something like 1.2 lbs for a total of 30.2 lbs lost. You go girl!! I am down 2.6 lbs for a total of 28.2 lbs lost. And, this is even more of a milestone for two reasons - I'm officially below the 150 mark & my point allowance drops from 22 points to 20 points. I can see the light at the end of the weightloss tunnel. Achieving this goal before year-end is such a probability.

3. I mentioned in my last post that the Stampin' Up event I was going to be a part of was postponed & it conflicted with a volunteer opportunity I had already committed to. The good news is Heather was able to switch the date to next Wednesday, December 6th. So, it looks like I'll get to be a part of this event afterall. Originally, after the last event, I really had mixed feelings on if I wanted to participate in this one too. I had contemplated coming up with some lame excuse (read lie, such as I couldn't get the time off work) as to why I couldn't do it, but here's what changed my mind:

4. I contacted the folks who entered into my door prize drawing at the last event & one of the gals confirmed she wanted to do a Stamp-A-Stack for the 9th of December. Although her door prize was for a free camp, the difference between her camp & Stamp-A-Stack is $10 & they will pay the difference on the cards. Anyways, for the past two days, I've been working on creating my cards for this Stamp-A-Stack & it's getting me in the holiday mood, it's getting me back in the Stampin' Up spirit & it's getting me off my butt & away from the television. My camera just does not do these cards any justice whatsoever, but here's 2 cards I've been working on for the Stamp-A-Stack, CASE'd (but changed slightly) courtesy of the lovely ladies at SCS:

5. I finished watching the first season of Grey's Anatomy sometime last week. Can I just say that I really hate cliffhangers? Fortunately, Aimee owns the 2nd season so I didn't have to wait too long to find out all about Addison and that SHE was the one who cheated on Dr. McDreamy, er, I mean Dr. Shepherd & caused the demise of their marriage. Of course that was just the first episode of season 2 & there's 26 more. Le sigh! I can't wait to see the rest of the episodes.

Today, I am thankful for:
1. Warm(er) temperatures
2. Italian Sub Stoup (courtesy Rachael Ray)
3. Television on DVD
4. Acceptance of CASEing
5. Achieving weight loss

Baby, It's Cold Outside (Bing Crosby)

2006-11-28T08:45:00.000-08:00

Okay, so you probably can't really tell in this picture just how much snow fell last night. And, if I'm being perfectly honest here, it wasn't a huge amount. That's the top of our fence with about a half inch of snow on it around 7:15 this morning. However, it was enough for my company to close it's doors today. Actually, I don't think it was the snow that made them close down today, but the compacted ice on the roads paired with the fact that it's not supposed to get much over 33° can make for a dangerous commute.

Yesterday, the Seahawks won their 2nd Monday Night Football game against Green Bay & are now 7-4. The game got over around 9 or so & I heard on the news this morning that some folks were stuck for several hours in traffic due to inclement weather. One guy said he got home after 3:30am & only went from Seattle to Bothell! That's one crazy commute that I was happy to not be a part of.

So, I'm not sure if you've noticed, but I'm proud to say that I've manipulated some code on this blog & have added links on the left & changed some of the fonts. I also learned how to add pictures to my text. Yay, this computer stuff is pretty darn cool, eh? I still need/want to learn how to change the background.

Unfortunately (or is it fortunately??), because I'm not going into Seattle today, I'm not going to get weighed. I'm kind of sad about that because I think I've actually lost weight & I'm eager to see just how much. There aren't any meetings on Wednesday when we normally go, so I think we'll probably go on Thursday. Wish me luck.

Again, unfortunately (or is it fortunately??), a Stampin' Up! event I was going to do on Thursday was postponed to NEXT Friday, but I'm already volunteering with Kat. It's a good thing because I wasn't banking on getting much interest/traffic at my booth & I would have used a few hours of my leave at work to attend this event. It's a bad thing because although there probably wouldn't be much interest, any interest is better than none.From the last SU event I did like this one, I almost felt it was a waste of a day, but I did give away 4 stamp camps for folks who entered my drawing. I'm REALLY hoping this will generate more interest & future camps &/or customers.

Here's three of my favorite cards that I did for my November camps:

Today, I am thankful for:
1. Indoor heat
2. Wool socks
3. Long underwear
4. Sweaters
5. Snuggles & Cuddles

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year (Various)

2006-11-25T08:49:00.000-08:00

Last weekend, 106.9 started playing their non-stop (with the exception of the ocassional commercials) Christmas music. I was thrilled because it means that Christmas was indeed coming. It also scared the bejesus out of me because that means that Christmas was indeed coming.

I had thought about fighting the crowds the day after Thanksgiving like I had the year before, but this year two things happened: I had trouble falling asleep the night before & therefore didn't want to wake up ultra-early &amp; I didn't have a game plan in place; I didn't know what I was going to buy that I hadn't bought online the night before.

I sent out my wish list to the families. Here's a hypocritical thought: I hate having to create my own wish list, but really really REALLY want other people to give me theirs. I have three thoughts on the concept - 1- if there's something I want, I usually go out and buy it myself. 2- if you really knew me, then you should know what to buy me. 3- how am I supposed to act surprised when opening a gift when I pretty much know I'm getting it? It's kinda like at my bridal shower where most gifts I opened I had on the registry. Don't get me wrong, I am thankful I received the gifts, but I guess I just wasn't "surprised" to receive them.

Thanksgiving was really good this year. Jeff & I spent the afternoon at his aunt & uncle's house in Maple Valley. I was thankful I wasn't stuck in the Southbound traffic along with everyone else & that we didn't have to travel 3 hours to get to our destination.

Since Jeff's Aunt Maureen claims Thanksgiving as her holiday & I never have, but want to, cook a turkey dinner, in the next few months, I'm going to invite a bunch of folks over for a (hopefully) yummy turkey dinner with all the fixings. Stay tuned for an evite from me inviting your hungry stomachs over for some tasty culinary goodness. MMMMMM!

Speaking of tasty culinary goodness... Last weekend, Kat, David, Katt, Jeff & I attempted to start up the monthly international cuisine again. Kat selected Caribbean food as the cuisine & Calypso Caribbean Restaurant as the establishment. Unfortunately, when we got to where Calypso should have been, there was nothing but a parking lot. So, in staying true to new international cuisine, we drove to the U-district & found an Ethiopian restaurant. None of us had tried Ethiopian food. It was, to say the least, different. They brought out this ultra-spicy food on a "bed" of what looked like a spongy pancake. And you eat the food by using the pancake as your utensil. On a scale of 1-5 (5 being the best service ever), I'd give the service at the restaurant a 1 & the food a 3.5. I actually enjoyed the food, though it was really spicy. David, I think, would probably give it a 1 or so; he didn't fare too well afterwards. So, I think I would try Ethiopian again, but not at that place. After the Ethiopian experience, we went to the Ram for drinkies. Good times with good friends.

Last saturday, I went to a "purse party" with Trina & Kat. I've never been to one before so I was pretty excited. Anyone who knows me knows I love home parties! So, basically at this purse party, the lady has all these knock-off purses laying around in the gal's living room & they're priced from like $50-80. Her deal was buy one & get the 2nd for $5 off. There was one I had my eye on, but it was like $78. I just can't spend that much on a handbag. So, I tell Trina & Kat about this hole in the wall store in Seattle where they sell the same things for half the price. And we went! I bought a cute Kate Spade handbag for $25 (they wanted $40, but I got 'em down to $25 - score one for me!!).

Kat has updated her blog with a cool background & has posted pictures. She told me she'd show me her magic ways. I can't wait!! I'm so virginal & naive when it comes to this computer stuff. The only thing I know how to do is add links in my text. I want to learn how to add pictures, change the text & background, links to my friend's blogs & website, etc. One day... you just wait!

We've decided to do a white elephant-type gift exchange Christmas Eve with the friends this year. I'm pretty sure I know what I'm giving. We're also doing our leave-a-big-tip-for-our-server at a restaurant (probably Denny's) in Federal Way this year. I'm really kind of sad that Joel & Mickey won't be joining us since Joel's the one who started this awesome tradition so many years ago. It almost doesn't feel "right" doing it without him, but just because they can't make it, I'm not going to forego it. There's always next year. Joel & Mick - you better be there :o)

So, really, I came to my computer to get some ideas for some Christmas cards that I may be doing for a Stamp-a-Stack in 2 weeks & I end up blogging for an hour. I ought to get going on the other things I need to do.

Today, I am thankful for:
1. Socks
2. Split Coast Stampers
3. O Holy Night
4. Close relatives
5. MP3s

Sound of Silence (Simon & Garfunkel)

2006-11-15T22:14:00.000-08:00

It's been a week or so since I last wrote. I don't think I have much to say (for once). Are you as surprised as I am? Okay, good.

Kim leaves in less than a week to meet the man she's been (online) 'dating'. How exciting to finally meet the man she's come to love. I hope she has a great time in England & comes back with some awesome stories about her trip.

I started watching Season One of Grey's Anatomy. What a great show! I'm already about 6 episodes in. After I'm done with Season One, Aimee will let me borrow Season Two. And, hopefully, Season Three will come out this summer & I'll have time to get caught up before Season Four starts & then I can start watching weekly, on real television, with everyone else in the office.

The Downtown Seattle Association has set up their annual nutcrackers around town. In front of our building, we have the Jimi Hendrix nutcracker. Pretty stinkin' cool, if you ask me. I just wish it wasn't SO close to the street.

Jeff & I went & saw Borat over the weekend. It got pretty good reviews so I suggested getting folks together to go see it. Though I laughed out loud during several parts of the movie, I was less than impressed by it. I wouldn't see it again. I guess I am glad I saw it though, otherwise I'd be wondering what I missed out on.

Joanna finally picked a car. It's about darn time, too. I swear, if I were in her shoes, I would have selected a car a LONG time ago. But, perhaps that's just me. If I know there's something I want, I'm not going to waste everyone's time learning about what I "could" have if I chose X instead of Y. Maybe I'm a little too... hasty.

I weighed in again this week & again I gained weight. Not a huge amunt, but it's a gain nonetheless: .4 lbs. I swear, I've hit this serious plateau. I can't get below 150 lbs. This sucks, but I'm not going to let it get me down (no pun intended). I'm down like 26 lbs & that in & of itself is a huge accomplishment. Go Jenn Go!

I'm a weenie when it comes to cooking stuff I've never cooked with before. I can do boneless/skinless chicken breast, but give me a whole chicken & I'd have no idea what to do with it. Yesterday, at the grocery store, I saw a packet for some bbq pulled pork stuff that sounded & looked really good & it called for boneless pork shoulder. Okay, bacon I can do. Pork shoulder...what? Anyways, one of these days (soon!), I'm going to attempt this pulled pork product. Go Jenn Go!

Can you believe that Thanksgiving is next week? What are YOU thankful for?

Today, I am thankful for:
1. Lunch & gift exchange with friends
2. Dinner & gift exchange with friends
3. Dessert & gift exchange with friends
4. Evites
5. Airplanes

Oops! I Did It Again (Britney Spears)

2006-11-07T21:55:00.000-08:00

After several weeks of not tracking my points, I finally started up again last Wednesday (that is, after our Halloween potluck). I'm happy to say I'm back at 26.2 lbs lost (again) - down 2.6 lbs from last week's weigh in. I was really worried that I was going to gain, yet again, because after weighing myself last night at home, it appeared my weight was right about the same as it was at weigh in.

Only 6 lbs to go til I reach my "goal". I wonder if I'll want to quit or keep on going...

So, this morning I hardly ate anything before weighing in. And, I feel I've been gorging ever since. Sorta. Well lunch was leftover lemon chicken, rice & a mandarin orange from the local teriyaki restaurant from the night before. Dinner tonight was spaghetti, salad, garlic bread & corn. Mmm... I love corn! And the pasta & bread was whole wheat. That's not all bad, is it? I'll find out next Tuesday when I weigh in again!

Yet another SMCU'er has joined WW with me & Aimee. That makes 5 of us making the trek to the weekly Tuesday meetings. 4 others go to other area meetings. Wow! All this because of me & Aimee. That's awesome!!

I've got 4 of my 7 camp cards ready to go for my Stamp Camp next Sunday. That's good news! One of them, I think, I'm going to demo at a holiday bazaar for DSAs this coming Saturday. Depending on how many I get made (& keep), I just might end up using them as MY holiday card this year. How nice will that be to have all (or at least some) of my Christmas cards done by Veteran's Day? Maybe I'll actually send them out this year; last year I got lazy & time slipped away from me.

I'm also really excited for an annual volunteer opportunity that Kat & I have been participating in for the past few years. On December 8th & 9th, we'll be going down to the USCG gym & we'll help sort & stuff stockings for homeless children. We may also man the carosel at Westlake in Seattle as a separate volunteer opportunity, but we haven't signed up for any particular shifts. We should probably do that relatively soon.

Last Saturday, we had our open house/reception where I think we had a great turn out. There were people I didn't know & people Jeff didn't know there. Afterwards, some folks stuck around for some cards (poker & budogi). Mike & Angie were the big winners. It was really cool seeing Mike again. He left the CU back in August to persue his dream job - a cop. Sounds like he's really busy with the Academy, but he's loving it. That's important.

Jeff's great uncle is doing just fine after taking his tumble on the front porch on Saturday. He was taken to the hospital, waited around for 4 hours in the waiting room before receiving a staple or two (maybe more?) in his head. I guess the lump has gone down, he's gone home & is doing well. Lucky, lucky man! I hope I'm in as good of shape when I'm his age.

I finally called Jeff my husband the other day when introducing him to a co-worker at the open-house/reception. It didn't sound or feel weird, but I think it didn't because I said it on purpose. What I want to know is when I'll stop feeling like a "Christofferson" & only like a "McCarthy". I guess once I change my name & have to start signing "McCarthy" only, then maybe we'll see. I'll have to ask my married girlfriends when they stopped thinking of themself as their maiden name.

Today, I am thankful for:
1. Early bedtimes
2. Umbrellas
3. Cell phones
4. Wit
5. Metro

It's Been Awhile (Staind)

2006-10-29T14:01:00.000-08:00

It seems it's been a long, long time since I've posted. I guess not a whole lot has been going on. Well, that's not entirely true:

Heather, who is part of my (okay, she's my only) Stampin' Up downline has asked me to represent Stampin' Up at two holiday bazaar type deals she's putting together. The first one, on November 11th, is at the clubhouse in her community in Gig Harbor. The second one, is either at the end of November or the first part of December (dates TBD) is at her jobsite. From what I understand, they're not really a traditional bazaar where you go out and buy stuff from the vendor's table, but just a bunch of DSAs representing their products. Terry, who is my upline has told me that there usually isn't much generated from these type of events, so I'm not holding my breath. I am hoping to meet some new faces, generate even a little interest & hopefully get at least one or two camps from it.

Since getting engaged in May, I've really let my business go. I'm still an active demonstrator & it puzzles me how that's possible since I really haven't done anything. I am excited to say I do have one camp scheduled in 3 weeks, however, those girls don't usually buy much. Perhaps since it's near Christmastime, they will buy some supplies to get their holiday cards started. Here's hoping anyways.

I had my first post-Hawaii weigh-in this past week. I gained a whopping 1.2 lbs from the last weigh in (2 weeks earlier). Not too shabby, I'd say, considering all the Lava Flows, Macadamia Nut items & other not-so-good-for-you-but-oh-so-tasty foods & beverages I consumed. I really need to get back on it & lose the rest of the weight. Just 7-ish lbs to go til I reach my goal.

My childhood friend, Jaime, got married last Saturday. This was her 2nd marriage. I was really surprised how similar it was to her first wedding. Mind you, it's her first wedding to Arjun, but it was so much like her wedding to Rick - she had the big, white (beautiful!) dress, the huge cake, first dance w/her husband, father/daughter dance, tossed the bouquet & garter. And dancing. There was lots of dancing. The two main differences were about halfway through the reception, she changed out of her white wedding dress & put on a traditional Nepalese gown & they continued the reception with Nepalese music & dancing. It was fun to watch the other dancing. I did get up & do one of the dances with them.

This past Friday, I went out to Girls Night Out with Jaime & her family & a couple high school friends. This was probably the closest thing to a bachelorette party for Jaime, but it happened after the wedding instead of before. We had dinner at Azteca & then went to Pumpernickels for Karaoke & drinks. I'm just going to say that some people should sing more, some should sing less and other should not sing at all. I could have made some serious Simon Cowell remarks, but these folks weren't trying out for American Idol (thank goodness!!).

Joanna called me yesterday, saying she got in a car accident. I was actually very shocked when she said it wasn't her fault; she is, in my opinion, the worst driver I know. She was rear ended by a mini van & then pushed into the car in front of her. This sounds familiar as the same thing happened to me 11 years ago, except I only tapped the car in front of me. It sounds like Joanna's car was totalled from the accident, but fortunately, she's okay. I'm curious what kind of car she gets next.

Last weekend, Trina's greyhound, Tigger, escaped through a loose board in the backyard fence. Joanna & I went over there & walked the neighborhood for a few hours on Sunday looking for her. As it turns out, one of the neighbors had her dog & she was returned safely the next day. Whew!

My cousin, Deborah, had her 4th baby last week - another girl, Rachel Joy. I haven't talked to her, but through her husband's blog, it sounds like everyone is doing well. She says she wants a big family (at least 5 kids). I wonder when they'll stop & how much it really costs to have a family that big.

The mystery gift has been solved! When we returned from our trip, we had a wedding gift from Macy's mailed to us - a gift card tucked inside a little photo album. All the box said was it was from OH. I thought it was from David's parents because they're the only ones I know in OH, but they said it wasn't theirs. As it turns out, it was from Jeff's aunt & uncle & Macy's screwed up & didn't put in the notecard that was supposed to go with the gift.

Now, I gotta get those thank you cards out!

Today, I am thankful for:
1. Apologies
2. Velcro
3. Oatmeal
4. Love
5. Mexican food, even if it doesn't taste good.

I Feel the Earth Move (Carole King)

2006-10-17T01:35:00.000-07:00

I'm blogging from not so sunny Maui, Hawaii. Jeff & I are here, along with some awesome friends (& family) who flew across the Pacific Ocean to witness & celebrate our wedding, vacation & have fun in general with us. I couldn't have asked for a better time than this.

A basic breakdown of our vacation so far:

Wednesday, October 11th: we left Seattle for LAX. Took a shuttle on the tarmac to our next plane & flew to OGG. We got our car, found our condo, called Kat & found Pizza Express & had a late night dinner that was mighty tasty, except for the one we got with all the 'shrooms. Ewww.

Thursday, October 12th: Jeff & I woke up early (6am-ish) & got ready for our bikeride down Mt. Haleakala. Our driver, Mark, picked us up shortly before 7am. He was a hoot. Reminded me an awful lot of Gary Busey for some reason. I was a little disappointed in the bikeride. I thought it was going to be so much more fun than it was. Don't get me wrong, I did enjoy myself. I just wish I wasn't such a weenie when it comes to things that are scary. Riding 38 miles down the volcano's many turns at 20+ miles an hour when I have no protective gear other than a helmet is scary to me. Like I said, I'm a weenie. Jeff had a blast & would do the bikeride again. I think I'll sleep in next time. I did get a cool pic of some sort of horny lizard on his shoulder. Heh... I said horny.

Also, on Thursday, most of our friends & family members flew in. Jeff, McCarthy Mom & Dad, Randy, Kat & I had dinner at Moose McGillycuddy's restaurant. I *think* Jeff & Randy got their fill of the all-you-can-eat crab legs. The Lava Flow drink was mighty tasty. The Mai Tai, not so much. Afterwards, we were so exhausted that we just ended up going home & pretty much going to bed early (most nights, we were in bed long before 10pm!).

Friday, October 13th: Friday night, we met up with EVERYONE for the luau in Kaanapali. I hadn't been to a luau before. I thought the free (& free flowing) drinks were a little on the weak side, but the communal pineapple drinks (pina colada) were excellent! I think we all have shared cooties now. The all-you-can-eat buffet wasn't bad either. Having worked in a buffet restaurant before, I assumed the food wasn't going to be super tasty. I was wrong. I especially enjoyed the kahlua pork, chicken & mac salad. I hope Steve, Randy & Jeff enjoyed their chicken nuggets. I thought the show would have been longer, but if it was much longer, I probably would have been way bored.

Saturday, October 14th: This was the intended highlight of this whole trip: our wedding. The day started off with Kat & Mar picking us up, & dropping Jeff off while picking his mom up & getting manicures. See, I can't keep a mani to save my life so I wanted to get one as close to the wedding as possible. I don't think I could have gotten one much later than we did. It was really cool, though. This was Penny's first mani. It's always nice to be pampered just a little. I had wanted to get a massage after the mani, but by the time we got done with lunch at Stella Blues, it was too late to get one. Instead, I got a little more pampering by having my hair & makeup done (in my room) for the wedding. Funny thing is, I didn't have a mirror in front of me while she was doing my makeup so I totally felt like I was going to look like a clown. Thank goodness, I didn't. I was pretty happy with the result.

When it was time to go, Jeff & I drove down to Makena & found our beach where we were to be wed. I'd say half our party was there when we got there & the rest came soon after. There were lots of pictures being taken by EVERYONE. It was hard to focus on where to look because there were photos being taken from all directions. A giant thank you to Mar for using my camera. I looked at the photos & found some really cool shots in there. Thank You. Thank You. Thank You.

As far as I could tell, the wedding went just fine. We'll see what the video camera captured. Thank you, Randy, for being the smooth operator of that one. Airi, I still hold that those tears were for you :o)

After all the pics John took, we all headed back out to Moose's for our post wedding dinner. Matt, our waiter for the 2nd time, was incredible. Unfortunately, we missed my dad & Helyn & for those of you who hadn't heard & was wondering, dad got sick & had to leave. Stat. Enough said.

Sunday, October 15th: The great Hawaii earthquake 2006 happened on this day. There were actually 3 earthquakes and several expected aftershocks. This is my account of what happened/what I felt. We had planned on waking up early & going swimming in S. Kihei with Kim & Randy around 7am, so Jeff & I were on the road to Kim's hotel when it happened. Unfortunately, being in a car, moving already, you don't feel as much as if you were standing still. We had heard there was going to be a storm coming in & it appeared cooler than other mornings & a little windier too. While on the main road through Kihei, we noticed the car kinda shaking a little & attributed it to the wind. Further down, I saw a traffic light that flashed yellow 2 or 3 times & asked aloud if it was flashing yellow before or if it was a red/yellow/green light. Then, the radio went dead & again, we figured the power must have been knocked out due to the wind. While waiting in the parking lot for Kim to come out, the car starts to shake a little again. I think I/we initially thought it was wind or maybe the car having problems so we turned the engine off & we're still shaking a tad. Funny thing is, it really wasn't THAT windy. Jeff then said that he thinks it was an earthquake or something.

After picking Kim up, we drove the rest of the way to Jeff's parent's condo & that is where we all convened for a couple hours at least. There was a pool to guess just how strong the earthquake was. Thanks to Henry, we found out it was a 6.7, but was eventually lowered to 6.5 or 6.3 & that no tsunamis are expected to come. Good thing considering everyone is REALLY close to the ocean. A bit later, we headed down to the ocean just to check it out. Nothing going on. Still a bit windy & chilly to get in so we start heading across the street & Trina & David spotted us as they were driving by so they stopped & hung out with us for awhile. A couple hours later, we did end up going in the ocean. Lots of good waves. Lots of nasty waves that just pounded us. Lots of sand pushed into places it didn't belong. All in all, there was absolutely nothing to worry about as far as the earthquake was concerned. We didn't have stuff falling off the shelves. Nobody was hurt. According to Randy, the worst thing that happened was we (he) had to hurry and drink the beer so it wouldn't get warm as the power had gone out.

Sunday, we also celebrated David's 31st birthday at Stella's. I thought their food was pretty tasty, but too expensive for dinner. And, they have a silly 1 refill on your soda rule. Lame. After dinner, we headed back to Bob & Penny's to have some cheesecake that Kat & I bought earlier that day. Happy Birthday, David! Sorry about the check confusions. You'll note this type of thing always happens when we go out in a large group. :o)

Monday, October 16th: This morning, we were supposed to go snorkeling at Molokini & Lanai. When we got to the departure place, they let us know that we could only snorkel at Molokini & that we were going to combine our tour with a tour that left over an hour later. This was all due to the weather, I think. See, it was POURING!! Fortunately, it was a warm rain. We were wearing tanks & shorts & it really wasn't all that bad. So, we go to change our boarding pass to ride the other boat & about 5 minutes later, the dude comes out & says they're actually cancelling the trip altogether. Honestly, I wasn't saddened by this at all.

We ended up coming back to Kihei for breakfast with my dad & Helyn, Bob & Penny, Kim, Randy, Jeff & myself. I had huevos rancheros for the first time. Kim warned me against having it, saying it wasn't that good, but I had nothing to compare it to & it just sounded good. I don't think I'd ever get it again. Anywhere.

After breakfast, Kim, Randy, Jeff & I went to Lahaina to do a little shopping. Okay, Kim & I went shopping while Jeff & Randy had a beer or two. We saw a garbage truck nearly turned over, stuck in the mud on the side of the road. I tried getting a picture on the way back, but we were going too fast & the rain was too much, plus there were cars goin by that made it near impossible to get a clear picture. There were several "rockslides" on the island & so plenty of rocks in the road. Also, many puddles on the roads. I got a few pictures of all the water on the roadways.

Tonight, Katt & David Turner & Kim left the islands. Hopefully their flights have made it out safely & on time. Tomorrow, Bob & Penny, Kat, Trina & David & Randy are leaving. But, their flights aren't until a little later so we'll still get to see them before they take off. Don't think we'll get in the ocean again (the rain is STILL coming down), but maybe we can have one last lunch at Maui Taco or one last beer (for Randy) at Moose's. Wednesday, I think Jeff & I will have breakfast at Charley's in Paia (supposedly, they have awesome macadamia nut pancakes. I hope they're not as big as Kim's at Fred's this morning!) & hopefully pick up our wedding photos/album from our planners. I'm really looking forward to seeing these pics we spent so much time posing for. I know everyone else is looking forward to these pics too. And you will see them - at our Open House/Reception on November 4th.

This post is super long so I'm ending it now.

Today, I am thankful for:
1. Getting to call Jeff my husband
2. Hearing Jeff call me his wife
3. Kim's blackberry
4. Henry is a nerd
5. Benedryl

One Week (Barenaked Ladies)

2006-10-07T19:22:00.000-07:00

As the title suggests, there is a pretty big event happening one week from today. I'm getting married! I've been looking forward to this event for a long time. I also know my readers have been looking forward to this for a long time. I'm so thrilled & thankful that my chosen family will be able to share this life altering event with us.

Anyone who knows me knows I'm a pretty patient person. I think, somewhere deep inside, I always knew that 1. I would end up with Jeff & that 2. we would be together in that forever sort of way. He's very special to me in ways that I can't exactly articulate. I know from the bottom of my heart some things are worth waiting for, even though I often wondered how long I was going to wait for this magic moment to happen. Though I've waited for a long time for this, it still feels so unbelievably surreal. The next week will go by so fast, yet not fast enough.

Fortunately, there are some things scheduled for the next week that will make the time (hopefully) go by just a little quicker:

Monday, though a holiday (yes, Columbus Day is a holiday to some), I still have to go to work. We're closed to our membership, but we have some in-house training/team-building to do. Whoopidy-freakin'-doo. Shouldn't be too painful; just a waste of the day, if you ask me. Monday night, Kat & I are getting pedi's. One final relaxation before the trip.

Tuesday, I'll be running around like a chicken with her head cut off at work, trying to get everything caught up & make sure my co-workers are cross trained well enough before leaving for the next week & a half. Jeff & I already have plans for dinner on Tuesday - some yummy grub at BB Magraw's.

Wednesday, we leave in the afternoon. I'm sure there will be some last minute packing, er shall I say panicking? We arrive in Kahalui around 8pm. By the time we get checked in, get some dinner, etc. it'll be pretty late & I bet we'll be tired.

Thursday, we are doing the morning bikeride down Mt. Haleakala. I'm really looking forward to this. We have nothing planned Thursday eve, but this is when the bulk of everyone flies in & so maybe we'll meet folks for drinks or something fun like that.

Friday we meet with the lady who gives us our marriage license. It'll become more official after meeting her. Friday night, everyone is meeting for a luau. I'm also really looking forward to this as I've never been to one before.

Saturday, Kat & I, along with Penny & possibly Erin are getting manicures. I figured it was better to get one the morning of the wedding vs any earlier. For some reason, I can't keep a mani to save my life & so getting it as close to the wedding date as possible was important to me. Okay, so this will be the one last pampering before walking down the beach to marry my groom.

Sunday is reserved for Jeff & Jenn. We have absolutely nothing planned for this day & at this point, I'd like to keep it that way. I just want to spend the day with my husband. Wow, that's kinda trippy to say. I love the way it sounds.

Monday, a bunch of us are going snorkeling out to Molokini. I'm not 100% excited about this for a few reasons. Primarily because I can't swim & I hate sticking my face under water. Who knows? I may get over the fear of water & find this to be the best thing ever!

Tuesday & Wednesday are also wide open. When I go on vacation, I like to have a general idea of what we're doing, but having some days with nothing planned is also nice.

Today, I am thankful for:
1. Waxing
2. Eyebrow tinting
3. Highlights
4. Manicures
5. Spa pedicures

Friends (Michael W. Smith)

2006-10-02T18:57:00.000-07:00

So, the song goes: Friends are friends forever...

*note* Throughout this post, I am using the term friend very loosely.

I've been thinking a lot lately about my friends & the relationships I have with them. I've had the "friend" conversation with Kat numerous times. We've talked about levels of friendship, making new friends, people you're no longer friends with (& why) & people who are returning friends.

We agree there are levels of friendship: strangers, acquaintences, buds, friends & dare I say, best friends. I have people in all these catagories. Well, except for the best friend catagory, but that's out of choice.

So, what if I think of someone as a friend & they think of me as a best friend? Should I feel guilty for not reciprocating the relationship? What if I have someone in my friend catagory & wish they were in the acquaintence catagory? Should I feel guilty for that?

How DO you demote a person to acquaintence status? I'm guessing you can ignore that person as much as possible. Certainly, you wouldn't include/involve/invite them to certain events (birthday parties & bridal showers, for example). And, when you're invited by them, you don't go. You put as much distance between the two of you as possible. But, since you don't want to look like the ass in the friendship, you still send them Christmas & birthday cards, until you've completely faded away. BUT, what happens if you see this person daily? That, I don't know. It's a little more challenging, but I don't know how you slowly fade away when you have no choice but to see them.

Early Sunday morning, I was reading the blog of a "friend" of a "friend". Then, I began wondering... I wonder when the last time "friend 1" spoke to "friend 2". Well, it's been a few days at least because "friend 2" is currently in Japan. I wonder if "friend 1" knows this. If you were really friends, shouldn't "friend 1" know?

Okay, then I was thinking about how some of my friends weren't always my friends. I couldn't stand Kim for the longest time. The feeling, I believe, was very mutual. Then some day, something happened. I can't pinpoint what it was that changed the way I felt, but for whatever reason, I let go of my jealousies & I saw her for who she is: a really good person with a big heart & wanting the same things out of life that I did. I'm SO glad you're a part of my 'friendship' circle, Kim. And I will come visit my friend in England should you move again. :o)

I don't know if it's fate or "God's will", but I do believe people come into your life for a reason. It's kinda funny to me, though, to see who's come & gone from my life & I can say to myself, "in retrospect, this person was here for this reason." and I can usually figure out what the reason was.

Today, I am thankful for:
1. Past friends
2. Current friends
3. Future friends
4. Girlfriends
5. Boyfriends

Ballerina Girl (Lionel Richie)

2006-09-29T22:55:00.000-07:00

Lately, I've been pondering the whole job situation. Not because I want to find a new job necessarily, but I was just curious what I could/would do. So, my question of the day was this:

If you could do anything & be successful at it, what would you do?

For me, the answer is/was easy: a dancer.

I also learned some things about my co-workers that I never would have thought - Aimee would do something with fashion or interior design. Debbie, my boss, said she wanted to work with animals and then said, "oh wait... I already do!" Haha! She did clarify to say she wouldn't want to be a veterinarian, but rather maybe work at a zoo or wild animal park. Faith, who I thought would be a singer surprised me saying she would be a scientist. Who knew? Linda, was the most predictable: a SAHM. But then I said it would be doing something & getting paid for it. Therefore, if wanting to work with kids, she could be a teacher or nanny. So, after thinking a few moments, she said she always thought it would be interesting to be a Court Reporter. That is interesting. I wouldn't mind trying that myself if my dancing career didn't work out.

I feel like Rachel Greene in the episode where she couldn't see her unborn baby in the ultrasound pictures & Ross kept pointing it out, saying "do you see it, it's right here..." & she'd say yes, but then a few moments later cry because she really couldn't see & she felt like a bad parent because she couldn't see her own baby. Well, I don't have a baby that I can't see, but I got my hair colored tonight & Michelle put in both lighter & darker colors in it. She asked if I wanted it "streaky" or "chunky" & I said no; I wanted it blended, more natural looking. So, she did. And, now it's so well-blended that I can't see the different shades. Kat says she can see it & in different lights, you can see it more, but I just can't see it. Makes me wonder if I spent that much for nothing. I did get my eyebrows colored & waxed (for the first time, I might add) for free! I think I was a weenie before, thinking I couldn't ever do the waxing as it would be too painful. It wasn't bad at all.

So, I know I can be an anal butt (is that redundant or what??) sometimes... Okay, so I'm already packed for the trip & we don't leave for another week & a half. My defense is that I didn't want to forget anything. And, really, I'm not 100% packed. I still need to pack stuff I use on a daily basis like my makeup & certain shoes.

Today, I am thankful for:
1. Someone pointing out my flat(ter) tire
2. Crystal Light
3. Lunchtime Walks
4. QOTDs
5. Fridays

Sad Songs (Elton John)

2006-09-25T20:24:00.000-07:00

I'm so sad... Tonight, I was catching up on last week's episodes of Celebrity Duets (yeah, I got sucked into yet another reality show) & saw that Jai Rodriguez was voted off. I was certain he would win the show. He's got an awesome voice & seems so in control of it. But alas, it's our votes that keeps the contestant on. And, since I refuse to vote, I guess I can't really say too much, can I?

If I heard right, FOX is replaying season one of American Idol starting this weekend. I'm definitely hooked on this show, but didn't begin watching until season 2; I'm excited to see how it all began. And, season 6 will begin in January. Wahoo!

On Friday, Jeff took me out to dinner to a restaurant I've been wanting to try for several years: Mama Stortini's. If I recall correctly, the story is they had this great Italian restaurant in Tacoma, but Tacoma wanted the space they occupied for some city buildings. So, Mama Stortini's was forced to close down & move. And they did. To Sumner. Or, Puyallup as the address says, but really, it's Sumner. Just ask me. The food was tremendous & very delicious. The service was right on (quick & accurate). The restaurant's atmosphere was beautiful (leather seats & white table cloths). The prices weren't horrible either, but I didn't have anything to compare it to; I hadn't been to the old location. I love Italian food.

After dinner, we made a quick pit stop at the local McDonald's so I could see my good ol' friend, Ms. Kohler. Boy, was I happy to see her. After a brief meeting, we headed off to Fred Meyer to find some for sale signs for Jeff's truck.

Saturday, I took Trina, Kat & Joanna to Chutney's Indian Restaurant in the Fremont area as a thank you for all their help with the wedding stuff so far. I love Indian food. After lunch, Kat had mentioned a Hawaiian store not too far away on 45th. We stopped, of course. I think we went there to check out what they had for clothes for Joanna & Trina. I found a really cute Hawaiian print dress that I'm wearing to the Luau. I'm not wearing it Go-Go style. I also picked up a Hawaiian print bag that I take on my commute to hold my book, my lunch, etc. Trina found a dress for herself there as well. And, one of the ladies who works there is a travel agent, specializing on Hawaii so we picked her brain on some stuff. Awesome. After Chutney's, it was off to Emerald City Smoothie for some cool beverages. Thanks, Kat, for the water. That was really sweet of you!!

On Sunday, Jeff's mom came over & after a quick lunch at Subway, we wallpapered the lower half of the downstairs bathroom. She got us started & I had fun finishing up. I hadn't wallpapered before. Next: buy some spray texture, paint & chair-rail from the good ol' local home improvement store.

After wallpapering the bathroom, Jeff & I drove around & looked at some houses. If you had told me a year ago that we'd be moving, I would have told you, "Oh hell no I'm not!" I'm slightly more open to the idea right now. We looked at a Quadrant Community & I wasn't turned off by the homes or the community. In fact, I really liked one of the floor plans. Unfortunately, it was just a little too outside our budget. Dang!

On Friday, I was supposed to have my monthly meeting with my boss, but after postponing it til the end of the day, I asked to postpone it again to today. Thank goodness she approved; Debbie was in a foul mood on Friday afternoon. Something about being stressed about work. So, then I started thinking more about my job. I like my job for the most part. I've been w/my company for 5 1/2 years. That's a LONG time to me. I have good benefits. I like the people I work with. And, the work itself isn't all that bad. But, I was thinking... where else could/would I go? Several weeks ago, after having an awesome experience at Subway, I thought if I had to have a 2nd job, I would work at Subway (as opposed to Blockbuster like I did several years ago. Don't get me wrong, I loved my experience at Blockbuster, but I think this time around, I'd go to Subway). More seriously, I was considering the USPS & even went to their website today to check out jobs. I'm not sure I'm ready to leave my current employer, but I think this is where I'd go... if I could get hired there. And, if I become any more unhappy, I just might actually pursue a job there. Maybe.

Today, I am thankful for:
1. Indian food
2. Italian food
3. Chinese food
4. Fast food
5. Leftovers

Picture Perfect (Michael W. Smith)

2006-09-19T20:35:00.000-07:00

Things I love about this time of the year:

1. kids go back to school
2. trees turn beautiful shades of red & orange
3. cute holiday decorations are starting to arrive in the stores
4. I don't have to shave my legs as often
5. the season premieres start up again

Already, I've watched 2 episodes of Til Death, the spinoff from Everyone Loves Raymond. I didn't watch Raymond, but this Til Death show, so far, is pretty funny I think. I can see this being one of my new regular shows.

Last night was the Monday night lineup premiere as well. I recorded & watched Two & a Half Men & How I Met Your Mother. Both shows, I started watching in the middle of last season & got right into them. How I Met Your Mother ended last season with an awful cliffhanger. I'm glad the summer went by quickly so I could find out what happened. I also recorded The New Adventures of Old Christine. The season finale last season was funny & I was really looking forward to watching the premiere. I just haven't had time yet. Maybe tonight.

Tonight, is the season premiere of one of my favorite dramas - Boston Legal. That show is very well written. I'd recommend it to anyone, even if you don't like William Shatner.

Aimee let me borrow her season 1 of Grey's Anatomy. I've already watched 1+ episode tonight. And, until I catch up with the rest of season 1 & 2, I may TiVo season 3 which starts this week. Grey's Anatomy, Lost & Desperate Housewives are shows I wish I had started watching & never did, but sound so good when people talk about them.

Tomorrow, the 7th cycle of America's Next Top Model begins it's season w/a two hour premiere. Woo! Anyone who knows me knows I love reality tv. I *think* this is the only reality tv show I'm watching right now. Well, unless you count Celebrity Duets, but that's not really "reality", is it?

I did see that the next season of The Biggest Loser is also starting up (was it tomorrow?), but I'm probably not going to watch. I watched a couple seasons ago when Suzie & Matt were on there & really enjoyed it, but when I tried watching the next season, I got bored rather quickly.

Soon, American Idol will start up again.... probably in Jan or Feb, I'm guessing. There were auditions held in Seattle today. Someone mentioned to me today that if they were younger or within the age range for American Idol, they totally would have tried out. That got me thinking...

Though I like to sing w/the radio, in the shower & in the car, I wouldn't audition for anything like that. I KNOW I don't sing at the same skill level as more "professional" singers do, therefore, I wouldn't even embarrass myself with trying out. But, if you knew someone who wasn't the best out there & they wanted to audition, would you tell them not to? Obviously, you want to be supportive, but if they think they're good & the reality is, they're not, what do you do? We've all watched those auditions shows & wonder what these people were thinking? Do they REALLY think they're that good? Why didn't their friends or family save them from the embarrassment? Maybe they don't care & just want their 15 minutes of fame at their own expense.

If I ever lose my mind & decide to do something that I REALLY shouldn't be doing, someone slap me, please & give me a reality check.

Today, I am thankful for:
1. Recycling
2. TV on DVDs
3. Apologies
4. eTools
5. Starting anew

Shock Treatment (Rocky Horror Picture Show)

2006-09-17T12:03:00.001-07:00

I LOVE shocking people. I like to say & do stuff that makes them go, "WHAT?!?!!?" I like seeing the reactions on their faces when they realize I'm not who they 'thought' I was. For example, 3 weeks ago, I got a tattoo of a palm tree on the back of my right shoulder. When I told folks, I got a lot of comments like, "where's the Jenn I know? She wouldn't do that." Well, actually I would. And, I did. I've actually wanted a tattoo since I was about 18 or so. I even drew one that I wanted... but I never got it. It was one of those where when I actually thought about getting it done, I didn't have the money and when I had the money, getting a tattoo was the last thing on my mind. Then, I got engaged & asked Jeff if he wanted to get matching tat's in HI & he said sure, but then while I kept thinking about it, I decided what I wanted & he changed his mind & opted out. No worries.

At my bridal shower yesterday, I did a little shocking too. The first shock came when I announced that Jeff got a new truck. Why is this shocking? Well, this is his 14th vehicle he's owned & the 2nd one he's owned this year. It's funny the reactions people have at stuff like this. People don't know this, but our finances aren't 100% combined. They think that somehow his vehicle buying habit affects me somehow. It doesn't. As long as he's okay with the payment & the vehicle he's driving, I don't mind. He says, however, this is the car for him & that he's done trading. If I'm being pefectly honest here, I'm going to say, "yeah, right. I'll believe it when I see it."

My second shocker at the shower was announcing my tattoo to folks. Well, really the only people I was shocking on that one was my dad's girlfriend, Helyn & Jeff's sister, Erin. I think I mentioned to Helyn a week or two prior to me getting it that I was really thinking about getting one, but she didn't think I would go through with it.

One past shock was a biggie that hurt someone's feelings. We announced our engagement to our circle of friends via a forum/website that this group uses, a few days after it happened, so they could all read about it at the same time. We didn't intend to dissappoint anyone by doing it that way, but that's the way we chose to do it. Would we do it again that way? Probably. Am I sorry this person got hurt in the process? Of course I am. I don't feel our friendship has been the same ever since & that saddens me. However, what's done is done & I can't change the past. I can only hope this person knows it wasn't meant to be malicious & they can be forgiving of the situation.

So, yesterday was my bridal shower & I had a great time. There was a ton of people there & they were all there to see ME! Who knew I had so many friends who cared about me? I have to say, though, that it really kinda freaks me out to have so many people in one spot, talking about different things & I can't focus on any one set of friends (I go into sensory overload!). When we were originally planning the bridal shower, we were going to have two - one for the "older/family" folks & one for the "younger/friends" folks. But, after talking it over, we decided that we could just do one party because not everyone was going to show up, first of all, but also, it would just be easier to stick it out & get it over with. This way, too, we'd only have to do one cake, one set of food, one set of games. And, the day would be over in 3 hours instead of dragging it on ALL DAY LONG.

Yesterday, was also Jeff's bachelor party day. It was killing me to know what they were doing. Jeff didn't know & Steve wouldn't tell me. Found out they were probably going to play cards & go to the driving range. And drink. Lots. As it turned out, they didn't go to the driving range, but played 72 holes of miniature golf, which Jeff said he would NEVER do again; it lasted 6+ hours. They also went & played cards at David's house. Jeff said they learned a new card game from Steve that was a lot of fun. Oh, and they drank. Lots. He got home around 5am! What a night, I'd say!!

And, since I knew my bridal shower wasn't going to last much past 2:00, I had asked Trina if she wanted to see The Devil Wears Prada later on. She said yes, but that left a lot of time after the shower so... After cleaning up, Joanna, Kat, Trina & I went & had a manicures & pedicures done. Then, it was off to dinner at a cafe in the West Seattle Junction before going to the Admiral Theater (where all seats for all shows is just $5. By the way, this USED to be the $2 theater). After this busy day, I NEEDED to unwind. Kat, Trina & I headed back to Auburn to unload the car with all the wonderful gifts & then we went to the Rock for some drinkies. They were done after less than one VERY strong drink & I had me a mai tai & margarita. Yummm.

Today, I am thankful for:
1. Grinders
2. Gift registries
3. Dishwashers
4. Forgiveness
5. Friendship

I took myself to the fair in town (Martina McBride)

2006-09-14T22:22:00.000-07:00

Today, Jeff & I went to the Puyallup Fair. It was awesome. Then, we sat down to eat our buffalo burgers & it starts sprinkling a little. Not too much, but enough to be a little annoying. So, we head back in & pick up our knife set that we bought earlier & head out to the car to grab our jackets. And, it stops raining. Figures. But, once the Train concert started up, it started raining. And raining. And raining some more. And then it really starts to rain harder. And, we were soaked along with everyone else. It was awesome. But we didn't leave early. And most others didn't leave early either.

Jess was right; Train puts on a really good show. I don't know all their songs (just what is played on the radio), but I really enjoyed the concert. They played a good mix of the "radio" songs & the "other" ones too. If/when they come back to the Seattle area, I will be buying a ticket to that show.

Prior to the fair, I had to go up to Lady Margaret's Boutique to get fitted for my dress. Who knew that losing weight would mean I would get to swim in my dress. The seamstress is shortening the straps & taking it in quite a bit on top. She also suggested getting something to hide my "gut" a little better, but I don't think I will. The dress is made of such a sheer material, that I don't want to risk being able to see any lines, creases, or seams from such an undergarment. Besides, I've got a month... maybe I can just do a butt-ton of crunches & other abdominal exercises to minimize my gut. That, or I'll just continuously suck it in.

I have to give a BIG thank you to Trina who brought me her shoes she wore on her wedding day even though I was positive my land yachts wouldn't fit in them, but they do. And, even more incredible, they match the dress color perfectly. Yay!! Thank You. Thank You. Thank You. Now, on to jewelry...

Today, I am thankful for:
1. Train
2. Train
3. Train
4. Train
5. Train