Day 275- Fred Meyer's = circle of hell reserved for off-kilter serial killers/idiots.

Dropped by the bank. Had BBQ with Jim.

Steve dropped by and helped me clean out the garage. Also dropped by Fred Meyer (where the cashier could not understand how to scan in a coupon) and exchanged my plastic bins for smaller ones.

Packed for dogsitting.

Read more Story of Forgetting and felt smug.

Day 274- The squeels of teenage girls sound exactly like squabling seagulls

Met up with Paul at The Stop. Had dinner at Applebee's (just checking, still hate it). Did some shopping at Target and Cost Plus. Got some neat Halloween stuff. I love Halloween!

Dropped back by The Stop and convinced George to come over and watch Wipeout. Went home and watched Wipeout and finished off the season of Weeds.

Read more Story of Forgetting. (While listening to the game in the field next door.)

Aside from work, life is improving. (That sounded less positive than I had intended.)

Day 273- Fun, Fun, Fun!

Went to the Children's Hospital celebration/concert/new name and logo unveiling. It was really great. Bonnie scored the tickets through her office and invited me to join them to see the Beach Boys. I invited Diane and we had a great time. The Beach Boys were great and adorable.

Read more Story of Forgetting.

Day 272- Leaving early makes work better.

Ran down to Gene Juarez to get my forgotten earring. Did some shopping for various birthdays at Northgate Mall.

Had dinner at Jai Thai with Angie to celebrate her first day at her new job. She seemed well.

Came home and watched some TV.

Read more Story of Forgetting.

Day 271- Recovery.

Puttered around the house.

Had dinner with Dan, Katie, Steve, Eric, and Mebbie.

Slept well.

Day 270- Bosom-rific Party!

Met Mebbie for a blow out at Gene Juarez school. ($8!) Forgot my earring there.

Ran back to the hotel and frantically prepared. Drove Mon's grandparents to the church and handled the florist.

Tied bows to the candles and watched the photographers snap away.

Walked with Rachel, Jackie, and Scott to Plaid Pantry for Gardetto's, sour gummi worms, and Dr. Pepper (i.e. "breakfast").

Sat with Dan and Katie. The ceremony was brief and very pretty.

Took off out of there with Mebs and rushed to the reception site and got the guest book materials prepared. Had a nice time.

Cleaned up and Mebbie I headed through terrible traffic to Yummy House for dinner with Dani and Keely. Got back to my car and headed up to Paul's 40th Jamboree. Rode along with some folk to get Rock Band 2 from Wal-mart. No luck.

Had cake and nearly napped while Deuce shot stuff on the X-Box.

Came home and immediately passed out. bosom

Day 269- Enjoy your fungi ladies!

Left work early and met up with the girls in the U District to get manicures with Mon and the wedding party. The place was a dump and I refused to get my toes done in those yucky wells with the yucky tools.

Snagged Mebbie and did some shopping at Alderwood Mall. Got my hair cut. I was happy.

Picked up cupcakes at Trophy. Delicious.

Dropped Mebbie off and returned home to frantically prepare for the wedding.

Day 268- Two millimeters from the edge and counting.

Dealt with more BS at work and am becoming increasingly frustrated.

Had dinner at CPK in Northgate with the family for Jessica's birthday. It was nice.

Ran home and Jim and I set out for The Spotted Cow in Everett to get Paul some birthday ice cream.

Chatted a little while.

Came home and tidied, put away laundry, and got prepared for the weekend.

Read some comics.

Day 267 - So tired.

Blew off water aerobics. Dropped by the comic book store, then Best Buy (to buy presents for Jess and Mariah) and picked up two new CDs (The Gossip & Cold War Kids).

Wrapped presents and got out cards and signed them while watching Mystery!. Worked on some affidavits for work while watching Primeval.

Watched episode 3 of John Adams with Jim and started to snooze towards the end.

Attempted a few more pages of The Story of Forgetting.

Day 266- Like a spent tube of toothpaste.

Went into work extra early for irritating meeting.

Dealt with whiners all damn day.

Had dinner at Tona's with the Grandparents.

Dropped a walker off at Mon's for her grandpa to use at her wedding Saturday.

Cleaned paint nonsense out of the tub and watched TV with Jim.

Day 265- I'm going to burn this whole place down. Mostly Kidding.

All broke loose at work while I was gone and I told my boss I was going to quite and then burn the whole damn place down. Nobody ever believes my threats. I should work on being more menacing.

Steve wrecked his car and was murr. So we were then both murr.

Had dinner with Steve and Addy. Returned home and chatted with Jim. Steve and Addy left and we caught a disk of Weeds.

Read more of The Story of Forgetting.

Day 264

Made a huge mess shutting the window and breaking a drinking glass in a mousetrap-esque crazy chain reaction.

Cleaned up bathroom somewhat. Vacuumed up the broken glass. Cleaned hurriedly.

Had lunch with dad and Marilyn at Ipanema. Walked around down town and the market. They bought me a nice handbag and expensive perfume about which I had very mixed feelings.

Had a pretty good time, considering.

Went to family Sunday dinner (Freezer dinner night). Paul dropped huckleberries by and joined us for dinner.

Watched some TV and read more of The Story of Forgetting. Very poetically written, but not engrossing as of yet.

Day 263

Helped Jim paint his room and finished off the bathroom.

Grabbed a grinder and headed over to Dan and Katie's. Watched the kids while they were out. Played with play-doh, pretended to be puppies, played Cheater, then Matt went to bed. Emma and I read and then she went to bed too.

Watched 48 hours mystery after I finished Gang Leader for a Day and Entertainment Weekly. So stupid; watching true crime at night in strange houses.

Dan and Katie came home early and we got to chatting till quite late.

Went home and started The Story of Forgetting.

Day 262

Dropped Mon at the hair-dresser's and went to Amber's place. Checked out her art and then walked over to her school. It was pretty neat.

While Amber was in class I went to Starbucks and read Gang Leader for a Day on the patio and had a cinnamon roll. It was very nice out.

Went to 23rd and did some shopping. Bought stationary. Had chocolates at Moonstruck and Reuben sandwiches at Kornblatt's. Drove back to her place through historic neighborhoods. I should go back down again while the weather is good and do some sight seeing.

Fought traffic out to Multnomah Falls. Had a nice dinner with Monica and Fran. Headed back to Seattle. Dropped off Mon.

Came home and crashed.

I felt very murrrrr today.

Day 261

Picked up Monica in terrible traffic and raced down to Portland to have her final bridal gown fitting. Went pretty well.

Did some shopping (bought adorable undies).

Went by Jen's classroom, which was adorable. Left Mon with Jen.

Met dad, Marilyn, and Marilyn's step mother for dinner at The Stagecoach Saloon. It was interesting. Trooped all over hell and gone with Marilyn's extremely intoxicated mother. Eventually took Dad and Marilyn to the airport so they could rent a car and not stay with Marilyn's extremely intoxicated step mother.

Picked up Mon and headed to Fran's.

Read more Gang Leader for a Day.

Felt sorry for self.

Day 260

Very busy day at work. Of course there is a crisis right before I'm taking some time off. This is how this works.

Came home and packed. Painted a lot more of the bathroom.

Read more Gang Leader for a Day.

Day 259

Busy day at work preparing to be down in Portland Thursday and Friday. Picked up my new orthodics.

Worked on painting the bathroom. Had teriyaki with Addy and Jim and watched the first disk of the first season of Mad Men. So good!

Read more Gang Leader for a Day.

Today was busy but good.

Day 258

Packed up from dog-sitting and returned home to get more painting done. Hung out with Czabrina, went shopping and had dinner at Nordstrom Cafe.

Have to sleep on couch due to paint fumes. Not thrilled.

Watched some TV with Jim.

Started reading Gang Leader for a Day. Very good.

Day 257

Went to the Evergreen State Fair with Ferretnick and Hotness. Had a great time and a LOT of fried food. Bought nifty lotion.

Had dinner with Angie at Ixtapa. I'm pitiful and miss her already and it hasn't even been one work day yet.

Watched Psych at the dog-sitting house.

Got a little more painting in.

Finished Pillars of the Earth.

Day 256

Woke up nice and early and bought paint. Got first and some second coats on some of the walls. painting is stinky and exhausting, more so when it is your walls being painted.

Read more Pillars of the Earth. Finally picking up storywise.

Day 255

Very busy day. Moved into Gargoyle Toe's cube. Missed my appt to pick up my orthotics. Started dog sitting for Riley and Sammi, and ran home to let them out before joining the girls at Claim Jumper to celebrate Angie's last day at work. Relaxed at dogsitting house.

Read more Pillars of the Earth.

Day 254

Gargoyle Toe's last day. Pretty busy at work and I was stoked to get out of there, especially with GT being weirdly emotional.

Read more Pillars.

Day 253

Went to work early to help out with a project. Left early.

Read more Pillars. Read some comics.

Day 252

Dropped by The Stop. Had dinner with Paul and Jim at Billy McHales. Had a nice conversation after with Paul.

Watched some TV. Read more Pillars of the Earth.

Day 251

I have no idea what I did this day.... If I was hanging out with you, let me know. Sorry about the sucking and whatnot.

Day 250

Ran around collecting things for Gargoyle Toe's retirement shindig. Attended shindig. Made small talk and felt very mature.

Came home and witnessed a hit and run. Then chased down the runner and turned her in to the police like the stool pigeon I am.

Laid around exhaustedly and watched TV.

Had an annoying conversation with Grandma in which there was much repetition and no excitement about my Kitchen Aid. *sigh*

Watched Dexter and the season finale of Venture Bros. [Hey, make more episodes so I can have a story arc. A whole one. KTHX]

Read more Pillars of the Earth. Guess what. The bad things in the book, there are now more of those type things. This is the most depressing book ever. It would be cool if a good thing would happen. Please. I'll finish this because Stephanie said it was good. But isn't real life dismal enough?

Day 249

Cleaned house. Drove Rachel out to Mon’s in-laws for her bridal shower, which was only sort of awful.

Dropped by Everett Mall then went to my awesome b-day BBQ. Had pizza instead of BBQ. The Jasons, Paul, Jim, George, 2.0 + new lady, Todd + Stephanie, Tom + Hotness, the Columbo’s, and Rachel in attendance. I got a host of awesome stuff including a musical toothbrush and a new Kitchen Aid stand mixer. Was very shocked at the awesomeness of the Kitchen Aid. Almost speechless.

Read more Pillars of the Earth. Stayed up way too late.

Today was very damp, but pretty much awesome.

Day 248

Made breakfast with Jim. Jim and I picked up Sean and the Jasons and helped Paul move his stuff back into the house. Had lunch at Roundtable.

Dropped Sean off. Tidied the house. Jim and I went out shopping and he bought a nice bedroom set.

Picked up Czar and went to game night at The Stop and saw the debut of Kirby Krackle.

Dropped Czar off at home.

Day 247

Had lunch with Mon, Katie, and the kids.

Frosted the cake in a hurry and scurried to Kieran's b-day BBQ at Lynn's. Lynn, Michael, Diane, Kevin, Angie, Melody, Jack, and Leni in attendance.

Picked up Jim and went game night at the Sluss' with Steve and Addy. Very nice.

Today was busy but good.

Day 246

Baked a yellow cake with blueberries for Kieran’s b-day BBQ.

Splashed around in water aerobics with Jill and Sheena.

Attempted to tidy.

Read comics.

Day 245

Returned bin to Freddy's and got new bins. Ran by Target to buy Mon's wedding presents. Stopped in at The Stop to say hey and ended having dinner with Jim and Paul.

Came home and destroyed the damn house by trying to go through my stuff and get rid of things/put them in plastic bins for storage. Watched Primeval and Dexter with Jim.

Read more Pillars of the Earth.

Day 244

Fetched Czabrina and went to Brix for dinner and cocktails. We went to Fred Meyer to find printer paper and found that plastic bins were on sale. Had a run-in with a crazy.

Went to Staples for paper, then over to Café Ladro for coffee and cookies.

Back to Czabrina’s to chat.

Made a huge mess of my room, then went to bed feeling ill. Reflux was out of control and made it impossible to sleep.

Day 243

Super hard to get out of bed an hour early. Helped with a huge meeting. Pulled a muscle in my ass. This was not good.

Steve fetched me from home and we had dinner at Zak’s in Ballard, and then had coffee and cupcakes at Cupcake Royale. Very sad to learn Sweet Posie’s hours have become even more stupid.

Helped Steve with his haircut and checked in on Addy.

Watched Primeval with Jim. I am on the fence about this show.

Ridiculous heartburn today. My own stupid fault.

Day 242

Packed up and left the dogsitting house. Returned home and ate a big breakfast. Watched TMNT:FF, DS, CR, and a British mystery. Made dark chocolate raspberry ice cream (from The Perfect Scoop.) Delicious but very rich.

Had pasta at FSD, all present and Frank was over as well. Came home and watched John Adams with Jim and had ice cream

Stayed up far too late reading Pillars of the Earth.

Day 241

Got up early and met Kim down at the farmers market in Edmonds. She showed me my birthday present, a Dalek cross stitch. Genius. Bought berries and cherries. Dropped in at Starbucks and headed home to make blueberry buttermilk pancakes with Jim. Froze the remaining berries.

Watched TV and finished The Red Paperclip.

Blew off my tenth HS reunion, because I'm a jerk.

Had dinner and went to bed. Read more Pillars of the Earth.

Day 240

Met up with Melody for a super pj fun night. Rented In Bruges (good, but could have liked more funny) and dropped in at the liquor store. Bought tequila, blueberry vodka, and Starbucks liquer (all in mini bottles). Was tempted by, but ultimately did not buy any Patron. Had dinner at a Chinese place in Woodway. It was pretty good.

Watched the movie and drank heavily. FYI- Blueberry vodka is delicious.

At 11:30 two ambulances pulled up next door to the dogsitting house. I was worried and they did ultimately take someone away. Without their lights and with no urgency. This seemed ominous.

Pretty much a nice way to end the week. (Let the dog sleep on the bed tho, and in hindsight this was a mistake. Oh well. Having one's spleen trampled is not the worst fate.)

Day 239

Watched Colbert Report and Daily Show whilst sipping delicious strawberry Crush.

Checked my slug traps. It was a blood (slime?) bath. GROSS.

Ran to Alderwood Mall with the roomy to check out some furniture and dropped in at Coach for some leather cleaner and conditioner. (Guess what I’m doing this weekend! Good times.)

Also went to Cost Plus (bought candy) then Target for new plastic bins. I only need ohhhhhhh, 8 or 9 more.

Checked in on George at The Stop to pick up Walking Dead. SO GOOD.

Had yummy Ixtapa for dinner.

Repacked my crafting boxes and secret gift stash box into bins. Chatted with Paul. Watched a few more episodes of Californacation. Which has me actually giving a damn. I am very excited to watch the last 2 episodes of the season.

Read more Red Paperclip yadda yadda. Really intend to finish it tonight, Saturday at the latest and then get back to Pillars of the Earth, which was also starting to warm up nicely.

Day 238

Ran to Walgreens (didn't have what I wanted), then Safeway (made a huge mess), Joann's (alienated an elderly lady). Then blew off going to the comic book store as I was too scared to put my friends in danger by lurking about with my bad ju ju.

Watched Daily Show/Colbert Report (Mostly. Getting tired of the campaign that will not die.) then sewed up the Plush bean bag chair liner while watching Californication (which took a while to get interesting. It was all Mulder banging chicks for like 4 episodes before something happened of interest.)

Forgot to mention that I started reading One Red Paperclip yesterday and read some more today. It is fine. I hope to finish it tomorrow and return it to my aunt so I can complete the numerous books in my to read pile.

Spoke with Mother and it looks like Canada says she's eh O.K. to become a citizen next month. Very exciting. (That pun would be more awesome if more than 3 people read this blog. Three readers: that joke was for you. My gift. Free of charge.)

Day 237

Watched the Daily Show and Colbert Report. Went to the Seattle Premium Outlet Stores with Jim, Jason, and Deuce. Picked up some Barefoot Contessa coconut cake mix and a gift for someone else. Had snacks at Bob's.

Read and crashed.

Day 236

Scarfed leftovers and watched Venture Bros.

Met with Jeremy, Andrew, Andy, Jennifer and Chris at DBS. (Apparently 80’s Night.)

Chatted with the roommate and crashed.

Day 235

Had cinnamon rolls for breakfast then headed over to Ballard for some shopping. Had lunch at Snoose Junction with Czar, Czabrina, and Ron. (Snoose Junction took forever and their pizza was not very good.)

Ran to the grocery store to load up on Swedish Fish, Pop Tarts and PB Captain Crunch for Mom.

Had Auntie and Mel’s Birthday celebration (with pot roast and ice cream cake). Played a few games.

Read more Pillars of the Earth.

Day 234

After a frustrating phone conversation I met with Mom and Grandma at Café Ladro in Bothell and then Mom and I drove out to La Conner. We had lunch at Calico Cupboard (and picked up cinnamon rolls for later) and then went shopping in town. I picked up a few gifts and we made it back to the car before it started raining.

Ran over to Alderwood Mall and looked for a new skirt for Mom, but her heart wasn’t in it so we returned home.

Later we met with Steve and Addy for dinner at Taste of India. Afterwards Mom and I watched Broken Flowers, which was very good.

Day 233

Went shopping with Jim and had dinner at Spaghetti Factory. (Yay spumoni!)

Found a new tower entertainment center-y thing and watched Jim put it together. Finished up Ultraviolet (the BBC series, which should have been a long running series, darn it).

Read some comics.

Day 232

Had to work at the branch office stupid early this morning. Stupid working in the field.

Met up with Steve and ran around looking for Halloween costumes and birthday gifts and didn't have a ton of luck.

We had really great dinner at Las Margaritas, then sat around at Richmond Beach. Finally we went back to visit with Addy and had root beer floats with Falanna and the kids.

Read some comics.

Today was a good day.

Day 231

Left work a tad early and picked Czar up for a comic book adventure. Met up with a bunch of folks at The Stop. Had dinner with Ferretnick, Hotness, Jim, Czar and George at Red Robin. Ron and Czabrina met us there and everyone came back to our place to chat and whatnot.

Read some comics.

Day 230

Picked up Sean and did some shopping for presents. Had Panda. Watched some TV. Read more Pillars of the Earth.

Today was a good day.

Day 229

Work at branch office at 7:20. Not so much with the fun. Especially since I got no sleep on account of how comfortable my bed is. Oh bed, bed, bed, bed, bed. And yet no sleep.

Came home and watched some TV. Read more Pillars of the Earth.

Day 228

4:30 am, a squirrel attacked my uncle. Delicious revenge.

Drove home and mostly slept.

Went with Mel and Jess to pick up Thai. Ate Thai with the fam. Returned home for laundry and TV.

Day 227

Got up at the ass crack of dawn to drive 3 hours (one of which was on a dangerous unpaved curvy cliff side road) to go on a jet boat trip. Auntie has nerves of steel.

Jet Boat Trip Summary:

Eavesdropped on moron ranger who knows nothing, while waiting for the very late boat.

Sat on nice boat and saw bald eagles and mountain goats.

Had delicious lunch.

Got on other boat.

Passed wreck of other boat.

Saw dam.

Started really cold raining.

Then hailing.

Thought angry ungrateful thoughts.

Went through very cold rapids.

More mean thoughts.

Drove to Dog Bark Park Hotel.

Drove back to Hells Gate State Park.

Shorter Summary:

It was Hell's Gate.

Had pizza.

Read more Pillars of the Earth.

Day 226

Brad's back went out, so the rest of us took a beautiful scenic drive out to the Emerald Creek Garnet Area. We traveled up and up and up and entered what is called the Palouse. It was like finding the Teletubby land there at the top of the world. It was gorgeous. If you have to live up at 7% grade 25 mile road in BFE nowhere, at least you can leave in verdant weirdly regularly hilled countryside. But I don't think that they have a grocery store.

We dug buckets of dirt and screened them for star garnets, and I found a few. It was kind of crowded and pretty hot. And full of rednecks. Anyway, we had lunch at the campground and Auntie was so excited at the old water pump.

On the way home we stopped at a produce store in Moscow for ice cream. I had blackberry swirl and it was AMAZING. Best ice cream of the trip.

Played board games and made a weird photo tableau with my Santos.

Started Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follet. It is pretty good so far.

Day 225

Had breakfast at Waffles and More with everyone. It was pretty good. Afterwards Auntie had an official quiz from the audio guide and Brad and Grandpa won (makes sense since, as drivers, they are not allowed to sleep on the drive). Grandma, Roy, and Olivia left (semi-huffily, one day early).

Auntie and I went to do laundry. We lost 3 socks but got yummy frozen yogurt. Then we looked around for the movie theater and found Shopko. It was exciting because they had Santos, small plastic saints in eggs from the quarter machines (now fifty cents, thanks inflation). I got a pope and monk. Go team pope!

Watched Pitch Black and finished I Capture the Castle.

Day 224

Melanie's Birthday

Spent most of the day traveling. Traveled to Hells Gate State Park in Lewiston. Very pretty ride along side the river, tracing the Lewis and Clark Expedition's trail. Auntie set up us with a nice audio guide to central Idaho. Mostly I slept though it.

Read some I Capture the Castle and played boardgames.

Day 223

Drove out to Gem Mountain to pan for sapphires. It was really fun. With Sturgis being so close there were quite a few bikers and I of course got to chatting with a couple. They told me about where all the good rock hunts are.

I found a good number of sapphires including a rare red sapphire and a somewhat sizable cuttable flawless sapphire.

Afterwards we loaded up and headed to Phillipsburg to have lunch at an old fashioned soda fountain where I tried a cherry phosphate, which was sour and delicious, and a so-so pasty.

We took a stroll around town and I bought some candy at the Candy Palace. Grandma bought some antiques. Then we got some ice cream. I got “Moose Moss” which was mint with a fudge ribbon and mint chocolate cups. Phillipsburg was adorable. If I had to live in BFE nowhere that would be a nice little place.

Played some games and read more I Capture the Castle.

Day 222

Woke up early and drove out to Bannack State Park to hunt for quartz crystals at Crystal Park.

The ride was gorgeous but it was ridiculously hot. Crystal Park was really odd with numerous holes of varying sizes all around. I mostly worked in a large hole in the shade with Auntie. After a while she got up to run to the restroom. As I dug I felt someone sneak up behind me ruu their fingers up my back as though it was an enormous spider. Knowing it was Sean I refused to turn around. Then the skittering sensation traveled up my back and off of my tank top and onto my bare flesh. Suddenly I realized that Sean's hands are bigger and don't have tiny claws. I reared up in fright and a squirrel (chipmunk??) came running off of my back and off into the brush. I am now convinced that I have hantavirus. Or maybe monkeypox, only time will tell. Or perhaps I have Squirrel Back. Ok, fine. I made that one up.

Started I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith. Absolutely charming.

Day 221

Spent most of the day driving into Montana from BC. The border guards took my grandma's prized houseplant. (teehee) The scenery was gorgeous. I forgot how beautiful parts of Montana are.

Finished What is the What.

Day 220

Woke up early and headed out to Rock Candy Mountain for a Rock Candy Safari. I made the error of riding out on the cliff side path with my grandfather who has ADD and basically almost got us all killed. Her ran off the road twice. My life, short and mostly filled with cake flashed before my eyes.

We took a fairly lengthy path up to the mine and it was pretty exhausting. While there I dug for Fluorite, Barite, and more. I got some very lovely samples, some for display and some for jewelry making.

Afterwards Auntie and I dropped everyone off and headed to the laundry. We did some laundry and snuck over to get homemade ice cream across the street. I had coffee flavor and it was good.

Read more What is the What. Played some boardgames.

Day 219

Got up early and snuck down to Winthrop for breakfast with my Uncle and Grandpa. Delicious. Picked up fresh baked cinnamon rolls for the others.

Loaded up the car and traveled to Republic to dig for nifty fossils. It was very hot, but we all found at least one good fossil. I found two different kinds of leaves.

Set out for Grand Forks, BC. At the border the guards seized from my grandparents:

Tomatoes

Lettuce

Peaches

1 50 pound (?) bag of dog food

2 garbage bags of dog food

Some beef.

I know I shouldn’t laugh, but my grandmother’s righteous indignation= hilarious.

Set up camp and headed to the hotel to enjoy their “world famous borscht”. I have no idea why this was famous. Perhaps famous for being bland. I also had some so-so perogies.

Started What is the What by Dave Eggers which is very very good.

Day 218

My face hurts.

Got up early and picked up McDonald’s breakfast for the fam. Loaded up the RV and headed out. Met up with Grandparents and cousins (who were 2- TWO- hours late, who does that?) in Marysville and I switched RVs to ride up the dusty trail to Pearrgyn Lake which is essentially in ass-nowhere central Washington. Along the way we stopped in a few scenic locals and hiked around.

After dinner and cake (Lemon Cake!) at the lake Grandma, Auntie, Olivia, and I traveled back into the little tourist town of Winthrop to do a little sight-seeing and shopping.

Day 217

Went to work. It sucked and my face hurt.

Ran errands, including comic shopping and completion of packing.

Watched some TV.

Day 216

Woke up at 5:30 to get ready for 7 am root canal. Thought there would be traffic so I left an hour to get there but it took about 15 minutes, so I sat at Starbucks and read National Geographic. Had a root canal… for THREE HOURS. Apparently my tooth roots grow sort of together at the end, like a “Y” and that is a problem.

Took a bunch of ibuprofen and watched trash tv in my nest while tearing recipes out of back issues of Bon Appétit and Gourmet. Read comics and napped. Read Bigfoot; I Not Dead.

Beau dropped by to see Jim.

Had DQ with Jim, then watched the new Batman animation movie thing. Very good. Then watched Wanna Bet (shrug), Wipeout, and I Survived a Japanese Gameshow.

Felt sorry for me. Read comics, fell asleep.

My face hurts. Today sucks.

Day 215

Had combo birthday lunch with Lynn at Chantrelle’s.

Ran to Walgreen’s and the bank. Came home and made dinner and hideously burned my hand. Laid down in bed with ice-back, took ibuprofen for the headache I’d had all damn day and promptly feel asleep. It was 7 pm.

Woke up at 11 and brushed my teeth and turned out the light.

Day 214

Fed the dog and hustled down to Chris’ place. Picked up Jen and her friend Steve and went to the Microsoft Company Picnic. It was really fun. We ate lots of good food and enjoyed watching the many many children going nuts for pony rides and giant inflatable toys. Steve taught a little boy to golf (adorable) and Jen had an epic squirt gun battle while the boys played volley ball. We also played bingo and Jen won, then I won too.

It was a really nice picnic.

After that I went to my uncle’s for FSD- Birthday edition. Had chicken parm and salmon and of course a DQ cake. (yay!) Then we opened presents and I got really neat kitchen utensils from my auntie and uncle and the neatest mouse from my cousins.

The girls went home and then we watched Persepolis. It was pretty good.

Returned home and puttered then watched Venture Bros. and Best Week Ever.

Very good day. Except I got sunburned. Which did not hurt, but is irritating.

Day 213

Cleaned up my dogsitting house and took the dog on a pretty good walk. Returned to my place to do laundry and start packing. Visited with the roommate.

Returned to the dogsitting house and had one last lengthy walk with Theo. Then I had to meet Angie to swap out some dogsitting keys, and so we met at DQ. I invited Paul to join since he loves DQ. He and I had treats then fed my other dogsitting dog. Afterwards we ran up to Everett Mall to visit with George and watch Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog (which was stunning). Had a quick bite then I ran to the airport to fetch Lynn. I pulled up just has she got outside, which was quite lucky as traffic was a mess.

Dropped Lynn off at her place, returned to dogsitting house and read some NG.

Day 212

Fed and walked the dog, then headed home to prepare for The Dark Knight’s 12 am IMAX showing. Drove down to Seattle Center with Paul, George, Mel and Jim. Found great parking and arrived at the line to find that Jim and Jason were first in line. Hung out for a while and got great seats. The IMAX experience was great, but I couldn’t help but feel that it detracted from the movie. Which was also long. But I liked it.

Read and crashed out near to 4 am.

Day 211

Addy had an appointment at my office this morning and met me at the door with presents.

I got presents periodically throughout the day, which greatly improved work. I got some fantastic books and a Big Beef action figure.

Had lunch at the good Greek place with my boss.

After work I fed and walked the dog and tended to the plants.

Then I met with Jim, Steve, Kim, Dan, Katie, Czar, Ron, Czabrina, Addy, Jeannine, Mike and Andy at Grinders. Afterwards we retired to Scott’s for cocktails. Steve got me a cookie cutter in the shape of the classic Starship Enterprise.

We finished up pretty early so my roommate and I caught Best Week Ever and Venture Bros before I returned to the dogsitting house.

I spoke with Brad, Mom, Grandma and Grandpa, Monica, and Mebbie.

Today was a magnificent day.

Day 210

After work, fed and walked the dog.

Had my first water aerobics class with Sheena. She brought her friend Jill who was really cool. I really enjoyed the class and our instructors were adorable high school students. Could not stop laughing.

Went home and showered and watched TV with the roommate.

Today was a very satisfying day.

Day 209

Spent the majority of the day shopping at various random stores. Jim was successful in his shopping as was I.

I bought:

Tuxedo style Kangaroos for $20 bucks.

Green Lodis Bubble Clutch for half price.

Bright orange wool coat for $34. (Which is much nicer than the orange pea coat I had been contemplating at the thrift store for nearly the same price.)

Deep turquoise shirt.

Then we met up with Joe and Suze (now officially nick-named- with a Z!) at the Emerald Queen Casino to try out for (them, not me. I’m a wuss.) Wheel of Fortune. Don’t think that they made it, but there is still a chance. Had a tasty dinner at Harmon’s (?) local pub.

Called my mother and had painful convo.

Read comics.

Day 208

Extreme gastrointestinal distress all morning and got NOTHING accomplished at work.

Felt somewhat better in the afternoon and met with Monica and her florist to discuss wedding arrangements.

Ran to the store for Pepto and was perversely tempted by a TJ’s Vegetarian pizza. Downed the whole pizza. (Not as impressive as it sounds.)

Watched reruns of ST:TNG on TV while napping periodically and feeling sorry for myself.

Day 207

Met up with Grandma and Brad at his place. Had an awkward family meeting.

Went down to Shoreline for Great Great Uncle Dewey’s 80^th Birthday. It was good.

Brad and I then watched Theremin (so-so, but interesting biography of the inventor of the electronic instrument) and The Air I Breathe (great film in 4 vignettes, very effecting).

At some point during the few hours I was away from the house, one of the kitties I’m sitting scratched the hell out of the recliner in the family room. This is very annoying as they had full bowls of food and water and a clean litter box. (Note: this is why I do not own cats. Also no butt cheeks. Gross.)

Also there was a spider inside the dishwasher. Spider INSIDE THE DISHWASHER. This phenomenon of spiders in household appliances is very upsetting.

Read more comics.

Day 206

Had breakfast with Jim at Voula’s. Helped Paul finish his walls. His parents, Jason, Jim, and Brad all showed up and pitched in.

Had dinner with Paul then caught Hellboy 2 with a bunch of Comic Stop folks. Diane and Kevin serendipitously showed up too. Hellboy was great!

Read more comics.

Day 205

Fed and walked the dog, met with George and Jim at our place and fetched 2.0. Met Elwood at Serious Pie, but walked down to an Italian place instead.

Watched the Sub-Pop Comedy show. There were several comedians there, but Patton Oswalt was far and away the funniest. Eugene Mirman was also there and very funny (especially extemporaneously) but most of his material I had heard before.

Read comics.

Day 204

Took the dog on a long long walk. He was feeling overly energetic and sniffing every little thing and dragging me all over.

Went down to Rialto in Fremont for Czabrina/Czarina’s birthday dinner. Had a very nice time. Czabrina gave me an early gift of lovely ear rings and I Captured the Castle, which I have been meaning to read for some time.

Read a few more comics.

Talked to Steve.

Day 203

Ran to my place to do some tidying. Visited with the roomy.

Walked the dog and watered then headed over to my uncles house for pasta and weird autobiographical art house films about crazy people.

Read some more random comics.

Day 202

Walked the dog. Came home and made biscuits and chicken fried steak for dinner. Watched a bunch of TV with the roommate. (Venture Bros, Best Week Ever, Wipeout, Robot Chicken, and I Survived a Japanese Game Show.) The roommate bought and installed a ridiculous fancy microwave. Robots will take over the Earth, it is certain.

My vegetables are all sprouting and I’m pleased as punch. Soon there will be all manner of delicious things to eat. Yay!

Day 201

Walked the dog. Ran to Ballard with Steve to check out Sweet Posie’s famous red velvet cupcakes, but they were closed. So we hoofed it over to Cupcake Royale instead.

Picked up chow on the way and headed home to BBQ. Delicious. It was nice to see Addy.

Returned to Theo's and read some comics from my Bermuda Triangle style pile.

Day 200

Woke up in extreme arm pain. Dog walking was a bit uncomfortable.

Had breakfast at Julia’s in Cap Hill with Josh and then dropped in at the aquarium to see the remodel. (Very pretty but not very useful/interesting.) Had some time on our hands still so we headed up to SAM to check out the Impressionists collection. Pretty good. I’m not much of a Monet fan, but they had some good stuff (including Degas, one of my favorites.)

Had ice cream.

Watered the plants and walked the dog.

Went home and watched the first disk of the BBC mini-series, Ultraviolet with Jim. I really like it and think it probably could have gone beyond a mini-series. (Although the end may not allow for that I suppose.)

Day 199

Picked up Sean and helped Paul and his parents paint his condo. My arms are quite tired.

Had dinner at Samurai Noodles with Kim and then went to the M’s game (against Detroit). Beard Papa’s is opening a location at Uwajimaya and had cream puffs for sale at the stadium.

Recap of game:
Ate cream puff.
Ate second cream puff.
Losing kind of badly thus falling asleep.
Had Dr. Pepper.
Scored a home run.
Kim caught a ball.
Garlic fries.
Scored another home run for the win.

Today was a satisfying day.

Day 198

Caught Hancock with Jim, Deuce, and Paul. Hancock was fine.

Had lunch at Qdoba. Then Deuce and I saw Wanted as well. Very good movie.

Frosted my cake and scurried up to George’s for a BBQ. Had a nice time.

Day 197

Made a cake for the BBQ on the 4^th. Watched TV with Jim. Wipeout may be the best show in the history of TV.

Had dinner at Dan & Katie’s. It was great to visit with them again.

Today was a good day.

Day 196

Left work early on account of my face hurting. Jim and I loitered at The Stop then had dinner with 2.0 at Red Robbin.

Finished The Nocturnals. Beautiful art, but it was very hard to follow. Read a few more comics.

Day 195

Had partial root canal. Took pain killers. Had left overs.

Steve visited and killed spiders.

Puked.

Finished Th1rte3n, which was pretty good.

Read more about it on my less boring blog.

Today = Not good.

Day 194

Holy Crap. I totally don’t remember at all. I read some comics from last week. Watched some TV. I guess that was it.

Day 193

Got up early, walked Theo and dropped by cat-sitting house to water plants and feed Smoky. Had breakfast at the diner with Paul and ran to get some new paint samples. Ran to Kieran’s to get new containers for my patio. Swung by Fred Meyer’s to pick up some soil and herb plants.

Stopped for a slurpy at 7-11 and got the annoying mating dance action from some dude. (Whose girlfriend was there.) (And rough looking.)

Planted:

Radishes

Cucumbers (one for pickling and one for tzatziki)

Peppers

Bell Peppers (Yes, I am an optimist.)

Basil

Sage

Rosemary

Slurpy was melted in the ricockulous heat before I had anything planted at all.

Had Chinese food at FSD.

Watered all the plants at Theo's and took a nice short walk as it was hot as hell.

Watched disc 1 of season 3 of Weeds. Read more Th1rte3n.

Had the vapors from the heat.

Day 192

Got up early and cleaned my cat sitting house. Ran back to my place and devoured toast and watched some Colbert Report. Paul came over and helped me move my footboard out to my grandma’s shed (it was just very big for such a small room).

Had lunch at Tona’s and ice cream at DQ and retired to Paul’s to examine paint colors. I am experiencing high levels of anxiety regarding these paint colors as the colors I have chosen coordinate with Paul’s art and furniture The colors others have suggested are nice too. The issue is that Paul has a lovely collection of comic book art which has a very bright primary pallet and I think that painting his house in smoky greens etc. would not present the art well.

Meh.

Ran to dog sitting house and walked Theo. Paul dropped me back at my place and I ran a few errands and then headed to poker night at The Stop. Josh joined the group and we split into three groups with one staying to play games, one going to see Wanted, and the group of Kim, Josh, and Paul and I going to Wall-E. SO FANTASTIC!

Chatted with Josh and returned to Theo’s to crash.

Day 191

Coworker who is leaving took a bunch of us out to lunch. Had some delicious pie.

Happy Hour with the coworkers at Las Brisas in Edmonds after work. Pretty warm outside.

Went to the cat sitting house and watched Bones with Smoky who was super cuddly.

I'm convinced my reflux is back. As I was supposed to attend a wine tasting party and instead stayed home murring on the couch with stomach pain.

Day 190

Took exploratory journey to Double D Meats in Mountlake Terrace with Brad to inspect their uhm… meat. Pretty awesome and great prices. I'm looking forward to exploring further in the future.

Had grilled steaks and started Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead (but left in the middle as it was kind of … not boring, but just not very compelling and a little too clearly going to end badly).

Dropped Sean off at Shank’s. Refreshed my manicure and watched Bones. Fell asleep on the couch at 10ish. (Because I am old.)

Read more Th1rte3n.

Spoke with Steve.

Day 189

Brought cake to the stop and a bunch of folks including Hotness & Ferritnick were around to eat some Happy Wednesday Cake. It was good times.

Had dinner at a new Mexican place with Paul. Worked on picking paints to match Paul’s art and furnishings. Then watched SNL featuring Big Beef.

Read more Th1rte3n.

Spoke with Steve and Grandma.

Today was a good day.

Day 188

Work was stressful, as I did not take the ridiculous over-precaution that I usually take and did not prevent an irritating problem. This year’s review was spectacular and in order to retain my star status, I need to pretend to have god-like omniscience. Oh well. Demi-god it is.

Had dinner with the cake girls and then had our final cake class. All of us were having a hard time with our roses and the final cake situation was not ideal, but we finished and are excited to move on to new cooking challenges.

And the margaritas that followed at Diane’s. Delicious.

Read some Th1rte3n.

Day 187

Completed bedroom reorganization-palooza. Watched some Bones. Frosted the cake that I complete Sunday.

Spoke with Burke and Steve.

Read more Th1rte3n. My god, I am taking forever to finish this book. Although I would finish it faster if I read more than 5 pages a night…..

Day 186

Went shopping all day with Addy for clothes to wear to her sister’s wedding. Experienced a repeat of Friday’s PIN debacle at Target. Grrrrrr. I guess I'll call the bank tomorrow.

Helped roll appetizer rolls for a coworker’s retirement party.

Had Indian Night at FSD. I made “starlight” yellow cake with chocolate frosting from the new Betty Crocker cookbook. Neither were good at all. I was not impressed in the slightest. But the family was simply happy to eat cake.

Watched The Savages, which was well made and somewhat compelling, but very lacking in the screen play department.

Watched an episode of Bones and read more Th1rte3n.

Spoke with Steve.

Day 185

Watched cartoons. Returned to my house and worked on culling my comic collection and separating unread items into piles by title and in order. My floor: covered in comic piles. But it has to get worse before it can get better… right?

Picked Rachel (so good to see her) up at the airport and went to the Thai-ger Room for an early dinner. Had dessert at Trophy Cupcakes. Walked Green Lake with Rachel, Scott, and Jackie. Met Maya, Jon, and Sarah for cocktails (2 over 2 hours) at the Green Lake Bar and Grill. Had a really good time.

Returned to cat sitting house at midnight. Sober and fine. Read some more Th1rte3n. Went to bed at 12:30.

Woke up at 3:30 and ran to the bathroom and hurled for four hours straight. I am guessing it was food poisoning (or my reflux is back again?), as I had only two cocktails. I cannot speculate as to what caused this, but suffice it to say, it sucked a lot. Tired, confused, hurly Quiana was convinced it was Salmonella and that hideous illness was coming.

Wished for death. Brushed teeth furiously. Assigned blame.

Day 184

Left work early for margaritas at Sarah S.’s house with Angie.

Had my haircut.

Had dinner with Steve and Addy. Had weird PIN incident (reader rejected my pin- pretty certain that I didn’t misremember a number I’ve used for almost 6 years… just saying), just put it through as credit.

Loitered at 7-11, like old Cuban men. Tried giant chewy nerds (yucko).

Saw Harold and Kumar.

Read more Th1rte3n.

Spoke with Mom.

Day 183

Ran to cat sitting house to meet with owners. Car failed to start on the first try. Started on the second try, but of course I was convinced that I would have to spend this weekend signing away another 4 years of debt on a new (to me) car. (End result: 6 total additional years of debt instead of 2. AND consumer debt/student loans after age of 30. NO THANKS.)

Bought neat portable hands-free speaker phone (Parrot brand) from Circuit City. It is really handy and I can use it in the car or while I’m cooking.

Worked on organizing my closet into a more effective space.

Read more Th1rte3n.

Watched Bones.

Spoke with Steve, Grandma, and Burke.

Day 182

Went (meaning: was stupidly tricked into going) to the end of the year celebration/annual turnover "going away" party at the boss's boss's house. Was there forever!

Came home and organized my pile of recipes. Got Chinese take-out and watched National Treasure 2 (which was very funny and while absolutely not believable at all ever in any way, I enjoyed to an embarrassing extent.)

Read some Th1rte3n and crashed.

Day 181

Stayed at work late and consumed a salad for dinner. I was extremely full.

Went to cake class and was let out early. Was ravenous and ate half a grapefruit and some chips.

Watched Venture Bros. and Robot Chicken with the roommate. Fell asleep watching a show called 30 Days (I think). Pretty good. It's not the show's fault, it is the roommate (I think).

Read a little NG and passed out.

Day 180

Had a dental appointment. Dealt with a huge project at work and went home to take pain killers and suffer. Ate half a brownie, 1 piece of chocolate, and an ice cream sundae cone. No idea why.

Watched Bones and organized my old papers.

Watched The Golden Compass with Jim. Meh.

Day 179

Watched some SNL with Jim over breakfast. Caught The Happening matinee, went home disgruntled and tidied.

Went to Brad & Cynthia’s for a Father’s Day BBQ and laundry fest. Watched Indiana Jones, then brought Mariah home. Packed up laundry and hauled it home.

Read more Nocturnals.

Day 178

Slept in and missed all of Skunk Fu and most of Viva Pinata. Made poached egg whites, coffee and English muffins, while watching Spectacular Spiderman.

Met with Grandma and Olivia at Country Village and did some shopping. Bought an apron. Then Mariah and Meagan met us at the tea house for lunch.

Met Steve at my house and ran to let Sammi and Riley out. Got Slurpies on the way to Lynn and Michael’s for Theo’s birthday party. Very entertaining.

Ran back to the house and picked up the cheesecake and left, but then returned to grab Jim’s cell phone. Went to George’s for Mary Ann’s birthday party. BBQ was consumed, presents were opened, and while the others played games, we loitered in George’s office talking about nothing at all.

Left quite late and returned home to continue reading Nocturnals.

Today was a very good day.

Day 177

Took a half day and went shopping for furniture with Jim in Everett. Jim thinks he may have found the table.

Dropped by the store then made tacos for dinner for Steve and Addy. Baked a cheesecake while watching TIVO'd Cartoon Network.

Read some more Nocturnals.

Day 176

Met a new neighbor, Peggy. Seems a little weird. Lucky me.

Got together the items needed for cheesecake.

Tidied and read some Nocturnals.

Day 175

Met a new neighbor, Krissy, when she asked us to help her put together her son's big wheel. Took a long time. She seemed nice (by which I mean she also despises the awful neighborhood brats).

Got take out teriyaki. Watched some TV.

Day 174

Work is CRAZY.

Had dinner with Angie and Barb. Attended cake class. Still not thrilled. Less cat pee odor = less learning?

Came home and chatted with Jim.

Spoke with Jason B. and Burke.

I'm super stressed about work right now, but I am keeping it together. Go team me!

Day 173

Had a TON of work to do.

Came home and prepared my cake (and frostings) for cake class. Watched Venture Brothers and Best Week Ever with Jim.

Puttered.

Read more Th1rte3n.

Day 172

Had hashbrowns and watched part of Transformers. (Big Beef!)

Said my depressing goodbyes to mom.

Was late to pick Kim up as I am lame. Went to the big Asian mall in Richmond. Had cream puffs, bought stuff, coveted other stuff.

Arrived at border and endlessly sat. Ate some sushi. Car boogied.

Eventually shot south at a great rate of speed. Dropped Kim off. Went to Ye Olde Family Homestead. Junior Squad ran to Target (where I bought a bright green shirt which reminded me of Speed Racer) and then Best Buy (where I bought the cable adapter that I had gone to Target for in the first place.)

Had homemade potato soup. Made and devoured a box cake.

Came home, called Mom & Grandma. Puttered and passed out.

Day 171

Had buckwheat pancakes and bacon for breakfast. Left early for MetroTown Centre to buy some new work clothes and a handbag for mom. Did really well at shopping for her. Didn't like anything for me, which is fine as I am totally broke.

Had lunch at a place called Nando's. Really good.

Watched Southland Tales.

Had a fight with mom.

Had leftovers.

Watched National Treasure- which I strangely hated less this time. In fact, I kind of liked it. (Burning with shame.)

Read more Th1rte3n.

Spoke with Addy.

Day 170

Took the day off. Had a bagel and watched music videos with Jim. Puttered around.

Picked up Kim, raced Northward. Good drive. Somewhat lengthy wait at the border. Not sure why.

Dropped Kim at her friend's. Picked up mom. Met up with Darren and went to the good Greek place in Port Coquitlam. Stopped by Blockbuster.

Watched Stardust. Still awesome.

Today was a good day.

Spoke with Terry and Grammy.

Day 169

Ran some errands, including a brief and not terribly fruitful trip to Value Village.

Tutoring student canceled again, which bodes poorly. Took the opportunity to pick up some presents for mom's birthday and come home in time to watch a documentary on the T-Rex and some The Old House.

Steve came by and we had dinner at former Hongs and chased it with ice cream from Dairy Queen. Then he kept me company while I worked on organizing my room.

Jim returned and we had a long convo, during the course of which my brain was in a near constant state of misfire- no doubt due to lack of sleep.

I seem to be coping better with all the change now, although I can't seem to sleep past 5 am, which is super irritating.

Spoke with Czarina.

Day 168

Sarah scored our New Kids tickets and I am as giddy as a school girl (literally).

Worked late and went straight to Meagan & Jay's for Grandpa's birthday party. We all got him candy. I think everyone had a good time discussing this summer's major excursion: the international rock hunt.

Came home and had a nice chat with the roomy.

Read some blogs.

Spoke with Steve and Jeannine.

Day 167

Got new door panel fasteners (very exciting) and met with Angie to do some gift shopping for my family.

Had L&L with Angie and Barb then met Sheena at Jo-Ann’s for out first Wilton Cake Decorating Class (1), AKA the weirdest cake decorating class in the history of leavened bread.

As soon as I walked into the classroom I smelled cat pee and thought, “Oh there have been cats in here.” Then I thought, “Oh, it is probably not bring your cat to work day here at the craft store.” And then I realized that someone here smelled like cat pee. Knowing that none of my friends smell like cat pee, and guessing that the coach bag toting soccer mom and her adorable daughter probably don’t smell like cat pee, I guessed that the hefty toothless lady with the hairy chin was the source of the odor. Imagine my surprise when I learned that this former professional barrel rider/goateed/cat pee perfumed lady was our instructor.

She did not seem to know what was going on at all and at one point in the class actually pulled a hair out of her frosted cake. Also her frosting rose was bullshit.

It was AWESOME.

After class I rushed home to tell the roomy about the toothless cat pee lady only to find he was not home. So I called my mom and she essentially told me that I was a judger and that not everyone can be expected to meet my hypercritical standards and that I need to learn to just allow others to “just be”. (At which point I can only assume that she rolled a doobie and did a little yoga.)

Caught up on some blogs and crashed.

Spoke with Steve, Grandma, and Grandpa.

Day 166

Had dinner with Jim at Voula's Good Eats. Very good.

Cruised down to DBS for drinks with a very large group and had a nice time.

Read more Th1rte3n.

Spoke with Bonnie.

Day 165

Got up early to feed and walk the dog. One cat would not come out from under the bed to have breakfast (nor dinner, actually). This is because cats are hug jerks.

Picked up Sean and met Paul for the Speed Racer matinée (now 6$). It was fantastic.

Continued my campaign to reorganize the house until Family Sunday Dinner time. Pot Roast Night! I did something like 6 loads of laundry. Brad and I watched Dead Alive (Kiwi Zombie flick) and Bright Future (another in an endless series of incredibly slow and weird and confusing Japanese/ultimately pointless movies we continue to watch for no discernable reason). Mel and Jess did not make it.

Ran home and finished up a few things around the house. Chatted with Jim.

Spoke with Addy.

Read a bit more of Th1rte3n. Still no cohesive anything, each chapter still excellent and then a let down.

Day 164

Got up early and walked the dog, then started cinnamon rolls. (The sugar crystallized instead of caramelized- too high heat?) Had cinnamon rolls with Angie and her niece, then we ran to Target to grab some retirement gifts and wander aimlessly. Dropped them back at the house.

I popped by Starbucks for some tea and headed over to Ron & Czabrina’s. Chatted and watched garbage TV on VH-1.

Ran back to Theo’s and served him his dinner (and me mine) and took an extra long walk. Because we got totally lost,I thought we could loop around, but in the end we had to flip around and retrace our steps. Ran home to shower and do my hair. Picked up Chris and headed to Jeannine and Mike’s Rock Band party. Had a wonderful time!

Spoke with Chris, Lynn, Burke, and Paul.

Day 163

Dropped in on George at The Comic Stop. Brian came in a bit later and we gabbed for a while.

Fed and walked Theo. Sat down with the cat to watch some TV.

Read more Th1rte3n. Sometimes when authors want to cover several different people’s stories they simply intersperse the character’s chapters. Now unless they are connected by theme, time line, or some other concept, this never ever works. What happens is that you draw the reader in and then drop them cold and one chapter later I can’t remember who is who and if they meet, I do not get it, because I have forgotten by then. Here I am, cold, and wondering why Rickard Morgan is screwing with me.

Spoke with Czabrina, Steve, Grandma, Mom, Burke, and Amber.

Day 162

Ran to the bank to deposit some checks (refunds! Yay!) and change my address, and headed to WESCO to pick up new fasteners for my car door. They should be in by Monday. There was a very unfortunate motorcycle accident right at the corner and it reminds me to mention that wearing inappropriate clothing while riding motorcycles is profoundly stupid. Full coverage helmet, biker jacket and pants, and boots are the only way to go. This guy was t-shirt and brain bowl style helmet and suffered for it. He is lucky to have survived.

Went home to grab some stuff for my dog sitting gig. Fed and walked the dog. Made pork chops and fell asleep before 9 watching some true crime show with the cat in the den. Woke up at 10 and went to bed.

Spoke with Mom, Steve, and Meagan.

Day 161

Picked up Auntie and drove her to work (van was getting an oil change).

Ran to the bank. Didn't get to the auto supply store, bank or library. (Because the former two were closed and I was too irritated to bother with the latter.)

Had dinner (and pie! courtesy of Steve's mom) with Steve and Jim. Must procure additional chairs. Very Important.

Unpacked and organized more.

Started Th1rte3n by Richard Morgan. Not sure why I unabashedly love Richard Morgan's work.

Day 160

Unpacked the kitchen following a Trophy Cupcake breakfast, almost finished all the way.

Ran to Storables and Target to pick up a few new things. Ran into Susan from HS and I think she was kind of rude and judgie.

Unpacked till dinner at Herfy’s with Jim. Dropped into Fred Meyer’s to pick up chow for Wednesday night.

Worked more on unpacking and finished Daughters of the North. Very good, but it did feel rushed at the end.

Day 159

Met Steve, Addy, and Steve’s parents for breakfast at Julia’s and picked up some Trophy cupcakes for later. Ran back to the house and worked on unpacking for a few hours. Went to Brad’s for a BBQ, Paul joined the family. Returned to Riley’s to pack up my things, and went home to unpack more.

Jim & George picked me up and we met up with Deuce to watch the Red Socks completely destroy the M’s. Great seats and garlic fries tho.

Stopped at Occidental for discount hot dogs (I abstained) and returned to the house, where I promptly passed out.

Day 158

Watched Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull with Auntie, Sean, and Mel. It was good but very silly.

Met Paul at my old place to transfer my old stuff to new folks via Craigslist. They were adorable. Tidied and had lunch with Paul.

My apartment manager called to cancel the next morning’s walk through and we rescheduled it for that very moment. My deposit check is in the mail!

Brad picked up some old junk for the dump. Paul and I moved the rest of my junk, and I spent the rest of the day unpacking.

Returned to Riley’s and read until bedtime.

Day 157

Got up quite early and headed down to my old place. Arrived at just before 8 and moved all my boxes to the security hall and loaded up my car. Had an ice tea and scone from Peet's.
Soon Kim arrived, closely followed by Brad & Sean. Grandma and Roy arrived at about 10:20 (after talking me into starting the move at 9) and Ron and Czabrina showed just in time to help move the last few things into the car.

Arrived at the new place in time for the guys to assist in the unload. Kim stayed put to help get boxes in order and Paul, Brad, Sean & I went back to my place to pick up my exercise bike.

Had pizza at Brad's and returned to start unpacking. Unpacked for a while, then went back to the dogsitting house.

Later joined a bunch of people at George's for BBQ and Rock Band.

Wussed out early and went home to catch some z's.

Day 156

Started another dogsitting gig.

Went to bed early in order to be prepared for the early am move.

Spoke with countless people to confirm plans.

Day 155

Stopped at Home Depot on the way home to collect some cleaning materials and new burner cups for my stove. (Took one look at those filthy things yesterday and said “fuck that”.)

Watched This Old House (I have no idea why I adore that show. But I wholeheartedly do) and cleaned like crazy. Picked up a burrito at Tacos Guaymas.

AMC was showing Jurassic Park and I was able to watch most of the film. I was impressed all over again by how well made the movie is and how well it held up.

Spoke with Steve and Jim.

Day 154

Came in to work stupid early to meet with someone and they totally didn’t bother to show.

Tore apart my entire kitchen to wash it down. Started packing the most awkward stuff and started cleaning

Watched an episode of Bones and fell asleep.

Spoke with Megan, Brad, and Paul.

Day 153

Grabbed groceries on my lunch break and also picked up some crispy mint m&m’s. Yummy.

Dropped some stuff off at Value Village and didn’t go in to look for more, but really wanted to.

Traffic was an abomination. Some guy blew off his turn at a double lane four-way stop (on his phone of course) then tried to poach my turn. Then when I didn’t let him he flipped me off and honked. Seriously, just because you spaced out your turn, does not mean you get to make me miss mine. You can wait till Eastbound traffic gets to go again because Southbound learned to drive in Jersey and ain’t taking no shit off a no one.

Picked up two books at 3^rd Place in Ravenna.

Ran home, picked up teriyaki (I have had more teriyaki in the last two months than I normally eat in a year), and helped Burke with a mail merge. Steve dropped by to take pictures of my stuff for craigslist, then put up an ad and ripped it down half an hour later. Packed the rest of the kitchen (now there is just my fridge, about eight doomed Nalgenes, one plate, one fork, one knife, and three glasses) and almost my entire bathroom.

Watched an episode of Bones and the season finale of Reaper.

Spoke with grandma and Paul.

Day 152

Picked up my car from Jeff’s. Apparently when I last had my brake pads changed, they didn’t use the kind that squeal when they are running down and since my car wasn’t jerking or squealing when I used the breaks, I had no idea that my brake pads were pretty much gone until they were metal on metal. Good times. So they replaced the brakes and rotors and changed the oil and $550 later I was done.

With my remaining $50 I signed up for a cake decorating class.

Worked pretty late and went straight to Brad’s to pick up the stuff I had left there. Helped make dinner (Spaghetti) and do the dishes then headed off to meet Chris, Amine, Jen and her friend, and Andy at the Stube.

Read more Daughters of the North.

Spoke with Grandma and Steve.

Day 151

Left my car at Jeff’s and Steve dropped me at Ye Olde Family Homestead. Made bacon and chocolate chip waffles with Auntie. Ran to Costco, Bath and Body Works, and Bed, Bath, and Beyond(!). Bought some new hangers and I am unreasonable excited about them.

Watched Arang (Korean horror/detective movie) with Brad. Had a Hamstravaganza! Watched Ugly Betty and an independent film about street art.

Started Daughters of the North, by Sarah Hall. Very good so far and a very fast read.

Feeling a bit over dramatic about my car situation. I think that I am right to be frustrated, but I need to be sure to keep perspective.
That I chose my path.
That I am safe and healthy.
That not crashing into things with my car is a very good thing and well worth the money.
That maybe my car only breaks when I can most afford it?

Part of the joy of having an anxiety disorder is that everything is initially upsetting and panic inducing. It always takes me a bit of time to push down the panic and logic myself out of the problem. (This is why I will never survive the zombie apocalypse.)

Day 150

Apparently made some error as to when my dog sitting clients were returning and scurried out at great speed. Of course forgetting to return their bus pass.

Had brunch with Addy at Julia's and wandered around Wallingford. Returned home and watched Bones together while I packed.

Attempted to join a bunch of folks at a BBQ at Leigh's, but my brakes made a scary noise and I decided I had better just take my car into the shop in the morning instead. Stayed home and watched Law and Order instead of going out.

Teared up, but didn't cry. It is just so incredibly frustrating to never be able to get ahead. I know that every month I pay my rent and have electricity and can do everything by myself is a success, especially considering how I was raised. But I am just utterly demoralized by the constant strain of just squeaking by.

I know that almost everyone is a pay check or two from homeless (though they may not know it), and that I have family that will help me, but it kills me to ask for favors. It just burns. I'm sharp, well educated, and employed. I live within my means. I do what I am supposed to do. I just don't know what else to do. But there is clearly something that I'm not doing or something that I am doing wrong.

It is as though someone knew that I was getting that economic stimulus check this week and just wanted to see if they could fuck with me. Two years running my car has broken and taken up my tax return. So by now, I should be adjusted.

I keep being afraid that I will keep pushing ahead but that the status quo will stretch like the horizon. I just can't shake the feeling that I'm a fuck up.

Spoke with Grandma (she said my uncle James and Grandpa would come help me move, so that at least is good news), spoke with Steve to arrange dropping my car off, and spoke with Paul and Monica to cancel my attendance of a concert at Nectar.

Day 149

Took the day off to convalesce. Tidied a little bit but mostly dozed off and on.

Met up with Gordy, Monica and Fran for cocktails at Barca. Retired to Mon's to chat.

Drove back to the dog sitting house and passed out.

Day 148

Bad day at work. Still sick.

Returned to dog sitting house. Couldn't stay off the phone. Spoke with Mom, Mebbie, Steve, Paul, and Jim.

Watched Torchwood and passed out early.

Day 147

Worked a short day.

Had dinner with Steve and Addy. Then watched TV and had ice cream with Steve.

Then I passed out to feverish snorfly sleep with the kitty and dogs.

Feeling a little better.

Day 146

Stayed home from work very ill.

Slept till 3 pm. Had some oatmeal. Watched Rendition (quite good). Heated up some pasta and then fell asleep watching The King of California (also very good) woke up and finished it in time for Reaper.

Really asleep by ten.

Day 145

Felt a bit crummy at work.

Ran home to feed and exercise the pups then headed to Benaroya for my final National Geographic Live! lecture of the season. The photographer was fairly interesting and her work was quite good.

I'm bummed that it is the last of the season.

Felt pretty terrible by bedtime. Read some National Geographic and passed out.

Day 144

Helped Friday at the Registration/Information booth most of the day. Was still extremely tired. Spoke with mom briefly. Steve and Addy popped in for a very brief time.

Dropped Friday’s car at her friend’s place and headed down to Ipanema for dinner. The food was fantastic and it was nice to unwind. Sat with some really nice guys and had a nice time.

Looking at volunteering at the con from a post-con perspective, I’m not sure that I will want to volunteer in the same capacity again. This is not to say that I didn’t enjoy the con, but I think I don’t have enough interest in comics to sustain the level of dedication needed to bust my ass for three days. I do have a level of friendship with the people running the con to bust my ass for some increment of days, but probably not three straight.

There is something in the nature of fan-dom that I do not possess. For some reason seeing Bill Pullman at World Wraps was a much more interesting experience than paying Wil Wheaton to sign my ass. (Which I did not do, btw.) (And I did not meet him at all as he ran out of books and I couldn’t convince myself to stand in line for forty minutes to buy a picture of him dressed as Wesley Crusher.)

Also, as it turns out, not only am I not so fond of regular folks, I am also not so fond of my nerdy brethren. Which is to say that I am the lowest level of social function allowable in my estimation. Which is to say that I hate people. Which is a bummer as conventions typically features a lot of those.

Where was I? Ah yes, I had a dinner entirely composed of peppers, mushrooms, meat, cookies, caramel, and booze. Hooray!

(Final parenthetical sidenote- this blog is getting lengthy and Doogie Howser MD-esque, but I will not reign myself in, because this is my boring blog and I am not bound by rules and conventions and numbers of lines and I am wild and full of words and thoughts about Jamie Bamber’s British accent, the necessity of soap and social skills, and not actually having things signed by Wil Wheaton. So there.)

Day 143

Spent the morning selling badges. Was transferred to Jamie Bamber’s (who was very polite and gracious) booth. Had tacos with the Scales and picked up a few things from Chris Yates (kind of a dream boat, actually)(and really polite)(not that I’m stalking), which was awesome. Then ended the work day helping out at the charity auction. Had dinner with most of the volunteers at Rock Bottom (had a sundae). Paul and I retired to my dog sitting house. I was out like a light.

Today was very exhausting, but it was good to pull my weight this year and actually help my friends out.

Day 142

Met with Jim, Paul 2.0, and Gavin at The Stop, loaded Paul’s van and made two trips to the convention center. Dropped off the van at Paul’s office. Put together some badges. Accompanied Friday to Lake City to switch cars with her spouse and met her family (adorable). Had dinner at The Dragonfish with some of the gaming crew, Friday, Paul and Jim. Mooched a ride back to The Stop and returned home to pack for dog-sitting.

Day 141

Had a good tutoring session, although I am very unimpressed with my student’s English teacher. Packed and prepared my apartment for viewing and watched some Torchwood.

Day 140

Dropped by Half Price Books to get rid of the ones 3rd Place would not take. (Another $30!)

Paul came over to assist with the packing. He also brought a whole bunch of boxes. Courtney dropped by to pick up the TV.

We packed a whole ton of stuff and got my place partly ready for tomorrow's viewing. (This move may not kill me after all.)

I watched an episode of Bones while finishing tidying.

Spoke with Megan and Grandma.

Day 139

Went to 3rd Place Books after work to sell some things back. Made $40, and then promptly turned around and ordered The Perfect Scoop. (An ice cream cookbook that I've been lusting after, but would not allow myself to buy because it seemed frivolous. I spend at least $50 a month on comics but a $20 cookbook for ice cream is just CRAZY.)

Had a baked potato with chilli and cheese while watching What Not to Wear (these women are so scared to love their bodies. It makes me happy to see them trying clothes on and realizing that people come in many shapes, and that they can still look and feel good).

Kim came over and helped me pack. Until I lost my tape. So we ran to Target and picked up some more tape, a retirement card, and panda pj bottoms. (Hey, I had a gift card and I am sure Jim and his friends will appreciate me wearing pants.)

Came home and packed some more. Had panic attack realizing that I am down to 6ish days at home before I move. Kim left and I found my original tape.

Watched the Daily Show.

Spoke with Steve and Mom.

Day 138

Snagged fudgsicles, milk, and yogurt from the store. Traded some books back to Half Price.

Drove home and drove around for nearly an hour and a half looking for parking. Between tap dancers, sports at the lake, Cinco de Mayo at Tacos Guaymas, and construction I searched from a few blocks south of 65th and east of Ravenna to several blocks west and could not find parking. I finally gave up on going home and meeting up with friends at TG for the holiday. I parked in the load zone spot and rushed my now hideously deformed fudgesicles into the freezer- to no avail. They were hopelessly melted.

Chris and co. decided just to go the The Stube, but I was already northbound to The Stop to meet up with George and Paul. Hung out there a while and then Paul and I dropped by Wendy's for dinner. Yay crispy chicken sandwich! We went back to his place and watched two episodes of Big Bang Theory, HIMYM, and the first episode of this season's TAL.

Watched the Colbert Report while getting organized for the morning.

Spoke with Steve.

Day 137

Went through my clothes and found another entire garbage bag to send to Goodwill. Also went through my keepsakes and tossed a bunch of old stuff.

Did some cleaning and filing while watching Karate Kid. Loaded up my trunk with books to sell and laundry. Headed up to the Comic Stop for a Con meeting and stopped at the library on the way. We mostly just chatted while the junior volunteers, all cutely excited, did all the work.

Had baked potato bar at Family Sunday Dinner. Made Mother's Day dinner plans, watched Ugly Betty, then Rosemary and Thyme.

Read a few more comics and then crashed.

Spoke with Mom and Czabrina.

Day 136

Met Grammy in Snohomish for furniture shopping and lunch. Didn't find a lot in the way of furnishings. I did, however, buy a New Kids on the Block pillow case, so that kicked ass. I am probably just going to have to go with a modern drop leaf table, as I am concerned about sturdiness when I sew. As for nightstands, I have no idea.
We had lunch at the Cabbage Patch. I had ice tea, a pot roast sandwich, and a slice of lemon sour cream pie. Very good.

On my way back I stopped in two thrift stores. No good furniture in either, but I did pick up an umbrella in the shape of a Hershey's Kiss for $3.

Picked up Steve and loaded up my car with boxes and met Jim at the new house. Unloaded the boxes and had lunch at Sorelli's Pizza. Very good. HUGE thick slices.

Dropped Steve off at home and watched Torchwood while tidying. Read a few of last week's comics.

Spoke with Bonnie, but missed a ton of calls from others. Oh well.

Day 135

Work still sucking.

Had cocktails at Scott's with Diane, Kevin, Angie, Lynn, and Michael for Diane's birthday. Then Angie and I ran over to Macy's to pick up three 7 quart Martha Stewart Collection Dutch Ovens (50% off!). (One for me, and one each for my Uncle and Grandma. I swear I don't need 3!) I am looking forward to perfect pot roasts and no-kneed bread. Of course, we also stopped by Daiso and bought a magnet and a cake box set. Angie picked up a dessert mold in the shape of a koala head and I am burning with envy. We also stopped in at Sephora, as I was out of powder. I impulse purchased some 2$ purple nail polish as well.

Finished The City and The Stars. Highly recommended.

Day 134

Great day.

Work sucked, but I had a good tutoring session. Post-tutoring Steve and I went up to Everett and grabbed some chow at the food court then watched Iron Man with the Comic Stop crew. It was fantastic.

Iron Man, tutoring, and a root beer float! Yay!

Day 133

No new comics in my box, so I went straight home instead of to the Stop. Accomplished my goal of packing my books, movies, CD's and general miscellanea. Also packed up some seldom used clothes and my desk and nightstand areas. Packed so much that I ran out of reasonably sized boxes. (damn)

Started OCD-style checklist of things to do for the move and things to get rid of. I fear there will be a dump run.

Gave written notice for the 26th, so hopefully I can get everything moved, disposed of, and the apartment cleaned in 3 days. Or I'm screwed. HA HA HA HA. *whimper*

Watched Law & Order.

Attempted to play Yoshi's Cookie and the unthinkable happened. My Messiah gaming system is broken (since when I played it yesterday). It would not play Yoshi or Mario 3 (the only two games left unpacked). I will now slowly go insane. I now have both a non-working Messiah and a non-working, original 1985 NES. Damn it.

Read more The City and The Stars/watched The Daily Show and Colbert Report.

I got a lot accomplished today, but my Messiah suddenly blue screening me really threw off my groove.

Day 132

Tough days at work continue.

Grilled with Steve and Addy.

Watched Robot Chicken and read more of The City and The Stars.

My house is a depressing mess of piles to get rid of, packed boxes, piles I'm not sure what to do with, and mess I have not dealt with because of all the damned piles.

Day 131

Went into work just before 6:30 for a ridiculous meeting. Left early. Dropped off some library books.

Tidied my place and watched Bones (from season 1), How I Met Your Mother, and Big Bang Theory while I packed.

Then passed out. (At 10, sheesh.)

Day 130

Fed Quincy breakfast and watched the news.

Went to Brad's and had to go to three different auto supply stores to get replacement bulbs for my turn signal. (Almost forgot! My car is now wearing its first piece of duct tape. It is holding the cord to the signal casing. This is like a training bra for cars. Today it is holding together a loose connection, next year the ENTIRE BUMPER.)

Helped Auntie cook dinner. Watched Ugly Betty and Lars and the Real Girl (fantastic). Jess was quite sick.

Went home early to tidy and prepare for the week. Finished up an episode of Bones. Read a little more The City and the Stars.

Spoke with Steve and Mom.

Day 129

Watched cartoons and made dutch babies and bacon with Amber. Went shopping. At Target a woman started screaming hysterically. Amber started to walk towards the sound, but I would not let her as other people had walked over already. (Blood curdling screams in crowded shopping centers do not equal me running over. It does not seem prudent. And certainly not necessary with a gathered crowd.) A woman had passed out and EMTs arrived as we were leaving.
We also went to Ross and I bought 2 shirts, 2 pairs of shoes (one for inside one for out), and two dresses for under $70.

Picked up Addy for lunch at the Sunlight Cafe and mani/pedis at Blushing Beauty. Fed Quincy and Smokey dinner. We returned to Steve & Addy's for her birthday party. It was quite fun. Everybody likes a cowboy party.

Got home quite late and immediately passed out.

Day 128

Baked a white layer cake with white frosting for Addy. Had margarita's with Amber and chatted with her till the wee hours.

Spoke with Grandma, Steve, Bonnie, and Mebbie.

Watched Bones.

Day 127

No tutoring today so I dropped by the thrift store to look for the new furnishings I need and ended up buying Yoshi's Cookie for the NES and a purple duck umbrella.

Met Steve at Display and Costume to shop for Addy's birthday party. Can't reveal the theme, but it is AWESOME. Then we had a burger at the Ram.

Went home to pack and tidy, watched The Daily Show, read the most recent Walking Dead and Fear Agent comics.

Spoke with Amber and Addy.