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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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.