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.

Day 126

Went to the stop and ended up loitering with George. Later Paul and Tom showed up and we continued to loiter.

Watched Men in Trees and packed.

Spoke with Steve.

Day 125

Work is depressing. Between the weather, political climate, economy, and work place things are pretty much craptastic for me right now.

Packed up from dogsitting and met up with Paul for dinner at a diner (with dessert from DQ) and TV viewing. We watched Aftermath, HIMYM, and Big Bang Theory.

Tidied and unpacked.

(Celebrated Earth Day by not showering. Take that hygiene!)

Day 124

Had dinner with Lynn and Michael then saw Dennis Dimick speak on climate change at Benaroya Hall. He was not gifted in the area of public speaking, but the importance of this topic seems to have moved him to act.
(Confession time: Chris, I told you I didn't believe in Global Warming to piss you off. Sorry, dude. It was really funny tho.)
It made me motivated to put more effort into green living, but I still can't see how slowing our carbon emissions will save us from the consequences described. We need regression, not slowing. Will taking shorter showers rebuild the polar ice caps? I don't think so. BLEH! (See, Chris, this is my actual belief.)

Came home, played ball with Quincy, read more The City and The Stars, and tidied.

Day 123

Watched Shoot Em Up (AWESOME) with Quincy. Then played some ball and read a little.

Went to Sunday Family Dinner (Mexican Night!) and played some wii games with my Auntie (my arm is sore from getting just one more achievement in hoop shooting).

Watched Law & Order, SVU because this is what women staying alone in other people's giant empty houses should do just before bed.

Read some more of The City and The Stars. Still kicking ass.

Day 122

Woke up early and watched Viva Pinata while making sausage soufflé and coffee cake. Angie joined me for breakfast and shopping. We hit two Goodwills, 2 Value Villages, and 1 St. Vincet's. I bought:
1 pillow in the shape of a blue footed boobie
24 Easter egg shaped jello molds
1 apron featuring Welsh vocab words
2 packs of unopened Easter cupcake wrappers (and an "8" birthday candle)
8 sets of knitting needles (for a dollar!)
1 pair of green slacks
1 shirt with flowers
1 pair of scuba-diving sock monkey pajamas
1 present for someone who reads this blog
1 mug that proclaims its adoration for San Francisco
1 cardboard sign featuring a hippo that informs the viewer to be sure that their brain is engaged before opening their mouth (for Lynn)
1 full deck of playing cards featuring famous world explorers

Had pizza at Chris and Andy's with Chris, Andy, Jenn, Mairead, Ramesh, Amine and Leigh. Leigh and Andy made the pizzas and they were delicious.

Watched The Brave One with Quincy and Smokey. Started The City and The Stars by Arthur C. Clark. It is very good so far.

Day 121

Found out that a close friend and coworker is to be laid off. I'm pretty ticked off.

It was snowing like crazy, so I left work early. Steve and I went shopping for a new BBQ, accessories, and food to grill. Snow should not interrupt our Second BBQ of 2008. Went to Loews, Home Despot, and a BBQ shop in Ballard, snagging a Krispy Kreme and a Cupcake Royal cupcake on the way.

On the way home we stopped for limited edition Iron Man Slurpee cups and straws. We were heckled about Slurpees in the snow by a man buying WINE at 7-11. I think when you buy wine at 7-11 you are not in a position to judge. Additionally, the African man behind the counter made Steve pay for my limited edition Iron Man holographic Slurpee cup and matching straw. Suck it, Steve!

Made perfect steaks, asparagus, zucchini, and roasted garlic. YUM.

Swept the snow from my car and went home to pack some boxes.

Today would have been awesome if work could have managed not to completely blow.

Day 120

Worked a very long and crappy work day. We had a budget cut meeting, replete with lay-off news. It stinks.

Tutored my awesome student who wanted to stay after we finished her English homework to work on more, totally not required, poetry. That was pretty much amazing.

Plopped down in my chair and had soup and grilled cheese and watched Torchwood and the Colbert Report. Played a little Dr. Mario and Super Mario Brothers 3.

Day 119

Woke up phlegm free (ta-da!) and headed into work.

Jim and I grabbed burgers at Quincy's in Seattle Center and headed over to Key Arena to see Lupe Fiasco, N.E.R.D., Rhianna, and Kanye West. Lupe Fiasco was fantastic, N.E.R.D. was also great, Rhianna was... kind of boring, but Kanye West absolutely blew me away. He had a whole storyline behind the concert with space ships and gold painted ladies. Notably (or inexplicably) in the middle of the show, when all hope was lost, Kanye got reinvigorated by listening to Don't Stop Believing. Nothing perks me up like a bit of Journey.

The concert went pretty late, so I went straight home and conked out.

Today was super-awesome.

Day 118

Woke up feeling crummy, but not terrible, so that was a nice improvement.

Worked.

Came home, packed another box. Watched Deadliest Catch and had some tea. Finished The Fortune Cookie Chronicles, which was fantastic. I recommend picking it up.

Spoke with Grammy & Steve.

Day 117

Woke late. Used my neti pot and things came out of my nose that absolutely do not belong there- think slabs of congealed turkey gravy. From my nose. MY NOSE.

Went to work. Coughed a lot.

Jim and I had dinner at a shnazzy Argentinian place, Buenos Aires Grill. It was awesome. I had steak kebabs with peppers, onion, and fancy bacon.

Then we saw Marjane Satrapi lecture at the Moore. She was very witty. It was also awesome.

Finally we popped in at Cupcake Royale to chase the steak mouth. Also awesome.

All in all, if not for the nose gravy/coughing fit/Stevie Nicks voice this day would have been spectacular. As it was, the day was still awesome.

Day 116

Tidied a little. Still sick, though, so I finished the disk of Torchwood flopped on my bed.

Went to Family Sunday Dinner where we had a breakfast for dinner extravaganza. Crepes with strawberries and cream, chocolate chip waffles, muffins, bacon, sausage, and tofu sausage. It was pretty much awesome. (Tofu sausage is quite delicious when wrapped in bacon....)

Watched the pilot of The Sarah Jane Adventures with my uncle. I guess if Torchwood is the sexed up no holds barred version of Dr. Who, The Sarah Jane Adventures is the toned down, family friendly version. It was ok. I've certainly watched much worse things. I'll probably catch it on dvd further down the road.

Spoke with Mebbie and Jim.

Day 115

Slept on and off all day. Watched cartoons (tho the schedule right now is just garbage) then Torchwood and drank Chai Tea.

Had ramen with Kim at Samurai Noodles, then walked to the stadium and sat in row 1 for the Mariner's game. Good game. Any game is pretty good with seats like that.

Started The Fortune Cookie Chronicles and it is great. (Started Nocturnals a few days ago and forgot to mention it, I'm having some trouble following it. Probably the zombie plague kicking in.)

Asleep by 10.

Spoke with Monica, Czabrina, Steve, Jim, Paul, and Amber.

Day 114

Dragged my disgusting phlegmy self into work. Left early.

Went to a BBQ at Courtney's and sat around eating my weight in asparagus, bread, and delicious salmon with Steve. Watched Bedknobs & Broomsticks. Fought sleep.

Went home and immediately passed out.

Day 113

Woke up very snuffly and late. Coughed up some mucous.

Went into work and got to use my fancy new computer, which was fantastic.

Same client stood me up for the third time in a row. I officially hate them.

My tutoring student got her weeks mixed up and no-showed as well.

Had dinner at Rosita's and then dessert at Bottega Italiana with Steve.

Packed 2.5 boxes.

Day 112

Still disgusting. Slept most of the day. "Watched" (mostly dozed) more Psych, Big Love, and Bones.

Hacked green phlegm up. It is awesome. Wish you were here?

Spoke with Megan and Bonnie.

Popped in to the office. Coughed a lot and finished up some stuff. Everyone I saw told me I looked like crap. (Thanks, guys.) (PS- I have some congealed green phlegm for you guys. I've been saving it up, just for you.)

Today would have sucked more, had I the energy to focus.

Day 111

Didn't sleep well till I took some cold meds at 12:30. Woke up with almost no voice and painful coughing. Called in sick to work at 7. Slept until 11. Checked email and voicemail. Slept until nearly 3.

I can't stop checking the email and voicemail. My boss is out of town and it is my busiest season. I'm really upset. I'm always sick for long periods of time because I have nobody to back me up in the office. It is nice to be needed but I have no choice but to go into the office tomorrow. I hate to be a whiner, but I simply don't get paid enough to work when I feel so shitty I can't stand in the shower. [Be prepared for further bitching in tomorrow's exciting post: I can't believe I dragged my pitiful ass in here to intercept FedEx in order to pass on these materials to someone else.]

Reheated some chili from the last time I was sick. Ate some bacon bits out of the bag. (Cry for help?) Chased that with the rest of a pint of Ben & Jerry's.

Watched some Psych and napped intermittently. Spoke with Paul.

Today was terrible.

Day 110

Felt extremely ill at work but couldn't leave because I had appointments and important things that could not be put off. So I felt exhausted and panicky in addition to my throat hurting, sinus and ear aches, and general wheezing.

Was supposed to go see the sneak of Forgetting Sarah Marshall, but couldn't make it. Didn't make it to the Stube either.

I pulled a bunch of recipes from my back issues of Gourmet and Martha Stewart Living Magazines and passed out very early.

Spoke with Mom, Jim, Steve, and Grammy. Lost my voice by the evening.

Today was not good at all.

Day 109

Watched Eastern Promises and it was fantastic. You should watch it. Cover your eyes during the scary parts tho.

Napped for hours. I feel some bronchitis coming on. Nothing sexier than hacking up a solid sheet of back of the throat phlegm. (Still Single!)

Had chicken noodle soup and dumplings at Family Sunday Dinner (recorded meal convo with digital voice recorder- hopefully I'll figure out how to cut the audio and put it on my blog or at least post transcripts).

The girls left and then we watched King of Kong, which you should also see on account of the awesome.

Finished Adrian Mole and Sense & Sensibility (on Masterpiece Theater).

Spoke with Steve and Addy.

Day 108

Met Beau, Jim, and the Jasons at Paul's to help him move some things into storage. Paul has a lot of boxes of comics and toys. Consider this a cautionary tale. I don't think I was very helpful. Perhaps I should do extra pushups so I can be strong enough to carry stuff.

We had a celebratory lunch (and cookies) and Jim and I headed down to Ikea and Mor Furniture (For Less!). Jim thinks he has couches and his office furniture sorted. I found a drop leaf table that might work nicely for my sewing machine.

We popped in to Loews and looked at paints and I realized that I need to get my shit together to get this move going since I will be dogsitting and working like crazy but, naturally, have made no plans to get any moving accomplished. I think I'll take a few days off work to pack and un-pack.

Next we went to poker night at the Comic Stop and I simply couldn't pull it together enough to actually play anything so I sat around and chatted.

I spoke with my mother.

Finished Bone and read a little more Adrian Mole.

Today felt very long but was good.

Day 107

Did some shopping and left my dogsitting house.

Went to Kim's parent's house and fetched her for dinner at Samurai Noodles and some shopping in the I-District.

Went back to Kim's parent's house and played with their dog and made brownies.

Read more Bone.

Day 106

Went to SAM with Jim to check out the Roman Collection on loan from the Louvre and the 3 panels of the Gates of Paradise ("never to again leave Italy!"). It was super crowded and I wish that we could have come in the middle of a work day, but it was amazing. Very fascinating and just gorgeous. I'm a bit of a Roman history nerd, so that aspect was nifty too.

Afterwards, grabbed a bite at Red Robin (only thing open on the waterfront aside from fish joints). The waitress tried to over charge us but thought when the register said "overpayment" that it meant "overdraft". So all night I was worried about my checking account. (Which is fine, by the way.)

Played with the dogs, packed to go home, and read more Bone.

Spoke with Burke.

Day 105

Measured the new condo to make important furnishing decisions. (Furniture? Yes, please.)

Made steaks, asparagus, and potatoes with Steve. Then we went to DQ for Blizzards.

Read some more Bone.

Spoke with Grandma and Mebbie.

Day 104

Had dinner with Lynn & Michael (mango chicken & pork, carrots, interesting rice).

Saw a fantastic lecture at Benaroya Hall. Herpetologist, Brady Barr was awesome and informative. He had some really interesting things to say about conservation and the way that scientists study animals.

Played with dogs and read more Bone.

Spoke with Steve.

Day 103

Met up with a large crowd at The Stube for drinks. Had pie at the Green Lake afterwards.

Spoke with Burke and Steve.

Read more Bone.

Day 102

Decided to pass on heading out to Ye Olde Schnauzer Ranch two days in a row in order to do laundry and spend some time with the pups.

Made a spinach omelet for breakfast, and salmon cakes and balsamic glazed carrots for supper. Watched Torchwood, The Nine Tailors, Flight of the Concords, and Masterpiece Theater (1st part of Sense & Sensibilty). Plowed through a little over half of Bone.

Did some laundry. Played with the dogs.

Spoke with Steve, Grammy, and Amber.

Today was a pretty good day.

Day 101

Dropped by Starbucks and headed out to Ye Olde Schnauzer Ranch to hang out with Grammy. Played some piano, visited the greenhouse, picked up her old issues of Gourmet and had lunch at the Sultan Bakery (delicious).

Ran to the house to check on the dogs/ loiter. Attended the senior comicon volunteer meeting at The Comic Stop. Had Fat Burger with the in-crowd, checked out the new condo, and then tobogganed out to a Rock Band Party in Redmond. Numerous awesome people in attendance, including Chris, Mike, and Jeannine.

Good times where had.

Spoke with Mom.

Today was a good day.

Day 100

Ran to the house to feed the dogs and then met up with some folks for Angie's birthday party. Had to send back a drink. Always awkward.

Was pretty pooped, so I went back to the house and read some of Bone (the full collection) by Jeff Smith. I had started it on my weekend away, but hadn't gotten very far. It is quite good.

Spoke with Mom, Steve, and Burke.

Day 99

Met with new tutoring student and she is fantastic.

Chatted with Steve. Packed for dog-sitting. Watched Reaper (which is becoming more interesting and complex).

Read more Adrian Mole.

Spoke with Paul.

Day 98

Had lunch with Steve. He brought me presents from Philly.

Dropped by The Stop and Jim(s), and Paul were there so I loitered for a while.

Rode my bike and watched Good Eats.

Had dinner and finished stuffing envelopes and watched Law and Order and Men in Trees.

Read more Adrian Mole.

Spoke with Czabrina and Grandma.

Day 97

Tidied and did some work for the Comicon for Jim.

Had dinner with Andy replete with awkward conversation.

Read more Adrian Mole.

Spoke to Steve, Monica, and Amber.

Day 96

Watched Discovery Channel while stuffing envelopes for the Emerald City Comicon. Met up with Jim for dinner at The Ram. Had a garlic swiss burger which I DEEPLY regretted later- thanks, reflux!

Jim and I were supposed to watch a movie but Jeanine convinced us to come to the Stube instead.

Read more Adrian Mole.

Spoke with Chris & Burke.

Day 95

Had a very slow start again after some fitful sleep. Ate a croissant for breakfast, tidied the cabin and departed just ahead of serious snow. It was sad to leave such a scenic place.

Tidied and swept before rushing to the Family Homestead for Easter- all present except Kyler with bonus Great Grandma. Had yummy ham and a cake covered in Jelly Beans.

Came home nice and early to finish cleaning and preparing for the week.

Watched Law & Order (with Jeremy Sisto) (Rawr).

Read more Adrian Mole.

Spoke with Amber and Mom.

Day 94

Had a slow morning attempting to wake up. Had a pancake breakfast and spent the morning with Karen and Andrea, while the others went hiking.

Jess and Shawn arrived as Andrea and Matt departed. We had a post lunch walk to the freezing cold lake (Karen and Jess). Read a little and started Happy Hour when Leigh arrived in the early evening.

Had delicious lasagna, made brownies and horsed around with Janine. Had cocktails in the hot tub. Chris was in a crazy mood.

Finished off the Christmas Tequila.

Today was a good day.

Day 93

Got Sean to school and rushed home to pack.

Chris and Andy picked me up and we drove to a cabin in Cle Elum. It was really nice. We drove into Roslyn and had lunch at The Brick (where, according to Andy, Northern Exposure was filmed). The potato salad was awful but the burger was great- which should teach you a valuable lesson about ordering salads in bars.

We returned to the house and made cookies. Andrea, Matt, Janine and Mike arrived. Karen shortly after. We had pizza, booze, and played Rock Band.

Today was a very good day.

Day 92

Was excused from tutoring and spent the evening with Sean. We ordered pizza and I read Real Simple and watched trash TV.

Day 91

I somehow allowed myself to get mixed up in child care giving and it was 50% awesome and 50% Lord of the Flies. That being said I did secretly enjoy it. Even though I didn't get dinner until 9.

Watched Men in Trees and halfheartedly attempted to prepare for my weekend jaunt.

Spoke with Czabrina, Jim, Andy, and Auntie.

Day 90

Made some snacks for the weekend. Watched Miss Guided (funny). Started to get things organized for the weekend. Made a HUGE mess and did not clean it up. I guess it was Shirk Your Responsibilities Tuesday!

Read more of The Diary of Adrian Mole.

Spoke with Steve, Burke, Bonnie, Jackie, and Mebbie.

Day 89

Dropped by the grocery store and the library.

Went to the Stube with Chris to find it incredibly crowded with rowdy young'ns. Had a lively discussion about religion. Forgive me for blogging this, but (1) Chris is totally bitter about religion in a way that I can't understand, I guess because I wasn't raised Catholic and (2) for having gone to parochial school he does not seem to know much about religious debate. I've always felt that evangelical atheists and evangelical Christians feed each other through hilariously improbable demands of evidence and declarations of foolish mutual exclusivity.

I'm still reading The Meaning of Night, but also started The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Age 13 3/4. It is quite cute.

Spoke with Mom, Steve, Burke, and Jim.

Day 88

Went with Mel and her friend Valerie to the St. Patrick's Day Dash. They had some trouble getting people to the start line on time, but it is was fun to walk on car-oriented spaces. We walked from Seattle Center to Qwest Field and the weather was pretty good.

Came home and fell asleep for a few hours. Had to ice my hurty foot. I was especially sore from scrubbing the floors yesterday, and a nice bruise is blooming from where I slipped while cleaning my shower.

Watched Logan's Run after Sunday Family Dinner. Sean was very moody and was sent to his room. I think he is coming to the place in life where he is angry and can't understand doing things that are not directly linked to his specific joy. I hope his stay there is shorter than mine was.

Spoke with Steve, Andy, and Jannette. Monica texted with her wedding date and location- September 13.

Day 87

Watched cartoons and the schedule was all jacked up.

Thoroughly cleaned the apartment. Watched the final disk of Numb3rs, season 3.

Addy, Ron, and Czabrina joined me for dinner at the Green Lake B&G.

Spoke with Burke, Mom, Mel, and Andy.

Day 86

Went to Happy Hour at Johnny's Sports Bar with Kieran, Sarah, Angie, Diane, Kevin, and Melody to celebrate her promotion.

Went to Paul's to watch New Frontier and got all caught up hunting down pie for Pi Day. Finally watched New Frontier and it was absolutely amazing.

Read comics.

Spoke with Steve, Amber, and Burke.

Day 85

Worked late and headed to Chris and Andy's. We watched Death at a Funeral, which was pretty funny.

Spoke with Steve, Burke, and Paul.

Day 84

Spoke with Grandma, Mebbie, Jim, and Amber. Spent some time chatting with Czar.

Watched Men in Trees and Law & Order, read comics, cleaned my closet and tidied the kitchen.

Dishsoap bottle refused to function. Stupid environmental dishsoap with the neat bottle that looks cool but apparently does not work. RUDE. And wasteful. The bottle was so hard I couldn't even slice my way in. Maybe I will bring it to Family Sunday Dinner and have Brad drill a nice big hole in the top. Take that, Environments!

It was nice to just veg out and chat with friends.

And I actually fell right asleep, putting and end to the trend of laying around not sleeping till the wee hours.

Day 83

Came into work early and left early.

Watched an episode of Big Love.

Tidied up a bit. Realized that some heavy duty cleaning is needed for the weekend.

Read some comics and finally gave up on Dragon Sea. I usually try to power through to the end, but having to face Dragon Sea and the World Without Us was putting me off of reading. I started The Meaning of Night by Michael Cox, which I've been told is quite good.

Spoke with Paul, Steve, and Burke.

Day 82

Got into the office at a bit before 6:30am so I cut out early to buy new cell phone.

Dropped by the library to see Dawn and pick up some holds.

Had dinner with Monica, Gordy, & Randy (G's friend from HS) at the Green Lake.

Met up with Jennifer, Andrew, Andy, and two of Jennifer's friends at the Stube.

Read a few comics and watched some Big Love.

Day 81

Had breakfast with Andy. We were both kind of dragging between Saturday's drinking and the time change.

Visited with Bonnie & Jeff and looked at wedding pics.

Had dinner at Sparta's with the entire family (minus James and Kyler) to celebrate Brad & Grandma's birthdays. Went back to Brad's for cake & presents. Brad & I watched the first disk of The Ruth Rendell's Mysteries. It was pretty good.

Today was my last day on contract with Verizon. (Hooray!)

Spoke with Mebbie, Steve, Paul and Monica, who called to tell me Gordy proposed Friday and she accepted.

Today would have been better if Saturday had been less fun....

Day 80

Watched cartoons all morning.

Got a pedicure with Czabrina, and Angie & her niece. Did some shopping and bought a few more things.

Went to dinner at Hi-Life with Andy, Shawn and his girlfriend (whose name I've already forgotten), Chris, and Leigh. Then joined a larger group for cocktails at the Bal-Mar. Very fun.

Spoke with Grammy.

Today was pretty awesome.

Day 79

Went to see Die Fälscher (The Counterfeiters) at the Egyptian with Nick C. and his friends Tom & Audry. It was fantastic in every way.

Stopped by Zao for tea and fried tofu.

Spoke with Steve, Czabrina, and Grandma.

Day 78

Tutoring kid canceled on me so I spent time being girly and beautifying myself.

Steve stopped by for cookies.

Read some comics.

Spoke with Mom, Steve, Addy, Mebbie, and Czabrina.

Day 77

Had sushi and hung out with Jim at The Stop.

Went to book club. Discussed Kabul Beauty School and dating. It was really fun.

Watched Men in Trees and read more Dragon Sea.

Day 76

Went grocery shopping.

Tidied, cooked dinner and (get this) took a bath. Weird. It gave me a nice opportunity to use sugar scrub and now my legs are ridiculously soft. This is making me ridiculously gleeful.

Watched the last half of New Amsterdam and can't decide if I liked it at all.

Read a little more Dragon Seas.

Spoke with Steve, Jim, and Bonnie.

Day 75

My computer was on the fritz at work today.

Went to the Stube with Chris & Andy.

Came home early and fell immediately asleep.

Spoke with Steve, Paul, Grandma, and Amber.

Day 74

Had breakfast with the fam and ran out with Mel for a brief shopping trip. She and I need to hang out more. She got a new car... but so did Jess. Consequently, I decided that it would be more prudent to skip Family Sunday Dinner this week. So I went to Discovery Park with Andy. The weather was fantastic and I have never found so much beach glass. Too much really.

Had dinner at Rositas and watched Persuasion with Andy. Who snickered the whole time, but didn't turn the channel thus showing that he secretly enjoyed it.

Did not sleep well at all- I don't know what the deal is.

Spoke with Czabrina.

Day 73

Got up early and watched cartoons. Made pancakes and bacon for Sean and Kim.

Caught Charlie Bartlet, which was wonderful. I loved it.

Took a field trip to Uwajimaya for Samurai Noodles and cream puffs. Samurai Noodles is very good; the best ramen I've had in a long time.

Came home and listened to/attempted to translate Jpop with Kim until Brad & Cynthia returned home.

Read more Dragon Sea.

Dodged phone call from unwanted gentleman caller. BLECH.

Day 72

Went to Happy Hour at Lynn & Michael's with Diane, Nancy C., Angie, and Lenni. Had a nice time.

Made dinner for Sean and Paul. Angie, Jim, and Kim joined us and we watched Turok and Monster Squad. It is important for Sean's development to understand that Wolfman has nards.

Let Sean stay up very late. I am a rebel.

Started Dragon Sea by Frank Pope. It is about archaeologists fight to recover artifacts from a 15th century sunken Vietnamese trade ship. It is slow going so far, but it sounds interesting.

Spoke with Burke.

Today was great!

Day 71

Went to Ballard with Grandma for Special Grandma & Quiana Day. We shopped and had lunch... and then dessert twice. Cupcake Royal and MooBerry yogurt. It was really fun. I found a cookie cutter in the shape of the Enterprise and drooled all over it, but it was too expensive for a cookie cutter.

I'm Sean/dogs/house sitting for Brad. Had to run to Mel's to let her dogs out as Jess' car is not working. I just got my car back (hooray!).

Then I almost forgot to turn my alarm clock off and had to run down to Seattle in the middle of the night.

Spoke with Jess, Mel, Paul, Megan, and Steve (who is quite ill).

Today was exhausting but awesome!

Day 70

Moved car from Jeff's to Andy's.

Had Sparta's at Brad's, just the 4 of us for Brad's birthday. Gave him The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins.

Finished The Man Who Smiled. It was great; I might check out more mysteries by the same author.

Spoke with Grandma.

Day 69

Spent the morning trying to get my car into a shop. Jeff's Auto on 99 was able to take me and let me know that I had a number of small things wrong, plus I am due for some routine maintenance so I let them go ahead with that. Luckily one of the parts was still under warranty ($400 saved) from my other shop (Andy's), so they will fix that for free when Jeff's gets done with the other things tomorrow.

Jeff's figured out the problem with my car hesitating before shifting gears and I am super excited to drive around in a working vehicle... even if it costs me another $500. If I can stall buying a new car until January of 2011 I can have all my student loans paid off, as well as my 30th birthday trip, and have a good down payment saved up. I think that can be done since my car has 125,000 miles on it currently and on average this vehicle runs to over 200,000. So if I drive about 15,000 miles a year, which is average, this whole scheme may pan out.

Had dinner with Michael and Lynn and attended the second NG Live! lecture of the year with Robert Ballard, an underwater explorer and generally awesome guy. He discovered ship wrecks in the oxygen-deprived waters of the Black Sea that were 1500 years old and you can still see the tool marks in the wood. Amazing.

Afterwards, Lynn & Michael dropped me off at Brad and Cynthia's and I borrowed one of their cars.

Almost finished with The Man Who Smiled, but was exhausted and needed to go to sleep.

I didn't call anyone today.

Day 68

Worked a very long day full of meetings with clients etc. On my way home a mysterious light in the shape of a battery came on in my car and all I could think was 'now what'. My car sounded Cuisinarty, so that's no good.

Scarfed dinner and mooched a ride to the Stube with Andy. Chris showed late, and then Jennifer and her spouse showed up with their friend James(?) who either has no English or is super super shy. Had a nice time.

Read more of the Man Who Smiled, I hope to finish it soon and move onto the HUGE stack on my bookshelf.

Spoke with Amber, Czabrina, and Bonnie.

Day 67

Grandma called at 9 am to make sure I was alive. Apparently she called me ten times yesterday, but didn't leave a voicemail and was convinced I was mouldering somewhere.

Watched Batman Beyond disk one until Andy reminded me that it was sunny. Had cupcakes with Andy at the lake.

Went with Brad, Cynthia and Sean to Hawaiian Breeze for dinner. Afterwards Brad and I watched Invasion. It was just ok. I think it could have been better written.

Spoke with Grandma & Steve.

Day 66

Watched Viva Pinata and Skunk Fu.

Paul picked me up and we watched all 5 Best Picture nominated movies in a row in Kent. It was awesome, but I was exhausted when I got home.

Day 65

Picked up the soundtrack to Once. Now I'm all new-cd-boke. (New cd crazy!). It is fantastic.

Had a date. You can put that guy on the official Not Going to Happen List.

Made bacon muffins with Steve and listened to CD's and watched Skittles commercials on Youtube.

Read more of The Man Who Smiled. Finished last month's NG.

Spoke with Melody, Amber, & Paul.

Day 64

Worked late again. Then my tutoring student stood me up.

My usual gas station "filled" my tank with just over 15 gallons of gas, which would be fine, except my car only holds 15 gallons and was a quarter full when I pulled up. Tomorrow I have to call the manager and complain. Yippee.

Picked up Mike Doughty's new CD, Golden Delicious. It was pretty good, but I'm not in love with it immediately. Less guitar and rock and more electronic than his last.

Cut my hand open pretty bad on some junk mail. Set off my smoke detector. And went to bed early to prevent any further incidents.

Spoke with Mom and Steve.

Read a nice chunk of The Man Who Smiled and I like it better every day.

Day 63

Worked late and dropped by the bank on the way home.

Made eggplant parm and dicked around on the internet. I had meant to clean, but ended up puttering around the house.

Watched Law & Order and read more of The Man Who Smiled.

Spoke with Bonnie and Steve. Bonnie had just returned from her honeymoon to discover that none of her wedding pictures had turned out. Very sad.

Day 62

Worked two short shifts to take care of Theo, which means two extra long days ahead of me. He was much improved though. I wish I could have remained more calm, but his stress made me feel so terrible. I'm so relieved that his parents are back.

Was supposed to watch the Nova special about Chimps with Steve and Addy, but was so exhausted that I just stayed home to clean and get organized for the rest of the week. It was really nice to be home.

I watched Reaper and random Discovery Chanel while organizing stuff.

Spoke with Grandma & Steve.

Read some more of last month's NG and more of The Man Who Smiled.

Day 61

Theo woke me at 6 am. I puttered around until 8 am and was able to make a vet appointment for 2:30.

Finished Flood Summer. I highly recommend reading it. Read more of The Man Who Smiled.

Met Monica for lunch at Chanterelle in downtown Edmonds and walked through the little shops.

Took Theo to the vet where he got cortisone shots and even more pain killer in addition to muscle relaxers.

Theo was too stoned to know when to get up to pee and refused to or couldn't walk without being picked up and put on his feet.

Steve came over and we watched junk TV while he graded and I dozed. Went to Herfy's for take out and I made cinnamon rolls.

Went to bed very early, but snuck in some reading time for The World Without Us, Alan Weisman's vaguely preachy book about nature reclaiming the Earth after the demise of humans. I kind of dislike the tone of the book. I feel like it is anti-people rather than pro-nature.
I am a person constantly in awe of complexity of human creations. I also love nature and the wonder of its design. For me seeing the complexity of human creations is a reflection of the complexity of God's creations. I just think that the works of man are fantastic and worthy of my awe as well.

Spoke with Grandma, Lynn, & Cynthia.

Today was exhausting.

Day 60

Theo woke me up crying at 7. He was lame in his rear leg, so I gave him an asprin; but it didn't help, so I gave him his spinal meds. Which didn't help either. He could barely walk and could not lie down.

Didn't get a hold of his parents (who also were not sure) until late that evening so I spent the day fretting.

Ron and Czabrina dropped by and briefly chatted, but I was so anxious about Theo, I'm sure I was not good company.

Amber was in town and dropped in for Chinese take out and dog-related fretting. After she left I settled down to watch TV, but Life After People was on, so I gave Andy a call to let him know. He correctly recognized that I was upset and came over to help if he could.

I fell asleep with Theo on the floor at 1ish after he finally collapsed from exhaustion at 12ish. At 3 or so I got up and went to bed.

I read more Flood Summer and it is awesome. I can't believe that it is not in every library.

I spoke with Grandma, Brad, Janette, Bruke, Melody, Addy & Steve.

Today was a terrible day.

Day 59

Watched cartoons and This Old House while cleaning. Had Dutch babies and bacon for brunch.

Ran by Fred Meyer's to pick up a gift and also bought some random jewelry and more socks. Picked up and started Trenton Lee Stewart's Flood Summer, which the library got on loan from some college in CA.

Started Theo sitting.

Attended dinner party at Leigh's. Chris, Andy, Mairead, Ramesh, were there in addition to three new people: Dave, Kristina, and Bethany(?). We played Trivial Pursuit and it was uhm... boring.

Day 58

Made it almost a whole day at work.

Went to Taste of India with Andy, then chased it with Trophy Cupcakes at Green Lake. And then since my house was messy and he didn't want to return home we had tea at the difficult to pronounce tea house in Wallingford.

Spoke with Steve, Mel, & Burke.

Day 57

Went into work late today and took care of some serious business. Feeling a bit better, maybe I'll be well by tomorrow.

Stopped by the library and comic book store. Got take out from Pastry Cafe.

Read comics, The Man Who Smiled and watched TV (Daily Show, Colbert Robert, & This Old House).

Spoke with Steve and Amber.

Day 56

Woke up, felt crappy, but less crappy than before. Watched a disk of season one of Heroes. Then watched the movie Himalaya, which was awesome and had yaks in it (yay!).

Slept and read more of The Man Who Smiled. I'm finally getting into it.

Ordered tickets for Marjane Satrapi lecture in April.

Watched about 4 Law & Orders and fell asleep for the night.

Spoke with Grandma, Steve, and Jim.

Day 55

Had a huge breakdown with FedEx after they kinda screwed around with me and the long and short of it is that I'm sick and tired and I had four commitments and FedEx was making it really hard to fulfill them today. I cannot handle not fulfilling my commitments and promises, that is just not how I am. And now I am that crazy person who cries on the phone to 1-800-goFedex.



Anyway, I slept all morning and then after FedEx finally delivered my package I dropped bread from Bonnie's wedding at the food bank and they were super excited. Then I fed Mel's gerbils and stopped by the office.



I finished Kabul Beauty School and it was amazing, and I highly recommend this awesome piece of non-fiction. It tells the story of a Michigan woman who travels to Kabul and discovers that her talents as a hairdresser can change the lives of women in Afghanistan.



I watched some random TV and started Henning Mankell's The Man Who Smiled.



Spoke with Amber, Jim, and Mom.

Day 54

Had to get up early to help my boss with meeting set-up, then I scooted out to a doctor's appointment. He told me I didn't have strep throat, but didn't know what I had. He recommended bed-rest, water, and ibuprofen.

I took care of some important projects at work, then scurried home. My throat and ears hurt a lot and I feel kind of pitiful. I feel really bad that I've been missing so much work.

Started Deborah Rodriguezes' Kabul Beauty School. Very good. Finished watching season three of Dr. Who and All Passion Spent. But mostly I slept all day.

Spoke with Steve, Jim, and Grandma (who called twice, but once was to tell me that Martha Stewart likes bacon).

Day 53

Got up early to pick up a few things for Bonnie's wedding, most notably her dress.

Met up with Bonnie, Dani, Janette, and Tawni and we worked on each other's hair. Jeff showed up and we loaded all of the beverages into Bonnie's truck and headed for the chapel.

At the chapel we all worked hard setting up the reception hall and before you knew it it was time for us to have the ceremony.

It went pretty well and Bonnie was much more zen than I feared I would be due to the various complications. At one point they thought that they had lost a grand in traveler's checks... but found them later. Bonnie and Jeff had some choice relatives that were quite exhausting as well, but maybe they are well practiced at putting up with them?

I had a great time and got to know some really cool people. There is something about a do-it-yourself wedding that brings the people who care about the bride and groom together. In particular Niki, Jess, and Taylor turned out to be really cool. As per usual I gave my phone number to some dude at the wedding that I am not interested in, which I fear is becoming a wedding tradition.

Spoke with Steve and grandma today.

Today was exhausting and my sore throat was terrible, but overall today was really good.

Day 52

Scrambled into the hair dresser's nice and early and got a cute new haircut and then went a little bananas at the mall.

After that I fetched the linnens for Bonnie's wedding and ran over to Brad's to do some odd three weeks of laundry. When I arrived I could tell that they had left in a great hurry. It turns out that Melanie's dog Greta had had a stroke while at the kennel and that they had had to put her down.

Brad and I watched a cheesey Japanese movie, Kibakichi, and then I dropped the linnens off at Bonnie and Jeff's.

After that I met up with Addy for sushi.

Today was a rough day.

Day 51

Work is still quite stressful, but I was able to scoot out early to run errands for Bonnie's Bachelorette Party. I got extremely motion sick in the car and was quite concerned. I think I may be having some kind of ear problem.

Attended the Bachelorette Party and it was very fun. It was a passion party, which isn't my kind of thing, but I was able to meet a few more of Bonnie's friends, Tay, Jess, and Stephanie in particular, who were really fun girls.

I won the guess the candies in the jar game, so good on me.

Day 50

Ran all over worrying about a very important project at work.

Drove to Marysville for Bonnie and Jeff's rehearsal dinner. Rehearsal went well, the dinner was fun. I asked Bonnie's mother if she was excited about the wedding and she said, 'no.' Weird.

Almost ran out of gas on the way home due to construction.

Talked to Mom and Megan.

Day 49

Had a very busy day at work.

Dropped by the library and then had dinner with Jim at Grinders. We retired to my place to watch Lost, but got caught up in serious conversation.

Spoke with Addy, Mom, Brad, Auntie, and Megan.

Reading this month's NG (Black Pharaohs).

Day 48

My first nearly full day of work.

Had a Fat Tuesday themed dinner with Michael and Lynn. Then we went to the first National Geographic Live! lecture of the year, at Benaroya Hall. The speaker was Wade Davis, a cultural anthropologist who spoke about the loss of cultures due to the force of outside elements (rather than personal choice). Amazing.

Came home to check out the anticipated Super Tuesday results. Obama and Clinton tied and McCain in the lead for the GOP. Interesting. I am still undecided.

Today was an intellectually stimulating day.

Day 47

Stopped into work for a couple of hours and then went home.

Made a quick chili and watched a bunch of Dr. Who, season three, whilst dropping in and out of sleep. Still feeling quite crummy.

Finished Ghost. It was good, but could have been compacted a great deal. I think that also would have benefited the story.

Spoke to Grandma and Steve.

Day 46

Was supposed to attend a Super Bowl party but simply didn't feel well enough.

Slept most of the morning, till Mebbie called. Made food, watched the rest of the second season of the new Dr. Who and some of the first season of Batman the Animated series, but fell asleep again.

Chris dropped by with a new TV (he had a spare one which was much nicer than mine). Let me know that a homeless guy was sleeping in my stairwell. It's pretty cold so I think I won't say anything to the manager, but I think I will use the back door all the same.

I think I talked to a few more people, but I can't recall who.

Day 45

Slept through most of my cartoons. My cough seems to have transferred to congestion, which is fine with me.

Watched junk TV all day. Attempted to watch Pulse and Slings and Arrows and was not interested in either.

Addy joined me for dinner and then Chris joined me to watch Stardust, which was amazing. Absolutley aweseome in every sense.

Passed out.

Day 44

Started to feel a little better- was able to read even.

Paul popped in with groceries, DVD's and much needed conversation. We had dinner and then Paul recognized the onset of unconsciousness and left.