Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Interpersonal Intelligence

Your Intrapersonal Intelligence Score: 81%

Your Intrapersonal Intelligence is Very High

You've spent a lot of time introspecting, and it's really paid off.
You are comfortable with who you are, and you have a life philosophy that you are happy to live by.
And you're always re-evaluating what you believe. Because you learn something new about yourself each day!

Memorial Day Weekend Wrap-up

Oh, how I love holiday weekends! I had a great weekend, some of the highlights include.

I worked from home on Friday and my workday ended a bit earlier than so that Katharine, Don and I could catch the premier of Pirates of the Carribean - At World's End. Neither Don or I had seen the Pirates of the Carribean - Dead Man's Chest so we watched it Thursday evening in preparation for the Friday movie. I quite liked both films and it was really fun to see a movie on opening day which I haven't done for a number of years. We then had a yummy dinner of gargantuan proportions on the deck at Claim Jumper - Alderwood Mall. I arrived home just after 9:30 p.m, immediately put on my pajama's and was sound asleep by 10:00 p.m.

I had a somewhat leisurely Saturday morning including catching up with my RSS feeds, drinking coffee and enjoying the sun and my newly potted plant on my deck. I did a quick load of laundry to solve the "no clean underwear" problem, showered and left around 12:30 p.m. to head to my brother's home in Port Orchard. They had 12 cu ft of dirt and 10 cu ft of bark dumped in their driveway on Thursday afternoon and were in the process of undertaking a huge renovation of the back yard. He immediately put me to work and within a few hours I was quite proficient at "driving a wheelbarrow" (it's not as easy as it looks.) After "the cutest nephew in the world woke up from his nap I wasn't much for helping with the project because we had a lot of playing and talking to catch up on. We finished up around 6:00 p.m. and after a quick stop for gas and an Iced Coffee at Starbucks I was headed back for the city. Upon arriving back in Queen Anne, I ran by the grocery store and picked up some essentials and food for the week and then headed home. After a long, warm shower I enjoyed a BLT sandwich and caught up on my recorded TV for the week.

I awoke on Sunday morning to rain. I was disappointed at first especially when I realized how cold it was outside. I made a pot of coffee, closed the windows and crawled back into bed where I fell back asleep for another few hours. Upon waking again, I popped one of my NetFlix movies into the DVD player. The Mutiny of The Bounty was only in my queue because I'm still working towards watching all of the movies that have even won the Oscar for Best Picture. I went into it not knowing what to expect and LOVED it, which saying a lot since I am not a fan of Clark Gable. Following the movie I spent a couple of hours on the internet reading articles about the story behind the mutiny, the mutineers, Pitcairn Island and the ships created for the movie. (And Don, the population is 45!)

By then it was 3:00 p.m. and I decided that it was time to take a shower and do something productive. And at 4:00 p.m. I decided that I had put my laundry off as long as possible. Due to the great car saga of 2007, I had only been doing loads here and there just to "get by" because I couldn't get to the laundry room. I packed it all up carried it to the car and took it to the Queen Anne Laundry Room. Two hours and 5 loads (probably 8 in a regular sized machine) I drove home and put everything away. It had been weeks since every single piece of clothing that I owned was clean, it felt great. I then threw together a new dinner concoction of Asparagus and Ricotta stuffed Ravioli with Asparagus spears in a light cream sauce and watched another movie from my NetFlix queue.

Monday morning I woke up threw on work-out clothes and headed to the top of the hill to pick up Suzie and we went to Green Lake to walk. I desperately needed a bathroom when we arrived at the lake but the Community Center was locked so we started around the lake and by the time we made it to the wading pool and the first available bathroom I was ready to burst. We finished our walk and on the way home Don called to ask if I felt like drinking beer on a deck for the bulk of the afternoon. HELLO! YES!

I had planted some outdoor flowers for Katherine so we drove to Bothell to drop them off at her place and then headed to Bell Street Diner where we spent the bulk of the afternoon and early evening enjoying the boats, drinking beer, enjoying the sun, drinking beer, enjoying yummy food and drinking beer! It was an absolutely perfect Memorial Day!

Hope you had a great weekend too!

Monday, May 28, 2007

What Makes Me a Good Friend?

You Are a Good Friend Because You're Supportive

You are almost like a life coach for your best friends.
You give them help when they need it... but you also know when to give them a push.

People tend to rely on you for moral support and advice.
You've probably always been mature for your age, so this is a role that's you're comfortable with.

A friend like you is one of the rarest kinds.
You are both a good mentor and companion.

Your friends need you most when: They are confused or worried

You really can't be friends with: Someone who only wants to complain

Your friendship quote: "The only way to have a friend is to be one."

Sunday, May 27, 2007

My Love Life in a Movie

No wonder it's my "faux" favorite movie! :-)

Your Love Life is Like Casablanca

"Kiss me. Kiss me as if it were the last time."

For you, love is never finished. If you've loved someone once, you'll always love them.
You're an old fashioned romantic... even if your relationships don't end up as romantic as you'd like.

Your love style: Traditional and understated

Your Hollywood Ending Will Be: Complicated and ambiguous

1, 2, 3, 4.... Today's favorite song

I am totally in love with the new song by Feist titled 1 2 3 4 from her new album The Reminder. I heard it 3 times today and it puts a bounce in my step and a smile on my face every time I hear it. This isn't that surprising since I fell in love with the song Mushaboom from her album, Let It Die, last summer.

I checked out the video on You Tube this evening and it add a whole new visual element to the song, check it out below.

Thursday, May 24, 2007

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Buddha's Birthday

The sign above the monastery across the street indicates that it's Buddha's Birthday. Damn, I forgot to send a card!

Quick and Dirty IQ Test

Your IQ Is 130

Your Logical Intelligence is Below Average

Your Verbal Intelligence is Exceptional

Your Mathematical Intelligence is Genius

Your General Knowledge is Exceptional

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Seattle Sunset

In celebration of getting my car back and because it' s a beautiful evening I decided to drive home from PEO along Alki Beach.

Merry Margarites!

A bouquet of daisies for my new PEO sister.

Quote of the day

I wanted a perfect ending. Now I've learned, the hard way, that some poems don't rhyme, and some stories don't have a clear beginning, middle, and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what's going to happen next.

~Gilda Radner

Life is just a game of cards

You Are the Ace of Hearts

Youthful and playful, you love life and the world.
You have a kind spirit, and you bring happiness to everyone you know.

Artistic and bold, you see the world in bright colors.
And you certainly aren't afraid to express everything you see and feel.

You are sentimental, and your emotions are very deep.
You are easily swept away and easily hurt.

A gamble you should take: Blackjack

Your friends would describe you as: Unique

Your enemies would describe you as: Weepy

If you lived in Vegas, you would be: An up and coming chef or fashion designer

Saturday, May 19, 2007

FIRE!

Don is doing a fine job grilling our Copper River Salmon. :-)

Mom always says...

Red skies at night = good day tomorrow

Friday, May 18, 2007

My Theme Song

Your Theme Song is Beautiful Day by U2

"Sky falls, you feel like
It's a beautiful day
Don't let it get away"

You see the beauty in life, especially in ordinary everyday moments.
And if you're feeling down, even that seems a little beautiful too.

Thursday, May 17, 2007

Quote of the day

A quote that my mother would wholeheartedly agree with either that or they are doing it just to annoy her!

"I'm convinced there's a small room in the attic of the Foreign Office where future diplomats are taught to stammer."
--Peter Ustinov

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Good Citizen

You Passed the US Citizenship Test

Congratulations - you got 9 out of 10 correct!

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Happy Hour View

Our Puget Sound view during Happy Hour along with sunny 80 degree weather, it's an awesome Seattle day.

Saturday, May 12, 2007

Saturday Happy Hour

Enjoying a beautiful Seattle day, waterfront on Lake Union.

Wednesday, May 09, 2007

Difficult Day

Today was a difficult day. I wouldn't call it a *bad* day but it was unbelievably challenging. I thought perhaps halfway through that maybe I had gotten up on the wrong side of the bed, but I never do that so I don't know what was to blame.

I was wired last night. I hadn't consumed a large amount of caffeine but I had been studying all evening so I guess my brain was full of physics, biology and science in general because I just couldn't turn it off. This made getting out of bed this morning especially difficult. I finally pulled by ass out of bed at 6:00 a.m. and raced around the house to be ready in time to meet my ride at 6:40 a.m.

Upon arriving at work I quickly discovered that the email server was down. I started on my usual tasks thinking to myself, "I'll just hold off any emailing until later." But you don't realize how often you use something until you don't have it. A few hours later our IT guy showed up and we were all forced to log-on which meant NO work for nearly 30 minutes. There is nothing worse than being stuck at work with a task list the size of Texas and no way to do it. Just when it began to be unbearable the announcement came that it was up and working. And it worked perfectly, but only for about 45 minutes, until it crashed again (just 10 minutes after the tech left the building). I finally gave up attempting to work and decided to devote my time to prepping for our company potluck.

My colleague and "brother in a former life" and I had decided to combine our forces for our potluck contribution. Kipp brought his Weber grill into work and I brought the chicken. He was stuck in meetings so it fell on me to light the coals and grill the chicken. He had given me specific instructions to use the Match Light bag of charcoal first and then the other if needed. I started the grill about 10 minutes earlier than planned and could not get the damn briquettes to light. I solicited the help of several colleagues and none of us could get them lit. Finally after 40 minutes of trying we got them started, but slowly. Everyone that walked outside to check on the progress offered their opinion about our technique, which just irritated us rather than helping. We all assumed that the bag of charcoal must have been old and when Kipp emerged from his meeting he told me that the bag had been given to him by a friend and he wasn't sure how old they were. AAAHHH!

Finally at 11:50 a.m. (ten minutes before the potluck was scheduled to begin) the grill was hot enough for the meat. I made the executive decision to only cook half of the chicken because most of my co-workers would be done eating by the time the chicken showed up in the buffet line. I spent the entire lunch hour grilling and carrying finished chicken and beef (another colleagues contribution) into the kitchen. By the time I headed in to make myself a plate there were just 3 people left in the lunch room. The good news is that the chicken turned out really well.

About thirty minutes after eating I was sitting at my desk and trying to be productive when I was struck by painful stomach cramps. I am always careful about what I eat at potlucks and avoid anything that may contain foods that I am allergic to or that upset my stomach but I failed today and spent the next 45 minutes making trips to the bathroom.

While waiting for a meeting to begin an hour later I listened while a colleague explained the recipe for the her contribution to the potluck which included coconut milk and I suddenly I knew what had made me sick. Thank goodness that it was so rich that I didn't eat the whole thing!

The meeting finished just in time to log off and head for home. The majority of my colleagues, including my car pool partner were headed to a dinner celebration so I got a ride with the one that was headed to save the table and he dropped me about 10 blocks from home on his way to the restaurant.

It was a beautiful afternoon and I enjoyed the walk home, except for the phone call I received in which my *study buddy* cancelled our evening study plans. Upon arriving at home I lit the grill to cook the chicken that didn't get cooked during the lunch hour. About halfway through the process the grill ran out of gas. And I got to figure out what you do with 3 pounds of half cooked chicken tenderloins... FUN! As I was walking into the house from the deck my phone was ringing, I missed the call but returned it immediately only to have my mother tell me that a family member had passed away earlier in the day and another was in the hospital following a moderate heart attack.

I sat down with my dinner and tried to study for the MCAT (which is just looming a few days away) but couldn't concentrate. I thought about the events of the day and decided right there and then that I was done with having a crappy day. Following dinner I decided to color my hair and take a hot bath. I feel like I have washed the bad *mojo* away and am now soothing myself with a hot cup of tea. I am going to go crawl into bed and put a movie in the DVD player and hope that tomorrow is better. It's gotta be, right?

All Girl

You Inner Gender is Female

You're sensitive, caring, and willing to connect with anyone who's open to you.
You make friends easily, and you enjoy all sorts of conversations.
You understand most people you meet - better than they understand themselves.
You're totally a woman... or at the very least, your soul is female.

Cool Water

My car pool dropped me off about 10 blocks from my home today and I noticed this cool water feature on the north side of the new Uptown QFC.

Tuesday, May 08, 2007

Cheese anyone?

The cheese counter at the new QFC in the neighborhood is awesome.

Sunday, May 06, 2007

Queen Anne Crane

It's an everyday sight to see cranes in downtown Seattle, but now they have invaded the hill.

Saturday, May 05, 2007

Quote of the day

"They smell like feet, but they taste really good."
-Nikki (a.k.a. the bride to be) when discussing dried apricots

Wow!

I think this may be the ugliest purse in the history of the world.

Friday, May 04, 2007

Party Time!

I am hosting a Bachelorette Party weekend for my friend Nikki this weekend. She is getting married in June and I am a bridesmaid. So what duty do you give "the camp director?" Well, of course, you let her plan and pull off the Bachelorette Party.

The guests will be arriving tonight in time for pizza, junk food, chick flicks and tons of talking. Tomorrow morning we will be embarking on some Seattle sightseeing including Pike Place Market, the Waterfront and the Space Needle. We will finish off the day with some pool, beer and dinner. I will try and post some pics of our adventures as the weekend progresses.

I am looking forward to celebrating Nikki's upcoming marriage with her and making her last *single girl* weekend one to remember.

Me as a Sandwich

You Are a Turkey Sandwich

Conservative and a bit shy, you tend to stick with what you know and trust.
You are very introverted, and you prefer to blend in whenever possible.
Though you may be hard to know well, anyone who does know you considers you a true friend.

Your best friend: The Ham Sandwich

Your mortal enemy: The Tuna Fish Sandwich

Thursday, May 03, 2007

It's a sad, sad, sad, sad day

I'm hanging out at home tonight watching Thursday night TV, eating dinner and checking my feeds (through Google Reader) and I stumbled across this article. :-( I'm so sad!

Everyone who knows me knows that I am a HUGE fan of Gilmore Girls. I love the characters, the music, pop culture savvyness and often quote the show to others just to annoy them. I admit that this season has been a bit *off* compared to others but I still not ready to say goodbye.

I decided to head over to GilmoreGirls.org to see what other fans are feeling. I have checked out the site a couple of times but am often times disturbed by the level of fandom of my fellow Gilmore lovers and that was oh so true tonight when I saw a posting on the message board from a fan who cried for 3 hours when she heard the news. Seriously? I'm sad, I would love to see them back in the fall for Season 8, but come on people, a bit of perspective is needed here.

I am just glad that we live in the age of nearly immediate releases of our favorite shows on DVD. My collection of Gilmore Girls is up to date and my sadness (I didn't mention tears, they are fictional characters after all) are eased by the fact that I know that I can pop a DVD, sit on the couch and be in Stars Hollow in an instant.

Thanks for the memories Lorelei and Rory. I will miss you!

Quote of the day

"Sometimes I get the feeling the whole world is against me, but deep down I know that's not true. Some smaller countries are neutral."
--Robert Orben

Wednesday, May 02, 2007

I have perfect hair!

Well at least, perfect for me!

Your Ideal Hairstyle:

Curly Bob

Tuesday, May 01, 2007

Happy Birthday Jasper!

Today is Jimmy's 29th Birthday! It's the last time he will celebrate a birthday in the 20's and that is definitely a noteworthy occasion. I have been giving him a bad time about it for a week or so and figured the fun should continue through his actual birthday. Hey what are big sisters for? But, in all seriousness, my birthday message for Jimmy...

I hope your birthday is fun and filled with love. I think that 29 is going to be a banner year for you and I can't wait to sit back and watch you achieve your dreams and become the man that you were destined to be.

I love you!