Weekend Wrap-Up

A bit later than usual but it's been a crazy busy Monday thus far. The weekends highlights:

• Raced out of the office Friday afternoon to beat the majority of the traffic headed northbound to join Kat for an early dinner at Outback. It worked as the commute only took a little over an hour complete with 1 work-related stop.
• Tossed and turned Friday night worried about pulling everything together for Saturday night's Fondue Party.
• Woke early Saturday morning (likely a result of the tossing and turning) to organize my grocery list for the 26,476th time and get ready to face the day.
• Had breakfast with Kat at the Queen Anne Cafe.
• Pampered ourselves (Kat & I) with a much needed pedicures.
• Purchased all of the food and gathered all of the *stuff* for the Fondue Party and with Kat's help got everything packed up with time to spare.
• Successfully pulled off the Fondue Party with the assistance of my P.E.O. sisters and a whole lot of wine. Only minor glitch was the damn chocolate fountain which if it continues to make me crazy will be thrown off the Aurora bridge it utter frustration.
• Fell into bed totally exhausted from the business of the day and tossed and turned again, this time thanks to back pain.
• Woke early again on Sunday and laid in bed and watched the movie Little Miss Sunshine.
• Picked up Kat at 9 a.m. and headed to breakfast at the Crystal Creek Cafe where we agreed after a brief discussion that pancakes should never be put on the same plate as the eggs.
• Bought a few essentials (codeword for undergarments/kitchen gadgets) at the Seattle Premium Outlets in Tulalip, WA.
• Made the mistake of going to Radio Shack to purchase an adapter for the Mini SD card in my cell phone. Ended up buying something that will not work in my phone that I have to return. Also had to endure the WORST sales pitch for switching my cell phone from Verizon to Sprint or AT&T (which he is still calling Cingular) in the history of the world. He had to look up the answers to every single technical question that I asked about the phones/plans etc. Yo dude, Rule #1 in sales - Know Your Product!
  
• Watched the first three of the Love Comes Softly movies that my TiVo had picked up on Saturday when Hallmark Channel had a marathon. I liked the movies but as sequels often go the first was my favorite and they went downhill from there, I have 3 more sitting on the TiVo and am still undecided if and when they will be watched.
• Went to bed early to get ready for the week ahead.
  

How was your weekend?

Mouthy Coaster

As seen at Outback in Bothell

Wacky Doodle Dandy (the duck)

Wacky Doodle Dandy (the duck), originally uploaded by JewellsinSEA.

The UPS man just delivered this to my office. It's a gift from my mother. It's a duck that does the chicken dance, apparently she saw it and thought of me because of my love of ducks and "The Chicken Dance."

Weekend Wrap-Up

Delayed due to the holiday weekend, here are the highlights of the weekend:

• Enjoyed happy hour with Don at Ray's Boathouse on Friday evening while watching the clouds block out the sunset and a few boats scoot by.
• Woke with the roosters (actually before the roosters) on Saturday morning to drive north with Don to pick up Kat and have breakfast at Maltby Cafe.
• Picked up a bunch of necessities at Costco.
• Browsed the beers and wines at Malt & Vine in Redmond so that Kat could try some different beers thanks to her "I want to try some fruity beers" proclamation.
• Played pool with Don at Rock Bottom and was pleased that I actually won a few legitimate games.
• Slept until just after 10 on Sunday morning.
• Over indulged at Sunday Brunch with my friend Barb at Salty's on Alki.
• Wandered aimlessly through the grocery store on Sunday afternoon with Don trying to figure out what in the world we wanted for dinner. Finally settled on Chicken Cordon Bleu, Rice Pilaf and green beans.
• Slept in again on Monday, oh I love holiday weekends.
• Took a walk through the neighborhood and enjoyed the gorgeous 50-degree sunny weather a bit.
• Caught up on reading The Alchemist which is the book club selection for the month.
• Unchecked duplicate songs in my iTunes library.
• Enjoyed dinner of Chicken and Rice at Don's, along with some wine, followed by catching up on episodes of Brothers & Sisters.

How was your weekend?

Don with Beer Goggles

What a difference a few hours can make, from Coke Glasses to Beer Goggles.

Don with Coke Cap Glasses

Wasting time while waiting for Costco to open.

Very Happy Hour

I don't think we liked the calamari at all.

Happy Valentine's Day!

It's Valentine's Day, or VD, (insert 5th grade snickering here) today. My feelings about Valentine's Day haven't changed at all since my post last year, Why I Hate Valentine's Day, so I won't go into that again.

Several things that have happened this week have reminded once again of why I have a love/hate relationship with this holiday. I was reminded of the good during a conversation with my little brother a few days ago about some of his childhood memories of Valentine's Day. He, like me, is somewhat indifferent about Valentine's Day now but remembers every Valentine's Day of our childhood with great affection. And when I gave it some thought and wiped some of the cobwebs away, I remembered great things too, including:

• wearing red ribbons in my hair to match a carefully selected red outfit
• planning out the design/decoration for my Valentine box weeks in advance
• picking out *the perfect* Valentine's to share with my classmates and then sitting at the kitchen table for hours while I carefully signed them and stuffed them into their little envelopes
• Mom making heart shaped pancakes
• being dazzled by playing our Atari, a Valentine gift in 1980 or 1981

But I have also been reminded of the bad as I watched a friend feel "the pressure" of creating a perfect Valentine's Day for a girl that he has been dating for a short time. I listened as he told me about the teddy bear he had ordered from Vermont Teddy Bear Company that would be delivered to her office and the jewelry he planned to present to her on tonight only to feel his palpable disappointment when she gave him the "let's just be friends" blow off yesterday.

However you chose or don't chose to celebrate Valentine's Day, I hope today is a good day for you and one when you are surrounded by people and things that you love. I hope that you don't feel the pressure to make any grand gestures but rather remember to love and be true to yourself.

Beaver Plane!

I read about this in my Alumni email newsletter last week and couldn't wait to see it unveiled.

Weekend Wrap-Up

Time for the weekend update again, the highlights:

• Hosted a trivia night with most of "the usuals" from our pub trivia nights at Pyramid Ale House on Friday night. We divided into 2 teams and battled for the win for nearly six hours only to declare it a draw. The best part of the evening was watching friends rack their brains in an attempt to find answers to questions as the amount of beer consumed increased. Memorable names like "The Urkel Family" and "Cameron Electric" still make me chuckle.
• Annoyed by a telemarketing call from Catherine's that woke me up at 8:11 a.m. to tell me about the latest promotion.
• Attempted to get some additional sleep following the rude awakening and finally after an hour of watching TV managed to fall back asleep until just before 11:00 a.m. and then got up to deal with the kitchen nightmare and rinse the 47 empty bottles of beer and 1 bottle of wine from the night before in preparation for recycling.
• Had wanted to attend the state Democratic Caucus but decided that I had too much to do and had slept too late.
• Ran to the Metropolitian Market.
• Completed all the prep work for the Pink and Red Dips from this recipe. I've never used 1/4 cup of paprika in a single recipe.
• Enjoyed trying "new-to-me"African cuisine at "Cooking with Bacchus" event with Don at Kipp's home on Saturday night. Food included our Shrimp with Pink and Red Dips (see above), a Ethiopian soup with veggies and peanut butter, a beef stew with tomatoes, snow peas and bananas and roasted bananas for dessert. Along with lots of interesting and fun wines.
• Completed 4 loads of laundry first thing Sunday morning fueled by a triple latte and a large cup of coffee.
• Headed to Don's for a late lunch/early dinner of his yummy spaghetti with he and Kat followed by some "hangin' time" and watching the movie the The Emperor's New Groove.
• Reviewed some final details, notes and procedures to prep for the audit at work on Monday.
• Finally saw the final half of Woman of the Year which I have been sleeping through for nearly a week.

How was your weekend?

Happy Chinese New Year!

Today is the Chinese New Year which you can read about in far more detail here. Welcome to the year of the Rat!

Curious to see what the year of the Rat will mean to me, I googled and found the this website that gave me (an Ox) the following prediction:

The Ox
Sturdy, earthy, no-nonsense – that’s the Ox. Affectionate and easy-going, the Ox can show a fierce temper when agitated. He is neat, tidy, quiet and studious, with a great love of his home. Music can be a great love. Family life and a loving partner are high on the Ox’s priorities. A wonderful loyal friend.

Forecast for 2008
The Ox could be quite tired after a hectic last couple of months in 2007. During 2008 the focus on work continues, with excellent prospects for promotion, moving to a better position and also taking up new skills. It will be important for the Ox to take time out for recreational and social pursuits in order to relax and remember to enjoy himself. 2008 will also be a lucky year for Ox’s with possible monetary gain or unexpected gifts arriving during the year. Friends will also play an important role in the year, providing support, camaraderie and fun times. The Ox is not the most social animal in the Zodiac and it’s important for him not to neglect his existing circle of friends this year. His well-considered and honest advice will be sought a few times over 2008. March to August will be a terrific time for work advancements.

I'm fairly normal

You Are Fairly Normal

You scored 55% normal on this quiz Like most people you are normal in some ways... But you aren't a completely normal person. You're a little weird too! Why You Are Normal: You prefer ruffled potato chips You eat the frosting first You would rather be an astronaut than a movie star You prefer a good meal to a good nap You prefer fiction to non fiction Why You Aren't Normal: You find the Chicken Dance to be the more embarrassing dance You'd rather have cockroaches than rats in your home You would not eat meat from a cloned animal When you're in a car, you prefer to be the passenger You are no longer with your first love

What's Normal About You... And What's Not?

Poll - Who is your favorite candidate?

This morning when I loaded my page it was re-directed to blogpoll.com for some unknown reason. Once I removed my "Who is your favorite candidate?" poll it stopped.

So, if you didn't get to participate, I'm sorry. I was going to post the results thus far, but can't get it to load at all. Ugh, technology. I love it when it works and hate it when it don't. :-)

Weekend Wrap-Up

Is it Monday morning already? The highlights of the weekend:

• Raced home from the office on Friday to meet Don and head to Happy Hour with my colleague and friend Kipp and several of his friends at McCormick & Schmick's on Lake Union. Happy hour turned into several happy hours with lots of wine and laughter.
• Fell asleep within an hour of arriving at home and slept for 11 hours.
• Found the sweaters that had been left at the Laundromat last weekend.
• Returned a sweater and bought a couple of new sweaters at the Outlet Stores in Tulalip, WA.
• Stopped for lunch at Diamond Knot Alehouse for lunch with Don on the way back from Tulalip. I had a yummy Chicken Cheddar Melt which was cooked at the table on a hot stone.
• Picked out knives to fill the empty holes in my knife block at Macy's as they are having an amazing sale.
• Watched cheesy Hallmark channel movies Daniel's Daughter and The Good Witch from my TiVo.
• Drank coffee and watched my usual Sunday morning favorites Meet The Press and CBS Sunday Morning.
• Ran out to pick up pizza and beer for the Super Bowl.
• Watched the Super Bowl (and the ads) with Kat and Don whilst enjoying clam dip (yummy!), pizza and beer. My favorite ads were the Bridgestone Tire Car vs. Squirrel, Bridgestone Tire Richard Simmons near-miss and the Audi Godfather spoof.
• Attempted to watch Woman of the Year on DVD from NetFlix but only stayed awake while I was sitting up and sipping at a cup of tea.

How was your weekend?

Why so cold?

I was amazed a moment ago that after 20 minutes the car was still not warm till I actually checked the temp dial. Big Brain!

Complete Knife Set

Complete Knife Set, originally uploaded by JewellsinSEA.

Stone Cooked Lunch

Stone Cooked Lunch, originally uploaded by JewellsinSEA.

Notable only to me

Today is my half-birthday. When I state this fact to most people they look at me like I'm on crack and ask, "What the hell does that mean?" It means that today I am exactly 34 1/2 years old.

Most people don't even know when their half-birthday is. I have always known because when I was a child this was the day that I would celebrate my birthday with my elementary school classmates. Having a summer birthday ruined the entire *bring cupcakes to share with the enter class* deal and I, of course, felt totally robbed. So my brilliant mother suggested that I celebrate with my classmates on February 1st and hence the tradition was born. Even though February 1st wasn't my birthday, I got special attention on that day and it was almost like having 2 birthdays a year, without aging, which as a child rocked utterly!

Nowadays it comes and goes and is only really notable to me. And to serve as a reminder to my friends and family that they only have 6 months to pick out and buy the perfect birthday gift for me. :-) He, he, he.