Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow

This has been sitting in my draft folder for so long that I don't even remember where I originally saw it but I'm sure it came from one of the Blogs that I read on a regular basis. If you are reading this and recognize it as something from your site, please let me know so that I can credit you. Now onto the important stuff a glimpse at Jewells from yesterday, today and tomorrow.

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Where were you in 1987? In school? Working? Single? Married? Attached? What was important to you? What were you doing creatively? Tell us a bit about your life then.
1987 found me in the 8th and 9th grade and Churchill Junior High School in Salt Lake City, Utah. I was in the midst of the awkward *ugly duckling* stage of my adolescence complete with braces, glasses and zits. I liked school and got good grades and was involved in numerous extra-curricular activities including competitive swimming, girl scouts and church youth group. I loved being a "big sister" so when my mother asked me to do extra chores around the house like assisting my brothers with their homework and preparing family meals, I was thrilled. Some immediate things come to mind when I think about 1987, in no particular order they include:

• My bedtime was 8:30 p.m., yet I was desperately trying to convince my parents that it should be later.
• My hero was Janet Evans who broke numerous world records that year.
• I had my first kiss with the boy next door that summer.
• I went to Girl Scout camp for a total of 4 weeks that summer including a 2-week Mariner camp. My camp name was Fruitchew.
• I wore red glasses.
• I got my first CD player for Christmas and the first CD I owned was Phil Collins No Jacket Required.

Where were you in 1997? What would you like to share about the nineties?
In 1997 I was living in Salt Lake City, Utah and working as Business Manager for my mother's Speech Pathology private practice. I had been back in Salt Lake (from Oregon) for a little over a year and remember being frustrated in finding the right group of friends. In February, my parents ended their 29 year relationship in a bitter and ugly divorce that I was far more involved in that I would have like to. I March, my maternal grandmother passed away after years of living in a nursing home. Some random things about 1997 include:

• My salary was $18,000 a year.
• My car was a 1992 Honda Civic with TONS of miles on it.
• My Mom and I celebrated Mother's Day by exploring Gardner Village for the first time. It was a day I will never forget.
• I got my first set of golf clubs and lessons.

Where did you plan to be or think you'd be in 2007? Have you realized your goals? What is one thing about your present life you love and one you'd like to change?
I guess it depends of when the question was posed. When I was younger I always thought that my thirties would be the time in my life devoted to starting and raising a family but I have learned that life doesn't always turn out the way you plan it. But even though my life may not have turned out like I pictured it many years ago, in many ways I think it's better and really can't imagine being in any other place than I am right now. Some things that I love about my life right now:

• My career has gone in a direction that I would have never picked but am really pretty good at.
• I absolutely love Seattle and feel that I have finally found "my home" here.
• I am blessed with wonderful people in my life who support me, love me and encourage me more than I imagined possible.
• I have concurred cancer and will soon reach the 5-year milestone which seems so far away, not so long ago.

Some things that I would like to change:

• Identify my passion and work towards a career doing it.
• Lose some weight, get in shape and be more healthy.

How do you see your life in 2017? Do you have any goals or dreams for your future?
Life in 2017 seems really far away, yet it will be here before we know it. Some things I know that I want for the future:

• To be healthy and cancer-free.
• To be working in a job/field that I am truly passionate about so that work is pure joy in my life.
• To have a home that is nurturing to my soul and a place to share with others.

QotD: It Set Me Apart

Vox Question of the Day - What set you apart from the rest of the kids at school?

Two things immediately come to mind. The first is my height. I was ALWAYS the tallest girl in my glass throughout much of school until the boys hit puberty and then a few of them caught up. I hated being tall as a kid and although I have accepted that it's just the way it is, I sometimes wish I were a more reasonable height.

The second thing would be religion. I grew up as a Presbyterian in the Salt Lake Valley which is made of a majority of LDS people. There are a few instances from my childhood where the difference cause a situation that was very painful but throughout the majority of the time I just made the best of the situation.

Originally posted on my Vox site. Full post moved here September 7, 2010 in anticipation of Vox's closing.

QofD: Fascinating Class

Vox Question of the Day - What is the most interesting class you have ever taken?

It's really hard for me to narrow it down, I love learning and have taken many, many, many classes that have excited and intrigued me. If I were to pick from the recent past I would have to say the 2 semesters of Anatomy and Physiology that I just completed in March. The human body is fascinating in it's engineering and I love learning about it.

Originally posted on my Vox site. Full post moved here September 7, 2010 in anticipation of Vox's closing.

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?

QotD: Recess!

Vox Question of the Day - What was your favorite game to play at recess in grade school?

I was a big fan of hopscotch and tag when wanting to play with others and made a b-line for the swing set when I felt like being alone.


Originally posted on my Vox site. Full post moved here September 7, 2010 in anticipation of Vox's closing.

QotD: Who was your best (or worst) elementary school teacher?

Vox Question of the Day: Who was your best (or worst) elementary school teacher?

The best elementary school teacher that I had was Mrs. Joyce Eliason. I was in her 1st grade class and then later on when they did some shuffling of teacher assignements I was assigned to her 3rd grade class. That's right, I was lucky enough to have her twice. I learned a tremendous amount from Mrs. Eliason. She was fair and fun. I remember eagerly anticipating the school day to see what she had in store for us.

And for the record my worst teacher was Mr. (his first name has been replace in my brain by something useful I am sure) Romney. He was clueless, uninspiring and thought he could bribe us to learn and behave properly in class with Rolo's. I was in a brand new school that year and he made the transition even worse. He was the total opposite of Mrs. Eliason.


Originally posted on my Vox site. Full post moved here September 7, 2010 in anticipation of Vox's closing.

Random Friday Thoughts

It's been an interesting and long week. Some happenings from my world.

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The Seattle Boat Show is this weekend. They have a show twice a year in Seattle and when they do they set up temporary docks on the south end of Lake Union and surround them with boats. The boats began arriving early in the week and by Wednesday they had mostly arrived. Wednesday was also the night they turned *the lights* on. They have 3 annoyingly bright spotlights to light up the boats (I am sure for security reasons) but they are really bright and really annoying.

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I finally got the Christmas tree taken down. I would think it super-tacky that it was still up on the 20-something day of January except the lady across the street still has her tree proudly displayed in her window with absolutely no indication that she plans to take it down.

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It turns out that Pit Bulls are much more annoying than Terriers.

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I get very upset when people take advantage of the fact that I am nice and accommodating.

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WOO HOO! Just got a PO for 2 pieces of equipment!

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I have seen news stories about the different lottery scams that have been circulating for quite some time via email but I had yet to receive one until early this week. My email address must have popped up on all of the lottery schemers lists this week because I have received nearly a dozen offers.

Also, they are addressed with some kind of notation about friendship in the greeting like "Hello old friend" "My dear friend"

I don't think that wanting to rip me off qualifies you as my friend.

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The lymphatic system is fascinating to me.

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Well that's all for now. Happy Friday!

Great Weekend

This weekend was filled with all of the elements that make a weekend truly good. On Friday night, Don and I totally geeked out at my place and set up my new wireless router and external hard drive. I am so loving having a wireless network again. Now I can surf anywhere in my apartment. And having a new external hard drive has given me the freedom to expand my music collection. I spend a ton of time this weekend adding songs to my collection that I have been collecting for months because I didn't have the space to do so.

Saturday morning I saw the return of school. I attended class on Saturday morning and became the leader of my lab group. I didn't want to be the leader last term but then found myself being VERY competitive with the group leader. I really wanted to be in a totally different group this term but as it turned out several of my classmates from last semester really enjoyed working with me so I we reunited and created a group complete with the leader from last semester. It should be interesting. Then it was off to coffee with a girlfriend and an afternoon of errands and palm tree hunting.

This morning Don and I had brunch (that's what you call it when you eat eggs late on Sunday right?) at one of my favorite neighborhood places. Then I had a lazy afternoon at home. It watched a movie and relaxed. Tonight I enjoyed the return of some of my favorite TV shows (Desperate Housewives and Brothers & Sisters).

I had planned on taking down the Christmas tree this weekend but realized today that I am not quite ready. I am ready to say goodbye to the Christmas knick-knacks and other decorations but the tree is something that I not quite ready to part with. So I gathered together all of the decorations and prepared them for packing and didn't do anything with the tree. I realize that Saturday was Epiphany marking the official end of the holiday season but I figure I can do it in my own timing which means that I will spend portions of this evening this week making Christmas disappear from my home.

I hope that you all had a wonderful weekend and are ready for the week ahead. :-)

Technology Woes

I suffered from tremendous technical difficulties yesterday. I was forced to replace my cell phone battery (yes, again), yet even after hours of charging it died. I got repeated error messages from my wireless broadband service and the service kept insisting that I needed to generate a new IP address, this put quite a kink in my studying for my upcoming final examination. And, I had been trying to upload some posts to my website yet the Blogger website that I use to manage my website wasn't working properly. I was finally so frustrated that I gave up on it all.

My horoscope this morning said something about having a temper tantrum and I just blew it off, but when I still couldn't get my phone to charge or my wireless card to work reliably this morning, I became very, very, very, angry.

So after work I went to the Verizon store. I have teased many times over the past few weeks about how hard Verizon is working for me (totally tongue in cheek) but tonight (maybe because of my temper tantrum) they really did work for me.

I was greeted Chris, the same tech support guy that helped me on Sunday, and he immediately recognized me and started fixing the problem with my phone. While I was still explaining the problem in great detail he was pulling a brand new phone out and hooking it up. Once the phone was settled I addressed the wireless broadband problem with them. I explained my frustration with the service and it's general unreliability, he called the store manager over and they let me out of my contract. Which was huge relief. I had been disappointed by the service since I got it but felt trapped.

However, this left me with a problem, no access to the internet. I heard a couple of ads on the radio for Clearwire and noticed a kiosk at Pacific Place where I had parked my car. I stopped by to ask a few questions which were answered to my satisfaction and I took the plunge and signed up. Upon arriving home I set up the modem. It works perfectly, it's much faster than Verizon and I am happy!

Hopefully all of my technology woes are behind me, I get very grumpy when I am not able to connect to the world.

Bad Day

The stars have aligned today to make this a really bad day.

• I got 4 hours of sleep.
• My carpool buddy was late.
• I still don't have a fuctional cell phone. (Verizon Wireless sucks!)
• My palm pilot is on my desk at the office.
• I failed a pop quiz in my lab this morning (1 out of 5 correct).
• I got caught up in the traffic trying to leave campus as everyone was trying to get to the game.
• Some of streets in my neighborhood were closed down due to a gas leak and traffic was a nightmare.

I totally understand why kids have meltdowns when they overstimulated, annoyed and tired because I feel like having one right now! AAAAHHHH!

Off to bed I go.

Draft Wrap-up

It seems that I was "the queen of the drafts" this week. I had a lot on my mind and began several posts but didn't manage to get anything finished. I am compling the best of the drafts into this post.

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I ended up hearing one of my favorite songs of all time on three seperate occassions this week. It's one of those obscure songs that you just don't hear very often, so to hear it 3 times in one week is, I think, noteworthy. The song is Joe Jackson's "Stepping Out" and lyrics...

Now -
The mist across the window hides the lines
But nothing hides the colour of the lights that shine
Electricity so fine
Look and dry your eyes

We -
So tired of all the darkness in our lives
With no more angry words to say
Can come alive
Get into a car and drive
To the other side

Chorus:
Me babe - steppin out
Into the night
Into the light
You babe - steppin out
Into the night
Into the light

We -
Are young but getting old before our time
Well leave the t.v. and the radio behind
Dont you wonder what well find
Steppin out tonight

You -
Can dress in pink and blue just like a child
And in a yellow taxi turn to me and smile
Well be there in just a while
If you follow me

Chorus repeats

This song always reminds me of my mother. She loved this song back in the day. She always said that the final verse reminded her of long road trips when she would find a "driving buddy" and stick with them just like the yellow taxi in the song. I think I heard this song this week to remind me that my mom was leading me through the fear of facing my tests.

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I love the new CD from Carbon Leaf. They continue to be one of my favorite bands of all time. The new CD is titled Love Loss Hope Repeat and the title song is fabulous. My favorite part...

Remember the days that would never end
So much time you couldn't comprehend
When the sun so slow to fade
And tomorrow was more of the same
And the easiest April Rain
Was enough to ignite the flame
And you fade out with a grin
With the company you were in

And when the high wind blows everything
Like a lion attacking the spring
I love you more than I'll ever let on
And that's a fault of mine
I'm workin on
I'm workin on
And when the sky's a dusky hue

I am beginning to agree that the seasons ought to be... love, loss, hope, repeat.

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I took my first midterm of the semester this week. I got an 86%. I was a bit disappointed. It's a B, which is a fine grade, but I wanted an A.

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It's turned to the rainy season in Seattle. We have had more rain in the month of November (and it's the 4th) than we did in June, July and August combined. I was ready for the rain. It's easier for me to induge in my favorite things when it's cold and rainy outside. I feel no guilt curling up with a cup of tea and a book on a rainy day. Or sitting at Starbuck's for hours in front of the fire. It just seems the season to relax a bit more and indulge in the things I love the most.

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Well my laundry calls. Have a good weekend! :-)

A Better than average Tuesday

Today was a "better than average" day at work which is really good considering that it was a Tuesday which is usually my least favorite day of the week. I think it was because most of the team is out of town and therefore our weekly meetings were cancelled. Plus it was one of those days when everything just falls together and projects that I have been trying to finish for months just came easily to a conclusion.

I had a "bad stomach day" today and I don't know why. I didn't eat anything out of the ordinary but ended up sick. It's been a really long time since I had a bad day in the stomach department. I don't know how I lived with several days like this in one week!

I am going to settle in for an evening of Gilmore Girls and studying. Have a good evening!

Monday Morning Catch-Up

I have been reminded by a few of my regular readers that I have been a bit of a slacker on posting lately and they are right. I think it’s been the combination of battling a wicked head and chest cold, starting a new semester and being totally overwhelmed at work that has left me with little imagination and initiative to post anything.

It’s not because I don’t think about it. There are always several points in each and every day when I think… “I should post that!” but alas I haven’t.

So to those who have been disappointed the last 2 weeks, please accept my sincere apologies and I promise to get back in the groove starting right now…

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I had a great weekend. The weather is absolutely perfect right now. The days are warm, sometimes rainy and sometimes sunny and the nights are cool. I have broken out a few of my sweaters. The leaves are turning bright shades everywhere you look. Oh, how I love this time of year.

I took a walk around Queen Anne yesterday instead of going to the gym. I love my neighborhood. I passed several people out working in their yards and move than a few homes that were proudly displaying jack-o-lanterns and Halloween lights.

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Today is Columbus Day. Everyone I know is working today. Besides the employees of the federal government does anybody else get Columbus Day off? On second thought I guess the bankers are off today too. (

It’s kind of an odd holiday. Nobody really celebrates Columbus Day (except New Yorkers) and nearly everyone works but there is no mail delivery and you can’t make a deposit.

I think one of the DJ’s on my favorite radio station said it best this morning, “It’s not a real holiday if the meters aren’t free.”

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I saw a story on the evening news that made me sad, Tower Records is closing. The parent company has been purchased by a consolidation company and they are liquidating all of the assets of the company. They have credited iTunes and other online music services for their decreased sales.

I have frequented the Tower Records in my neighborhood numerous times over the past year. The staff is friendly and helpful and I have always found what I wanted. I am sad that they are closing but somewhat excited to shop the sale.

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I am feeling like the SDOT and anyone else who has the power to stop traffic has something against me personally. It seems that everywhere I try to go is under construction.

The last two weekends they have been diverting the traffic from the Mercer Street exit so that they can lay the tracks for the South Lake Union Trolley. I have not been hung up in the mess but have had to take longer route to avoid it.

There is a new building going up on Taylor Ave between Roy and Mercer. I have been told that the ground floor is going to be a Whole Foods and then the floors above will be condos. For the last 3 weeks they have had Taylor Ave reduced to one way and forcing all of the southbound traffic west and around the block. Going around the block is a pain because I always get hung up at the 2 stoplights. I was patient the first few times because I realized that the construction crews needed the extra space but now it’s getting really old. This morning it took me an additional 8 minutes to take the detour. I found an article complaining about the construction obstructing when turning onto Mercer so I am not the only one that is complaining.

Also getting to and from the gym has proven to be more and more of a challenge because of a cleanup project on Westlake Ave. They are cleaning up a huge spill that happened 25 years ago and will have it dug up until January of 2007.

It’s all incredibly frustrating.

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The suction cup holder for my razor decided to fail me again. I am battling it on a daily basis again. Ugh!

Weekly Update - All good things....

Hello all!

I hope that you all had a safe and happy holiday weekend and that your 4th of July was relaxing and fun. This week has been very busy and fun for me. Here are some of the highlights.

I met with my adviser and attended an information session at the University of Washington on Wednesday evening in preparation for going back to school in the fall. I have now narrowed down my prerequisites to an exact list and now it just comes down to figuring out what kind of load I want to take each semester. The information session on the PA programs was informative and I left with many of the questions that have been rolling around in my head answered. I am excited and nervous to go back to school. It's been a really long time, but I am also older and more mature (well in theory anyway) than I was 10 years ago and everyone that I have talked to about it says that it's easier to be a student when you are a grown-up. I don't know about that, but will know soon enough!

My Seize the Summer list kept me busy again this week. I am now 34% done and completed the following this week....

#43 - Pretend to pirate a tall ship at the Tacoma Tall Ship Festival. I walked along the waterfront in downtown Tacoma on Sunday morning and checked out the ships. The lines to board them were extremely long, so I decided not to tour any of them, but it was neat to just be in the presence of them. I have always loved boats and I especially love tall ships, so I was in my element.

#39 - Watch the crowing of the "Seed Spitting" King & Queen along with food, rides and fireworks on the Fjord in Poulsbo on the 3rd of July. www.communityeventproductions.com Dave, Kristen and I drove up and spent the majority of the day in Poulsbo on Sunday. We shopped at the unique shops on Front Street, listened to live music, ate funnel cakes (Dave had never had one, so I got to be there for his first), played numerous games of UNO and then finally once the sun had completely disappeared from the sky, we watched the fireworks over Liberty Bay. The worst part of the day was the traffic. It took nearly 2 hours to get from our parking space to the main highway, I don't think that many people have been to Poulsbo since July 3, 2004 :)

#40 - Enjoy the Family 4th at Lake Union Fireworks on my balcony following a barbecue with friends and family. www.familyfourth.org This was the highlight of my weekend. I got to cook for a crowd of 9, which I love to do. The evening was filled with good food, great friends, laughter and FIREWORKS! I love fireworks and I was blown away by the fireworks over Lake Union they were incredible! We watched them on TV again right after the show and they are just not the same on TV as in person.

So now to explain my subject, All good things. Well, all good things eventually come to an end. I have been doing this weekly update on and off for several years. The "off" times come when it is no longer a fun and joyful experience for me. Recently completing the weekly update has become more of a chore and not as much fun as it used to be. Because of my organized and orderly nature I have felt a lot of self induced pressure to get it out on a weekly basis and therefore have become to hate it. I have decided to share things on a more spontaneous basis and only to those who request to be included. So if you would like to receive updates from me on a "whenever" basis please send me an email and let me know and I will add you to that list. If you choose not to be included I completely understand and won't take it personally, why clog up cyberspace with unnecessary mutterings if I don't need to. I hope you are all enjoying summer as much as I am, where ever you are.

Weekly Update - Update on Me

Hello all!

I know that the last communication most of you received from me was notice that my email address was changing, and was somewhat vague, so in an effort to clarify and keep you updated on the latest news in my life I plan on getting back into the habit of sending my weekly updates. If you don't want to receive these messages, just let me know, you won't hurt my feelings, I just wanted to include the majority at this point.

First a bit of history. I was laid off from my job at St. Mark's Hospital on the 30th of December. I was shocked, but determined to turn it into something positive. For some time my goal has been to go back to school to become a Physician Assistant. The program that I would love to attend is at the University of Washington. I still have some prerequisite courses to complete, but would like to make this a focus in the future. So, I just returned last night from a trip to Seattle where I completed 8 job interviews and a meeting with the University of Washington. I also took the time to drink plenty of coffee and have some fun! I have made the next round of interviews for at least two of the jobs, so I will be back up in the greater-Seattle area in the next few weeks to follow-up with those opportunities and find a place to live. So my future days will be filled with packing boxes, sending out resumes and living off unemployment.

I was a bit freaked out about being unemployed for awhile, but have decided to embrace this little bit of"free time" with enthusiasm. Like I said above, I am planning on getting back into the habit of sending out my weekly updates. And I promise they will be filled with wonderful details and typical "Julie Anne" stories of the adventures that only I seem to find myself in.

Please drop me a line and let me know how you are doing and again, if you don't want to be haunted my these messages every week, please let me know.