Morning News Woes

I like to watch to have the news while getting ready for work in morning.  They repeat the stories, weather and traffic often enough that even thought I'm out of the room for large portions on the broadcast I still get the general gist of what is going on in the world and what to expect as I venture out into it.

When I first moved to Seattle in 2005 I started watching KOMO 4 Morning News.  Shortly after I got accustomed to the newscast they made some changes that drove me crazy.  The weather was reported by Jim Castillo who drove me crazy with his beady little eyes (photo here).  The anchor for the news was Natasha Curry who has a freakishly large forehead that I found it visually distracting so early in the morning (photo here).  So after I complaining about it for a few months, I finally switched from KOMO to KING 5 Morning News.

The vibe of the KING newscast was extremely pleasant.  Brad Goode, Joyce Taylor and Rich Marriott are very comfortable with one another and very professional.  I was happy to "wake up" with them everyday for several years.  All that changed in January 2010 when they added Tracy Taylor as the traffic reporter.  From the very beginning she drove me crazy but I didn't want to be too quick to judge so I pledged to tough it out until the vibe returned to normal.

By December it was clear that my annoyance level was getting a bit out of control when I caught myself making faces and yelling at the television early one morning.  I feared that if I didn't make a change I would be throwing things at the television soon.  It still took 2 more weeks to officially make the change, I think I was still hoping that I wouldn't have to do it.

In mid-December I switched back to KOMO 4 Morning News.  It has been 3 weeks and all is well.  I've found my new morning news!  Mike Dardis, Molly Shen, Paul Deanno and Rachelle Murcia help me start the day informed and not at all annoyed.  Because of my sensitivity to the traffic difficulties on KING I've been the most critical of Rachelle Murcia who reports the traffic but she does it in an effective and professional manner, it is just delightful.

Let's hope this change lasts for a while!

Christmas 2010: My favorite things

These are a few of my favorite things about Christmas this year.  It was a truly magical one.

• Eggnog lattes!
• 2,300 lights!  That is how many were on the tree this year and it was glorious!
• Lots of time in the kitchen to create fabulous holiday meals and treats.
• Celebrating with friends!
• Eggnog Pie!
• Being spoiled with gifts of things that I'd never buy for myself but absolutely adore including one of a kind handmade jewelry, a cashmere sweater and a Pashmina.
• Waving, yelling "Hi John!" and making faces at my nephew and sister-in-law every time they spun around the carousel at Westlake Center.
• Being able to give my Mom a relaxing holiday where she didn't have to cook, clean or be the hostess.
• Teaching my nephew to say, "I am not your father" with his new Darth Vader helmet on and then encouraging him to repeat it to everyone in the room.  He is like a human puppet, it is awesome!
• Laughing to the point of tears with my Mom (thanks to the "human puppet" antics of my nephew) and then being told by my nephew, "You girls need to stop it NOW!" which just caused an eruption of more laugher and tears.
• The look on Don's face when he opened his gift.
• Discovering a bunch of new Christmas music which I adore.
• The best turkey we have ever made.
• Christmas shopping at 6:00 a.m. on Christmas Eve and have the parking lots, stores and roads all to myself.

Hope you had a merry and memorable one!  Happy New Year!

I Voted!

My favorite thing about voting at the polls was proudly wearing my "I Voted" sticker for the remainder of election day. Since King County votes entirely by mail now, there are no more visits to the polls and no more stickers. :-(

Imagine my delight when I discovered that the fun folks down at King County elections created a virtual sticker so I can still declare that I've voted! :-)  Yay!

The gift of rain

Just looked out the window and saw this amazing sight!  The Kent Valley has never looked so good. :-)  If you look very closely you can see a very faint second rainbow to the left of the very distinct one.

2009 in Cities

I guess this is an annual thing now that I've done it twice, you can read last year's list here. The following cities are places I have visited for long day trips or overnight trips in 2009:

• Seattle, Washington (home)
• Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge, Sequim, Washington (see pictures)
• Sequim, Washington (day trip for Easter dinner)
• Orlando, Florida: twice (see pictures)
• Yakima, Washington
• Lihue, Hawaii (Kauai)
• Koloa, Hawaii (Kauai) (see pictures)
• Kapaa, Hawaii (Kauai) (see pictures)
• Lake Wenatchee, Washington (Telma, nearest city)
• Salt Lake City, Utah
• Cannon Beach, Oregon (see pictures)
• Victoria, British Columbia, Canada (see pictures)
• San Francisco, California (see pictures)

I was "out of town" for a total of 31 nights in 2009, that is 8% of the year. 2009 was filled with adventures and amazing experiences. Here hoping that 2010 is filled with many more!

Weekend Wrap-Up: 9/25 - 9/27 & 10/2 - 10/4

Its a super-sized edition of the Weekend Wrap-Up with the highlights of the last 2 weekends. Enjoy!

9/25 - 9-27:

• Woke and dressed in profession wear and head to Ballard to pick up Kathleen on Friday morning.
• Had a good time mingling with sisters from other chapters at the Seattle Area P.E.O. Reciprocity meeting.
• Had a lovely al fresco lunch with Kathleen at Sonrisa at U Village.
• Dropped off Kathleen and headed home.
• Processed about several winter squash and a bunch of yellow squash for the freezer.
• Caught up on episodes of my favorite TV shows.
• Did Laundry.
• Enjoyed breakfast at the Queen Anne Cafe where I proclaimed that I am DONE with breakfast potatoes.
• Ran errands.
• Processed the other half of the winter squash and several large zucchini for the freezer (in total I processed 98 pounds of vegetables).
• Slept in WAY longer than usual on Sunday morning. Yay!
• Enjoyed a quiet day at home with household chores on Sunday.
• Quizzed Kat on Cisco flashcards while Don made dinner.

10/2 - 10/4:

• Got my second mammogram of the year, all is well and I'm off the hook until 2010.
• Took a nap when my afternoon plans fizzled.
• Enjoyed a relaxing evening a home catching up with the TiVo.
• Got my flu shot.
• Enjoyed breakfast at The Original Pancake House with Don and Kat.
• Picked up some new jeans at Catherine's.
• Got ready for the cooler weather by getting new long sleeve tees and a sweater at JC Penney.
• Went to Office Max twice trying to buy toner for my printer. Note to self: write down the model number next time.
• Celebrated a milestone for my associate and friend Amy with drinks at Elysian Fields, taking the *adult* version of the Seattle Underground Tour and having a late dinner at Mama's Mexican Kitchen.
• Enjoyed a quiet Sunday at home with lots of household chores.

How was your weekend?

Counting the minutes...

Until the start of Wicked. Pic taken from our seats. :-)

Weekend Wrap-Up: 9/4 - 9/7 and 9/11 - 9/13

It's a 2-for-1 bonus edition of the Weekend Wrap-Up. Enjoy!

Labor Day weekend was a 4-day weekend for me! Here are the highlights:

• Picked up some fresh veggies at the Queen Anne Farmers Market on Thursday after work.
• Enjoyed a quiet morning at home on Friday.
• Met Suz for lunch at Buckley's.
• Got a manicure and pedicure.
• Quizzed Kat in preparation for her Cisco certification test.
• Enjoyed hamburgers, tater tots and corn on the cob prepped by Don.
• Packed up the ingredients, tools needed for our overnight Cooking Club adventure at Kipp's cabin on Lake Wenatchee.
• Had my first Pumpkin Spice latte of the season!
• Enjoyed the ride to the cabin catching up with friends, Jana and Neil, thanks to Don's driving. :-)
• Had a relaxing afternoon settling in at the cabin and enjoying the outdoors when it wasn't raining.
• Prepped and cooking and laughed and sipped at wine until the feast was ready.
• Enjoyed a wonderful dinner, one for the cooking club hall of fame, for sure!
• Played a men vs. women game of Trivial Pursuit (80's, 90's and Pop Culture edition) and the women won!
• Had a leisurely morning with coffee, breakfast and good friends.
• Stopped by Plain Hardware so Kipp could get his propane tank refilled.
• Sipped some wine at the Eagle Creek Winery.
• Had lunch at South in Leavenworth, WA.
• Picked up some squash (approx. 40 pounds) at Smallwood's Harvest.
• Arrived back in Seattle just before nightfall.
• Had breakfast with Kat and Don at The Bay Cafe.
• Attempted to shop at Fred Meyer among the chaos their remodeling project.
• More quizzing of Kat on the Cisco flashcards.
• Dined on Tamale Dish that Don had prepared. YUM!
• Retired early in prep for the week ahead amazed that 4 days had whizzed by.

It was a really busy and very fast weekend, here are the highlights:

• Made and GIANT pot of spaghetti sauce with tomatoes from my garden on Thursday night.
• Worked from home on Friday.
• Waited for the DirecTV repair guy who never showed up.
• Called and yelled at DirecTV and rescheduled for Sunday afternoon.
• Made a big pan Lasagna.
• Packaged up 12 quarts of spaghetti sauce for the freezer.
• Quizzed Kat in prep for her Cisco certification test while Don a salad and garlic bread to go with the lasagna.
• Woke WAY too early on a Saturday morning to attend a local trade show.
• Enjoyed connecting with some of my favorite customer and vendor friends.
• Laundry.
• Did the grocery shopping for the week.
• Walked down to the neighborhood McMenamins and enjoyed some beer and dinner with Don.
• Slept in until 9:30 a.m. on Sunday, which in my world is rare occurrence.
• Enjoyed a cup of coffee from my new french press which I've finally mastered.
• Made some eggs and had a lazy morning.
• Spent the afternoon in the kitchen making 24 stuffed peppers for the freezer while waiting for the DirecTV guy only to discover that they had come on Saturday, a mistake by DirecTV in the scheduling.
• Talked to 5 people at DirecTV until I got a discount on my bill for the next six months and scheduled yet another appointment for the technician to repairs.
• Baked Banana Bread to bring to the office.
• Cleaned up the kitchen which was a disaster following the major cooking projects of the weekend.

What a whirlwind! How was your weekend?

Weekend Wrap-Up - 8/7 - 8/9

My first full weekend back in Seattle and it was low-key and relaxing, just what I needed:

• Slept in on Friday morning.
• Took a shower, got dressed.
• Took a nap.
• Caught up on a couple TV shows that my TiVo picked up while I was away.
• Took a nap. (Yes that is 2 naps in the same day!)
• Watched New In Town.
• Did 6 loads of laundry.
• Successful trip to Bed Bath and Beyond for a new mattress pad, new laundry bags, new wash cloths, new hair drying towels and new air freshener refills.
• Assimilated all my new treasure into the house and organized a bit.
• Walked through Trader Joe's and picked up whatever looked good for snacking while sailing.
• Went sailing on the Puget Sound with friends.
• Watched It Had to Be You.
• Slept in again on Sunday morning (didn't stir until 9ish, unheard of).
• Enjoyed some coffee from Kauai.
• Chatted and caught up with a few family members on the phone.
• Got my ass kicked by Kat while playing cards.
• Enjoyed a wonderful dinner on the deck at Bell Street Diner.
• Tried to watch Rachel Getting Married but the disc from NetFlix wouldn't work.

Was that really 3 days? It went by WAY too quickly. How was your weekend?

Lunch

Surprisingly yummy looking salad for lunch. :-)

Strawberry Rhubarb Tart

Summery desserts rock, especially when its paired with al fresco dining at Ray's. Yeah summer is here!

2008 in cities

I borrowed this idea from Don, who has done this for several years. Below are all of the cities where I have spent at least 24 consecutive hours in 2008.

Seattle, WA (home)
Cannon Beach, OR
Anaheim, CA
Pasadena, CA
Salt Lake City, UT: May, July, November
SeaTac, WA
Reno, NV
Port Orchard, WA
Lake Wenatchee, WA (Telma, nearest city)
Corvallis, OR
San Francisco, CA

Here is hoping that 2009 brings some more exotic ports of call.

UPDATE: Forgot to add SeaTac, WA to the list. Also you can check out Kat's list here.

Weekend Wrap-Up

I usually start my weekend posts with news from Thursday night. I'm going to do that this time although I had to work on Friday this past week and therefore my weekend was shorter than usual but still good, here are the highlights:

• Enjoyed some yummy food and beer at Ray's Brewmaster's Dinner with Kat and Don on Thursday evening.
• Was at work at 7:30 on Friday morning, it was painful.
• Assisted as best I could and actually enjoyed my interview with the ISO auditor, a bi-annual requirement for the company I work for.
• Celebrated the successful conclusion of the audit with my colleagues and Tequila!
• Saturday morning was all about the Laundry, I think it was 13 loads in all.
• Visited the Pacific Rim Bonsai Collection at the Weyerhaeuser headquarters in Federal Way with Kat.
• Met friends (and UW alums) at Rock Bottom in Seattle to watch the game. The Husky's successful maintained their win less season. Go BEAVS!
• Dropped some food off at a party that Kipp was having.
• Had dinner with Kat at Outback Steakhouse.
• With the exception of walking the dog, I stayed home all day Sunday.
• Cleaned the kitchen, bathroom and my office.
• Got everything ready for the week and decided as I was falling into bed on Sunday night that 2-day weekends suck, I prefer the 3-day ones!

How was your weekend?

Register!

Bad officials are elected by good citizens who do not vote.

--George Jean Nathan (1882-1958)

Today is the last day to register to vote in King County (Seattle), Washington and a few other places around the country. If you aren't registered PLEASE take the time to do it today. If you live in King County you can find information here, if you don't live in King County you can find information here.

Weekend Wrap-Up

Escaped from Seattle to Lake Wenatchee for a long weekend with Barney and Don. Here are the highlights:

• Enjoyed the fall colors and a beautiful drive over Steven's Pass.
• Unpacked and settled in to Kamp K, my friend Kipp's cabin.
• Took a walk along the waterfront and back through the woods.
• Worked REALLY hard to get a fire started.
• Relaxed on the deck and enjoyed the lake while snacking and sippin a glass of wine.
• Made and enjoyed a yummy dinner of steaks, baked potatoes and green beans.
• Got beat over and over again in repetitive games of Shanghai Rummy.
• Drank too much wine.
• Sipped coffee and stared out at the morning fog on the lake.
• Made oatmeal for breakfast and can't believe I've lived 35 years and never put cinnamon on my oatmeal!
• Snapped some great pics on the way to Leavenworth, I love fall!
• Saw the Oktoberfest parade and the traditional taping of the first keg.
• Tried a few "new to me" beers.
• Enjoyed walking through Leavenworth on a sunny beautiful afternoon.
• Got back to the cabin in time to enjoy the sunset and some snacking in front of the fire.
• Lost some more card games, it was not my weekend for winning.
• Enjoyed coffee in front of the fire again trying to get the fire going again.
• Made my famous (at least in my little world they are famous) Eggs Benedict.
• Cleaned up and packed up.
• Stopped at Smallwood's Harvest in Peshastin, WA to buy fresh apples.
• Got home in time to unpack and prepare for the week ahead.

Hopefully I'll get the pictures downloaded from my camera soon so that I can share some with all of you. How was your weekend?

Photo of the Day - Yet More Bathroom Wit

Bathroom Wit, originally uploaded by JewellsinSEA.

Signs hung inside the men's restroom at the Harbour Public House on Bainbridge Island, WA. Don't worry I'm not frequenting the men's room, these were taken by Don.

Photo of the Day - Harbor View

Harbor View, originally uploaded by JewellsinSEA.

View of Eagle Harbor through the window at the Harbour Public House on Bainbridge Island, WA.

Photo of the Day - More Bathroom Wit

Bathroom Wit, originally uploaded by JewellsinSEA.

Signs hung inside the men's restroom at the Harbour Public House on Bainbridge Island, WA. Don't worry I'm not frequenting the men's room, these were taken by Don.

Photo of the Day - More Bathroom Wit

Bathroom Wit, originally uploaded by JewellsinSEA.

Signs hung inside the men's restroom at the Harbour Public House on Bainbridge Island, WA. Don't worry I'm not frequenting the men's room, these were taken by Don.

Photo of the Day - Bathroom Wit

Bathroom Wit, originally uploaded by JewellsinSEA.

Signs hung inside the men's restroom at the Harbour Public House on Bainbridge Island, WA. Don't worry I'm not frequenting the men's room, these were taken by Don.