Trial Run

Left the house at 1:40. Shoot! Missed the exit to I-90. Took the Seneca exit into downtown and got back on I-5. This time going South. Managed to get on I-90 this time. Drove 5 miles until the Bellevue Drive Exit.
Directions say to pass the Bellevue Drive Park and Ride. Check.
Pass the Blueberry Farm. Check.
Look for signs to The Winter's House. There it is!
Pulled into the parking lot. Noticed a large group of people. Wait! I think I see men. Men weren't invited to this bridal shower!
Proceeded with caution. Crashed someone's birthday party. Went back to the car to figure out what I'd done wrong.
Read and re-read invitation. Wait! May 27th!!!???? MAY 27th??!!!
How the hell did I misconstrue that? Today is April 29th!!!

I Was Told There'd Be No Math Today

I am a word person. When it comes to numbers, I am rendered helpless. Even simple math eludes me. I once worked at a toy store for a summer and balancing the cash drawer at the end of the night was like Chinese Water Torture to me. So it will come as no surprise that I dread having to fill out my time-sheet at the end of every work week. Were it in a normal format, or if I worked the same schedule every week, it would be less of a hassle. But it isn't, and I don't.
As I filled out the form today I realized I wouldn't have enough time to hit the gym before Logic got off work. I was really looking forward to a good jog but I knew it was my own fault for not catching up on my hours earlier in the week.
The time-sheet, while filled out, remained on my desktop all day until I finally sent it in an hour ago. Right before I clicked the 'send' button, I realized my math was off. I'd actually worked an hour of overtime. Granted things could have been worse, but for a girl who's sole purpose in life is to feel the endorphins achieved at the gym, it was really disappointing.

Fahrvergnügen

Just a little blast from the past.

Allison to Paige

"I love you so very, very, very much in the whole wide world."

Hawaiian Pedicure

Day One in Hawaii and we were all lounging around the apartment. Lili noticed that I had a few blisters from jogging and we decided to get pedicures while the boys went to a local brewery. She called her favorite salon but they were booked for the afternoon so she suggested we try a new place at the mall. The guy on the phone was rude to her, but we figured maybe he was busy.
We were running late so Lili called the salon and the guy was a dick again! And when we showed up he stared us down until I finally said "Two pedicures. We called a few minutes ago. Under the name Lili". He huffed and dramatically swiveled in his chair to yell back for the two nail techs before proceding to go back to his magazine. The nail techs, who happened to both be lying their heads down on the counter in the pack of the salon, slowly began to get up and walked to us like they were hungover. Lili and I looked at each other and then looked at the Asshole. He didn't look up. Simultaneously, we told him we didn't want to get pedicures there anymore and left.
So we walked around and found another place nearby. The guy at the front desk shot us a friendly smile and informed us that we could either wait 20 minutes or he could call their sister-salon to see if they had anything available. Turns out, their sister-salon was the same place that was rude to us and when we explained that to the gentleman behind the counter, the manager overheard us and seemed very distraught. She asked us a series of questions before we were ushered into the pedicure room. And even though the friendly staff at Mani Pedi Spa made up for the other salon, we both laughed on the way out at the possibility of the rude guy getting in trouble.

Trying on a New Perspective

Logic and I agree that we need to stay in Seattle until we're finished with school. (Me, my first bachelor's degree and him, his law degree.) So in an effort to remain sane while here, I'm trying on a new perspective. I am not going to let the weather affect my mood because damnit, I am a fun person and I want to be a fun person. I can't continue to let the weather depict the outcome of my day.
So cross your fingers and hope I make it through this alive.

Hawaii Is Crying

Our last day in Honolulu was dreary. Metaphorically and literally. All four of us were sad. And it didn't help that we saved the USS Arizona Memorial for that day. Add to that some rain.
As we drove to the airport, the rain came down harder than it had all day. From the front seat Ranger broke the silence: "Hawaii is crying".

Email Forward

Lessons on the Seasons of Life



There was an Indian Chief who had four sons. He wanted his sons to learn not to judge
things too quickly. So he sent them each on a quest, in turn, to go and look at
a pear tree that was a great distance away.

The first son went in the winter, the second in the spring, the third in
summer, and the youngest son in the fall.

When they had all gone and come back, he called them together to describe
what they had seen.

The first son said that the tree was ugly, bent, and twisted.

The second son said no it was covered with green buds and full of promise.

The third son disagreed; he said it was laden with blossoms that smelled so
sweet and looked so beautiful, it was the most graceful thing he had ever
seen.

The last son disagreed with all of them; he said it was ripe and drooping with
fruit, full of life and fulfillment.

The man then explained to his sons that they were all right, because they
had each seen but only one season in the tree's life.


He told them that you cannot judge a tree, or a person, by only one season,
and that the essence of who they are and the pleasure, joy, and love that
come from that life can only be measured at the end, when all the seasons
are up.


If you give up when it's winter, you will miss the promise of your spring, the
beauty of your summer, fulfillment of your fall.

My Heavy Heart

The plane landed at 5:50 a.m. into a city surrounded by clouds.
The clouds that had disappeared were now seeping back into my body and my mind.
Filling my head where the sun used to be.
I return with a heavy heart.

Good Timing (for me)

Logic and I are leaving for Hawaii this evening. We're going to visit some friends and, well, go to Hawaii. Everything's packed and we're rushing to catch the shuttle at 3:30 today.
In an effort to finish my to-do list early (hoping to eliminate any residue stress), I ran to the Post Office this morning to get Isaiah's birthday present in the mail. And as I'm walking, I see a man about 20 feet in front of me jump up from a bench and start yelling: "mother fucker! shit! shit! damnit! mother fucker!".
As I get closer, I see that he's wiping a large pile of bird shit off his head! A bird just shit all over his head! My first thought was how much that would suck. My second thought was how much that would suck for someone who pretends not to believe in superstition and who happens to be going on a plane in 8 hours.
I think I'll stay inside until it's time to catch the shuttle.
Wish me luck...

Friendship

Saturday afternoon my friend, Liz and I walked through the Washington Park Arboretum. It was a first for us both and we were equally amazed. Miles and miles of walking trails zig zagged through fields and along the Causeway between Lake Washington and Lake Union.
Equipped with my camera, I took a lot of photos. I was mostly enthralled with the landscape; shooting ponds, boats and pathways. But as we were walking through a clearing I saw these two women, deep in conversation and oblivious to the image they portrayed.
I wondered to myself: "what is their story? why are they wearing those hats and do they do this often?"
Not wanting to be rude and ask, I decided to make up my own story:
Mary and Julie were friends as children. Mary's parents uprooted her family and moved to the East Coast when she was just 10. On Mary's moving day she made a promise to Julie to come back to Washington every year to visit. Correspondence was strong at first. Weekly letters in the mail, monthly phone calls permitted by their parents. But as time wore on and the girls grew up, they're conversations became few and far between.
Mary grew up to be an ER nurse while Julie travelled the world and spent many years in the Peace Corp. After Julie had a nearly fatal accident in Brazil the summer of 1992, she packed up and moved back to the Pacific Northwest. The transition was hard at first, but with the support of her family and friends she managed to pull her life back together and became a Spanish teacher at a local community college.
It was the first day of school and Julie was taking attendance. Her eyes grew big as she recognized a unique last name on her roster. After class she took this familiar stranger aside and asked if she happened to be related to her long-lost friend. At her amazement, the young girl not only knew her, but was her daughter.
It turned out Mary divorced her doctor/husband and moved back to the West Coast only 2 years prior. Not knowing Julie's new last name and finding that both of her parents had passed, she stopped searching after a year. But that afternoon, on that first day of school, the two friends reunited in the courtyard.
They discovered that they'd only been living 3 miles from each other these past two years and immediately picked back up where they left off. They watched each other's children, cried on each other's shoulders and giggled at the little things they used to find so amusing. One of their fondest memories was dressing up like the Queen and having high tea in the back yard. They told and re-told the stories of how they put on ridiculous hats and pranced around in the grass, laughing merrily the whole time.
For Mary's 45th birthday, Julie surpised her with hats and a walk through the Arboretum. They sporadically broke in and out of character; one moment pretending to be the Queen and the next laughing uproariously. From that day on, they made a habit of this silly tradition and took weekly walks together. In time, the concept of playing the Queen wore off, but the hats remained. And so it was on the 7th of April, 2007 that they were meandering through the Arboretum when they were noticed by two friends on a similar path.

Seriously?

It's girls like this that continue to set us back.

My New Office View

5 Reasons Why Today Sucks And One Reason Why It Doesn't

- Logic left for Olympia today. He'll be gone until Friday.
-I woke up at 1:30 with a migraine. I found my way to the medicine cabinet only to remember I'd used the last migraine pill last month. (FUCK!) Pretty much knowing it wouldn't do anything, I took 4 tylenol.
-I got to work to find the movers ready to pack me up and move me to a bigger cube with 2 huge windows! Finally, a view of the sky!
-Logic got up around 6:00 to pack and get ready for his business trip. I put the pillow over my head. Grace jumped up on the bed and layed on my back - purring like crazy. (She was trying to make her Mama feel better.) Out of nowhere, George jumps up on the bed - scaring the shit out of Grace - who proceeds to claw her way across my back as she scrambles for the door.
- Due to my migraine, I had to cancel my plans to walk through the Arboretum with a friend after work.
- I rushed to Nordstrom Rack during my break to exchange something and as I waited for the bus to come back I was approached by a big girl in her early 20s who asked for a quarter. I tell her I don't have any change and she decided to repeat what I just said in a high pitched voice. We stare each other down for what seems like forever but is probably only 10 seconds. She backs off.

Dumpr

Uppity and I were just discussing photography today and I mentioned that I would like to do a 365 Project through flickr where I post a picture everyday for a year (just as it sounds). Uppity asked when I'd start and I told her I wanted to wait until I had photoshop so I could play around with some of the shots. And then magically, 2 hours later, I stumble across Dumpr. It's a site that works with flickr to alter your photos. Check it out.

Customer Service

I was starving. Completely famished. So I decided I'd take a walk and figure out where I wanted to eat. I'd over-done Asian cuisine lately and since I work in the International District of Seattle my options were limited. So I picked the one and only hamburger joint in the area.
As I was looking over the menu, a woman went up to the counter and asked if she could have a hamburger with two bottom buns as she couldn't have sesame seeds. At first the Asian woman behind the counter didn't understand her and when she finally realized what the woman was asking, she told her she didn't want to waste the tops of the buns.
(How fucking lame is that? Buns are suddenly very expensive? When did menial cost come before customer service?)
At that point I jumped in and offered to take the two top buns so she could order the hamburger she was craving. I hadn't really decided on having a burger but was so frustrated with the lack of concern that I felt I had to. Granted, I know it was just a hamburger and the woman would have survived without it. But OMG! The whole situation was completely ridiculous.

~I just opened my burger. One top bun, one bottom. I hope she got what she ordered.

Today's Conversation

Him:
Don't forget Easter is next Sunday
Me:
Yes, Fr John told me at mass yesterday
Him:
I figured
Me:
I gave up sarcasm for lent
Him:
Ha!
I soo believe you (get it? - ha!)