Breathe In, Breathe Out

A moment

2011-11-09T23:01:00.000-08:00

To sit and drink my tea which I hope will calm my upset belly
To hear my baby breathing in his sleep
To be amazed that almost 4 months has gone by since Finn was born
To contemplate the fact Finn can and has slept through the night
To wonder if it will happen again tonight
To yawn and think that I'll most likely be up a couple of times tonight
To be sad that my maternity leave is over and I've gone back to work
To accept that my babe is in daycare
To be strong and know that he's being well taken care of
To notice Finn already seems more curious of his expanding world
To be grateful Darren is an awesome Dad
To be thankful Finn is such a sweet boy
To look forward to the fun times ahead

Productive

2011-07-10T21:00:00.000-07:00

It's probably a good thing Buddha Baby hasn't arrived yet, because I feel so much more ready as of this weekend.

Friday was my last day of work--I had a couple weeks to train my new coworker (replacing my old coworker who left at the end of February and will be my coverage during my maternity leave). Feels so odd to know that I'm out of there for 4 months. I know I'll be working my butt off during that time, but I've never had that much time 'off' before--there's always been work or school or a combination of the two.

Darren finished rewiring the upstairs of our house! I think he officially finished Tuesday or Wednesday of last week. He absolutely rocks--has basically been working 2 jobs since the project started just about 2 months ago with some help from his dad some weekends. Darren is not an electrician but has been studying up on the subject since we moved in as it was something he was really hoping to accomplish on his own (versus paying someone else up to 10K to do the job). Our house was basically 85% knob & tube wiring. All the upstairs has now been upgraded and when you live in a 1940's house this is huge. We have access to 6 outlets in the kitchen now--we used to have access to 1 (move aside the dirty dishes to plug in the coffee maker, then move that aside if you want toast, or if you want to use the blender, or food processor...). An outlet for our built-in dishwasher is in (yet to be installed). We used to have an ungrounded outlet in our bathroom, right above our sink--um, that's a big no no. A new light for our deck. Recessed light in the closet that turns on with a switch instead of a bare bulb and pull string. Additional outlets in the bedrooms... In addition to wanting to be able to add insulation to our attic, we have been wanting to upgrade our kitchen. Once we have our wiring inspected, we'll be at a point where we can focus on swapping out our current stove and rollaway dishwasher for a convection stove, gas cook-top (we had someone come in to take care of extending our gas line), and built-in dishwasher. We've got a nice looking stand alone unit from Ikea which will hold our new stove and cook-top. We'll put in new counters to replace our ratty linoleum counters we've put up with. And we'll put in a new sink and faucet. Fun stuff!

With the upstairs rewiring finished, Darren thought we should use this weekend to babify our house. Great idea! We were able to store some of our extra furniture at D's parent's house which made room for more storage in the basement and garage which meant we could clear out the extra boxes we had in the nursery. The crib is now up and the space certainly looks more like a nursery/office instead of just an office/storage-of-a-lot-of-crap room. I use the word 'we', but really it was Darren and his parents who dealt with all the moving of furniture and boxes. I went to my yoga class as usual and spent a lot of time with my feet up on the glider. Okay, I did fold a lot of baby clothes since a ton of baby clothes loads were done over the last few days since I finally purchased storage bins to organize the larger clothing we've been handed down and gifted.

The carseat is in the car too! 39 weeks 6 days is a good time to check that off the list, right? It's a good thing Buddha Baby didn't come early with everything that has just recently been accomplished. Is this how it goes for most expectant parents? I see pictures of these 'perfect' nurseries on-line and wonder if these parents have that much more time/money than us or was it just a bigger priority (most likely a bigger house as well)? I mean, our kiddo won't even be sleeping in his crib for a while as we'll be co-sleeping. He won't care if the walls are red/tan for a while longer instead of yellow. Or that we have a few extra piles of paperwork on the desk instead of nicely organized on wall shelving that hasn't been purchased yet. Will he?

So, now that my maternity leave has started, will I get to enjoy it at all? I have my 40 week visit tomorrow with the midwives. Wonder if they'll be able to tell me if I'm any closer to actual labor. I have a list of useful and/or fun things to do during maternity leave: take care of officially changing my last name (it's only been 6 months since we got married), get the car seat checked out, get my brows done, go swimming, read up on patching drywall holes (oh wait, that was another thing that Darren and his Dad worked on this weekend so I can check that off my list), nap...

3rd Trimester

2011-06-27T18:00:00.000-07:00

I am 38 weeks along today! Most women deliver between 38-42 weeks and Buddha Baby probably would have been just fine even if he had decided to make an appearance in the last couple of weeks, but at this point it's just a waiting game. I hear this gets harder as you approach and pass the due date. Most women deliver past their due date for their 1st child, but I hope I'm not like most women!

For the most part I'm feeling great. I've had a few really low days where I'm feeling huge, tired, hormonal, stressed..., but for the most part can't complain too much.
Have some swelling in my ankles and fingers. A reminder to sit down with my feet up more often.
Heartburn continues. Eating too much before bed seems to be the main culprit.
Seem to crave sweets more than usual. For a while it was chocolate ice cream every night. My office mates have bowls of candy around--things I normally wouldn't snack on during the day. Dangerous.
Kinked neck/shoulder. Not sure if it's how I'm sleeping, my posture, the weight of my hair (super thick!) or the combination of it all, but have been dealing with the pain for the last 4-5 days. A heated rice bag helps. The midwife suggested a cold compress, will try that tonight.
Frustration that I can't do as much as I'd like to around the home. Part of this is my own limitations, can't lift/move all the boxes or furniture around that I'd like to. Part of this is the fact our re-wire project continues.
The pressure on the bladder continues! There are some days, where it seems I need to hit the restroom once an hour. Waking up on average twice a night. And ow, when buddha baby moves just right, it's like a punch in the bladder. Not comfortable!
Getting more clumsy. Still not used to my huge belly and I bump into things that I think I can pass no problem (chairs, tables, Daren...). I also drop or knock things over a lot.

Growing...and then some

2011-05-15T21:40:00.000-07:00

I went in to get a professional fit for nursing bras. 2 firsts for me as I've never been officially measured by a 'bra fitting expert' and I've never needed to purchase nursing bras before. I have purchased a few maternity and sleep bras in the past couple of months, but as I've heard it's worth it to spend money on nursing bras, I wanted to make sure things were going to be a good fit. Word of caution, nursing bras can be very expensive! I walked out of Nordstroms with 2 nursing bras and $140 charged on my credit card. $140 on 2 bras!! Most popular styles, but really?! Will be performing a little experiment to see how similar styles of a $16.99 Gilligan & O'Malley bra from Target and the $58 Elle Macpherson nursing bra from Nordstroms compare.

Of course I expected to get a bigger rack during pregnancy, but ahem, wow. And I'll get larger after Buddha Baby arrives? Yowza. I never thought I'd be seeing the letters DD or E on my delicates before.

One brand I've been told to check out is Bravado--I guess Village Maternity at U-Village carry this brand and it only costs around $50. As I'm all about comfort, would prefer to avoid underwire, I may need to check out nursing camis, but I guess it will depend on how supportive they are. Lots of great nursing bra comments and tips on this offbeatmama post.

Heartburn & hiccups

2011-05-02T18:00:00.000-07:00

70 more days to go according to my weekly Babycenter.com e-mail. I'm now 30 weeks along and Buddha baby is about as heavy as a head of cabbage, ~3 lbs, and ~15.7 inches long. I can certainly tell he's getting bigger. Other than the growing baby bump, his movements are much larger and pronounced now. If only I could tell what was what. There's usually a hard bump on the upper left part of my belly, maybe his bum? And I'll be able to tell when he's moving a knee or an elbow around because it's a 'sharp' little knobby bump. When he's super active, it's fun to just sit there and stare at the action going on in my belly. Have felt Buddha baby with the hiccups twice over the last week or so, very normal in fetal devlopment

I have started feeling Braxton Hicks contractions. They're not painful, but do cause the whole uterus to contract. Mostly random though there are times when I get them quite frequently (probably when I'm too active or stressed?).

Something I'm now dealing with more often now, is heartburn. :( About a month or so ago, would get the rare attack, now it's happening much more often and is really uncomfortable. Yay hormones and a crowded abdominal area.

Can't believe there's only 10 more weeks to go! Not feeling particularly nervous about the delivery. Not a fan of pain in general, but I'm reading all I can about pain management techniques and look forward to covering those in the birthing classes which start at the end of the month. I do worry about the length of labor in general and getting to that point of exhaustion. Have been reminded I've run a half and full marathon. Instead of the mantra 'keep on running, keep on running' as I did during that training, I'll just use 'keep on breathing, keep on breathing' or something along those lines. And at least I'll have my lovely D with me along for support.

Have plenty to do on the home front. Darren is starting the house rewiring project today. Hope to be finished with the rewire and our mini kitchen remodel in 2 months. Keeping my fingers crossed we/he doesn't run into too many snags. Those that have done any major projects on their house can laugh now. :) Somewhere in there, the nursery will be painted Dusty Yellow (no-VOC!), the crib will be put together, shelving will be added to the wall, I'll have decided on a cloth diaper system, I'll finalize my maternity leave, daycare will be figured out for November...

Nesting

2011-04-14T18:00:00.000-07:00

Haven't had a lot of nesting instincts yet, which I think makes D a bit disappointed (was probably hoping I'd start to pull more weight around the house with the cleaning and purging of stuff). I have lists going of things I want to do, but can't seem to muster up the energy most of the time. Last Sunday, I was up early, don't think it was even 7 AM yet. Let the dog out, got myself some water, then noticed the kitchen windows were dirty. Pulled out the windex and cleaned the windows above the kitchen sink. I even had to pull out a stool to clean the top pane. If only the rest of my day had been as productive as those first few early morning minutes.

Baby brain

2011-04-13T18:00:00.000-07:00

I've heard women can become forgetful during pregnancy (afterwards as well?). Not sure if I can blame it on the baby, but the other day at the end of brunch it was time to pay the bill. I look through my purse and can't find my wallet, check my jacket pocket, check my purse again. Mention to D, that he may have to pay for us, when I notice that my wallet is open right in front of me on the table--I had already pulled it out of my purse and just needed to grab my credit card. A few days later, we're heading out to the car, I'm looking for my keys in my purse, then in my pocket, ummmm yeah, my keys are in my hand. Maybe I'll just blame these instances on a full belly and lack of sleep, respectively.

Release

2011-04-12T18:00:00.000-07:00

I tried a new prenatal yoga video this morning. A bit out of date--some of the women were wearing these funky full bodied leotards (sexy!). A bit new agey--the instructor was wearing a turban (side note, I'm pretty sure we camped next to her at a music festival a number of years ago--they had parked their euro van over some ground nesting bees who didn't bother them the whole weekend). It was a bit more active than other prenatal yoga videos I've tried or the class I attend now and then which isn't too bad except I was doing this in the morning before work and before breakfast. In one part of the video while standing, you start moving your hips from side to side and then basically just let go and dance, swinging your arms or whatever feels good. Not sure what was going on, but it was a huge release and I started crying. Though I felt super weird just crying in my living room, it felt really good to let it all out. A reminder to keep it loose and let go more often!

Sacred Vessel

2011-03-30T12:48:00.000-07:00

A friend was telling D the other day how I'm a sacred vessel. He was a bit confused at first. :) It's really weird when I think about my body being used to create another human, part D, part me. I remember a friend of a friend telling me she did not enjoy being pregnant, that it just felt way too alien to have this being inside of her. But I think it's quite amazing that such a complex individual will be the outcome of what started as a ball of cells! All I can really picture right now is the silhouette version of Baby Buddha from ultrasound pics. Likely will have dark hair and brown eyes (dominant traits though there is blond hair/blue eyes in my extended fam). I picture gangly arms and legs and super skinny now though according to the weekly update I receive, he's starting to gain more weight.

Getting a lot more comments at work of how I've suddenly popped. It's true, I am much bigger these days and I'm feeling it. And I still have 3-4 months to go!

My biggest complain is regarding sleep, or lack thereof. I've been having bouts of insomnia, usually around 4 AM. Most of the time I'm able to get back to sleep, but some nights I toss and turn until my alarm goes off. Could I be overheated? Is 5 hrs all my body needs right now? Is this preparation of learning to get by on less sleep? Could be my body has just had enough of sleeping on my left side. Sleeping on your back or right side with a growing uterus can lead to compression of the inferior vena cava. And just shifting positions with a huge belly is uncomfortable and will wake me up.

I know I'm bound to become more uncomfortable as I get bigger and the weather warms up. I really try to keep my complaining to a minimum but lack of sleep and caffeine makes me a grumpy girl at times. Next time I'm awake at 4 in the morning, I'll just have to get up and do something productive. Anyone have any easy baby knitting projects?

Appreciating...

2011-03-28T14:46:00.000-07:00

...being able to sleep in. I enjoy my sleep and being able to laze about the house on weekend (or holiday) mornings. Not getting as much sleep as I'd like is one of those selfish reasons I didn't want to have kids.

...my health. Recovered from a nasty cold a month ago. I don't remember a cold hitting me quite so hard. Exhausted, sinus pressure, lots of congestion, bad cough, not able to sleep. Being preggers meant I couldn't take my usual Alka Seltzer cold medicine which would have taken care of some of my symptoms and helped me sleep. I got by on a dose of tylenol and sudafed here and there. Thankful I didn't get Darren sick!

...Netflix. I went through about a season and a half of Dexter while sick. Probably a good thing there aren't any more seasons available on instant view.

2nd Trimester

2011-03-28T14:38:00.001-07:00

I've been able to borrow maternity clothing from my sis-in-law who is the same size as me and has great sense of style. Maternity style has come a long way. I swear I'm dressing more stylish while pregnant than I normally do. Maybe this just means I need to work on my regular wardrobe once I can fit back into it.
We're starting to accumulate baby stuff from friends who have had boys and aren't planning on future kiddos. This has been awesome. Also nice to be able to find out which things are necessary vs. what stuff we can hold off acquiring until we know we have more space and/or money. We receive a used carseat (and yes, I do know there are now expiration dates on these things--I wonder if this is really for the infant's sake or the company's profits).
We find out we’re having a boy! Really cool to see him so active during ultrasounds. Pretty weird that I can’t feel any of that movement yet.
Around week 18, I realize I can feel him move around. Felt like gas bubbles in the beginning, but eventually I realize, that’s my son in there! Love this peculiar feeling. He gets particularly active after I eat (especially something sweet) or when I 1^st lay down in bed.
I drop in on some prenatal yoga classes.
Haven't been having specific cravings except for caffeine which I've done a pretty good job of avoiding. I used to be a big tea drinker and have found that non-caffeinated tea just doesn't cut it. I do seem to be craving sweets after lunch & dinner. Chocolate or ice cream seem to hit the spot when I do indulge.
My belly button is slowly turning into an outie. It's true what they say about the inside of a belly button feeling very soft.
Have been working on turning our 2nd bedroom which was an office/storage space (crafty stuff, music equipment, old letter, photo albums, random junk...) into an office/nursery. This means going through everything to decide what we really need to keep and what can be given away. A desk and an empty dresser will stay. Eventually add some wall shelving for office storage. A bookshelf will stay for kids books & toys. A TV armoire will move into the basement for storage. A crib (currently in pieces) will be moving in. Eventually will also have to tackle the closet which also was a collection space of shtuff.

1st Trimester

2011-03-28T14:31:00.001-07:00

Found out I was preggers at 6 weeks. Initial reaction was a bit of freaking out and feeling overwhelmed. I’ve always wanted kids, but never felt ready—but I tend to overanalyze decisions worrying about all the negative outcomes instead of focusing on the big picture. Also, I’ve spent 35 years not being pregnant, and now all of a sudden, + sign.
When I went in to the doctor’s office to confirm I was pregnant, I peed in a cup. The lab tech called my number, proceeds to tell me the results were negative (ahh, that’s rather disappoin…)... I mean positive (umm, is it negative or positive???)... yes, positive. Hands me the ‘you’re pregnant’ piece of paper that I’m supposed to give to my nurse. Feeling super confident about this lab (I switch clinics).
Morning sickness seemed to start as soon as I found out I was preggers. Actually, I wouldn’t call what I had morning sickness, but general malaise and nausea. Had a queasy stomach in the morning or late afternoon when feeling tired. I didn’t have much of an appetite and lots of food or drink just didn’t sound or taste very good. I didn’t want to be in the kitchen so D did a lot of the cooking and cleaning.
I feel like I’m showing, but I’m not yet, that’s just belly fat. :)
I find out I have a large ovarian cyst. Cysts are normal during regular ovulation and menstruation, but this cyst is large (~3 x 4.5 inches)) so we’ll have to keep an eye on it.
We tell family and a few close friends about the news, but hold off telling most people because miscarriages are somewhat common in the 1st trimester.

Mrs

2011-02-03T16:44:00.000-08:00

I got married about a week ago. Strange that something it seems like I've been thinking about forever (not since I was a little girl forever, but longer than 2.5 years since Darren and I have been together for 10+ years) has finally happened. Darren and I got engaged 2.5 years ago but the planning kept getting stalled. I think I kept using Darren's lack of wanting to be super involved as a reason for me to keep holding off. Or what we were each expecting just didn't mesh. Or I wanted to make other people happy. Ideas were thrown out there and there were certain ideas which stuck, but an actual date eluded us.

Then, I got pregnant. I don't feel one must be married to have a kiddo, but I did want to be married, and wow, the pressure from my parentals increased big time. At first, I was still resisting. It would happen when it would happen. The way we had been going, um, that hadn't really worked for us. So yes, we were going to get married, now it was a matter of before or after. Well, D's parents would be out of state for a couple months so it's either January or April.

I already had a dress. I still fit into the dress at 3+ months preggo, but if we waited until D's parents returned, um, I would no longer be fitting into the dress. This wasn't necessarily the perfect dress (I bought it on-line during one of J Crew's sales, thanks T!), but the dress wasn't a really big issue to me (remember, I did not have a dream wedding in mind). It was a really beautiful classic style, it fit well enough, well at least it had ~2 years ago. :) I didn't want to have to buy another dress.

Okay then, lets have the wedding in January, there are a couple weekends we know all our family will be available. Narrow that down to 1. Oh, and let's invite some of our close friends.

Now, the ceremony. It's cold and wet outside in January, should probably be done indoors for everyone's sake. We have two friends who can officiate ceremonies. If neither of them work out, we've got a back-up option.

Location. Indoors, can accommodate a ceremony and dinner, or we have the ceremony at Darren's parent's house and find a place for dinner. Right now it's about a week and a half from our chosen wedding date. No pressure. Ray's Boathouse was mentioned, but kinda shelved because they charge a big fee if you have the ceremony on-site. I contacted a random Italian restaurant on the east side which would work if we end up having the ceremony at D's parents place. I contact Snoqulimie Lodge because it would be a cool location and memorable. One of their smaller rooms is available and they're willing to work with us. We end up contacting Ray's as it's one of our favorite restaurants and much more us. The location is available and they're willing to lower the ceremony fee since we're going super simple (I don't need an hour long rehearsal, aisle runner, bottle of champagne, etc). Contract is signed 1 week before our wedding!

Now it's a matter of officially inviting our friends and family, officially asking our friend to officiate, and taking care of some other small details.

My lovely girl friends arranged mani/pedi's (HOA on Roosevelt has a group room) a couple nights before the wedding and for all of us to get our hair done (Gary Manuel Aveda Institute rocks!) the morning of the wedding. If anyone needs their hair done for a special occasion the students do an awesome job for an amazing price!

The evening ended up being about as perfect as I could have hoped (will be a separate entry). Now that we're officially Mr. and Mrs, all we need to worry about it planning a kick-ass party! Can't wait.

Paying it forward

2010-12-22T18:00:00.000-08:00

Going through my blog roll recently, I came across an entry that got me all teary.

Here's how The Bloggess decided to pay it forward.

The past few days have been a whirlwind and I’m exhausted and have given myself hives so please forgive the typos.

A few days ago I put up a post offering $30 gift cards to the first twenty people who didn’t know how they were going to give their kids Christmas gifts this year. They went frighteningly quickly. When I got to the twentieth person I saw that there were still a few more people who needed help and my heart sunk. Then a few comments in one person said “I’ll take care of the 21st person”. Then another person offered a card for the 22nd. Then another. Then it avalanched...

Amazing. The Washington Post wrote up an article.

I don't feel like I go too big at Christmas, I usually just buy gifts for immediate family and occasionally close friends. Though I try and come up with a list of gift ideas throughout the year so it's not just a mad dash to find something that will work for the recipient, about half-way through the shopping, that's exactly what it becomes. Then I tell myself that next year will be different. Maybe we'll have an agreement that all gifts must be hand-made or set limits on how much we're going to spend or pull 1 name out of a hat. Bottom line, I think my loved ones enjoy the time spent together over the gifts received. Need to remind myself of that so that I don't get distracted next year once the Christmas music starts getting played 24/7.

I'll write another entry after the holidays to let you know how the gifts given this year went over. A couple of them are paying it forward in a way.

Thanks Bloggess for spreading holiday cheer and some major inspiration.

Survival of the Squirrel

2010-12-18T10:54:00.000-08:00

Driving to work yesterday morning, along Pacific Avenue in front of Health Sciences, I saw a squirrel running across the road and thought it was doomed. It had just crossed 2 busy lanes of traffic of oncoming traffic and was at the middle (at the curb barrier) about 2 car lengths in front of me. Instead of running in front/underneath the vehicle, it jumped up and INTO the side of the passing car. It bounced off, shook itself off and then continued it's run before the next car came along. I doubt my explanation sounds as cool as the little clip I can still see in my head. Was so happy my day started off with quick reflexes (lucky) squirrel instead of squished squirrel.

Happy Valentime!

2010-12-01T19:26:00.000-08:00

I'm a fan of 30 Rock and loved the Valentine's Day episode where Jack ends up with drunk 'lady' at the end of the time who wishes folks Happy Valentime's.

Making small talk with a nurse the other day and she mentions she was born on St. Patty's Day, her son was also born on a holiday, Valentime's Day. Thought I misheard, but she says it again later, her son was born on Valentime's Day.

Ah, it's the little things that keep me entertained. :)

Key Lime

2010-10-30T20:28:00.000-07:00

The house smells so yummy. Graham cracker crust is cooling. Limes have been juiced. Trying out an Icebox Key Lime Pie, recipe from Cook's Country. Won't be able to try it out until tomorrow, hope it's worth the wait. :)

Crafty Weekend To Do

2010-10-29T20:21:00.000-07:00

Doubt the sun will last through the weekend, so I need to come up with some fun indoor activities to occupy most of tomorrow while D is off to a Husky game. In no special order (following the format of a blog I follow--~~can't find the link right now~~ aha):

hit the antique mall for holiday gifts/ideas

take the birdie print to the frame shop

appt for hair cut (short notice for day of?)

copy and send recipes to sis-in-law Paige

gift for baby Ruddel

figure out turkey day plans

update my 35 while 35 list

research wedding venues-is somewhat local, outdoorsy & cheap too much to ask?

make key lime pie!

Question Consumerism

2010-10-03T22:58:00.000-07:00

Made a trip to the mall today. I really loathe the mall. The traffic, crowds of people, strong smells, cranky kids, and cheaply made clothing most of which have been transported half way across the world. Usually feel pretty gross after spending much time in a mall, but it was a necessary evil as I've had jeans and bras on my 'need' list for a while now. Can't help but feel guilty, but I accept that I can't find everything I need at the thrift store.

To top it off, grabbed some fast food on the way home. Boo. I think I've just been a negative nellie most of the day since I had to go to work this AM (skipping out on yoga). Not a fan of working on the weekends. :( Hmm, what sort of job is out there which would actually energize me, be something to look forward to? My job isn't all bad, but I must admit I'm not feeling great about it. It's become just a job. I've passed the 2 year mark (honeymoon phase?). I worry about funding. Half of my salary now comes from the department as my boss couldn't afford to keep me full time. But again, it's a job, which helps when I need to go the mall to shop (oh yeah and helps out with mortgage payments, groceries, benefits).

Ok, off for some yoga before bed.

A plan

2010-09-29T23:43:00.000-07:00

Guess I should have come up with more of a plan if I want to blog daily. My life just isn't that interesting. So, 2 big projects on my plate right now: wedding & kitchen redo.

Wedding basics. D & I have been together for over 10 years and engaged for more than 2. We both want to be married, but neither of us are very good at planning and I am way too indecisive (I'm a libra, I like to make other people happy). Could just elope and get married by a justice of the peace. Sounds appealing as neither one of us like to be the center of attention, but I'd really like our family and friends to be a part of this celebration. A few things to keep in mind: small budget, large extended family, and most folks are local.

Kitchen basics. The kitchen needed work before we moved in and it's only gotten worse. Biggest problem is the counters which were in bad shape when we bought the place and now it's 4 years later, they've only gotten worse (peeling, can't tell if it's clean or dirty, cheap-o laminate). An option we came up with in the past was a huge redo, tearing out cabinets + moving the oven + other misc = expensive! We had other ideas along the way, but were never quite satisfied with either the end product or the cost or both. It wasn't until the latest Ikea catalog showed up when a huge light bulb went off. We just needed the right unit in our kitchen to make it work!

Time to get organized and get planning!

Unknown

2010-09-28T19:54:00.000-07:00

2nd day in a row of waking up early. 3rd day in a row of yoga. 3rd day in a row of blogging. And I've been yawning all day. And I'm sad because one of my best friends is going through a really shitty time. A time where chatting online isn't enough and I need to go visit and give her a big ol' hug.

How do you out there in the blogsphere take care of yourself when life dumps on you? How do you take care of someone who's hurting?

Day 2...

2010-09-27T23:21:00.000-07:00

of yoga and blogging. Alarm went off at 6, rolled out of bed at 6:15, and proceeded to roll out the yoga mats. Darren suggested we get up early for some yoga before work. Yeah! We rock. I admit, that this likely isn't going to be the norm. Or who knows, maybe I will surprise even myself.

To help me on my yoga 'journey', I purchased a new yoga mat yesterday after class (30% off at my local studio, I think it was meant to be). My old one was more for show, it was technically a mat, but wafer thin. Yay, to a big girl mat.

Really enjoyed yesterday morning's class. Sheri, the instructor of the all levels class, is very welcoming. One of my favorite parts of Sheri's class is how she has us congratulate ourselves for coming to class. There's just something about a structured class, a knowledgeable instructor, and getting out of the house early on a Sunday morning which makes the effort worth it.

Can't say I was as enamored with the yoga lesson we practiced along with this AM: Basics & Headaches via Netflix On Demand. Was a bit choppy, I prefer a bit more flow. I didn't always understand the instructor and I didn't feel comfortable during the inversion poses. I, ahem, have lost a bit of core strength over time and I can sure feel it. But, still got a lot of stretching and basic poses in and I was feeling much more awake for the first half of the day.

30 Days of Yoga

2010-09-26T08:22:00.000-07:00

One of the items on my life list is practicing yoga for 30 days in a row. I go to a yoga class now and then and I have everything I 'need' to practice at home, but I still don't make time for it on a regular basis. I've heard that it can take 30 days to break or start a habit, so why not try this with yoga?

I might have found just the thing to help me out with this one! 30 Days of Yoga. This is a really great idea, love that I have someone to help me on this journey to get me back to my seattleyogi self. Ha, maybe I can combine this along with 30 days of blogging. :)

Now, off to walk the dog in the rain, then a yoga class (in a studio where I have already paid money for classes yet it's been a couple of months since I have attended!), a possible stop by Gather, a lovely little consignment store in Columbia City, then back home to sign up for my month long yoga class!

Good feeling about this one.

35 before (end of) 35

2010-09-07T22:51:00.000-07:00

I came across a blog post of 30 things to do before turning 30. I love lists though I'm not always so good about following through. Since I turn 35 in 39 days, I won't be able to be quite as ambitious, but I've come up with 35 big things I want to accomplish while 35 (I have until October 15th 2011). I'll cross items off the list as I finish them.

Make a decent pie crust from scratch
Repaint the office
New blinds and/or curtains for bedroom
Finish curtains for office (or move from bedroom)
Research our possible rewire
Insulate the attic (get the insulation out of our garage)
Park a car in our garage (see #6)
Build a work bench for garage
Hem my big stack of pants
Take a road-trip with Darren
Yoga everyday for 30 days
Wake up early to work out
Go to bed earlier on a regular basis
Golf lessons
Buy a bike
Print out pictures to put in albums (and/or create photo books)
Take pictures everyday for 30 days
Blog everyday for 30 days
Plan a trip with Tina
Have people over to our house more often
Map the yard
Build a raised garden bed
Plant sunflowers
Update rock garden on side of house
Plan a Bisset & Flint gathering (before the wedding)
Window box outside kitchen window
Plan date nights with Darren
Gather family stories and history
Sign up for an art class
Sign up for a dance class
Sign up for a cooking class
Work on deck (reinforce, replace boards, repaint
Update kitchen
Stone steps in yard
Create another list for 36!

Playing around

2010-08-29T10:19:00.000-07:00

I haven't read the manual for my camera (Canon S5) yet. I should probably do that, as it can do a lot more than what I use it for on a regular basis. For example, I played around with the Manual mode the other day. Found the built in light meter. Figured out how to change the f stop and shutter speed. Found the super macro function (vs macro).

Playing around with the f stop is cool because the smaller number you choose, the shallower depth of field you will have for your picture. Meaning, the subject you're focusing on is the only thing is focus, the background and possibly the foreground is out of focus which gives a much different feel/look to your picture. Something which I see a lot in professional shots. Just need to remember to turn back to Auto mode when I'm just out and about taking quick pics. Had a few fun shots come out too dark or light--woops.

Haven't done any side by side comparisons (or as I mentioned, read the manual!) of macro vs super macro but in general I love macro shots for taking pics around my garden. Super macro shots will be even more awesome right?

Eye of Otto

Michaelmas Daisy

Artichoke bloom

Summer Fun

2010-07-12T17:31:00.001-07:00

chompers
Originally uploaded by SeattleYogi

Summer Fun in Eastern Washington with my boys. Blowing huge dandelions puffs for our dog, Otto, to catch and chase. Love it.

Photo Friday

2010-07-12T15:26:00.000-07:00

I know, it's not Friday, but I was looking through old posts and came across an entry for Photo Friday. I used to post pictures for that site fairly often. Um, 4 years ago?! Was it really that long ago? Being that one goal I currently have is to do more with my pictures and another goal is to blog more often, I will start posting pictures once again! Yay!

Homework: Blogging

2010-06-06T22:48:00.000-07:00

I'd like to get some more focus into my life. I feel pulled in many directions and don't think this scattered energy is very helpful. Though I'm doing, I'm not accomplishing. I haven't blogged here in over a year and I wonder if by organizing my thoughts here again, I can 'breathe in, and breathe out' a little easier. I'll be working on:

planning a wedding!
continuing to run on a regular basis even after I complete my half marathon at the end of the month
signing up for another race (possibly a sprint tri?!)
more yoga
photography (pics with a purpose, projects, organizing and sharing)
learning more and educating others about Aplastic Anemia (a rare blood marrow disease that my fiance diagnosed with in November of 2009)
meal planning with our once-a-week CSA food delivery from Full Circle Farms.
becoming more self-sufficient and sustainable at home (energy efficiency, growing our own veggies, installing drip irrigation)
simplifying

On that note, I will sign off since I can't find my list I wrote up the other day regarding this post. It must be in one of my piles. :) Looking forward to sharing here again.

What now?

2009-07-10T18:36:00.000-07:00

Now that I've run my marathon, what do I want to accomplish next? At this point, I have no urge to run another marathon (although if I could shave just a couple minutes off my time, I could beat Oprah's time). I would like to continue running. Knowing that my knees can handle running again was a nice surprise, it's just a matter of training and being in shape. I have signed up for an 8k next month. Seattle Torchlight Run. Some people are dressed up as pirates. Arrrghh!

Cook more at home
Yoga class once a week
Stretching every day
Running with Otto
Learn how to golf (lessons with Helen in the fall?)

Back to the marathon, I've taken a week+ off from running. Not because my toenails were falling off like some of my fellow JIM'ers (ouch!), but just to give my body a break. Turns out after 4 days or so I was feeling sore from not exercising. I was supposed to play soccer tonight, but I had a filling redone late this afternoon and my mouth is still numb. Already some excuses, but sometimes you just take a breather.

Gone running

2009-05-28T23:39:00.000-07:00

Haven't been here in a while. I'll be back eventually, but for now you can follow me on my marathon training journey. I'm just about 16 weeks into a 20 week training program with Joints in Motion and the Arthritis Foundation for the Inaugural Seattle Rock & Roll Marathon June 27th, 2009. Wow, that's coming up!

I've logged 280 miles so far, longest run in one go has been 15 miles. Wow, I never thought I'd be wishing I had only signed up for the half-marathon. :)

Running a marathon was never on my life 'to do' list. It was something other people did. People ask what is it that pushed me to sign up. I'm not exactly sure, just wanting to do something. I'm getting in great shape and making a difference to a worthwhile cause.

I originally signed up for the half marathon, and was reluctantly talked into doing the full. I told myself I don't have the run the whole thing. The group I'm training with is a good bunch of people. I can't remember if it was Tina or Sean who told me about the Seattle Rock & Roll. A band every mile. That's pretty cool, I like music. Run 13 miles, hmmm, I play soccer now so at least I'm active. Tina kept telling me that I'm a runner. I was a runner back in high school, what 15+ years ago! Once a runner, not always a runner.

If interested in donating to a worthy cause, click here.

Piano Man

2008-12-13T11:03:00.001-08:00

Around New Years 2007-->2008

When you have parents hire a piano mover for the piano they are having delivered you assume the piano man will be dealing with the moving of the piano, correct? Not so if it's a piano man from the Tri-Cities. My parents offered us their piano. It's the one I played on as a kid growing up--9 years of lessons--belonged to my first piano teacher, she brought it with her to the States from Japan. For Christmas 2007 Mom & Dad said as my gift they would have the piano delivered. Wonderful! My mom mentions we may want to have a few people on this end for the delivery. Too bad I didn't really take this comment seriously. If a piano is being delivered I assumed we wouldn't have to lift a finger. I was wrong. My friend Tina was in town. With Darren and I, that's 3. No problem right? Delivery was supposed to happen in the AM. I get a call about 11 from the piano man. "Where are you? I'm lost. Quality Food Center. Satellite machine. Bad trip. Never doing this again. Cell phone low on batteries with no charger". Uh, this is the guy making the delivery? Great. I figure out where he is and give him directions. This tagged moving truck pulls up. D's outside and I see him jumping into the driver's seat of the truck?! This old man is now directing him to back the truck into our neighbor's driveway (we live on a hill and their driveway is even with out front door, our own driveway is even with the neighbor's below us). The driveway is un-even so the piano is difficult to move because of the angle. Darren moves the truck to a different position so it's more level. Ramp has to crush our roses and bushes though the piano man doesn't seem to care about that. By this time we figure out that this old man is the mover. There's a gal sitting in the front of the truck but she makes no move to help. With 4 of us, 1 being 80 or so, 2 of us females, I make a call to Sean who lives just a few miles away. Thankfully he's willing to help. The old man says, "oh no, we can handle it", but he can't even unbuckle the piano from it's ropes so it's not looking good. Sean arrives. Piano Man directs D and Sean into first getting the piano to the middle of the truck, then moving it down the ramp. The piano is on a dolly so it actually moves fairly easy without having to lift much. The piano is now on our front walk. The 'mover' uses an old door as the ramp up to our front door. Seems easy enough except for the lip at the top. We kind of have to lift the front end above the lift. We push the piano into our house. When the back end of the piano gets to the lip, it gets stuck again. This time with Tina's foot wedged between the lip and the piano wheels. I'm starting to freak--great we're gonna break a runner's foot! She says it's fine and luckily we are able to back the piano up, get Tina's foot out and get the piano in our house. Not quite done though. The piano needs to be taken off the dolly. Mover tells Darren to lift his side. He does, mover tries to get the dolly out but it doesn't budge. Tells D to lift higher. Um, he's lifting a freaking piano as high as he can! After telling him higher a couple more times, he then says oh, maybe Sean should lift his end. He does and this time the dolly slides out. We wheel the piano into it's place and it hasn't moved since. Yay for friends helping out! Boo to this supposed piano mover or at least my parent's choice in a piano mover. Next time, professional piano movers.

33

2008-10-23T18:44:00.001-07:00

I think this will be a good year. 33 is a good number. 32 wasn't so bad either. I got a new job I get a kick out of. I traveled to Italy where a good friend of mine got married. I got engaged to a wonderful man, on a rooftop terrace overlooking Venice with lightning and fireworks in the sky. I got a dog who loves to play in the snow. My fiance's (still not used to using this term) brother had a beautiful daughter. My dad had heart surgery which was incredibly scary but he's recovered and is feeling great. D and I went to the coast in January (remember that Henry Weinhard's commercial?). I got a fancy new camera. I look forward to planning a fun wedding. I'm not a great planner so this should be interesting. I look forward to getting into some sort of exercise routine this fall and winter. I'll continue to play soccer through winter, but I will be adding yoga, snowboarding, daily stretching, weights, swimming, running... Ha, we'll see about all that. Intention has been there since D and I talked about coming into work early/staying late to work out at the IMA since we commute together now. I'd like to spend more time with family and friends and take better care of my home. Maybe have a housewarming. Document a bit more of my life here on this blog. On that note, I think I'll sign off. It's time for pizza, salad, wine, brownies for dessert, a bit of Thursday night TV, starting up the Twilight series, and snugglin' with my babe.

Farewell

2008-06-23T12:07:00.000-07:00

All of you out there who read my blog or have ever talked to me know I was never in love with my job. Worked in a basement, politics, long commute. Well, I'm finally moving on. To what exactly, I don't know. I was there for just about 4.5 years. A long time at a so-so job. But there aren't many perfect jobs out there. I liked my co-workers and a job with a decent salary and benefits is always a good thing when you have a mortgage. I'll likely stay with UW, but am not sure what department yet. I've had official interviews with one group, an unofficial invite from another, and have heard through the grapevine that my current group actually wants to keep me. I'll be working half time for a couple weeks (another doc who took me on after we had our flood) but I hope by mid-July to be at my new job. Even without the layoff, work has been such a strange place for a while. Our lab is still shut down, it's been 6 months since the (first) flood. Work is slow, folks have been antsy. Morale hit an all time low when the layoff announcements were made. Layoffs didn't actually happen for another month after that, but the dominoes have been falling. My last day was Friday, another worker is quitting this Friday, another is finished with his PhD and heads home overseas, and a few others are hoping to get out soon. The bosses have been out of town off and on for a couple weeks at conferences. I wasn't given any instruction on who would be taking over my duties.

A few of my co-workers took me out Friday night. I was hungover for most of Saturday, but at least I remember how I got home. See if you can tell who may have had too much to drink (don't worry, he got a ride home!). Thanks for a fun night out.

Marley-Otto Update

2008-06-04T20:50:00.001-07:00

There may be another cat in our future. This made me think of Marley and Otto's progress so far. It's still...tense. Otto is interested in Marley's every move. Marley feels the safest on her cat tower which means that's where she hangs out most of the time. Wasn't a big issue during the winter when she slept most of the time, but now that it's spring (Seattle spring=rain of course!) she does want to go out every now and then. Ding, ding, ding. As I'm thinking of this and wondering how another cat would change the dynamic in the house (tag team Otto or would it be Marley getting tag teamed?), I think of Marley's collar. It has a bell on it. A bell which broadcasts her location. A bell which lets Otto know every time she just shakes her head or jumps to another level of her tower. Duh, maybe if I remove her bell, she could actually be her stealthy self and have a bit more freedom in the house without Otto always checking on her. Took the bell off after getting home from work and she's already pushing her normal boundries. 7 months. I kept that dang bell on for 7 months!

About this other cat. A friend of a friend is looking for a new home for his Bengal cat. I've been itching for a new cat and D's expressed interest in Bengal's in the past. I am worried how Marley will take it--she already is in a stressed situation, but maybe another cat would keep the attention off of her. And maybe a Bengal wouldn't be as shy as Marley. All Otto wants is another playmate (hmmm, can our house handle another dog too?). We'll likely do a meet and greet to see how we like little Damien.

Once every 6 seasons

2008-03-26T10:08:00.000-07:00

Had a soccer game last night. It was so cold! Start walking up to the field and the wind picks up, it's still a bit rainy. What is it with West Seattle soccer fields? A little warm-up kicking the ball around a big circle with the rest of the team helps, but I'm wearing my long pants, undershirt, gloves, and ear band for the whole game. We lost 1-2, but guess who made our goal. Yup, I did! Sam L told Sam A that it's my 1 goal per 6 seasons. Too bad that's actually true.

2008

2008-01-03T22:29:00.000-08:00

Okaaaaay...last year's blog post about the new year (2007) is still on this page. Guess I should add blogging to my list of resolutions. :) As I read over that post, I notice my resolutions haven't really changed. At first I was disappointed with that fact, but for the most part they are things I'd like to stick with forever, not just for a year.

SIMPLIFLY
It feels I'm constantly filling up bags to take to Goodwill, yet clutter is still an issue. I wonder if Tina was going crazy while she was here. She did keep vacuuming, I guess that's just a sign my house is dirty--furry at least! I rearranged the back bedroom which has helped how claustrophobic it felt. I can pack up the keyboard which takes up most of one wall (we now have an upright piano!).

NEW JOB
I did a lot of job searching, just not much applying. I was waiting for what? I think a sure thing. Having a big mortgage, I need security. I'm not a fan of big change to begin with. But being happy is important. I tolerate my job, but it doesn't make me happy. It doesn't excite me and that has carried over into my 'real' life.

Buy the stand first!

2007-12-17T10:11:00.000-08:00

D and I talked about getting a tree this year when we thought my family would be be staying with us over the Solstice weekend. The visit is up in the air, but we decided to go ahead and get a tree. We've didn't get around to going tree shopping until yesterday. A friend of ours picked up their tree from Ikea for only $25. If you take the tree back after the new year, you get a $10 gift card (basically just renting a tree--the tree gets turned into wood chips and used in city parks--cool!). Then we find out that that Ikea only offered trees for a few days earlier in the month. Well, there are tree lots all over the place, no problem. Lowe's had trees for 50% off. The selection was very limited, but we found an 8 ft Douglas Fir which still had some needles. Pop into Lowe's to pick up a tree stand, none in stock, but are told the Rite-Aid or Walgreens across the street carry stands. None at Walgreens, Rite-Aid had a couple of cheap plastic stands. Eh, we had seen some at Fred Meyers which looked much more sturdy and would actually last longer than a season. Hmmm, Fred Meyers is out, as is the 2nd Lowe's we find. No go at Target either. Darren refused to check out Walmart (he's never set foot in one, good for him). Damn, damn, damn! So much for happy holidays, both of us are tired and annoyed at this point. We try to come up with alternative solutions but decide to go with a cheap stand from Rite-Aid since it seems to be the only thing available. A couple hours later, the trunk has been trimmed (so it actually fits in the house), and the tree has been trimmed with lights and ornaments. Yay! I love the smell and there's just something about a tree that makes me happy. Next year if we get a tree, I'll be better prepared and we'll head to a local tree farm to cut our own.

Do any dog owners out there have issues with their dogs using the tree as a urinal? At Otto's last obedience class the instructor was making small talk about the holidays. A guy in the class said he hasn't had a tree for a few years because it's like you're brining the yard indoors and the dogs pee on/around the tree! The instructor said the same thing. I had never heard of that and never had issues with our dogs while growing up. So far so good with Otto!

Flooding #2

2007-12-06T22:31:00.001-08:00

I left work early on Monday--was told we shouldn't be walking around in hazardous hospital waste. Good plan. A bleach wash for our shoes (I'm so glad my shoes were waterproof that day!) and a long bus ride home. It was still raining pretty hard on the way home--I figured I'd be checking our basement for water when I got home. Hmm, our garage is open, the light is on, and I hear a vacuum. Darren had been wet/dry vacuuming for a good 3 or 4 hours already. Really, we're lucky. Most of the stuff in our basement is crap. We need to get serious about simplifying our lives and getting rid of more stuff. A look to the backyard and it's easy to see why we're having issues. There's a cascade of 4 mini waterfalls shooting out of the concrete wall from the neighbor's yard. The back yard had recently been re-graded which caused quite a bit of water to pool above the crack. Once in our yard the water flowed all river-like along the side of our yard, under our deck, down the old steps and towards our crawl-space and garage. Water pooling in the crawl-space then slowly seeps into the basement. 6-8 hours of vacuuming and countless trips to the street (10 gallon wet/dry vacuum with dying wheels) and we caught up to the now light rain outside. Whew, long day. We had flooding in our basement last December and this storm was considered a 100 year storm (hmm, 2 100 year storms in 11 years...ah, I was mistaken what a 100 year old stormactually meant) and according to researchers we'll likely have more big rains in the future. Joys of being a homeowner right?

Flooding

2007-12-06T22:29:00.000-08:00

On Monday morning, Seattle had almost 5 inches of rain in a very short amount of time. My day started with shit, literally. I was at my desk around 8:30 AM when I get a whiff of something nasty. We occasionally get weird smells through the ventilation system so I was just hoping my coworkers wouldn't walk in thinking it was me. The smell got worse so I got up and just around the corner I see brownish water streaming from the hall wall. Oh no...nastiness. I jump over the spreading water to get out of the room, wanting to warn others. Didn't need to, the hall had water, most of the other rooms had water and people were wandering around in it. I run in to grab my stuff and shut down my computer moving my stuff to a 'safe' spot. Don't really know what to do, calls have already been made. The bosses aren't in yet, other lab spaces in the basement also were hit. Turns out Pacific Avenue in front of Health Sciences was flooded across all 4 lanes of traffic. Apparently an individual 'cleared' a drain which helped the flooding over the street, but caused all that water to overwhelm the hospital sewer system causing a back-up. Hospital sewage, can't be good. Our lab will be shut down for a month of 2 (can't exactly make doses for patients in these conditions. Everything has to be moved out so walls and floors can be worked on. Finding space for 15 people is not an easy task and the last few days have been files, equipment, and desk moving fun. Ugh. I need to schedule a massage. Luckily (?) I have plenty of computer work to keep me busy through next year.

Otto update

2007-12-06T22:12:00.000-08:00

* He's a love. :)

* Marley and him are not getting along but we're starting some forced together time. No, we don't throw them into a room together or anything, I hold her while Darren works with Otto in the same room. We've been following 'rules' we've found on-line, but those just weren't working.

* Otto still can't help barking his head off when he sees dogs while on walks. He's getting better and we'll continue to walk him around the 'hood--we're just always aware of who's coming down the street and take detours if necessary.

* We have 1 more obedience class with him. He usually has a few flare ups in class with barking and getting riled up when other dogs are vocal, but overall he's doing great. Sit, down, shake, heel, wait, come here, leave it (needs work), down stays, passing by other dogs (has issues at times). We're in a shepherds only class at Cascade Kennels (we are NOT the only one with issues) and the instructor is great. Wish we could take more classes here, but if so it won't be on a weeknight at 6 pm! Getting to Woodinville from South Seattle sucks in traffic.

* It's amazing how a dog forces you into a schedule. I get up at 6:30 now (not so nice) so the kids can be fed and Otto let out before I leave. I get into work earlier and get home earlier (this I like). Darren gives Otto a walk every morning and I give him a walk some evenings. Play time, doggie visits, family visits.

* I'm amazed at how much we can spend on just 1 new addition to the family. No matter what we're headed out for we have a bagful of doggie gear. Lucky guy.

Otto is here!

2007-10-27T12:50:00.000-07:00

We have just adopted a 5 year old, long legged, skinny, playful, and sweet German Shepherd. He's sacked out right now after an afternoon of playing ball. He doesn't seem nervous about the new house or family, just curious and likely wondering when he gets to go back to his foster mom. He hasn't met Marley yet--she's hiding outside at the moment--it's too nice out to force her inside. I took some cute pics of Otto, but the computer and/or camera is having issues. The pic here is from Cara, one of the volunteers at Washington German Shepherd Rescue, where we found Otto. We thought we'd change his name after we got him, but it seems to fit. Glad we have a full weekend to get to know him better. Of course, I may sneak out for a bit tonight to head to Jason's Halloween party, but Darren who's a bit sick will stay home to keep Otto company. Yay, we have a doggie!

Rosh Hashanah

2007-09-13T23:42:00.000-07:00

Today is the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah. I'm not Jewish. Just had to look up what the holiday was about. Neighbors behind us are Jewish and they're having some sort of gathering. Rosh Hashanah is the 'first of the year' commonly known as the Jewish New Year. It is a time to begin introspection, looking back at the mistakes of the past year and planning the changes to make in the new year. I went outside in the backyard for some fresh air. It's a strange night. Overcast, almost foggy, warm, bright. I've been in a mood today and it helped. Better than zoning out to BSG, though it's definitely entertaining. :)

Long Weekend

2007-05-26T08:30:00.000-07:00

Just write. My mind is foggy this early in the morning. Early for a Saturday anyway. My cat and an upset belly got me out of bed. A garden window seat, hot tea, and the G4 is a great way to start the day. Trying to get my computer fix in before D takes the computer away for a week (a fun trip to Eastern WA he's put off for a long while). Oh no, what will I do without home internet access? And new TV shows? I've got a list going. I wonder how motivated I'll be without my love around to distract me?

The calla lillies are starting to bloom. I love watching the yard exploding with flowers and color and life. Still need to map out the yard. Plenty of weeding and mulching to do. But I will just sit and enjoy the view a while longer.

2007

2007-01-06T12:00:00.000-08:00

2/11/07 update: Photo Friday entry: Sky.

I don't usually make resolutions for the new year as I already live a perfect life. Kidding. I don't really believe in waiting for the new year to start something new, get rid of a bad habit, make changes, etc. Seems to me it's easier to just do it. But, easier said than done eh? Being busy with the new house (budgeting, online searches, drivebys, offers, rejections, paperwork, packing, moving, unpacking, house projects--whew!) has been an excuse to put other things in my life on hold. Maybe it's a valid excuse. :)

SIMPLIFY Get rid of things I don't need or love. Buy less. Buy used. Give experiences instead of stuff. I'm sitting in our combo office, music, craft, storage, and guest room (don't actually have anything for people to sleep on other than an air mattress yet) and it's much too full of stuff. What I'd like to do is get rid of the 4 storage units currently holding/hiding stuff (1 small bookshelf, 2 end tables, 1 TV table) and get a big ass bookshelf/wall unit. 1st job is to swap out this old dining room table we're using as a desk with my actual desk which is in our garage (someday my car will fit!). Problem is getting the desk into the room--it's a bit too wide for the door frame.

EXERCISE REGULARLY Bike to work. Join the IMA (done). Yoga (done, signed up for a class twice/week). I miss the soccer team, but did not enjoy driving all around town to get to games--need to find someone to carpool with again.

Play Music (might get the piano I played on for years growing up from my parents). Get Crafy. Get out. Into the mountains or head to the coast. Currently skipping out on both at this moment. :( But there's plenty right here to keep me busy. With Friends. Had a good time hanging out with the crew last night at Jason's 'Stoner Movie Marathon'--cracks me up because none of them are stoners.

VOLUNTEER With PAWS too far away, I need a new gig 1x/week or 2x/month. Possibly Youth Tutoring Program?

Job Update my resume. Search for something closer to home which pays better.

Wind storm

2006-12-20T23:59:00.000-08:00

Last Thursday we were hit with a major storm. Lots o' rain during the day (1 inch in a 1 hour period prior to the rain storm, with 16 inches of rain the month prior--talk about water logged ground) and strong winds (50-70mph). 1st issue we had to deal with at home, was flooding in our basement. In November we had a few instances of a bit of water on the crawl-space side of our basement. We had been informed this happens after heavy rains before moving in and had installed a french drain along the north side of our deck/house. Frustrating we were still getting water even with the french drain, but with a vacant house on the uphill side of us and the fact we live on a hill, I think we'll just have to deal with some water issues. Anywho, the early afternoon of the 14th, we come home and find more than just a bit of water in our basement. An inch or so at the deepest point and spreading slowly towards our garage. Good thing we didn't have too much important crap on the floor. We keep an eye on it, but we seem to be getting more water and notice water spurting out of this crack in the wall! Darren takes a peek into the crawlspace and notices A LOT of water. Basically it's just seeping out of the ground. Time to get a wet/dry vac. Hit Lowe's to grab one of the last ones on the shelves--also pick up some quick-dry cement to try and patch up the crack. Unfortunately we hit Micky D's on the way home for a quick bite to eat--that combined with stress, does not treat my belly well. Which means Darren is the one sucking up water from the crawlspace and dumping the full loads into the street. Back and forth he goes. I attmpt a patch job on the crack, but as I don't prep the crack as suggested it doesn't seem to help. Once Darren gets the flooded basement under control, we chill out in front of the TV. It's probably 11 or midnight at this point. The wind has picked up and I think we start to watch a bit of news. Eventually the power goes. We stay up (can't sleep the storm is so loud) hanging out in our living room watching the trees across the street just getting whipped, branches being tossed around. At some point, Darren looks out our bedroom window and casually mentions something about the trees after he hears a thump. Oh, our neighbors trees are a lot closer than they should be, oh, there seems to be a tree on our house! Doesn't appear to be any obvious issues to our ceiling. A neighbor from across the way pops over to make sure we're okay (it's the neighbor everyone complains about who comes to check on us). We opt to sleep out in the living room, away from the trees. We probably make it to bed around 4AM. Unfortunately with the power out, Darren starts getting all these automatic phone calls from the freezers at his lab. Probably get 8 or so calls, starting around 6AM? Finally roll out of bed around 7 to check on our house/trees. Oh at some point, our security alarm starts beeping becuase of the power outage. We figure out in our sleep deprived state to turn it off, but unfortunately didn't turn it off completely. As I'm heading out of the house at 7, our securuity alarm starts blaring. Not a way to start the morning. Eventually turn that off and get out to check out the damage. The tree is on our house and has knocked the fence over. In our backyard there are 4 other trees just kinda hanging out as they're all part of 1 rootball. Decide around 8 or so it's time to go talk to the neighbors. They have just noticed the damage. They have a 5-6 foot root ball which was ripped up from the ground right in front of their backdoor. Too bad the cedar trees didn't have deeper roots. Get the name of their landlord (he lives right behind us), then get ready for work. I head over again to get more information and landlord has shown up, same with our kitty corner neighbor. Time to swap insurance and personal info. Their trees, both of us have damage. Should be fun.

Update:

It takes 2 weeks for the guys insurance company to finally tell him they won't cover tree removal. Our insurance company then comes out in just a few days for an estimate. As this was an 'act of god' our rates won't go up. Still have to deal with a deductible though. Just a little less than a month later (initial delay because of a snow/ice storm), the trees are off our house (required crane/cherry picker, small bulldozer, dump truck, huge shredder, and lots o' manpower). Amazingly there is little damage to the roof. Insurance company comes out again for an estimate on our roof--it's finally fixed about 4 months after the initial damage! Yehuda does a crap job fixing fence between our yards, but at least it's fixed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/December_2006_Pacific_Northwest_storms

26.2!

2006-10-20T10:32:00.000-07:00

For Tina,
originally uploaded by SeattleYogi.

The South-east

2006-10-10T07:47:00.000-07:00

I'm in North Carolina now. Hmmm, too bad I can't type a southern accent--it sounds suweet. It's a bit odd to be on vacation by myself in a new place. I'm by myself at the moment as both H and A are at work right now. Helen didn't take any time off during the week while I'm here, but I had half-way expected this and brought a good book, a knitting project, plus I knew Helen had all 6 seasons of Sex & the City. And really, I can't complain as she took Sunday off--her 1st in 5 weeks! The life a pharmacy resident is insane! My bad though, the one weekend Hells says not to visit (important board exam on Saturday) is the one I end up choosing. Anyhow, what did we do on H's only day off in 5 weeks? We went shopping of course. She says that's all there is to do, but of course we know Helen loves her shopping. There were lots of couples and I don't know what this says about a southern boy, but they seemed into the shopping as much as the ladies. I saw familes with their kids in stollers and their parents in wheelchairs (grandma sitting by herself while the family tries on clothes in J random store, but at least she's with the family instead of sitting in a home). Some store called Charlotte Russe had styles of tops/bottoms which seemed way too young for me (I still purchased a couple) and yet there were women twice my age shopping in there. Reminds me I need to get out of the house more often. :)

Okay, so yesterday, my 1st day on my own, I slept in, had breakfast out on the screened in porch, watched some cable, followed along to a yoga program, putzed around on the computer a bit, then biked it to UNC/Chapel Hill which is 'just down the street'. Luckily the sun had come out after a couple days of Seattle weather. I checked on-line, the campus was only 3 miles away, definitely doable by bike, but was I told about the big ass hill? No. :) I wandered around campus, found Franklin Street (the 'Ave' of Chapel Hill) grabbed some lunch and ate by the Old Well. Once H & A got home, we went out for bbq and then went back to Franklin Street for a beer at the Top of the Hill which has a great open air balcony. Came home to watch Syriana (Helen proceeded to fall asleep quick-like, can't be blamed when her wake up call is 5 AM--gee, doesn't becoming specialized in pharmacy sound better and better?).

My plan today: eat some leftover bbq for brunch and bus it to campus to window shop and check out campus some more. Biking would be great exercise, but my excuse is the bike is too small for me AND a key for the U-lock couldn't be found so I can't really leave the bike anywhere. Have a couple more movies I could watch. Tonight it's more beer drinking. Hmmm, I've drank more beer the last few days than in the last few weeks on my own back home. Gotta love vacation!

3 Beautiful Things

2006-10-06T18:00:00.000-07:00

I came across 3 Beautiful Things today and really liked the idea of blogging about beautiful things. It's easy to see the negative all around us (then bitch and moan to others which leads to getting more depressed about the state of things), but I know it's much healthier to focus on the positive (I'm now picturing Mr. Dudley, my counselor and cross country/track coach in high school singing...'Eliminate the negative... Accentuate the positive...').

1. Vacation! I'm leaving tomorrow for North Carolina to visit Helen for a few days. I look forward to catching up, shopping (Helen loves to shop and I'm allowing myself the luxury as I don't tend to buy new and haven't even gone thrifting in a while), movies, and rockin' out at a String Cheese concert.

2. Friendly old lady sat next to me on the bus this morning. She commented on my knitting project and we talked about her yoga class. She's been practicing yoga for 16 years and has been bussing around the city since February when she had to stop driving. I hope I'm as friendly and active when I'm her age!

3. Darren will be making dinner tonight. We usually cook together but he's such a sweetheart and has offered to take care of tonight's meal since I haven't packed for my trip yet. I know he'll take care of a load of chores while I'm out of town too--he gets so much accomplished when I'm not around.

Before & After

2006-10-02T23:51:00.001-07:00

Dang, I have so much hair! Stylist said she probably cut off 12 inches or so. I haven't had it cut (other than a trim or 2) in maybe 2.5 years. My hair grows fast. Uh, didn't think I was going to cut off so much, otherwise I would have donated it. I basically said I just wanted some style and something easy. Big change, but I don't mind the length as it's still long enough I can put most of it back into a ponytail. I'll have to post another pic a few days from now when it hasn't been blow dried flat at the salon (I never blow dry my hair as it takes forever and can never get it flat on my own anyhow) and will be much poofier. I've heard a ceramic flat iron could do the trick, but I'm not a morning person and if it'll add time to my routine, I'll likely pass.

Hmm, is it me or is the left side (your right) a bit longer? Mebbe next time I'll smile for the camera. :)

overdid it but i did it

2006-09-04T18:18:00.000-07:00

From a 'run' last week, last Wednesday I believe: gmaps-pedometer. Cool tool for mileage as I don't have one of those fancy portable GPS trackers. Run is in quotes as I walked most of this. I ran down a steep hill at the beginning of the run which wasn't a good idea as my left knee was killing me later. I would run until my knee couldn't take it, walk, run, run, eventually I just walked it. Tina says I started with way too much mileage. Makes sense. But I couldn't help but head to Seward as it's close by and I found the Martha Washington Park on the way so I had to check it out. Though we don't have a view of the water, I love living close by. Seward's main trail is 3 miles or so around the perimeter but it has a few trails which criss cross through the middle. I found one and enjoyed how quiet it was, easy to forget this was still Seattle. As I came out onto the main path, the sun had set, leaving beautiful colors in the sky. Aside from the knee pain during the run and the soreness the next couple of days (uh, hello, need to stretch before and after!) I was happy to make it out.

Beppu circle

2006-08-31T16:42:00.000-07:00

Beppu circle,
originally uploaded by SeattleYogi.

It's been a while since I've done one of these. Here's a late entry for Photo Friday

This is a manhole cover from Beppu, Japan.

4 weeks plus

2006-08-24T10:23:00.000-07:00

We've been in our house for more than a month now, but I'm not as settled as I'd like. It would help if I had more time for just house stuff. A week after moving we left on vacation. A road trip to Northern Cali for Reggae on the River Festival, 4 days of hedonism at it's finest. We were with a good bunch of people, had great weather, a great camping spot (in the shade, close to a swimming hole), and enjoyed world famous reggae music (one would think at a music festival I would catch more live music, but I spent a lot of time at camp, in the shade, listening to the shows broadcast over a local radio station). D and I did take a day off after our vacation to sleep and got massages!

There hasn't been anything we've had to to, to make our house liveable. But we definitely have a big To Do List:

insulate the attic
insulate ducting
add support to our deck
add support to our crawlspace
add a peephole to front door
paint side of the house (blistering issues)
rehang a few doors
pub table for kitchen?
desk from parents into guest room?
french drain along back side of house
...

Getting settled

2006-07-31T09:19:00.000-07:00

Our place is looking better and better each day. So great to have a full weekend without anything but our stuff to deal with. I begged Jeremy to cover our PAWS shift on Sunday and he agreed even though he'll be covering my shift next Sunday when I'm out of town. I'll be taking a couple extra shifts later this month to compensate.

*The kitchen is unpacked. Darren cleaned all the shelves and we started unloading our goods. Still disorganized, but we aren't tripping over boxes. Have yet to find that last box of spices, we really wanted the no MSG Johnny's for steaks on Saturday, we survived with plain ol' salt and pepper. Also discovered most folks down in the south end likely bbq with charcoal briquettes, we drove for quite a while before we found a gas station with propane for our gas grill.

*A couple outdoor plants are in the ground. Our sweet old neighbors at our last place dug up some plants for us: pinks, daisies, and this one plant with cool red flowers. We might go back once more to dig up our irises and dahlias. While checking out our yard I came across a large (bigger than my head) yellow jacket's nest in the tree in our backyard. Just above head height hiding hidden among the leaves. Eek! Good thing when my friends (who were hiding in the tree's shade with popsicles after our move) and little 2 year old 2nd cousin (my cousin's child--is that a 2nd cousin?) who was running around in the yard a couple days later (wearing a bright yellow t-shirt and all sticky with popsicle, big no-no's when it comes to yellow jackets) were not stung!

*I took a very pleasant 3 hour nap. I had no trouble falling asleep at my regular time that evening. I think my body was telling me something. Rest! With the longer commute I am now waking up at 7ish AM and catching my bus at 8 (takes me about an hour to get into work) whereas before I used to wake up at maybe 8:45 AM for the 25 minute commute. I had it easy for 2 years while Darren had the long commute, it's my turn this time. I need to unpack my books so I have something to do while on the bus.

*Friday night Erica and Roxy came over to catch up. We went out in search of dessert and coffee. The Starbucks in Columbia City was closed so we checked out Lottie's Lounge. We weren't in the mood for alcoholic drinks and enjoyed our chai tea (Morning Glory is the best) and chocolate torte. Yum. Erica used to work with youth in this neighborhood back in 1999. She said it's changed a lot ('everyone's white now').

It's official!

2006-07-20T15:44:00.000-07:00

We moved on Sunday, one of the warmest days of the year. Thankfully, we had a lot of help so we finished the majority of the move in one go. D and I did a couple more loads Monday and Tuesday, we cleaned the old place Wednesday, and turned in our keys last night. Now we can focus on unpacking and arranging our space.

I'm overwhelmed with the amount of stuff we have. Our house is 1180 sq ft (2 br/1 bath) including a 1 car garage and basement. As we were living in an 1850 sq ft (3 br/2 bath) house, D and I didn't get rid of much when we moved in together. I tried to purge as best as I could before the move, but it appears I have problems getting rid of stuff. I was able to get rid of bags of clothes, it makes sense to get rid of something I haven't worn in a year or so (or what doesn't fit anymore). But it's much harder giving away something which has a memory attached. Letters, pictures (thank goodness for digital cameras), trinkets, you name it, I still have it. I need to adopt the mantra 'love it or toss it'. I guess I just have too much love. :)

Still boggles my mind that this is really OUR house. It's exciting and now that the stress of the home search/bidding/closing/all those other pesky details is over with I finally feel a bit giddy. Doin' the happy dance. :)

Afternoon adventure

2006-07-17T13:55:00.000-07:00

I forgot I was supposed to drop off a cashier's check at the escrow company today to cover the remainder of what we owe for closing costs. Luckly, my agent called to see how the signing went last week which reminded me of the check. Shoot, Darren leaves town for a couple days (ahhhhh, the bed all to myself!) and I forget about my responsibilities.

Anyhow, I'm at work without any paperwork regarding how much I owe. Call the escrow co. and leave a message stating I'm a dumbass and don't know how much I owe. As it's gettting later in the day, I can't wait too long for a response--I decide to bus it home to get necessary information, bus it to my bank, bus it to the escrow co., grab a bite to eat, and then bus it back to work. Takes 2 hours and 5 buses, of course most of that time is spent waiting for the buses (ok, for 1 of them I was just feeling lazy and didn't want to walk the last bit to work). Rolling down Roosevelt on the #66 & 67 a flood of memories; my old hood near Greenlake, being a student in the UD, Thursday nights at Dante's, pool at the Zoo. A bit sad to be moving from North Seattle which I know so well, but also excited I'll eventually learn my way around South Seattle.

Deed is done, check has been dropped off. I get back to work and there's a message from the escrow co. (left half an hour after I left), stating the final total comes to $70 more than what I dropped off because of an additional recording fee. D'oh. Will I have to do this again tomorrow? I do have a car, but I'm too cheap to pay for parking while I'm at work, plus the Seattle bus system is great (as long as you work at the U). I call back and am told this fee is just an estimate so we're likely ok. I sure hope so, because though I love taking 2 hour lunches, it really shouldn't happen on a daily basis. :)

Countdown

2006-07-13T17:38:00.000-07:00

We close on our house next week! Start moving in on the 23rd, hopefully our current place is empty and clean by the 31st. I'm psyched, but for some reason I don't feel I'm as psyched as I should be. Possible reasons:

*Packing and moving. I hate moving. I haven't 'really' moved in 4 years. I say 'really' because though we moved into our current place just over 2 years ago, Darren moved most of my shit for me. I was out of the country and he moved his stuff AND my stuff. What a guy. I've got a lot of stuff, and know I need to get rid of a lot of it now, before the packing and move. Darren likes to remind me how much stuff I have, but I can't give him a hard time about it because he literally moved it for me. Though I'm constantly adding junk to the give-away pile, there is just more stuff. Need to remind myself 'Love it or toss it!'

*We're staying in the city, but I wonder if moving to South Seattle will affect how often I see my peeps. Thing is I already feel fairly isolated and anti-social. But it's my own doing really. Saving for a house has been the biggest reason. D working a lot lately is another. I know I shouldn't let D's schedule affect my own activities, but sometimes it's hard to motivate myself when he's so exhausted.

*I quit soccer for my foot's sake. We lost most of our games, but the folks on my team are good folks and it was great exercise (if hard on the body).

*I haven't been visiting my cousins and they live just 15 or so blocks away currently, meant to get together more often being family and all but I particularly wanted to get to know their daughter, Brigette, better. She's a handful but I kinda miss being around kiddos. No, not planning on any kiddos of my own anytime soon.

*I don't make it out to church (Thursday night beer) too often. We used to meet at Dante's which was a straight shot from Maple Leaf. Once the DJ'ing started it was moved to Ballard Ale House. It's usually not too exciting, but a chance to catch up with people. I've just convinced myself to go tonight. Soon I'll live even further from the action and it will only be harder to stay religious. ;)

Okay, well how can I be more social:

invite folks out for 1st Friday's in Columbia City ($5 cover gets you into a number of different bars with live music)
take some art classes at Seward Park
get out and exercise. Maybe this isn't exactly social, but it'll help my energy levels
go to church at least 1x/month
plan for our housewarming for later this summer.
find another volunteer gig closer to home. Bike works?
get crafty. i like being creative, but don't make the time. Schedule it!
invite friends over for dinners/movies

We have a house!!

Pics of the house

2006-06-26T12:08:00.000-07:00

originally uploaded by SeattleYogi.

We have a winner

2006-06-25T14:46:00.000-07:00

Our bid was accepted on the Seward Park house!! If all goes well with the inspection on Wednesday, we close on the 19th and can move in on the 23rd. I'm really psyched--I think I got all my nerves out on the other houses. Of course part of my excitement might just be being done with the searching part of this process. I know some folks take months (years) to find the perfect house. But we really didn't need perfect, this is just our starter house. It's just the 2 of us, 1 cat and a lot of stuff. We already know we have to get rid of a lot of crap.

I think we're going to have a lot of fun with this house and where it's located. We've already checked out Columbia City and Seward Park and both are great. Yesterday we checked out the Kubota Gardens which is located further south. Only portions of it were of a typical Japanese style garden but it will still nice to wander through as it was very peaceful.

As yesterday was another beautiful day, a ton of people were riding their bikes on Seward Park Ave. I think this area is very popular with bikers, and I know the Seafair sprint-triathlon is coming up and is located in Seward Park. The seller of this house was away this weekend in Coeur d'Alene doing an Iron Man competition so I get the feeling this will be a great neighborhood for getting in shape.

The house is located a block off Rainier Avenue which can get sketchy. There is a used car place and a couple auto body shops just down the street. There is a cafe right on the corner, but it has those ugly bars on the windows. I will definitely miss Cloud City which is our current neighborhood coffee shop in Maple Leaf. I chatted with one lady who was out in her yard with her old dog Wally. She's lived there for 12 years, knows all the neighbors and really likes living there. She loves the multicultural aspect about living south. Says she'll go and visit friends in North Seattle and is shocked that most everyone is white. A friend told me yesterday that until 1968, you couldn't live north of the ship canal unless you were white. Isn't that crazy? That wasn't that long ago!

Well, my fingers are crossed that all goes well with the inspection. Wish us luck!

Just dance

2006-06-24T15:25:00.000-07:00

A reminder not to take life so seriously.

D and I are heading to Reggae on the River in early August. I can't wait for the music, sun, camping, and the dancing!

I got my fair share of sun today with pink cheeks and shoulders as proof. We checked out a couple houses down south--Ranier Valley and Beacon Hill area. 1st one was cute, but had bouncy floors and saggy ceilings--not for $350K! 2nd one is a possibility, nice looking home with a decent sized lot, only a block off Ranier, but also just a block off Seward Way. Walked the Seward Park loop. What a nice park! Not as crowded as Greenlake, some old growth areas, a ton of boats out on Lake Washington, and beatiful views of downtown and Mt. Ranier. Can't believe I've never been there before. Had lunch in Columbia City, a really cute area of Ranier. We found out where the Farmer's Market is located and know we'll be back to check out other restaurants. Even if this house doesn't pan out, I really wouldn't mind if we focused our search to this area. Only a 20 minute bus commute for Darren, 45 minutes for me.

House hunting sucks (okay maybe it's just getting shot down that sucks)

2006-06-22T19:24:00.000-07:00

The roller coaster continues.

Bid #4 went in today, a nice place in Shoreline. We thought we were going to be able to get our bid in 1st, no bid date, no bidding war. Originally, the agent and seller were going to meet tonight to go over our bid. That meeting was delayed until tomorrow. Now our agent calls and said the selling agent was mistaken, the seller is having an open house this Sunday and doesn't want to look at offers until Monday. Supposedly the selling agent inherited this listing from someone else and didn't get all the info. I thought this was going to be the one, but my guess is the seller realized people were interested in her house and wanted more than listing. That or the selling agent was just lying to our agent. Guess being selfish is what real estate is all about.

To recap:
We started looking just over a month ago 5/21/06.

1st bid * Ridgecrest
*we were not the highest bidder
*Lesson is we need to be willing to bid higher over listing.

2nd bid * Bitter Lake
*we were not the highest bidder, 47K over listing and we were maybe 3rd or 4th in line. It was a fixer!
*Lesson is don't go for anything near waterfront as someone rich will bid a heck of a lot more to tear the house down and build new

3rd bid * Maple Leaf
*We were the highest bidder but they didn't choose us because we had an inspection clause
*Lesson is go with the pre-inspection

4th bid * Echo Lake (no actual access or view on this one)
*we'll see what the lesson is on this one.

We could still get the Shoreline place I guess. We get a pre-inspection lined up and deal with that tomorrow or Saturday and resubmit our bid on Monday. But then we're likely dealing with a bidding war and we didn't want to go much above listing on this place.

Maybe we just need to slow down. We wanted to tackle this process aggressively and we've been busy with on-line listings, drive-by's, and walk-thru's. Though there's a lot of expensive crap on the market, there are a lot of really nice places.

I think I need to go for a run to release some of this pent up stress (in general)and annoyance (at the seller and her agent). Then I'll come back to deal with a tired Darren (who will hopefully be in a better mood), a kitchen full of dirty dishes and dinner.

love it

2006-06-20T16:12:00.000-07:00

had a dream last night and i woke up laughing. i think the dream had something to do with cute furry animals. maybe the laughing wasn't as loud as i thought (you know when you're awake but not really awake?), but at the time, i was worried the outburst was going to wake up d. it didn't. we're both quite heavy sleepers. in another dream, mike and jason came to visit. haven't talked to them in a long time, but sending them birthday cards (gotta love the internet) yesterday must have popped them into my dreaming mind.

hate it

2006-06-20T16:05:00.000-07:00

being in the middle. personality conflicts at work. one person happens to be your boss, the other is the director of the department. wish this was just like the old days and there could be a dual or something-get it over with and lets move on! stop holding grudges and don't assume people are doing things on purpose just to spite you and your project. and don't try to use your power to screw someone else over. can't we all just get along? :)

Searching...

2006-06-19T09:52:00.000-07:00

...for a house. My 1st house. Our 1st house. :) Not exactly a fun process. A given right? But Seattle's market is tough! It's not 1st come 1st serve, homes are going for much higher than listed, and there's not a ton of houses (in our price range at least) on the market. The listing agent will give a date that offers are accepted, which basically causes a bidding war. All the homes we have any interest in are either gone before we even get a chance to look at it or it's one that attracts other buyers. We've put in bids on 2 places and have been maybe 3rd in line. Even going $47K over listing! Gee, if only we had an extra $100K laying around we'd be golden. I swear we aren't that picky, we only want a 2 bedroom, 1 bath house with a bit of a yard. Okay maybe going for the house on Bitter Lake was pushing our luck, but come on, it was a fixer! Eh, it's only been a month, guess I shouldn't be complaining. But such the rollercoaster ride of emotions. I used to like rollercoasters.

Really, we're not just buying a home. This whole process has made D and I work on our future 'plans'. Can't we just plan to make a plan? Do we want kids? Maybe. Do we want a dog? Yes, as long as it can make do without much a yard. Do we want a fixer. Sure, bring it on. Can we make do with a big ass mortgage and a small home in the city. Yes, until we have a kid or one of us decides to go back to school. We've done the budgeting bit, and then budgeted and scrimped some more so that we can hopefully afford more house (not sqaure footage unfortunately, just price). And of course there's always the when do we get married question. Of course if that happens would we be able to afford a fun party and honeymoon? What's the point if we can't do that? :)

Feminine

2006-03-03T11:04:00.000-08:00

Evening entertainment
Originally uploaded by SeattleYogi.

Entry for Photo Friday: Feminine

Blur

2006-02-10T11:40:00.000-08:00

It's been quite a while since I've participated in Photo Friday.

I took this picture of the crowd during a String Cheese show at Hornings last summer. Trippy eh?

Four Things Meme

2006-02-07T10:41:00.000-08:00

Four jobs I’ve had:

1. Research Study Coordinator
2. Research Technician
3. Target cashier
4. Engineering Assistant

Four movies I can watch over and over:

1. Amelie
2. Pride and Prejudice (BBC version)
3. Office Space
4. Lost in Translation

Four places I’ve lived:

1. Seattle, WA
2. Richland, WA
3. Fairfax, VA
4. Anaheim, CA

Four TV shows I love:

1. Scrubs
2. Grey's Anatomy
3. CSI
4. Sex and the City

Four places I’ve vacationed:

1. Costa Rica
2. New York
3. Japan (mostly south)
4. Hawaii

Four of my favorite dishes:

1. sushi from the Moto
2. Penn Cove Mussels from Ray's Boathouse
3. Hukilaulu burger and fries from Primo Burger
4. pork chops

Four sites I visit daily:

1. Superherodesigns
2. dooce
3. Wish Jar Journal
4. Soulemama

Four places I’d rather be right now:

1. surfing (warm water please)
2. yoga class
3. snowboarding
4. on a beach with a book and a cold drink

Four people I’m tagging with this:
Actually, just two: Tina and Lastuka

1/2 marathon

2006-02-04T19:31:00.000-08:00

Makes me think of T and her run tomorrow:

I'll keep running

Because it lets me be selfish.
It's the thing I do that's just for me,
and nobody else.

FYI, I never thought this being-selfish-thing
could take so much discipline.

(from an Asics ad)

This run raises money for blood cancer research and her team raised $83,000! I really admire T, who never thought she was a runner. She's run over 130 miles in the last couple months. Just 13.1 more to go...until next time. She is a Superhero, but as I'm being 'thrifty' these days I hope she handle something LYF style (T, a package should be arriving in a few days).

Mikey's running in the race as well. Sean and Jason have done marathons in the past couple months with more to come. What is it about getting older and running? Ha, on one hand I like the idea of getting into decent enough shape I could enter a road race again. On the other hand, maybe I'll leave all this running to others while I try new (and gentle) things like Nia. I still have not taken a class yet. No more exuses!

Good luck to Tina and Mike in their run tomorrow. Have fun! I hope Matt is taking pics at the finish line.

Happy Lohri

2006-01-15T23:13:00.000-08:00

I think Seattle's rain streak has ended. 27 straight days of rain (unless they receive 1/100th of an inch? of rain by midnight). Sounds like today was beautiful (the Mantis was stuck in 4 hrs of traffic on the way to Stevens this morning, Ben told Stukes about chest deep powder!). Too bad I was on the way home from TC. But it was worth it.

Ryan's Lohri party was good times. Finally met 24--he smiles in person unlike most of his photos. Seems a sweetie, though really only had a few minutes to hang with him. Reub seems sooo happy about being a dad. Amazing to see so many of his family and friends come together for such an event. Rueben's mom sure knows how to throw a party. Plenty of food and alcohol flowing. And damn, those Indians love to dance. :)

I'm hoping to hit some powder tomorrow. If I need to be on the road in 7 hours, I better get some rest. Hopefully I have good stories (pics?) next time.

It's snowing!!

2005-12-01T15:53:00.000-08:00

Not a regular occurance here during the winter. It started about 10 this morning and it's been snowing ever since, though I don't think it's sticking yet. That's Seattle for you. Happy December!

Multi-tasking sighting

2005-11-30T13:36:00.000-08:00

You know when you're riding along on your bike and wish there was something else you could be doing? How about getting some reading done? As I was arriving back at work after class, a bike rider got off her bike to get it up onto the curb. She had this contraption set up between the handlebars. 2 small straps attached the handlbars on one end with the other ends attached to binder clips. Clipped in those binder clips was an article/paper of some sort, with portions highlighted. Maybe they were directions on how to ride said bicylce (don't forget to brake when you want to stop or slow down) or directions to her next location, but my guess it was neither of those. Are we so busy that we can't just ride our bikes?

Flesh fish

2005-11-18T16:34:00.000-08:00

Flesh fish
Originally uploaded by SeattleYogi.

This week's entry for Photo Friday: 'Imperfection'.

Quit your bitching

2005-11-01T14:57:00.000-08:00

Waiting in the rain for a bus, a bike rider goes by. A couple poles strapped onto the back caught my eye. Looked similar to trekking poles. I then realized they were arm braces. A closer look and I notice the bicyclist has just 1 leg! One of those wow moments. Shouldn't be a big shock I guess. When working as a research study assistant a few years back, I helped out with a study taking a look at mobility in amputee patients. This person had 1 leg and 1 prosthetic leg. We had him hop up/down, then side/side on his real leg, and then on his prosthetic while recording measurements with special video equipment. Can you imagine hopping around on a prosthetic leg? I wouldn't have if I hadn't been there. Guess it's a reminder not to take things for granted and if you want to do something, just do it!

For Tina:
“We must not, in trying to think about how we can make a big difference, ignore the small daily difference we can make, which, over time, adds up to big differences that we often cannot foresee.” --Marian Wright Edelman

Semi molt

2005-10-28T16:25:00.000-07:00

Semi molt
Originally uploaded by SeattleYogi.

Photo Friday's theme this week is Delicate.

glow

2005-10-24T11:07:00.000-07:00

glow
Originally uploaded by SeattleYogi.

Photo Friday theme for this week is 'Retro'.

Prey

2005-10-08T08:00:00.000-07:00

Had a dream I was being stalked by lions. Not a good feeling. When I woke up, thoughts of work were running through my head. Why is it I have dark and scary dreams? Why can't I have dreams of cute dessert foxes? Or at least sexy dreams. :)

Work has been an issue for a while. I've definitely settled. I think to have some security, but I realize it's not worth it (at least if I was working in private industry I'd have more savings to show for the 1.5 years I've been in the bowels of Health Sciences). What popped in my head this morning, was that I would love to work at/from home. I notice most of the blogs I read are from women who work from home. Whether it's taking care of their kids and/or making beautiful art. Hmmm, if only I was artistic. I like to think I'm crafty, but when it comes down to it, I haven't made the time for it and don't feel my right brain has accomplished much during it's almost 30 years in my head. Eek. Is that what this is about? Turning 30? I don't think so. We all get older, why worry about it? It's more about where I am, not being satisfied with my career choices.

Sidenote: I'm drinking mate from a traditional mate gourd (Thanks Kevin!). I added the leaves directly to the gourd and am sipping it through a strainer straw. It's quite tasty, except for the teeny pieces that aren't being strained.

I've been in the process of figuring out my life for a number of years now. My friends are probably sick of me saying I'm going back to school. I feel so unmotivated compared to most. Aha, I know I shouldn't compare myself to others. We are all motivated by different things. And maybe school isn't for me at this point. I need to work on figuring myself out before I'm ready for more learnin'.

Back to those who work from home. Obviously they have the right skills/resources to afford it. At this point I don't. Not that I know of anyhow. Anyway, I'm going to go work on knitting a scarf and think more about life.

Raccoon family

2005-09-30T14:44:00.000-07:00

Photo Friday's theme this week is "Darkness."

Tofino

2005-09-13T15:41:00.000-07:00

TOFINO
Originally uploaded by SeattleYogi.

Okay Tina, here it is. Are you happy now? :)

Tina and I took a week off at the end of August and headed north to Tofino, BC. We turn 30 at the end of the year and wanted to celebrate with an adventurous outing. We couldn't get our boys to come with us, so it was a girls get away--Thelma and Louise sans Brad Pitt character.

We started off our trip with little sleep and hit the road at 5:30 AM for the drive to Anacortes for an 8:30 ferry. Turns out we really didn't have to be there an hour early like they told us. Grrrr. Tina had never been on a ferry before (next time she's in town we'll go to the San Juan Islands). We tried to avoid the screaming children and I even steered the ship for a while. It was during this voyage I purchased a big ass bottle of vodka and box of wine gums (yay, duty free!) in preparation of the week alone with Tina. We land in Victoria and spend the afternoon being tousits--checked out the Empress (only the outside as they only let paying customers and guests inside), the Capitol Building, the harbor with all it's craft booths, then high tea at this little restaurant which must have been right down the street from a senior center--there were little old ladies in their wheelchairs, walkers, jazzy 5000's zooming by the whole time we were there. Finally, we head out for our our final destination. 5 hours later, we arrive at the Surf Junction campground. We find out we're 'stuck' in an RV spot all week--I think it was all a scam, telling us over the phone we could move into a camp spot after the 1st night--extra bucks in their pocket. Really we were happy to have a place at all--next time book further in advance!

A bit of exploring: we head south to Ucluelet area (it took us a few days to figure out how to pronounce this). We hiked part of the Wild Pacific Trail where we saw Orcas playing in the distance and did a bit of yoga on the rocks. Head north to Tofino where we had a tasty lunch with views of the busy water front.

Kayaking Barkley Sound: Whales, bears, and seals, oh my! We saw grey whales feeding in the distance, harbor seals sunning themselves, eagles, and we surprised a family of river otters who were playing with a big fish. Next time I visit I want to kayak the Broken Group!

Hot Springs: Boat ride to the hot springs (more harbor seals and bears!). Tina was disappointed we didn't take the zodiacs--she wanted to wear the bright orange suit (I think she got this idea from the ferry), a quick hike along a boardwalk through the rainforest, time spent with a homeless pup and scantily clad tourists. The actual hot springs area is much smaller than I was expecting. Luckily we arrived early enough to have the place to ourselves (and the rest of our group). By the time we left, a couple more large groups were crowding the springs. We took a quick float plane ride back and saw wonderful views of the island (and another whale!)

Cox Bay: We only spent a couple hours surfing Cox Beach. Originally I had thought we'd spend a lot more time surfing during this trip, but there was so many other things to do (my baguettes get tired easily plus Tina has horrible blood circulation. She complained about being cold this whole trip, so my next present to her will be a full body insulated suit she can wear underneath her clothes). The waves were a bit mushy while we were out, but as I suck at surfing this is okay with me. So we played for a bit, then continued to play on the beach taking pics of the scenery.

Pampering: Tina and I experienced our 1st facials at a little day spa. I think it's fun getting pampered while Tina thinks it's hilarious having someone slap, massage, steam, oil, and pull at your face. Okay, so she looked hilarious with her hair all greased up after she was done, but other than that, pamper away. We also pampered ourselves by doing a bit o' shopping. Postcards, art, and hemp/organic clothing. What is it with US's restrictive policies against hemp. So silly! One night we had a nice dinner at Wickaninnish Inn. A fancy place with a 360 view of the beach, and we didn't even have to sit in the 'dining' section.

Camping: We roughed it with an air mattress, sun shade (NOT waterproof), showers, fires, and tasty meals. The weather stayed true to my (and every web sites) prediction of rain. It's a rainforest for goodness sakes. Even those days it didn't rain, everything left out gets a nice covering of dew by morning. No wonder we saw so many folks in RV's.

I need to stop now...too much typing. Sorry this post was so long winded. If you want to read more about it, check out Tina's version.

SCI rocks again!

2005-08-09T11:01:00.000-07:00

SCI w/ members of Railroad Earth and New Monsoon

I've just returned from the most fantastic trip. String Cheese Incident at the beautiful Horning's Hideout venue. It's summer camp for people of all ages. I don't know how to explain it--it's an experience. A 'hidden community'. 5000 folks camped amongst the trees and fields. People from all over the world, all backgrounds, families, oldies, you name it. Folks who love to dance or enjoy the freedom of partying under the stars. Those who want to free themselves from the constraints of what's 'normal'. It's so colorful and lively--my pictures do not do it justice. Man-o-man the positive vibes you feel when SCI is jammin' is unbelievable. The smiles on people's faces when you look around--it makes me wish everyone I knew could be with me at that moment to come experience the fun times of SCI.

This might have been the last year for SCI at Horning's which makes me very verklempt. Please check out the Horning's website for more info and a way to contact the local city council--Bob wants to do all he can to allow future festivals at his venue.

Thanks to SCI, Bob, and all the other Cheeseheads out there for another magical time at summer camp!

44 miles

2005-07-01T13:52:00.000-07:00

Olympics Hike Itinerary:

Start at the north fork of the Quinault (river)
Day 1: 9 miles to Trapper shelter (originally planned on 6.5 miles to French Creek camp)
Day 2: 4.2 miles to 16 Mile camp (originally planned on 6.7 miles)
Day 3: 5.9 miles to Chicago camp
Day 4: 8.3 miles to Hayes River camp
Day 5: 8.2 miles to Mary's Falls camp
Day 6: 8.4 miles to Whiskey Bend camp on the north side of the Olympic National Park

I've been back for over a week, but haven't made the time to write up this trip. Looking back, the hardest part was coming back to my 'real' life. To, work and traffic and people.

I haven't been on real backpacking trip for a number of years. I think it's something I need to do once a year, like my dad's been doing for so long--one of these summers I'll join him and Tom--Emily and cousin's Heather and Matt have joined him during his treks. I am very thankful to my parents for exposing me to the great outdoors. Though I live in the city, I am 45 minutes away from the mountains (hoping for decent snowfall this winter), 3 hours away from the coast, even 3 hours away from dry and hot dessert climate. Ah, Washington is a beautiful place.

Anyhow, things I learned on this hike: bug nets, rain gear, extra/dry socks, and good hiking boots are very important! Plan our meals better--Darren and I each carried maybe 5 pounds of extra food, too much for a 6 day hike!

The Quinault and Elwha River areas are beautiful! Eventually I'll scan some of my pics so I can post a few (I took my 35 mm camera, didn't want to risk the digi on this trip).

Day 1. Started off on the wrong foot. It was raining. :( We drove through some *very* heavy rains on the way (thanks Erna Rae for the ride!). Both D and I got very little sleep the night before taking care of last minute necessities. I think all of us had thoughts of 'what did we get ourselves into' at the beginning. It was beautiful, green, but wet. One of my feet got wet at our 1st bigger stream crossing. No biggie. Came to our 1st 'river' crossing. Moving fairly fast, but it wasn't very wide. There was a log which Paul crossed easily. I was going to cross 2nd, but it was higher than I felt comfortable with (I have a mild fear of heights) and looked too slick for me, so I decided to ford the river. While I took off my boots and changed into sandals, Darren crossed the log. I was worried, but Paul hadn't had any issues and Darren made made it across without any issues. I find out after the fact, both of them thought it was stupid of them to do it--it was very slippery, wet boots and a wet log, not a good combo. Darren got about halfway across before he realized it wasn't a good idea, but what can you do at that point, but continue. Anyhow, I forded the river, water came up to about my knees, made it across no problem. Hurried to change back into my boots as it was drizzling and a couple had just shown up at the other side of the river--Paul and Darren were worried they'd try to cross the log and fall and didn't want to deal with the consequences (they opted to wade across as well--don't worry, we aren't that mean). We figured Francis camp should be popping up soon. We were wet and tired. We came across a sign which said Francis camp, a small cleared area next to large upturned roots. We weren't impressed with the depressing 'camp' and kept going. After a couple more miles came to the Trapper shelter. It wasn't pretty, but we were happy to have a roof over our heads. Rain pretty much stopped, but we couldn't relax for too long as the bugs were on you if you were sitting still. Thank goodness for those head nets we brought! We drank our Oly's (Paul insisted we bring along some cheap beer though Darren grumbled), we didn't want to carry them any further, plus after the day we had, we deserved it! We laid out our wet clothing as best we could, dined and chatted about the trip so far. One of Paul's boots was having issues--the heel was coming apart. He had put some shoe goo on the sides, but that ended up coming right off, along with more of his boot! If the weather kept up, we thought we might have to turn around after another day--that lodge at the Quinalt entrance was sounding mighty fine! At least we had a short hike tomorrow--we wouldn't worry about cutting our trip short until then.

Day 2. Woke up with large blisters on my face! Spider bites. Not having a mirror handy, I just assumed they were large mosquito bites (had already gotten a number of those the night before). At one point Paul asked if they felt okay--they didn't hurt or itch or bother me. Darren kept telling me not to touch them. When I realized they were actually blisters I was fairly grossed out, but there really wasn't much I could do at this point. It sprinkled off and on today. It seemed we really might have to turn around tomorrow, but the scenery was beautiful and we were further out

Day 3. Short day mileage wise, but not short on effort! Basically 3 miles up a steep grade then 3 miles downhill. We took a number of water breaks and the 3 miles up wasn't as bad as I was expecting. Paul had been going on yesterday how Day 3 would be the worst. It was a nice feeling at the top to realize the worst was over with. The top of the pass was more meadow, less trees. I kept my eyes out for bears. We passed a manned ranger station, ranger said 3 or 4 bears had passed by just 30 minutes earlier. I bet we sent them scurrying when we stopped and had our lunch--such loud and stinky humans! Passed a couple small lakes, Paul and Darren fished, but no luck, I was just happy to rest my legs a bit. Then, onto the steep downhill. Paul wasn't kidding when he said it just drops, you turn a corner, and the trail just goes down and down... Big ol' waterfall in the distance. By the time the trail flattened out again, I was definitely ready for camp.

Day 4. Last couple miles were hard on the feet.

Day 5. Again, the last couple of miles, I couldn't wait to be done.

Day 6. Home stretch! Paul's shoe was flapping for the last 5 miles. Both Darren and I think we heard some sort of large animal moving along with us down this hill side at one point. That kept us going at a brisk pace. We passed a number of people out for day hikes which means the trail head was close and eventually we're done. Take off the boots, change into comfortable and semi-clean clothes, spy on the deer in the parking lot (a doe and 2 spotted fawns), and rest until Tina arrives. She brought doughnuts! I was worried we wouldn't even make it down the mountain with Tina driving so fast around those dirt/gravel tight corners. As Darren, Paul and I had been going on about fried chicken all week, we stopped at a KFC on the way home--not a big surprise, but it didn't really hit the spot and it was hard on the belly.

Check back for an update for Days 3-6.

Mt. Dickerman

2005-06-29T09:32:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday, I hiked Mt. Dickerman. It *kicked* my ass. Near Granite Falls, the trail is 8.5 miles roundtrip and we did it in 4 hours 16 minutes (not too shabby as the reviews said it would be 5 1/2 hours roundtrip). 3800 foot elevation gain with a lot(!) of switchbacks. Supposed to have a fantastic 360 degree view from the top, but unfortunately we went on a mostly cloudy day. I did catch some gorgeous views of the 4 Sisters peak on the way up, super bright with lots of snow--to me that made it worth it. That and actually making it to the summit. I brought up the rear on the way up, I actually wanted to quit not even a quarter of the way up, but being the only lady I had to represent. Thankfully there weren't too many protests as I made frequent stops for water and to catch my breath (Sean, the gazelle that he is, left us in the dust, making it to the top 20-30 minutes before the rest of us--I guess that's what happens when you're in training for a marathon, running 6 miles/day). I had my 'regular' camera with me and only took a couple of pictures (bonehead me saw the 23 and thought that meant I had 23 pics left--getting too used to my digital camera I guess) and I still need to get the roll developed. I'll post when I can. Note to self, get in better shape before doing another hike with huge elevation gains and do not bring up the rear when the 4 boys you're with are tooting themselves down the mountain.

Helen doin' it all

2005-06-22T17:13:00.000-07:00

She graduated on Friday, got married on Saturday, and now (just a little over a week later) is in the process of moving to North Carolina (driving across the country as I type). Congrats on becoming Dr. M! Congrats to you and Aaron on getting hitched! Best wishes in your residency. I'm looking forward to visiting you in the fall. I hope you have an extra bed/futon by then.

Summer Solstice

2005-06-22T16:49:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the longest day of the year. Wouldn't have known it from the weather though. Patches of blue sky, but mostly it was overcast with the skies' wet babies fallin' at times. Days leading to the summer solstice were beautiful (hot even) so I can't complain too hard. D and I took a walk last night--makes me wish we had a house of our own. The Maple Leaf neighborhood is really nice (people walking their dogs/kids with coffee from the local coffee shop in hand), but it's pretty much a given it'll be out of our price range once we're ready to purchase. Ah well, no harm dreaming right?

Callie Bear

2005-04-15T16:55:00.000-07:00

Callie Bear
Originally uploaded by SeattleYogi.

Photo Friday's theme this week is "Rest."

Moby Dick

2005-04-08T16:24:00.000-07:00

Moby Dick
Originally uploaded by SeattleYogi.

Photo Friday's theme this week is "Plastic."

hot springs

2005-04-01T13:06:00.000-08:00

hot springs
Originally uploaded by SeattleYogi.

Photo Friday's theme this week is "Hot."

Baby Steps

2005-03-25T11:54:00.000-08:00

Baby Steps
Originally uploaded by SeattleYogi.

Photo Friday's theme this week is "Tiny."

Glow

2005-03-18T11:40:00.000-08:00

Crazy Eyes
Originally uploaded by SeattleYogi.

Photo Friday's theme this week is "Glow."