House Hunting Day 2

I think I found the place - not a house, but a townhome in a nice area, that is both big enough and small enough, with a decent kitchen, and for less than we were planning. Woohoo! So, I get to relax tomorrow, or try to get on an earlier flight.

Also, I found a great thai(ish) place that serves pearl drinks. Wheee! gotta love the pearl drinks!

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Jason finishes his class tomorrow. That means one final, and a few labs more, and then he is free to relax for christmas. I feel badly that he had to study so hard this semester, but overall, it will help his career.

someday I would like to go back to school. Probably sooner than later, however, I need to wait till we are in one state for more than a year. I'm thinking either pharmacy, or statistics. I guess it depends on where we live, and what programs local schools have.

I still like programming, but I'm tired of struggling to keep up, and the job market just isn't friendly unless you are right out of college, or you have 10 years of experience. Plus, in order to learn new software, you have to buy the software, and then buy the books, which gets expensive.

I know, excuses, excuses. I actually learned 2.5 programs this past year. Photoshop, Illustrator, and I'm working on VB.net.

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I'm so sick of election snafus. First the mayoral race in san diego, then problems with kane (sp?) county in washington. Apparently, one of the guys asked for a recount, but the state supreme court voted that the recount should only include the ballots that were counted last time. So, there are 3000ish other ballots that won't get re-counted because they were previously thrown out. Does this really make sense to people? I mean cmon - the state supreme court. These people are supposed to be intelligent and schooled, right?

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Tomorrow, I get to sleep in my own bed. Nuff said.

House Hunting Day 1

I looked at 8 houses today. 3 weren't too bad, the rest were pretty crappy. Out of the 3 that I liked, only 2 accepted pets. So, I'm narrowing down.

Hopefully tomorrow, the realtor will have a ton of houses for me to look at.

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I swear the sheets on the bed here at my hotel are like 10 threadcount. It is like sleeping on sandpaper. I can't wait till I get to sleep in my own bed again.

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View from my balcony

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I'm not sure about the weather here in washington. Whenever I'm in my room, the sun peaks out of the clouds, but whenever I get in the car, the downpours start.

It has been raining pretty close to all day, and the weatherguy just informed me that it has only totalled 11/100ths of an inch. Ridiculous.
There's no way it can only be 11/100ths of an inch.
I refuse to believe it.

gotta go find something for dinner. I think I'm going to order a pizza.

tire chains - take 3

I just erased my entry
doh!

Blah - anyways, My original entry was probably boring.

So, we found snow chains. Wheeee! I seriously thought we'd have to get some auto-parts store to order them for us. I'm still petrified about driving through oregon and trying to figure out where to go to put them on the tires, but Jason is sure ther will be a sign or a rest area or something.

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We had a small tiff today. I really have a difficult time remembering that Jason wasn't in San Diego nearly as long as I have been, and I expect him to know directions and where major roads intersect and such. And when he doesn't, I get snippy, then he gets snippy, then I get pissed that we are both being snippy.

We survived though, and went to the grocery store to make up. Our first date was to a grocery store, and for some reason, going there makes us forget that we were mad.

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Dinner was excellent despite being thrown together.

Jason: "Lets have salmon"

Sharon: "And Asparagus!"

Jason: "ooh- and rice"

Sharon: "and we should finish the challah - ooh - with Salt Lick barbecue sauce!*"

*** salt lick

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So, tomorrow is my big house-hunting trip. Lucky for me, the weather is supposed to be nice and mild. We'll see if my airplane bad-karma kicks in.

Since we haven't heard news about the transfer, I'll be winging it regarding what kind of house we're looking for, but as long as there's a fireplace and high-speed internet, I think we'll live.
I might even sacrifice the fireplace if necessary.

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Sharon's birthday luau - July 2004

book day

Short entry today, because I literally spent all morning reading. I really wanted to add a book to my 2004 reading list, so I read Robin Cook - Contagion (which I read a few years ago, but forgot enough to have it be exciting again)

So, I read and read and read, and that's about it.

Oh, and we saw Ocean's 12. I loved it. It was so seventies-polyester. The cinematography made up for what the story lacked. Plus, the interaction between characters was a hoot.

The only downside really was that the entire movie was based on a storyline that didn't fit the characters. But, since the first story was so unbelievable, I can forgive the writers. I won't put any spoilers here though.

More disconcerting was the fact that one of the theater workers periodically walked through the theater with her light-saber, looking for people videotaping. Are we really so impatient nowadays that we can't wait a few months for the dvd?

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When we get settled in jan or Feb, I think I'm going to make a quilt for Project Linus in response to Grrl's request

Project Linus collects handmade blankets and distributes them to sick kids all over the country. On their site there are patterns and ideas for making a blanket, from elaborate to simple (including a quick fleece blanket that even the least crafty person could manage).

the complex - part 2

I titled my entry a few days ago, "the complex" thinking I was going to write about the wonderful new Blue-Man group CD that I just got, but for some reason (ahem - progesterone) I forgot. so, um - yeah - go check out the cd - it is great. Dave Matthews does vocals for one piece.

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Jason and I just got back from a great little mexican restaurant in Old Town - Casa de Pico. Oh - so good. Nachos with chorizo, sopapillas, margaritas bigger than my head. Seriously, we each ordered one large margarita, and after appetizers, main course, and dessert, I still hadn't finished mine.

So, I might just have to re-organize my list of favorite restaurants. Blue Agave is still high on the list, but only if you're in Chicago. In austin, Maudies, in San Diego, Casa de pico.

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So, now that I'm on a mexican food kick, I think I'll tell the story about the first time I had mexican (that I remember)

We were in colorado on summer vacation, and my parents heard of this cute themey restaurant in Denver that was good for kids, and decent for adults. Casa Bonita
The actual restaurant part was sort of buffet style. You stand in line, order, move down the line, pick up your food, and then are seated. If you're lucky, you get seated by the 30ft waterfall that is in the middle of the dining room. Periodically, divers, actors, and flame jugglers would dive into the pool from the waterfall.

After gorging on chicken fingers and sopapillas (I was too picky for the "real" mexican food) we would head upstairs and walk through the pirate's cave, and watch the strolling mariachis.

Heh - Jason said that the boys from southpark actually went there on an episode.

I'm betting I liked it way better than they did.

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I finalized most of my plans for house-hunting next week, and realized that I scheduled an appointment monday with heather, and tuesday with linda, who referred me to heather. whoops!
I don't think they are from the same company though. Hopefully, they won't both try to show me the same places.

I still need to compile a list of classifieds that are available. I had one yesterday, but the computer froze and it disappeared into computer space. So, that's my plans for tomorrow. Also, confirming all my appts, and meeting locations, and hotel and car reservations.

I can't wait till the end of January when all this is over.

And, no, we haven't heard anything about the transfer yet.

Still no news

So, we're still waiting. Last year, the transfers were announced dec 10. The year before that, Dec 13. Could we get any closer?

If they don't announce them by friday, I might just throw a fit. I start house-hunting monday, and it would be nice to know what I should be looking for.

I'm just so frustrated.

I spent the afternoon pouring over the classifieds online, filtering and sorting and highlighting and x-ing out. Tomorrow, I'm planning on calling some and setting up appts to see, but since I've never been there before, I have no idea what the neighborhoods are like, not to mention spacial relations. For example, how far from the base, or how far from the ferry.

And Ferries - I've never been on one. Do I just drive the car right on? All my ferry experience comes from "Double Jeopardy" and I can totally see myself driving right off the edge into the water.

Water - recently, I've been waking up in the wee hours just absolutely parched. Not just for any water, but for nice icy cold water - just above freezing, but if you know me, you know I hate ice, cause it gets in the way, but if I want cold water, I need ice, or I need to get a little fridge to put right by the bed, because there's no way I'm getting up to go to the kitchen and get a bottle out of the fridge in the middle of the night.

Water bottles - anyone know if that rumor about the chemicals leaking into the plastic is true? I have a hard time believing that, since bottled water is supposed to have a loooong shelf-life. That's why they tell you to stock up on it in case of disaster. While i'm at it, how about that rumor that blue tinted bottles are better than clear bottles, because there is a chemical used to make the bottles clear that isn't in the blue bottles (obviously, they aren't clear, are they?) I should just splurge and buy a nalgene.

So, why the continuous stream of thoughts? I got my quarterly depo shot yesterday, and it always makes me pms-y which makes focusing difficult. Not bad, since it only happens 4 times a year, but I could do without the injection site pain.

Plus, I actually had to work today (shaddup) for the first time in weeks. (shaddup again)
Nothin bums me out like a big-ol' shot of progesterone coupled with a full day of tedious sql queries.

It's a wonder she didn't singe her whiskers

the complex

First things First:

Don't we look snazzy? Note the double-windsor knotted tie.

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I've been a cleaning machine this morning. Lots of vacuuming, lots of dusting...

Last night, we moved the little drawer thingy that holds all the dvds so I could vacuum under it this morning, and I swear there was another cat growing under it.

Also, I've got all the christmas stuff up. Nativity set - check. Teeny village - check. Christmas wreath - check.

Reminder to myself - next year buy antlers or a santa hat for our giraffe. (3ft tall plaster giraffe that has been in my house since I can remember.)

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Last night Jason and I celebrated the lack of news about his transfer by making chicken marsala. The chicken turned out wonderful, but next time, less lemon, less butter, and sweet marsala. We used dry.

Tonight we are going to celebrate the lack of news about his transfer by making ribs.

Marsala is waaaaay messy by the way. I knew the frying chicken part would be, but the actual marsala part was the worst. We ended up with a stove covered in little marsala splatters, and I was wearing my favorite shirt, which also ended up with little marsala splatters. Note to self: Don't wear favorite shirt when cooking. Ever.

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I'm sad today because I discovered the source of my magic bookcase. (A while back, whenever I needed a flake book to read, I'd go to the bookcase, and magically, there would be the perfect book, that had never before been read, and never before noticed. This happened 3 or 4 times in a row.)
It was Jason. Apparently some time ago, he bought several books and just never read them. Why I never noticed them before, I have no idea. Selective eyesight I guess.

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One of my favorite things about being married is that 3 am conversations aren't a big deal. I've been having sleeping problems since Jason went on deployment. Basically, I wake up in the middle of the night and there are so many thoughts going through my head that I just can't relax and go back to sleep. I was having one of those nights last night, and around 3, I noticed Jason was tossing and turning an awful lot. He got up (aspirin) and came back and we had a short conversation. I have no clue what we said, but it settled my mind and I was able to drop back to sleep without problem. I hope it worked for him as well. Or that the aspirin worked. One or the other.

Finis

The quilt is done. Borders and everything. And that's all I'm going to say on that topic, so I can relish in the completeness that is this project.

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Still no word about the fricken transfer. Talk about last minute...
I still have to talk with navy housing, but everything else that can be decided has been decided.

We looked up prices for rental trucks (If we have to move ourselves) and the truck companies (Penske, Uhaul, etc.) are totally price gauging. Yeah, we're in calif. and everything is more expensive here, but the estimated cost of renting a 15' truck in January is $3000. That doesn't include gas or labor or anything. While that might not sound like a lot to some people, It cost us $260 to rent a penske when we moved from Texas to Mississippi. Yeah, I'd say the rental companies are taking advantage of the fact that close to 5000 families are moving from CA to WA.

It's cheaper to hire movers.

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I was going to write an entry, but the mister was on the computer all day working on homework. I'm going to be so excited when his class is finished, because he won't come home wednesdays and play around till evening until after dinner when he will announce that oops, I forgot I had homework due today!

Plus we were running errands.

Is it me or does customer service really suck during the holidays?
Yesterday we went to pizza hut for lunch where it took nearly 45 minutes to get our order of cheese-sticks.

Then, we went to best-buy, where both parking lots were completely full, but there was hardly anyone inside. Then, when Jason asked for a price check, the clerk came back with the employee price, despite the fact that we are most certainly NOT bestbuy employees. Hmmpph.

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Today, finishing christmas cards, calling navy housing, calling the cat sitter, and clean the living room and dining room.

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Oh, if you live in section 1, don't forget to get your free credit reports!

Baby its cold outside

So, the one day I have stuff to do, it is freezing outside. Its freezing inside too, I might just have to turn on the heat. Where's all those people who told me it never got 'cold' in san diego?

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The holiday party last night was a hoot. I'd post a pic, but that would mean I have to get out of my warm duvet-nest, and sorry, it just isn't happening.

We sat at the "loud" table, and Pete, our waiter was a hoot. I love it when the staff plays along. Food was better than soso, but not spectacular, but hey - 2 drink tickets and a 3 course meal (which included both red and white meat) for 10$. Can't beat that with a stick.

Sadly, we did not win any of the "thousands of dollars" of door prizes, so we left early, but someone at our table won a fairly big prize, so it wasn't too sad. Also, I got to heckle the guy in charge of finding out if Jason gets his transfer, so all was not lost.

And, I just have to point out that we both looked spectacular.

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So, I'm in the bathroom burning the hell out of my forehead with the hot rollers, and Jason is in the bedroom with the laptop on his lap and a new tie around his neck, desperately trying to tye a double windsor. It was adorable.

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Lola has separation anxiety. We think.
I really don't want to take her to the vet here because the close vet is WAAAAAY overpriced. Plus, what can a vet tell really? It is a stressful situation for both pet and owner, and how can the vet tell the diffence between separation anxiety, and anxiety in general.

Secondly, who is causing the anxiety? Me? I hardly think so. I'm here all the time. Jason? possibly, but then why does she take out her anxiety on me?

So basically, the symptoms: There are two things that set her off; The phone, and me singing. (No laughing, i'm serious)

When the phone rings, she starts howling and biting. If I have to walk to get to the phone, she'll be right underfoot and try to bite my ankles. When I'm talking on the phone, she howls and tries to chew the antenna or bite my hand.

When I sing, she goes for the jugular. She howls and bites and then tries to attack my head. Again, I'm being totally serious. We thought it was funny the first few times, but now it's starting to annoy me. I LIKE singing. I'm alpha, so I should get to sing whenever I want. Lola should have no say in whether or not I hum along to the radio. (No, the radio doesn't bug her at all)

So, really, is this a vet-necessary thing?
Maybe I'll just call up the cat lady and ask.

Was it a dream?

5 am this morning, in my totally empty apartment, I heard something that sounded like someone dropped change on our counters. I immediately sat up in bed, and Lola jumped off to go investigate.

I was totally freaked out thinking someone was inside, despite the alarms on all our doors and windows. I laid back down and just listened. I was listening for any little creak or noise that would indicate I wasn't alone. There was absolute silence. No noise whatsoever. After 5 minutes or so, I sat back up, and to my amazement, Lola was sound asleep by my feet.

I think I dreamt the whole thing.

Way to freak myself out though.

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So, it is 8:15 am, and I've already done the dishes, sent resumes to 4 companies, done the journal rounds, and checked every possible source of incoming email. Today is going to be a long day.

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I passed on watching the Jessica Simpson christmas special last night, and I'm glad. Watching her family is like driving past an accident. It is horrible and makes you feel awful, but you just can't look away. I also passed on the new gilligan's island. After 15 minutes of the badness, I flipped over to my always reliable Law and Order.

I believe this is the 14th season of law and order, the 6th or 7th season of special victims unit, and the 3rd season of criminal intent? So, at an average of 20 episodes per season, I could watch Law and order for 24/7 for about 20 days straight without seeing a re-run.
hehe

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23 days till christmas!

earthquake anyone?

I could have sworn I felt an earthquake about 20 minutes ago, but does the USGS update their site in a timely manner? No. It has been 30 minutes since their last update. C'mon already!

For the record, this is the 3rd earthquake I thought I felt, and if
it turns out for reals, it will be the second one i've been in. Jason hasn't felt any yet. hah!

We have this stained glass heart thingy that is a texas flat in the shape of a heart that hangs on the window. Everyonce in a while it rattles against the window for seconds, then stops. That's what happened this time, but this time I also felt shaking, and a car alarm went off outside.

Jason says it was probably just a Harley.

Feh

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I wasn't going to write an entry today, but then I saw the
31 days logo on Robyn's site, and even though I'm not a registered participant, it lit a fire, so to speak. So, I'm going to accept the challenge, despite my not really participating, and hope I remember to register early next year. So, that's at least 21 journal entries this month. Should be fun considering I'm traveling soooo much. Literally, 15 days of traveling total.

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I'm looking for a good way to organize bill paying. Anyone have any ideas? I need something that I can see daily without too much hassle, and something that indicates that, yes, a bill was paid, and the amount, and the date it was paid and the date it was due. Too much to ask for? I'm probably going to just write up a calendar and stick it on the fridge, but then I'd have to remember to look at the outside of the fridge instead of just the inside.

We currently use quicken, but I don't look at it daily, because I hate hate hate the interface. Also, didja know that quicken won't allow you to use a printer that has the word "on" in its name? How dumb is that?

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I started my christmas cards today! Even though most of the people I send cards to probably think less about me than I think about my houseplants, I still feel badly that I skipped last year. Not withstanding the fact that we were MOVING at the time, but still, the guilt flows. Also, I worry that some of the "older" family will not appreciate the humorous cards I normally pick out. I thought about getting a nice plain, serious, "happy holidays" just for these folk, but in Jason's words, "eh, f@#$ serious..."

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I'm treating myself tomorrow. I'm getting my nails done for the holiday party this weekend. I'm really looking forward to it, but I must admit, I hate sitting in the chair listening to the asian women gossip to each other in whatever language they speak, because I'm sure at some point they mention the big stain on my shirt, and the fact that I haven't shaved my legs in ... lets just say quite a while. More on that tomorrow. I started writing about it, but it turned into an essay. Lets just say that I get uncomfortable when people around me speak in a language I don't understand because I don't understand them.

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24 days to go!