First Scrapbook Page!

I've started a new project. I've always loved the look of scrapbooks, but not the time and clutter it takes to make them perfect. So, when I heard about digi-scrapping, I jumped on it!

Here's my first pages! Thanks to EllieLash.com for the Love Actually freebies.

And

Sleep like a baby?

Movable type just ate my entire entry, but here's a pic to make you feel better.

"I told you, I'm NOT Jonah!"

Happy Holidays!

I've been dying to write here, as Jason and I have some fairly big news. Now that all the co-workers, bosses, and family (except my brother, sorry andrew!) have been informed, the world-wide-web gets to know that we're having a baby!

Expected due date - nov 7.

Now on to all the real excitement. I'm sick. 5000 miles away from home, and I can't go back till friday.

I stupidly decided to go on a business trip to milan to host some training for my work project. The decision was made before the morning sickness and before the exhaustion, and before the emotional highs and lows that took me completely off guard.

Of course - I felt fine 2 weeks ago! No puking - eating every few hours, felt like I could run a marathon! Who'd of thought it could change overnight? Other than the gazillions of pregnancy information I read online.

Anyways, now here I am in bed, unable to work for 7 days, after spending 3 hours in the hospital last night with a nice old lady trying to tell me in italian that my iv bag was empty. Io parlo un po l'italiano lady. UN PO!

I did get an ultrasound, and was able to see the heartbeat! Also, the hotel was so properly freaked out, that they noticed I haven't left the room or ordered any food today, so they sent Alessandro to bring me some saffron risotto. (Alessandro drove me to the hospital yesterday)

With any luck, the pukefest will be over shortly, due to the highly welcomed drugs. (There was a short encore just before the risotto, but I had just downed a bunch of water, so it was to be expected.)

2 more days of sleep and eat, then a 20 hour flight, then home and back to normal.

The really sad thing is that i've been in italy since sunday afternoon (sunday am, US time), and I'm still sleeping normal US hours. Well, if you don't count all the naps. Although it is partly my fault, as I forgot that it is a 9 hour time difference, not a 7 hour time difference.

Off to bathe and sleep, and maybe have some gummy bears.

ski bunnies

So, I finally found a sport I love. Jason and I spent saturday at Crystal Mountain (near mt. ranier). We decided last minute to finish one of our "Things to do in Seattle before we leave" tasks and learn how to ski.

The drive up was gorgeous, except for the waking up at the crack of dawn, and driving in the sheets of rain. Oh, and the ice on the mountain that left a poor subaru spinning out. We cringed as we drove past, thinking that at that exact minute, poor subaru would find some traction, and slam into us, causing our car to fall off the mountain.

So, up to 4300 feet. We signed up for the "I've never even touched skis in my life" class, spent waaaay too much on snowpants and gloves and goggles, and booted up.

Can I just say really quick (promise I won't bring it up again), I totally rock at skiing. I secretly think Jason was jealous, although he would never admit it. Nonetheless, we both had a great time, and I can't wait to go back. We stuck to the first slope, and I want to try some of the other greens. Not quite ready for blues, but maybe someday.

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Jason got his orders today!!! Monterey here we come!!! (hmmm, I wonder how close monterey is to Tahoe?)

We'll be moving late spring/early summer probably. That means I should probably not start my new 4000 piece puzzle until we get there. Jason, stop laughing...

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Survivor: Gecko Island
In case you didn't know, we have 2 leopard geckos. Spot (female) is about 6 and T-rex (male) is just under a year. They have been living in separate terrariums because spot was much bigger than T, but now they are pretty close to the same size, so we were hoping to move them in together.

We attempted to do this right before christmas.

It didn't work.

I now sport a lovely 1/4" round scar on my finger.
(So when Kate M@ss burns her finger on her cigarette lighter, I can say I started that fad)

So, what to do? 2 lizards, 2 tanks, too much space.
How about 1 long tank that is divided? That way the two leeezards can get to know each other, maybe have a coffee data, and not try to kill one another. Yesterday the tank was purchased, along with a aquarium divider and the geckos were settled in.

We went to bed and all was fine. Ditto this morning. But, this evening, when I got home from work, there were 2 geckos on one side, and zero on the other. Maybe we should have called the one Houdini instead of T-rex.

Anyways, they are now back in separate cages, and If spot starts to look "egg-laden" in a few weeks, we might have some fun!

haitus

Well, that was a nice break, wasn't it?

I'm still here. Things are good. Family is ok.

We've just been very very busy.

Quick recap:

September - Jason has gallbladder surgery. He recovers.

October - Sharon changes jobs again. Now she is working on 2 full
time projects. She is very tired.

November - Sharon's brother visits for Thanksgiving. Gramma has abdominal surgery. Uncle Roy gets chemo and a bone marrow transplant. They both recover.
Jason starts building a "mame" cocktail table (Think Ms. Pacman)

December - Sharon quits one of her jobs. Phew - back to only 40 hours. Jason finishes his certificate program. They both fly to Austin to celebrate the holidays with the fam.

Jan - Texas wins the rose bowl! Everyone is back to work, back to normal. Sharon finishes the puzzle. Cocktail table is still pending.

So, that's the past few months in a nutshell.
Hopefully I'll have some good stories up shortly!

hasta luego!

Finally Friday

Man - this was a long week. Monday, I thought I was going to have an easy day, sinces I was told I could spend the week studying for a certification. Then, monday afternoon, I found out about a new project opportunity (week and a half max) and, me being the procrastinator that I am, agreed to put off my certification and start this new project. So, tuesday I was back out at Redmond. Now, the short "no more than 8 days" project might get extended an additional month.

Its a good thing they're paying me well.

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Also, we may have finally found a reason for Jason's wierd nighttime puke marathons.
It ain't a great diagnosis, but it could be worse. His ultrasound confirmed a gallstone. So, that probably means surgery.
Woohoo! 3 surgeries since february in our family.

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1. Something in your house that isn’t where it should be.


Whenever any cabinet in the house is opened, the l-o-l-a monster immediately must inspect.

2. Something you broke, but kept it.

My parents bought this plaster giraffe at a garage sale. They've had it since I can remember. When Jason and I were married, It moved with us to Mississippi, and the front legs broke off in the process. I glued them back with epoxy.

3.Food that you have in your house that you never eat (or drink).

I just took a pic of the entire fridge, because I HATE eating leftovers. They just don't taste the same.

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and I'm outa here. Enjoy your weekend. Go Horns!

indifference

What do I want to do?

I’ve been asked that question more times in the last 6 months than I think I’ve been asked my entire life. My current employer is awesome because they appear to genuinely care about that. Not only because placing me in a position that makes me happy and furthers my career goals is profitable for them in the long run, but also because when I’m unhappy, I advertise that I am unhappy, and the company looks bad. I went to business school, I know that all organizations have ulterior motives.

The problem is, I don’t have an answer. My job is NOT my life. My job is what allows me to live my life. And I don’t want that to change.

That question, “What do I want?” is answered much more easily.
I want to make enough money to live comfortably.
I want the ability to work from home from time to time.
I want a 40 hour work week max.
I want my career to escalate through time.

But, “What do I want to do?”
I’m wordless.

There are way too many things, and none of them are relevant to what I was educated to do. I want to be a forensic investigator and put together pieces of the puzzle and solve mysteries. I want to be a doctor and heal people. I want to volunteer with the red cross and help build houses for the evacuees in the gulf coast. I want to design buildings. I want to see Europe.

Sometimes I feel like I was pushed into my profession. My parents are/were computer people. My brother is a computer person. It is natural to assume that I would also enjoy the occupation. I didn’t know, so I followed their advice, went to business school, and got an MIS degree. It was comfortable, because I knew what I was getting into.

I think that is one fault of being a parent. You love your child so much that your advice may be tainted towards a successful career versus a “soulful” career.

I’m not blaming my parents for pushing me in a certain direction. I’m glad they did. I’m sure if they weren’t supportive I’d be a floundering Liberal Arts major who had changed degree plans a dozen times before settling on psychology or something.

I now have a focused career path. I know where it will lead me. I know what my responsibilities will be if I continue. I know that most people would choose this path (if they had a chance) because it is profitable, and lucrative, and sounds impressive. I work hard, and I do a great job.

My current job is emotionally satisfying and challenging. There are definitely good days and bad. More good usually. But I truly believe that anyone can sustain a bad job as long as they know how long it will last. God Bless the navy for moving us every 2 years.
Maybe I don’t want to get too emotionally attached because I know I will have to give up my position eventually.

So, back to the question. “What do I want to do? There are left and right turns in my path, and I just want to stay on the road. Then again, someday I might just pull over and make a u-turn.

aftermath and 'after-math'

So, labor day has passed. Goodbye white shoes, Hello frost on the windshield. Well, not frost yet, but man did it feel frosty this morning on the ferry. I wore a coat.
50 degree mornings are not my cup of tea. I cannot wait till Monterey.

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I decided I’m not going to write a long editorial about the hurricane. Yes, I was indirectly affected. No, my suffering is no where near as huge as what some are experiencing. Yes, I’ve spent hours thinking about what I would do if I still lived there. That’s about it. It is time to move on. The cities will rebuild.

Please note I’m not trying to belittle the situation. Katrina was a terrible thing to happen to the US. The fact is there are much better journalers out there who have written beautiful tributes and eye-opening contributions to this issue. Go read them. I’ll wait.

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Jason and I have spent the past month researching his mother’s retirement, fiddling with computers, puzzling, and working.

He is about to start a new schedule on his ship that includes frequent short deployments, so life should get hectic soon. We haven’t gotten orders yet. The newest word is that we will be moving in the april-may time frame. Which has its pros and cons. Pros are that we will finally get out of the moving-at-christmas-time schedule. Cons are that I have to continue commuting for another 8-9 months (Yikes!) I knew I could do it when it was going to be 8 months at the most, but doubling that is worrisome and slightly stressful to me. Pros – I’d get a full year of work on my resume. Cons – I’ve already used my vacation days, so now I’ll have to work over Christmas.

So, it really isn’t that bad waiting till April, but it screws with my “type A” schedule.

The puzzle…is coming slowly. Thanks a bunch Andrew! This is the same 4000 piece puzzle I started in January. I think I’m about 2/3-3/4 of the way done with it. I’m sure I’ve lost pieces since I started it (because the cat thinks she can play puzzle too) and I know for a fact that I have at least one duplicate piece.

The computers – well, that’s really Jason’s project. He’s been working on turning a linux based pc into a tivo for about a year now. I’m hesitant to say he has finished successfully, since the moment I do, the tv gods will inform our pc to stop working instantly. And since today is a duty day, I will have no pacifier tv to keep me company tonight.

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Lastly, the retirement. I think I might hate the retirement more than I hate the tv. Mostly because it is absolutely completely 100% out of my control. All I can do is give my opinion (and money) and sit back and watch. To summarize, mother-in-law found out she can buy back a certain number of years of work. Doing this will increase her retirement pay exponentially. It is a no-brainer situation. But to do this, you have to pay cash money NOW, and well, she doesn’t have it. Our family unit fortunately does have the cash to cover this expense without any major inconveniences. So, now, MIL is excited and kind of being pressured (I mean this in a completely nice way) to retire yesterday now instead of finishing out the year and adding even more to her retirement pay.

She desperately wants to call it quits. I really feel for her. I understand the pressures of family to do one thing while your brain tells you to do another. I also understand how it feels to hate your job, and wake up miserable every day because there’s nothing else.

But I also believe that retirement is not just something you wake up one day and decide to do. (not that this is how MIL got to this point) There is a certain amount of preparation that needs to be done, and I don’t think she has taken the time to sit down and actually go over her budget.

Also, the thought of retirement without a backup plan scares the hell out of me. I don’t ever want to be in that situation, so why would I help anyone I know and care about get there?

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Before (yellow circle encloses our house.)

After

and so on and so forth

I wrote this entry this morning on the ferry. It's pretty boring, but there's nothing like reading about the mundane lives of others to justify your own mundane life.

Life has been less than exciting lately, but not boring or tedious. Just been going day to day. I started a new work project last week. I think I’ve gotten off on the right foot. It is a pretty short project (4 weeks) so with some luck I won’t have any issues making the deadlines.

I will say that it amazes me that certain companies are so profitable despite their business practices (or lack there of) I’m still working at the BIG corporation, but with a different group. The last group reorganized and decided they didn’t want any consultants. We went from a group of 90% consultants to only 3 consultants in about a month. What I don’t quite understand is that they didn’t hire any full timers to replace the consultants. So, either the work that we were doing was crap, or we weren’t doing any work, and I can assure you it wasn’t the latter.

I actually was asked to stay, but I exercised my option to leave the project early. Who wants to stay in an environment where They don’t want you AND you have to do the work of 3 people AND you can only bill a max of 42 hours a week.

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So, I’m working out of the new fancy downtown office. They have the most complicated coffee machine ever. I think I finally figured it out this week. Imagine a coffee vending machine but a table-top version. It has a row of buttons for caffeine: coffee, 50/50, and decaf. Then it has a row of buttons for what type of coffee you want: Blank, café mocha, and cappuccino. I assume blank is plain. Third, there is a row of buttons for strength: Mild, Medium, Strong. Those are pretty self explanatory. Last, there is a row of buttons for size, but only one works, which is double, so watch out if you put a small cup in the dispenser.
There is also a button for hot chocolate. So, I get there, stick my Styrofoam cup in the dispenser, and push coffee, café mocha, medium, and double. Then the machine turns on, and 30 seconds later, my cup is full.
I guess it is nice that I don’t ever have to clean the pot and mess with refills and such, but I don’t feel like I can completely trust that the mysterious beverage I get is really what I asked for.

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Man – It is freeeeeezing this morning. I’ve been walking on the ferry rather than driving recently (due to the new downtown digs) and this week has been more like October weather. Plus I think the AC is on. No AC in the 80 degree afternoons, but plenty in the 60 degree mornings. Crazy Seattleites

A few days ago on the ferry, there was a mouse on the floor chewing on the bag of the man who was snoozing across from me. I didn’t scream or jump like some of the other passengers, but I might have gasped when I first realized what that little tail belonged to.

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What I’m working on this month:
Peacock crochet thingy – done
Knit scarf – started
Wire jewelry – whenever I’m in the mood
Turtle quilt – 1 turtle down, 7 to go.

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Finished reading “The Marker” by Robin Cook. Currently reading “Reading Lolita in Tehran” and “The Broker”

I need to update my reading list. Unfortunately, I can’t access my webhost at work. The smart internet people have blocked that port.

Ferry is docking – time to shut down!

7 hours, 3 crab.

I am really getting frustrated at the weather here in western WA. Prior to July, it the temperature was hitting the mid 60's to low 70's during the day and the low 50's at night. Plus, rain and cold and drizzle don't help. Everyone who has spent a summer here vehemently reassured us that things start to heat up after the 4th of July, but today I'm wearing long sleeves and had to run out in the deluge of rain to save our plants from drowning. Seriously. It's cold and I don't like it. I want summer and bikinis and cold tea and the coconutty sunscreeny smell.
In other words, I can't wait till we're back in california next year.

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Saturday, we went crabbing out in the puget sound, near Kingston. Torture. I was wearing jeans, a t-shirt, and a sweater, and was freezing nearly the entire time. (In hindsight, I was the only one who didn't walk away with a sunburn, but still...)

So, 7 hours, 5 crab pots, way too many beers (none of which were enjoyed by me) and the results? 3 crab. That's like maybe 2 lbs, or enough to serve 4 people. Unfortunately, there were 7 people on our boat and 3 on our "party barge" partner boat. Plus, I had to pee around hour 3, and was not about to go "off the side of the boat"
Also, I'm uncomfortable in situations where there are children doing unsafe things while their parents look the other way. I feel like I need to be the babysitter. Lastly, I was the only female older than 10 and younger than 30.

I hate days like that because I truly do not enjoy myself, and Jason, smart man though he is, just doesn't understand why. I just end up crabby and then he gets pissy because I'm crabby, and it just makes the day worse.

I was really hoping we would catch a reasonable amount, because my folks are coming to visit next week, and how cool would it be to have a bunch of fresh dungeness that we caught for them to chow down on?

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I mentioned in my last entry that Nancy's cafe opened. So, check out the website.
I hear her grand opening went extremely well. Also, she seems to have conned Jason's mother into hostessing for her full time.

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Damn - there's cat hair all over my chapstick.

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What's up with all the sucky summer tv? We have pretty much quit watching network shows all together. (Except for the Simpsons and the 4400) Instead, we have been spending our tv time watching the first season of the West Wing. Absolutely the best show in quite some time. I wish I started watching it earlier, although I don't think I'd have enjoyed it as much 5 years ago. Also, we bought the first season of Scrubs a few weeks ago. I just love the fast-paced dialog and the digs at the kiddo doctors.

No movies recently, although I'm planning on seeing Willie Wonka next week.

Currently reading the Chronicles of Narnia.
Soon to be reading Harry Potter 6. (4 days left!)

Time to hit the gym and then make myself a nice big margarita!

Still kicking

Quick summary of what's been happening recently...

1. work project was shelved. Still employed through august.
2. uncle re-diagnosed with leukemia.
3. Aunt finally opened her long-awaited cafe Jessie Delight's.
4. visited canada.
5. met with a financial advisor who told us we are "on track"
6. built a bed.
7. Saw some tall ships.
8. climbed Green Mountain.
9. made lots of biscotti.
10. finished my 2nd quilt.
11. Jason got accepted to crypto.
12. celebrated Jason's acceptance.
13. got my wisdom teeth yanked. (all 4) (still hurting 5 weeks later)
14. saw a snake and some huge deer.
15. started working from home.

Jason - let me know if i'm missing anything important!

long awaited

So, lots of updates (written on friday)

The main one, which explains why I have been absent from the world of journaling, is that I have re-joined the world of employment. That’s right. I’ve worked a full 2 weeks, and I get my first paycheck tomorrow. To avoid getting dooced, I will not write anything else about my job ever, since the new employer is HUGE and VERY CAREFUL about employee relations.

I will however complain about my new commute. It’s not horrible in itself. I don’t have a ton of traffic to deal with. The problem is that it is LOOOONG. As in, I get to work around 8:20 am, and I leave my house at 6 am. But, I am not driving the entire 2+ hours, so I can crochet, read, sew, work, etc.

More news –
A close family member had heart surgery. She is fine. I just want to point out how different family relations are between J’s family and mine. The patient visited a doctor for a second opinion, during which her entire family (brothers and sisters and daughters and grandkids) came with. To the appointment. From 100’s of miles away.

I personally would be a bit overwhelmed with all the people there. J and I have discussed, and we both agree that if we were ever in a similar sitch, we would only want eachother and maybe our parents present. I think having all the family there would freak me out totally, and I wouldn’t be able to pay attention to the doctor.

Even more news –
We have a new family member - El Bandito is our newest leopard gecko - that means we finally got spot a husband. Problem is, Spot is close to 10 inches long, and El Bandito is maybe 4. Spot would eat him. So, they are currently in separate cages until El Bandito grows a bit. Then maybe we’ll have baby geckos. Should be interesting.

TV news – I’m so sick of reality tv. Yes, I still watch it faithfully, but there’s no way Scott Sabol should have been in the top 4. America let me down.

And the Paula thing? One of them has to be lying, and they both have criminal records. This is newsworthy because? Personally I think the kid is just trying to get promotion for his new cd. But I also think Paula is dumb enough to sleep with a contestant.

24 – crazier and crazier, isn’t it. I still don’t understand why CTU didn’t just napalm the place in the desert where the bad guys got the football. Yes, I know that sentence doesn’t make any sense unless you are familiar with the show. Too bad – go watch it.

Saw The Interpreter Liked it, but Nicole needed to get her hair out of her face.

Book news – Finished House on the strand by Daphne Du Maurier. Started Mary, Queen of Scotland and the Isles which is 900+ pages, so I should be stuck on this one for a while.

Quilt news – my “even-feed” foot broke, so I bought a new machine. I love it. I don’t need to even use the pedal, there is a button that starts and stops the sewing. Plus, it came with the “even-feed” foot.

Both Lieutenant and Anniversary are coming up, plus we pay off the Honda next month! Go Us!

All about Jason

Jason and I have been married for nearly 3 years, and known each other for 2 years prior.

We've both noticed in the last few months that our relationship has changed. Maybe this is the stage when we move from newlywed romance to the everyday type of love.

At this stage:
We know what we do and don't enjoy doing together.
We're not afraid to go our separate ways.
We play devil's advocate without fear of getting into a huge fight.
We enjoy the routine of our lives.
We also enjoy the spontaneity.
We can have deep discussions about life/religion/politics/harry potter.
We laugh at eachothers mistakes.
We bring terms of endearment to a whole new low.
Most importantly, we still don't take eachother for granted.

Last night, Jason and I cooked up some fabulous homemade meatballs and spaghetti and homemade marinara. The kitchen was showered with pots and pans and dishes and measuring instruments and cheese graters...

I was exhausted after eating such a large meal and 2 glasses of wine, so I asked Jason to put the leftovers up, and I resolved to do the dishes in the morning.

This morning I woke up, and although the kitchen wasn't spotless, the dishwasher was full of clean dishes, pots, measuring instruments, and cheese graters, and it hit me...how much I really truly love my husband.

The dumb things we do...

Ever been to Roy's Restaurant? It was one of our favorite places to eat in San Diego. Unfortunately, the closest one here in WA is in Seattle, so going would involve a ferry ride, but fortunately, someone figured out how to make their signature "Roy's hawaiian martini" and posted the recipe on the internet.

So, lets do the math, shall we? Lots of liquor plus no driving equals fun, right?

So, sunday, we mixed up a batch (well, really a half batch)

And then we let it sit....and sit and sit...for the mandatory 3 day waiting period (yes, these martinis are that good)

Yesterday evening, the waiting game was over. So, after hitting the gym, we came home in complete anticipation of the pineapple goodness waiting for us at home.

Note: you should always have something wonderful to eat along with these martinis, so we baked up a tasty macadamian nut encrusted halibut topped with a mango cream glaze. My stomach was in heaven.

After dinner, we settled down with our second-ish round of drinks to watch Idol and scrubs. Here to be exact...

(Gah, our living room is messy in that pic - I'm totally cleaning today)

Idol was ok, and honestly, I don't remember much of scrubs. I think I was checking out journals at the same time. I do remember that Turk was still pissed off that JD kissed Turk's wife, so I know I was still pretty lucid. We had dessert consisting of peanut butter oreos and chocolate milk.

I was still sitting on the couch and Jason on the floor in front of the couch when we decided to hit the sack. In my slightly more than buzzed state, I decided to slide off the couch headfirst into my husband's lap, because, how romantic and cute is that?

Now is the time that the psycho "reet-reet-reet" sirens should start going off because...

I landed kidney first on my empty chocolate milk cup and woke this morning with this...

Lets get a closer look, shall we?

But, I'm not hungover..

laundry day

Today is one of those days where I have to plan everything just right, or nothing will get done at all. Meaning, I have to finish laundry before I can get groceries, or I will have to wear pajamas. Then I absolutely have to go to the store because we have a potluck to attend tonight and we promised we'd bring enchiladas, and the only ingredient I have so far is the chicken. I have to start cooking by 4:30, or else they won't be done in time, but if I start cooking too early, they will get cold, and as we all know, cold enchiladas suck.
phew - I'm tired just thinking about it...

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I finished Brick Lane last night. I strongly recommend it to anyone who enjoys reading about other religious viewpoints regarding life and family. The feminine oppression was difficult to get past, however, it was expected.

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I had another interview (and a half) yesterday. I'm not sure how well it went. The guy was pretty difficult to read. Overall, I think they were looking for someone with a bit more experience, but we'll see.

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How bout some pictures finally? I found my cable yesterday!

View of downtown from the Seattle Space Needle

Jason standing on Hurricane Ridge

What we see from our deck on a snowy day

Some of the pretty trees on Hurricane Ridge

The mountains we see while driving home on sunny days

Whee! check out the new template!

After pouring over "dreamweaver for dummies", endless web-design forums, and Adobe Illustrator, I've finally come up with a beautiful template that I love. Maybe next week I'll have time to apply it to all my other pages. Also, please note that I haven't tested everything yet, so some links might not work completely correctly for the time being.

So, congrats to me, I have finally figured out div tags, and float!

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Absolutely nothing new on the job front. I'm so disappointed and weary of it all, that I'm not going to say any more on the subject.

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Finished reading The Ivy Chronicles. All in all, I only sort-of liked it. Hopefully I'm not giving away any spoilers, but in the end, I found it slightly disturbing that she kept thinking her new lifestyle was so great for her kids, but not good enough for her.

I've started reading Brick Lane, which I love, but the language is difficult to read. Also, I'm listening to The Time Traveler's Wife, which is definitely taking a spot on my "all-time 10 favorite books list". Note: I haven't actually published a "all-time 10 favorite books list" yet, but I'm planning to do so in the near future.

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In the more painful aspects of my life, I got my first dental crown yesterday. The temporary crown feels plasticky and too round. I hope the permanent one feels more like a tooth. Also, I hope the vacuumy feeling around that tooth starts to go away soon. It isn't pleasant.

I hate that I have possibly the best medical insurance in the world, and still, this one crown puts me at over half of my catastrophic cap. And I still have to get all 4 wisdom teeth pulled and a second crown...

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Time for a short rant:

Has anyone seen the recent K3ntucky Fri3d Chick3n commercial? The one where there is a young women who looks to be in her early 20s sitting at a table, not eating an $8 chicken dinner. Then the camera pans out and voila, how smart is this young women saving money, because the KFattyC dinners for her family of four is costing around 16$.

Anyone else notice that this (no older than 25) year old woman has 2 (no younger than 10) children? Lets do the math...That means she had the kids when she was 15? Please tell me that KFrickenC is not condoning teen pregnancies.

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Well, I'm off to veg in front of the nintendo...

where's my dinner?

Long Delay

So, i'm still here. Still Job hunting. Still keeping myself busy during the day.

The job search has been a rollercoaster of emotional stress and distress. 8 interviews, 2 offers, 2 denials post-offer. Seriously, I really just want to take a break from the job search.

My unemployment claim was denied. Oh well, that was pretty much expected. But, it still hurts.

I keep thinking about all the things we need to do with the money I'm not currently earning as well. It isn't like we're in trouble without two incomes, but the extra padding would be really nice, especially with all the "things" that have come up recently.
"Things" includes 2 crowns and getting my wisdom teeth extracted. It also includes the big-ol' mistake I made when figuring out my quarterly taxes last year. Whoops.

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On a good note, MIL was in town last week. Although it didn't help to get my mind off the job stuff, I did finally get to see some of Seattle that I'd been wanting to explore. We went to the aquarium. Small, but excellent. Also, Jason and MIL saw the space-needle. I also got to drive out to bellevue and issaquah. Beautiful country. I was lucky to get 2 gorgeous non-rainy days.

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Cooking has also had its ups and downs. I threw out a batch of cinammon roll starter, but made excellent calzones, and a few weeks ago, we had injira bread and doro-wat. (Ethiopian - greasy but excellent)

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Currently reading Brick Lane. I'm liking the story, but the language is a bit difficult to get into. Hopefully it will be easier after the first few chapters. Also, I'm listening to Ivy Chronicles. No opinion on that as it is still burning onto a cd.

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The jigsaw puzzle is on hold, but the other projects are coming along. Doing a bunch of web stuff, and trying to create a new template for this site. We just got dreamweaver, and I love it, although there are always little nuances regarding learning new software. Currently, I'm having issues with layering and placing divs relative to other divs.

Time to go rotate laundry. Catch y'all later.

weekly wrap-up

So, the third interview is done and the company should contact me monday or tuesday next week. Blah! I'm so sick of waiting. I was under the impression that the third interview is normally with the "department heads" to make sure I fit in with the company, personality-wise, however, MY third interview was with a small group leader, to see if I'll fit into his group. He also mentioned a 4th sort-of-interview, with the rest of the group. So, does that mean 2 more meetings before they give me an offer? C'mon already. 5 interviews?

Secondly, everyone I meet from this company asks me what stage I'm in of job searching. Honestly, I'm sending out resumes at least weekly, and just waiting for responses, which seem to be few and far between. Also, when I started interviewing with this company, I was so confident that the weekly resumes started slowing down. So, what am I supposed to tell the interviewers? That I want this job so badly that I quit applying for others? If I tell them I haven't had much luck with other companies, does that make me look bad? If I tell them I haven't been job-searching really hard, do I look like a slacker?

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I started a new quilt this past week. It is the next "quilt of the month" from J@Ann's, but this time I'm actually using the colors suggested. I'm still cutting my own pieces, because I found the machine-cut ones just don't measure up. I started block 4 today, and I think I have nearly all the fabric I need. I might need a few more fat-quarters, but I don't know yet, since I'm cutting blocks as I go.

Also on the craft-note, Make a Blanket day for Project Linus is tomorrow. Hope to see everyone there!

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American Idol was so blah this week. I can't believe they had an entire hour long episode without anyone auditioning. Seriously - we're supposed to watch this why?

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Let's see - what else - I hung up a pic in our living room, even though we're not supposed to put holes in the walls without prior approval. This place has so many holes in the walls already, I'm surprised the ceiling isn't falling down into the floor.

Decorating this new place is coming along slowly, except for the couches and the beautiful shag rug. Budget-wise, mostly because I have no job, but also because someone keeps spending my decoration money on stereo equipment.

Our receiver's infrared receiver died, rendering the remote useless. So, we had to buy a new one, then the new one is so much better than the old one, we had to buy new speakers, and because it is 6.1 instead of 5.1, we need a totally new speaker directly behind the audience. So, I've been doing alot of smiling and nodding this week.

Oh, and someone stole the Fry's ad out of the library newspaper so he could get a better price on said speakers. And this person is supposed to be a role model.

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Oh, valentines day! I nearly forgot - We successfully quartered a duck, and cooked it in hot oil for about 6 hours. It was excellent. So good in fact, Jason ate way too much and spent the night in the bathroom. I too ate much duck-goodness, but not so much that I needed to build an extra room in my stomach.

We couldn't find any fresh fava beans, so we had rosemary couscous instead, and the kick-ass raspberry white-chocolate creme brulee. All in all, very good. Not to mention the cardboard hearts filled with chocolate candy goodness.

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Last but not least, today on the ferry ride home, I saw sea-lions sunning themselves on the buoys. Very northwest. Very cool.

so many things, so little time

I got another possible job lead today! Hooray! But getting back into a schedule where I am required to sit in one spot and concentrate on something that someone else told me to do is proving illusive. Yeah, I'll sit down and get my work done, however, I really don't want to, and I'm postponing it as much as I can get away with.
The problem is that there are so many other things I want to do RIGHT NOW!
I want to start my Project Linus quilt. I want to finish my 4000 piece puzzle. I want to play video games. I want to get all of Jason's deployment photos framed and mailed off to everyone. I want to learn .net, and use it to make something. I'm way behind on my minimal (in my opinion) goal of reading 2 books per month.

Plus there are the things I have to do. Laundry for example. Cooking, Cleaning, unpacking those last few pesky boxes. Finding places to put the things that are in those last few pesky boxes.

Add 2 hours of commute time (minimum) and there goes my day. Well, 2 hours on a ferry, and I might well exceed 2 books a month.

I can see my time slipping out the window, and there's no way to get it back.

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Jason's eyesight was between 20/15 and 20/10 in both eyes!
Today started out well enough, but he was really uncomfortable this afternoon. We both dozed off while watching diehard this afternoon.
Tomorrow is supposed to be much better. Especially if he can play halo or something to keep him busy.

The house has been vampirish. All the blinds are drawn all the time. I go from room to room only using the absolute minimal light necessary. Lola is going nuts because she can't see out the window. I'm going nuts because I need sunshine. Not that it is sunny in the greater Seattle area. But, when we were out at the hospital for the follow up appt, I wanted to sit out in the sun and bask. Next grocery trip I need to pick up some vitamin D.

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According to the subway at naval hospital, a slice of pizz@hut pan pizza only has 200 calories. That means I can eat 2 slices (which fills me up), and not feel like I'm eating way too many calories. Now, if only they could up the nutritional value a bit...

PRK

Several things going on that should be mentioned.

First - I got a call about a new job that I am really excited about, but will not jinx by writing too much about it here.

Second, It looks like my previous client might actually finish the project I spent all of 2004 working on. This is very surprising, but the money will be nice if it actually comes through.

Lastly and most interestingly, Jason had PRK surgery on his eyes this morning. We both woke up at the buttcrack of dawn (6 am) and made our way to the naval hospital. After waiting for the pharmacy to open (side-note: why in the world do they tell you to be somewhere at 7 when the place doesn't open until 7:30?) Jason received his paper bag full of goodies, and we went up to opthamalogy. All the PRK candidates were ushered back into a conference room where the eyedrops and procedures were explained. I sat in the waiting room patiently. (side-note2: Thanks to the nice lady with the 2 toddlers for bringing a portable dvd player. I really appreciate the gesture, and my waiting was much more tolerable) Jason came back, downed the percoset and valium, and as he was second in line, closed his eyes, and let the drugs settle in.

I continuously poked his arm asking if he was numb yet.

I also made jokes about dr. evil's "laserbeam" and that Jason should "stay away from the light"

Shortly after, we were ushered back. Jason received the numbing eyedrops, put on his showercap and gauze, and laid down on the table.
I sat in the chair watching the tv monitor.

The nurses assistant cleaned the skin around his eyes first with iodine, then with a clear liquid, then with dry gauze. Once inside the machine, the surgeon opened Jason's eye with the speculum (tee hee), cleaned the skin cells off the eye with a toothbrush, squeegied the eye, and then dried it off with a sponge. The laser clicked for 5 seconds. Jason's eye twitched ever so slightly.

On the tv, I could see the laser blinking. After the 5 seconds, there looked to be a thin silver ring on the inside of his pupil.

Rinse, and contact bandage, and repeat with other eye.

The whole procedure took maybe 10 minutes.
Jason's post-op sight was 20/30 and 20/20. This should vary greatly in the next 2-6 weeks.

So, Jason's all drugged up and sleeping on the couch, and I'm surfing around on the computer. I should go read the next vb.net module in my book, but I might just play a few games of snood first.

Oh, and it's just our luck that today is the first truly sunny day we've had since we moved here, and today Jason needs to keep his eyes closed.

Ups and downs of a new house

My car is filled up with cardboard.
There's really only one room that we haven't set up yet (office).
I'm sick of finding more suitcases with clean clothes that need to be put away.
We bought a new grill
There is a wierd timer thingy in our w/d closet that we're not sure what does.
We replaced the shower-head because the old one's spray was so wide, that the top would go over my head while the bottom would hit my ankles.
The pantry is stocked.
We live in fear of having our car towed if we park in the "guest only" parking spaces.
The garage has no automatic garage door opener, and I can't figure out how to unlock it.
Our new furniture arrives today. chaise, Couch
We barely have room for the chaise and couch to fit.
Garbage day isn't until friday.
The light fixture in the bathroom goes through bulbs faster than jason goes through bluebell ice-cream.
Lola has figured out how to perch on the stairwell windowsill, approximately 20 feet above the floor.
I used this to turn a gold lamp into a silver one. (sort of - this was the closest product I could find online - I got mine at michaels for 3 bucks.)
I started my 4000 piece puzzle.
Our car got towed in downtown Seattle. What the heck does "no stopping" mean?
I got to ride the ferry. They have arcade games on the ferry.
We both got sick and well again.
We've been to target 3 times so far.
The new local restaurants are Applebees, Red lobster, and Olive garden.
It's rained, snowed, sleeted, and frozen-rained in a matter of 4 days.
And, we're still having fun.

Moving day

So, finally, I'm back. Sorry for the long break, but the past few weeks have been pretty busy, even by my standards.

First, I got home from house-hunting just fine. We picked a great townhouse for nearly half the cost of our rent now. (YAY!)
It has a gas fireplace and a garage (Double YAY!)
And, it is 500 sq feet bigger than our place now (Can I get a Woohoo?)

So, I got home, did laundry and was literally whisked away to Texas for christmas with the fam. We had a wonderful day-long food fest with all the Waco gang, and my family. We ate at the Salt lick where Jason and I were married. We christmas shopped like we would never shop again, and we got sucked up in the frenzy of torn paper and ribbon on christmas morning. Overall, I think we made out very well. Among my favorite gifts are a 4000 piece puzzle and a foot bath thingy. Jason got cool headphones and other nifty computer stuff.

We flew home shortly after christmas, and had approximately .33334 days to relax before starting the move.
Tuesday: we flew home. Tuesday afternoon, we began researching moving companies
Wednesday: I bought packing supplies and continued to research moving companies.
Thursday: the packing supplies arrived, and the packing began.
Friday: Jason had the day off, so we dual-packed and celebrated new years eve by crashing around 8:30.
Saturday: Texas won the rose bowl.
Sunday: alas - more packing.
Monday: the two moving companies we liked came to give estimates. We picked one. My back started hurting.
Tuesday:, Jason was supposed to drop off his car for the car-transport people, but they screwed up the paperwork. This left me with 2 cars and one driver. (Cue the stress.) Also, we found out that Jason did not get his transfer. Sad, but we're both ok with the decision because it means we will be reimbursed for the move. So, we spent the afternoon in the personal property office getting the necessary paperwork signed.
Wednesday: we woke up at 5:15 so I could drop Jason off at the ship. I got home at 6:45-ish. Just after I fell back to sleep, Jason called asking to be picked up. The ship decided to let him drive the second car instead of riding the ship. (ok, a bit less stress) We faxed in the moving paperwork and packed up the second car.
Today: Jason drove off at 7 am this morning, and I'm still packing.
Tomorrow: Movers coming to remove all packed goods and furniture.
Sat/sun: clean
Monday: inspection/leave?

So, If you made it through, you'll understand the lack of posting.
Absolutely no time for anything fun. No books or movies (although I might go see phantom if it is here). After tomorrow, I won't even have the tv. I still have the computer though, so I might go unpack the dvd box and stock up.

Oh - and the new Harry Potter book is coming out 5 days before my birthday. Hint Hint...

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).

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.

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!

Holiday blah

I'm an early christmas shopper. I've always been. I bought my first present this year in august. I bought my last present friday. Usually, I'm perfectly content to be finished now, and start on the other christmas festivities like baking and decorating, but this year something is different. This year I see all the sales adds and all I want to do is get out and shop. Not necessarily for christmas stuff, but everywhere I turn, I see something I want to get either for family, or for myself.

I think part of this is the uncertainness of how the next month and a half will go for us. Face it, until the navy informs us of it's decision, we don't even know what type of house to look for in WA. We don't know how much furniture we will be able to take, or even who will move said furniture.

But that being the case, why do I want to buy more stuff to worry about moving?

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Jason left again today. He'll be back in a few days though. I was looking forward to the alone-time since we literally were together every minute the past 4 days.

Scratch that, I just got an email that they're not getting underway till tomorrow.
Feh - I bet that means they'll come back a day later, which may screw with our weekend plans.

Anyways, I was going to say that no matter how long the length of the underway period, I still get this wierd mourning feeling. I'm pretty used to it by now, but honestly, I didn't think I'd feel this way for just a few days.

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So, Thanksgiving. We had dinner. We watched football (go longhorns!)
We watched more football. We played blackjack. Jason woke up at 6 am on black friday to try to get a cheap dvd burner at staples. He was home by 6:30 with no dvd burner. They had already sold out. Later we went to sears and people watched. It was so interesting watching the dynamics of the shoppers, and even realizing how different the shoppers were demographically as we walked from sears to banana republic.
Saturday, we watched more football. It was cloudy and cold. Sunday we went to the zoo. I LOVE the san diego zoo. We're members, and it is worth every penny. One of my favorite things about zoos is that they combine my love for being touristy with my love for watching the discovery channel (venom ER rocks!). So, we saw the reptiles, and the galapagos tortises, and the polar bears. SDZoo has the best polar bears. I've never seen more playful zoo animals. Well, one was napping, but the other was in the pool right up next to the glass windows, and was playing with a chewed up plastic jack-o-lantern. Actually, he was throwing the pumpkin towards the spectators.

So, picture a 10 ft high glass wall with water coming up to about the 3.5 ft. height. There are literally dozens of kids standing within inches of a massive 8ft tall 2 ton, playful polar bear, who all the sudden leaps in the air propelling himself toward the glass wall and....

SMASH - he crashes right into it.

No, the glass doesn't break, but it was hilarious to see the kiddos freak out.

and now we are at today. Monday.

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Only crazy people name their kids Phinnaeus. Hazel isn't too terrible, but still. Phinnaeus and Hazel? C'mon. Besides, what kid today won't hear phinnaeus and think "Phinnaeus Nigelus, the most unpopular headmaster at Hogwarts"

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Since Jason has come home from the big deployment, I haven't read one single book. I'm taking at least 3 with me at christmas. 8 hours on a plane should help me catch up a bit. I haven't read Angels and Demons yet. That would probably be a good christmas book. Also, Jason is listening to the new "godfather" book, so maybe I'll start that when he is finished.

25 days till christmas!

Whoops! I forgot a title!

Today is one of those days when you wish you could curl up in front of the fireplace in warm jammies and drink hot cocoa and watch movies all day long. It is cold and grey (only 46 F at the moment.)

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Possible spoilers---

National Treasure was awesome! Even though Nick Cage isn't my favoritest actor in the world, he did a good job bringing intensity to his character. I do want to know who decided that every single movie has to have some sort of love story though, because this one just didn't fit. It seemed like it was thrown in afterwords because, well, what kind of movie doesn't have a love story? Sheesh! This kind! Also, I didn't like the end because technically, the only people who would exchange artifacts of that nature for cash are private collectors and insurance people. It just didn't click for me, but was a nice ending overall.

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How come the movies that came out over the summer were all bad, and now there is an influx of things that I want to see? My personal list: Finding Neverland, Bridget Jones, the Incredibles, Ocean's 12, A very long engagement, Alexander, Closer...

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I made my pumpkin/cheesecake and it turned out really good, but since it is no-bake,it didn't set completely and should be better defined as a pumpkin/cheesecake/pudding/crumble. It tastes great though.
Anyone looking for a twist this holiday season - add half of a block of creamcheese to your coolwhip or whipping cream.

Also, a few weeks ago, Jason and I went to a class that supposedly teaches how to pair cheeses with other food items for a holiday cheese plate. So, yesterday, we decided to try one of the pairings for a mexican cheese called manchego. (Hard cheese, tastes like a salty parmesan, but without the bite) The pairing calls for a guava puree, the stuff that makes gel, and sugar. Well, no guava puree here, so we used the frozen concentrate juice. And, it is sitting in our refrigerator ...not gelled at all. So, today I'm going to pour it back into the pot, add more gel stuff, and see what happens. Anyone know the ration of gel stuff to liquid you are supposed to use?

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Yesterday around 6 or 7, I noticed that my eyes felt swollen. Naturally, I thought it was an effect of the wine we were having with dinner, so I didn't put much thought into it, but when I got ready for bed, I noticed that my eyes were really swollen and this morning, they still are puffy. I'm hoping it is just from the wierd temperature changes/pollen changes, but if i'm still puffy tomorrow, I might just have to talk with my doctor.

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No picture today - Look for a new camera phone pic tomorrow!

The waiting game

What I'm doing right now:
I'm sitting here waiting for the windshield fixer guy to come and inspect and hopefully fix the brand spanking new chip in the window of our car. He's supposed to show up between 8 and noon, so i'm stuck in the house for the morning. Fun times here I can tell you.

Goals for today:
1. make a profile page,
2. make a booklist page,
3. Make the cheesecake that I talked about yesterday, although I changed my mind and instead am making a 2-layered pumpkin pie,
4. Laundry (will it ever end?)

What I learned yesterday:
Despite bragging about their nationwide service, and their new merger with @T&T, the assistant manager at the cingul@r store in California could not access our account because it was started in Mississippi.
This boils down to the fact that if you move and you want a new number, and you are in a different area of the country, you are forced to change your service plan.
BLARG

Tidbits:
No news from the realtor guy who said he'd email me listings. I need to get on that. I hate it when people say they will do something and then don't.

Tonight we're going to see "National Treasure" Woohoo! Hopefully it will be as good as the reviews sound, although, i'm pretty sure i've seen at least 15 minutes of the movie already through commercials. If they gave away all the good parts, I'll be pissed.

The holidays are right around the corner. We already have our tree up with lights, but no ornaments. We're making up for last year, when we moved on the 31st, so we decided to skip the tree. I think we'll do the ornaments this weekend though.

Thanksgiving dinner: Cornish game hens, stuffing, cranberry sauce, bread, 2 layer pumpkin pie. I really wanted a turkey, but I can't justify getting 10lbs of bird for just the two of us. Plus, I don't think we have any space in the freezer for a whole turkey.

In honor of the ship christmas party in 2 weeks, below is the pic from last years party.

My cat's uterus is none of your business!

Is is sad that when the property management office asked if Lola was spayed/neutered, i wanted to shout out that Lola's uterus was none of their business?

So, yes, talked with some moving people yesterday, and it looks like we might have to move househunting up a few weeks. Which means we will most likely have to pay an extra months rent in duplicate (CA rent + WA rent for Dec and Jan) Plus, I'm supposed to run a conversion (hopefully) sometime in the next month, so add that to my schedule, and I'm going to be one busy woman.

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On a serious and heartbreaking note, I want baby baby to know that she is in our prayers. She has found herself in the most difficult non-decision situation a woman can be in, and I pray that monday brings good news.

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Yesterday I spent most of my day in the sudafed induced fog, but I still managed to cross off everything on my list. Today i'm going to quilt, hit the grocery store, and attempt to bake my first real cheesecake. I want to test a bunch of recipes before christmas. Unfortunately for us, most of them are desserts. I should find some shelter or something to donate them to after we taste-test.

My little helper