Busy holiday week...

Its been a very busy holiday week. I worked a whole day and a half.

Thursday evening, we had a scotch party. Bob T and Chris O showed up from the curling club. Our friends Mark and Lisa also attended. Tom J from across the street stopped by for a wee dram. Sadly, Scott M was unable to make it, having managed to acquire pink eye in both of his eyes. There was much scotch imbibed, and a few games of dominoes.

Friday, I watched over my cousin Austin. We started off with Breakfast at Mae's. Unfortunately, the food just isn't as good as it used to be. We then headed over to the Woodland Park Zoo, where we froze our behinds off. Austin opted to wear my spare fleece jacket, and played Ichabod Crane. He had me zip the jacket over his head, and had me guide him around the zoo. We stopped by monkey island, saw gorillas, giraffes, penguins, zebras, and elephants.

After the zoo, we went to a comic book store, Half Price Books, and then to downtown Seattle to play at Gameworks. After a couple of hours playing video games, I got him a belated holiday gift. Dragonballz 3 for his new Wii. He patiently allowed me to stop by the curling club, to watch the juniors play a few ends. Jeremy was there with Mark, and they were enticed to play a couple of games of foosball.

Saturday was spent viewing pieces at Ethan Allen.

Sunday was a continuation of watching the juniors curl. The team our Friday night skip was on won. It was a close game.

Tonight, we head out to Mark and Lisa's for a informal New year's Eve party.

Red Elvises and Ride the S.L.U.T

Yesterday was a busy day. I was tasked by my husband to acquire Ride the S.L.U.T shirt for a holiday gift.

My friend Jason accompanied me through the first half of the days activities. A trip to the coffee store selling them, to find out that they had already sold out, but would have more the next day at 10 am. We also stopped by the Schmancy store, a store of homemade plush toys and other various odd items, located next to the Moore Theatre. It is a store I had been meaning to visit since August. Definitely a neat store. Gives me food for thought on what I can make on the sewing machine.

A trip to Kent to go to Jason's tea store was next. I picked up a gift there as well. The owner was a nice Chinese woman, that spoke Mandarin and English. It was an interesting experience. A wood table designed for tea sampling, with several levels, so that when you poured the leftover tea in it, it cascades to the bottom, where there was a drain. We sampled the High Mountain green tea, and another sweeter tea. I also sampled some relaxing evening teas, in which she had me guess what was in them. These were too Americanized for me, with orange peel, cloves, rosemary, and cinnamon.

Later, I met Marisa, her brother Joe, and her friend Gretchen, to see the Red Elvises at the Tractor. What an incredible show. They were incredibly high energy, and it was just as much fun as I expected. There were a couple of oddities. The male to female ratio was much more skewed that I expected, and there was an overabundance of really tall people. With a black and tan and a shot of Jager to fortify me, I danced my short legs off.

The highlight of the evening was grabbing the attention of the balaika player, Oleg during the break. He walked past us, and I said Zdrasvitya! He came back to say hello. I got a chance why there weren't more of the albums in Russian. I got a hug. Marisa joked about never washing the shirt I was wearing again.

Two minutes later, I was hitting my forehead with the palm of my hand. Idiot!! Marisa and Gretchen were looking at me like I was crazy. I have a degree in Russian Language and Literature, and I only said hello in Russian. I could have been at least mildly impressive, by saying that I love the Red Elvises in Russian. I had my chance and blew it. Doh! Needless to say, Marisa and Gretchen were amused.

Photobooth photos

Here we go, photos of me and my haircut. One taken comic book style. Me in my angry rock out pose.

Heading out for a night of Mediterannean food, belly dancing (not by me), and some curling before the holiday break.

Bad haircut.

Monday I went to end up with a haircut. Its short, ugly, and does all sorts of funky things when I sleep on it. Just in time for the holidays. *sigh*

My friend Jason stopped by work yesterday, with holiday gifts for me. Yay! Tasty chocolates and knitted hand warmers. His knitting has really improved dramatically over the last few years. Impressive!

Jeremy and I went curling last night. Not enough people showed up, so Jeremy and I played against Terry and Brian in a mock mixed doubles game. It was horrible, and I just couldn't make my shots. I thought too much about my delivery and was all over the place. Phooey.

Working on my delivery.

1. Hips back (don't move the head)
2. Pull the rock back
3. Pull slider foot back
4. Rock forward
5. Slider foot forward.

We lost our game today in the novice league. Drank our beer, had some snacks. There was quite a bit of practice ice. So, while Jeremy was drinking beer, and chatting with Wayne, I went downstairs to sheet 3 to ask if I could practice with Derek and Steve.

Derek broke the delivery into 5 steps for me. I think it helped quite a bit. I also need to remember to keep my arm straight. Not pull the rock back, or push it forward.

Putting captions to yesterday's photos, while Gravity snuggles with me, and I watch The Bourne Ultimatum with Jeremy.

Bellingham

I'm at Jeremy's cousin's house in Bellingham. Brian and Jeremy are out getting food. I'm here with Gravity our beagle. She got a chance to meet Jessie, Brian and Heather's puppy a little while ago. Jessie is on her way to the vet, due to a bladder infection.


Gravity is whining like crazy. She does not care for the fact that there are gates up, when there's a whole house to sniff and check out. I think she also doesn't like the fact that she can't see outside, like at home. Make sure theres no squirrels invading her space.

Jeremy and I had the late draw, at the curling club last night. We only played 6 ends, as we were winning 12 to 2, against Team Smith. I'm pleased with my consistency. No hogged rocks. Only one through the house in the 4th end.

We didn't get to sleep until after 2 am, because we stayed late, learning to play dominoes. 42 is an interesting game. Looking forward to more practice.

Just like shooting wamp rats.

I was a substitute curler for the Tuesday curling league yesterday. I played on Mel and Joe's team We skunked the other team (which my hubby happened to be on).

I was pretty happy, because most of my shots went where I wanted them to be. Much, much better than the game from the Tuesday before. In that game, my shots were all heavy (went way past where they should have gone).

There's a guy at the curling club, who has this awesome custom sweatshirt his wife had designed for him. I want something cool like that too. I have an idea, but my drawing skills are less than ideal. I don't have any friends that are graphic designers to help me out with it. I've searched around on http://www.cafepress.com, but I don't like the designs enough.

I wish I had more hours in the day. I would like more sleep. I'd like time to work on my arts & crafts. I need to get started on my trades for Artfest 2008.

Work is still frustrating, due to a personality conflict. Even though I've been told to be patient, I'm not sure I can wait much longer. Kind of at the end of my rope.

Practicing my delivery.

I've had the Balance Plus 200 shoes for about 3 weeks now. I've gone out in them almost 10 times. Working hard on my balance. I forgot to ask for a thinner slider. I went from a step on slider to the shoes that had a really thick slider (the thicker the slider, the faster you are!).

Its been frustrating, but I'm trying to get to the curling club as much as I can to practice. In Sundays Novice League, I got distracted, forgot to step out with my right foot (the non slider foot) and cracked my head against the ice. Dum dum head.

Here's a video of me with my balance all over the place.

Photo Booth Fun

Had some fun tormenting Gravity this evening.

Stormy Weather

Monday was filled with lots of rain and extremely large and dangerous puddles. Many roads were closed down due to standing water and landslides. Here is a shot of the Totem Lake area from my iPhone. I am patiently awaiting my turn.

Was a substitute for the Tuesday league. Jeremy was put on the other team. They won by one point (darn it). My balance is much better now. Still having problems with my weight (throwing the rock). I did not put up as many guards as I was hoping to.

Mary talked us into signing up for the Mixed Spiel. Jeff W will probably curl with us, and he's trying to talk his fiancee MJ into playing too.

Shout outs to Ellen and Kel_eh for stopping by!

Snow.

Lots of curling this week.

Friday we had a draw. We were ahead by three, and ended up tying. Knocked our own rock out of the house. It was quite a shame. On the other hand, they bought the beer. Someone from another table dropped off the last of their Wee Heavy. I've included a terrific photo of Bob T drinking out of a pitcher.

Saturday was crazy. Jeremy and I had volunteered to help at the open house. 60 people signed up. 200 people showed up. It was an absolute mad house. I was supposed to be an assistant instructor. Because the groups were so huge 14 and 18 people, I ended up taking half of each group and teaching them on the other side of the sheet. Sometime during the open house, it started to snow.

Chris dropped by in the evening for scotch, dinner, and to watch the Huskies lose. Talk about a shame. The Huskies were ahead, and gave up the game. They also had a chance to tie in the last 30 seconds of the game, and almost did. A dropped pass in the end zone, which was then picked up by Hawaii ended those hopes.

Still have a few dishes to do before novice league today.

The crabby curler.

This is turning out to be a crab monster week.

The positives: I got to curl Tuesday and Wednesday. Worked on my balance.
Balance is a work in progress. My knee is very purple right now.

The negatives: Gravity made a mess on the carpet right before the insurance adjustor came over. Or maybe she made it before I got home. Regardless, I was attempting to clean it when the door bell rang. And then I spent an hour and a half trying to navigate Verizon's phone system. Called 5 times, transfered to different places, dropped. Never did get to talk to the billing team.

Probably more Verizon water torture scheduled for today.

Black Friday and other projects.

Woke up at 4:30 am today. Didn't mean to get up until 5:15 am, but of course, I had nightmares that I overslept.

My mother-in-law and I were busy bees. We started off at Joanne's. But since they weren't open, we dropped by Old Navy, where I bought a sweater I will probably return now. Then we went to Joann's, which was crazy, followed by a trip to Bed, Bath & Beyond.

We drove by Circuit City, which still had a line outside of it, and went to Kohl's in Redmond. They had some of the best deals. 40% off a good portion of stuff in their store, and no coupon needed. The line was enormous, wrapping 3/4 of the way around inside the building. But they were incredibly fast. They had everything down. They had somebody to direct the line, somebody to check prices, somebody cashiering, and somebody bagging. It was like the opposite of a Wal-Mart or K-Mart shopping experience. Kudos to them for having it together.

We then stopped by Cost Plus, and then finally at Macy's. The Macy's experience was the exact opposite of Kohl's. My mother-in-law waited a half an hour to purchase one pair of pants, and there was only ONE person in front of her. How horrible was that? I did get a major score there. I got a jacket that was normally $185.00 for 40% off, an additional 20% off, and then had a $10 coupon. So, the jacket was $85.00 and some change. The deal of the day.

After all of that, we went home, ate lunch. Found out that Jeremy and Jeff had driven to West Seattle for tacos and stopped by the Elliot Bay Brewery.

I worked on my project: Wrist Warmers made out of fleece. And thanks to my mother-in-law, I have 2 decent pairs, and then my first ok pair. A total of 3 pairs of wrist warmers.

Happy Turkey Day!!

Full, warm, and sleepy. That's what the Gravity says. She is sooo tired. There were no naps for her. Grandma and cousin Jeff were here for Thanksgiving. She was too afraid she'd miss a treat. Now she's pooped out on the couch.

There was roast, mashed potatotes, homemade rosemary bread with sage butter, stuffing, roasted vegetables, and cranberry sauce. The boys are currently napping...er, watching football. Pumpkin pie will be on the way.

Here's a photo of Jeremy making pumpkin pie, chasing his mom away from helping.
Also included are photos of the dinner sans turkey, and of Jeff passed out, but still clutching his glass of wine.

Turkey Shot!

Yesterday, I got to test out my new shoes. Idiscovered that they were really fast, partially caused by the fact I have a thicker teflon slider than I need. Drills to gain my balance and strengthen my legs and knees up in the near future. So lots of fun in the upcoming weeks.

We won our novice game match! We started out behind, but made a big comeback in the 4th end with 6 points. Near the end, Jeremy was invited to join the 6:00 pm draw as a sub until Ian got there.

Because we stayed to watch that match, we were invited to participate in the Turkey Shot, where instead of a rock, we threw a frozen turkey across the ice. Prizes : Frozen turkey, Wild Turkey, and a stick of butter shaped like a turkey. Gobble, gobble. I got edged out to 4th or 5th place. Jeremy took 3rd and the Wild Turkey. $4.00 for a bottle of Wild Turkey? Not a bad deal.

Additionally, Jeremy had a spectacular fall sweeping a turkey, which I think will be on the news. Here's to his 15 seconds of fame.

Richmond, Canada

My friend Maya accompanied me on my drive to Canada, where I purchased my first pair of curling shoes!! *snoopy dance*

The Richmond facility is HUGE and fancy.

After the shoe purchase, we drove to a large version of the 99 Ranch Mall, or a more mall like version of Uwajimaya. There, we came across a local Chinese American Idol of sorts. 10 teenagers singing in Chinese, you vote for the winner.

Apparently I look like I speak Chinese (I sure wish I did), because a volunteer came up and handed me a piece of paper (the voting scrap paper, also in Chinese), and rambled at me in Mandarin for 2 minutes. I looked at her and said that I don't speak Chinese, and she reiterated everything in English. Like I could figure out who was who on the paper anyways.

There was good company, congee with century old egg and chinese donuts, and off key music in Chinese in the background. A good day trip.

The delivery.

1.5 more days before Friday night league. I've been thinking about my delivery, dreaming about my delivery, reading up on it on Curling Tech.

And of course, it will all go to crap after I get my new shoes (Yah!) on Saturday. I'll have to learn all over again. But I'm still very super excited.
After work I'm going to take the Passat to have its emissions tested.

Then, more laundry. I managed to get to loads of laundry done yesterday. I also need to clean the house before next week. So much cleaning to do.

Obsessed.

So obsessed with curling right now. Its lunch time, and I'm thinking about curling shoes. While Jeremy is out at his wood turning class on Saturday, I am going to try and obtain a pair of Balance Plus 200.

I called the Vancouver Curling Club, who is not selling shoes this year, the On the Rocks store, which only has size 7.5s, AND the Richmond Curling Club, who has both a 7 and a 7.5. Wahoo.

Hoping that my friend Maya will come with, or Jeremy's cousin, Jeff. If not, I can drive the 3 hours by myself.

I'm excited to buy my shoes. I'm excited to wear my new shoes. I'm a little scared about wearing them for the first time. I hope not to be too terribly unbalanced. There was a gal that we played against last Sunday by the name of Sue, and she hugged the wall after her deliver. Not sure how she would have done if we hadn't been on sheet one. Here's to hoping I look better than that.

Sorry I can't answer my phone, I'm busy curling.

I went to Tuesday's league to be a sub, but too many people bailed. 2 subs, and a sub for a sub showed up. Jeremy got to play, I practiced with Chris, and the guy who was a sub for a sub.

My balance is better, but still crappy. I hope to drive up to Canada, and try on some curling shoes on Saturday. I'm told, that you start back from scratch when you get shoes, because its so different.

After practice, we watched the juniors play for awhile. A good way to spend the evening.

Mrs. Cranky Pants

Mood. Cranky.

Listening to: Tool and System of a Down.

Any other cranky music recommendations are welcome.

Mark & Lisa's Party

Mark & Lisa's party on Saturday night was a blast. James made a surprise visit, and Mark tried to snort Southern Comfort. There was also some drunken-fu fighting and a trip to JR's (er... BJ's?) for some jello shots, and to our surprise, some fairly good music by a band called Kickstart.

Another family birthday

Went to Jeremy's cousin's birthday last weekend in Bellingham. Had a good time. Lots of nature flocking around their house.

Present for my cousin

I finished this sock dog a few weeks ago, but couldn't post it. It was commissioned by my friend Jason for my cousin Lawrence's birthday. If by some small chance you read this, Happy Birthday.

Pretzels and bunny rabbits.

Another busy weekend has come and gone.

Spam-a-lot was ok. Not worth the money that we paid for the seats. Too much of it was pillaged from Life of Brian and the Holy Grail.

Saturday, we made pretzels for the next day, as it was our turn to bring snacks for curling.

Additionally, between Saturday and Sunday, I made this googly eyed bunny rabbit.

Monster long in the making....

Here's a red guy that I've had mostly done for a month or two, and just hadn't gotten around to putting eyeballs on him. They didn't work quite the way I was hoping, so onto another crazy stuffie.

Arooo!! Sock dog-arooni!

My latest completed sock dog! This one was requested from my friend Marisa.

Weekend number 2 of curling has passed, and all I can think of is how to get better. So many things to think about when I throw. Body position, balance, don't be too heavy handed. I'm going to try and squeak in some extra practice tomorrow.

This weekend is going to be a crazy weekend. Spam-a-lot Friday night, and the Hot Shot Curling event for 5 years of experience and under, and then novice league on Sunday. Have to find time to wash some laundry, clean the bathrooms, vacuum, and squeeze out a few more sock dogs or crazy stuffed animals.

Glass eyes!

Whoohoo! My glass eyes from the taxidermist store came in. More woolly beasts on the way!

And more curling tonight. Yay for Friday.

Granite Curling Club

You are looking at one of the newest additions to the Granite Curling Club.
I went to the open house tonight, and had a blast!!! All sorts of good fun. Fell on my butt trying to sweep, before I put grippers on my tennis shoes.

Finished Woolly.

I finished putting feet and a tail on my woolly monster. My hubby is going to whisk it off to his work, to watch over his cube.

Time to place an order for some eyeballs...