"Mornings are rough in ..."

A coworker, J. Chambers, taunting us about his vacation in Hawaii.

Aeriums

My friend Maya introduced me to terrarium building a couple of years ago. I wasn't really interested in doing it myself then. My husband has recently been interested in creating one of this own.

I have finally become interested not only in terrariums, but aeriums as well. Its tough to search on, but an aerium uses air plants. 

You can find a four footed aerium here:  http://shop.floragrubb.com/footed-aerium/#

Other shops have included the following

Too busy.

I am way too busy. I am finishing up my women's league draw as I type. I am managing Seattle Granite Curling Club's Wednesday night league this year. It's been insane.

I took a Learn to Pebble class today to refresh my memory from last year, where I didn't use my newfound knowledge. A quick trip home to walk the dog, pick up the vacuum cleaner from the repair shop, and back to the club to help with an open house.

Tomorrow a curling conditioning class and prep for next weekend's Western Women's Competitive Curling Clinic. If there are people who are interested, there is still room. Oct 15-16, 2011!!

Bubble Tank by Psalt Designs

I love this distorted fish aquarium. Not sure where and when you can buy them.

I found out about this from my RSS feed. http://www.juxtapoz.com/Current/the-distorted-aquarium-by-psalt-design

Holy Cow! 16 wineries between 10 am and 5 pm!!

Uffda. Feeling it right now. Jer and I visited 16 wineries in in the Penticton region. One of the areas begins with an N, but I'm hungry, so all I can think of is Navratan Korma.


Jeremy is taking a snooze. I'm headed there soon after. Hopefully we will snag dinner and then a hockey game.

Penticton, BC

Currently in Penticton, BC celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary.

Yes, I'm blogging. Trying to save my hubby from my morning stinky breath. Too lazy to brush my teeth.

We've lucked out, all sorts of fun stuff going on this weekend. Including the 31st Annual Okanagan Wine Festival!!

http://www.tourismpenticton.com/events/listing/okanagan-fall-wine-festival-2011-31st-annual-0

Polar bears, Penguins, and Melting ICe

http://www.spoon-tamago.com/?s=melting+ice

Bethling left a comment on my last post. I found this one and thought of her.

Oooo. Curling shoes.

My sister in law emailed me the other day, complaining about the lack of style in curling shoes. A recent search showed the same selection of shoes that have been offered for the last couple of years, and then these crazy Italian shoes offered by Asham.

http://www.hoglinecurling.com/products/shoes

You too, can be styling for $240.00

Too many appointments!!

Today I met with Erik, a physical therapist at Copore Sano. I went in for a bike fitting, to ensure that I get the maximum energy out of my body when I bike, and to avoid injuring myself.

He put on my clips and cleats. He adjusted my seat height an additional 12 mm. He watched me pedal, and recommended that I keep my feet parallel to the ground. Without cleats, I've been pointing my toes towards the ground.

In two weeks, I will see him again, and he will be changing out my handlebars for shorter ones.

This evening I met with a sleep specialist. I have an appointment in a couple of weeks to determine if my snoring causes me to be sleepy, if I don't get enough sleep at night, or if I potentially have narcolepsy or one of the other crazy sleep issues.

Ouchee.

Not broken, but sure feels like it this morning.

Wah.

Spectacular Bike Crash Today!!

I didz it. Me, trying to bike to work. FAIL.

Bruised, bloody, but apparently not broken.

1+1 = ....dammit.

Additionally, went to po-dunk Kent to visit my grandmother and my Aunt Amy.

Also washed a load of dishes, took out the recycling and trash a couple of times, harassed my beagle, and 2 loads of laundry.

In case all you think I did was drink today.

However, at 86 degrees F, it would have been a beautiful day to have remained comatose all day long.

Need to tweak my bike still. Better, but still tweaking out my knee and other quad muscles. Going to enter September kicking some serious ass. Be afraid bitches!

Under the influence.

My hubby perfected the Sazerac tonight.

He tested Sazerac number 2 on me, before our steak dinner.

After the steak dinner, he tested out Speakeasy applications Manhatten on me, with the French cherries soaked in brandy that I got him on Amazon. Wayyyyyy too much vermouth. Feh.

I brought a nice fuzzy blanket to the deck so we could star gaze. And then, a pillow. When I got back with the pillow, I found him cocooned in the fuzzy brown blanket.....   Hmmm.

He has the fuzzy blanket. I have Manhattan and beagle. Enjoying developer favorite electronica.....

Silly hubby.  Trix are for wabbits...

Awesome house come and gone...

Sadness. Missed out on a gorgeous house off the Burke Gilman trail.

You can see more about it for now at http://burkegilmanhome.com.

Latest photos of Byron and Scout

More Byron photos

STP pick up and more bike riding

Last Saturday was a busy day for me. I woke up at 4 am so I could take Jeremy and Andrew to the Seattle to Portland drop off point at UW. I managed to get a small nap in afterwards.

From there, I took Byron to obedience class, where she learned how to 'Leave it.' I discovered by accident that the beagle fest was there, so I let her play with other beagles for an hour. We participated in a competition, she won "Best Trick". Basically in an area full of beagles howling, I got her to sit, lay down, and roll over 3 times in  a row. 

I dropped her off at daycare, ran home to wash dishes, finish laundry, and then head off to the Urban Craft Uprising to pick up my prize. 

I then drove like mad to get to Vancouver, WA so I could have dinner with my aunt.  I tried to stop off in Centralia to hang out with Jeremy and Andrew, but some bad timing (Jer was in the shower) and the reception was really bad got in the way.

Sunday they arrived around 2 pm. We hung out in the beer garden, stopped by the Pope House. I got a chance to do about 30 minutes worth of shopping in the Pearl district. 

The rest of the week was filled with work. However, last night I went on my first Gasworks Thursday Night social ride. I did not get lost, end up being the last in the pack, nor did I get hit by a car. 

The first incline up to 60th was the toughest for me. For the most part it was a good ride, and a good introduction to hills/inclines for me.

Winner winner chicken dinner.

I won a really cool purse from crystalyn kae, courtesy of her donation to the Urban Craft Uprising this past weekend.

I love her purses. If you haven't had a chance to see it, check it out here.

http://www.crystalynkae.com/

Lunch Time Bike Ride

Biked to Counterbalance Bicycles in the U-Village area. Picked up a U-Lock. Biked back to work. Turns out the U-lock is about an inch too short to use if I don't take off my tire. Gah.

I passed on lady on the way out. Got passed by several bicyclists all geared up. The weather was much warmer than I expected it to be, and I overdressed.

On the way back, a mouse/rat crossed my path and ran into his hole (tunnel) in the leaves. The construction guy asked me to do  a wheelie, and I shook my head at him. I would probably kill myself trying to pop a wheelie. One lady passed me. I worked hard to catch up to her and she kept a pace that I liked until I got back to work.

Runkeeper says I biked 7.88 miles in 53 min 48 seconds. However, I forgot to pause it when I was in the bike shop, and that was close to 10 minutes....

Latest dog daycare photos

Some more photos of Byron at doggie daycare

Byron loves playing with a dog named Scout.

Fun Saturday.

Yesterday Jeremy and I biked from Redhook to Marymoor Park and then back. It was my first 10+ mile bike ride. I then took Byron for a long walk and washed some laundry and tidied up two bathrooms - weekends can't be all fun and games, but they CAN be mostly fun.

In the evening we met Jeremy's cousin Jeff at Pike Place market to start a pub crawl. Well, Jeremy and I started the pub crawl and Jeff went to watch the Mariners beat the Yankees in 12 innings. Our friend Andrew joined us.

We hit the Alibi room, Cafe Zigzag, the Whiskey Bar.. We had a shitty experience at El Gaucho and Twist where we couldn't get any service. Twist was busy. El Gaucho had no excuse. They hardly had any patrons and two other tables walked out due to lack of service. We then stopped off at The List, Amber, and Black Bottle. Black Bottle and phenomenal food and service.

We finished the evening at Tini Biggs sans Jeremy and the arrival of Mac and Jeff.

Biking in the rain.

I took my new bicycle for its first ride today.

I ate lunch, and hit the Burke Gilman trail. Unfortunately, I waited until it started to rain pretty heavy. But I wanted the bike ride, and refused to talk myself out of it. I biked to Husky Stadium and back - approximately 3.3 miles one way.

On the way back, I almost took out 3 pedestrians. Luckily I didn't hit the pedestrians, nor did I go sailing over my handle bars. It was a close call. The ground was wet and I am still getting used to the brakes.

Hopefully my legs will not be too sore tomorrow so I can go for another wet and chilly ride.

Just crazy.

It's been a little busy lately.

Today is the first laid back day I have had in awhile. Laid back never truly feels laid back though.

I started my day by getting a load of laundry in the dryer and then walking my beagle girl, Byron, around the neighborhood. Afterwards, my hubby and I went to Red Mill for a tasty hamburger, and then drove by his new job to drop off a duffle bag of towels and clothes (he's been biking to work).

We stopped off at Bothell Bike & Ski and got me setup with my first bicycle since high school. Then, it was back home to 'relax'. I started another load of laundry, then headed out to the grocery store to get fixings for dinner. After my trip to the store, I spent some time weeding the tomato bed (it was a raised garden bed FULL of weeds when I started).

The hubby cooked dinner, and I took the puppers out for another walk.

After eating, I started dessert - tapioca from scratch, washed dishes, and downloaded "A Tiger in the Kitchen" By Cheryl Tan.

Relaxing or crazy? Make your own decision.  :D

Images from Doggie Daycare

Team Guzman wins the bronze medal!!

In a close game for 3rd and 4th place, Team Guzman leaps ahead by 3 points in the 9th end to win the bronze medal!!

Congratulations to the Washington State Men's team!!

Team Guzman wins their first game!

El Guz wins their first game 13 - 4 after 9 ends.

 2 games down, 7 to go.

Goooo Washington!

Team Guzman - Game on!

In the middle of Game 2. Team Guzman is playing Mopac's (California) Justin McBride.

After 4 ends, Guzman is up 7-2.

On my way to work guys! Keep it up!

2011 Curling Club Nationals in Mankato, MN

Rooting for my hubby at the 2011 Club Nationals in Mankato, Mn. Go Team Guzman! Team Guzman is comprised of:
Skip: Benj Guzman
3rd: Phillip Tilker
2nd: Daryl Pahl
Lead: Jeremy Dinsel
5th man: Paul Lyttle

The opening ceremonies were at 1 pm Central Time, and the first game was at 4 pm Central Time.

Looks like both the men's and women's teams had a rough start losing their first games. 

Here are a couple of photos of the men, courtesy of Em Good and Jill Lamberts.

Walking during lunch break

Byron hanging out in the car, waiting for her daily walk.

Walka walkas.

Yes - we still play together at daycare.

Interestingly enough, with all the dogs around, Byron and Rufus occasionally hang out together. And we always thought that Byron was the instigator. Most of the time, but not always...

You might miss us, but we don't miss you.

You always wonder if your dogs will miss you when you drop them off at daycare. I'm pretty sure they don't after seeing these photos.

State playdowns!

This past weekend was the state playdowns for club nationals.

I stepped up and practiced my skipping abilities. My team lost all 3 games, but we gave M. Konno a run for her money in the last game. We were down by 6 in the 5th end, and scored 6. We then stole 1 in the 6th and the 7th ends. However, I made a rookie mistake and gave up 3 in the 8th to lose the game. Boo.

On the other hand, my hubby's team, Team Guzman rocked the house and won the state club playdowns. He is headed to Mankato in March for Club Nationals! Go Jer!!

Funny beagle poses

Byron is actually snoozing

Byron attempting to get a food morsel that fell under the stove.

Destruction of dog toys!

Busy weekend with a power cleaning day

Yesterday was mostly fun.

Jer and I started by dropping the Byron off at daycare. We then headed to the Apple store in the University Village so I could replace my iPhone 4. The power button had gotten sticky and was hard to use.

We then headed to the curling club where I got in a couple of hours of practice with my team. I let Tilker coerce me into having a shot of SoCo near the end of practice. Beth, Em and I had a quick lunch and then headed up to the Seattle Premium Outlet mall to go shopping for our team shirts and jackets. We ended up finding jackets and shirts, but ended up not buying the jackets.

Em and I swung by my house to let Rufus get in a potty break and restore my iPhone. We got the Byron Bot from daycare and then headed to meet Jeremy at Delanceys (Noms) for dinner. Good food, good wine, and good company made for the end for an almost completely fun day.

The only thing that spoiled it was Rufus having an accident.

Today is a power cleaning day. I have already washed a load of dishes, a load of laundry, folded laundry, vacuumed the upstairs, dusted the master bedroom, and taken out the garbage.

To Do:
1. More laundry
2. More dusting
3. Clean up the bathrooms
4. Clean up the basement.
5. Sell my Millenium Falcon ornament at Fred Meyer at 12:30 pm
6. Buy groceries
7. Curl at 8 pm

Phew.

update :
Laundry - done 
Star Wars ornament - sold
Doggy doo - Picked up and put in trash
Recycling - taken outside
Master bathroom - cleaned
Comcast bill - paid
Pulled briar out of the backyard for 30 min - done

so many things left and very little time. sigh. taking a 30 minute much needed nap!

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

Byron and Rufus at doggie daycare