Chocolate for Choice

This evening, I went to our girls night out, planned by our friend Lisa.

Maya and I carpooled from the Eastside, stopped off at King's BBQ for some BBQ boxes to go, and then browsed the bookstore at Kinokuiya. We then headed off to meet Jonna and Lisa to share a pint of stout which was on Nitro.

We then headed to support Naral's Chocolate for Choice. It was amazing. There was tons of chocolate. I'm really glad that we got there early, so we could scope out all the different chocolates before the crowds got there. I had thought I was greedy, starting out with 5 pieces on a plate, but the lady that sat down next to me had TWO full plates, with more than one layer of chocolate covering the plate.

I have to admit, by the 10th piece of chocolate, I was starting to feel a little sick. Most of the chocolate was very rich, and my Chinese heritage started to emerge. I like little bit of sweet, but not the super rich stuff. Several glasses of 1% milk helped wash everything down. A lady was about serving vegetables, and I snagged a piece of cauliflower. Lisa made fun of the fact that I was eating a vegetable among all the chocolate.

I mingled, took some photos with my iPhone. I met Patrick Hogan, special assistant to Jay Inslee, member of Congress, 1st District, Washington. I also got a chance to see what Dr. Pepper Schwarz looked like. I saw her stand up, and she's pretty short. I made an odd comment "Why are they all short?" - referring to having met Dr. Ruth when I was in college, another sex-pert/relationship expert that was vertically challenged. I asked a few questions of the people that worked at Theo Chocolates - their lavendar/jalapeno/hawaiian rock salt caramel was tasty, and also talked to a couple of people from La Spiga. Here's a shout out to the la Spiga guy that said he likes to check out blogs!!!

We attempted to bid for the Salty-Sweet Cake, but it went over our $100 pooled price, and garnered $120 or so. Hurrah for Naral. All in all, we had a grand time. Next year, we'll be smarter. One of us will get a $70 take home box, to share later on.

Low key weekend...

Its nice to have a low key weekend, after having been so busy.

We went to the Apple store yesterday, and Jeremy bought me Guitar Hero III!! Yeah! We've been having some good fun playing the game.

We also had dinner at our friends Jonna and Eric's. An excellent dinner, surrounded by friends, and the chance to play Rock Band.

All in all, a nice relaxing weekend.

Couches...

Here is an image of the small couch that is going away.

Owl Post

Here are a couple of ideas I am working on for Artfest 2008 trades.

Tired and frustrated.

I'm pretty tired and sore. Yes, sore again from this weekend.

Friday night, we drew random names, and played with people we do not normally curl with. I played with Jake V, Matt T, and Denise K. We squeaked by with a win by like a point.

Saturday, my hubby was supposed to go and watch the Seahawks game in Bellingham with his cousins. He came down with a cold, and stayed at home, while I continued with my scheduled art making date.

Maya worked on her charms for her Valentine's charm swap, and I worked on my stuffed animals for my Artfest 2008 trades. I got 9 owls cut out, and 2 of them filled with stuffing, but I did not finish the 2 until this evening. Part of my frustration stems from my iPhone not taking photos again.

Sunday was fun, frustrating, and exhausting. Jeremy skipped for our novice league, and we won 10 - 3. Actually it was probably more like 12 - 3, but there were some close points that I didn't bother to count as vice skip. I heard one of the members of the other team mutter after the first end "We're going to get slaughtered."

During my hour break, and a handful of chips, I was invited by David (who handles most of the rentals), to play on the late draw for the mixed league. Linda twisted her ankle sometime earlier, and his other sub had not called him back. I agreed to play, knowing that I would be tired at the end of the day. Crazy gung ho me.

I played lead for the early draw for the mixed league. I was too nervous, and blew almost all of my shots. It didn't help that the game was also played on sheet 5. I was hoping not to be too much of an embarrassment, and I'm pretty sure I was. So much for all the extra practice I've been going to. I wish I had time to hang out with them after the game, but immediately after we finished, I had to go to sheet 4 for my last game. We didn't lose too badly - only by one point, and I guess when you're playing Team Knieval, that's not a bad loss.

I played lead for David's team as well. Apparently by that time I was too tired to be stressed out. I was on broom (target) for almost all of my shots. My weight was a little off, but all in all, I was happy with most of my shots for that game. I now know what it feels like to play three games in one day.

I am fairly sore right now. I fervently hope I won't hurt more tomorrow, but that is how it generally goes for me when I overdue it. I accepted an email invitation to play in the late draw on the Kozai team Wednesday night. I find it amusing. I am subbing for Erica. The team will be Betty, Cindy, Cindy, and Cyndy. I couldn't pass up that opportunity.

I will probably not go to Tuesday league for once. My whole body groans at the thought of trying to kneel down in the hack to deliver a rock right now.

Arrgh, busy weekends ahead.

Incredibly tired today. I did not sleep very well last night, waking up about 4 times, and staying awake for about a half an hour to an hour each time. I left work after a little over 3 hours, came home and took a nice long nap with Gravity, my beagle.

Before our nap, my little hunting dog went outside to chase a squirrel, and almost caught it!! I saw her make a beeline towards the squirrel, saw the squirrel leap up the corner area of the fence, to fall back down. It looked like Gravity managed to knock him down somehow. There was some quick zig zagging around, and then up and over the fence he went.

I was mildly productive after my nap. Took care of two loads of laundry, and put some crafts magazines up for sale on Craigslist. Also put my library books together, and books and magazines that I'll take to a second hand bookstore. Checked Ebay, and saw that 2 or my 3 posted items have bids on them.

On the agenda for tonight, is curling. We are taking a break from our normal Friday night team, and we will be pulling names out of a hat, and playing with other people. It should be fun. I just hope that both Jeremy and I end up with the early draw!

Tomorrow, I will be hanging out with my friend Maya, in hopes of getting some trades ready for Artfest 2008. I have put a baggie of fabric to make a couple of stuffed animals, and maybe a pendant or three. I have a couple of ideas, but the end product has to be not too time consuming to make, as I intend to make at least 50 of them. Last year, I made 50 monster stuffed animals, and they disappeared super quick!!!

As for the upcoming weekends, they are all full. Most of them filled with curling, or the occasional outing for a friend. I don't see a true break until after curling season is gone.

I've included a fun photo I found of a painted wall in Portland that I took back in October. I'd like to take up my toy photography again, and see what I can do with mixed media projects.

A weekend of curling...

We had a super busy weekend of curling that Jer and I just finished.

Friday night, we squeaked by with a tie, playing against Jake's team.

Saturday, Jeremy and I volunteered to help at a curling rental. That was from 2 to 6 pm. It was cold, but fun. I am a little sad we missed out on watching the Seahawks-Redskins game. But we did have some tasty indian food afterwards.

Today, we curled with in our novice league, and managed to mix up the positions a bit. Jeremy skipped, I played second, and Eric, our normal skip, played lead. Our normal second, Molly, had gotten stuck in some traffic.

We had a spectacular game, and won 12 to 1. I had a pretty good game. I made most of my shots, and felt good coming out of the hack.

After our game, I was lingering downstairs, talking to Erica, one of the girls from the team we played against. Sally C came into the club, and asked me to sub for her next Sunday in the mixed league. I will be playing with Claire, Ian, and Derek. I'm super excited, but very nervous, due to their skill level. They are all super nice people, I just don't want to let them down.

Tired, sore, and severely out of shape.

I subbed for the women's league last night. Dani called me at work, to let me know that the opposing team needed a substitute.

About a half an hour before I left, I got a phone call from Betty Kozai. She requested a sub for the late draw, which after checking in with the hubby, I agreed to.

At 6:30, I played with the Richards/Frohe. Each one of those ladies has a national title under her belt. I felt a little awestruck, as well as concerned what kind of game I would produce as a first year.

As it was, the ice had not been pebbled, and rocks that I normally would have hogged, went through the house. We still beat April's team by several points, and the game was called before the 6th end. I did get a few tips, the most important one, was a reminder. To keep my throwing arm straight.

At the 8:30 draw, Betty's team had a second substitute, Beth. We started out behind, but came up with 4 points to take the lead in the 5th end. We continued to play well, and won that game too! The ice was pebbled by one of the guys, and back to the consistency I was familiar with. Most of my shots in this game were consistent.

Jer and I received an email from Melissa, inviting us to play in the mixed spiel up in Westminster BC in February. I am very excited to play in that tournament. Must continue to practice!!!

And now for something completely different...

Gravity with Jessie's treat ball.

Happy New Years!

Just got back from a New Year's party at Mark and Lisa's.

We got a chance to see Tim and Maya, Amy and Andrew, Jonna and Eric, and Anna and John. There were also a few other people that we weren't previously familiar with.

Apparently, Mark and Lisa got Guitar Hero III for their holiday gifts, so I got a chance to rock out. I was unable to get past the bonus song in the easy level, but I think I made a decent attempt, with the highest finish being 81% of the song.

There was all sorts of food. Various cheeses, guacamole, black bean quesadillas, pineapple salsa, hummus, an Alton Brown onion dip, satsumas and cookies. There was Georgetown's Porter on Nitro.

A good time was had by all. Happy 2008!

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.