A busy week and a busy weekend.

This past week was a pretty hectic week at work. We have all been working hard to get a new feature out for a customer. I feel burned out. If I feel burned out, I imagine the devs that I work with are exhausted.

My highlights of the week include : Lunch with Chrystal and Martha. Coworkers from when I contracted about 2 years ago. That was great fun. We need to do it more often. I miss talking to them. By the way, Martha looks incredible. She's on the 20/20 program, and I can't believe how much weight she has lost.

I also got to the the Breaking Dawn concert at the Benaroya Hall. I really enjoyed Justin's acoustic set (from Blue October). Stephenie Meyer was an interesting woman. After listening to her answers in her Q&A, she sounds like how she writes. I had awesome seats, thanks to my friend Jason for picking them up. I was 3 rows from the very front of the stage. Any closer, and I would have had to crane my neck. The event will forever be coloured by the girl who couldn't make it to the bathroom or a garbage can, and threw up for 5 minutes in the left front corner by the door.

Saturday was a rockin' time at Mary Alice and Joe's Stinky Cheese House Warming party. I got to talk with curlers, some of Joe's coworkers, and eat stinky cheese and Spanich prosciutto.

Today, I mowed the lawn, did 3 loads of laundry, tidied the main bathroom and washed a crapload of dishes. I also spent a couple of hours picking blueberries in our backyard. We had our friends Lisa and Mark over for spicy tacos and beer. I made a very tasty blueberry cobbler for dessert.

Its countdown time. A week until we leave for curling camp.

Ouch.

I am such a Bella (read Twilight by Stephenie Meyers) sometimes.

I just cut a sandwich from Jimmy Johns in half with a butter knife. I managed to cut part of my hand.

Ouch. Really ouch. Its in a crease between my thumb and forefinger. So when I type and stretch out, or make a ball with my fist it pulls it and pushes the skin together.

Ick.

Last night, went to the last concert/reading in Breaking Dawn series that the Benaroya Hall. Had a great time. Really enjoyed the acoustic by Justin F of Blue October. I didn't enjoy so much the girl horking in the corner to the left, about 50 feet from me.

Designs by Maya

Today I helped out my friend Maya. Her boss' wife hosted a jewelry party for her, and I helped her carry stuff around.

She made quite a bit of jewelry and was quite the hit, having had 25 people attend.

Seattle Walk for Autism

Last night, Jeremy and I went to Lisa's sign up for the Seattle Walk for Autism in October.
We donated $20 to receive this really cool shirt to wear for the walk.

Manny from Georgetown Brewing has donated money to the charity. Go Georgetown Brewing!!!

As we left, we saw a rainbow over the bridge....

Weirdest experiences at QFC in the morning.

I seem to have the weirdest experiences at QFC in the morning.

This morning, the checker asked me if I wanted paper or plastic for my purchase. I said paper. He said, "That will be 20 cents more." And I said, "Excuse me?"

Apparently people aren't awake to catch comments like that at 6:30 in the morning. He looked half asleep himself, as he seemed to take 10 minutes to bag some yogurt, fruit, and milk.

In small talk, I mentioned that I'm surprised I didn't miss the comment, as I was tired from not sleeping well. He said ,"That usually means you'll have a bad day. I mean...oops, I hope I didn't curse you." And then he knocked on wood.

There was the other episode at a different QFC more than a year ago, when I was walking in, and the checker asked for a hug.

Weird weird weird. Next, they'll tell me that space aliens run QFC.

Husband is biking on San Juan Island.

The hubby is off on a short vacation. Biking in the San Juans and doing a little kayaking. I saw him off this morning at oh too early o'clock.

I am here at work, frustrated. Trying to figure out how to open an IRC channel, having not done this since college.

Gah. Stupid ancient dinosaur technology.

Somebody really hates me.

Do you ever feel if somebody hates or dislikes you?

One of our curling friends, Melissa always has her camera (much like myself). However, I'm not quite sure I've ever seen sooooo many unflattering pictures of myself . Posted online.

Of course, if it wasn't for these unflattering pictures over the last year, I would not have realized: my bad posture, the bald spot on the back of my head, and how fat I am getting. Sigh. Does getting old have any good points?

The first two photos are with my husband Jeremy. They are the best photos that I've stumbled upon that she's snagged of me. The others are just... bleah. And to think, I felt that I was having a 'cute' day.

Raccoons in the afternoon.

It was almost 5 o'clock in the afternoon today, when I started to pull into our driveway. I was surprised by seeing two furry animals run under our neighbors bush. I stopped and continued to watch. Turns out it was not two, but THREE masked bandits.

I rolled down my window and hollered at my husband. He also watched them for a few moments. I parked my car, and attempted to get a little closer. Not CLOSE mind you. Darn these iPhones for not having a zoom function.

Oh well.

Because there are no raccoon photos, I am including a couple of photos from a trip to the dog park last Saturday.

A most excellent weekend.

I hope everyone had a good weekend. I had a lot of fun.

Friday evening, I left work to go to the Redhook brewery. I celebrated my friend Alex's leaving AT&T party. I almost can't believe they treated him so poorly, after having put in 10 years of service.

I was able to see Steve J, Rob T, Rani, Glenn P, and Alex. I haven't seen some of them in years. It was fun being nostalgic, and talking about the good old days. To this day, it still ranks in my favorite group of people to have worked with.

Saturday evening we went to Jeff W's (a fellow curler) birthday party. It was also good fun. We saw Joe and Mary Alice, Melissa, Chris, Scott and Lisa, and more. Jeff's wife Mijung cooked up lots of tasty kalbi. I played poorly on the Wii ski jump game, but did enjoy learning how to Wii Curl.

Old photos, report cards, awards, and ribbons!

I went to dim sum with my mom, grandmother, two aunts, uncle and cousin today. As always, it was very tasty. Nom nom nom.

When I went back to my mother's house afterwards, she saddled me with all of my old school photos, report cards, and awards. I have track photos dating from 4th grade. Report cards from junior high. A few drawings of people.

The most intriguing is a fun letter from a Michael P Sweet. I cannot remember if it was from junior high or high school, but it is very entertaining to read. It talks about cockroaches, has a code to write back in, and some drawings. The edges of the paper have bite marks on it. Very creative. I wonder where he went to.....

Anyways, when I get a chance, I will scan some of the photos in, and you can laugh at my permed hair and ballet photos.

The Red Elvises

I didn't get a lot accomplished after I purchased my new iPhone. If last year's release was the bar to go by, this year's iPhone release rated a negative 10. What a miserable experience.

The biggest problem this year was they were forcing the activations in the store, instead of being able to buy the phone and activate it online at home. A 5 minute purchase therefore turned into a 20 minute plus ordeal. And that is if you already had an account.

The Bellevue Square Apple store made bad decisions. AT&T's system went down Friday night. They gave out 60 vouchers, unbeknownst to those of us who went to wait in line at 6 am. Jeremy and I had gotten there early and were in spots 9 and 10. Well, as the morning went on, we were told that the people who had received vouchers would get priority. The problem with this, is the voucher people were not given a set time to be at the Apple store. Jeremy and I made it to number two in line, and then 30 people with vouchers showed up at random times. We would think finally, all the voucher people were done. Next thing you know, three more people would show up.

Additionally, five hours after we showed up, we were told if you were on a corporate or business account, the Apple store would not be able to activate you, and that you had to go to the AT&T Wireless store. I went to look at the AT&T Wireless store - they only had a total of 60 16 gig iPhones. There were 62 people in front of me. I decided to call in to AT&T Wireless to have them remove my corporate fan. I've worked there before, years and years ago. I know its not a big deal to remove it. It became a big deal, and I finally had to have my friend Jason call in and walk them through it, as he had worked there more recently than I, and still knew how to walk them through.

I believe that because of that, our activations were able to go through. Yay.

Jeremy and I returned home. Synched up our phones to our computer. Played with them for a few minutes. Then we both passed out due to a lack of sleep. I took a nice 2 hour nap. I would have liked a longer nap, but I needed to get ready to see the Red Elvises at the Tractor Tavern in Ballard.

This is the 2nd time I have seen the Red Elvises. They are solid performers. I was entertained just as much as I had been the first time. They have an odd collection of followers. There were the alternatively dressed people. Skimpy clothes, lots and lots of tattoos, lots of piercings. There were the freakishly tall geeks (Those of you that are 6 ' 11 - sorry, you just don't get to stand in the front of the stage!). There were some crazy old people as well.

I went with Marisa, her cousin John, and my friend Maya. There were definitely some good times had last evening.

I need to get moving. Jeremy is biking to Ballard with a friend, and I am picking him up!

Tonight's scotch party was a success!

Today was an interesting day. The new iPhone launched. Jeremy did not manage to obtain one. He went to the AT&T store at Bellevue Square. The AT&T store ran out of the 16 gig model, and Jeremy chose not to go to the really long line at the Apple store.

Around 11:45 AM, during my lunch, I walked by to see how the line was. The line was still disgustingly long. I continued on my way and purchased 3 shirts at Nordstrom. After I tried them on at home, I have decided I like 2 of the 3 shirts. Jeremy does not like one of the shirts that I really like.

This evening we had our heavily anticipated Scotch party. Chris O, Mary Alice and Joe B, Dani and Bob T, and Darryl and his wife Lisa attended. Jeremy and I were able to taste a few scotches that we had not previously had before. Mary Alice and Joe very generously brought and left a bottle of Erde..(?)

Jeremy is currently sobering up. Tomorrow we will make a trip to the Apple store for new iPhones. We were also invited to go to the Tivoli celebration in Ballard. Jeremy will most likely go, but I will be at home. Tomorrow my friend Maya will be joining Marisa and I at the Tractor Tavern to see the Red Elvises!

Movies and Books

We haven't been out to the theater in ages. For the most part, there really hasn't been any movies out there that have struck my fancy.

In the last two months, these are the movies that I have seen on DVD (that I haven't seen previously): Jumper, Akeelah and the Bee, and Enchanted. Enchanted was as cute as you would have expected from Disney. Akeelah and the Bee was awesome. It made me want to dig out a dictionary and study words such as synecdoche. Jumper was disappointing after having seen the trailer. I gave up halfway through the movie. My husband enjoyed watching it. Hayden Christianson was a much better actor in this movie than in the Star Wars series.

I have a large amount of books hat I have checked out from the library. My favorite fiction book that I just finished was Eclipse, by Stephanie Meyer. It is a teenage fiction book, that is number three in the series. Breaking Dawn, the next book in the series is coming out in August. The movie Twilight, which is based on the first book is also coming out in August. I may drag myself out to the theater to see this movie.

Other books from the library include : How to Play a Bridge Hand, Curling for Dummies (there are some great exercises for getting into shape), Journal Revolution, Sweater Surgery, Last-Minute Fabric Gifts, and Sewing Packs, Pouches, Seats & Sacks. Who knew that the library would get them to me so fast?! I've really enjoyed the Journal Revolution book so far.

I just checked out fellow artfester Kim's blog, and see that Kim, Ellen, and Lani are starting a round robin journal. I've had various journal ideas rolling around in my head for the last couple of weeks. Hopefully this twinge of jealousy will get me off my butt, and to finally start working on it!

It feels like a Sunday.

It is 4:38 pm on Sunday afternoon.

This morning I went with the hubby to a woodcrafting store in the Georgetown area. Afterwards, we went to get coffee at the Queen Anne Cafe Ladro, where we saw Elizabeth. Elizabeth worked at Cafe Ladro before I had met Jeremy. She is now a teacher of K - 3 on the Eastside.

After coffee, we went to the Barking Dog for lunch. While we waited for the restaurant to open, we walked around the neighborhood, scoping out houses. Finished with dinner, we drove back roads to Edmonds, and bought some cheese from the Cheesemonger.

I have since gone to the grocery store to get food for dinner, started a load of laundry, washed dishes, mowed the lawn, and weeded for an hour or so. Lots more time left in my Sunday.

Still exhausted

I haven't done much since we ate dinner tonight. Jeremy grilled some bratwurst, and I steamed some broccoli.

Zzzzz. No idea why I am so exhausted.

Due to a lack of anything interesting , here are a couple of entertaining photos that I took with my iPhone. I took these when I went to get some more dog food for Gravity last week.

Quiet fourth of July.

I had a quiet fourth of July this year. My friend Jason came over and we watched a little television. My husband went to his relatives, played some softball, drank some beer, and camped overnight.

I need to go to the gym and walk Gravity, but I just don't feel motivated to do anything. I had 7 hours of sleep last night, snuck in a 15 minute nap, and I still feel wiped out.

I've been weeding through my collection of magazines, so I can sell some of them on Ebay or Craigslist. Anything else will go to Half Price books. I've got some Somerset Studio magazines and a few Art & Life/The Studio magazines that I'm willing to part with. I did check Ebay earlier. It does not seem like people are bidding on them like they have in the past. *sigh*

Cleaning out the craft (crap) room is always a daunting task. One bookshelf is clean. Only the rest of the room to go.

O, Canada!

The hubby and I celebrated Canada Day at a fellow curlers barbecue last Sunday. There were burgers, hotdogs, and freezies to eat.

There was also badminton, croquet, and bocce ball to play. I enjoyed playing a few sets of badminton and then walking through the sprinkler to cool off.

A scorcher!

Its been a very hot day in the Seattle area. From super cold weather through the middle of June to 87+ degrees today. Phew!

A mellow day. I went to the gym and had orientation. So now I know how to use some of the equipment that previously looked 'scary'. We bought some Riedel glasses to drink scotch with, and then went to the FootZone, so I could buy shoes with better arch support when I jog.

Dinner was next door at the neighbors. The temperature has finally cooled off to something bearable.

Exercise and Mai Tais.

Nothing like ruining a good workout with an ice cold, tasty Mai Tai. To be fair, it is 75+ degrees outside, and I'm only drinking half a Mai tai.

Fun with Photobooth!

Rawr!

A few more fun vacation photos.

Since the next vacation won't be until the end of August (eee! curling camp!), here are a few more of my photos from this past 4 day weekend.

Sometimes, I just hate people.

Really. This morning when I was at work, I went to the restroom. While I was washing my hands, the woman standing next to me made the comment "You look comfortable."

I look down at what I'm wearing. I have on a black t-shirt and a pair of denim capri. Excuse me?!

"You look really comfortable."

Translation : Do they really let you wear things like that to work?

Catty real estate person. I should have just said, "I'm sorry, I don't understand English" and stalked off.

Back from Newport, Oregon.

We are back from our roadtrip to Newport, Oregon.

We left last Wednesday evening. Jeremy and I drove to Edmonds, where we then took the ferry over to Kingston. We pulled into Westport around 11 pm. In the morning, we walked out to the beach for a brief amount of time. It was a short trip to the beach, because it was fairly cold and wet.

Thursday, we stopped at the Astoria Brewing Co for lunch. The beer was tasty and the food ok. Jeremy's burger was much better than my grilled fish, which was dry and tough. We walked around Astoria afterwards, picked up a new pair of shoes for Jer. Drove up to the column, to find it was closed for renovations. :P

Our next stop was in Pacific City, to visit the Pelican Brew Pub. The food that I had was better than in Astoria. The beach was sunny, the pub was hopping. We watched some unsuccessful surfers for a time. We were hoping to stay at the hotel across from the pub, but no such luck. It was completely booked up.

Because the inn across from the Pelican was booked, we drove down to a bed and breakfast in Lincoln City. We quickly settled in, and then drove to the McMenamins. As it so happened, it was Thirsty Thursday, where the brewer was there handing out samples of his fine beer. He had a CenteniAle - his 100th batch of beer that he had brewed there. My favorite of the night, ended up being their seasonal.

The next morning, we had a very yummy, but fattening breakfast. Shirley cooked up croissants with canadian bacon, sliced boiled egg, an herb sauce, and some cheddar cheese. There was also a delicious blackberry juice that they order from Schwann's. While we ate, there was an ornery seagull cawing outside for us to hurry up so he could have the scraps.

Moving on, we stopped off at the Tillamook Cheese factory. It was a very disappointing tour. Too crowded to really enjoy the visit.

We quickly left to reach our final destination in Newport, where I was able to visit with my friend Carey Jo. After getting a chance to see her humble abode and visit with her cat Gypsy, we went to the Rogue pub for lunch. We ate pulled pork sandwiches and drank lots of beer. Afterwards, we took a walk around the bay area...before heading back to the pub for more beer.

Carey Jo had to work that evening at the Aquarium. The Girl Scouts were having a sleepover in the aquarium. While she was at work, we headed to the Rogue Brewery and...drank some more beer. Jeremy and I went for a walk by the bridge after the consumption of beer and dinner. However, after the walk, Jeremy was again, lured by the siren call of Rogue beer, and back into the brewery we went.

Beer and exercise.

I've been going to the gym the last few weeks. I've gone from extremely out of shape, to mostly out of shape. I started off walking for 5 minutes, jogging for 1 minute at the 4.1 speed. Last Thursday, I was up to 2 minutes, at 4.1. Today, I was feeling like stepping out of my comfort zone. I jogged for 4 minutes at 4.4, with 4 to 5 minutes of walking. My last jog was only for 2 minutes, but it was at 4.7. The treadmill read my heart rate as over 180. My goal is to be able to job a 10 minute mile without stopping or walking.

On Sunday, Jeremy and I went to the beer festival at St. Edward's Park. It ended up being a really nice day (as crazy cold our month of June has been so far). My favorite beer this year was the Raschbier from Baron.

June also seems to be the month of seeing people from my past. I bumped into my 1st boyfriend and his parents. Bob introduced me to the woman he was with, and I put my foot in my mouth. I said," It's nice to see you again. I haven't seen you since you two got married." Unfortunately for me, it wasn't her. Oh well. Hopefully I won't bump into him again until my faux pas has been forgotten.