Cozy

There is something beyond wonderful about climbing into a bed with fresh clean sheets.

'nuf said.

Sent from my iPhone (while in my fresh clean bed!)

As if we didn't have enough to do.

So, our condo is still for sale all these months later (3 or 4) and our neighbor who has a unit EXACTLY like ours lowered their price leaving us in a quandary. Do we match their price? Do we argue that since we have a garage that ours is worth more and hope someone else sees the value of a non-wet car, or one that isn't frost covered on those cold mornings? Or, do we do nothing and wait until after the wedding.

Well, we dropped the price of our condo in order to keep the "product" competitive in our area. It may have been a crazy thing to do because we've had more folks walk through in the past 24 hours than come during an open house. EEK.

Jason and I did a dangerous activity to keep ourselves busy today. We went and looked at homes. On one hand, it is good to know what is in the market so if we have to move quickly to purchase a home we aren't starting from ground zero. On the other hand, it is easy to fall into strong like for homes that we can't put offers on.

It was a fun afternoon, capped off by a stop at Whole Foods and now he's in the kitchen where he belongs cooking up a chicken prosciutto dinner for his favorite girl. I'm going to head in there now to see if I can't "help".

Translation:

Help: To drink wine and look cute while someone else cooks. This activity may require periodic handing of items to the cook, and a wipe of a dish here and there.

Remind me to never....

...commit crimes against my fellow man, animal or society.

I read that the creep (A-hole, sick-o, miss guided soul?) who abducted an 11 year old girl and kept her in his back yard for 18 years was a blogger. I couldn't help myself and I tracked it down. It wasn't too hard (thanks Jason for the handy experience in THAT area.)

It isn't a long blog - mostly just some documents "affidavits" that 5 or 6 real people experienced mind control by this odd duck.

The remarkable thing is that since the story broke that he had a blog (this morning on CNN) he's had 130,000 profile views. No information there either.

The lesson for me, besides keep your eyes open to your weird neighbors , is that (duh) blogs are forever and whatever crazy things I write could be of interest to folks if I fell off the deep end. So, keep it together Terri.

PS - in selecting a label for this blog, I chose 'current events' but also wanted to select "f*cked up" but really, aren't they the same thing?

Any bets that this man is single?

see more dog and puppy pictures

1000 Posts!

Golly Mrs. Cleaver, you sure are prolific.

I don't know if anything I've ever written here has been worthy of the generous time you give me to read, but I've sure had fun doing it. I don't see an end in sight, but sure don't think any one will EVER knock on my door to ask to pay me to do this.

I'm witty, but prone to distraction or worse, will get caught up in a topic like bad customer service and beat it to death. DULL.

Current events are something I keep up on but my just left of center views are not unique enough to warrant wide distribution.

I'm also finding that sarcasm doesn't translate to income. HA! It has for a select few - Dennis Miller, and those folks on FOX news. Oh wait, they aren't trying to be funny when they question the Presidents citizenship? (To be fair to you FOX news fans... I am 100% aware that my beloved NPR slants their messaging too... yes it is "liberal" but at least it's not about ratings.)

Jason and I were talking about the news media outlets and we agree that until the "news" is not subject to ratings and not dependent on advertising for financial support we will continue to have Entertainment News - like MSNBC, FOX and even the "big" networks. I'm not sure what the solution is - print media is suffering these days, and the idea of government funded news frightens me.

I, like many people in my peer group, am guilty of getting most of my news from the Internet, where all things truthful can be found! Most Internet outlets get their news feeds from the AP - which gets their stories from reporters on the street "getting the story". If newspapers die (RIP Seattle Post Intelligencer) then who will feed the AP? Perez Hilton? That's a good idea if you only care where Jessica Alba is today.

Lastly, no celebration blog of 1000 posts would be complete without news of the wedding!


I picked up my dress today. Here's a photo!


You didn't think you were getting anything but a close up did you?

Thanks again for being a reader! ( i love you too Mom!)

All About A Wedding

We are at 24 days to the wedding and this week has been busy with details.

I met with the day-of coordinator who will earn every penny I have paid her. She is in the process of contacting every vendor, confirming their arrival, departure times and their contracted duties.

She is also developing a timeline for the wedding weekend starting with Friday and taking us through midnight on Saturday. She estimates it will be over 5 pages. Granted, most of it is for her own use, but what a relief to know it is not my job to meet the Party Rental Company to monitor the delivery of our glass wear, plates and spoons. (The wedding will be modeled after airline service in post 9-11. Everyone will get 1/3 of an off brand "cola", 6 peanuts and a plastic spoon. Enjoy!)

Jason and I settled on a final number for our tally. We asked for RSVPs to be in on August 15th, and here we are 10 days later and the happy little envelopes have stopped coming. There were a few non replies (RUDE) and a few who opted to up the number in their party. However, these are minor issues and since we are under the fire code minimum for the facility I am happily going to welcome all the guests. We did have a "yes" reply come after we told the caterer a number. Instead of panicking and calling to report a 2 person variance I'm going to roll with it. No doubt there will be some one who will come on the wrong day or doesn't come at all. Flexibility is the beauty of a buffet!

In working with the caterer, I realized I had made a significant error in my interpretation of their seven page invoice. I assumed the cost of the rentals were included in the bottom line and thought I only owed them an additional $1000.oo before the wedding. Well, turns out, the invoice clearly states that the rentals are a separate charge. So, the check I wrote today was way more than expected.

But, I'm so happy with the level of detail and the feedback I'm getting from the venue contact about the caterer that I am not upset. We budgeted a certain amount, and are coming right in at that number. It's nutty to spend that much for one day, but oh my I really think it's going to be great.

We'll have a cocktail hour after the ceremony. The staff will pass tiny treats and wine. The first bar will open and I'll have a moment to recover from what I'm sure will be an emotional moment at the altar. I'm excited for the opportunity to immediately mingle with our people, and feel good that Melissa the wonder coordinator will get us to the next 'task' on time and with little effort.

So, this weekend we have no required wedding tasks and I hope to enjoy a quiet weekend with my sweetie before he heads to VEGAS Baby! for the Man Bash.

I am going to my final dress fitting tomorrow. I wonder if I'm coming home with a dress?

I'm excited and happy today. Yes, I wrote a huge check - but for a pretty great party.

My next task is to update the girls on the details (without writing a book...)

Maybe tomorrow.

Suburban Stylist... failure

Ok, so I didn't even make it 3 days with my attempt to mock the New York fashionista who is wearing the same outfit everyday for a month.

I wanted to post about my special outfits for Saturday, but who had the time? And, it wasn't funny.

Let's see...what's going on? Um...I'm home this week! Woo Woo. For the first time in a month I didn't have to get up at 4:15 am to get ready to go to the airport. Sleeping in my own bed is wonderful!

Oddly, or ironically...Jason had to get up today at 4:30 am to help some store on the east coast install a new server. We get a break tomorrow because his call is at 5:30. (Not that we're sleeping in the same room! It's just that his alarm is so loud it wakes me up from the guest room, yeah that's the story.)

Hey, this is funny. Last year I ordered a rare book for my dad as a Christmas gift. I ordered it on Halloween, which should have been plenty of time for it to get from where ever USA to my door. However, by Thanksgiving it still hadn't arrived and I had an argument with the seller (on Amazon) about my address and the fact that it hadn't arrived. They talked to me like I was trying to get the book for free. I ended up ordering it from another bookstore and it came barely in time for the holidays.

Last week in the mail a rare paperback book arrived unwrapped with a single 81/2 x 11 piece of paper folded in the cover with my address on it. The book is in amazing condition considering it looks as though it was "mailed" with no wrapping or box.

Other than that (I'm ignoring the wedding today) we are hanging out at home and Jason is having fun loading the three CD's Becky made for us into our iTunes library. Thank you!

Oh, and lets everyone send good vibes to Becky's son Collin who is having his tonsils out tomorrow. I'm sure he will be fine, but Mom may need the calming thoughts sent her way.

Batchelorette Party

These photos are from the batchelorette party this weekend. Clearly it was fun!


Here's Becky with Traci and Stacie (or Tracie and Staci...) We're at the down town Nordstrom store visiting the MAC counter. Where all good drag queens get their makeup.








And, me with my plastic boyfriend for the night. He was so "correct" that he could be a "top" or a "bottom". Nuff said.










Our beautiful host(ess) Philip!


















Every good wedding needs flowers!
















(S)he is lovely!


















This is Colin - and we LOVED his dress. He would make any super model envious. BITCH!















Yumi, Jen and I.















With Chelsey, who exclaimed a couple times during the evening. "Well, this is new!?"












More of the ladies.













A group shot in Westlake Center. I think at least 30 people took our picture in addition to the professional photographer (who owns the rights to these pix!)









My girls atop the party bus! I'm so not sure what is going on with my crazy smile. It looks like I've just sat on something sharp.

Only 30 days left to go!

We're off tonight to get the marriage license. Wee

Suburban Stylist – Day 2

Today is day two of my Suburban Stylist experiment.

LOOK OF THE DAY Casual comfortable! I’m flying home today and wanted to be chic and yet comfy.

TIP OF THE DAY: When selecting shoes for a travel day, be sure to pick a pair you can easily walk for a long period of time and a pair that comes off quickly for the airport scan. I try to select a pair that can fit with my laptop in the bin to reduce the bins I’m having scanned. The gladiator sandals that have the straps you have to tie around your legs will cause the savvy business traveler behind you to make a heavy sighing sound.

QUESTION OF THE DAY: Are bare shoulders ok in the work place? This top is a bare shouldered number but it isn’t an “off the shoulder” top like you might find at a cheesy “Mexican” joint. I did grab a sweater and will put it on for travel and walks around the campus.

LOCATION OF THE DAY: The dimly lit “foyer” of my San Jose Fairfield Inn “suite” (meaning, my room has a bed AND a couch. The TV can’t actually be viewed from the couch, but it’s a great place to store my bags.

ABOUT THE OUTFIT: Golly – what to say, it is jeans and a top. There’s nothing remarkable about it.

THE PANTS: Levi 501’s. They have some stretch which is nice and came in petite so I didn’t have to pay the dry cleaner to shorten them on my behalf.

WHERE TO BUY: Donno – probably Macy’s, the Levi’s store and onlinePRICE: $40 or so

THE TOP: Michael Khors (the Project Runway guy) silk shoulder tied blouse n black with red squiggle pattern, great for hiding accidental spills.

WHERE TO BUY: I picked this up at the Nordstrom Rack, but saw it at Macy’s too.PRICE: I paid under $30 for it, but the original tag was in the $70 range.

THE SHOES: I’m still wearing the ECCO slides. Notice how they coordinated with yesterdays outfit AND today’s outfit. If I was wearing this outfit out to dinner I might throw on a pair of high heels (and different jeans) to zip it up a bit, but for a travel day, flats are the shit!

WHERE TO BUY: Nordstrom (I found them in Indianapolis, and haven’t seen them anywhere else.)

PRICE: eek, they were $114 – but I have worn them at least 3 days a week since purchase. Totally worth it!

THE WATCH: Still the Swiss Army watch.

WHERE TO BUY: Nordstrom

PRICE: see yesterday

THE ENGAGEMENT RING

The thing I love about this ring (besides what it means) is that the center stone is flanked by two solid walls thus protecting it from being knocked out when I flail around wildly as I am prone to do. Rather than being set with prongs that tend to fail after time, this ring should be secure forever and ever.

PRICE: I’m not telling

THE OTHER ACCESSORIES:

Still wearing the Leo. I seldom bring a variety of jewelry options while traveling. I don’t like the idea of leaving items of value in the hotel room nor do I like having them in my purse all day. I’ll probably bring a mix of jems (jems… ha ha ha) on the honeymoon to mix up the bangles but it’s a special kind of trip now isn’t it.
My earrings – Overstock.com is an interesting place to purchase items. You can get some good deals, but everything I’ve ever purchased has been a little bit “wrong”. I freely acknowledge that I likely would not have purchased any of my overstock things from a regular store even at the same price. The hassle of returning isn’t worth it, and I don’t buy from them very often.

eBay Badge – is there, but you can’t see it.

WHERE TO BUY: Weisefileds.com for the Leo, overstock.com for the tiny earrings and nowhere for the ID badge.

PRICE: I’m not telling, don’t remember and not available.

ABOUT THE DAY I woke up in my hotel room, talked to Jason, and then headed to Starbucks with my luggage where I met my ride to the office (and to the airport). Sat at my desk, planned some future trips to San Jose and San Francisco, had lunch, back to my desk, left for the airport at 3:30 – flew home. Met Jason at “departures” (We are tricky and I get dropped off at arrivals and picked up at departures because the traffic is lighter and there are NO laws against it.) had a sweet welcome home hug. Headed to the storage unit to pick up the Wedding Favor supplies, had a light dinner and then home. HOME!!!!

mapping the rest of the year

Believe it or not, I am planning for activities after the day of the wedding. In fact, I’ve booked trips into December for work. I didn’t mean to plan so far ahead, but it’s cheaper to book the trips close to the holidays now rather than with the hoards of merry folks.

I’m surprised at how quickly the frequent traveler stuff adds up. I won’t be hitting the super duper frequent flier level in 2009 – but if travel like this continues into 2010, I would hit it certainly. I will, however, hit the second rewards level with Marriot in October. The great thing about that besides free nights, is room upgrades. (yeah!)

All this does come at a price – to my Visa card and my time away from home. (and a price to you dear reader of having to endure boring posts from the road.)

Suburban Stylist – Day 1

Today is day one of my Suburban Stylist experiment.

LOOK OF THE DAY
Today was designed to contribute to comfort while seated at a computer all day. Taking into account the moderate California temperature and ease of packing, tis outfit was selected in Issaquah late Thursday night while also packing for a weekend away.

TIP OF THE DAY: When packing for a business trip, keep in mind that one outfit will likely need to fill multiple roles throughout the day. Packability should also be a concern. These pants were ironed prior to packing and then folded neatly in my eagle creek packing systems that keeps items flat and bundled for easy transport.

QUESTION OF THE DAY: How casual is too casual? As I roam around the campus here I see varying degrees of dress. I find many folks who are in business casual wear, jeans and logoed polos or t-shirt are everywhere. There are lots of native dress for folks of Indian and Pakistani nationalities. There is also a high number of individuals who tend to dress with a certain personal flair that ranges from cut off shorts to 6 foot tall men in spiky high heals. Is there a point where your individualism gets in the way of general work performance?
LOCATION OF THE DAY: Restroom in the Fashion Building of the eBay San Jose campus.

ABOUT THE OUTFIT; This outfit was selected to blend into the eBay environment, take advantage of the warm weather and coordinate with other items in my travel bag in case the pre-selected outfit didn’t FEEL right while dressing at the hotel.

THE PANTS: These red capri’s say “Hi! I’m a woman in my late 30’s and early 40’s who wants to be casual, but not wear shorts. “
WHERE TO BUY: These were purchased at ROSS on a rainy day in June in Issaquah. The brand is nothing I’ve ever seen before, but they have held up well for numerous washings.
PRICE: $14.99

THE TOP: This black top has an attractive scoop neckline and just enough sleeves to hide the unfortunate extra skin on the back of my arms from the weight loss.
WHERE TO BUY: Nordstrom
PRICE: Oh gosh, I don’t remember, I think it was $29.99 during the sale and going to be $35 something after the sale. I do know that I bought the top in Red and Purple.

THE SHOES: Ooh these were a great find! These are ECCO’s with kicky red “Alligator” leather straps . They caused some blistering on the first wear, but how that the base of the shoe has conformed to my foot they are the most comfortable shoes. ECCO’s C424951
WHERE TO BUY: Nordstrom (I found them in Indianapolis, and haven’t seen them anywhere else.)
PRICE: eek, they were $114 – but I have worn them at least 3 days a week since purchase. Totally worth it!

THE WATCH: Swiss Army Watch with a white face and stainless steel band. It is casual and holds up well under normal activity. It is not water resistant, and thus should be removed upon showering or car washing.
WHERE TO BUY: Nordstrom
PRICE: $350 At the time of purchase it was the most expensive watch I had ever acquired. I have been very happy with it and have been able to eliminate the purchase of an annual $80 watch. I do switch out into the uniquely colored SWATCH watches every now and then, but this is my every day watch

THE ENGAGEMENT RING
WHERE TO BUY: You don’t buy your own engagement ring, your fiancé buys it for you.’ We got ours at a store called SWISSA. It is a nice ring that makes me smile. Your jewelry should bring you joy.
PRICE: I’m not telling

THE OTHER ACCESSORIES: I am also wearing “The Leo” a ring I purchased for myself a while back. I had decided (before the “right hand ring” ad campaign) that I didn’t need to wait for my dream guy to buy me pretty jewelry so I invested in a very pretty 1 karat diamond ring for my own enjoyment.
My earrings – which you can’t see under my mop of hair, are little green peridot & itty bitty diamond earrings. These were purchased on overstock.com and my recommendation is to pay attention to the sizing information – they are cute, but MUCH smaller than I thought.
eBay Badge – the sign of a person with employment, and my ticket into the workspace here in San Jose.
WHERE TO BUY: Weisefileds.com for the Leo, overstock.com for the tiny earrings and nowhere for the ID badge..
PRICE: I’m not telling, don’t remember and not available.

ABOUT THE DAY
I woke up in my hotel room, talked to Jason, and then headed to the train. Upon arrival at eBay I grabbed a cup of coffee and sat at my desk until lunch. Had lunch on the plaza with an auditor and a former colleague from “the Mu” . Returned to my desk, sat there until 6 and then took the train back to the hotel. I met up with a fellow consultant for dinner and then retired back to my hotel room to log on to the Internet and then watch terrible TV until bedtime. Talked to Jason before going to sleep.

Suburban Stylist - the inspiration

Being on the road allows me to surf the Internet while in my hotel room at night. Last night I found a website that is devoted to the story of one New York fashionista who is attempting to demonstrate that you can be fashionable and not spend a fortune. She is wearing the same “Little Black Dress” for one month and showing how it can be accessorized in different ways from the items in her closet. Each day she posts a picture of what she is wearing for the day and describes the outfit. (http://www.societystylist.com/)


She is on day 16 and she’s at Costco in front of a two pack of plasma televisions wearing her LBD, her $3295 Deco Glamour watch, Marc Jacobs grey jacket, Banana Republic shoes, Hermes Clic Clacs bracelets and Elli Grace handbag … oh and St. John White belt. She blogs about each item and how the outfit got her through the day – it is truly an exercise in things that don’t matter. Don't get me wrong, she looks great and those bangles are fun.





Because it is silly and trite, you know that I LOVE IT.



And, since I have no original ideas of my own I have decided to follow suit. I can’t be bothered to wear the same thing over and over again, and I clearly don’t have the treasure trove of accessories that she has at her disposal so my version may not be quite as “fashonista” but it will be real.

I’ll try to keep it up until Monday. (who has 30 days?) Watch here for a Suburban Stylist post for today. But first I have to run to the bathroom and take a picture of outfit for today.

Da Beach

Congrats to Cousin Vern who married is lady this weekend in a small ceremony in Cannon Beach, Or.

Vern & Kelsey told Jason and I that they thought we were crazy for doing the big wedding thing. However, this is a second marriage for both of them and they understand our excitement over our first (and likely only) wedding. Vern was very specific in telling us that they wanted a tiny intimate ceremony and weren’t going to invite anyone but immediate family. Jason and I opted to respect their wishes and stayed away. We sent a small gift (even though Kelsey said they didn’t need anything) because it was a wedding for pete sake. Mom said she fielded some questions from the aunts as to where Jason and I were this weekend.

But.. where were we? Long Beach! Oh what a great time we had. There was salt water taffy, playing in the surf, exploring the lighthouses, the board walk, the bumper cars, a few unfortunate shots of tequila (It is official, I can’t DO tequila.) We discovered that the Tilt-A-Whirl is a bad idea after a gin and tonic. We stayed at these cute little bungalows on the main beach approach. It was wonderful to be able to walk to all the Long Beach attractions. Saturday we ventured into Ilwaco and had lunch at the port. The Saturday art fair is fun and being there when the fishing boats come in is exciting. People cruise up the walk with their catch. We ran into (or rather I stalked down) one of my favorite beach guys and said hello.

Jason thinks I’m fibbing about the questionable weather at the beach. All three times we’ve gone down it has been amazing. Honest… it rains at the beach.

The only hassle is the actual getting there. It was a four hour drive to get there and we skipped most of the I-5 portion of the trip by taking back roads (18).

When I return to my own computer I’ll post some of the pix from the fun fun trip.

Be back later

On the way to the beach for the weekend.

Enjoy the silence.

Eeek...is it ruined?

I was reading an online blog today and the author was talking about the planning for her wedding. (exciting stuff eh?). She scared me with discussions about lighting. Of all the details we have discussed and mulled over lighting isn't on of the
I hope that this just doesn't matter or that it won't be noticed. I'm not about to scramble for professional lighting for our dance floor.

It would be cool to have mood lighting for dinner and then groovy disco lighting for the party but would the bill for such things be cool?

I recall a wedding reception held in the atrium of the WaMu Tower and recall the live band, the happy couple and little else. Their ceremony was lovely but I don't recall special lighting.

In fact, I can't think of a single wedding that has special lighting. Wait, I take it back. The gal with the 8 bridesmaids and 6 JR bridesmaids who held their reception at the Olympic Hotel had special lighting but she also had an actual radio personality as the MC. She was (is) in a different financial league than we are. No judgement...lucky girl. Actually what I remember most about that bride is that after dating the wrong guys for ages and ages but finally met a mild unlikely fellow who turned out to be the love of her life. Yeah!!!!

So, back to the lighting. I think it will be skipped and not missed.

Wedding Drama Averted!

We have asked that folks RSVP by Saturday and for the most part people have replied either by the pre-stamped envelope or by phone. (Horror of horrors – I did mail a few RSVP cards with no stamps. EEK. Melinda – you’ll be getting a check for the stamp you had to buy.)

As of last week though we had 33 outstanding RSVP’s. Most we have an idea of the yes/no status but it’s still nice to get accurate numbers. We will be under the dreaded limit of 175. – Whew! Because of this we have been able to extend the “bring your kids” to our wedding party. We still can’t accommodate all the kids in our lives and I know that sucks. I remember not being invited to a wedding because I was a kid – totally unfair.

We hadn’t heard yet from the family member who is in a snit over some past slight or some darn thing that occurred before I was around. I was gearing up for a fight, an extremely rigid line in the sand or some harsh words –but much to my genuine happiness, we received the RSVP and said relative will be attending. Jason said he didn’t care, but I think that was a bit of crap. I was worried that the ‘snit’ would extend and then be made worse by the snub.

Thankfully we are serving a buffet so we can have some latitude on the volume of food. We just don’t want to be paying for 25 extra people – but I’ve been told that even though folks have said they will come some just won’t show. This perplexes me. How is our special day not the priority for everyone?

Anyway – we will still have to make some phone calls to ask about attendance, but the numbers are dwindling. I am going to miss running to the mailbox to find the neat envelope pre-printed with my name on it. People have been so kind with their notes too. If I ever get invited to another wedding I’ll be sure to include a personal note with my ON TIME rsvp.

And today we are in...

Salt Lake City!

I got some flack for my "grown up" post so I'm back with more of my useless opinions about things that don't matter.

I'm in San Jose this week for the second of three trips in a row that are filling the month of august (and my Alaska Airlines credit card.) I'm sure I've mentioned that the morning flight to San Jose leaves at 6:45 am which means a 5:00 am home departure is necessary. It's a brutal and terrible moment when the alarm rings at 4:00. But... I'd rather come early in the morning than the night before.

The only reason any of this is relevant (if it is at all) is that today my alarm rang at 3:15 am. Yes, folks - 3:15 am. Part of the team were on a 6:45 flight to Salt Lake City. But - instead of flying out of San Jose Airport (which is less than 2 miles from my hotel) we flew out of Oakland. It was a 45 minute drive. ICK.

We are only here for the day and will be on the 8:50pm flight home.

I think I can safely say that this has been a long day. We are waiting for one of our members to finish up his executive chit chats so we can go have dinner and then head back to the airport.

It may be a wrong assumption, but I'm pretty sure I won't be in the office at 8:00 am tomorrow. Tonight I will slip the do not disturb sign on the door and turn off any alarms and sleep until I wake up. That is my diabolical plan. Don't call me at 7am - my phone will likely be on mute. I love you, but don't want to talk to you before 9am tomorrow.

Anyway.... that's my story. I'm ready to come home. (Always am after the second day away from home, and especially so today with the side trip.)

Enjoy the rain Seattle people! It's 91 here.

Engaged?

For those of you who surf here simply to hear the ‘update of the day’ regarding the wedding will be disappointed. “Hold the phone, you’re getting married? No one told ME that!!!”

I’ve been thinking about the huge topic of national health care. Politics aside, I’m wondering what is the right thing to do for our country.

It is hard to sort through the facts from the rhetoric and the “Obama’s going to spend us into the poorhouse” type comments to figure out for myself where is the right place to stand on this issue.

I am biased because of my liberal point of view, and I think that our current system is filled with strange and easily abused rules. I worry that we have a huge population of people who can’t afford to manage their health within the confines of the current system. Yes, there is Medicaid but many of our working poor don’t qualify but don’t have adequate insurance either.

The thing that bugs me about our current system is the strange pricing of things. The pricing seems to be scaled to whatever your method of payment is. I understand this in a scenario where a service provider (Dr. Joe) is serving someone in his community whom he knows can’t pay and he’s willing to accept a goat for setting a broken arm. However, I don’t understand it when the price of something changes because it is or isn’t being submitted for insurance.

There is a company that provides supplies for a medical device (much needed, but in the end it’s all neatly packaged pieces of plastic tubing.) The bill submitted to the insurance company is about $1000.00. The insurance company pays about $125 – the ‘allowable’ amount and the supply company is satisfied with that number and doesn’t bill back the remaining amount to the patient.

Now, on one hand I’m happy the patient doesn’t have to fork over an additional $875 out of pocket – but isn’t the true price of these items $125… or less?

More perplexing to me is what someone without insurance would pay for these items. Is it $1000 – is it $125? Or is the system so confusing that they live without these supplies?

We are a wealthy country and should be able to and want to afford to provide ALL children with immunizations and dental care. Will it be hard? Probably. Is it the right thing to do? I think so. Do I have the patience to keep 100% up to date on the pro’s & con’s? No.

Oh, I really got away from what I wanted my main point to be. I wanted to comment on how hard it is to pay attention to the nuances of this issue. I’m hoping that it will just get done, and am aware that is not the way to participate in changing our world. I see folks who have the energy to get fired up on important topics and I wish I had more of that gumption.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Oh my golly. What a lovely day. I'm home, we had a nice breakfast, went to church and then there were gifts....

These pretty little things are combo wedding / birthday gift and I think I'm in love! The earrings are nice too.

We are headed to Macaroni Grill for dinner later on and will enjoy the rest of the evening at home. I have to leave for San Jose again tomorrow, but am infinitely grateful for being home this weekend.

Bwahahaha

Thanks Lori for the link to the Cake Wreck's website where these gems and more can be found:
















Oh my... this is not the way to get students to come to class!























Er.. Congratulations? Looks more like they forgot to add the "Sucker!" at the end of the note.















"Happy G'dam birthday from Thomas the train."

Summer in Pictures

So far, this summer has been great. I thought I would share some pictures of highlights.














The family getting ready to play "Golf" in the pasture. Note the khaki short uniforms.















Terri & Jason @ the Rodeo. Yee Haw














Jason & Uncle Ed at my dad's 70th birthday.


















A nice hat on my (future)father-in-law. Also at the rodeo (these pictures aren't in order)
















Waaaaahhhh, HOT















Poor bull


















I love ferries; don't you?















That is Duran Duran! Honest!



















Wine tasting in eastern Wa.


















My work life includes a lot of airplanes


















Logo'd buildings are fun!


















wow.. that's headline!
















A photo bomb from Max on the 4th of July.


















Banking security is never far behind me.

The Wedding is Off!

When things start to go wrong I think it is best to just throw in the towel and be done with the whole thing.

While waiting for my lunch to cook I fielded a phone call from the fortune cookie lady. She had the worst news EVER. It turns out that the message that was supposed to go in the chocolate cookies was printed into the red cookies and the red cookie messages were put in the chocolate cookies.

THAT'S IT; I QUIT!


In all seriousness, she sounded pretty scared to tell me. In fact, she was about to offer to have them redone. I can not imagine being the kind of person who would really care about such a thing - but based on her tentative tone I'm sure that person exists. We'll see what happens.

UPDATE:

I called Martha Stewart and she told me it would be ok to have the cookies swapped and that no one would ever know, or care, so I guess the wedding is back on.

Whew.

That's impossible!

It's raining in San Jose!

I am wholly unprepared for rain. I look like an ass running around in my sandals with no jacket in the rain.

I can't wait to get back to Seattle where the weather is predictable.

Careful what you google

Jason and I a debate on the correct spelling of "whoopee" as in whoopee cushion. In my effort to be helpful I googled "whoopee" and didn't realize I was searching for "whoopee" near my hotel. YIKES.

What I found is that the "International Air Whoopee" competition is taking place in San Francisco this week. This event is similar to air guitar competitions where one or more folks mime playing guitar along with the song of their choice. Similar... but clearly NOT the same.

Tickets are still available...

I am, and have always been, full of crap!

I have been in seven weddings as a full fledged bridesmaid and involved in countless others as a helpful person doing things from paid coordinator to seasoned friend with lots of wedding experience.

In every case, the bride has at one point expressed that she was having stress dreams about the wedding. In every case I consoled my dear friends with this comforting comment:

"It's good luck to have bad dreams about the wedding! It means things will go well on your day."

I confess here and now that I made that crap up. It's not good luck - stress is stress and all it means is that you've got a lot to do.

I openly apologize to anyone I may have lied to, and will share with you that I am having stress dreams about this wedding. The dreams range from terrible things happening to Jason to having verbal fights with "that one relative" who is seemingly using our wedding as an intentional "FU" to members of the family. I'm not having food poisoning dreams, nor disaster dreams involving hair or *gasp* someone showing up in white...but little dreams that wake me up and I can't get back to sleep.

Will someone please lie to me and tell me these episodes are good luck and I should welcome them. I may believe you.

Grown up things

When we’re kids our parents are many things – but if we’re lucky they are present, strong, smart, protective, fun and permanent.

So far, for the most part my close circle of friends has been extremely fortunate to have their parents maintain their health and vitality. There have been some hiccups along the way – some breast cancer (managed) and prostrate issues (managed and monitored) but mostly the parents are humming right along.

However, our parents are aging – the oldest is in his early 80’s and most of them are 65-early 70’s. Some are a young 70 – (Jason’s dad comes to mind) and some are a much older 70. My dad is an “old” 70. It’s shocking to see him as he really is and not the vibrant man of my childhood.

Dad has diabetes and is (slightly) stubborn. He is wobbly on his feet but hates HATES the fancy walker thingy that helps him to stabilize. He complains that it’s a pain in the butt to get in and out of the car – which is probably true, but it seems like it would be worth the effort for the “fall minimization” effect. He and mom don’t go to the movies anymore because after sitting for two hours the rush to get out of the theater is too much and he falls. The issue is that the feeling in his feet is diminished and he experiences “foot drop.” That means that he’ll pick up his leg to step forward and instead of his foot arching upwards to land flat on the ground it will flop down and he lands on his toe and he’s not agile enough to recover so down he goes.

He emailed and said he wanted to dress up his cane for the wedding – which I thought was cute, but the cane is a marginal assistant. He still needs the arm of a strong person. While we were visiting this weekend I laid down the law on the wedding weekend. HE MUST BRING AND USE THE WALKER. It’s not an old person looking walker, it is cherry red with a hand break. It also has a seat so if he has to sit suddenly he has a place. He’ll use the cane while he escorts me down the aisle but will be seated immediately upon arrival at the front. He’s talking about the father daughter dance too – but I really don’t think he’s up for it.

For the first time, I’m getting glimpses of him as tired and maybe a little bit ‘over it’. His life has gotten small – he will venture out of the house alone – but only when mom is out of town and only to a place where he doesn’t have to get out of his car. Honestly it breaks my heart because I can see that he (like everyone we love) will not always be with us.

Jason is quite sweet and willing to spending as much time with my parents as possible. He promises to pick me up off the floor when it is necessary. Jason did say something to me that made me go to the quiet place (the almost teary place.) He casually said in the car that he wished he had met my dad when he was younger and active. Oh, I do too. Jason certainly respects my parents, but it must be hard to envision the camping trips we use to take, the fact that dad put in the floor in the barn, built decks, chopped trees, lifted injured people out of their mangled cars, saved lives and was able to chase his bratty kids around the yard.

I still see that man behind the façade of the frail dude in the recliner. I will always see him like that.

On the road again

Here I am again in San Jose. To be honest traveling for work is getting easier. I've got the packing situation down to a science; and can do my four days (or three "sleep aways" ) in one back pack.

The sad thing is that the front desk people at the Fairfield Inn recognize me when i walked in. Granted, they could be reviewing the expected reservations but they really seem to know who I am.

The hard part about being away is missing my guy. We talk multiple times during the evening but it just isn't the same as puttering around he house together. A "good night" text isn't the same thing as a little peck on the cheek before bed.

Over the next seven weeks i'm here for four. It will make the time before our big party fly by.

Sorry...not a very exciting post tonight. That's the other downside of not being home; my creative juices are dulled by this beige room in this beige hotel with the boring shampoo selections.

Why am I awake?

5:05 am on a Sunday morning and here I am wide awake. I had a terrible dream that the worst possible thing happened to Jason and I woke up and started to think about the reality of what would happen if it were true.

Morbid. But, I suppose as people who are in the process of merging their lives the business of the location mortgage payments and cable bills are things to talk about.

Anyway, I'm thankful for a wonderful day yesterday with my parents. We had a nice lunch at a Brewery in Sunnyside and later, while Jason took a break from setting up a wireless network for Ma and Pa TP gal, we toured a couple local wineries.

It was hotter than all get out (106) but we managed it ok. Jason was eager to take another dip in the pool last night. The pool here is tiny but effective in the bring your body temp down to a human level.

Mom and I had a difficult conversation about the realities of certain inevitable future events and I think we both were relieved to be able to discuss it. (I know...vague). I will say that I don't think it's terrible advice to spend time with your loved ones.

Similarly, I think it's time to set the petty bullshit aside if you're harboring "hurt and anger". Life is too short. While getting to know Jason's big family was overwhelming at first (...so Aunt M was a nun and then wasn't. Got married but the moved back into the convent...or was that Aunt B?) it has shown me that the silly things my family does is, well, normal. Oh how I wished I knew that when I was 15.

Maybe there will always be someone who is pissed and hurt about something that is not entirely clear. I guess my hope (and vow) is to let it not be me.

Golly, deep thought for such an early hour.

On a different note, I do love hotel blackout curtains. It's getting light outside but is still nice and dark in our room. Maybe I'll set the phone down and try to catch some more z's.

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