What I think...

This is what the blog is all about really, my personal view of the world.

In brief (hopefully):

Health Care: aka "Obamacare" Doing something is better than doing nothing. It is pretty easy to be angry about a huge change like this if you already have coverage, but what about those who don't? Do those people not matter? I think they do.

I think the insurance companies WILL find a way to make lots and lots of money in this new environment. I think we, the consumers, will pay and pay and pay but I still think we still have to start somewhere.

I'm not sure I think fining people who elect not to have health care coverage is a smart thing to do, but if they can't pay their emergency room bill at the door maybe they don't get coverage. (ooh my, really? Do I really think we would turn away a bleeding individual at the ER... no. it would never happen, but the American people shouldn't be held responsible for those folks.

In my opinion, the failure of any Republican legislator to vote for this bill (LAW) says more about their decision not to govern than to actively participate and represent their people. Our governmental processes make me crazy - I feel this way even when "my" party votes as a single unit rather than as individual, smart, thoughtful decision makers I hope I have elected.

This law will have to be refined over time and I'm sure that as the Insurance companies elevate their rates to unheard of levels it will.

Right now, the system we have doesn't work. Jason has a CPAP machine (over sharing, sorry honey) and gets supplies on an annual basis. The box comes and the bill comes - it is almost about $1000 that is billed to the insurance company. The insurance company pays their "pre-determined" amount and the supply company writes off the rest. They are happy with their 20% (which tells me the cost with lots of profit built in) is $200. The poor saps without health insurance would get and have to pay the full $1000. Or more likely, just suffer though with a dangerous breathing disorder because the testing, machine and supplies are to daunting.


Health care pricing is terribly confusing. I had a minor procedure done that was the equivalent of removing a large splinter and the bill was $1300. Holy crap, do you know how many pairs of sexy shoes a girl can get for $1300? Oh I know, it depends on the shoe.

We are headed to Denver for Easter and while I know my lovely father-in-law falls on the "this shizz is horrible" side of the fence I'm hopeful to be able to hear his objections in a clear way without going into a debate. I can't debate because I refuse to argue until I know all the facts. I can blog however, because while I welcome your opinions you won't be getting in my face with your alternative views of the world. It is nicely segregated. The likelihood of getting hot under the collar and still needing to be nice at dinner is pretty low.

Love it!

My cute hubby came home and immediately set upon mowing the lawn. He makes me happy! I'll be taking him out to dinner as a way of saying thank you (and that I don't want to cook.)

 

I'm having a hard time focusing today. I'm ready to go home. It is a short workday so I need to buckle down and get busy. Sigh.

I'm RICH!!!

Starbucks announced for the first time ever they will be issuing a 10 cent per share dividend. OH MY GOLLY, I am so excited that I have held on to my shares. They have been sitting in my Fidelity account and change in value over the years, they are up they are down. Every now and then at the annual shareholders meeting they send their prospectus with a free coffee coupon. That has been thrilling, but now this!

What will I do with my dividends? Oh crap, I live in a community property state so I have to share my new found wealth with my husband. He's pretty reasonable and I'm sure I can turn my our dividends into something useful, like.. Oh I don't know. What can you do with the dividends for five shares?

I know I can get:

1) A postage stamp

2) A Seattle Times daily newspaper

3) A shitty store brand can of cola

4) two small gumballs

I'm sure it will come in check form so the act of driving to the bank will negate the influx of cash, but if I had a thousand shares I could really do something with it.

Way to go Starbucks!

Ok, maybe I was too quick to complain. For the record I hung around for about 12 minutes and when they arrived they had an excellent excuse.

Why is it that the same person keeps standing me up for meetings? If we were dating I would break up with them!

I am sitting in my seat on Alaska flight 322 to San Jose, CA. It is 6:05 a.m. and I intend to be sleeping in about 15 minutes.
I didn't sleep well last night and was awake for about 90 minutes at 2. It sucks when you know the alarm is set for 4:15. Oh well, I'll sleep well tonight. I love my bed at home, but I generally sleep well on the road. Don't fret though, Jason and I are not bound for separate bedrooms.
I know it is only Tuesday but i'm looking forward to the weekend. I've finally got planting in mind for the back yard. Once I realized that if I kill it, I can replant something else I relaxed and the ideas started to come. I guess there is freedom in failure. B
For sure I will post pictures of before and after. Please don't expect the Garden of Eden, I'm new.
I am a bit worried about this trip. I remember last spring was hell on my alergies and I've been suffering through this early season with a low grade headache, sore throat and mild sniffles. I can't complain because Jason is under full blown attack. Like, full box of tissue every 2 days attack. He's miserable and not overly bitchy, so I've been keeping my symptoms to myself. You know how it is, it makes you look like an ass if you bitch about your stubbed toe to someone with no legs. (Not that THAT exact scenario has ever happened to me...twice.)
So, we'll see if the change in location makes my breathing better or worse.
Alrighty, getting sleepy again. I'm going to log off, buckle up and "meditate" for a while.

A productive & frugal weekend

How nice the first weekend of spring was! 

Mom & Dad popped over Friday to pick up the grandpa tables and while we didn't get to visit it was good fun to pack their truck and trailer with these pieces of furniture that have been around a while.  I know it kills my dad to watch Mom and I work out things like the bungee cord  placement and not be able to get out and do it himself.  They got home in one piece so I assume our work was acceptable.

Jas came home with 6 month anniversary flowers that are very pretty and adorning the dining room table and a few on my desk.  We debated going out to dinner but instead cooked one of our favorites (pork cutlets) and opened a VERY nice bottle of wine.  Heck, we even ate in the "formal" dining room.

Saturday we were up early to have breakfast before I met Yumi for a hike.  It was a crisp and clear morning, ideal for a hike.  I forget that these activities are not off the option list anymore and once Jason can breathe again we'll be out there together.  Once I arrived back at home we did some yard work and then attacked the storage unit.  We took the unwanted items to their final resting place and then loaded the truck with my great grandmothers table.  I love this table but it doesn't quite work in our home.  Luckily, Jas' second cousin is starting out again and was excited about getting the table.  Yesterday we took it to her parents house so they could store it until she has her new house situation worked out.  I'm happy it will still be around and that she loves it too. 

I am also thrilled to not have a storage unit charge anymore.  I have been paying for extra storage since before I put my condo up for sale last year at this time.  Keeping your things in storage is like adding $145 to their purchase price every month.  It can be a necessary expense but I'm delighted to be free of it. 

Saturday evening, we continued the trend and made dinner again and enjoyed junky tv for the evening.  We were on the fence about going out but then stopped by the local veggie stand that has an organic meat market attached to it and we scored some fresh hot Italian sausage and beautiful tomatoes and onions.  We made a pasta that was so good I wanted to lick the plate.  Fresh herbs would have been divine, but we suffered through with our new dried herbs that we were given at the holidays.

Sunday we were in church bright and early and instead of going out we came home and made ourselves eggs.  I'm not quite sure if we're being frugal or if we're just trying to buck our dining out habit, but I'm happy with our choices this weekend.  Buying meat at the organic stand is far more expensive than at Costco, but it is cheaper than a meal for two plus wine at most of our normal haunts.

Golly, with the transition from consultant to captive employee eminent, the frugal trend is a good choice.  Oh, did I spill the beans on that?  I have a verbal offer on the table and am excited about the transition. It is less money, but more stable. Yeah.

Sunday, after we got home from the cousins house we spent more time with the tv - the new show "LIFE" is pretty amazing.  I'm sure it is one that will end up in our dvd collection.

I'm off to San Jose again tomorrow but don't know when I'll have to go back.  The new work is pretty easy to do from my little home office, but we'll see. I'm sure the need to be down there will pick up as the year goes on.  I don't see my frequent flyer card going away anytime soon.  blar

Poor Sandy, but Lucky Me

Jason's movie girlfriend is in a sad state today.  The media is reporting that her husband has been accused of infidelity.  He's issued an "it's mostly lies, but I'm so sorry" statement and rumors are that she has moved out of their house.

I know Hollywood people aren't immune from temptation and may actually have more offers thrown their way than us average Joes, but this makes me sad.   I think Ms. Bullock has done a remarkable job of retaining her spunk and credibility while her career has grown.  She's not infallible but she's very likable and I hope that this ends in a peaceful way for her and her family.

She is the one movie person Jason is allowed to make out with if the situation should occur and now that she might be single I'm going to be on the lookout to make sure she's not dropping by.  My "oh sure she can be on your list" is pure crap.  The list is imaginary, always was, ALWAYS will be.

I'm feeling pretty confident that she's not going seek out our little happy home as a place to escape the media that is likely hunting her right now, although no one would think to look in this corner of the world.

In addition, Jason and I are (sort of) celebrating our 6 month wedding anniversary today.  I say sort of because we talked about it this morning, noting the event but don't have any romantic plans for the evening.    My mom and dad are coming over to pick up a table and may be spending the night.  It would be rude to ask them to sit quietly upstairs while we share wine by the fireplace.  Rude and awkward.

In summary, I send out my cyber good wishes to a movie star I'll never meet and a cyber "woo hoo" to my sweet hubby.  I love you buddy!

Once in law enforcement, always in law enforcement

It is true that I have never actually been in law enforcement, I lived with a member of their club for 18+ years and during my formative ones for that matter.  I am the safety girl and am suspicious by nature when it comes to strangers.  This was not a handy trait to have while dating (or maybe it was) because I can name more than a couple occasions where my "warning" system went off while being chatted up by some guy at a club.

I know for a fact that one time my radar saved me from being alone with someone who was, within weeks, accused of sexual assault on a young woman of my own age.  Poor girl, but whew!

Working mostly from home means I see a side of my neighborhood that most people don't see.  I know which households are home during the day, which have the occasional visitors (lawn care, merry maids and other wonderful services) and which don't.  It is a quiet neighborhood, and I do not like it when my doorbell rings unexpectedly during the day - especially when my car is in the garage and it is not obvious from the street that anyone is here.

It happened today while I was downstairs having lunch.  I greeted a young man in his 20's in jeans, a work shirt and facial hardware (the eyebrow piercing doesn't scream safety to me... sorry for the generalization but it doesn't.)   I half opened the door while unlocking my phone (to have easy access to 911 if needed ) and he started in on some story about how he works for a meat delivery company, "you know, like fresh steak" and that they had extra stuff and his boss told him to get rid of it, and did I want "free meat?"

"No, I'm good." I said as I was closing the door

He looked at me like I was crazy. "You don't want free meat!?  Well, alright."

I shut the door and watched him walk to his truck.  Then the "wannaba neighborhood patrol" came out in me and I stepped out onto my front porch and snapped a picture of his truck and noticed that his "co-worker" was knocking on other doors where no one appeared to be home.  They looked at me, piled in the truck and left.

What he doesn't know is that my iPhone camera is SHITTY and I can't even read the printed phone number let alone the truck plate number .  In the CSI world it could be enhanced, but in my world it is blurry.


I'm sure they were casing the neighborhood and my little stunt on the porch will keep them away for a bit, but it felt "hinkey" (police speak for odd).  I looked up their "business name" online and it doesn't exist and the phone number (that I can make out) is a fax number.

Now I find myself popping out to the window like Gladys Kravitz every time I hear something...
"Oh Abner, you'll never believe what I saw outside!"

I'm thankful that we have the house alarm and that we use it.  I'm not quite to the point where we need to install a panic room (which ironically, was the movie I was eating my lunch to) just yet, nor do I think I need the alarm on while I'm home alone.

Time and paranoia may change that.  We'll see.

No soapbox lecture today

Sorry gang, today has been a full day.  My work flow has kicked in and I am thrilled to report that a steady stream of work is headed my way. More news on that topic in the next couple weeks.

On the home front, my roommate is miserable with allergies and was up from 2am until 5 am last night trying to breathe.  He stayed home from work today and did a bang up job of keeping up with his own work emergencies and staying out of my way.   It is both nice and strange to have someone home during the day while I sit in the office.

He's doing what all people who call in sick from work should do, he's camped out on the couch and watching the mindless tv that he likes.  Right now I hear an old version of Deadliest Catch but earlier there were cartoons.  He showered and took me to lunch but the last time I walked by him he was in sweat pants again.

I wish I could help, but only a reduction in pollen counts will get him back on his feet.  I have a feeling we will both be going to bed early on this St. Patrick's Day.  There will be no green beer and I'm not a huge fan of corned beef, so I won't be cooking it.  We will likely have a low key dinner and watch a movie.  Ah, the life of newlyweds.

Speaking of...Friday marks our 6 month wedding anniversary.  Our fun wedding seems like it was so long ago.  We are still waiting on our official wedding photos but that is equally our fault and the fact that our photographer is the official police photographer for the City of Lakewood and he was quite busy with the torrent of shootings in our area.

The "official" wedding book has been ordered and is in production and I'm hopeful we'll get to see proofs soon.  I do love the shutterfly book I created, but I can't wait to see what he comes up with.

Since it is spring I am in the mood to entertain again and have been reaching out to people to schedule gatherings.  It is a fun and frustrating activity.  How did we all get so busy?

Speaking of busy.. my work email calls.


Happy St. Patty's Day!

No Shit Sherlock!

WASHINGTON —
The four-star Army general who is managing the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan says "the time has come" for the military to rethink its policy toward gays.
Gen. David Petraeus stopped short of saying whether he personally believed if the military's policy of "don't ask, don't tell" is outdated or unfair.
Instead, Petraeus told a Senate panel Tuesday that he wants to see the results of an internal study ordered by Defense Secretary Robert Gates before any changes are made. He said he wants to know if allowing gays to serve openly might hurt recruiting and retention, or the military's ability to fight.

While I like the direction the military is finally going (and still irritated that Clinton didn't do it when he had the chance) the idea that they need to "study" it floors me.  Is the suggestion that the folks in the military are so backwards and homophobic that they won't be able to fight next to someone they KNOW is gay rather than just SUSPECT is gay?  

I wonder if their study will reveal that GAY PEOPLE ARE EVERYWHERE... ooh scary.

Warning, gay people are in business jobs, construction jobs, teaching jobs, the clergy, they are parents, they are artists, they live in the suburbs, they are homeless, they are rich, they are poor, they are Americans, they are French, they shop at Walmart (ok, well maybe not Walmart) but they are everywhere.  They vote, they pay taxes and gasp...they fall in love with people who have the same naughty bits that they do... WHO CARES?????

I posted a snarky comment last night on Facebook about my neighbors who are using sheets to cover their windows in their brand new house (offering to throw a telethon) and got flamed by some smart and kind people. I also took joy in comments from my designer friend and former paint store manager who understand that I'm not equating their lack of curtains to their lack of worth, but that their 'window treatments' make the house and our shared neighborhood look junky.

Anyway... it was meant to be funny but I felt badly about my choice and decided to remove it in the morning.  It must have been weighing on my head because I had a very elaborate dream that I was running for political office in Spokane (why Spokane?  donno)  and I started to think about the stuff I post online and if my virtual self would be unappealing to the conservative crowd in Eastern Washington.  (Of course it would...)

From there in the dream I started to process the kinds of questions I might face as a political candidate and the one I spent the most time on (dream time) was "Do you support gay marriage?"  My liberal, love everyone except sheet-curtain people self wants to say yes.  The imaginary political candidate sadly needed to soften the answer to something more 'palatable' to those for whom this is a hard concept.

My answer was a round about yes, in that I support the concept of marriage between two adults who are mature enough to understand the commitment, the legal aspects and the work that a marriage will be.   I certainly don't support marriage for someone like me at the age of 18 who was focused on music, school, partying and having fun... but me at 40, I'm all for it!  Do those two people have to be a specific gender?  No...

I see where people who believe that God has said that homosexuality is a sin can't separate the idea of a marriage ordained in the church from the legal and emotional bounds of marriage ordained by the state.  But... not everyone believes the same thing, which is why no matter where you have your wedding, you aren't officially married until you have the certificate from the state.  

If marriage is only 'real' if it conforms to the Christian definition then all those Muslims, Jewish folk, and *gasp* atheists aren't actually married. Why aren't "we" up in their face about their non-sanctified unions????  Maybe because there is comfort in the inconsistency.

So, to wrap up:

1. Gays are in the military already.  Allowing them to say they are gay won't change anything.
2. I support gay marriage.
3. I probably won't be elected in Spokane anytime soon.
4. I wish my neighbors would put up real window treatments which can be purchased economically from Ikea, Target and even Walmart...

I love it!

But, so sad that sending photos doesn't work. I had hoped my "Mobile Mocking" could be visual, but it is not to be.

Oh well, there's always the pc for uploading my secretly snapped pictures.

Testing again... Or is it re- testing ?

I'm testing an exciting new feature for the bog, TEXTING straight from the phone.

Buck the trend!

My goodness...

If your co-workers and peers describe you as "difficult", I am here to tell you that it is OK to buck the trend and be an active participating member of the team.

We all have the same goal. Responding to a request for assistance with a complaint about another teams work flow is not helpful.

Today is brought to you by the number 5!

I would like to know how, after a weekend where we didn't go anywhere or do anything but hang out with my parents, there are four loads of laundry to wash? And, I haven't even stripped the guest bed yet?

Count them, one, two, three, four, five! Five loads of laundry. Ahh ahh ahh ahh

Our weekend with my parents was pretty great considering we didn't plan anything exciting. We watched movies, put together puzzles and talked about family life.

We managed to get through the weekend without having to watch hours and hours of CNN. (My sweet mom & dad listen to CNN all day long at their house. Which would be fine except there's only about 1 hour worth of news in the 8 hour cycle, so there's a lot of story repeating or CNN talking about CNN does the news. )

While my dad napped, Mom, Jason & I ventured out to the mall where we all picked up some fun items. Ironically, I found a pair of jeans that don't need to be hemmed and a pair of shorts that do.

My parents left mid-day Sunday and we had thought they were staying until this morning, so last night Jason and I cooked the dinner we had planned for them and felt guilty for being lazy Saturday night and ordering pizza. You missed a yummy steak and savory salad!

They also missed my attempt to burn down our new house. I made breakfast Sunday and when I cook a lot of bacon I'll put a pan in the oven (on low) with a paper towel or two to keep the bacon warm and sop up the extra fat while I cook the rest of breakfast. Well, my dearest hubby did the dishes and I assumed he opened the oven to get the pan, and he wouldn't even have dreamed that there was a dirty pan in the oven. When cooking dinner I cranked the oven to 450 to pre-heat for our tater tots (We eat tots!) the smell of bacon should have been a clue... it wasn't until the smoke started oozing from the oven and the smoke alarm went off that I clued in.

Now, our downstairs smells like bacon. Normally, this would be a good thing, but maybe its too much of a good thing. I think room spray might just make it worse. Thank goodness for open windows and a mild day.

Jason and I also watched Precious last night. May I just say... wow! It was a good, but brutal movie. I was impressed by not only the main actress (who has never acted before) and by Mo'nique's performance but by a small role very adeptly played by the kooky Mariah Carey. I thought she couldn't act, but apparently she can. Go girl!

I should go, the laundry is dinging and there is work work to do.

it was of course, wonderful!

Book group last night was delightful! We discussed the book for quite a while but there was a lot of catching up and some great lessons learned:

1) If your nanny says or implies you are a bad mother it is A-OK to fire them!
2) You may, for a period of time, have to give up your dreams of a clean and tidy house while you are raising little people.
3) The appropriate answer to "Are you going to have kids?" can be "We had sex this morning so I'll give you a call in a month and let you know."
4) It is OK to cry when your 7 year old pops off with "Only daddies do hard work". Someday they will KNOW how hard it was to let them live through that moment.
5) When you are hard core pissed at your partner person try with all your might not to say things you can't take back. TRY!
6) If you can't go all in on the save the earth front, don't try at all. If you can't compost, buy locally, organic, walk or bike everywhere, and generate your own energy then F*ck It! Hummers for Everyone!

And, for the record. If our hostesses daughter starts using the f-bomb it wasn't me who dropped it TWICE in front of those sweet small ears!

Hmmm...

I've always been somewhat of a homebody. While I am a person of good humor there are times when social situations stress me out a bit. I've skipped my share of parties because I would know no one. I've also gone to wonderful events alone and mingled for an appropriate period of time and then scooted away gracefully.

I have skipped events because I felt bad about myself, my size, my attitude and a lack of what I thought of as interesting conversation. "Yup, same job. Nope, not dating anyone. No exciting vacations taken or planned." These were the low moments because if you've been keeping up I've been to Italy, Spain (twice), Ireland, San Jose, California, and most recently Canada. My life has been far from boring.

In the past I've had my nose out of joint for not being invited to events because I didn't have a partner, but also not gone when invited. These moments where I've withdrawn don't happen too often anymore and I'm thankful about that. Backing out at the last minute with a lame excuse is transparent and makes it hard for your kind host(ess) to want to invite you back.

My bookgroup meeting is tonight and it should be great. The book has been completed, I have 'things' to bring up and even some gossip to share. However, I don't want to leave the house tonight. Maybe its the rain, maybe its the drive into town at 6pm, maybe it's my new life with Whatshisface.

I've been a part of this book group since the inception and have loved it from the beginning and while I only see these women infrequently outside of our meetings I really do value them and enjoy hearing about their lives. Over the last 15 years our membership has changed, and I miss many of the former members but I have to say the group we have currently is exciting. Sure, we're all liberal, white ladies in our late 30's and early 40's. We have similar hopes for our families, country, and world but we still manage to discuss the topics illuminated in the books we select in a fierce and passionate way. Seldom do we agree on everything, which makes for great discussions. (Ok, I'm totally talking myself into donning a warm sweater and leaving the house tonight.)

I find it disappointing that as much as I love this group, the idea to call in "sick" crossed my mind. What is wrong with me? Am I one of THOSE women who don't want to venture out without her man?

I use to give my one girlfriend a ton of flack for never wanting to go out with me alone after she got married. I was wrong. (Did you hear that? I'm saying I was wrong!) She was only trying to bring her two worlds together. Her happy married world and the remainder (me) of her single life. Now, all these years later I respect and enjoy the time I spend with her and her husband. I also value the moments we find to have girl talk, but recognize that in our busy lives if we're not together as a group we likely won't be together.

I plan group events (meaning that I'll be there with my fella) and try to keep the "just girls" stuff to weekday lunches or very planned ahead. It's only been 6 months - maybe after I've been married a while we'll venture out on weekends on separate activities, but I kind of doubt it. Becky & Brett have been married for almost 15 years and they still prefer to hang out together. I happily signed on to be a duo, and will be a duo as much as possible.

However, I will still fight for the all girls weekend away - because they are wonderful! And when our book group again plans an outing I will go. (I had to back out last time because of the whole house hunting situation.) I will go tonight and I will love it - but I want credit for leaving my cozy house on a icky rainy day.

Just how politically correct can we be expected to be?

I was cruising facebook for a few moments during lunch today and came across a funny posting from an acquaintance who teaches art at a college in the Midwest. She asked what the appropriate response was when a student asks to share her ultrasound image.

Alison has a wide educator network and teachers from all levels were responding with their witty and real life answers that ranged from "think about something interesting while you look at the picture and then move on" to "ask is it mine?"

Then came the post that made me think:

When people do this, they are not being sensitive to others who might have had a recent miscarriage or are having trouble getting pregnant. I think we forget how intimately personal a picture like this is.

I agree it is a VERY intimate image, and think it is a bit awkward to show it to people you aren't extremely close with, but I don't think we have to stop being excited about the big life changes in the event the person we're sharing with might be caused pain by our news.

Granted, if you know the person well enough you'll know if they are experiencing infertility or have recently (or ever) miscarried. But, if that is the case I think you're still allowed to speak openly about your situation. I hope I would have enough grace to mention my pregnancy in a gentle way to my imaginary friend who is going through infertility issues. But, if she's a good friend she will celebrate my news just as I would for her.

I try to keep my "me news" to a dull roar in the real world because I'm more interested in what is going on with my friends, but that hasn't stopped me from all out bragging about being over the top (drug induced?) happy these days.

Holding back your joy because someone might be reminded that they are not in the same boat is a crazy concept. While I was single I celebrated with my girl friends as they ALL found the person they are supposed to be with. I will be honest and admit that there were times that their happiness did shine a light on my own singleness and I did wallow in jealousy from time to time. I kept that petty envy to myself because I feel that celebrating others life events is probably the best part of being in a community.

I have some wonderful friends who have yet to find their person and while I root for them (and make failed attempts to be a matchmaker) I don't pretend I'm not happy. I can't hide the fact that I'm well matched and I appreciate that they have welcomed my dude into their world. They don't expect me to hide it either. That's probably why we're friends.

Granted, I'm not giving them blow by blow updates on our intimate moments. I won't ever be blogging about super exciting sex (again). I have learned some things over the years. This blog would probably be a lot more exciting if I did share the more private things on a more frequent basis, but then my mom reads this so I think we'll skip it.

My over all point is that I agree it is wrong to share your intimate news with strangers, teachers, accountants, coworkers, but we can't walk around and not talk because what we say may offend someone. I'm not suggesting we forget the good manners that our Nana's hope they taught us, but if we hold back everything because someone may be offended we'll never talk again.

Fair warning, if you brag about winning the lottery while you visit me in my cardboard house in the freeway median then I might punch you in the nose.

What?

I got this text message from a reasonably sane person:

"I shom my big lushes"

I don't know what it means. Do you have any translation suggestions?

Milk-a-what?

One of my favorite Superbowl commercials was the eTrade Baby getting some flack from his online girlfriend. She refers to "that Milk-a-holic Lindsey" and then a cute but clearly not bright girl baby pops in from the side.

Well, yesterday Lindsey Lohan, long known for substance abuse issues filed a 100Million law suit claiming that the eTrade people are mocking her.

They may have been, in a subtle way, but wow, we ALL are now.

Here's the video so you can decide for yourself:



I like the eTrade commercials and this one is one of my favorites:

The green green grass of home

Yesterday was a total bust. The Oscar party Sunday was fun, but it wore me out. I wasn't the only one, I texted Becky @ 9pm to say I was in bed already and she replied with confirmation that she too was hanging out in the "adult suite" and was thankful for a tv in the bedroom. (For the record, I use to loathe the idea of a tv in the bedroom, but it is a glorious thing!)

I had a lot more energy today and got quite a bit done at work. Sometimes I enjoy the talky talky part of what I do, and other times I like to jump into data and spend a day in a spread sheet (OH MY GOD...NERD!)

There was even a trip to the gym today. I feel a little bit proud of myself for stepping up the intensity of the workout. Oh, I'm not bragging - I am nowhere near where I was before I started dating "him" but every trip to the gym is a victory.

There are stresses in life right now, there's the boring back yard and the pressure to learn lawn maintenance. Our back yard is small but definitely needs something. I look at the styles of friends and am intimidated. Jen has an soft, organic and delightfully lush outdoor experience with large colorful plants that provide privacy and color to her urban neighborhood. Yumi has a small yard like us, and she has successfully incorporated their retaining wall into a peaceful zenlike space that requires no mowing. Yumi's friend Andrea has a stunning lush yard and garden with lovely blooming things that were Sunset Magazine-esque.

These folks all have different yards than ours. I'm hopeful that we'll be able to create a nice space to enjoy in the summer when BBQ season begins. I also have hopes of eventually replacing the mildly useless concrete slab provided by the builder with an actual deck so our bbq and table and chairs can live as the family they are meant to be.

For now, we look at the yard. Jason has mowed it a few times with the ecofriendly push mower (that Jen gave me crap about driving home in my gas guzzling SUV) and we've spotted weeds that need attention. I'm sure we'll get lots of advice about what to do with the tiny yard, but the plan is to take our measurements and pictures to MOLBAKS and abuse their salespeople for ideas.

But not this weekend.

Oscar Night

Here we are all dressed up and headed to the 2010 Oscar Bash! It was a great party with folks dressed very fancy. (Some, like the boys in gold speedos and gold paint weren't wearing much, but they counted as fancy~)





















Becky, Kristin & I are totally doing the sparkle thing. There's a LOT of rhinestones on our persons!

My necklace was my grandmothers and I think she had a tiny tiny neck, but how fun that I can get it on!









This is Jason & Brett in front of Mariah Carey's legs. Seriously, they are models of her legs that Philip the wonder real estate agent purchased. He's got a "thing" for movie memorabilia.















Lastly, here I am with the owner of a place on Capital Hill called Meza. He's totally getting away with those stilettos!

I'm Green with Irritation

I am in favor of taking extra steps to save our little planet. At home we recycle and try to buy items with less packaging. We use the water saver mode on the dishwasher and skip the extra rinse cycle on the washing machine unless we’re dealing with super icky clothes.

However, I think just maybe some ‘green’ features in our world go a bit too far. The toilets in the restrooms that have been set to low flow for “liquid” waste and less low flow for “solid” waste are to a fault – wasteful. I find that the liquid waste flush doesn’t remove the modest amount of paper that I need, and therefore two flushes are required. The solid flush is completely incapable of removing anything beyond a small amount of paper in one single flush.

Then, once I’ve moved to the hand sanitation zone (sink) the soap dispenser is automatic but is so close to the automatic water sensor that the water kicks on while the soap is squirting onto my sleeve. I try to lather up but the water comes on and off intermittently and usually is more than I need to rinse off.

Once sufficiently free of suds I move over to the water removal station, where the automatic paper towel dispenser that has zipped out a piece of paper when I walked up, zipped one out when I pull off my square and then will zip out another when I spin to leave the area.

All in all, I’ve used more water than needed to flush, more soap than needed to be sanitary and way too much water to rinse my hands. The paper towel thing is frustrating. In the old days I would be able to pick up a towel off the counter, wipe off and leave, but the new machines either spit out too much paper or you have to stand there and do the Jedi Mind Trick hand wave to get it to go, meanwhile you are flipping water all over the bathroom. I know the logic is that these pre-set units of water, soap and paper are intended to cause less usage than if we were allowed to walk up to the all you can wash & dry buffet. For me, the preset amounts cause me to use more, so I wonder who those people are that this program helps. And, for that matter if they were using 16 sheets of towels before what is to stop them from using 16 now? It is a simple wave of the hand...

Don’t even get me started on what they’ve done with the trash, recycle and compost bins. But let me just say that it is complicated and these freakishly smart engineers that can build new, innovative and creative inventions can’t work out that the wax coated cups can’t be recycled or composted.

To force the issue, facilities have removed trash bins from under the cubicles. We have a large recycle bin and a tiny compost bin, but for trash you have to walk to the lunch room area. I’m not sure how that cuts down on trash, but it does get us up off our butts.

Vacations & Planning

We are solidly into March now and the planning for 2010 vacations is underway. We had been talking about a trip to Orlando, or even Hawaii when we were invited to go camping with one of J’s cousins this summer.

To be honest, I am SUPER excited about it and totally over thinking the preparation. We will be a week on the Snake River near Clarkston, Wa. During college at WSU we played at the Snake River a lot and August is a fantastic time to go. The weather should be warm, the river will be swimmable and I think it will be a blast.

Where I’m stressing out a little bit is over the planning food for a week thing. Growing up my mom took care of the food situation while camping and I remember her doing lots and lots of work. I don’t feel the pressure to come up with the wonderful camping food that she did, but I don’t think pancakes are all that hard to do.

Jas’ says not to worry that the people we are going with are pros and that we’ll likely be responsible for a dinner or two and everything else will work out. I’m thinking we don’t have a camper or a fridge so keeping lunch stuff cool for 5 days will be hard.

We did get the MAXX COLD cooler at Costco last weekend (and a life vest for me) because it is camping season at Costco. The cooler is huge and should help us keep things reasonably safe while we’re out an d about.

At the end of what I hope is 6 days of living in swimsuits and shorts we will be leaving the river for a long weekend in Walla Walla with friends. I’m planning on taking a hermetically sealed selection of clothes for that last portion of our vacation so we don’t stink like forest fire at the wineries. It will be nice not to have to drive back & forth to Walla Walla in three days, but I’m so thankful that our friends are willing to do it.

An Orlando trip later in the year sounds like fun and it is still a possibility but I want to wait to see what happens with employment. Camping I’m willing to commit to without knowing exactly if I’m hired or unemployed on April 1. Luckily, I won’t have to wait for long. (fingers crossed. I’m excited about the work and even the team.)

That’s about it I guess. I’m looking forward to coming home tomorrow and even more looking forward to two weeks in a row at home.

...and here's the always enjoyable giant inflatable beaver!

Last night during the Olympic closing ceremonies the Canadians pulled out all things Canadian - Michael Buble, Michael J. Fox, William Shatner and the 30 foot tall Canadian Mountie doll fit for Macy's Thanksgiving parade.

After the creepy Mounties and hockey players were wheeled around the stadium floor out came a more disturbing site. Brown, inflatable beavers.

Bob Costas, who was there because he a) lost a bet or b) NBA hates us as a nation was attempting to provide a narrative. I almost choked on my Girl Scout Thin Mint when he said

"...and here's the always enjoyable giant inflatable beaver."


There are many many Americans who have dirty minds and Bob you play right into them. I hope the line makes it into your retirement reel Bob! It was a winner

Thank you for calling our attention to the inflatable hairy beaver in the room.