Nano Time 2012

NaNoWriMo kicks off in just TWO DAYS!

This year, i'm really nervous.

1. I'm doing a NaNo no no by re-writing a previous nano. 
2. It's the same NaNo from last year which took several thousand words in which my characters revolted and i couldn't get them off the damn boat!
3. I'm running not one but two write ins which i often don't get a whole lot of work done during.

So this could be the first year i can't win. Or i could blow it all out of the water and have the most epic story on the face of the planet.
.......
more likely the former.

This will be my fifth year doing NaNo. It's hard to believe that four years ago, my buddy somehow talked me into doing this.

I remember thinking to myself, "self! you couldn't even write your Elixir story that you've been working on for 13 years. Why would this be any better?"

And yet the story that came out of that year was awesome. Reading through it even now, i still enjoy the story.

Last year's story, the idea was good and solid. It hasn't even changed that much. Just the premise and the order of things and small tweaks to my characters to make them more believable. Less of the majestic heros and the drop dead gorgeous heroine. More of realistic 20 somethings that have quirks, odd habits, and drive each other crazy.

I believed so much in this story from the beginning even after the 30,000 words on the stupid boat that i started a re-write back in February. I woke up one morning and just had to write a scene that i had dreamed about. 4,000 words later, i had two chapters, a new way of going about my story.

Over the course of the last year, I've talked through several points of my story with Boyfriend Jon and many many other friends. Slowly finding the reason for my story. Finding new characters that belong in my world. New ways to seed foreshadowing, and themes. Very quickly, everything falls into place. I should be excited, and exuberant, and enthusiastic. But instead, i'm just nervous.

What if i get caught up in all the problems that held me back last year? Like the fact that i don't really know much about pre WW2 fasion, society, landmarks, culture, and just the history of WW2 in general. What happens if all these new ideas run me into corners? What happens if for the first time i fail NaNoWriMo?

Returning from Hawaii - New Workout

I had an amazing time in Hawaii.

First and foremost, i was with Boyfriend Jon. He is my ideal travel companion, he's been there several times so he had awesome suggestions, he understood the language/pronunciation and he looks hot in nothing but swim trunks. So of course we had an amazing time

Second...we went to HAWAII. A paradise on earth, where we left the touristy towns and found quiet beaches where we could almost fall asleep to the sounds of crashing waves. Someday, i would love to camp out on the beaches there. I wore sarongs, smelled like sunscreen, and snorkeled with fish. We saw so many amazing things that no picture i could post would do it justice. But i'll do some anyway :)

Our first sunrise in Hawaii because we were still 3 hours ahead

Makapu'u Point

Waimanalo Beach. Which became our favorite. This was the most crowded it got.

Somewhere on West Shore where we stopped for a picknick

North Shore. Wrong season for really big waves, but still really big for me

Polynesian Cultural Center had the most amazing performance

...

...

...

Jealous yet?

Things i would do differently:

• Not get horribly sunburned halfway through. Sunscreen is no joke down near the equator. And neither is proper application technique including re-application after swimming. Poor Jon found out just how Seattlites put on sunscreen (yes he had pants on).

• Not get a hotel in Honolulu. I couldn't care less about the Waikiki beach. Sure it's famous and that's why EVERYONE goes there. But a half hour away is half a dozen beaches where we could swim and the nearest people were 50 feet away. It was so much more relaxing and fun. 
• Not get a gigantic luxury rental car. The push start and back up cameras were cool, but we nicknamed it "The Boat" for a reason. We would much rather have had a zippy little compact.

Things i would LOVE to do more of:

• Simply hanging out at the beach. Now that i know what a real sandy beach feels like, i would love to just go spend a few extra days letting my toes really get to know the sand. Plus after he bought his third Ukelele, Boyfriend Jon serenaded me on the beach. What girl can resist that???
• Two words: Hanauma Bay. Once i finally got my snorkle equiptment to work properly....that was by far the highlight of the trip. I wish i had bought an underwater digital camera for it too. We're currently waiting for our disposable to come back with our fingers crossed that the pictures turn out ok. 
• To spend more time at the Polynesian cultural center, this time participating in the learning opportunities instead of going from show to show. 
• The Aloha Stadium Swap Meet was great for all the trinkets and supplies. Our apartment looks like it had a minor hawaii explosion. 

I had an amazing time and I'm already pestering Boyfriend Jon to take me back. 

But while there, sufficient to say i had a turning point in my head while in Hawaii. I really need to do something about my weight. It's not even optional anymore. And I gave myself a week after i got back to start a workout routine. I was finally ready to make some huge changes to my life. 

1. First thing to go was eating out. Partially this was because my credit card bill from Hawaii almost gave me a heart attack. So i picked up the cooking at home again. I ate out twice in two weeks.
2. Second thing to change, was a commitment to eating vegetables with every meal. At least half of what i consumed needed to be veggies. Boyfriend Jon also got on board for this which just made all the difference a few of the days. 
3. Third thing was to start working out 3 times a week. My buddy Colin has been doing weightlifting and so i picked his brain for a while. Then jumped into working out. I was extremely displeased that i couldn't do more than one pushup when i used to be able to do 20. So that helped solidify that i'm going to be sticking with this until i'm not so awfully weak!

The first week of working out was BRUTAL! The first couple of days i couldn't move without groaning, and i felt shaky picking up even my laptop. I told Colin i hated him for getting me into this and he put me in touch with a woman who has been exactly where i am now and is now a size 4. Between the two of them, Boyfriend Jon's support and some determination on my part, i'm starting to see that i can do this. 

Unpacking!

My last post was about getting down to the dregs of packing, cleaning, and trying to not accidentally pack my sanity into a box. Despite my efforts not to, things got a little frazzled. and i was literally going day to day trying to stay on top of things without freaking out.

Now, sounds a bit pathetic right? Like i can't handle the simple stress from a basic move? Well there was a bit more to it than that.

I think the most eventful thing that happened since my last update is that my mother had a pretty serious accident. She was climbing onto the roof (we're still not sure why she was up there alone) and the ladder went out from underneath her and she landed hard on her right side, breaking one of the bones in her leg and shattering her upper arm bone. Thankfully, my sister was right there and was able to get immediate help and my mother tried to boss the paramedics around on how to move her to the ER, much to their amusement and my dad's chagrin.

This led to three days in the hospital, probably close to 100 x-rays, and very little pain meds because my mom has bad reactions to them. My dad stayed by her side all day every day. Then they came home for about a week to wait for the swelling to go down. (Two days ago she went in for shoulder replacement surgery, and she's now back home and recovering from that as well.) Meanwhile, my sister and I went for several visits both to the hospital and to the house to take turns babysitting my mom who was still stubbornly trying to get around without help.

Let me tell you she had the single most livid bruise i have ever seen. Her whole upper arm was PURPLE and green. I can't believe how doctors looked at that and didn't worry too much. I'm so glad my mom is ok if a little worse for wear. She's been working even! Participating in conference calls and dictating emails. That's either extreme dedication to her job or anything to get dad to stop fussing over her. I made sure to make the joke that she didn't want to help me move so much she had to go and get injured to get out of it. It made her laugh.

During ALL OF THAT, is when i moved. And as if things couldn't get much worse, we had quite an adventure with the U-Haul truck. First they tell us that we CAN'T get it Saturday and Sunday because i waited too long to to make a reservation. Next they tells we CAN get Friday night to Saturday afternoon. But when we show up the manager says no way! Finally we arrange that we can get it first thing Saturday morning, to Saturday afternoon and we'll get the smaller truck. We show up to get the truck and they can't find the reservation which is in Jon's name. Getting REALLY ticked off by this point, we repeat his last name several times before I say his full name last then first. Suddenly, they find our reservation because it was filed under his first name. By this point we weren't going to argue or wonder if we had gotten another "John/Jon"'s reservation and we went off to get our keys.

The new apartment was really the only good part of my last two weeks. With a few small maintenance requests which have been getting taken care of much faster than my old place....I'm in love with this place. It already is starting to feel like home.

Then came the move. We had a small army of friends who came through for us. Thank you so much; Dad, Sister, Lee, Naomi, Tyler, Lindsey, Shelly, Ian, Josh and Annie. You are the best. Two days, two apartments, probably near 100 boxes, a bunch of furniture which was a pain to navigate, three pizzas, some KFC, Pho and a lot of aspirin later....WE'RE MOVED IN!!!!!-ish

Boyfriend Jon and I have been spending every single day trying to deal with the mountain of boxes everywhere, trying to decide what we needed most, and battling hoards of crumpled newspaper. We're well on our way to making our apartment a happy home.

Last night, i finished unpacking the kitchen and made my first meal in about six weeks. It was simple, delicious and probably the healthiest thing I've eaten in those six weeks. No more take out and TV dinners for me for a while. I'm cooking with.....well...it's electric, but i feel as good as when i cook with gas! :D

I'll post before and after pics soon!

Down to a suitcase

This is the week that i hope to pack all of my belongings and live out of a suitcase for a week before the actual move. Last week i packed up my whole kitchen with the help of my friend Lindsey so I've been eating off of paper plates and takeout with a single set of knife,fork, and spoon. I have one kitchen towel and a lot of empty spaces.

It was harder than i thought it would be to not have a single kitchen tool to work with. Not a can opener, not a skillet, not even a dish rack for when i washed the few items i had left out. Everything was gone. I don't think I've ever eaten so much take out in a single week as i did this week. And of course, this was the time when my body started craving steak, seared salmon, chicken and gnochi soup, spaghetti....all things that i currently have sitting in my freezer that if i had a pan to cook them in, i could have made and eaten to satisfy the cravings. But all my pans are in boxes, buried under more boxes, with packing supplies on top of those.

Last night, my dad came to help me take down the light fixture in the kitchen. We had replaced it shortly after i moved in because the light was so dim that i felt like nothing was gained by turning on the light. Instead we installed a 4 bulb florescent light fixture and that was heavenly light at the flip of a switch. In fact, i had forgotten how bad it was until we replaced the old fixture and turned on the light. I had thought that maybe my brain exaggerated the dimness, but nope...it was dead on accurate.

I'm also taking out the shelving i installed in the pantry. I was amazed to find that there was mold growing all over the bottom underneath the shelf. Mostly because the shelf was at least 4 inches off the ground and there was nothing trapping air. By all mold logic i had ever known...it should NOT have started to mold.

This is probably the only apartment i have ever had issues deal with mold. It's not like i'm unused to Northwest weather and it's propensity for mold, but generally, when i deal with mold, it doesn't come back this fast. I've been bleaching window frames ever since i moved in, and within a month, the mold is back. Clearly, it was some shoddy workmanship in that apartment. I'm going to have my work cut out for me when i clean that place.

Today, however, i'm taking a brief break from the packing to go with my wonderful friend Annie to see THE HUNGER GAMES!!!! She, as a major book worm, turned me on to these books before they took off and i absolutely loved them. I'm totally a sucker for female survivor stories. So it was only fitting that we went to see them together immediately after they came out. I can't wait!!!

I'm sorely in need of a break from all the packing.

When left unattended....

Boyfriend Jon was gone all weekend with his family, leaving me to my own devices which may or may not have been a good idea. Turns out my life is totally boring without him around.

Friday, i went to see my college buddy's brand new, just got the keys condo....of which they had already tore out the carpet and tile. They were laying in snap together fake wood flooring and my girlfriend was trying to use a floor filler on the very much destroyed chip-crete floor next to the entryway. Upon suggesting that she use floor leveler for that much area, we realized all of the chip-crete was a loss thanks to the jackhammer when the tile was removed. I mean, we were moving it around with our hands it was soo loose and cracked. So i drove her to Lowes and made sure she got the right stuff. Because of the 3 hour cure time, we decided to do some demolition instead so she handed me a hammer and we got to work. 

Her dad was impressed with my knowledge of home repair. I think originally he thought i would be useless because he tried to explain to me how to paint with a roller. (eye roll) Thankfully, we never ended up getting around to painting and i was able to keep my mouth shut from "oh please there's easier ways to do that." Eventually, through helping out with just about every problem he was having to teaching my girlfriend tricks to working with his tools...we found a respect for each other, craftsmen to craftswoman. We even got to talking about how to go about doing the crown molding and running a water line for a fridge with an ice maker.  

But by 5pm, i was dead tired from taking Boyfriend Jon to the airport at O-dark-thirty. So i went home.....ish. I stopped by target with an idea to cheer Boyfriend Jon up when he got home. I bought a black shirt, some iron on white letters and some red and glow in the dark shirt paint. I made my self a I (heart) My Geek tshirt to pick him up from the airport in...and then because it's me... i made it glow in the dark too. :D

I spent all day Saturday, doing laundry, doing the shirt project, cleaning and topped it off with making myself my favorite dinner. Let me just say...the shirt turned out AWESOME.

It only took me most of a day, but Big Bang Theory Season 4 was another winner. Didn't see some of those jokes coming and i like the addition of Amy Farafowler to the cast. But it was so SHORT! i felt like very little happened this season and the obligatory "cliff hanger" for the season was less than thrilling.
Also...TEAM LENARD AND PENNY!

What can i say? I root for the underdog.

The next segment of life

On Saturday, i passed the Quarter Century mark in my life. It was hailed in with an incredible gift from Boyfriend Jon which was so sweet it actually made me cry. He made me a book of pictures of us that had quotes from our many conversations.

I think my favorite out of all of them is:
A - I just got a really nice compliment. Ian called me a genius like four times in one conversation.
A - I just found sawdust in my ear.
J - LOL

That and he bought me a star globe that lights up my whole room. A perfect gift for an avid star gazer and someone who had stars painted on her ceiling until she was 21. It was wonderful.

The next day we met up with friends Annie and Ian and Ian's sister and went to the Fair where we all rode one of the more sedate roller coasters. Though i think Jon and Annie might disagree on the "sedate" part. We watched Mutton Busting (kids riding sheep like bulls) and that was hilarious if outrageously hot (no shade). We visited the animals, and ate all sorts of weird stuff. I personally didn't partake of the deep fried stick of butter or fried Oreo, but those were among the discards.

After that, was dinner with a more extensive group of friends at Red Robin after an extensive reservation debacle. For the record, restaurant chains should have consistent policies regarding reservations. Not, this one takes reservations but that one doesn't.

I visited with friends i hadn't seen in more than a year, chatted about how life was treating us, and generally had a wonderful time. But I gratefully sank into bed almost as soon as we got home. My legs were worn out.

On Sunday, i had some serious news reach my family. A long time friend of mine (from back to the tween years) was hit by an IED in Afghanistan. Thank goodness he's ok if a little beat up. His unit also made it back ok, a little worse for wear but all alive. Since his birthday is the day after mine, i personally can't think of a better birthday gift than surviving something like that.

I wish wars like this didn't come practically every generation. I hate watching real people being used as pawns up for the discard. I will gladly defend this country with my dying breath, but i don't think we should go overseas to do it. That becomes a very slippery slope in my opinion.

In other news, how is it possible that i started out with 8 drawers filled to the brim with stuff, replaced them with 8 drawers which were shallower both in deapth and height....and i now have 2 almost completely empty drawers. Especially considering that i didn't really throw anything away besides a few scraps of paper?
How odd is that?

Genes I wasn't born with

Summer is undoubtedly wedding season. In the northwest, i'm convinced that while you almost never have a perfect chance of full on sunshine...your odds of less or no rain are greatly increased between June and September. So every relation i know of seems to think this is a great time to get married. I don't think i was born with the "lets get married right away" gene. I'm much more of a fan of "eh, we'll get there eventually" and "why can't this just be a simple thing?"

As a fellow 20 something...with many friends in the 20 something range, weddings are around every corner.

I have people whom i barely talk to the rest of the year asking what i think about these paint chips for their wedding colors. Especially those who respond to my polite "its your wedding you should be happy" with "NO!!! What do YOU think???!!!!"

I've been invited to multiple bridal showers, bachelorette parties, wedding favor making parties, putting stamps on envelopes parties and thankfully only one wedding that i plan on attending.

There's a distinct influx of "So when are you and Boyfriend Jon getting married?", (most of this comes from our mothers).

I even got a wedding cataloged that was misdirected to me instead of my neighbor. Seriously...are those prices REAL? put half of the basics together and that'd pay off my car!

I hear about the games that were played at the bridal showers and think "WHY? who wants to be trussed up in a toilet paper wedding dress?" I don't see the point. Why do i need to know this inside joke between the bride and groom? And, call me a prude all you want. I'm uncomfortable buying sexy lingerie for another woman!

I'm very happy for the couples i know that have made this huge decision and i genuinely hope they have a happily ever after ending. But it's all this extra stuff that i recoil from. I can't help it. Too much of it in a short amount of time and i start searching around for something very anti-wedding. A motorcycle ride, a marathon of blow-em-up blood and guts games...anything to get it out of my mind.

The only wedding decision i have come to is that i want to set up a pay pal account instead of a registry. Tradition be damned. I'd rather have a solid start of a nest egg than a gravy boat or candelabra....whatever that is.

Recounting the invasion of Canada

There's been a lot going on lately, most of it is more personal than i'd like to post. But several months ago, i was invited to join a huge camping trip on a ranch in Merritt, British Columbia, Canada. By the time last week drew to a close, i was more than ready for an escape.

We set off north for what we thought would be just over a 5 hour drive. Shortly after Lynnwood however traffic slowed to a crawl in all lanes for construction. This went on clear past Everett tacking on additional hours to our drive. Crossing the border was a cinch and we chugged along for an additional couple of hours, stopping every now and then to stretch.

By the time we were rolling into Merritt however, the sun was sinking rapidly and it quickly became evident that both the directions and my memory of the trip four years ago was quite insufficient.

Finally we found a sign that looked promising. Well, it wasn't. And then we decided to pull out the phones and get our GPS going even though we were roaming. We rolled in as twilight was gripping the valley and set up our tent as quickly as possible.

The next day, i was immensely thankful that i had insisted on setting up in the trees next to the river. The temperature rose to 88 degrees and the river was invitingly cool. After a trip into town, where we got a double tube, we went down the river. Or rather, we made a mad, paddling dash for the left fork in the river and then mad paddling dashes to avoid log jams, and rocks and cliff walls. But in the parts that we just drifting with the current, it was pure bliss.

However at some point between getting into the river and getting out, my right foot became VERY unhappy with me. Turns out that i broke my second smallest toe. We did some quick first aide and then i put my foot in the river to save some of the ice from the cooler.

But that misfortune didn't stop us. I played Bocce Ball for the first time in my life and won 11 to 5. I chatted with the people in the group, played with the dogs, caught up with the people that invited me, read by the river, and got an awesome tan.

Finally it was time to go and we made for the border. While we were waiting in line, another diver alerted us that we had a flat. A nice big nail decided it really liked my tire. And of course this was after 6pm on a SUNDAY which means that every single tire place within a 10 mile radius was closed. Finally we got out the trusty smart phone and found a Sears that was open. In getting there, we found a Walmart with a tire center and pulled in.

After 40 minutes, $11 and many heartfelt thank yous to the tech who stayed late to help us, we were back on the road home.

I think we rolled in around 10pm and made a Beeline for a hot shower which was the most glorious of all the adventures of the weekend.

Next comes the adventure of unpacking while nursing a broken toe. This should be interesting.

The return from San Francisco

Of all the places i've visited, San Francisco is one of the few places where i think i could stand to live for a long period of time. Of course,  i know that i would pay through the nose for real-estate there, but when you're dreaming, such things don't matter. We did so much in such a short time, that i'll have to gloss over a lot of the interesting stuff just to give you a brief account. Yes, the following is brief. 

We arrived and were bussed to the Argonaut hotel right off of the end of Hyde street and Jefferson Street which was beautiful and spacious. The first thing we did was walk to Pier 39, enjoying the sights along the way and purchasing some trinkets. We signed up for one of the two hour long bus tours which our guide, Igor, told us all about everything from the new capital buildings ability to withstand a major earthquake, to how there are so many large families living in chinatown that they have to hang their undergarments out the window for them to dry. We saw the Golden Gate gardens and the bridge, took a lot of pictures, and finally got back to our hotel in time to change for dinner at Scomas on the waterfront a couple piers away.

This place was fancy! We had no less than a 5 course meal (six if you count the sourdough bread) which included the best Crab cakes I've had in California, Popcorn Shrimp that was juicy and crunchy at the same time, a salad or soup, an entrée (i had Pasa Alla Scoma- clams and pasta in a white wine garlic sauce- which had no less than 30 clams IN the Shell mixed in with my pasta) and finally a chocolate torte for desert, followed by a round of B52 shots to celebrate the end of their busy season. I am so glad that i wasn't footing the bill for that meal. But it was delicious. After that, i was beat so i went back and gratefully fell into my own queen size bed (which was exciting because i just bought a new queen size to upgrade from my double, so i got a bit of a preview). Lindsey went out to a Blues bar, Lou's on Pier 47, with some of her co-workers had a wonderful time.

The next day, we made our way to Alcatraz. The walk over to Pier 33 was wet, especially as we were waiting for our tickets. Someone turned on a fire hose, so since i had not gotten an umbrella when there was an opportunity, i got soaked, and ended up with one of the very fashionable plastic ponchos. However, once we loaded into the ferry and landed at Alcatraz, it was bright and sunny for the rest of the day. San Francisco might be the only city I've ever gotten both drenched and a sunburn in the same day. I loved Alcatraz. Between the audio tour, and latching onto a ranger tour, i learned things i had no idea bout before and found the prisoner's ingenuity completely intriguing. If you get a chance...it's worth every penny.

When we got back to the mainland, we ate at Bubba Gump's and then toured the area some more before i needed a break and went back to the hotel for a quick nap. Afterwards, we walked around the area some more and enjoyed some of the bread. I don't like sourdough, but the sourdough in San Francisco is to die for! I even took a loaf home. We went to bed comparatively early that night.

I woke up to the sounds of fog horns, and went outside to watch some of the fog burn off. After i met back up with Lindsey, we made our way to Girhidelli Square, had brunch at Buena Visa Cafe and toured the USS Pampanito Submarine. Then it was time to leave San Francisco which was sad.

San Francisco left (we stayed in the light gray building on the left which is marked with Blue Mermaid)

San Fransisco right. Featuring Pier 39 and the Alcatraz landing

I wish i had more pictures to share with you, but they're on my camera which is still buried in the pile of put away/take care of that I've been ignoring for the weekend in favor of California weather which we seem to have brought home. Since so much else has happened since I returned, i'll save my post trip adventures for another post.

Friends with Style

I'm not stylish. If i had to describe my style, i would say it's simple, classic and goes with everything. That translates to simple bootleg jeans, a colored tanktop and a black sweater. It's a combination that looks good on everyone, so that's what i wear every friday, sat and sun. At work i have slacks, two black one grey, that get paired up with solid colored knit shirts of varying arm legnths. Since Boyfriend Jon has known me...i can count the number of times i have left the house in a skirt or dress on one hand.

But i'm headed on a trip with one of my best Gal Pals who is the sharpest dresser i know. She has been dubbed my "Cute Expert" because she really has a knack for discovering cute things that i just kind of look at her and blink over. Lindsey is not super girly, but she has great style. And perhaps my next sentence won't show that she's not girly, but in the array of girly girl people in my life...she's at the bottom. She's already tanned, gotten a haircut and painted her nails for the trip. I'm sitting here with dirt under my nails from working in my mother's garden and i wouldn't be surprised if my hair smelled like sawdust from the shop.

TANGENT!
The end tables are BUILT! Done! I won't have to put in a single other screw anywhere, or use the nailgun or make any more cuts. All that's left now is to add the edging, fill the nail holes, sand, stain and put the finish on.
I estimate that if i took a solid week, i could have it done (except for the curing part).

OK, back to the regularly scheduled brain purge....

While i don't feel like it's a competition, I certainly don't want to look frumpy next to her. And because there is a dinner in which no jeans will be allowed....I had to ask her for help. Somehow this turned into a girls night in which not just Lindsey, but my other gal pal Naomi will be going through my clothing and putting together my outfits. All i have to do is make dinner and provide some wine. (which means i'm stealing it from my parents cupboard)

Part of me is just dreading this. To be dressed, analyzed, have my wardrobe scrutinized, and to wear clothes outside of my comfort zone. The other part of me is thinking "I don't have to choose outfits for the trip. They're doing 90% of the packing for me!" which i am so cool with!

Also, Lindsey alerted me to a free spray tan coupon. So i think i'll give that a shot so i don't look completely pasty white next to her. Never done a fake tan before, fingers crossed.

Either way, Lindsey is an awesome friend to hang out with. Everything is low key, no drama, and no stress. We work well together and don't get on each other's nerves very often. I'm looking forward to traveling with her. We'll see if we're still friends after.

In other news...i'm making more changes to the apartment. The dining room table is leaving. It's nice that it folds up to half its size, but i don't have a designated dining room space anymore and it's taking up part of my living room. Also, I've used it twice since i moved in. Once for a romantic dinner for Boyfriend Jon and I, and once to hold all 200 of the cursed cupcakes. The chairs for the table don't fold up and i really don't have room to store them. They alone take up half my storage closet.

Instead, i intend to get a 6 foot folding table and four folding chairs. The table will slide under my couch when not in use, and the chair will take up considerably less room in the storage closet. Also, having a six foot table will double for board games, dinner for more than just me and Jon, and even a craft table...which i really need. The DVD rack will be moved in it's place.

I'm excited for the change.

The Mario Box

I'm definitely a crafty person. By that i mean i like working with my hands..in case you couldn't already tell that from the carpentry I've been posting lately.When i'm feeling stressed out and need to collect myself, I do origami. I've done sketches for tattoos for friends and co-workers. But pretty much anything crafty...i'm a useful person to know.

This is probably why my friend Kenny came to me with a project. He does some minor cosplay and wanted to go as Mario this year. He got the costume together and looked like a great ...blonde... Mario. But he wanted a Mario brick to go with his costume. "Easy" I told him....and began making plans. I'm not sure who came up with the idea, but eventually it got revised into a portable carry-all for the cons. It even got touched by FELICIA DAY and AMY OKUDA of The Guild!

Awesome except for the glare from the flash. This picture makes me SO HAPPY!

I recycled the interior of old broken binders for their cardboard, and made a cube. I then attached hinges so that the top would open and close. Then i made it so the lid was magnetized closed. With some free foam on the inside, the cube took life. Three sides became Question Mark sides, complete with gold glitter borders, and three sides got Brick. The effect was that when taken with a picture...you wouldn't be able to see the other sides. But the best part, according to Mario/Kenny is that he can stash his camera, glasses and any other loot from the con...inside and walk around with just the box.

He says the box gets a lot of attention at Cons. He has been pulled out of hallways to go participate in photo shoots, and many many people want pictures with the box. It is a One of a kind for sure. No other Mario's have ever been seen with a box like mine. :D

Never mind the scantily clad Yoshi...look at the pretty box! (that's Mario/Kenny btw)

Anyway, the year of Con's is over for Mario/Kenny, and he brought me the Mario Box in need of some minor repair. We started discussing some of the differences he would rather have, and features that would be really cool if we could pull off.

Next thing i know..i'm designing a new pair of boxes. One to fit inside of the other. The outer box will be the Question Box. It will feature fishing lines that are able to be pulled out to suspend the box. Stored in the bottom of this box will be tent poles that unfold and form a rod which the box can be suspended from for photos. The other box will be a duplicate of the original box (in the pictures above) but covered only in brick. Or if i can talk him into it, the rainbow colored question mark from Mario Kart. This will also have a lid, and foam padding for storage of Con Loot.

It's another of the projects to add to my ever growing and rarely shrinking list.

w00t! Friday

Today is the beginning of a jam packed weekend. Thank god my work schedule lets me off at noon today. I don't think i could get it all done in just two days. I need that extra half day.

First plan of order is to get a handle on my extremely cluttered apartment. It's gone to seed for about a month. So, the minute i get home, i'm going to attack. probably starting in the bathroom cause it's been left the longest. 

After that, i'll move onto the living room and clean up the Ukrainian easter egg supplies. Two years ago, I apparently decided it would be fun to slice into my hand with a serrated bread knife. Turns out, that was not very fun, and it has lasting effects. Half of my thumb is still numb and it starts to hurt when gripping things like a stylus even after just a few seconds. So trying to do Ukrainian easter eggs has been harder this year than i ever remember. Where i usually whip out 20, I've only completed one. So i think it will be a good idea to at least clean up the supplies even if I don't put them into storage. It would be nice to have my coffee table back. 

The other plan for today is to switch out summer and winter clothes. I have two of those big blue rubber maid bins that are sitting mostly empty taking up space in my storage locker. If i stuff the clothes in big plastic garbage bags first, that ought to protect them from the environment over the summer. 

Beyond that, it will be whatever i can get done before meeting up with Lindsey. She has need of some of my tools and assistance using them. Her cat Ray is getting a cat tree....that's 9 feet tall. And her ceilings are only 8 feet. So we're going to cut it down with my hack saw. 

When i was helping Lindsey paint her apartment two weeks ago...i went to refill the tray from the 5 gallon tub she decided to buy even though she had trouble lifting it. I had just gotten the lid off when all of a sudden, something brushed up against my leg. I let out a yelp and spun to see this pretty orange cat looking as surprised as i was. The cat had no collar and had several mats in its fur before Lindsey went all Sweeney Todd on the poor cat. But it didn't look like it's a stray. Given it's sweet demeanor and orange color, I named it Pumpkin. Lindsey lets Pumpkin into her apartment occasionally, and so far poor Ray is so confused but at least they're not aggressive with each other. Pumpkin goes crazy on Ray's catnip scratcher as Ray looks on woefully as if saying "But but but....that's mine!"

Also on the docket for this weekend is a Filk concert. Filk is a combination of Folkmusic, Fantasy themes, and Celtic style music. The group we're going to see is Vixy and Tony and they've got some amazing songs including....the theme song from Firefly! So excited!

Oh yeah, and at some point i'll get more work done on my tables. 

Moving Karma

It is the plight of most 20 somethings to be moving around a lot. Through dorms to crummy, falling apart apartments, to slightly up the scale only to fall back when prices rise again. The only thing to do is call in the calvary, also known as friends and family and anyone else you can somehow rope in.

The last time i moved, i even ended up bribing my friend's younger brother to help since several of my friends were unavailable (two of them, i think, were out of town on business). Granted, i was moving from one room (plus a dining room table and a couch) to my own apartment. So i really, didn't have a lot of large stuff. Since then, I've been building furniture, and filling up my apartment with stuff that makes me feel at home. I'm glad I started building up my moving karma.

It wasn't until i helped my friend Lindsey move this weekend that i realized how much more difficult it will be when i decide to move again. She's incredibly frugal but she still had three truck loads to go...and that was AFTER she had been taking boxes over in her little economy car for over a week! Most of my Saturday was spent going up and down stairs lifting boxes, hauling mattresses, and playing the puzzle game of how to get the most stuff in the van when nothing nested together.

Lindsey is a great friend, probably my best gal pal. Drama slides off of her like water on a duck's back and i love that about her. That and for a change, she has her own money and need me to spot her on...well, just about everything. If she says she'll pay me back, she does. She's also smart, hard working, reliable, and matter of fact. I can always rely on her for anything from second opinions on outfits and decor to needing someone to just hang with.

However, laughter is never in short supply when she gets around tools. It took me a while to get used to her lack of training even in things that i consider basic. But she's willing to learn and try things for herself which puts her leaps ahead of the masses. Every now and then, i get a call: "If you come over, i'll make dinner" which is Lindsey-speak for "I broke/need to fix something and my dad's not available". Together, we've put together furniture, installed mirrors, hung pictures, and even made lollipops.

In the process of tearing down her bed, she started talking about wanting a new one, that her current one didn't go with any of the new furniture i helped her put together. Since I've been thinking about upgrading to a queen size bed since December, I started talking turkey. It's an Ikea bed so it's short, but it's made from solid wood which means it's customizable. With a few modifications, it could be perfect for my needs. Raise the legs up with wood, not plastic bed risers, and add a pannel to the back of the headboard so pillows don't fall through...and it's perfect! She was happy to have me take it off her hands when she gets her new one in. All i have to do is help her find a cheap or free box spring and everyone will be happy.

Also, i finally managed to catch my dad at a moment when he was clear, energized and most importantly.... available. Together, armed with the right tools, we whipped out the remaining table legs in about an hour and a half. Perhaps i forgot to mention the best part about the table design: The legs are all removable. They will be able to break down into smaller pieces to make more room if I need it in my tiny apartment.
Onto building the table.

Weekend Rewind

     This weekend was jam packed with all sorts of fun activities. And it doesn't look like i'm going to be slowing down any time soon.  

     

     The weekend chaos started on Friday when i finally managed to get my mother to teach me her meatballs recipe. If you thought i was kidding about the "only cooking for a lot of people" in my previous post, here's a prime example. The meatball recipe called for over 6 pounds of meat. i made at least five dozen meatballs out of that. Thankfully they freeze really well, and my sister who's kitchen is still being remodeled, is very thankful for the re-heatable meatballs to have on hand.  

     

     STILL! I turned, and cooked meatballs from just before 7pm till practically midnight. That was way way way too much. I will be actively working on cutting down the recipe to a much more manageable portion.


     Next time i make them though, I'm going to tweak some of the ingredients and how they're prepared. For instance, i don't like getting a huge chunk of onion when biting into the meatballs. So i'm going to mince them up instead of just dicing. Celery will all be food processed. My sister suggested i mix in sausage meat with the ground meat. And the meat definitely needs more garlic and more spices. They're good, but they're more bland than i would prefer.   

     

     This also reminded me that i really need a better way to store my spices. The few that i have are currently sitting on a turn table that they fall off of every time i turn it. So, in other words not ideal.  

     

     I'm already short on counter space, so a while ago, i put my microwave up on a riser so when i opened the door to the microwave, it wouldn't knock over any food i had waiting to go in. This worked great except it became a catch all for random things like my bike water bottle and my cake icing technique book.  

     

     But, armed with a 20% off coupon i snagged from my parent's place, i went and purchased a spice rack from Bed Bath and Beyond. I then placed new spice rack underneath the my microwave and it FIT....just barely. Check out how awesomely close this fit is!!!

     How's that for eyeballing? Note: This rack is designed to stand upright but the hook on the top just looked like a drawer pull to me which gave me the idea. It's also pulled forward to show how small of a gap there is so i'm not loosing any of my food prep area. It pushes back about six inches.  

     

     I'll just be replacing some of the more off-beat ones like Curry and Cumin, and Celery seed (not getting rid of them, just replacing the contents of the jars) for things like Lemon Pepper, Garlic Salt, Onion Powder, and Hungarian Paprika which i use on a much more regular basis.  
     
     Also this weekend was a slew of video game playing, cleaning, helping Lindsey move and playing cat and mouse with the property manager at my complex.  

     

     One thing: Am i crazy for expecting a manager to reply to an email within a day or two? Not a WEEK without a word in response to three emails and then i get a call saying "we haven't heard from you...are you staying or moving out?". I wonder if the girl in the office wrote his email down wrong, cause i checked it several times. And then, once i talk to him, and he says "I'll call you back within a couple hours" and not hear from him until I CALL HIM five hours later.  

     

     This company's office staff is painfully bad at keeping their promises. After a year, i'm not surprised. But it still grates on my nerves to no end.   

     

     Right now, I've turned in my notice to vacate with his promise that he'll see if he can do better than raising my rent 75$. Theoretically, i should be hearing from him before the end of today. *eye roll* 


We'll see what happens. 

Friday company

My only company on Friday afternoons when i'm off of work has been Molly the wallet thief dog. So when i found out a long time friend of mine was also free, I invited him over to help me watch her. (and to play some video games/board games and otherwise be a more talkative house guest than Molly)


This means, all of the sorting, garage sale tossing, organizing, do i really need this-ing must be picked up. The floor must be scoured for things Molly might think are treats for her. Last week, she found a roll of rollaids with one left in the bottom. She was carrying it around in her mouth i guess hoping that her drool would melt the paper wrapper.


Anyway, long time buddy Josh will be joining me today so hopefully he'll be able to help me keep an eye on her and her antics.


Josh is one of those people who puts you at ease. He's got a simple kind of charisma that makes you feel comfortable to be yourself. Laughs are never in short supply. He's also my "oh my god what did my computer do? JOSH HELP!" guru. 


On the agenda today: Speed cleaning, sushi, dog walking, video games, more walking, Dominion, dinner, and then who knows what.


Possible guest appearances of Kenny and Boyfriend Jon.

The value of Gal Pals

Having grown up in a neighborhood brimming with only boys, I've never had many Gal Pals. My female friends always tend to be less silly delicate girly and more sassy geeky smart.

Don't get me wrong, i love my guy buddies and always appreciate the "let's blow shit up or play with something dirty" as opposed to the "let's go shopping". I've had some great times and they've been great friends. But there were always problems they weren't very good at helping with. Like relationships problems, body image issues (not everything is solved with "tell her she's pretty"), and those occasional times when you just need to freak out about a guy.

My early attempts to be feminine were hilarious, now that i'm looking back. I didn't have the Cosmo-approved friends to steer me until relatively recently unless you count my girly-girl sister...and we still disagree on the value of pink. So i took the Tough Girl road from grade school through college. Leather jackets, tank tops, jeans and ever single item of make up that i own can fit into a pouch inside my reasonably sized purse. I was....am tough. Tough on myself, tough on others. At times...way too tough. Needless to say, this made getting some of those feminine friends difficult. But, in time, i found a few and for some reasons that are beyond me, they've stuck around.

To clarify, by feminine, i don't mean the girls that always wear dresses, know the latest trends, or have $300.00 purses which...let's face it....are ugly and only go with one outfit.

I mean the girl friends who are there for you on days when you have a doubt about how beautiful you are, who are there to give you a second opinion for necessary shopping trips and who aren't afraid to throw around the word "cute!", who's honesty is refreshingly anti-BS but not mean, and who remind you to be thankful for the blessings in your life.

Gal Pals are the girls that you band together with when gloom threatens to enter your head. You can laugh over the ridiculousness of price tags, wardrobe malfunctions, surprises your body throws your way, and Men are from Mars moments.

I pretended like i was strong enough to not need these kinds of friends for far too long in my youth. I pretended like these things were irrelevant and worthless knowledge for far too long.

Something happened in the last day that really brought me down. Something that would be difficult for guys to understand the profound effect it had on me. Something that can't be fixed with the "but you are so beautiful" response Boyfriend Jon . It wasn't PMS. It wasn't just insecurities cropping up. It was so much more than that; deeper and more complicated. And i was able to turn to some of my Gal Pals for help with the untangling.

So, after a few hours, some emails, some texts, and some time talking.... i got my reassurance, honesty, laughs, second opinions, scoffs, and ultimately, relief from what was going on in my head. Together we formed a plan that doesn't force me to go this alone nor feel like i have to be carried.

I have Gal Pal support and it means so much to me. They're there to help me when my toughness runs out and i need a booster shot of some attitude and sass.

It's the attack of self taught HTML

Me+HTML= bad combination.

However, thanks to the world of the internet, even someone as inept as me can figure out how to make things like bold, strikeouts, tables, column widths, and tweak certain things about pre-made templates.

I'm in awe of people who can do this all day every day. I humbly bow to your superior skill and enormous amounts of patience. Just reading all the acronyms gives me a headache. tb, table border, tr, table row. I would rather just do an excel sheet. Which, i'm very aware has a very similar code running in the background.

Thank you so much to those who put in the time and effort to make my life easier so that I don't have to speak HTML on a daily basis. You have no idea how much I appreciate that.

Now back to our regularly scheduled programing!

There's been a Rant and Raves tab at the top for quite some time. But due to the obnoxious way I originally had this laid out, it was rather difficult to look at. I tried colors, different lines....but what i really needed all along was a table. Which i now have!

Go go gadget internet. The ultimate tool.

I'm an opinionated person. I know this sometimes is a bad thing, but other times it can be good. I enjoy sharing my opinions and experiences with others. Most of the time i'm just trying to be helpful...in a blunt, graceless, more than you needed to know way.

I hope someone out there finds my Rants and Raves page helpful. Each of the places are hyper-linked to the post that explains more about why i chose to rant or rave.

So here are a few places that haven't made it on my list yet.

Third Place Books in Lake Forest Park:

Not only is this the workplace of wonderful friend Annie from NaNo, but it's hands down the coolest bookstore around. I never much cared for the overpriced Barnes and Nobel, or the snobbish attitude i seemed to routinely get from the Borders personnel. So i was a "leave me alone" second hand book store kind of person. But this place really rivals my favorite half price books because most likely they WILL have the book i'm looking for at super competitive prices. If i want to sit and read the first couple of chapters before buying...i can. Not once have i been interrupted to be convinced by someone who's never read the book that i should definitely buy it. The crew of Third Place really know their stuff and seem like real bookworms themselves rather than people who just needed a job.

They even have multiple kinds of food stuffs (not just a typical cafe) and occasionally a live band. This place is easily worth the drive.

(They also had Buddy Valastro from the Cake Boss there for a signing! COOL)

Another place that's worth the drive

Legend Nails in Kirkland/Juanita

I'm not big on girly things. But manicures and pedicures just feel SO good it's hard to resist sometimes. So when i go get a pedicure and pay good money, it truly and utterly pisses me off when the nail polish chips or peels after ONE DAY.

It's not like i get home and immediately wash my entire collection of dishes. But invariably, i have a tiny window of looking good.

Perhaps thats why Legend Nails is on my raves list. I don't know what they do special but I have never had a pedicure last less than THREE weeks from them. Manicures are usually good for a couple weeks at least before they start to chip.

I found it just after my sister moved because they had just opened and were having a special. Now, i'm more than willing to drive all the way over there. It's a plus cause i have someone to go with :)

Another amusing dinner with Kenny

Buddy Kenny texted me at exactly 5:00pm last night. "Bored and hungry, want to hang out?" Since i was hungry to and confirmed that i did NOT have plans with Boyfriend Jon, we went to Pho. (Vietnamese noodles).

As i told him my tale of woe about the fall, Kenny started cracking jokes to make me feel better. I normally would have J-walked to beat on-coming traffic and to not have to wait in the cold for the crosswalk. And then Kenny had to go and remind me that i was currently a gimp and probably couldn't make it. Since i had my arm hooked through his and was using him to keep me upright as i limped....it would have been ridiculous to try and argue with him.

As we left dinner after discussing our respective jobs, dreams, mutual friends, and the yummy food, Kenny asked if i wanted to go blow some stuff up (Black Ops). Considering lifting my water glass had been an effort, i mimicked the motions for the controller just to make sure my undignified fall hadn't damped that ability. Thumbs...move just fine. Kenny asked me "what about the buttons?" and i started using my pointer fingers. My left was just a little bit slower than usual. He started laughing at me so i told him to stop because clearly i could still deliver a purple-nurple even in my weakened state. That sent both of us into laughing fits as i made ninja sounds and hobbled along the sidewalk back to my car.

Thus began the next three hours of playing Black Ops and trying to remember not to use the Halo Reach controls. For desert Kenny broke out a gallon of vanilla ice cream and root beer and we had old school root beer floats for desert which absolutely hit the spot. I don't think I've had a root beer float in at least a decade. In a word: Awesome

Another one for my Rants and Raves tab:

Pho Than Brothers on Leary Way in Redmond. If you're looking for Pho and nothing else for super cheap. The small bowl is at least 8 inches across and four inches high and believe me, it's a full meal deal for only 6$. Those with bigger appetites...still can manage to get out of there with full bellies for under 10$.

My only comment is the service is fast, but dismally detached. Servers commonly say just three sentences. "how many?" when seating you. "What would you like?" when taking your order which is then brought out no more than five minutes later. And the total for your meal when paying upon leaving. They don't smile, and they typically cluster around the entrance to the kitchen talking in their own language. Also, don't expect to get are-fill of your water unless you wave one of them down and hold up your empty glass. It's not usually a problem, but something they could improve on.

Let the Geek flag fly!

I. Am. A. Geek!

And proudly so. I'm so glad that this era is the era of technology, that nerds and geeks are no longer tormented as loners because we have the glorious world of the web in which to unite and amass our ever-growing numbers!

I know entirely too much about Star Trek (TOS, TNG, DS9, Voyager, Enterprise, and every single movie), Star Wars (yes even the newer ones), Firefly, and Xena....just to touch the top of the list. I game, I WoW'ed (for the Horde!), I Ever-cracked, I Magic'd and I even D&D'd.

My whole life occasionally revolved around one or more of these obsessions. Throwing a fit at my parents if we missed an episode of Voyager. I had the comics, lusted after the more expensive artifacts my parents refused to get me. I argued schematics with my brothers. I won trivia contests. I wondered why we couldn't have money-less/peaceful economies. I dreamed of going to the stars. When I hear of injustice, I feel compelled to fight it.

While I'm more balanced now (hahaha) things like radio show hosts confusing

Mitochondria(power house of living cells) and Midichlorians (the symbiotic force-enabling microorganisms) still drives me insane! I have to remind myself that no everyone knows that Spock's blood is green, or that ATST's from ROTJ are also called chicken-walkers. Or that not everyone in the world knows what i mean when when i use acronyms like that!

I know that in the real world of work, get paid, pay bills, lather-rinse-repeat....these things DON'T MATTER. But I still care about them. To the point of arguing vehemently...i care about them.

I also have a sturdy support group that helps me enable this passion. Boyfriend Jon who has openly accepted my geekiness and professes it often to his co-workers. Of course, he some times uses it to tease them. "Yeah, well my girlfriend plays video games WITH me!" he's told me several times with a very impish grin on his face. I've felt completely free to remind him every other week that i don't mind watching the newest Star Trek movie again, or that i'm going to go home and pop Star Wars in, or that i just finished watching the final season of Xena and I'm thinking about starting in on BSG. We even fell for each other over Firefly.

Kenny indulges me to my bad Call of Duty skills which are progressing far beyond the "Oh my god...i don't know what to do...where am i going...door?WHAT DOOR!...i'm being shot...where are my dudes!....DIE YOU DIE DIE DIE!!!!" (which apparently was sending both Kenny and his roommate into laughing fits) to..."wait...what? I beat you kenny!?" He knows he has a willing and ...entertaining second player for evenings when he knows he's going to be off. It's great for me, because what better way to vent the stress from a frustrating day than by blowing a bunch of crap up? Figuratively that is.... erm.

Kenny is once again putting on a Call of Duty party where we all come and play on a huge projector screen and try to out-do each other. It's something i'm really looking forward to to jump start my weekend.

Nano 2010 Day 26

We're down to the pickle area of the home run of NaNo 2010. Just four days left.

Word count: 44,001
Today's Quota: 43,342

Today i would like to spotlight the amazing amount of success that Boyfriend Jon has achieved. I'm so proud of him that today at the write in, Jon was able to not only surpass the 100k word mark, but also to complete his story. While i am extremely jealous of this, he is fully deserving of a moment of fame on my blog. I am so proud of him.

At the moment i am neck and neck with a married couple who are also competing in Nano. But we are all on track to pass the 50k mark on time. We also had another new comer to Nano win recently and still have people well on their way.

To any fellow Nano-ers who are reading this, regardless of wether you are going to reach 50k or not...i am so proud of you. This is a crazy thing to attempt and even if you've only written a couple hundred words, that is more than you would have written. This is not easy and many people won't even take the plunge to attempt such a daring adventure. Major koodos to you for trying.

50k or bust.