My New Life Out Here

The Aftermath

2012-02-25T20:10:00.000-08:00

"Somebody better stick a camera up my ass today" - Rae-rae, checking into her colonoscopy appointment.

My procedure went swimmingly. To quote my doctor's quick note on my chart "Good colon!"

However, when I tried to check in at 10am, they couldn't seem to find my appointment. That's when I said the witty quote above. They finally found my appointment, and after an hour of waiting, I was whisked away to a lovely prep bay. I changed into my fabulous gown with matching robe and non-slip socks. I answered all of the questions, got my wristband...and then my IV.

And let me tell you I was a big girl. I didn't cry. I didn't sweat. I didn't punch the nurse. She was very proud of me. Because you know I told her she needed to prepare herself. She put the IV in my hand, rather than the center of my elbow, so that helped a lot.

After that, I was escorted down to the procedure suite, where I laid on my side with all kinds of wires attached me. The nurse said, "Okay, you'll start to feel a little sleepy..." I remember blinking twice and noticing that the the computer monitor letters were getting blurry.

And then I woke up with juice in my hand in the recovery room. Poof. The only evidence I have of something being done to me is the extra air in my intestines. My middle is huge. But other than than, nada.

Today, however, is a different story.

My head hurts and is still swimmy. "Gassy" does not begin to describe my innards. And I'm just mad.

It could be because, although I slept from 1:30pm to 6pm yesterday, and then went to bed at 11pm, I was up at 5:30am this morning to film episodes eight through 10 of The Collectibles. In Bothell, which is 45 minutes away, where is was freakin' snowing. I kid you not.

I made it until noon, but I was just angry and it was showing. So I asked Todd to set up a ride home for him and Kayleigh, and I came home. I slept for four hours, which helped the headache, but I'm still mad and still gassy. It was nice to eat pasta for dinner, though.

I just got a text from Todd that they've wrapped and are on their way home, so it will be nice to hear about how things went today and watch a little footage. I'm not sure if I'm up to filming tomorrow - we're looking at another 12 hour day. Guess I'll see how I feel when I wake up at 5:30am tomorrow.

Ug. I tell ya right now - 5:30am doesn't feel too good at all. Maybe I should just go back to bed now.

The Cleansing - A Journey

2012-02-23T21:57:00.000-08:00

It is 6:30pm, the night before my colonoscopy. I have just finished my 16oz of gunk and am now working on my two 16oz of water. I have been on a clear liquid diet all day, despite my prepping effort and buying strawberry and cherry Jello. Can't have red or purple liquids. Crap. So my wonderful son and daughter walked down to QFC and got me some lime and orange Jello. It's no substitute for pasta, but it's one day. I can live without solid food for one day.

The bathroom is prepared. My laptop's electrical cord is there, I have a bucket and tons of toilet paper.

I am ready.

Let's cleanse!

**********

Well, that didn't take long at all. One hour exactly and whammo! The cleansing has begun. Also feeling a smidge nauseous just from all of the water I've choked down. Blech.

**********

Hour two. Not so bad. Yes, I've lost all feeling in my toes from sitting, but I've got Netflix streaming and lots of water, so I'm good. It's not as gross as one might think. Very...efficient. And simple. I wonder how I'll know when I'm done?

**********

Okay, it's 9:56pm and I am removed from the bathroom. I think I'm empty. Aside from being REALLY hungry, this is not the horror I was expecting. I pooped. And I'm done. Big deal.

Now talk to me tomorrow after I've got the IV jabbed into me. Ha.

'Night.

Coming Soon!

2012-02-15T21:51:00.000-08:00

You've read about the Boob Scare of '06.
You crossed your legs with me during the Colposcopy Scare of '09.

And now, it's the procedure you've all be waiting for. Coming to this blog, RIGHT HERE, in 10 days...

Colonoscopy 2012.

Yes, folks, it's the big one! The magic, the madness, the sedation, the IV! There will be purging of enormous proportions! There will be fasting, jello, clear liquids and, you can be sure, Valium (there MUST be Valium. Otherwise, ain't no way in hell they're gettin' that IV in me).

I went to see Dr. Pollock (swear ta gawd) because I was having some...*ahem*..."issues" in my buttular region. I have no qualms about these kinds of things. I've had crap going on (HA! CRAP!) all my life. I blame genetics. But a woman can only take so much. It's hard enough feeling sexy in the boudoir with 40 extra pounds on me. Add these frequent "issues", and well, something's gotta give. So since I'm a big girl now, I'm having it taken care of. Before the end of February. When my insurance runs out.

Smart, yes?

Anywho, after examining me and reading about my parents' cancers, Dr. P suggested a colonoscopy prior to the surgery. Just in case there was more going on than we thought. He said, and I quote "I would hate to get in there and mess around, then find out I have to go in again and mess around some more."

I like Dr. P.

So, next Friday, the 24th at 10am, I will be, as my daddy says, roto-rootered (love those hillbillies). Then, on the 29th at 8:30am, I will have, what I like to call, reconstructive surgery. I told Dr. P, "Make me pretty again!" He laughed and said, "I can't guarantee perfection. Just be aware." This is why he works on the nooks and crannies.

Until then, I will clean, clean, clean! I will worry about the IV later...

Employment Free - Day 1

2012-02-15T17:06:00.000-08:00

First and foremost, I slept until 9am. Yeah, baby.

I got up, had a little breakfast, had a little tea, surfed a little of the interwebs, then showered and got into my cleaning clothes. So many projects, so little time!!

First up, under the kitchen sink. It was disgusting. That took all of 20 minutes.

But then, the pantry. And I took pictures!!

This walk in pantry is one of the reason we bought this house. You just can find space like this in old craftsman houses. I don't know what we'd do without this thing.

But, as you can see, it tends to get a little out of control. It's part tool shed, part pantry, part storage. Too much crap.

So I moved the big tools downstairs to the bottom laundry shelf. Which required cleaning the laundry shelf, and pulling out the laundry shelf and vacuuming behind it, then vacuuming the whole downstairs and the stairs themselves. But back to the pantry.

Wala! The goal was to be able to access all of the platters and entertaining stuff I use. I had trays and platters and bowls strewn all over the kitchen. But now, they're on that top shelf. Easy to get to. The toolbox is still down there, with the hammer and mallet and some other handy stuff. All tidy.

For about two hours. Then I went into the pantry to throw something in the compost (that white trashcan on the right) and saw this:

It's like we have gnomes that go behind me and mess stuff up. And I think we know who those gnomes are, don't we? Grrr.

Tomorrow, I think I'll tackle the crawl space at the bottom of the basement stairs. I bet a lot of that crap could go to Goodwill. Look out - Rae-rae's purging!!

What's Up With Me

2012-02-05T11:46:00.000-08:00

Well, lets see.

I'm getting over a cold. Todd's been sick for a couple of weeks, so of course, I caught it too. Mostly just sinus crap and a cough. Probably from the sinus crap.

**********

I've become addicted to Sons of Anarchy. I'd seen a couple of episodes a while back and thought, eh. It's okay. But then we started thinking about who could play Todd in "Green Light" and Todd thought of Ryan Hurst (below - yum) so, of course, we had to do research. See how Ryan's acting was. And it was during this research, I became officially addicted to this show.

Don't know about it? It's about a motorcycle club in Charming, California. They're a tight family and there's drama and there's killing and there's lots of boys with long hair who drive motorcycles. Love it. And while they seem to be all tough and mean, they really do love their family and protect each other.

We were in the Junction yesterday and I heard a motorcycle drive by and got a little excited. "It's the Sons!"

**********

Oh, I didn't drink for five days. That's worth noting.

**********

I'm on my last leg at work. I have one full week, then the 13th and 14th, then I'm done. And no I don't have another job lined up yet. Two possibilities, but nothing concrete. I am eligible for unemployment (since my position was eliminated) so we won't be destitute by any means. Oddly enough, I like the job better now that Super Boss and the 23 year old are gone. Damn.

**********

We have a date set for the table read of "Green Light". Don't know what a "table read" is? Lemme esplain.

Bunch of actors sit around a table (or, in this case, our living room) and read the script. We have about 15 actors and each actor has been assigned a part (or two). Someone will read the narrative (the setting "Dark apartment - nighttime") and then the actors will chime in and read their lines. I've learned that this is the first step in editing a script. You want to read it aloud, all the way through, to see how it flows. Do some lines seem out of place? Does the jump from one scene to the next make sense? Does that line even work?

Our friend Lisa is spearheading this. We sent her the script, she loved it, she emailed with "Time to schedule the read!!" She contacted most of the actors, she got it scheduled. She's running the show. And Todd and I are just fine with that. We'll listen in on the read (it will be weird to hear someone else saying things I've said) and we'll give our two cents, but this is Lisa's project. It's just easier that way. Todd and I are way too close - we'd be critiquing every little thing and the movie would never get made.

Anywho, I'm super excited. And super nervous. If you'll remember, faithful reader, this movie is (in part) about my horrible year of 2007 when I made The Ginormous Mistake, and then The Fiasco happened. We are telling this story to the public. Yes, my good friends know about that time, and they know that I'm not the same person, but people who don't know me are going to think "What a bitch!"

Hopefully we've written the story in a way that shows how broken I was and how I eventually redeemed myself. Hopefully.

**********

Speaking of movie making, we have a full week of that stuff! The night after the table read, I'm attending a dinner for women in film. I'm going alone. Without Todd. By myself! I KNOW!

Lisa, mentioned above, is hosting this dinner, so I emailed her and said "Tell me I'm going to know some people there!" She assures me I will and she's very excited that I'm coming. Makes me feel loved.

Might need to have Jamie do my hair. I need to look extra spiffy.

And then the night after that, we have a movie premiere, where Lisa will again be in attendance, as well as most of the women who will be at the dinner AND at the reading.

I believe the word you're looking for is "saturated".

**********

So, work, movies, social events, TV shows...what else is going on?

Health is okay. I'm going to start kickboxing class with Trish next week. The instructor assures me she will not have us sparring again. And Trish will be with me so I should be okay.

I am uncomfortably overweight now (but I'm happy, dammit!) so I'm a bit more motivated to try and slim down. I've had chocolate once in the past week. And I don't drink coffee during the week now. I drink green tea at work. Coffee is now a special treat on the weekend (I put lots of sugar in it). I'm walking a bit more because I'm taking the bus every day. It's the little things. I'm not going to fool myself into thinking I can quit eating processed foods and carbs and crap. Baby steps to being better.

**********

However, all of that is out the window today. Super Bowl Sunday! We're going over to some friends' where there will be lots of other good friends and food and alcohol, so I give myself a pass today. I'm gonna have fun. Enjoy the day!

I'll be better tomorrow.

Free At Last, Free At Last...

2012-01-27T22:10:00.000-08:00

So, most of you have seen my Facebook status - my job has been eliminated. Believe it or not, I'm happy about this.

Backstory, now that I can speak freely about it.

You remember that my review back in October was, ahem, less than positive. Things never really rebounded after that. My office manager and I had a follow up meeting in November, and he expressed his "concern" because the boys weren't coming around. Still weren't happy with me.

I actually went into Super Boss' office and asked him - "What's up? How am I doing? Still like me?" He laughed and said, "Yeah, I still like you, but..."

Uh. But?

"But I just don't think this is the right environment for you."

Ah. Because I'm not a 23 year old blond with a 20 inch waist? Honey, you knew that when you met me.

It could also be that I'm respectful (even to people I don't like), I don't act like I'm in high school and I think that answering the phone using the phrase "Hey, you retard! What the f**k, bro?"

Yes. I don't believe this environment is for me.

Regardless, that's not the reason my position has been eliminated.

I had an inkling back in November. Super Boss didn't really give me much work to do. Hell, he didn't really talk to me unless he had to. But he was very concerned about his commissions. What was outstanding? What do we need to bill for? "Why is this so hard for you to grasp?" (direct quote) He had private meetings on his Outlook calendar (but apparently forgot that I can just go into his office and look at his calendar because he never, ever logged out or shut down his computer). He wouldn't give me a gift list for Christmas. He was suddenly closing his door frequently.

December came, and with it came the holiday party. As I said, aside from Todd and the receptionist, no one really talked to me. Including Super Boss. I met his wife briefly - she actually gave me a big hug and said thank you for taking care of her husband. I responded with, "I'm trying."

But then, after months of talking to this woman daily, she started calling Super Boss' cell phone. Never called his office line. Huh.

Then Christmas vacation came. Friday, December 23rd. We had a pizza-and-wine lunch at the office, everyone was jolly, and I gave out little $5 gifts to my people. And at 1pm, we all left for the holiday.

And Super Boss didn't say "Merry Christmas" or "Have a good weekend!" or "Kiss my ass, ya bitch!" He actually left while I was in the bathroom. The receptionist told me.

And, oh, a gift? A card? Nope. Nada.

That was clincher. I was done.

Oh! But not so quickly! Our Branch Manager quit when we returned from the holiday. Jumping ship, they called it. One day notice. And he went to another firm. In the same building. Unbelievable.

I was surprised, but my office manager wasn't. He said it's what they do. Once these brokers make up their mind to leave, they don't really give "notice". And you really don't want them to - just get out.

Well, rumors started flying. Who else was leaving?

Super Boss, apparently. And he was taking a baby broker with him (you remember Chester and Spike from Looney Tunes? Super Boss is Spike and baby broker is Chester. Totally.)

Anywho, Super Boss was jumping ship. Therefore, big salary position was eliminated. That position was specifically for Super Boss. But if Super Boss ain't there, they don't need me. Know what that means?

SEVERANCE PACKAGE! WOOHOO!

Oh but wait. What this NEW rumor going around?

Super Boss is taking the 23 year old with him. The only other admin assistant in the office.

Freakin' crap.

So, they can't get rid of me. They'll have no one at all. But if I take the 23 year old's position, it's a severe pay cut. She's an Administrative Assistant. I'm a Senior Administrative Assistant. That's a few thousand dollars a year difference. What to do, what to do?

I'm resigning my position next Friday. My last day will be February 14. And that's only because I took the 15th, 16th and 17th off - my fantabulous sister-in-law is whisking away to me Palm Springs for five days. Gawd bless her.

Now to hit the pavement!
Again.
Crap.

Filming and Ice McGeddon

2012-01-20T14:19:00.001-08:00

First of all, I’m having a hard time balancing Facebook and this blog. FB is instantaneous so I tend to not rehash stuff on the blog. But that means I don’t blog very much. Hmm. What to do?

Anywho, lemme update you on our oh-so-exciting life out here in the Arctic.

Saturday was the first day of The Collectibles shoot. We were up bright and early at 5:30am (shoot me) and on set in Bothell at 7am. As always, once we’re there we have a great time. It’s just the getting there that sucks.

We actually got some coverage in our neighborhood paper, The West Seattle Herald.

That pic of me is even more incentive to lose weight.

We were home by about 7:30pm that evening, and had a lovely evening of vegging out.

Sunday, up again at 5:30am, on set at 7am. However, this was quite the exciting day. The snow had started to fall overnight, and while West Seattle didn’t get very much, boy howdy, Bothell did! So much so that one cast member couldn’t make it, and we had to send people down the hill to get a couple of others.

We cancelled the catering we had scheduled that day so we could just plow through and wrap up. This was our last day shooting at this particular location, which meant we also had to pack out – load up all of our gear, clean up, and put all of the offices back the way they were. That takes a good two hours.

So home at 9pm. And soaking feet until 10pm. Then bed.

Monday was much easier. And much snowier. We had a call time of 11am, to give everyone the chance to assess the situation. We didn’t have a problem getting to set, and I don’t think anyone else did either.

We shot at my friend Michael’s house, that has the bar, the same place we shot the On and On video last year. We’ve decided that The Mop and Bucket is the official superhero bar. Todd and I, along with Dan, Landon and Michael’s girlfriend Chris, were all extras in the bar scenes. You can spot me by my long, black wig. I believe this will give me another credit on IMDB. Hee hee.

If I knew how to make an arrow, I would have pointed me out for you.

I need to get a picture up on my profile.

We wrapped the shoot around 5pm, and thus began the Wrap Party. We plan the shoots this way – wrap at the bar. Instant wrap party.

But the weather threatening to turn at any moment, the wrap party wrapped up around 9pm and we headed home to our snowy cottage.

And because I’m not new, I took Tuesday off. I’ve done these shoots before. I am no good the day afterward. Luckily, the snow really hit Tuesday afternoon and come Wednesday morning, there was no way in hell I was leaving the house.

Same goes for Thursday.

The forecast said everything should have started melting around 1pm on Thursday, but instead, we got freezing rain all morning, which put a half an inch of ice over everything, then it started snowing around 2pm.

It did actually warm up overnight (a whopping 33 degrees when I woke up this morning) so the ice started to melt, which made the roads much better to drive on, which gave me no excuse to stay home. I did however, take the bus in.

So, a one day work week isn’t so bad, right? I was quite lazy (loaded word) on Tuesday and Wednesday, but I beat myself up enough Wednesday night that when I woke up Thursday, I was ready to organize! And organize I did! And of course, I didn’t take pictures. Because I suck.

Our office is now a clean, serene place to work on the computer, rather than a catch all for everything that doesn’t have a place. I am very proud.

And while I cleaned the office, Todd began the arduous task of putting all 600 and something DVDs into three ring binders. We now have a crap load of DVD cases that we can either give a way or donate, thus freeing up the two bookshelves in the living room for actual books. Much cleaner, less clutter, ahhhh.

We still need more binders, though.

So all in all a very productive, then lazy (loaded word) then productive week. And only one day of work.

**********

Speaking of, there are changes afoot (aren’t there always?) Of course, I’m not at liberty to discuss those changes yet (any day now!!!) but suffice it to say, my position is more than likely being eliminated.

Fantastic.

I’m not worried. Really. I got feelers out. I think the Universe will take of me. She knows what I need, and this position for Super Boss is not it. So this is a good change. Really.

More to come soon. I hope.

2012 - Week One

2012-01-09T14:49:00.001-08:00

So far, I’m not real impressed with 2010.

It started off pretty well – hanging with Dan and Trish and Gamy. Always fun. I made top hats* so we were festive. I didn’t drink too much, so I didn’t get a talkin’ to the next day (although, I’d had just enough to where I was uber mushy and cried to Todd for two hours about how much I loved him. He didn’t seem to mind so much).

But then Sunday, I was a little down. We didn’t get to bed until around 1:30am, so maybe I was just tired.

But then Monday, I was even farther down. And then Tuesday and Wednesday and Thursday, in a pit. Not wanting to get out of bed. Not wanting to be social. Not even wanting to clean. Just…blah and clingy. I’ve started tracking these days on our Google calendar. They seem to be coming a little more frequently and that concerns me.

I’ll talk to my therapist about that.

We had a lovely, relaxing weekend of doing pretty much nothing. Well, except for the production meeting at 9:30 Saturday morning. That put a damper on my sleeping. But it was a reason to have brunch and visit with Trish and little Rosiland, so time well spent. Then Steve came over that afternoon for a visit and stayed for a few hours but he’s low key. I don’t have to host him.

And then that evening we joined our friend Darlene over at another friend’s house, (and my twin sister, I believe) Lisa. Todd has known Darlene for a very long time but he just met Lisa this past year. She’s an actor, writer, director, producer, all around movie gal. Just like Darlene. So we gathered to have a screening of some latest projects.

We meant to just stay for a couple of hours, but ended up getting home at 1:30am. It’s just so easy to get caught up in movie talk. And I learn so much.

Needless to say, Sunday was a wash. It’s actually very pathetic – if I’m up past 11pm or midnight, I am worthless the next day. Remember when I was a 20 something who could party all night and get up and do again the next day?

No?

You’re right. I wasn’t blogging then. Hell, there were no blogs then. But trust me, I was a party animal. Sometimes I miss it, most times I don’t.

Where was I?

Oh yes. Sunday. Lazy (loaded word). Since we’ve finished the second draft of the "Green Light"** script, we decided we needed to do some “research”. Which really meant watching movies all afternoon. Which was fine by me. Todd was a trooper and went to the grocery store that evening, and I cleaned the kitchen while he was gone, but that’s about the extent of our productivity.

Because NEXT weekend is The Collectibles shoot. With a 7am call time on Saturday and Sunday. So I thought I better save up my energy. I love these shoots when I’m actually there and laughing my ass off, but getting up at 6am just makes me mad. “I am not a morning person” is an understatement.

**********

*We had our mini tops hats for New Year’s Eve!!

Granted, I ended up spending maybe $30 less than I would have if I had just bought the damn $10 pre-made hats, but hey, I got my crafty on. And Kayleigh helped me decorate some, so we did some typical mother/daughter crafty stuff.

Now I’m done for a while.

*****

** Todd has mentioned the "Green Light" script in his blog, although he's not writing there too much anymore (because of said script, and the web series, and the movie pitch, and the comic strip, and taking out the cat poop) so you may have missed it.

For those of you who are lost, Todd and I started talking a couple of years ago about writing a screenplay that followed him through his horrible year and me through my horrible year and at the end of the screenplay we would finally meet - when I show up at his door to audition. BAM! Meant to be.

Kind of like Sleepless in Seattle, which is one of the movies we watched last night for research. The two characters go on their own journey for the majority of the movie, and don't really meet until the last scene.

Todd and I went through our own journey and look where it brought us.

Old Dog Haven

2011-12-30T09:13:00.000-08:00

I have found yet another reason to 1) oogle cute doggies, 2) pine for animals.

Old Dog Haven is a group that fosters and adopts out elderly dogs, so they can live their last days in a loving home.

And I want them all.

These dogs are blind, deaf, arthritic, sick. Poor babies. I just want to take them in and cuddle with them on the couch and love them until they pass away. They deserve that.

My heart hurts.

So, That Was Fun

2011-12-26T11:52:00.000-08:00

Ah, another Christmas has come and gone. One of my favorite lines in "Suddenly, It's Christmas" is:

"Christmas carols in December and November, too
It's no wonder we're depressed
When the whole thing is through"

It's over. It's all over. Time to take down the pretty lights and the pretty tree and the pretty village. No more excuses for eating cookies all day.

Sigh.

I think I'm exhausted. Maybe that's it.

Anywho, we did have a really good Christmas. We didn't open presents until 8:30am or so - teenagers. And after about two hours, Tyler had gone back out to his cottage, and we were curled up watching The Lion King. And then Stand By Me. And then Amadeus.

It was a lovely day.

Steve and Steph stopped by for a few minutes that evening to exchange gifts (fluffy robe!!) and then it was back to movies. Except The Tempest was horrible and Todd and I both fell asleep through it so we went to bed at 8:30.

It's gray and dreary today, so I'm not motivated to do much of anything. CB and I have talked about getting together, and I invited some friends over for dinner, but I still need to confirm with them. Eh. Whatever. We'll see what happens.

Merry Christmas!

Mid Christmas Eve Eve Eve Babbling

2011-12-22T11:52:00.000-08:00

Why did I have to come to work today? SuperBoss isn’t here, the phone isn’t ringing, hardly anyone else is here. I’ve already organized the three cubes used to for storage, packed up some files, and cleaned and organized the copy room. Guess I could Swiffer the offices?

Steph is coming in town for lunch so I’m counting down the minutes to that. Rumor has it our office is closing at 1pm tomorrow, after a pizza lunch. That’s something to look forward to.

**********

I haven’t had coffee since Sunday. My stomach was icky Monday morning so I had green tea instead. Actually, four cups of green tea. And I was more alert and energized that usual. So Tuesday, I stuck with the green tea. Only two cups that day. And yesterday, just one cup. And I was still awake.

I’m on my second cup today and doing pretty well for 11:14am. This is normally about the time I prop my elbow up on the desk, and rest my head in my hand and “rest my eyes” while moving my mouse around on a document.

**********

My shopping is 99.9% complete, yet I’m still a bit disappointed in myself. I started in September. My plan was to not have to go to a store after December 10^th.

Well, crap.

Christmas = 1 / Me = 0

**********

I am having to consciously bow out of events right now. I am beat. I was going to attend Kayleigh’s Rainbow Girls meeting tonight, but in thinking about everything I want to get done before Sunday, and realizing that I still have to freakin’ work tomorrow, we have a party Friday night, we’re going to Bellingham on Saturday…..

Gah!

When am I supposed to cuddle with Tom?! And wrap Todd’s presents!?

So Kayleigh allowed me to bow out of tonight’s meeting. I’ll go next month. Promise, sweetie.

(Maybe I can squeeze a soakie in there, too.)

**********

Speaking of wine (wha...?), you should see the number of bottles in my office. Holy Zinfandel! The receptionist and I like to play the game Guess How Much This Bottle Is. I end up finding every bottle on the internet and getting the price. I could make a pretty decent credit card payment with all this money sitting around.

**********

My therapist is not covered on my new medical insurance. Which means I may have to compensate with drinking more wine.

I think liver transplants are covered, though, so it’ll be okay.

**********

I have quite the vacuum discussion going on Facebook. My dad-in-law is very pro Kirby. I am not. Let the trash talk begin!!

**********

I think I’m already starting to get sad because Christmas is almost over. I am SO not a summer person. Summer does not make me happy. Yes, the sun is nice, but it’s boring. Christmas is festive and bright and colorful! What can we do during the summer that is festive and bright and colorful? Outdoor tiki decorations? Palm tree lights?

If money were no object (here’s where Todd chimes in and says “But it is…”) I would decorate the shit out of every season. I’d have different dishes and bedding for each. I’d put out bunnies and flowers for spring, tiki torches and grass skirts for summer (all three weeks), and orange and purple lights all over the house for fall.

And because I would have all of this crap, I would of course need bins for everything. Red and green bins for winter, purple bins for spring, black bins for summer and orange bins for fall.

What?

And then I’d need some place to store all of these bins. Which brings me to….

**********

Did you know you can buy attic stairs to install?

These houses up here just have a hatch. No ladder, like the pull down doors and ladders in Texas. So to get in the attic, we have to drag our ladder upstairs, Todd puts on his mask (loose insulation up there), Todd moves the little hatch panel out of the way, then I have to hand stuff up to him or he hands stuff down. Ridiculous. But now!!

My next semi-big purchase will be stairs. Once we have those, I can put boards across the beams up there and store stuff! Like you’re supposed to in an attic!

I’m so excited.

**********

What else is going on? You’re probably itching to get back to your wrapping and your baking and your cuddling. I should let you go. If I don’t get a chance before Sunday, have a very Merry Christmas.

Or Happy Christmas, as they used to say.

Or Merry Ho Ho. Which my mama always said.

Merry Happy Ho Ho!!

Happy Solstice!

2011-12-21T12:44:00.000-08:00

Most people love the Winter solstice because it means that, starting tomorrow, the days get longer. I don't much care for that. You know me, I love to sleep. And I feel guilty about sleeping when it's still light out.

Whatever. To each their own.

Now please enjoy this ecard I made at Some Ecards.

Gawd Help Me, I Have An Idea

2011-12-19T13:34:00.000-08:00

I love the mini top hat fad that’s happening right now. Very cute and festive. So in my surfing, I found a pic of one and sent it to Trish with a note that said:

“Correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m pretty sure we need these for our New Year’s party.”

Trish replied with:

“OMG YES”.

Except these hats are $10 at Party City. And we’ll probably have six or seven woman at Trish and Dan’s for New Year’s and you know that if Trish and I have cute party hats, EVERY WOMAN should have a cute party hat.

So I started looking around for cheaper ones, maybe some in bulk. Amazon has a bunch, but holy shit, they range from $2.99 to $750 (I kid you not).

While I could afford to buy seven of the cheaper ones (well, I would want Kayleigh to have one too, and she’s going to her friend’s for New Year’s so her friend should have one….) or ten but that’s $30 for a bunch of hats we may never wear again. And if I got the nicer ones, we’re looking at over $100.

So then I started thinking (say it with me) “How hard can it be?!” I could totally make a bunch of these!

Then came the search for the How To and I found this blog . She bought the little top hats in the doll section of a craft store. Brilliant! I could just get some ribbon, feathers, bling and hot clue the stuff on there. Then glue the hat to a headband or an alligator clip and WALA. Instant craftiness!

Oh, but what if I can’t find the top hats? NEW YEAR’S WILL BE RUINED!! I found some in bulk at a craft site, but that store is now closed until mid January. OH NO.

But then!

In trying to find that MomDot.com site, I came across a couple of other DYI site and oh my gawd, they actually make the top hats out of cardboard! EVEN CHEAPER (and I could make them at my office since the next two weeks will be absolutely dead around here).

Oh, the possibilities! And the option paralysis. But one way or another, we will have mini tops hats on New Year’s Eve. I mean it!

Round 2 of the Holiday Festivities!

2011-12-19T11:03:00.001-08:00

Can I just say how much I love Sunday mornings? Especially when I don’t have a damn thing to do. Todd had a shoot this morning at 9am, so I slept and cuddled with Tom until I decided I should maybe get up since the game started at 10am. I made coffee and had an English muffin and watched the Seahawks frickin’ whoop up on the Bears! You go boys!

Anywho, festivities.

I attended Rachelle’s party stag last night. It seems the last few nights finally caught up with Todd and the poor guy was just exhausted. So he stayed home to prepare for his shoot and work on our Christmas card picture (cards will be in the mail on Tuesday. I mean it!)

I had a lovely time (dressed in my swanky outfit) visiting with Rachelle, Shaun and Jamie (who happens to live in Rachelle’s building). They’re really the only people I visited with because I don’t have much in common with Rachelle’s other friends.

Shaun just bought his first hot tub (with a house attached) and Jamie is, once again, in school getting her MBA, so there was lots of catching up.

I was home early enough to catch Saturday Night Live, so Todd and I cuddled in bed and watched that, then drifted off to sweet sweet sleep.

And here we are. Our last festivity is this evening, when we trek over to Doug and Ann’s for our gift exchange with them. Ann got a ham and some sides, and Todd and I will take our new magical brie dish - brie, sliced in half, with Todd’s homemade cranberry sauce slathered in the middle and on top. Great for the holidays, and also for Halloween as it looks like someone slaughtered a pig on a plate. Just beautiful.

Until then, I will snooze on this couch in my jammies and watch Tombstone for the second time in two days. That movie never gets old.

Doc Holliday – “Nonsense! I have not yet begun to defile myself.”

Round 1 of the Holiday Festivities!

2011-12-17T11:26:00.000-08:00

Wednesday night, we had my holiday work party at Garage. Todd and I were uber festive in our Santa hats, and our receptionist was the life of the party. People bowled, ate, took photos, played pool and drank a lot.

While it was fun, I very much felt like I was in high school again. If it weren’t for Todd and the receptionist, I wouldn’t have had anyone to talk to. I was very much the newbie outsider.

But I’m 36 now, so it doesn’t hurt quite as bad as it used to.

On Thursday, we had our new friends Erin and Collin over for dinner. Erin and Collin are actors and movie makers, so the conversation revolved around movie talk for three hours. And I could actually keep up!

Last night was the Ugly Sweater party at Kristin and Kyle’s. We haven’t seen them since their wedding in September, so it was good to just hang and chit chat with them. It was a small group (even better) and I made a new friend. Coincidently, she writes NotMartha.com, a DYI and neat ideas blog. It’s pure porn for me. I suspect she is my long lost twin.

I also learned that her husband, Kirby Krackle’s bass player, was born in West Virginia. So we had much to chat about.

Today is all about catching up. On sleep, on cleaning, on water. Then we’re off to Rachelle’s holiday party tonight. I think I’ll go swanky. Black dress, faux fur pinkish coat. Super heels. Yes, it feels like a swanky night.

Random Thoughts and Other Crap

2011-12-13T13:09:00.000-08:00

While I am 150% into Christmas this year, I am obviously old and don’t care about my presents. We have a ton of gifts under the tree and I have yet to bend down there and look to see what I have.

It’s too hard to get back up.

**********

We went to KMTT’s Winter Warmth Concert last Thursday evening. I enjoyed Florence and The Head and the Heart and Mat Kearney, but the venue (WAMU Theater) was cavernous and sterile and cold. There was no “warmth” there whatsoever. And I was tired, so I was cranky and just not in the mood to deal with all the little 20 somethings who were drinking and dancing around all carefree because they got to nap after their shift at Starbucks and despite all of that alcohol, they would be probably be able to bounce back up at 5am the next morning feeling oh so perky and ready for life while I had to take Friday off because I knew there was no way in hell I’d be able to get up on time for work after going to bed at midnight.

Yes, maybe I’m a little bitter because I have to work a desk job in order to be an adult and pay my mortgage. Hmph.

**********

However, taking Friday off was just fine with me. I slept in until 9ish, and I had a leisurely breakfast and then finally got my butt in gear and went shopping all freakin’ day. It was wonderful.

I might have also had a happy meal for lunch. Oops.

**********

Friday night was pizza and movies. We watched Super 8. I didn’t care for it. While it’s JJ Abrams, it was just like every Spielberg movie ever made, all rolled into one.

Yawn.

The kids liked it, though.

Then we watched the new Green Lantern. It doesn’t matter what it was about. Ryan Reynolds is hawt.

**********

Saturday, we ran some errands, then delivered gift baskets/bags to our neighbors. That’s the best part of Christmas for me. Spoiling people.

We put in wine for the grown ups, fancy Christmas sodas for the kiddos, Todd's homemade banana bread, some chocolates, shortbread cookies and a little fun thing like a game or finger puppets.

I love our neighbors.

**********

Saturday night, we went to see Twelfth Night’s “It a Wonderful Life” at Kenyon Hall. Todd wasn’t in it this year. It was lovely, as always. We ended up hanging out with some of the cast at a local bar afterwards. Low key, easy evening.

**********

And Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update is totally worth mentioning. Alec Baldwin, despite being a prick sometimes, is freakin’ awesome.

**********

Todd got up early on Sunday to meet Ron for coffee, so I finally woke up at 11am. Kayleigh came into chat, so I just laid in bed until noon and talked with her and cuddled with Tom. Once I finally got up, we had breakfast, then K decided she wanted to make cookies. So, she baked and I cleaned while we listened to Christmas music. It was just like being a kid again, hanging out with mom on the weekends.

And it made me a little homesick.

**********

Once Todd finally returned, we chilled out on the couch for the afternoon and snoozed. Then we went to the store for dinner supplies and I cleaned up his kitchen so he could cook, and he made a wonderful dinner of fried rice (I swear to gawd I’d starve if he ever left me now) and then there was “Hell on Wheels” and “Grimm” and then taking Jamie’s neighbor basket to her and then finally, sweet sweet sleep.

I like sleeping way too much.

**********

And to prove that the holidays are in full swing, we have two evenings with no plans the seven days. We’ve got my winter soiree, dinner with new friends, an Ugly Sweater Christmas party, a responsible adult Christmas party and a gift exchange with Doug and Ann. Oh, and then a few days later, dinner with Doug and Ann.

I live for the busy times.

Now if I could just stay awake during the day…

By Popular Demand!

2011-12-13T11:41:00.000-08:00

It seems my veggie enchiladas are quite a hit. I've gotten two emails recently, asking for the recipe. I feel so special.

So, my post from 2006, on Life Out Here:

**********

Chef Raechelle

I made enchiladas tonight for dinner.
Difficult? you say.
No. Not at all.

Who's up for a recipe? A first for this blog....

Enchiladas de, uh, Me
Serves 2 (or 4 if everyone eats just one)

1 red bell pepper, sliced
1 yellow bell pepper, sliced
1 zucchini, sliced
1 white onion, sliced
4 medium mushrooms, sliced (optional, I like mushrooms)
4 taco size tortillas (whole wheat or flour)
1 small bunch of cilantro, chopped
1 cup (or so) of shredded cheese (pepper jack or cheddar)
Olive oil (use when needed)
1 can of Old El Paso Enchilada Sauce (or any other brand...I just haven't tried any others)

Saute the onion in the olive oil for a few minutes, then add the rest of the veggies. Keep on medium heat, covered, and occasionally stirring, until all is tender.

Meanwhile, pre-heat the over to 400 degrees. Once the veggies are tender, turn off the burner and heat the tortillas, separated by a paper towel (so they don't stick to each other*), in the microwave for 30 seconds (this makes them soft and they roll easier when they're soft).

Pour a little bit of the enchilada sauce in an 9 X 9 dish (or a bigger dish, if you're making more than 4) just enough to coat the bottom.

In a handy assembly line, fill the tortilla with some of the veggies (this works best if you put the tortilla down on a plate or something. With the veggies, they'll be too hot to hold, as I learned tonight), sprinkle some cilantro on the veggies, then roll the tortilla so that the opening is on the bottom. Place the enchilada in the dish, up against the side, so you have room to fit the remaining 3 in there. Repeat the assembly line with the remaining 3 tortillas. You may have veggies left over (I always do) so you can nibble on those while waiting for the enchiladas to bake.

Once all of the enchiladas are in the dish, pour the rest of the sauce over them coating them. Sprinkle the cheese and remaining cilantro over the top. Bake in the over for about 10 or 15 minutes, until the cheese is melted and you think the sauce is hot. Take the dish out of the oven, and let it settle for 5 minutes or so. The sauce needs to thicken so everything doesn't slide off when you pick up the enchiladas to put them on the plate.

Serving tip: using 2 spatulas, one on each side of 2 enchiladas, works well to get the enchiladas out of the pan. Serve with refried or black beans.

I say wala. Enjoy!

*I have since learned that you can place the tortillas on top of each other and heat them IF you sprinkle some water between them first. That will steam them, and keep them from sticking.

Busy Busy PARTY Tired Busy!

2011-12-05T16:37:00.000-08:00

I actually had to go back and look at our Google calendar to remember what happened last week. How pathetic is that?

I had a sewing date with Stephanie because I got a wild hair to make Christmas pillows a couple of months ago. Unfortunately, but the time our sewing date rolled around, I didn’t give a shit about pillows anymore. But Steph did, so she persevered. Love that girl. It was good to have some female bonding time, as well.

On Thursday, my buddy Jenn from Tacoma came up and we went to lunch at, what she calls, The Fun Market. Which is actually Melrose Market on Capitol Hill http://melrosemarketseattle.com/ . It’s a very cute place – sandwich shop, wine bar, gift shop, flower shop. Very cozy. And the lemongrass potato soup was awesome. It was nice to have some social time in the middle of my day. And since Jenn and her husband Scott are moving to Hawaii for a year, due to Scott’s job, it was even more warranted. Much like a trip to Hawaii next year may be.

The Seahawks actually won their game on Thursday night. That’s two or three in a row. I’ve lost track. It’s hard to sit down and watch the games when they’re playing so badly. But Marshawn Lynch is healed and back in, so we’re in a winning streak. I’m not holding my breath that we’ll see a championship this year, though.

Friday was pasta (not pizza) movie night. We watched X-Men First Class (I’ve given up on reviewing every movie. Life is too busy right now) and I fell asleep a few times. Not because of the movie, just because I was wiped out. Guess the busy week caught up with me.

But, by golly, I was up at 9:30am on Saturday and ready to go!! It was party day! Todd and I ran to Costco (quickest Costco trip EVER), then hit Target, Bed Bath and Beyond, Pier One, Dress Barn, the liquor store, Marshall’s and QFC.

BAM.

Back home to clean and prep and shower and beautify. Steve and Steph were the first guests (out of about 40) to show up at 6:15pm and after that, it’s all a blur. Tons of friends, karaoke, Winter Wizards (vodka, peppermint schnapps and Irish cream), cookies, a surprise guest from the past, tacky shirts, pretty green and red fingernails, photo ops, an accidental shot of Jack Daniels (damn you, Raff!), the cutest freakin’ little girl EVER, singing “Sweet Caroline” at the top of our lungs, and finally, at 2:30am – bed.

And then on Sunday, taking a bottle of wine and truffles to our next door neighbors as an apology for being so loud and as a thank you for not calling the police.

At least we don’t do this every weekend, right?

And why don’t we do this every weekend? Because we’re getting’ too old for this shit. My legs still hurt from standing all night and I’m still sleep deprived from going to bed at 2:30am. I am proud to say, however, that I did not get a talking to the next morning, as Rae-rae behaved herself very well, despite inviting almost every single guest over for dinner and her famous Veggie Enchiladas. All for this week.

I wasn’t really hurting on Sunday, but the last thing I wanted to do was leave the house. Alas, it’s what we do for family. We had our annual Christmas lunch with Katherine, Todd’s stepmom, at Bamboo Garden. So yummy. So meat free.

After that, back home to tidy up a bit and snooze on the couch. A lazy Sunday indeed.

And this week is already proving to be a doozie. A fun doozie, but a doozie nonetheless.

A quiet evening tonight, dinner with film peeps tomorrow, KMTT’s Winter Warmth Concert on Thursday, the day off on Friday (WOOHOO!), finish up Christmas shopping and mail mom and dad’s package, Twelfth Night’s “It’s a Wonderful Life” on Saturday and…..oh. There’s nothing on the calendar for Sunday. Not even a Seahawks game. Huh.

I’m sure something will pop up. I’ve been meaning to clear out the crawl space. That sounds like a good project for a cold December Sunday.

Cause gawd forbid I should sit still for a day. No can do.

Not So Happy Post

2011-11-30T21:07:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving was nice. Quiet, low key. Four days off was wonderful. Lots of sleeping. We got to have dinner with our Tacoma friends, Jenn and Scott. We decorated the house inside and out. We Christmas shopped. And Kayleigh and I went to see "Breaking Dawn" with Trish.

Laugh if you must. But I loved it.
So there.

Then came Sunday. I'm not sure what happened. I just woke up in a funk. And that funk would not let go. It is now Wednesday and I'm still in the funk. Usually, the holidays and the lights make me giddy. I'm bouncing off the walls!

But not right now.

What's even funnier is that a friend left this comment on my Facebook page today:

"I still follow what you're up to, have always loved your happy attitude on life. Hugs to you and your family this holiday season."

Happy attitude? Me?

I believe it was just last night I was telling Todd how it all seemed futile - waking up early, fighting traffic to sit in a cube for eight hours, fight traffic just to get home to eat, clean up and go to bed, day after day after day. I just don't wanna anymore. Sever case of the don't wannas. I like sleeping so much because when I'm unconscious, I have no responsibility or obligation. I'm "off".

I like being off. Being on is exhausting. Because I'm constantly thinking about how to be off. It's like the background programs that run on your computer. They're constantly whirring away, and it exhausts your computer. Same thing. There's a constant whirring in my head.

How can I turn off?

Sigh.

I fake it really well, don't I? My therapist is very impressed. She says "No wonder you're tired all the time!" She also tells me that thinking about being off all the time is not normal.

Really? Huh. I've never known any differently.

Regardless, I know this little funk is only temporary and I will soon be back to my perky, neurotic self. It's just really hard to muster through the day feeling like this.

On a happy note, how's about these lights?!

Weekend Update Full of CHRISTMAS!

2011-11-20T18:23:00.001-08:00

Well, the mister and I were uber productive this weekend. Yes, it's not even Thanksgiving, and yes, it's not even December, but you know what?

I am in the spirit, dammit. This is a happy season! I live for this season!

So, on Saturday, Todd and I put up the Christmas lights outside. We framed the house, the front windows, ran garland across the porch and down the banister and around the front door and put net lighting on the stinkin' holly bush. We WILL wait until after Turkey Day to put the red bows on the columns and the candy canes down the walkway. I don't want people egging our house.

And today, we got a crap load of Christmas shopping done. My goal is not have to hit a major store after December 10th. That's realistic, right?

So, that's my weekend. Cleaning after being sick for a week, and gettin' all Christmasy. Now I have a three day work week, a happy hour, a shopping trip with our receptionist to get decorations for the office, and then decorating the office Wednesday after work.

This week should just fly by.

Here We Go Again

2011-11-14T10:11:00.001-08:00

My faithful readers will remember my post fromThanksgiving week last year. We wereexpecting a slight “dusting” of snow that Monday, which turned into a two hourcommute home, via ice, and the city shutting down for three days.

Well, here we are at November 14, and our forecastfor this week is as follows, per KOMO4:

“…This cold snap will also give parts of WesternWashington its first chance of seeing some snow this fall. The snow levelwill likely drop to 300'-700' starting Friday, but as is often the case, thecold air arrives right when the moisture moves out. That said, therelikely will be enough moisture around for scattered showers to form. Those showers will likely fall as snow showers in the Cascadefoothills, the Hood Canal area, and higher hilltops along theI-5 corridor, and I wouldn't be surprised at all if some snow showers evenformed over Seattle, Tacoma, or Everett….”

An extra tidbit of information is that my housesits very close to the highest point in Seattle – 500ft. So while the forecast, of course, downplaysthe possibility of snow, we long time Seattleites know better.

I will be stocking up on groceries onThursday. Just in case.

Happy Second Anniversary to Us!

2011-11-08T21:26:00.000-08:00

I had big plans for our anniversary. I reserved a swanky hotel (it has a heated pool and a spa). We were going to have a lovely dinner. We were going to have an early check in and a late check out and I wasn't going to let Todd answer his phone for a full 24 hours. Just the two of us. No kids, no cats, no laundry, no dishes, no nothin'.

Dammit!

Todd got sick last Tuesday, the day after "War of the Worlds" ended. I had a touch of the sniffles and one of my bosses (not Super Boss - let's call him Master Chief (Todd's idea, from Halo) asked me twice if I needed to go home on Wednesday. His pa is in the hospital so he absolutely cannot get sick right now. I said I was okay and I'd just keep my distance and use a lot Purell. No biggie. I still met Rachelle for happy hour after work.

Unfortunately, I had the bright idea to take the bus home rather than drive (I'm so responsible!) and the bus broke eight blocks from my house, so rather than sit and wait (at 9pm) I decided to walk home. In the rain. Uphill.

Needless to say, I woke up Thursday morning sneezing and coughing and just in all kinds of pain. So I decided to just stay home and not risk it.

And since Thursday was spent sleeping, coughing, sleeping, watching TV and cuddling with Tom, I did the even more responsible thing and cancelled our weekend.

We thought maybe we could at least go out and have dinner on Saturday night, but neither one of us could even muster the energy to get dressed, so....no.

By Sunday, Todd and I were both stir crazy and sick of TV so we started brainstorming about Christmas decorations. This had been rolling around in our head since Halloween, what, with the neighbors pirate ship and giant spider and skeletons hanging off of their roof. Todd and I started thinking about how elaborate we could be (maybe rig Santa and the reindeer to fly over the neighbors' house?), so he drew the yard and highlighted where the lights would go. We penciled in the wreath, the garland, and other accessories (we're still in the planning phase) and started a shopping list.

I may have started a spreadsheet. I'm really not at liberty to say.

We really wanted to go shopping around, but we were still sick and just didn't have the energy. So we took a toodle down to the Junction and checked out the new Petco (love the aminals!) and picked up some cold meds and then dropped by A Terrible Beauty for a little more medicine (what? The hillbillies used whiskey before there was Nyquil, right?) and then on to True Value to oogle the Christmas decorations and price lights. By then we were exhausted, so we slowly wandered home, got back in our sweats, and crashed. Yippee.

I had to go back to work Monday (being new and all) so okay, Todd would take the bus in and we'd have a swanky dinner on Monday, our actual anniversary!

Uh. No. When Todd and I talked on the phone around noon, he was feeling even worse and his stomach was upset, so what's the point on spending a crap load of money on a fancy dinner if it was just going to make Todd sick?

Sigh. The stars just would not line up.

And here we are at Tuesday. Kayleigh has been home for two days now with a fever and a cough and no voice. Todd is tired, but starting to mend slowly and I'm still coughing up crap, but am loaded with energy. So we hit Target this evening (after dinner! I didn't even finish my wine!) and bought Christmas cards, and stationary and Christmas karaoke cds (A Very Karaoke Christmas!) and even little foil stickers to seal the envelopes!

I AM ON IT.
DAMMIT.

Hee. Can't wait!

End Scene!

2011-11-01T15:11:00.000-07:00

While I love that Todd is involved in theater, andI love every one of the Twelfth Night guys, I am so very glad “The War of theWorlds” is over. He was at rehearsalsevery Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evening for the past month, and then lastweek was tech week, so he was gone before I’d even get home from work, and bythe time he got home, I was half asleep in bed.

I missed him a lot.

I know!! Me! Missing my husband!

So, for our anniversary this weekend, I booked aswanky hotel and told him that as soon as we check in, his phone gets turned off. No Collectibles stuff, no theater stuff, no nothing. He’s all mine. For 24 hours. Hee.

While Todd was in tech week, I kept myselfoccupied with happy hours and lots of TV. I got some good deep cleaningdone on Saturday, since there were two shows that day, after a brief outingwith Kayleigh, where I realized that everybody and their freakin’ brother wasan idiot and I couldn’t handle it anymore.

Sometimes I think I need to up my dosage.

I brought in some theater cigarettes, decanters oficed tea, and ashtrays (or, candleholders that resembled ashtrays) for the officeon Halloween. Mad Men theme. Super Boss was tickled. Sick and coughing and hacking, buttickled. I wore my pearls and littlecardigan with the flower. Sorry I didn’ttake any pictures. I just wasn’t asenthusiastic as I wanted to be.

But now that Halloween is over, we can startplanning for the holidays! A VeryKaraoke Christmas party, DYI Christmas gifts, decorating the shit out of thehouse. I wasn’t too gung ho last year,but I’m already feeling it this year. Look out!!

Well, I’ll be feeling it more after I get a good12 hour night sleep. I’m dragging today.

Oy.

Shake It Out

2011-10-25T20:34:00.000-07:00

This song has rolling around in my brain for days. The Mountain seems to always play it right as my alarm goes off. There's just something about it that hits home.

The beauty of music is that you can interpret any way that want when something resonates with you. And this song says to me, I've done some stupid and bad stuff, but if I'm going to move on, I have to let it go. "I'm always dragging that horse around...tonight I'm going to bury that horse in the ground.....And it's hard to dance, with the devil on your back so shake him off!"

And yes, I screwed up and I can't take it back, but shake it out.

**********
Shake It Out - Florence & The Machine

Regrets collect like old friends
Here to relive your darkest moments
I can see no way, I can see no way
And all of the ghouls come out to play

And every demon wants his pound of flesh
But I like to keep some things to myself
I like to keep my issues strong
It's always darkest before the dawn

And I've been a fool and I've been blind
I can never leave the past behind
I can see no way, I can see no way
I'm always dragging that horse around

And our love is pastured such a mournful sound
Tonight I'm gonna bury that horse in the ground
So I like to keep my issues strong
But it's always darkest before the dawn

Shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, ooh woaaah
Shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, ooh woaaah

And it's hard to dance with a devil on your back
So shake him off, oh woah

I am done with my graceless heart
So tonight I'm gonna cut it out and then restart
Cause I like to keep my issues strong
It's always darkest before the dawn
Shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, ooh woaaah
Shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, ooh woaaah

And it's hard to dance with a devil on your back
So shake him off, oh woah

And given half the chance would I take any of it back
It's a final mess but it's left me so empty
It's always darkest before the dawn

Oh woah, oh woah...

And I'm damned if I do and I'm damned if I don't
So here's to drinks in the dark at the end of my road
And I'm ready to suffer and I'm ready to hope
It's a shot in the dark and right at my throat
Cause looking for heaven, for the devil in me
Looking for heaven, for the devil in me
Well what the hell I'm gonna let it happen to me

Shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, ooh woaaah
Shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, ooh woaaah

And it's hard to dance with a devil on your back
So shake him off, oh woah

Shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, ooh woaaah
Shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, shake it out, ooh woaaah

And it's hard to dance with a devil on your back
So shake him off, oh woah

Weekend Update….and Viadoom

2011-10-24T17:14:00.000-07:00

For those of you not from ‘round here, there’s bighappenings right now. One of our majornorth-south arteries, the Alaskan Way Viaduct, is being torn down. This is has been in the works for a while(don’t get me started on the tunnel they’re building….along the waterfront, inground that is landfill, in earthquake country) but over the weekend, we had amajor development.

They started Friday night.

Now you can take the West Seattle Bridge (our onemajor escape off of the West Seattle peninsula) to I5 and go north or south, but that’s justcrazy stupid. Way too many cars for justthat one route. So we West Seattlitesusually take the Alaska Way Viaduct. It’s like our local freeway.

And now it's closed.

The news leading up to this nine day closure camewith a few different nicknames – Via ConDios, Carmageddon, Viapocalypse. Iprefer Viadoom. Easier to say. We were being told to allow at least oneextra hour for our commute. One wholehour. There are survival guides. People took the week off from work to avoidthe commute all together.

I took the bus this morning. I might have still been stuck in traffic, but at least I didn’t have figure outwhich route to take.

All in all, I was 15 minutes late to work thismorning. And I would have been out thedoor much earlier if it hadn’t been for Tom puking under the bed as I wasgetting ready. That led to me and Toddpulling out the bed so I could get back there to clean it up, which led me tovacuuming back there because, oh my gawd, the dust and cat hair. So, I left the house a little later than Iintended. Which was okay because itseems that everyone else left an hour earlier, so the roads were pretty open at7:30am.

Rumor has it that the next few days will beworse. People overcompensated and leftreally early, or took the bus when they’d normally drive, or just took thefreakin’ day off. I’m curious to see howthings end up toward the end of the week.

So that’s the exciting news around here.

West Seattle hosted a few local, stay-on-thepeninsula events over the weekend (Viadeals), but Todd and I had no reason toleave anyway. It was our neighbor’s bigass Halloween party Saturday night.

Todd was a steam punk monster hunter, and I was aflapper.

And can I just say, holy shit, I ama big girl. I think I’m okay with mysize (even when I’m buying a size 16 dress) but then I see a picture and I don’teven recognize myself. Maybe my back was just uber arched?

But I’m happy! So you have to pick your battles, right?

Maybe pick your battles and skip dinneroccasionally.

(Don't even mention the wine. Just don't.)

Like that coat? That was an impulse buy that afternoon. It's chenille or crushed velvet. Very soft. Very sexy.

And my man with all his knives and guns and pointy sideburns. Such a cutie.

We hung out at our neighbor's until the bitter end (i.e. they kicked us out because they were tired and just wanted to go to bed, but if you were so tired, Mr. Neighbor, why did you keep refilling my wine glass? Enablers.) then crashed at home and watched some TV.

And Sunday was a ridiculous game of touch football. Just....ridiculous. Three to 6? Really? You couldn't score more than three points in two and half hours? Really? You make it really hard to support you, 'Hawks. Real.Hard.

After football, it was time for some therapy, so after Todd left for "War of the Worlds" load in, I cleaned and cleaned and cleaned. And I taught Kayleigh to clean her bathroom. She did okay with the sink, but man, when it came time to get all up in the toilet, she was dry heaving. I told her to bow down to the porcelain goddess and scrub her real good.

Kayleigh asked, "Why do you keep calling it a "goddess"?! I said, "Because she takes a lot of shit from people. Now scrub."

Ha!

We had already made plans to go get pedicures that evening, so I reminder her that our reward was just a couple of hours away. She replied with, "It's not worth it!" So I ended up buying her ice cream, too. She did good.

After our pedicures and grocery shopping, we came home and made tuna melts for dinner. Which is really, really difficult when you gag at the sight of mayo. But I got through it, and the sandwiches were yummy, and we watched The Money Pit, which now reminds me of when we first moved into our house. One freakin' thing after another.

And then Todd got home and there was lots of cuddling and then bedtime.

And now, as I type this, I think I need to maybe make an eye doctor's appointment because I find myself leaning closer and closer to the screen because the letters are all running together. Crap.