harmonious burgers

Back to Portland today. Fairly standard morning. Dad made pancakes. Put my hair into braids so that tomorrow my hair will be wavy and all that. Packed up. I am leaving most of my clothes in Washington. Wedding stuff, toiletries, etc. that

Mom drove me to Tacoma. Got to the station with 10 minutes to spare. I spent the ride listening to audio book and reading comics. It went fast.

Instead of dropping my stuff off at my apartment and going to Harmony's pre-wedding thing from there, I decided to just go to the thing at the Residence Inn. When I arrived it turned out she was at the mall getting some nails done. I ran into her mom and while she looks the same, she didn't recognize me at first. So I wandered from room to room with her. Seems like all of Harmony's extended family is here for the wedding. Met a lot of them. Norwegian and Mexican were the representers. Mariel came over from the mall. She is quite blonde but carries the same spirit of the girl I haven't seen in three years. Harmony and her bridesmaids came over. For the next hour, I made conversation with the bridesmaids and we sort of were able to lure Harmony away from the entanglement of family, but it took some effort. The 12-25 range of girls went to a separate room (the family had a lot of rooms at the place, it was like an apartment hotel) and we played a few rounds of Apples to Apples and ate snacks. Someone bought pizza, so we went to the lobby for pizza. It was about 10pm so I parted ways, I didn't want to be there too late for the max. Getting to the other side without a max is a lot of trouble.

I knew Karen was on the other side and probably had her car, so I met up with her at Santeria. It was her birthday today. Lacey, Daniel, Heather, BT, Phil, Robin, Mel, and a couple unfamiliar others were there. Daniel bought me a drink and I had some water. After that I stored my stuff in Karen's car and went to Mary's Club with BT, Mel, and Karen. Tabitha and her friend Mike showed up. After Mary's, BT drove home to rest and the rest of us went to XV to boogie. At the last call, we called BT to come designated drive Karen and myself home. I only had a couple drinks, but it was nice not to walk that far. Adam was also there. Got dropped off.

The apartment looks nice, just one thing is off: my bike is missing. Did Katie ride it when I was gone and it got stolen or broken? Who knows. I'll ask her in the morning. Guess that was what her cryptic "I want to talk about some things with you in person" text was about. Argh. I need that bike! Jay and I were going to bike from the reception to BT's birthday party! That isn't a cheap bike. It has gears, and brakes, and things to hold groceries on the back.

Oh well. Sleep time now. Get up. Shower. Make myself some oatmeal. Put on makeup and a dress. Find out what the hell happened to my bike. Call Jay and tell her we are walking.

My room is so messy. Need to start throwing things out. And then packing.

squares galore

Another glorious day of listening to audio books! This time it was spent in the quilting room aka the girl cave.

Well before that ma and I called SallieMay to get my loan in order. So much trouble! Then I watched Work of Art. Loved the book design challenge. I was amazed at how small the text was in a lot of the designs. It is going to be scaled down... I loved the winning design. I want to get my hands on a copy of it. It was original and eye catching.

Anyway, then I quilted. I finished listening to Dead Until Dark and started Living Dead in Dallas; the second book of the Sookie Stackhouse series. I spent a lot of time measuring fabric to make sure I had enough, and then once I found enough measures of fabric in suitable patterns, I started cutting and sewing! I picked a fairly easy looking pattern from one of Grandma's books. It is 25 blocks, five by five. 13 of one type and 12 of the other. I got all 13 done and by the end of the day, after dinner and So You Think You Can Dance with mom (who was at a GED graduation ceremony all day) I had the first of the 12 other blocks done, and I sewed them together into the first section. Well the first three-fifths of a section. It is looking great! Much better than my first quilt. I can't wait to pull it all together. Too bad I don't have a proper ironing board back home. But I do have a great sewing machine. I'll just bring my fabric back with me and finish it up. Whoo!!

The four of us (Nate is back for the weekend) got in the hot tub. Now I go to sleep, pack (but not everything as I will only be in Portland for a week and a half or so), and return to Portland and wedding and party it up till Sunday! Or maybe Monday as my friend Robin turns 21 on Sunday. Whoop.

soaking up every harmful ray of sun

My shoulders feel lightly toasted. Just a little bit warm and sensitive. On my way to getting some color in my skin! Too bad I have to give up having a lawn on Friday. Booo. Return to Portland. Got lots of shindigs lined up. Hope I can make enough face time at them.

Finished up sewing my quilt together. I didn't know how to do the border so I just put the quilt aside and sunbathed while listening to Dead Until Dark. The sun hid behind some trees, but I still lay outside. Just absorbed the heat and relaxed. Snacked. Drank ice water. Great way to pass the time. The sun is mostly on my shoulders, but that is okay.

Almost a wonder how much time was spent just laying on the lawn. Alternated between a cushion and the chair. Mmm.

Chicken dinner. So You Think You Can Dance! I voted for AdeChike, though Kent and Lauren were also good. Alex is undeniably good. He will probably be top three.

I'm not ready to go back to Portland! Feels like summer has just started. Booo!

rays & stitches

I pretty much spent the whole day quilting!

After a breakfast of cheesy eggs and toast, I got to sewing my quilt front, batting, and back together. Mom had set up her quilt stand outside on the lawn, so I brought my computer out and got stitching. Watched an episode of The A Team before the glare got to be too much, so I listened to Dead Until Dark for a few hours. Dad made a little lunch plate and we ate it outside together. I continued on. Got some sun. Spiders and other bugs kept showing up.

Once the sun moved, I was able to go back to watching stuff on the computer.

I was out there for eight hours, easily. Probably closer to nine, including breaks. My arms look a little pink and while nowhere close to burnt, my face feels a little warm.

Dad cooked up some salmon for dinner, with sides of potatoes and beans. Ma came home and we ate on the lawn again. What a nice life to have. Lawn, trees all around, birds over pedestrians.

Yeah, my arms are totally red. Finally got some sun! I thought it would never come.

My stitching isn't the best, but it is a first quilt.

Have to get my ticket to Portland soon.

reading comics like its 2006

Finally a day where I didn't have to set an alarm. Not that getting up past ten is hard, just sometimes I like spending a good while in a big comfy bed.

Harmony invited me to a girl's night before her wedding. Need to get a ticket to Portland soon. Also BT's birthday is the night of the 26th. It will be a long day, but I'll get double fun use out of my dress.

Dad made poached egg on toast with cheese. And he didn't forget it in the broiler.

I read comics online while dad puttered around. Mom came home early so we potted some plants. Finally got the courage to plant my beloved jade plant cutting. Here is hoping it grows big and strong. I also planted another cutting, just to see what happens. After the planting fun we went to the sewing room, only to find several groups of spiders camped out on the equipment AND my quilt! Gaah! I felt itchy for a good long while. I also screwed up the machine sewing. It was all uneven and I had to remove the stitches. Have to put it in a sewing frame and do it by hand...I'll watch some movies while I do it. Mmn.

Mum went to clogging and I returned to reading comics. She came back and we filled out the FAFSA. Then bed time.

I've traded Walking Dead for Bakuman, a manga about making manga. It is interesting the difference in techniques and process. All the female characters are horrible though. And I don't quite know all the characters names, even 31 issues in. They each seem to have four separate titles. Hmmn.

daddy's day

Father's Day!

My two new Threadless.com shirts came in the mail so I wore the one with the warrior with all the patterns today. Giraffe and brontosaurus one tomorrow most likely. Whee.

Dad opened the rest of his presents in the morning. From me he got a deep sea diver Playmobil. It had a yellow suit with a bubble helmet and little thrusters and a hook and rope onto which to attach. It is dangling above a lego oil platform that Nate made for his birthday cake. I also gave dad some of the instant coffee that he likes. Nate got him a Kindle cover. Ma got him some chocolates and an easy Washington hikes book and the Kindle, but he already opened that. Spoiled daddy.

Nate and I collaborated on a Father's Day card for Grandpa. It had a pull out geoduck and everything! Very cool.

We four departed to Mats Mats are around 1. Early dinner! Before that we played a round of Blokus. Nate and I tied and Dad won. Dinner was halibut, salad, au gratin potatoes, broccoli, and bread. Mmm. It was quite good and filling. There was pie and ice cream, but I was full and rested on the couch. The rest turned into a little nap. Oops. Grandma gave me some lovely quilting books. There is a great pattern in there, and once I figure out how to do the blocks I can do all the pieces while mom is gone, so I won't need her help. Except if I need to thread a machine. Whoo!

When we got home, Nate and Dad played with their Kindles and Mom and I looked at an I Spy book. Nate left for Tacoma, I made a huge bowl of popcorn, and we three watched two more episodes of Community. Soon there will be no more episodes to watch. The first and last couple episodes are not the best. The middle ones are superb.

Mom is gone for most of tomorrow, but dad is back so I'll have company.