2011 starts with a zzzz....

The Party:

I threw on a turban, my new silk skirt that I got from mom, and a sparkly top, and got to hanging out. There was a hookah with apple flavored tobacco. I've never partaken in a hookah before, it was interesting. I think the part that was the most fun was playing with exhaling smoke. Felt like I was in a mooovie. Anyway. Tabitha, Karen, Jenny came. Mel and Melissa. Some of Mark's friends and roommies. A nice assortment. There was fondue and brownies and chips and drinks. I paced myself pretty well, but I think the combination of different types of booze and too much cheese left me feeling sick, so I laid down. Then midnight came and went. Oops. I had also had a long day. I don't want to use the word "passed out"....anyway. It was fun, what parts I were at the party for.

January 1st:

I hear that how you spend the first day is indicative of how your year will go. I don't want to spend 2011 alone in my apartment drawing and watching British television...all though the drawing was a good bit.

Got three of my 365 portraits done. I want to get to a point where I'm at least a week ahead and I can do timed posts, so that if something comes up and I get behind, the posts won't suffer. I'll still try to draw once a day, just some days I may do more.

Once I got up, I ate some breakfast. Mark and Kristen had attended to most of the cleaning. It was mostly just dishes strewn about. Later on I put away some of the dishes and washed the rest. I put away some of my presents and my clothes. Tidied up. But mostly killed time. Caught up on television. Drank water. Ate an apple. Tomorrow I will go to Trader Joe's and get groceries. Maybe go see a movie. Check out M.A.C. and get some fancy makeup using Christmas money (maybe a lip gloss....). I got a sweater at Goodwill that I want to sew patches on. Only I don't have any patches.

Today wasn't a big day. I think I'll even go to bed before midnight. I'm pretty tired still.

Also, at the bottom of all my blog posts here, I will include a link to my PortraiToday project (365 portraits in 2011, one a day!). I plan to have the days post uploaded before I do this post. So anyway, without further blah blah blah, my first portrait:

Todays Portrait Is: Trillian Spencer (me!)

toodles year of suck

Bye bye 2010. You sucked. Really hard. There were some good times and some good people and I really learned how to appreciate the wonderful friends I have, and how supportive they are. But 2010 till had some horrible moments that I'll never forget, and some friendship lows. Anyway. I'm glad to be rid of it and I'm entering 2011 with a clearer head and self assuredness. Bring it on!

Woke up early. Begged and Dad made a poached egg on toast with melted cheese. Stuffed my stuff in the car and off we left. We got to the station a bit early, but I had to check bags, so early is better. We solved crosswords in the car till the train arrived. I tried to sleep but was unsuccessful.

Arrived in the slightly warmer Portland right on time. Pulled my stuff off of the area and right as I was pondering tugging the box that dad made(safely protected in cardboard with rope) to the curb to wait for my ride, he arrived to carry the box with a box in it! Good old Rollyn. Packed my stuff up in the car. He dropped me off at my place while he found parking, and I brought the stuff in. Then we went to Pizzicato because I was starving. He had been snacking, so I just got myself pizza and a drink. It was very good. We then chilled at his place for a while. It was nice to relax. At sixish he brought me back to the apartment. He had prior plans for New Years, but if he is in the neighborhood around midnight, who knows.

Anyway. Walked to Trader Joe's to get some beverages and chips, found them closed, so I walked to Fred Meyers. The apartment is looking great. It is a The Mighty Boosh themed new years party. Mark is dressed as Old Gregg and Kristen is Vince Noir. I just threw on some nice clothes, a sparkly top, and did up a scarf like a turban. Nothing major. Anyway, people are arriving. Party is starting. Bye bye 2010! Hello 2011!

I'll never be able to tell someone to fill their hands...

Got up a little earlier because I needed to look up times for True Grit and make plans for the day with various parties.

Had some tea and some microwave food, and then I looked up times and called Celia. The basic plan was to go with pa into Bremerton, get ma, eat lunch, meet up with Celia, and then go see movie. And that is how it played out.

Dad and I listened to Lady Gaga on the way to pick up mom, because that is the only way we can listen to Gaga: without mom. She just loathes the catchiness of her music. Anyway, picked up mum and then we went to Anthony's for lunch. And we all had salads! All though mom and pop had a soup bowl along with their salad. My almond chicken salad was good, though a bit heavy on the dressing. Mmm. Pa cleaned his plate and finished off mothers and helped with mine. We talked about taking a canal trip in France once the school year is over. Hmm.

The parents dropped me off at Goodwill, where I waited for Celia. The DVD selection was awesome. Picked up Royal Tenenbaums, Zoolander, Point Break, and Spice World on the cheap. Picked up some clothes too. We drove to Poulsbo and talked and cruised around town a bit, then we got to the theater early and chatted. Ma and Pa arrived and sat next to us and then moved to the back because it was too close for mother.

True Grit was GREAT! Coens have done it again. Really solid direction. Great acting. Surprisingly violent for PG13. Better than the original. Bridges did so well. And the parents and aunty enjoyed it as well. We all left the theater in good spirits. I hugged Celia goodbye and home we went.

I packed up my suitcase and box. Dad helped pack the box. My suitcase is nice and light. The box is wrapped up in cardboard to protect it on its train trip. Mom gave me some of her old clothes. A nice coat and shirt that dad got for her in 1981. We really do not get rid of anything in this family. Now my stuff is all packed and I have to get up early. But I'll nap on the train ride.

blah day

Made the blog for my 365 project. Ooooh. Now I am committed!

I set my cell phone to chime at 9:45, even though I had no idea when I would be getting up. It is good to keep ones body on a generic time. Can't just let it sleep all day. All though I do spend half of my days here in Seabeck in bed.

Spent most of the day on the internet. Keeping the fire burning is a full time job. Dad worked on his truck. Lots of work to get it to move just a few feet. Really strange problem.

I decorated a couple more cupcakes.

Dad was nice enough to let Holly sleep on her rug inside! Normally the doggy is strictly outside.

Dinner was a delicious stir fry. We watched Shrek the Third, which was better than I was expecting it to be.

Now I think I'll read some Cannery Row.

It really sucks not having wheels of my own when I visit home.

portraitoday

http://portraitoday.blogspot.com

I'm going to do a portrait a day for every day in 2011.

sweet cuppin' cakes

Slept in. Oh joyous joy. Ate some cheerios. Wasted time on the Internet. Dad baked some cupcakes. We planned to go to get some sweets to decorate them with, but the truck had some wiring issues, so that occupied dad for the rest of the day (till dark). I just sat and wasted like, like I tend to do.

Dinner was pasta and fish and green beans. Ma came home with candy in hand. After dinner dad and I finally got around to decorating cupcakes. The frosting was warmed by the heat of our hands so when the bags started to get used up, the icing lines lost their fidelity. Still, turned out pretty good. Though from all the icing ingested while making them, I didn't feel like actually eating a cupcake till much later.

Ma and Pa and I sat down to watch Brothers Bloom. I like this movie bunches. Ma was a bit meh about it. Oh well. Now time to relax. La la la.

time turner, so I can do all of that again!

Woke up with shin splints. Not the worst ones I've had, but still not pleasant. Wasn't looking forward to a day of walking with them. Thank God for Advil.

Got up out of bed. Took a shower. When I got down stairs, it turned out the only tickets for the Harry Potter exhibit were in the late afternoon, so we didn't have to rush to Seattle. There were some flubs with the buying of tickets (it is timed entry) but a call sorted it out. Unfortunately plans with Jeanette didn't work out today, but will be arranged for later hopefully.

Since the tickets for the exhibit were not till 5:15, we didn't have to rush to Seattle. Drove and parked at Bainbridge. Decided to leave the umbrellas in the car. It was raining and sure to rain more, but we would be indoors, or near cover, for most of our day. The ride was nice and uneventful. Took some photos. Loving my camera. Thankfully I have rechargeable batteries because by the end of the day, the battery light came on.

In Seattle we walked up to Pike's Place, and because the line was long at the donut place we decided to just head straight to Seattle Center. Went to West Lake Mall and hopped on the monorail. A quick ride to the center. The EMP, which once I regarded as ugly mold architecture has now...well grown on me. Stockholm Architecture Syndrome I guess. Dad and I ordered some beignet's. Ma wasn't fond of them, or the latte she ordered. But I dug them. A nice warm food perfect for cold Seattle day. With our appetites sated a little bit, we went over to the Pacific Science Center. We could wander around the regular exhibits while waiting for our time to come up. The dinosaur exhibit was old. Actually a lot of the exhibits were old, and just how I remembered them. Not a lot of updating has happened, but when you have a lot of kids coming through...sturdy is probably best. I got a wax astronaut from one of those make your own wax figure machines. I totally want to get the naked mole rat next time I'm at the center. It was so cool. Love my green little figure. It was a lot larger than I was expecting too. I was expecting a little figure. Anyway, I liked it.

We went into the butterfly room too. Stuffed our coats into a cubby. So many wonderful butterflies. Giant blue morphos. It was also humid and warm, which was nice. Took lots of pictures. After that we decided to get in line for the Harry Potter exhibit. 35 people were admitted every five minutes. The first stop was the sorting hat. A lady had the hat and gave a little talk. One girl got sorted into Ravenclaw...or maybe it was Hufflepuff. And a shy little boy got into Gryffindor. Then we went into a room with some TV screens that played clips from the movie, and then when that was done the doors opened and we were let into the AMAZING exhibit of props, sets, costumes, and general things from the Potter movies.

There were robes, books, centaurs, goblets, wands, and so so much more. It was really well displayed too. Everything was in context. Not just items in boxes. The great hall was constructed, as were some of the woods and Hagrid's Hut. There were TV screens that had videos playing. Some parts were interactive, well just two (a place where you could pull Mandrake roots and a quaffle pitch). No photography was allowed. It was a wonderful exhibit. I fell in love with the book designs. From the Quaffler to the potion textbooks. So much attention to detail and design. The people who made them really knew their stuff when it came to references. I wished I could have one...but alas stealing is wrong. The kids who came were well behaved, and there were a lot of adults too. Of course, the original young fans of the series would be in their 20's now (ie: me). I should listen to the audio books again.

Anyway, it of course ended with the gift shop and lots of price gouging. Still, dad got himself a beanie (Gryffindor colors) and Ma got me a Ford Anglia magnet as an early Christmas present. I bought myself a Time-Turner. A cheaper plasticy one, not the silver replica that was about sixty bucks. I'm way pleased with my memento. It was dreary and dark when we caught the monorail back. We got some Ivar's to go and ate while waiting for the Bainbridge Ferry to load. We finished the fries and chowder on the way over, and I put my tired legs up.

I started to doze on the way home, but perked up enough back in Seabeck to lure mom into watching the Top Gear Syria (and general middle east) special with me. Hahaha, got her into the show now! Now I've popped some more Advil and a nice sleep seems good right about now. Tomorrow Dad and I are going to make cupcakes! And try some of the techniques from his book out.

Christmas and Boxing Day (not that we really celebrate that)

Christmas!!

Woke up at 7:30 but worked on nodding off, because I knew people were not up yet. Woke up at 8:20 and decided that was late enough, so I bounded out of bed and lo and behold there were stocking filled with sweets and treats! Dad was up. I put the kettle on and made myself some billy tea. I go the go ahead for the stocking so I opened up a few of the things in there while waiting for Nathan and Rubie to make their way downstairs. There was a lego toy from Harry Potter so I assembled that. Nate and Rubie came down and opened up their stockings. We got WD40 and 3-in-1 oil, which is very useful, and puzzles (mine had classic cars on it, naturally). And lots of candy. I let the oranges roll away toward Rubie and Nathan's presents piles. One of the parents grilled up sausages. Dad opened up the cupcake decorating book I got him. I think it has a lot of good ideas that can also be applied toward cakes. I miss getting the cakes that dad makes. He is so good at designing them.

Anyway, ma got up as well and then it was PRESENT OPENING TIME!!

Off the top of my head I got: a cool makeup set, two nice table mirrors (it is good to have multiple), Amy Sedaris' new book about crafting, David Sedaris' new book of fables, some socks with bacon and eggs on them, a soft teal colored turtleneck, the book Bad Marie, some emergen-c and tea, bike lights, and the big one of them all: A NEW DIGITAL CAMERA! 12 glorious megapixels! Easy to use interface! Lots of functions! And a 5gb card to go with it. Yess. Totally sweet present. Great Christmas. Got what I asked for and lots of other neat stuff. Nate got a new razor and a Kinect, Rubie got a skin buffer fancy thing...thingy. And some Lush bath stuff from me. And Nate got a card game from me. Among other presents (like my Christmas print and tee shirt, which Rubie and Ma also got). Anywaaay. Pa got a sweet boot dryer, Ma got a nice knife thing that dad broke within an hour. Only partially broke. It was a really good haul.

Pretty soon I'll start sorting through my photos. Already took a bunch.

I showered and got dressed and came down for waffles. Yum! I put my new mirror to good use. It is really helpful, all though there is such a thing as too much magnification. Yikes! Nate, Rubie, and I played a game of Poo. A fun money centered game. Fast paced.

Then we started packing the cars up. Nathan and Rubie had different night plans than we did, plus we couldn't have fit everyone in the Prius (maybe the Contour). I dozed a little on the way to Mats Mats. The weather is pretty sucky. Lots of rain and mud.

Grandma, Grandpa, Aunty Joyce and Uncle Dick were all there and we got to presents! Well first we got to the DVDs that we made from old family films. We popped it into the DVD player. Lots of my dad as a baby and his first couple birthdays. Then baby Joyce. Then Alaska. Nice films. We paused them and handed out gifts. Got a nice fat quarter fabric assortment from Joyce in a cool bag with some lotion. And cool hard cash from the grandparents. Now THAT I am going to put in the bank. Sweeeeet. It was a nice little exchange. Dinner was salad, roast beast, salmon, rolls, broccoli, and sort of done potatoes. I ate a decent amount of juicy meat and salad. No dessert for me. Nate and Rubie left for Rubie's parents place. I put my feet up and digested a bit.

Ma and Pa and I went to Pulali for the night instead. I worked on a crossword with lots of help. Celia came over for her presents. She brought us delicious fudge! Can't get enough of that fudge. Mmm. I read a good chunk of Bad Marie while trying to get to sleep.

Boxing Day

Uneven night sleep. Toast and juice and crosswords for breakfast. Got dressed and went over to see Celia and her puppy (which will probably go to a new home soon). Talked about future plans and we took a walk up to the end of the Pulali driveway. It seems so much longer a road in the car. The puppy is very spirited. It rained off an on. The whole day. Sometimes big juicy drops, sometimes not. Either way, not fun weather.

After our walk, we parted ways and I had bread and creme cheese and salmon open faced sandwiches. Yum! Listened to the radio and again, put my feet up while the parents did all the work. Classic Trillian move. We put our stuff away in the car. Well ma and pa did. I put my purse in the car. It was a rainy soggy ride home. Swung by Costco. Started watching the Doctor Who Christmas Special. Paused it for a hot tub break. A rainy hot tub break. Returned to Doctor Who. A delightful episode. Then watched No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency with mom. Then pulled up the Top Gear Botswana special, because mums show is set in Botswana. Now I'm watching the Top Gear Syria special. It is new. Yay!

Awesome awesome Christmas. Lots of family. Lots of food. Lots of love.