lets get some shoes

Well, once I go camping I'll be up earlier and all that. Get all the sleep while I can.

Dad made scrambled eggs and bacon for me for breakfast. Yum! Pulled up Rivers and Tides on Netflix Instant Watch and watched it while I ate. Andy Goldsworthy is pretty cool.

I finished up the clock Dad and I have been working on. He cut the grooves in the pieces of dowel, and I painted them to make them stand out. The clock looks pretty awesome. We put it in the Girl Cave. I sort of worry if people might think the notches correspond to time, instead of the quadrants, but because if the spacing on the clock, it might make for a more effective second read. Worked a little bit on my quilt, but not much.

Mom made toasted Havarti and lettuce sandwiches for a late lunch/early dinner.

Then we went into town. Checked out the mouse traps that the feed store has. Then mall time! Bought some digestive biscuits and nutella at World Market, then went shoe shopping. There was this really nice pair of yellow Madden heels with a sassy ruffle on the toe, but they just didn't fit right. I'm not good with heels. But Payless had a cute pair at half the cost. Yellow, fit well. Hurrah! Wedding shoes (and not black) heels purchased! We got home at around 8:45. Finished Rivers and Tides, and then bed time.

Poor Holly the doggy is all wet from the persistent rain. Well, just damp on the outside. No fun. But she does have an indoors dog bed. She doesn't have to be a pathetic outdoor animal.

splitsville

Did I mention we are going to be taking a little four day trip to Eastern Washington? Headed to the sun! And lack of rain land! Whooo!

Good news on the apartment search front. Kristen and I have all but confirmed that I am going to be living with her starting in August. She is out of town so I might have to move my stuff in when her apartment sitter (Tabitha) is there, but I won't unpack and live there till July runs out. Still, that is quite good. Kristen is awesome and hella responsible. If only I can get up to her standards. It is a nice place in the Nob Hill district. Sticking to the West Side of Portland. Whoo!

Need to work on actually getting out of bed when I first wake up. I'm almost always awake at 10, but always doze off. This twelve hours in, twelve hours out thing is really counter productive.

Helped dad split wood. He has a nice log splitter now. All I had to do was flip the switch.

Hot tubbed, but I got really warm really quick and wasn't up for it.

Mum and I went in to Costco. I have a dentist appointment (the first in over three years) in a week so I needed to fill my antibiotic prescription. I have a heart murmur yo, but that hasn't stopped me. So we filled that and went on a road trip snack buying spree. Snacks, drinks, some underwear for me, some gummy vitamins, some face lotion. Yup, good old Costco. It was weird how the pharmacy gave us a look when we said we would pay for the prescription out of pocket. It was a cheap one, only $5.90, but they still wanted us to sign up for their discount program.

Mum gave me money to get a hot dog and then we headed back.

Another dream dinner. Chicken tortilla stuff. Then So You Think You Can Dance! Then finished up their auditions and went to Vegas. Lots of intense routines. I like SYTYCD because they give dancers second chances. And the girls are so fit. I really need to pick up a third form of regular exercise. Especially since the amount I'll be biking has decreased so much. Oh, I wonder if bike messenger services are hiring? I'm a reliable biker. I have rain pants and need a job.

Watched the first episode of the BBC series Luther. It stars Idris Elba and it was intense! Police procedural.

time is whatever you say it is

Mum was at work. Dad was doing garage work.

Dad worked on the body of a clock to go with a kit we got at Joann's. The kit has the mechanism and the hands, you build the rest of it. So dad made a nice flat panel with some wood leftover from his lampshades and made a little frame to go around it. I helped do the constructive geometry required to map out the 12 spaces for the numbers. We put it together but haven't come up with a solution for the numbers yet.

Dinner was this shrimp thing. I liked the shrimp but wasn't fond of the sauce.

Then it was time for So You Think You Can Dance! Some good performers got through. Rooting for Kent though I have the feeling he will get bumped during Vegas week. I made a couple little bead bracelets while watching. Mmm.

Lots of Fringe.

Carmen asked if I wanted to do a second Odd Owl tour poster. I tentatively said yes. Need access to studios. And need to do another piece. Last one won awards so the bar is pretty high. Hmmm.

ankle deep in it (cold water that is)

Back to the same old same old.

Sleeping in, in my large bed. Cheerios and tea.

Helped clean out the hot tub. They emptied out the water because lots of little pieces of grit were in it and it was strangely soapy. I used a sponge to get the left over water and dirt out of the tub, and when it seemed like all the dirt was out, I turned on the hose to fill it. Lots of little bits of dirt showed up, so dad helped me siphon them out using gravity. Really cold to stand in a hot tub partially filled with water fresh from the hose. Really really cold. It took about 40 minutes to fill back up. Dumped a bunch of the salts in it (it isn't chlorine based) and turned it on. Now just to wait a day for 51 degrees to become 103.

Dad went into town so I spent the rest of the day by myself. Watched Fringe. Read a little. Didn't do much. It is so quiet here and all the moments blend together.

Dinner was potstickers, salmon, and rice. Mmmm! I scarfed down the potstickers. I was a member of the clean plate club.

We turned on the TV at 8pm expecting Glee (don't know why, as it has always held the 9pm spot) and when we found Hell's Kitchen, we watched an episode of Northern Exposure instead.

Then Glee! I wasn't so fond of the musical numbers, except for the cover of Beck's Loser. I bet Quinn is going to go into labor during regionals.

Tomorrow I think I'm going to assemble a clock with dad.

Once I wake up that is.

the land of no internet connection

Off to the land of no Internet: Pulali Point! Amazing how the world doesn't stop if you can't access your email.

Saturday:

Woke up at noon to find out it was time to get ready and go. Hand a quick breakfast of oatmeal and an egg. Nathan left to pick up Rubie and I waited for the updates on my computer to configure. Looks like I’ll have to wait till Monday to watch the new Doctor Who. Boo!

Eventually Ma, Pa, and I crammed into the truck and headed off. Mom worked on her sock monkey on the way. Another cold, wet day. Mom and Dad said they packed their swim suits. I highly doubt it will pick up enough for any of us to dare to swim in the canal.

This visit is a repair and modification one. Curtains, shed, and some other stuff. I worked on hemming the curtains. The rings have clips on them, so you don’t have to sew holes in the fabric. Where I sleep in Pulali has a large window right next to the bed, and that does not make it fun to sleep when you have the big moon RIGHT THERE. Anyway, now there are pretty curtains blocking that out.

We five went to the Shrimp Fest. There was only a little bit of shrimp representation. Mostly a lot of pop up displays and people selling their various wares. We bought some mugs and fudge and frozen shrimp, and then some corn and fried shrimp and shrimp cocktail. Mmm!

Nate, Rubie and I solved a cocker spaniel puzzle. The face on the dog was a little scary.

Celia came over for dinner. She brought a delicious pot of soup that featured shrimp. There was some garlic bread and a dream dinner. Dessert was fudge. Mmm!

Rubie brought out the karaoke. I sang Bohemian Rhapsody, and it reminded me how totally tone deaf I am. I can’t carry a tune. Oh well. Then Nate brought out his computer and I played the Portal game. I did pretty well and only needed a couple hints from Nathan. Played till mom yelled us to turn off the computer. Celia stopped by again with her cat Lulu. She should loan us a cat to kill the mice in this house.

Sunday:

I was looking at my watch upside down, so when I got up at what I thought was 8, it was actually 10. Still, way early for me. In the night I heard the mouse trap snap and catch a mouth. I heard its death rattle and a few seconds of clawing, and then silence.

Cold cinnamon rolls for breakfast and some tea. Eventually I wandered out to find the family members. Mum and dad were in the garden, so I joined them in their efforts. Mostly used a ho to dig out some grass.

Got bored of that. Nathan and Rubie came back from Kirie’s. We went inside for lunch. I played a few more levels of Portal. Nathan made chili and emptied out a bag of Fritos into it.

Nate and Rubie had to leave to Tacoma to finish up homework.

I brought down Grandpa’s typewriter. Still works, except for the 1 and ! key. Pretty cool when you can turn on a thing after years of use and it is still functional.

Ma, Pa, and I worked together to make a trellis. I screwed in screws and measured and cut planks of wood. It looks quite nice, and no one fell down or got hurt.

I took a nap. Dad took a nap. Mmmm nap. The bed upstairs is ideal for napping.

I made a sandwich and watched some Treme. Then mom made dinner. Shrimp, rice, and chicken! I was full up before the chicken course. Then we played Settlers of Catan. Mom pulled a decisive lead and I was pretty much behind the whole game. Boo.

Celia stopped by and we watched the family movies that Uncle Rolfe and Aunt Alison switched over to DVD. Pretty much all was new to us. The reels we are familiar with are elsewhere. We fast forwarded through school trips and many many Victoria trips. I got some good screen captures of everyone when they were younger. It is amazing how readily identifiable the family members are, even when the picture is not so great. Dad had silly hair.

Monday:

Woke up. Finally washed my hair. I was snuffly so I took an antihistamine, which promptly knocked me out for two hours, which ended up being all of Rolfe and Alison's visit. Oh well. Then it was time to pack up and get the planer from Celia.

The sun finally came out. Not warm enough for swimming, but warm enough to not need a sweater. The ride back slowed to a crawl for about ten minutes.

Unpacked. Queued up Doctor Who. Hot tub time! The day passed by quite quick. Before we knew it, it was dinner time. Then 9pm. Then sleepy time. It is good to be back, but it was good to be away. But mostly good to be in a comfy bed with no mice.