otter apologist

September 10th: when everything stops being busy. I can't wait. After the wedding there is nothing in my calendar in terms of things being done.

Today was Karen's bridal shower! I gave her a jade plant from my master jade. Not as nice as some of the cookwear and storage solutions she got, but appreciated. I have yet to give her a cutting from my master. There was pink champagne cake and coffee and tea and lots of good company. I broke in my heels a little more. Afterwards I helped paint a thing for the wedding that is super cool but I won't go into too much detail, You'll just have to wait and seeeeeee.

Heather and Daniel's visit was perfect! They brought me good food to eat and share in eating, I bought some dessert which I forgot about one night and then we ate on the raft the next day for a sweet lunch. We sunbathed and swam and Daniel cleaned the otter poop (called spraint) off the raft, and the seal afterbirth. Always with the afterbirth. He still loves those otters, and in the last hour of their visit three of them climbed on the raft and he watched excitedly through binoculars. We talked art and people, and drank the french wine I had been given by Brynne, and Jeanne and Brynne were at Celia's one night and they made tacos and we had that.

H&D did the dishes too. Such wonderful company. It's nice to have people you can talk easily with, but also spend some time reading in a quiet group. Heather got a kick out of the Far Side collection.

And we threw seaweed at one another.

Work has been good. Lots of turns, lots of warm weather, lots of hard work and getting it done. We did the whole run of weekly chores in one shift just to get everything REALLY nice.

Now I'm tired and I got work tomorrow. Not till 10, but I need to focus on getting better nights sleep.

catch up

Ahhh am I a week behind at this point? I think I'm finally feeling not tired as all get out.

Okay:

Tuesday:

Worked! Uhm I can't remember the specific shift. Maybe a partial breakfast and turning of rooms? Oh wait it was a deep clean! Yeah! So I started in on turning some rooms and folding laundry.

Casey and Brynne came over, though they'd only been there for an hour when I arrived. They took a walk and I took a nap and we all convened in the evening for dinner at Celia's. It was a nice salmon, rice, salad ensemble. Yum yum! Brynne was up in the garage and Casey had the Queen because she is very pregnant and I didn't want her peeing in a bucket.

Wednesday:

Another work day. I worked mostly up in one room deep cleaning. It had a shower, two tiled spaces, and a tub to be thoroughly scrubbed. I was very thorough, tho I was tag teaming it a bit. Got it done. Moved on to fruit prep and cookies. People checked in, and I was done.

We all took a nap at about the same time. Then it was steak, veggie, and salad for dinner! With a dessert collection of lemon curd tart, cake, ice cream, more cake. Yum! We all had a little serving of everything and declared the lemon curd tart the best, which felt good to me because I'd picked that up from Sweet Laurette's on my way home. Bed time again.

Thursday:

Brynne and Casey both snuck out in the early hours while I was still sleeping. It was a day off for me. I spent it running errands and going to the doctor for the reason why I requested the day off. I left for errands and hour earlier than I should have (was originally going to do them after the appointment but my timing was off). Picked up stuff at Target, went to Ulta and they didn't have the Magic Eraser (makeup remover tool) but they did have like...every shade of Urban Decay's Vice line of lipstick. I swatched a bunch of shades but did not buy any. At Sephora they did have the Magic Eraser! I got it, and my Sephora birthday freebie (a little lipstick and eyeliner). Then I got a game at Barnes and Noble, a book version of Apples to Apples. THEN it was doctor appointment time. Just a check up, check in, update, plus I got a tetanus booster because you should get those every ten years. My arm still hurts. After I went to Seabeck and hung out with Ma & Pa. Saw my apple tree, got food, had toast from their Breville toaster, chatted about Niece Kaylee. A nice little time. Then I headed out again. Got gas. Food at Trader Joe's and I bought a new cell phone! I still hope that receipt will turn up before the 2 year mark. I got it at Christmas so I have a window of time. Just need to finish cleaning and tidying. The new phone is a Samsung Galaxy Core Prime. Not a big phone, but it is light and works fast and I'm digging the features. Alas it cannot play Pokemon Go. Not enough ram. But everything else works for me. And it was much cheaper than phones I was less interested in.

Back at home I got the phone set up and toodled around on the Internet.

Friday:

Back to work! Half fluffs, half turns. I did all the fluffs and we didn't tag team the rooms so much because the way the second person came in made the timing a bit odd. Still, it worked.

Afterwards I saw Ghostbusters at The Rose and it was super fun! Hurray for movies with women in the leading roles! Super classic comedy? Maybe not. A step in a better direction? Ya. I hope this gives rise to more like it. Good silly fun.

Saturday:

And I went to sleep around midnight and slept in best as I could, which was only till 9. I watered the plants. Looking a bit dry out here. Might do another water tomorrow. Rinsed my car, didn't fully wash it. Ate pasta. Played some games. Beat the Rebel Flagship again in FTL. Pretty chill day.

Sorry I let the updates get so behind. I'd promise it won't happen again but it probably will.

tony bobby aly

Karen visited on Sunday! But she got caught by the bridge being up, so she took the long way around. What a pal! I made this cranberry chicken in the crockpot and mashed potatoes from the garden. The chicken tastes better microwaved. The gravy was supposed to be sticky but it was more...liquidy. I dunno. But it was great as leftovers and Karen cleaned her plate. Lily was cute and had plenty of smiles and she puked on me a little bit. Nothing too bad. Earlier in the day I talked to Celia and we ate raw snap peas. So tasty! And my iced coffee turned out pretty good, though I think next batch I'll grind it finer. That yellow ceramic dish with the lid seems perfect for cold brewing.

Nice to have Karen over because I cleaned prior to her visit so I just had to tidy a bit more for Brynne and Casey's. Right now Celia's is more tidy. For the 4th she did a major cleaning. I haven't had the time or the energy to do another big cleaning/organizing push. I have a three day weekend coming up. I don't think I'm overworked but I am not being smart about my sleep schedule.

Today I did breakfast shift and I feel so not confident on breakfast. There's too many little things I don't know, but I'm learning. I want to be a good employee. After that it was six turns and two preps for deep cleaning. Did three bathrooms and vacuumed an other room stuff. I was very sluggish and out of it. 8am start times just fry my noodle so much.

But I've been using the clock radio set to classical to wake me up because the alarm app is unreliable, and that's been nice.

I made up the king guest bed with sheets and I did it like I do at work and I put a Hershey's on the bed (wrapped). Ma and Pa, if you're nice I might do the same for your next visit. You're pretty nice. I bet I'll do the same.

And it's probably good you didn't come on Sunday as the bridge was down.

double comics, because I'm a generous God

Work was tough. It wasn't an unusual shift. Three turns, four fluffs, refills, napkin ironing. I just felt rough. Very tired and light headed. I had a scone leftover from breakfast and after my PB&J I started feeling a bit right in the head. Still, it was tough. I did food shopping and got gas and at home I took a nap. Festivities were happening at Celia's but I needed a little buffer between work and people. So I drew the comic and took a nap. Then I was good to go and I had a blast! Linda, Brian, Amy, errr I forget Amy's husband's name, Taylor, Reed, Dustin were there! And Kathy and two of Celia's friends whose names I now forget. Nice group. Good meat was on the grill, and corn and veggies and other food. We sat outside. We talked. Safe fireworks were let off and Taylor got the Pagoda. We had marshmallows and a good time was had. I missed Averie, Muchim, Brynne, and Dan due to napping.

one hundredth comic yo

 Yesterday was nice. Perfect spring weather where the heat burns off the mist and it turns into a beautiful blue day. Brynne and her friend Lisa stopped by for a day visit. I helped haul a kayak down (with help from Brynne) and they brought the other one down when they decided the one was too tippy for two people. Brynne brought her own paddles and life jackets, which is good because when I got out some seat cushions there were hella spiders in the life jacket box.

I chilled and drew and when I was outside I heard a crashing through the trees and a bald eagle had dropped their fish food on my driveway!!! It was still flopping a bit when I went to scoop it up. YUCK. Eagles don't like rockfish I guess.

Dinner was mixed greens and salmon and rice and clams and yum yum yum. We four (plus Celia) ate outside and all was well.

I printed my cards, though they still need a lot more work. Printing is hard work. Lots of labor!

Today (Sunday) was a work day. I was on laundry duty. Five rooms needed the beds stripped and sheets washed and then the beds made again. Erin had gotten a start on two of them when I arrived. Took me four hours to get all the five done and done, but I didn't wind up sitting around with nothing to do waiting on a laundry machine to finish. That's good time management! Then I got to the towels and then rags and napkins. Booyah. I started to bid adieu at 3 then double checked my schedule and oops I was there till 4! But the bosses also didn't know I was there till 4 initially, because there was a moment of "oh it's 3! Have a good day". Hehhe. So that was just enough time to vaccum and mop the main floor, and finish folding all the laundry save for the rags which were still flopping in the dryer when I left.

Boss had left over pancakes when I arrived!! I ate two and Erin had the other two. And I ate the leftover yogurt parfait that was accidentally made extra. Can't say no to free food, even if dairy doesn't agree with my tum tum.

I took a nap after work. Still not in no nap land. Then had udon and egg and drew my 100th comic!

Now to go play on my new computer. Errgg still need to give ma & pa back their monitor.

city feet and forest friends

Sorry I have missed many days of writing! Friends were in town and I was caught up with spending time with my lovelies. Then the internet was down last night.

The first morning of Finn's visit, I made coffee and toast which we put the plum amaretto jam on. We sat on the porch and talked and gazed out across the water. I looked through my binoculars and saw that Celia was home, so we went over to say hi to her and Corbie. Then we hauled out the blue kayak and went for a cautious paddle, due to it being so tippy. But we found a rhythm and didn't tip over! There were other kayaker groups out, with their lighter and less tippy modern kayaks. We went down to the lagoon by Camp Parsons and snacked and drifted and looked at seals. The sun was out, the water was calm. Wonderful! We sat out in the water a bit and cooled off, then took quick showers and went out for lunch! BT was on his way, but we had time. Time to go to Hama Hama Oysters for some fresh grilled oysters and cole slaw.

I don't think I've ever had oysters out of the shell. They were so good and I licked the shells clean. Very much a meal to savor. We swung by Halfway House too for some carbs. I watered Grandma and Grandpa's grave and BT arrived at Pulali about five minutes after we did. He and Carnegie! A convergence of people. We trekked through the woods out to the point to give Carnegie a walk (as well as a chance for BT to stretch his legs). Dan was on his way too, but wouldn't be around till 7ish. I picked some greens for a salad (carrots and green beans from my garden and tomatos from Heronswood). And Dan arrived!! Woohoo! We hugged and were joyous and utilized the wall mounted beer opener. The salad featured greens from Central Market, cut up tomatoes, cucumber, hard boiled egg, and quality salad dressing. It was delicious and we ate it all almost entirely! It's awesome to eat vegetables sometimes. Post dinner we sampled grog and sat in the living room and talked and drew till late.

The second morning, many coffees were made in the AeroPress and I cooked up bacon and eggs, Trill style, in the cast iron. BT brought fresh ground & roasted coffee from Courier Coffee in Portland. Good stuff. I said "pick a mug" and they did. BT favored the Welcome To Night Vale and Sears mugs, Dan went for M&Ms, and Finn liked the Beaton mug,

We coordinated with Karen for a Port Townsend rendezvous, and at 11 we loaded up into my car and north we went. Beautiful drive up with plenty of trees. Parked just off main street, and Karen showed up right as we were crossing the road (and didn't run us down). Hurrah! Carnegie had some words with a fake dog outside a store front. First up was a pizza lunch at Waterfront. We sat on logs and ate our slices and drank soda and caught up on the news. Coffee was procured from Better Living Through Coffee and later some ice cream from Elevated. Dan bought some books from the second hand shop. I love the malted chocolate flavor so much.

I drove us (including Karen) up to Fort Worden for some bunker fun and beach walkies. The aquarium was open but not free, so we didn't partake. We stuck around at the lower bunkers, and did a bit of spooky fun. I found a bit of bull kelp and stuck shells in it to make a face and tried to present Karen with the dolly "Kelpie". She rejected Kelpie. So I spun kelpie in a circle and tossed her out to sea.

We returned Karen to her car, ran an errand on the way home, and returned to Pulali. There were some backseat nappers on the way back.

I had removed Casey's casserole from the freezer to thaw it for dinner, so I got that cooking. Finn drew. Dan had a coffee. BT prepared a peach cobbler. The casserole was devoured. Dan packed up to go and was hugged. The seals were not welcoming to Dan and he was unable to swim with them like he wanted.

There was a double feature of Mrs Doubtfire and Moulin Rouge, and the peach cobbler was gone in an instant. So delicious! After the movies we played a new game: you open up Tinder and go to your matches and read name and age and their "about me" and other people make guesses at whats going on in their main picture. You can give hints if you want, such as "it's a selfie" or "they're with other people".

The third and final morning was time to say goodbyes. Coffee was made and english muffins consumed. I offered to drive Finn to the airport. Yeah it is a drive, but I'd rather spend more time with my friend and get them to the airport than save ~45 minutes and drop them off at a ferry where they have to cross and get to the train and that takes time. It was an easy drive, and two hours isn't all that bad. The drive was over all too early and we hugged at the drop off and I headed back home. Swung by the library. Stretched my legs. Finished the drive. Listened to podcasts.

My house needed no cleaning or tidying or any post-visit tending. The power cut out at around 8pm, which was very inconvenient. A fire took down some lines down in Skokomish. A brush fire, so not a huge one. That is worrisome that there would be a fire so close.

Power came back around 10ish.

Today the internet hasn't been reaching my house all that well, so I'm at Celia's doing my work. Listing stuff on eBay and all that. Tomorrow is a big day!!

Finn is hereee!

Alarm went off at 8ish and I didn't dilly dally in waking. I threw on sheets on one bed, tossed the compost, showered, washed my car, did my makeup, had coffee...not in that order. I also cleaned out my car a little. Don't want it to look as crumb filled as it normally is. I headed out right at the minute I needed to in order to pick Finn up at the Bainbridge ferry. Nice easy drive and no hold up at the bridge.

I parked and got to the dock right as people were starting to disembark. I took a snap with my disposable camera. I bought one to use for the visit, as well as the upcoming wedding. It'll be nice to have a few actual photos. If they turn out okay, maybe I'll make a habit of taking a few photos here and there with a disposable camera.

We hugged and headed out. First up we went to Bella Luna Pizzaria in Suquamish for pizza and soda, then we swung by Central Market for salad fixings. It was an easy drive back, up until the classic Hood Canal Bridge being up thing. Argh. But it wasn't a long wait. At least it happened going back.

So nice to hear someone going "wow!" non stop when they see how beautiful where you live is! We walked around the property, went down to the beach, said hi to Corbie and walked Corbie out to the peak. He was a good walking buddy. Stayed closed and we actually saw him poop! He always poops in the woods so there's never dog bombs around on the property. It almost seemed like a mystery.

Back at the house, we got lasagna assembled. Made a store run while the noodles soaked up the sauce (they were no boil) and when we got back we cooked it up. The mice trap has been happily snapping mice all day and night long. It's up to seven right now.

The lasagna was delicious and consumed while watching So You Think You Can Dance, which had some amazing routines. I've watched that show with so many rando people this season. Every few commercials I went to empty the snapped trap. Again.

Finn gave me a shirt and a print and a tote as a thank you gift for the stay!! So wonderful. One can never have enough totes and great things.

Tomorrow BT and Daniel are coming up at some time. Hopefully with enough of a window to cruise up to Port Townsend for a visit.

if you can't say anything nice, you probably aren't me. I love you Karen!!

Friday:

Got a little bit of a late start out of the house. Swung by the art store and got a new three pack of sketchbooks. Got to the boat at 2. Got my soap. Got to scrubbing. Four days to do that scrub! It's finally finished! Now to just do a bunch of other stuff to the boat, but first: my weekend.

I got a bit of epoxy in my eye, but I rinsed it pretty quick.

Back at home, I relaxed. I took a nice shower. My knees are pretty bruised from kneeing on the hard ground. My legs are in such bad shape. Bruises, scuffs, scrapes, scars.

Saturday:

The big day! Edding-way! All-smay edding-way. aybe-may ot-nay ention-may.

...

.........

Karen and Rob are MARRIED!!!!!

It was a small wedding. There will be a bigger one soon. This was more the ceremony, the signing of papers, immediate family, and food. I changed my ensemble. Reddish dress, pearls, earrings, silver nail polish, Tom's, tan jacket, bracelet, hair in a bun (should have worn it down...then again up is better for pearls). I looked pretty good. And my makeup turned out a'ight.

I helped Karen get zipped into her dress. I gave her a gift of one of those five year diaries, where there's space for five sentences on one page, each page representing a day but over the span of five years. You get what I'm saying? Seemed like a good wedding gift. A lot is going to happen in these next five years. A lot always happens. But yeah. I'm the blogger with the blog with all the writing of all the things. I spent last night going through my blog to get quotes to put into a speech for Karen.

She looked so beautiful! Her dress was floaty with blue flowers, and she wore this blue and white semi shawl that I gave her for her birthday (awww!!). Her hair was in an updo. She looked so good. Top Karen look, fo' sho. It's just, you never know what is going to happen when someone sits behind you in a class, and how your life will change because they are in your life now.

I was so happy to be a part of this day. I was a witness even! Signed the paper and all that.

The wedding was at her parent's house in Keyport Poulsbo area. They got married outside. No big to do, just them and the officiant and vows. Really wonderful vows. And it started to rain, but not SO much. But still rain. Food was amazing! Like a full days worth of cooking. There were taco fixings and guac and chips and more meat and just...so much food! I could have eaten more, but I saved room for cheesecake. And I didn't want to eat all the tortillas. Tacos are the best.

There were some other PNCA buddies there. Nice to do a little bit of catching up. Phil and BT namely. Phil was going to try camping up by the Elhwa, but it was full up so he's at my place right now, but sleeping in his truck to try to sleeping in his truck as a camping method. BT's parents picked him up from Karen's. His mom is darling.

I know good people. It's good to know good people. Feels good.

I left the shindig at around 7:30. It was wrapping up at about then anyway. Like I said, low key but excellent. Met SO MUCH of Karen's family and Rob's family. Rob's sister Lisa is nice. Rob and Lisa's dad is named Joe. And there were babies everywhere. Fertile people abound!

OOOH have to get sheets out of dryer. Anyway, got back home. Did dishes. Tidied up. I have some housekeeping stuff to do tomorrow. After so much loafing, it's odd to have the feeling of "well this is my two day weekend" but I'm still doing some work from home stuff!

This will be the fastest August on record, I'm sure.

I'm so happy for Karen and Rob. Such adventure awaits!

KEDGPHH

Saturday:

Doggie watching! I dozed in a little bit but not too much as I had a few errands to run. I washed some sheets then packed up entertainment for myself. First I swung by Poulsbo to see if there was this thing I wanted to buy, but it wasn't there. Then I got some fast food to nosh on through the day.

The dog sitting gig was at a Christmas Tree Farm. My bosses aunt needed someone to look after her two dogs, her sons three dogs, and her granddaughters two dogs while the family was at a wedding. The house was large with some great little design bits (like a rhododenderon wallpaper in the bathroom). I arrived early to meet the dogs and people. I hung around for about two hours while people got ready to leave (one set was a late departer).

The dogs were Daphne (an old lab) Elly (a younger white doggy) Giganthor (a mottled brown doggie) Peanut (a fatter mottled brown dog) Kush (a black lab) Hook (a 6 month old dog that is probably a specific breed but I didn't know) and Holly (a white shepherd). So larger dogs, but holy cow were they mild mannered! They were mostly in the glum "my owner is gone, ho hum" mode, with some seeking of pets. I fed them, let them out periodically, walked with them for a while, and kept count to make sure none run off into the rows of trees. I've met some single dogs that are more trouble than these seven were combined. Only Daphne was a barker.

I watched this German movie The Sandman, about a guy slowly turning to sand. Odd movie. I worked on a puzzle. I listened to podcasts. Just chilled generally. At 11:30ish, they came back and I got paid. Easiest money I've ever made. I offered to dog sit again, for a reduced rate if it is just Daphne and Elly.

The bridge was up when I was crossing, but it went down after about a minute. Got home late and crawled into bed and slept.

Sunday:

10amish I rolled out of bed. Said hi to Brynne who got in yesterday and Casey who got in this morning. They went over to chill with Celia and I had a bacon and green bean cooked in the cast iron breakfast. I loafed about. Edited some photos for work. Was social. Was not social. Was social again. Dinner at Celia's was BBQ chicken thighs, garlic bread, and fresh clam chowder. Yum yum! They swam and then we had a tea and ice cream nosh followed by three rounds of Scattergories.

I'm tired again. Tomorrow I might be helping Dad with the boat? I don't know.

birds, dead & injured

Sunday, Monday, Tuesday! I've gotten behind again.

Sunday was the only really big day. Mom's birthday!

Celia came over just before 10 to start the cake for Mom's birthday. I put on an episode of Chopped and we got to assembling! The wings got shortened and stacked, and the chocolate was cut to a thinner body. The original (spoiler: we were making a cake shaped like a dead bird, with it's legs up. I spent the night making chocolate legs out of melted chocolate squeezed out onto a baking sheet and frozen) body design was much bigger and flatter. My cake turned out a bit dry, and Celia said hers was a bit flat. But it's the thought that counts! The icing was homemade butter cream. We couldn't get it to look like a blue marlin, so me made a green and blue and white bird with chocolate feathers. A bit overkill, but it looked great! We put it into the fridge at noon, right before Ma & Pa were set to initially arrive...but then they hadn't even left yet. So Celia went back to her cabin and I took a long nap. I was woken up by Celia calling to help her with an injured bird. I got the rescue number and address and helped Celia get the pigeon into a crate. Off she went!

Ma and Pa showed up shortly later. I got the run down on upcoming work and gave Ma her choice of earrings (she went with the cluster dangly ones). The cake was not yet brought out. It was a cold, windy gray day so we stayed inside. We played a few rounds of Scattergories and Ma won. Then played some Trivial Pursuit and got soup and salad ready. Linda and Celia came over with a pasta dish that was big and tasty. Gabriel was there too, and was a sweet puppy doggy. Up until he puked in my lap. Oh well. Dogs. It happens. Washed jeans and put on clean ones.

The cake was brought out to Mom's incredible delight! She loved the dead bird theme. She giggled and cheered and we took pictures. I think she felt appreciated. We all sat around and chatted. Eventually Linda and Celia headed home. We watched Ghostbusters. Was just going to be a little bit of Ghostbusters, but once you've started that movie you gotta finish it. I did my ankle stretches and make rice crispies for Ma and Pa's hike.

In the morning they headed off to go backpacking for two days. They left me two rice krispie squares. I loafed about. Snacked. Cleaned. Struggled with getting Internet to work.

Tuesday I did some work from home and finished the left over salad and my computer now likes to overheat, so I kept having to pause what I was doing to let it cool down. Buhhh.

Friday & Saturday & Sunday

On Friday it was ridiculously windy. Like, I had to lock my front door to keep it from being constantly blown open windy... and the wind blew my paddleboat onto land at low tide, and the wind kicked water into it and it started to submerge. I went down to the beach and didn't take the time to get beach shoes and the oysters sliced my left foot up as I tried to bail the boat out...but as soon as I bailed a bit, a wave would come up and replace all the water. I decided to leave it and hope it could be drained out when the wind died down enough. I cleaned house. Wind knocked the power out for two hours. I went to visit the boat in the evening. Ma and Pa at the state park. Finally found the dang road! Brought Bodi along as well. He seemed anxious but tolerated the experience.

In the morning I returned to the boat and picked up Ma and Pa. Early enough so Dad could go out for crab. Ma watered the plants. Turns out I really gotta drench them. I tidied up. Brynne and Dan and Muchim were stuck in Poulsbo traffic. They got in at around 1:30 and Honey and Bodi made their doggie introductions.

We hiked in the woods, I napped a bit while they swam, we drank mystery Cape Verde grog and it was delicious. Like coffee amaretto. It was a perfect day. Warmth, sunshine, no wind. The water was apparently too cold though. But the paddleboat got drained and used. No crab was found. Bodi tried a little bit to make Honey his girlfriend, but it didn't work. Dinner was a smorgasbord of chicken and wheatberry salad and melon and hummus and rice and all sorts of stuff! And oatmeal cake for dinner. Delicious. Filling.

The Seattle crew departed at around 7, and Celia drove us to the boat so she could see the boat. We paddled around the marina a bit, too. Looked at other boats.

Ma and Pa forgot their water bottles so I would have to be up very early to bring those to them. Didn't want to hold them up on their long journey back to Bremerton.

Got up just a bit before seven. Walked Bodi. Hauled the water into my car and hauled it to the boat. I got double poached eggs on toast with melted cheese. My favorite! Bodi was better behaved in the cabin. Well less anxious. I returned home and decided to take a nap instead of trying to be awake at 7:45 in the morning on a Sunday. So I did that. Then I watched Bojack Horseman on Netflix and snacked on left overs and walked Bodi again. I pulled a muscle in my calve. I gotta take it easy! My foot is still injured and walking on a cut when the cut is on the side of the foot...I hope it heals fast.

Unfortunately, my doctor's appointment was cancelled because the doctor fell ill! Damnit! So hopefully when I call, I can get an appointment quick and not several weeks out. I'm tired of delaying my foot stuff, because I don't want to enter my next stage in life with a bad foot that might, worst case scenario, need surgery. So tomorrow I'm dropping Bodi off and then making a Trader Joe's run and getting some jeans at Old Navy because I only have one that currently fits me in comfort.

Then I'll put my foot up and hope for the best. Feeling a bit like I'm falling apart and running out of time.

stay at Hummel

Thursday:

Got up and did my makeup super pretty like because I was going to get my driver's license! Packed up my ID and some mail I've received to prove my address, and off I went to the Port Townsend DMV. I was gearing up to suffer but...there was one person in front of me in line. I sat for all of 45 seconds and then I was up! The guy working was jovial. Since I was already in the Washington system, it was just a matter of updating my info. Though I neglected to update my weight. Oh well. But yeah! It went super fast and painless. Just had to pay up and I got several tries at the photo. I look all dark haired and dark browed and pink lipsticked. Different from my brown reddish hair in my Cali license. Though I made a point to wear my same necklace and shirt in both photos. I wonder how long I can keep that look going?

I swung by QFC and got some food stuffs, including supplies to try this chicken crock pot recipe. Then back home I went! I got the chicken going and I did the watering of plants and some laundry and took it easy. Did some work from home. The chicken was buffalo chicken and I think I added too much sauce, or not enough chicken, but it shredded all right. Didn't eat it till the next day though.

Friday:

Had a hard time getting out of bed because I was feeling down, but I eventually got up,

Ate some green beans and hash browns for breakfast with coffee. Watered plants and put put slug bait. I tied some strings to the green beans to get them to stretch up and over to the trellis. When they start clinging, I'll cut those lines. Just don't want them to flop on the ground, ya know?

Did some more work from home. Marcus came over for a visit. I heated up the shredded buffalo chicken and put it over rice and yum yum so good! Then we watched The Fifth Element, which he had never seen! And it was fun to watch it with someone who hadn't seen it, because I was able to see if with sort of fresh eyes because that movie was such a convergence of stars aligning in terms of actors and time and place, but also totally amazing what Luc Besson pulled off because his director track record is all over the place with some really not amazing movies. So yeah, that was fun!

Nice to have company and chat about things. Marcus is good for chatting.

Fourth with Friends and Family

The 4^th of July felt like a really good success! It was a long, busy, fun day with plenty of good company and I’m still tired from it all!

Heather and Daniel arrived at just a bit after 10. I celebrated their arrival with sparklers. And we shot off roman candles across the clear water after dark. That was fun. The water and stones under the water were illuminated. And we stayed up late chatting and drawing and it’s so great to hang with friends.

Heat woke us up early. I got coffee going and we walked down to the beach and caught up with Ma and Pa. It was decided we’d take a quick swim before breakfast, so we got our swimming gear on and in we went! It was a nice, quick dip and the water was perfect. Warm enough with a few cold patches to remind us of what we are truly in.

Dad made poached eggs on toast, but sans the usual melted cheese. Perfectly poached goodness enjoyed on the porch. We did a bit more hanging out. Heather and I walked along the beach. Well, we walked IN the water along the beach. I pointed out a starfish and decorator crabs. When we got back to the house, there were snacks and hot dogs. We ate heartily. Justin and Jen arrived at around 1pm and we got to greetings and more hot dogs and a couple beers. Then it was time for the second swim! The serious swim! Daniel and I brought down the paddle boat. Justin and Jen kayaked, Mom kayaked, Dan kayaked, I floated on the inner tube, and did some snorkeling (after I got my snorkel from Mom, who was using it), and drank beer in the tube (in a can, not a glass) and chatted with Heather and generally enjoyed being oh so very warm in the sun. I hauled in the gear, took a hearty shower, and greeted Amy and Linda and Ryan and Sister Pine and Taylor and Reed! And then it was a full party, with a smorgasbord of healthy veggies and meats and salad and crab to put on the salad and skewers (I was full before I could get to a skewer) and later in the evening, after playing with Reed and Taylor (Amy and Ryan’s kids) (after they had got their swim in) we had apple pie and ice cream and chocolate cake. A marathon of food.

Heather and Daniel departed us early, but it was wonderful to have them up if oh so briefly. They’re great people, and Heather is an honorary Pedersen-Spencer.

After food was consumed to bursting point, we washed dishes (Sister Pine helped me dry and put them away) and toys were put away and finally we agreed that YES it was time to launch fireworks! Down to the beach we went. I gave smoke bombs to Taylor and Reed and had them place them and then I would light them (safety!) and I gave out sparklers. Dad pulled in the raft so that we could use it as a launching platform. I was his helper. Celia contributed a few fountains, and a few were very uber! It was a good blend of Roman Candles and fountains going PEEWW ZCHEEWWWW ffzzzzt BOOM and the six mortars I bought going way way up and way way bright! First year we had those, and to great effect. They encompassed the sky and got applause. At the end I was like “who wants more?” and I got applause and I said “I can’t hear yoooou!!!” and got more applause and repeated “I can’t hear yooou!” and got even MORE applause, and after a finale cheer after a finale demand of “I CAN’T HEAR YOUUU!!!” I lit the last fountain, though in truth the last firework will never be as good as the second to last firework.

What an amazing night! Kids were up past their bed time, I burnt my thumb on the lighter and banged my toes on the bolt on the raft, we all ate so much, and met new people, and met old friends, and yeah. It was just wonderful and the right amount of people and everyone got along. Wonderful.

The people who slept over with Jen and Justin, Ma and Pa, and me in the house by myself. I woke up tired and sore and lay still in bed for a while, and coffee didn’t wake me up, and an energy drink didn’t wake me up. Only a late afternoon nap really revived me.

Breakfast was an egg casserole with left over veggies and shrimp (yum!) with scones (YUM!) and watermelon (I assume yum) and jam on the scones. Wonderful after party food.

Jen took another dip, I sat and chatted with Justin, Ma and Pa packed up, I did some drawings and gave them to J & J. They departed. Ma and Pa departed. I realized Taylor left a bag but they were still at Linda’s cabin so I departed and dropped off the bag (it had a glasses case and library books, so important stuff!) and some sparklers because I’m a good influence on kids like that. I got to pet Gabriel, Linda’s dog, some more. Sweet lil puppy.

Then back to my house for some major relaxation. What a perfect holiday! Outside of me getting a few injuries, and Daniel also getting a few cuts, nothing went wrong.

poop

Waiting for Heather and Daniel to arrive ommggg!

Today I got up and had an egg scramble and then helped Dad out with putting together a trellis for the green beans. Eight sticks in four V formations with a single rebar through the V joint, with string weighted down on each side with two bits of rebar. It looks really nice and I can't wait for my precious green beans to grow up and around it.

I washed the sheets and pillowcases and tidied up the upstairs to make ready for guests. Lots of washing and drying, but I want my guests to be comfy.

The septic guy came later in the evening. He was pretty cute! Dark curly graying hair, probably Italian. Smart. I wonder what art he studied? So that was fun. Too bad he was pumping poop. Awkward first meeting.

Then we four (Celia, Ma, Pa and I) after eating dinner, took a quick swim. Now they'll be here any minute! Ooohhhh!!!

Then it's celebration day!

triple post

Tuesday:

I literally can't remember what I did on Tuesday. What did I do? OH! I dyed my hair! That I think was Tuesday. Yeah. Did that. Ate food. Watered plants. Rested my skin. It wasn't all that burned, thankfully! Just a bit pink.

Wednesday:

Ma and Pa came over in the eveningish, but first I left for errands. Got my hair cut by Vianne at SuperCuts (or is it MasterCuts?? the haircut place in Poulsbo next to the tanning place) and she did a lovely job fixing my mess. Did I mention I tried to cut my own hair? It didn't go so well. I finally decided to have it fixed, and it was for the best. And my bangs were trimmed into a nice shape. Now to grow my hair out nice and proper. I want my 2010 hair length back.

Then I did a shopping errand and got soda and Capri Sun and bug itch creme and other things. Also got The Fifth Element on DVD because it was cheap.

Back I went! I did some laundry and made pasta and waited for ma and pa. They arrived and I helped unpack a bit. The pasta was made with the last of the sauce Brynne left me. We chilled out and tucked in to bed and I had a very restless night sleep.

Also did some work from home.

Thursday:

On site work day! Mom made me a sandwich for lunch. I did my makeup with this eyeshadow primer I'm trying out. It's cheaper stuff but it is lasting as well as my sampler of more expensive stuff.

I photographed items. Itemized items. Helped organize stuff. A shorter day. I got caught by the bridge on the way over. On the way back I got gas, and fireworks (at George's, right across from NCAD, I got things that shouldn't set the peninsula on fire), and deposited my paycheck, and got snacks and finally got home after the awful Bainbridge traffic at almost 8!

I ate of the salad and fish and potatoes Mom made. I had a brewski and lit some bottlerockets and then settled in for a good old slouch in front of my computer.

I painted my nails red and blue! America! Tomorrow Heather & Daniel are coming up! I got laundry to do and cleaning of house to also do.

Feeling a bit anxious about stuff coming together for the shindig. It'll be fine. I'm still just anxious.

not made with real Trillians

Tuesday:

Got a good sleep and made myself a cuppa coffee and ate some doughnuts that B & D brought over, yum! They went kayaking and I lounged about on the porch enjoying the perfect good calm weather. When they returned, they brought out cheese and elk meat and ohhh so tasty. They even left me cheese!! It was a nice little mini visit, they didn't stay too long. Still, nice to get out of the city for even a night!

I worked from my front porch for optimal wifi and knocked out a good chunk of stuff. Snacked a bunch. Watered plants. No sign of carrots!!

Got to bed at an almost good hour. I only got a bit bug bitten, that red incased citronella candle is the bomb!

Wednesday:

On site day! Only one a week these days, it's winding down. I think I'll look for a new job after 4th of July. Or maybe never and just be a full on mooch.

So, on site! I got through two more boxes of things, organized a third, helped Laura with her jewelry set up for the fair that is coming up (her jewelry sure looks nice!), Had left over Brynne pasta for lunch.

My boss last time I was on site asked for game ideas for a baby shower, like pinning a cloth diaper on something speed contest, but onto what she pondered! And I threw in "how about a water balloon?" and long story short: the game was a hit! When I suggested it, she asked if I had read the game somewhere. Nope, I'm just good at thinking stuff. Go me.

I swung by the library and picked up a pile of books! Mostly comics this time. Hurray comics!

I deposited a check. Yay money!

I swung by Central Market and got salmon musubi, a red bean paste mochi, some taffy, some chocolate (I have not eaten these last two yet, they are later time snacks) and a lychee flavor Calpico as an after work snack. Pricey but delicious. Damn I wish I hadn't gone into Central Market the other day, as now I am reminded of all the good stuff it contains within.

Yum yum.

The Mattars found some chocolate called "Trillian Bar" at a Buffalo candy shop and mailed me (to Celia's address) three bars of it!! How nice of them! I haven't had any yet, but will soon. I've been in mourning because of all those dang "Share a Coke With..." Coke bottles that have names on them that are not MY NAME! And now I have three chocolate bars with my name on them.

I wrapped up the presents for Karen's birthday and made her a card. We are hanging tomorrow and probably Friday as well. Watched TV, ate food after 10. Tsk tsk. Now to sleep and get up and celebrate my friend's birthday!

both fridges set on chill

Sunday:

Chilled at home. Washed some things. I made a bunch of shrinky dink things and that was fun. Listened to a bunch of podcasts. Watched my telly in the evening. True Detective and whatnot. I got to bed at a decent hour to get up earlyish to prep the house.

Monday:

Got up and got to some cleaning! Well had some noodles for breakfast, and tea. And I cut my special potato that I picked from the garden yesterday into little pieces to make fries, and I cooked it into fries and it was a delicious little serving of fries. Could have used more garlic.

All that work to grow a potato and cut it and cook it properly. Only a buck for the same and a minute of time at McDonalds.

I cleared out some cobwebs and put away things and generally made it all nice. Brynne & Dan arrived at 2 and brought in food stuffs. I helped (not really) bring down their kayaks and they went out for a paddle. I worked on work stuff. When they got back, they relaxed on the porch and I kept working. The house filled up with good smelling sauce for dinner. Once I got to a good point to pause, I joined them in chat and wine. I shelled shrimp for the salad. Celia joined us for the lovely meal of pasta and hearty sauce, salad, olive loaf, and chatter. Lovely wonderful meal. We hung out at Celia's after, and I watched the last hour and a bit of So You Think You Can Dance back at mine.

Nice little day.

I really need to start exercising.

boys in the house

Oooohhh I'm so stuffed. I feel like my belly grew two sizes. So much food.

Wednesday:

An on site work day! They do exist! Though my job is winding down and soon I'll be in "find a new job" town. Wore the same (since washed) outfit I wore to the play, because it's a nice dress and light jacket combo for looking stylish. I photographed three boxes worth of stuff! Pretty good chunk of work. And I grabbed some goodies to put on credit (a purse for Celia and a heart shaped locket for me, now I need a sweetheart to put their photo in my locket). I stayed on till 7ish and thus traffic was very easy going back. OH! I also gave boss the "Beware of Dog (he is adorable)" print for her birthday and she loved it and hung it up.

Deposited my paycheck and got some fast food because I was hungry (so many bad eating habits) and when I got back to Pulali, Dustin and Mike were there and dinner was happening, so I parked and wandered over for second dinner! Steak and potatoes and veggies, oh my! I ate so much. Too much. Conversation was plentiful and it was nice to see Dustin again after several years. Mike is a very nice fella too.

I went to bed and woke up early. I've had a couple bad nights sleep. Probably the light coming in in the morning.

Thursday:

Pop tart for breakfast and I watered the plants and dug out the weeds in the garden a bit and stirred up the dirt and then took another crack at planting carrots. And I did a row of greenbeans in the long open bed. So hopefully they grow! They'll need that trellis.

I had some pasta with WAY too much garlic in the sauce and then I took a long nap because I was really tired for some reason. I had an apple with peanut butter. And a bowl of ice cream with chocolate grated on top. Then Celia invited me over for dinner! There was more steak and veggies and a crumble and it was all so very good. I showed my sketchbooks to M & D and they were complimentary. Nice evening all around, though now my tummy feels distended. I really need to join a gym and start working out. I want my clothes to continue to fit me. I can't afford a new wardrobe.

Well, I have plenty of larger shirts that'll fit. I guess I just don't want to buy new pants? Except I have larger pants. I guess I don't want the clothes I really like that are a bit tight now to not fit at all.

Wah wah. Inactivity.

internet down

11/28/2014

Remember my complaint about not being able to blog while in Google? Well Nate gave me a tip to remedy that. But now my problem is my computer is failing to connect to the Internet. Is the signal too weak? What’s the deal? Uhg. Hopefully it remedies itself because I’d like to get more job work done over the weekend.

But Friendsgiving was a success! Amanda arrived at around 3, which was perfect. I introduced her to Celia and we peeled potatoes and got things ready and had some brewskies and chatted and played Yotta Know Birds (we don’t know birds) and Getting To Know You…Better, and we got to know each other better. Amanda is an absolute sweetheart and I hope she visits again. I’ll have to see her again sometime because she forgot her slippers!

We got up at around 9/10ish and she made coffee and I made eggs and we had a very protein breakfast to start the big day! First up was bread. We got that rising by the stove. Then cranberry sauce, which had to chill. Then potatoes. The three dinner guests: Heather & Daniel, and BT were all stuck in the same traffic, but arrived at 4 which was perfect! The table was set and food was brought out and Celia arrived with the turkey and we dished up and gorged and had seconds and ohh the potatoes and gravy I think were my favorite but all (yams, green beans, bread, stuffing, turkey, apple juice) was really good! And we let our belts out a loop and sat in the living room to chat. Celia returned to her cabin and fell asleep, like should happen on Thanksgiving. Karen came over with a pie for dessert and we all got a game of Cards Against Humanity going. It was the perfect crowd for such a despicable game. Phil arrived too! Which was awesome. He came up in the dark and through the rain! I was joyed at that. So much company. Amanda won the game. Karen departed for the night to go back home, and Phil crashed on the couch, BT took the garage bed, and Heather and Daniel took the master bed.

I was first up in the morning and got coffee going. BT made the bacon. Daniel made the cheesey eggs. We gabbed and woke up. The Portlanders (sans BT) all departed at around the same time to get back at a good hour. BT is staying another night, and we spent the day lounging and chatting and eating leftovers and taking a night hike with Carnegie (his little dog who is sweet but not keen on other dogs). And we finished with sitting by the fire with more conversation, which is just ideal. My DVD player refused to work, so that was a bummer for some mild entertainment, but I did get some drawing done.

It’s raining and dark and cold and snow is anticipated, but it’s not declared a storm. Hopefully come the morning, I’ll have Internet.

 11/29/2014

My Internet is back! It was reset over yonder and it now makes it over the water. Time to catch up!

A high tide and a rough storm has made my beach ladder vanish into the canal.

I had leftovers for breakfast and tea, BT had some banana bread and tea. We got a fire going and lounged by it whilst getting warm. The winds are VERY strong. Hopefully there are no trees on the roads. BT is off to hang with Meghan in Tacoma.

Now I get the weekend to mellow and nosh on food and it is back to work on Monday!

quadruple

I feel like I'm starting every entry with an apology being slack in my posts!

Thursday:

Worked on site pricing antiques. I wore tights and a red dress under my gray sweater, and I looked super cute. And I volunteered to help hand out candy on Halloween. It was rainy and dark. I saw Nightcrawler afterwords, and it was awesome! So dark and psychopathic and filmed so wonderfully. Jake Gyllenhaal was awesome. Got home late. Had some udon. Tucked into bed.

Friday:

The rain has let up a bit, but not exceptionally so. I got up early and did full vavavoom makeup. Brows, eyeliner, blush, tons of stuff. And I packed my vintage dress so that I matched the shop for handing out candy. I priced more antiques and stamps, and at 3:15 I left to hand out candy in Poulsbo. It was rainy but the parents had umbrellas and the kids had raincoats, so all was good! Tons of kids going up and down old town Poulsbo. Little babies, teens, I denied no one candy! At first not many came down the alley to Red Plantation, so I was being very generous. But we ran out at 5:45 (the hand outs went from 4-6) so it's all good! Saw several Boxtrolls. Many princesses and superheroes and Gryffindors. There was a cute Harry Potter across the street at Cups. A good time all around, and the Boss treated me to hot cocoa.

Got home and got a fire going and warmed up and texted another Homeaween celebrator.

Saturday:

Slept in! Hurray! Had coffee and my signature scramble and helped Celia un-wedge her boat off the beach and lift it onto the seawall.

Later on, Ma and Pa came over with food and fun. We hung out with Celia and friend of the family Linda, then dinner was salad and garlic chicken and garlic bread. I showed Dad my Aero Press. After food and conversation, we three relaxed and watched Chef. That movie needed less of a first and second act, and the third act should have been the movie. Not enough food truck or editing.

Sunday:

Ma and Pa and Celia showed me some hikes in the area. Hikes to take my visiting friends on. It was a nice damp day to hike and see some waterfalls. We got some clams at Hama Hama and that was dinner (with salad and broccoli). Ma and Pa picked 4 pounds of chanterelles in the morning. Their gluttony and greed knows no bounds! But dang did I like the fritata that Dad made. And I made coffee. And had dad make coffee in the Aero Press. A very nice day. Nice to tromp in the woods.

Oh! And we saw tons of elk! 30? Plenty. Big critters. And we visited Grandma and Grandpa's grave and cleaned it up.

And we told a few grim jokes through the day.

Now I'm painting my nails gray to match the weather.