beginnings and endings and beginnings

After work, I went to the new house to assist Jeff and Tara in interviewing potential candidates for the 4th bedroom in the house. There was Justen and Blake. Justen was quieter, Blake was more energetic. Both were younger, one had lived with many different people (even in Denmark) and one had not. We talked about it and we all agreed on our choice, so if the references clear....he shall be in! I got a better look at the house and it seems pretty good. Plenty of pantry space.

Being on the other end of the interview process is interesting. Figuring out all the different questions, and what matters in a candidate. It's a pretty big thing, figuring out who you are going to live with. After many years of experience though, you should figure it out. What you are looking for in a home and people to home with. Anyhoo. That was cool. Then Jeff, Tara, Chris (the guy who is moving out) and I went to Discretion Brewing for a quick brewksi. Chris is moving to Portland. It was a really awesome time! I'm a bit sad that Chris is leaving, because I think I would have liked living with him. Really nice dude. Hope he likes Portland. Found out that probably the lady who wrote the Feministory piece I illustrated for Bitch Magazine is a friend of Jeff's. Small world! Anyway. The conversation was fun and Tara and I bonded over mutual love for Spice World. Things should be good.

What can I say about work? I caught some sweatpants, I prepped some screens for discharge ink, I cut out and smoothed down some big magnets that are going on the side of a car that is going to be in a demolition derby, I cleaned squeegees and floodbars. It's always different and changing. I think I've mentioned that that is what I like about my job, but it bears repeating.

All in all, a very good active day. And whee, it is Friday! Fun!

I'll miss Janet

Week started on a pretty good note. Burned screens. Caught a quick two color job and a single color job. Taped screens. Then we ran a slightly more complicated piece but that looked good. Almost done with The Name of the Wind! Fellowship of the Ring has such a DAMN LONG START! I've forgotten. Kinda slow going when we only listen to it for bits at a time. Harry Potter is MUCH faster paced.

After work I got the 100% thumbs up from Jeff, so now I just have to put in my deposit and first months rent and I'm good to go.And he is only asking for deposit right now, which is nice. Both together won't tap me out. Actually this whole move isn't leaving me as broke as I expected, and rent will be cheaper so I should get back on my feet pretty quick again.

At home I watched telly and read a bit.

Janet left some comics on my bed for me to have. She is so kind and wonderful!

well, that went fast

So on Saturday I slept in, and woke up to find an email... or did I return that email in the evening? Anyway, there was an email from someone who saw my post- no it was in the morning- there was an email from someone, Jeff (a different Jeff), saying they had a room and they linked me to their post. And it sounded really neat and up my alley, so I responded, and after my shower and stuff I got a call and we talked about housing basics and stuff and then we set up a time for me to see the place and that was that! So the rest of the day I relaxed and tidied. Then I went to the Live Oak area to see the house. It is in the middle of a neighborhood with lots of other houses and streets upon streets of houses. Very residential. Jeff works with schools and biking things. Tara works as a nurse in Monterey. Wasabi is an oldish cat who lives in the house. The other roommate is moving to Portland as it turns out, so I didn't meet them. The house has a nice back yard, not lawn back yard. More trees and some sculptures and a big bottlebrush tree. And a pear tree. It's nice. The room is smaller than my current room, but the closet is nice. I could make it work. I plan to make it work as Jeff called me today (Sunday) telling me that they talked about it and would like me to live with them! Yay! Anyway to go back to the meeting. We talked and there are house meetings, so that is neat. And it seems close to a different sort of stuff. Not downtown stuff but stuff...stuff. Maybe I'll be biking more! I'll have to do a "Trillian has moved!" card to send to all my correspondents. So the meeting was good (obviously) and I returned home feeling good. Didn't get up to much for the rest of the day. Just took some much needed head space relaxing time. Then I went to bed and stayed in it for a good long while. Sunday came around and I needed food, so I bought food. And bought some naan. Ate an early dinner and got a call from Jeff! Hurray! I have the room! I threw on some fun makeup and drove up to Felton for the Odd Owl show! They were playing at a newish open air venue that is an outdoor stage in someones sorta backyard. Anyway, it was nice. And even though I was running late, I got there with plenty of time. I had a beer at the start and that was that. Had some pizza and sausage later on. Dina was there, and I met a buncha people. I keep forgetting business cards! But they were awesome and played the old hits and some new stuff and they just jammed for a while, which was great to hear. Just a lot of fun and mingling. Dina lent me her jacket. I went around collecting tips. Chatted for a bit but didn't stay too late as I have work in the morning and BREAKING BAD TO WATCH! Wow, what a start to the season! So good.

I've almost got three weeks left in this month, and I aim to relax. I'll start sorting eventually, but I don't even move in till September. It's nice to have that out of the way. And the rent & utilities are almost a full Benjamin cheaper all together. Sweeet.

and thus my quest advances

Thursday:

Oops. Went to bed totally neglecting to blog. But it was a fairly standard day. Jeff returned and I coated screens while he set up. I counted in shirts for plenty o' jobs. We ran a couple jobs. Not a bad day.

Back at home I relaxed for a bit, then went to the 10pm showing of Elysium. It was good. Not great phenomenal OH MY GOD. You know how I get about movies when they really excite me. It had some really cool special effects and scenes, but it needed more character development all around. Just a few minutes more for each character, and for the inhabitants of Elysium. Not MUST SEE in theaters cool, but still cool.

Monuments Men looks awesome.

Friday:

Annnd another week is done! We ran a job in the morn then did shop stuff while waiting for stuff to come in. We reorganized the tester shirt bin. Vacuumed. Listened to Fellowship of the Ring. It's a long ass book though. I seem to remember it being shorter. An hour of listening and Frodo is STILL in the Shire!

I looked at a room after work. It was in a house with two other ladies around my own age. The room was smaller, the house in general was smaller, but it was a quiet neighborhood...but I'd also have to sign a lease...but the move in time works for me and there is parking and I can paint the walls and the closet space is HUGE... ahhhg. I just really like MY house. And MY place. I like where I am NOW. Boo.

I went to a movie night down at the station. Ryan, Marina, James. The usual suspects, as well as Alex, Jill, and....I forget her name but we met before and she is really nice. Snacks, beer, food, and Mystery Men and Severance double feature, aw yeah.

A nice night. Don't know what I'll do tomorrow exactly, but first I shall sleep in!

Well, I'll probably apply to more houses and places. Just gotta keep applying.

I'm awesome, let me live with you

Up to five emails about housing now, no responses yet. There are all these "shared rooms". I can't live in a grown up dorm! I'm an adult! And too much of a homebody.

Lets see. Work. We printed bags and these shirts. I burned some screens. I reclaimed what was reclaimable and got to cleaning what really needs to be cleaned. I need a day where I'm not catching so that I can catch up on the screens in the back! But we'll have 10 to coat tomorrow, around around 15 to reclaim. It's a process.

My fingernails are long again. They grow so fast!

Didn't go food shopping. It's only Monday.

ice cream, steak, sucky tidings

Friday:

Showed up early again to work, though just so we can get an early start on two big job setups that needed to be done by the end of the day. I cleaned squeegees. The job got set up. We ran the back. Jeff set up the new coffee maker. Boss put some excess gold foil on a tooth to make it look capped like the goober that he is. I cleaned the squeegees again and we did the back. Did we do more after that? Err. I don't think so. I removed the tape from all the screens, so there will be a lot of cleaning of screens to be done next week as we've come up short on them again. So much turn over!

After work I took it easy and cleaned my room. I swung by Santa Cruz Mountain Brewing and filled up the growler with their seasonal "Casinos" IPA. The people in the pub looked at my possession of the growler with much admiration and respect. I was there on serious business and they knew it! Steve came down and we picked up steaks and had those with the beer and we watched Happy Gilmore on Netflix.

Saturday:

After breakfast, Steve and I walked downtown and we wandered into Bookshop Santa Cruz where I picked up a "get well" card for a friend. Then we went to the Penny Ice Creamery and got fancy ice cream cones and ate them while wandering around a little street fair of sorts. He took off to meet Adam, Kyle, & co. for dinner and I opted to stay down in Santa Cruz to work on things.

Janet came back from her vacation and there was a letter that was confirmed to be our 60 day notice. So tht was a bummer of big magnitude. Time to find a place to live. Been here just a year. Uhg.

Watched Prisoner of Azkaban.

Sunday:

Had a good solid sleep in. I posted my first advert on Craigslist about looking for a place to live, and called one person and emailed two others. Haven't heard back, but it is still early. Just gotta keep extending myself and hopefully someone will want me to move in.

I sat out on the porch and read and soaked up a bit of sun. That was nice. Had some of my Canada noodles for dinner. They were very interesting. Worked on correspondence. Oh, I should do a "I've moved!" card for when I move. Something to send to everyone.

All in all, a fairly relaxing day. Didn't do my grocery shopping but I suppose I can do that tomorrow.

can't wait to drive way less

Today was long and I am tired. I tried to make a noodle dinner thing but it was way salty. I'll make something really neat for Carmen and Josh when they come back (they are taking a little trip). Something I'll have prepared for.

I come home so late. Though probably won't be coming home that late anymore, as I should be giving Janet a check soon, and then I shall be moving in! Next weekend! Ahhh! I met my other new roommate, Amanda, after work, and she was really nice. She works six days a week, so I don't know if I'll be seeing her that much. Still, she is quite nice. It should be a good house to live in.

Quickie sum up of some names:

Chris: my boss. Cool guy. Obviously he is cool, he hired me.
Andrew: my coworker. Also cool. Teaches me oodles and is very helpful.
Janet: probably going to be roommate. Cool lady.
Joey: Janet's dog.
Amanda: probably going to be my other roommate.

Well I say roommate. I should write housemate. Because I am renting a room in a house with these two ladies. Not an apartment! A house! WHooo!! I just need to contact Janet and let her know when would be a good time to drop off some cash.

Work was a catching day. I worked with Brock, one of the occasional workers (like Julie). He printed. I caught and stacked and organized. 600 sweatshirts. Took all day. Whew! And that was just the sleeve. Still have to do the backs and fronts. People like their sweaters yo.

I may only have one week left of commuting. Can't wait to have time back. Some nights I just get back and am the walking dead just abouts.

My weekend is here! Except I agreed to work on Sunday. I think around the 4th will be a light day/no work. So yeah...hmmmn.

representing the biz

I called Janet and asked if I could rent the room in her house on Bixby. Well, she also rents the house, but yeah. She agreed, though I need to meet the other roommate first. Though I think we should get along. If Janet liked her, and I like Janet, then I should like this Amanda lady. I can generally find reasons to like/get along with people. But yeah, I'll meet them, then fork over a check, then I can get to moving in. It probably won't be this weekend, but next one seems likely. Ohhhh I almost have a place to live! How exciting. And paychecks. I'll be getting those. I think I'm setting up direct deposit, so no fuss no muss, just cash! Wheee! Oh wait, I'll have bills to pay. And a bed to buy. Ahhh grownup stuff.

Anyway, today work had a lateish start because I was an official errand runner. I picked up some shirts on San Jose. I was all professional and the sheets said "pick up by Trillian" even! Ahhh! I love that kind of stuff. Felt so legit. And I got paid for doing the pick up, which is pretty neat. Today I caught and cleaned and wore gloves so that my hands stayed clean. Something I'm doing much more of. Yay gloves! Oh, and I have my own personal respirator. It was a pretty good day.

I swung by Safeway and got a soda pop and some doughnuts, because I had a craving. Well, actually my craving was for ice creme but I couldn't find any ice cream that wasn't a huge serving. So I bought doughnuts.

Driving from work into Santa Cruz and going from Ocean Street to 17 seems to take less time than winding along Branciforte and merging onto 17 somewhere on the woods. It seems to, or maybe just the winding feels like it takes longer because it is going at a slow speed.

Back in San Francisco, we chilled out and watched this insect thing. It was pretty neat. Wow, tomorrow is Thursday? This week went by fast!

Bixby

Oooh I'm sore. Building up that muscle!

I got to work at around 10:30. I've taken a break from The Prague Cemetery to relisten to That Mitchell and Webb Sound. Hilarious stuff.

Today was a printing day. And a bit of cleaning day. I mostly caught. Ran a test shirt! But yeah, lots of catching while Andrew throws the shirts on the pallets. I also taped up screens and cleaned the ink off some other screens. Time flies!

After work I checked out the most darling house! It was a bit shabby in places but not like, bad, just old? The room was nice with tons of light. Lots of space. Good location. Janet, one of two roommates (the other being Amanda, who I didn't meet) was really nice, as was her dog Joey. It was colorful and artsy and just...swell. I think I fell in love with it a little bit.

I have a late start at work tomorrow because I'm running a pickup errand in San Jose.

There was a sort of gig in Oakland, but I arrived right as Josh was leaving for it, and I'm well tuckered out, so it is just me in the house tonight.

Spencer Power!

Baaahhhh I am tired! I used mostly arms today. Arms to scrub the ink off screens. Arms to hold the pressure washer to reclaim screens. Arms to yank at the pull cord on that little generator thingy for the pressure washer (or not a generator but the pressure washer itself). Lots of arm use. I feel my muscles growing! I listened to copious amounts of That Mitchell and Webb look and the seven hours passed by quite quickly. First I cleaned. Then I reclaimed. Then I burned and washed out. Amazing how long tasks can take, but how not long they seem to take when you have good stuff to listen to. I had to ask Andrew to start the pressure washer the first few times, but I managed to get it going on my own later in the day. I was proud about that. I can't remember the last time I successfully pull started something. My dad will be so proud!

I need to add the reclaiming screens steps to my printing notebook. I was so tired when I got home, I just had enough energy to make a quick trip to Trader Joe's (it's on the way back), make a mini pizza, and watch two episodes of Star Trek with Carmen & Josh, and roll about on the floor a bit. I also had a quick lookiloo at another apartment. If Scottie & Adam, nor Janet (whose house I'm checking out tomorrow), want me, I'll give them another call and pursue that place a bit more.

Busy day! But I love it. I just want to get situated in Santa Cruz so I can have more time in the evenings/mornings. Time. It is an important thing to have.

Adam vs Annie

Drove down to Santa Cruz to look at apartments. I don't really like doing extra drives, but it was good to look at apartments when I'm not fresh out of work. Also good to roam the area a bit. One thing I've noticed is everywhere in Santa Cruz seems to take 5 minutes. And I'm getting a hang of certain streets, like Ocean, without having spent much time driving there. I think it is just the right size for me.

I'm looking at two more apartments, one on Monday and one on Tuesday (well rooms in houses, not apartments) but I think by then I'll have made my choice.

The first place I went to was Scotty and Adam, and their dog Pumpkin's place. It was nicely sized with plenty of common shared space and a nicely sized bedroom. I'd have my own bathroom as well, which is swell. It had a good atmosphere, was in a nice location that was near to a lot of places. I only met Adam, but he was really nice and we seemed to get on well, and we had common interests. And the dog Pumpkin was totally sweet. I like that place and when the day was done, I called Adam to say that if they were willing, I was willing, but that I had a couple more places to look at, but that I generally wouldn't mind being their roommate.


There was a second place I was supposed to look at, but the person never called me back/responded to my texts. I cruised by the house and it looked a bit sketchy/run down...errr. I think I'm better off looking at more places.


The third was place was an itty bitty bungalow. Annie was nice, but the place was a bit small. I think I could make it work, but I think spending the extra amount for a bigger/more central place would be better in the long run. We did have a nice chat, so in the end I may have made a friend.


I got a chicken burger at a restaurant and chilled and drove around while killing time in the day. The drive back always feels much longer than the drive down.


Talked to mom, which was nice.


Early in the day, I bought some more Earl Gray because I drank it all. Also got some frozen yogurt and toppings. Yum! Pretty good start to the day.


Another work week starts. Yay! Soon I'll move, soon I'll get evenings back, soon I'll be getting paychecks, which will be awesome (they will come bimonthly, not every Friday which is as I originally thought).

Irving and Thirty Five

I didn't really get up to much. Well, I contacted some people about apartments. Tomorrow I am going to drive down to Santa Cruz to meet someone about a place, it is one I'm really interested in. Carmen also gave me the great idea to call the people I'm meeting on Monday and Tuesday to see if they have any time on Sunday to meet. I could meet them any time and spend the rest of the day reading on the beach, or something similar.

Today I ate left over chili and watched stuff and got some vegetables and Sheng Kee baked goods. I also bought a little notebook and spent a few hours writing up my work tasks. Writing comprehensive notes about my job will help me remember the things that I have to do. I'm no where near done, and I'll add to it as time goes on. It is a good thing to have, and it helps affirm all that I know and have learned in such a short time. Willing note taking? Ahk! What have I become?

I introduced Carmen & Josh to Doctor Horrible. They seemed to like it, despite the sad ending.

We walked down to 35th after dinner, and chatted about dreams and things.

It was a good day. Things are really good.

from King to Fforde

Ohhh I think I got sick for a bit there. Just got really congested and a cough and stuff. Had a very restless night sleep as well. Bleh. The stress of apartment hunting I guess?

Got up. Had my bagel and smeared tons of creme cheese on it. Finish 11/22/63. I really liked it, and was glad it didn't go all Gunslinger Series Deus ex Machina in the end, like Hearts in Atlantis did. Now I'm listening to The Last Dragonslayer. Ahh young adult novels, they go through so fast.

Started at 10:30 and worked straight through to 6. Well not straight through. I of course took breaks. Printed the sleeves and backs on shirts. Well, Andrew loaded up the shirt backs, I just did the sleeves. Did lots of cleaning. My sleeve time was down to 11 seconds, for loading/unloading, which is good. I want to become super uber at what I do.

And I've been hired on officially! Filling out the forms and all that. Probationary time is over, and after just a week. GO TRILLIAN!

I looked at one apartment after work, but the room was small. I kind of want to be part of a household, not just renting a wee room.

Got back before 8. Ate leftover chili for dinner. Watched some Star Trek. Soon I'll tuck into bed, as I'm still not 100% better.

woop there goes my energy

I'm tired.

The apartment was nabbed before I could look at it. Sucks. Boo.

I cut six seconds off my time for getting shirts on/off the pallets. Go me! Today was a shirt printing day. Lots of shirts were printed.

I applied to another stack of apartments, looking at two tomorrow. I wish I knew more about what budget I should be looking at, apartment cost wise. 650? 500? I just don't know. I just need to make sure it is month to month, in case I realize I'm living too close to what I make.

Real life. BLehhh.

Driving just takes up so much time. I get home at 8pm, and then there isn't much time to fart around and chill. I hope to get settled real soon. Yup yup.

driving about, getting needed things

Oh sweet. I found the Santa Cruz specific Craigslist, and there were tons of apartments. I applied to a few, and two of them got back to me! Both are available ASAP, which works really well for me. I meet with at least one of them tomorrow after work. Here is hoping that goes well! I might be moved out in a weeks time. Oh how fast things move! A week ago I was anxiously awaiting hearing back about whether or not I got the job I applied for. Ha! Amazing.

Anyway. I slept in, but only till 10. Odd how that is "sleeping in" in San Francisco.

Had some juice that Carmen and Josh blended, then went and ran some errands in Daly City. Went to Target and got some work shirts (generic white Hanes six pack, shirts I can get mucky with ink and not care too much about). And some bras, because I always need those. Especially of the work variety. And I got some shampoo & conditioner, because I am running low. Then I went to Trader Joe's and got a bunch of food. Sandwich fixings, sweets, and granola bars mostly. OH DANG, I FORGOT TO GET DEHYDRATED MANGO! Boo. Oh well. Next time.

Called Dad. Wished him Happy Father's Day. Got back to the apartment. Played Kinect with Carmen and Josh. Later on we walked down to Irving and got waffles. Yum. Then we watched Star Trek. Now it is 10:30, and I am in bed, another exciting week starts! A very exciting week, filled with work and possibly moving out and into a new apartment. In Santa Cruz. Where I shall begin my awesome life.

Damn, I'll have to get a bed. Well, I'll get a futon to start. Something I can realistically move in my car. I need to see the type of space I might potentially be moving into anyway.

I'm a person with weekends now! proper weekends!

Weekend! Time to do weekend things! I slept in, and that was nice. I had eggs and tea for breakfast. Also nice. I made my weekend to do list, which involved tidying up (which I did) and to start the quest for apartments so that I can move and be all independent and stuff. Most of the Craigslist Monterey Bay listings are for Monterey and Salinas. Very few for Santa Cruz. I want to live in Santa Cruz.

I got some frozen yogurt and was walking back along Irving and ran into Phil, so we walked and talked and parted ways when he arrived at work.

In the afternoon, Carmen, Josh, and I played Kinect. I did pretty well at some of them, but horribly at the other games (we played Kinect Adventures). Still, tis fun. And we all had our own avatars that looked like us, though Carmen remarked that the face I picked for mine was way too square. After that, I got sushi for dinner and they went out to dinner and a movie. I gobbled my sushi and watched that remake movie 21 Jump Street. It was funnier than I expected it to be, though still just at the "good" marker. Nothing groundbreaking.

Then I started looking for apartments. I almost wrote "looking for jobs" but hey, I got one of those! One step at a time. I also made a "looking for apartment" posting. I'll see if that gets any response.

Tomorrow I have some shopping to do. Food stuffs mostly, and I think I'll look into getting some cheap shirts to use for work shirts. Change into them when I arrive and change out when I leave, just because I don't want to obliterate too much of my wardrobe with ink smudges. My printmaker clothes were largely left in Washington. Anyway, yeah. Stuff to do, stuff to do!

blah

When moms away and dads away, it isn't fun. Just me and my computer. Bleh. Watched an episode of Luther. Read lots of The Walking Dead. Petted Holly.

When mum came home, she made me a sandwich. Good mum! We watched Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist. It was actually fairly cute and had some good moments. I agree with mom though that it didn't need the bit with the gum.

Going to have dinner with Kristen and her family Thursday or Friday. Get this lease thing hashed out.

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.

third year

Last night was a bit of a bust for me. I wasn't feeling it at all. We caught the max and arrived at the Ash Street Pub. Sinferno at Dante's cost more money and it wasn't on for a while. Just wasn't into it so I left. Caught the max. Katie and Gabe came back at around 2 or so.

I watched hella Buffy today. But I also left the house.

Rode my bike to Powell's and picked up Paul Auster's The New York Trilogy (used) and Ender's Game. Stopped by Sushi Land for a really quick lunch. Three orange plates and a root beer. Sat next to a guy who I could tell was a bicyclist (he had forgotten to unroll the tell tale right pant leg). We didn't talk. I sat next to him so that two seats were open next to each other, in case a couple came in. It was between him and this other guy who had one of those familiar faces. I wonder if I would have talked to the other guy. I had three orange plates, like I said. Quick, easy, filling. And out the door I went! Onwards! To PNCA! To Yoga!

Killed a little bit of time, then went on a search for the room Yoga was in. Found it and found they had moved to Tanner Springs Park for the session. I arrived and found them already far into the session. I came in during the last half hour. Heh. Started at 5:30, not 6:30. Oh well. Still got some bending in. There were a lot of people. Kody, Serenity, Ruth, and about three people who have names that escape me and one woman with a name I did not know. It was great, what little yoga I had. Walked my bike back with people and chatted. Then went back to the Goose.

It was a nice day to be outside. Have to try and get myself outside everyday. Tomorrow is this illustration summer art session thing. Will be an experience. Have to get up at 10 for it. Alarm is set and everything.

Oh yeah, the decision has been made. I am staying in Goose Hollow another year. Katie and I will both be upperclassmen so it isn't quite so shameful I am staying in the dorms as a Junior. Circumstances and stuff.

escape from the rain

On the train again. Writing now so I don’t have to do it late at night again.

Stayed up late with Buffy. Got up and started my day with Buffy. An episode before I showered and another one after it. It is very exciting and riveting. Now Spike has been revealed to be able to walk. Now he is going to open a can of whoopass on Angel. It is a little bit of a buzzkill knowing that Angel survives to have his miniseries and Spike somehow joins the side of neutral. But now it will be fun to see how.

Dad made me scrambled egg with cheese and toast. Delicious. Had a cup of tea to go along with it. Packed everything away. Clothes, books, knitting. It all fit neat and tidy. And all my clothes are clean so I won’t have to deal with that for a while. Right now I don’t think I left anything behind. Got my toothbrush, my face goop, my art supplies.

As we left the clouds unleashed their bladders upon us with a wrath like they had just been holding it through the entirety of Return of the King. An inch at least. The streets were nearing almost the possibility of flooding. The clouds cracked with lightning and it came down more and more. We outran the clouds as we got to Tacoma. We pulled in next to the Lobster Shack and set up a picnic. Mom, Pop, Nate, Rubie, and myself. Fruits and cupcakes and Martinelli’s and spargle (not sparga as I think I previously wrote). We nibbled for an hour then we left all too early for the train station.

I got some guff from the guy behind the counter. This was the first time my AAA card had ever been asked for and it was found out to be expired. I am not supposed to get the discount with an expired card but he didn’t ask for the full amount and he still took my bag. He was grumpy. I had never been asked for the card before. Now I know to only check bags when it is a rush.

We sat in the warmth of the Prius, all five of us, while waiting for the train to roll in. The rain came first. Mom filled my purse with snacks. At 2:50 we went into the station. The tardy Northbound was just a couple minutes before the Southbound so we had to wait for that one to pass. Hugs were exchanged. I grabbed a window seat near to a power outlet. It is one of those foursey ones. I was too lazy to elbow my way past someone. It is a full train but I don’t have a neighbor…yet.

There is a little girl with her mother in the seats across from me. The little girls name is Katherine. We spent a few minutes exchanging looks. She gave me a very quizzical one. The sort of, “Why are you puffing your cheeks at me?” look.

*****

Home now with Katie and Gabe and Adam. Got home before the other people so I chilled. Unpacked. Katie came home and we hugged and jumped up and down. I had some rice and we caught up on gossip and things. Gabe came home and started a chicken. He had some goodies from this estate sale for us. Lovely wonderful perfect rose colored sunglasses for Trillian! And a bracelet. My big bowl from daddy has a friend. A friend it doesn't like. This African carved animal looking bowl. Carved more from one chunk with a couple legs attached. Mine is lightweight.

Adam came over. We talked glass and summer all that. Found out Phil and Andy got a house together. Uh oh. We popped open wine and we all relaxed. Got giddy and silly and chatty, exchanging "I told a humiliating story, you tell one now" tales. We stayed up very late and now I'm finishing up an episode of Buffy. It is buffering all right on this internet I just have to wait for it.