lovely to be in love

Do forgive the lateness of this post, I've been out and about having fun as well as catching up on sleep.

Saturday was fun and full of popping around town and seeing people. Madeline and I went to New Order Cafe for brunch. We walked the blocks on a crisp fall day, and grabbed a booth. Both had egg/toast/bacon meals. The cafe had reusable mugs you pick out from a wall and help yourself to the coffee. I like that system. I went with the Hoover Damn mug.

Post food, we drove downtown. I swung past the old PNCA building to show Madeline how it was gone, and parked on the park blocks and we walked up to Powell's. I got a photo with Douglas Adams' signature in the Gold Room and picked up the Sci-Fi Author themed waterbottle. Didn't buy any books and felt like a tourist. I dropped Madeline off at her house and went to the PSU area and met up with Amanda McA at a McMenamin's. I gave her back the shoes she left at my house during Friendsgiving. We had a pint and chatted and she dropped me off at Oranj's gallery for Yoshi's show. It was a hair salon/gallery space. Beautiful wallspace and large movable mirrors. Yoshi's paintings were wonderful and I ran into Kate and her partner. Kate was on my thesis panel. There were some cute dogs at the show too, and I gave them a pet. I met up with Daniel and Heather at the gallery, and watched them eat dinner (I was full from my meeting with Amanda). They in turn dropped me off at my car, at which point I went to hang out once again with Madeline and her friends Mark, Ben, David, and Meredith. We played an Alien theme card game that was based on deck building, like Dominion. The game had a traitor assigned too, and I had the first chance of figuring out who it was and I went for Mark who WAS the traitor! We all lost though. It's a very difficult game. Mark made really good cookies.

I dozed to sleep back at Madeline's. Then it was Sunday. The big day!!

Slept a little bit in then got up and had snacks and got to prepping. Took my sweet time doing my makeup. Skin, brows, contour, blush, highlight, primer, eyeshadow, eyeshadow, eyeshadow, eyeliner, mascara, lipstick. Straightened my hair a little bit too, so dang I looked good. Put on the green dress I wore to Nathan and Helen's wedding. I accessorized with a yellow leaf brooch, not the peacock belt, the gold square earrings Mom gave me, and my new watch. I miss my old watch. I still have it, I just need to see about getting it fixed.

Karen and Rob picked me up, and we drove to pick up pies for the wedding. We thought it would be a ton of food, but it was just 5 gluten free hand pies for the people who couldn't indulge from the pizza catering the wedding would have. Very NICE pizza!

We weren't let in to the hall till 3, so we milled about. Checked out Reclaim It, a store that resells stuff found in the dump. Had some neat stuff, and some good stuff that just needed a fix. They've resold about 100k pounds of things, which is neat.

The three of us had volunteered to help set up. It was an easy peasey set up. The rented hall didn't leave much room for hardcore installations, so it was mostly moving tables, putting tablecloths on tables, setting out chairs, putting out centerpieces. The centerpieces were cigar boxes with succulents and candies. There were smaller centerpieces, succulents in vintage silver, that were placed around on the tables. Lovely very Mel and Alain set up. There were large banners too, that Mel had printed using Spoonflower.

Everything got up and out and we had plenty of time to go. I got some coffee for myself from the nearby cafe. Met up with Serenity and Ian, and Jim and Catherine, and Zaneta and Drew. Lots of fashionable people looking their best for dear Melissa.

I secured a spot in the second row aisle, next to Karen. The ceremony was lovely and sweet. Melissa looked gorgeous in a vintage tea length dressed that poofed way out. Her hair was done up in swirls with a veil. Gorgeous bride. Alain looked very dapper in his suit and boots too.

They did a wine box ceremony: BT made a custom box and they put love letters to one another in the box, along with a bottle of good wine. They nailed the box shut together. It will be opened again in 2020 on their anniversary. It's a really gorgeous box too. Dovetailed and all that.

BT was the efficient and did a great job of it. A poem was read. Vows written together were exchanged. They were declared married and they kissed and I started crying.

I was at table 8 with Karen, Rob, Kyle, BT, Serenity, and Ian. I had a brewski during cocktail hour, and then the food was out and everyone got a plate in an orderly fashion. I grabbed pasta and salad and pizza and pita bread and OH it was delicious! The pizza was from Dove Viva...Vivi? Something. It was scumptious. I ate and drank and was merry. Speeches were said. I drew in my sketchbook. I chatted up people. It was a wonderful night. The dance floor opened up and I got down to a couple songs. I was behind Cidney and in front of Alain's dad in the conga line. I hugged and kissed people on cheeks and it was wonderful. The frosting on the cake was very rich. I piled up a plate with leftovers for Madeline, and rich rich brownies.

I'm so happy for Melissa. She is sweet, nice, smart, driven, and just good. Alain is nice and friendly and I like him for Mel. It makes me so happy to see my friends happy. Happy and in love. Life moves forward, slowly but surely and magnificently.

Karen dropped me off at Madeline's and I gave her a pile of food. We watched a few episodes of Rick and Morty and chatted our lives from the past year. Wonderful conversation,

I slept right through Madeline leaving in the morning. I packed up. Ordered a lapel pin that dropped in the store (Ma and Pa, be on the lookout for that)(I'm still waiting for this Lisa Hanawalt pin to drop as well, it's so cool)(I need a denim jacket, whatever happened to my old one?)

My car was packed and I headed off to meet Daniel and Heather at Tasty n Sons. Took a couple wrong turns but I got there. It was a swanky food spot with communal food type plates and tasty little artisan coffee bevvies. I got eggs and bacon and biscuit, Daniel got a Dutch Baby, and Heather got an open face monte cristo. We nibbled from each other's plates and drank each others fancy drinks. Love my meals with those two goobers. I've said it to their face and I'll say it here: I always leave our time together wanting more to say.

Hugged goodbye and off I went north. I got rest stop coffee. I was really wiped out and tired during the last hour. How did I do so many hours of driving? Three is just so tiring! Dang! Listened to podcasts and refilled my tank in Hoodsport. Unloaded at home. Parked my car in the garage. Crawled into bed and took a nap. Woke up. Had some green beans and snackums. Went back to sleep and slept in, as ya do.

Today I unpacked a bit, had some noodles, talked to Celia and Corrine a little bit. I drove down to the Quilcene Community Center to watch the GOP Debate. Nice crowd there, but the stream wasn't coming through so the group bifurcated to two factions to watch it at nearby food places. I was in a group at Loggers Landing. A whiskey beerback really made the debate fun to watch. I think Bernie's gun measurements got misconstrued as soft, and Hillary just seems to be saying what Bernie has been saying for a while. The other three dudes seemed to be going for Vice President. We gathered again at the Towana Roadhouse and at the center for some chat. Everyone is pretty Team Bernie, I grabbed a button. Chatted a little with two 20-somethings. There are young people around here too!!! I didn't give them my info, but hey maybe I'll see them around. Anna and Emily?

My internet is so bad right now.

So much fun. Will be back to work in a moment but for now: such fun.

back to PDX

Greetings and good morning! I am writing from Madeline's in Portland. Made it here safe and sound yesterday. Hit a little bit of traffic coming into downtown, but I wasn't on the freeway for long. There was an accident, so that's a bummer. I swung by the new 511 PNCA building. The art students were so darling and young looking and art student looking. I was wearing a more grown up gray top and probably didn't look like one of their ilk. I wonder what my expression was when I looked at the new building? It did give me a weird feeling to see it all ~PNCA~ like with the lettering and stuff. I swung by the library and gave Serenity a hug and said hi to Dan. Also ran into Heather McL and Doug at the front desk, who gave me a really good hug. There's such a unity with the old guard. There was an alumni function going on and I gate crashed it for a while. Talked to Yoshihiro and told him I still think about his advice to slow down when making work. Talked to Yo. Saw a few other familiar faces but a lot of really unfamiliar ones. The new print lab is AMAZING! It's huge and has a bonafide drying rack. I got to boast about how good I got at emulsifying screens to Yoshi.

I departed after an hour (paid for parking for just an hour) and headed east to Madeline's new place. Nice little two story apartment/house thing with a joined backyard. We caught up, got pizza, and watched some Netflix and Shutter Island. Midnight rolled around and we went to bed.

My Thursday work shift was aight. Did some packing on site and dropped off things at the Goodwill drop off. Poss treated Jeremy and I to lunch and I went to the Bainbridge house to finish up work. Just did some research and cuddled poor Bodi.

Bodi got an extreme haircut. His ears are trimmed all down, as is his tail, and he is not happy about it. He isn't going outside, and he is giving Christa the cold shoulder. He leapt into my arms twice, and sat on my lap for about an hour. Christa called to him, but he didn't come. He just looked at her, looked sad, and went back to getting cuddles from me. Poor puppy.

In the evening I packed, and stayed up late wrapping my present, then I slept in a bit in the morning, packed up my way overpacked bag (like too many shirts but hey, variety) and headed south! Topped up the tank in Hoodsport. Listened to podcasts. Easy peasy.

Now to get brunch and do SOMETHING with this day, I don't know what just yet.

time needs to hit the breaks

Tuesday & Wednesday

Stayed at home, mostly. Did some work from home editing photos. Did some work on the animation for work. Made a food run at QFC, but a small one because I'll be out of town this weekend again so I don't want food to go bad. I'll go food shopping after the weekend.

My internet is doing oddly better.

Slept in. Read comics. Kept it chill. I can't wait for my phone to renew because this is one of the rare times I used up my data, and now it's at a curbed crawl. Less Netflix on my next data cycle.

Wedding this weekend, Mom and Dad visit next weekend, and Bodi the weekend after than and then October is over a week after that! What the hell? Where is this year going? It's just vanishing into thin air.

Bridal Hell

The Bachelorette Party

Alas Karen could not make the party due to illness, so I made sure to do right by her for facilitating fun. I volunteered to be the designated driver in place of the pregnant lady. And then I wouldn't have to worry about spending money on booze, because booze be pricey!

It is such a beautiful drive down to Portland. Cruise down 101, wind past Olympia, sure there's a few boring stretches but it goes by pretty fast. Then bam Vancouver then you're in Portland town, baby! Barely time enough to run out of recently updated podcasts to listen to.

I cruised through downtown and the Pearl District first, to check out the rubble that was my old school campus. They moved into a new building and have torn down the warehouse that was the old school. It didn't have windows in most of the classrooms and the number of bathrooms was vastly undercode I'm sure, but still that was where I made so many memories for four years. And it's gone. I got to the school after all the walls have been torn down but the cement steps were still there. I reached through the grate and grabbed a hunk of rubble.

From downtown, I went out east on Burnside, but not after getting frustrated with slow walkers in the Pearl. Argh.

Parked at Mel's and hauled out the trunk that's the second of my three nuptial gifts for her and Alain. Gifts all over the place! And my leather bag is perfect for travelling with. I continue to be stoked on my bag. Mel changed into her party outfit and I changed into mine. I did my makeup before my drive so I wouldn't have to do it upon arrival in Portland. So yeah, dress on and I was good to go!

Johanna, Mel's sister, arrived at the house too. She looked styling in a black dress. The party theme was spooky/black clothes. I had my leather boots, black tights, black dress with see through bits, black hoodie, and leather jacket. Everyone was dressed so well! I drove us to Sara's house for the pre-shindig. Sara had chips and dip, and Dara and Danielle brought cupcakes and cookies. Yum! I ate a bunch of everything and cranberry juice. Sara had a rockin' tartan cape over her black ensemble. Dara and Danielle had black with white detailing dresses. Such a rad looking bunch. Mel got some gifties from D & D, and a skull pin with a ribbon saying Mel's Bridal Hell. Because the bride has to wear something to mark her status! Once we had snacked and toasted, we headed out to Fright Town: a three house haunted house in a convention center in Portland.

I'd never been to a haunted house before, so I was stoked on that, and Sara had located some discount coupons so we all got $5 off! We parked in the residential neighborhood and walked the few blocks to the Moda Center. I was expecting oodles of lines but there were not many outside, and tickets were bought with little line wait. Bags were checked and in we went! The space had exteriors of each haunted house with queues marked and people checking the ticket. There were players hovering around...basically actors in horror garb interacting. They were not allowed to touch, but they sure did creep! There were clowns and zombies and ghosts of all sorts. The first house had a general horror/clown strobe maze vibe. Had a nice vibe and different neat set pieces, including a black light painting hall. The second house (you could go in any order, just the ticket was only good for three house visits) had a zombie apocalypse theme with tons of corpses hanging and chickenwire. The third house had a creature/cannibal sort of theme and it had a ton of players to hover around you and jump out at you. It had a room with a spinning circle that really was disorienting. We staggered out of the last house in one dizzy group. I led the charge in most of the houses, and got a few good scares due to that.

Next in the roster for the night was The Lovecraft; a no cover Goth bar that I've visited before about four years ago (should be an entry in my blog about that). I drove us over, with direction from Mel, and we arrived early enough that a table was snagged by Sara, Dara, and Danielle. I got one drink right at the start and made the point that I wouldn't be driving anywhere for at least an hour. Mel didn't put up a fight about my rule, and we stayed from ten till one, so that hour was well used up. Cidney and Tabitha arrived to meet us (they were not the type to enjoy a haunted house). I bought Mel a drink, as did Tabitha, and probably a couple other people. The dance floor filled up, I had a creeper make several attempts to hit on me, the fog machine made it hard to see people, but that makes for good news because then people were not seeing me dance! I'm not a qualified dancer.

Alfredo was there, Mr. Two Days Younger Than Me. It was nice to see him and chat travel and things. Shane, a former PNCA security guard, was DJing and I was able to request White Wedding for Mel. I went to Mel and told her I put in a request but didn't say what. Five or so songs later it came on and the dance floor loved it! Perfect song for the crowd and Mel was ecstatic and knew it was for her at once. We fist pumped the air and hollered and what a brilliant moment.

Some clowns showed up, maybe Juggalos, and may have gotten a bit offended when Mel asked if they were from Fright Town. Getting fresh air at 1:30 in the morning while avoiding looking at two clowns making out really makes you go, "goddamnit Portland, this is why you have a reputation." But hey, it's not a visit to Portland if it doesn't get weird!

That creeper tried once more to hit on me but I cold shouldered him just the right amount to get him to leave me alone.

But the night didn't end there. Dara, Danielle, Cidney, and Sara rendezvoused with Johanna, Mel, and I at: Hotcakes House! Another place you'll find I visited some four years ago.

Lovecraft and Hotcakes were both places I went initially with Mel too! Huh! And we went to bunches of different places.

Anyway, Hotcakes is a 24/7 pancake and breakfast place. We got there right before all the bars closed, so we were able to get a table and get orders in. I got hashbrowns and a single hot cake. Others got other variations on hotcakes and biscuits. It hit the spot! I ate heartily and loved it. Yum yum. I drew in my sketchbook and I should scan those tomorrow. We had two square tables pushed together in the back part of the dining room. Other booths had teens in them, oh those kids out late having fun but can't go anywhere but here. It was nice to see them making memories like that. Hopefully a good time to remember for years from now. A large post-bar group arrived just in time to claim our table space. Hugs were deployed and off we went into the night! We collected Alain (the groom) from Sara and Jason's house and it was just after 3am when we all crawled into bed. Different beds, of course. Mel kindly hosted me for the night.

Alain makes a mean cuppa morning coffee, I tell you what. We talked collections, and collections of collections. The more people I can tell about The House on the Rock, the better. I got a sneak peek at some of the wedding decor. It's going to look so amazing! The wedding is next weekend and I need to pick out a dress. Maybe I should just wear what I wore to Nathan and Helen's? It's a cool dress.

Returning Home

I'm stoked to be back in Portland for a longer visit. It really isn't that far, I should visit more often.

As per tradition I had pre-drive brunch with Heather (sometimes it is Heather and Daniel). I met her at Dragonfly in Nob Hill and we moved on to la Bouchelier where I ordered up a grilled panini and got a chocolate croissant for the drive. The panini came with a salad, which I was happy about. I need more vegetables in my life.

We gabbed about etymology and friendship and creepers hitting on you and all sorts of things. I could talk to Heather for hours. She is so smart, insightful, broad, and all around wonderful. I am really lucky to have so many people call a goober like me their friend.

Parted ways around 2 in the afternoon and off I went back home. It's such a nice straight shot as you're pretty much on I-5 after two turns in Portland, and then you don't turn again till Olympia and that is pretty much straight onto 101. Stopped to stretch my legs a couple time and get some free rest stop coffee. When I got home, Mom and Dad were there (I knew they'd be here) and they had hauled out the raft. No more cute seal pictures for the season.

I unpacked and they prepared a chicken and veggie dinner for which Celia joined us. I talked about my fun weekend and showed a few pictures. Post dinner, the three of us watched Bedknobs and Broomsticks on VHS up in the garage room. Love that movie.

My computer was being wonky so I opted to just go to bed instead. Dad made poached egg on toast with Hollandaise sauce for breakfast, and he made a second for me because I'm special.

The chores for today were firewood and wood burning centric. I helped pull up logs from the beach and I pulled brush out of the woods to throw on the burn pile. The burn ban has been lifted, so we got a pile going out by the drainage field. Dad hauled the heavy stuff in the truck. Once we got a good pile going, we sat down for tea and watched it burn down (ya know, for safety). Then they packed up and headed out and I was left to relax, and relax I did! Don't know what I'm doing for the rest of the week, work wise, but I'll be doing something. Now to bed with me.

even more eclectic

I'm going down to Portland in a few minutes. I've done my makeup, I'm packed. Probably a bit overpacked for what is a one nighter. Just need to paint my nai-I just paused writing to paint my nails. Hopefully they don't get marred too quickly.

Yesterdat I did some work from home and made a garbage dump run. Juice and milk cartons aren't recyclable anymore! Wonder why. I picked up a beef dip to eat for dinner and I ate it at home.

One project I've been wanting to do is the one where you take a shattered powder makeup and break it into little pieces, add 70% alcohol to make a paste and reform it. I did this, taking powder and putting it into this vintage case I picked up from work. It had a brand new clean looking powder puff too! And it seemed to set pretty well come morning, so I'm stoked for that. Now I can powder my nose in style.

I had a rough sleep because the wind kept me up. Now to head to Portland! Adios!

not my bag, wait, yes! my bag!

Wednesday

Did a bit of work over at Celia's after sleeping in...well not sleeping in so much as staying awake in bed but all cozy like. I like spending time awake in bed in my own head. So yeah, did some work from home stuff and had popcorn for dinner.

Thursday

Worked on site, but it was a short day. I photographed and helped pack things up and moved some things. Helped Jeremy move this furniture he got in tradeout for work. After work I went to Bremerton and dropped off some Habitat for Humanity stuff from the sale, and swung by Comics Keep and picked up my comics and the 4th volume of Saga. Hurray! I should read that in, oh, 15 minutes. BKV is not a verbose panel writer. Then I grabbed a slice of pie at Shari's and met Karen at Goodwill for gal pal chatting. I found nothing cute for me (awkward fitting tops in cute prints) but Karen found some cute baby clothes with flamingos on them. We talked upcoming things and life and just generally walked around the shop catching up. I returned home after and did a second rubbing of oil on my leather bag and leather shoes. Did I mention I did a first coat? Well anyway, my bag is all shiny and much deeper in color now. Hopefully I applied the stuff right. Maybe in the morning I'll give it a rub down with a clean part of my rag. Really smooth that oil into the material. Karen described my style as eclectic modern with a touch of vintage. Eclectic is one of my favorite words, and probably is the best way to describe me. I like cool things and good deals. My job converges the two.

Now to tuck into bed and read some comics. Tomorrow I got some more work from home to do, and packing up to do as well because Saturday/Sunday I will be in Portland!! Yaaay!

Also I got BUSINESS CARDS! WITH MY NAME ON THEM!! Booyaaah!!

I like tan leather

Monday

Final day of sales. Got up early and got there right on the dot. No traffic woes for me. The house also opened up right on the dot so that no one had real advantage by showing up early. Barb picked up things, as did this other lady. I grabbed a few things that didn't sell for sale prices. Not a long day. I did some photography of things for eBay. Showed Jeremy the hidden drawer on his new dresser.

After work I went to Seabeck. Ma and Pa bought me a shirt at Tetons! It's has a Gummi Bear on it. Had salad and pizza (I only ate one slice cuz the salad filled me up) and talked Turkey Day plans and Christmas Plans. Nothing really solid yet. Mom showed me the garden and I gave them some gifts (a print from the sale and a woodworking idea book). They showed me photos from their trip. Dad has a good eye for shots!

Went home. Went to bed early.

Tuesday

Tidied house a little bit more. Working from home tomorrow, taking the day off today. Made popcorn for dinner. Took out the trash...to the trash can. I need to make a dump run soon. Looked at seals through the telescope. There got up to nine of the raft today! With a tenth swimming about. A sit around day. I also rubbed the leather oil into my bag and leather boots. It says to let dry overnight and add a second coat, so I'll do just that. I want my leather looking spiffy!

small world

I didn't mention two coincidence.

Jeremy, who I helped with signs, studied baking in Montpelier. I talked about having my morning coffee in a shop there that seemed connected to the business building, and also had a window into a school baking shop. Turns out that's where Jeremy studied!

A guy came in to the sale and we were talking about living on the Olympic Peninsula, and through our conversation I found out he knew Grandma Marilyn and Grandpa John. I almost started crying.

Saturday

Started at 10, after the sale had been going for a while. Slower day, but still had some good sales and a return of previous people to get more goodies. Whit and his son Wyeth stopped by, though with his hair down I didn't immediately recognize Whit. Laura came by too.

At 2-3ish Michela returned from taking down signs and we all got to dismantling the outdoor tents.

One grumpy lady came in and huffed at our prices and was putting on airs of pretension but then pronounces Las Trojas as "trojuhs".

I bought the medicine satchel at the discounted price. I love it. I need to treat the leather. Well Celia suggested I do that. I can't wait to weekend with it in Portland next weekend. Perfect travel bag. It's replacing my black one.

At home I put my feet up and washed my hair in the evening to prep for dying it on Sunday, then I went to bed.

Sunday

Woke up and lay in cozy comfort for several hours. Had a lazy morning. Did laundry. Dyed my hair. Put a little bit of dye on my eyebrows and now they are much darker. Can't believe I didn't think of doing this sooner. They are about as defined as when I just use the brow mascara.

Folded laundry. Washed dishes. Didn't get as much cleaning done as I'd like, but I got a bit done.

two tiring days, but at least I have goodies

Back to back long shifts at work! But long, good on site days. Lots of activity but WOW am I bad at basic math and generally being a cashier.

So Thursday was the preview & pricing day. Worked 10:30ish till 8ish? Boss bought dinner, so that was nice. Sellers on our list were able to come in and preview the sale and get things. Not many people came, but the few that did got a decent amount of stuff. Karen was also on the list, because perks, and she got the wicker ladder/shelf and black end table, and the horseshoe crab sculpture which matches the one I bought (part of a semi-matching set). Nice to have a friend over and to show them my bizz and to get them in on the inside with my insider perks. I priced up a whirlwind and noted things and put it in the spreadsheet. Michela put up the directional signs. I ... well I guess I mostly priced and organized. It takes a while. OH! I also helped assemble the signs with Jeremy. Taping paper to signs and taping up the paper so it doesn't get water damaged. That's what I did at the start of that shift. Yeah.

There's so good stuff in the sale. The "I hope no one buys it so I can get the uber discount" item is this medicine bag. It would be really good for weekend trips, and would replace that black bag that I'm just kinda meh about. I like having a bag for each size I need.

Got home late. Got into bed. Alarm went off early. I was like UHG but I showered, threw cereal in a bowl to eat on the way in, and I had left over dinner on site to eat for lunch, so it's all good.

Got it at 8:45amish and I had to hit the ground running. Sale started at 9 but people, plenty of people, were there already! I only flubbed one charge (by a couple bucks) and got into bartering and things. Of COURSE people find what wasn't priced first, but wrinkles got sorted out. There was a speaker that was converted from a cigar box that made noise when turned on, and thankfully someone bought it early in the day before it got annoying. The gumball dispense sold. And a TON of other stuff too! All the rugs, big pieces of furniture, expensive pieces, like...it went really well! There's still some stuff there, but apparently Friday 9-noon is the deal hunter hours. The globe is still there, the medicine bag is still there. I grabbed this nice velvet Haida pattern shawl that had a $50 sticker and was in the $5 range, before boss decided to price it up. Now I have a nice shawl.

Mom and Dad stopped by too!! That was sweet and it was nice to see them. Caught up a little bit. Mom bought some books. Dad asked Boss where Bodi was, like I suspected he would. It's been a while because they've been off motorhoming. We'll get a good catch up soon.

It slowed down after 1pm, but rarely were we just by ourselves. I had some good conversations with people. Lots of interesting sorts came in and bought things. I gave big discounts on records to encourage moving of product, as well as discounts on DVD sets missing DVDs.

Arghghhh that medicine bag. It has a metal opening so it stays rigid when opened, and it's leather. Oh it's so cool.

After work I swung by Liberty Bay Books but they didn't have Step Aside Pops by Kate Beaton, so I went to Barnes & Noble and picked it up. Yay, new Kate Beaton collection! And I swung by Target and picked up a few things like my staple night face lotion that ran out a week ago and my skin has spiraled into a breakout because other lotions mess up my skin. Hope this goop I smear on my face does it some good in the long run. Got some earring sets that were marked way down. Got a scarf that looks a bit like the carpet in the Overlook Hotel. I bit too much treating myself, but my hours have been good lately.

What's coming up in terms of bills...rent, insurance, electricity. Argh. Bills are such a downer. But at least I can pay them while wearing a cute scarf. And gas is cheap right now.

days go by

m & t & w

Kinda three days all the same. Got up to a phone full of work emails to sort out. Had breakfast, had caffeine, took my computer over to Celia's and worked on the good wifi. Got Craigslist that and email this and online whatnots done. Lots of fast paced, all over the place stuff. Kept it in my brain and in about 20 different email chains.

Had mostly pasta. Watched Scream Queens (bad) and Empire (fun) on the TV.

Now to do three days of on site work work!

friday/saturday/sunday

f

I'm getting so bad at blogging come the night time! So Friday I was on site. I sorted books into better sorted boxes and moved things around and did some online ordering. The books took a while because it was lots of shifting of this and that around.

I swung by the Silverdale KRL after work and picked up Station Eleven from their Books2Go program. Basically non reserveable popular books. A pretty good system. Keeps some editions from lingering in hold lines forever. Swung by Trader Joe's and went home and snacked.

s

Slept in! My full day off as I agreed to work a bit tomorrow too. I'll be home at the start of the work week, but on site at the end.

Let us see, what did I do yesterday? Watched TV. Picked all my green beans and thinned out my carrots majorly. Had some green beans out of the ol' cast iron. A nice mellow day.

s

Slept in. Got my work roster. Went to Celia's for the ease of WiFi being 100% funcitional. Got some of it done. A good start. Celia made a chicken and rice dinner. Not the most taxing of days. I've eaten entirely too much caramel.

half way through the hustle

Wednesday:

Off to Bainbridge I went, but a little bit later. And then a lot more later because the bridge was up, with the possibility of it being up till NOON! But then it wasn't and it came down and I was only a little bit late, and I was able to run an errand in Poulsbo. At work I hauled stuff downstairs for the sale, DVDs and misc things, and organized clothing for the sale, and tried on a pair of Doc Martins that fit so I'm going to buy those, fo' sho! Well I wore them out of the sale, but I'll buy them later on. It will give me a good chance to practice with the Square Reader. Not much pricing happened, mostly just organizing. Got out, got some McDonald's, headed home and chilled. Stayed up way too late drawing.

Thursday:

Slept in a little bit, but got up and read my email and there was a ton to do! So I hauled my set up to the good wifi and got to working. Got a lot done, but there's still stuff to do. We are majorly hustling, but it's good! That means money! And a working business. We'll be getting new business cards soon, too, so we can be clearer in our message. So yeah, sat and worked and snuffled. Celia came home and we chatted and she made a little steak rice dinner yum yums. I showed her some funny videos and called it a night. She said it was nice having someone be there when she came over. I may make more of a habit of just working over there, even when the WiFi is coming strong over here. Nice to hang with pets.

Back on the Island tomorrow. Half way there!

on site and badass

Things have suddenly picked up at work. We got a new client whose estate we are preparing for a sale and are packing things up. So it's been two days (and more to come) of fast hustling preparation. Yesterday left me really exhausted. Drove to Bainbridge Island and the house is gorgeous and was faced with a room crowded with stuff. It's an open basement type room, with some furnished spaces. Lots of boxes. Lots of boxes filled with books to be sorted. Lots of shelves to be moved. Lots of furniture to be moved. And in a cold space. The Monday crew was boss, me, Mikayla/Michaela, and Barbara. An awesome team of girl power. Barb is STRONG! We moved rugs on top of things and redid the space so it's now a nice flow through for shoppers on the day of. It looks so good. That's why you pay professionals to come in: we do in a day what is taking you months to never get around to doing. Maybe makeshift tables were set up. I started cataloging larger items and moved smaller. Started the client data base. I was tuckered all the way out when we were done, and spent much time sitting at home.

TV cut out so I missed the SYTYCD finale but Gaby won. She's charming, so that's fun.

Today was Boss, me, and M and later Wit to price records. I did more photographing and renaming of images according to reference and talks about setting up the system. I've got two weeks of a LOT of driving, but after a few months of being a home body with not many hours I welcome these full days. It'll fund my two Portland trips in October nicely.

I need to dig out some warmer layers. Fall is in place.

2015 is the year of "you gotta show up for people".

nice days are going, winter is coming

Saturday

My friend Mel(issa)'s bridal shower! One of the first friends I made at PNCA. She's all growed up and getting married. Next month I'm making two Portland trips for her bachelorette party and wedding. I got up early, put on something casual and I should have dressed up a little bit more but I didn't. Next party I will though. I picked up Karen in Bremerton because we were both going to the party and why have two people drive to the same destination? So I picked my gal up and we drove to Tacoma to the antiques row part, where we parked at met Mel to do some antiquing! Mel found a Finel enamelwear bowl for $20 less than what it goes for on eBay (I know because I looked it up later, I know too much now!) and a cute postcard and plate. Karen had a sloth patch for me, as a gift! How lovely! And Mel had a collectors set of cactus cups to give to Karen as a general "lots of life stuff happening!" gift. Gifts all around. I have some more stuff for Mel that will be wrapped up for her wedding (antiques from work, holla). I did draw her a card and give her this embroidery of the Log Lady from Twin Peaks. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

The party was at a family friend's house, that was where Mel played at as a kid. There were other playgroup people there, and lots of aunts and older ladies. So many ladies! What a great community to grow up in. Met Mel's Mom and sister and grandma. Had two types of salad and fizzy drinks and we played pictionary that was bridal themed and opened presents. Mel opened the presents. She got cast iron and plates and lots of cool kitchen stuff. There should be a groom shower where the guy gets power tools.

I ate two slices of cake and WOW that was a lot of sugar. I drove Karen back and got to see her new house which is in Manette and is super cute! She is looking for a better shelving solution than Ikea, Dad any tips?

It's a great house, with a yard. I see lots of visits to it in my future.

Got back medium lateish and had a restless night sleep.

Sunday

Did some more work on the illustration. Only have a few more elements to draw, though some I might want to redo. Easy enough. Taste tested some cinnamon buns over at Celia's. OH LAUNDRY I HAVE TO FOLD THAT yeah so I did laundry too. It was wet and dismal. Perfect Sunday weather.

Got a lot of driving to do in the coming two weeks, but it's a lot of work too which means moolah, hurrah!

errands and bummers

Wednesday

The bridge was down for like six hours! Down as in stuck open. Not collapsed, or stuck down. Thankfully I was on this side of the water. I checked in on the doggie and let him know Celia would be home eventually. I worked. I drew.

Thursday

Worked even more. Did a nice long shift of posting things on eBay and trying to figure out changes at PayPal. A good long stint with the pets over at Celia's (for good wifi access that won't interrupt my flow with being awful). Sam was very helpful with all his rubbing on the computer screen.

Friday

Slept too far in. My sleeping schedule is back to being awful. Ran into Silverdale and got my prints back. The photos didn't turn out that great, but that could have just been the printer. Not a good resolution/quality print, so they were kinda fuzzy. Not like the classic photo printing. Kinda bummed that they don't look as good. Was wishing for some quality prints to cherish, ya know? And my photo with the McElroys didn't even make it on the film (it was the last shutter, so I guess it wasn't the actual last) so that sucks. It probably would have been dark anyway, but uhhg. That's a nice thing about digital photos: you know you got them! So next time, if there is a next time, I'll find a place to develop that does everything in house. Because something was lost in shipping the stuff off to be developed and then digitally transferred to a disk.

Got some froyo. Did a mini Target run. Went back home. Tomorrow is Mel's bridal shower. The bacherlorette party is in October in a month. Under a month. Then her wedding! Which will be the last wedding for a while I think...

face

Monday & Tuesday

Did more work from home. Getting good feedback on the work. On Monday I chilled at home. Ate the remainders of my food and it was obvious I'd have to go food shopping the next day. Went food shopping on Tuesday in the afternoon, not nutter-o-clock where someone threatens you to a duel in the parking lot of the QFC.  Got a bunch of my usual foods and returned home. Monday was the SYTYCD finale numbers. I'm rooting for Jaja. Some really good routines abound. Such good dancers, the lot of them! Pretty mellow couple days.

Not much scheduled for the next few days. Weather is mild.

What more do you want from me? A drawing? Here:

it's a living

Got a bit more accomplished on the animation for work, drawings and what not. Hope to knock out some more details tomorrow. I've been slacking.

Spent a good chunk of the afternoon in the bath reading. That was nice. I need more bath salts though. Or just bubble bath. Something to make the bath nice. It's bath season.

I need to go food shopping too. Blehh.

Work, chilling, warming, whatever.

visitations

Thursday & Friday & Saturday

Ma and Pa came up for a two night visit. Work around the property, work out of the weather, work in the narrow window when the weather is better. First day the weather turned stormy right as they arrived, so we mostly stayed in, played some board games, watched The Tick, and ate food. Second day it was windy but not stormy, but way too windy to be outside for any proper labor, so we made apple juice. Mom and Dad cut apples in the living room, I pulped them in the kitchen, and we pressed them outside. Three pressings? Four? Maybe five? Not as big of a harvest as previous years, but still got some good juice. Celia came over with pasta and garlic bread for dinner, and Dad read out some Poirot. Third day we hauled up wood from the beach bank for firewood and I painted sealant on the doorframe to protect it from the elements. Switching the house over to winter mode. I've turned on the wall heaters for the time being. Not looking forward to the slow climb up of the electric bill. But at least I'm not spending the time watering all the plants. Everythings looking much more green.

Went up to Port Townsend and caught the 7:30 showing of The Diary of a Teenage Girl. Pretty good movie. Nice to see a female coming of age film, that's directed by a woman, and based on a story by a woman. I can see how it'll be controversial, unfortunately, but damn it resonated with me. Hope it does well. It's super limited release, unfortunately!

Tomorrow I work. Probably.

Wednesday

Got up at a little more decent hour. Getting scheduled for the coming month. Did some more listings for work. Had left over pasta for breakfast. I finished up work when Celia got home, and so that turned into her making chicken, me making rice, and us watching Mad Max Fury Road together, because she hadn't seen it. Awesome movie.

Panda and Teddy cuddled, Sam doesn't know how to be a cuddly kitty.

Pretty easy day. I feel like going to bed early.

Mom and Dad: tell me when you are LEAVING the house for your visit, not when you're FIFTEEN MINUTES away!

at home as per usual

Monday & Tuesday

Two days spent at home, by myself, working from home listing stuff on eBay and working on the illustration for work. The weather was rainy and windy but my power held. My wifi has been all over the place, so all the work work I've been doing, has been done at Celia's. Though hey, probably nice for someone to pop over and keep the pets company. Just pop a Claritin and I get at it. Doing little short bursts of listings and then work on the illustration. Might have a few back to back to back on site days coming up, which would be a lot of driving but it would also be some much needed $$$ so Mom keep me posted when you'll need me.

Had some shrimp in alfredo sauce pasta. Mmm that was good.

Heather and Daniel gave me some deluxe sloth branded chocolate and it was good stuff.

Powells has a scifi author water bottle that I want super bad. Will probably pick it up next time I'm in Portland (which should be for Mel's bachelorette party).

My hands hurt. Like their flexibility has been really bad. My fingers don't stretch back like they used to. I'm so out of shape.

I had such a busy past week with so much going on and so much company. I want more of that.

rain or shine or wind or power outages, you can't stop love!

I'm super tired and as much as I want to relate the events, like...they were shared by so many people! But every day is shared by many people. I guess I don't feel so exclusive in my experiences in the past few days.

Well Averie and Muchim are MARRIED!! My family has grown so much this past year.

I woke up to the power being out due to a storm and wind, so I packed up and hauled butt to Seabeck to get ready. The roads were awful getting to Seabeck. Branches flying, wind blowing, wet roads. One of my worst driving experiences. I was still in my pajamas so quickly I showered and ate breakfast. The power flickered as I did my makeup. We were a bit late getting out, but not too late. I had a cute raincoat so I was prepared for the weather. It brightened up when we got across the water into Seattle. The wedding venue was a family property on the water. Oh! We picked up Nathan and Helen at their hotel. Nate is mobil with his foot in a foot. Poor guy. The wedding was on the water. Family was there, all sorts. Carmen and Josh and Janet and Steve. Dan and Brynne and Ben and Erin. Hans. Celia arrived a bit later. The Garmen side too. I had a beverage and grabbed a seat. I drew a bit during the ceremony, and got some photos with my disposable camera. There were family photos too. Big group shots. I was between Honey and Helen...or was I next to Nathan? I forget. I'm slowly moving up to being in wedding photos. Not yet an official bridesmaid. I'm going to more bridal showers too.

The ceremony was nice. Simple, to the point, loving. With the weather holding. Averie was gorgeous. Her dress was a lovely champagne color with an open back and her hair was all tendrils and waves. She looked damn good. Muchim had a nice suit jacket and his vows were written large on a paper towel roll that blew in the wind as it unraveled. A nice, lovely gag. Their sense of humor really showed through. One of those really tender, personal moments that comes through all the tradition.

So happy for Averie and Muchim and all the adventures they will have together!

Post family photos photos we got more drinks and food (it was potluck but with really high caliber people making the food). I nommed down on veggies. I talked to family. Signed the guestbook. Got one last drink and Ma and Pa dropped me off at the Rainier Beach train station because the day before Nathan and Helen's wedding, I bought tickets to see My Brother My Brother and Me & Sawbones live at the Moore Theater. Not on my best behavior to double dip my day like that and leave a big shindig early, but the recording was an event that was super important to me and I'm not much of a dancer at weddings. I kept my leaving on the down low though, didn't want to make it super obvious that I was scooting off.

No one checked my train ticket, but I still bought one. I swung by the Nordstrom bathroom on the way to the venue. My friend Sam met me at the Moore (I bought two tickets) shortly after I arrived. Perfect! I had pretty good seats. Could always be closer though. First up was Sawbones (did I mention these are podcasts? they are podcasts. I highly recommend Sawbones) where they discussed bird diseases. Basically don't eat dried bird poop. Syndee and Justin McElroy were very charming to see in person. There was a brief break and John Roderick played the opening theme for the MBMBaM show (which uses his song for his opening, so that was special). It's so odd because I can't remember most of the show. It was funny, and I loved seeing them up on stage goofing in person, and I remember some of the bits, but I don't know what I could quote exactly! I'm excited to listen to the recording of it. After the show a line formed for meet and greets, and I joined the line. Sam was a good sport about it. He was unfamiliar with both podcasts, but it is a good sign of his character that he is down for something new. I saw Amber Humes in line too! Small world!

I didn't have anything for the Brothers to sign, but I did have the original fan art I did of the Things I Bought At Sheetz so I gave that to Justin and he was really stoked on it. So that was cool! And I got a picture with them and that was that.

There was a 11:15 Seattle/Bainbridge Ferry which worked perfectly for being picked up by the parents. I bid Sam goodnight and walked down to the ferry. Didn't have to run, but I wasn't slow either. My red raincoat did its job. I got my ticket, got a seat, charged my phone, relaxed on the boat, eavesdropped, and before I knew it I was in the van being picked up by Ma and Pa. There were some PAX nerds on the ferry I talked to a bit. They were nice.

At home I slept.

In the morning I showered and had tea and sorted some of Grandma Marilyn's jewelry and Dad worked on my car a bit more (there's been a leaky oil gasket) and we had pancakes. I got home around 3pmish. I did a quick walk up a bit of our road with Celia and hauled branches out of the way. Lots of branches on the road. And I relaxed and got caught up on the internet.

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.

Modan, Rutu

Saturday:

My internal clock got me up early. Had a scramble. Kept it mellow. I had some pasta too. I lit a fire so that I could sit in front of the fire while I read. I finished Rutu Modan's The Property, then I took a nap which turned into a long nap and when I woke up at 11ish I decided to just go to bed good and proper.

Sunday:

Woke up early, lay awake in bed for a good while thinking about stuff. Got up. Swept. Tidied. Made a little breakfast. Watered plants. Did laundry. Left the house to go see Mr. Holmes with Celia. What an enjoyable movie with a powerhouse of a performance by Ian McKellan! So good. A very nice movie indeed. Well made, directed, acted, costumed. Can't think of a bad note to say about it. I went to Seabeck after the movie to pick up my mail. Got two Rutu Modan totes in the mail from BlueQ! I love them so much. Great illustrations and good sturdy bags too. I have a Tomer Hanuka BlueQ bag and it's still in good shape. I like having cool reusable bags. I went to Trader Joe's for some shopping and BOTH cashiers complimented my bags. One went back and forth between picking which to load items into and they asked where I got them from. I happily supplied the information because everyone should have cool bags!

Dropped off my recycling in Dosewallips. New house rule: put recycling in the goddang correct bin because I don't want extra work to be made for myself by picking paper out of the plastic & aluminium or cans out of the glass. I just want to dump and go.

Now to sleep and wash my car/clean the inside of my car, for FINN IS VISITING TOMORROW FOR A FEW DAYS!!!!

no pity for poopers

Wednesday:

There is a mouse in my house! I need to get batteries for the trap. It's in the pantry but I've seen some poops in the kitchen too. Celia came over to help hang my piece. Got the studs marked, but the piece is not hung. Didn't do much else.

Thursday:

Went to Poulsbo to run a quick errand and saw a matinee of The Man From UNCLE. It was fun, some nice action sequences indeed with nice practical looking effects. Armie Hammer such is a hunkamunka. Back at home I worked a bit. Made some earrings. Dyed my hair too! Wait....no I think I saw the movie on Wednesday and did the earrings then and dyed my hair this day and worked from home and the internet was awful. Sorry, got all mixed up. My internet was bad so I didn't blog. Three days I guess is when I forget what happens on which day.

Friday:

Ma and Pa came over to help chop wood and clear brush and hang my piece. A quick day visit. The piece is hung, but it isn't centered, so we'll need to get some Molly Screws to hang it properly. We three went to 101 Brewery for lunch. I got the avocado bacon burger and it was delicious. And a pint of pale ale. Nice little restaurant! I guess there is stuff to do out here.

I decided to go to Poulsbo to pick up my copy of Saladin Ahmed's Throne of the Crescent Moon. Picked up my book at Liberty Bay Books. Didn't know it was in soft cover! So that was a nice surprise. I was prepared to pay for hardback. I swung by the Marine Store and bought candy. Dropped off some books at the library. Filled up my tank at Safeway. Went to Central Market and got udon, Yakult, Lychee Calpico, green beans, apples, and some chocolate. I also tested some of the aromatherapy scents and splashed a bit too much eucalyptus on me but I guess you aren't supposed to use them like perfume??? Errr. The smell has faded by now. I don't wear deodorant or perfume really. I just try to smell like soap...or nothing.

Headed home. Reset the trap inside. The trap keeps getting set but there is no body to show for it. No compassion for mice.

Also hey, I've been doing this blog for eight years now, how 'bout that?

nap time

Blarg I didn't really accomplish much today. I think the medication is still giving me side effects. The pharmacist told me to not drink for three days after the course is finished, so it's probably still doing stuff. I've just got a serious case of the tireds now. I took a nap today for no reason, I was just super tired and needed to lay down. And my appetite is still shot.

Blarhhhg. Celia helped with hanging my print. Well she helped by bringing over the stud finder. I'll need hanging wire though, because the studs aren't evenly matched to where the hanging brackets on the frame are. Hopefully I'll be less tired tomorrow and will accomplish some work.

brides and print-judice

Saturday:

Went to pick up Bodi at a business lunch in Poulsbo. Got caught by the bridge by three cars. Oh well. Still got there at not the worst time. Met boss at Pho Y&N...T&N? The Pho place in Poulsbo. Got food. Talked projects. Traded off Bodi for another Bodi sitting weekend. Hurray!

Swung by Seabeck and got my mail and said hi to Ma and Pa. Dropped off my check. Went back home to relax, whoo!!

Sunday & Monday:

Got up too early and was very groggy. Gave Bodi a little walk and did my makeup and loaded up on coffee and snacks and picked up Celia and off we went! To Seabeck! I dropped off the car and Ma and Celia and Bodi and I got into the Prius and off we went to something Valley for Averie's bridal shower. Averie is getting married in two weeks, ahhh!!! So soon!

We were a bit late, but all was well. Bodi bonded well with the other dog Joey and he was well acquainted with Honeybear. I snacked and we played a game where we got points based on items in our purses, and a scatergories game, and a word jumble. I didn't win, but still fun! There was good company and Averie is looking fab. Not fully sure what I'll wear to the wedding. Maybe that black and blue spotty dress?

The party didn't go late, which was nice. Got back to Seabeck at a good hour. Put a new gasket on the seemingly leaky oil gasket. Drove back to Pulali and listened to the Britney Spears episode of Mystery Show. A very good episode indeed!

I was very tired upon return. I took a bit of a nap at 8, but it was readily apparent I needed a full sleep. So I just put on jammies and went to bed at 10, and was woken up at 2 and walked Bodi for a bathroom break, and dozed some more. Eventually rose at 9ish. Had breakfast. Cleaned house. Listened to more Mystery Show episodes.

Boss was picking Bodi up this time, and delivering a print. She was stuck in construction, so had a long ride over. We took a walk through the woods, as is nice to do after a long drive, and moved the print upstairs to where I had cleared out space for it. It just fits! With about 4 inches of room to spare. The frame has plexi instead of glass, so it isn't super heavy, which is nice if I decide to move it (I don't think I will though, I like it where it is). It's an artist proof, so I see a few little misalignments, but that is part of its charm. It's still an absolutely beautiful print.

Yuji Hiratsuka's Crab Dancers. Tomorrow Celia will help me hang it properly.

So You Think You Can Dance was fun.

YOU WANNA GO pfft no

Thursday:

Stuck around at home. Talked to Finn about their impending visit. Watched a spider trap a fly and wrap it up. I watered some of the plants, but it was good I didn't wash all of it because it rained a whole bunch the next day.

My computer kept overheating. Did some work from home.

Friday:

Made a late evening QFC run and had a bit of an altercation with a lady who was grumpy. She seemed to be double parked in front of the store and I stopped well away from her. and yet she honked at me! I gave her an incredulous look that she didn't appreciate so I showed her my map of West Virginia. Then she opened her door and started to step out and yelled "YOU WANNA GO!?" at me, so I quickly put the car into drive and was like "byyyeeeeee". She seemed to be fumbling to take a picture of me, or maybe pull a gun??? I dunno, there was something dark in her hand. I drove away and she was right behind me, but didn't follow as I turned right. Jeeze. Like yeah I wasn't no angel, who who gets out of a car instead of just honking more or driving away with more vigor?

Did some work from home. Got my schedule for tomorrow.

Also it was rainy and stormy and there was thunder and lightning. Now everything is watered, hurray!

wax on wax off

Tuesday:

Last long day on the boat. Alarm went off at 7ish. Got out of bed at 8ish. Left 9ish to meet Dad at the boatish. I swung by QFC and got doughnuts. Bismark, raspberry filled, twist, old fashion, and maple bar. I ate the twist first, then later the bismark. Dad got the doughnut and maple bar. I ate the raspberry on the way home after a long day.

There were new boats in the yard. First I painted another coat on the boat. I did another 'nother stripe on the top. Helped dad with the sealant. And got to waxing later in the day. I was pretty splattered with paint, and got a bit pink. Not burned, just pink. Dad got McDonald's for dinner. Hurray! He followed behind me with the big buffer as I applied wax.

Got outta there just before 8. Sat very tiredly at home and crawled into bed.

Listened to Ready Player One, which is okay. Break from podcasts for other audio media.

Wednesday:

Slept in. Well actually I woke up, but lay awake thinking in bed letting my body relax.

I'm less worn out than I thought I would be. I wrote up an invoice for Dad for the boat work. I worked my other odd job. Snacked. Dropped off the invoice at the post office. Talked to Celia. I watched some Chopped.

Got a lot done! Now I got a bit of a break time.

tidying up shop

My ankle hurts, and I'm on this course of antibiotics from the doctor and now everything tastes like I've been licking quarters. I think the food has expired, but then I drink some water and it also tastes weird. Bleh. Hopefully it doesn't last. Two pills a day for a week, let's see whassup.

Sunday:

Got up a bit early and made some coffee for me and Phil. We chatted a bit and he headed out at 10ish to check out Tacoma. I checked up on Corbie.

Then I took a nap. I think the antibiotics are making me tired too. Hmmn.

Took out the compost and washed dishes and tidied up and watered plants. Things were in major need of a look over around the property. Busy week!

Monday:

Woke up earlyish then went back to sleep. Then got up late and confirmed tomorrow for a work on boat day.

Composted more neglected leftovers. I'm just not creative with a lot of food.

There are green beans on the green bean plants! But the plants themselves just are not clinging to the strings on the trellis. I sort of shifted the plants around to lean to the sides in hopes that they'll climb up. Shouldn't have planted them in the middle.

Worked on editing photographs for the client. So earned SOME money. Whooo.

My ankle hurts.

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!

word hard for the money

Wednesday:

So tired. But the show must go on! With proper face guard, gloves, and a player full of podcasts I set about finishing the port side of the hull cleaning. It was a colder day, and I wore my work sweater. I scrubbed and scrubbed, and dumped the water in the proper dumping area. I accidently walked in the back door of the office to ask for the key to the dumping room.

The wire brush made it easier, but oh my back was hurting from all the under hull scrubbing.

Exhaustedly drove home and spent the rest of the night tired.

Thursday:

Woke up sore. Popped an Advil, ate some breakfast, made coffee, packed a lunch satchel, and off I went! Dad was there today. I accompanied him to West Marine and successfully located a misplaced thing in the shop after Dad and the shop guy couldn’t find it. I scrubbed. Mom brought sushi and teriyaki. I ate my share. I scrubbed more. Tomorrow will hopefully be a shorter day. I’ve got mostly underside stuff left. I’ll get it done, and then I get a day off! A day in which I’m already busy with something else, but it’ll be something fun. A wedding!

After the boat stuff, Dad and I went to see Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation at The Rose. Fun movie! Lots of great action sequences and a few moments that were so ridiculous upping of the ante that we all laughed. Excellent performances, lots of fun. I think I liked the last one more, but this was still cool.

Dropped Dad off at the van and went home and sent off a work email (nice to have a job where I can take time to help with the boat). Might have Bodi for another weekend!

Driving up to Port Townsend three days in a row is exhausting. I don’t think I could manage it unless I got a really cool job. It eats up so much time! I’m looking forward to not being tired.

August already feels like it is over, and it’s only six days in.

just uber it

Monday:

Brynne and Casey did some kayaking. I read comics and drank coffee. I kept it mellow. The next few days will be busy, so I wanted to enjoy the peace while I had it.

And I did a long water of the plants. Dinner was a taco casserole courtesy of Casey, with vegetables put on it. And a zucchini cake with cream cheese frosting for dinner. Yum! So good! And followed by SYTYCD. Some good routines. Sorry not much is being written, but it's late and I need to get some rest. It was a lovely day.

Tuesday:

Casey and Brynne departed early, before I had gotten up.

I had a small breakfast, and poured out some cheerios and made coffee for the drive to Port Townsend. Picked up a thing that I wanted to get then went to the waterfront to park at the boat to start helping dad with boat repairs. I helped haul out the dingy too. There was a boat named The Rose of Gallifrey. A nice nerdy name. I asked the captain if it was bigger on the inside.

My main chore is scrubbing the hull. There's a lot of seascum that needs scrubbing off, and I'm just the gal to do it! So I soaped and scraped and soaped and scraped and got almost a fourth done! But I've got a better wire brush, and Dad got a face guard (I got a lot of drippings on my face, which isn't food) and some small gloves for my small hands. So tomorrow I'll have a better kit of stuff. I'm prepping for a long haul scrubbing marathon. I'll bring a change of clothes this time, because I was smelly after and damp. Not a fun combo.

I took a bath and a shower and thought about future plans and now it's late. Good night.

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.

the 2015 Seattle Art Fair

What an amazing wonderful fun filled day!

My alarm went off at 6:45am. Did not like that one bit. I rolled out of bed at 7:15ish and got showered and made up and put on a nice dress and coordinated my jewelry on the gold side of my collection annnndd I took out my earrings and put on the geometric triangular ones with abstract dangly bits. I think I can declare my ear healed!

Poured out some cheerios and headed out to Bremerton. Got to Karen's with plenty of time to go to the ferry. We walked from her place, much easier than dealing with driving. Today we were going to the 2015 Seattle Art Fair! Which was in the Century Link Exhibition Hall. Lots of galleris bringing art to represent. New art, old art, big sculptures, interactive things. Heather was there representing the gallery she manages/works for Upfor Gallery, and she scored us a couple VIP passes! So rad.

We caught the 9:45, and arrived at the center shortly after it opened. I had a hot dog on the ferry and split some fries with Karen at a food truck just outside the center. Then in we went! Daniel (of Heather and Daniel) was there too. Ahhh the hall was massive, but not crowded! Just the right amount of people were there to create an interesting variety of fashion, but not enough to hinder art access.

There was what I believe to be a Murakami, not a Koonz.

All three Wyeths were represented.

There were so many women artists. Enough that when you saw a painting and saw it was by a woman, it didn't stand out as being one out of 80, ya know?

I treated myself to a deluxe coffee, which has grass fed butter as the cream component. It was so smooth and delicious! Some of the best coffee I've had in a while. Daniel let me have a few bites of his french toast doughnut.

Karen and I got to chat briefly with one artist: Regina Scully, Very dynamic work. Lively, confidant, fun, interesting color schemes. And also almost affordable! There were 500k pieces in the hall, so seeing one for 3k was reasonable. It made me think more about the print I'm adding to my collection and how stoked I am for it.

Also represented and memorable: Masami Teraoka's contemporary Japanese woodblock prints, Popel Coumou's gentle surrealist landscapes, Dutin Yellin's collage work that was layered between sheets of glass which created a three dimensional object when all pressed together. Really something to behold and walk around and look into. The Eulogy by Patricia Piccinini was this very realistic sculpture of a man holding a blobfish. I saw Piccinini's The Hug at the Frye back in 2007. Nice little memory/call back. I took a silly picture with The Eulogy, because I'm a goober. Andrew Stevovich had some great paintings. Very nicely framed with distinct figures. Al Farrow's Wrath & Reverence was a concept we've seen before but executed in the most perfect manner. So perfect that it was refreshed and intelligent. Yeah. Some really good work.

We sat and chatted with Daniel for a bit in the middle of the day, then at the end we got tacos at a food card (me one veggie one shrimp, Karen two veggie and an empanada) and Daniel walked us to the 3pm ferry (Karen had stuff to do). We had a nice journey back. Lots of talk of the new future and what it may or may not bring. I picked up my comic box in the blessedly air conditioned comic shop and went home. Traffic was a bit of a bummer, though no major slow downs. Just cars a plenty.

I watered plants and now it's late and I must sleep. Tomorrow I''ll tidy up and go dog sit! And when I come back, Brynne will be here.

early days

Wednesday:

Uhhggg had to get up SO EARLY! To go to the doctor in Silverdale at 8am. I was pretty much a zombie, but I got in all right just on time. Signed in. How were so many people so cheery that early? Well I guess they didn't get up as damn early to drive an hour to get there. Anyway. Doc visit went well. It was a quick one. I went to Trader Joe's and went shopping, and threw down a good joke that I can't remember now. Grocery stores look so nice first thing in the morning before everything is messed up by people buying stuff. The guy forgot to ring up and bag my ginger ale tho. :(

I should have gotten McDonald's Breakfast. Instead I went home and rested a bit.

Ma and Pa returned from being on the mountain. They survived backpacking! They went swimming as a way to shower and ate cake and took their leftovers from my fridge. They deprive their daughter of food! I mean sure they paid for it...but. Yeah.

I was tired through the day, but then I revived and decided to go to the Bernie Sanders support meeting in Quilcene. He was doing a livestream across the country to promote grassroots action to support him, and I agree with his policies. Unfortunately the Quilence location was actually Coyle, but I still went. I was the third to arrive, but...Deb? Dev? Argh forgot her name! Was really nice. There was about 14 people in all. We took a group photo. I was the youngest, but there was a couple who could have been 32. Lots of older folks. We all agreed with Bernie and talked this and that. I was able to provide info that his plans to fund his ideas come from actually taxing rich people.

The stream was damn inspiring! I want to make buttons, but of the handmade with a pin back glued to it kind. Like, maybe a shrinky dink "Feel The Bern" badge? I agreed to come to more meetings. Not sure if I'll knock on doors, but I'm down to help.

Anyway, that was fun. Got back. Went to bed. I think I did stuff between the two???

Thursday:

Work on site! Though this was mainly for LM. I did help move some boxes. We got the basement back at the office, so the light set up is downstairs. I photographed mostly jewelry. Earrings and necklaces. OH! I also picked up a crate and lamp from the consignment shop in Poulsbo and didn't get doughnuts at Stuy's. Self restraint!

Anyway yeah, photographed jewelry. Going to edit it and get some draft on Etsy up for the client. There's some really nice earrings, wish I could find them a nice home (aka my ears).

I got McDonalds on the way home (ha no self restraint) and now I feel double bloated. I watered my garden (the important plants) and sat and relaxed. My foot is feeling better. My ankle I mean. Not that it's cured but it is feeling less strained.

Uhg I really need to get in actual shape tho, I'm so out of it and it's killing my self esteem.

Tomorrow I'm hanging with Karen in Seattle, so that should be fun!

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.

summer is over, here is the rain!

Friday:

Had a tough time getting out of bed. It was warm and comfy. But I eventually did. Got a one off gig dog sitting on site in Poulsbo, so that's cool. Did some more online listings. Things are selling like gangbusters on our eBay! It's a great feeling. Though maybe I should have listed it for more??

I spent a few hours watering the plants nice and thoroughly...and it rained like five hours later and all day the next day. So I guess things should be looking pretty green? I've been doing my stretches, and when I try it on the other foot it doesn't feel like much of anything, so a diagnosis of an Achilles injury is ringing true. How hard do I push it though? I don't want to hurt it more.

Saturday:

Managed to get up a bit earlier. Enjoyed the cooler weather. Made a shopping list. Had some green beans and coffee and toast for breakfast. Did a shopping trip for cake supplies at QFC, and I left without buying any doughnuts! Tomorrow Celia & I are meeting early in the day to make a cake for Mom (it's her birthday!).

So I made a cake and did some practice with a specific technique of a cake decoration thing.

I stretched my foot. I listened to podcasts. I even lit a fire! It was a bit cold and I didn't feel like turning on the wall heaters. Probably good to heat up the chimney on the regular.

So a bit productive, yeah. Tomorrow Mum is coming over! And Dad too.

achilles tendinitis

Wednesday:

Doctor time! I got up at...well I didn't have to get up all that early as the appointment wasn't till 2, still. No slouching either. Headed out to Silverdale. Got to the clinic right on time. Was checked in by a nice person, and had my vitals checked. I got in a good joke about my clogs adding five pounds as I removed them for the weigh in. Didn't have to wait long for the doc to arrive. He was nice, though seemed a bit rushed. But I also had a list of things to talk about and it was clear there wasn't enough time to dig into each one, and it seemed like every five minutes was a new "oh, and THIS hurts". I should have just focused on the foot, which did get a diagnosis: achilles tendinitis. Damage from overuse/repetitive microtrauma. Causes could be overuse, poor physical conditioning, no warm up, injury to the tendon. Seems like something that could happen to someone on their feet all day screenprinting and not doing at warm ups. Could have damaged it somehow. I dunno. It possibly went undiagnosed/untreated for over a year. So I got a print out on the condition and some stretches to do. So basically I just need to take it easy on the foot and stretch it.

Made an appointment for lady specific health care, and off I went to Walgreens.

I also got a prescription for this allergy nasal spray, which I was stoked about but that stoked died quick. I was expecting a cool prescription, but it was just Flonase. And Walgreens didn't accept my insurance, so I went to Target to get it swapped. Then I went to Trader Joe's and got some food. Then I went to Old Town Silverdale and sat in the park and snacked. When it became clear my prescription wouldn't be filled, I headed home.

I redrew my fitness regime on a single page for easy following. Six stretches of 30 second holds each. I plan to do a run through of the six, five times twice a day. Sounds good. Two fifteen minute routines? Though I've been doing them and maybe I'm pushing it too hard because my foot hurts more, not less. I'll ease up.

Did some work from home listing on eBay.

Thursday:

Did pretty makeup: new eyeshadow in the crease with light shimmery over the lid. Nice brows. Winged out eyeliner. Very nice look.

On site I did lots of eBay listing. We managed to up our eBay listing, so now we can list oodles more! And in the first 8 hours of me listing things we sold three! So good. It's interesting what sells and what lingers in the store.

I found out that the prescription was filled...but it wasn't covered by the insurance and it was an over the counter medication anyway so like...what's the point of getting a prescription for something you have to pay for anyway? And the thing itself was like fifteen bucks for 60 measured doses, and I would be using multiple does A DAY and two people have said the stuff gives nosebleeds and really sniffles > nosebleeds, so I just said screw it and ditched the medication. People will just have to deal with my sniffles!

Got some junk food, and went home and finished the new season of Bojack Horseman. Did my stretches, watched Chopped.

Oh, and the bump is likely a calcium deposit from the injury/tear. We'd have to take an xray to confirm. I don't know how much I want to push it, because I don't want to end up footing the bill. Healthcare makes me so paranoid, like...I don't want to do something wrong and get a $300 bill int he mail, ya know? The swelling is such a specific spot. It's not a bump in an unusual spot.

Argh.

eleventh

Monday:

Last day with Bodi! Got up, walked the pup, showered and poured a bowl of cheerios and topped it with a slice of Brynne's oatmeal coconut cake. Loaded up Bodi and headed out to Silverdale. Oh! I also called and rescheduled with the doctor and will be in to see him on Wednesday.

Dropped off Bodi at Petco. I rolled down the window and he saw the Boss and tried to climb out of my window. Boss opened my door and grabbed the pup, who was very happy. We chatted a bit, and parted ways. Thus began a ton of errands and driving around Silverdale.

First I deposited my check for looking after Bodi.

Second I returned some library books to Poulsbo.

Third I drove into Silverdale and went to Old Navy and grabbed my usual pair of Sweetheart fit, skinny leg (straight leg didn't have any in my size that was also short length) (do I usually buy straight or skinny?) in a short length in a size that fits. I also got some discounted shirts.

Third part two I went to Sephora and picked up the Solstice Urban Decay eyeshadow. Beautiful blueish pinkish color. Treat yo self!

Fourth I went to Origami Sushi and picked up a caterpillar roll to go.

Fifth I went to Seabeck and shared the sushi with Mom and picked up my new driver's license and medical card. Picked up some other things and generally hung out.

Sixth I went back to Silverdale and picked up some things at Target. Except one thing I wanted to get.

Seventh I went to Home Depot and they didn't have the thing I wanted to get.

Eighth I went to Lowe's and they also didn't have the thing I wanted to get. But I got some succulent soil and succulent soil food.

Ninth I went to Trader Joe's and got fooood! Yum TJ's food. I forgot granola bars.

Tenth I finally went home. I ordered the thing I wanted to get online. Keep an eye out for that in the mail! It's got not my name on it. Hint hint.

Watched So You Think You Can Dance, and went to bed late.

Tuesday:

After a weekend of early wake ups, I slept in far too long.

Loafed about, took pictures of the seals on the raft, watched SYTYCD, snacked, did some work from home.

Made a list of things to consult the doctor about tomorrow. It's a list with bullet points. Shouldn't have sat on seeing a doctor for so long.

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.

Boddles

My eye is twitchy. I'm afraid I might have a stye in it. AGAIN! Well I say again, it's been five years. Woke up with it this morning (Thursday) and I haven't been wearing any eye makeup for a few days so it couldn't have been that. Hmm. Anyhoo. See how it is tomorrow, I guess.

Wednesday:

Slept in again. Tidied up. Sat on the porch. Ma and Pa docked at Pleasant Harbor, but at the State Park which is impossible to actually locate unless you already know where it is, which I didn't...so I went back home frustrated. The marina doesn't have access to the marine park. That's some bullshit.

Had potstickers and called it an early night.

Thursday:

On site! Whooo! I worked helping box things up for a client. Mainly I pulled things from boxes and gave them item numbers. And boss gave me some left over bread and plum jam. Yummy! I left a bit early with Bodi. I'm looking after Bodi for the weekend! Hurray! He got a haircut and looks a bit light in the fur from it. He also has something on his eye that I'll be keeping an eye on.

Corbie seemed happy to see Bodi. They jumped around a bit. Shared bread and jam with Celia.

Now I'm just chillin'. Think I'll let Bodi out and then I'll go to sleep early. Feeling tired. Tomorrow I'll chill on the porch and read comics and clean house. Yup yup!

ho hum, feeling glum

Monday:

Took out the trash! Got to use the right compactor this time. Right as in the compactor on the right, not the opposite of wrong. Swung by the Quilcene store and got some provisions. Headed back home. Read comics. Watched So You Think You Can Dance with Celia. Whooo JJ and Jaja!

Tuesday:

I really need to start doing something to fill out this blog with.

Hung out on the porch. Read some comics. Made some gnocchi and sauce. That was tasty.

Tomorrow I guess I'll do some work and stuff.

catastrophe is a good show

Saturday & Sunday:

Slept in much too late. Had ample servings of buffalo chicken over rice. Pretty good little meal I crock potted! Though I'm due for another food run soon. Maybe I'll leave the house and go to Trader Joe's tomorrow (Monday).

Worked on stuff from home. Lots of eBay in autopilot listings. Watered plants that needed watering. Washed dishes. Read comics. I need to make a trash run too. I have food in my fridge that needs tossing but I don't want to have too much food garbage sitting in the trash. Yeah. Dump run soon needed.

Hmmm pretty mellow weekend, but I absolutely need to leave the house.

Ma & Pa, let me know if any more mail has arrived? I'm waiting on three things, though two should be here within this week. The third hasn't been mailed out yet.

Good night peeps, be well.