The Kids Today...

I'm sure I am not the only adult who gets a wee bit disgusted at the sense of entitlement today's kids seem to have. I was so lucky to be witness a the decline of modern civilization today. And lucky you get to hear all about it.

I was at a Starbucks this afternoon - well of course I was at a Starbucks - and in front of me was a Mom and two young girls. About 10 years old I would think. Mom couldn't have been more than mid twenties. Anyhow they all ordered a drink. Three total. They went about their way and stood by the bar waiting patiently.

I ordered and joined in the wait. The three were giggling and laughing as the barista handed them one drink at a time. Then they continued to wait. My drink comes up. And they're still waiting. Finally the barista asked if they were waiting for a drink. The mom said, "Um yah we ordered a vanilla cream frap."

Now, at this point I KNEW they hadn't, but I figured I'd watch it play out as I stirred my coffee.

The barista apologized for missing the drink order and promptly went on making the drink. She asked the cashier about it, and she said they hadn't ordered that drink, but that maybe she missed hearing them.

By this time, I'm miffed because I knew they hadn't ordered it. And here they are making two employees feel like they screwed up.

So the barista handed them the drink and apologized again. The mom turned to the girls as the got a straw right by me and said, "See, that's how you get free drinks." giggle giggle

Can you believe that? She just taught her two daughters how to lie, steal and cheat all at once. No wonder our society is going to pot.

As I got out to my car I thought about my own lovely mom. And wondered what she'd do to me if I ever did that. I'll tell you what she'd do, she'd knock me into next week. And you know how I know she'd do that, because I grew up with consequences. Every think you do has a consequence and boy let me tell you I found out just what some of those were. If I had a nickle for every time I got "knocked into next week"...I'd be a very rich woman (who pays that nickle anyhow? Is there a general fund?)

All I'm saying is we're raising a generation of kids who apparently don't think they have to pay for things, or work for things. Makes me scare to think about what my old age will be like...oh wait...I'm already old.

In other news, the 3 Day is right around the corner. If you're feeling the itch to donate this year, the team could really use the donations. In fact, breast cancer can use your donation. Visit Saving Second Base's site - pick any of the Wraspir's to donate to.

Take this once a week, and call me in the morning...

It appears my daily-ish blog is now more like a weekly-ish. I'd write more, I swear, if there was more going on. My life seems to have taken the sidelines for work currently. Which is fine, for now. I have faith that at some point I'll get my head around this beast of a program and I'll be back to my normal self - well as normal as I can be.

Interesting happenings of this weekend...

1. Missed a Dudley show. I know. I know. You're asking yourself if hell froze over. I can assure you it did not. Truth be told the universe was against me. First there wasn't anyone to go with and I wasn't about to go by myself. Second, it was pouring. I had no intention of driving my butt to Seattle to walk a bit in the rain to go see the boys. I know, my dedication is waning. I should be ashamed. Wanna know a secret? I am 100% sure there will be another show. On top of all that they were playing at one of my least favorite venues, so I figured why bother. I'm sure they'll get over me not being there.

2. Had a Breast Cancer 3 Day / 60 mile planning dinner. Can you believe 1 year ago I was strapping on my tennis shoes, serious bandages and I was hitting the path to walk 60 miles in 3 days? I'm rather stunned at how fast that time has passed. I swear it was just yesterday we walked. This year I chose to be a walker stalker instead. My BigBro, Seattle SIL, and Blueberry are all walking and they need support. Trust me. I've seen these three walk...they're a mess! Only joking. They are my heroes as are all the men/women who will be hitting the pavement this Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Anyhow, had the team over to help them "carb load" and to plan logistic.

3. I got the word that I get to shoot photos for the 3 Day this year. They've had crew positions in the past for photographers but have had tons of photos to weed through and it became a bit overwhelming. I offered to take photos and weed through them for them. So not only do I get to sit on the side lines cheering (and most likely tearing up) but I get to play the role as photographer too. Woohoo! But the pressure!

4. I broke down and ordered a gadget. About 4 years ago I did some assistance work for Sur Le Table and learned knife skills. At that point, I tossed out all my kitchen gadgets and have survived with a killer cutting board and good knives. But I got drawn in by a stinkin' TV commercial. I bought The Perfect Brownie pan. I love, LOVE, LOVE the outer edges of brownies. This particular pan seems to solve my "I only like the outer edges" problem. I'll keep you posted on how it does. Cuz I know you're gonna run out and buy one.

5. For Labor day I'm celebrating by not laboring. I was going to, but think I may not. I opened my Outlook and just sighed. Too daunting. It can wait.

6. So instead I'm going to go get a massage. I'm meeting ChickenLady for lunch first. I figured we won't be able to possibly cover all the topics we should cover in our girl chat time, so I might as well have a massage too.

7. And conveniently her massage office is by a Michael's Craft store. I've come up with a brilliant idea for Blueberry's Christmas gift so I need to get busy. And by 'brilliant' I mean BRILLIANT! Well, it'll only be brilliant if I can pull it off.

8. Finished scanning all my old photos. And for a treat I thought I'd share these with you.

Mom and I in our abayas in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - circa 1986.

Ahhh TASIS high school graduation day. June 5th, 1987...was I EVER that young?

Blueberry and I in 1988 at WSU...nice flipped collars under a sweater huh? So 80's

Come on Baby Light My Fire...

There are few things in life that scare me. Bees are one, and fire is the other. My sister and her husband just lived through a fire storm like no other in So. California. Stupid BrotherInLaw is a fireman so while I understand his thought on his ability to protect their house, I would have much preferred if they would have vacated the area. ESPECIALLY after seeing her photos.

These are chronological from them seeing it just over a ridge to it being at their place, and then what it left in it's wake. They were lucky. Other people in their neighborhood were not so lucky. My heart goes out to all those who weren't so fortunate, and I'm so very thankful for the talented men and women who were out there fighting the fire...

Note to Stupid BrotherINLaw...I may have to beat you senseless next time I see you. = )

Adding to the 40...

The weeks sure speed by don't they? I'm still trying to catch my breath from moving in January and here I am having lived here for 7 months already. Unbelievable.

Well, lucky me gets to add two new things to my list of 40 New Things. I got to go in and have a girly procedure done testing for some other girly issues. And thanks that new thing, I get to go in and have a small girly surgery! Oh goody! Thankfully it's absolutely standard and has no serious issues related to the surgery. I'm not looking forward to it, but I'm not afraid of what they'll find either. We know there's already a "growth" - that's the tough part right? My doctor - who is a woman in her 60's is about 5'2" and has the wit of no one I've ever met. Anyhow, she's almost certain they won't find the growth to be anything abnormal - she just prefers to remove it...and I'm with her.

I think what has me more concerned is the being put under part. I've only one other time have been out of complete control of myself and I can say that being a control freak I really don't like it. The thought of going to sleep and waking up having had the house cleaned is just a bit scary to me. But I'll be fine. The MomUnit will be here - in fact I'd have the surgery sooner if the MomUnit didn't "demand" that she be here. Moms. Sheesh!

In other non-medical news, I've been scanning ALL my photos. I started with my first scrapbook which is for 1968 through the Jr. High. I just finished 2000. I'm not scanning each and every photo - but the good ones and the ones that have certain stories with them. And of course, ANY photo that can be posted to FB that shines an 80's light on any friends in which I can exact some revenge for something they've done to me in my life. A few of you should be scared...very scared.

Just pulled the recipes for this week, and I gotta tell you I'm hungry already.
Sunday - Pasta with Chicken and Mushrooms - one of my ALL time favorites. So easy and quick and makes a pretty good left over...considering I'm someone who doesn't like leftovers that's saying something.

Monday - Panaeng Beef in Red Curry Peanut Sauce
Tuesday - Parmesan Stuffed Chicken Breasts
Wednesday - Pecan Crusted Chicken Tenders & Salad with Tangy Maple BBQ Dressing
Thursday - Grilled Honey Lime Chicken Sandwiches - this is a do over. I have a friend coming for scrapbooking and thought this would be a nice simple dinner.

So, if any of you want to come to dinner - let me know for how many to set the table!

The Little Chef in me...

Anyone who knows me knows two things are an absolute about me 1) I am a coffee girl - specifically Starbucks, but whatever and 2) I can cook.

I love to cook. I love the fact that when I was in 7th grade my parents told me, one hot summer night in Lancaster, California, that from then on out I would pick one night a week (I picked Thursdays) and I would be responsible for dinner. I had to have my grocery list to them for the weekly grocery shopping, and they'd get me anything within reason.

Up to that point my kitchen chores were relegated to cracking the ice, making the salad for dinner, and of course the dishes - which I hated. So I was a bit - as a teeny bopper - not that interested in another chore.

I quickly discovered though that it wasn't so much a chore as it was an outlet. I can't say that I wow'd anyone with new and different recipes. Truth is I only really have memories of cooking some of our family favorites. I do have some vague memory of trying some recipes that mom and dad had stashed away, but for the most part, I played it safe.

Both parents were in the kitchen "helping". In that if I didn't understand, they were there to explain the culinary technique or word I didn't understand. Thankfully both my parents could cook too, which helped groom my love for food.

We all had our specialties. Dad's was the BBQ. He could BBQ a tritip like no body's business. He'd take a tritip roast (back in those days it was a very inexpensive cut of meat too) and he'd cut slits throughout it and stuff those slits with garlic cloves. He'd then BBQ it slow...saliva is pooling in my mouth even as I type. Anything else that could be BBQ'd was. If he could find a way to do spaghetti on the BBQ he would.

Mom's speciality - at least to me - was her tacos and enchiladas. She learned from an old Mexican woman who owned a restaurant in her home town. I can't remember the name of the restaurant, but I can remember going there one time and fully appreciating mom's enchilada history. They aren't glamorous or difficult or anything like that. They certainly aren't lo-cal (and trust me I've tried over the years to make them lo-cal and you just can't. You have to just know that you're going to be eating some calories that night). And being not one for leftovers, mom's enchiladas - cold - the next day...heaven. Blissful heaven.

And so I didn't have a speciality. I tried baking for many years and discovered I had no patients for that. All the exact measuring, blech! I'd leave that to someone else. I can cook though. And I can follow a recipe - sometimes.

What I love about cooking is the fact that it's like a little science experiment each time. Sure I could follow the well developed and tested recipe, but I'm convinced I can improve on it. Anyone who comes to Chez Jenn's knows that I do try to follow the recipe. And yet somehow I decide a dash of this or a pinch of that might make all the difference. Sometimes it does. Sometimes it doesn't.

I've told you about the recipe bowl in a couple of previous posts. (Side note: did you know if you misspell previous you can get pervious?) This bowl has about 300 recipes in it. I recently cleaned it out and "re-did" the recipes cuz I knew there were some I had already made and others I'd most likely not make. So I got down to business and started fresh.

So far in the year of 2009 I've made 62 new recipes. Some will make it to my annual cookbook, some won't make it off the page ever again. I have tried to make it my goal to document this experience too and to make these recipes available to everyone. This week I had two fantastic recipes that I feel I have to share.

Chicken Curry in a Hurry and my favorite Slow Roasted Salmon.

I posted a stat counter and realized not too many people are hitting my cooking blog, which is fine, it's not just out there for the world to see, but it's out there for me to go back to when I wonder when it was I last made a recipe...or if - god forbid - I can't find the recipe.

My routine has been to make about 3 new recipes a week. If you're ever bored with what you're making...check out my cooking blog. I'm sure there's something you can find there. I can't guarantee everything will be lo-cal but I can at least guarantee it's been tested by one of the greatest unknown chef's in the free world. At least in her own mind. Now if I can only find someone to do the dishes.

How does it happen...

time flying that is. I can't believe tomorrow's Friday already. I mean don't get me wrong, I'm glad. Very glad, but I couldn't tell you what I did this week if asked. Besides going to Starbucks, going to work and going to the doctors.

Side Note: I was just notified by the TV that it's been a "shocking" 2 months since the King of Pops death!

ahem

Right, so doctor appt. I've been having some physical issues and thought it was time to go in and have a chat with someone other than WebMD. I really can't read WebMD anymore. By the time I'm done reading any pages, I'm convinced I'm dying. Not helpful at all.

No need to worry, cuz I know you are, it's nothing serious, just a bit out of sorts. The nurse and the doctor both told me it could be my "age". Huh! So unfair. I'm only - ahem - well older. I'm not quite dead yet (read in a heavy British Monty Python sort of way). I do get to go back next Friday for a fun little procedure - don't be jealous!

The doctor decided to have me do a blood work up today. I swear to Dog they took a gallon. So maybe it was only two small viles, but it felt like a gallon. Now I have a real pretty bruise on my arm. I looked away when she stuck me with the pole (okay so a small needle- but still) and have to admit it wasn't as bad as I was sure it was going to be. I didn't get woosy nor did I pass out - so that's good right. And I had to celebrate my not passing out with a nice dinner at home.

No big plans for the weekend. I think I will walk over and see Julie & Julia! I get exercise and entertained...can't beat that combination.

ShHHHH, you hear that...

Yah. There's nothing. No sound. Nothing but the tippity tap of the keys. No dog chains jingling, no barking, no other movement in the house, but me. Oh wait, there's a cat somewhere.

The Oodles of Poodles are gone. The Parental Units have come and gone and have taken the Oodles with them. I have to admit, it's weird to not have them greet me at the door, but it's oddly nice too. Weird.

In other very interesting news, I'm in pain. I've done something to my back and it hurts like, well let's just say it hurts. My pain threshold is very low and this is testing my sanity. Every standing or sitting position is uncomfortable. When I lay down it's okay until I have to roll over or flip, then it hurts. I'm going to spend this weekend hopefully doing nothing to let it try to let it work it's kink out. The only "kink" I prefer to have is the musical group playing on the POC.

ahem

Let's see what else has happened this week. I've worked, but not too many hours. I slept on the Murphy Bed. I bought Starbucks every day this week. MMMM toasty! I met two very fun girlfriends for dinner and some very needed girl catch up time. And now I'm watching America Funniest Videos wondering if 9:30 is too early to go to bed. I have such a thrilling life.

Life View from the High Dive...

Now that I have my brain about me. I swear to God I can't stay up late anymore and not pay the ultimate price the next day. Though secretly it was all worth it. All of it.

HikerGirl and I started the night off with dinner then headed into Seattle for a night of DMQ. They are trying out a new guitar player so I was a bit concerned how that would work out. I've been watching these guys since 1998 and have seen them go through some changes. So far most the changes have been for the better (after a brief adjustment period on my part).
On the way to the High Dive, which I originally thought was in another part of Seattle than it was - but thank heavens I figured that out before we left. Though it didn't help us much. HikerGirl and I were chatting (shocking, I know.) and we missed our turn. But never fear, HikerGirl was there to "help" get us back on track. We turned at the following corner. I turned to HikerGirl and asked, "So? Do I go straight?" Her response, "Yes, go left." Huh? We hadn't even been drinking - I think we both needed that giggle.
In Fremont, I had no idea where the High Dive was. After driving up and down, parking and checking the interweb (thank god for CrackBerries). We parked again and strolled to the bar. Interestingly enough, the outside of the bar has a photo of an woman in a diving position - huh? Clever.
The bar was ultimately empty...I thought...then I realized it was just a super duper small bar. As we walked in I was greeted by the Bass Guitarist with a "Hey Jenn - thanks for coming." You do know I giggled like a little girl who got her first barbie. I turned to HikerGirl and was all, "TeeHee...he knew who I was..." She, I believe, just rolled her eyes.
We ordered our drinks and proceeded to jibber jabber and people watch. When we noticed these two VERY large paper mache type sculptors hanging from the ceiling. I thought the one was of a kangaroo...keep in mind I was looking from the side to these - not straight on. When HikerGirl said, "I think that one is male." I glanced over and was searching for how she could see it was "male" when my eyes bugged out. Yep. Male. We both assumed the other was female, but we couldn't be sure.
I had to go find the little girls room so my mission was to check out the other and confirm if she was female or not. Off I go to the potty. I find the hallway and see two doors. Neither are marked for the gender. Instead they have two photos on it. One of a rooster. The other with a cat. I stood there for a second and wondered which one. I went for the cat. Inside I was greeted with "stalls" made out of velvet curtains. Weird. As I walked in the door art hit me. I'm such a goober.
Back to the table HikerGirl asked me about the female sculpture...dammit I forgot to check. The night progressed and I glanced over again and noticed the sculpture had boobies. How I missed them before is beyond me...but sure enough...female.
Ahem. Shortly after PhotoGirl and the Yank joined us. We danced and sang to the first set - well PhotoGirl had to get physical with some drunk dancers to keep her dance space from being invaded by elbows - but still we danced and had a blast.
Super small crowed consisting of mostly females. But the band sounded great. I'm not a big fan of the new guitarist. He didn't seem like he was having fun and just didn't seem to fit the personality of DMQ. He could play, that wasn't it...he just didn't seem like DMQ to me. So we shall see.
Yesterday, after recovering from being out until 2AM - I took the clean and shiny poodles to the doggy park. Just a few more days of babysitting and the Parental Units can have their mutts back. Today we'll go later most likely, but I have some cleaning and laundry to do. Then meeting HikerGirl and BlueBerry for dinner. And then...bah...back to work. WAHHHH!

Every family has a crazy aunt...

I can say with 100% certainty that my family never EVER has to worry about me being THIS crazy....

I nearly fell over laughing when I read that article. I mean really? Who does that? But what really got me laughing out loud was the part where she's quoted as saying she carries its spare nuts and parts around to feel closer to the machine. Oh. Dear. God.

I have this funny visual of family dinners with her. The table is set nicely. Each family member has brought their significant other. Conversations ensue. Aunt Amy shows up with her pockets jingling and she plops down a few nuts and bolts on the chair next to her. Personally, the family may want to check though, cuz those nuts and bolts might just be missing from her own noggin.

But if you're brave enough, scroll to the bottom of that article and click on this article. What the...? See earlier I was going to say "Only in Pennsylvania could such crazy's exist..." but Mr. Smith from this article is from Washington State. Great. I guess I better keep my car out of his view, I don't want him lovin' up on the Mustang...EWWWW

And in other brightly colored, sparkly news...going to see Dudley Manlove tonight with HikerGirl, PhotoGirl and the Yank! New band member debut tonight. He has pretty big shoes to fill...so we shall see...

Reunited...and it feels so good...

...Peaches and Herb...1970's group...one of their more successful songs was Reunited. It's stuck in my head. I know you're wondering how on earth this song got into my head. Well, it's simple really. Let me tell you the story.

It all started yesterday when I decided I wanted hamburgers for dinner. I called Blueberry and then I called HikerGirl to invite them over. Both of them were busy, but we planned to do burgers on Sunday instead.

HikerGirl called me on Sunday to see if there was anything I needed from a fruit stand. I mentioned peaches. (no, that's not what got the song stuck in my head...but close).

HikerGirl made it for dinner and brought dessert. Ice cream. She's evil that one. But she didn't just bring ice cream, she's found my soul mate.

Oh.
My.
God.

I'm a chocolate fanatic - I come by it naturally in case you've never met the MomUnit - in that, dessert should only be of the chocolate persuasion. Ice cream in particular should only be chocolate or have a very solid chocolate element to it. I may have been converted tonight and found a new religion.

This ice cream was absolutely delicious. And by "absolutely delicious" I mean it was OH MY GOD SOOOO GOOD. You really have to try it. HikerGirl may be my new favorite person (or enemy depending on how you look at it ) for introducing me to this luxury.

Right, so anyhow, because of the Peaches and Cream aspect of the ice cream, I started singing Reunited...and that is how it got stuck in my noggin.

BTW - my cousin Ted believes, and I have to say I agree with him 100%, that Stuck Song Syndrome is an affliction people of high intelligence suffers from. It must be true, I mean he and I both have it.


In other none ice cream related news, the heat wave in Seattle is coming to an end. Thank God. I found myself today homesick for the rain. And wishing it would just rain... a little. I'm sick. I know.

I just saw a tree melt.

The who the what now? Seattle having temperatures that Phoenix usually has. Hey Phoenix, come get your weather!

The 105 is the temp outside IN THE SHADE. The 76 is inside thanks to the AC. The 46% is the humidity level. It's like breathing in water. I might be part fish!

In typical Seattle fashion I've been watching the news for 45 minutes now and I have YET to see a story that isn't about the heat wave. You'd think nothing else is happening here.

Holy Mercury Batman!

You know I try not to whine, I do really try. But Good LORD it's freaking hot here. It hit 97 today and humid too. I'm fine with the dry heat, but the humidity...ick. There's nothing like walking out the door and you're breath is taken away by the heat. Tomorrow, they are saying it'll be 104F . Um, that's ONE HUNDRED AND FOUR DEGREES!!!

If we were to back up approximately 25 years ago I was living in the desert. The summers there used to get bloody hot. I loved it! Loved the heat. But "it's a dry heat". We used to hold band camp all day long in 100 degree weather and we never complained.

Now, I wouldn't last 30 minutes in band camp in this weather. I'm a big wuss!

I do, however, THANK GOD, for AC. Not only at work, but at home. I've never lived anywhere in Seattle that's had AC. There generally isn't any need. But I am so glad I have it now. Although the upstairs is my own personal hell. It's 85 up there and 75 down stairs...amazing. Heat does rise, I'll be darn.

In other news, I doused the cat. You can imagine he wasn't too happy with me at the time, but he seemed appreciative after.

Forget The Working Blues and Let the Good Times Roll

Friday's really are God's gift to the free world. Especially when it's a day off. Earlier this week I discovered that I had no meetings scheduled for today, so I saw that as a sign to take a day off. Which I am. And I'm glad. PMGoddess threatened me with regards to logging in at all. She said she'd come over here and "sort me out". Which is enough to scare me into submission.

And so I'm not checking any work email. And it feels so good. The little curiosity bug wants to check, but I know it'll suck me in. It always does.

So, what am I doing on my day off? Absolutely nothing of value. Me and the Oodles of Poodles got up early and headed out to Starbucks and the doggy park. Hindsight being what it was I should probably have waited on the Starbucks until after the doggy park. Have you ever tried holding two cumbersome dog leashes, a poop sack ready to pick up, a chuck it, and a grande vanilla americano? I would highly recommend not. Trying to balance them was unsuccessful ... the americano took a dive. The dogs liked it though.

Two tired poodles, one less ball, two bags of poop and one less coffee later, we left the doggy park. We did stop at Starbucks again on the way home. I tried to exchange one of the poodles for a cup of coffee, but thought better of it since I'd never hear then end of it from the MomUnit.

Cup of coffee in hand, poodles sleeping, I sat on the back deck and read a program management book and soaked up the sun. Ahhh, peace.

I really needed this break. My intent was to do some work, but I thought maybe I should just not. Working 12 hour days can really drain a gal and it might make me productive to take a breather. I can't seem to shake that nagging feeling that I'll now be way behind, but I intend on dealing with that feeling like I deal with all my feelings - a good bottle of wine.

The weekend ahead is looking to be very quiet too. So by Monday I should be completely recharged. Finally...we'll see how long it lasts.

I Wanna Talk About Me

There are a couple of situations in my life that for whatever reason were extremely hurtful and have stayed with me for years. I try my best to put them to bed and move on, but every once in a while something will remind me of them and the pain comes back like a flood. Worst still, one memory generally will lead to the other horrible memories.

In the grand scheme of things to have just a couple of such hurtful memories isn't bad. And yet, they seem to over shadow any good.

One such memory came flooding back today with a vengeance. I went out to Woodinville today for a doggy filled day with ChickenLady. Well, my excuse was a massage, but I took the Oodles of Poodles out and with them we had 7 doggies. 3 of which were total ball hogs (Beau being one of them). The boys played and frolicked for hours. We had a good lunch, nice massage, and great company. Everything was perfect. It was a great way to finish the weekend.

Then on my way home, I decided to turn on the radio. It landed on a country station and before my fingers could do the walking to switch the channel a song came on that reminded me of a painful memory.

I should also state that the pain in the memories is more about how close to home comments that were made hit. It's extraordinarily painful when someone says something, perhaps in jest, and it hits a bit too close to home and it hurts. I fear I've done that to people in the past, and I sure wish, most the time, I could take it back.

Right, the song is by Toby Keith and it's title I Just Wanna Talk About Me. The theme of the song is from a guys perspective and its all about the chatter we women put on and how it'd be nice if once in a while we talked about them. Seems innocent enough. And yet, in a car ride with Crazy X BF this song came on. He turned to me and said, "I feel that exact same way."

It wasn't said in anger and it wasn't said in a way that was to be hurtful, but it hurt. I noodled on it for days/weeks/months and apparently years. I liked to think I was a 50/50 way talker. He wasn't a talker mostly, so that left a lot of room for me to chatter. And yet, his seemingly innocent comment has bugged me for years. Even today, when the song came on I wondered if I was that bad.

At which point I turned to Beau and said, "I don't think so." And was secretly happy he was a dog and couldn't talk back.

In my mind and in my car, we can't rewind we've gone to far Oh-a-aho oh, Oh-a-aho oh Video killed the radio star.

What a glorious Friday! There aren't enough of them to go around I don't think. Next Friday is likely to be as glorious too cuz, I got the day off. Uh huh, that's right. It's a meeting free day and I'm taking full advantage of it. I did offer to "check" my email and I was told by the PMGodess in no uncertain terms was I to check any sort of email...and if she catches me she's going to fly over here and (and I quote) "sort me out". That sounds like no fun, so I'll pass on that action.

I barely stepped into the office today (4.5 hours of work is barely these days) and I might add only had to reboot 3 times ...all time record I think. Don't be jealous! Then it was time to make like a tree and salir** and head on into Seattle to watch my favorite band play free in the park.
**Side note: in case you don't speak Spanish. Salir means "to leave". I could never remember that stinkin verb in Spanish class, until one day one of my brilliant teachers said, "Make like a tree and salir". To this day I can remember that verb. Just like "You should, you ought to, you owe it to yourself, to stay away from deber" all those things mean deber. Huh, it's official. I'm a freak.

Moving on...right...Dudley...


Did I mention it was sunny today? Yah, I got a little burnt sitting out there singing my heart out. Not too bad, but bad enough for it to be a bit itchy now.

Anyhow, Blueberry came down from work, PhotoGirl and the Yank wondered into Seattle too and the 4 of us enjoyed downtown Seattle during the day. And oh what a treat it was.

I'm sure downtown Seattle is no different from many downtown areas in that some areas tend to attract the crazies. Occidental Park is one of those places.

I got down there a bit before they started and managed to find a nice little seat in the sun. Blueberry showed up shortly after and was promptly asked to dance by some random crazy, we'll call him DancingKing. Bless his heart though, he asked any and every woman (except me...so something must be wrong with me - that's not an invite to harass...you know who you are...) and only a few told him no, Blueberry being one of them. He came back for more though and asked 3 more times. And three times he was rejected by Blue. Finally made the mistake of standing up to leave. In the process she must have jiggled her hips a bit, because DancingKing was hot on her tail (oh...heheh...didn't mean it that way). She politely told him no thanks and continued about her way. He just stood there a bit dejected and said, "oh well I guess we'll just dance here then." And began to shake his money maker "dancing" with Blue. I, being the good friend that I am, didn't interrupt at all and just let them be. Only later did I find out by the stern look of "you could have saved me" from Blue did I understand what a "BFF" was supposed to do...save her from the crazies. But secretly it was WAY more fun to watch her suffer.

Along with our DancingKing, we had a DancingQueen, she was, well, different. She shook her groove thing, but I gotta tell ya, she was shaking it to a different drummer.

And then there was Blueberry's boyfriend, Mr. Colorful. I spotted him and immediately pointed him out to Blueberry announcing that her boyfriend had arrived and oh look, he's wearing that skirt you gave him. (Note: it was in fact a skirt and could not be confused with a kilt.) Anyhow, he too had his own drummer, but thankfully I got him on tape with my fave band doing one of my fave songs - only problem is it's a gynormous file and I can't upload it... so sorry...I'll share a photo instead of Blueberry's BF.

I Think I Found the Perfect Man for me...

I know, you wouldn't think it was possible, and yet, I believe I met him.

Today I took the UK Bloke on the Seattle Duck Tour. Amusing to say the least. It's odd to see the sites of your own town. There were a couple of times I wanted to call bullshit on their "history" but figured I'd keep my mouth closed for once.

Our tour guide, however, is the male version of me. How so? Well...

1. He played really bad music on our tour
2. He sang and danced to said bad music
3. He had bad hair (okay it was a Seahawk wig, but still)
4. He had multiple hats that he used to display his oddness (see 3Day stories)

Anyhow, the part that got me giggling was watching him play a bunch of 80's songs, singing loud and off key, and dancing in his seat as he drove us through Seattle. It's me, with a Y chromosome and drive a Duck!

(HikerGirl, UK Bloke, me, My Perfect Man, Blueberry)

It was the perfect Seattle day for a Duck tour, rainy and a bit chilly. Yesterday it was 80+, today 65 ish. But all in all we had fun and got to check one more thing off my list of 40 things to do in my 40th year!

Actually, last night also lent to adding one more thing I've never done before to my list. I took the UK Bloke to a piano dueling bar downtown. Whenever going someplace new you never really know what you're going to get, and last night we had a little of everything from really bad food, to a really bad comedian to pretty darn good piano dueling. Did I mention the food was really bad? Yah, gross in fact. But in the end, we had a blast. We got to sing off key to a lot of really bad songs, enjoy some excellent piano playing (and by "excellent" I mean someone playing piano and talking/singing at the same time...amazing to me). The layout of the "dueling pianos" isn't exactly what I thought - essentially the crowd make requests of songs. It can be anything. The piano players take the request, and play it. Doesn't sound too complicated until you realize that they're getting requests like songs from Snoop Dog and songs from Neil Diamond. Crazy. Oh, did I mention songs by Neil Diamond....



Those great voices you hear in the background would be PhotoGirl, myself and UK Bloke...yah we're rock stars.

Whoosh!

You hear that? Its my life passing me by. I am increasingly amazed at how quickly time flies, especially when one doesn't have enough time in one's day. It seems unfair to me. In the prime of my life when I should be enjoying things, time isn't allowing me to even stop and smell the roses.

So don't feel neglected. It's not you, it's me.

Yesterday my stress level came to a head. Aside from working 12 hour days almost consistently for the last 2 weeks, watching the Poodles, having to drive to Lynnwood every other night to watch Blueberry's demon cats, AND trying to keep some semblance of sanity...I lost it. Everything just seemed to be one thing too much yesterday. But alas, a glass of wine and a bowl of ice cream later I felt a bit better.

I'd love to tell you something exciting that's been happening, but well, there isn't. I could tell you about the several items in my Inbox that are going unanswered because I'm in meetings all day and can't even get to those items. But that's boring.

On a much brighter note, I hope, one of the UK Blokes is in town and needs a tour guide this weekend. So I've been tasked with finding something musically inclined to do on Saturday night AND then on Sunday we're riding the Ducks. Yah, I can't believe it either. But it is one of the things on my list to do, AND it'll count as one of my 40 new things this year. So there.

Old Glory Day

A day off. Finally. Sorta. I did do a bit of work this morning, but only a little. I'm getting very tired of the 10+ hour days, but I keep telling myself it's temporary and that in the end I'll be rewarded with a job well done and God willing more $$.

Today I wanted to sleep in but seeing as I'm watching the Oodles of Poodles they wanted to go out at/about 7am. They're like children. They pester you until you give in. So I got up, started the coffee, fed the cat who's nose is slight out of joint, and took the boys for a quick walk.

On the one hand, I'm walking again, though not overly far. On the other hand I really could have used another hour or so of sleep. But whatever.

Before the day got too hot, the Poodles and I went to the Doggy Park. I opted to go to the smaller of the one in our area since the bigger one tends to get bombarded with people on sunny, hot, holiday type days. And it stinks a lot. A lot! So the boys and I hung out for about 30 minutes in a small doggy park and made a few new friends by sniffing butts. The dogs, not me!

Afterwards, we came home and crashed. It got hot fast outside and the fur covered types don't do too well. Though they should they live in Arizona 9 months out of the year. Still, they were tired. They slept and I scrapbooked. I finished up the pages I did last week at the Scrap for the Cure, organized the desk a bit and spilt my diet coke. All in all a very successful day.

Tonight I BBQ'd a flat iron steak in a marinade. As it was on the grill I noticed a small fire on the underlining catcher. The place all the grease and crumbs collect. Well, Dad was here last week and grilled ribs. Love dad's ribs, but mad he can sure make a mess. So I tore about the grill and scrubbed it down. RunningMan would be so proud since he was the former owner of said grill.

So, the grills cleaned. Dogs fed. Cat fed. Dogs pooped/pee'd. Dinner done. Dessert (fresh berries) done. It's time to get back to scrapping a bit. I have the fan blowing with a gale force wind upstairs here as it's quite toasty.

Tomorrow VolleyballMan and the Dane are coming to dinner. We'll just be hanging out here doing nothing overly exciting other than trying to stay cool. Making Saudi Coolers for a treat tomorrow night. I haven't made them in forever and they sound so refreshing and so perfect for the 4th. (Saudi Coolers = Apple juice, orange juice, grenadine, rum or vodka - yum!)


Be safe!

It's astounding, time is fleeting, Madness takes its toll

Oh yah, Hi. Remember me? I write a blog here. Though you wouldn't know it. Yah, that stale bread smell you're getting right now...that's LAST week's blog.

I feel obligated to apologize, but then think, "Why?" So I'm busy. You'll have to deal with it while I struggle to find my happy place again. Some day. I will find that happy place.

Work is insane. The "crazy" side of me actually likes that it's insane. The "other" side misses the boring side of the house that lived with me for a couple of months. I knew when things were slow, that one day in the near future I would miss those slow days. And I do.

It's been an interesting couple of weeks for me. I've had several highs and lows emotionally with regards to work. I've had days where I've questioned how on earth they could have chosen me to work this program. I was able to almost convince myself that the reason I was "chosen" was because PMDude was on vacation that day. They're first choice was out of office, so they "settled" for me. Those were low days for me.

I've also had days of extreme confidence. Where I could walk into any situation and I knew, I just knew, I was a winner. That I was chosen for this role for a reason. They saw my potential and were giving me a chance to shine.

The reality is somewhere in the middle. Each day the confidence in my ability grows and I become more and more familiar with the requirements of this program. I'm challenging people who I normally wouldn't challenge and I'm okay with making decisions and directing the program a certain way.

I still do and will have to rely on the Dream Team. The experience that lives in this team I can't ignore. I've accepted that I'll make mistakes. It's a given. I wouldn't be able to grow if mistakes weren't a part of it. I've also accepted that I will have successes. Granted I'm hoping for more successes, and they'll be there. Overall though, at the end of the day, I can't wait to hear this team we're working with say, "We can't believe we survived this long without you." That, my dear friends, would be music to my ears.

What I am finding difficult to deal with is the office politics. I've never been good at politics. I think they're a waste of time and energy. I've never understood why there are individuals who have to posture and position themselves at the expense of the team or the company. Yet its becoming painfully clear that I not only have to welcome the politics, I may have to play a bit in their sand box. Thank god sand brushes off relatively easy.

In other non work related news, the parental units are here before they take a jet to Alaska. Its been nice having them around. It's been painful and frustrating to see Dad's - dare I say - progression with Alzheimer's. I just don't know how mom does it. I spend a couple of hours with him and I'm frustrated. I find I have to constantly remind myself that it's not him. It's not him. It's the disease. But man, it is hard to separate the two. Every time I see him I have a lot more understanding and compassion toward not only the MomUnit and what she deals with, but with any person who has to deal with taking care of a spouse.

And then I had a sad thought, "Who's gonna take care of me when I lose my mind?" The momentary realization that maybe no one, scared the insanity right out of me. How lonely it will be...how I sooo don't want to do that.

But I'll have to deal with that later. Right now I've got to turn back the hands of time and start to answer the 206 emails sitting in my inbox.

It's just a jump to the left, and then a step to the right....Let's do the time warp again

I can hardly believe that 1) it's June 24 and 2) It's Wednesday. I swear I blinked and 6 months went by and 3 days this week...gone!

I suppose the new work on my plate has caused time to fly. Every noticed when you're slammed that time just jets by without even leaving a calling card. I start the day at the same time I always do, 6:30 am - ish and before I know it I'm ready to go home. I can push away from my desk and feel like I've worked all day, but I can't really put a finger on what I'm doing.

Good news though, I am starting to dream about my job. That is my signal that I'm starting to get it. I'm starting to find a subconscious way to place the flood of information that's in my grey matter. I know when I hit this stage that it's just a matter of time before a sudden click will take place and everything will make some sort of sense. It's like when you put that last piece of the puzzle in and you sit back and admire the picture. I'm almost there.

Still stressed about being able to do this job successfully. It's a perfect opportunity to soar like an eagle, or I can crash and burn. But dammit I'm not going down that self pity path anymore. I can only do my best and see what happens. I sorta feel like I need to create my own serenity prayer that includes a line about "I accept I'm going to fail. And I accept that it's okay to fail." I can only learn from my failures. And I can almost guarantee there will be some blood baths.

But never fear, I'm getting there. I'm starting to feel way more confident about this job and way more sure of what I can and do bring to the table. At least that's how I feel now after a glass of wine.

The Hot Barbecue Man

I'm not quite sure what to say for Father's Day this year. It's rare, I know, that I would be at a loss of words, but I worry that anything I say won't do my Dad justice. I don't think I'm alone in this either. If you've been fortunate to be that kind of Daddy's Girl, you know what I mean. It's hard to describe a man who molded your life.

Dad was born in 1934 in a very small town in Eastern Washington. Things were tough back then, and yet the family survived. Dad graduated from high school (a graduating class of 4 I might add - or maybe it was 6 - but either way it was small). Then he set out to see the world.

I realize as I write this that I don't know what my Dad's dreams were back then. Did he dream of traveling? Did he think he'd have to stay in Irby and work the farm? Did he want to marry? Have kids? Did he accomplish any of his dreams? Has he regretted anything? What's his most memorable moments in his life? I need to ask these questions.

Dad's doing better these days, and for that I'm very grateful. We've had a few scares and I'm sure there are more to come. He's at that age now where a trip to the hospital is almost the rule instead of the exception. I hate this. My parents were supposed to live forever. They ....nevermind...I' can't write this line of thinking.

So today I just wanted to say Thank you Daddy. Some of my most memorable days are with you. I will forever cherish our little Father-Daughter outings we've had every year and can't wait to go again. I am proud to say so many of my character traits were instilled in me by watching you. By watching you be a man with integrity, love and compassion. So thank you. But let me not forget the most important thing you taught me...

Oh yah, BBQ'ing. I wouldn't be the self titled Master now if I hadn't grown up in a household in which you would have BBQ'd spaghetti if you could have found a way. Though for dinner tonight I won't be BBQ'ing. No instead one other meal comes to mind when I think of my dad...Pot Roast. So tonight, Dad, Dinner's on me. (which means if you know me at all it may literally be on me.)

And as I close this and wish you a happy Father's Day I'm reminded of a quote on a mug I once bought you, "Any man can be a Father, but it takes someone special to be a Daddy." XOXO

Life=Risk

I laugh how things come into your life at the most opportune moments. Receiving this video today from a random friend, priceless.

" I feel good; I feel great; I feel wonderful ... I feel GOOD; I feel GREAT; I feel WONDERFUL!"

I'm sitting here tonight watching the sun dip into the horizon. It's casting a beautiful pink hew across the sky. Suddenly I feel extraordinarily content. Relaxed even. Could a sun set really make one feel so content? Or...could it be the wine?

ahem

Big stuff happening all around me. And I mean BIG!

A couple of weeks ago I may have mentioned an large amount of stress brewing. I was asked to interview with Hotel CaliforniaSoft as a Program Manager. We were bidding on an enormous piece of work, and I'd be the Program Manager is we won it. Let me make one thing clear here...I am a Project Manager! I've never managed a Program of this size ... ever. We're talking millions of dollars over the next several years.

I was stressed to the max. I had an overwhelming feeling of doom should the interview not go so well.

As it turned out they loved me. Who knew I could be so charming? My interview, coupled with our excellent other team members work, won us this HUGE deal...which I now affectionately call it the Big Ass Deal (BAD). I'm now officially the Program Manager for a large chunk of change and the stress I thought I felt for the interview was nothing by comparison to what I feel now. Overwhelmed is a understatement.

Logically, I know I'm not alone in this. I have a fantastic team made up of some very talented and smart peeps. They are way smarter than me and have a ton more experience. I plan on tapping into that experience as much as possible.

Logically, I know I will most likely be fine. I'm a fighter. I'm think back to 4 years ago working at the Cat Shack in which I was deemed to "never be a PM" by them. All those old, lingering, thoughts of self doubt come trudging back with a vengeance. But still, I know that most likely I'll do fine.

Logically, I know I can do this. I know that I have the brain power and the stamina I'll need to get this massive BAD off the ground. It'll be ugly at times, and most likely blood will be shed. But I keep telling myself that the opportunity to shine is huge. I can be seen as a humongous success...and yet...I can also be seen as a huge failure with dire consequences.

Still, I have doubts.

I know there are two things I must do immediately in order to keep myself confident.

1. I must stop saying outloud to others that I'll suck at this. I most certainly don't want anyone to see the fear I have of complete and utter failure. I most certainly don't want to taint the views of those in powerful positions and have them start to question their decision to give me this program (which probably only really came to me because I'm a US based PM ... ).

2. I must start saying I'm a winner. I can and will make this Program the best and most successful program ever. I have to remind myself that while there will be battles that I will win and lose, I will not lose the war.

Right, it sounds so easy in writing.

I have had moments of pure panic that washes over me. The enormity of this $9M hits me hard at times and I shudder and want to crawl into my bed and never come out. But, as it turns out I found the cure for panic attacks. Ice cream. Who knew?

I guess what I'm trying to say is I'm scared. I also think I most likely wouldn't be human if I wasn't. The responsibility lingering above me scares the poo right out of me. But the thought of being a complete success and having one thing to really sink my teeth into makes me feel all giggly and geeky inside.

On a more fun note. Say hello to Baby Newlywed/Stalemates. Jack came to us last Monday at a whoppin 9lbs 11oz and 20 inches long. I've not officially met Jack yet as the "Rents" are hording them all to themselves and trying desperately to get a grip on having a newborn...but I'm sure very soon I'll be seeing this little devil. So to the Newlyweds I say, congrats. He's a lovely boy!

What happened to Honey?

I'm constantly amused at how a seemingly normal conversation can turn into a a walk down memory lane.

Remember way back when, when we had cassette tapes. Well, all the rage was to make mixed tapes. At least in my little neck of the woods. Blueberry and I would make several mixed tapes a year. I, being the ever so efficient one, would hate to leave blank space at the end of a tape. I never could get the recording just right so a song ended when the tape ended. So 90% of my tapes had a song cut off in the end. Which normally wasn't such a big deal.

Then came Honey. Not an overly thrilling song, and a little bit dippy. But Blueberry and I loved this song.

I put Honey on the end of a mixed tape at some point, and it cut out right before you find out in the song that Honey dies. So Blueberry and I used to joke and say, "I wonder what happens to Honey?" Which of course telling that story today to Mrs. Geek (I have no idea how we got on the topic, but we did), made me think about sharing the story. Don't you feel blessed?

My favorite part of this song are the lyrics, "She was always young at heart, Kinda dumb and kinda smart"...what? Kinda dumb?



Our conversation rambled from Honey to other dumb songs that Blueberry and I used to make fun of...and Teen Angel was one of them. I remember listening to it's lyrics and thinking, "this is the dumbest song ever". I get the drama of the time and I get how innocent and pure the music was thing, but really, "I'll never kiss your lips again, they buried you today." What kind of lyrics are those? They just make me laugh.

After the Honey conversation, Mrs. Geek and I had to start searching YouTube for other bad music that plagued the 70's. And I ran across this.



OMG....I was sooo a Shawn Cassidy fan. I had a satin jacket with his head air brushed on the back - actually it may not have been air brushed because this was WAY before air brushing was a big thing. Anyhow, I have a vague recollection of getting the jacket for a birthday and then promptly growing out of it...but I loved that jacket and Shawn Cassidy. Watching the video today my first thought was, "I bet he was gay."

And of course Shawn Cassidy led to Andy Gibb and Andy Gibb led to the Solid Gold and the Solid Gold Dancers...and then it just went way down hill from there.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go find out what happened to Honey.

A Grill by Any Other Name...

So HikerGirl and MarathonMan are moving. I know, sniff sniff. They will both be missed - a lot. But Montana skies are calling and they just can't help themselves. That, and a job offer.

In the decision of what goes and what stays there lived a Grill. It was a beautiful Grill. Only a year old or so. Only used a couple dozen times. It was a lonely Grill in need of some adventure and some serious Grilling. MarathonMan felt somewhat bad for the Grill. He knew that his Montana Grill and his Kirkland Grill wouldn't get a long, and really who needs two Grills? So what to do?

When suddenly a brilliant, bright light bulb lit above MarathonMans noggin'. "Why, I'll give it to the Grill Goddess," he thought. Running the idea past HikerGirl and it was decided that the Grill Goddess (who didn't even know there was a grilling "season". What's that all about?).

The phone call was made. The lonely Grill would no longer be lonely, but instead live with the Grill Goddess and the two would live happily ever after.

And look! A Big Black Beast of Burden has graced the Grill with His presence and has confirmed the Grill is good. In fact I believe he said, "you can now cook me fish or chicken on it?" And we did. The Grill Goddess allowed MarathonMan one last horrah with his Grill. He was sad, though I don't think we saw a tear in his eye.

I am NOT a boy!

So the Stang went in today to gets its innards cleaned out (aka oil change). Last time the Stang was in for innards cleaning was in December 2008. I hadn't reached the mileage goal they put on that very unattractive sticker on your windshield until this weekend. In case you're not mathy...that's SIX MONTHS....without going 5,000 miles. WHOA!

I drove to my dealership for the cleaning since I really like the service manager there. He so doesn't treat me like a woman. You know the type. They talk to you as if they would rather be talking to your husband. Or worse they sound all patronizing when they explain car stuff to you. Ugh. Anyhow, Mr. Service, as I'll call him, has a memory of an elephant. I've not been in there since December and he remembered I was moving. Who does that? (And yes mom and Her Royal Geekness, I checked and he had a ring on.) Anyhow, Mr. Service jogged out to greet me at my car when I pulled in behind him. Right behind him was his "assistant" I'll call Bubba. Because "Bubba" puts an idea immediately in your brain, most likely, of someone who's not quite playing with a full deck. Bubba has a very glossy look on his face that reminds me of a deer in headlights. Mr. Service has assured me before that Bubba is a gifted mechanic. Right!

I handed over my keys and asked Mr. Service to check the exhaust because it's been rattling when I shift after over accelerating from 1st gear to 2nd...not that I do that too often. Uh huh. And so off I went to sit and wait. Not 2 minutes later Mr. Service comes out to say he has the car up on the wrack and would I like to see underneath my car.

Now, I must have had some kind of goofy, giggly, excited look on my face - and I know I wasn't jumping up and down like a school kid who's getting ice cream for dinner - because Mr. Service said, "You're such a boy." Am not!

Just because a girl gets excited about seeing underneath her car does not a boy make. I'm just sayin'.

So Mr. Service escorted me out to my car. Bubba standing underneath it looking non to bright. The two of them began to show me the brakes, the struts, the exhaust system and how it worked, the suspension, etc. I was in heaven. I can't, of course, tell you anything they said because, well, frankly I really don't care. But I did care to see underneath my car...you never get to see under there.

The Pony is all good to go now. I swear it drives better after the innards get cleaned out and the car washed. It's like a brand new car. Which, BTW, I did wonder over to the lot and drooled on a 2010 the same color as mine - oh and I think I left some drool on the yellow one too. I actually sorta felt like I was "marking" my territory with all my drool.

$1.5M Dollars toward ending breast cancer forever

Today was the Seattle Race for the Cure. Thousands of men, women, children, dogs, and all types showed up to support the local affiliate of Susan G. Komen. It, as it always is, is an incredible experience. So many people sharing the love.

I didn't walk this year. Instead I was photographing the volunteers doing what volunteers do best.... Blueberry and her team walked this year - and sadly they were walking for their friend Rebecca who is no longer with us. - A moment of silence please - *sigh*. I took a couple of shots in the Survivor Breakfast of Blueberry's team the Dancing Dahlias, and I gotta say, I had to choke back a tear without Rebecca being in the mix.

So for several months now, Blueberry has been on the campaign to get a photo of her with Edgar Martinez - form Seattle Designated Hitter and a well loved sports legend in the Northwest. Well today was her day...as was mine. Though she beat me to getting a photo first, she deserves it considering how much she loves this guy. But that doesn't mean I didn't get my chance. The beautiful woman in the photo with pink hair - yes I felt I had to point out which beautiful woman - is Holly, his wife.

All in all it was a good morning. I got some pretty good shots, I think of most the volunteers and a few other photography things. I do think something is seriously wrong with my camera though. I had a great shot set up with a mom and her daughter in a very emotional hug...and my camera stalled.

Oh and Ford is a sponsor of the RFTC and you'll never guess what they had within grasp of my greedy little fingers....a 2010 Mustang. Ford does this Warrior in Pink thing in which they donate $$ for each test drive of the 2010 Mustang. Last year they had an actual Breast Cancer decked out Mustang - which they're not doing this year. But never fear, I did get my photo with the Stang...wiped off my drool after too. And yes, I did try to open the door and see if I could sit in it...but someone was WAY smarter and had it locked up tight.

If you want to see all the other photos I took, I've posted them here.

I closed my eyes, the moment that I surrendered to you.

I have just one word to describe the il Divo concert last night. And it's not the words one would normally think ... adjectives like Fantastic. Or Awesome. Or Glorious. No, the word that comes to mind is a simple 5 letter word....

drool

That's it. Any woman with an ounce of XX chromosomes knows what I say when I say "drool". Its that momentary feeling you get when you see a hot lad and you have to literally check the corners of your mouth to make sure you aren't, in fact, drooling. I took extra napkins with me to the concert just in case.

But my goodness. In fact, PM Goddess said it best when Carlos started singing a song, she said, "it's like dark chocolate." And again any XX reader knows how glorious and luxurious dark chocolate is.

I've been awed in my life by several sites. The site of the Roman Colosseum standing strong after hundred of years. The site of thousands of women and men walking to fight breast cancer. Both rivaled by the il Divo concert.

Now I get some people may not understand the pull, but I gotta tell you, when a foursome's crescendo reaches it's peak, with all 4 voices smooth as glass hits you and pushes you back in your seat...well, it was almost enough to make me find religion.

So in case you didn't get the point yet, they were, quite frankly, one of the best concerts I've seen in my entire life. And yes, even better than Duran Duran and DMQ. I know, right? That's telling you something right there.

Only one song got me a bit teary eyed, okay three, but one where I had to really choke back the tears. Amazing Grace. That song just does me in no matter. I think I want that sang, by il Divo preferable, at my memorial. After said singing, DMQ can come out and y'all can have one bit 80's party on me.

So the other songs they sang that buckled my knees was the Impossible Dream and Mama. They've never actually recorded Impossible Dream, but by the standing ovation they got I suspect they may. Of course, the standing ovation could have been because it was their last song and no one in the audience really wanted it to end.

Even now listening to the crisp tenor and deep baritone singing A Mi Manera (My way), it just gives me chills. (God knows the chills aren't caused by the weather...no it's 92 out right now...ick).


Carlos (said baritone) could still be my husband. He only need to ask. And when he's done talking he is to never talk again. Only sing and look pretty. I see nothing wrong with this engagement. I may have to teach him the "proper" way to speak Spanish. Being that he's Spanish (as in Spain Spanish) he tends to lisp words like caricia (Spanish pronunciation: CAR-E-THEE-A). Ick. (That's the Spaniard in the photo below on the big screen)

Oh hold please, Amazing Grace is on the iTunes. A moment of silence please.

Okay, where was I? Oh yes, I was slobbering over the Spaniard.

Right, so if you get a chance, I highly recommend this group. They are well worth the $. And thankfully the seats we had were, while "cheap seats", fantastic in this particular arena. Granted I would have liked to sit in the $128 seats that were surrounded by the stage, but alas, I need my rich il Divo-ito for something like that.

Oh and the title of the blog comes from a song called "Every time I look at you." and well it made my heart do a little flippy flop because I was certain they were singing to me, section 205 row 7 seat 8.

So with that I leave you with this last thought before I go and get a napkin to clean up the puddle of drool I've left on the keyboard. Life as I know it changed drastically yesterday. I can't really go into it right now, but soon. It's nothing serious. Only goodness (well realistically some pain) can come from it. To quote The Impossible Dream:

This is my quest,
To follow that star --
No matter how hopeless,
No matter how far.

I think I may make this my new Theme song!

Hello my kittens...hope you all had a fantastic weekend. It couldn't have been a nicer weekend in the Pacific NW. Sunshine galore and it allowed for some fun times to be had by all.

Friday found me at home doing my thing. Nothing overly exciting.

Saturday found me at the Rat City Roller derby again. Two bouts, the last being the seasons finals between Socket Wenches and the Derby Liberation Front (DLF). DLF walked away with the title again. BigBro, Wifeypoo, and I enjoyed ourselves tremendously. It's like a People Watcher's Mecca. All types were there. Oh and Chris Ballew from The President's of the United States sang the National Anthem and then did the half time show. He and his family sat right by us and they looked quite normal.

Sunday I was up and out to the beach to shoot a 5K walk / run at Alki. PhotoGirl was organizing this and asked if I'd help out shooting at the turn around. BigBro and I did just that. Wow...it's like drinking from a fire hose when the pack of runners hit us. It was basically just holding down the shutter to get as many photos as we could. It was so sunny so we didn't care. My arm hurt like the dickens though for holding the camera up for so long.

But the big news on Sunday was I walked two miles with no pain. Yes, you read that correctly. I walked a whoppin' two miles (which is really just a joke) but the no pain part is the big deal. AND my feet didn't hurt after - besides just being tired. yay me.

I had intended on heading into Seattle to take pictures of the SGK Fashion show. The Stang had other plans. The stang threw a shoe on the route. Flat tire...blah! After first emptying the contents of my trunk and cursing myself for not cleaning out the trunk, and 45 minutes of doing my darn-d-est to get the lug nuts off, I relented and called Ford Roadside Assistance. 2 hours later I was home. By then I missed the fashion show and was a bit bummed that I had.

Tomorrow...oh...tomorrow night will be the night of all nights for some time. Me and two UK Bloke - ettes are going to see iL Divo. Oh gosh, I drool just typing their name. Yes please, I'll have one of each. And if you haven't seen their video of Amazing Grace...see it now. I get the goosebumps anytime I hear this song anyhow. And God forbid it's bag pipes playing it...I'm a slobbering mess...but these guys...they do it justice.

I am also working on a plan to spend the rest of my life with the Spaniard, Carlos, of the group. He's the one who sings after the bag pipes...and he's just yummy to me...and considering my love affair with Spaniards and how far back it goes...Although Urs from Switzerland will be hard to pass up... Oh and David from the US...all 35 years of him could make the rest of my life a living bliss...and who can then forget Sebastian...he is, after all, French. And French guys...Ooo lala! I just can't decide. Maybe I can have one for each quarter of the year. That seems reasonable to me. And when they aren't with me, they can be with Lead Bloke-ette, the PM Godess.

Oh and just for you Mom - if you're reading this...we upgraded our tickets to have Dinner in the VIP lounge...you think we'll get a visit with these guys? Oh I hope! I hope! I hope!