Birthday Round Up

I had a particularly great birthday week.

It Started with a First Friday where I met some local business people, made connections and networked like an adult.

I spent the weekend in Kearney, Nebraska going junking, and helping my aunt with a little bit of xmas decorating.

The week rolled out Birthday shopping with my mother, where I scored some fab MAC lipstick [Rebel- a purplish berry color that seems a bit like the bad ass version of the color Scully wore a lot.] and a scooter ornament. A trip to the zoo and frozen yogurt with my husband, a 6 coarse dinner party and ended with Dim sum at Star Kitchen on Sunday.
It was quite fabulous.


I am working away on projects and carving out some time this weekend to do some xmas decorating of my own.

world pop

Yesterday- Halloween 2011, the world population officially reached 7 billion people.

First Fire of 2011

the long week

general update:
M & M have been in town this week and thus we have been doing family activities out the wazoo.
Monday: Dinner at the Birkshire.
Tuesday: Pirate exhibit at the History museum, followed by Mario Cart, Dinner, and it was our turn to host D&D. This is a pretty fun exhibet, i want to know how much the coins on display are actually worth.
Wednesday: st.patricks themed dinner on ash wednesday at the UU Church and then bowling. Bowling was quiet fun and silly.
Thursday: girls pedi & mani date and dinner, boys poker and beer or something manly.
Friday: birthday party/ rock band
Saturday: baby shower, KT, birthday party. One of my friends from Kindergarten is due in April. Cant wait to see her. she going to be a great mom.

OMG. so much stuff. we cant even keep the days strait.


In other news, I'm headed to the audiologist to have her re test my hearing and look at my old HAs, gonna give em another shot if we can get them working. I cant hear the one turn on at all, and the other turns on, but doesn't seem to do anything. Of course I would like to have the new and improved ones, but I need to get retrained on my old ones and see if i can keep it up long enough for new ones to matter.

I have the yard mostly cleaned up. We need to have a big fire soon to get rid of the xmas tree and wood in my garden.
Were going to try trellises this year, see if it keeps things better organized and pick-able.
I am starting seeds indoors as well. Maybe our garden will look better sooner this yr if the plants have a head start.

cabin

We had a lovely trip.
the aspens are starting to change in the high country, the nights are cool and the days are sunny and breezy.

I believe we have started a new tradition. Campfire Curry. No one is skilled enough to actually cook it over the fire, but it was a perfect, round the fire dinner.

Apparently it is also hunting season, as shots were heard while hiking.

i don't have any really great stories, but we had a good time, the weather was beautiful and that is all i can ask for.

and new begins

Thursday i was fired. i suppose i could say laid-off, but since it was just me and fir job performance, fired seems more correct.
to be fair i have been waiting to be fired for 2 years, and have been unhappy at my job for 4.
i am sure i wasn't doing a good job, because i felt that i was told a number of completely contradicting terms, with out explanation of what they really wanted. and they felt that i should just "know." there was a section of the "process" that i really didnt know, because my former boss did her best to have her assistants do all of the work, but not have quite enough information to be successful if they ever got out from under her. to the prase "just do it like Susie does." is really not helpful, since i was never involved. then there was the woman i worked with in another department, who would tell me everything was good and fine and then complain to the department head that i was doing things wrong. well, yes, because i didn't know that you wanted it done differently than the other 4 people in the department i have previously worked with, since you didn't mention it to me. i have to say, i am happy they fired me instead of moving me back down. i would have quit.
so now i am free... and out of health insurance at the end of July. i am hoping to find something, even if its not a career move, that has health insurance, and we will see what we can do.

CAMPING 2010

Camping was successful. we managed to only have adventures that we wanted to have.

i only took 1 picture. mainly i decided that the multitude of photos i took last year were good enough.
we ended up with 8 people the first night and 6 the second.
the campground was packed, but we were able to get a section on the far end, that worked out rather nicely.
Tim went on a 16 mile hike with our 2 friends in the army to find a waterfall. Boog was also sick so he and i did a more leisurely 3 mile version on the hike.
the weather was beautiful and the company grand.

cant wait for our next trip.

a weekend not full of bad movies

we only watched 2 movies this weekend. and only one of them fell into the "bad" category.

Friday:
kokoro
shopping
Iron Man 2 w/ Wolvie [who was sad and without power at home.]
- the movie was enjoyable, but since i don't remember a thing about the previous one, I'm not really comparing.

Saturday:
6:30 am, depart for Ft. Fun
8am graduation at Moby
11am Lunch at Chili's
1pm Graduation party [different friend]
3pm head for home
4pm nap
4:30 head for babysitting and birthday dinner
5:02 toes licked by dog
6pm consume cake that resembled a bleeding cat head
7pm Movie time.
- we watched Sherlock "low budget,not to be confused w/ the blockbuster hit" Holmes. that featured a dinosaur and a dragon. this fine piec of film making was brought to us by the same people who did Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus."
11pm. bed.

Sunday:
sleep.
plant shopping
running errands
gardening
sunburn
more gardening
dinner
bonfire.

weekend complete.

weekend report

Friday:
we decided to give our latest technological advancement a more through testing. For his birthday, Tim received a package surround sound/receiver/blue ray player. Being that friday was gloriously gloomy, it twas the perfect night for movies. the receiver also has an internet connection, so we can stream movies direct from blockbuster or netflix.
What we learned:
netflix is cheaper.
Not all movies can be downloaded.
movies downloaded do not currently have captioning available- but they are working on that.
the reason for our nice TV set up is because going to the movies is no longer enjoyable. i love to go, but the experience is always bad- for both of us. so now we get movies from the library, and it looks like the $9.99 netflix will be added to our entertainment budget.

Saturday:
Most of our day was spent with Katie. after a very long while spent in the Target photo album section, we had not quite free Chipotle, took a nap and did puzzles.
then we headed to a birthday party that was quite wonderfully designed around games and a taco bar. [boccie, apples to apples, hink pink and blockus [sp?]]

Sunday:
Despite quite a few drinks on saturday night, i felt remarkably well. cleaned house [damn shedding cats], went to Lowes, Tim re-arranged and wired up the surround sound, so that the cats will be less likely to eat the wires, i went to a roller derby scrimmage, got the record player up and working [yea!!!!!!!!1111111omgOne].

pretty good weekend, all in all.
this week starts off good with Tim back on his previous work schedule of 7 - 4, which means: more walks, more writing time, easier dinner coordinating and so forth.

peeps

tonight is the Peep roasting party.

i showed Tim a picture of BBQ-ed peeps.
Tim told some people about the idea.
people started hounding us to host a peep party.

tonight. 7pm. our place.
12 boxes of peeps
20 people
and 4 Christmas trees to burn.

hope the cops don't come.

crazy weekend

Went kind of like this: bought movies at a closing Blockbuster, dinner- only 1 glass of wine, did some house work, bought a fancy new hair dryer, got stuff to fix the chair, helped with a move, watched Katie, got new phones, went to an Absinthe party, cleaned, went to a movie watching party, got lost leaving Evergreen and then it was Monday.

Pretty excited about the new phones. i didnt get the one i have been lusting after, but I got one that i like, making a compromise of plan price. I think it will be fine. the new phones, in general, do so much more than my phone from 5 years ago. [that until last weekend worked perfect, but then the camera function stopped working.] Tim got a military grade phone that does cool science nerd stuff like, telling you the moon phase and what the temperature is right where you are standing. it's supposed to be indestructible- at least as far as phones go. So now we are on a Family Plan, together and i we can text more and i can access e-mail. WOOO.

The Absinthe party was fun, though i was a bit exhausted after the 3 hr phone buying ordeal. We went to a friends house- the same friend who turned us on to Absinthe originally- for a tasting and general merryment. Turnes out we brought the only bottle containing Wormwood, and quite a large dent was put in it.

Due to the Blockebuster near us closing, we are now the proud owners of Ninja Turtles II & III, Flight of the Concords Season 2, Milo and Otis and Notting Hill.

Yesterday we watched: Soylent Green, Akima [? or something like that] and Children of Men.

confused emotions

something i have had to work really hard at is leaving the job at the job. i'm not a workaholic, but i have a hard time leaving the emotional stress at work.
i have been feeling a lot better since i now, rarely deal with the boss that makes me crazy. but still there are things.

yesterday:
-found out several people had been let go over the last several weeks.
-found out the rest of design will be in NYC next week- the exact week i had requested to be there for the children's version of Magic. i found out from one of the assistants, who found out from another assistant, who only knows because her boss decided to tell her no one would be here next week. Oh and my brand is tied for 3rd highest selling out of 6. and i have the smallest line.
-found out my catalog went to print and i never saw it.
-found things re arranged on my office wall this morning, because apparently conversations were had after i left last night.
- continue to find out that changes were made to garments, only when i get a new approval- not when the changes are made, nor am i ever involved.
- oh and my hormones are all wacky with the new meds and I've been a bit of a bitch.

it goes on from there.
that part of me is annoyed.

on the flip side i am way excited about:
- being 4 for 4 on good experiences at Dr.s offices this month. more good experiences than i have ever had in my life combined.
i finally feel like i am moving forward with the efforts to solves my health issues.
-i bought new running shoes, and cant wait for them to get here.
- the figure skating costumes have been great.
- we have dinner reservations for The Mealting Pot Friday night.
- i lost a pound last week. not really significant. but it was nice to see the scale number go backwards 1.
- its spring! there will be warm weather and lots of snow!

this part of me is wildly excited.

i am confused. its stressful being really excited and really annoyed at the same time.

ValOlymCiNew

it was a good weekend!

First the 2010 winter Olympics kicked off in Vancouver, Canada.
We watched some of the opening ceremony- who knew Canada was known for punk tap dancing?

Second it was Valentines- and we had a lovely day of movie watching, wine and hot wings.
Ok, so every weekend is a pretty darn good weekend for us. and most things we do are romantic somehow. sometimes eating hot wings and a bottle of wine are all i want out of my day.

Third it is Chinese New Year [of the dragon]. I am hoping to make some fortune cookies this week- as i got a wonderful little fortune cookie DIY kit from our friends Robin and Charles, at Christmas.
i am dreaming of ma pow [sp?] tofu and hotpot and pot stickers.... mmmmm...

Spring and things

OMG OMG!! SPRING IS COMING!
Spring is my second favorite only to Fall.

I find spring to be terribly romantic. Everything is new and beautiful and green. I love watching new little plants push up out of the ground.
Its been 10 years since I was in London in the spring, and I desperately wish to go back and share my favorite city with Tim.
It's been 3 years since Tim and I went to Chengdu, China. Where I decided I was absolutely head over heals in love, and would have married him then and there on top of a mountain. Incidentally we have a forever lock on a chain along the path to the top of a Taoist mountain, with our initials engraved and the date.

Valentines Day is coming up. I have to say, I enjoy this holiday. For me it marks the start of spring. I also think of it a bit like Thanksgiving. I like to think of all the things and all the people I love and why.
I know almost everyone dislikes this holiday, saying "It's only for a select few" or "I don't need to be told to be romantic one day of the year."* Maybe not, but I think it is fun to have that day dedicated to Love. No one is saying you cant do romantic things the rest of the year.
Do most people expect too much out of Valentines Day? Yes probably. I know deep down that I don't need or want the diamond tennis bracelet, but good god in the days surrounding this holiday i sure as hell do.
Have fun, think of all the people and things you love and cherish and don't take it all so seriously.


* I know some girls who were talking about their Valentines plans over a month ago. When i commented that they seemed excited about it [they both have boyfriends this year], they replied in unison what a shitty holiday it was and so forth. Excuse me, I'm not the one that has plans, knows the days of the week, or what my work schedule for that weekend is before the New Year.

Lazy day.... kind of

Lazy day for me. busy day for Tim. When he started planning this LARP event, we thought it was happening last Saturday, but change of plans, and it is tonight, so we are no longer going to Derby Prom, he is full of adrinalin, and i dont have any plans.

Sitting at my desk this week feeling kind of terrible, i was thinking all the things i wanted to get done at home this weekend.
put away the Christmas boxes.
do some drawing
get new photos on the computer machine.

and i continue to not feel all that well. I've been in a bot of limbo, not feeling good, but not feel that bad either.
i don't really want to do anything. At all. but am still sad i do not have plans for tonight. [admittidly i have made no, zero, zip effort to have plans tonight.]

olympics 2010

As most of you know, the winter Olympics will be starting shortly. This years host is Vancouver, BC.
When we were in Seattle over Thanksgiving I started seeing merch. And it is amazing. I wanted all of it. I am SO impressed with the mascot design, along with the more serious, actual sports designs. I love the Olympics, and i can not wait!

whear the decade went

i admit, my spelling has not improved. but here is a run down of things that happened in the last 10 years.

2000: i got my drivers licensed 3 weeks before y2k. went to London. LOVED IT.
2001: met my now husband and had my first "real relationship"- not w/ my husband. totaled first car.
2002: graduated from high school, started college. watched that relationship fall apart.
2003: started dating a really good guy. hated college.
2004: hated college and roommate. went to classic toga party.
2005: put together 15 piece fashion show group in school.
2006: internship, and hiring at RMCC. graduated college. broke up with boyfriend. got a motorcycle licensed and Vespa GT2000. started dating again. [i really never intended to move between relationships as fast as i did.] Tim got Ozzy
2007: Went to china w/ BF and friend. got engaged. went to Spain w/ friend for a week. totaled second car. got married. went to NYC for new years eve. Took over care of Falkor
2008: bought a house. went to new york for a wedding. I got Kabuki and Prof. Cheeto
2009: started playing roller derby. Finally moved up at work to be Designer of the children's line. quit roller derby. Lost Ozzy. Went to Pittsburgh. went to Seattle. went to Las Vegas.

we entered 2010 w/ a party and a lazy day watching movies. Bring on the new year!

a pertty darn good month so far.

I've been in a bitchy mood lately. I'm blaming it on hormones.
But really it has been a pretty great month.

I went to my department holiday lunch at the Chop House.
We saw a bunch of family in Seattle over Thanksgiving.
I went to "birthday breakfast" with December birthdays at work.
We went to Vegas [for work] for my birthday [kind of].
We had a great dinner out at Olivea with my parents.
I got a new purse, a new camera, a light up lawn flamingo and a steam mop.
we went to Tim's company holiday party and play a few terrible rounds of pool and came home w/ some chocolate.
We washed our cats.
We bought a Christmas tree.
I had a great weekend at home with the Mr.
I had a department lunch w/ one of our main contractors.
I got 6 Omaha steaks from the same contractor- these will be Christmas Eve dinner for/with our parents.
I had my company holiday party- a catered lunch and raffle prize drawing.
We had dinner a couple different times w/ various friends- which included saying good bye to some friends moving to Taiwan.
In Theory i now have a record player.
i bought a giant red bow to go on a Christmas gift.
i am excited to have some fun Christmas surprises up my sleeve.

Next up:
we have a party w/ friends from out of town on Wednesday.
Thursday I'm watching White Christmas w/ my mom and mom in law.
we are having dinner w/ our parents.
we are having Christmas morning w/ my folks, and Christmas afternoon w/ Tim's- maybe a movie?
Tim's sister is visiting, and she has planned a fun Christmas dinner for the day after.
We are going to the Khan exhibit at the History museum.
We are hosting a big ol' New Years Eve bash.

woooooooooo!

I am and we are truly blessed. I am so glad we can spend this time w/ our family and friends.

I love you. xoxxo

Gift List 2009

Because its fun to make a list.

i 'm not going to lie. i like expensive things. it just happens.


1. wood ring. the one i LOVED is gone but the other i liked quite a bit is still there. the purple one is gone. probably because it was fabulous. the purple one is gone. probably because it was fabulous. size 8. i like the orange one second best.
ESTY WOOD RINGS
2. Canon Digital Rebel XSi

3. Canon PowerShot SD1200IS
in Orange or Blue

4. Gift card to local nursery to get a cat proof cactus garden going in my window planters.

5. Electric fireplace. Estate DesignFulton 23" Transitional All-in-One Electric Fireplace- from lowes

6. Corral Boots. [i can get these for 1/2 price]. there as another pair i liked, but they didn't have a snip toe. i will see whats new in Jan.

7. booties from Old Navy - in turquoise- not shown online.
8. scarf from Old navy.- also not online apparently- i want the blue and white stripe t-shirt fabric one.

9. Wire Snow Flakes from Crate & Barrel



10. platter from Crate & Barrel


11. Birch Platter from Crate & Barrel


12. vintage table cloth.
i like this one. its mildly terrifying.

13. i like this t-shirt. in M.


14. the Pam Pre or the Palm Pixi. i like that the Pre has a larger screen and i like that the Pixi doesn't have any moving parts. Oh and a 2 yr contract. K thxs.


15. 2 plane tickets to Taipei, Taiwan.


16. Fossil Handbag.
in Red or Rust
or in Blue

17. Bird Lemon Juicer at Williams-Sonoma... or frankly just about anything else from WS.

list

i keep meaning to blog but i don't have any thing terribly interesting to say.

we bought a new couch. the first in furniture purchases as adults. and its new.
we found a cat at pets mart that i really really want to adopt, but we wont.
we bout a new tooth brush.
we got a nasty computer virus that has resulted in the recent install of windows 7.
we went to a birthday dinner that was a continuation of attempting but rarely meeting new people while reconnection w/ people we know and didn't know other friends also know.
we went to the zoo for the busiest free day EVER.
we found out there are more car repairs to be had in the somewhat distant future.
i am starting to feel crappy again and wish we could get to the root of these chronic sinus infections.
we will be watching RMRG in their first nationals tournament. [they play Huston today at 3:15 Mountain Standard Time- see them live on DNN.COM]
we get to see our friend Mary from Pittsburgh who is in town for a programmers convention of something- which will result in tacos and the ChildsPlay fundraiser.
we are headed to Seattle for thanksgiving week- and are super excited about it.
we are then headed to Las Vegas for work and my birthday. and I am super excited about it.
we need to clean up the Halloween stuff and get the jack-o-lanterns off the front porch.
i found boots and a scarf at old navy yesterday that i love... also a shirt at gap....
i admit i love black and red buffalo check
i am excited about the holidays. i do really love them.
if it snows this weekend i am watching White Christmas.
i need to take movies back to the library.
i road my scooter yesterday. i did not ride nearly enough this year. i am sad about that.
i found a bunch of holes in my sweater this morning after i got to work.
prof. cheeto cat put holes in my new shirt last night.
our friend had a WarHammer cake for his birthday. it rocked.
i really hope that metallic printing cost the same as the regular colors.
thank god for surf shops and brands. makes it easier to work on Summer.
i need to tell Christine that i will buy a top hat from her.
i wonder if i should take my galoshes to Seattle. I've never seen it rain there- always sunny and dry.
i wonder what i should have for lunch.... mmmmmmmm lunch....