Babies R Us

I haven't had a chance to update my blog since Christmas, so I wanted to add a quick post. Last Friday, we headed over to Bob and Robin's to see Eric, Maria and Dafna while they are in town from Spain. Several friends came to spend time together and enjoy some beer and pizza and board games. There were eight children under the age of 3, so it was a full and busy household! Little girls everywhere! The only boys, Thomas and Zachary, are still too young to run around like the girls, but Thomas was scooting all over the house too. Zachary just hung out and slept.

Here's the summary of the group: Mike & Bree, with Sam (almost 3) and Jasmine (18 months), Robin & Glenda with Tatum (almost 2) and Thomas (10 months), Bob & Robin with Lily (almost 2) and Elle (4 months), Eric & Maria with Dafna (9 months) and Chris & me with Zachary (2 months). This was the first time since having Zachary that I've been to an event with so many babies and toddlers, and it was fascinating to see how different they are at the different stages of development.

I've added some pictures of the evening to flickr and the slide show above. I'll update again soon with pictures from Christmas and Chris' family visit!

Pictures: Evening at Bob & Robin's

I'm baaaaack! Kind of.

Now that Zachary is over six weeks old, I am slowly reintegrating into society -- albeit with a newborn infant attached to me at all times. It's still a little intimidating, but we're taking it one day and one event at a time. It's going well so far!

Last week, we had a full calendar (at least, compared to the last six weeks)! We went shopping at U Village with Margaret, as well as at Northgate Mall and downtown with Chris. We also went to dinner at Ben and Carrie's, attended my team holiday gathering (I know, I know...I'm supposed to be on maternity leave) and the neighborhood block holiday potluck. I've also been taking walks with Zachary in the Ergo and Cowboy tied around my waist. When I do that, I feel like I just need to carry a cup of Starbucks coffee to complete the "Seattle mom" picture...

All of our trips have gone relatively smoothly -- even the nursing! At U Village, Margaret and I found a secluded chair at Barnes & Noble. I admit I felt a bit awkward, but it worked. While shopping with Chris, I stopped at the Nordstrom lounge to nurse, which was really nice. Not only was it private, but there were several other nursing mothers there as well.

I had no idea that it was going to be this intimidating to get out and about with a baby! It's one of those things I never thought about before, and I know it will get easier. But I do keep having little "ah-hah" moments...like the fact that babies aren't allowed in bars and aren't welcome at fancy restaurants. I guess that should be obvious, but I tend to think that as long as he's in my carrier, I can go anywhere with him!

I've added some pictures from this past week's excursions to flickr (and the slide show above).

Pictures: December 2007

Pick-up artist

Yesterday Chris took Cowboy for a walk. It was a "two bag" day for Cowboy, but alas, Chris discovered that the bag carrier was empty! So he made a note of where each deposit was made, brought Cowboy home, packed Zachary and me into the car (we were heading to Starbucks for my team holiday party), and then drove back to each location with a bag to pick up after Cowboy. Maybe it's my sleep deprivation, but I thought it was hilariously funny to watch Chris pull up next to a lawn, jump out of the car with a blue bag, pick up a pile of dog poo and hop back into the car. He's such a good dog owner.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

OK, I stole that blog title from Margaret. But I feel justified in doing so, because she stole one from me earlier ("What a difference one day makes"). Ha! Plus, I need to get her back for introducing me to that sinful (and addictive) delight called the peanut butter banana smoothie.

We're getting ready for the holidays! We have a tree and lights up, I stuck my little one-piece nativity scene on the mantel, and I'm single-handedly eating the chocolates out of all three Advent calendars (the sacrifices I make just to keep us up-to-date). Chris' family is coming out for the holidays (and to see a certain little guy, of course), and we're looking forward to our first Christmas with Zachary!

It's also kind of neat to realize that this is home...that we no longer "go home" for Christmas. We are a family and have created our own home that Zachary will one day "come home" to for holidays. Crazy! But really great too. I guess we're finally growing up?

In addition to putting up decorations, we took Zachary out for his first social event this weekend! We couldn't miss Jen and Eric's annual Christmas party, so we bundled up the baby and headed on over. As always, the house looked amazing and Jen and Eric did a fantastic job of hosting. It was really nice to see everyone after being on house arrest for so long, and people were excited to finally meet our little guy. There was also a lot of other happy news to celebrate -- two pregnancies and one engagement! We're very excited for everyone and looking forward to Zachary having a couple more friends next summer!

I've posted two new sets of pictures on flickr: Christmas decorations and Christmas party.

Parole day

On Sunday, I finally left the house for the first time since Zachary was born (other than for quick trips to the doctor). It was pretty exciting! Kelly watched Zachary for a bit while Chris and I took Cowboy for a walk to the Greenlake Starbucks, so I got two treats -- a walk outside and a decaf soy gingerbread latte! 'Twas a big day for me.

It was so nice to put on some real clothes and get outside for some fresh air. It's amazing how time just seems to disappear when you are living on a schedule of feedings every three hours! It takes an hour to do the whole feeding, so you end up with less than two hours between each session, and that time is filled with trying to get basic things done like food, laundry, dishes, etc. So it was really nice to have an hour and a half to just relax and walk with Cowboy and Chris.

I was also excited to find out that my wedding ring fits again! I took it off at about 6 months and started wearing my honeymoon ring instead because it's bigger. I love that ring and was happy to have a chance to wear it so much, but I was missing my wedding and engagement rings.

Things that are not fitting so well right now are my clothes. I can't figure out what to wear because I'm an in-between size now. My maternity pants are too big for me, but I'm afraid to wear normal pants because of the whole "waistband meet c-section incision" thing. So I've been sticking to either my maternity pants (which I have to hitch up every couple steps) or my sweats. Needless to say, I'm looking pretty classy nowadays. However, one small victory is the fact that I can wear my coats again! Towards the end of my pregnancy, I had to wear Chris' raincoat because none of my coats would close over my belly.

Anyway, I just wanted to celebrate my field trip. Hopefully I'll be able to take Zachary out soon and will thus be able to get outside more often! In the meantime, here are a couple pictures from my excursion:

hiatus

Taking a hiatus from this blog for a bit as I will be focused on b a b y h i l l for awhile...

(check over there for updates!)

big news!

...and zachary makes three!

Happy Halloween!

...from the Cownt



(a few more pictures on flickr)

Momma Mia

Last night, we celebrated Vicki (Momma) and Carrie's (Mia) birthdays with an Italian dinner at Ben & Carrie's place. There was a good crowd there and it was really nice to see people that we haven't seen in awhile. Ben's parents are also visiting from England, and it's always nice to see Jane and Doug when they are in town. The food was delicious, and of course I grabbed some cake to take home and freeze for after the baby comes (our freezer is getting filled up with the various goodies I'm saving for my post-partum-no-gestational-diabetes celebration).

One of the highlights of the evening was when Ben & Carrie gave Vicki her birthday present -- a long-haired dachshund puppy. They weren't sure how to keep the puppy hidden during the party, so they are going to go pick her up today. Vicki has been wanting a dog for a long time, so this was a wonderful gift for her! She already knew that she'd name the pup Ella, and she's excited to get her.

As people were leaving, it was really odd to hear "Next time I see you, you'll have a baby". What?!? Oh yeah...you're right. Wow.

At least I'm cool...

Errr...I suppose I should be proud of this? And not just about the fact that I changed the wording where I could so that "Über" is spelled correctly (with the umlauts)?




I'm an Über Cool Nerd Queen. What are you?

A weekend with Trisha

This past weekend, Trish came to visit for our baby shower (see babyhill for the post and pictures from the shower). It happened to be a gorgeous weekend, so we spent our time wandering around the various scenic spots in Seattle.

After a tasty Saturday brunch at the 5-Spot on Queen Anne, we headed down to Kerry Park to watch the fog roll over the waterfront. When it looked like the fog might actually lift, we drove over to West Seattle to show Trish our version of the beach. Then we stopped off at the Arboretum for a nice walk to Lake Washington before heading home to get ready for the shower.

On Sunday, we got a pretty slow start to the day. We eventually made it out of the house and walked down to Tangletown for some food. We were pretty slow at Tangletown as well, and spent a large portion of the late morning/early afternoon sitting there chatting. Eventually we made our way downtown, where we spent the rest of the afternoon wandering through the SAM Olympic Sculpture Park. We watched a little bit of fire fighting drama (lots of fire fighters, even though we didn't see any fire), relaxed by the fountain, and took a lot of pictures of the sculptures.

It was really nice to see Trish. I am so happy that she was able to come for the baby shower!

Hard to believe that the next time I see her, I'll be a mama...

Lactose intolerance

Normally I love the cheesiest of cheese, especially when it comes to shows, movies and musicals. Because of this, I should love "High School Musical" and "High School Musical 2". And really, I'm trying. But I just can't. I can't sit through either movie (and trust me, I've tried). It's the stars, Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens. They just irritate me.

On the other hand, I watched "Shall We Dance" with Jennifer Lopez and Richard Gere and I really enjoyed it. That's a kind of cheese I can still digest.

Maybe I'm just getting old.

Updated to add:
OK, I'm still forcing myself to watch HSM2 and I think it's mostly Zac Efron that annoys me. Vanessa Hudgens isn't too bad when she's with the rest of the ensemble (as long as she's not making one of her two trademark facial expressions: simper or smirk). But Zac bugs me.

Distracted

I'm starting to get a little "internally-focused" (all of the books warned me about this) so I've been updating my babyhill page more often than this one. Head on over there if you're interested in the ramblings of a pregnant lady (link in this post, as well as at left in my list of links).

And Tarik, I'll try to keep updating this blog...once I can think about something other than the little creature who spends his/her nights throwing a dance party in my belly.

Silver lining?

Well, at least the game wasn't a nail-biter...

Barkers, BBQs and Beerlets

I've added some pictures from the past couple of weeks. There are the standard Cowboy pictures (he must be the most photographed dog in Seattle), plus a few of his new buddy Bodhi. I've also included pictures from Joel and Cathy's BBQ last weekend and the Fremont Oktoberfest (followed by the George & Dragon Pub) last night. There's one of Tarik and Elena, who are in Seattle for a wedding this weekend (it's a horrible picture of me, but they look good in it so I'm posting it anyway). As always, you can click on the link at left or the thumbnails above to view the pictures in flickr, or you can just watch the slide show below. I would write more, but the Broncos play in 45 minutes so I have to get ready to go to Jillian's with Chris.

2nd Anniversary

Today was our second wedding anniversary, and it was a wonderful day!

Our anniversary started early with a lovely gift from Sita that arrived over the weekend -- two beautiful textiles that she got for us during her travels to India and Turkey. We put the red & gold silk runner in the guest bedroom (which is finally starting to look like a real bedroom, now that we moved the desk out and put in a dresser) and the gorgeous silk woven tapestry in our master bedroom. They both fit in perfectly with our decor! Sita also added in some goodies -- my favorite lychee and kiwi gummis and dried mango treats. We love the gifts and the goodies! Thank you Sita!

Today at work, our team coffee tasting was Anniversary Blend. I know that had nothing to do with my anniversary, but it was a nice touch nonetheless. Then later in the day, I received two gorgeous red roses in a beautiful arrangement from Chris. He has his favorite flower shop where he goes to pick out the flowers himself and brings them to my office. He's got impeccable taste, the arrangement is stunning, and his handwritten card was very sweet. It made me teary, and I'm sure that had nothing to do with any excess hormones (crying during episodes of "Charmed", however, absolutely DOES have the hormones to blame).

When I got home, Chris came in with a bag that he said Cowboy was carrying around. It had a lovely sterling silver necklace with a purple stone pendant. It's just my style and happened to match what I'm wearing today, so I put it on immediately as we headed out for dinner at Monsoon. Monsoon is one of our favorite places to celebrate -- we went there on our first "official" date, and also celebrated our engagement and our first anniversary there.

Tonight the food was just as good as always, and we filled up on grilled prawns, Peking duck, spicy green beans and white corn. As we were getting ready to go, the waitress brought us a surprise dessert: lychee ice cream with a heart-shaped sugar cookie! She said that the dessert was for our anniversary, and that the bill was already taken care of by Bob & Kelly. What a lovely surprise! Chris said that he'd mentioned to his mom that we were going to Monsoon, and she must have called the restaurant to take care of everything. That was so unexpected and so nice -- thank you Kelly! It really topped off our night.

I will add some pictures as soon as I download them! But now it's time for bed -- 10:30 PM is late for me nowadays.

Broncos 23, Raiders 20

OK, that game was ridiculous.

Broncos: For the sake of my sanity and my babies' (both the furry one and the prenatal one) mental well-being, PLEASE stop making the games so stressful!

babyhill added

I just added a link (on the left, last link in the list) to our new babyhill blog. I don't have much over there yet, but I figured it was high time to get it going.

Linda's birthday and another slide app

OK, I'm trying something new again. I'm going to give "Slide.com" a shot so that I can post pictures directly in my blog again (instead of links to Flickr). The same pictures will be available as sets on Flickr, so you can always go to Flickr to see all of my sets.

Last night, we went to Crimson C to celebrate Linda's 30th birthday with her. I haven't been out in a long time, and it was a lot of fun to see everyone! Although I felt a bit awkward, being the only pregnant woman in the bar (note, this is one of those trendy club type bars, not a "drink beer and play darts" bar where I think pregnant women are more prevalent). I actually stopped for a moment before I entered the bar and asked Chris, "Are pregnant women even allowed in?" Later in the night as I was dancing with Carrie and Kerstin, I mentioned that I felt like that scene in "Sweet Home Alabama" when Reese Witherspoon says, "You have a BABY! In a BAR!"

Anyway, we had a good time and I lasted a lot longer than I thought I would. Most of the Aussie crowd was there to help Linda ring in her 30s, and it was a fun place with good music. The last time I was at this particular location was when it was still Larry's Nightclub, which was shut down after too many incidents (fights, stabbings, etc.). Crimson C has DEFINITELY cleaned up the image.

Turns out we have a few other babies on the way in the group, so we'll be looking forward to meeting a little Smith and a little Donaldson soon after little Hill makes his or her appearance! And Chris has already stated that if our baby is a girl (which most of his friends seem to think it is), she is NOT allowed to date the Smith boy. But the Smiths shouldn't take that personally -- if we have a girl and Chris has anything to say about it, she will not be allowed to date ANYONE.

The more immediate threat, however, is from the Buffalo Bills. Yes, Broncos season starts tomorrow morning at 10am PST. Wheee! Here we go...

Oh yes, let me know what you think about the slideshow. I might replace the Flickr stuff at the top of my page with a slideshow as well if I like the way it works.

A case of the Mondays?

A few pictures to start this shortened week:

• My brother Jim and his dog Ritz (yes, dogs with comical ears seem to run in the family)
  
• Cowboy staring at me as I try out my new camera
• Cowboy giving me a little smile

Click on the images to see them in their original (huge) size.

Crush

Most girls have crushes on characters in movies or TV shows at some point in their lives. I went through my Ricky Schroder in Silver Spoons phase, my Pierce Brosnan in Remington Steele phase, my John Schneider in The Dukes of Hazzard phase, and of course, my Brad Pitt in anything phase. But the one character crush who has withstood the test of time (i.e. I still swoon when I watch him) is an unlikely one: Christopher Plummer as Captain von Trapp in The Sound of Music. Oh be still, my beating (and singing and waltzing) heart! The scene in the gazebo when he tells Maria that he's in love with her still gives me the shivers.

What makes him most crush-worthy to me is his wit (this is the same reason I love Val Kilmer as Doc Holliday in Tombstone). He has some fantastic lines, especially when talking to Herr Zeller.

Herr Zeller: Perhaps those who would warn you that the Anschluss is coming - and it is coming, Captain - perhaps they would get further with you by setting their words to music.
Captain von Trapp: If the Nazis take over Austria, I have no doubt, Herr Zeller, that you will be the entire trumpet section.
Herr Zeller: You flatter me, Captain.
Captain von Trapp: Oh, how clumsy of me - I meant to accuse you.

And my all-time favorite:

Herr Zeller: I've not asked you where you and your family are going. Nor have you asked me why I am here.
Captain von Trapp: Well, apparently, we're both suffering from a deplorable lack of curiosity.

*Sigh*

Pictures: Girls' Weekend

Trish came to visit this past weekend! We had a great time doing nothing -- we seem to be pretty good at that. We had all of these big ideas, and ended up just getting pedicures, eating, walking/shopping downtown, and staying up late to chat. No spa treatments, no trip to Vancouver, no chick flick, no stage show...but it was still a great weekend!

Chris was out of town on a rafting trip, so we had the house (and Cowboy) to ourselves. We went downtown both days and took pictures with the various Pigs on Parade that are scattered around the city in celebration of Pike Place Market's centennial. We managed to spend an inordinate amount of time in Sephora, considering that neither of us wears make-up. We also ate our way through Pike Place, enjoying a rather diverse picnic of fried fish, pancit, bread, cheese, donuts, peaches and nectarines while overlooking the waterfront. We forgot to leave in time for Trish's flight out, so we ended up having to speed to the airport, after getting caught in traffic behind a horse and carriage. Luckily, her flight was delayed by 30 minutes!

While Trish was visiting, the infant car seat and stroller that I ordered was delivered. So Trish and I put it together and strapped in my teddy bear (yes, this is the same "Molly Teddy" Steiff bear that I've had since I was a kid and may be recognized by friends who have known me way too long...). We then proceeded to terrorize Cowboy. I forgot how jumpy he is around moving objects! I pushed the stroller around the house for awhile, and eventually Cowboy got comfortable enough to stay in the same room (albeit 10 feet away). I decided that it's OK for him to be a bit wary of the stroller so that he doesn't think it (or its contents) are free for him to bother.

It was great having Trish up for the weekend! I hope she can come up again before the little one arrives. I'm trying to talk her into being my proxy for any public appearances I have to make between now and the due date. She's just so much cuter, especially now that I've gained approximately the equivalent of her entire body weight. Plus she's a black belt, so she can beat up anyone who bothers me or tries to touch my belly (or any other body part, like my ankles...what's up with the ankle thing??).

Link: View pictures from Trisha's visit

Just call me "Bennie"

I took the Personal DNA personality test and discovered that I am a "Benevolent Leader". I don't know that I would have ever chosen the word "benevolent" to describe myself, but hey, it's an online test and therefore cannot be doubted!

Below is a visual map of how I scored in various character areas -- mouse over the colored boxes to see what each color represents. Apparently I am very masculine (I think this is the part of me that Chris calls "Ms. Ones-and-Zeros", although maybe it should be "MR. Ones-and-Zeros"), earthy (does this have something to do with the patchwork hippie dresses I used to wear in college?), and rather unstylish (this definitely has something to do with the patchwork hippie dresses).

I'm also "slightly" functional. Does that mean that I'm considerably dysfunctional?

Benevolent Leader

If you want to read my entire personality report, click here: My personalDNA Report

Margaret

Mirror mirror on the wall

This is really cool. I want one.

Pictures: Point B Getaway

This past weekend was the annual Point B Getaway -- a fun-filled weekend sponsored by Chris' company. I always look forward to it, especially because it gives us a chance to stay at really nice resorts that we wouldn't normally visit. This year we stayed at the Alderbrook Resort and Spa, along Hood Canal.

It feels a bit like adult summer camp. We all wear name tags, as well as bracelets that give us access to free food and drinks all weekend long. There are planned events (such as a comedy show, trivia game, casino night, and team-building event) and Saturday afternoon is left open to pursue individual activities. Normally I like to take advantage of horseback riding or kayaking, but since I couldn't this year I decided to be completely cliché and visit the spa while Chris played golf. It was lovely.

After we took the ferry back to Seattle on Sunday afternoon, we embarked on our first visit to Babies-R-Us. It wasn't nearly as scary as I thought it would be, but it was still a bit overwhelming. We're starting to get this nagging feeling that we should be planning stuff and doing crazy things like buying gear, so we decided to take a look and see what it's all about. We ended up buying a crib, which is a pretty big step for us. We don't have anywhere to put it, but that's not critical yet because it will be a few weeks before it's available for pick-up.

Chris picked Cowboy up when we got home, and we enjoyed a quiet evening watching Cowboy sleep while trying to avoid his fang-pi. The dog-sitter gave him some standard dog food (instead of his super special "I'm a wimpy puppy who's allergic to every single protein source known to humankind" food), so the fang-pi was even more powerful than usual. And the three episodes of vomiting in the middle of the night were pretty exciting too.

So that was our weekend. How was yours?

Link: View Point B Getaway pictures

Pictures: Hot August Nights

Well, not exactly "hot". Seems that our stifling hot summer (in the 90s+) lasted for about two weeks in June, and we've been mellowing out in the mid-70s ever since. It's actually not too bad -- sunny and warm and very comfortable. Especially for those of us who are expanding by the day (me) or covered from head to toe in fur (Cowboy).

It's been a very busy August for me, particularly at work. We're reaching a huge milestone in my project, and I'm excited to finally get there! My team has done some amazing work and I'm very proud. I'm also excited about the celebration we're going to have once we pass this milestone! We were going to go curling, but apparently the curling season doesn't start until October so we will have to put that one on hold. Instead, we may get tickets to the Rat City Rollergirls, several of whom work at our company. I've been wanting to see them for a long time and it will be a great way to spend some stress-free time together.

It hasn't been all work/no play -- we've had a couple fun-filled weekends to enjoy this month too! We had a BBQ in Port Orchard with Ben, Carrie, Vicki and Chuck, we saw a Sh*tkickers/DMQ double-whammy show at the Crocodile Cafe with Noah and Monica, and we went to a BBQ at Noah & Monica's with Margaret. We also finally got to meet Joe at Zoka's in Tangletown, and now we're looking forward to a relaxing Point B Getaway at the Alderbrook Resort and Spa on the peninsula this weekend.

Also, I got my Snoogle and I love it. Chris keeps trying to steal it away from me.

Today, Chris and I met for lunch and decided to try out Pecos Pit BBQ. It's right across the street from my office, but I've never been there even though it's been recommended to me many times. We both got the pork sandwich, and it was really tasty! But in all of those recommendations, someone could have mentioned how SPICY the sauce is! Chris ordered "hot" and I ordered "medium", and we nearly passed out. I don't know how Chris finished his -- I had a runny nose and was crying by the time I got halfway through mine. Next time, "mild" it is.

Link: View August pictures

Doh!

This is what Chris and I would look like if we were characters on the Simpsons. Want to see what you'd look like? Get Simpsonized!

I am...

...Elinor Dashwood of Sense & Sensibility! I am practical, circumspect, and discreet. Though I am tremendously sensible and allow my head to rule, I have a deep, emotional side that few people often see.

Take the Quiz here!

Apparently, I am also blonde and rather waifish, and Krispy is my flighty younger sister, Marianne Dashwood. I'm the "sense" to her "sensibility" (according to this essay).

Pictures: "Wee"kend

This weekend was spent with lots of wee things ("wee" = small/young, not Nintendo Wii...).

On Friday, we met Eric and Jen at the Luau, where we spent the evening over drinks and food with their friends Eric E, Jeremy and Beth. Jeremy and Beth are practically neighbors of ours, but Eric E lives in Colorado and we were supposed to help pressure him into moving back to Seattle. We decided we like him, so we agree that he should move here.

In addition to new friends of the human variety, Jen brought Bodhi along to meet Cowboy for the first time. Bodhi is their insanely cute 4-1/2 month old Berner pup, who has managed to at least double in size since the last time we saw him (only a few weeks ago). I took Bodhi and Cowboy back to the house to play, and Jen and Beth joined me there to chat while the boys stayed at the Luau.

It was amazing to watch Cowboy with Bodhi -- he loved playing with him, but once we got inside the house, Cowboy decided he was going to regulate. He kept an eye on Bodhi and wouldn't let him go anywhere unattended. If Bodhi wandered to a different room, Cowboy immediately herded him back to the living room and made him lie down. Makes me think Cowboy would be really good with a new puppy...

On Sunday, we headed over to Bob and Robin's for a BBQ and a chance to see Eric and Maria while they are in town. They brought their new baby girl, Daphna (who is the same age as Bodhi, but much smaller and less furry). Robin W and Glenda were there with their two little ones (Tatum and Thomas), and of course Bob and Robin's little girl Lily was very busy pushing her stroller around the house. Bob's sister Missy was also there, and Cowboy spent the afternoon being bullied by Harley and ignored by Cooper. To summarize, the crowd included nine adults (including two pregnant women), two toddlers, two babies and three dogs. It was quite a circus, but it was a really fun time.

Poor Cowboy only got to enjoy being "the regulator" for one evening. And I suspect the next time he sees Bodhi he won't be able to push him around quite as easily.

Link: View Bodhi pictures

Link: View BBQ pictures

Rude baby

"OK, now let's listen to the heartbeat..."
THUMP! (swish swish swish)
"Whoa, we've got a kicker here! C'mere little one..."
THUMP THUMP! (swish swish swish)
"Did you see that? The whole doppler moved!"

Pictures: Lyle Lovett

Last night we saw Lyle Lovett and his large band at the Chateau Ste Michelle winery in Woodinville. We've been looking forward to this show all year (it's our favorite concert of the year -- and we're still annoyed that Seattle doesn't have "Summer Nights on the Pier" or "Summer Nights at Lake Union" anymore, which is where Lyle used to play). k.d. lang sang as well, which made it an even better show.

Unlike last week's Brian Regan show at Marymoor (where we were melting in the 90 degree heat), last night was rather wet. The forecast called for "scattered showers", which apparently also means "constant downpour". We wanted to get a good seat on the lawn, so we showed up at 4:30 PM for a 7:00 PM show. We saved some spots for Lisa and Pam and then got busy spending the entire afternoon and evening getting drenched. Luckily it was warm, so at least we weren't cold.

In spite of the rain, the show was fantastic! Lyle played some new songs as well as some of his classic favorites, but he still didn't play "L.A. County" or "Girl in the Corner" -- two of our favorite songs (Chris and I even have a line from "Girl in the Corner" engraved in our wedding rings). He never seems to play those at concerts! Although I suspect that he comes back out on stage and plays "Girl in the Corner" an hour after the concert ends (the song is a "hidden" track on "Road to Ensenada" -- you have to play the CD for several minutes after the last song ends to hear it).

I didn't take many pictures because I didn't want to get my camera wet...and everyone looked like drowned rats anyway. Regardless, we had a great time and can't wait for next year's show!

Link: View Lyle pictures

Updated pictures: Summer 2007

I've added some more pictures to my Summer 2007 set.

Link: View updated summer pictures

To geek or not to geek

I listen to Cosmo radio on Sirius during my drive home, and the other day one of the callers talked about this really geeky guy who actually used Excel to list the various sections of his grocery store. The hosts laughed and joked about how horribly geeky that was, and how "I don't think I've ever even used Excel! That's Microsoft Excel, right? Hee hee hee hee!" (Note, the host who said this is a guy in his late 20's or early 30's and a Princeton graduate...so it's not like it was a 22 year old bimbo who thinks a make-up exam is when you're tested on your mascara-applying skills.)

I started thinking about the Excel (yes, Microsoft Excel) spreadsheet I used to plan our wedding. How I had all the sheets linked and I wrote macros to run reports on budgeting, alternate options, and to track our thank you notes against the gifts received. I thought about the spreadsheets I use to track medical treatment, lab test results, insurance coverage, and my health status.

No! Could it be? Am I a geek too?? But Excel is so basic -- it's like remedial data management! We joke about it at work! We roll our eyes when someone tells us they are using Excel to track information! And it's not like I maintain a SQL database or anything -- it's Excel!

And then I realized, based on my prior comments, I might actually be a geek. Either that, or I need to stop listening to Cosmo radio.

(Another clue that I might be a geek: The same host likes to use the phrase "Ohhh snap!" a lot. Whenever he says it, I think of the "object snap" feature in AutoCAD, which is called "osnap" for short.)

"If you saw a heat wave, would you wave back?"

I'm not waving, I'm trying to fan myself. I'm not really into this whole 90+ degree heat thing. And no, it's not a dry heat. It's just a plain ol' HOT heat.

(Quote by Stephen Wright)

Pictures: Dry Falls & Sun Lakes

In spite of two sick boys (Chris and Cowboy), we had a great time during our camping weekend with Mark, Erin and Finn. Chris and I packed up the car and headed out to Sun Lakes State Park on Friday evening, arriving around 9 PM. Mark and Erin showed up right after we started setting up camp and set up their stuff at a nearby site. Finn came on Saturday, because he had a wedding to attend in Seattle on Friday night.

Sun Lakes/Dry Falls is a few hours east of Seattle, in the desert half of the state (it's really easy to forget that half of Washington is a desert when you live on the coast, and it's always amazing to cross the mountains and end up in a completely different climate zone). Dry Falls is the name given to an amazing canyon that used to be the largest waterfall in the world. It's 3.5 miles wide and falls 380 feet (by comparison, Niagara Falls is 1 mile wide and falls 165 feet) and was formed when the Glacier Missoula Lake came through around 15,000 years ago. Sun Lakes is a state park located in the bottom of the canyon, built around a series of freshwater lakes.

I haven't gone car camping in years (I think the last time may have been abalone diving while I still lived in Pacifica), and I'd forgotten how cushy it is! No worrying about packing everything in and out, carrying all of your equipment on your back for miles, divvying up meal preparations amongst the party to reduce weight and redundancy. We weren't sure what to bring (Chris is a backpacker too) so we just threw it all in the car. How simple! We had our nice camp chairs, bags of food, clothing, and towels, Cowboy's tent and sleeping pad, and even three sleeping pads for me alone! It was really easy. We set up our tent on a nice flat spot (campsites are marked and maintained -- no looking for a reasonably flat spot in the middle of the woods or mountains) and set up Cowboy's tent facing ours. I hooked the flap of our vestibule to the front of Cowboy's tent so that he could look into our tent and we could still zip the screen shut. Finn set his tent up nearby and Mark and Erin were across the way. It worked out very well for everyone.

We spent the weekend swimming in the lake, hiking in the desert canyon, and hanging out at the campsite. Erin organized the troops to prepare a delicious grilled salmon dinner with risotto and roasted corn on Saturday night, and we enjoyed french toast, bacon and eggs for breakfast on Sunday morning. Those types of meals are another perk of car camping -- no living on couscous, mac-n-cheese and oatmeal.

It was a supremely relaxing weekend, which was perfect. As Erin put it, it was nice to spend all of our time focusing on nothing but staying cool. "Hmmmm...maybe I'll get back in the water..." "I think I'll move to the shade now..." "Back to the water for me..." The days were hot and sunny (in the 90's) but the nights were blissfully cool. The wind really whipped up in the evenings (we were at the base of a canyon, after all), which was great for getting rid of bugs and keeping the temperatures nice and comfortable.

As I mentioned, my two boys were sick but both handled the weekend very well. Chris has some kind of sore throat/congestion thing going on and Cowboy, apparently, is a nervous wreck. He was anxious the entire weekend, trying to constantly protect us and patrol the perimeter. The only time he relaxed was when we were both with him and he was able to keep an eye on us at the same time. It exhausted him and messed up his digestive processes (we took him to the vet this morning to make sure that he's OK, and it turns out his digestive issues appear to be entirely in his head -- at least this time).

So that was our weekend: friends, sun, water, desert canyons and crazy dog. Pretty great weekend! I've posted some pictures for your viewing pleasure.

Link: View camping pictures

Pictures: 4th of July

I just posted some pictures from the 4th of July. I'll update my blog later with my tales from the desert!

Link: View 4th of July pictures

Happy (belated) 4th!

Sorry I'm a couple days late with this post, but it's tough when the 4th of July falls on a Wednesday and you have to be at work at 7:30 AM the next day.

We had a really nice 4th of July this year. Chris and Finn hung our new door the evening before, so all we had left to do was install the deadbolt. Chris did most of it and did a great job in spite of his little problem with reading the instructions and actually following them (remember the Valentine dinner). He didn't even make that big of a mistake, but he was so angry with himself for not following the instructions and thus not doing it perfectly. He was also worried about drilling the holes so I ended up doing that part. I thought guys like to do stuff like bore holes in door frames? No matter -- I like to do it too, so it all worked out.

After finishing the door, we headed out to the dog park to let Cowboy cool off in the water. While at the dog park, we like to hide from him when he gets too far in front of us. It is kind of mean...but funny. He suddenly realizes that he doesn't see us anymore and his ears go full mast as he looks for us. He backtracks, and if he can't find us right away he'll start running back to where we came from so we have to stop him before he gets too far. No, he's not exactly a tracking dog (he never smells us and rarely sees us -- I think he relies on his ears to get around).

Once we got to the water, he spent a long time doing his Superman belly crawl in the shallow water. He does it every time, and every time people laugh and we try to pretend that he's not our dog.

To celebrate the 4th, Carrie got us VIP tickets to the Wamu Family 4th at Gasworks Park. We drove to Wallingford and ended up driving most of the way home again before we could find parking. So we ended up walking most of the way to Gasworks and entered the flood of people at the park. Ben told us to head back to the VIP area where our tickets would be waiting, so we worked our way through the masses of people who'd been there all day to stake out a piece of grass for the fireworks show.

We got to the VIP area and the difference was amazing: plenty of space, tables and chairs set up on the lawn, free Wamu fleece blankets, live jazz music, a caricaturist, and a free catered dinner with open bar. Plus, we were set up right next to the water, so we had an unobstructed view of the city skyline and the fireworks barge.

The VIP area was teeming with local celebrities too! Well, there were two that I recognized, but that's more "teeming" than my average day. Mayor Greg Nickels was there looking rather mayoral, and to my delight, John Curley was there! From Evening Magazine! I've had a crush on him for over a decade and I giggled like a schoolgirl when I saw him. Chris rolled his eyes, Ben & Aran looked at me like I'm crazy, and Carrie & Kirsten just laughed. At least Chris was indulgent enough to take a picture of me with John in the background.

The show itself was amazing. It started off with the Star Spangled Banner sung by the Total Experience Gospel Choir. Then we heard copter blades, and in came a military transport helicopter pulling a HUGE American flag! The helicopter circled Lake Union, ending with a fly-by right over our heads. It was incredible. As a military kid who grew up saluting the flag at sundown (I was rarely awake for Reveille) and standing for the National Anthem before every gathering (including the movies), I was in awe.

The helicopter with the flag would have been enough to make my night, but we still had the fireworks to come. And WOW, what fireworks! They were choreographed to music, and they were simply amazing (one ironic twist is that most of the music was not American). There's just something about fireworks that makes me feel like a little kid again.

We had a great time (thanks so much Carrie!), but I did have to work the next morning so we left right after the fireworks show. We joined the masses again and slowly forced our way up the hill to our car, then drove the remaining 6 blocks to our house (we should have just walked the entire way).

I took a lot of pictures and video of the helicopter and the fireworks, but they are on my other laptop so I can't post them yet. I'll post them soon.

This weekend Chris and I are heading to central Washington to camp out, swim in the Sun Lakes, and enjoy 90+ degree weather with Mark, Erin and Finn. Should be a good time! Although I bet Cowboy will be really really hot.

This little piggy got roasted

Last weekend felt like the first true "summer weekend" to me. We've had other weekends with nice weather, but this is the first time this year that we've spent doing our standard summer activities -- playing with Cowboy, going to a BBQ and kayaking on Lake Union.

Our neighbor Romero had a BBQ on Saturday to celebrate his birthday. He roasted a pig, brought in a keg, and cooked up some amazing side dishes (I could have snacked on the garlic mashed potatoes and cornbread all weekend). The weather was beautiful and it was nice to spend a relaxing afternoon/evening with neighbors and new friends.

Romero lives two houses down from Tilly's, so we stuck Cowboy in Tilly's yard so that they could play while we were socializing (Tyrone and Drea were at the BBQ as well). At one point someone said, "Do you feel like we're being watched?" and pointed to the fence. Tilly was looking over the top and Cowboy had his nose wedged between two of the slats. Apparently, the BBQ was more interesting than play time.

I have to admit that I wasn't a big fan of the roasted pig (but I've been having trouble with most red meat lately). It looked to me like something out of a horror flick, and the taste was way too "roasted flesh" for me. I've had roasted pig on a spit before, and for some reason that doesn't bother me as much as this "flattened pig in a box". Maybe it was because the pig was the exact size as Cowboy and looked a bit like Cowboy when he sprawls out on the living room floor.

Regardless, everyone else (including Chris) loved the roasted pork, and I got to learn about each cut from Romero and his butcher friend.

On Sunday, Chris and I enjoyed a day of kayaking on Lake Union. We took out a double rather than our singles so that I could be lazy. Unfortunately, Chris did not agree to that part of the plan, so I ended up paddling as much as usual. We almost had a spider crisis in the middle of the lake (I checked my area for spiders, but Chris didn't check his and ended up having a little skirmish to eject a spider out of his lap), but we didn't capsize and I felt much better after we beached at Gas Works and thoroughly checked both cockpits for creepy crawlers.

Now I'm back to work while Chris takes a few days to take care of house business. We have to replace our back door after someone or something kicked in the bottom, and the Orkin man is coming by to get rid of the spiders that I'm paranoid about (especially after a coworker was bitten by a hobo spider in his house).

Can you tell that I'm not a big fan of spiders? I once jumped off the front (yes, the front) of a moving speedboat to avoid one, and another time I leapt out of a moving car -- which I was driving. That sure got Chris' attention (he was in the passenger seat). And yes, I live in the most spider-infested part of the country.

However, in spite of my distaste for spiders, I do not mind them if they are outside (where they are supposed to be) and have plenty of room to stay out of my way. And I'm even willing to hold a tarantula -- although I am incapable of keeping my cool while doing it...



Link: View Romero's BBQ pictures

Link: View first summer pictures

Pictures: Colorado

I just added some pictures from Colorado on my Flickr site. Enjoy!

Link: View Colorado pictures

Rocky Mountain High

We got home from Colorado this past Monday and I've been catching up at work since then, so this will be a quick post.

Colorado was lovely and HOT! We spent a few days in Durango, where we got to see Bob & Kelly's new condo. I really like the condo -- it's spacious and full of light. We also went to the Bar D Chuckwagon one evening, where we enjoyed a meat-n-potato dinner and some fabulous cowboy music entertainment. For dinner, I stuck to the beige foods (potato, biscuit, applesauce) and stayed away from the red stuff (beef and beans) and it all worked out just fine. I loved the music and was really impressed with the Bar D Wranglers. They had a great combination of musical talent and cheesy humor, and listening to Cy Scarborough's rendition of "Rindercella" (who "slopped her dripper") was a treat.

On Thursday morning, Chris and I took the historic train from Durango to Silverton aboard the Durango & Silverton Narrowgauge Railroad. The train is pulled by a steam locomotive and travels through some incredible scenery. It also spews a lot of soot, so by the time we made it to Silverton (3.5 hours later) we were quite dirty.

Kelly picked us up in Silverton and we hit the road to Beaver Creek. We stopped in Montrose to visit with Brett and Victoria for a couple hours, which was really nice. Victoria fed me a Peruvian jam that I really like, but I can't remember what it's called now.

After Montrose, we met up with Bob and headed to Carbondale for a tasty dinner at Six89 Restaurant. Then we were on our last leg of the drive and we made it into Beaver Creek around 11 PM. That was a long day, but it was an enjoyable one!

Patrick, David and Jenny arrived on Friday, Brendan and Meghan showed up on Saturday morning, and Kimberly made it on Saturday night. Everyone enjoyed relaxing and spending time together. The girls had a pedicure day while the boys played golf, a group went horseback riding, and some of us played frisbee golf on the mountain. It was a very nice weekend, full of family, food and sunshine.

Chris and I drove to Denver on Sunday night in time to catch a very early morning flight back home to Seattle. Once in Seattle, we retrieved Cowboy from Ben & Carrie's (where he'd been playing with Baxter all week) and settled back into our regular routine.

Now we're back to work, Cowboy, and waiting for summer to begin in earnest. We enjoyed our trip back to Colorado and are looking forward to the rest of the summer (especially the Lyle Lovett concert at Chateau Ste. Michelle on July 14)!

I haven't gone through my pictures from Colorado yet, but I'll post some soon!

"Dude, I kissed my neighbor..."

That's how it all started. They met as neighbors, after they'd purchased adjacent townhouses. One thing led to another, which eventually led to Julie texting the above message to one of her good friends and ultimately led to the wedding we attended yesterday.

We headed over to the peninsula for Nick and Julie's wedding at the Kiana Lodge in Poulsbo. We missed the ferry to Bainbridge Island (in our defense, we were there and in line to board...we realized something was wrong when we saw the ferry pulling away and we were still in line), so we ended up driving all the way around. The ferry ride is 35 minutes, the drive is 2 hours. Needless to say, we weren't exactly punctual.

You can see from the pictures that we did make it in time for the ceremony...but not in time to get a seat. We didn't want to make a spectacle of ourselves by walking across the lawn to try to find a seat, so we spent the ceremony peering through the bushes. Nonetheless, it was a lovely ceremony, Nick was very handsome, and Julie looked beautiful.

We enjoyed the rest of the evening meeting new people and catching up with old friends. It turns out Chris and Nick have a lot of mutual friends from the "old" days of Anderson Consulting, so it was a lot of fun to reconnect.

We didn't know anyone at our dinner table, but Nick promised us it would be a fun one. By the time the toasts came around, we were, in fact, the loudest and rowdiest table there. To top it off, Scott and Renee showed us pictures of their daughters and Chris was thrilled to see that he has a chance against my Asian genes. Renee is half Korean, Scott is Caucasian, and both of their daughters have blonde hair and blue eyes. They are gorgeous girls, and it made Chris' day.

After eating some cake (amazing dark chocolate mousse with cream cheese frosting) and dancing to some tunes, it was time for us to head back to the ferry. We actually caught it this time and were happy with the much shorter commute.

Now Chris is planted in front of the TV watching the US Open and rooting for Tiger. Tomorrow we'll be off to Colorado for one last trip to Durango before Chris' parents move out of the house, followed by a few days in Beaver Creek to celebrate David's 30th birthday with the whole family.

Link: View Nick & Julie wedding pictures

Pictures: Hiii-Ya!

Last weekend I went to LA to watch Trish test for her black belt in Tae Kwon Do (TKD). It was an amazing experience.

Although my 6 AM flight was canceled (it's cruel to cancel a flight that required a 4 AM wake-up time) and I didn't make it to Burbank until almost noon, Felix was nice enough to pick me up and we made it to the studio in time to see the entire program.

Trish did great weapons and forms routines and then came the biggie: the Wall of Black. Actually, I'm not sure if that's what it was really called, but that's what it looked like to me. As her final test to earn her black belt, she had to fight every single black belt in her school. She waited on the mat while they lined up -- all 16 of them. She sparred them one at a time, one after another, no breaks in between. She started with the newest black belts and worked her way up to the most advanced -- 3rd and 4th degree black belts. By then, she'd been sparring for over 3o minutes and could barely move, but she didn't break and made it through all of them! It was almost difficult to watch at times, but we were all so proud of her for surviving it -- a true test of mental and physical fortitude.

On top of it all, she only had enough time to strip off her sparring pads before she was called back up to break her boards! She broke one with her arm and then took a flying leap over a mat to kick another one mid-air. Then, as a crowd-pleaser, she did the flying kick leap AGAIN -- this time jumping over her nephews Nicholas and Zachary! It was truly an incredible show.

After Trisha earned her black belt, we all headed to the clubhouse at her residential community to enjoy tons of delicious food prepared by her family and drinks served by a very conscientious bevy of 9-year olds. We ate until we couldn't move anymore, watched videos of the day's events, and then finally called it a day. A group of us moved over to Trish's house and stayed up for another few hours playing the Wii, but I can't vouch for much of what happened at that point because I fell asleep on the couch. Trisha did too, but she did just spend the afternoon fighting off 16 black belts so she had good reason.

We spent a lazy Sunday playing more Wii, eating left-overs, and falling asleep on the couch again before I headed back to the airport for my flight home. It was a quick trip, but I'm so glad that I was able to go! I've posted a few pictures on Flickr -- as always, click to view them!

Link: View TKD pictures

The future's so bright...

...we gotta wear shades.

Boy, we look like a bunch of real winners, huh? Must be a slow news week here in Seattle.

• The picture of Chris was taken last week as he was on his way to Vegas for a mustache-themed bachelor party (there are more mustache pictures in the "Miscellaneous May" photo set). Thank goodness that facial growth was gone when he returned. The shades and orange trucker's hat, however, remain.
  
• The picture of me is from our honeymoon -- I was sporting the latest Croatian moped fashion. You can't get much cooler than that.
  
• The picture of cone-free Cowboy shows off his new Doggles, which we use to protect his eyes when he is hanging his head out of the car window. He gets a lot of double-takes from passersby, but now he can happily let his jowls flap in the wind without worrying about damaging his newly-repaired eye.

This weekend I'm off to LA to watch Trish kick some tush as she earns her black belt and receives her state championship titles (first in her bracket in both forms and weapons, second in sparring). Hopefully she'll get a few more trophies that are taller than she is. Go Trish!

Pictures: Miscellaneous May

Here's the last set of pictures for today -- a collection of miscellaneous photos from May. It includes the following:

• Eric & Jen's new Berner puppy, Bodhi
• A couple random shots from dinner, hiking and the NW Folklife Festival
• An example of fine Seattle parking
• Chris like you've never seen him before (and will probably hope never to see him again)

Link: View miscellaneous May pictures

Pictures: Conehead Cowboy

As I mentioned before, Cowboy has been wearing a cone for the past two weeks. He had to get surgery on his eye to fix his entropion -- an inward rolling of his eyelid. His lower lashes were rubbing against his eye and causing ulcers to form, so the doctor performed a little nip and tuck to roll his eyelids back out. Since he was already getting plastic surgery, I asked if they could also give him some botox injections to fill in the wrinkles on his forehead and maybe do a little "neck tuck" to get rid of those rolls of skin, but they didn't go along with my plan. Ah well. I guess an eye lift is better than nothing.

So life with the cone has been entertaining. I already described Cowboy's little couch-howling (is this the dog version of Tom Cruise's couch-jumping?) and his cone-mutilation episodes. He also managed to crack his cone in half when he tried to play "touchdown" (a game where he runs between our legs) with me and ran his cone smack into my shin at top speed. He scoops up dirt and grass when he tries to sniff, and routinely walks into trees which inevitably startles him.

We thought the cone would be off last Thursday, but when they took the stitches out, one of them split open. So the doctor left one stitch in and said we could take it out ourselves in 48 hours and start to wean him off the cone. We have to watch him carefully to make sure he doesn't scratch his eye, but it doesn't seem to itch him so we don't think it will be a problem.

In the meantime, Cowboy looks like a junkyard dog. In addition to the black eye with stitches, he's got the dirtiest, trashiest looking cone around -- bent out of shape and criss-crossed with duct tape to mend all of the cracks. That's our boy!

Link: View conehead pictures

Pictures: Maifest in Leavenworth

We headed over the pass to find sunnier skies and German food at the Maifest in Leavenworth. We stayed the weekend and enjoyed a Volksmarch through the hills, singing and dancing performances, a lot of German food, and a nice game of putt-putt golf. I like to brag that I shot a 73 at golf. Granted, it was a par-56 course, but no one really needs to know that. And yes, Chris shot under par. Hmph.

Link: View Leavenworth pictures

Pictures: Blue Ribbon Cooking School

Chris and I took a cooking class at the Blue Ribbon Cooking School as part of a Point B event. We had a lot of fun learning to make a really fancy menu that I can't remember for the life of me. It had a salad, some kind of meat, risotto, green beans, and a really rich chocolate dessert -- all with much fancier names. I took several pictures as we were preparing the feast, but unfortunately I forgot to take pictures of the final product. Whoops.

Link: View cooking class pictures

Pictures: Baxter's Birthday

On May 6, Baxter invited all of his buddies over to celebrate his 2nd birthday. Ben had the BBQ going and Carrie kept everyone (including the pups) well-stocked with tasty food and drinks. This year Cowboy wasn't the only big dog around, so he ran and played himself to exhaustion. It was a great day for the pups and their people!

Link: View Baxter's birthday party pictures

Pictures: Mexico Cruise

At the end of April, Trish and I went on a weekend cruise to Ensenada with her brother Felix, John, and about 30 other people to celebrate her friend Greg's birthday. I did the same cruise with Sita almost 10 years ago, and I have to say, it is more fun when you go with a huge crowd of people you know.

When Sita and I did it, we did it on Carnival (which tends to be a younger party crowd). So even 10 years ago, we felt like the old ladies on the ship because it was full of high school and college kids on spring break. A couple years ago Trish and I took a 10-day cruise to Panama with her family on Princess cruise lines and that was the opposite experience. It was super luxurious, and we were the youngest people on board by about three decades. That was a fantastic trip and we went with a large group of people we knew, which made it even more fun.

This time, we took Royal Caribbean. It was a step up from Carnival, but definitely not the luxury of Princess. The crowd seemed to be closer to our age this time, but it didn't really matter because we had our own crowd with us. We set sail from LA on Friday, docked for a day in Ensenada on Saturday, sailed all day Sunday (we must have just been doing circles since LA is only a few hours away), and returned to LA on Monday. It was a great little mini-vacation!

I've posted the pictures on Flickr. Click the link below (or click on the title of this post) to see the set. It's much easier if you view the pictures as a set rather than going directly to my Flickr account and looking at the main page (which shows my most recent pictures). The main page doesn't post them in the correct order, so it can be confusing.

Link: View Mexico cruise pictures

Crating the conehead

I know I said I'd post pictures soon, but I haven't been on my home laptop in over a week and that's the one with all the pictures. I'll try to get to them sometime this week.

We had a nice, mellow Memorial Day weekend. We wanted to go on a hike, but thought better of it after considering all of the trouble Cowboy could get into with a huge cone on his head. Instead we hiked along the Iron Horse trail, which is nice and wide and allows plenty of room for the cone.

We also enjoyed a BBQ at Robin & Glenda's and I got to see little Thomas for the first time. He's about 4 weeks old and such a mellow baby! I'm usually nervous about holding babies that small, but he just laid there and stared at me so it was pretty easy. And it's amazing how quickly Tatum's grown! She's 16 months old and has such a great little personality. Chris and Robin had their own fun watching the Indy 500 and then going through Robin's old sports posters, shot glasses and pennants. Chris needs to be reminded, "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's posters."

On Monday, we scurried through the NW Folklife festival as quickly as possible (while grabbing some roasted corn on the cob and kettle korn) to head to the Pacific Science Center for an IMAX movie. We saw "The Alps", a story about John Harlin III's summit of the north face of the Eiger, following the same route which took the life of his father when John was 9 years old. It showed some amazing footage of the Swiss Alps as well as the climb itself. It was especially neat to see while our own memories of the Bernese Alps (and that scary scary north face) are so fresh.

We've been leaving Cowboy alone in the house (rather than in the crate) since he's had the cone. We tried to crate him once, and that was a miserable failure. The cone is so wide it doesn't fit through the door, so Chris had to back Cowboy into the crate and wedge the cone in last. That left Cowboy's head propped into place, unable to move.

Apparently, however, Cowboy figured out a way to move. After less than 3 hours in the crate, I came home to find him still wedged in, but the cone mutilated beyond recovery. I think he pushed the cone up against the front of the crate so that it bent back towards his mouth, and then he proceeded to chew it to pieces. I had to take him back to the vet to get a new cone, and they actually laughed when they saw him. They were amazed at how much damage he'd been able to do in so short a time.

So now we leave him loose in the house. He hasn't done any damage so we were thinking that maybe we can leave him loose when the cone's off. But then yesterday, Chris forgot his sunglasses so we turned the car around after a block and returned home. Chris walked up to the porch and saw Cowboy standing ON the couch (he's not allowed on furniture), howling at the top of his lungs. He was so into his howl that he didn't hear or see Chris walk in.

That little sneak. We had to laugh anyway -- it was pretty funny. But I guess that means it's back to the crate for the Cow once the cone comes off!

One of these things is not like the other

A plastic baggie full of Cowboy's Buddy Biscuits looks an awful lot like a plastic baggie full of Honey Nut Cheerios. It does not, however, taste the same. Not at all.

And baby, I have it

"You can't teach people to be lazy - they either have it or they don't."
~ Dagwood Bumstead

Once again, I have no excuse. I've been busy and I've been lazy. I've been trading the comforting glow of my computer screen for the warm rays of the Seattle sun (as I told Sarah, we're the "other" Hawaii). I've been going on long walks in the rain, listening to classical music, and curling up on the couch with my special someone to watch Hitchcock movies.

Oh wait, scratch that. My life is not a personal ad or a Lifetime movie. What I've really been doing is taking the shortest walks possible in the rain while allowing Cowboy enough time to do his "business", listening to Lyle Lovett, Oasis, and Ludacris, and telling my special someone to turn down the TV so I don't have to listen to golf commentators all evening.

I will update my photos soon with shots from my latest thrilling adventures, including (and probably limited to):

• A cruise to Mexico with Trisha
• Baxter's birthday party
  
• A weekend full of German food, polka bands and Volksmarches in Leavenworth
• Cowboy's eye surgery and subsequent larger-than-life head cone which is severely impacting his joie de vivre (and his ability to walk through the house without running into every single piece of furniture and doorway)
  

No more slideshows

I've been playing around with the Flickr site and various other slideshow add-ins and I haven't found anything that I like. I've decided to abandon slideshows entirely for now because they are either too gimmicky or too inflexible. I'm looking for something that is clean, simple, and streamlined.

Instead of slideshows, I will simply post new sets to my Flickr site. As they are posted, the six most recent images (yes, in backwards order) will appear in the strip of photos at the top of my blog. You can either click on the individual pictures or click on the link below them to go to the Flickr site.

I'd advise clicking on the link (rather than an individual picture), as it will take you to the photo sets page and you can chose how to view each set from there.

Bye-bye slideshows!

More pictures, not Flickr-happy

I still have a few photos from March that I haven't posted yet, so I'm posting them all together.

I am annoyed that Flickr automatically shows the most recent pictures first (in other words, backwards from the order in which they are taken). When I'm putting together a slideshow, I am generally trying to tell a story of sorts...in which the ORDER is quite significant. The Flickr slideshow equivalent in literature would be like printing a book with the last chapter first, and ordering it backwards from there.

There doesn't seem to be anything I can do about this other than putting all the pictures together in one set. This diminishes the value of sets, since I can't organize the pictures by event if I want them to show correctly on the slideshow in my blog (I have to lump them together by blog entry rather than by event). I tried using collections to fix the problem, but to no avail. Once I added my three correctly-ordered sets to a collection, they displayed backwards in the slideshow.

Any Flickr experts out there have another solution? For a relatively slick photo service, Flickr's slideshows leave a LOT to be desired (backwards ordering that can't be controlled easily, no display of image titles or description, etc.). I like Flickr in general, but since my primary goal is to make slideshows for my blog, I'm going to keep looking around for better alternatives. Any suggestions?

Anyway, back to the pictures. The following slide show contains pictures from the annual Corndog Day celebration at Tristan & Laura's, the Point B Gala at the Ibiza Dinner Club (with DMQ performing!), and Chris birthday dinner and celebration.

***Update: I have removed the slideshow from this post. Please use the photo strip at the top of my blog to access the pictures on the flickr site***

Sosa smart

Last night at Chris' birthday dinner, we were seated near one of the private banquet rooms. We kept seeing clean-cut athletic-looking guys wander in and out of the room. When one of them passed our table, Chris said, "That's Sammy Sosa!"

At first, I was impressed that Chris can recognize pretty much every professional athlete out there, regardless of whether he watches that particular sport or not. But then I realized that it's probably similar to my ability to recognize most Hollywood starlets, even though I haven't seen any of their "work".

It turns out the Texas Rangers were in the banquet room, enjoying a steak and lobster feast before they play the Mariners tonight. We enjoyed our front row seats as we watched them walk around and chat. In general, they are much more athletic and compact-looking than I thought baseball players would be.

As they were leaving, Sammy Sosa walked past our table again. He turned and gave me a little wave good-bye and I smiled back. Chris sat there in shock, and then announced to the maitre d' in a loud voice, "Sammy Sosa just hit on my wife!" The maitre d' laughed as Chris said, "I was going to do something about it, but then I realized that whatever I started would end very quickly and badly for me."

Maybe he IS a year wiser!

One year older...one year wiser?

Happy Birthday Chris!

He's getting older, but he's still not as old as I am. I think I will just wait for him to catch up.

Tonight we will go out for dinner to celebrate Chris' birthday, and this weekend we will do the annual comedy club/pub crawl that we've been doing the past several years to celebrate. We'll be seeing Joey Medina at the Comedy Underground, followed by adult beverages at Marcus' and/or Fado.

For some reason, it seems like this year everyone made plans to be out of town this weekend. So the crowd will be smaller than usual -- but I'm sure it will still be a great time!

We were talking last night about birthday dinners, and I realized (again) that I ask for things such as all-you-can-eat sushi (which is free for me since it's my birthday) or wurst and pommes frites at a local German pub. Chris wants steak. Hmmm. I think I need to raise my game. Next year: LOBSTER!

Emily and Brett get hitched

On March 3rd, we headed out to the OP (Olympic Peninsula) for Emily and Brett's wedding. Although they were legally married in December, they waited until March for the full ceremony and celebration so that Brett's family could travel from Australia to attend.

The wedding was held at C'est Si Bon in Port Angeles. It was a beautiful venue and the wedding was lovely. You know how you look at those wedding magazines and you see the glowing bride on the cover and wonder, "Does anyone really look that great?" Well, Emily did.

With Brett's Aussie influence, we expected an evening of wit and laughter -- and we weren't disappointed. Unfortunately we had to leave at 11:30 PM to catch the last ferry back to Seattle, but we had a great time and are so happy for them!

The pictures below start out with a few from Emily's "Hen's Night" (bachelorette party). Em's sister Allison arranged a fun get-together at her house, followed by dinner at Mona's Bistro and then two-steppin' with cowboys (and old men) at the Little Red Hen. Emily was decked to the nines in a cowgirl outfit (courtesy of Allison) and we all had a rip-roarin' good time!

I have no excuse other than laziness

I've been really really bad at keeping up with my blog lately. Or did you ever consider that perhaps nothing at all has happened in our lives since mid-February? Well, that's not necessarily the case, so I will plan to update my blog this weekend. And I will do my best to update more regularly than once a month!

One little tidbit of news -- Cowboy snarled last night! We were so proud of him. It's almost like he's a real dog! Don't worry, he didn't snarl at a person and he didn't really "mean" it (at least we don't think he did). He was playing with Baxter at Ben & Carrie's and I guess he got tired. When Baxter jumped on him to play some more, he lifted his lip and snarled just like an alpha dog! Of course, Baxter ignored him completely and jumped on his head anyway, so maybe Cowboy needs to work on his snarling technique a bit. But it's a good start.

This little piggy

Yesterday was Chinese New Year. Happy Year of the Pig! To celebrate, I made jiao-tse (dumplings). I remember making these with my mom and a-mah (grandmother) at our kitchen table in Ulm, and I enjoy making them on my own. I've always aspired to being as quick and skilled as they were at folding them, but I'm just not. Ah well...at least they still taste good!

The first time I invited Chris to do something was for Chinese New Year. I was staffed at Microsoft and I was staying at the Oakwood corporate apartments in Bellevue during the week (this is when I still lived in SF). I usually make jiao-tse with a group of friends for Chinese New Year, so I decided to do it at the Oakwood. I invited a few friends over and we made (and ate) a ton of dumplings.

That was when I still thought Chris was a "cool kid" who'd never want to hang out with someone like me. I used Chinese New Year as an excuse to ask him to do something, and I was surprised when he accepted. But that night he brought over a CD he'd just bought and was so excited to hear. It was "The Best of Huey Lewis and the News". That's when his illusion of coolness was forever shattered...and the rest, they say, is history.

I've added a few pictures of this year's jiao-tse and of the Oakwood jiao-tse night to Flickr. You can see four thumbnails under "Recent Pics" and you can view the rest by clicking on one of the thumbnails. You'll be taken to my photostream on the Flickr site, where you can see all of the pictures that I've posted recently.

My favorite Valentine

Valentine's Day was really nice this year. In addition to the beautiful jasmine that Chris brought to my office (yes, he actually brought them himself...but dropped them off at the receptionist instead of calling me to tell me he was there), he also cooked me a wonderful dinner. He asked his colleague Loren for a recipe (Loren is an amazing chef) and picked up all of the ingredients at Pike Place Market. He made a delicious dinner of butternut squash and spicy prawns over whole grain pasta. Yum!

I learned one interesting thing while watching Chris prepare dinner. I often complain that he doesn't listen to me, and not just the standard "I'm talking and he's not paying attention" scenario. He'll ask me a specific question and then stop listening before I've finished answering. And then he'll ask again. And again. But while watching him follow the recipe, I discovered something.

He was reading the recipe out loud and repeating it to himself while he followed it. I watched him read, very clearly, "Now add the shallots to the saucepan...add the shallots to the sauce pan...shallots, saucepan..." He then picked up the prawns and, very purposefully, added them to the saucepan. "Shallots...saucepan..."

...

"OH CRAP!"

And that's when I realized that it's not just me he doesn't listen to. He doesn't even listen to himself. I laughed for a long time over that.

He's my (ADHD) sweetheart.

He's legal

Whoops, Cowboy is actually 21 in dog years. Apparently, the story that 1 year = 7 dog years is wrong since dogs mature quickly in their first two years. 1 year = 10.5 dog years for the first two years, and then it's 1:4 after that. No wonder Cowboy went on a pub crawl last night to celebrate. I thought that was a bit much for a teenager but it makes more sense now.

I think it's about time for him to get a job.

14 in dog years

h a p p y b i r t h d a y
c o w b o y

Mmmmmmmmm bop

I'm still at work and I just received the most beautiful jasmine flowers from my wonderful husband. When I got to reception to pick them up, I saw masses of red and pink roses, tulips and carnations covering the back table. In the midst of it all stood a very large green and white wreath-like plant. I thought immediately, "I bet that's mine." And I was right!

It's amazing. Most of the flowers haven't bloomed yet, but there are a few that have and their scent is strong enough to fill my entire cube. I can't stop smelling them. Mmmmmmmmm.

And to top it off, it's a potted plant so I can keep it here and enjoy the lovely scent of jasmine for years to come! OK, years might be pushing it. But at least I'll have them for more than a week! Mmmmmmm.

Thank you Chris. You make me happy.

Mmmmmmmm...

Some days you're the pigeon

I was in a meeting yesterday with a woman who was not completely fluent in English. The content of the meeting was rather complicated, but it was clear that she was understanding the vast majority of what was discussed. Every once in awhile, however, she'd ask the meeting facilitator to clarify something. The facilitator would repeat herself very slowly, very loudly, and in pidgin English. I'd think, "Huh?" How exactly does broken language help with comprehension? Wouldn't that make it even more confusing?

Do all cultures do this? I thought of times when I've had trouble understanding something in another language. Not once do I remember having the phrase repeated back to me using broken language. More slowly or loudly, perhaps. But in pidgin? Das glaube ich nicht. (For you non-German speakers: ICH! GLAUBEN! ES! NEIN!)

A couple pics for this week

• Cowboy annoys us
• Friends & food
  
• We annoy Cowboy
• I'm a copy-coat
• Megastars think outside the bun