Black Bottle Birthday Bash

Happy birthday to me! The best present of all - spring! - has finally arrived in Seattle today, with sunshine, cloudless blue skies, temps in the 70's, and gorgeous views of snow-topped mountains.

Last weekend, we had a blast in the private room at Black Bottle to celebrate in style. Thanks to everyone who showed up for making it so much fun! See our photos here and here.

Easter Eggs

Happy Easter! We made pisanki last night. The traditional way to make them is to boil the eggs with onion shells to give them a brown color, then etch designs into the shell which reveals white. Then on Saturday before Easter you take them to the church in a basket containing the eggs, a sugar lamb, salt, meat, and bread to get all the food blessed. (There's a lot of symbolism, if you can't guess.) Then on Sunday you make a white borsch called zurek out of everything.

So that's what we did. Check out the photos.

Two Facts (aka "That Noise Last Night")

1. The noise last night was the cat knocking down my jacket and a camera filter from the green chair.

2. As a result of the jacket being on the floor, she peed on it this morning. I don't think that's legitimate. If I leave it on the floor, ok. But she can't put things on the floor then pee on them. Sadly I didn't discover this second fact until I had gotten into the car, wearing the jacket of course, and thought the car smelled bad. It took me all the way until 15th and Beacon to discover what smelled bad. When I got home again the cat was in a lot of trouble. Still is going to be in a lot of trouble tonight. I'm probably actually going to take the time to cut off her food supply finally. Grr.

Happiness Is

Chick-Fil-A. In Washington. That's me in Bellingham with Bellingham Bay in the background. We had to go 90 miles to get the goods, but that's a pittance compared to the distance to L.A. (previously the closest Chick-Fil-A), and much more doable on a weekend. I gorged myself, then we brought home enough to share and then some and I am still hoarding chicken. When we got home, all of it was still warm. Mmmmm.......

In other good news, the weather warmed up over the weekend, with lots of sunshine and hitting 70 one day, which added icing to my Chick-Fil-A happiness cake. You can see the brilliance, even 90 miles further north, in the photo.

Oh, and we stopped to see the daffodils, because the tulips also object to the long cold winter, and haven't bloomed yet. Michal has tons of pictures of that, too, and even I took a few here and there.

Cell Phones and GPS

Privacy implications aside, this is really neat:


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April Fools

It snowed. This is not funny.

Bonza Bash 2009

Saturday night was Bonza Bash. A good time was had by all! Photos are available, and official photos will be coming out sometime later.

Looking for Spring

At least something around here thinks it's spring. My Gerber daisy houseplant flaunts several blooms, despite continuing winter weather around here. I never thought I'd say this, but thankfully the weather got into the 50's this week, so there's some hope that spring might arrive before 2010. In the meantime, I'll have to enjoy the indoor promises of heat and flowers to tide me over until then.

Amalea & Andrew's Wedding

I flew to the other Washington this weekend to participant in Amalea and Andrew's wedding version 1.0. They tied the knot at the Lincoln Memorial on Friday afternoon, and it stopped snowing and raining long enough for the quick ceremony and several hours of pictures. We then adjourned to The Occidental for a celebratory dinner before the newlyweds retired to the Willard Intercontinental Hotel for the evening. I took quite a few pictures to commemorate the occasion.

On Saturday, our small group rejoined for lunch, then several of us went to the mall (actually, to two) and did the abbreviated tour of the Museum of Natural History. As the highlight of my Saturday, I gorged myself on Chick-Fil-A for my evening meal, and like a good disciple, bought extra for the long flight home on Sunday.

We'll be back for the repeat performance on November 13th, if anyone (hint, hint) cares to join us for a weekend in the nation's capitol.

Somebody Hates Me

If they had a voodoo doll with my name on it, they'd be sprinkling sugar or flour over it on a regular basis. As you can probably tell, it snowed. Again. For the zillionth time this winter. I am so over snow it's not even funny. Once again, these three or four inches surprised me in the morning. That's good because it meant I got a decent night's sleep, rather than worrying about getting to work while tossing and turning. It's bad because I had to get to work in it, and to do that, I had to uncover my car. To give you an idea, unlike last time, I couldn't see the hood or the trunk of my car, and both windows had a thick layer (about like the chairs in this photo) as well. I dumped several puddles into my seat just opening the door, and the back windshield, even after the ride to work, was still completely covered in snow.

Most of the snow melted by the end of the day, and nothing got canceled, but that's more because we've gotten so jaded about snow that everyone ignores it. As every good Southerner knows, when it snows, you stay home, unless you run to the store for extra bread and milk to outlast the white stuff.

It's practically March. No more snow allowed.

Hawaii Here We Come!

We bought tickets to Hawaii! We got a good deal on tickets for my next week off from work. Michal has never been before, and I've only been for work, and even that more than five years ago.

We're hoping family or friends will be able to join us. United and Delta both have deals from Atlanta now, and although I couldn't find anything great from Cincinnati or Texas, prices could drop between now and May.

We haven't done much planning yet. We fly into Honolulu on Sunday, May 3rd, and return the following Sunday. If you have any suggestions for places to see or stay, let us know.

Soda on Demand

We made an impulse purchase (at the RV store no less) last weekend, and came home with a Soda Stream. We don't drink a lot of soda - until now. The machine carbonates water, then you add the flavor of your choosing. I happen to really like bubbly water, so even without the soda flavor it seemed like a good choice.

We've had it for a week now and I've had at least a half liter of soda or bubbly water every day. It's fantastic. It's really fun to make. We got the sample pack of flavors pictured here, but after sampling only one each on Sunday night, we ordered a vat of flavors online. They arrived on Tuesday, despite the fact that Monday was a holiday.

Now we have oodles of flavors to choose from, and the only problem is picking which one I want each day. The best part is that Soda Stream products don't use high fructose corn syrup, which is the part of regular soda I dislike. Their diet versions have about 12 calories per liter, and even the regular drinks have much fewer calories and chemicals than the average store brand. They do get flat after about a day, but so far a bottle hasn't lasted either of us more than 24 hours anyway. Luckily, the starter set came with two bottles, so we can each have one.

I'm off to pick my flavor of the day.

My previous landlords had a farewell party this weekend, and I stopped in to say goodbye. I watched their kids about once a week for the three plus years I lived in the mother-in-law apartment in their basement. I can remember when their youngest, London, was born. She'll turn five years old this March. Her older brothers, Jake and Griffin, will be eight. They moved to California on short notice, and rented their old house out to two couples.

In a strange coincidence, I got a phone call from Sid's mom the same day. We set up a dinner date, and Sid and I had a fantastic time plowing through a pizza and an order of flatbread at Tutta Bella. We also tricked out our set of Wikkisticks. Sid, now six and a half (he was six months old when I started working for them, and not quite three when I left), not only made me a Valentine, but also wrote a huge book (12 x 18) complete with table of contents and an index entitled "Grat Lrnin" (Great Learning for those who don't speak kid). He read me the entire thing, and I freely admit that I am head over heels for it. If you want to hear all the best parts, call me and I'll read it to you. You can also see the head of the woodpecker and hummingbird he made for me in the picture, and he sent me home with many other creations as well as more fond memories.

In the Dog House

We had a visitor of the canine persuasion for the long weekend. Wheatie came to stay with us Friday to Monday while Andy, Angie, and Ally played in Hawaii. We got lucky with the weather, and had very little rain during her stay.
Wheatie has a basket of toys here, and she played with all seven in the first hour. We prolonged the life of several with duct tape, and they lasted throughout her stay. She also slept in several of our old dog beds. For anyone who has met Wheatie, you'll realize that she exceeded the intended occupancy size by a bit, as seen here. Rocket's manners deteriorated during the visit, and she jumped up on anything to stay secure, even though most things were off limits. Rocket and Wheatie tolerated each other, and nine times out of ten Wheatie didn't even approach Rocket unless she ran (at which point the chase reflex kicked in). We did spend a lot of quality time with the squeak toys. Best of all, one afternoon Wheatie squeaked her green bone, and Rocket immediately made the exact same sequence of squeaks from the other room. Needless to say, Wheatie preferred the live version.

Not a Happy Snow Camper

To Whom It May Concern:
When I opened the door to leave for work last Monday, this sight greeted me: 3-4 inches of unpredicted (at least to me) snow. I was not happy. The good news is that I start work later on Mondays, so some people had already driven through the snow and left tracks to follow. I could also see the scary patches easier because it was daylight, and I arrived at work in one piece with no incidents. It snowed more Monday evening, and through most of the late morning on Tuesday. In places like the northern slopes of Beacon Hill, some patches stuck around as late as Thursday and Friday. It's February. I've had enough. If I wanted snow in the winter, I would move to Michigan. Or Minnesota. Or another snowy state. But instead I live in Seattle. Please stop the snow.

2009 Freestyle Skiing World Cup

The reason we bought the trailer, or at least a large motivating factor, was the fact that I am spending the week in Vancouver living in it. I volunteered for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, and in the meantime, I was given the opportunity to volunteer as a ski patroller for the 2009 World Cup Freestyle at Cypress Mountain in Vancouver. There are three events that are a part of the freestyle skiing discipline -- ski cross, moguls, and the aerials. The photo at left was taken tonight at the men's aerials qualifications, where the field of 37 athletes was narrowed to the top 12 who will go on to compete in the final (which is either Friday or Saturday -- I can't recall). Anyway, if you see this on TV, keep an eye out for me!

New Pop-Up Tent Trailer

Last weekend we purchased a new pop-up tent camper. It's a 1980 Coleman model which had a broken lift that I had to repair this past week. (It was really just 20 feet of 1/8" wire, but it took so many different tools, almost all of which I already owned!) This past Saturday night we took the trailer to Dash Point State Park, near Federal Way, located about 20 miles south of Seattle. This was intended as a test trip, to see how waterproof the old canvas is (the body itself is in great shape, but the canvas is showing its age). The thinking was that if it was absolutely miserable we'd be able to pack up in the middle of the night and come home in under an hour. Well, it turns out there are a few tiny leaks which need to be plugged, but it makes a wonderful home away from home. It packs down and tows very nicely, but expands to have two double beds and a table and is quite roomy. An added bonus is that with the electricity hookup at the camp ground, we were able to get a space heater to keep the temperature almost near 60 while it was freezing outside.

Sarah has the photos at her Smugmug site.

2009 Governor's Inaugural Ball

Four years ago, the governor's race in Washington was very close with two recounts and a court challenge (Christine Gregoire won by 130 votes in the end). I had volunteered for the recount, so once it was all said and done, I was informed about the Governor's Inaugural Ball, and took Sarah. We had a blast, so we went again this year. Although we weren't able to snag the governor (she ran down the stairs way too quickly for us to keep up with her!), we did get a very nice photograph with Sam Reed, the Secretary of State. (See more photographs). A variety of Washington wines accompanied the hors d'oeuvres, made by a variety of cooking schools. I even ate geo-duck! The only downside is that the ball takes place on a weeknight in Olympia. That means we have to get off work, get ready, then drive for an hour before we get there. We'll be sure to be there again in four years, however, as it's worth all the effort.

Snowstorm Timelapse

Sunday evening the first snow of 2009 came down in Seattle. It didn't last very long, melting over the course of the day on Monday. I took a photo every 30 seconds and made a 2 minute video:

Holiday Photos Galore

We've managed to post all of our holiday photos now. I escaped the worst of the Seattle snow, leaving on Thursday, Dec. 18th for Atlanta. Michal, too, missed the airport weather madness and arrived safely in Atlanta on Dec. 24th. We tore through two days of presents, then, thanks to snow delays with packages, came home to another week of presents arriving.

Michal's Holiday Pictures

Sarah's Atlanta Pictures

Sarah's Seattle Pictures

Michal's Shinty Pictures

Michal also got some great shots of our shinty game in the snow from New Year's Day.

Happy 2009!