Birch Box Day

No matter what time I leave work I always seem to get home at the same time - 730!  Left at 630 on Tues - home at 730.  Left today at 530 - home at 730!!  WTH!

I haven't been feeling 100% today - scratchy throat and headache - and when I got home and took Chrissy out for a walk I think I discovered why.  It looked like it was literally raining pollen!  I was out on the sidewalk and looked out towards the road and I could see all this pollen floating in the air and dancing in the sun!  It was really pretty and rather disturbing!

I got the mail today and there was only one thing in there - Birchbox!!  Once a month I get something fun in the mail - I love packages!  (haha . . .that's what she said!)  Anyways - Birchbox Day!  Inside my pretty box this month I got:

1. philosophy - a one step facial cleaner
2. Nuxe - Multi use dry oil (I'll have ot read up on this as I'm not sure what it's for!)
3. Redken Shine Flash - give your hair a brilliant finish.
4. Zoya - Nail Polish in the color Pandora
5. Extra Kind Almond & Apricot snack bar

Time to watch Big Brother and enjoy my Birchbox!

My Wednesday in Pictures!

My view on the 1.75 hour long bus ride!



L came by to show me her new accessory!

My very first Sounders game!!

This sign on the bus cracked me up! 
We'd like to thank all our ST Express riders for . . . you're dozing off aren't you?  Well, since you're not driving, that's definitely an option.  Just watch the drool, 'cause the guy next to you didn't sign up for that.  And as long as you're not behind the wheel, feel free to read a book too.  War and Peace is good.  Or at least the Cliffs Notes version was interesting.  Hey, it was high school, cut us some slack.  Like you read War and Peace when you were 16.  Anyway, thanks for riding.



Bus Fun . . . Not

I am currently stuck on a bus in really bad traffic due to an accident on I90. I am glad I didn't drive today because I think I would be going nuts.

There is a guy sitting just in front of me though who does not seem to be handling this well at all. He can't sit still - keeps rocking back and forth - heavy sighing - he's making me a little nervous. I'm worried he might either crack or throw up! I can't tell if he's just not feeling well or if he's got mental issues.

So far I have been on this bus for 30 minutes and we haven't even made it to the Eastgate Freeway Overpass yet. This is going to be a very long trip and I didn't grab breakfast before I left the house this morning!

Ok - the guy just stood up to stretch and his fly is down. The creep factor just increased. I hope he's getting off at Eastgate and not riding all the way in to Seattle.

The accident was caused by a jackknifed semi and a logging truck that lost it's back axel. I read that there were 13 cars involved and that a child was critically injured. That is very sad. I hope he/she makes it.

I am entertaining myself by people watching the drivers in cars that we pass. They all look very frustrated. There was one guy who was rocking back and forth really fast in his car - not sure if he was trying to get things to move faster or if he was just "rocking" out to some music! Just passed an older gentleman reading a newspaper!! A cop car just passed us - I hope there isn't another accident in the backup.

OK - looks like creepy guy is standing up to get off at Eastgate! Not sure why he's standing right now though - at our rate of movement it's gonna still be another 15 minutes til we get there.

A motorcycle cop and a tow truck just passed by on the shoulder.

Ok. Signing off to read for a bit.

De

That's So Not Me!

People that know me are going to notice a few things about this post-

• This post is being written way past my bedtime!
• I did something spontaneous - which hardly ever happens!
• I actually left the house and did something on a Friday night!

This morning as I drove in to work I was listening to Jackie and Bender as usual.  Most times on Fridays they will have a comedian who is performing in the area on the weekend come by and sit in with them for a bit.  This morning it was Josh Blue!  He is the comedian from Last Comic Standing with cerebral palsy.  I think he won his season - I find him Hilarious!  When I got to work I looked up Laughs in Kirkland just to see how much the tickets were - $20 - not that bad.  But - I didn't want to go by myself - most of my friends have families so they wouldn't be up for a late Friday night - the show was scheduled to start at 10.  Then it came to me - L has been wanting to go to a comedy club since she turned 21.  So - I called her - woke her up because it was 1030 - she didn't start work until 1.  Asked her if she wanted to go with me and she said "Yes!"

I picked her up when she got off work and we headed to the show!  There were 2 opening comics and then Josh Blue came on.  They were all very funny - which was great seeing as the last show I went to was in Vegas last year and we didn't really get any good comics.  During the second comics act L bumped her elbow against her plate of nachos and made a clanging sound - oh did I mention we were sitting in the very front row right next to the stage!!  Anyways - L made the noise and the comic turned to her and started a whole section on her pushing up to her plate of Nachos with elbows out so no one would take any!  We were laughing so hard I thought I was going to pee my pants!!

I had so much fun tonight!  I will definitely do this again!

De

Ugghh . . . . Mondays

Yeah - this was a typical Monday.

Woke up with a migraine - trouble getting going - missed bus - missed early bird parking - kept misplacing invoices on my frickin' desk - so completely out of it.

Why is there always one person who has to make a comment about something that has been given to them - instead of thank you they ask where's this or why didn't you bring that.

Chrissy has suddenly decided over the past week that the pee pee pad needs to stay clean and dry - oh not by holding it until I get home and take her outside - nope - by peeing on the floor right next to it.

Three letters that sum up my day . . . . . . . P M S!! 

De

No Longer Martha . . . . It's De!

I have been quite the Martha Stewart this weekend!  So much so that people will start calling it being a De when they are quite the homemaker!!

Yesterday I got up early and headed to the Farmer's Market - strawberry season is coming to an end and raspberry season has just started.  I was able to get a flat of strawberries and a half flat of raspberries - the strawberries are so ripe that the stall I went to gave me half a flat at half price.  They are very very ripe!  Good thing I planned on using them right away because they would not have lasted past this weekend - in fact, I lost some overnight so quickly finished up today.  Yesterday I made my very first batch of strawberry jam - it was fun and easy - the jam set-up real nice! 

Today I made a batch of raspberry jam and then a batch of wild berry jam - mixture of strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries (which I had in the freezer).  They are all set-up and ready to go in the freezer tomorrow.  I had some strawberries leftover so I just made a strawberry-rhubarb crisp to bring in to work tomorrow. 

I have jam coming out my ears now and I still want to make more!  I am going to need a bigger freezer!  I think I will need to give some away - especially before blackberry season gets here!  After I make jam my next project is going to be canning - I will try peaches first I think - then when fall gets here it will be time for applesauce.  I so need a bigger kitchen!

De

Relief Society

Last night was our Relief Society Additional Meeting.  The theme we were given was Provident Living so the Activity Committee - which I'm on - decided to do something on making jam and canning.  Now - I've made jam before - although a very long time ago.  When I lived in North Bend I had a plethora of blackberries growing in my backyard - I used to just go out there and pick enough to either make a pie or mix up some freezer jam.  It was fun.  However - I have never canned anything so was very excited to learn about that. 

I thought canning would be intensive and messy.  What I found out is -  if you plan ahead - are very organized - have a system - it can go rather smoothly.  It made me very excited to give it a try.  I was pleased to find out that you don't have to have a canning/pressure cooker - you can us any large pot as long as it has a good fitting tight lid and you have a rack to set the jars on.  So - now I just need to get some canning utensils - most importantly a jar lifter for taking the hot jars out of the hot water. 

Actually - the first step is probably to get my kitchen clean and organized so I have room to do the canning.  I wonder what I should try first?  Maybe just a couple jars of peaches to practice and test my skills on.  If this all works then my next thing might be applesauce!  

I have a potential new hobby!

De

Update on L

I had already planned on doing an L update tonight - which is probably why something else came up! 

Last weeks issue was a dental problem.  I've been telling her she needed to get her insurance started  through work - she's not on mine and she can get it through work.  Of course, typical L doesn't do it until there's an emergency and it takes 3 weeks for the insurance to kick in.  The dental emergency is a major toothache that just wasn't going away.  I finally got her to go to Bright Now Dental to get it looked at - they have deals for people with no insurance.  So she got it looked at - ends up she has two severely infected teeth - upper molars on both sides in the very back.  They put her on antibiotics, pain meds, and have scheduled her for tooth extraction in August when her insurance kicks in.  They work out payment plans with people - so hopefully she makes the payments and I don't end up having to pay for this.  I did have to pay the $39 for the check up because she had no cash.  I am in debt and it's mostly due to L expenses.  

This kinda rolls right into the weird thing that happened tonight.  L called me when she got home from work - the Landlord was at her house and told L that the owner of the house wanted her mother's phone number to discuss the rent.  L said she told them that I have nothing to do with her rent - that I don't take care of her.  She told me that she is up to date on Rent - that she gets paid tomorrow and will be making her $200 payment towards July.  She told me that she had worked out a payment plan with them because she doesn't get paid enough on one paycheck to cover a months worth of rent so they had agreed to her paying half with each paycheck.  I know - part of me is thinking the same thing - that she either hasn't been making the payments or no payment plan was really ever set up - she just figured if she made the payments they would just go with it.  At least she called to warn me and I had her give them the home phone and not my cell.  Not sure what the owner would expect to get from me - L's 21 - not a minor - I never co-signed the rental agreement - They can threaten to throw her out but they're not getting any money out of me.  I have none to give.  Maybe I should give them her Dad's number - he could step up and help her out this time. 

 Will there ever be a time when she is not a drain on my finances?  I am barely paying all of my own bills - certainly can't pay hers as well.

De