There are certain things that happen that make me say – wow, I’m showing my age! Last week when Karl Malden passed away – I was the only one in my area at work that knew who he was! Nobody knew what I was talking about when I said my Mom used to buy us Ice Milk and not Ice Cream. Well – Saturday I showed my age again.
I went over to Lydia’s for a 4th of July BBQ with her neighbors. We had hamburgers, fruit, salads, basic BBQ food – for dessert Lydia made the most amazing pies – her apple pie that I love and then a cherry blueberry pie that tasted really good. It was really juicy – would taste great over ice cream. There were two neighborhood girls there – probably around 12 or 13 – every time they heard someone set off a firecracker they would go – 1..2..3..Oh My Gosh!! In that high pitched squeally voice that only teenage girls have. I found myself thinking . . . can’t they be quiet . . I wasn’t that annoying when I was their age! Then it was time for fireworks. I used to really like fireworks but on Saturday I found myself plugging my ears during the really loud ones – worrying about things catching on fire from the ones that would go flying all over the place like really fast bees – wondering why we couldn’t just set off nice fountains instead of the Roman Candles. I went home afterwards – got there around midnight – woke up at 8 the next morning and was tired the rest of the day. Just can’t handle the “late” nights! I am old!
De
Monday, July 6, 2009
Thursday, July 2, 2009
3 Day Weekend . . . . NOT
Tonight - while most people are planning their wonderful 3 Day weekend - I am setting my alarm and putting out my clothes for work tomorrow. It's a company holiday - for everyone but Finance. We get to have a "Finance Fun Day" which does not include much fun - it will be a regular work day spent closing out the Quarter. Usually I don't mind so much these days that Finance has to work - MLK, July 4th, and Labor Day - because we get to take 8 hours off at some other time. But this year it is sunny - mid to upper 80's - and it's the type of weekend where you could just sit outside and enjoy relaxing.
You know what - even the stupid Metro Bus Drivers get the day off - the buses are running on a Sunday Schedule and my route - 218 - doesn't run on the weekends! I will have to ride the Sound Transit Bus and that one leaves once an hour from Issaquah - Seattle and then the same coming home. So - if I don't get to the bus stop at the right time - I'm screwed! I could drive to work - but I've done a lot of driving this past week and the parking garage at my building won't have their early bird special or a July 4th Special so it will cost me $26 to park for the whole day!! I know - highway robbery!
I do have a staycation planned for the week of July 20th - it's all approved and on the books but I'm not sure if I will still take it. I need to use up my hours because I don't want to lose some again but I don't really have any plans. Although - I could use the time to paint the house - or at least the guest room. Lindsay suggested getting a pedi and sitting outside to do lots of reading - sounds kinda good! I will think about it. I have 2 weeks to go.
Oh - and over the next 2 weeks - the WSDOT is closing the I90 Bridge west bound lanes. The traffic will all be moved to the 2 express lanes - traffic is going to suck big time! I may be ready for a vacation after dealing with that! You know - they never plan these road projects very well - they are always inconvenient!
You know what - even the stupid Metro Bus Drivers get the day off - the buses are running on a Sunday Schedule and my route - 218 - doesn't run on the weekends! I will have to ride the Sound Transit Bus and that one leaves once an hour from Issaquah - Seattle and then the same coming home. So - if I don't get to the bus stop at the right time - I'm screwed! I could drive to work - but I've done a lot of driving this past week and the parking garage at my building won't have their early bird special or a July 4th Special so it will cost me $26 to park for the whole day!! I know - highway robbery!
I do have a staycation planned for the week of July 20th - it's all approved and on the books but I'm not sure if I will still take it. I need to use up my hours because I don't want to lose some again but I don't really have any plans. Although - I could use the time to paint the house - or at least the guest room. Lindsay suggested getting a pedi and sitting outside to do lots of reading - sounds kinda good! I will think about it. I have 2 weeks to go.
Oh - and over the next 2 weeks - the WSDOT is closing the I90 Bridge west bound lanes. The traffic will all be moved to the 2 express lanes - traffic is going to suck big time! I may be ready for a vacation after dealing with that! You know - they never plan these road projects very well - they are always inconvenient!
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Vacation Is Over
I had such a good time on my Staycation! I really enjoyed getting to spend time with just my sister - it has been a long time since we've done that! It was a girls long weekend! It was nice spending time with someone that gets my humor - and didn't argue with me on everything!
Sunday - got up, went to Starbucks - surprise surprise!! We had lunch with Colleen's friend at a new restaurant in Issaquah - Tutta Bella. I would not recommend this restaurant. It was rather pricey and you didn't really get your money's worth. I ordered a Calzone and it was really sloppy, runny, tough to eat. I can get a better one from Papa John's delivery. That night we went and saw The Hangover - funny, funny movie!! I could definitely go see that one again.
Monday/Tuesday - we went up to La Conner to stay with Mom and Dad. It was fun and relaxing - I felt like I was in my 20's again with it being just us and no grandkids!
Colleen flew home this morning and I headed in to work. Quarter End - Yay!! I was worried it was going to be a bad day seeing as I had been gone for 4 days - I did a good job of getting a lot of things done before I left so it went rather smoothly today. Right now I am baking a strawberry - rhubarb crisp to bring in to work tomorrow. Never made it before - I hope it works out.
De
Sunday - got up, went to Starbucks - surprise surprise!! We had lunch with Colleen's friend at a new restaurant in Issaquah - Tutta Bella. I would not recommend this restaurant. It was rather pricey and you didn't really get your money's worth. I ordered a Calzone and it was really sloppy, runny, tough to eat. I can get a better one from Papa John's delivery. That night we went and saw The Hangover - funny, funny movie!! I could definitely go see that one again.
Monday/Tuesday - we went up to La Conner to stay with Mom and Dad. It was fun and relaxing - I felt like I was in my 20's again with it being just us and no grandkids!
Colleen flew home this morning and I headed in to work. Quarter End - Yay!! I was worried it was going to be a bad day seeing as I had been gone for 4 days - I did a good job of getting a lot of things done before I left so it went rather smoothly today. Right now I am baking a strawberry - rhubarb crisp to bring in to work tomorrow. Never made it before - I hope it works out.
De
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Long Post - Long Story!
On the way to pick L up from the airport Colleen and I talked about where we wanted to go to dinner. We decided on Cucina Cucina – we figured we would wait and see what kind of mood L was in before we made the decision to have dinner on the way home or to have a late dinner after we had dropped L off with her car.
We got to SeaTac and made a trip around the arrival area – No L yet. So we drove around and got back on the Arrival roundabout and made another pass. As we got close to the Delta sign we started looking for her – not sure what she was going to be wearing or where she would be standing – just as I was about to drive pass Delta I saw her squatting down by the curb – I quickly pulled in to one of the pick-up lanes, caught her eye and waved. Did she smile? Did she wave back? Nope! She gave a shrug with her shoulders, a nasty look, and pointed to the lane that was a little closer to her. Colleen looked over at me and said – I guess we’ll have a late dinner!
I got out of the car and the first words out of her mouth – What you couldn’t pull closer! Then she said – “My phone won’t let me make outgoing calls!” I asked if it had gotten turned off – Oh No! Something just got messed up with my payment. T-Mobile screwed up! OF course – it certainly couldn’t be the fact that she used her debit card for a bank account that has a negative balance. I mentioned that and she of course denied it – said she wouldn’t do something like that. This all happened in the car before we got out of the airport!
We get on the road and get to the point where I need to either take I-5 or 405 – I asked her if I should get on 405 because we were going to pick-up her boyfriend Justin and I wasn’t sure how to get to the exit to his place. I figured it was 405 and L said – No you need to take I5 – I said are you sure? Southcenter is over there – and I pointed in the opposite direction of where I5 was going. She said – No, I know you need to take I5. So I took the exit and as we got on I said – you know, Southcenter is back that way – pointing behind us. Her reaction – If you knew that why did you go this way!! I said because she told me that this was the exit I should take. Her response – “Well maybe you shouldn’t listen to me!!
So – I take the next exit and get back on I5 heading back towards Southcenter. Oh great – we are coming up to another exit where we need to make a decision and I ask again if she knows which one we should take. She tells me 405 – then says no take the Southcenter Pkwy Exit. Of course – this is all in the space of a few seconds as there’s not much time or room for me to make the choice before we would be past them. So I take the South Center Pkwy Exit – again the wrong decision as we pull off the exit and I see that we can’t turn towards the left, we have to follow the exit around to the right. L then tells me that it’s OK – this road will take us all the way around the mall. No it doesn’t! We get to a spot where Colleen and I say we need to turn left and work our way back around. She says we should go right and then proceeds to say – fine don’t listen to me!! Good heavens! We turn left and get all turned around and end up in a Boeing Parking lot with a sign- Authorized Personnel Only! I then remember I have my Garmin and ask L if she has Justin’s address so I can put it in. She says no. I turn the Garmin on so I can at least see a map and start trying to work my way back towards 405. As Colleen and I are talking about which way we think we should go L pipes up with, just hand me the Garmin and I’ll put in his address. Hmm . . . . . I swear she said No when I asked her if she had it!
So we start going and following the directions when L says – Oh, I know where we are now. You can turn off the Garmin. I say I’m going to keep it on just to be sure. You guessed it! Her response was – Fine don’t believe that I know where we’re going.
We get to Justin’s. She runs inside and they come out 5 minutes later and get in the car. While they were inside I turned to Colleen and said – “I guess this wouldn’t be a good time to tell her I’m going to Dallas for Christmas!” Then, as L is getting in she makes a smart-ass comment – Yay, more family time for L. We get back to my place so she can grab her stuff and her car. She is going through her things and we are standing around watching her. She stops and says – “What!! Why are you staring at me?” I told her - Auntie Colleen and I have plans and are waiting for you to leave. Her and Justin finally grab everything and we head outside. Colleen and I get in the car and get out of there before she is even done loading her stuff in her car. As we were driving out Colleen made this comment – “Gee Mom, thanks for picking me up at the airport! That was really nice of you!”
2 additional little tidbits.
Too bad NC didn’t keep her!
De
We got to SeaTac and made a trip around the arrival area – No L yet. So we drove around and got back on the Arrival roundabout and made another pass. As we got close to the Delta sign we started looking for her – not sure what she was going to be wearing or where she would be standing – just as I was about to drive pass Delta I saw her squatting down by the curb – I quickly pulled in to one of the pick-up lanes, caught her eye and waved. Did she smile? Did she wave back? Nope! She gave a shrug with her shoulders, a nasty look, and pointed to the lane that was a little closer to her. Colleen looked over at me and said – I guess we’ll have a late dinner!
I got out of the car and the first words out of her mouth – What you couldn’t pull closer! Then she said – “My phone won’t let me make outgoing calls!” I asked if it had gotten turned off – Oh No! Something just got messed up with my payment. T-Mobile screwed up! OF course – it certainly couldn’t be the fact that she used her debit card for a bank account that has a negative balance. I mentioned that and she of course denied it – said she wouldn’t do something like that. This all happened in the car before we got out of the airport!
We get on the road and get to the point where I need to either take I-5 or 405 – I asked her if I should get on 405 because we were going to pick-up her boyfriend Justin and I wasn’t sure how to get to the exit to his place. I figured it was 405 and L said – No you need to take I5 – I said are you sure? Southcenter is over there – and I pointed in the opposite direction of where I5 was going. She said – No, I know you need to take I5. So I took the exit and as we got on I said – you know, Southcenter is back that way – pointing behind us. Her reaction – If you knew that why did you go this way!! I said because she told me that this was the exit I should take. Her response – “Well maybe you shouldn’t listen to me!!
So – I take the next exit and get back on I5 heading back towards Southcenter. Oh great – we are coming up to another exit where we need to make a decision and I ask again if she knows which one we should take. She tells me 405 – then says no take the Southcenter Pkwy Exit. Of course – this is all in the space of a few seconds as there’s not much time or room for me to make the choice before we would be past them. So I take the South Center Pkwy Exit – again the wrong decision as we pull off the exit and I see that we can’t turn towards the left, we have to follow the exit around to the right. L then tells me that it’s OK – this road will take us all the way around the mall. No it doesn’t! We get to a spot where Colleen and I say we need to turn left and work our way back around. She says we should go right and then proceeds to say – fine don’t listen to me!! Good heavens! We turn left and get all turned around and end up in a Boeing Parking lot with a sign- Authorized Personnel Only! I then remember I have my Garmin and ask L if she has Justin’s address so I can put it in. She says no. I turn the Garmin on so I can at least see a map and start trying to work my way back towards 405. As Colleen and I are talking about which way we think we should go L pipes up with, just hand me the Garmin and I’ll put in his address. Hmm . . . . . I swear she said No when I asked her if she had it!
So we start going and following the directions when L says – Oh, I know where we are now. You can turn off the Garmin. I say I’m going to keep it on just to be sure. You guessed it! Her response was – Fine don’t believe that I know where we’re going.
We get to Justin’s. She runs inside and they come out 5 minutes later and get in the car. While they were inside I turned to Colleen and said – “I guess this wouldn’t be a good time to tell her I’m going to Dallas for Christmas!” Then, as L is getting in she makes a smart-ass comment – Yay, more family time for L. We get back to my place so she can grab her stuff and her car. She is going through her things and we are standing around watching her. She stops and says – “What!! Why are you staring at me?” I told her - Auntie Colleen and I have plans and are waiting for you to leave. Her and Justin finally grab everything and we head outside. Colleen and I get in the car and get out of there before she is even done loading her stuff in her car. As we were driving out Colleen made this comment – “Gee Mom, thanks for picking me up at the airport! That was really nice of you!”
2 additional little tidbits.
- During the drive to Justin’s L was making conversation about how she only had $272 from the paycheck she got while in NC and that’s certainly not going to pay for her phone and she needs gas in her car and needs to pay rent. Then she says – well I get paid at the end of this week. I asked her what she thought she was going to get paid for seeing as she hasn’t worked in the last 2 weeks. She gave me a blank stare like she hadn’t really thought about that. Then says – stop yelling at me. I’m stressed out and I think I’m going to throw up! After we left L at her car, I asked Colleen – Didn’t you understand she was hinting that she needed money! How come you didn’t just turn around and give her some!
- The kids are coming up in August and are getting tickets to the Mariner’s game. Lindsay had asked L if she wanted to go and let her know how much it was going to cost. L then called me and asked if I was going to the game. I said Yes and that I already had my ticket and that the kids are buying their own cheap seats. She said – Oh, well I won’t be going. I have to pay other people and I owe money. Is aid, that’s OK I’m sure you’ll see them at some other point while they are here. She said – “When!!” I said they are here through the weekend so I’m sure she will see them at some point. She told me – Have fun with the family! I responded with, I will! She hung up on me.
Too bad NC didn’t keep her!
De
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Having Fun With My Sissy!
Hi All - Yesterday was a very busy day and I was very tired so I didn't blog. I love having my sissy here! We are having a great time.
Yesterday we got up and if you know Colleen then you know that the first thing we did was . . . . . . . .head to Starbucks! We got are sbux to go and headed to the Seattle Rock and Roll Marathon Expo - C was originally coming up here to run the Rock and Roll 1/2 but about 4 weeks after Boston she injured herself and has been rehabbing it ever since. I'm glad she didn't get to run because that meant we got to spend more time together. So we hit the Expo - she got her T-shirt, goody bag, and a new Garmin. Next stop was to park at my office - it is centrally located by the shopping malls in downtown and within walking distance of Pike Place Market. We then did what all good Boyd girls do on vacation - we Shopped!!!!!
Next stop was to have lunch at the Steelhead Diner - it is down at the Market and they have the most amazing fish and chips! C agreed that it was very good. We enjoyed the view - we could see a cruise ship that was docked at the pier. And - yes Putbory I did pick up another little silver gravy boat!! :P) We made a quick trip through the market and I bought some Rainier Cherries - you know, I could have gotten them there all along instead of having to try and find them at the Issaquah Farmer's Market!! I just forget that it's down here. The cherries are amazing!! If I have any left I will bring some in to work after vacation - or else I'll just take a quick break and walk the 4 blocks and get some more.
Today we went and visited Auntie Jan at her new place - new to us but she has lived there for a few years now. It was really nice - I would move there in a heartbeat if I could afford it and if I were old enough - you have to be 55. It is a really beautiful community. Auntie Jan's house backs up to one of the many walking trails and it is so peaceful on her patio. We had lunch together and caught up on everything - it had been 5 years since she saw C. We then went to Bellevue Square so we could go to the Mariner's Store. Oh yeah - I almost forgot - we stopped by the University Book Store first - all that purple and gold was dreadful - I almost got sick but lucky for me they have a Cougar section so I went and stood in the Crimson and Grey safe zone! We didn't stay at the mall for very long because we needed to go home and then head to the airport to pick up L. Lucky for me we had this - kept me from going to the Apple Store with C - every time I go in that store with her I end up in debt!!
After the L airport trip C and I went to Cucina Cucina for a late dinner. It was really good! I have had a great 2 days with sissy!!
De
***I will blog about the airport trip tomorrow. Suffice it to say it was rather interesting! To give you an idea - the sound going through my head was the music that is played in The Wizard of Oz evertime you see the Wicked Witch of the West!***
Yesterday we got up and if you know Colleen then you know that the first thing we did was . . . . . . . .head to Starbucks! We got are sbux to go and headed to the Seattle Rock and Roll Marathon Expo - C was originally coming up here to run the Rock and Roll 1/2 but about 4 weeks after Boston she injured herself and has been rehabbing it ever since. I'm glad she didn't get to run because that meant we got to spend more time together. So we hit the Expo - she got her T-shirt, goody bag, and a new Garmin. Next stop was to park at my office - it is centrally located by the shopping malls in downtown and within walking distance of Pike Place Market. We then did what all good Boyd girls do on vacation - we Shopped!!!!!
Next stop was to have lunch at the Steelhead Diner - it is down at the Market and they have the most amazing fish and chips! C agreed that it was very good. We enjoyed the view - we could see a cruise ship that was docked at the pier. And - yes Putbory I did pick up another little silver gravy boat!! :P) We made a quick trip through the market and I bought some Rainier Cherries - you know, I could have gotten them there all along instead of having to try and find them at the Issaquah Farmer's Market!! I just forget that it's down here. The cherries are amazing!! If I have any left I will bring some in to work after vacation - or else I'll just take a quick break and walk the 4 blocks and get some more.
Today we went and visited Auntie Jan at her new place - new to us but she has lived there for a few years now. It was really nice - I would move there in a heartbeat if I could afford it and if I were old enough - you have to be 55. It is a really beautiful community. Auntie Jan's house backs up to one of the many walking trails and it is so peaceful on her patio. We had lunch together and caught up on everything - it had been 5 years since she saw C. We then went to Bellevue Square so we could go to the Mariner's Store. Oh yeah - I almost forgot - we stopped by the University Book Store first - all that purple and gold was dreadful - I almost got sick but lucky for me they have a Cougar section so I went and stood in the Crimson and Grey safe zone! We didn't stay at the mall for very long because we needed to go home and then head to the airport to pick up L. Lucky for me we had this - kept me from going to the Apple Store with C - every time I go in that store with her I end up in debt!!
After the L airport trip C and I went to Cucina Cucina for a late dinner. It was really good! I have had a great 2 days with sissy!!
De
***I will blog about the airport trip tomorrow. Suffice it to say it was rather interesting! To give you an idea - the sound going through my head was the music that is played in The Wizard of Oz evertime you see the Wicked Witch of the West!***
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Sissy's Here!!
Just got home from picking my sister up from the airport. Her flight got in on time - 1025. Her bag was one of the first one's on the carousel - just as we were walking towards carousel 2 Colleen saw her bag coming around - she had to walk fast to get ahead of it so she could grab it. We got right out of the airport onto I5 and then on to 405 - that's where we ran in to problems. There was a very slow back-up that started jusr past Renton and continued on until the I90 exit. My first thought was - what are all these cars doing on the road at 1100 at night. We shouldn't be running in to traffic - this is ridiculous. Well - our lovely Department of Transportation was doing work on 405 and the three lane road was down to one lane. What should have been a 20 - 30 minute trip ended up being an hour long trip. Which - not too bad for me but Colleen is coming from Texas which is 2 hours ahead of us so when we got home it was 130 in the morning for her. She headed straight to bed - which is in my new spare bedroom! I got an airbed for that room - I hope it is comfortable. I gave her extra blankets too because she came from 100* and right now it is in the 50s.
I'm going to get some sleep!
De
I'm going to get some sleep!
De
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