lefthandedcrocheter

Day 8 - early morning jumper

2009-03-12T07:38:00.000-07:00

For some reason this morning I woke up at 5:30 a.m. without an alarm and could not fall back asleep. Well, I suppose I could fall asleep again but I didn't want to fall asleep and wake up at 8:30. So I got up, came out and ate a banana...sat down and surfed through the net like I usually do in the morning. Then I decided to scan through exercise TV on demand and ended up watching 30 day shred day 2 to see what I was up against for this coming Sunday. It's not bad - not as scary as my imagination was running away with, but it will be tough. So after watching the workout...I decided I would be pretty lazy if I didn't do my workout while I had the time.

So I did it. I pushed through 97% of the workout and rests probably twice when my arms were shaking so bad I had to stop. The plus side is that I don't have to do the workout when I get home from work! BONUS!

Now off to make a quick breakfast and prepare lunches for the two of us, then work, then home to relax!

Day 7 - looking ahead

2009-03-11T20:57:00.000-07:00

I did my workout someone reluctantly tonight. But I did do it. There seemed to be more distractions while I worked out tonight. My brother was cooking again - which helps so we don't eat at like 9 p.m.

The hardest part for me is always the last ab exercise - which is bicycle crunches....that one always feels like I do it longer than one minute.

Not very much to say tonight. I'm going back to finishing a watercolor I started at the beginning of the week. One more day of work and then two days off. Saturday is my last level one day...I'm a bit nervous of how hard the second level is.

Day 6 - Ouch

2009-03-10T22:29:00.000-07:00

Today as I was coming home from work - I was psyching myself out to not do my exercise tonight. I was feeling very tired and just wanting to eat and be lazy. My brother picked me up from work and we needed some more milk so we detoured to the grocery store. I wandered through the produce section and he suggested Mac and cheese for dinner. I didn't want just noodles and cheese though...as we wandered we ended up added two cans of tuna and one bag of frozen broccoli to the dinner.

I asked my brother to cook so I could get my workout in before watching The Biggest Loser. He started dinner when I was half done. It seemed to me that it was as tough as day 2. This is my fourth day in a row so I am really not surprised that I am tired. I did push through it - however I think I grunted and breathed really hard through it all to finish.

I am happy I didn't slack off. Now to try to add a better diet to the mix.

dual post day four and five Shred

2009-03-10T00:07:00.000-07:00

So the last three days I have done 30 Day shred and I am sore but not as sore as I thought I was going to be. It's still tough in the cardio and also in the arm strength training. I have never found the ab work out tough aside from the last session due to fatigue.

I came home and was going to make dinner and hang out at home, when I checked Facebook and found one of my co-workers who I told about this workout had in her status that she was doing the workout...which got me thinking "I can't face her tomorrow, knowing I was lazy." So I got dinner ready and as it warmed in the oven and kick my butt into gear and did the exercise.

Man - working out like that killed part of my appetite for a while - which is good because I didn't want to eat much after that work out. 25 days left, which doesn't seem like too much.

I am halfway through the first level. 5 more days and I move up to level two...I'm am thinking it's going to be a tough transition...but I'm ready for a new routine to add to it. I can almost think what Jillian is going to say next...and I still find my self screaming inside my head (shut up you mean person...this hurts)...heh...

30 day shred day 3

2009-03-08T15:39:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I decided to suck up my laziness and do my 3rd day at 10:30 p.m. I am proud to say I only took one break at the beginning of the workout four the recommended 5 seconds and then pushed through the strain and pain and completed the workout. I'm pretty happy with that. I can tell things are still tough - but the program rocks. I feel good after I have finished and will be doing my fourth day today to see how back to back days works with my body. I would like to get to every day doing this for one month to see what my results are.

30 day shred day 2

2009-03-05T21:54:00.000-08:00

Today I came home and pondered which workout to do this evening. I was googling "30 day shred" and came across a review of the workouts. As I read, what stuck out in my mind is the fact that the point of these 3 workouts is to do them daily for 30 days. The blogger said she did each one for 10 days. I decided to see how I would handle the second day.

Side note, I was seriously limping around work today. The more I could get up and move around, the easier it was to move, the more I sat the stiffer I became. Also today was day two without soda. I guzzled about 3 full water bottles at work alone.

So the verdict for round two? I didn't gag or feel like I was going to throw up! I call that a major success. I can remember thinking parts of the workout were much easier, and I stopped quite a bit less this time. Pushups seemed easier, so did the quad kicks and the jump rope. I'm still easing into squats but that will come. Overall I think my body definitely felt better than two days ago.

We'll see how the rest of the 30 days goes. I will have to figure out what to do near the end of the month where I will be busy and possibly away from the tv so I might have to really learn this routine so I can do it in my free time wherever I might be.

Yesterday's dual workout

2009-03-05T21:42:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I decided to try another of the On Demand Exercise TV offerings. I remember in college taking Modern Dance class and having some of our warm up exercises be pilates. So I decided to do LessisMorePilates, a thirty minute workout. It was quite a bit more intense in the leg area then I remember from college days. It was nice though, I liked the flow of the exercises and the easy that seems to work just as hard as some of the stuff I did with the 30 day shred. I also decided to try the PMYoga. A thirty minute work out designed to get you ready for sleep. The main thing I focused on was breathing and how I could control my breathe and stretches. Over all I think it was a good in between day workout.

slacker does 30 day shred

2009-03-03T22:43:00.000-08:00

I always get inspired by the folks on Biggest Loser each week, so after two weeks of being really lazy with working out I jumped into a 30 minute workout call 30 day shred with Jillian Michaels on On Demand Exercise tv...and you know what...

I don't know how those biggest loser people do it...I worked out for 30 minutes...and I am almost ready to throw up, and I am sure my face is as red as a tomato...and I feel like I worked out for days straight.

i am now sitting down, getting my breath under control, and sipping water. as soon as I cool down enough to go to the bathroom, wash my face, and collapse into bed.

I am going to get up early tomorrow and try a different work out, or go walking...not sure yet...but I need to try to do something to get my metabolism up earlier so it burns longer...and I am thinking of just walking on my breaks...and more water.

so that's my current plan. My two month goal is fast approaching and my main thing is that I don't want to be stuck at 211 by the 14th, so i know I made at least some progress instead of staying stagnet.

Until tomorrow! Breath a sigh of relief that I finished my work out tonight without passing out.

Jillian Michaels

2009-01-16T23:00:00.000-08:00

Yeah so I decided to jump back on the balance board and try my weight at the time I have been weighing in for the last three days. I am down a bit but not what it showed this morning. I am officially down 1.3 pounds in four days. Not bad. I'm sticking with 1-2 lbs a week.

Now I have been researching Jillian Michael's Fitness Ultimatum 2009 for the Wii. I bought it tonight. I am pleasantly surprised at the amount I did sweat while doing a workout with this game. I am looking forward to supplementing Wii Fit with this game for a nice cardiovascular burn. It also has fitness tips for traveling and food tips too. And you can do multi-player!

My favorite so far is the kayaking and the monkey bars.

I'm still trying to figure out the grenade throwing, cannon loading, and boxing.

I did a total of 130 minutes of work out today. I'm sore...now to drink some more water and relax with a book.

On a side note...I love Jillian! She could come kick my butt any day!

Wii Fit Day 4

2009-01-16T17:18:00.000-08:00

So it's going well. Forth day in and I have done 30 minutes each day. I started figuring out what type of games I did the day before and swapping to the other two. Wii Fit has four types of games:
Yoga, Strength Training, Aerobic, and Balance games.

I do the Yoga and Strength training one day and the Aerobic and Balance games the second day. Four days in and I am still seeing small amounts of weight drop off. I did weigh myself earlier than I normally do so I am skeptical at my weight from today. But I'm going to weigh tonight to see. currently I am 3 lbs into my 10 pound goal...if that's accurate from this morning's weigh in.

So I also walked to work yesterday morning and today My brother and I took an hour long walk. Down to the gas station for a diet soda and a block further to my job to pick up my BONUS Check!!!!

I'm so excited. Not only did I get this check but I also got a surprise deposit from my old job back in Minnesota (after a full year). Turns out the deposit was a payout on left over vacation time I had accrued. So I'm feeling really good. I'm taking the vitamins my doctor suggested and I think they are helping.

We'll see when my monthly migraine is scheduled to show up.

Tonight my husband, brother and I are going to Facing East - a Taiwanese restaurant that is located near the art studio I taught at. mmm Fruit tea coming at me!

The new year...

2009-01-14T23:32:00.000-08:00

So from Thanksgiving to January 15th...hmmm not so good on the blogwriting. Well I'm putting it in writing here hoping that will help me stay motivated. I decided to pull out WiiFit last night...Cringed when the little scale told me it had been 157 days since my last weigh in/workout. Found I am again within 2 lbs of my heaviest ever...

So..I did a thirty minute workout yesterday...and did another tonight. I'm down 0.7 lbs today...if I can keep going that would awesome.

Health kick spurred on by doctor visit and discussion of migraines. Dr K. BA (haha Dan do you get the joke?) said if I lost weight it might help but taking vitamins and changing some medication I am taking might also help. The new meds do have side effects the heavier you are...so lets get some chub off!

My goal for the next two months is to lose 10 lbs. and I will readjust depending on how I am at in two weeks when it lets me adjust the goals on the machine. I am feeling good. Day two of vitamins and even though I am taking more than I ever thought I would be at age 27 - I am feeling effects of them already.

Well now..off to bed, then up for one more day of the work week for me! Today I did a majority of yoga and strength training. Tomorrow I will try to focus on aerobic and balance games to balance out.

Thanksgiving

2008-11-27T01:05:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I am typing it early because I will be up early and busy in the kitchen all day. We are having 4 other people over for a 1:30 eating time.

Menu consists of:

turkey
ham
shrimp with cocktail sauce
strawberries with cream dip
mashed potatoes
sweet potatoes
brocolli cheesy rice casserole (better that green bean casserole)
Stuffing
Fruit salad
gravy
rolls

and for dessert:
home made apple pie
Iced pumpkin cookies

and warm citrus punch for drinks.

I have made the cookies and pie tonight and will start the turkey early. Then start the fruit salad then put the ham in and do the potatoes and stuffing at the end...

hmmmm hungry already.

I am so thanks for family and friends that care, good food, a great job, a thanksgiving without having to work (for the first time in three years), a forgiving lord and cell phones to call family we are away from this holiday!

note to past self

2008-11-20T10:32:00.001-08:00

When you offer to drive your husband to work so your brother won't have to walk to work today...make sure you avoid your sandals, find some socks and put on shoes with traction...

it's raining out today and if you wear your sandals you will slip as you get 10 feet from the car and skin your knee open...sigh...stupid klutz!

with your best interest at heart,

your future self

Close up

2008-11-01T15:49:00.001-07:00

Close up, originally uploaded by Elisabeth Scherer!.

and here's my close up of the make up I decided on to go with my costume.

Ninja

2008-11-01T15:33:00.001-07:00

Ninja, originally uploaded by Elisabeth Scherer!.

Here's jeremy. He had a friend that collects weapons. He brought Jeremy a sword, nunchucks, and throwing stars to complete his outfit.

Geisha

2008-11-01T15:32:00.001-07:00

Geisha, originally uploaded by Elisabeth Scherer!.

Here is me in my halloween costume for a party our friend's threw last night. I made the whole outfit. I also made Jeremy's outfit.

Sewing project

2008-09-26T00:48:00.000-07:00

My mom is flying in for a reunion retreat out at Port Townsend on the Olympic Peninsula. One of the things we are doing at the reunion is having a pajama contest. Who ever wins the pajama contest gets a big surprise present from Debbie Macomber. Ms. Macomber was going to come to the retreat and be a guest but her schedule is so busy that she can not make it. So she sent a present for all of us as well as a big gift basket...

The lady who is in charge of the reunion came up with the pajama contest. I am making mine. I decided I could find a really pretty pattern to make. Now here's the thing. I have never sewn a wearable outfit...I did get a nice pattern for an oriental inspired "scrubs" which I am turning into pjs. I found a nice tan brocade/sari fabric to make "silk - like" pajamas. I cut all the fabric out and took the pattern in to see if the two people at work, who I know sew well, could give me any pointers. I also went and found piping in a dark chocolate brown and two frog closures. The top is coming along well. I have the two front pieces attached to the back at the shoulder seams. I also just made the collar (the only part with interfacing) and attached the piping to the collar. I am now too tired to actually go further without fear of mistakes. I cannot wait to finish it though as I am hoping for a very nice top and pants that I could use for a dressy outfit as well.

I also made some freezer jam in the flavor of blueberry. It's sitting on the counter gelling over night...then into the fridge or freezer. I have done this with strawberries already and that was amazing.

Productivity was average today as I got most of the dishes done as well as picked up and organized the master bedroom, except I have about four medium size piles of clothes to get put away and a large pile of laundry to do. Tomorrow I will keep myself busy until it's time to go pick my mom up at the airport. Hopefully it will make the time go faster as well as I can get quite a few things done!

Tomorrow

2008-09-25T14:59:00.001-07:00

Tomorrow my mom flies in. I am just taking a quick minute to say I am so excited to have her here...

back to cleaning the apartment and making yummy foods.

Quilting

2008-09-21T23:29:00.000-07:00

So I finally finished my first ever quilted piece. I finished my Minnesota Wall Hanging that I started in August of 2007. All I really had to do with it was put the binding on, sandwich it, and finish off the binding. So Friday I finished it completely! I quilted around the inside and outside of the squares and around the letters. Finally I quilted around the inside white piece.

Then yesterday I decided to continue in the mode of finishing and pick up where I left off in making this beautiful table cloth for my table. I started this last November at Quilt retreat. All I had done was the center piece fused down, the handles on the vase stitched and the other pieces cut out. Yesterday I pieced everything together and began hand stitching again.

I am now about half way done with the center stitching!

weekend day one

2008-09-19T14:43:00.000-07:00

I am gearing up to have my mom here next weekend. I'm also having a weekend at home sewing. I have fabric ready to go for my first wearable sewing project. Mom is coming for a retreat and at that retreat we are having a pajama contest for a gift basket from Debbie Macomber! I can't wait to do this project but I am very nervous on doing something wrong.

Anyway, to get me in the sewing mood I have done all the dishes, cleaned off the table, and now am ready to get all my sewing things out for the evening and tomorrow. I am in finishing project mode...so hopefully I can have some show and tell at the next block of the month meeting.

Just checking in. I will take pictures as I can to show how things are going.

Hope you all are having a great friday.

P.S. I guess today is Talk like a pirate day 2008 so - Yarr me mateys come join me - ye scally wags of sewing!

Immediate Photo

2008-09-17T22:45:00.000-07:00

took this from my friend Neth's blog:

the rules:

take a picture of yourself right now.
don't change your clothes, don't fix your hair... just take a picture.
post that picture with NO editing.
post these instructions with your picture.

Yeah...this is me after I had been sitting outside my apartment for three hours waiting on my neighbor to return my key. Jeremy's at work tonight working on a huge project. I finally gave up and had him come home and open the door just long enough for me to squeeze in and for him to grab two soda's and leave again. Thank goodness for my i-pod. P.s. I look like I have a pained expression because I have a migraine...sigh...maybe I should go to bed.

Unwelcome guest?

2008-09-04T23:45:00.000-07:00

I found out last night that four of my favorite quilting buddies will not be at the Quilt retreat in November when I will be there....

I think it's a subtle hint saying I should stay in Washington...well too bad guys...I have my ticket already and projects to finish...

Would any of you be up for a movie night at Tia's right after that week of quilt retreat? Kristi? Erin and SJ? Mary (I know you're out there somewhere)...

I fly out the 11th of November.

I would love to see all of you!

Dear Past Lis,

2008-09-03T21:14:00.000-07:00

You are going to get a bug to make a brown sugar chicken stir fry tonight with all those wonderful groceries that delivered this morning...

Please, please, please use corn starch instead of baking soda...Trust me...what your food tastes like with the baking soda will make you wish the kitchen would spontaneously combust so you don't have to look at the flop of a meal you made.

Also...Your husband is amazing to take you to Arby's when you do use the baking soda. Poor guy...don't let him try the food if you forget and use baking soda.

Sincerely,
Your disappointed Future Self

How to spend a geeky weekend in Seattle

2008-09-03T00:06:00.000-07:00

This last weekend (friday through Sunday) I went to my first convention. A gaming convention called Penny Arcade Expo. It was held at Washington State Convention and Trade Center (four stories of craziness as I like to say). Friday afternoon Jeremy, two of our friends, and I headed down town to find parking and explore the world of video games, PC games, and board games. It was a big Geek convention and I am proud to say that!

All in all the weekend was very entertaining and enlightening. I went to two panel discussions. Number one was the History of Harmonex (the guys that made Rockband) and number to was "Is casual killing core gaming?" Now many of you who read do not game as much as my dear husband does so I will explain both panels.

The first was a walk through of how this tiny company Harmonex grew from some gentlemen from MIT who wanted to make music more interactive with the general public....all the way up to Rockband and the craziness of popularity that this game has developed.

The second was a discussion about gaming companies gear more of their games towards the "casual" gamer (one who likes to play easier games that you can put down after a half hour if need be and not have to invest so much time into...). On that panel was a gentleman that
I used to watch on tv...on Star Trek: the Next Generation.... Mr. Wil Wheaton.

He is so intelligent and a wonderful speaker as well as a HUGE GEEK - just like the rest of us 70,000 people that attended. I have since become an avid reader of his blogging.

Wil's blog

He is insightful and still very funny when poking fun at geeks and himself.

So that was three days of non-stop lights, games, walking, hard to find food, waiting in lines, and happiness. (Something like one day at the MN State Fair)...

Now it is Tuesday and I can tell you nothing remotely laborious happened on Monday...I don't even know what really happened that day but lots of watching Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe, napping, and more napping.

I made an attempt at my first batch of freezer jam of the strawberry variety tonight. Check out my food blog tomorrow for the recipe and pictures...then I proceeded to find the only ounce of productivity I have felt at home in two weeks.

That means I cleaned out the fridge (scary), unloaded then reloaded the dishwasher with some dishes that had been sitting for too long, then bagged up threw bags of garbage, two bags of glass and bottles, and had Jeremy help haul them to the garbage...in the meantime cleaning off most of the table and counters. I feel very productive and tired too. This week, because I had four days off, I am working four ten hour shifts...I feel like I am living at the job this week...but it's ok because I am finally out of training and working on my own with the assistance of a mentor for the next two weeks. I enjoy the problem solving aspect of my job and helping consumer's feel so much better about our company (knowing that we rock as a company and how we treat the consumer).

so that is a random post for you...covering a few days...

P.s. My mom is coming to visit in 24 days (but who's counting!)

P.p.s... Jeremy and I found Waldo!

where in the world is Lis?

2008-08-24T23:17:00.000-07:00

Well...I'm still in Bellevue, and I am still alive. Training is almost done with it's three weeks and I am currently busy on many artistic endeavors. First I am working on a couple art commissions that will be posted when I am done with them.

On top of that, for the first time in at least 5 years I have had the urge to write. My brain is currently swirling with the ideas and Google Documents is my new friend as I sit at home at night typing things I have written on paper at work on breaks and also because I can open it from work and type in between calls.

The story is just forming and of course the almost nightly purge of ideas is opening ideas for other stories I would like to tell - fiction and non-fiction alike. So if I seem spacey and don't post it's because I am so wrapped in fleshing out characters and making sure ideas get set.

The best thing about tonight...rain. I love love love love the sound of rain falling and have been in my bedroom for the last 3 hours just typing on the computer with one ear listening to the downpour and one year stuck with my new 160 G I-pod that I got yesterday. This is isn't even close to halfway full and I am so excited about that.

silly technology. That's all I've got for now...oooh and I cut my hair again...I like it alot...I can't wear it in a ponytail at work anymore while on the phones...so it's pretty short for me...chin length and shorter....

another weekend post late

2008-08-12T20:54:00.000-07:00

I did have new about my job that I didn't share.

I am being trained up to work on harder things at work. I've only been there 2 1/2 months and I am in 3 weeks of training starting today for Admin. Work. I will be working on more complex problems that I was not doing before. It's exciting to take this step as there are only 9 of us in the class. 4 of us trained together and the others having been on the job since March or before...

I feel very happy to know that people think I am doing a great job. I have been told it is a very significant step towards being hired on through the company and not being a temp. anymore. So three weeks of training means I have weekends off starting last weekend.

It was good news as I think I would have been scheduled for 3 10 hour shifts in a row. Sunday I slept in to the ripe old hour of 9 (sigh to early mornings making me wake) and then did some more sewing and relaxing.

Saturday before the theater show I made another purse. This one is my "evening" bag and it matched so well with the theater we went to.

Here is the outside all ready to put the handles and zipper on and sew it together.

Here is the inside lining that I wanted the handles made out of, but got too little of fabric.

Here is after I have attached the handles.

And here is my finished bag. I love the zipper color the most. It's a nice size bag. A bit taller and squatter than the one I made for my neighbor.

I also started working on my Minnesota Wall-hanging again. I have attached the binding and sandwiched it together with the backing and lining, now I just need to stitch in the ditch, and fold the binding over and sew! I have been drawing too, got a couple new books. I plowed through one really fast and will do a book review tomorrow following a format my friend uses on her site. Check back again! Off to relax.

A Chorus Line

2008-08-11T21:11:00.001-07:00

Saturday night, Jeremy and I were invited to join a co-worker of mine at The Paramount Theater in downtown Seattle for a musical. I've never see A Chorus Line and said "sure" right away. Well once we finally got there (Highway 405 was closed so there was mega traffic) with 10 minutes to spare, She handed us our tickets and we ushered our way down to the seats...She gave us 5th row seats!!!!! holy cow was I surprised.

So we pulled out our programs and I took to what I always did before a show. Read the Actor's Biographies to see if I had seen them in anything before. The first name on the list was the actor Clyde Alves. I did a double take and then grinned very broadly. I knew him! My senior year of high school at the Arts High school the dance department was visited by a touring company of the musical Fame. They had a master class with two of the male dancers and I joined in on the class. One of the dancers was Clyde Alves!!! I remember many of us girls having a huge crush on him. He was very nice. So there he was. One of the actors in the show. It made the night even better. The show itself was way different than I imagined it to be. I often was laughing and clapping and mouth open and funny things sung. Half way through the show I realized that one of the other actors looked very familiar too... So I looked her up in the program in the lights provided by the stage...She was Nicki Snelson - who has just recently been seen on Broadway in one of my current favorite Musicals (don't laugh...and Jer Yes I like the musical - I don't care what you think) Legally Blonde the Musical as Brooke Windom.

She's amazing because during that musical she sings a very difficult song while jump roping and dancing a complex routine.

After the show Jeremy and I plus my co-worker, her mother, her brother, and her brother's friend all drove to a Starbucks for coffee and chatting. It was such a great evening. We ended up getting back home at about midnight. I can't wait until I get to see something else again.

Quilt block of the month group prep

2008-08-09T01:45:00.000-07:00

I worked on my Quilt Block of the Month block for my meeting tomorrow. This was the first time I would try using bias strips to make vines on the blocks. It was soooooooooooooo hard. I found I struggle many times with this and probably said a few choice words that my husband couldn't hear (because he was so involved in his Geometry Wars 2). I finally got the bottom sewn down and now I have just the applique stitching to finish. I love the heart and the checkerboard section. Next month I believe is all applique! I can do that well! What do you all think?

I really like the red color. It's so cheery. More after the meeting!

A Birthday Present

2008-08-06T21:12:00.000-07:00

My next door neighbor's daughter is turning 18 tomorrow. So I thought I would surprise her with a home made purse. My mom sent me the pattern for a purse she made me for my birthday this year so I thought I would try it today. It's fairly simple. It calls for 24 5 inch charms from a charm pack, 1 18 inch zipper, 2 fat 1/4ths (one for the handles, and one for the lining), and 18 x 20 inch section of light weight batting.

It was an easy pattern to follow and the result is quiet nice looking. What do you think?This is the short view.

This is the long view.

She will get the present tomorrow at her birthday dinner. I'll discuss more tomorrow with pictures of what we had to eat and the birthday girl with her new bag.

Dear I-know-it-all Consumer

2008-08-04T17:15:00.000-07:00

Thanks so much for calling me today. I'm sorry to hear that your system will not power on. Let's walk through some troubleshooting steps today to see if I can help you get your system working without having it in for a repair.

What's that you say - you've done all the troubleshooting? What things have you done? You say everything? What does everything include? Oh everything from the website. Well I am glad you found our site usefull, however I don't have the site in front of me. Could you please humor me and tell me the things you've done.

Ahh you tried the AC Adaptor reset, good. Did you unplug it from both the system and the wall? You did - Great...how long did you let it set? Oh 30 seconds. Well lets try that reset again but let's keep it out for at least 90 second.

Hold on one moment ma'am...I understand your husband is the president of a hotel and knows how to do these things...but to correctly reset the AC Adaptor it needs to be unplugged from the wall and system for at the minimum of 90 seconds.

Thanks for your suggestion that that information should be listed on our website. Like I mentioned before, I don't have the site in front of me but I will pass that suggestion on. It's nice to know you care about our call volume.

Let's set up that repair,

Your friend Consumer Service Representative.

P.s. I checked the website and it indeed does say all of those things. Maybe there was a fluke accident where that particular snippet was invisible on your screen. Try again and please let me know!

Night at the Opera

2008-08-03T14:58:00.000-07:00

So last Thursday Jeremy and I took my friends Kara and Ivan to see my sister's good friend Margaret in the Seattle Opera Aida. I've never been to an opera but I was so excited to see Ms. M perform because she is amazing. The show is set in Egypt and when the curtain rose it was a beautifully decorated scene. The pyramids were in the background and the set pieces had different Hieroglyphics on them.

Margaret did not disappoint and my first experience with the opera was good. I liked that it was in Italian and the captions were above the Proscenium arch. I felt like I was watching a silent movie in a way. I would glance up and quickly read the words then glance down to the stage and watch as they sung in words I didn't understand.

Afterward we asked an usher where we could wait to see if we could talk to Margaret. Well we trooped outside in the rain down to the Stage door and under the cover of a overhead walk way we waited. Eventually I stuck my head inside the door and asked security if we could possibly get in touch with her. He mentioned he had to do a walk through so he walked myself and Kara around but didn't find Ms. M. One of the cast members as well as the security guard mention a place the cast goes to unwind just around the corner. So we jumped over there for a few minutes and sure enough There was the divine Ms. Margaret with a few of the cast. I was just happy to tell her we made it and that we enjoyed it. I also got a quick picture with her.

I can't wait to see my next opera!

off to see Aida

2008-07-31T16:31:00.000-07:00

I am just about to leave to go see Ms. Margaret Jane Wray at the Seattle Opera in Aida...It should be a wonderful evening...I'll have more to report tomorrow!!!!

Trip to Minnesota

2008-07-28T11:58:00.000-07:00

We are coming home for a visit. I booked the tickets today! We will be flying in on Wednesday, October 29th. Jeremy is only staying one week and will be flying out November 4. I, however, will be staying another week to go to Quilt Retreat with my mom and sisters! So ladies from quilt retreat get ready!!!!!

I am so excited that the trip is planned. We are going try to see both sides of our families so we can get our "early" holiday in...I will have to be here for the holiday busy season of the call center, but that's why I am taking 2 weeks.

It's really not too far away so that's amazing as we have been here 8 months already. More plans to follow as it gets closer!

Dear Nongaming Consumer

2008-07-26T10:37:00.000-07:00

I am sorry that you find all the games for our system to be too difficult and too hard to play. Yes our system is meant for the casual gamer as well as hardcore gamers. My 4 year old nephew as well as my husband's grandmother all have played games without difficulty. The games you are playing: (Metal Gear Solid, House of the Dead 2 & 3, etc.) are not what I would call casual gamer games.

No there is no company or gaming world conspiracy to make more money by producing extremely difficult games.

I empathize that you like to play the shootem up games but maybe you should start with something else until you can build your gaming skills up some...

Yours sincerely,

Your friendly Consumer Service Representative

Dear Irate Uninteligable Consumer,

2008-07-22T20:30:00.000-07:00

I am so happy you decided to call today to talk to me about your problems, however when you want to have a conversation with someone on the phone the typical way for the conversation to go is like this:

First, I say something, and you listen
Second, you say something in response and I listen... and so on and so forth until we either reach an impasse or I solve your problem.

It's really not a hard concept to understand. I do empathize the part the you ordered was the wrong one and the one you wanted to order is no longer shipped out, but when I had to put you on hold because you interrupted me so many times in a row I couldn't get out 2 words in a row - my sympathy tends to start to wax.

When I came back on the line and offer the refund once again and you refused and interrupted me again, there wasn't much more I could do but end our "conversation."

Sincerely yours,
disgruntled Consumer Service Rep.

P.s. Spending another 30 minutes ranting to my supervisor about products our company doesn't make just wastes time. Stop making credit card purchases...

2 years later

2008-07-01T10:05:00.000-07:00

2 years ago I was about to marry my best friend. As I look back in the past two years we have had adventures and excitement and through it all I would gladly say I am so in love with my husband. He is my best friend, closest companion, and source of much laughter.

The beginning of the year saw us moving away from everyone we knew to start a new life in a new city. Things are wonderful and I find myself happier than I've been in a long time. Jeremy and I have been dating for 6 years come this Friday and the time seems to melt away and seem not so long as I look back.

Our wedding was very laid back and fun. The food was good, music was great, and time with friends and family was precious.

What's new from the Pacific Norwest

2008-06-22T23:36:00.000-07:00

I know it's been a while but I do have some reasons for not posting.

My biggest news is that I am no longer teaching kids to draw and paint...

I am now working as a Consumer Service Representative at the same place as my wonderful husband. I am just about to start my second week taking calls.

I like my new job so far. I like helping people make things work so they are happy when the call ends. I like the problem solving parts of the job, and basically talking on the phone to people and educating them about how to set things up...

My desk is just across the walkway from Jeremy's (aside from the cubical walls that separate us).

I hope this will be something I continue to enjoy...because if not...I don't know what I am going to do for a living.

Anyway, So I am quilting, crocheting, drawing, and baking still...it all comes in phases that last days, weeks, and months... I will post things soon...however there is something I just finished that I want to be a surprise to the person who is getting it...She reads this blog (or did before I took a hiatus) and so it will be a bit before I can post.

I have been working on my quilt block of the month...I just have the hand work left on my second block...

Check back for more updates coming soon...and don't forget about my food blog Kitchen Stories Etc

finally an update...

2008-05-23T07:44:00.000-07:00

I just popped on to say I know I haven't posted in a month but:

IT'S MY BIRTHDAY

and I can post when I want to!

I am going away for the weekend but will post when I get back with updates in my life *there are a few new things going on* and a review of a concert I went to last night! We're spending my birthday with my high school best friend, her daughter, and her husband at a beach cottage in Oregon...I'm so pumped!

Oh and Happy birthday to my brother Dan who's birthday is also today!

Quilt block of the month group

2008-04-10T19:17:00.000-07:00

Well today I woke up and relaxed around the house a bit but at 1015 or so I headed over to one of the local fabric shops to see what their Quilt Block of the Month group was like. Today was the last day of the previous years blocks...I watched, I'm one of the youngest girls there but that doesn't matter (means I can learn from other people). Well I did bring my Bargello quilt with to show, and they did have a show and tell time, and the ladies all seemed to really like my work. They all seemed shocked that I have only been quilting for two years. So I decided to sign up for next years Monthly group. It's a value of $150 of fabric and pattern for merely $50. All I had to do was agree to finish my block before the next meeting to get the next month's free. The pattern we are using can be found at:

Lizzie B Cre8ive Designs

If you click on the quilts link on the left it will load a page with images of quilts. The one We are going to do is called Peace, Love and Appliqué. (It should be in the top row farthest on the right).

I'm excited to learn more about appliqué and piecing which the head of the group says there is quite a bit of.

So that was fun, then I came home to veg and think about what I want to work on, on my day off tomorrow. I worked my favorite class today at the studio, with my favorite student, but aside from the kids I had a rough day with frustration at some of the nuances of how the studio is being run. But there isn't much I can do about it, and there isn't much I can do about my emotions except try to keep them in check.

Now I am home, have eaten (good old mac and cheese) am currently watching Jeopardy then Survivor, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, and probably Without a Trace.

I love thursday tv...

Project in the works

2008-04-09T21:17:00.001-07:00

My boss is adopting a little 18 month old girl from China and she just got the letter of acceptance from the Chinese government and so they are planning to go get the little girl very soon. As a welcoming present and "baby shower" type present, I am making a new quilt for the little girl. I am going to try my hand at a Sunbonnet Sue quilt, in red, whites, and blues. I found the best backing fabric for it too. It's parts of the constitution. My boss's husband is a lawyer, so I thought he might appreciate it.

So that's my goal for my next full day off (Friday). I am going to work hard on these so I can finish it before she comes back from China. I think I have until the first week in June or so.

So that is a major project to finish soon.

Other than that it's been mainly working many hours this week because we are having Spring Break Camp. This means we have quite a few more students coming in for half or full days of doing art and crafts. I worked the morning on Monday and Tuesday and today I worked 1pm to 6 pm. Tomorrow I finally go back to my semi-regular schedule.

If you check out my newly updated Food Experiments blog:

http://kitchenstoriesetc.blogspot.com

It talks about what I cooked tonight for dinner and what I made on the side. I am trying to be more habitual about updating at least that blog to chronicle my adventures in the kitchen. I generally put up the recipes I find or use from my stash so you can make it too, and then I say what I did differently then the recipe because with me I am always tweaking things, then I say what I would like to do differently next time I make it.

Mini Quilt Retreat in Sequim, WA

2008-04-06T21:57:00.001-07:00

Friday I packed up my quilting supplies and headed up north to stay at my Mom's Aunt's house in Sequim, Wa. What's great about Sequim is that it's called "the blue hole" by pilots because it's generally sunny there if it's raining in Seattle. To get to Sequim (pronounced Scwim), I drove up to Edmonds, Washington and caught the Edmonds-Kingston Ferry across the water to the Olympic Peninsula. It's so much fun. You drive your car up onto the ferry, park and lock it. Then you head up to the passenger deck and they have a little cafeteria you can by food and snacks at. I just love to get some form of snack and watch as we move across the water. It took about 35 minutes to get across then you drive your car off and head out on the highway. Total Sequim is about 2 1/2 to 3 hours away from Bellevue. But once there I was so happy because My Great Aunt Guadalupe (Lu for short) and her husband live in the woods and have a house that is like going to a retreat with lots of wild animals (mainly birds) that feed in the front yard and a whole room dedicated to quilting with skylights, a separate bathroom/shower, and a small kitchen area for washing up and coffee.

I worked hard on my Bargello Quilt and came up with this:

Then I put the binding on my nine patch quilt and mitered the corners:

This is my Great Aunt Lu and I in her Quilting room:

A picture of one of the Edmonds-Kingston Ferries going across the water:

It was so much fun. Aunt Lu is an amazing cook and we just relaxed, ate good food, quilted, watched Jeopardy and listened to good music. Lu's husband Jerry is amazing too. He is taking classes at the Senior Citizen Center on how to edit pictures in Photoshop! He can run a computer well for someone from his generation. I can't wait to go back up there and stay for more than two days. I had to come back and catch a very early ferry because I had to teach a birthday party at The Studio. Bonus I got cake and a Starbucks Gift Card as a tip! Yum!

Domestic duties, and bargellos

2008-03-31T22:54:00.000-07:00

Today I woke up when Jeremy left for work and started out bright and early by making what I am now dubbing Cheesy Chicken Enchilada Soup. I put all the ingredients in the slow-cooker and turned it on low. I then started laying out the strips from a jellyroll packet for a Bargello quilt. Basics of this quilt are to sew strips together then cut those sewn strips 90 degrees across the sewn so you have new strips of squares with each part of the original strips on them. The beautiful part of a bargello quilt is how you then line up the strips by rotating them so the one original strips are offset creating a pattern.

I know it's hard to imagine, just go google Bargello quilt images and see what comes up. I think they are part of what makes it a wonderful quilt is how just moving the pieces can make something turn into artwork. That's what I love about quilting, how it can be so artful.

So I am almost done sewing the first round of strips. Then comes the cutting. I will post a picture tomorrow of my progress.

I also did all the laundry in the apartment, that was fun! Clean clothes smells so good!

Sunday Birthday Sunday

2008-03-30T23:25:00.000-07:00

Well today I set my alarm for 930 am to get up and get the dishes done and time to relax before I had to be at work for a little girl's birthday party at the Art Studio. I got 95 % of them done and even got to watch some repeats of America's Next Top Model before I left. The party was good, 12 little kids learning to draw and then getting hyped on cake then sending them home. It's an easy and fun way to make a day's worth of work. When I got home I found my husband had definitely been working on cleaning up! He moved all the controllers for video games into a drawer I had emptied, he had taken out the garbage, and condensed more boxes so we have more room in the living room. The rest of the night was spent watching tv, munch on the home-made salsa that Jer's dad sent in the mail for us, and relaxing.

I finished my Nine Patch Quilt top last night:

I also got my hair cut yesterday!
And colored...what do you think? I like it

I am trying to start working on my next quilting project, a bargello strip quilt. It's tough but I am excited to start it. I will post pictures once I have some. Well I am off to the table to try to organize my strips.

Missing Quilt ladies

2008-03-29T00:56:00.000-07:00

So this weekend was the Wisconsin Quilt Retreat that I didn't get to make it to. My sister Tia was kind enough to pass around her cell phone for me to say hi to the regular ladies. I did have two days off so I pulled my machine out today and started working anyway. Made me feel like I was almost there, except the interruptions of a husband, life, and having to make food.

I am planning on going to the next retreat in November. Miss you ladies!

So I set myself up a work area:

Today I finished making my Nine - Patch blocks that I bought during the last quilt retreat...tomorrow I will square them up then start sewing them together:

The Underground City of Seattle

2008-03-02T22:41:00.000-08:00

Today we did our first tourist-like thing with Jake and Elisa. We decided to go downtown Seattle and take the Underground City Tour. It's really a neat tour. You see Seattle was originally much lower in sea level when it first was built. It remained that way until June 6th, 1889. That is the date of the Great Seattle Fire. After the fire the town was rebuilt and then regraded to be higher and the remains underneath were left. This is the touring area. We toured three different parts of the underground city and learned many things about the pioneers of the city.

It was one of the best tours I have ever been on. Here are some pictures highlighting it:

Sky Lightings lighting the underground. They are purple from the Magnesium in the glass.

Jeremy was bad so we put him behind bars in the underground vault of an old bank.

bath tub in the underground, old and neat looking

parts of an old Otis Elevator left in the underground

We ended the day by stopping by the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory for some caramel apples, but saved them until after we had our full dinner of Quizno's sandwiches and soups.

Small Worlds

2008-02-29T22:09:00.000-08:00

Well the week has gone by and I have successfully made our apartment visitable. I worked my behind off yesterday and today getting ready for Jeremy's brother and girlfriend. Then at about 3pm I hopped in the car and drove to the Seattle airport and found my way no problem. I walked to baggage claim to wait for them to arrive and as I watched people get off the escalator I did a double take...I saw four people from Winona State that I went to college with walking towards the very baggage claim I was standing next to. My mouth dropped open and I walked towards them and said hello. They were just as surprised as I was. I haven't seen them in three years. It turns out they are here for a conference for the boys to attend and their now wives got to come along. I told them about moving out here and Jeremy's new job and then I had to run to find Jer's brother. I did leave them my number in case they wanted to have dinner or something. It also turns out they are staying in Redmond tonight (the town next to Bellevue, and basically a stone's throw away from my apartment).

So on a last note, we took Jake and Elisa to Ooba's Mexican restaurant/grill. We also took neighbors Sue and her son Ricky. We all had a blast. I had a Fresh Mahi Mahi burito, Jer had a Baja style Burrito with Cod.

It was a great night, and I am looking forward to the rest of the week. Now off to bed in my clean apartment. Don't worry I am going to take pictures so you all can see our place now that it's clean and 95% unpacked.

Week ahead

2008-02-24T22:44:00.000-08:00

Well this week is going to be filled with lots of cleaning out and organizing and preparing for house guests. Jeremy's brother and his girlfriend arrive on Friday to spend 10 days here. I am excited to see family and friends and explore the area with them when I am off work. I have many things to do to make this apartment guest ready, anybody want to spend some time helping? My work hours are quite a bit less this week and I have all day on Thursday to finish last minute things. I am hoping to get the rest of the junk sorted in the spare room so they have places to hang clothes and sleep and relax if they want to have some quiet time. I am also needing to get our room cleaned up to hold any overflow of stuff that needs to be hidden away or out of the way. I also need to organize the kitchen better, deep clean it, and make the dining room table cleared so we can enjoy dinner on it.

I think I might make some special chocolates to wrap and put on the beds for them too. hmmm I am getting excited! I will update more as I go.

On other news I have been to the Bellevue Public Library this last week and picked up a book on Wildlife Drawings. I have now drawn a Lynx, Mountain Lion, and tonight I drew a Desert Bighorn Sheep.

The Lynx

Mountain Lion

Desert Bighorn Sheep

Book Review

2008-02-20T11:46:00.000-08:00

I finished Persuasion by Jane Austen last night. I found that the words are definitely hard to follow and that I am glad I watched the PBS version on tv before reading the book. I might have been discouraged from reading it if I had not. I like the heroine, Anne. I love her steadfast character and she just stands out compared to all of her eccentric family members. Captain Wentworth is a dashing man just like Mr. Darcy. I do believe it is a wonderful book to read and if you stuck with the older language you will see the wonderful story Miss Austen created.

4 stars out of 5 (darn language).

Next up is Northanger Abbey, my favorite next to Pride and Prejudice.

Friday Night Fun

2008-02-16T20:58:00.001-08:00

Last night we had our Minnesota Gang outing again. We all decided to meet at Applebee's and have dinner. Later plans included three of us going to downtown Seattle for a CD Release concert for a band that's drummer works with Jeremy. The band was The Preons and they were playing at the Jules Mae Saloon and Eatery. This Bar was founded in 1888. It's a very old bar that as I researched it was a local spot for factory workers and laborers. So the bar-goers were of ages ranging from 21 to 80.

Ambiance was wonderful and the concert itself was very good. The band played in the main stage in the back room. J played the drums, her brother sand lead vocals and played the guitar, there was a bass player and a keyboardist. The Keyboardist was a general term for this guy. He played the keyboard, the trumpet, sang, did some percussion, a harmonica, and a instrument that looked like a cross between a kazoo, a flute, and a small keyboard. Almost a one-man band on his own.

Jeremy and I enjoyed the evening and bought their cd. If you want to check them out look up The Preons on I-Tunes.

The craziest part of the night was looking up at the outside of the bar, and then turning my head and looking directly across the street and seeing a building just mauled and in ruins. I wished I would have brought my camera...as I always say...I am going to have to make a habit of bring it with me everywhere.

More art

2008-02-13T20:32:00.000-08:00

So I have two more weeks of work from training to share. First is my favorite and the most recent. It is a photograph reproduction of a mama and a baby giraffe:

This is the piece I decide to display at the studio with the other instructors' work. I love the eyes of the baby giraffe.

This was a "no - step" picture which is the second type of drawings we get the kids to do when coming out our studio. What we do is have them take and find the shapes of the animals to help break a picture down to be able to draw it. I have a special fondness for penguins.

Also that day I did my first photograph reproduction of this elephant. I am not completely finished with it, but I don't mind it so it's going to probably be left this way (until I decide I need to make it more detailed).

So there is my last two weeks of training. I have been enjoying my progress and wonder at moving into still life and tones next week. after that it's on to watercolor then oil painting.

Last Friday

2008-02-13T19:44:00.000-08:00

So the Minnesota Gang got together again Friday for food and a movie. I had a say in the restaurant tonight. I asked the guys if they want to try out the Taiwanese Restaurant next to my work and try some of the yummy food. We kept in the theme for the night and went to see Rambo the new movie out.

The food was good, this time I tried some of the Soy Flavored chicken. It was amazing. The movie was a typical shoot-em up and blow-em up movie with a couple really cool booms. Definitely not something I would have gone to see without three males making the decision.

I like that the four of us are exploring the area together. I'm not sure what we are going to see this next week...but we shall see.

Busting the Stash

2008-02-11T00:48:00.000-08:00

Okay, so we definitely have little space in this apartment and to help with that I have decided I need to weed through and get some crochet and quilting projects done so I have more room in the closets. I have four boxes of yarn, one large tub of jeans for a jean quilt I want to make, and a tub of other fabric for projects I am working on.

My goal is to bust the yarn down to one tub and get the quilting down to less than a full tub.

So here I am...working on a baby sweater...It's almost done...I will have left over yarn and am thinking of making the hat to match. I will post pictures when I am done.

Cheer me on as I make this journey for this next year.

New adventures in dining

2008-02-05T21:28:00.000-08:00

Today after my training session at work us two new girls and one of the program directors went next door to have lunch at Facing East Taiwanese Restaurant. Those of you who knew me growing up are probably wondering what I found to eat in a place like this. Those of you who didn't know me then should know I was really picky growing up and am growing out of it as I age and try new things.

So I'm still a little hesitant when trying new things but I jumped on the band wagon today for this place. The one girl order for all three of us as us new girls hadn't eaten there yet. She picked four different plates to try and order us all Hot Citrus Fruit Tea as well. Well the tea came out and it was amazing.

What we had to eat was the following:

1. Taiwanese Style Chow Mein with pork and shrimp in the shell
2. Spiced Pork Stew over Rice
3. Taiwanese Pork Burger
4. Lamb with BBQ sauce and greens

Plus two pots of the Hot Citrus Fruit Tea. If you want to see pictures of some of the food, I found a blog that did a report on the bloggers experience there:

Cosmopolitan Pearls Blog

Anyway I didn't actually have the Chow Mein, I did try everything else and fell in love with the spiced Pork Stew over Rice. The large of this plate is only 3.99 so I will probably be getting that alot with the tea as the months progress. It was really great food. I can't even describe the pork burger. It was so unique. It had a soft pita-like bun that kind of looked a bit like marshmallow, and the flavor of the pork and the sugar and peanuts in the burger were so delightful.

So that was exciting. I will be bringing Jeremy to there soon. Training was good, I will post about it tomorrow when I take pictures and post them.

New blog found

2008-02-02T21:42:00.000-08:00

I was skimming through my facebook account and found out that a girl I went to Art School with has a wonderful blog that I am now unashamed to be addicted to reading. She and I took creative writing together and theater while at MCAE, She now lives in New York City and writes about food, researching the history behind dishes, experimenting with making said dishes, and little witty funnies that are so Nora!

I am looking forward to reading more and trying some of the recipes she tries.

Her blog is The Great American Cooking Project and I warn you, if you like learning about foods, you will be addicted...

Yay to finding new blogs!

Dreams

2008-02-01T19:25:00.000-08:00

P.s. I had a dream about Quilt Retreat last night... I have been wanting to come for it so bad.

I am now taking donations towards a flight home for March's quilt retreat...

Any takers?

The skinny on my job!

2008-02-01T18:47:00.000-08:00

Well I have one more day left of my first week of work. Tuesday I arrived to find out I would be "training" for the day. My boss walked the other new girl and I through a lesson as if we were the students. The boss chose pastels for me to do and oil painting for my new co-worker. Eventually we will learn pastel, watercolor, and oil painting teaching techniques. I ended up doing 9 pastel drawings. Here are three of the drawings:

This is my first drawing. I love the simple step-by-step drawings that each student can created the background for.

This was trying to work with grass and stone. I like how the stones look real.

This was my absolute favorite drawing I did. I was to work with the dirt and the cactus to see how to make realistic dirt. I just love this picture!

What I really enjoy about the teaching method is the ease of going from drawing/sketching to using pastels (chalk). The beginning step is to sketch the shapes from the step-by-step drawing we chose. Then we do an overall color with the chalks from largest area to smallest area. Then we blend and add lights and shadows over all the areas, then we go into adding details to make the picture amazing. Then we sign it and move on to the next drawing.

Wednesday and today I actually was teaching students already. Wednesday was rough because I had two students that were strong-willed and really wanted to see how far they could push me. I was really frustrated and left wondering if I was cut out to do this job. I'm glad I had a day off because I was trying to think of a new plan of attack. The boss and some of the veteran instructors just kept saying, "you need to put your foot down, be firm" so I know that's what I am trying to do but it seems like I get the kids who like to bulk the norm.

So that is my challenge right now is learning how to get the kids to do what I want them to do...and have fun at the same time.

Today I had a brother and sister I was working with ages 7 and 5. The 7 year old girl was easy to work with and when I gave her an example she understood the difference between what was on her paper and my example and made the changes. The 5 year old had his own ideas of what he wanted to do. I am trying to find some balance between stimulating creativity and using our teaching method.

I have tomorrow for about 4 hours then off on Sunday and found out my schedule for the next week is working monday, tuesday, wednesday, off on thursday, working friday and saturday...

HOLY COW that's work! it ends up being 24 hours, but still I am wiped after 2.5 hours...I need some more energy...from somewhere.

So I will probably update a bit more tonight. Jeremy and I are headed out on the town for dinner and a movie with two guys that Jeremy knew from IBM in Rochester. We all live in the Bellevue/Redmond area now and are excited to hang out. We're going to Ruby's Diner and going to see Cloverfield the scary movie (I'm the only girl going so I get to see a scary movie with the boys). So more later!

Jane Austen

2008-01-31T19:48:00.000-08:00

Well like my sister Tia, I have been watching PBS's Masterpiece Classic on the complete Jane Austen. So today I went to the closest bookstore and picked myself up 5 of the 6 books.

Persuasion
Pride and Prejudice
Emma
Sense & Sensibility
and
Northanger Abbey (my favorite)

I just need Mansfield Park with the store didn't have...I will have to keep my eye out for it. Now the hardest part, which to read first... Any one have an opinion?

Welcome to the world Quentin

2008-01-31T08:12:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was a sad day in my home town, a friend from high school's mom lost her battle with cancer and an elderly lady from my church passed away as well.
But yesterday was also a reminder of the circle of life:

WELCOME TO THE WORLD LITTLE:

QUENTIN ANTHONY MONROE RICHARDSON

born: January 30th, 2008
time: 5:13 p.m.

6 lbs 9 oz
20 inches long

Congratulations Colleen and Colin on your 2nd baby!

Yippee!

2008-01-28T19:51:00.001-08:00

So before I get to the reason behind the Yippee title, I wanted to talk about what I did today. So I woke up and watched my 3 episodes of The Nanny to wake me up and then packed myself into the car and drove down to the theater to do some more costuming. Well I opened the door to send Jeremy off to work and found snow covered trees, steps, and banisters. So I was hesitant to leave, due to the lack of driving in this weather here. The problem with the snow here is that it usually starts as rain, then freezes and becomes snow. So there is that layer of ice underneath. But after a few adjustments driving in the parking lot, I made it out. I had to make a couple stops (gas, and parking money) then I was out on the road towards downtown. The roads were fine but the sprinkling became snow as I made it to downtown. I found my way easier and made it to the theater by 11 a.m. No one was in the costume shop however, so I waited, and waited, and waited, and just when I thought about waiting five minutes and then leaving, the two costumers showed up. So we set to work.

Today I sewed on 5 buttons to a bodice top. Also, I learn two more hand stitching techniques. The first is a slip stitch. Which is simple and I caught on quickly while sewing some trim on a dress. The second is a back slip stitch ( I think that is what it was called) which is a combination of the previous two stitches. The costumer was using it to stitch on lace trim on a dress. So after a while the same costumer switched with me and I began seam ripping out some Velcro and zig-zag stitching from a bodice top and a removed pocket from something (maybe a skirt?) We used the pocket as a two inch strip in between the front side pieces. It was a clever trick. Then we added 5 buttons to either side and poof! a new bodice that fits the actress. I learned to fasten buttons and hooks down to use 4-ply thread (two pieces of thread through the needle and tied together) to make a more stable and stronger hold.

Lastly, I got to meet two people from the cast and crew. First and coolest was the star, Chiara, she plays Anne in the play. What's really cool is that I've seen her before. She introduces the Masterpiece Classic specials that are running right now on the complete works of Jane Austin on PBS. So that is cool, she loved trying on the clothes, even those that weren't done. The second person I met was the Technical Director Larry. He had come in to ask if anyone responded to the notice about needing stitchers, and I was there! So that was neat. Overall it was a good day. One more day with them tomorrow.

This brings me to my news! I GOT THE ART INSTRUCTOR JOB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I will be starting training tomorrow, 9 - Noon. So I am going to be teaching kids to draw. I am so excited.

In other job related news I found another last minute ad for working on a current production. This one is an Assistant Stage Management position helping preset the stage for the show, change sets during intermission and help with costume changes. They only need me on Thursdays from January 31st through February 21th from 6:30 to 10:30 p.m. It's for Seattle Public Theater. I just have to see if I can work both the Art Studio and this ASM job. It's another option for getting my name known by some people in the business...

So that's my good news. Yay!

Today's adventure

2008-01-26T23:12:00.001-08:00

Today I took an adventure all by myself. I called a theater about an ad they placed in an online resource for volunteer stitching help for their up and coming production of Persuasion by Jane Austin. Well I wasn't sure how much experience they wanted but I'm free and could use the connections working backstage. So I called the number and the girl I talked to was like, Yes we need as much help as you can give. It turns out there are just two of them working on the costumes and they are just running out of time with the alterations they need to finish.

So today I ventured out with my trusty Google Maps print out on the seat next to me and some juice and soft foods to eat if I got hungry. Well it turns out that this theater is in downtown Seattle, specifically right around the Space needle. As I drove down there I was getting closer and closer to it, and I snapped a picture with my phone (I'll upload that later). I parked and walked to the theater and called the one girl to navigate me into the costume shop. I worked from 11 am to 4 pm. I made 5 cravats (men's scarves), put ruffles on 2 shirts, reshaped the collar on two men's shirts, and hemmed up a dress 4 inches. The one girl asked if I wanted to learn Millinery (hat making) so I am going to set a time to go her apartment and learn that from her.

I learned a few tricks and heard tips on starting out in the business from Dean the costume designer (she has 30 years experience in the business). I learn the new hemming stitch called the cross-hand stitch. I also learned that if you want to change color on your machine, instead of having to re-thread the whole thing, snip the thread close to the stool and then tie a square knot with the new thread to the old thread and then run the machine through until the thread either gets close to the needle hole or runs through it. I thought that was a very clever trick. Another thing she mentioned was if the bobbin loads from the front or the back the needle hole will be in the front, if the bobbin loads from the side, the needle hole will be on the side.

I have a long way to go for learning things, but I am getting there, and that's exciting. So I made it all the way downtown and all the way back on my own in the big city. I was pretty proud. I am going back to the costume shop on Monday and Tuesday to help where I can and gain as much information as I can.

Oral Surgery

2008-01-25T23:18:00.000-08:00

I am home from surgery and doing well. I received a phone call at about nine a.m. asking me to move my appointment from 2 p.m. to 11 a.m. due to the doctor being quite booked up. I jumped at going in early because that would mean I was recouping much faster at home. So I went in at 11 and it was quickly time for me to be in the dental chair. The dentist and I decided to go with a combo of Nitrous Oxide and Novocaine. So the assistant put me in the nose mask for the Laughing gas and I begin what I thought was steady breathing as she talk to me a bit about the post care and what I should expect. The doctor came in and asked how things were progressing but honestly I didn't feel any different. He looked at the machine regulating everything, turn the knob up on machines for flow and told me to take three really deep breaths. At the end of that I could feel a big difference. He told me I could say if it was too strong but I could also control it myself by focusing on the depth of my breath intake. He applied the Novocaine and want it to take effect. So he left for a few minutes which by that time seemed like an hour for me.

I was feeling like I had lifted out of my seat and was floating over the chair somewhere. I remember looking at the assistant who had stayed with me the whole time thinking, Man she has had to sit there and just watch to make sure I was doing alright this whole time, that would be a boring job from my perspective, then I thought maybe she is talking to me and I can't hear her for some reason. Then I kept thinking, "how can I remember what I am feeling so I can write it on my blog later today." Then I remember thinking about Pokemon...and feeling like I was spinning like a fighting Pokemon. I know my body was tingly and I was sleepy, and then she asked how I was doing and it was really loud and I said good.

The doctor came back in, I'm sure it had only been like 3-4 minutes. He asked how I was doing and I sort of replied and he said, "Yeah you look a little more spacey now" So He went in and tapped on the tooth again and I could barely feel it at all, he did add some more topical anesthetic and I was just trying very hard to concentrate on breathing because I didn't want the pain to start. Next thing I knew he said "and that's it." and I was like "really (well it was more like mumble mumble with gauze in mouth.)" and he was like "yeah." so I mumbled if the first surgery had been with you and went this well, you would have me as a patient for life." I think he understood me. So then the nose masked had oxygen in it and I was breathing that in deeply to flush out the laughing gas. Within five minutes I was up and moving out of the office and heading to the car to drive home with the gauze in my mouth where my tooth had been.

So I give this doctor an A + just for the surgery and the "bedside manner". I spent the rest of the day resting on the couch watching tv waiting for the numbness to fade because I was really hungry. I tried noodles and then laid down for a while. I know I napped around 4:30 p.m. because Jeremy woke me up when he came home. We made our way to the grocery store for some jello, pudding, and more soft foods so I can eat something. I am missing the meats that I like to eat.

Before we left we received a phone call from the doctor himself asking how I was doing. I said well and that I had eaten some food, he told me to call him if I needed anything. That was the icing on the cake for him in my good book.

So all is well I am doing mostly okay just taking some ibuprofen to help with the ache from the pulling of the tooth but that's it!

Oh and I also give laughing gas an A + for not feeling pain at all but F - for feeling crazy and can't imagine people taking this as a recreation drug.

Interview Details

2008-01-24T15:12:00.000-08:00

So the interview for the Fine Arts Studio went very well. I arrived 10 minutes early (actually was there 15 minutes early but couldn't wait in the car any longer). The owner greeted me as I walked in and I saw four teachers, the owner, someone at a computer desk, and two or three students getting ready for their lesson. Lining the left wall was a various displays of still lifes' set up for the students to work on (an apple, an orange, a coffee cup with an apple and a lemon in front. Along the right side of the room was a line up of stations for people to work at. Some had books open to the page they were duplicating. All along the walls above either side were displays of student and teacher work.

I was there to observe how the classes work, to show my portfolio, and to ask any questions I had. The first thing we did was look at my portfolio. I finished pulling all my artwork out and picking pieces yesterday afternoon before I left. The reaction from the owner was positive. So then I was allowed to go around and watch how the class works with the teachers taking 2-3 kids and work with them as they draw.

The studio takes a beginner and walks them through step-by-step drawings really focusing on what shapes make up different objects. They work with pencil, charcoal, colored pastels/chalk, watercolor paints, and oil paints. They work through a series of doing the step-by-step drawings then on to single object still lifes' then they work on color theory and what primary and secondary colors are. Then they go back and do single still lifes' in color, and work into more than one object in the picture. From there they can continue into drawing, water color, and oil paint in the same way. They can take book images and attempt to copy the image. The teachers are there to guide by example and by helping the student look at the subject differently. So I watched a beginner drawing a cute little step-by-step bird and then take chalks and make it a colored picture. I watched two little artists one painting a shark and one painting a parrot with watercolors, I saw a little girl doing an oil painting of an apple, two girls working on some still lifes in charcoal, a teen working on drawing faces in pencil, and an adult student working on a pastel copy of a beautiful image from a book.

I was really impressed with the different levels of the students, the work that was produced, and the results of the teaching methods. I was also really inspired to work on some more pieces. I have been organizing at home so I can do some art soon. or Quilting, or crocheting.

Anyway, back to the details. The reason they are hiring is the owner is adopting a toddler and needs to step back a bit from the business. She said she hopes that the ratio of teacher to student was 1:5. So overall I think things went really well, I will know Monday if they choose me. It is part time but I get weekly training and flexibility of working mainly in the afternoon and having mornings to do things around the house.

Other than that I have been working hard on the apartment today because Jeremy's brother and his girlfriend are coming to stay the first week in March and there are many things to organize so they have a comfortable place to stay while here for the week. Deadlines help to get things in order!

Also I will be having my bottom right wisdom tooth out tomorrow at 2 pm. The doctor decided to try laughing gas on me for a better than Novicane but less expensive than general anesthesia and I will be able to drive myself home and relax after that. I hope it works so I can finally have a good experience at the dentist for once.

So that's the latest...back to work on the spare room.

Job Option

2008-01-23T09:57:00.000-08:00

I have a job interview today at 4 pm at a fine arts Studio in Downtown Bellevue. The job is teaching children to draw and paint. It's part time, but it would be a good fit for me.

Off to work on my portfolio and resume.

An Afternoon in the Park

2008-01-22T08:58:00.000-08:00

Yesterday my neighbor S, came over and volunteered to take pictures for me so I can have some updated head-shots for theater auditions. So we headed out to Lake Washington in Kirkland, Wa.

Here are a few of my favorites:

For more viewings go to My flickr site

Comment on your favorites on the site, I'm trying to decide which to print.

update on toothache

2008-01-19T15:54:00.000-08:00

So I went to the dentist today. I will reiterate...I hate going to the dentist...

She took a look at the tooth that I have been having problems with. She leveled with me and said it would just be better to have this one taken out. So with a prescription for Ibuprofen in hand and a referral to an oral surgeon Jeremy and I came home. It's amazing how much energy it took out of me...

Ouch...

2008-01-17T13:05:00.000-08:00

So yesterday I woke up with a toothache. It's persisted through yesterday and continues to throb today. So I searched out a dentist here in Bellevue and will be seeing her on Saturday at 10 am...

I hate going to the dentist. I have not had good experiences with dentists since leaving my dentist from Hinckley. I am ready to have things fixed in my mouth but not ready for the cost or the pain that is going to come with it.

Oh well...not much I can do about that.

Proof of work

2008-01-15T20:51:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I stepped out the door to get the mail and there were big chunky flakes of snow.

another view:

This is the work I did the last two days. Finally finished I have categorized and organized all our books: It's a library complete with a teen and children's section...Who's coming by:

This is our new "office area" if you were to turn 180 degrees from looking at the bookshelves you would find our desk. We got new computer monitors to be able to fit both computers together on one desk. Space is limited here but the new monitors are pretty!

Here is what I look at when I am sitting at my desk. If you look close you can see a photo of my family at my house for Christmas 2006. Yay for desk space.

Productive Day

2008-01-15T18:14:00.000-08:00

Today I had a hard time waking up. So after watching a couple episodes of the Nanny. I love that show. I started sorting more of the boxes of books we brought with. After a while I decided to take the piling garbage from unpacking, four full loads down to the garbage bin. It's amazing here. It snowed yesterday and it stayed over night, so going out to the garbage i saw blue skies with bright sunshine, snow melting off trees making it look like rain, and steam coming of the trees...

After that my neighbor and I ran out to the Mexican grocery store...I picked up more corn shells and a can of chipolte con adobo sauce. Yum, we saw an international grocery store too...stop there to see what they had. It was really cool but I couldn't figure out what everything was (all the different languages).

I came home to take a nap then get up and plow through the last of the books. I then vacuumed the entry way, rearranged some more things and sat down to watch tv. The place is really coming together. Jer is reading tonight, and it's low key. Soup and chili for dinner.

Tomorrow I need to do the dishes, maybe bake some more, and get to the grocery store.

At Last!

2008-01-13T19:20:00.000-08:00

Finally we set our computers up today. It took nearly all day. We were faced with the dilemma of space, large monitors, and two people with one desk left. We left three desks back in Minnesota and were left with one craft table for both of us. We both had 21 inch CRT monitors. They just wouldn't fit.

So today we went out to Office Depot to buy a desk for me...we walked out with two 24 inch flat panel LCD monitors that are gorgeous. Jeremy was a bit hesitant about our purchase until we finally got the systems set up and turned on. Everything fits on the one desk and we have three monitors, three computer towers, a printer, scanner, two graphic tablets, a card reader, one set of speakers, two keyboards and mice for all around us. Jeremy was very methodical and checked all the cords so we don't have any to trip on. It's very exciting!

Now back to staring open mouthed at beautiful pictures on the screen!

photos from the road

2008-01-11T23:07:00.001-08:00

Bear with me there are many pictures that follow. But they are nice and I chose the best of 200 to put up here from our trip.
So here are some pictures from our trip from Minnesota to Washington:

Jeremy wasn't sure this picture above was that interesting until I pointed out the road that drops off...

Jeremy had been commenting on the bird flying in the air and as I started to put the camera down I notice a flock of birds on the side of the road. This is the only shot I got off in the time it took our truck to pass by. I wished I had been a bit more observant.

This was a view of one of the mountain passes we had to go through. The snow along the middle fascinated me. It was winding and crazy.

Doesn't that section look like the superman sign? I thought it was unique.

Another view of one of the passes we made.

This picture shows the fog we descended upon. We turned that corner and couldn't see much. I think it's pretty.

Jeremy loves this picture because the road seems to go on forever and ever.

This was the second of two deer crossing the road in front of us. I was happy to get this shot...

The same deer turned and ran next to the roadside out my window. I am so excited to get a picture like this.

One view of the landscape we passed. This is one of my favorites.

Sunset along the road with mountains on the skyline.

This is Dixie my Uncles Weiner dog. She was hilarious and provided us some simple entertainment.

This is the view we woke up to at my uncles. It snowed as we were coming up on his town and the snow was fluffy and not very wet, just fluffy and perfect.

This is my mom's younger brother Bob. We spent the night with him in Montana. I am so happy to sit and just hang out with him. He reminds me of my grandpa in someways, and it's a memory I will always keep with me.

I love this view because of the horizon line. so pretty.

This is the fog that descended on Flathead Lake, Montana.

My dad always sings this song, "It's a long, long way to Tipperary..." Well according to this sign it's only 1/4 of a mile...who knew?

This is an example of the wind we encountered on the way. We ended up taking a detour through a quaint town of Livingston, Montana. We'd like to go explore that town someday.

More Mountain views. Needless to say I didn't read much, and only played my video games when it was dark out and we were still driving.

This was a river we drove by with mountains in th background. So much to see and so much beauty.

Reasons for living in Bellevue

2008-01-10T21:15:00.000-08:00

Reasons I love Washington:

1. I love the rain...I know it sounds strange but I love the smell of rain, the sound, and the freshness.

2. I like how Downtown Seattle is 10 minutes away in good traffic.

3. I love that things are green here.

4. Along with #3, I love that it's January and all I need to go outside is a sweatshirt (perferably with a hood).

5. I am most happy with how happy Jeremy is with his job.

I'm really happy. I am excited with the progress I am making with the apartment. We are hoping to have pictures up by next week. This list will grow...it's only been one week!

posting from the couch

2008-01-10T13:01:00.001-08:00

Well...I'm totally unmotivated to unpack things and sort through things to be thrown away. Last night was so much fun and I think it is what I needed. Social interaction. Short blog...

Night on the Town

2008-01-09T23:31:00.000-08:00

Tonight Jeremy and I were invited to go into Seattle to hangout at this place called GameWorks. It's a two story arcade room with a bar and grill and restaurant attached. So when Jeremy got home from work, we stopped at Fred Meyer for a 1G jump drive for our digital picture frame we got for christmas and I realized that my jeans were holy in the back by the pockets and around the inside of the thighs...so we stopped and I tried on two different pair of jeans. They were nice and on sale so I picked them both up and changed into a new pair real fast before we left. We drove into Seattle slowly due to traffic going into the city.

The view is gorgeous at night with all the lights and what nots. We ended up finding the parking place fine and with a phone call to his co-worker found GameWorks easily too. We had dinner with 15 or so people from Nintendo and their guests (Jeremy had a philly cheese steak and onion rings which he raved over and I had chicken strips and fries.) Then we hit the game floor. Jeremy and some of the crew hit the Dance Dance Revolution games and I headed up to the second floor and found my niche in the pinball machines. I moved around trying some various games and found my favorite from the arcade back in Minnesota I played at, a basketball shoot out game. I played that the most. The cool thing about this game place is you buy a card, then load it up with money which is transfered to points. for 25 bucks you can get 425 points or so. most games cost anywhere from 2 points to 17 points. So Jeremy and I will be going back due to the money left on our card. (there is one of these arcades in Minneapolis too...) The way home was nice, It started raining while we were in the building for four hours, We literally live like 10 miles at most from GameWorks and Pikes Place Market.

I couldn't stop grinning as we came home. It was so easy and nice to be in this new place. I am really happy. Now to watch a CSI episode and head to bed.

Working from Home

2008-01-08T10:49:00.000-08:00

Well it's Tuesday and I have been busy around the house. Sunday I worked on the living room while Jeremy took a nap. He woke up to the couch being spun around and room for both of us to sit and enjoy some tv.

Monday while Jeremy was at work I moved things in our bedroom. I spent too many hours trying to figure out how to put our bed frame together...turns out I was using the wrong frame (doh). As soon as we changed the frames out it went together in 2 minutes flat. So we have a bedroom to sleep in with space to walk around. I moved a yellow "dresser" to the dining room so we have a bit more storage. I found out we didn't bring the entire dish drainer with us, so we headed out to the grocery store/"walmart" of Bellevue and picked that up and a few other things we forgot about. We came home and I wasn't feeling well so I made soup for both of us and laid down for a while.

Today so far...Jeremy got up and went to work and I plowed on in the spare room, putting the trundle beds down and moving the couch. Arranging boxes until we have a chance to go through them all. There is more room in there now I think, as well as in the living room. I put a roast on this morning for dinner tonight. I chopped an onion, added garlic salt, rosemary, cumin, white pepper, cayenne pepper, black pepper, salt, celery flakes, and a couple bay leaves. I will add carrots and potatoes later.

Other than that I have laundry to do (don't want to do it...) and more unpacking to do...Busy day!

Made it!

2008-01-05T09:45:00.000-08:00

Well we've been here in Bellevue for two days now. Yesterday we spent all day moving boxes in. We thought it would never be done however our kind neighbor and her son helped us and it got done faster than we thought. Now we're living among way too much stuff for this two bedroom apartment. But the kitchen is mostly unpacked, to a point where I could cook something if we had milk, butter, or meats. Today the cable company came, hence the post. I couldn't post from my phone because there is a word limit on it. The views we had on the way were amazing. I guess that's what I've got for now, I would like to get some more boxes unpacked. Anyone want to come out and help?

New Years Resolutions

2008-01-02T04:46:00.001-08:00

As I wait for our wake-up call to come I thought I would ponder resolutions for the next year...

1. Get to new home - Bellevue, Washington.
2. Purge 1/3 of the stuff we brought with us, because no one needs this much crap.
3. Use up at least half my yarn stash with projects for Christmas or other occasions.
4. Continue in the lifestyle changes by getting more fit and losing some poundage.
5. finish Carol's afghan and ship it to her.
6. Draw More on my graphic tablet.
7. set up a monthly date with my husband *to explore Washington*
8. start next generation Olson/VanDerWerf rotating letter.
9. take and edit more pictures, and actually print them.
10. Find a job that I love to go to in the morning, and don't dread everyday.
11. Read more books.
12. Pay down credit cards and school loans.

That's the start of the list. It's pretty decent. I know I could think of many many more things to add.

By the way, I was also going to mention for most of South Dakota Sprint is Roaming, so We haven't really been able to answer phone calls, or make them accept to say *we're safe, we'll call later*.

Thank goodness for free hotel internet. Ah well off to kill some more time.

wee hours of the morning

2008-01-02T04:22:00.000-08:00

I'm awake and it's 5:30 am. I've been awake for about 45 minutes. Why might you ask am I awake when I could be sleeping in a fluffy pillow top bed where my husband is keeping it nice and warm? Well, I woke up Friday to find out I caught a head cold from my husband and it has slowly gotten worse as this last week has wore on. I woke up because I can't breathe because my nose is so clogged I have to breathe through my mouth and my lips are angry because of said breathing so they are very chapped and sore. I have two kanker-sores in my mouth, my head hurts, my nose is raw from blowing my nose (with puffs plus) and my eyes feel like they are drier than a desert.

Nice way to feel when traveling huh? So I'm up and the wake up call we ordered is coming soon. I should really take some more decongestant but I haven't had anything substantial to eat since about 530 pm yesterday (gas station sausage egg biscuit).

The plus side: 6 am is the start of free continental breakfast at the hotel. We are one third done with our journey. Tonight we will be over half done! We are staying with my Uncle tonight *my mom's younger brother* and some day this cold will have to be done with.

Rapid City, South Dakota

2008-01-01T23:17:00.000-08:00

So we made it only as far as Rapid City, but we got delayed today as the truck wouldn't start in Owatonna because it was 1 degree out feeling like -17 with wind chill. We had to wait for a repair man from Penske drive down from Eagan (closest that was open). We finally started out at 1:30 pm and made it to Rapid City by Midnight Mountain time. We've seen many funny signs and town names, saw a semi run into a cement block by a gas station, and played chinese firedrill with the road and our 26 foot truck and car carrier (total size 55 feet). We are exhausted and plan to get up to enjoy free breakfast and then hit the road to make it to Columbia Falls, Montana tomorrow.

Wish us luck and tell the wind to stay away, it makes driving much easier.

On the Road

2008-01-01T08:27:00.001-08:00

Well we officially no longer own a house and we are about to start our first leg of our journey as soon as I get off the computer.

Keep checking back for updates as we mark stops on the way...

Happy Hour and Last day at Mayo recap

2007-12-28T22:31:00.000-08:00

Well I am officially done with Mayo! My last day was four hours long and it went really fast. I've never been happier getting up to go to work. Some people didn't know it was my last day, some didn't know I was leaving.

After finishing work up *as much as I could with all the best wishes and interruptions I got* I had to head downtown to pick up a copy of my medical records to take with me, turn in my parking tag, turn in my gym parking tag and sign a form saying I was quiting my membership, then we headed over to Boomer's Bar and had my Happy hour with some of the people from Mayo. I had a wonderful time just relaxing and chatting about many random subjects from 2 until 8:30pm...that was the longest I have ever sat in a bar, but It was so much fun.

I will miss the people I worked with and the problem solving part of my job the most, but I am ready for a new adventure.

We are now in St. Cloud enjoying Jeremy's family Christmas weekend. We have the moving truck at home, and about 85% of the house packed. Oh well, it will get done. The moving date is approaching fast and that is making me so pumped.

Well off to watch my husband, his brother, his dad, and his brother's girlfriend play Rock Band.

Last Day at Mayo

2007-12-27T03:52:00.000-08:00

Today is my official last day as an employee at the Mayo Clinic! I will miss most of my co-workers, but will not miss the politics of the Lab I work in. I work 8 am to Noon. I don't know how much I will actually be able to get done, because people will interrupt me I am sure, but I guess that is for my boss to figure out. They aren't hiring someone to replace me, so I feel for the rest of my team as they will have to cover my job until management figures out who is going to do my job in the future.

So I am up early trying to motivate myself into packing more...I'm definitely sure that packing is the worst part of moving...

Off to the kitchen!

Later!

Merry Christmas

2007-12-25T16:18:00.000-08:00

Today was a wonderful day. We woke up early because my niece and nephew saw that Santa had come and left a bunch of gifts on the coffee table for them. (Our tree and Christmas stuff is all packed and ready to be moved.) So we got up and all watched as they unwrapped Santa's gifts. It culminated with two presents, Santa delivered a Nintendo Wii, a game, and extra controller. They screamed. It was the best reaction I have see in a long time.

I received so many great things. My mom gave me a flat grill pan to go on the stove and some die cuts for my Sizzix machine, My sister Candi gave me Harry Potter 3 and some stamps, My husband really topped out, he got me three Nintendo shirts, and three video games: Pokemon Emerald Green version, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, and Legends of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (all for my DS Lite). I am most excited by the games because of the long trip ahead of us that is only 6 short days away.

I bought Jeremy I am American and so can you, Steven Colbert's book, a Legends of Zelda shirt, a Nintendo winter cap, and a Mario Cart Remote control guy (for his desk at work).

We must be headed in the right directions - if you look at our gifts to each other. We had really good food, played a game of Hand and Foot, and relaxed with different movies. Jeremy fell ill this morning, he's very congested and is running a fever. So he's been in bed for most of the day. I hope it's not a long sickness as we don't have much time to pack.

I work tomorrow 6:30-2:30 and then just half a day Thursday from 8-noon. Then I am done!

I am so ready. Yesterday I walked in to work and there were 75 things for me to do that have been sitting for two days. It's frustrating because that is almost a normal workday's worth of work. So by the end of the day I had a record day for resolutions ("things to do") I did 177 resolutions.

I am not looking forward to working tomorrow, I am hoping that if it's slow I can leave early and come home and help pack more.

Home coming and work crumminess

2007-12-24T08:33:00.000-08:00

He did make it home Thursday. His plane landed in Minneapolis at 3 pm, but the flight from MSP to Rochester was cancelled due to dense fog down here. So he got delayed until a 7pm flight...but the weather just got worse and the 7 pm flight got cancelled as well. So the airport actually got a bus for the five flights that were cancelled and bused them all down to the Rochester airport. Jeremy got back into town at 9:30 instead of 6:30.

But he's home and things are good. I am at work today and I arrived to find my inbox full of crap from the weekend. I am ready to turn around and run out the door (and probably would if my dad were not at my house -- he would chew me out for leaving work). So...I sit here fuming because my co-workers don't care to cover for me while I am gone...and all the while I am thinking "good luck" to them all because my boss is not replacing me...

Sigh...I have one full day left wednesday and a half day on Thursday...and I just want to call in sick for them all.

Well back to work so I can go home and enjoy a Christmas Eve dinner and presents openning...

I can't wait! More later as I have tomorrow off.

He's coming home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2007-12-20T04:40:00.000-08:00

Jeremy comes home today. He hops a flight at 9 am in Seattle and I will go to the airport and pick him up at 6:30 pm....

I am very excited to have him home! Today at work is my "exit interview" with the head honcho lady of the lab. It should be interesting to see how things turn out at that meeting. Other than that, I got all my Christmas shopping done except for my dad. He is hard to buy for. So...Any ideas what I should get him?

Weekend Adventures

2007-12-17T19:12:00.000-08:00

Friday I left work and zoomed up to Minnetonka to spend the night with my best friend Nia. She had her first baby last week and I wanted to get some baby time before moving so far away. Gracen is the sweetest baby and smallest baby I have ever seen. We hung out at home and watching Harry Potter 2 and 3 and just cuddled with baby. She is so tiny and cute with long skinny legs you can tell she is going to take after mom and dad. I can see her as a ballerina already!

Here are some pictures:

Wide awake!

Proud Dad Brandon and baby Gracen

Mom Nia and baby Gracen

Puckering up!

Practicing for future pictures.

The best seat in the house

All curled up and cute

Plumb Tuckered out!

bake sale and tie-blanket

2007-12-13T21:21:00.001-08:00

So I stayed up to a very late 3 am yesterday working on baked goods for a bake sale at work today. I wasn't tired so I just kept going. Total for the one day sale was a bit over 1800 dollars that goes to a gentleman I work with who is fighting Lung Cancer!
Merry Merry Christmas Gene!
Here is what I contributed:

I packaged People Puppy Chow, Raspberry Divinity, Pretzels with kisses in them, and these beauties: Chocolate Cherry and Pistachio Chews:

Here is a picture of some cookies my mom and I experimented with last weekend:
Yummy Little Almond Sandwich Cookies:

And tonight I made the tie blanket for the lady at work. It went very fast tonight. I worked on it from 7:45 to 11:00 with a break somewhere in there for a half hour.
And here is what the back looks like:

Yay, another project done.
Now I can relax and bit then pack for a trip to go see Baby Gracen up in the Twin Cities tomorrow.

happy anniversary Mom and Dad!

2007-12-13T14:40:00.001-08:00

Today is my parents Anniversary:

Are they cute? I think I will miss them the most when I move.

craziness...

2007-12-12T20:29:00.000-08:00

We are moving in 18 days!

that is insane...wow...lots to do, and more things on the list.

I'm off to work on some bake sale items for work tomorrow.

then to pass out and wake up early to probably do more.

Sold!!!!!!!!!!!

2007-12-12T09:33:00.000-08:00

We have accepted an offer from a couple that would like to buy our house! Our closing date is New Year's Eve. So now comes the rush of the next 18 days to get the house packed and be ready to move out. We're starting the new year on a big adventure.

I get to put my two week notice in tomorrow... I've been running around in circles I am so happy. Now if I can just get a job out there...

WHOOPPIE!!!!!! Can you tell I'm happy?

crafts and cooking

2007-12-11T21:18:00.000-08:00

First off I want to say that this morning I finished the baby sweater for a lady at work. She loved it, and mom knit the socks to match. I love the buttons on this sweater:

I spend a good chunk of the weekend before last baking while it snowed outside, then this last weekend mom and I went Christmas shopping.

Okay so I have a bunch of pictures to add here. I will explain all...

This is my new sweater I got this weekend. I love the neck line!

These are Caramel Shortbread bars, I love how they layer.
This is Raspberry Divinity that I have made. This was the first time I made it and though it turned out well, I'm not sure I would make it unless requested to make it.

Gingersnaps, one of my favorites Grandma Ellen used to make all the time.

Cornflake Wreaths

This is the bowl of goodies I brought to my neighbor who plowed me out twice the weekend before last.

Now for more future crafts:
There is a lady at work who as asked me to make her grandson a tie-blanket for Christmas. This is the fleece I picked out:

birthday wishes!

2007-12-07T12:58:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the world:

Gracen Rae Lighter

6 lbs 8 oz 19.5 inches long

born 12/7/2007 12:01 pm

Congratulations Nia and Brandon on your little baby girl!

I can't wait to meet her!

winter kindness

2007-12-06T09:38:00.000-08:00

I am very fortunate to have wonderful neighbors that know I am alone in my home. This weekend past we had a big winter storm and I was gearing myself up to spend most of Sunday shoveling my way back into the world for work Monday. We Saturday afternoon while I was baking away in the kitchen I heard a loud sound coming from outside. My neighbor Ed had already gotten half my drive plowed with his snow blower! I was really happy, so I put together a gift of homemade goodies from the afternoon's work in the kitchen and tromped over with them.

I spent Sunday outside getting rid of the ice since the sky decided after snowing it would like to rain. I fell twice...said nuts to this and went inside to plan my next attack. Ed laid down as much salt as he had left after doing his driveway and I was able to get 1/4 of the drive de-iced. So I ventured out of my garage and down to the gas station for some more salt. I returned home and emptied one of my two bags across the drive.

Then Tuesday it snowed again...making it home from work took me 20 minutes when it usually takes me 5-10 minutes. I was planning my early morning of shoveling around 830 pm and again I heard a familiar sound. Ed came out again and plowed me out! I love this man.

So I slept better...however I woke to the sound of the city snow plow coming down our road...and low and behold he plowed me in! So I changed out of my work clothes, into jeans and boots and layers of warm clothes and grabbed my trusty shovel to attack this mass. I got tired really quickly...and the other neighbor asked if I needed to go anywhere for the day. I told him I had to be to work at 9am. (it was 8 am) He said that I should just make a path big enough for my car to get out and he would finish it while I was at work! Thank the Lord! So I am being provided for while Jeremy is gone. But snow is in the forcast for tonight and tomorrow, and this weekend...

I am ready for spring!!

My Grandma Ellen

2007-11-29T18:29:00.002-08:00

Today would have been my grandma Ellen's 98th birthday.
Here is a picture of her when she was young:Ellen Wilhelmina Olson VanDerWerf

Wasn't she pretty? Holidays always remind me of her. Especially Christmas when she would make each of us 11 grandchildren and the 5 sets of aunts and uncles sugar cookies with our names written in frosting on them.

forboding

2007-11-29T07:01:00.000-08:00

I'm not too sure but I think it's bad when I get to work and sit down at my desk and I have the overwhelming urge to get up and go back home.

That's never a good way to start the day.

I experimented with a cookie recipe last night. I will post pictures tonight and talk about them.

Living alone

2007-11-27T20:28:00.000-08:00

I have been living alone for two full days now. I'm not used to it yet. With the house being so clean I don't feel like I should do anything that would make more cleaning for me to do. So I've been drawing and playing spider solitare. I finally cooked something tonight (first time since last week).

Jeremy is doing well in Seattle, finding his way around and exploring new restaurants that we both will be going to when I finally get out there. He is enjoying his new job and I am so happy that he is working for Nintendo.

Work is work, It was a busy and hard day for resolutions but I ended up getting all but four of them done. A total of 111 resolutions today.

It's amazing how fast you grow accustom to having someone around and then when they are away how jarred your life seems, empty almost. I'm doing well though for my husband being 1600 miles away. more tomorrow...

wacky weekend

2007-11-25T13:34:00.000-08:00

So we went to Jer's Aunt's house yesterday for his family's traditional Thanksgiving. Man was that turkey good. We were there for a bit, and Jer finally told his family that we were leaving, and they were really shocked but excited. They asked when Jer was leaving and he said "tomorrow". So we came home and cleaned some more. I got up at 7:30 this morning to start cleaning more...Jer was up by a record time of 8:30 (for a Sunday that is unheard of). We worked really hard, vacuumed the entire house again, I cleaned the bathrooms again, we moved more and more stuff to the garage, finally at about 12:40pm we walked through the house as if we were the ones looking to buy, and our verdict was yes!

So we left feeling like our house was ready to be shown to potential buyers. We swung over to Best Buy because we bought a point and shoot camera and the guy forgot to add the service package on. After settling that, we headed to the mall for Jeremy's final Minnesota meal. He got ManchuWok (orange chicken is his favorite) and I got A & W. We stopped in at Zales to see if his watch was back from being repaired (it wasn't) and then headed out to the Rochester Airport to drop him off. He is now on his way to MSP and then out to SEATAC airport and Nintendo!

I have returned home to a pristine 4 bedroom house, Now what? It's very quiet and odd.

Who wants to come over?

My Brother's blog

2007-11-25T13:32:00.000-08:00

Welcome to blog-land DAN!

Now we just need to get dad blogging and it's the whole family!

Mexican Thanksgiving Scramble

2007-11-23T20:58:00.000-08:00

Today was the day we had our official Thanksgiving planned. We had decided to make home-made tortillas, refried beans and the fixings instead of turkey and stuffing. So this afternoon Candi (my second sister) and my mom rolled up 52 balls of carbs... I was sleeping because of course today I woke up feeling rotten. While we were finishing up getting ready for dinner ( mom was rolling out the tortillas, Candi was cooking them, and I was cutting tomatoes, olives, and cheese) my phone rang. It was Edina Realty looking to see if they could show our house on Sunday at 1:15 pm. Well that changed the plans for the evening. Since dinner was finished the whole family (Jer, myself, Dad, Mom, Candi, Hailey, and Logan) have been cleaning the house from top to bottom. We've moved furniture, moved lots of stuff to the garage, went through clothes to be donated, and clutzy me split my mom's glass of raspberry wine right on the floor in the living room...sigh...always me...

Anyway, I'm now tired, but there is still much more to be done. The food was fantastic, in fact I'm thinking of having a couple tortillas now!

Happy Turkey/Ham Day

2007-11-22T06:23:00.000-08:00

I am currently at work, with three resolutions in my inbox and three samples to track in...then nothing...

I'm so thankful for people covering most of my shift today!

Then it's home to eat ham and scour the ads for shopping chaos day tomorrow.

Hope you all are safe and enjoying some form of good homecooked food!

awesome co--worker

2007-11-21T10:59:00.000-08:00

Well "Swanksgiving" is tomorrow (see Erin's blog to find Carla's blog about the word swanks) and it is my holiday to work. However this morning my co-worker M. came over and asked if I had family coming into town...I do indeed I told him, and he said that he would like to save his vacation time so he wanted to work for my shift tomorrow! Well I checked my own bank of vacation and realized yes he could work for me for 5 of my 8 hour shift. I was 3 hours shy of having the whole day off. But the assistant boss approved the coverage switch so I only work from 8-11 am tomorrow!

I then have the rest of the day and Friday off! Which is a great thing since Jeremy is flying out Sunday from the Rochester Airport to Redmond. He will be gone 3 weeks and then they are going to fly him home around the 20th for Christmas break.

Yay he's going to be home for Christmas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That is the major thing I am swankful for. I am also swankful for an extra week to clean our house as the holiday pushed off our "Realtor Walk-through" from yesterday to today.

edit: if you read my post earlier...I apologize for the typo...I'm so sorry!!!!! If you didn't see it...swank heavens for that!