How Much for the Sweet Guns?

I don’t know how I got so behind, but here I am with an update from 3/31 – 4/6.

I called my niece Jackie and asked her some questions to figure out what she might like for her birthday.  She has a bunch of very typical 13 year old like ideas.

Jackie: I would also like a iPhone 5s case.  I mean I don’t know for sure that I am going to get one, but if I do, I’m going to need a case.  I’d like the Magenta one, but that’s usually out of stock, so if you have to, I’ll take the green one. 

O rly.

Jackie: Just get me something that SCREAMS Jackie. 

That’s an invitation if I’ve ever heard one.  I got her some make up (teen gift, check), Hair ties (to show her I still know what’s cool), Bacon Band-Aids (b/c of the b-day list she made for me) and what really spoke to me was a make your own ukulele kit (naturally.) 

Tuesday was Erika Jane’s birthday.  I sent her flowers, which caused her to ask me what kind a particular flower was.  I tried to do some internet sleuthing until I finally gave up.

Me: This is already the longest convo I’ve had about flowers…

And then later

Me: What color is the center? Actually, I don’t really care. 

Erika: I can’t see the center.  Oh. Thanks for pretending.

In other news, I found a Starbucks card as I was cleaning the other day and tried it out and got mega java and had $17 left.

Me: SHUT UP! That’s awesome!

Barista: I will NOT shut up, it’s true!

On Friday, I got a chance to meet up with Kelly for a green smoothie.  Okay, I did meet Kelly, but only she had the green smoothie.  I was just there for the company.  J

Over the weekend, the tiling got done in the brown house and new carpeting was installed into the yellow house.  The tricky bit was keeping the pups and strangers separated.  At one point I put them all in the car to get lunch/groceries.  Jordan had come home early to help clean the garage, which also meant that I had to go through a couple of boxes I hadn’t looked into since WK.  I found some serious gems, including everything that was on my desk.  I had one BSG tin, with marshmallow gun ammo, a lil bit of shredded naughty paper from when I wrapped Rollie’s desk and then he shredded said wrapping and hid it all over my desk, and this note from a convention. 

Totally worth storing.  No seriously though, this is when I decided I needed a storage unit.  I packed up a couple of boxes, and Zach and I drove over to get a unit.  This might have been the most freeing thing I did all week.  Yay for getting to keep my things!  On our way back, I was trying to be super nice and cool b/c I really did appreciate Zach driving me. Lord knows I couldn’t fit the stuff in my Fiat.  But when we were 5 min from the house I broke down to say, “I understand you might take your hands off the wheel sometimes (AKA: at least 5 times on 15 min drive home) and you might look away from the road (AKA: once a minute), but could you not do these things at the same time?”  I know, I’m an ungrateful brat.

On Sunday, I finished moving into my room and clearing out the master bedroom of the brown house.  And just when I totally wanted to stop, Becky stopped by.  She kept me company while I cooked the food for the dogs for the week.  Um, did I mention that Percy feels like he’s gained weight on his non-fat diet?  He can’t get enough. I can still feel his ribs, so he’s clearly not over weight, but he is definitely bulking up – maybe it’s all muscle? J

Maureen (mom of three boys for 12 years): My son, Kyle, brings home a deer skull and leaves it in the yard for our dog. He says, "I think she likes it!" I say, "get that thing out of here!" Always feeling unprepared for this parenting job. I'm positive my brother is not coming home to this type of stuff.

When I told Dawne (mom of three boys for 25 years) this she said: Oh! That reminds me, your boy, Percy brought me a piece of a jaw that he found.  When I pulled it out of his mouth, I decided my boys would think it would cool, so I left it on the table outside for them.

Maureen: What is it a skull of? Btw I noticed Kyle’s deer skull made its way to the front of Mom and Dad’s house :)

Dawne: It was a gift! Do you ask where your gifts come from?

And lastly, from the grateful files, I was super grateful that Percy didn’t jump down this hole when the grate was off of it for painting purposes.  J

Sweet Sixteen

Update 3/24 – 3/30

I started out last week asking pinging Briana.

Me: Aren’t you having a baby soon?

Briana: Wednesday is the due date.

Me: So are your bags packed? Are your ankles as big as your thighs now?

I know, I’m so helpful.  Banana had Austin Cole on Thursday, 3/27!  And, to make it official, here’s a pic of the perfect little man:

I was chatting with some co-workers when the subject of Portland came up, by a person who looked like they stepped out of Portlandia. My other co-worker proceeded to inform him, “I don’t like Portland.  There are no old people. It’s a bunch of Hipsters. Ugly Hipsters that make me feel old.” I don’t think he’ll be working for the Oregon travel bureau anytime soon.  For the record, I think Portland is just fine.  J  Oh and then I got back to my desk and this happened:

I got to chat with my college roommate Sarah, who I haven’t spoken to in forever, like she has two kid now kind of forever.  That was pretty cool.  Ooh and Bails turned 16! I got to Facetime with her as she opened presents.  Gotta love technology.  I missed the party, but it looks like they had a blast!

Speaking of former roommates, I spoke to Erika ever so briefly last week.  I’m a big fan of the chat when you have 5 minutes.  I figure I would rather talk to someone for 5 minutes than not at all, and Mommy’s tend to limited free time.  Anyway, I spoke to her and then we took Zach out to Buffalo Wild Wings, and on our way back from South Center, I got a call from a giggling Erika.

Erika: I just pulled a prank and I need to know how bad it is.

Me: Okay…

Erika: I just left to get some ice cream and instead of telling Kenny, I left a note that said, “I can’t do this anymore. I love you. Bye.”

Me: Where were the kids?

Erika: Kenny was holding Daphne and was upstairs saying good-night to the boys.

Me: Okay, so the kids are safe.

Erika: I know we have the iPhone tracker, so I could take this to the next level.  I could go to the next county! Or take a road trip to Seattle!

Me: Okay, there is a point where this is hilarious, and there is a point where it’s mean.  I’ll let you decide where that line is. 

Erika: Good point.  I’ll call you and let you know how it plays out. 

Erika: He laughed. After checking every room in the house and tracking my phone.  Minor panic, mostly funny. 

Speaking of panics, one day last week, when we came home from the park, Nala started throwing up blood.  Dawne rushed her to the doctor, and apparently she has pancreatitis.  This means that, even though Dawne never cooked for her kids, she has started cooking chicken and turkey for her canine babies.  So far, they are loving it (at least more than the baby food we had to feed them!)  Don’t worry, we still aren’t cooking for ourselves. 

On Thursday, I came into work, and was surprised to find that my co-worker was baby-sitting a baby yorkie for the day, and had to sneak her into work.  I held her as much as possible, but I am ashamed to say that I never found out what her name was!

Dawne and I searched for these plastic thingy’s for the bathrooms that needed to be white instead of off-white now that the ceilings have been painted.  We searched all over, then online and found out that they were going to be $18 X 16.  Dawne decided she would just spray paint them instead.  Which is awesome.  But then the following day, she ordered these super cool, but pricey door knobs, completely negating the saving.  But in Dawne-math, totally made the door knobs “affordable.”  In case the last ten updates weren’t clear, this is our world now. 

Gabo sent a formal request to Kelly, AKA the dictator of the Try New Things Club, for a meeting.  I think he might have created a precedent that no one wants to follow, except of course, the dictator.  J Anyway, we all headed over for some Japanese BBQ, where I totally tried a bite of cows tongue.  I agree, it did kinda taste like a hamburger, but I also didn’t have more than a bite of it.  Unfortunately, it’s a busy place, and we got kicked out after an hour… which also was the exact time that Gabo finally got out of work.  L  Lame.  This is the only funny thing I remember from the evening:

Dawne: It’s okay.  I’ve had a cleaning lady for 7 years who still doesn’t know my name. 

Me: What does she call you?

Dawne: Donna. 

Me: That’s pretty too.

On Saturday, we met up with Zach for breakfast in Redmond.  We gave ourselves 2.5 hours, but I still ended up running from breakfast to Ballard to see Jen’s daughter Lily perform in “Alice in Wonderland.”  The kids were adorable.  I especially loved the Tweedles who paused half way through their scene to whisper about what their lines were.  And the point where a little girl forgot that she had her mic on, and over the courtroom scene we all heard, “I Like tennis.  Not as much as golf, but Tennis is fun. I guess it depends on where you go…”  and after the play resumed, we also heard, slightly quieter, “They skipped my line…”  Seriously cute, though I’m sure not as cute as when I was the Queen of Hearts in elementary school.  Maybe one day I’ll share that video with you. 

Later, Diana stopped by with her majesty, Harper.  We grabbed some dinner, did a little shopping at crossroads.  It was simple, and lovely.  Sunday, Jordan was home for about 9 hours between trips.  I made bacon and pancakes for breakfast, and Zach came by.  Jordan did a quick walk through the progress on the house, and then it was about time for him to catch a flight to China.  I did a little more unpacking, including starting this new thing where I hang up my clothes in outfits, which has been fantastic!  More work on the house, followed by dinner in Factoria, a stop at Target and watching Delivery Man in the theater.   Not a bad way to finish up the week! 

I hope you’re having a blast – I’ll try not to take ALL week to write the next update – but no promises.

It's Too Loud, so, Yeah, I'm Old.

Big stuff happened last week – including Zach moving out of the house and in with Tristan.  As we then proceeded to see him every day since then for showers or meals, I *should* be sarcastic when I say, “I miss him, already.”  But, I do kinda already miss him. 

Here is my very well trained dog, not at all bothering Zach while he ate. Zach: He’s like a goat.

Last week, I was talking to Kelly over IM.

Kelly: Maggie is coming to visit next week and we’re going to get tattoos.

Me: Oh yeah? Of what?

Kelly: Not sure, but I have been sporting this temp Dinosaur tattoo lately, and it’s pretty cool.

On Monday, Kelly sent a picture of her tattoo to Shana saying, “Look! Now I’m a bad ass like, you!”  I think Shana’s response was, “Come back to me after 7 hours of a tattoo, but yeah, that’s adorbs.”

On Tuesday, I met up with Kelly for happy hour, which was nice, b/c that’s really the only time I get to see my co-workers. J  Plus, Matty joined in on the fun!  When Kelly showed off her dino tat, no one believed her that it was real until they very closely examined it.  The drawbacks of being a temporary tattoo aficionado.

We took a couple of lovely walks in the morning with the pups, and I tried very hard to get a good shot of the amazing Blue Heron that are in abundance at Marymoor.

I was able to make an appointment to chat with someone about my 5 year plan last week.  Her advice was awesome, even if I did cry a little out of panic because I have never had a 5 year plan.  Anyone who has spent any time at all with me, will not be surprised by this, but still, I felt super embarrassed about it.  Which is also why I don’t know why I’m telling you about it.  :P

On Friday, Sandy made dinner for me, Dawne and Zach.  It was such an incredibly kind thing for her to do.  I don’t know what it is about someone recognizing that you’re stressed out and magically figuring out a way to make an hour of your week lovely.  I guess because it is such a rare thing, that I was just incredibly appreciative.  She went all out to make something that we all liked, and Pete made us really delightful coffee that we enjoyed with homemade cookies.  And then, when plans changed and we had to leave 5 minutes after a text from Lucas, they weren’t insulted or upset and it was just super.  We made it to Luke’s performance at Ground Zero.  When we walked in, it was obnoxiously loud, but Lucas was right there with earplugs to save the evening!  We might be old, but we still have our hearing!

Later that evening, Dawne and I played some Skip-Bo, even though Percy was not pleased about it.

Other than that, we packed some stuff up, cleaned some things, lots of stuff got painted and installed and fixed.  We also went to Home Depot twice, Bed Bath & Beyond three times, Good Will twice, four furniture stores, a carpet warehouse and a couple stops at Target, Fred Meyer, Michael's.  Typical weekend shenanigans.

Zach: So 12 PM is like lunch?

Lucas: Yeah.  It’s so weird.

True story.

These Boots Were Made For Running

Happy Belated St. Patrick’s Day!

Don’t freak out (like I am), but nothing fun happened last week.  Dawne was pretty stoked that the counter tops in the brown house arrived, which is exciting, but the kitchen isn’t done yet, so… it’s just a mini-achievement.   Bigger achievements include the many rooms in the yellow house were painted, the outside of the house & roof were power washed, and a bunch of extensive and necessary fixes were made on the house. 

I got a letter in the mail from my parents, that I really needed, that had some bonus sweet words on the outside, which I also appreciated. 

Dawne and I got a couple glorious morning walks in.  The sunrise, and fog, and just epic calm and beauty that can be found in the morning makes me wonder why I’m not more of a morning person. 

Oh! So on Tuesday, Jordan went to drop off Percy and Nala at PetCo in Kirkland for some grooming.  Dawne doesn’t like the PetCo in Crossroads, b/c they don’t blow dry Nala’s hair and she ends up looking like she has a tutu b/c her hair is so poofy.  However, PetCo in Kirkland said they were going to shave Percy, so I said I would pick him up and bring him to Crossroads.  I wasn’t really sure what to do with him though, b/c it was the middle of my work day.  I picked him up from Jordan’s office, and brought him over to my co-worker Christy’s house.  She was kind enough to invite Percy over for a play date with her pup Sparky.  When we introduced them, they seemed to hit it off, and after some minor safety (of Christy’s belongings) precautions, we went back to work.  At the end of the day, Christy headed home, and I told her I would finish something and be there in 3 min minutes.  This is where I made a crucial mistake.  When I got to Christy’s, her front door was ajar, her purse and jacket had been thrown to the ground, and neither human nor canine were in sight.  I grabbed some treats from the car and started walking along the street.  I saw Christy, out of breath, in boots, and carrying Sparky, saying something a kin to, “He’s so fast!  I opened the door an inch and they both went running… Percy stayed right on the double yellow line!” Yeah, that sounds like my boy.  I thought I took it pretty well considering how many busy street are in Kirkland, and how much distance he can cover in 5 minutes.  Luckily, I walked down the road calling his name, and he ran right back to me.  Christy had taken her car around to look, and when she found me she said, “Oh good.  Now I can cry.”  When she picked up her 6 year old son Asher from school, she related the story.  He was very upset saying, “I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU HAD PUPPY ADVENTURES WITHOUT ME!!”  Post Script: The following day, when we were moving things into the car, Nala and Casper ran out into the driveway to check things out.  Percy sat down and waiting inside the open door for me to return.  Here’s Percy with his “You talkin’ bout me, Willis?” face.

On Friday morning I awoke to a very very low tire.  I made it up the street to fill it with air, and then went to work.  By the time I got out of work, it was pretty low again, so I filled it up one more time and limped away to Le Schwab to see if they could repair my clown car sized tire.  I was seriously surprised to find that they could indeed fix my tire, and they did it all for a smile and promise that I would return.  YOU BETCHYA!

After dinner, we ran over to 5^th avenue theater to see Jordan’s niece Rosie perform in Spamalot.  I had never seen the play before, but I seriously had a hard time believing that these performers were in High School.  So amazing.  As a bonus, we got to see Jordan’s parents and sister there as well. 

Saturday was more moving fun.  I bought a new bedframe to reduce the footprint of the bed, and then took an hour of Dawne’s time repositioning said frame only to end up putting the room back in the exact same configuration that I had it before.  I then tried to move some of my stuff back into my room, but without the doors back in, it was kind of useless.  We did get the other bedroom set up though, and then met Jordan’s parents for a birthday lunch for Zach.  Some more moving and organizing, followed by Dawne & Jordan going out for a fun belated birthday evening, and Zach having friends over for a scavenger hunt/pool party.  This is how I wished Zach Happy Birthday, on FB, so he would notice it. J Then I bought him toilet paper for his new apartment.  I’m super helpful.

Meanwhile Saturday night and Sunday, I cleared out the craft room and most of the exercise room so that they could be painted on Monday.  The fam went down to Portland on Sunday to Monday which I heard was just okay sans good stories.  With them out of the house though, I did find the energy to make my green banana nut muffins – pretty much the only festive thing that I did for St. Patrick’s Day.  

Unless you count going to get a corned beef sandwich and spilling a diet coke on myself during lunch.  Thank goodness for layers. 

Movin' on Up

My cousin Erin had showed me her gourmet breakfast and threatened to tag me in all of her daily cooking adventures. Naturally, I thought it was most appropriate to send her my breakfast Tuesday morning, after three hours of sleep.

While I was in Florida, I got out of a weekend of hard work around the house.  Clearing out the first floor for painting meant that we no longer had chairs.  I think this was done on purpose so that any time we thought about sitting down, we’d decide to clean and pack instead.  Lucas, ever resourceful, found a loophole in the plan.

We all went to Red Robin to celebrate Nate’s birthday, in his absence. Happy Birthday, Nater!  We had piled into Zach’s car.

Zach: You know what Kate, after me driving her around for a year and half, said to me? 

Me: What?

Zach: “Has any one ever told you that you’re not very good at driving?”

I had been telling folks at dinner about how I like highlight people’s names in an email when I really need them to pay attention at work.  Zach added that he often just reads the subject line of emails and if it looks important, then he’ll read it.  When he told his teacher this, the professor retaliated with ending all of his emails for the rest of the semester with, “Someone remind Zach to read this email.”

I also received this instructional guide from Erika in the mail.  I guess I need to step it up? And be sweeter? Maybe you could just pick one or the other? :P

Not sure if other parents/pet owners do this with their babies, but I like to spend my last 45 min every day completely and totally riling up my pup until he falls asleep from exhaustion.  The other night I decided to take some pics of how pleased my pup is when we’re playing so I could share with all of you. Yw.

Mister curious also jumped in the flower pot this week.  I think he makes a perfect Percy plant, what do you think?

While I was the only one at mass on Wednesday, I did get Dawne and Lucas to agree to give up something for lent.  I also promised to observe Passover, but that’s WEEKS away.  J

On Saturday morning, Jordan, the birthday boy, walked into the kitchen wearing a cookie monster shirt.

Lucas: I only like sugar and simple carbs

Jordan: You or Cookie Monster?

Lucas: Me.  I started the morning with marshmallows. 

The 5 of us spend the weekend packing up rooms and clearing them out for the move.  Jordan was working on his action figures, and making it very clear that he had to work on his birthday.  Dawne consistently responded with, “I don’t feel guilty!” I wouldn’t either if had been working every day, non-stop, to empty the house.  Actually, I haven’t been working that hard, and I still didn’t feel guilty. :P  Lucas and I tackled the music room.  Back in 2008, Zach and his friends, during a party, spray painted this room.  And then, we covered in egg crates to sound proof it for Luke. With the last box moved, I took a quick picture.  No staging needed.  Love what you did with the place.  J

Then, I went upstairs to help clear Zach’s room.  He had a tighter deadline b/c people were coming in on Monday to tear out the ceiling and fix some damage.  When they took the couches out, they lowered them from the balcony to the deck.  I wasn’t there, but I heard that it was a much faster processes then was expected when the rope slipped and couch fell to the next level.  Luckily, no one was hurt, and the couch lives on.  Becky also stopped by on Saturday.  I realized when we were looking for matching sheets for the neighbor’s son, I had forgotten to clear out an entire dresser of clothing.  Realizing that much of it was too small (sad face) I packed it all up for Becky who has been looking very skinny lately.  Then, because there were no seats, I brought Becky down to see the brown house progress, we moved some furniture, broke something, then cleaned it up, and then it was about ready for Becky to skedaddle.  J

Me: Do you take Baths?

Becky: Seems kind of a personal question, but I’m an over sharer.  ;) Why yes, I appreciate a hot bath now and then.

And that’s how she got a box full of bubbles and bath salts. 

On Saturday evening, we took baby Harper out to her first restaurant – Tu Casa (of course.)  We shared one last meal with Dawne’s Aunt Elizabeth, along with Matty, Jason & Diana.  It was a super nice way to end her trip here.  On Sunday, I went to brunch with Shana, Laina & Dr. Rach, followed by a pedicure.  It was super nice to see everyone, and especially nice to get a move break.  J

Percy boy is obsessed with leather.  It’s weird, but true.  He found this wallet, buried in the bottom of a box and spent the last couple of days “hiding” it, staring at where he hid it, and then moving it again.  At least someone is enjoying the move.  My mother, on the other hand, was very disappointed that he found an empty wallet.   Who knew I was supposed to encourage stealing?

I hope you all are doing well, keeping strong on your Lenten promises, and staying positive.  J