Obsessed in Seattle

Hi folks. I've probably lost a good portion of you since I haven't been keeping up with my blog. Well there has been a good reason. You probably figured by the title of this post that we have moved to Seattle. You can read all about it on my new blog Tuscany PNW.

I won't be posting here again after this entry. Thanks for your loyalty and patience. I hope to hear from you on my new blog.

Keith

August Update

Wow, another month has come and gone so quickly! I apologize once again for the lack of blog entries. We've been busy with house projects on the weekends and work continues to take up the majority of my time during the week. Hopefully the project I'm working on at work will launch on time and I'll be able to spend more time blogging and knitting.

Backyard Project
The backyard is done! And just in the nick of time, right before my mother and stepfather's visit.

Here are a couple before and after shots:


Before


After


Before


After


Before


After



Trixie approves!

Here are a few detail shots:






Mom and Stepdad's Visit
The week with my Mom and Stepfather went very well. It was so nice for them to finally see where we live. Lots happened that week. There was a neighborhood BBQ that happened to fall on the day after they arrived, we went to Mendocino for a nice overnight trip, we saw Beach Blanket Babylon with my cousin, her husband, and her stepdaughter, and basically ate like pigs.

Mendocino, CA is a quaint Northern California Coast town. I highly recommend it to anyone who is visiting or lives in the SF Bay area. We stayed at The Headlands Inn which was situated right in town. FANTASTIC!!! A MUST STAY!!! The house was cute, the rooms were very, very comfortable, the breakfast was out of this world, and the staff were top notch. I frankly want to retire there!!!

We took over 200 photos so I'll spare you the boring 'slide show' and only share a handful.


The Headlands Inn, Mendocino, CA


Breakfast Served in the Room (picture doesn't do this breakfast justice)


DJ, Me & Mom




It took all my energy to not buy a roll, run back to the B&B, take a big dump and wipe my ass with Bush's face! Any guesses on the type of store the TP was being sold in?

Knitting Project Update
I actually had a few fleeting moments to knit and finally finish one of my socks.


Hopefully it won't take me another 6 months to finish the 2nd. If only I could sit down and knit more often!

IKEA - Ravenea Rivularis - Customer Service

Last weekend we went to IKEA to buy new sheets for the newly finished guest room and our bed. Those of you who have shopped at IKEA probably know that it's not the best place to go to if you are susceptible to the impulse buying bug! What else would explain why we left with more than our intended purchases and paying $200+? It's like going to COSTCO for just toilet paper, right?

I believe I've mentioned that one of David's obsessions is palms. We know have 5 in the ground in the front of the house and at least 19 or so in pots along the side and in the backyard. No matter where we go David points out palms and spouts out their Latin names. Or he plays my favorite guessing game, "Let me test you. Do you know the name of that palm over there?" I was being facetious when I said that I like the guessing game. I actually am bad with names, especially when it comes to Latin. But David loves to play the game with me. The subject of the guessing game can be Band Names from the 70's and 80's (Who's singing this song?), Palms, Movie Lines, etc. I usually try 2 guesses before I scream, "I DON'T KNOW tell me!"

So there we were in the basement bazaar of IKEA (which should be called "Impulse Buyers' Heaven") looking for the sheets when David spied a potted Majestic Palm or Ravenea Rivularis. It was only $14.00! How could we pass it up?

IKEA doesn't sell potting soil and David wanted to get the palm planted in the 2nd bedroom that evening. Thank goodness Longs Garden Center is open 24 hours -- a horticulturist's dream. Going to Longs is an experience. The store is gigantic and looks like it was built in the 70s. The Garden Center has a great variety of plants and garden supplies most of which are sold at good prices.

We were at Longs, if memory serves me correctly, at about 8:00 p.m. on July 3rd. The Garden Center's registers were closed leaving the Customer Service registers as the next closest to buy the potting soil. Ms. Longs Customer Service was not exuding a very happy demeanor. She was poised beyond the register with elbow on the counter and her head leaning on her hand She was clearly not happy working the evening of a Holiday weekend. David was blissful with anticipation of a palm entering the house and was not paying attention to Ms. Longs Customer Service. After about 5 minutes into the transaction Ms. Longs Customer Service blurts out, still with the side of her face propped up against her hand, "What's your screen say?" This was her subtle way to get David's attention to the card reader screen and not the conversation he was having with me.

Now that's customer service for ya.

Here's a picture of the Palm in our newly finished 2nd bedroom.

Freeway Porn

I was driving to work on Monday and almost got in a car accident. It wasn't because of a bad driver (although there are many on the road).

By the title of my post you might have concluded what it was that was close to causing a potential crash.



Now the reason I almost had the accident was because the above mentioned billboard can be seen as one comes off the upper deck of the Bay Bridge. Normally the billboard would be in full view. But that was not the case. There is construction on the bridge and the freeway median divider had a fence on top which obstructed the view of the construction and the above mentioned A&F Billboard so that all that could be seen was a bare torso down to the pubic bone.

I literally had to crane my neck and lift myself slightly from the car seat to check out if the model had pants on.

Wouldn't you do the same?

Come on admit it!

Back in the Saddle

I can't believe it's been more than a month since I've posted to my blog. There are a lot of things that I can bring you all up to speed with.

The Zoo

It's still hard to believe that Sasha is no longer here. Our other cat Mia seems to be adjusting. I think it was hard for him at first. He's actually roaming around the house more. Trixie is actually learning not to chase him. It's probably because Mia's hiss is pretty potent. Let's put it this way, poor Mia doesn't have the best oral hygiene; his breath stinks. So a few hisses and air swats later was enough to teach Trixie to keep her distance. Maybe I can bottle his saliva and sell it as an alternative to mace.

Knitting Project

The socks are coming along slowly. I'm still on the first one. I finished the leg, "turned" the heel and am getting close to the toe. I would include an in progress picture but the camera is temporarily M.I.A.

Exotic Trips

David and I have decided to take a 2-week vacation to Japan in November. This is a trip we've been wanting to do for a long time. We love everything Japanese; the culture, food, architecture, art and of course David loves Godzilla. We'll be meeting our friend Greg from NY and his Japanese girlfriend Koziko (sorry guys if I spelled her name wrong). We're reading up on places to go and sites to see. Greg, like David, is a Godzilla collector. I've been promised that the trip will not be all about Godzilla. Although an idea to visit some of the places that Godzilla has destroyed has been thrown around. I guess it could be interesting. I mean I did go on the "Sound of Music" tour when I was in Austria.

House Projects

The 2nd bedroom is pretty much done!!!! The only details left to do are to hang the shades (once they arrive) and install the ceiling light. A 2-year long project will finally be over in about a week. You're probably asking yourself, 'What the hell finally got their asses moving?' Okay, well maybe your not asking but I wanted to add some level of suspense. The reason we finally cranked it out was because my Mother and Step-Father are arriving from NJ on July 31st for 1-week. This will be the first time they are visiting us since we moved Out West in '97. There is still a lot of other projects to do but at least the guest bedroom will be done. I'll post a picture once the shades and light are installed.

We were going to begin a kitchen remodel but have decided to put it on hold until next year since the trip to Japan will put a bit of a dent in our savings. We'll probably continue to finalize the plans so that we can hit the ground running after the winter rains stop next year. (I didn't just say winter rains did I?)

So the next project we have embarked on is the backyard. We want to make it presentable as an interim step to a 'renovation'. We're aiming to have it cleaned up and plants in the ground before my Mother and Step-Father arrive.

Work

My job is still taking up a good portion of my time and energy. The big project I'm working on won't be officially completed until October. Managing it, the other smaller projects, recruiting for the open positions, and the daily overhead has been challenging. Plus our organization recently went through a reorg which has been a bit of a bumpy ride. I'm hoping that I'll hire the 2 additional producers I need soon and that we'll hit a stride before we are in "Holiday Mode". You read correctly, Holiday Mode. In the Etailer world holiday planning is already underway and will begin graphic production in the next few months!

That's all for now.

Happy July 4th weekend

In Loving Memory

sasha passed on today.

she was a very strong, 20 something-year old petite kitty. many knew her as "pretty". my brother rick said she was the "prettiest kitty in new york city!". the knick name "pretty" stuck. sasha was my first pet as an adult. she's been with me through thick and thin. this amazing cat clearly had more than 9 lives.

sandy, cassie, yoshi, quico and all the rest will be greeting her on the rainbow bridge.

we love you sasha. you will be missed.

Do incantations or spells work?

it's been raining here practically non-stop for a month. sure we live in northern california but it's not really the pacific northwest in my book. it shouldn't be raining like it does in seattle or portland!

my mood sucks. my motivation sucks. and the time change hasn't helped.

sometimes i wish i could wiggle my nose like samantha and make the sun shine. or, that songs like, "rain, rain go away come again some other day!" would work.