Dog Days of Summer!

What does that even mean - dog days of summer? 

I can officially say that the house is restored.  Hooray!  We still have a lot of work to do to clean up but the general contractor is done.  Finally.  It was a long, hard road getting here but we've made it through.  It has already taken days and days to clean - we spent 2 4-day weekends cleaning the house, rearranging and recovering from all the sanding and dust.  It's been tough.  But we now have a beautiful kitchen (pics to come) and a wonderful deck! 

Lost some friends in the process, more on that later, and it's taken a toll on my freshly repaired relationship with Peck.  I have some interesting ideas on my interactions with my friends and why I struggle so much.  Dane said a few weeks ago: "Crystal, you bend over backwards for your friends.  You always drive to them, you always switch your schedule to fit theirs at times convenient for them, you always sacrifice what you are doing so you can go to them.  Who is doing that for you?"  It hit me like a ton of bricks.  No one.  However, when I have asked - 2 of my friends have obliged.  The others?  There always seems to be some reason why they can't bend my direction.  It's a very interesting dynamic.  Then they make me feel like a jerk-ass friend for not coming to them.  It's like they know I respond to that and they manipulate me to suit their needs.  Not what I would call friends at all.  In the one case I had to break away from the friend and in the other case I've drifted away to try to find some balance.  I think it's possible and I even think it's what we both want.  We'll see how it pans out.  I think I just need to stick to stronger boundaries.  That's actually really hard for me to do. 

Son in the case of the lost friend, that's Becky R.  Several times I had told her how busy I was going to be with work, my mom in town, the house restoration and not to take it personal if I wasn't as responsive.  In retrospect I should have never said anything at all.  I should have just let it be and come out the other side bearing apologies for being under water. Lesson learned.  However, in my attempts to be kind I think I set a trap.  I think Becky wanted to be "wanted" enough that I would break away from my career and domestic duties to find time and space for her.  When that didn't happen, I think she felt slighted.  When she approached me about having time to meet and I said I was still working on the house, she seemed frustrated.  I talked to Dane about this and that's when he said that Becky wants to be friends with me when it is convenient for her.  That's when he asked who's going the extra mile for me and suggest I invite her over so she could see the house, see what we were working on and say hi.  I did exactly that and she opted out - I don't even know why - she said that Jamie and Hayden were visiting his father so I'm not even sure what prevented her from coming and honestly I don't care - it doesn't matter - maybe she wanted a quiet evening at home - great!  Just don't make me feel like I'm the asshole because I can't come to YOU and visit with YOU when it is convenient for YOU.  No big deal though, right?  Till the next day I get a text from her that says "Are you at the Ren Fair?" Very much like "Ha! You are sooooo busy yet you have time for the Ren Fair?" Like she caught me.  I sent back "Are you fucking kidding me?"  She's all "Nope lol, just saw Jer at the front entrance - hope you guys have fun!"  Seriously?!  So because you run into my BFF's husband that by de facto means I'm there?! I was beyond over it so I told her that no, I wasn't there but everyone we knew was there celebrating my Couzhena's birthday and we were home washing walls.  She's all "at least we didn't miss you!  can we stop by on the way home?" I said "No, thank you."  Then she understands that I'm upset and whatever.  On Tuesday I get an email talking about a miscommunication.  I agree there was a miscommunication but tell her I don't have the space to get into it right now, can I have some time to collect and think.  Mostly it was the house drama that had me in a space where I was vulnerable and felt like I had no brain capacity for anything.  Becky turns it all around on her and insists that I owe her an explanation and blah blah blah.  I don't owe you shit.  Despite what Becky may think, this was not all about her even though she felt it was.  I don't respond.  I tell Dane later that day "I'm sorry if this will have any impact on your relationship with Jamie."  He says not to worry.  NO sooner than he said that did he get a text from Jamie asking about me and Becky and asks if I'm actually mad at something or just grumpy - cause that's what I do when I'm grumpy, I go around hurting and kicking my friends.  I would LOOOVE to hear the version of events that Becky gave to Jamie, based on that comment! Dane said it was best for them to stay out of it, this was between Crystal and Becky. Jamie says "okkie-dokie" and that's that.  Or is it?  Not even 45 min went by before Dane got another text from Jamie saying "Crystal hurt Becky's feelings and we don't know why.  You can understand that because of this we can no longer be friends."  Wow.  Are we 12 years old?  Is it realistic to think that a relationship - any relationship - will be free of strife and conflict?  What a nut job!!  So Dane and I were like "Wow. Not a whole lot you can say to that."  This is not the first time Jamie has been rash like this, we suspect alcohol was involved, and it is not the first time he has completely revoked friendship with Dane based on an arbitrary line he's drawn in the sand.  Whatever - friends like that aren't really friends anyway.  Which brings me to my next point. 

Truth be told, after the Ren Fair texts and because I had a shit ton of time on my hands scrubbing walls I thought about my friendship with Becky the rest of the weekend and decided that over the last 10+ years it has been riddled with drama, tension and stress.  For both of us - this isn't just me talking here.  I suspect it's just as stressful for Becky to deal with me as it is for  me to deal with her.  For that reason I concluded that while we are both good people, fun people, loving people, we are not good people together in a friendship.  She analyzes my every word and action and I feel I have to walk on eggshells.  It's not good and I can never be the friend she wants and needs.  Realizing that was an epiphany.  I talked it over with Dane and he agreed, after a lengthy discussion and debate, and we realized there is no "fixing" this relationship with Becky.  This was all BEFORE Jamie got involved and settled the score for everyone.  That actually made the decision feel like it was a step in the right direction and it made the execution of the decision that much easier.  I blocked Becky on my phone and email, deleted her from any social media and washed my hands of it.  Hopefully she can find a friend who can be what she needs. 

Ebbs and Flows

As promised - I'm going to try to blog at least a couple times a week.  Quick update on the house: they had to sand and restain again and again due to faulty mineral oil or something like that.  Got the stain and poly on now and I can tell a HUGE difference!  It's looking good and we are back on track. 

Soooo - when I last blogged in October 2013 I wasn't spending as much time with Peck as I usually do and I wasn't talking to my sister.  It's crazy how much can change in just a few months.  Let me explain:

• Peck - so we stopped talking around May 2013 and didn't really talk for much of the summer.  It's crazy looking back but I think we both needed a break from each other.  She was dealing with her stuff, I had my own bidness going on - it was a good time for some distancing.  We hung out over Labor Day and saw each other for various events related to my cousin's wedding, more on that later, and started a very slow rebuild.  By the end of January/early February we were talking more, going to bunco and what not.  We went to Valentine's Day dinner with Shelby and Steph (who were going to take us to the airport for South Africa - more on that later too) and Peck and family came with us.  It was great.  However, had the next decision not been made - we still might be on a very slow road to recovery.  What I mean by that is - we decided to let Dra watch the house while we were in South Africa.  The rest is history, or at least covered in the last post, as the water event completely reset Peck and I back to regular BFFs.  Then in all the to-dos with this thing and my going crazy and rebelling Peck has been there and been back to the Peck I know and love.  It's been the best ever.  I love my BFF and so glad we are back in sync.  We've been sending each other songs on You Tube to express our feelings.  I was thanking her for being there for me in all this water event drama and she sent me "That's What Friends Are For" so I sent her "Wind Beneath My Wings" so she sent me "Lean On Me" so I sent "Stand By Me" she sent "I'll Be There" I sent "Thank You For Being a Friend" she sent "You're My Best Friend" I sent "You've Got a Friend in Me" - my ultimate goal is to turn this to a kinky side and send "Wiggle Wiggle." ......this just in.....just got another text from Peck....HAHAHAHA!!!!
• Stacy - during the wedding my parents arranged for Dane and I to go down to my sister's house to watch the Bronco's game with them and it was great!  It started a bit of a tradition for us to go down and watch several other games during the season.  What's nice about that is Stac and I are back to being sisters again. Though I found out a month or 2 ago that she's moving to California.  So that sucks but at least we are talking again and we can keep a relationship going.  It's awesome.  :-)

So relationships ebb and flow and they take a lot of work to upkeep but so worth it.  To that end, I need to schedule time with Sarah, email Jamie and see if I can't find some time to hang out with Becky.  I'm glad that I have Friday Night Lights (FNL) with Peck and Steph.   I need weekly (if not more) doses of those two.  I love all my friends and they each fill a special spot in my life.  I rely on Peck and Steph to keep me (mostly) sane.  They do the best they can.  Last week I got fed up with life and getting hot while dancing so I took my pants off.  Just took 'em off.  I at least waited till the kids got to bed then whhoooooosh!!  Pance Off Dance Off!!!  Since I'm a problem solver and I don't want to have to take my pants off again, I'm just going to wear a dress to FNL this week.  Hee hee hee. 

The Neverending Nightmare

It's been quite some time since I blogged.  I really promised myself that I'd get it together this time and post more frequently.  Whatever happened to the days when I would start off by blogging, get work done, go for motorcycle rides, do whatever I wanted!  I outsource my housekeeping and landscaping, so that's not soaking up time.  I'm not in school anymore.  Where the toot does my time go?  Like seriously - where? 

 I'll try to blog more frequently but honestly not sure how for real that goal is.  How ‘bout this – I do a small mass update today and save some topics for Wednesday and Friday, slowly getting back into the habit?  

The biggest thing going on in my life right now has been going on since February 22^nd.  While Dane and I were in South Africa our house was flooded with water from the kitchen sink.  We suspect the cats somehow turned the water faucet on and the faucet was left over the counter side, not the sink side, so that’s the difference between a $400 water bill and a $40K restore and remodel.  Though I will say that Peck came to the rescue, as she does, and saved almost all of our stuff on top of managing the sh*t out of the mitigation and handing over to me solidly. Since a picture is worth a 1000 words and I don’t have time to type all day, here’s my picture blog:

Water in basement, 1” standing from what I was told – not in this pic but at the worst.  Peck and the family was on scene to mitigate, Shelby and Stephanie came out, Becky and Jamie, Brandon and Jamie – it was all hands on deck to save our house. 

 

Water logged carpet.  All furniture was saved!

 

Water logged counter top and warped flooring.  You can see how the faucet was over the counter just enough to cause a ton of damage.  Sucks, but what can you do.  I've left it on that side before, I can't really blame Dra too much. 

 

A million fans all over our kitchen and in the basement and a de-humidifier (not pictured) to dry everything up.  Crazy town.  By this time you can see the island has been demoed, the drywall, the flooring, the baseboards.  A ton of stuff. 

 

Arya checking out the damage.  We went through 11 contractors before we finally found one patient enough to do our work.  Of the 11 GCs that visited our house, only 4 came back with bids.  Of those 4, 2 would not negotiate with our extremely difficult claims adjuster.  Finally LR Contracting broke it down for State Farm and I just broke down and went crazy.  I drove to my local agent's office and got an advocate there and went crazy on JoEl, our claims adjuster.  Boring story long - he was holding us up based on $1900 difference between the drywall and painting and he was going to take another 5 days to review our claim.  I said nope-nope-nope-nope-nope-nope-nope-nope.  The next day the original inspector came back and met with LR, worked it all out and got a check to us the next day.  We signed with LR and finally got moving - it only took 3 months, if you will believe that.  Fuckers.

 

 

Work finally starts!  I told State Farm (on a Tuesday) that if someone didn't come to my house by Friday - even if all they did was drop off a tool and scratch their chin at the situation - then they were going to have to pay out on a lot more claims.  I reminded them they hold all our auto, home, property and life insurances and wouldn't it be something if they had to pay out on all of that.  Okay, I didn't say all that but I did tell them someone would be in my house by Friday or else.  By Friday LR came by and taped up this cupboard.  Progress!!

 

Oh snap - the island is demoed to make way for our new idea - total concept built in dining table out of granite.  Back to no kitchen sink again.  Lame.

 

Construction on the new island framing begins!

 

Drywall starts!

 

 

New island has drywall and the plumbing for the new location of the sink is done. Also electrical - but that was done like 4 pics ago. 

 

WILLY BILLY!!!!  Also some hardwood floors. 

 

New porcelain tile in our bathroom - Calacatta Gold or something like that.

 

Floors are sanded!

 

And stained!!

 

Wall texture is done.

 

 

WTF is this?  Freshly stained floors are ruined due to a possible water/oil pocket and discoloration. 

 

 

Partly human error, partly weather and humidity.  Floors have to be redone. 

Another Mass Update

I have quite a few topics I want to journal and once again have ignored my blog.  I'm so busy I ignore my own self!  Actually things are calming down quite a bit.  I had a mandatory quiet weekend this past weekend and it was great!  After an amazing event at WFP with some of our field staff (Muthi, Sherina and Claudia) on Thursday night Dane and I went to a late showing of Machete Kills at SoS, that was fun.  Friday I got to chill out with Dane (who was feeling sick) and watch After Earth - good movie.  Saturday I went to boot camp then spent the afternoon searching South Broadway for my Halloween costume.  I'm going to be Alice as part of Steph's Alice in Wonderland theme.  Got everything but the shoes, stockings and apron.  I might just wear my black casual shoes if I can't find good heels for cheap.  Stockings I might have but I might also buy.  And I'll make the apron.  Should be easy, right?  :-)  Stopped by my couzeen's house for a bit then moved on to home for a quick nap before I picked Jamie up.  We went to Punch Bowl Social and had a great time talking and drinking and bowling.  Then we cabbed to Cowboy Lounge and had a great time dancing (even though my feet hurt) then cabbed back to PBS and decided to go to Boyz Town - too much fun!  Just had a few drinks all  night so I wasn't all wrecked Sunday which was nice because I wanted to put up the Halloween decorations and knit some more mustaches for Tara.  Broncos won (again, 6-0!!). 

Now for the updates:

Janet Crawford brain/biology: I still need to dedicate an entire blog just to this.  Coming soon, I promise!

Basement clean of 2013:  Okay - Dane and I spent the better part of 2 weekends and some weekdays completely cleaning out the basement.  We bought a bagster and got rid of all the boxes we've been hanging on to and donated a TON of stuff that has been lying around for years!  Then we moved EVERYTHING and dusted and vacuumed all the surfaces - it was craziness.  Then we organized everything into categories (need to access throughout the year and storage/seasonal) and put it all away in a manner that makes sense, not just wherever it landed.  We even made a nice little library nook with the chaise cushion and big green chair.  It's much better now.  All this was done to prepare for Dane's mom and sister. 

The visit of Dane's mom and sister:  I don't really want to talk about it.  It didn't go all that bad, but it was tough in ways that I just can't prepare for.  They don't plan anything, his mom is sooooo sensitive to smell we had to rid the house of all smells (it's only smellz!), they are both passively antagonistic, I feel like no matter what nothing I do is good enough and I know that's probably my own issues and not so much real life but it contributes to the stress.  The highlight was going to the Wild Animal Sanctuary - a place that is a haven for wild animals born in captivity.  I was so moved that I "adopted" a tiger for $30/month.  Can't wait to go back. 

Work - relationships:  Work is going really, really well.  I've been having minor anxiety issues about a "certain salt rimmed Mexican beverage" returning to work, but have also been supported by other folks.  It will be okay.  Not sure why everything has to be so hard with the Beverage, but at least I'm not alone in my thoughts or struggle.  In other news, things are on the mend with Los Otro.  Small things have happened to help the relationship and I think the biggest challenge will be on me to keep it at a level it needs to be at and not fall for any bait.  In a way, they brought it on themselves - they pushed it all on my claiming it's all mine to manage and be the expert - well guess what - momma's been getting educated and now you all are going to have to refer to me as the expert and follow my recommendations, even (and especially) if they are different from your opinions.  Tee hee hee.  Coping mechanisms!! 

Work - New hire: So Kat has decided to move over to a job share with the Office Manager, still holding onto 10 hours in accounting for as long as I can make this happen.  Because of that, I need a full time spot in my department.  We posted for the job and a LOT of good peeps applied - I was not expecting that!  I was thinking I'd have to settle.  After a systematic narrowing I found 12 candidates to phone interview.  Of those 12, 4 seemed promising to bring in.  Of the 4, 2 especiallly seemed promising so I brought them in and settled on the one that stood out in every way.  His name is Mark and he is really passionate about WFP and even spent time in the Peace Corps in Mozambique.  He handled all our questions with grace and style, including my mad libs, checking app and superhero questions.  He's a good guy.  He was so excited to start that he met me the following night at Hamburger Mary's to talk logistics.  We stayed till close (with Kat and Pyz) and had a great time.  He started on Oct 7th and hit the ground running.  I did not make a mistake in hiring him.  He will report to Tara which will be good two fold - gets me out of HQ and gets T some good experience. 

Work - Capacity:  Now I have the capacity to really focus on the things I want/need to at WFP like the nonprofit trap, impact memos, grant management, rolling budgets/forecasts, financial analysis, etc.  Plus spend more time with the field accountants - they need it so much and I'm happy to finally be able to provide it.  Good changes coming down - I'm happy with WFP for now.  Tis the cycle.  :-)

Paleo "diet":  Part of the Janet Crawford post will explain my recent research on the paleo diet but suffice it to say that I have concluded that I need to do my best to eliminate grains, sugars, dairy and processed foods from my diet as much as possible.  Our bodies just aren't built to digest this stuff and especially not at the quantities I consume them.  So time for whole foods that my ancestors would eat - mostly meats, veggies, fruits and nuts/seeds.  In the short time I have been somewhat following this plan, I have seen differences in my appearence, weight and overall state of health.  I can even tell when I have eaten grains (more that than dairy or sugars).  I am working on slowly transitioning into this type of diet while eliminating the grains/sugars/dairy/processed foods from my pantry.  Don't want to waste anything and don't want to go to crazy and cause shock to the system.  I'm not giving up alcohol though.  But trying to stick with wine when I can.  I think I am stronger, healthier and in the best shape that I have ever been in my life these days.  That didn't come without a price though - seeing Andy (now 3 times a week) definitely costs a pretty penny but with the results I've seen I'm not willing to give up on it.  These days it is more about being/living healthy than just weight loss.  Same with the paleo - this isn't just a fad, for me it's a way of life. 

Floods:  Colorado experienced a 1000 year flood in September - crazy.  Boulder, Longmont, Lyons - a bunch of towns destroyed by the waters.  We volunteered with Brandon (and his trailer) to help folks clean up their destroyed homes.  It was rough but folks were in surprisingly good spirits.  It felt good to help out, even in the little way we did. 

Getting old:  Dane and I are getting old.  He just recently celebrated his 35th birthday (to put it in perspective, we met when he was 22 and I was 21 - we are only 1.5 years apart in age).  I found a blog entry that I wrote back in 2006 maybe where Dane was quoted saying "I can't believe I'm turning 28 tomorrow - I might as well be 30!!"  When I mentioned that to him all I got in response was a forlorn "FML" from his side of the bed, clearly under the covers and (probably) sobbing.  Okay maybe not sobbing but definitely with a hint of perspective.  Now let me tell you one possible good thing about getting older.  All the young bucks like the idea of flirting with a "cougar."  Now I'm not anywhere near....CORRECTION - according to Urban Cougar's Cougar 101 a cougar can begin around 35 but this is not necessarily the standard or norm.  In fact UC introduces the Theory of Cougartivity which expands on the idea that being a cougar is more of an attitude of a sexy, confident woman who knows what she wants and is willing to teach than an age range or number of years of age difference.  In example, a 15 year old boy might look to an 18 year old as a cougar just as much as a 23 year old looks at a 35 year old and so on.  It's all relative, I guess.  So with that - the nice thing about getting older is there are a lot of young bucks, or "cubs" as I have now learned is the term (though that's weird - that implies a mother-son relationship whereas buck implies a prey [cougar's perspective] or a budding male [dude's perspective]).  I told Dane that now I get attention from men simply because I'm old - HOORAY!!  Dane rolls his eyes.  Whatever - he dated a 33 year old when he was 17!!!! I think I get to have fun with this.  Go cougars!!

Peck: I seem to be on the long, slow road to recovery with Peck, which is good.  It will be on me to maintain a distance that is sustainable for both of us and not bend to her every beck and call.  I miss the old Peck, can't say I miss the new Peck and I'm sure she feels the same about the Crazy Work Crystal.  Time to hit the reset and find a common ground where we can have a great time but still lead our own lives.  It will be a challenge for me not to give in to her or let her take advantage of me but a challenge that I am willing to take on if it means we can get back on track.  We are bonded together and will never, ever be able to exist without being involved in each other's lives to some extent so it is worth our time to make sure that influence is positive and healthy for us and not negative or mentally draining.  Hoping this recovery will help her back off our mutual friends and not put them in awkward positions where they feel they have to choose between us, join in on the gossiping or just sit and endure a monologue where they can't/don't want to participate in the conversation.  I'm looking forward to this. 

South Africa:  Dane and I finalized our trip to South Africa.  We will leave Feb 15th and return on Feb 28th.  Going to a 6 day safari then go on a 2 day hike sandwiched between some time at the beach.  It has been a nightmare dealing with the travel agent but we are hopeful the end result will be a great vacation.  It will be an adventure no matter what, that is certain!

That's all for now, hopefully I can work on the Janet/Brain/Biology post next before the bachelorette party, Couzeen's wedding and my parents visit. 

30th Birthday Revival Post!

So I found this post somewhere in 2008 (28 and Life to Go) and realized (cause I didn't blog for 4 years) that I never closed the loop on my goals for my 30th birthday which I think I originally posted in 2005.  Suppose I'll update it and make goals for about 2 years from now - something simple and sweet.  I be gettin' too old for big time dreaming.  Who even knows if I'll still be kicking at the well-ripened age of 35.  :-P

Goals for 30th birthday
Education
Completed Bachelor's degree - achieved
Completed Master's degree - achieved
CPA exam (or at least enrolled in a CPA study program)  - achieved
Information gathered on law degree or PHD - information gathered, no decision made

Career
Earning at the very least $55,000/year ($43K inflation, $2K BA, $5K MA) - achieved
Revolving CFA and/or more corps under my belt or mini-controller - achieved

Community
Continue fostering animals for Humane Society - this stopped when we moved out of Seattle :-(
Become a mentor for children - never did this, got on a volunteer list but it never went anywhere and I didn't actively persue
Obtain info on child fostering/adopting - information gathered and decided (at that and this time) not to adopt

Body
Tattoos removed - achieved, except the rose stays for no particular reason
Junk hair removed - achieved, though this wasn't permenant >:-[
Teeth whitened - achieved and ongoing
Augmentation - achieved
Stable 130 - 140 lbs - actively working on
Non-dyed, healthy hair - not even close - I love the blond too much
Eyebrows touched up - achieved and ongoing

Mind
Continued yoga practice - nope
Painting - nope
Dancing - achieved

Frivalties
Tanning [bed?] - achieved, salon not bed
Hot tub - achieved, but we had to get rid of this to move back to CO so back to square 1 again
Massage membership - achieved
Maid - achieved
Convertible sports car - achieved
New motorcycle - nope
Travel - achieved -  I've done nothing but travel! Colorado, California, Oregon, Florida, Amsterdam, Mexico, and now Egypt and Texas - the list goes on!
Kauai - we still need to do this
Greece - nope
Vancouver - we did Victoria Island, so close enough



Goals for 35th birthday
Education
On-going CPE (don't lose CPA)
Financial knowledge
IFRS/FX knowledge

Career
Don't jump off parking garage
Don't go crazy
Maintain Controller position at WFP
Increase regional capacity

Community
At least 1 fundraiser run each year
Knit for animals/people in need
Volunteer with seniors and or special needs folks

Body
Goal weight of 130-145, depending on muscle mass
50 push ups, from the feet
10 pull ups, unassisted
Consistent 3-5x/week workouts
Paleo lifestyle maintained

Mind
Crafting (knit, sew, crochet, quilt, paint, whatever)
Dance Party!
Reading
iPad gaming

NEW! House
Redo the deck
Finish the basement
Hot tub (again)

Frivalties
Tanning
Massage
Wax
Cleaner
Travel: South Africa, Ft Lauderdale, Las Vegas
Credit cards and debt all paid off (student loan doesn't count)

Seattle, Staycation, Walden and Life in General

I really want to make the time to dedicate to this journal, it just doesn't always happen.  For that reason - I have a lot to catch up on!  Here goes:

Seattle - Seattle was great!  Got to hang out with Heather during the day and meet Jody Tief, the Controller of Clear Path International.  We ate at Cutters and had beermosas and passed the time till we went to the Noc Noc, which is being pushed out of business by the new landlord to the building they are in so we attended the last Sinner Saint Burlesque show.  It was bittersweet.  Laura Rose even had the emcee give us a nod, which was nice.  It was standing room only - crazy!  We had a great time and I got Scotty's information so I can stalk him at the new bar he goes to and continue to get drunk on his El Fuego Frio drinks. We tried going to the Deja Vu but it was expensive and the doorman was an asshole.  So we went back to Noc Noc, left our credit cards there, got in some taxi and went to some Mediterranean place in Pioneer Square (pic below).  After that we tried to go back to Noc Noc to get our cards but it was 3 am and shut down.  So Mike took us back to Heather's and we crashed out. 

We stayed in Mukilteo on Friday and Saturday and the wedding was probably the worst wedding I've ever been too.  The bride and her family definitely acted like this was her 2nd wedding.  I'm happy for Joe but also sad for him too.  I think Meg is pregnant again.  I'm also not convinced that Benjamin is Joe's biological son.  I also thought it was pretty tacky that the reason the wedding was on such a budget was because Meg wanted to wear 2 Vera Wang designer gowns.  I also didn't think the venue was worth everyone flying out to Seattle for, but whatever.  It was nice to see my Seattle friends and hang out with my CO friends in WA.  After the wedding we went to the only open bar then back to the hotel for dance party.  Mike shared a room with us (poor guy) and his waking comment was "I downloaded about 15 disco ball apps last night."  LOVE that comment - it totally describes drunken dance party! Good memories if nothing else. 

Sunday we hung out with Mark and Angela and the kids and just "were" with them.  There's not many folks that we can just *be* with and Mark and Ang are.  We had fun, both Ang and I had hangovers from the night before.  I love their new house and the kids are so cute.  I can't wait to come back to WA and spend more time with them. 

Staycation -  After Seattle I had a couple days at home to rest, relax and do productive things around the house.  It was fun.  I wanted to do a little more yardwork, knitting and organizing but ran out of time.  Where does it all go?

Walden - Walden was great - I went up a day early to get Dane an air mattress since the one we had petered out.  It was really fun.  In the end it was us, Dick, Christy, Julius, Cindy, Kieth, Jer, Peck, the boys and Charity and Rene.  We had a great afternoon adventure that turned into early evening adventure - it was a great exploration of the ridge behind the dunes and everyone had a great time (even though the Mirabal's dog puked in the car).  Damion rode with me and we just had a blast going over the bumps and he got sprayed with cow poop - so much fun!  We ended up having a late night dance party on the beach with our Saudi friends and some other guys from Mexico came out and we had a blast - I loved the mixed bag group.  :-)  We all packed up and headed back on Sunday and had a nice day of rest on Monday, gearing up for work on Tuesday. 

Life in General - I still need to post about the Women in Leadership meeting we had at work - very valuable information.  This month is crazy with the relay, Dane's family, preparing for Dane's family - all craziness.  I'm looking forward to the weather cooling down and getting back in the house for knitting and crafting and just things calming down in general. 

I applied for a serving job at Brothers and even had an interview but I don't think it will work out - I have very limited time I can work and I think they are looking for folks with more flexibility.  WFP is going good - I haven't received an email from Kim in over 6 weeks and it's been amazing!!  It's about ready to ramp up again soon so I'm gearing up for that. That's about it for now.

Glenwood Adventure!

Dane and I took a long weekend to hike and bike in the mountains and it was amazing!  So amazing that I'd like to re-purpose our Labor Day Walden trip into more of a CO Adventure trip.  We'll see if that actually pans out.  I also have a million things around the house I can (and should) do instead. 

Friday: worked all day then volunteered at a drinking fundraiser for WFP downtown.  It was super fun!  I thought we'd leave by 9pm but ended up staying till midnight then going out with a few WFP folks (Maya, Katja, Double, Jeremy plus Todd and Joel) afterwards till LATE.  Dane drove Double home (me in his lap) then we dance partied till 4am!  Apparently I threw the couch to the side, my clothes to the floor and danced all crazy till I passed out.  Good times. 

Saturday:  Amazingly we still got up (semi-)on time and were on the road for Piney Lake by noon.  We got up there almost in one piece - at some point the train horns became disconnected. I blame the rocky dirt road, Dane disagrees.  Other than that, Rally Raptor was fun and we spent about an hour canoeing on the lake, which was a lot of fun!  We got lost in a little winding river-in-the-lake thing, navigated through reeds and watched a dog splash around.  We ate dinner at Piney River Ranch then headed towards Glenwood Springs just in enough time to check in to Ami's Campground and set up our tent.  The campground had showers so we made a quick trip to Ross to get towels, enjoyed a shower then played PvZ2 till about 10 or so before calling it a night. 

Sunday: Got up early and biked the Glenwood Canyon from Dotsero, so about 17-20 miles give or take.  The ride was great - beautiful scenery, animals and just a lot of fun.  We stopped at Hanging Lake and hiked up the trecherous 1.2 rocky miles to the top - amazing!  Such a beautiful lake and a waterfall that appears right out of a rock - it's crazy!  We had fun there and took our time.  On the way up we found a purse that was FULL of cash and all the valueables of a Kristin Schmidt from Oak Something, IL.  Luckily we also found Kristin from Oak Something and were able to return the purse to the rightful owner.  Hopefully I earned a few karma points.  After the hike we continued our bike back into GWS having great conversation, mostly about Janet Crawford and the training/leadership discussion she facilitated for WFP on Thursday (a different blog will be dedicated to this).  Once back in GWS we decided to forego the white water rafting trip and go straight to Aspen.  Good thing too because we snagged the last walk-in camp site!  We managed to set up camp and get showers at the Aspen rec center and dinner at Hickory House BBQ (as usual) and back to camp just in time for rain.  We snuggled up inside (Dane wanted a fire so bad but nature said no) and played more PvZ2 till it was time for bed.  The roaring river was much better to fall asleep to than the roaring highway of Ami's. 

 



Monday:  Woke up around 8 so we could get a 3.6 mile hike of the Maroon Bells in before we had to leave by noon due to the Pro Cycle race.  We did it and in about 2 hours.  The hike to Crater Lake is moderate, a bit rocky and steep (though not as rocky or steep as Hanging Lake) and I remember last time we did the hike (May 2012) I was about 30 lbs more in weight than I am now and certainly not as strong.  It felt good to be able to hike, canoe, bike and hike again 3 days in a row - a far cry away from where I was last year!  It's motivating and encouraging me to continue my efforts towards fitness (while still having fun with dance party and delights :-)).  After the hike we took a detour in Aspen and I spent money that I don't have at a boutique shop on an infinity dress, a couple maxi skirts, a cute crochet shrug and a belt.  I literally abandon ship from Dane's car to run in the shop then had a fun time with the owner and a couple shoppers.  There's lipstick on one of the maxi skirts and the inifinity dress is cute but I might need more tools (bra) in order to make it work.  We also stopped at Independance Pass on the way home, getting in around 5:30.  We were unpacked and watching the season finale of True Blood by 8pm, dead tired from the weekend.

 

 

So all in all a great weekend and one I hope to have again soon.  Feeling pretty good about life/work/things.  We'll see if I can get all my chores done before we leave Thursday for Seattle adventure!  In the meantime I have a Bacardi Party tonight and the Sanctuary event tomorrow for WFP.  Busy bee!!