Friday, December 14, 2007

Happy Holidays!

So it's been awhile since I blogged - my bad. Here are some updates:

12 Bars of Cmas - we made it to 9 bars. Not so bad. I had a total of 5 drinks over the period of 4 pm - 11 pm so I stayed true to my every other bar code. Dane didn't and ended up getting drunk. It was funny. I, on the other hand, had a 10 am personal training session so I didn't want to go overboard.

Audit/work - The audit went well and I got the unofficial/offical news that our management letter only contains "other comments" which aren't so bad. We still got a management letter, but what can you do? Kudos to me, I'm very proud! Now I have two months worth of backlog stuff that I need to clear up in a matter of days! Should be challenging but doable.

Home - we FINALLY got a new couch. We bought a couch set and rug from Macy's using extreme discounts. It's getting delivered as I type. There was a slight hang up in that the rug that was originally delivered was the wrong style, but Macy's made it right by giving me the display rug and personally delivering and installing the rug themselves. Then we got a coffee table from Brookstone but when we opened the box the table was completely damaged! So we had to get a new one sent to us and expedited since I have company coming over next week. I'm really excited - I've waited a long time for a nice living room set.

School - I just started a "Wealth Maximizing" class at UOP and I have to say my edge on accounting/finance will definitely come in handy. I managed to get all my homework done this week without cutting in to my personal time. I'm looking forward to this class and have high hopes for the teacher. He seems cool and we have him for our next two classes so I'm hoping he works out.

Exercise - I'm still seeing Quinn 2 - 3 times a week and she's kicking my butt but we haven't seen the results we were anticipating so we've changed up my diet to follow a strict measuring and serving pattern. We'll see how it works. I'm really trying to focus on losing weight and make it my priority right now. So far it's been going well. Dane and I love the Golds Gym - it is so nice! Just a few tidbits - it has a movie cardio room that plays a movie (changes every day) on a movie theatre size screen w/ stereo and a ton of cardio machines, they have beautiful locker rooms with cherry wood lockers, all the soaps, mouthwash, shampoos, lotions, hair styling equipment and everything you could want PLUS a plush lounge IN the locker room, they have towel service so we don't have to bring our own, they have a smoothie/espresso bar, beautiful clean pool and hot tub, attached spa, equipment cleaners on damn near every machine, special aerobics room, spinning room, and yoga room, and the best part - each and EVERY cardio machine has it's very own 30+ station tv including 3 DVD movie feeds and the Golds Gym Network (which plays the accompanying music video to whatever song is playing overhead)! And all for only $5 more a month than what we were paying at the old, decrepid 24 Hour Fitness. Simply put, it's a gym that you actually want to go to.

Other - so this weekend is reserved for holiday parties. My company holiday party is this afternoon and then I need to get prepared for Dane's bling bling party. And by that I mean pedicure, tanning, pick a shirt/tie out for Dane and so on. Then tomorrow is a busy, busy day. I have school from 9 - 1, tanning, then hair appointment from 2 - 4, then I have to come home and get gussied up and leave by 5:30. I got a beautiful red dress to wear that's kinda wild but I think I can pull it off. Not sure what to do w/ my hair. I want it down but it will cover the back of the dress, which is the draw. So I might have it pulled up but with loose curls or something. I dunno. I'll post a pic though. Till next time:

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Egypt is Calling

So today was a very exciting day. Dane and I finalized our decision (that we've been tossing around since Nov 19th) to go to Egypt. That's right - for as long as I can remember I've wanted to go to Egypt and really spend some time there soaking in the culture and walking in the same sand the Pharohs did. And to go with a group of folks that I'm familiar with and have gone before is definitely a plus. And we'll be going to a lot of places that aren't normally tourist stops because of the connections this group will have. We're even going to the Temple of Isis. Amazing. It hasn't hit me yet. Probably wont till I have to start paying the bills to go on the trip, which isn't cheap but it is definitely within reach. In fact, school timing lined up nicely for me to go and it's the slowest time of year at work. I even have enough vacation time saved up to take two solid weeks off. Can you believe that! Of course Dane is coming and it will be the experience of a life time. Check it out:

http://www.delilahs-belly-dance-retreat.com/EgyptTour_packet.pdf

If that doesn't work, go to http://www.delilahs-belly-dance-retreat.com/ then click on Egypt Tour.

Now here's the deal. There have been some people (and it is not anyone who reads this blog so don't think for a second this is aimed at anyone close to me - besides, my friends don't judge me anyway and if they do they are kind enough to keep to themselves) who get this look or tone, almost a mockery. Let me explain. Anyone that I'm excited enough to share my travels with is at least some how affiliated to me. And as anyone who knows me knows, I travel. A lot. For instance, if we were to take a 12 month period, May 2007 - May 2008, I will have traveled to Amsterdam, Cabo San Lucas, Denver, Tampa, and now Egypt. That's a lot of personal travel for one little year. However, that's what I love to do. Dane and I made a choice not to have children. We decided that we'd rather travel the world and allocate our money and resources in other ways. But I've noticed that when we actually do travel, we get almost a stink eye from some people or at the very least a friendly but sarcastic "gee, wish *I* could go on vacation...." And I have to look at them and say "you made a choice to have children and that's where all your time and money goes." Why is it that people look at you like you have money growing out of your ears or you sell drugs on the street because you have money to travel? Now let me be the first to tell you that Dane and I do NOT have the cash for this, everything we do is financed through revolving credit. But we pay shit off and work hard therefore we play hard. I just don't get it. How much money do you think the average person or family spends on one child a month, any age? I guarantee you it's more than we shell out for traveling (assuming the traveling costs are expensed over time, not all at once). Yet that's okay. I don't look at Jill and say "Gee, you sure are spending a lot on Billy" So why is it okay to make a comment like that about travel. Or anything that people who choose not to have kids spend their money on. I know I'm not articulating this well and this is certainly not knocking those who have kids but rather those who have kids but feel like they are priviledged because of it or oppressed. You have access to the same credit cards I do (unless you have really bad credit), so if *YOU* want to go to Egypt, by all means. Till then, don't poo poo me and play the woe-to-me-I'm-a-parent card. Whatever.

I'm probably just biased because everytime I hear a parent piss and moan about parenting, no matter how tough it is, I want to look at them and say "At least you're still in the game."

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

12 Bars of Christmas

Dane and I have been invited to the 12 Bars of Cmas pub crawl in Belltown in December. Now part of the criteria to participate in said event is you have to wear a santa hat. So I said to myself - "Self - this is a great opportunity to don your Dr. Suess santa hat again." A picture essay:


The night begins and Crystal is looking good in the cute santa hat


The drinking begins....


And continues....


Uh oh - here's Crystal in the hat singing karaoke! Troubles-a-brewin!


Why is the reindeer wearing the hat? Crystal must be in the bathroom.


What ho? A foe? Wearing CRYSTAL'S hat?!


Now who's wearing the hat?


Another hat bandit - what gives?


Ane here's Crystal/Jebis in all his/her glory having freshly fallen off the stage and spilt some guy's drink all over him/her. But not to be detered, he/she continues the night sans the hat.

Here's to another holiday season, folks. :-)

Sunday, November 18, 2007

Just When I Thought I Was Out....

They pulled me back in..

Hee hee - we got through season one of The Sopranos. Very good. I really like Carmella's character. It will probably take some time to get through the show, which is good, gives us something to do this winter.

I"m happy for the 3 day week coming up. Got plans with RB on Wed - that will be nice. I could use some time with her. It feels like forever since we've hung out. I swear - one weekend by myself and I feel starved for friend time. 13 Coins will be cool too. I'm drooling just thinking about the food and I've never even had it.

One more month of freedom then I start school again. Seriously - it's taking all I got to continue forward. I will NEVER quit but I think I might take up bitching about school as a hobby.

I'm trying to convince my dad to come up for Cmas. So far it doesn't sound like it will happen but I'm holding my breath and crossing my fingers.

The scar revision looks great though I can tell right now that I will want the entire revision. I asked Dane about getting a nose job and he thinks I'm crazy. Maybe I'll have Doc touch up w/ some lipo. Hopefully by then (Feb or Mar) I can lose a little weight and get to my desired shape. I could probably put the entire cost on my credit card by that time. We'll see.

I've been jonesin to book a trip - somewhere, anywhere. We scrapped the Antartica idea for now, don't have the money to do it the way we want to, but we have been tossing around other ideas like 2 weeks in Europe or New Years in New York. We'll see. I think it's compensating for something else personally. Which is why I haven't booked anything yet. I get very impulsive when I'm not happy or ancy. I need to learn to shake that habit.

In the meantime, I have plenty of Hoegaardens to hoe-d me over. HAHAHAH!! I crack myself up.

Let's see what else? Absolutely nothing because I'm a boring piece of shit! Seriously - when did I lose my edge? When did I ever have an edge? What am I doing with myself that's worth something even if only to me? I need a hobby (other than bitching about school)...I guess until school's over I can have the gym be my hobby. But outside of that I need something. I should start doing my art stuff again. Maybe I'll bust that stuff out.

Willy is doing good. He's so cute. Dewey doesn't yell at him anymore but the girls hate him. It will take time before there is peace in the house. And Willy will definitely need "bell therapy" before we can have a Cmas tree. I can't wait for Cmas this year. I'm really happy and excited for it. I want to decorate and have a tree. I LOVE gingerbread lattes. I swear that will be the sole reason why I won't lose weight this season. Damn Sbux.

Oh yeah, and the Seahawks won. Which is cool, but Dane takes it as a personal victory because we won against Chicago which somehow relates to Rhi. I hadn't even put the two thoughts together but clearly Dane did. Rhi was my best friend but I think Dane feels more loss/bitterness/hurt than I ever did. Maybe it was the money. Which again is BS because Dane made me reimburse him for Rhi's loan so in the end I was the one that foot the $2000 bill for her paycheck advances. Yikes I tell ya. Never lend money to a friend. Though...I have to say that there is someone out there that has made good on their promise and I love this person dearly for it. Maybe someday Rhi will come around and realize that no matter what went down with us, a debt is still owed. I pulled the same shit with Randall. I borrowed over $2G from him and went through a phase where I flat out denied that I owed him. I even pinned it someone else. Shame, shame. In the end (about two years after the fact) I realized that regardless of how things ended up with us and not matter what I spent the money on, it was still me that owed him the money and I fessed up and paid up. Now our relationship has never been and never will be the same but at least I can look him (and myself) in the eye now. Course I am me and Rhi is she. She probably has a different take on the situation. In fact, I doubt that will ever change. I'm not eating out of can or living in a box but it sure would be nice to be repaid. Really, it's the respectful thing to do.

Friday, November 16, 2007

Revision

This morning Dr. E revised my scar from surgery. He's not happy with the results and wants to do a complete redo, but for now we decided to fix the "hole" and see how that heals up then make a decision about doing anything else. Doc wont charge me for his fees, but I would have to pay the anesthesiologist (sp?) and facilities fee. I'm tempted to do more work....not sure what though. Anyhoot - I'm at home resting today and for the whole weekend. Dane and I plan to spend the weekend holed up watching the Sopranos. Should be fun. We've never seen it so it's time to see what all the fuss is about.

The audit continues to go well. There have been a few more adjustments, but they are reclasses so no bottom line effect. All in all I've done good. My team has done good and everyone is happy. October is slowly coming along. I've had to do the payroll (which is a bear because a lot of stuff has changed) and of course all the other stuff that needs updating with the new fiscal year (fixed assets schedule, blah blah blah). And of course load the budgets. That hasn't been as painful as I thought though, but I'm not even a third done.

Thank God there's no school for me right now. Poor HG.

Dane is doing good - he decided to stay w/ Denali and received a fat raise and a promotion. I'm really happy and proud of him. However, our marriage is not doing as well. Dane tends to be so damn cocky when he's doing his Remedy job. I don't really like that Dane. At all. ALL he talks about is work. And when he's not doing that, he's playing WOW. At least he's going to the gym with me now. He did take me to see Bee Movie the other night, which was nice, but again - it was all about him. *sigh* I want the Dane that worked on satellites. That's my favorite Dane. I'm sad that he was so tired all the time, but he looked great (in shape) and he was humbled. Not cocky at all. I don't really like who he is now, but what can I do? Honestly I wonder if....nevermind. I'm just loopy on oxycotin (sp?) from the revision. We'll work it out. Even if I have to get my own apartment. :-P

I was able to get a refund from 24 Hour Fitness so I can go to Quinn's new gym, which is Golds Gym in Redmond. Starting 11/27 I will see her every Tue and Thur night from 7 - 8 till 12/20, and on Sat 12/1 and 12/8. That should get some results and get a pattern started. After that we'll see what I want to do as far as becoming a member of Golds Gym (blah) or Iron Works in Bellevue (better) or if I feel that I have what I need to do it on my own. We'll see. Dane and I have gone to the gym in the mornings the past few mornings and I have to say that I love going in the am. It kickstarts my day and it's so nice to have that taken care of. We were sleeping in till 8:30 most mornings anyway likes two slugs, it feels nice to get up at a decent hour and make better use of our mornings. Plus it helps you burn more calories throughout the day! And the gym is less crowded at that time. So the idea is to workout in the mornings 5 days a week, 3 training sessions a week (on top of the morning workouts), and of course a monitored diet. With all that I should definitey see results in 4 - 6 weeks. Then I can keep that up for probably another 2 - 3 months and then start a maintenance program.

I'm tired. Going to bed.

Monday, November 12, 2007

The Weekend

The weekend was started off by a great happy hour that lasted till 10:30 at a place called Cafe Metropolitan. It was actually this great bar - very European. High ceilings, lights on strings, sort of felt like it was on a patio, but indoors. I had a great time with all my co-workers, even HG and MR came out. I wasn't going to drink a lot but the beer I had was the best beer I've ever had! It's called Hoegaarden and it's sorta orangy-cinnamon flavored beer. Awesome. In fact, if the beer wouldn't have been so good, I wouldn't have gotten drunk. Famous last words, eh? Anyway - we had a blast, Dane finally met up with us and we made it to Nijo. Of course, by the time we got there, I was too wasted to enjoy my food. We made a decision right then and there that we would probably save more money by eating at Nijo w/ regular prices than we would staying at the bar till Nijo happy hour. Poor MR was feeling pretty buzzed too. And who got me cigarettes? I haven't touched those things since CO but somehow I was smoking. Weird. After Nijo, Dane poured me into the car and took me home. I promptly passed out but he stayed up since it was our third Olympia Film Fest All Freakin Night event on Saturday. By the time he came to bed at 5, I woke up and was just drunk enough to stay awake and be silly. Dane ignored me long enough that I finally fell back asleep but was up by 8. Needless to say, Dane was out cold so I got up and played on the internet, ate breakfast, sat in the hot tub, read my book, then got Dane up to take the kitties in to the Humane Society.

The kitties aren't ready to be adopted, so we'll keep them for another week, which is good because now we don't have to pay for Willy's vaccines. After that and lunch we watched more Nip Tuck S4 then took a nap. Headed out to Oly around 6:30, got our tickets, walked all over to find a grocery store since the one we knew was there was actually closed, got some pizza, then hung out in the truck for 2 hours till they let us in. This year was not as good as the prior years. I don't know why, but the smelliest people in the world go to this event. WHY don't they wear deodorant?! Anyway, it was fun but it wasn't like last year. I slept through 3 of the 5 movies. Last year I only slept through 1. After the fest we drove home and went to breakfast/lunch at Daman's. By noon Dane and I were in bed sleeping.

We woke up long enough to goof around, get some dinner, watch the rest of Nip Tuck, then poke around on the internet to look at vacations and stuff. We decided that we can't afford the Antartica trip next December (or at least for what we want to do) so we decided to hold off on that and do a different big trip or maybe we'll just save money and do something small then do the Antartic trip in December 2010 or something. We'll see. Right now we're waiting to see what travel plans our planner has in store, www.travelwithalan.com or http://travelwithalan.blogspot.com/, he has great deals that just can't be beat. We are anxious to see where he's going for his Independence Day trip (our 1 year anniversary) and next Cmas (our first "big trip"). We have some backup ideas for both if it doesn't work out. I want to go to Europe w/ Dane even if only for a week. I am going to see Amy in January for a 4 day weekend, so that will be cool. I've never really been to FL and I'm anxious to see her new dig.

School starts up in a month. Ugh. Just in time for a 2 week break for Cmas, why we couldn't just start AFTER Cmas, I don't know but whatever. I'm so done with school. It will take all I've got in my to finish this degree. Then I'll have to muster the willpower to take the CPA. After that I'm done. Done. Done. Done. People think that because someone else is doing their PhD that I'll want to. Not true. I've thought about it in the past, but because of what I've watched this person have to do to get their PhD and because my own priorities have shifted I can confidently say that I will NOT be getting my PhD any time in the near or distant future. Maybe when I'm in my 50's and bored I'll change my mind. But for now, I'm ready to start living and start traveling and I can't do that with a monkey (school) on my back. I should say that I am glad I am making myself do this. I will be very proud of my degree when I'm done and I have only me degree to thank for taking me as far as I've come to date. The degree and certification will solidify my position here and take me as far as I dare to go for now. Really at this point I need to get experience under my belt. After the Master's, my education will have taken me as far as I probably can go, in the accounting world at least. Ugh, just thinking about it makes me tired.

Wednesday, November 07, 2007

Boys vs. Girls

It's half way through the audit week, so far so good. Only 5 adjustments, all client (that's me) proposed. They are staying till Friday though, which is longer than hoped for but right on the expected schedule. Monday night I came home and worked my toosh off w/ chores, last night I busted my butt at the gym, so tonight I decided to treat myself to a pedicure, wax, shopping, dinner, and a massage. It was a great night indeed.

However, whilst I was trying on clothes at Dressbarn (still hate that name) I overheard two young girls, lets say 10 years old, discussing whatever came to mind. They were talking about what sport girl A should do. Girl B suggested basketball to which A replied "that's a boys sport, I want a girls sport." B tried to push and say that no, basketball was for everyone, just like tennis and other sports, but A was adament that certain sports were for boys only and that boys had this mentality that they were better than girls. A went on to say "I don't know where they get this idea from, was it a movie?" That comment made me almost bust out laughing but then I thought about it and thought - wait a tick - what does give the world/our society the impression, apparently very early on, that boys one up girls?

Is it religion that teaches the man is the head of the house? Is it the glass ceiling and the fact that men simply make more money than women which equates to power? Is it because women are seen as nuturers where as men can just up and leave no strings attached, no responsibility? Is it our government? Is it our teachers? Is it inate? What gives? It was an interesting thought to ponder and I'll be honest - I didn't get very far. Some things just are the way they is and that be that, ya know.

On that note, I'll be attending a dinner celebration tomorrow w/ RBMBA to celebrate Women of Influence in the Seattle area. I'm really looking forward to it, especially now that RB is going. I miss her and it's been a while since we've been able to shoot the shit.

My diet is going well, my exercise could use some improvement. No word on my refund from 24 Hour Fitness yet. I really hope they give me one, I want to continue training with Quinn even if it means doubling up on gyms for a few months.

The holidays are approaching and with shock I looked at the calendar and realized that as of Monday I have only 9 working days left in November. The 12th is a staff retreat, I have surgery revision on the 16th, I'm off for Thanksgiving on the 22nd and 23rd, then Holiday Magic is on the 28th and 29th. Luckily I think November will be a "bye" month for closing, which would be great because then I could focus on wrapping up the audit, then entering the budget info, cleaning up the October GL, rolling balances forward, clean up the vendors and all GL accounts (typical maintenance), and close Oct and Nov in one fell swoop. By that time it will be the middle of December and time for my Winter Break - I have December 21st - January 1st off of work (YAY!). When I come back, it will be time to close December and then on to procedure books and all the stuff that got pushed to the wayside while I got everything in order.

Well, I"m tired - I meant to go to bed an hour ago - oops.

Tuesday, November 06, 2007

I Hate Audits

No matter how much you prepare, there's always some nonsense you didn't think of and they always make you feel like an idiot.

Sunday, November 04, 2007

It Figures

So I'm sitting here at work at 10am on a Sunday only to discover that our financial system has trashed itself. Jim (my boss), who I interupted from church, is calling Lloyd (our IT guy) who will most likely not answer on a Sunday (I wouldn't) so basically I came here for nothing. *sigh*

Now I'll have to come in early tomorrow in hopes that FE will be up and running. I just can't believe this. Our auditors will be here at 9:30 tomorrow morning and my system is down. What a hoot. I still have two schedules left to print/create on top of my 941 reconcile, which is what I came in today to do. At this point though, we'll have no choice but to get written up for it. Unless I can figure it out, print the other schedules, and get everything in order by 9:30 am tomorrow. Yikes. What a mess.

In other news, this weekend was fun. Let's see. Friday we spent all night waiting for a table at the Cheesecake Factory only to eat at Red Robin. Ugh. My one cheat day for the week and I get stuck w/ RR. Oh well. We went to see Lars and the Real Girl after that, which was really good. Saturday we volunteered at TSA WC again, it was great seeing the Sargents and getting some volunteer time in. After that we napped with the cats till about 3. There's nothing better than a Saturday afternoon nap with the cats and the hub on a cloudy day. We watched some Nip/Tuck Season 4 after that then went to Maggianos for dinner with RBMBA and crew. That was fun. It was really busy there, but it was a lot of fun to see the crew and RB's dad doing so well. After dinner we went to see Saw 4. The guys were sad because "there was more acting and less torturing." Whatever. :-) By the time we got home after midnight, we were exhausted and ready for bed.

This morning I woke up early for no particular reason (I hate it when I don't sleep in on my sleep in day) and decided to go to work to get it over with. And that brings us back to the beginning of this post where I lament FE being down and not being able to get any work done. Jim suggested I wait 30 minutes for Lloyd to call back before I leave. At first he said an hour and I said no because I had NOTHING to do without FE except play on the internet and I didn't want to waste my Sunday sitting here. I really doubt Lloyd will call back on a Sunday and even if he does, he's not going to come to work. I just want to make sure he or someone can be here first thing in the am. We'll see.

Thursday, November 01, 2007

Still Tired

I'm still tired from my trip to CO! It could also be working out too, though. I went for my first official training session (till now all our meetings have been logistics) with Quinn. She did a good job easing me into it at the same time making me work. I missed my cardio session last night, so I'll probably go in tonight to make up for it on top of my training session with her. I like the "diet" she has me on. It's not really a diet at all, just added a little protein drink and eggs to my already existing diet.

So far so good at work, I'm just working on the audit schedules preparing for the auditors to come next week. It's starting to get slow, which is nice because I could use a job thats not so hectic all the time. Before I know it, school will start again so it's a good time to get caught up here.

Last night we went home and gave candy to trick or treaters. We only had a few. I was dressed in my pirate costume and Dane got in to his Anubis, but nobody came to the door. So he got sick of wearing and took it off. No sooner did he do that did trick or treaters come to the door. Too funny. We watched the South Park trilogy on Cartman's dry balls then called it a night.

In other news, our newest edition to the family, one of our foster kittens, is doing well. Basically while we were out of town his infected eye took a turn for the worse and the person we asked to care for the cats just couldn't get the kitten to the vet in time. We took the kitten to the vet as soon as we got home but it was too late, he had to have his eye removed. Since Dane and I feel terrible about this and it happened on our watch we made the decision to keep and care for the cat forever. Without further adieu, we named him One Eyed Willy and will love him forever and ever. Observe:

Monday, October 29, 2007

Your Granny's BFF Rose


Wow - so I just got back from quite possibly one of the best vacations in my life. It's been a great year for vacations, what with Amsterdam and Cabo and all. Hard to believe that a simple little trip to Denver could even be in the running with the other two, but I tell you what - it was!

Wed: We got up at 4 am, something we only see coming from the other side, and got ready to fly out. Arrived in CO just in time for lunch. Got an UPGRADE to a Pontiac Grand Prix in the shade of "pull me over red". Included: heated (YAY!) leather (BOO!) seats, dual climate control (a must for "Frosty" and his she-devil wife), XM radio, sunroof, remote start (Dane's favorite), and plenty of room for hooligans and their baggage (and it had room for our suitcases). *snicker* Dane and I dined at Monoco Inn for lunch, our favorite Greek restaurant. It was just as amazing as the last time and our waitress (the owner lady) hasn't changed a bit - not her hair, not her make up, nothing - still the same. After that we drove down to Littleton, stopping (inadvertantly) by Theo's grave, then we got balloons and mums for Isis's grave. It was almost 90 degrees (yeah, I know - but that's how Denver is) out so we stayed for a while at her grave arranging stuff, hanging out, talking, being quiet, remembering, wishing. Dane even let the dot visit the grave (don't ask). We let the balloons go, which is almost more emotional for me than visiting the actual headstone. I guess the balloons are very symbolic. Each and every year there are more balloons. The last time I remembered letting balloons go there were only four balloons, one for each of us at the grave that day. This time there were 7 balloons. I couldn't remember if I was supposed to get 7 balloons (for how old she'd be) or 6 (representing how many years it's been since she passed). I got 7. Any more it's just honoring her memory and what she still means to me. All the anger has subsided. I rarely dream of her being alive and someday being reunited. Only when I'm bored or watch Kill Bill or have a hankering. These days I'm just filled with a sad curiosity at both her taken life and what mine would have been if she were alive today. I know I've told Dane that I love him and if I had to make a choice between our life now and a life with her, I'd choose him, but I think that's a lie and we both know it. I'd choose her any day. I'd choose her over my own life if given the opportunity. But it doesn't make a difference, I will never get that choice.

After visiting the grave, Dane and I set to other tasks like finding a back up costume and meeting Marcia for dinner. We went to China Taipei and of course I had fried rice - the best! It was great to see Marcia and catch up and she looks so happy and healthy. After dinner with her we visited with Peck's dad, Papa, at Caldonia's. I used to work there back in the day and it was crazy to go back there. It wasn't as hopping as I'd remembered and long gone are the days where I knew any staff. We drank beer and watched Game One of the World Series. After 13-1 Boston lead and a million walks, we lost interest in the game and talked about other stuff. It was great to see him and sitting there with him, talking about the old days, the current days, and days to come it really, really made me miss Peck and our lives together. For a second I closed my eyes and pretended that I would go home to the house on Kansas, smoke a cigarette with Peck in our room and talk shit about the day, the people we knew, the cause to wake up in the morning. I miss that room, our talks, Peck's sleep-smoking, that house, that time. For as awful of a time as it was in my life, it sure has some of the sweetest memories I can think on.

Thursday: Slept in a little then got a move on to start the day. Ate lunch at Macaroni Grill, a fav of mine that was not on the docket but I'm glad it was. Heather and Mark rented a H3 (AWESOME!) so we tooled around in that all day. I accidently-on-purpose pushed a button that turned out to be OnStar emergency. Incidently our H3 was named Louisa and she was from Louisiana. Mark was sad that his H3 was a girl car and not a boy car. He was also sad that it's name was Louisa and not "Afrosheen". It sure was shiny though. After a trip to Target and a drive around the city we met my old boss Jim and his wife Renee for coffee at Peaberry's, a Colorado coffee shop. It was great to see him and talk for a while and I was happy to introduce him to HG and MR. We sat out in the 80 degree CO sun and talked till about 3 pm. After that we went to go see 30 Days of Night (not so good) at Denver Pavillions. Then we went shopping and had just enough time to get ready for the evening. Ate at Chick-Fil-A (awesome) then moseyed over to Lodo's and hung out with Cheryl, Jake, Richard, and Kailea. It was great seeing K - she's such a loving, beautiful, smart girl - I love her so much. I was glad to see Richard too, though Dane hardly spoke to him which I thought odd. Anyway - we talked with Cheryl forever, who has an amazing sleeve on her arm - wow! She's so cool and I have so much fun with her. And her man Jake is cool as a fan. Melanie showed up and we had a great time too. She shed some light on a few things, but I was so clouded up with cosmos that I didn't understand/pay attention. After we closed the bar down (and the Rockies lost again) we went to Del Taco. I don't even remember anything but the heavenly crinkle fries.

Friday: Dane got the bright idea to meet his new boss (who is based out of Denver) for coffee at 9 am! An ungodly hour when you've had about 12 cosmos the night before. We met his boss though, tee-shirt and all (his boss, not us), and had a great time. Dane's excited about working at Gen-E and I'm happy for him. After that we had just enough time to lay down for a quick nap before meeting our financial planner Rich at our favorite Persian restaurant, House of Kabob. The meeting with Rich went well, but the food was horrible. I think the place must have been bought out or something because the decor and food were totally different. Bleck! Sad for us, but at least we will never crave HOK again. After that we stopped by Compassion & Choices and bothered Joe for a few. Only Christian and Brandi were there (that I knew from before anyway) so I talked with them for a bit too. Later we went to Govner's Park for happy hour with Joe and his sister Sophie. We had a lot of fun and MR even got a bucket drink. Ate some more food then moved on to Casa Bonita. There, for the first time in a long time, I was able to hug and hold one of my favorite people on the planet - Sarah. Max is HUGE but such a wonderful man, it was great and amazing to see him. Sarah and I talked and it was like it had only been a day since I'd seen her. We fell right in to place and I was happy and proud like a mother hen to introduce her to HG and MR. Casa Bonita was great, Randall showed up - which I wasn't expecting, and that was fun. We all ate dinner then buzzed all over CB and had a mess of fun. We even got a picture of us in the Old West Prison (I'll post later). After that we went back to the hotel to drop the cars off then went to Skylark - which sucked!!! So we went to Funky Buddah, which was awesome! Joe and crew met us there and by this time Sam was with us so we just hung out and had a blast! There were tons of people in costume, even d*ck in a box guys! Joe got wasted, which is always a sight to see, and we had a great time.

Saturday: Woke up and headed out to Littleton to eat lunch with my cousin, Sean, and his wife, Gretchen. The All American couple, a cop and a teacher, are just sweet as pie and have such funny stories we could have sat there and listened to them all day. Sarah met up with us and by that time we needed to head on down to CO Springs. We drove up to Cave of the Winds, Sarah and I in her fun Jetta, and the rest of the crew in the pull-me-over-red-Pontiac. Sarah and I had great conversation, though I felt bad because I was mildly hungover and tired. Quieter than normal, I listened to Sarah's tales and despite all that she's had to deal with lately, envied her. Envy isn't a good word to use for such a good friend. I'll try to explain - I'm happy for her yet sad but at the same time excited for her after she gets through the muck of what happened and the chore of moving on. She had good stories and bad stories, all of which made me miss living in CO and being close to her to the core of my being. Maybe that's why I wasn't a chatty patty. At any rate - it was wonderful to have alone time with her and it was such a beautiful drive anyway. Now we didn't go to COTW for a varitey of reasons, but we did hang out in the gift shop and game room and caused a ruckus. And wouldn't you know it - we ran in to some old Moab friends, Chris and Michelle! Of all the places, it was craziness, but it was also great to see them and say hello. After we messed around on the children's play toys and heckled hikers and even acted a bunch of fools on rocks, we went to Wines of Colorado. I sat there eating cheese and smoked garlic with some of my most favorite peole in the world drinking wine and loving every second of my life. Then fearing for it because the last time I felt that happy, I was attending my daughter's funeral that very moment 7 days later. Then I realized that at that very moment, on that very date, on 6 years ago I was at my daughter's funeral. I sat for a moment watching my friends and husband and reflected on the past six years and how I got to where I was. I thought about what I was doing the 6 years before Isis's death, 12 years ago, and thought I could remember a Halloween dressed as a French Maid right before I met Brendon. By the time I thought back that far it was time to go and just as well. We got ready at Stacy's house, they decided to dress in togas for Caesar's Palace. HG and MR had the best costumes and even freaked people out with how much like their characters they looked and talked. HG went as "your granny's BFF Rose" that plays the slots complete with - awe hell. Words will never do their costumes justice, I'll have to post the picture essay and let those talk. MR was dressed as a lounge singer, Robert Goolay (that's phonetic by the way). Hee-haw-larious. I simply dressed up as a slutty slut, er - I mean "Lady Luck" and Dane as the famed fuzzy dice. Sarah was the best Queen of Hearts for $5 that there ever was. The party was at a HUGE house in Gleneagle complete with indoor pool!! Of course, being Vegas themed and all, there was a stripper pole. We had a lot of fun, despite the Rockies loss (AGAIN!), and played games - HG got on the pole, MR did - even DANE did!! We all got on the pole. By 1 am it was time for volleyball in the pool, naked or not - you decide. I didn't want to get my Victoria's Secret bra all messed up so I had to go in topless. Hee hee. Harmless fun. We played till 3am then finally wrapped up in towels and went to bed in our respective rooms.

Sunday: All the partying and playing and eating and drinking caught up to us this morning and we felt and looked like ass. It was all I could do to function properly. It even took me 30 minutes to sign online and check in for our flight. The Keiths (party hosts) made us waffles and coffee and it was the best waffles and coffee we've ever had. By noon we were on our way to Dave and Busters listening to 40's music in the car and laughing about the days and nights and weekend's events. We ate another big meal at D&B and then played games till Stacy and her family showed up and so did Randall. Then we all did our thing till it was time to go back home. We dropped the dice off and said one last goodbye to Denver. By the time the plane landed I felt almost human again. It was late when we finally hit the hay, both with big smiles on our face for such a successful trip. It was even better than I could have imagined or hoped for. I saw many of my good friends, and even more people I wasn't expecting to see.

Today: I stayed home today which was good because our foster kitties needed medical attention. Turns out the one needs to have his eye plucked out tomorrow morning. I've been a crying mess and Dane and I have already decided to adopt and name him "One Eyed Willy". I've managed to do laundry, rest, do some errands, rest, and regroup for the audit. Once I get to work tomorrow it will be time to hit the ground running for the audit prep and budget work. Thank God I'm on break from school, I have a huge list of things to take care of like blogging, cleaning, picture making, and exercising. I hope I can get it all done in the next month. I officially start my diet and training tomorrow. I'll need to after the pounds I know I gained on this trip. Also today - Dane handed in his resignation to Denali. He did it with a very heavy heart and is sad but knows it's time to move on. It's hard to move away from the reason that moved you someplace to begin with, but it was time. He's at a rollout right now, which will last all night, poor guy.

I'm off to watch Elizabeth and cuddle my cats. Picture essay to come.

Monday, October 22, 2007

BIG BOOTY HO!!!

Check out this mess:

F-me boots complete with thigh high sable colored fishnet stockings, skirt (thank gawd it wasn't a mini - look at that ass!), tiny top that I had no business wearing as my business was hanging out all over the place, cute shrug - the only shred (or shrug) of conservatism on me, and a necklace/earring set that I proceeded to lose not long after this pic was taken. Eye yigh yigh! Actually it's not so bad, but I could lose abou 20 lbs before wearing an outfit like this again. Oh well, Dane liked it and I did get a lot of compliments. I think I'm just growing out of wearing stuff like this but it was fun to play skank up for the night. :-)

Life in the Petri Dish

So last weekend was a lot of fun. Friday was spent resting and staying in. We got some cleaning done but mostly just sat around. I got a call from Tommy from CT at about 9 and spent 2 hours talking to him. It was nice to catch up and talk to an old friend. By the time I got off the phone with him I was tired and ready for bed. Woke up Saturday and completed the days chores. I was not successful in finding a crappy red bra for my costume. Lame. I might try Ross or Target if I have time. May have to wait till CO.

Got ready in a super skanky outfit (I'll post pics later) complete with lots of cleavage, black knee high boots, skirt, sable fishnets - it was awesome. I was all boob. We had a great time though, Angela and her friends rented out a whole bar for the occasion. They had good food, more bistro than bar. We had fresh cheese and wine and risotto w/ fresh roasted veggies. I think I drank my weight in champagne and chambord, good drink but I felt it on Sunday! After the bar we all headed back to our place for hot tub fun. I'm not sure what happened but the hot tub started getting colder and colder - we have no idea why. By about 5 am and 92 degrees it was time to get out and call it night. I was extremely pleased to go to bed before the sun came up, no small feat with this group. Good times though. I almost passed out for the night after we all got home but they convinced me to get up and I agreed on the condition that I could wear my fuzzy, purple robe. Whatever.

Needless to say Sunday was spent on the couch wishing I could die and wondering if I really was dying. I will say that I looked totally cute though because I used this stuff called Final Seal by Ben Nye and it keeps your make up from running or getting smeared and it works!! Through the bar, sweating, the hot tub, sleeping, everything - my make up did not change. This pic was taken half way through Sunday:


Anyway - the weekend was good. I'm getting excited for Colorado. We have a lot of fun stuff in store - Casa Bonita, all my favorite restaurants, Colorado Springs, Cave of the Winds, not to mention seeing some of my favorite people in the world (Sarah and Max to name a few)!! I'm excited to be back home and see my friends and just be home, even if only for a few. I'm really excited to show my new Seattle friends off to my old friends and show them all my old digs. It's almost all I can think about. In fact I'm going to make a packing list right now.

But first - check out this picture of me taken 13 years ago - in November of 1994. I was 14. Look at those horrible eyebrows, crazy lipstick, horrible dye job (courtesy of a box I'm sure) and hair cut. What a dork I was!

Friday, October 19, 2007

News

So life is coming along. Things are busy at work but not crazy out of control. The finance committee meeting went VERY WELL. I always knew it would sort of be the make it or break it session and I've worked hard gearing up to it so I knew it would go well, but it went really, really well. Even with the hang ups and obstacles. Now I'm just tying up loose ends and preparing for the audit. After the audit I will work hard core on the budget then polishing up our GL and stuff for the new year and make sure everything is in order for Oct. Once that's done, it will be Thanksgiving - just in time for a nice break. Then we will hit the holiday season but life will be much simpler.

I love my job at Treehouse. With the fiscal year ending I'm reminded of my life at TSA and specifically last year when all the drama started and remember how unhappy I was. Life at TH is wonderful and I'm appreciated here and my work is recognized and I have a chance to really make a difference. I love that. I'm learning a lot too and you wouldn't believe how much better I've gotten at handling situations - even stressful ones, though I'm still not an ace. So just now the Executive Director came in to my office to congratulate me on the finance committee meeting yesterday. She gave tons of kudos and says she's really happy, proud of me, then she thanked me for everything I've done. I'm BEAMING right now. YAY!!!

The statistics class I was in is finally over and I'm on hiatus from school. I'm happy to be done with that and on a break. It's giving me time to focus on getting in to an exercise routine that works for me. I've started personal training and my trainer, Quinn, is great but she's serious about this. She' going to be monitoring my food and exercise and she expects me to stick with it. She's allowed me one cheat day a week. She worked up my diet plan based on what I already eat (including my fast food options like Wendy's baked potatoe and salad and Subway's veggie delight). She's not happy with the lack of protein I get in my diet. Anyway - she's totally working with my lifestyle and not instructing me to do things I'll never do (like cook). I'll see her on Tues and Thurs for the next 3 months. I'm really excited about this and think this will be perfect to help me develop a routine and lifestyle habits that work. I've been changing up my habits little by little over the years and feel like I'm in the homestretch to a healthy, balanced lifestyle.

I changed my hair - it's more blond and I cut the hair around the side of my face to give it structure. It's cute.




Things are going okay w/ Dane. I'm mad at him right now. He plays WOW and I get that it's stress relief for him and sometimes there are events and missions and whatever but I expect to trump WOW. The other night I had a really rough night and I even had the opportunity to go hang out w/ a girlfriend but I really just wanted a hug and comfort from my Mr. Man and he got all huffy with me and told me he couln't possibly ditch TEN PEOPLE that NEEDED him to complete the mission. And he TOLD me about this event. Whatever. He did tell me about it but it's not like I planned to have a bad day and need him. I was really disappointed that he would ignore me like that and continue on with his game. Instead I went to dinner by myself. I came home and cleaned then went to bed. I've been talking to him and stuff, cause I have to, but I'm still really upset by this episode. I've talked to him before about it and he knows that it hurts me yet he continues to do it. I'm not sure why he thinks it's okay to keep doing this to me and I'm not sure how to express how upset it makes me. It's like whenever I talk to him about it he says he's sorry and I'm right but then goes right back to doing the same thing! I don't expect him to not play games and even encourage him to do when I'm busy with school. But I'm on break right now and only had 2 nights this week to spend with him. Both nights he spent on the computer. Whatever. I'm not sure what I'll do about this, if I'll even do anything for now. Mostly I'm just hurt. I really wanted him and he let me down. :-(

I need to get to work for now but I will blog more now that life has calmed down. Maybe I'll get back to the wedding someday, I know I need to because I will regret it later if I don't, but for now I'll just keep up to speed with daily life because I really do love my blog.

Thursday, September 27, 2007

I do solemly swear...

To post more once this statistics class and FYE are over. I have the month of November slotted for many catch up projects like blogging, house cleaning, putting pic CD's together of the wedding, painting, and so on but for now it's just not in the cards.

I do have a few minutes to post so I will update a few things.

Fiscal year end is coming along nicely. There is hope that this audit will get done in less time than expected, which is more than 50% better than the previous two years. I've completely managed the two issues that we got written up for last year AND have had time leftover to focus on every other aspect of the balance sheet and reconcile all my accounts. On a technical level the organization is squeaky clean. All that's left to do is document procedures and prepare for the upcoming audit standards, which are new this year. Even with the vaca time I've taken, the sick time my assistant has had to take and all the other hiccups along the way, we are still right on schedule, even slightly ahead. Life is good and while I learned a lot from Salvation Army experience, more than was ever apparent at the time, I am much much happier manning my own ship again.

Life is going really well at home. Dane and I were up against some minor obstacles that we've talked about and tackled head on and are getting somewhere. It finally dawned on me that if I devoted half as much time to him as I did to work, friends, or engagements (like parades, belly dancing, 3 Day Walks, etc) that we would be an unstoppable force. My apiphone (or however that is spelled) has proven true thus far and while I've had to juggle my time differently and scale back on the amount of time we spend with friends and outside activities, we are making steady progress.

Financially I'm in a better position than I was this time last week. After the wedding we've had one financial blow after the next (cats going to the vet, emergency dental work, vasectomy, IUD, routine health care needs, and all sorts of expenses). We've managed to stay afloat, even if only a little bit with the help of each other, managing money inflow and my wonderful parents. However, last week in an effort to update my personal records to reflect the upcoming payroll change I inadvertantly double entered a paycheck and made real life payments to credit card companies based on that figure. Needless to say this threw me into the negative by almost $2000 and it took all the liquidation and borrowing power I had to recover. But that was after two payments hit my bank and I got assessed fees. Because of my error we lost out on the promotional APR's offered by the credit card that we borrowed all the wedding money, turning a $45 finance charge into a $160 finance charge (a month till the balance is paid - balance being over $12,000) and a $40 fee on top of the $25 fees my bank charged. I called my credit card company crying and pleading my case and was actually able to get the finance charge reversed, the promotional APR's reinstated AND the $40 fee credited back. And my bank reversed some of the $25 fees as they put on a block on my account so I couldn't deposit any money and ended up having to wire money from Dane's acct at a cost of $35. Needless to say I will be terminating my decade long relationship with this CO based credit union and have set up accounts here in WA. I've also taken the steps necessary to auto-pay my accounts the minimum on the day due so this never happens again. In the end I expect to make a full recovery in a month's time, but it was definitely a costly mistake. The fact that I'm an accountant only makes it worse.

My statistics class is very overwhelming but I'm not as invested in it as I was the last class. I was really excited to take law and extremely disappointed with how that whole ordeal turned out. But in the end not all was lost as the last class, conducted by the UOP Chair, was very informational on determining the differences between actual problems and symptoms of the problems. It's helped me with work and with this class, which I could care less about. I'll just be happy to get through it with a C. :-)

In other news, back to work, I have to toot my horn a little more. I'm very proud of myself and the work I've done. To recap I've reconciled all revenue to our donor software (not an easy task as money was miscoded and conveluted because I couldn't determine which donor it came from). Not only was I able to reconcile, I was able to isolate the problems that cause the variance to begin with and fix those. Also, all revenue and expense has been run through unrestricted funds. A little nonprofit Acct 101. All monies are unrestricted, temporarily restricted, or permentantly restricted. An example - endowments are permenantly restricted as their principal balances can never be spent, only their earnings. Without getting too complicated for a blog, all our monies were unrestricted and the financial reports were manipulated each month to come to a (wrong) figure for unrest/temp rest/ perm rest. I had to go in and determin at the income statement level what was what and then journal, then create accounts, then balance on the balance sheet and tie back to the income statement. It was way out of my league until I actually did and realized that I'm smarter than I give myself credit for. Of course I have an amazing accounting support system (thanks RBMBA and HG). Anyway, I've reconciled other stuff that was thought to be one thing but really turned out to be another and I'm down to my last project of unclaimed checks dating back to 2005 (OMG). After that, life is awesome and I can prep for the audit. THEN I'll have to buckle down on the budget for 2008. Jim and I are getting along very nicely now and I can tell he's confident in my capabilities. It's amazing to realize that I'm really starting to mature with this stuff. It feels weird to have a career and be happy and good at it. I still feel like a receptionist or A/P clerk at times.

Well enough of my rambling and building myself up. I'll post more on the wedding soon and the other posts I promised to write on. We just got the wedding DVD and I have to say that I'm very pleasantly surprised with how well it turned out.

More to come, I swear. :-)

Sunday, September 16, 2007

The Wedding Part Two

So lets see here - I left off with the bachelor/ette part. I forgot to mention the Mexican wrestling masks...maybe I'll post a pic. Anyway the next day was a recovery day, the Monday before the wedding. We lounged around the pool and ate food and hung out. That evening I stayed out with the guys while the everyone else went to bed. Eventually I got tired and left the men to their own devices. This was after we had spent half the night sliding down the slide and the other parts of the infinity pool. One person even went over the edge commando. Classic. Anyway - I went to bed while the guys stayed out and buried each other in the sand and played around harmlessly. I'm not sure what time it was when Dane got back, but I'm pretty sure it was late. I didn't care - I told him to enjoy his last night of being single and that he did.

The wedding day. So if I remember correctly we had breakfast in our room that morning and then got ready for the Mexican judge to come to the resort. We got dressed in our piratey best for the wedding, even all my guests got decked out! They even wore moustaches - AWESOME! Anyway, the judge thought it was great to marry "pirates" and really enjoyed our sense of humor. My mom made a point to tell the judge that we were taking this marriage seriously and getting married in a "traditional" ceremony later that evening. After the Mexican vows we traipsed through the hotel, pirate flag and all. Good times. Then it was time for the spa. HG, RBMBA, and I all made spa appointments for a massage and sauna. I enjoyed a nice long massage with hot stones then decided to take a dip in the spa. I'm used to the spa in Seattle where you are NOT allowed to wear clothing of any kind. So I stripped down to nothing and took a soak. It wasn't till a lady came out of the steam room and noticed my goodies (with a completely shocked look) that I thought "Hmmm, maybe this isn't a naked spa." I look over to the rules board and sure enough, rule #4 - NO NUDITY AT ANY TIME! So I feel like a heel and get my towel on (I didn't bring a swim suit, I thought it was naked spa!) and go in to the dry sauna. Oh - I forgot, I got a pedicure before the massage. Anyway by the time all the nudity, massages, and foot dressings were done it was time for me to get ready. I took a shower and had the wonderful help of RBMBA and HG to get ready. The helped me get into to my weave and dress my hair, they helped with my shaving nick, helped get me into my dress, helped with the make-up. It was great. Just when I thought everything was okay and told them they should probably get their seats all hell broke loose. Of course it was after they left but before my dad got there. I swear - everything was fine and then in two short minutes it all crumbled. Actually I'm being a little dramatic. All that happened was a bottle of spirit gum crashed to the tile floor and spilled on to my dress, but you really couldn't see it. Of course it had to be spirit gum, which will NEVER come off. :-( Oh, and I realized the bridal shop never included my shall that was supposed to come with the dress. Grr - that place sucks. Then my shaving nick was bleeding through my sable fishnets and ON TO MY DRESS!! Dad walks in just at that moment and I"m freaking out. He makes a tourniquet for my leg and tries not to panic. My dad, normally the definition of "cool as a cucumber" was out of his element. Somewhere, my mom got the scent of her croup in chaos and immediately phoned my room. I answered and screamed the problems in one long breath "theresspiritgumandbloodonmydress!!!" and all my mom says in a calm tone (borderline irrited) "I'm coming up." So mom comes up and saves the day. Dad goes to get some stuff and Amy shows up in time for pics and a beer. :-) Then she has to go find her seat, mom needs to get her seat and dad and I need to prep for the walk down to the beach. We do so and while we are waiting for the green flag, we are conveniently stopped in the lobby bar. Without a word or even glance, the bartender comes over with a shot of top shelf tequilla, salt, and lime. I oblige graciously and give him my empty beer. Just enough alcohol to calm the nerves. Dad and I briefly talked about my sister not being there. Dad didn't have to say much at all for me to realize that he was as displeased as I was. Then it was time to walk. I've never put so much attention to how I was walking. Then we had to walk on a plank, no a bunch of 2 inch planks that were just evenly spaced out enough that I couldn't walk with my head up, I had to walk with my face down making sure I wouldn't trip and fall. Finally we made it to the ceremony area and I have to say that Dane looked better than I've ever seen him in my entire life. I don't know if it was the Mexican sun, the Pacific breeze, his new conditioner, or it was just the simple fact that it was our wedding day. Whatever it was, he looked great. And it was overwhelming in the wonderful way to see the small, but lovely group of people who were there. I can't say enough about how awesome it was to have my closest friends there - they really are my family. I was sad for the few that really wanted to be there but couldn't, but we saved a spot for them and in my mind's eye I knew they were there. And then it was amazing to have Pastor there. This man truly has seen me through the best and worst times in my life. Mostly the absolute worst. It was great to have him there and be a part of one of the better moments. That truly made my wedding the best wedding. I honestly don't remember much of the ceremony other than Dane, Pastor's booming words (he thinks I should have come up with better vows, like Dane did - in fact, I think Pastor used Dane's vows for both of us), and the sun shining on us. It was fun to do the sand into one jar, then the rings, we got down on bended knee and Pastor prayed for us, I thought that was cute, a nice touch. We kissed and then took a toast. Then we feigned walking down the aisle, but instead my dad got down on bended knee and re-proposed to my mom!
*****Dad and I had been planning this all along and have worked hard to get my mom a simply beautiful 2 carat diamond ring for less than $2000. In the end I got the 1 carat diamond from a woman selling on Craigslist and the 1 carat diamond and gold band from a jewelry expo at wholesale cost. It was crazy how everything came together only a week before the wedding*******
Then my parents got up and renewed their vows right then and there while Dane and I sat in their seats and watched. My mom was in tears beside herself and my dad was happier than I've seen him in a long time. Then Dane and I got back up there and we all toasted and walked down the aisle for appetizers and more pictures. My mom couldn't believe that the ring was real no matter how much we convinced her it was. From the appetizers the the end of the night it seemed like only 20 minutes. While the guests listened to a mariachi band, Dane and I took the obligatory pics on the beach. Then we made our way over to the private side of the hotel and ate a lovely dinner. Dane's mom made a scene, but that's neither here nor there. :-) Our friends made wonderful, even tear-jerking toasts and then some toasts were quite funny and even a little awkward (darn young kids). We only got a tiny piece of our wedding cake, it was supposed to be sent up to our room but never made it there (bastards). We danced and laughed and played games for gift cards and prizes. We had a fireworks show that was awesome. And the night ended with a great spiff from Jacob doing "Berries and Cream" and then jumping into the pool fully clothed! It was great! After that we went to the rooms and changed then went down to the bar to drink and have fun but once we all sat down we all realized how exhausted we were and decided to call it a night. When Dane and I went back upstairs our room had a small cake, champagne, a honeymooners banner, and candles and roses all over the room and bed. It was amazing. There was soft music playing and it was the picture of romance. We took some pics then hit the lights and went to bed. Or at least that's all I'm going to write in the blog. ;-)

That's another good stopping point as the Broncos are about to play. More later.

Friday, September 14, 2007

I *heart* My Blog

So I just remembered how much I love my blog. I haven't been writing in it recently but that will change. This weekend, since I'm sick and have nothing to do anyway, I'll be blogging like no tomorrow. Look for these great blogs:

- The Wedding Part Two
- The 3 Day Walk
- School Sucks
- Life at Home
- All in a Day's Work
- Future goals, ideas, and plans: World Domination Redefined

And other fun stuff. I'll get back into the swing of my blog. :-)

Thursday, August 30, 2007

Dr. Phil's Test

==============================================

1. When do you feel your best?

a) in the morning

b) during the afternoon and early evening

c) late at night

==============================================

2. You usually walk...

a) fairly fast, with long steps

b) fairly fast, with little steps

c) less fast head up, looking the world in the face

d) less fast, head down very slowly

==============================================

3. When talking to people you...

a) stand with your arms folded

b) have your hands clasped

c) have one or both your hands on your hips

d) touch or push the person to whom you are talking

e) play with your ear, touch your chin, or smooth your hair

==============================================

4. When relaxing, you sit with...

a) your knees bent with your legs neatly side by side

b) your legs crossed

c) your legs stretched out or straight

d) one leg curled under you

==============================================

5. When something really amuses you, you react with...

a) big appreciated laugh

b) a laugh, but not a loud one

c) a quiet chuckle

d) a sheepish smile

==============================================

6 When you go to a party or social gathering you...

a) make a loud entrance so everyone notices you

b) make a quiet entrance, looking around for someone you know

c) make the quietest entrance, trying to stay unnoticed

==============================================

7. You're working very hard, concentrating hard, and you're
interrupted do you...

a) welcome the break

b) feel extremely irritated

c) vary between these two extremes

==============================================

8. Which of the following colors do you like most?

a) Red or orange

b) black

c) yellow or light blue

d) green

e) dark blue or purple

f) white

g) brown or gray

==============================================

9. When you are in bed at night, in those last few moments before going to sleep are you...

a) stretched out on your back

b) stretched out face down on your stomach

c) on your side, slightly curled

d) with your head on one arm

e) with your head under the covers
==============================================

10. You often dream that you are...

a) falling

b) fighting or struggling

c) searching for something or somebody

d) flying or floating

e) you usually have dreamless sleep

f) your dreams are always pleasant

==============================================

SCORING POINTS:

1. (a) 2 points. (b) 4 points (c) 6 points

2. (a) 6 (b) 4 (c) 7 (d) 2 (e) 1

3. (a) 4 (b) 2 (c) 5 (d) 7 (e) 6

4. (a) 4 (b) 6 (c) 2 (d) 1

5. (a) 6 (b) 4 (c) 3 (d) 5 (e) 2

6. (a) 6 (b) 4 (c) 2

7. (a) 6 (b) 2 (c) 4

8. (a) 6 (b) 7 (c) 5 (d) 4 (e) 3 (f) 2 (g) 1

9. (a) 7 (b) 6 (c) 4 (d) 2 (e) 1

10. (a) 4 (b) 2 (c) 3 (d) 5 (e) 6 (f) 1
Now add up the total number of points.

OVER 60 POINTS : Others see you as someone they should "handle with care." You're seen as vain, self-centered, and who is extremely nt. Others may admire you, wishing they could be more like you, but don't always trust you, hesitating to become too deeply involved with you.

51 TO 60 POINTS: Others see you as an exciting, highly volatile,
rather impulsive personality; a natural leader, who's quick to make decisions, though not always the right ones. They see you as bold and adventuresome, someone who will try anything once; someone who takes chances and enjoys an adventure. They enjoy being in your company because of the excitement you radiate.

41 TO 50 POINTS: Others see you as fresh, lively, charming, amusing, practical, and always interesting; someone who's constantly in the center of attention, but sufficiently well-balanced not to let it go to their head. They also see you as kind, considerate, and understanding; someone who'll always cheer them up ! and help them out.

31 TO 40 POINTS: Others see you as sensible, cautious, careful and practical. They see you as clever, gifted, or talented, but modest. Not a person who makes friends too quickly or easily, but someone who's extremely loyal to friends you do make and who expect the same loyalty in return. Those who really get to know you realize it takes a lot to shake your trust in your friends, but equally that it takes you a long time to get over it if that trust is ever broken.

21 TO 30 POINTS: Your friends see you as painstaking and fussy. They see you as very cautious, extremely careful, a slow and steady plodder. It would really surprise them if you ever did something impulsively or on the spur of the moment, expecting you to examine everything carefully from every angle and then, usually decide against it. They think this reaction is caused partly by your careful nature.

UNDER 21 POINTS: People think you are shy, nervous, and indecisive, someone who needs looking after, who always want someone else to make the decisions &who doesn't want to get involved with anyone or anything! They see you as a worrier who always sees problems that don't exist. Some people think you're boring. Only those who know you well know that you aren't.

Monday, August 06, 2007

The Wedding

As told a month later.

It might take several posts to get this all down, so bear with me. On June 29th Dane and I got up at about 2:30 to get ready for our trip. I got dressed all pretty in my cute red top, cream colored capris and fabulous red shoes. We were picked up by a Lincoln Town Car by 4:00 am and taken to the airport. No drama getting down to Mexico and we arrived on time around 2 pm. Our transportation had ice cold Pacificos waiting for us as we took the drive downtown to get our blood tests and sync up any last minute details with Coca, our wedding coordinator.

We arrived at our BEAUTIFUL resort, Dreams, by about 4 pm. My parents and Nick and Jacob were there and RB/TJ were checking in. There was a little drama with the check in as Dreams didn't have all the reservations correctly listed (they even had our name as Gordon, not Ewers or Huish). After much crying and sobbing and RB even stepping in to save the day we were able to clear up the mess for the evening but Dreams still needed to work on the checkout days for 2 of our guests. So we went to dinner, took a walk on the beach w/ my dad, then met up with the others and hung out at the bar and had a smashing good time. We stayed out till after 2 playing games (Taboo) in the lobby bar and enjoying the Mexican evening.

Saturday we spent the entire day at the pool drinking wonderful drinks and having fun in the sun. Since Dreams didn't have the reservation name for HG and MR correct, I never received confirmation that they had arrived. About 2 hours after their expected arrival time I started getting really worried but luckily found them. One of our guests had had a little too much to drink and so we were laughing and having fun with them - it was great to see them let down their hair. We ended up eating dinner and having another great night drinking and splashing in the pool.

Sunday we all traipsed into town for our "in-lieu-of-rehersal-dinner-pirate-booze-cruise" on a real pirate boat. From what I understand from our guests, this was the single most fun event. We got to tool around the Cabo shore on the pirate boat (some of us even dressed as pirates), go snorkeling in FREEZING cold waters (who knew July was the time where everything was the coldest?!), eat fantastic food, enjoy fun games, and even swing off the side of the boat into the water from a rope! Great times. After the cruise we all went our separate ways to take care of whatever we needed to. By the time the evening came around, half the guests were too tired to make it to the bachelor/ette party. This actually worked out well as it gave me a chance to spend some quality 1:1 time with Amy and Bryan - who is AWESOME! We had a BLAST at Cabo Wabo - I can't even remember everything that happened - there was a cock roach, doing the "butt", lots of shots and beer, a fantastically gay guy doing a Broadway show dance in the cage, tons of fun. After the bar we went to the local strip club and confirmed that Mexican strippers are not happy. They never smile whilst doing their thing. Around 3 am it was time to go, so we collected Jacob from a stripper and poured Puppy (drunk Nick) into a cab and went home. Good times.

That's a good point to stop for now. :-)

Thursday, July 26, 2007

Someday

Someday I'll post on the wedding. Things have just been so busy. I do want to post soon before the tiny details slip my mind. I always like going back and reading my entries years later, so this isn't something that I'll blow off.

AND I have a scathing blog to write about a certain so-n-so who shall be nameless....for now.

For other news, check out http://deweyboostinker.blogspot.com/

Thursday, July 19, 2007

Wedding photos

We are having a difficult time getting the pictures formatting in a way that I can post. The following pics are the only pics I have received in a manner that is condusive to posting on the net. :-)




Dane and I getting legally married by the Mexican judge and translator. We figured we might as well dress it up and make it fun. And what better way to dress up a wedding than to dress as pirates.



The Mexican judge was so tickled at our pirate gear that she requested a group photo and then asked that we send it to her so she can have a copy for her office. She was very excited to say that she married pirates.




Here's a shot of us exchanging our vows at what we consider our "real" wedding.



Pastor, who's known me through thick and thin since I was 8 years old, praying for us at the ceremony. Amazing.

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

I'm Back

But it's too hot to type much else. I'm starting to download some pics to my MySpace - check it out. More to come when I'm back in some A/C.

Thursday, July 05, 2007

Married!

Well I have a few minutes to blog. I'm feeling pretty sick so all last night and today I've been in bed. After this I'm going to try my luck at the pool, we'll see.

Anyhoot - there have been a few hang ups and VERY tense moments (none of the reservations for us at Dreams were correct, including Dane and I, then we thought that HG and MR didn't make it because they had them under the name Herberth (HG's new nickname) so we though for sure their plane crashed) but other than that things have gone okay. I got spirit gum and blood on my wedding dress. They threw out our wedding cake so I didn't get any because I was too full to eat it at the wedding. But all in all it was a glorious day and it has been nothing but fun, amazing times. The people who are here have absolutely loved the resort and are even talking about coming back for our first anniversary!

I'll have more details and pics later about the wedding. I'm still in vaca mode and sick. Tonight is our last night at Dreams then we move downtown to the pirate resort. OH! Our pirate wedding went very well, the judge was tickled and even asked us to send her a photo (she insisted we all take a group photo w/ her in it). My buddies all dressed up in their piratey best - it was AWESOME!!! The pirate booze cruise was fun too, I'll have to blog about that more when I have pics to show. Poor HG and my dad got sick.

The sooprise for my mom went very well, she was surprised by my dad getting on bended knee and proposing again and then they renewed their vows right then and there. I was able to find/make a beautiful 2 carat ring for her that she can't stop looking at. Good times.

So after tonight it's "officially" our honeymoon and we are looking forward to spending some quiet time on the beach and at the pool. We probably wont spend too much time downtown, though we do want to do some jet skiing, maybe some horsebackriding. On Monday we are going Baja racing with the sand buggies - Dane's going to get his arse kicked! I wouldn't mind doing some skydiving either.

Well - that's it for now. It feels different being married. I love it though. And I couldn't have asked for a better man.

Monday, June 25, 2007

T-Minus Seven Days and Counting

Wow - only 7 more days of singledom. I had a big plan to have one last fling in PDX but in the end chickened out. I'm going to pretend like it's because I had a choice and not so much a lack of opportunity. :-P But even if I was presented with an option to have "one last fling" I don't think I would have. And that was a turning point for me. Up until now, even though I live with Dane and we share our life together and if either of us ever compromised this relationship we have it would be ugly, it hasn't really hit me that "this is it". In my mind I've always thought that there could be others and I've even convinced myself that I could/would want others. But this weekend it was solidified. I want Dane. I was so happy to go home to him. I had a blast in PDX, it was a great time and Zac's mom is hysterical, but my life, my heart, my soul is with Dane.

So I realize that and smile cause that's a nice kind of security, ya know. And I'm humbled by the experiences of my other best friends, some are hurting, some are losing, some are sad cause their man is miles away. No matter what, I have to recognize that what I have is deep, special, once in a lifetime.

Then it hits me - this really is it. At least I hope it is. I don't want to go through the pain of a divorce. I know it is it, perhaps that's why it's so scary.

I just asked Dane if he was sure he didn't want a last fling. He asked how I could possibly provide that for him. I suggested he look in to any opportunities he might have been neglecting. To which he said there aren't any...that are neglected. *Marge noise* I didn't know those were the rules!!

So I guess I'll get married without my last fling.

In tactical news, I've been busy and this week is no joke. I've got to get my dress, get some last minute shopping items (lingerie, pantyhose, pumps, clutch, accessories, nice outfit, so on), doctor appointment, hair appointment, go to the bank, drop the foster kitties off, and all sorts of other nonsense. Thursday night we have an early night since we have to leave for the airport at a horrible hour in the am. I still need to do some laundry and pack. I'll do that on Thursday since I have the day off. Tonight we got our hands and feet all cleaned up and then went to the naked spa (for HG's b-day).

Dane says I have cold feet.

Monday, June 18, 2007

Fremont Pics

I downloaded some parade pics to my MySpace page, check it out.

So last week was crazy busy getting ready for the parade. All the way up until Friday night HG and I were sewing and stitching and braiding and primping. We got up bright and early Sat morning to get ready. We were running late, in fact so late that I passed up a RARE DOUBLE SIDED FRONT (!) BUMPER GNOME!!!! I almost cried. It was horrible.

Anyway - we got to the parade and parked and drank our wine, I mean SoBe green tea *wink* and prepared to entertain the crowd. It was a beautiful day and a great parade - lots of fun. Dane stole the show though, as he usually does in his Anubis costume.

After the parade and true to yearly tradition we had a party back at the house where everyone let their hair down and took their wigs off. I'll have to post those pics another time. It was one of the best get-togethers we've ever had at our house.

Sunday was Die Hard Extravaganza day, which was really just an excuse for Dane and I to stay planted on the sofa. Good times.

This and next week are busy putting the final touches on the wedding such as: touch up on lip tattoo, Dr. Egrari appointment (I have a stitch poking out that refuses to disolve but I don't want to go to the office cause I've gained so much weight), laser junk session, wedding dress fitting, manicure/pedicure/brows, kickball (having nothing to do with the wedding), hair coloring, shopping, trip to Portland, more shopping, spa with HG and RB for HG's b-day, exchange money, print documents, laundry and pack for Cabo - it's a lot of stuff.

Work is going well, I can start focusing on monthly and daily tasks that I have at hand. I'll be happy to hand over the budgets...

Not much else is going on - obviously wedding prep, but that's it. It's so nice not having school. I never realize how much of my time it consumes till I don't have to do it. It was very nice to have the time to go grocery shopping, tanning, and to the gym tonight without stressing over homework. I think I will probably take a long break from school after my Master's degree. Eff getting a law degree and a doctorates, at least for anyway.

After the wedding, the only thing I will have on my plate is the 3 Day, which is good because I have about $2000 I still need to raise! YIKES!! I have a couple of fundraisers in store though, so we'll see how it turns out. And of course school, but I'll get back into the swing of that easily enough.

Then I get another break in October, which I plan to go to CO for a weekend. That should be fun. All good stuff coming down the pike and overall things are pretty good. So I should probably brace for something really bad to happen. *flinch*

Dun dun dunnnnnn

http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=parade17m&date=20070617&query=fremont

It finally happened, Dane made the front page of the papers. :-)

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Random Stuff



This is a choli. :-) It is NOT a foot fungus as HG proclaims, she just wants people to think that foot fungus is normal.

Shit - I was going to have time for a big blog but then I got a call and now I gotta go. See ya!

Monday, June 11, 2007

Madness

So a lot has happened in the past few weeks. Obviously there was Amsterdam (as detailed in the other blog), I finished up school, getting ready for the parade, catching up on work, and reeling from the weight I've gained. Then there's the wedding. I'll explain:

Amsterdam = look to other blog, but the jet lag affects, or what I think are jet lag affects, didn't quite leave me until Thursday of last week.

School = So I did end up ditching the last day of school. I slept all day in hopes that I would work on my paper in the evening. That didn't happen. At 10PM I realized that I should just hand in what I had completed for partial credit. I boot up the laptop only to realize that my most completed version of my paper is housed on my work computer (rat fink!), so I had to ask Dane to drive me to work at 10:30 on a Saturday to get my paper. We did and I handed it in about 50% complete. Since the assignment was worth 20% of the total letter grade for the class and I already had an A- I figured I'd be lucky to get a C in the class. However, the teacher said that if we did a good job on our final paper, he might redo the week four grades. Even though I didn't complete the whole paper, he said I had done such a good job on redoing it that had I finished the paper he believes it would have been A+ material (wow!). So he felt bad that all he could do was give me 15/20, which for only a 50% completed paper that was amazing. And he upped my W4 assignment grade, leaving me with a B+ for my final grade. Again, not bad considering I didn't even do the bulk of the final. Whoot whoot! So I'm on a hiatus (thank God because there's no way I could complete anything for school right now) till I get back from Mexico. My next class: Enterprise Risk (whatever that is).

Parade: So the parade is this Saturday. I feel woefully unprepared for the d@mn thing. And this year I'm wearing my Isis Wings, so I'll have HUGE props on my hands for all to see when I make a mistake. But as SC said, I'll just have to recover and move on when I make a mistake. :-) I've been practicing and plan to practice for about an hour or so each night this week above and beyond the class on Wed and dress rehersal on Thurs. Regardless, I'm looking forward to the parade still and think it will be a great time. My costume is near complete. I just need a choli.

Work: Is going well, I haven't made it in the past two weeks to make up for AMS, but I did come in 2 hours early today. I figure if I do that for the next two weeks, then not only will I get all caught up on work, I'll make up for the lost time. I came back to a happy office, Janis (the ED) even hugged me! Everyone was happy to have me back and geniunely excited to hear about my trip. Our new Director of Admin/Finance started too. I think I'm really going to enjoy working with him. He's strong in Finance, but knows Accounting well enough to help me out. I think he will be a great asset to the organization. For now I'm closing May and working on various projects and reconciliations. I have more pots on the burner than I usually like, but it's still better than TSA.

Weight: Ugh - I weigh more today than I did the day of surgery. WTF!? I ditched the vegan diet and all of a sudden I've gained 10 lbs. And I've been slacking on working out. So this week and for the next three weeks I've resolved to work out for 2 hours a day and I'm back to portion control as of tomorrow when my Lucky Palate shipment comes in. It's one thing to be overweight, it's quite another to do what I've done and then gain the weight back. I'm absolutely ashamed of myself and feel like the most pathetic loser in the world. No excuses, seriously, I have no effing excuse.

Wedding: So this week is dedicated to the Parade, but I have put a little thought here and there to the wedding. Like we went shopping yesterday for Dane and got his wedding outfit. We found my wedding shoes (which will hopefully go with the gown as I won't get the gown till 1 day before I leave for Cabo). I bought some cute, classy outfits for Mexico and will probably get more when I'm in PDX next weekend. I still need lingerie, figure out my hair situation, order spa services, nail down the vows, get the money down to Cabo, figure out the suitcase/packing situation. There are a lot of tiny details that still need to be done. Fortunately for me I can focus ALL my energy to the event after this Saturday. I have the whole plan worked out. I've had to sluff off some household duties and chores in order accomodate the wedding, but that's no biggie. The house will still be a mess upon our return, no sense in stressing now to get it done. And in other news, Dane and I have decided that we will be having a pirate wedding after all. In order to legally be married we have to have a Mexican ceremony w/ the judge all done at the courthouse. Technically our beach ceremony is entirely symbolic/traditional in the non traditional way. So we thought, shoot - if we are already going to have a formal wedding and we wont understand a lick of the Mexican ceremony, might as well have fun with it and dress like pirates.

And finally - (you won't believe this) apparently Dane's mom (Janet) and husband (Bill) are having troubles securing their timeshare for the wedding. They already purchased their airline tickets but they can't get in to their timeshare till Sunday so they need a place to stay for Saturday night. Bill called Dane to ask if he and Janet could room with Dane and I for Saturday night. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Can you believe that?!?! On our WEDDING!!! Dane said he was just in shock. He didn't know how to respond. But even if we did entertain this idea, it's an all-inclusive resort. You can't even get in the d@mn thing without having the proper credentials and/or paying for a day pass. Not to mention we could get in serious trouble for smuggling people in. The fucking nerve. My mom is so funny, she sent an email today saying that she and dad have grossly underestimated their spending money and need to stay with us in our room. I almost fell for it but then keeled over laughing. Well played, Mom, well played.