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."

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. :-)

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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: