Kingfisher Cove

Cold Feet!

I'm huddled in the camping trailer here at Harstine trying to warm up.  It's cold around the edges, even with a couple of heaters going (had to turn the third one off because it kept tripping the circuit breaker).  It's really not all that cold outside, but when we arrived this afternoon the inside of the trailer was about as far away from warm and toasty as it could be and it's taking a long time to heat it up.  We do leave the main trailer heater on when we're not here (it's built-in electric), but we keep it pretty low just to prevent freezing when the weather gets frigid.  (Not with the intent to keep the mice comfortable.  Or to pay sky-high electric bills).  Mostly my feet are cold!  Or as Annoying Coworker would say, "Coldt!  I'm so coldt!"  

I sure wish we could head down here every Friday in the early afternoon instead of early evening when it's so dark and traffic-clogged.  It was smooth-sailing and very nice to be able to SEE in the daylight!  It's been a month since we've been here and I wondered how Mojo would handle the ride.  I guess I should give him more credit because he immediately settled right in his "spot" (JDub's lap) and eventually tried suckling from Bailey (yup, he's still doing that).  And once we got here, there was not an instant of adjustment; he knew exactly where he was and was very happy about it, thank you very much.

Other than the cold (coldt!) feet, I'm very happy to be here, too.  I doubt that it'll be a sit-on-the-deck-with-a-fire type of weekend, but it could get interesting with the weather forecast calling for possible snow (2"- 4" in this area), followed immediately with another warm, wet, and windy storm.  Hmm.  Could be fun photos to show you!  (Or not, if the forecast is wrong.  Which it often is...)

Update:  It's now 35 deg. outside, so that's pretty cold.  Cloudy, too.

Bub-Bye Platinum

I've been thinking about this for a while, and today I finally took the plunge.  After years (decades?) of being pretty darned platinum blonde, I decided it was time to Tone It Down. 

It'll lighten up after a few washings, but overall I'm pleased with it.  It's actually quite a bit more "highlighted" than these pictures show.   Got it trimmed up, too.  I look almost as tired as I feel!  I  spent a good part of today doing totally physical labor with packing up all the crap in our office for the move.  I was in a holding-pattern with my proposal (the engineer reviewing it was "too busy" today and I can't do anything about it until I hear from him) so I offered to help our office admin staff with the peripheral packing, such as office supplies; files; blueprints; even the beer & wine from the fridge.  (Yup, we partake every once in a while with what we call our "Safety Meeting" when we let the beer, wine, and snacks flow for a half hour or so on a Friday afternoon.  "Beer-thirty".)  Anyway, it's amazing how much CRAP there is in an office!  Jeeze.  The atmosphere has been pretty festive, though.  It's a change of routine and there's quite a lot of excitement about our new digs which will be a whole lot roomier.  We close up shop tomorrow at noon and it turns out that I get to take the afternoon off, too!  Woohoo!  My boss actually called me up and told me to head home once the packing was done.  JDub has tomorrow off so we'll be able to head down to Harstine plenty early!  In the daylight!

A Damned Good Day

I like days when I feel like I've accomplished something.  In my job, that's a rare thing because it seems like I'm always in the midst of something that is a long way from being complete, and I have to rely on so many other people to do their part so that I can do mine.  And while I'm waiting for them to do their part, I generally attempt to avoid wasting time and move forward on my own, but very uncertainly because I never know for sure if I'm moving forward in the right direction -- until I'm either assured that I am, or else told all nastily: "What the hell were you thinking?" Both of those scenarios happen in equal doses.  Which doesn't add a whole lot to my level of confidence because, well, it's 50-50 that I'm on the right track!  I don't think it has anything to do with being bottle blonde.  Mostly it has to do with 1) not being an engineer, and 2) not having the mind-reading gene. Both of those skills/gifts would sure make my job easier!

But today the stars seemed to be pretty much aligned in my favor.  I'd been waiting for my boss to review the company newsletter so I could send it out, feeling pretty insecure about a couple of the articles I'd written that I knew she would have a lot more insight about because they were regarding projects that she was extremely familiar with.  I fully expected major edits requiring major re-writes, but when she finally responded, I received praise instead!  (I just never know what to expect from her -- other than whatever it is, it'll be LATE).  And the proposal I'm working on required some direct interaction with a Very Difficult Person in our branch office -- an old curmudgeon beyond belief -- and as a result I'd have to say that we have actually become "buds".  I discovered that the way to deal with him is to tease him!  Throw back a little bit of his own medicine.  And then, show him sincere appreciation for his help (because it was very valuable).  As a result, I feel that I've earned his respect and also have gained a great resource when I need to know details about traffic signal and illumination design!  I'll just have to keep up the teasing.  (And I don't mean teasing in a woman's wiles sort of way -- just elementary school level teasing). (Men!)

Today people in our office began packing in earnest for our move.  The godawful yellow bins are filling up.  And while people are doing this, there's an atmosphere of camaraderie  as well as sophomoric antics that even transcends the young (sophomoric) engineers in our office.  These bins fit on separate wheeled carts, and a woman AutoCad technician who is very quiet and very serious actually sat down on one and here I was pushing her all around the office and we were whoopin' it up to the absolute astonishment of the young sophomoric engineers.  Sometimes you just gotta step outside the box.

So, yeah, it was a good day.

On another subject (ooooh, politics...) Karen over at Verbatim pointed the way to this Presidential survey that was truly an eye-opener.  The multiple-choice questions are very thought-provoking and somewhat tricky.  I didn't get the impression at all that they were slanted one way or another.  And as a result, my top presidential candidate picks were as follows:

1. Bill Richardson
2. John Edwards
3. Joe Biden
4. Hillary Clinton
5. Barack Obama
6. Dennis Kucinich

Truth be known?  Until now I knew NOTHING about Bill Richardson!  I was shocked!  Shocked I tell you! 

Bloodshot

My eyes are toast.  On the computer all day working (intensely), on the computer tweaking my personal Christmas newsletter, surfing (on the computer), Christmas shopping (on the computer), addressing Christmas card envelopes (by hand), reading my book, driving in the pitch dark...it's a wonder those eyes aren't sliding down my cheeks and pooling in a red, twitching, gooky puddle. 

And so now I'm blogging.  On the computer. Go figure.

Other than the eye-thing, I'm slowly-but-surely progressing.  Little bit at a time.  And in some areas, I've made some pretty decent strides.  Such as Christmas shopping!  Other than just a couple of items, I'm done.  I'm at the point right now where I could do some serious wrapping (if I had the energy and eyesight to do so).   

Oh, and guess what arrived today?  The martini glasses!  (With the nifty globes to hold ice to keep the martini frosty-cold).  Sure wish they'd arrived before Helen came over for soap-making.  They're quite...cool.  (One of these days I'll have to give 'em a try). 

But right now I'm enjoying a clean house, striving to get through this godawful work-week, and looking forward to chilling at Harstine this weekend.  ("Chilling" sounds like what we'll be doing because there is actually a chance of snow in that area later this week!  Wonder what Mojo would think of that?)

Wow, Nasty Out There

After a mostly bright and sunny (but cold) long weekend, we are back to typical Novembering.  My drive home from work tonight  sucked!  It's so very dark now, and the rain was torrential -- and with headlights gleaming off the drenched pavement plus the fact that many of the painted road lines have faded and have not been maintained (even though we have an extremely high gas tax to supposedly take care of such things), it was really treacherous out there.  Probably my night-vision is on the downslide, too.  God I was glad to get home.  I guess it's snowing in some places besides the mountains.  It's almost chilly enough out there for that to happen around here. 

Back to the salt mines today and man!  Talk about getting a full dose of fluid retention because of it!  (Uhm, get it?  Salt....fluid retention....)  I've been slapped with an intense short-turnaround proposal, the newsletter is due out this week, PLUS (drum-roll), our office is preparing to MOVE the end of this week!  We have these godawful yellow bins stacked everywhere for us to fill with all the office crap; we have to be completely packed and out of there by noon on Friday so the movers and IT guys can take it all to our new office over the weekend.  (And does this mean I actually get off work at noon on Friday?  Of course not.  I'll have to park my butt at our main office and put up with Annoying Coworker and crank on this damned proposal!)  My head's pretty much spinning. 

Besides soap-making, my weekend was relatively productive because I accomplished quite a lot of Christmas shopping, both online and also at Fred Meyer/Trader Joe's.  Online is less stressful (the Fred Meyer aisles were so packed with crap there was hardly any room to maneuver with a cart!  I was almost ready to start crashing into the stacks of crap and mow it all down!)  BUT, the online shopping hasn't been real user-friendly for me so far this year either.  I'd earlier ordered several items from Amazon -- including those martini glasses -- and when I went in to track the shipment it said that THEY HAD ALL BEEN DELIVERED LAST WEDNESDAY.  Well, they weren't and they haven't.  I have to wonder if they were delivered to somebody else's house, but if so, I have no clue who.  It's happened to us before with shipments mistakenly delivered to us and we'd have to call UPS (or FedEx) to re-deliver or we'd do it ourselves.  It would be awfully nice if these "neighbors" would do the same.  However, I've been in contact with Amazon, which is no easy task, and it sounds like they will re-send what I've ordered. Still... 

Not sure when we'll put up the tree.  We're hoping to get away to Harstine this weekend.  And I really doubt I'll feel like doing it on a week night.  Sometimes it just all seems so overwhelming. 

I'm a Dancin' Elf!

I'm starting out the holiday season in style!  (OK, maybe in spirit).  Check it out here.

...purloined from Karen

Good Clean Fun!

Helen and I had a ball making soap!  It's really a fun little craft to do, maybe a wee bit dangerous combined with crantinis.  But even though knives were involved, no blood was spilled.  (Or crantinis for that matter).

First, a toast (no, my glasses did not arrive -- they still haven't -- but we used the nifty glasses that Helen brought last year when we had Cadillac Margaritas:

Followed by a bit of goofiness:

On her cheeks are the decorative part of rubber stamps that Helen removed to place in the bottom of a soap mold to create an embossed design, like this musical note.  Cool, huh?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's a sample of the results of our labors:

They smell good, too!  It's a bit messy, but less so than making candles because instead of wax, you're dealing with SOAP.  Cleans up much easier!

I swear that Mojo recognized Helen's voice.  At first he headed behind the couch, but then stopped in his tracks and turned around and slowly walked toward Helen as she spoke to him in kitty-voice.  Her's was the very first human voice he ever heard and I'm just certain something clicked in his kitty-brain.  He spent the whole day hanging out with us, and Helen brought him some kitty toys and lots of catnip!  We think he sort of OD'd on it:

I thought this picture of Mojo turned out pretty cool.  It's a little blurry, but it gives him a nice soft glow:

Thankful!

I am thankful that I have such a nice and normal family.  And that when any of us get together, we have a really enjoyable time.

This day was beautiful!  It's rare that Thanksgiving is a pretty day -- there have been many with windstorms and power outages and therefore barbequed turkeys.  (Or tossed turkeys!)  Once I recall residual snow from a pretty hefty storm followed by days of sub-freezing weather that kept the snow on the ground for a while.  Normally it's just wet and dreary. 

But not today!  This was the view out the window this morning when I came downstairs:

And this was the view from below, being greeted by the goofy cat, way up high and peering down at me through the rails:

Then Nate and I headed to my brother's place up in the foothills.  Nate drove my Bug, and even though he is a very good driver, I was still nervous.  I guess in my mind he is still just a little boy -- driving my car.

My niece made this using felt pens and she gave it to me.  I'm very impressed!  I don't know many seven-year-olds who would have the diligence and attention to detail to create something like this:

Our dinner at Daniel's Broiler in Bellevue was absolutely wonderful.  Nate and my niece had turkey; the rest of us had prime rib! 

Here's Nate and me:

And here are all of us!

I missed JDub, though.  (He had M&Ms for lunch because absolutely NOTHING was open ANYWHERE -- including grocery stores!  Jeeze, poor guy).  

Downtown Bellevue, which is a very eclectic (and upper-crust) area, was totally decked out for the holidays and today after dinner it really felt festive and pretty.  It was sure dead down there, though!  But that'll totally change tomorrow because the Bellevue Square Mall is nearby and it will be swamped with shoppers:

I loved these light balls!

The restaurant was located at the v-e-r-y top floor of this building -- 21 floors up!

And afterward, back in the foothills, we witnessed this sunset:

I hope your Thanksgiving was fun and pleasant and downright joyful.  And if you're like me, you can't imagine ever being hungry again.

Well Crap

My martini glasses didn't arrive today!  They were supposed to.  They shipped last Thursday with a November 21st delivery date.  It's possible that UPS may still come by (after 6:30 p.m.?) but I doubt it.  Crap!  They'll probably come Friday...in the midst of making soap and drinking crantinis without the cool martini glasses!  Grrr...  Hope this isn't the sign of things to come this online Christmas shopping season.

All day long I kept thinking it was Friday.  At lunch I ordered clam chowder.  "We don't serve clam chowder on Wednesdays, just Fridays."  D'oh!  In some ways it's felt like a full five-day work-week.  Plus, I'm wearing my Friday "casual" clothes today. 

So it's Thanksgiving Eve and I'll just betcha that there are a whole lot of pizzas being delivered at homes across the country tonight.  Even if you're only responsible for the green bean casserole to take to Grandma's for tomorrow's feast, who wants to have to cook dinner tonight while piddling around in the kitchen with Thanksgiving chores preparations?  However, I really have no excuses.  I don't have to cook anything for tomorrow since we're going out to eat.  (Still don't feel like cooking dinner tonight, though...)  My bad.

Plus I have laundry to do!  Woohoo!

Booze, Books, and Good Buys

After work today I picked up what I needed at the liquor store for making Crantinis.  (The cranberry juice is chillin' in the fridge).  Looks so naughty, eh?  (The B.V. is for Harstine, but I figured I'd include it in the photo so it wouldn't feel left out).  On the right, hiding behind the Grand Marnier, is JDub's mom's homemade peach liqueur (or "cordial").  I haven't tried it yet, but JDub has (he visited his folks yesterday afternoon to celebrate his mom's birthday) and he said it's gooood -- and has quite a kick to it.  The wee bottle in front came as a promo gift with the Absolut vodka -- it's the Citron (citrus flavored) Absolut.  Especially nummy with lemon drops...

I also have some martini glasses due to arrive tomorrow!  I'm kind of excited because they come with a "chiller" that you put ice in to keep the cocktail nice and cold.  Pretty, huh?  You could also use these for shrimp cocktails.  Or it could possibly be an interesting candle holder.  Just call me Martha.

~~~~~

I'm wondering...is this something I'll eventually really really want to have?  Obviously not right now because the price is prohibitive.  But someday?  I'd love to be able to try one out to SEE if I'd like it.  There is something very compelling about it because I'm convinced that the reason I have either tendonitis or carpal tunnel in my left thumb/wrist is mostly from grasping a book, which I tend to do (daily!) with my left hand during lunch while I'm eating with my right hand (or any other time for that matter). Also, as I'm aging, my eyesight is progressively sucking and I would imagine you can control the print size. The contraption is wireless and it holds 200 books!  It sure has captured my attention, or at least my curiosity.  I noticed that the Amazon customers don't give it a whole lot of kudos, but mostly because it's so extremely expensive.  Sigh.  We have to wait until the rich folks are tired of it before it becomes accessible to us regular folks.  ('Course, I have to wonder how much reading rich folks really do?  In that regard, maybe the price will come down really fast!)

~~~~~

If you do a lot of online Christmas shopping, here's a hint I read about today that I thought sounded very interesting (I tried it and it works!):

"Log onto your favorite search engine, type in the site that you want to shop at, the plus sign, and the words 'coupon code,' and all the coupon codes and deals will be pulled up on your search."

Example with Google:  Coldwater Creek+coupon code