Swept Into Spring

Wow, where has the time gone? We've been having an unusual stretch of sunny weather here in Seattle, which has meant that we've all been in go-go-go mode. With weather in the upper 80s, we take full advantage of the sunshine and warmth while we can, I think. Nonetheless, we've been swept into Spring with the Summer-like weather and blogging has not happened like I really want it to.

Lennie and I got to take in our first Seattle Sounders FC game last night, which was quite the experience. We were five rows from the field, and definitely swept up in the action. The crowd was full of energy, and it was fun to simply sit back and take it all in... even if we didn't always know/understand what was going on on the pitch. I enjoyed it, but don't know that I'll be the first in line for tickets and writing chants... maybe once I understand the game a little bit more!

Work has kept both Lennie and I busy, which has been nice. When we're not at work, we've been tending to the condo garden, which is blooming nicely, but requires a lot of water in the warm weather. Last I heard, we've gone 27 days without rain, so there's been a lot of watering going on! On the upside, our hard work is paying off in that we have enough lettuce now for a modest salad, and we're up to our ears in basil. I'm loving it!

Last weekend, we got to go to the annual :20 Funny Festival that is organized by 103.7 The Mountain. We had great seats on the balcony, dead center. It was fabulous! I laughed and giggled my way through the whole event, and am glad that Lennie and I have made this event an annual tradition.

A few other observations from the last few weeks:

• Family is important. Don't forget to tell your family how much you love them, and appreciate the time that you get to spend with them.


• Friends make life a whole lot better. Spend time with them: laughing, connecting, and make each other's lives better as much as you can.


• The driving range can make you feel like a golf pro, and will help bring your golfing mojo back. It's worth the trip to swing through a bucket of balls, I promise!


• If you're in a car alone, that does not mean that other people can't see you. Seriously, I can see you in the car behind me...


• Air conditioning can be somewhat rare in Seattle, but when you need it, you need it!


• We live in one of the most beautiful places possible. Sunshine, mountains, water, we have it all in Seattle. I'm so grateful for that!


• I have one of the greatest husbands ever. Seriously, he kicks butt.

I hope that the end of Spring and beginning of Summer finds you all doing well. Bring on more summer sunshine! :-)

Memorial Day Weekend 2009

What a great weekend -- I was somewhat reluctant to get back to work today, perhaps that's because it was so dang early in the morning compared to my sleep-ins all weekend! :-)

On Friday night, Lennie and I had a "date night," where we went to dinner and then saw Angels and Demons on the big screen. It was a great movie; I had read the book a year or so back, so I knew about the plot line, but I had forgotten the finer details, so I was on the edge of my seat for much of the movie.

Saturday brought some much needed sleep, and then we ventured out to find a new computer (which I am using now, yay!). Later in the afternoon/evening we went out to the Northwest Folklife Festival at Seattle Center where we met Lennie's sister. I'm not big on crowds (that's an understatement...), but I had never been to the festival and some of my friends were participating in the events, so we wanted to support them. The crowds weren't too bad, but there was certainly quite a lot of people watching to take in! I did get to visit my friend's booth -- On Focus Photo -- and got to take in some of her great photography while catching up with her. We also ran in to some great friends and saw the booth for Rwanda Basket Company. I love their baskets; definitely give 'em a gander. Our friend plays in a great band, the Panda Conspiracy, and we got to listen to them play on the mural stage. Definitely worth the trip to Seattle Center and the Folk Life Festival.

Sunday brought more sleep (yay!), and then we went and spent some time with my family, hitting the golf links and enjoying dinner. Monday brought more of the same for Lennie, and I took in the sunshine with my mom by the pool. After golf, we hosted some friends for a barbeque at my parent's house -- what a great way to end a long weekend! :-)

How was your Memorial Day weekend? Did you get to relax and take some time to yourself? I hope so!

Yawn.

For over two weeks now, I've had photos on my camera of the 2009 condo garden. They're still on the camera. I keep thinking "I'll get those posted in a little bit..." and a little bit has turned into quite some time. If the photos weren't trapped on my camera, you'd see the beautiful lavender, pansies, mini-roses, tomatoes, two kinds of basil, lettuce, and fuchsias. I'm quite proud of my handiwork, I must confess. Alas, the photos will be coming soon... I promise!

Lately, I've been pretty tired. Not sure why but I'll be humming along just fine and then out of nowhere I'm exhausted. Completely exhausted. Hopefully I can get to the bottom of the exhaustion problem, but until then please excuse me if I decline plans or simply don't respond to calls or e-mails after 8 p.m. -- I'm probably tired again. :-(

We're experiencing a downpour with thunder and lightning right now, not a regular Spring sight in these parts. I'm hopeful though, that the rains will feed my plants and help my garden grow. I'll keep you posted!

It's Time For Good News!

This week, I've really been struggling with the news. It's been bright and sunny outside, so the Seattle area has generally had a sunny disposition, but you wouldn't know it by looking at the local news outlets.

Generally, I watch King 5's news broadcast during the last 15 minutes or so before I leave for work in the morning so that I can be up-to-date on current events and also am aware of the current traffic situation. Then, at lunch, I will peruse our local newspaper's Web site, www.seattletimes.com.

But this week, it's been really bleak on the news front. I opened up the newspaper the other day and tried to find a positive headline to read. Instead, I was greeted by headlines about multiple dead bodies, starving children, financial issues, and all things depressing. I decided to dial down my news habits, but still seem to be presented with bad news as I'm going through my day. When I watched the morning news, I was hoping for some softer stories about school children doing good or maybe even a "Gardening with Ciscoe" segment next to the weather and traffic. Instead I was greeted with stories on suicides and roadside bombings. Ugh!

So, I'm starting to seek out the good news. There's got to be good things happening in the world, and I'm ready to hear about them. Let's put the smiles on our faces and start to look for the good side of life... consider it a challenge from me. What's your good news? Share it here, I'm ready to smile and cheer for everyone! :-)

Sunshine, Sunshine!

The sun has been shining in the Seattle area for a consecutive days now, and I have to say that I have been quite distracted by it. With the temperatures hitting almost 70, I'm definitely not complaining! I've gotten out a few times to enjoy the sun, including a great two hour walk to start of my weekend and to return the smile to my face. There is nothing better than taking in nature and reconnecting with a great friend!

I've also had my nose buried in a few books lately. In the past two weeks, I have finished "The Appeal" by John Grisham (I give it three and a half out of five stars) and "Handle with Care" by Jodi Piccoult (I give that one four out of five stars). Ms. Piccoult's book was definitely a page-turner, and it held my attention... but I was quite disappointed by the ending. (That's all I'm going to say, as I don't want to ruin the book for you.) I guess it just didn't deliver the punch that the rest of the book had for me. Oh well, at least I got to enjoy the journey through the pages.

Not much else to report here, just enjoying the sunshine and getting into the rhythm of life. How are y'all doing?

Easter and the End of Lent

This year I decided that rather than give up something for Lent, I would try to pick up some good habits instead. So, for Lent, I "gave up" being ill in an effort to get healthy. (You may remember that for a few months leading up to Lent, we had something similar to the plague in our household...) So, we started going to the gym regularly, and I got back to walking and enjoying the outdoors. It has felt really good to be in the habit of going to the gym, and I've definitely started to enjoy my time on the elyptical machine. Some say that it takes 3 weeks to make a habit, and I'm really hopeful that this is now a habit of mine that's going to stick around.

For Lent, and actually for 2009, I also decided to pursue happiness. So, every day I tried to find something joyful or happy to reflect on. Sometimes it was the sunrise or a view on the way to work, other times it was seeing a geat quality in someone that I came in contact with. So far, I'd have to say that I have really enjoyed looking for happiness in everything I do. I highly recommend it, in fact! :-)

I hope you all had a great Easter. Here's to continued health and happiness throughout the year!

Banking & Customer Service

On Friday, I decided to stop at Starbucks for a morning mocha before work. As I sat at the drive through, I handed my debit card to the barista (as I have done many times before), and awaited my coffee and my receipt. Instead, I was embarassingly informed that my card was declined four times. Yep, declined. I was incedulous, to say the least, because I had just been paid, and there was well more than the $5 required in my account. After paying for my purchase with a different card, I hurried to the office and called the bank.

Once I finally got through to Bank of America's customer service line, I was informed that my card was turned off because I was part of a "mass compromise," and a letter would be mailed to me; my new card, it seems, was mailed to my original bank branch without my knowledge, and had been sitting there for the better part of two weeks. Nice. The nice customer service lady informed me that the police had simply called and provided the bank with accounts that may have been stolen and needed to be turned off. This would have been all fine and dandy if they had informed me that they were turning my card off. Instead, the letter telling me that the card was beind deactivated was attached to the new cards; the same cards that were mailed without my knowledge to the bank branch. UGH.

To make matters worse, they cut off my hubby's card too -- his new cards should be at our house sometime soon, we think, but the customer service people don't seem to know, nor are they willing to give us more information. Nice...

Lesson learned: the key to good customer service is to communicate with the customer. Let them know what is going on with their account before it is rudely cut off... or before it sends your customers in a panic thinking that their accounts have been drained. Yep, simple communication would have made me a much happier customer!

Getting in Shape

Over the past few weeks, I've been trying to get back to the gym and get in better shape. So far, so good... I've gotten in to the gym three to four days a week, and have found that if I can simply get my car into the garage at the gym, I'm home free -- getting there is half the battle, I guess. Anyhow, my body has been responding to the trips to the gym, mostly in a good way, but I'm also pretty sore. Isn't it funny how making your body better through working out involves some pain? Ugh, when do the sore muscles stop?

My company moved offices yesterday, which meant carrying a lot of boxes and heavy items up and down two flights of stairs. We made great progress, but in the middle of the day, my body said to me: "Why didn't you call in sick today? That would have been way more fun!" Alas, I made it through, and I get to set-up my new desk with a view of 405 Monday morning. Fun!

So, I'm ready to start the weekend after moving the office... perhaps one or two trips to the gym and some quality time with my hubby... who knows what the weekend brings! :-)

Save the Drama for your Mama

This week, I've found myself saying "save the drama for your mama" more than I would like. It's not that I'm having a dramatic week (far from it), it's just that it seems that there are a few parts of my life that seem to be overly dramatic, and I'm kind of tired of the drama and energy that goes into it. So, I say: save the drama for your mama.

In other news, our association has decided that grills with "open flames" are too dangerous and must be removed from all of our units "or else." Thus, we have to get rid of our propane BBQ grill. It kind of makes me angry that I'm being denied the right to go out onto my porch to grill up some salmon and or make a great burger. I guess that's the price that you pay for living in a condo complex...

I'm ready, though, to think about moving to a place where we don't share walls with our neighbors, and where I'm allowed to have a simple barbeque grill. Needless to say: anyone need a BBQ?

Where the Pets Go?!

I am the proud owner of two fantail goldfish. They're pretty low maintenance, nice to look at, and sometimes entertaining. I recently cleaned out the fish tank and discovered that I was in need of some supplies to keep the tank in tip-top condition. So, I ventured to the nearest chain pet supply store at the mall to grab a few items. As I was standing in the back of the store looking at the different options on the shelf, I noticed something moving by my foot. Not just any something... oh no, it was a big fat roach skittering across the floor, coming out from it's hiding place right underneath the shelf I was looking at. To say that I was grossed out would be a little bit of an understatement. My first instinct was to stomp on it and then run away completely grossed out.

But then, I had one little thought: "Is it really okay to kill an animal (okay, a roach) in a pet store, or is there something a little wrong about that?" Needless to say, I let the little critter live.

A little disconcerting, though was the response that I got from the completely appethetic worker at the check-out stand. I walked up quite calmly and stated that perhaps they should consider cleaning the fish section of the store, as there was a little roach friend who was making his home there. The checker looked at me blankly and said, "Uh, okay... did you find everything today?" Yeah... and then some!

Perhaps it's time for me to start shopping at the non-chain pet store down the street... at least I haven't encountered any roaches there yet!