Slanky decided we need a fire extinguisher in our house (for safety reasons… I don’t think he has any concrete plans what may require it) and has given me the task of researching the best multi-use kinds. So I decided the handy reviews at amazon would do the trick. Low-and-behold, here is one of the items in my search results for “fire extinguisher” complete with a handy picture. Not exactly what I was looking for.

Qtfd Fire Fighter 5pc. Costume Includes Booty Shorts w/ Suspenders & Button Front Top. Removable Badge & Inflatable Fire Extinguisher Also Included. Med

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I know I’m thankful for having all all of you as friends. You guys are the Best! Some of you may know that Jeremy and I had Thanksgiving dinner at our house this year and this was the first time that our parents have met. I was very worried when my mom came down with a cold on Monday and it didn’t look like she would be able to attend and serve as a human shield. She made a miraculous recovery and was able to come. The even better news is that I didn’t have to use her as a human sheild. The food was great. Everyone got along. Our dad’s and his brother talked cars for several hours. I am very pleased that all went well and that there was no need to call 911. Amen! Happy Thanksgiving.

Now, that I’ve been at my new job for over a month, it seems like it is high time to blog away about the top ten or so reasons why I like my new job. 

10.  All the copy machines and printers have names.  The printer I share is named Holly. 

9.  All the meeting/conference rooms are named after mountains. 

8.  They like to party.  We’ve had pot lucks and activities to celebrate Halloween and the Apple Cup. 

7.  Bi-monthy pay checks. 

6.  Over time pay

5.  A desk of my very own.  When I go to work now I get to look at pictures of my family and friends all day.  Not someone else’s. 

4.  The view from our cafe looks right out at the water. 

3.  No calls from the subline. 

2.  Its the holiday season and I don’t have to worry about those pesky midnight shifts or the 6AM shift the day after Thanksgiving. 

1.  Health insurance. 

thanks to everyone who was able to help out for step 3 subsection b of our loft bookshelf project. slanky had the genius idea of using wine bottles as the “legs” of our bookshelf (the original plan was encyclopedias but those are surprisingly expensive at the thrift store, then we mulled over flower pots for a while but didn’t find any great ones, it being winter and all) and so we needed 8 finished bottles ready to go. luckily we have friends who can be called to duty for a project such as this.
next up, slanky needs to finish staining and try and drill holes for the legs. i’ll post pictures of the project when it is complete. for now you can see pictures here of this leg of the journey!

Here are a few highlights from our time in Bend so far:

• Rowan gets up at 1AM and won’t go back to sleep.
• Niamh is terrified of Una, Skipper, and Elwood.  Yesterday Niamh and the dogs took turns being locked up in a bedroom.  We found one of our baby gates and will block the dogs in the kitchen today
• Rowan and I watched/enjoyed Ice Age
• Niamh ate cat litter (and not the clean variety)
• I may have broken part of the hot tub.  I hope it is still under warranty
• Elwood (cat) urinated in the back bedroom  some time ago and it smells horrible.  The Winchells put all sorts of chemicals on it, but it doesn’t seem to have helped.
• The Daigles have threatened not to come since they don’t want to stay in a smelly room.
• Part of the carpet in the back bedroom has now been removed
• Multiple people were in tears yesterday

Stay tuned….I’m sure things will really get exciting on Thursday when the Kershners arrive and Friday when the Daigles arrive.

You know, I guess I’m not really surprised that prop 1 (the transportation package) was voted down. I read an article in the Christian Science Monitor that put it well – potential voters are split into 3 very distinct camps on this measure, 1) people who think it concentrates too much on mass transit, 2) people who think it concentrates too much on roads, and 3) people who just want shit done. I admit I was a part of category 3 and voted accordingly even though I felt like a category 2 person. However, now it’s back to the drawing board and much like the failed monorail project, it’ll take years to get something ready for a vote again.

While this kind of stuff is frustrating I have to say that what’s actually a whole lot MORE frustrating is the lack of voting at all. According to our good ole secretary of state, Sammy Reed, Lincoln County with its 6,500 registered voters had the highest turn out at 65%. Lincoln County, people. that’s in Eastern Washington (I had to look it up). King County on the other hand had 25% turn out. I realize this isn’t anything new. but what the fuck? 25%?! So really what that means for us here in Seattle is that nothing gets done and that’s being decided by slightly more than than 1/8 of our voting population. that’s pretty sad that so few people can impact the lives of so many.

I guess what I’m saying is that if you live in the USA and didn’t vote on Tuesday you’re an asshole. Sorry. Get your freaking act together.  I don’t really care HOW you voted just as long as you did.

I copied this picture a while back from the Seattle PI pictures of the day…. I can’t really remember what it was about (a zoo maybe? good guess.) but i thought the picture was pretty funny.

(i assume this is how they are spelled). this is what the lady at the chocolatier called these. i’ve been eyeing them for months and just finally picked a box up on friday in a little village near morges called gland. i would probably still be wondering about these colorful mini hamburgers, but i was stuck in gland for two hours due to a misunderstanding about the time of my dr. appointment there. i thought it was at 1:00, but really it was at 3:00. there does not seem to be a particular pattern for using military/standard time, which throws me off. also, time involves numbers, which i suck at in english and is even worse in another language. treize heure (13:00) and trois heure (3:00) sound very similar. luckily i got mixed up on the early side of things, so did not miss my appointment (appointment was at 3:00, but i thought it was at 1:00).

at any rate, i picked up the macaroons because i was bored and cold. there is not much going on in gland. i had brought a book, but it’s not very pleasant to sit outside and read when you can’t feel your fingers. i suppose i could have gone to a cafe, but i’ve not ventured into a cafe on my own yet. or at all. yes, i’m a big wienie.
so the macaroons–each color is a different flavor. the brown ones are naturally chocolate and DELICIOUS! the purple ones were ginger i *think*. they were okay. not sure what the other colors were, but they were just okay too. hard to describe. i think the center was almond paste. and the outside was kind of like an extra gooey, extra dense meringue.

there are stands selling roasted chestnuts all over the place. i was on the fence about them at first, but they have grown on me, and i think they are quite tasty now. yum! i do feel a bit as if i should be singing christmas carols though, when eating them. chestnuts are big here. there is a dessert called vermicelles (pics to come) that is made from chestnut paste, and is sold in the grocery stores and all the bakeries this time of year. also, many of the chocolatiers have this confection only available in the fall/winter, which i JUST realized (after over a year of loving them) is supposed to be a chestnut. it’s a ball of chocolate sitting in a little marzipan cup…that doesn’t make sense, does it? well, i will post a pic of that too. it totally looks like a chestnut that is still in it’s little spiky blanket thingy. boy, i’m an a descriptive roll.
aren’t you all excited, i’m going to try and start posting regular pics of all the fun food i come across.

yesterday we made two significant purchases. first, we bought a car! it is super rad as you will see by the picture below. i am loving having my own car again. especially one that defrosts properly, has all its working lights, has heated seats and goes very fast. i am simply smitten with it. and we got it from a nice older gentleman and that worked well for my last car so i’m feeling very positive about it all. he also does a car finding service on the side (tho this car was actually his) and seems to really know his stuff so if any of you need a car we can pass along his name.
second, we bought a crib. it was my first mostly independent craigslist purchase and i have to say it went pretty well. the very nice man (to quote one of my favorite young men) dropped it off and actually put it together to show me how it is done. amy was there with me to witness how it all fits so hopefully we can recreate it after it is painted. because, yes, we need to paint it. or leave it white but that doesn’t really fit with the reds and tans that i envision. why do i make these things so hard? anyway, the crib’s got great bones (maple underneath that white paint! sturdy crib, plain features) and i got a great deal on it and an organic mattress that were hardly ever used (don’t cringe here, the crib was used as a playpen and not slept in!). so there might be a sanding and painting party in the near future but i’ll have to get organizational tips from my paint designer (and by that i mean amy) before i make any real plans. i’m thinking of painting it dark brown. i’ll just let you ponder that for a moment (and probably quickly leap to, “what the hell is she thinking?” but it’s going to be great. really.). i’m not attaching a picture because i didn’t bother to take one. who cares about the crib when i’ve got a CAR?!