Sunday, August 31, 2008

After the Rain (Nelson)



Here's the before & the after of the house where the tree was struck by lightning.
It had to come down.

Now the house is... Bare. Exposed.

So weird to finally see this house after 5 years of living here.

Friday, August 29, 2008

Baby Face (Art Mooney)


My good friend Amy has submitted her son's picture in a radio contest - Cute Baby of the Week. He made it into the top 10 & is needing some votes. Not that he NEEDS votes (he really is a cutie patootie), but they really want to win so I'm encouraging you to go ahead & vote for Derik.

All you have to do is send an email to warmcutestbaby@gmail.com & reference baby #6 / Derik. You can vote once per day until next Thursday. It's that simple.

And then, I think Mia's picture should be submitted for the following week's contest because she's so stinking cute too!

The Best Things in Life are Free (Janet Jackson)



This morning I was sitting on the train, reading a Dean Koontz novel & listening to my mp3 player when I faintly heard the familiar ring that is T-Mobile. The gal across from me looked at her cell phone & then put it away. Crap, that means it's probably mine & who's calling me at 8am on a Friday? It's my good friend Kathy, who I haven't talked to in several weeks, wanting to know if I wanted to go to the Seahawk game tonight. "Well, I really don't care for football," I tell her, but she says, "Who cares? It's free tickets to a sold out game!" Good point. "Okay, I'll go."


Aside from the Bacon Bowl several years ago & the annual March of Dimes walks that I participate in, I had never been to Qwest Field. Our seats were up on the 300 level & several rows up at that. Quite reminiscent of the 'nosebleeds' at Safeco Field & the view was just as good. Other than the fact that it was very cold & very windy up there, I had a great time; I'm glad I went.



Today, I am thankful for:


1. Winning sports teams
2. $9 dues
3. ATM projects near completion
4. Mel's Market
5. Free parking

Sunday, August 24, 2008

Take My Breath Away (Berlin)

Mother Nature - 1, Jen - 0

Friday night, Jeff & I went camping with his parents. It was kinda a last minute trip. Sorta. Well, there were a few requirements (not too far, must have toilet, must have fires allowed, must have availability).

It turned out to be more last minute than I think anyone wanted it to be. We've known for weeks that we were going camping, but nobody would make a reservation. And by the time we were ready to make a reservation, there was nothing available. And where there was something available, no fires were allowed. Ugh!

We ended up going to The Dalles, about 25 miles east of Enumclaw, early Friday morning to see if they had anything available (we knew they had [stinky, hole in the ground] toilets & fires available). We reserved a spot & drove back to Enumclaw to let the 'rents know we got a spot secured, did a little grocery shopping & headed back to The Dalles & waited.

We were both exhaused from waking up so early, quickly packing the car, eating a big breakfast at The Lee & then driving out to The Dalles. Once camp was set up, I had to close my eyes for a few, but we had no air in the mattress so I sat in my chair, trying to sleep.

Bob & Penny made it out to the site a couple hours later & we learned while setting up their tent & stuff that they didn't have the plug for their air mattress. Crap. Bob drove back to Enumclaw to pick up a new, er, make that 2 new twin sized air mattresses to put in their tent. As it turns out, 2 twins is NOT the same size as 1 queen. It was quite funny watching Bob & Jeff get the twins in the tent & even more funny watching them try to zip the tent closed. Good times.

Once I laid down in bed, I absolutely could not breathe. I don't usually use my inhaler so I didn't bring it. I should have brought it. I was up ALL NIGHT LONG, coughing & wheezing. I think I got *maybe* 3 hours of sleep Friday night. I offered to go back home Saturday to get my inhaler, but was told that was silly. Let's just all pack up & go home.

So, we did. But first, let's have breakfast together. We ate at The Kettle & it was DELISH!! It just might be our new spot on the way out for breakfast.


Today, I am thankful for:
1. The Olympics being almost over
2. New shows about to begin
3. Van Hoof
4. Credit Cards
5. Trees that can survive 700 years

Monday, August 18, 2008

Summer (Alien Ant Farm)

Man, I gotta stop doing this. It's hard to remember what's been going on when I wait so long in between posts.

At the very end of July/beginning of August, I went to my first Stampin' Up Convention in Salt Lake City. It was VERY warm (upper 90's - low 100's). I had an incredible time!! I learned a lot of various things that I want to incorporate into my SU business. We'll see how long the momentum will last.

Speaking of stamping, my company has asked me to make the invitations for our 'Autumn Extraordinaire' a.k.a. holiday party. I've got the invite all planned out, but I'm just waiting on approval for the verbiage to use.

And, when I was showing one gal on our Social Committee who was approving the design, etc. of the invitation, another gal came over & wants me to make some invitations to a Soup Party she has each year. I already have the design down on that one, but am waiting on the color choices. Perhaps we'll get it figured out tomorrow.

I'm super excited about these!!

Next on the agenda is to get a stamp camp planned for my home & then start working on my Christmas Card Stamp-a-Stack, where you'll get to make 16 cards (4 each of 4 designs) for just $20. How nice will it be to have all your Christmas cards done early so that by the time Thanksgiving or Dec 1st rolls around, all you have to do is drop your cards off in the mail? I would LOVE for this to be me this year. Even though I make cards, it still seems as though I tend to slack on sending them out.

One of my goals this year is to make birthday cards for all my co-workers. With 130ish employees, it's a mighty task, but I'm up for the challenge. It's fun receiving home-made cards, don't ya think?