Last Day of my Sabbatical

Got on the Wii Fit, it asked if I had seen Ray lately...yes, the little scale guy talks to you (or at least he talks to me!). He asked if I had noticed any changes in Ray...I said no. So he said "Oh...change is always so much more exciting, don't you think?" and then accused me of not paying enough attention to Ray. Sheesh!

And I'll need to step up on the Wii Fit because my Mom brought back some amazing lemon meringue pie ice cream from the Dairygold factory in Sunnyside. She gave us some from her recent trip back there and we had it for dessert tonight. Mmmmm...thanks, Mom!

Anyhoo...today is my last day of my sabbatical. I spent the day lounging around, eating bon bons and watching soaps (not really!) Ok, maybe there was a little lounging around.

I'll definitely miss all the time I have spent with Chloe - it's been great being around much more. Our trip around the country in July was great - I miss getting up and going someplace I've never been each day. I have a lot of great memories from the trip.

I think the kitties have been happy to have me home all day, too. BL sleeps most of the day, but when she's up, she's trying to annoy me into playing with her. She bats at things and runs *vrooooom*!

That said, I am a little excited to get back to work. A lot has changed for me there. I have a new supervisor, I was moved to a new office in my absence, my bus schedule has been changed, and I don't know how much of my job has changed. And I miss downtown Seattle. I miss having lunch with Ray on Spicy Chicken day. I miss the fishy smell of the waterfront during my walks on break with Carrie. I miss my friends at work and on the bus.

But today, tonight, I'm enjoying being home, making dinner, and having this awesome ice cream!

Weekend

Last night we went to see Twisted Flicks. It's something we like to do every month, as it's a monthly show on the last Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night of the month.

Jet City Improv takes an old B-movie, removes the sound, and improvs their own music and dialogue from suggestions from the audience. It's usually hilarious, and this week was no exception. They used the movie "Bride of the Monster", an Ed Wood production starring Bela Lugosi. Makes Ray want to see the movie "Ed Wood" again, as this was one of the movies they talked about making in that movie. Especially funny was when they showed the monster squid, and they had to just kind of move around like it was fighting with them. The improv comedians named the squid "Angie" after one of the birthday-girls in attendance last night.

(They did say that when they try to work someone's name into a show, that person usually shows up as someone who's dead, an animal...or a dead animal.)

Tonight is The Amazing Race, and we're getting ready to watch that. I haven't studied up on this season's teams, but I'm interested in seeing the geek team's strategy (watch, they're the first to go!)

Just a little political humor...

Two pics from Punditkitchen.com that I enjoyed.

I work downtown in the WaMu Tower, and am wondering how the whole buyout is going to affect some of my bus buddies.

And I also like the below pic. I'm normally a Republican, but wow...I have serious reservations about McCain and his "I -can-see-Russia-from-my-house!" running mate... I was also impressed about how knowledgeable Obama was in the debates. I'm looking forward to the VP one!

Nickelsville - Ray's pictures

Pictures by Ray from yesterday's trip to Nickelsville...you can click on the pictures to make them a bit bigger.



This last one was taken after the police made the sweep, made arrests, and put up barriers to city property:

Survivor, Nickelsville, and Trombones

Last night was Survivor, and I really enjoyed it. I was in my happy place when it came on and I heard that familiar opening music. I found out that it was a 2-hour show because it originally was scheduled to start last week, so they had to put two shows together. Which was fine by me - it was nice to get to know the players better. I agreed with both of the bootings last night. Michelle really never did try to get along with her "loser" tribe, and Gillian was a weak link when they're trying to win challenges.

I was a bit sorry to see Gillian go. Her daughter posts on 2peas (a scrapbooking site), and Gillian even started posting there and was funny and nice, so I was kind of rooting for her.

The African scenery is gorgeous, which is always a bonus. Tribal council looks a little hokey, but they did a nice job overall with it and with the challenges so far. I'm really looking forward to next week! And Sunday is the first episode of this season of The Amazing Race! Survivor and TAR are my only must-see TV.

Today, Ray took a day off work and helped out at the homeless camp called "Nickelsville", which was put up in protest of Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels' handling of various homeless issues (meaning that he didn't do much handling at all). They were camped out in donated pink tents on city property until the police arrested a lot of them this afternoon.

I took Ray over to Nickelsville this morning after I dropped off Chloe at school, and he's about ready to come home now. As far as I understand, they were able to move some of them a short distance away to state property, so the city didn't have jurisdiction over them any longer and could not make them leave. Still, there were some arrests made.

As I was talking to Ray on the phone a bit ago, I could hear cheering, as a group (released on their own recognizance) came back from downtown. It seems the protest did some good, as the governor is willing to help and see if they can get a place for them to camp out/stay permanently.

And right now, Chloe is practicing her trombone. She practices 30 minutes a day, setting the timer and stopping exactly when it beeps (lol). When I'm at work, she practices at my parent's house after school. It's been so nice to be able to hear her practice while I'm on my sabbatical. It's also nice to help her with her homework, to just chill with her after school. I have 2 more days of this.

Thursday

Working on my quilt - got the squares all put together, need to cut the sashing and sew that on next. I think it looks a little plain (probably because the squares are so big), so I'm thinking of appliqueing some stars scattered across, or candy canes, or something.

I've been able to do 1-hour workouts on the Wii Fit the last few days. I love the boxing one - I unlocked the advanced boxing and got 4 stars (Calorie Incinerator) and a "Good workout" from the boxing guy today. I usually get "Nice job" from him. Love those little motivations!

Well, tonight is the first episode of this season's Survivor - I'm really looking forward to it! Chloe and I have been watching Survivor for the past 13 seasons. We also got Ray hooked on it. We make a night of it - pizza, a fire log in the fireplace, and lit candles. The first episode is supposed to be a 2-hour premiere this time. I think that's a good thing, since you get to know the players better.

Anacortes, WA

This weekend, Ray and I went to Anacortes, WA, to see the Blues Orbiters play at the Rockfish Grill.  We first saw this band a couple of weeks ago at the Redhook Brewery, and really enjoyed the show.  Since Anacortes is a couple of hours away, we decided to make a weekend of it.  The show was great!  There were a couple of other local performers attending the show (a guitarist and a singer), and they came up on stage and did a set with the band - they were awesome. Much fun and dancing ensued.

We were seated at the table closest to the stage. We told the hostess that since the table was so big, we wouldn't mind if they sat another party with us. Luckily, they seated us with this amazingly funny older gentleman Tom, and his sweet girlfriend, Isabella. They are from Seattle, were in town to get Tom's boat serviced, and decided to stay in town to have dinner and listen to some music.

Tom was all set on dancing that night, and Ray and I joined him and Isabella one song. Afterwards, Tom came up to me and said "Hey Janette, I didn't know your fella had on a skirt!" 

Blues Orbiters:

This morning, we took a tour around the old part of town.  We had a great breakfast at Mary Ann's Kitchen, did some antiquing, and visited the local quilt store and needlework store.  All over town, they have painted people - it looks like they are all residents, or former residents from different time periods. 

This was one of my favorites:

We went to the Causland Memorial Park, which was really very cool:

And then we went up to Mt. Erie (elevation 1273) to take a look at the view.  

And now we're home.  I bought some fabric squares at the Anacortes quilt shop to make a quilt, so Ray and I put up a flannel sheet so I could get the positioning right before sewing.  Of course, BL the crazy cat had to come by and knock half of them off the wall while I was in the other room.  I guess it's motivation to get them all sewed up fast!