Ah, Family

Me, packing up the Titan Tote for his trip to grandma's house: "Oh, there's a bottle of wine in here."

My mom: "Oh, good! I'll take that! It'll be something for your grandmother and I to drink on the drive home."

Me: "Yeah, if you actually did that, I'd be really impressed. And then I'd call the cops."

Mom: "Some friend YOU are."

My grandmother, joining in on the Aarwenn trash-fest: "Yeah, thanks a lot, lady. Who are you anyway?"

Me: "Okay, I'm taking the bottle of wine. For myself. THANK you very much."

Mom: "Typical."

Who says we're not related?

Also.

Claire, my Tut-Tee, has expressed her opinion that my Blogging the Relationship posts are not as exciting as they used to be. "Spice it up," were her exact words.

Whatever.

In retaliation I say: I know ten times as many words as you do.

It's Already Been a Week? WHAT?

I saw my Number One Tut-Tee today. "You haven't blogged in awhile," she said, and I said, "I've been busy!" She accepted my answer, which is a good thing because if she had pushed the subject, I would have said, all self-righteously, "I just blogged, like, yesterday!"

There's two things wrong with this. First thing: My Brand New Tut-Tee (yes, a new one!) says "like" so often that in our first meeting I kept a Like O' Meter, so I should really be watching my own use of "like", and second, I blogged nowhere near yesterday. Even like, yesterday. I last blogged A WEEK AGO.

Dammit.

It's sad, really, because I've had lots of stuff going on. Tons of stuff to blog about. The LT has been gone--at his ten-year high school reunion, at the risk of aging him, and I've been doing lots of really neat things. Yes. Neat Things. I know adjectives, I swear.

I've been doing some home improvement, for one thing. I hope to (eventually) post a bunch of pictures from that. I spent a serious amount of money at IKEA. I hung out with someone I've referred to as "Dave's wife Julie" before this, but can now proudly refer to as "my friend Julie." I saw C, she of Life, Love, and the Pursuit of Sanity. Titan and I took ginormous walks. Oh yeah, and I went to work.

It's Sunday night, again, again. Titan is asleep next to me on the sofa, and I'm eating Garlicky Swiss Chard and Tahini Dressing, and for a full discussion of why tonight was the hardest cooking night ever, check out my Other Blog. I'm reflecting over the weekend, which is certainly not the first weekend I've spent without the LT, but rare enough that it's worth at least a little reflection. For example, on the night that Julie hung out, a guy tried to eat my arm.

I'll let that sink in.

Yes, a guy tried to eat my arm. It was was very bizarre. I have had nights before where men followed me around the bar and stuck their noses in my neck (my perfume, that I've worn for years, is a minor celebrity in my hometown) but someone trying to nibble on my arm was pretty new.

Although that level of attention can be uncomfortable, I have to say I hope this magic lasts until MIAMI!

I swear, I SWEAR, there will be a few more posts in the upcoming days before I leave. And on that note, I leave you with this picture of Titan in his vest:

Oh, whoops. Maybe tomorrow?

Hello, I Am Broke

But I had an EXCELLENT time.

An old friend of the LT's came into town this week, mainly just for vacation, and we had a great time going out and spending a great deal of money.

We ate out, we drank, we ate out some more. Then she and I bought clothes and ate out some more. And then...well, you get the picture.

LT and I drove her to the plane today and proceeded to do the only thing we knew that was free, i.e., eat leftovers from all the days we went out and then go on a long walk with the pooch.

As of now I am sitting on my sofa, thanking Blog that I get a bunch of new tutoring students AND (supposedly) my raise, because otherwise I'd be begging on the street. And I'm yawning. A lot. The Dawg and I are both exhausted. He was curled up next to me just now, and I tried to show Titan a recent (semi-recent) Mythbusters episode, entirely devoted to dogs, and although he usually reacts to barking dogs on television, in this case I may have been a victim of poor timing. On the screen, German Shepherds (Titan's own breed!) (mainly) did their guard dog thing, bloodhounds bayed, and Alaskan Malamutes (Titan's other breed!) howled, and what did Titan do? He snored.

Maybe I'll try again when he's more awake. The man is in his sixties, after all. Sadly, I don't have the same excuse, and I'm just as tired. 'Night.

Random Thursday Thoughts

Author's Tolerance Misplaced, Sense of Righteous Outrage Takes Over

I saw a bumpersticker on my way into the Lazy B today that read: "Marriage is One Man, One Woman. Visit: www.NoGayMarriage.com."

Someone who is more compassionate may have the courage to visit that site; I sure haven't. Much like I don't visit the site of the National Vanguard, or whatever the heck they're calling the Neo KKK these days. I just don't want to see that much hate before my first cup of coffee. Of course, it's possible that the owner of the car and bumper sticker simply believes anything his or her church tells him or her, and got that sticker out of a welcome packet, and hasn't done any critical thinking, so that this bumper sticker displays ignorance, and not hate, but I think it's unlikely.

But ignorance does happen. It reminds me of an episode several years ago in which a professor at University of Indiana Bloomington wrote in his personal blog, "Why don't they keep gay people from having childcare jobs, since they're so likely to be child molesters?" There was a huge storm following this post, in which several people challenged the professor to present his facts, and said professor was flabbergasted when people asked him for facts. Didn't everyone just know that gay people are child molesters? The poor guy was even more flabbergasted when he couldn't find any facts to support his assumption. The rest of the university was much more flabbergasted that one of their professors seemed to be unaware of the importance of "facts" in scientific research, and fired him. (Last I heard.)

Being Frugal Still Exciting to Author, Still Boring to Blog Audience

I have learned: driving down to the ferry after six and parking on the street, as long as you can manage to retrieve your car before eight am the next day, is the cheapest and fastest option to get to Bremerton. Parking: free. Time to drive: Maybe 12, the way I drive, if you head east on Aloha and take 12th Ave south all the way to Yesler.

What is not frugal: having houseguests. LT has old friends from high school in town this week, and we have eaten dinner out or had drinks every night so far this week. And I haven't had time to go the grocery store, so I'm buying my LUNCH, too. It's lovely, but terrible for the swimsuit figure (thirteen days until I leave for Miami!)

It's okay, I have totally given up on having a hot figure for Miami. I'll try to rock a Marilyn Monroe aesthetic.(Marilyn Monroe was a size 14, according to legend, although that probably translates to a size 10 in present-day vanity sizing).

Only slightly more tan, I hope.

Titan Receives Birthday Present, Not So Thrilled

But it does not matter, because I love it, and what humans think is all that counts, right? RIGHT?

Titan's birthday present was this K-9 Cooling Vest, the first piece of clothing he's ever owned. He doesn't much like wearing it, but the thing works like gangbusters--he doesn't even pant on hot days! It's really amazing. And it assuages my owner guilt that I don't make time to take him to play in the water every day, especially in the summer. And like I said. What I think is all that matters.

Blogging the Relationship, #18

The LT mentioned that I hadn’t done one of these in awhile, and that is indeed the case—but not because we’re not dating or talking anymore. I used to do them a lot, especially at the start of our relationship—we communicated well and were from very different backgrounds, so it was a kick to see how different—and how similar—we were, not to mention we spent every waking moment together, so there was a lot to blog.

Recently, things have been changing so much—LT’s getting out of the Navy! LT’s NOT getting out of the Navy! LT’s getting out in August! LT’s getting out in January—and we’ve had so many social engagements that a lot of our time has been spent strategizing, planning, and traveling.

Oh, and going to weddings. (The bane of my existence.) (Except for yours, T-Town.) But at any rate, we’ve mainly been doing stuff, not really chatting, and there hasn’t been much to blog that wouldn’t have required a map and a ten-minute explanation of the event, and no one wants that. Do you?

But just this weekend we got to run away together to Seaside. Yes, that is actually the name of the town. It’s a town…on the sea. Seaside. And it also happens to be the host of the largest amateur volleyball tournament in the country, and even though I hadn’t played volleyball since sixth grade P.E. and had bad memories in any case, one of LT’s old high school friends, now in Phoenix, is pretty big into volleyball and was going to this tournament, and the LT and I thought—why not?

So we ran away to the beach, leaving everything else behind, and had a magnificent time. I even played volleyball.

But the coolest part was that the LT and I got to…you know, TALK. When you’re stuck in a car with someone for ten hours round-trip, there’s not much else you can do. We talked about movies I wanted to see (Stardust) and meat substitutes (generally a bad idea) and our friends and what we’re going to do with his houseguests (LT has TWO ex-girlfriends coming into town, and they’re BOTH staying with him!) and fashion (!) and all sorts of stuff. It was nice.

And, of course, the hanging out on the beach wasn’t too bad, either.

Anyway, I'm now home with a dog who was spoiled all weekend by visiting family, a dirty apartment, and the worst traffic to hit I-5 since the Viaduct scare. And fifteen houseguests arriving. Fun, fun! If only the sun would come out.

My House is Filled with Fruit Flies and I Can't Take My Trash Out

Also I have nine things overdue from the library and some of them are CDs, and it's very gray here (this summer has been a much more typical Northwest summer than our previous summers, perhaps global warming is more of a myth after all) and for some reason neither the recycling nor the trash has been picked up from my apartment building in what seems like weeks, and I am not happy about it. At all.

However, in happier news, I did get to go to The Sale. Yes, THAT sale,, one of the main reasons to live in Seattle, in my opinion. I missed it last year and was distraught, much to the LT's bemusement, and was overjoyed that my aunt, my mother and myself got to go this year. We shopped until we dropped, and I haven't dared to look at my credit card yet, but I'm pretty sure I'm not in the poorhouse. Yet.

And in much MUCH happier news, I have bought a motorcycle helmet! The LT has bought a motorcycle, you see, and in order to ride on said motorcycle I need a motorcycle helmet, which I have finally bought last night and am super happy about it. It's plain silver, a full face helmet, and it's perfect.

Final note for Monday: RIP Aarwenn's microwave, which she bought not more than two and a half years ago and now refuses to cook. It does everything else--keep time, run a timer, all the lights come on--but it refuses to cook and the terrible Westinghouse people have screwed on the back with special fasteners that cannot be removed. T-Town, reading this, will remember that she and I had a similar issue with a Sharp Microwave that I ALSO ruined (with a baked potato) and she henceforth went out and bought a simple, twenty-dollar microwave that could be fixed if necessary, although of course it wouldn't be worth it to fix a twenty-dollar microwave.

Apparently I didn't learn from that experience and did not check the back of my Westinghouse microwave, being distracted as I was from its gorgeous dark gray color and general Jetsons style. (Really. It was pretty.) One might also point out that I didn't respect its beauty enough, as I moved five or six times in the two years that I owned it and I can't promise I always treated it perfectly, probably leading to its early demise.

Too bad. It was a very pretty microwave.

Finally, a Day Off

...and I spend it by blogging, of course!

As everybody local has noticed, the Blue Angels are in town for Seafair this weekend, as mentioned here, (albeit nastily). But don't mind them--or mind me minding them--as I'm a little pissed at that blog anyway. That blog mainly covers 15th Street in Capitol Hill, and they wanted someone to take over the Broadway Blog, which naturally I jumped at...but did they pick me? No.

I hope that guy's good, that's all I can say.

I planned to wash dishes today--I really did--and then this morning (or maybe afternoon) before I was really too awake, I was about to start washing when my elbow acted of its own accord and knocked a wineglass off the counter, sending shards of glass flying everywhere on my kitchen floor, right as I was trying to feed the dog. I froze, of course--suddenly I had glass everywhere and Titan was calmly eating his breakfast as if nothing had happened. I moved his food out of the kitchen, checking it carefully (almost gone anyway) and rinsed out his water dish, which had what seemed like hundreds of little glass shards floating on top. Not having a broom and having run out of swiffer cloths, I had no choice but to vacuum, which may not have been the best idea, but it got the kitchen clean enough for me to leave, which I had to do to buy a broom.

Of course, I also happened to swing by the Wayward Cafe and eat a full breakfast along with a peanut butter-chocolate square, just like the ones my mother used to make, and also return some shoes and also maybe buy some hot rollers and ALSO, finally, buy a broom. But I swear all those things were necessary. I swear.

After the busy-ness of last weekend, with a wedding, camping, Capitol Hill Block Party, a family reunion, and tutoring, I'm looking forward to this weekend being slightly more chill. On the radar: LT, our friend Dave, myself and a few others hitting The Ave tonight. Nordstrom's Sale with my mother and aunt tomorrow morning. (A Seattle tradition.) Motorcycle helmet shopping (!) tomorrow afternoon. House party tomorrow night. An oil change. And, of course, tutoring.

And I swear that is slow compared to LAST weekend.

Pictures!

LT and I, dressed up,

Leslie and I hugging,

Myself, posing by a fountain.

Leslie and Eric got married at the Thornewood Castle, a gorgeous manor house here in the South Sound.



These two taken by the LT or myself.

This one taken from the website of Thornewood Castle.

It was really stunning.

Off to shower and primp--it's 4:20 pm, and the weekend is fast approaching!