Blah, Blah, Blog

Finishing Touches

2011-05-15T19:20:00.000-07:00

With our final bank appraisal and inspection now scheduled to happen on May 23rd, we are scrambling to finish up the work that the bank expects to see done. This includes all the touch-up paint, trim pieces, the kitchen backsplash, and putting in a new back door. We've finished the backsplash and putting in the door, but we still have lots of other little things to do.

Still, we like to think that we're in the home stretch, because once the house passes inspection we'll be able to work on it at our own pace. We do have some immediate things that we'll work on through the summer, including the dining room and attic, but we if we want to take a day off from house projects, we'll finally be able to do so.

Attached are some pictures of the finished kitchen tile, the lighting in the pantry space, and the finished exterior paint (we'd been waiting a long while to stucco the basement pony wall and get this painted). And you can see that our new lawn is starting to come in, although it's already been infiltrated by weeds.

Okay, you'll hear from me again after we've had the final inspection. Fingers crossed! (For the curious: if we don't pass this inspection, we basically get hit with a bunch of fees and we have to pay for another $600 appraisal, but we don't lose the house.)

Portico

2011-04-10T22:01:00.000-07:00

A quick update with some more photos! Eric completed our front porch a few weeks ago (note that the gutters drain inside the columns!), and since then we have been racing the clock because the porch was Eric's last big ticket item and now he has moved on to other, non-Harvey-related jobs...meaning that the completion of the house is now in our hands. We miss Eric and his crew, so we try not to dwell on it. He'll be back to finish some work on our pantry and some other little things at a later date.

Randy has been working on the "sunroom." This is the small room that sits just off of the living room and that was originally designed as an exterior sleeping porch. We have carpeted it with a remnant we were giving by one of my friends, and we bought a couple of consignment shop chairs and now it serves as a TV/game room.

We also had 4 yards of topsoil delivered just this weekend. The whole family spent Saturday smashing up and moving clay in order to get the grading right, and then today Randy hired a day laborer for 4 hours to help him disperse all the topsoil. It's looking pretty good, but we'll have to get some grass seed down soon.

In other news...

2011-02-26T09:05:00.000-08:00

You're probably wondering what our contractor, Eric, has been up to in the last few months. Eric and his wonder team (comprised of his daughter Lisa, his friend Gavin, and his dog Parker) have moved back outside. A couple of weeks ago we came home to find new steps up to our side East entrance (currently our main entrance) and I cannot tell you how thrilled we were to say goodbye to our super-treacherous stairs.

They also designed and put on some new columns on the sunroom (on the West end of the house), and began work on our front porch. Right now we remain a neighborhood curiosity because the entire front porch is covered in tarps...as if we are preparing for a big unveiling. In reality, the porch is tarped off because we've been having record cold weather, and after painting the porch floor with a sealant and anti-slip paint we needed to set up space heaters on and below the porch in order to keep the temperature high enough for the sealant to cure properly.

Other things that are in the works:

I have ordered the wallpaper for our dining room. As mentioned in an earlier post, one of my NZ cousins recently started a wallpaper business, PaperHands, and I love every pattern. We ended up going with a more traditional print...vice in silver/green, for the dining room, but I hope to order a bolder choice for the Ladies' room eventually. This reminds me that I need to tell everyone about the Ladies' room...coming in next post.
Eric is constructing a new front door. We love our existing one, but the lock and frame are so badly damaged (possibly from break-in attempts), that we had to get a new one. I was very disheartened to have to replace the door until Eric came up with a brilliant solution: buy a new door, cut out the glass panes from the old door and drop them into the new door. Yay!
Eric and his team also hung drywall throughout the attic. We weren't planning on doing this anytime soon because it's not within the scope of work for our construction loan, but Eric wanted to keep some folks busy during a slow period and he very generously paid their labor as a gift to us. If I haven't said it often enough, WE LOVE ERIC!
I have decided to try my hand at design consulting by representing WillowHouse. I'm NOT a designer at all, but I do love to entertain, and I do love the WillowHouse product line. They have an ongoing special: buy $40 worth of items (including Outlet items) and you can get any full-price item at 50% off (up to $40), so I've already purchased some much-needed kitchen and tableware upgrades.
Yesterday we got a cat. The cat's name is Cat. Cat is a mellow boy who came to us from a from a friend who is packing up and traveling around the country for an undetermined amount of time. We'll see how we do as feline owners.

February Update!

2011-02-25T22:04:00.000-08:00

Let me start off by apologizing for the awkward placement of the photos in my blog updates. I cannot format tables using this blog editor, so the pics end up floating around. It's pretty annoying.

Work hasn't slowed much on the house since I last wrote in December, but the work we're doing now is primarily finish work, so the noticeable progress is taking a little longer.

We now have a kitchen floor, granite counters, and finished windows in the kitchen, so all that's left in that room is some door trim and the glass tile backsplash (which I'm getting anxious to see completed). I don't think I mentioned this earlier, but I designed this kitchen so that almost everything under the counter is a drawer, and there is a sizable pull-out pantry next to the refrigerator. So far, I'm pleased with this layout--no more pulling stuff out in order to get to things in the back of a cupboard!

Randy has been working tirelessly, and I do mean TIRELESSLY on the trim on the second floor, and the doors. This is a complicated process that involves using harsh chemical strippers on the wood, scraping it off, sanding a bit, staining, wiping, varnishing, varnishing again, and then filling in nailheads. I should mention that we have 17 doors in the house...all of which needed the full strip/sand/stain treatment on both sides. This week was a landmark week because Randy started making his way down the stairs to the landing (as seen here--the left side of the window hasn't been stripped yet in this picture).

The newly-stained trim does look pretty incredible, I have to say. Here is a shot of the recently-finished upstairs hallway.

Stay tuned for some upcoming shots of the exterior! Nothing too glamorous, but progress nonetheless.

The Big Adventure

2010-12-24T21:39:00.000-08:00

While 2010 has been a year of highs and lows for so many, the Harveys are blessed to say we’re closing it out on a high note.

For us, 2010 will go down as the year of The Big Adventure. Over the years, Randy and I have watched our friends pack up their belongings and relocate to all kinds of exotic places (Korea, Anchorage, New York City, Hawaii, Colorado Springs, and Milwaukee), and we’ve thought, “wow, we cannot IMAGINE having to move again.” We said this with conviction until last March when we went for a walk in the Arboretum and stumbled across an overgrown, rat-infested, leaky, dilapidated house for sale near the park. Armed with little more than nostalgia for old homes and a healthy dose of naiveté, it was only a matter of days before we decided to throw caution into the wind and place a bid on this house.

The journey to our new home took a steep, ragged, switchback path. The path included losing the house to a builder who made a cash offer, getting the house back, selling our previous home in under a week, finding a trustworthy contractor to oversee the massive remodel, putting most of our worldly belongings in storage for 6 months, securing and losing a rental house, staying with Tim & Christie for two weeks, moving in to my best friend’s mother-in-law’s basement, changing schools, and spending every free minute of our summer and fall trying to make the house livable again. Appropriately, we moved into the house on Thanksgiving eve and woke up to a rare and beautiful Thanksgiving snowfall on our first morning. We love this house, and while we still have a lot to do, we are so grateful to be where we are right now that our joy quickly dispels any worries about time lines and money (for now). The bottom of this post shows a series of photos taken recently.

As with any Big Adventure, there have been some interesting tangential happenings going on at the same time. In May, I was fortunate to be able to go to England with Dad & Sharon to visit extended family that I hadn’t seen in years, and some of whom I’d never met before! It was a delightful trip—so lovely to see people who mean so much to me. Dad, Sharon and I ambled about a bit…starting at my aunt & uncle’s home in Devon and doing day trips to Bath and Salisbury, then heading north to my cousin Debbie’s place in Southwell (near Nottingham) and looping back down toward London where we spent a few days at my cousin Sarah’s home in Aldbury. Everyone was welcoming and generous (and patient, given that I lost my voice and developed an annoying cough), and I hope they will let me return the hospitality on this side of the ocean. It was hard to be away from my boys for over a week, but they seemed to fare just fine without me!

June, July, and August are a blur—at this point we were working diligently on the house although we did take a week off to go to Spirit Lake before school started. I even managed to squeeze in a very short trip back to Skaneateles to visit Katherine & co., some of my good NY friends, and attend my 20th high school reunion. I am definitely pro-reunion. It was so interesting to see everyone and learn about the different paths we've all taken. It felt a lot like a wedding though--too many people to talk to in the course of one brief evening.

In September Randy took a much-needed (read this as MUCH NEEDED) break from working on the house to attend his annual guys hike. As always, he found this to be refreshing, rejuvenating, and reaffirming. He has been working on the house with tireless enthusiasm for months now, so if you see him, please give him a pat on the back (gently, because he's got a few aches and pains at this point).

Of course, the boys have been busy with their own going-ons too. After watching several World Cup matches on TV, Emmett acquired an interest in soccer and so we signed him up on a local soccer league in our new neighborhood. As luck would have it, 2 other boys on his team ended up being in Emmett's new class at school, and this helped with the transition. Emmett was a little behind on the soccer field--most of the kids on his team have been playing since they were 3 or 4, but Emmett really enjoyed it and the kids on his team were amazing and supportive, which made for a great experience. Emmett also went from a good reader to an avid reader this year, and has a renewed interest in dinosaurs. In fact, he is pretty much a walking encyclopedia of dinosaur facts.

Griffen took us by surprise this year when he decided to sign up for basketball. He just started practicing last month, but so far he's having a great time. He's a bit of a ham on the court (and off the court), so his games should prove entertaining, if not frustrating for the coach. Griffen also became a more adept bike rider this year, so we're already looking forward to family rides through nearby parks once the weather warms up in...July.

We cannot possibly say thank you enough to everyone who has been so supportive of us this year. Thank you for the encouragement, the neighborly visits, the child care, the advice, the hammer swinging, and the love.

I leave you with a few things I’ve learned this year:

Time goes by more slowly if you wake up every morning and ask "Is it Christmas yet?"
Laughter should never be stifled, even at the office.
George Washington may have been killed by wild pigs.
I am wholly responsible whenever a lunch, homework, or book is forgotten on route to school.
Geckos are hardy; African Dwarf Frogs are not.
When you are upset about something, it's perfectly acceptable to make up your own logic and expect others to buy into it.
When you are happy about something, it's perfectly acceptable to roll around on the floor with your limbs flailing so that your entire body is involved with your exuberance.

May 2011 find you rolling around on the floor, overtaken by happiness.

Love,
Randy, Joanne, Emmett & Griffen

Before and After

A Holiday Blog?

2010-12-13T21:12:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends and Family,
I apologize for not posting in so long! I have been meaning to, but most days get by me so quickly that it's bedtime before I know it. In fact, I've been too busy to write my annual holiday card, so I've come up with what I hope will be an acceptable solution: the holiday blog post!
My promise to you: on Christmas day, I will post a recollection of our year, along with some before and after pictures of the house. I don't mean to drag you away from your Christmas dinner (or worse, opening your presents), but I will do my best to make my next post the most thorough (and thoroughly entertaining) entry yet!
What does this picture of Griffen in Halloween makeup have to do with anything? Well, it's just a small sampling of some of the more humorous moments from 2010...so I hope you'll "tune in" on 12/25/2010!

Running Behind!

2010-10-30T21:21:00.000-07:00

I know, I know! It has now been a month since I've provided an update on the house and I apologize. Fact of the matter is, I've been spending every spare moment at the house with Randy and the kids trying to get it move-in ready. The good news is that we are almost there! The walls are painted, the floors are refinished, we have heat, and the tile person starts on the bathroom and kitchen next week. Most of the broken windows have been repaired, but they still need to be sanded, primed, and painted before they can go back in. Did I mention that 17 windows (some small, some large) needed to be fixed?

Truth is, at this point I'm a little hesitant to post pictures. Now I'm leaning toward waiting a bit longer and posting some dramatic before/after shots.

With any luck we'll begin transitioning to our new home in the next couple of weeks. Today we even had our first furniture POD delivered. Things have been complicated by Randy's work schedule, which has him temporarily starting at 6 am and working until 5 pm, and working weekends (this is also why I insisted we hire a tiler rather than doing the work ourselves). Fortunately, we are still in the hands of our very apt contractor, so progress continues to be made. Stay tuned...

Lots of Drywall (pictures only)

2010-09-30T21:12:00.000-07:00

Big Week

2010-09-26T08:15:00.000-07:00

What a difference one week can make! This past week was by far the busiest one the house has seen. Eric was working around the clock to get everything done before the drywall team came in...including pulling/hammering in thousands of nails left from the lathe and plaster, installing the microhood ventilation in the kitchen, building a sofit (sp?) around the kitchen, moving an electrical subpanel, moving some electrical switches, demolishing the plaster in the basement stairwell and installing the plumbing for a potential powder room in the future. Whew! In addition, the radiators were stripped, the insulation was packed into walls, and yesterday the drywall went up! No pictures of this yet though, sorry.

First up, we have the radiators. Before this week, I didn't think it was possible to fall in love with such things, but now I can honestly say I'm in love with our radiators--every one of them. I might have to assign them names. Randy refinished one radiator last week...including priming and painting with an antique bronze color that has a tint of green in it when a camera flash hits it. Gorgeous! Because the radiators were doused with many layers of paint, we had no idea they had so much detail on them.

The next picture is a shot of Griffen (with our contractor's potato chips) checking out the new insulation in his room.

Onward and Upward

2010-09-13T21:44:00.000-07:00

Time is flying by! Progress on the house continues, but our contributions have slowed with the start of school, start of soccer, and fewer daylight hours to work with. Still, since the last time I wrote a new roof has gone on the house, more painting has been completed, the electrical and plumbing have been mostly completed. The plumbing was stalled when near the end of the installation, a new City inspector came in and rejected all the work that previous inspectors had signed off on! This cost us about a week, but our ever-calm and ever patient contractor has been doing his best to meet this new inspector's criteria.

After attempting to strip one of our eight radiators himself, Randy quickly sought out a backup plan for the restoration of these heating units. Now it looks like we'll be dragging the radiators up to Mukilteo where an industrial place that specializes in aerospace work will load the radiators on to a palette and then dump shot on them. Yes, shot as in tiny fragments of metal. We tested this process on one radiator and were thrilled with the results. Sandblasting was out of the question because this would have run us close to $6000. Instead, we should end up paying about $50-$200 per radiator, based on size.

We have ordered the fixtures for the main bathroom and we went to look at kitchen cabinets last weekend. We will likely go with IKEA's white Lidingo cabinets. I wasn't overly thrilled by this prospect, but the Consumer Reports and online reviews for the cabinets are very good, and they come with a 25-year warranty. We'll try to jazz up the kitchen with nicer hardware and fixtures and appliances.

With any luck, the insulation will go in this week and the drywall will begin next week. We're still hoping to be in the house by the end of October, but a lot will depend on how far we get with the bathroom, if we can have the new boiler installed by then, new exterior doors and broken windows repaired--a lot to accomplish in a 6-week timeframe.

Dreaming of Paperhands

2010-08-25T21:45:00.000-07:00

I used to hate wallpaper, but in recent years it has begun to excite me.Wallpaper can be a great way to add art and intrigue to a home, and the many unique design options out there today provide lots of interesting alternatives to florals.

When my mom recently wrote and told me that one of my NZ cousins had started his own wallpaper business along with his wife, I immediately went and checked out their website. Then, I fell in love. With wallpaper.

Check out http://www.paperhands.co.nz

Now you see why I'm in love. I'm particularly partial to the Vices print and the Native print, and within 5 minutes of looking, I was e-mailing my cousin to see if it would be possible to ship some of this fabulous wall covering to the US. I encourage you to do the same. ;) If I could figure out a way to do it, I would be selling this stuff on street corners, because this is how much I love it. I love the print process, the colors, and the way it transforms a room.

Sure and Steady

2010-08-25T20:48:00.000-07:00

Sorry it has been awhile since I last wrote...the days seem to be blowing by right now! Progress on the house is coming along, but the visuals aren't nearly as dramatic as the demolition pictures from July. Randy is STILL working on finishing up the monumental task of painting the house. In many regards, I think we could accurately call his task "extreme painting," because he's had to do all kinds of crazy things, like construct a narrow catwalk between roof overhangs on the front of the house and double stack ladders. For this reason, I'm going to hold off on including any more pictures of the paint job until it is completely done...so you can ooh and ahh.

In the meantime, Eric, our contractor, has managed to complete the following tasks in the last three weeks:

jacked and leveled our sunroom and replaced the subfloor in this room,
reframed a couple of rotten walls in the basement,
run the electrical for the entire house (and included a second subpanel on the upper level),
run most of the plumbing (Randy helped with this, and R removed all the old plumbing one weekend),
reframed underneath the basement stairs,
framed the pony wall along the front of the house where the new foundation meets the original wall,
excavated the old stack/drain in the basement, replaced it, and repoured the concrete around it and the only working toilet (see picture above),
removed a three-story chimney that hasn't been used in decades,
started regrading the yard, and
numerous other things that aren't coming to me (hired roofers, called in boiler specialists, made many trips to the dump, etc.)

In addition to the items above, our good friend Erik devoted the better part of a Sunday to helping Randy install five new windows on the upper floor of the house--a job that Randy could not have done alone, and that I would not have been much help with.

So, progress is being made, but right now a lot of what is being accomplished is stuff that is essentially "behind the scenes." The interior of the house is a disaster, but our enthusiasm hasn't waned.

Scraping the Surface

2010-07-29T21:27:00.000-07:00

When we originally sat down with our contractor, Eric, to go over who would handle different aspects of the project, Randy and I quickly signed on for all the paint work. We've painted entire interior and exteriors before, so we thought we had an idea of what we were getting ourselves into.

Let me take a second to remind you that our new house is 3,400 sqft. The exterior is 4 stories high and according to my best estimate, it has about 100,38o sqft of surface area, most of which is pitched at awkward angles. The process is slow-going, as we have to pressure wash, scrap, caulk, prime, and then paint.

At least there are some good views to be had while dangling from the eaves. The pictures below don't really do the view justice; we look out across an expanse of green (the Arboretum) toward the Cascade mountains in the East.

Water, You're Not Welcome Here

2010-07-21T21:54:00.000-07:00

There's a lot going on at the house this week: the last of the lathe and plaster is being evicted, the foundation walls have been poured and the moisture barrier is up, the drainage ditch is being dug and Randy has painted the North wall (except for the miles of trim) and has begun prepping the West wall for painting in the next week or so. I'm afraid I don't have time to write much more today, so I will let the pictures do the talking.

Chutes and Ladders

2010-07-15T21:51:00.000-07:00

We went by the house again tonight (7/15), armed with more paint samples. Randy has been busy prepping the North wall of the house for days now, and even did a number on his back while attempting to move a 32-foot extension ladder by himself. Here is a shot of Randy in action "after the fall" (on a smaller ladder, but still an impressive ladder).

We now have a calico house. We were hoping to paint the exterior a deep blue-gray with white trim, but there are a lot of blue-grays out there. We want a dark enough shade that the trim really pops, and we want something more to the gray than the blue. We think we have finally settled on a color. You can guess.

In the meantime, Eric and his crew have been busy gutting the house. The lathe and plaster is completely gone from the main level, except for in the pantry area, and they just started working on removing the trim from the bedrooms upstairs. Lathe is really heavy stuff, so rather than lugging 5-gallon buckets of the stuff, they have constructed a temporary chute to aid in the removal. And while they're busy on the inside of the house, the foundation crew is busy on the outside; today the foundation footings were poured and the walls should go up on Monday.

And the Walls...Came Tumblin' Down

2010-07-13T21:40:00.000-07:00

The whole family went by the house again tonight (Tuesday, 7/12) to check on the progress. Randy immediately set to work caulking and masking the exterior North wall, which he pressure-washed last weekend and he and I intend to paint on Friday. I painted a couple of test patches on the wall, and neither of the colors we had chosen seemed dark enough once they were on the structure, so the kids and I made another trip up to the hardware store to get additional samples...we didn't have time to go back and add these to the collage.
Front door
On the inside of the house, the lathe and plaster is coming down very quickly. We have some real worker bees on our team. The house is a mess, but as our contractor said to me, "Sometimes you have to crack a few eggs to make an omelet."

Living room

Bathtub gone!

Progress continues on the foundation. We opted to put a new entrance into the basement...it just makes sense to do this while the concrete is being poured and the drainage is determined. Here you see a shot of the form for the retaining walls around the new entrance. There will be 4 or 5 steps going down to the door (on the SE corner).

A House on Stilts

2010-07-09T21:49:00.000-07:00

So we were feeling pretty proud of ourselves after the July 4th holiday weekend. We worked hard, took down 3 trees and cleared almost the entire lot...lugging a total of three 14' Uhaul trucks' worth of green to the transfer station.

On Monday (July 5th...a holiday for most), our contractor Eric showed up with two helpers and also got to work. First up: jack up the house and stabilize it so that the damaged part of the foundation could be repoured and a drainage trench could be put in.

In the meantime, Randy got to work demolishing the bathroom in the evenings, but even he was shocked when we went by the house this evening (Friday), and this is what we saw.We thought we worked fast, but Eric and his crew put us to shame!

Fabulous Finds

2010-07-04T22:50:00.000-07:00

Randy and I are secretly hoping that we'll stumble upon a hidden treasure during the rehab process. So far, we've only found about a dozen old bottles, some underwear, some spray deodorant, about 30 plastic plant pots, 3 hub caps, a rotted garden hoe and vine support. But by far the best find during the garden work has been a shoe from circa 1968. We may have to save it and give it a place of honor in the final landscape.

Worker Bees

2010-07-03T21:35:00.000-07:00

Okay, I have to admit I love this first shot, taken after about 4 hours of yard work during a Slurpee break. We still had about 3 hours of work left for the day, yet look at these guys! Talk about forlorn. They're sitting in a rental truck in the driveway, because we knew we'd have far more yard refuse than our regular vehicles could handle.

And next you see a shot of the 14-ft Uhaul after filling it with one day's worth of work. It might not look that impressive to you, but let me point out that half of that mess is grapevine and blackberry brambles that had to be cut down and stomped into submission. Stay tuned for pictures of the full front yard...we still have more to accomplish before I take that picture. Unfortunately, we're going to lose about 4 fruit trees during this process, so we'll be looking to replace them with some fast-growing natives once we put in the new drainage and have the soil back in place.

Overgrown

2010-07-02T08:00:00.000-07:00

Here are a few shots taken last weekend, as you can see, the house has not received any landscaping attention in a LONG time.

What, really?

2010-07-01T21:54:00.000-07:00

It's true. I'm going to start blogging again. Not because I have anything particularly interesting to say, but because my extended family is clamoring for a way to stay abreast of our house rehab. Sometimes I may only manage to post a couple of pictures sans text, so let's keep the expectations low. Above is a picture taken in March, 2010, when we first looked at the house. It's even more overgrown now! It's also colder out now (huh?), but I won't dwell on this.

Work starts this weekend: July 4th, 2010. First up: yard work.

The Joy of Christmas

2008-12-25T20:48:00.000-08:00

This holiday season, I once again find myself overwhelmed with thankfulness for all that I have: a loving husband, two wonderful boys, a nice home, a job that I like, friends that I adore and who help me to grow as a person. My life is brimming. So many people have to overcome bad memories or experiences before they can begin to try to find something to celebrate, and I try to keep this in mind. I don't know anyone in Iraq. My family (and extended family) are all in pretty good health. I don't know anyone who has been laid off despite the recent increase in layoffs in Seattle. At times, I feel like I live my life in a bubble--one that has been relatively impervious to severe hardship. I know at some point I will fall into one of life's valleys, but right now I am on a hilltop.

In the past (specifically, B.C.), even if I had a truly wonderful Christmas, there was always something that could easily sour my mood. It's a lot harder to sour my mood when I'm focused on making sure my kids have a great Christmas. Their excitement and wonder are contagious.

Obviously, we all know the true meaning of Christmas, and it's important to recognize its significance, but with regards to small children--I have to confess that I LOVE building and supporting the myth of Santa Claus. If you were to stop by my house on Christmas Eve, you would find me scurrying about, completing the following tasks:

talking very loudly to Randy in the living room while the boys try to fall asleep ("Ran, did you hear Santa was delayed in Florida? Do you remember what time he got to our place last year?")
chewing up baby carrots and scattering them over the front lawn (so that my boys will see just how messy those reindeer are when we leave them a plate of carrots);
leaving a large, muddy footprint inside the front door (where Santa must enter our house) just so that I can complain about having to clean it up when I spot it in the morning;
mashing up some cookie crumbs on the plate we left out for Santa;
disguising my handwriting on the gifts to the boys from Santa;
etc.

I am going to be upset when my boys stop believing. E has already started to second-guess Santa (he undoubtedly overheard something from older kids at school), but for now he believes Santa exists "but he doesn't really live at the North Pole." Randy and I like to tell E "It's in your best interest to believe in Santa." And honestly, I think this is useful advice for all of us.

Holiday Spirit

2008-12-15T20:09:00.000-08:00

The Setting: Approximately twenty well-behaved preschoolers standing in front of approximately 100 parents at an annual holiday concert in a church.
The Song: Silent Night (rehearsals started in September in order to guarantee that all the children would know all the words to the first two verses of this beloved holiday classic).
The Tempo: Slow, traditional Silent Night rendition.
The Problem: One of these kids is not like the others--my kid.

When Your Best Simply Isn't Good Enough

2008-11-30T14:21:00.000-08:00

So, today I ran the Seattle Marathon, after signing up for it yesterday. I have always said that I would not officially sign up and train for this marathon in advance because the weather here is too unpredictable, but today was a perfect running day--cloudy with a high of 55 degrees.

Because I didn't sign up for this marathon, I didn't train for it properly. I started to think about it the first week of October when a few friends were off running the Portland Marathon and I regretted that I wasn't prepared to go with them. Thus began my half-hearted training plan, which went something like this: 5 days a week--25 minute run, usually pre-dawn or at lunch time, and on the weekends, one long run. For three weekends in a row, I ran 17, 19, and 18 miles, respectively, and then I tapered to 13 and 10 and then it was race day. This is not a recommended training plan by any standards, but sometimes you have to work with what you've got, and the one thing I don't have a lot of is TIME. And while I don't think my disappearing for 3 hours on a Saturday morning is such a big deal, R does think it's a big deal. He tries to be supportive, but he has his limits.

So today I set out with the following thoughts in my head:

a reasonable goal time would be 4:02
man, I am so tired of GU (all flavors)
all the big hills are after mile 20, so I should do my best to keep my first split time low
I got my best half marathon time after minimal training, so maybe I'll surprise myself again, and maybe, just maybe I can cross that "Qualify for Boston" life goal off my list

Everything went pretty smoothly this morning. I had a minor pain in my right ankle, but I knew it was a result of my sciatic nerve, not an injury, so I wasn't too worried. I came close to cramping up a few times, but I avoided any severe pain and kept going. I crossed the first split line at 1:47:08--not bad. In fact, this gave me about 7 minutes leeway in the second half, but I knew I'd need every minute.

Then at mile 18 we crossed another mat and my time was 2:40:01. Uh-oh. I had just lost 4 minutes of my wiggle room. I remember now that those five miles were lonely--not many folks around running my pace, and so obviously my gait slowed. Now I knew I had to really work hard to make it to the finish line on time, and now things (feet, knees) were starting to hurt enough to be a little distracting. Then the 3:45 pace group passed me at around mile 21 and I knew I was in trouble. I focused on the fact that I had only 5 miles to go ("Five miles should be easy!" I kept reminding myself), but once I lost site of the pacer on the hills I knew I was losing site of a goal. Still, I kept going. I didn't walk because I knew I'd kick myself later if I did. I tried to imagine being chased by a bear, my children needing immediate rescue from some perilous situation, winning a new car if I could just make it to the finish line by 3:45, but my body resisted any demands to go faster. When I did try to speed up significantly I felt violently nauseous, so I backed off.

I made it to the finish line at 3:46:28, or 29 seconds shy of qualifying for Boston. That's just over a second a mile. Surely I could have gone one second faster per mile, right? Nope. I really did give it my best. I'm disappointed, but also proud. I didn't train like I should have and yet I got a pretty good time and I finished 75th out of the ladies. Seattle is a tough course and marathons are tough races. I'm happy that my body held out, even though this result probably means I'll try "one more time" to see if I can make a better go of it on a flatter course.

After the race, I made a point of seeking out those people I followed along the course at some point to thank them (for inspiring me to keep going)--somebody did this for me after my first marathon and I've never forgotten it, because it really meant just as much to me as finishing. Then I grabbed my checked items, called R., and headed home.

I should probably take up a quieter, less demanding hobby (the mandolin, perhaps), but running is my meditation, my exercise, and it feeds my competitive side. So until there are competitive, aerobic mandolin-a-thons, R will just have to bear with me.

Quote of the Day

2008-11-22T15:04:00.001-08:00

I found this quote in an advertisement for a children's shop, but I think I like it even more if you take it out of context:

" Everything in winter goes better with a friend. Oh, and a stuffed monkey with a sense of adventure too."

Musical Taste

2008-11-16T15:31:00.000-08:00

This morning I was sitting at the kitchen table with my younger son, G, talking about music. I was telling him all about Beyonce, and how I used to discount her, but I think she provides some great music for running: upbeat, fast tempo, etc. G really likes music--especially pop music--but he has a limited field of reference, being four years old. Here is how the rest of the conversation went.

G: "Do you like Hannah Montana?" (I know he's assuming that because I'm a girl, I must like Hannah Montana.)

Me: "I don't know any Hannah Montana songs, G. And she wasn't around when I was a kid, so I never really got into her. You might like her though."

G: "I DO NOT like Hannah Montana!" (SOB! SOB! SOB!)

Me: "Okay, okay, calm down. I just thought you might because you like pop music."

G: (trying to catch his breath) "I do NOT like pop music. I like Daddy's music."

Me: "That's nice, G. You should tell Daddy."

G runs into our bedroom and wakes R up to tell him how much he likes his music. I should mention that R is currently taking beginning guitar lessons, and right now he can play Greensleeves and House of the Rising Sun (sort of). I'm sure he appreciated the compliment, even if he didn't appreciate being woken up.

Addicted to Facebook

2008-11-10T22:01:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure how it happened, but I think I am addicted to Facebook. Unfortunately, many of my closest friends are also addicts, and the Seattle rains are driving everyone inside, so I can only see the Facebook habit getting worse.

I know what I like about Facebook though. It's easy to use, fun, frivolous, entertaining, and a great way to see what your friends are up to when you don't have the time to call or the motivation to write a full e-mail. On the downside, it sucks up your time and it encourages bad grammar if you're like me and you tend to click "Post Comment" before you've proofread your typing and then it's impossible to edit your own comments (you can delete them though, which is what I often end up doing).

I hate to say this, but if you're not on Facebook, you should be. It's where all the cool kids are hanging these days. Come join us, but don't blame me when you can't find the exit.

Wassssup, California?

2008-11-08T09:39:00.000-08:00

As thrilled as I was with the election results last week, there was one BIG letdown: Californians passed Proposition 8.

In case you've been living in a cave, Proposition 8 bans gay marriage and it marks the first time the state Constitution has been amended in order to TAKE AWAY rights. I keep hoping it was a mistake...a result of confusing wordplay that caused people to vote the opposite of their beliefs. I generally trust California to lead the liberal front, and now I'm worried that the small state of Vermont is going to have to carry this title (without the population to back it).

Earlier on this fall when I was watching the debates, I was upset that both the Democratic and Republican candidates came out and defined marriage as being a union between a man and a woman. How nice. How nice that this works for them, but not for the hundreds of thousands (maybe millions?) of gay people living in this country--a country that promises equality and justice for all. To me, the idea of equality means that people should maintain the right to marry ANYONE--preferably someone they LOVE.

This Proposition is a perfect example of why church and state should be separate, and I mean completely separate. What does this country have to lose by allowing gay marriage? What are people so AFRAID of? Maybe we're worried that the gay divorce rate will be lower than the straight divorce rate. This wouldn't look good now, would it?

Why do I care? I have a lot of gay friends. I feel guilty that I enjoy rights they don't simply because I'm straight. Of course, they're used to being treated like second-class citizens, so many of them are not as interested in promoting gay marriage as I am. Who can blame them for not wanting to take up another cross?

Time to Rock the Vote/Boat

2008-11-04T17:54:00.000-08:00

Friends, have you ever in your adult life been so excited about politics? Have you ever wanted so desperately to affect change? Tonight is a momentous point in history, and we get to be a part of it.

I have some Republican friends who I respect and admire tremendously, but tonight...tonight my competitive streak is coming out and I am brimming with anticipation as the polls close and Obama is in a strong lead.
http://elections.nytimes.com/2008/results/president/votes.html

Frankly, I don't know how you can deny that this articulate, intelligent, and level-headed man is the best man for the job. Our country needs him, and we're lucky he decided to enter politics, because most people of his caliber stay away from this scene.

I will never forget the first time I heard Barack speak...it was at the Democratic Convention in 2004, and I was blown away. I continue to be blown away and I can't wait to see where he takes us. My only hope now is that we can keep him safe.

Dance Like You Don't Care Who's Watching!

2008-10-31T16:00:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I took G to the Pacific Science Center while E was at a birthday party nearby. With Halloween coming up, they had all kinds of special activities going on, and pop music was being piped through the outside gathering spaces. Well, G couldn't help himself. The beat took hold and would not let go. His creative energy was further fueled by Laffy Taffy (you'll see this in his mouth--nice).

Pepitas!

2008-10-30T07:53:00.000-07:00

We have just started the process of carving some of the 11 pumpkins we bought this year, and we're all hard at work in anticipation of the nummy little pumpkins seeds. At one point, during a frenzy of pumpkin-guts removal, Randy dropped some on the floor.

"Careful, DAD!" E exclaimed. "You don't want to drop any of these delicious things on the floor. What are you...CRAZY?!"

Run, Baby, Run!

2008-10-29T19:00:00.000-07:00

One of the great things about Seattle is that every weekend there is always a plethora of happenings for kids. Last weekend, although we already had a lot on our calendar, I asked the boys if they would like to run in a Spooky Sprint race, and to my delight, they both said "Yes!" They didn't even change their minds when I mumbled something about the race being early on Saturday morning, when they would normally be watching cartoons. (E will tell you that Saturday is the boys' day to "kick out.")
Saturday morning arrived and the weather was GORGEOUS. Perfect running weather. I swilled some coffee and checked and rechecked shoelaces, and then we headed to the park where the race was being held. G, who is 4, was signed up to run a 1/2 mile sprint, and E was signed up to run a mile run (this was E's second race, but he seemed more nervous, perhaps because he was sizing up some of his 12-year-old competitors).

G's race was first. I was a little nervous to let him run alone, but I couldn't leave E alone and I knew that race monitors would have an eye out on the course. Now, G has not got a natural runner's build, but he does have an abundance of energy, and when the starting horn sounded, he was off at a good clip. Then I watched helplessly as a parent accidentally tripped him. My heart sank. I really wanted this to be a positive experience for him. Well, after being slightly trampled by another kid, G popped up and kept going and E and I raced to the finish line. After about 5 minutes, we saw the first kid crest the small hill that lead to the finish chute. Then we saw about 12 more kids. I was just starting to worry when E caught site of G. G was winded and slowing down, so I told E one of us should go and finish the race with G. E didn't hesitate...he was off like a rocket and I was sobbing with pride as he took G's elbow, cheered him on, and ran/escorted him to the chute. This was so worth the price of admission!

My kids have given me another reason to run: I get to share one of my greatest joys with them. Watching these little people, who just yesterday were taking their first steps, fly across the finish line with giant smiles on their faces is an awesome thing. And watching them encourage each other is simply one of the most rewarding things I've experienced as a parent.

The Upside of Divorce

2008-10-27T20:00:00.000-07:00

No one is going to argue that divorce is a good thing. It's not. Even in the best cases, where the split is amicable and no children are involved, the details are messy, the cost is high, and two people walk away scarred. But not everyone was meant to be together forever, despite their best intentions. Marriage is work, and it is harder than anything you've ever had to work for. If people commit to this work and they still aren't gelling, I truly think it is best for them to walk away.

There can be an upside to divorce. My parents divorced after 21 years of marriage when I was 10 years old. They both went on to remarry (and they both have been with these "new" spouses for 25 years now), and in the process I gained a stepsister who is the same age as my genetic sister and three step brothers who are about a decade older than myself.

Honestly, I can't imagine my life without these additional people. I love all of them. My stepmother served as a mentor for me when I was an angst-ridden teenager and couldn't always effectively communicate with my parents; my stepfather is one of the most intelligent people I've ever met...with a dry sense of humor and quiet demeanor; my stepsister is a loving, warm, and beautiful person; and while I'll admit to not knowing my stepbrothers as well as I would like because the age difference, I feel a kinship with them nonetheless. In fact, my stepbrother P recently read this blog and announced that he too shares the unique ability to find four-leaf clovers--so we're still getting to know each other, as time and circumstances allow.

Few divorces have such happy endings, I know, and this is why I am truly grateful for these "step" (such an ugly preposition) relatives who comprise my extended family. I wish everyone could be so lucky.

Hilarious Clip

2008-10-27T17:07:00.001-07:00

My best friend sent me this clip last week and I cannot get it out of my mind. Warning! You might not want to watch it at work.

The Great Catsuit Debate

2008-10-25T20:35:00.000-07:00

Every year when Halloween rolls around, my husband starts suggesting I go as Catwoman. Why? Because he'd like to see me in a head-to-toe pleather catsuit. Why? Because it's sexy.

Apparently it doesn't matter that I'm not built like Halle Berry (see example on the left) or that my sidekicks would be waist-high versions of Ironman and a silver Power Ranger or that the entire pleather ensemble would cost about $200 and would be horribly uncomfortable. Nor does it matter that some women, including those that are in their mid-30s and who have given birth not once, but twice, probably are best viewed fully-clothed (see unfortunate example on the right).

In R's mind, the only acceptable alternative to Catwoman is a "dead zombie ghoulie" complete with many flesh wounds in various stages of decomposition. As you might surmise, I'm never happy with my options...and the only way I can avoid the Great Catsuit Debate is to come up with something that I want to be far in advance of Halloween. I must be armed and ready with a costume idea that I can back like it's a higher calling. If I hesitate when defending my idea R will sense the hesitation and exclaim "Go as Catwoman!" and the debate will be on. And I don't know about you, but I've had my fill of debates this fall.

Quick Update

2008-10-25T20:01:00.001-07:00

Thank you to everyone who wrote to inquire about my dad. While the formal test results aren't back yet, everything appears to be fine. The biopsy, it turned out, was not even as serious as I had thought. When I hear "biopsy" I assume the test is being done to rule out or detect cancer, but in this case it was a biopsy in the strictest sense of the term...a removal of tissue to test for any abnormality and cancer was never the #1 suspect.

Again, thank you for your concern and well wishes.

The Good Card

2008-10-24T21:26:00.000-07:00

I recently received an e-mail from a friend that provides the perfect holiday gift solution for those who are otherwise impossible to buy for: The Good Card.

What is The Good Card? It's a gift card for charity that allows the recipient to donate to his or her charity of choice. It's an ideal holiday gift, especially for parents and grandparents who are tired of receiving things that they will either never use or eventually just pass back down to you.

You can purchase the card in any dollar amount (up to $250) and it allows the recipient to give to any charity; there are over 1.2 million charities to choose from. Whether you send it via e-mail or mail, you can customize the card in order to make it personal. The Good Card also qualifies as a tax-deduction.

I've had to do a lot of plagiarizing in this blog entry (sorry Jono), but it's for a good cause. For more information on The Good Card click here.

Why Texting Makes Me Testy

2008-10-21T21:48:00.000-07:00

I recently read an interesting article on texting in The New Yorker that basically explained how texting was a giant leap back in communication: "...a huge amount of trouble relative to the results." I couldn't agree more. This explains why I don't text. I'm no good at the multiple keystrokes it takes to create one character on the tiny buttons on my phone, and I hate what texting has done to the English language. I don't like words that look like an acronym and a simple math equation collided (GR8T). And are we now so lazy that typing that one extra keystroke isn't worth the reward of a correctly-spelled word?

Some coworkers and I have had this conversation several times. Why text when it is so much easier to call? (The only reasonable answer seems to be that you're someplace where it would be extremely rude to pick up the phone and talk out loud.)

Another phenomena that I don't understand is the desire to have a phone that does everything, but is no larger than an a square of chocolate. This article made the same point:"...although cell phones keep getting smaller, thumbs do not."

The article goes on to provide some interesting explanations as to why people love to text, but the conclusion basically says that texting is a fad, and when the numeric keyboard is replaced by the QWERTY keyboard (by the way, "QWERTY" is my new favorite word) on most handheld devices, we'll probably see the return to e-mail. My plan: stick with corresponding via e-mail and consider myself ahead of the technology curve.

Hard Day

2008-10-21T18:12:00.000-07:00

Today was one of those days.

First I learned that the 6 containers of bright orange frosting that I rushed out to get for a Halloween party at E's school were no longer needed--and I couldn't think of any possible backup plan for this much orange goo.
Then I was driving to work and every single light on my dashboard lit up and stayed lit up.
Then I interviewed two people for a tech writing position and in both cases I knew pretty quickly that we were not compatible. One resume handed to me actually reeked of cigarette smoke.
Then I took the car to the Les Schwab (famous for their "free beef" giveaways when you purchase a full set of tires) and was informed that I needed a new battery (big sigh of relief).
Then I get the call that despite the new battery, the car is still not running correctly and it probably needs a new alternator to the tune of $500.
Then I'm late picking up the kids, and when I do reach E's school, he's waiting for me but he's missing his coat for the fourth time in one month. We search every nook and cranny and come up empty handed and I threaten E with the biggest threat I can muster: the cancellation of Christmas if he loses his coat again (should we be lucky enough to find it again).
Then I learn that my dad is being biopsied tomorrow.

Obviously, this isn't the worst day ever. I returned the frosting, I accept that unexpected car repairs are an annoying and inconvenient and expensive fact of life, and I have an extra coat for E because I know he is prone to coat loss, and I believe my dad will be okay. Still, days like this remind me of Paul Simon when he sings, "Why am I soft in the middle (when) the rest of my life is so hard?"

Dinnertime Quote

2008-10-19T20:14:00.000-07:00

About 45 minutes into dinner tonight, R asked our son, E, if he was going to have dessert. E replied, "Yes, if I can ever get these carrots out of my life!"

Got Yogurt?

2008-10-19T14:39:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I was returning from a short run and as I approached my car I was taken aback. Apparently a large bird had exploded while flying over. But as I got closer, I realized that this was not the case. My car had been yogurted. In other words, someone had thrown three Yoplait Light yogurt containers at my car (vanilla on the side windows, raspberry on the back window). I was shocked. The drive to the car wash was like a walk of shame. I could feel people staring at my yogurt-dipped car, and I couldn't help but put thoughts into their heads. Surely, I must be a bitch to deserve such a dairy disaster.

My husband, R, immediately chalked the yogurt up to a random act of vandalism by some bored teenagers, but to me this still doesn't make sense. For one, yogurt is expensive...at least a lot more expensive (and less harmful) than eggs. Second, no other cars on our street had been hit. Wouldn't teenagers try to hit two or three cars?

I started to search for clues. Right now, the only coincidence that I can go on is the fact that the night before the yogurt incident we allowed a local Democrat to post one of his signs in our yard. Other neighbors have the same sign, but they don't park in front of their house. I pondered this a lot as I was falling asleep last night. Would I fall victim again? And if so, what would they use next, eclairs? My mind began to race and next thing I knew I was envisioning effigies in the front yard and fire bombs coming through the window.

In an effort to calm me, R kept recounting the many acts of random vandalism he committed as a teenager. This did not calm me, but at least I now know I have my own "Director of Countervandalism" if the need ever arises.

Recollecting Kierkegaard

2008-10-17T20:18:00.000-07:00

During my final semester at college I took an intensive class on S. Kierkegaard (often referred to simply as "S.K." in literature). For those of you who aren't familiar with Kirkegaard, he was an existentialist philosopher in the late 19th century, unpopular until two decades after his death, and someone with a profound struggle as he examined the role of religion (and more specifically, God) in his life. His questioning and close examination and cross-examination of what it meant to be religious influenced many later philosophers, and continues to do so today.

Interestingly enough, it was a young agnostic critic who originally unearthed S.K.'s works, and after reading and translating the works, he felt he was confirmed in his agnosticism. This is because Kierkegaard has a lot to teach everyone. S.K.'s constant questioning resulted in some truly beautiful, and sometimes threatening, observations. In my opinion, he is the quintessential example of a person who chose to live "the examined life."

I've forgotten much of what I once knew about Kierkegaard, but there are pieces that have stayed with me: one was the belief that men were divided into two great classes--those that lived in hope and those that lived in recollection--yet he also stated that only healthy people lived in both at once. I remember studying S.K.'s Either/Or intensely for a period of time as the author grappled with multiple dichotomies, including the relationship between the aesthetic and the ethical. Lastly, I recall a quote that Kierkegaard made early in life, and I just looked it up to make sure I haven't distorted it too much in my head over time...here goes: "I must find the truth that is true for me--the idea for which I can live and die." What a quest, eh?

It saddens me a little bit that I haven't made more of an effort to find my own truth. Like most people, I'm just too damn busy to devote even the smallest amount of time to reflect on such things. That said, I guess recognizing the problem is the first step, so I've got this going for me.

Run in What You Love

2008-10-17T06:14:00.000-07:00

If you know me, you know I love to run. I haven't always loved running, but I've been at it for over 20 years now and I think I'm finally hitting my stride.

Last month I set a PR (personal record) at a local half-marathon race, the Super Jock n' Jill half marathon in Woodinville. I hadn't trained for this race, so the victory was all the more surprising. My time was 1:45:48. What excited me most was the mere possibility that if I could do this again and double my distance, I'd easily qualify for Boston. That said, I don't know if I could keep that pace for another 13.1 miles, especially on one of the local courses, because these are HILLY.

Anyway, in the "recovery area" of this last race I saw all the usual vendors and one new one: Oiselle Running. Now, I've never been a running gear or clothing junkie. I usually run in one of the race shirts I've collected over the years, Asics running shoes, and running shorts from the REI outlet. But I will say that the Oiselle line was very impressive. At the time they were selling election running shirts (a novel idea) that said things like "Obama: The Kenyan Advantage" and "McCain: Not Bad for his Age Group" and I would have bought one in a second, if I had had cash on me. Their other running items looked remarkably comfortable and well-made, so I am already eyeing things online to put on my Christmas list. It's definitely a company worth checking out, and I expect we'll be seeing a lot more Oiselle products popping up at our favorite running stores in the next couple of years.

Life Goals 101

2008-10-16T20:45:00.000-07:00

A few years ago I started to think more seriously about the things I'd like to accomplish in my lifetime. At the time, I was already reflecting on all the things I had: a family that loved me, a good education, a happy marriage, amazing friends, a home, a job that I liked, and two incredible children.

It would be downright greedy to ask for more--especially when you consider how fortunate I've been, and how often I take all of these things for granted. Still, I have things, lesser things, that I'd like to do.

Here is a smattering of an ever-changing list of goals that I keep (usually in my head, although sometimes I write them down), and the items are in no particular order. Some are big, some are easy, some are inconvenient and expensive, but this is a "dream list" and it's often in a state of flux.

Qualify for the Boston Marathon.
Learn to write left-handed.
Teach my children to read.
Volunteer in Africa.
Take archery lessons.
Learn to silk screen.
Attend my 20th college reunion.
Visit the Azores.
Complete one one-armed push up.
Invent something useful.
Learn to speed read.
Take my children to New Zealand to meet their relatives.
Read A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking
Raise a golden retriever puppy.
Buy a place in Skaneateles, NY.
Run a 50K race (approximately 30 miles).
Meet Christiane Amanpour.

Everyone should keep such a list. It's motivating. It serves as a constant reminder of just how much more life has to offer, even if your life is full to the brim.

If I Could Just Get Rid of Just

2008-10-15T21:35:00.000-07:00

I've stumbled across an unsettling find: I use "just" in just about every sentence I write...even when I'm conciously trying not to. So starting tonight, I'm just going to say no to "just." Just like that. You'll just have to bear with my while I attempt to ween myself.

How Smart are YOU?

2008-10-15T21:09:00.000-07:00

Tonight we were gathered round the dinner table when I commented to E on what a nice boy Evan (a new friend at his school) was. E couldn't have agreed more. In his own words: "Evan is super-smart. He's so smart he could break concrete with his brain."

This brings up a good question: just how smart are YOU? I've always considered myself slightly above average, but I confess I have my Sarah Palin moments. Put me on the spot, and I can go either way: insightful and direct or flustered and gibberish.

Unfortunately, there isn't always a correlation between my response and how much I know about the topic being discussed. Most times, I have just enough information to be dangerous--and certainly nowhere near enough information to stand up in a court of law. As discussed on This American Life a few months ago, I am a perfect example of the Modern American Jackass.

My husband, R, reads The New Yorker every day. I envy him. He is able to make this ritual a priority. I truly believe that if you read The New Yorker from cover to cover each week, you get to consider yourself pretty well versed on most any topic. If you can't find The New Yorker, you can substitute The Atlantic or Harper's. Granted, being intelligent is not the same thing as being informed, but being informed is a good start.

I went to a good university, but you can only ride this wave for so long. I'd like to see how I stack up against my peers today, or maybe I wouldn't. Maybe I'd just like to be able to break concrete with my brain.

She's Baaaack!

2008-10-15T06:59:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since I've blogged. Okay, it's been a year. But I'm starting to feel the need to write again...there's just too much going on in the world that I feel the need to comment on. Plus, everyone else gets to post their ramblings online, so I may as well do the same.

I loved the concept of the blog I started with my best friend last year (see http://seattlesmostoverrated.blogspot.com/) but we just got too busy to make a go of it. Plus, we were starting to feel overly-critical of the city we love. So this time around, I'm leaving the focus of my blog unfocused: anything is fair game.