Hidey-ho!

Absolutely fabulous weather this weekend! My super exciting movie watching plans were put on hold Friday night to to a damaged Netflix dvd that I didn't notice until I was all ready to watch. :( So I called everyone in my phone book until I found someone that wanted to go get chicken wings. Mmm, triple garlic chicken wings from Wingdome. Then we went for dessert at Simply Desserts. I had red velvet cake. Mmm, red velvet. I think I should be buried with red velvet cake. If I get to decide it should be my last meal. Maybe, just to be safe, I should have red velvet cake with every meal so I can KNOW that I will get to have it as my last meal. :)

Highlights for the week:

Became old. My neck tweaked for no good reason about dinner time on Wed. All day Thurs I wanted to cry it hurt so badly and it was very difficult to move my neck/head at all. Had to cancel pilates and a date. Lame. Due to insurance companies being evil I have to come up with a new way to deal with pain other than massage therapy. Decided to try accupuncture. Got an appt at a teaching clinic (Chinese doctor supervises three students) near my house. Couldn't feel the needles after they were placed except in my arms. The left one hurt so much I made them take it out. I should have had them take out the ones in the right arm too but I didn't because it wasn't as painful as the left arm. When they finally did take them out (~10 mintues) my arm felt like I had pulled a muscle. Very tender to the touch and sore for the rest of the day. Still not happy today, a day later. Weird that it was just the arms. I couldn't feel any of the ones on my back, legs, feet or head/neck. The neck still felt the same but I think my back may have been a bit more limber. Three to five sessions are recommended so we'll see how things go during the next ones. I told them that they needed to come up with a different way of dealing with my arms because I was NOT going through that pain again. I totally cried on the left arm (big deal for me) and now have little pinprick spots left though they are disappearing quickly.

Worked eights last week instead of tens due to the holiday. Amazing how fast eight hours go by when you are used to a longer day. Fabulous! Went out for lunch on Friday to the Thai bus - kind of like the taco trucks that are around on various corners but for Thai food. Taste-y! Took it down to the waterfront for munching and proceeded to burn the back of my neck. I hate being pale! I was only outside for an hour! Red! Completely not fair. I overcompensated this weekend with sun block though so no new aggravations, from the sun anyway. Neck is still sore.

I still want a Vizsla but now that I know how much these rare dogs cost (rare means no shelter dogs around) it is off the to-do list for now. Sigh.

I was able to recreate the fabulous s'more cupcakes last week. Triumph!!!! They tasted pretty much the same as the original. I need to do a side-by-side comparison to be sure... Going to make them again and take them in on Tues for our meeting. I killed my old muffin pan (I think in the various moves) so I went out today and got a new one. It was part of a set, mini muffin, reg muffin, sheet pan all stowed in a carrier set that can be modified to accomodate all three baked good options. I hope it fits under the bed when not in use...

Looking forward to a kayak trip with mom in the San Juans coming up in a few weeks. Can't wait! Still need to figure out what to do about a camera. Waterproof disposable? Take a chance with my own? Not bring one?

I'm hungry so I need to hunt down some food. The dried bananas I made turned out awesome! Raspberries didn't work but more strawberries were sacrificed to the sucker-outer-of-water (my beloved dehydrator). Next week I think I will try to put together a meal and cook it up at home as a trial. We'll see.

Ciao for now.

Another week down.

Don't know what I'm counting towards other than my next birthday. Was super busy this week but I didn't really accomplish much. The work issue has escalated to $100,000 project which is kind of crappy because money is short. Hopefully all goes well and we can get back on schedule soon.

The weather is fabulous again this weekend though slightly cooler than last. I have laid low for the most part. The most activity I'll see is maybe a slow bike ride to the farmer's market and a walk by the sculpture park/sound. I needed a down weekend. The only crappy thing is that Monday, my regular day off, is a holiday. So I just go in for four days at eight hours (just like everyone else) instead of having an extra day off. The other two in my group will still get their day off (by putting in 32 hours on the other three days) but we aren't allowed to be gone on the same day. Dunno if it is really worth it to put in a twelve hour day to have a day off mid-week. Maybe short days won't be so bad. Maybe I'll sleep in. Eh.

The fun part of this weekend was twofold. First, Saturday morning I took a sewing class to learn how to use the machine I just got. Very informative but I think I'm going to have to go back a few times before I really understand all the features. It makes button holes and sews on buttons! How neat is that? I made a random little pocket thing for practice and I think I impressed the instructor. I think she mistakes the teeny, tiny amount of knowledge I have from watching other people sew coupled with my perfectionism for actual sewing skill. Hopefully I will get good enough that I can fool myself in the same way!

Next, I experimented with my dehydrator for the first time. In the books I got it talked about making smoked salmon jerky. I had purchased a giant fillet from Costco and was looking forward to eating half of it and then playing at dehydrating the rest. However, when I opened the package, much to my shock, I had actually purchased smoked salmon. This ruined my BBQ lunch plans but fast tracked me up a step for the dehydrating. Had a cold cracker/tapenade/smoked salmon lunch and watched the dehydrator get warm and make noise. It was a warm day here and it wasn't long before the smoked salmon smell started to permeate my apartment. I turned on my two fans and hoped for the best. When I go out today and come back I will see just how bad it is. Right now it seems ok but it was quite odorific yesterday!

Problems:
1. The instruction book that came with the dehydrator says that dried salmon is not recommended due to its high fat/oil content which makes spoilage easier. The book said to keep it in the freezer. We'll see when I take it out if I get sick.
2. The whole dehydrator smells like fish. Should have dried the fruit first and then the fish as I don't have any extra mesh trays. Right now they have been scrubbed, rinsed and are soaking in lemon juice. Not sure what else to do. Might have fishy dried fruit and no one wants to eat that!
3. How do you get fish smell out of your house? Fabreeze? The windows are always open and when it is warmer the fans are on too. Bake lots of cookies to fill the air with that sweetness?

In my fruit buying yesterday I discovered a new one for me: pear apples. They're delicious! Nice and sweet/pear tasting with a hint of apple and the crunchyness therein. I can't decide if I want to dry them or just make smoothies or eat them whole. Delish!

I love Marlene's Market. I bypass most of the overpriced organic stuff but their bulk food section is super! They have almost all the weird-to-me ingredients that keep popping up in recipes and projects like whey protein powder and buckwheat hulls. I'll have to visit mom more often as my needs become more regular. I'm going to try a muesli recipe this morning I think.

Ta ta till next week!

A little late...

But as it is still my day off I count it as the weekend. I had a busy time this weekend and it was fun! Saturday I meandered around the Seattle Cheese Festival (sweaty hot and crowded so I left not long after I got there) and had some nice chevre and gouda among others. Then I made it out to the Arboretum for a solo kayaking test. I was super tired but I went through all the motions successfully and without asking strangers for help. Really didn't want to have to resort to that so I am glad things turne out well.

Sunday saw me hiking up a trail that reminded me how old, unfit and weak I really am. Not a pleasant reminder but the view was amazing from up top and I got to see some paragliders doing there thing. Then I proceeded to camp out on the couch with intermittant checks on the kayak cleaning/drying process. All in all a successful weekend.

Today I helped my friend Kelly with some yard work at her house. One evil rose bush , a bunch of turf and some sneaky bindweed were sacrificed to the yard waste bin. We celebrated by visiting the opening of a new movie theater and watching Nim's Island and Coraline for $2 a piece. They even had concessions for $2 a piece but I did not partake. Nim's was ok, very much a happy-ish movie for kids. Coraline was really good but super creepy and it freaked out a kid up front. It was like a stop-animation kid horror movie. Bizarre. Now I'm trying to think of how to execute a Coraline Halloween costume. AND I'm very proud of myself for not succumbing to the cupcake craze. Let's see if I can make it through next weekend too (darn you s'more cupcakes!!!).

That's all for now!

First Camping Trip of the Season!

This week was super busy. Spent most days prepping for the camping trip but managed to squeeze in some fun stuff too!

Star Wars day this week. (May the fourth be with you. ~ )

Cooked some of my sis's chicken enchiladas for the Cinco de Mayo work party that were a hit. :) Watched "King of Kong" and enjoyed it thoroughly. The world record holder is from Redmond. Who knew?

Wednesday was an art walk in my neighborhood and I had so much fun that I will be looking out for more of those! A super fun artist, cakespy, was on display at my favorite cupcake joint, Trophy. And they had free cupcakes!!! This was followed by browsing through a bunch of nearby stores that I've wanted an excuse to go in and poke around at leisure. A free glass of champagne, nibblies, hand treatment and chair massage later and time was up! Two hours was just not long enough.

Thursday I got my first sewing machine! I have been researching for months and finally found it, tried it and drooled over it in person. It is idiot proof - so it is perfect. :) I have a class scheduled for an upcoming weekend and I can't wait to make something. I'm going to take in my couch pillows and see if I can't fix them with some tutelage. Yay!

Friday we were off on our Mother's Day weekend adventure! We camped in OR at a very nice campground where the Canadian geese and their goslings outnumbered campers. The babies were so cute & fluffy! We toured a stonehenge replica and Maryhill Museum. I was very surprised by the number of sculptures and sketches by Rodin they had. A very pleasant surprise. An exact duplicate of The Thinker in miniature as well as Eve from The Gates of Hell were among other pieces.

Kayak's first launch! The kayak, dubbed Chloe for some reason in my head, was launched at Celilo and we had a small tour of the Columbia from a new vantage point. Awesome! I can't wait to take it out again. A closed deck and spray skirts will be on my list for future purchases as we were soaked quite quickly and thoroughly. The weather could not have been better the whole time. It felt like summer, truly. And now that I'm back home the sky is overcast and it rains from time to time. Should have stayed in Oregon!

Take 2

What a week! The layoffs that started Tues and finished Wed have totally taken over my mind. I can't even remember last Sunday. Picking up the pieces at work will be interesting and I'm not excited about working the extra hours next week.

Lettuce bowl coming along nicely. I think I will enjoy my first salad tonight as the cherry tomatoes are ready as well!

Gearing up for Mother's Day next weekend. Will be taking a camping trip, yeah! Am excited to break out all the gear. :)

Hope to hide my lackey coin this weekend (geocaching thing). Weather is threatening though.