Long Time No See

So... it's been a while.
I had decided that I was too searchable on the web and wanted to have a little less presence, be a little less blog available.  Mission accomplished.  I've had a change of heart, mostly because I miss putting my thoughts down on "paper".  Quite a bit has happened since the hand pies of 2010 but I'll just hit the highlight reel.

2011
This was a very rough year for me. That's basically all I remember. I'm sure there were happy moments but only the thorns stick out in my memory.

Thorn 1 & 2: Room and Board
The company I worked for was bought out and us employees were made to wait six months for a site decision.  The decision was to come after my apartment lease came up for renewal. Moving to a place that could be covered by unemployment insurance sounded like a good idea. In total, I moved four times that year, each place worse than the last. This is considerable as the first move involved a house with a sustained internal temperature of forty-six degrees. While I did not end up losing my job, I put in so many hours at work that I had all three meals, every day, at my desk for more time than I would like to admit. As a thank you for this effort, management gave me a Starbucks gift card with $20 to spend.  My friend said I should be thankful for that but all I could think was, "Screw you company!".

Thorn 3: Love Rollercoaster
I ended what I thought had been a most promising relationship (but aren't they all promising until they aren't?). Sigh.

2012
I had high hopes for this year.  I was emotionally drained and close to a break down at year end and clung to the belief that my family trip to Australia for six weeks would restore my soul.  It took two and a half weeks before I felt like something other than a caged animal.  Calm.  And then the storm raged anew.  Fifteen people in Tante B's house for Christmas.  The table looked like a feast at Hogwarts and we were just as merry.

 















The cousins got a cooking lesson from Oma for her berlina recipe.

I took a stab at surfing.

Surfing took a stab at me.

 I came to know the glory that is the passion fruit.

I saw the Great Barrier Reef which brought me my first snorkel, SCUBA, and heat stroke (almost). 

My most serene moment was snorkeling on my own (don't worry, the boat captain was watching out for me) above the Stepping Stones in the Whitsundays and being completely surrounded by an enormous school of tiny, silvery fish.  The way they moved was like watching a candle flame flicker in the wind, only I was the wind.  I held as still as possible, not even breathing, wanting to stay there forever.

Broulee was not as I remembered.  The waves loomed larger and the shells more numerous when I was a kid.  This didn't stop me from beach combing and getting a righteous sunburn while in pursuit of the itty bitty seashells from childhood visits to Oma and Opa.  The contrast of angry red and pasty pale was so stark you could make out the squiggles of my bikini tie.  The house that Opa built was also foreign. Is it the amount of time between making memories that changes things or is it that the details that are important to me as a child are so different from those as an adult?  Either way the beach trip was a restorative step on my path to happiness.

Melbourne was my time to myself.  Nine splendid days of doing something or nothing, whenever, however I chose.  I read.  I walked.  I got lost.  I bought summer clothes that I'll be able to wear one day of the year in Seattle.  It was lovely, truly lovely.

View from the Melbourne condo.

The return to winter and home was not appreciated but things just HAD to be better than my life a few short months before.  I moved into a rental house with a roommate I'd never met before I responded to the ad. I tried to change everything about my life so I could enjoy it to the fullest.  I played in the garden of the rental house, a lot.  I subscribed to the opera, the 5th, the Paramount, National Geographic lectures, the symphony, the Sounders, and attended various Town Hall events.  I limited work to forty-five hours a week.  I returned to online dating and cast my net wide, meeting anyone that sounded nice instead of trying to have all my criteria checked off before the first date.  It was an experience, a tour de force.

Before I knew it, Autumn strolled in on her red carpet and ushered in a new phase of my life along with the changing season.  Over the previous couple of years I had been experiencing a higher than average number of sick days (for me).  I attributed my fatigue and stomach discomfort to stress, a known cause of many ill symptoms, and I had experienced a fare share of emotional stress. From August to October pain and discomfort became almost constant.  I'm used to a level of chronic pain with my knees and headaches but this was unbearable.  With tears I begged my doctor to figure out what was happening to me.  I hate crying in front of people.  Every celiac test came back positive.

O.

M.

G.

While grateful for a diagnosis that would allow me to control my symptoms, I was devastated.  Gluten is like high fructose corn syrup.  It hides in the most unsuspecting places and it is one of the more fabulous components of food items. I embraced the new diet with as much gusto as I could muster, and plunged into the GF life with all my hopes riding on this diagnosis.  

2013

My pain decreased remarkably (hurray!) with my new diet but my quality of life deteriorated.  One gluten free restaurant crêpe incident left me in tears on the couch for three days because there were too many stairs between my bed and the bathroom.  The pain was remarkable.  Just because it is gluten free does not mean it is celiac friendly.  I didn't go out to eat for at least a month and had to swallow my fear every time I took a bite from someone else's kitchen for at least two more.

I started to replace my hunger cravings for bready things with yogurt and cheese type items.  A noticeable decrease in GI happiness was the result.  Turns out dairy free and gluten free go hand in hand.  Now I'm a celiac vegan carnivore.  This was particularly amusing to me as I had watched a friend go through gluten free shenanigans in 2006 and I declared forcefully, "If I'm ever diagnosed as a celiac and lactose intolerant I'll kill myself."  Brie and a baguette is my favorite meal. I had only discovered the joy of challah bread as french toast in 2011. What do you eat if cereal crops and dairy are off the table, literally?

I'd like to strike my suicidal statement from the record.

I have found things to eat, obviously.  I will not starve and I will enjoy my food.  As most commercial products contain some form of wheat, cooking from scratch has become mandatory.  I thought this would be more healthy, and on some level I'm sure it is, but I rely on bacon and eggs for more meals than is truly necessary. I'm trying not to picture what my arteries look like inside.  A highlight here is that I've thought I was allergic to eggs since college.  Now I can eat them as much as I want with no side effects.  This is huge as eggs are a great binder for recipes.

I'm still learning how to cope.  

It would be great if the substitutions people came up with were for more than baked desserts.  I want to feel full, not pack my day with ultra processed gf flours and sugar.  The most amazing thing in all this is that I live in Seattle.  I feel like this way of life would be ten times more difficult in most other areas of the country, or the world.  Thank you hippie foodie Seattle-ites.  Thank you vegans.  Thank you paleo people.  Thank you vegetarians.  You have paved the way for unadulterated, fresh food for me to eat.  I ate some delicious vegan coconut milk ice cream with fake chocolate chips today.  I have fake butter in my fridge that dairy eatin' folk can't tell the difference (Earth Balance - you are amazing). There are at least three different types of yummy kale to choose from at my ridiculously expensive grocery stores.  I'm learning to love potatoes with olive oil and am eating more veggies than ever.  Soy yogurt is actually appealing now and almond milk can rock a smoothie. Of course I'm writing this as I polish off a bag of corn chips (certified gluten free!).

Hope is on the horizon.

A common side effect of this diagnosis is that while my gut is healing I am more susceptible to illness and that when I do get sick, I'll be sick for longer and have more pronounced symptoms than normal, whatever that is. An informal poll of acquaintances and the Internet has suggested that my reactions and tolerance will stabilize after a couple of years. Also within this timeline, there is a distinct possibility that I'll be able to have dairy again.  Every day this is what keeps me going.

So think Fievel thoughts for me and don't be offended if I ask to dig your food containers out of the trash and recycle to look for hidden gluten ingredients.

Strawberry Rhubarb Hand Pies...

with a hint of ginger and lime!  My breakfast today.  Ever since I was a kid I couldn't understand how someone could ruin a perfectly good strawberry pie by adding something as tart as rhubarb to it.  Hated rhubarb ever since that ill-fated pie until last year.  My tastes have changed a lot since I was a kid (I used to think chicken was gross!) and especially so in the last few years.  I decided to give rhubarb another try.  WOW.  Boy am I in for a treat the rest of my life.  Even went so far as to get a rhubarb tart in Paris.  Dang.  Amazing fruit fabulousness in my mouth and tummy.  Does fruit get better than this in tart form?  I decided to find out.  Bought rhubarb for the first time yesterday and whipped up a compote because it sounded more fun than pie filling. The only thing I changed was mashing up the cooked fruit a bit (chunks were too big for little pies) and added some corn starch to thicken a little.  It made a ton and now I have to figure out what to do with it all because even after filling four hand pies I have probably 6-8 cups left.  Maybe a pie for work...  The filling is so delicious that I was tempted to eat my wooden spoon so as to not lose any of the sweet, red nectar that had soaked into the grain.  In my supreme laziness (and inability to do pie crust well) I went to the store and spent a fortune on pre-made, pre-rolled, non-evil ingredient pie dough.  Such a delight and much less work.  Totally worth it.  I assembled my little beauties with my new toy, et voila!

Pretend they look pretty because they taste amazing!

Still trying to book a cooking class for my groupon.  Hopefully will have more luck in August.  Going for an artisan flavored bread class this time.

Participated (i.e. watched someone else) put a lid back on to the APE cache.  It was fun to meet other people with my odd hobby and my car was finally discovered on the road!  Yippee!

Above is the original owner of the cache with the new lid that now has three coins riveted to it.  The new lid is now attached to the base AND the tree trunk it hides in so hopefully a ne'er do well jerk will walk away instead of considering it a new challenge.

In its new home.  :)

Am determined to ride my bike to work this week.  It wouldn't be so difficult if I weren't a wimp when it came to my hill that I live on.  It's going to happen!

Need a bigger place.  Got to have some storage to keep my beloved stuff.  Still miss my Bothell apt.  It was great.  In the spirit of that apartment I am trying to lure birds still to this one.  The weather has been so hot lately that almost all the suet has melted out of the feeder!  I got excited one day when I saw the composition was different and I thought I'd had a visitor pecking away.  But then I saw the ginormous grease stain underneath it on the balcony railing and now I know better.  Took the plant off the bird feeder (makes a great stand when the birds aren't around!) and filled it with water.  Hopefully the little guys will see the shimmer and come down to investigate.

Couldn't find a small tomato cage so I jury-rigged one of my own with twine and plastic plant stakes.  So far so good and hopefully it will continue to bear the burden of those juicy fruits.  When I have a place where I can drill my own holes with reckless abandon I'm going to get an upside down pot for tomatoes.  Then I won't have to worry about supporting it so much and it will look neat.

Was hoping to start playing with tofu soon given one of my latest cookbook purchases but am running into a small problem.  The bigger problem is that I don't like substitutes and will exhaust all other purchase options of the original before succumbing to the substitute.  Right now I'm on the hunt for pressed tofu (the small problem).  I won't spend too much time on it because I found that I can press firm tofu like you dry an agarose gel, namely putting absorbent things like paper towels on top, then a flat tray and then some weight.  I'd rather just buy the stuff but it's nice to know there is an easy (though time consuming) alternative.

Torturing myself with windermere.com lately looking at waterfront vacation homes for under 200k.  There are actually quite a few.  Unfortunately most of them are mobile homes.  Not sure exactly why so many water views are populated with mobile homes.  Digging this A-frame though.  Totally diggin on this super fabulous party site.  Trouble would definitely getting people up there though.  Too many of my friends think a ten mile trip is going to a foreign country.

Some day.  For now my beach house will remain in my head where it is perfect and no recession, salary, or reality can touch it.

Hiking

Went up to the pass for a longish hike.  Just over ten miles all told I think.  A little troubled by how tired I was at the end of it but a grand time nonetheless.  The end destination was Rainbow Lake but the pictures didn't turn out so well so I posted this little waterfall I walked by on the trail up to the lakes.  Reminds me of Hawaii.  At least, it would remind me of Hawaii if there hadn't been a drought when I was doing the waterfall route on the road to Hana.  Walked at least a half mile all over a dried up lake trying to find the giant cascade the guide book talked about until I realized what the giant concrete wall next to the cracked earth meant.  Hoping for a Hoh backpacking trip this summer and am a little worried that the first day will be ~10 miles but with a pack.  Hopefully I can put in some longer hikes before then and not be so wiped.  Tried out some bug repellent impregnated clothing and it worked great!  The little critters left me alone.  Normally I am a delicacy that they can't resist.  Hopefully the shirt, kerchief and hat will continue in buggier weather than I experienced on this hike (lightly buggy).

Gobbled up my first cherry tomato this weekend from my indoor plant.  That puppy will produce year round and they are so juicy and sweet!  Love it.  The fruit is so plentiful and heavy that I've had to string up the plant so it looks like a bondage scene gone awry.  Can't find a mini tomato cage so I'm not sure what else to do.  Kabob sticks, bulldog clips and twine won't keep it upright and happy forever.

It looks as though the worst of the hot weather is over which is sad because I just got my air conditioner all hooked up and pumping.  The first time I started it up I decided to take a short nap to better luxuriate in the coolness.  Glad thing I didn't leave the house!  Just when I was dozing off right and proper the thing starts gushing water like a fire hydrant.  Luckily my nap was on the couch nearby so I turned it off in a flash but it was still enough water that I used up my large bath towel sopping up the mess before it spread everywhere.  Turns out when I migrated it over from "storage" I didn't check to see if the stopcock was pushed in all the way.  Even though I've remedied that little issue I'm still paranoid it might build up enough pressure to have a similar incident.  So no A/C while I'm out and about.  Better for my electric bill for sure but less fabulous for  Ms. Sugs.  It still cracks me up when I walk in to find dead kitty pose on the hardwood.  Must be rough being wrapped in fur in 90 degree heat.  Poor girl.

The sunsets have just been amazing from my living room window.  The city and sky light up in all these amazing hues.  I keep taking pictures but they just don't do it justice.  There's a group of several buildings that light up like their surfaces are on fire and the twilight blue/gray sky behind them is just the perfect contrast.  Beautiful.

Still trying to maintain a eating healthy pledge I've made to myself but every now and a gain I fail spectacularly.  Take Friday night for example.  I get home tired from running errands all day and nothing looks good in the fridge.  But the freezer.  Now that looks tempting in my warm apartment.  So I proceed to finish off the better part of a pint of Half Baked Ben & Jerry's.  Should never have purchased three stinkin' flavors, even if they were only two bucks a piece.  They taunt me.  But I have done quite well with my flax seed oil supplemented breakfasts and I had a sandwich on the hike made with fresh veg, bavarian meat salami, and cheese of course, on 16 grain bread.  That should count!  Never mind the screaming from the fridge of the neglected spinach container that will be going bad shortly.  Maybe I could make creamed spinach?  I always love it when mom made it but every time I try the sauce turns out lumpy and sad.  Sometimes I think a roux is beyond me.

In preparation for the backpacking I leafed through my dehydration recipes for just such an event.  Have come up with several meals for brekkie, lunch, dinner and snacks that look appealing.  Wish there weren't so many that depended on super high salt pre-mixed taco seasoning and onion soup mixes.  Will have to check my Make-a-Mix book and see if there is a more favorable option for those.  Exciting!  The dehydrator has been getting quite the workout.  I'm hoping to make a garbanzo bean salad that reconstitutes well on the trail. A lot of the recipes call for what seems to be a Nalgene drinking bottle of a much smaller size.  Not sure where to find a small, wide-mouthed bottle that can withstand boiling water.  If I find them I would like to buy several.  Extra bonus if they have the looped cap that can be hung by a carabiner.

Hoping (kinda) that the weather turns to crap so I can be motivated to stay inside and finish up some baby presents.  Am behind but not tragically so.  Haven't missed a birth yet but I am cutting it down to the wire.

NPR made me laugh the other day.  Apparently about 400,000 people claimed on their US 2010 census forms that their religion was Jedi.  Awesome.  My friend sent me this link in response to my sharing the news. I love people.  And I love NPR.

Ain't Love Grand?


For me, it looks a little like this:

The name of my loved one?  All-Clad d5 Stainless Steel Sauté/Simmer pan, 4qt.  Just kind of rolls off the tongue, you know?  Our first dish together was the reason I sought out this pan - swiss chard a la bacon fat.  I love making and eating this but it has always been a chore to do so.  My one 10in fry pan was insufficient for containing all the goodness and I had to use a splatter pan under a too small lid to steam the greens (not pictured).  It functioned but lots of heat was lost and I dirtied more stuff than I needed to each time, including spillover from the pan itself every time I tried to mix.  No more, my friend.  Super sale at Williams-Sonoma of all places so I took advantage.  Mom will probably be annoyed again that I'm buying myself possible wedding presents again but I don't think I should have to wait to find a perma partner just to have a good covered skillet.  Or anything else.  Hats off to Tracy & Lee for the recipe several years ago that has become a staple in my life, whatever the season.


I don't think I've ever been so happy to see clouds covering the city as I was this morning.  I love that summer has come at long last but 90+ is too hot.  And I like my apartment because of the view  but have not been able to enjoy it the last week because of the need to seal out as much sunlight as possible.  Today is the start of the cooling trend and I couldn't be happier.  Just wish it wasn't going to cool so much.  Would sustained mid-seventies be too much to ask, really?  The cat is happier too, which she expresses by sleeping on her favorite perch atop two blankets on the corner of my couch by the window.  Contentness.


World Cup madness for the final today AND a Sounders match.  Will be soccered out by tomorrow for sure.  Until then, "¡Viva España!".


FINALLY planning another backpacking trip.  Joined a backpacking group and seem to have found some interested parties.  I sent the organizer my trip that I want to do (Seven Lakes Basin on Olympic Peninsula in the Hoh rainforest) and when and how I think we should go about it.  He seemed very eager to plan this so I've decided to start planning for success.  First up, food.  "A Fork in the Trail" and "Lip smakcin' backpackin'" have been moved up on the reading list.  I've made a couple of things out of them before and they have all been great.  Love eating good food.  And the plus side is that even if it isn't perfect after hiking all day anything at all tastes like a gourmet meal.  It's win-win.


Speaking of reading lists, been working through the Steig Larsson books.  It's been a bit of a problem, really. I wasn't too thrilled with the first one but book club comments convinced me (and the others) that the second and third ones were worth it so we pushed back our reading list to accommodate the second and third books.  The problem is that now that I have invested in reading them I like them better and I've been staying up too late reading.  A little over half way through the second one and I keep finding excuses to delay cooking, laundry, cleaning, eating, sleeping just to read.  Times like this I wish I read more quickly than I do.


Oh, and still in love with my "French Women Don't Get Fat Cookbook" breakfast recipe.  I make yogurt once a week and have finally found a reason to eat "cuties" or clementines.  I really like the word clementine. If it weren't for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind I would consider it as a baby girl name.  Cursing children is not my aim so it won't be on the list for future names.  Same goes for Ophelia.  Love it but just can't do that to a kid.  Back to the food.  I haven't actually made it any further in the book than breakfast.  Will have to remedy that.  And I still haven't touched my if-all-else-fails-it's-a-bludgeoning-device Spanish cookbook.  But after Lisbeth is through with me most likely.  Not enough time I tell you!  Is it bad that I dream of being independently wealthy so I can cook more and read recipes without the fuss of having to hold down a job?  Travelling is second but food is number one.  Off to make breakfast then.

Black Hole, with Stars and Stripes

A little dramatic but that is sometimes (a lot of the time) how I feel.  Time seems to spin away and I can only assume that it is eaten up by some black hole.  How did it get to be the 4^th of July weekend?  We haven’t had any decent spring weather much less summer.  It can’t possibly be time to blow stuff up and bring out the red, white and blue decorations.  I still remember being a kid and thinking that summer days dragged on forever and how much I loved the long break from school.  It allowed for fort building, bike rides, camping trips and swimming.  I’m not too big on the living room forts anymore, keep waiting for the weather to clear before riding my bike, camping trips are scheduled regardless (fingers crossed for no rain!) and swimming is a joke in Seattle unless it takes place at the city pool for aerobics.  And that’s not really swimming anyway.

I have managed to leave the house a little.  Hung out at the Solstice Parade and got a pretty sweet pic of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.  No noodley appendage for me as they were attacking the other side of the street at my point in the parade.  I loved that they handed out sidewalk chalk for all the kiddos (big and small) during space lapses in the procession.  Any other year that would have been my favorite part because it lasts so long on the road.  Our ill tempered weather has robbed me of that as well.  Had a father’s day dinner with lots of food and nice wine.  Would like to do that more often.  Not sure how to break in on a dining group though as I haven’t had any luck starting one on my own.

Meetup has been kind of light at the end of the tunnel for me.  Really should have joined sooner.  Even if I can’t make the engagements there is a world of possibilities with people that actually want to DO stuff.  Novel idea.  Haven’t found a free yoga group yet but I keep looking.  Board games group was a hit and I intend to do that more.  They meet so frequently it shouldn’t be too difficult to get my fill there.  There’s a travel group too but no surprise at the expense.  To be involved would involve some serious budgeting.  Still deciding how to place value and worth on different experiences and how that equates to a dollar sign.

Figured out how to make yogurt.  The “French Women Don’t Get Fat” cookbook has inspired me. Giovanna’s take on the author’s breakfast of choice has converted me to a Greek yogurt junkie.  Can make as much as I want with my dehydrator.  The first batch was a little runny so I used more starter and will incubate for longer this time.  Hoping it comes out thicker.  Delicious even when it’s not perfect though!

I actually sewed something, kind of.  I bought a shirt that fit perfectly but had too short of sleeves.  Practically the story of my life.  I decided to attempt to make short sleeves with a nice hem and everything.  It isn’t as it should be (the same stitching as the bottom hem) but I don’t think you can really tell.  The only bad thing is that after crowing my success I noticed after one wash one of the seams has already started to unravel.  Gah!  Not enough back stitching I guess.

Made my first (to the best of my knowledge) television appearance.  My boss spotted me watching the last US match of the World Cup at a pub downtown.  Kelly and I got there two hours early and still had to sit outside due to crowding.  Luckily we brought chairs the second time we tried to get in so we didn't have to stand for five hours.  Was fun even if we lost because we played so poorly.  Hello, heard of defense guys?

As if I hadn't had enough butt time in my camp chair I decided to check out a Twilight event at Fremont outdoor movies.  I thought they were showing Eclipse and having fanfare.  I was wrong.  They were having fanfare, a 10 minute teaser to Eclipse and then showing New Moon.  Was still fun even if I left way early due to freezing temps (despite layers, hat, gloves and a blanket).  Come ON summer!  The twi-hards, as they call themselves, were hysterical.  Truly mad.  I saw a 40+ woman kissing a cardboard cutout of Edward.  Ew.  There was one woman that brought a framed movie poster to sit next to her.  Another with a t-shirt that said, "future twi-hard" with a down arrow pointing to her belly.  Really?!?!  And anytime there were some shirtless shots - and if you know the books/movies there are several - there was a deafening squeal that probably made dogs uncomfortable.  The MC was going around at one point before the screening asking a lot of people what their favorite scene was from Twilight (movie or book).  A male photographer shooting the event got caught and responded, "the credits because then I knew it was over".  Ha.  and  =P

Geocaching craziness this weekend.  Looking forward to GeoWoodstock and starting the trifecta soon.

Update: Blogger wouldn't let me do jack this morning so I am here now post-GeoWoodstock.  It was lots of fun!

And nummy food.  Go Remlinger Farms!  Lots of interesting people and I purchased a TB for my car.  Our Blessed Lady of Acceleration is now a trackable item.  Sigh {tear}, I'm so proud!  I was mostly overwhelmed as I've never been to a mega event before.  Next time I'm bringing more money.  I think.  I got two caches that are the hidden in plain sight style.  Want to convince someone with a house to let me put one in their yard and I'm hoping to get one near work so I can monitor it during lunch.  And it would be awesome if I got Dad involved with his car - he drives everywhere in that thing!  Mine won't get too much love as it is mostly in a garage at home or in a garage at work.  It's the fuzzy white thing in the left bottom corner of my rear window.  It looks like this but mine is the other way up.

Someone stole the cover to the APE cache.  How freakin' rude.  They did it purposely, I'm sure, the day before 500 people gathered for the sole purpose of finding this cache.  Whoever you are, you are L-A-M-E.  And a rotten person that takes pleasure in the suffering of others.  Feel really bad about yourself and your act of selfishness and then give the cover back to groundspeak.

On schedule for the rest of this holiday weekend is fireworks from my deck for the big show that wasn’t supposed to go on and a day off before back to work insanity.  So much going on there I find it easier to not go into detail at the moment.  Will just make me mad.  Again.  Hoping for bluer skies!

Photo courtesy of Kelly, from my deck.

Ginger Beer

Like ginger ale but better!  No yeasty beer flavor so I am to assume it has as much to do with beer as root beer does currently.  Delish!  Picked up a bottle at the store and the next week purchased two four packs.  Mmm.  Seriously contemplating the juicer now so I can squeeze the life out of ginger root.  And anything else I want to juice.

Listening to the soundtrack for Ken Burns Jazz.  Awesome.  I'm so glad I watched that show years ago.  Taught me what real jazz is and that it can be more than enjoyable.

True Blood fest at Kelly's tonight.  Super fun.  She had gone to a fan event recently and picked up some neat post cards and had ordered herself some of the beverage and even a Merlotte's t-shirt! As if we were in Renard Parish, she cooked up her mom's recipe of gumbo.  Very tasty and not too spicy for wimpy ol' me.  Looking forward to many future Sunday nights in the same spirit, if with somewhat less fanfare.  Who knows?  Maybe more.  =D

Headed off to a cache event tomorrow night where I hope to be able to trade/send off my geocoin from Palma.  For some reason I feel guilty sending someone else's coin off like that but I can do what I will with my own coin, guilt free.  I was a bit bummed when I realized that marking myself online as having attended any event counted as a "found".  So I've revised my decision and I will still not log my finds of regular caches but I will attend whatever I want.  So there, brain, deal with that.

Picked up my farmer's market tomato plant today.  Been waiting for three things to happen for this to occur: me not busy on a Sunday morning, the weather isn't wretched, I'm not sick.  The stars aligned and I was able to make my purchase.  My last plant from the friendly worm farmer man and his wife produced beautiful, sweet cherry tomatoes year round on my south facing window sill.  That is, however, until a mysterious blight took the leaves by storm.  It's been about a year since I tossed the last plant (after much researching and failed attempts to bring it back) so I thought it would be time to try again.  There are blooms aplenty and several forming green fruits.  Yippee!  These things almost never make it into a salad because I pick them and eat them without leaving my view from the window where it grows.  So nummy!

I am refusing to look at the forecast and want to believe that summer is here now.  Such a nice weekend!  I even got a sunburn when I decided to eat lunch on Saturday on the roof.  Crazy.  At least (?) it was only one arm.

Saying goodbye to Chase forever this month.  I miss WAMU.  Even if they had bad lending practices.  Moving to USAA.  Customer service is ten times better.  So is the website.  Kiss it Chase!

Ciao for now.  Hopefully I don't fall into a work abyss.

Getting back to it.

Since the vacay I've been delinquent in my blogging and other duties.  Getting caught up at work seems like an impossible task most days and chores never go away, only grow.  What I have managed to do is purge my closet of winter gear for storage (just in time for the temperature dip!), print and Ikea frame 18 various vacation photos that I've taken over the years, sew a baby present (with many more to go), attend some Sounders games and try to exercise at least once a week.  Phew! I swear it is a lot.

Hit up the Cheese Festival and got cheesed out.  Didn't think that was possible.  Delish all the same.

Purchased a snake plant for the apt as they are supposed to be the best at detoxifying home air.  Every little bit helps and it looks neat.

Have been threatening to experiment with tamales.  Bought some and there they sit, waiting for the day I roast and mash them.  Hopefully I'll get around to it before they go bad.

Enjoyed a first Thursday art walk downtown and fell in love with a painting.  I tried to upload it to fb and email but no luck yet.

Went on my first night cache after this Saturay's Sounders game.  Too much fun sneaking around in the dark! Stayed on the B-G trail and got creeped out by glowing cat eyes and creepy crawlies.  Noticed a spider on my leg as I bent down to pet a kitty and promptly freaked out.  A lot.  Just before the freak-out I had mentioned the cat didn't have a collar and probably had fleas.  Kelly was quite understandably perplexed by the following spastic actions as I never got more out than, "AHHHHHHH!".  Once I had flicked off the spider I then began to imagine all the bugs I couldn't see or feel on my clothes and freaked out again, whipping of my coat, shaking it and wiping down every party of my body asking Kelly to double check.  She thought I was over-reacting to fleas still and was not understanding the severity of my case. It didn't help that every time I looked over at her pleading for assistance I blinded her with my headlamp.  It all worked out in the end.  At least I didn't see any more of the uglies.

Think I'm blogged out so I hope you enjoyed the long, long overdue updates!

Mediterranean Cruise 2010

To sum things up, it was a whirlwind, exhausting, sight-filled trip.  I wrote a bit each day in a travel journal and here are some excerpts and general thoughts on the day:

22 April
~ Waiting at SeaTac gate for adventure to begin!  It seems Eyjafjallajokull has stopped erupting long enough or bad enough to keep planes on the ground.  Should be a nice and uneventful hop across the pond!
~ Bejeweled on the pland & Top Gear - Sweet!  I remember the trips being worse.  Didn't really seem to bad.  Let's hope this continues with age.

23 April
~ Forgot about my money belt and set off the security scanner in Amsterdam airport.  My frisk search was extremely thorough.  Was a bit shocked, but I guess since the underwear bomber came through Amsterdam they are a bit careful in that area.  (Nothing too terrible, but was more of a squeegee down than a pat down.)
~ Arrived in Barcelona!  Today is St. Jordi Day, a day for lovers.  Guys are supposed to give their ladies a flower and the ladies are supposed to give their guys a book.  Crazy amount of people in the streets.  Tapas and sangria for dinner.  Mmm!  Kelly's first time to boot:

Gaudi architecture - amazing:

Purchased my Spanish souvenir, a lightweight pink and mauve scarf.

24 April

Slept in and then started the day off with bellinis:

You may also notice my favorite Spanish treat, magdalenas, accompanied by multi-vitamins and a banana.  Breakfast of champions!  Terrace of our fabulous room at the Praktik - highly recommended if you can get one of these rooms.

Next off to Gaudi park to see all the big sculptures including the wavy bench I've been wanting to go to since I learned about it studying abroad in 2000.  You can see the Sagrada Familia (perpetually under construction) in the background:

Paella for dinner and then off to the fountain show at the Fira.  With twilight coming on and colors for the fountain changing it was really neat.

25 April

~ Went to La Rambla / Las Ramblas and didn't get pick-pocketed!  And found our first Spanish cache in a telephone booth.  Lots of pet bunnies and birds for sale for some reason along the pedestrian walkway.  A few hours of wandering the gothic neighborhood of the city and then off to the cruise ship!  It is large, to be sure, but I had expected more the way everyone talks them up.  There is definitely a little bit of everything but think it is the issue of the quality goes down proportionately as the number of guests increase.  Still, a nice way to have someone drive you to another town while you sleep.

26 April

Hello Monaco.  I can see why Grace Kelly was swept away.  Beautiful!  Money from casinos really help with city beautification.  Walked into town from port and enjoyed the Jardins St. Martin.  Like the arboretum back in Seattle but with a tropical theme.  Walked all over town taking pictures of the gorgeous, ornate buildings, posh cars and general splendor.  Found one cache and Kelly managed to win a few Euro at the slots inside the Monte Carlo Casino.  Cameras had to be checked so no pics inside.

Walked to France. :)

Monte Carlo Grand Prix being set up so there were bleachers everywhere.  Kinda weird to see the city streets turned into a race track.  Ate DIVINE dark chocolate gelato here.

27 April

Port at Levorno so from port shuttle to city bus to train to Pisa and Florence.  Few!

Craziness.

Never knew Erika went to Pisa, much less broke Luca's heart by marrying Rick!

Lines were crazy long (and our time short) so we were not able to see Michelangelo's David.  But here is a pic of the sign of where he lives:

and the duomo was pretty impressive:

peek-a-boo!

It's too ginormous to fit into one picture (at least for my camera) so you'd be better off google-ing it.

Bought my Italian souvenir here, a leather coin purse like the one in the link.  Originally saw them in Germany ten years ago and fell in love with their utility and craftsmanship.  Paid a little too much for it but I love it anyway and I did attempt to haggle.  So I consider it a success. 

Crazy thunder storm on the train back to the boat.  Train stopped for at least half an hour and I'm still not sure why it was necessary.  Reminded me of a scene in a HP movie, actually.  I was half expecting a dementor to show up.

28 April

Rome.  Egads, there is stuff everywhere.  Sistine Chapel first and foremost.  Amazing.  So much cool stuff.  Then we circumnavigated Vatican City and found two caches in the walls.  Saw the Pope in St. Peter's square.  Trevi Fountain (tossed a coin as directed, to ensure a return trip to Rome), Spanish Steps, Colosseum, Circo Massimo.  

Pantheon.  Wow.

Outside, big but blech.

Inside - yowza!

29 April

Naples.  Ugly, sad city.  Don't bother visiting unless you are using it as a through point between other cities.  Got lost in train station.  Took two wrong trains.  FINALLY made it to Pompeii.  Sweet.  Uber hot and we should have opted for the tour.  Got some good pics despite ourselves.

Fruits stands sell fresh squeezed juice.  Thought a lemonade would be nice on a hot day but it was room temp, unsweetened lemon juice.  Pucker, pucker.  Should have gone for the orange.  Ah well.  Next time.

Creepy plaster cast of dead person.  Felt really intrusive and odd to take pics even though it is just a mold.

Reminds me too much of Rainier...

30 April

A sea day, thank goodness.  Totally exhausted from all the running around.  It was nice to have a day off.  We saw a show, one a trivia competition, watched a comedy spin-off of the Newlywed Game with cruise guests.  Slept.  Ate.  Chocoholic Buffet in the main dining area.  A good day.

01 May

Palma, Mallorca.  Holiday so everything was closed.  Good thing Groundspeak was celebrating geocaching's 10th birthday!  Went to the event and was able to meet some fellow international cachers and take some bugs and coins home with us.  One Mallorcan cacher had turned his vehicle into its own cache!  

I asked him why his van was so girly and he said the word for this type of vehicle has a feminine article ("la" as opposed to "el") so it could and should be girly with no affect on him what-so-ever.  Great sense of humor!

02 May

Very frustrating day.  Glad to make it to the hotel in Paris (eventually) and get the last leg of our journey on the right foot.  Problems at every step along the way from Barcelona to the steps of the hotel room door.  Gah!  Uninformative cruise ship employees leading to expensive taxi, creepy potential pick-pocket man, horrible airline ticketing agents, trapped inside a train station AND the metro, evil Parisian metro worker faking not understanding us, and I am incapable of passing through any doorway in Paris requiring a passkey.  AAAAAAAH!

Our new neighborhood is right next door to the Moulin Rouge and various Amelie shoot locations.  Sacre-Coeur is so very beautiful.

Ate at General Lafeyette and was very pleasantly surprised by the house wine.  Better by far than 90% of expensive reds I've tried in the states.  It's just not fair I tell you!  So cheap and so delicious.  The entrée (which, after I thought about it not so surprising, the appetizer and not the main course) was amazing.  Really. My meal: 31Euro got me an amazing apertif, asparagus rissoto wrapped in prosciutto with gorgonzola cream sauce, veal in a gravy with rice pilaf, crème brûlée, the amazing house red wine and several demi-baguettes.  I was bloated and oh so happy.  Took a constitutional to see the Arc de Triomphe at night and the Tour Eiffel.  At midnight the Eiffel Tower lit up with twinkle lights as opposed to it's regular, steady glow.  Awesome.

03 May

Despite being late to bed it was early to rise for the Louvre.  Able to get as close as possible to the Mona Lisa but that ended up being pretty far away, behind bullet proof glass, thirty feet and a velvet rope.

So many wonderful things to look at.  Will have to go back and spend at least a week visiting the Louvre and other museums.  Multiple days required for sure!

Notre Dame was next and after running around the city we put on our glad rags and headed out for our expensive night out at the Moulin Rouge.  

It was over the top but quite a fun experience.  Not just dancing girls and their high kicks and bare chests, but a magician, clowns, acrobats, ventriloquist, dancing girl swimming with snakes, miniature horses running around and lots of lip-syncing to the show tunes.  Wow.  A lot to adsorb.  Food was pretty good too and the half bottle of champagne, each, made all the lights and sounds that much more interesting.

04 May

Woke up with a mission: find fabulous cheese, meat and a baguette for lunch.  Took a bit longer than I anticipated (wanted quality for sure over easy tourist food) but I did it.

Kelly's lunch on top; I didn't eat everything you see.  ;)  And it was so divine.  Was in heaven for quite a while.  Only thing missing was that house wine from the General Lafeyette.

Musée d'Orsay allowed me to see one of my most favorite paintings by Renoir - Dance at the Moulin de la Galette.  Some jerk made the actual location private for residents so this was the only pic I could grab:

but I did get to stare at the painting for a good long while and dream myself into it.

As an aside, I wrote in my journal, "Does everything taste better in Paris?".  I think it does. Rhubarb tart, croissant, crème brûlée, baguette, all food.

Checked my Hungry in Paris book for a dinner suggestion and was not disappointed.  If you are ever there go to Le Mesturet.

I had (in French cuz it sounds better but I will miss some of the special characters):

Le entrée: Aubergine grillée a la tomate et au chevre frais de la fromagerie Lethielleux

Le plat de Grand-mere: Pot au feu aux trois viandes, os a moelle et légumes, fleur de sel

Le Dessert: Gateau mi-cuit au chocolat, coulis de cacao et glace cardamome

Took a stroll down the Champs-Élysées and actually went in to Louis Vuitton.  I couldn't afford the dust in that store, if it even has dust.  Crazy!

So many fabulous things in Paris I don't know if I could ever be done.  Definitely going back.

The big 3-0.

No, that is not a score against life but now my age. (Pretend this post is back in mid-April.) A bit of an underwhelming birthday I must say.  My big plans fell through :( but I was able to snag a few friends for some fondue dinner and I stuffed myself accordingly.  Always nice to get dressed up a bit and go out for a meal.  Dadders came through with an enormous Spanish cookbook (1080 Recipes by Simone and Inés Ortega) and mom has yet to deliver on the shared meal at Sea Breeze Farms.  To be fair, I got horrendously sick the Saturday we were planning to go and now we're just waiting for the weather to clear up a bit so the farm tour portion is less icky.  Lovely sing song from the sis and fam.  I think my favorite part of those phone calls is the parental coaching.  "Say happy birthday... say I love you!".  Totally precious.  The kids perform well for birthdays.  It was only the next week I was off for vacation so April treated me pretty well.

BBQ

That's right!  It's staying light later and later and the last week or so there have been several days (weekends included!) with no rain.  That's right folks, spring may finally have come to Seattle!  I have tested out several  recipes including:

grilled salad - stack slices of grilled eggplant and tomatoes (drizzled in olive oil, salt and pepper before grilling), throw in some fresh basil, perhaps your favorite cheese (mozzarella slices, feta, chevre) et voila!

chicken wings - too much lemon juice and not enough hot sauce but the recipe is totally tweakable so I'm not worried - awesome!

grilled dessert - I have learned that you can't go wrong with grilling half a peach and then while the rounded side is grilling (grill the cut side first then flip) add a dollop of goat cheese to the hole where the pit resided until nice and melty.  Fabulous with a sprinkling of pepper - yes, pepper - or granulated sugar.  Or get crazy and try a flambé with your favorite liquor.  There are a million variations for grilled fruit with some sort of topping and they are all amazing.

I'm making myself hungry, or at least salivate.

Started playing with drinks too.  Tried an interesting recipe for mojitos but I don't think the prosecco was for me.  Or the darker rum.  Will make again with silver rum and club soda.  The infused simple syrup was to die for though - could drink that straight up (almost).

Have become mildly obsessed with ginger beer.  Want to make dark & stormy drinks with it but I might like it outright.  I'm a big fan of ginger ale and think this might be fabulous like root beer.  Want to go the unfermented route so I'm not sure if it will still qualify as beer when I'm done.  Considering a juicer purchase and seltzer thingy to aid in the process.  Will update later.

Am obsessed with sold shampoo/conditioner/cleanser bars.  Initially was interested for the trip so I could minimize liquids and allow for copious sunscreen carry-on.  Have, in addition, opened the floodgates to super fun and fabulous smells for less chemically products.  Playing with Lush samples at the moment and awaiting eagerly some Arcadia Aromatics coconut shampoo and conditioner.  What I love so far about Lush:

Trichomania solid shampoo - smells fabulous (coconut) and actually works.  Super lather.
Aromarant solid and Coconut powder deodorants - work almost as good as Secret and Degree and all that but smell way better and don't stain clothes or leave white marks everywhere.
Aqua Marina face cleanser - a paste so it still counts as a travel liquid but it cleans up my face and leaves it silky smooth.
Catastrophe Cosmetic (UK site, can't find it on the US one) face mask.  Again with the silky fabulousness.  Not going to use for travel as it is a paste and needs to be stored in the fridge.  Both this and the face cleanser are nice to my sensitive skin.  I get beet red with the slightest rub on my face but these just don't cause that to happen.  Fabulous.
Buffy - shower bar that exfoliates.  The scent is strong for me (sensitive nose) but it isn't enough to stop me from using it.  The exfoliation feels like a nice back scratch and the oils moisturize so well that I don't have to put on lotion when I get out of the shower.  This is a big deal for me.  Awesome.
Alkmaar soap.  It's soap.  Works well and has a nice, mild smell.  Will get more of that.

I could take or leave their one solid conditioner.  It doesn't lather well; I end up rubbing it straight onto my hair. It does work though when you get around to applying it all over.  The smell is not my favorite but it isn't bad.  Smells more like a guys's shampoo to me.  I want the fruity/flowery stuff!

Have decided to steer clear of their liquid products for the time being.  I'm happy with my moisturizers and toner (homemade by moi).

Jazz.
Always thought I hated it.  Never knew I liked it until I saw Ken Burn's Jazz on tv years ago.  I totally had a light bulb moment where I said to myself, "Oh, that's why people like jazz."  Decided to revisit and did so via itunes.  Listening to it now and love love love it!  Perfect Sunday morning music too.  Sunny day, me doing laundry.  Can't really say why but it made the morning!  And now the evening too...

Have laid out almost all of my trip clothes and accessories.  Should fit in the bag so that is good.  Trying to find a second travel shoe in case the weather makes a turn for the worst.  I love the shoes I found but they do, afterall, have holes in the sides.  And I need some shower shoes/flip flops.  Mine are dead dead dead.  All in all, if I had to leave tomorrow I could.  :)

Was very disappointed to find that my kindle cover does NOT fit the book light that was co-advertised with it on Amazon.  In discussions with the company to get a different jacket but I doubt I'll be able to receive anything by the time I leave.  Not really keen on taking the kindle on a trip unprotected.  Will have to see what happens.

Ye olde brain is taxed so I'll call it a day.  On-wards to work tomorrow.  Blech.