Seattle's Downtown Public library.

spring ride

Bonding. My work decided it would be a good idea to plan some outside-the-office events. As a result, we headed up to Steven's Pass last Saturday. I was reluctant to go. I'm not even sure why. Long week. Felt I'd gotten in a sufficient amount of boarding already this season. Lazy. In the end I hopped on the bus and ended up having the best day. They surprised us by footing the bill for the lift tickets and had snacks and beers for the ride home. It was sunny. Thirty degrees. And so much fun to laugh and relax with people I don't usually spend time with outside the office.

Until next season.

spirituality.

Its Easter today. Happy Easter! I didn't go to church. I haven't been very religious for a while and for a long time it weighed on me heavily. At some point in the last several months, I sort of let go and allowed myself to be who I am, and not feel badly about a lack of religious involvement in my life. And it feels good.



I did go to my own little version of church though in talking to grandma Peg today. She had been to mass several times throughout Holy week and in one of the services the pastor actually asked the congregation to act out the story of Jesus washing the apostles' feet. The congregates actually sat and allowed someone to wash their feet and then swapped and did the same for another person. Grandma P said this had always sort freaked her out. Feet. Washing. Someone else touching her feet! But for some reason this time she decided to participate, and in his homily the pastor spoke about the act of doing something for someone else. How the opportunity to do something for someone is present in our every day lives. Whether its opening the door for an elderly person, being a listening ear for someone in need, giving a hug or just consciously thinking nice thoughts about other people, we should be present in our daily lives and make this effort of doing things for people something greater than just every once in a while or when we feel like it. We have this opportunity and really why not? Be conscious. Be present.

To me that seemed pretty powerful. And of course Grandma P tells just about anything in a way that chokes you up or moves you in some way ...so I'm sure I've missed some of the power in her delivery, but in any case, its a great message. Thanks, Gram!

Happy Easter.

spring is here

As of last Thursday.

bikes and beers. lots.

Bess invited me to volunteer and attend the Bike Works Sixth Annual Auction at the University of WA last Saturday. J was supposed to be her date, but had to go out of town at the last minute. And just by splendid coincidence, Lisa and Pete were also volunteering. A great Saturday night.



Originally Bess had asked me as a favor. Let me see, a cool event for a great cause and the beer and wine are free all night. Tough call.

Being that I'm hoping to make this summer my biking summer, it was a great inspirational kickoff for me. Bikers are cool! And Bike Works is a great organization. Kids are given the opportunity to learn bicycle repair over eight class sessions, then swap hours of community repair for their own recycled cycle. It takes 24 hours of "Earn-a-Bike time" outside of class to earn a bike.

A sucker for silent auctions, I started penciling in my 266 all over the place. As the cutoff time loomed, I started noticing I was still winning on more items than I was willing to pay for. A quick scribble out, and a swoop in during the five-second countdown, and I walked away with a bike rack for my car.



Then we drank Mothership Wit.

Lots.



Here's me with my auction WIN!

Sending smiles:

A package arrived in my mailbox yesterday. I recognized the handwriting on the address immediately. Suz snail-mailed me a little bit of cheer in the form of the I [heart] The Hoff Super Fantastic Activity Fun Book. And it is, fantastic.






Thanks miss. So thoughtful. I can't wait to see you next month! Love you.

art and B

Miss B and I got together for dinner + the Ballard art walk a little while back. As usual it was good food, good wine, and good chat.


We popped into Greener Lifestyles, a fantastic environmental store where I purchased some glasses. They have great furniture too. Bess and I fell in love with the Dolci chase made with organic wool.



Oh, and check out this sign we passed on our walk. Hmmm...

finding.

I keep finding cool items. Here's something I wish I could give to anyone with kids!




Pretty much this site is the coolest thing I've seen in a really long time. So many great items. Such fun and interesting design. Check it: http://www.designboom.com/eng/ OR click here

nervous.

A couple of weeks ago I had dinner with B. Dinner turned into a few drinks turned into 2am, lights on, time to go home. On a Wednesday. We had the best time just talking and laughing and catching up. At one point B said, "I'm nervous". Nervous? She explained that she had been thinking about the upcoming summer and after reflecting back on all of the things we had packed into last summer, she was nervous that summer '08 would not live up. Last summer = camping. twice. fruit loop bike trip. Mt Adams climb. half marathon. tennis lessons.

I laughed, thinking how sweet and silly Miss B was being. Of course this summer would be fantastic.

Then last weekend I got nervous.

I don't know if it was the fact that I haven't had much going on lately or that Miss B will be leaving for the entire month of July, but suddenly I started to panic. After all, this time last year we already had our date set for the Mt. Adams climb AND had signed up for a half marathon to use as training.

I feel like I need to put summer goals down on the calendar. Put them here in my blog. Create some sort of accountability as to insure another summer of amazing experiences.

So here goes a little laundry list of things I'm hoping to pack into Summer '08, in no particular order:

STP (Seattle to Portland bike classic) ...the RSVP is sold out. Shoot!
Mt. Adams climb ..this time we'll summit. Possibly June 21.
Camping. July 4 + hopefully a few more times
Trip to Portland
Trip to Eastern Washington
As much tennis as possible
Growing herbs on my deck
Adding a new patio door to my condo
Ann's wedding in MN
Sewing with Bess. This needs to happen.
Possibly a triathlon...
Getting to know a certain someone who will be living here. :)

So there it is.

I can't wait for summer!

Scrabulous.

Online Scrabble. I've got SIX games going right now. Slight obsession. Its great because you can just play a word, walk away and do things, check back later to see if your opponent has played...and there is no pressure nor does it take you away from daily tasks. Plus I'm neck and neck with Tim A right now and its so satisfying. AND yesterday I had a 72 point word score. I played all my letters: GLINTING.

Other words I'm happy with:
DOUCHES
BONER
QUIRED
DOJO
MAW (worth a lot in tile placement!)

And I'm getting better at scoring in several directions.

let tennis begin.

We skipped out of work a bit early on Wednesday and hit the tennis court. Doubles. Its been so unbelievably sunny here in Seattle. Spring is teasing us. And all I can think about is that Sunday brings another hour of daylight for after work tennis. I can't wait!

big bro.

Happy Birthday, Mister. Love ya.

recharge.

Little miss social Andrea was not so much this weekend. And it was pretty great. No offense to all of you I socialize with.

Coffee + Reading Dwell. Twice. Saturday and Sunday.


Made soup.



Watched Movies. Sicko. See previous heated post.


Two long runs outside. Sunny. So great.

Quik House.

I've been a big supporter of prefab housing for a while now. Though I still think keeping existing structures is more important than building new, its important to me to exist in a space I feel good in. Something functional. Something efficient.


I don't want to own some huge 3,000 square-foot home where not only do I have to buy lots of things to fill it up, but I have to clean it and pay to keep it heated. I'd love to buy one of Adam Kalkin's shipping container homes. The containers come in from China stuffed with consumer goods and then hit the scrap heap, and he uses them because not only is it reusing something but they offer interesting design possibilities. The Quik House kit can be purchased for $119,000 and that includes six containers and all required glass, plumbing, wiring and walls. He estimates that it takes $65,000 of additional work to turn it into a three-bedroom, 2,000 square-foot home...which still seems huge.




I'm never going to say never, but I just don't think I can live in a traditional home! These are so cool!

Here's a link with tons of cool modular homes if you're interested.

healthcare tirade.

So I'm watching Sicko RIGHT NOW and I'm so blown away that I have to write as I watch. We've all heard the jokes and phrases of, "I'm moving to Canada!" and in all honesty, I've never really known much about the healthcare system there except that its universal and no one pays. I'm not going to say I have all of the answers about socialized programs and government, but this seems to be a no-brainer. How is it ethical that in a situation of emergency we have to find a place that's "In-Netork" otherwise we stand to pay thousands of dollars for care that may not be covered under our insurance programs? Or if you can't afford healthcare in the first place, and something bad happens, you have to decide whether to go into insurmountable debt or not have a procedure done? Don't even get me started on pre-existing conditions. When you stand back and think about it, its mind-blowing.

In Canada, England and other countries, no one pays for healthcare. Yes, they are paying more in taxes, but a Canadian gentleman talked about it explaining, "We all pay so that everyone can go. I don't deserve it more than the next person. We take care of each other...and healthcare is something that should cross all beliefs - democrat or republican." Michael Moore then said, "Well, you must be a liberal." His response, "I'm actually a conservative." In England a gentleman explained, "Its as non-contraversial as womens' right to vote. No one could say, 'Why should women have the right to vote?' And if Tony Blair had even mentioned changing the healthcare system, there would've been a revolution."

The problem is that so many people are making so much money off of our healthcare system here in America. I'm certainly not an America hater or a conspiracy theorist, but anyone can look and see the public information that insurance CEOs are millionaires and some of the biggest supporters of presidential candidates and congressional representatives. Scary! And I fear that even if we were to come up with a universal solution, America would screw it up somehow. ..Because someone would have to benefit monetarily. That's just the way it works here. I'm not going to sit here and say that other countries don't have problems and don't have policies that are bad. I just wish we could start making some changes here. I wish we weren't spending billions of dollars on the Iraq war and could change our healthcare and education policies. And I really hope the election this fall gives us that opportunity.

My grandma Peg called while I was watching the movie and we all know how much I love her. Good timing. I started my rant. Grandma's response was, "Well, what are you going to do about it?" Did I mention I love her? I didn't have an answer, but she did. She told me to take care of myself. Prevention. Then she went on to tell me that her biggest problem at the moment was a daddy, mama and two baby squirrels taking up residence in her gutters. She got on a ladder and climbed up to try and take care of the problem by scaring them. I love her will! ...but Grandma, don't fall off. We need healthcare reform first!