My wild, passionate love affair

Tricked you.....you thought I was talking about a guy, didn't you? Read on...

I went to TjMaxx today, a place I rarely visit, as in never! I'm looking for a shirt to go with this cute skirt I bought and I as I drove by, I figured why not stop in for a look. Well, I found a shirt that should work as well as two other cute ones...and then I noticed all the bedding on sale. I needed a new set of sheets, so I meandered over there. The quality of these sheets are amazing! 300, 310, 400, 600 (!!!!!) count sheets for $29-59! Not just one sheet, but they whole shebang (fitted, flat, 2 cases)! I found a 400 count set that looked nice and felt, well, like I'd imagine our beds in heaven will feel like, should we have beds.

I continued to meander and went over to the sale table where I can get an additional 25% off already reduced items. Nothing much of interest....until.....on the edge, tucked under some towels, was this gentle purple (I hope you know what I mean by that) that caught my eye. I had to find out what this color belonged to as it was heaven! After lifting away the towels, I gasped....a 400 count sheet/duvet set (flat, fitted, 2 cases, duvet cover, and 2 shams!!!) reducded to $58 dollars plus an additional 25% off!!!! I unzipped the corner and reached my finger in to feel the material. It was as soft as a baby's bottom! I prayed, "Lord, I know you don't encourage us to steal, and I plan on paying for this, but at this price I feel like I'm stealing from this store. Forgive me, Amen"

Anyway, I wandered up front to the cashier, sure that when she scanned it I would be informed that this wasn't really on sale and I would have to pay the full price, $225! I held my breath, and it rang up at $43.50! I dashed to my car, screeched into my parking spot and sprinted into the house as I was ripping open the package. Everything was shoved into the washer and it was started, the whole while I was mentally calculating if I could get it washed, line dried and on my bed before I had to leave for work in 3 1/2 hours. I'm not sure, but by all that is holy, I am going to try. They could try and kill me tonight at work, and I won't care as long as I can come home and sleep on these sheets!

Thanks for listening to my story about my love affair with these sheets. It just proves it doesn't take much to make me happy.

Phantom of the Opera

I went to see the Phantom of the Opera last night with some people from church. Overall I enjoyed it (it is the Phantom after all), but I was disappointed in the quality of the production. I felt it was more like a college production, rather than a Broadway production. The singing was good, but the performers mics weren't balanced, so when when they sing as a group, all you heard was noise, not individuals voices. The volume on the mics for most of the main characters was so low, that you could hardly hear them, even if they were the only ones singing. The special effects were lacking, and the set design was lame. Maybe it was the fact that is was at the Paramount and they don't have quite the fancy stage like the 5th Avenue (I think thats where I saw it last). I felt bad for the people that came with me. None of them had seen the Phantom before, and this was not a good showing. I think they kind of regretted putting out good $$ to see it. Lacking is the best way to describe it....very lacking.

http://www.myheritage.com/collage

Star Wars Dreams and the Puyallup Fair

Have I told ya'll about the Star Wars dreams I randomly have about my friends? If not, I do have random SW (star wars) dreams in which my friends become characters...its a sign that you are a good friend. Anyhoo, has I have a SW dream in which a friend in present, I go and get them a figurine of their character...to mark the momentous occasion.

Well, I finally had a dream in which my friend Ben (Rachel's brother, for those of you who know Rachel) appeared. He is officially known as Clone Wars Obi-Wan Kenobi. I gave him his character on Sunday and he promptly used his Force powers to find me some Otter Pops (the push up sugar water popcicles).

I had been unable to find them in several stores, and after mentioning this on Sunday, he was adamant that they were at QFC (the one by my house, where I went, did not have them). So apparently after dropping us off at the girl's house on Sunday, he drove to another QFC, found them, and then drove them back to the cabin (which I had left only 5 minutes prior), where he left them in the freezer with the following message : I used my Obi-Wan Jedi powers to find these (or something along that line). After getting back from church that night (which I chuckled through because of the message), I left him the following voice message :Master Obi-Wan, your power in the Force is quite impressive. The Otter Pops will be enjoyed for many planetary rotations.

I don't know why I shared this story, you really would have had to have been there, but it reminded me of 3 things: 1) I'm blessed to have such good friends, 2) Otter pops are so good, and 3) Ben does not like to be wrong.

On other news, I just got back from doing the Puyallup Fair. I haven't been to a fair in probably 10 years and I now remember why. It was hot, crowded, and boring. I swear the craft exhibits and animals were just as I remembered the last time I was at the fair, nothing has changed, except the price! I went with Beth, which made it fun, so I don't regret it. I'm now good for another 10 years. I also don't like how the Puyallup is set up in comparison to the Evergreen State Fair. The craft and animals barns at the Evergreen are nice and lined up and flow pretty well. To contrast that, the Puyallup is all over the place! There is a craft barn next to the cows, which is in the middle of the food booths, which is next to the rides, which is next to the rabbits and birds...???? Random! Out of courtesy for the fair gods, I ate a corn dog and had a elephant ear, both of which were less than stellar. Then at the bathroom stop on the way to the car, some wonderful person decided to smoke in the stall next to me! I ended up with a massive headache, which is still lingering. Yuck, I hate smoke!

Trip to PCC

So I braved a trip to the opening of a PCC just down the street here in Edmonds. If you are not familiar with PCC, it's a market that has all/only organic produce/food/products. Now I am not 100% into things organic. I mean, does it really matter if my paper towels are made organically, or if my mac and cheese is organic? Especially when it costs more? I do however, like my organic meats and some vegetables and fruits, and am willing to pay more for them.

Anyway, so PCC moved in and I am very excited. I drove down the street and as I got closer I started noticing many cars parked on the side of the road, which is unusual in this part of town. I keep driving and traffic is getting worse. I turn into PCC and it is like a car lot, seriously...a car lot! People are honking, blocking traffic, cutting people off. Not a picture that goes hand in hand with mellow organic people, in my opinion. After driving around and parking wwwaaayyy away, I meander in to the store where I am now blocked by human traffic. It takes me three minutes to actually push my cart through the doors and enter the store. Insane! I realize now that I should have waited at least a week before coming here.

I head to the meat department to get some chicken and I am astounded by how rude people are. Not verbally rude, but grocery store manners rude. Am I the only person who knows its rude to stop and "park" in the middle of the aisles? I know you are looking at a product, but please park your cart to one side or the other so that others can get by....not in the center where you hold up traffic while you debate the merits of this organic pop over that organic pop. You also should not leave said cart parked while you wander to another aisle so that you don't have to fight the traffic you caused. I managed to grab my chicken and the other items on my list and fought my way to the front where the lines where 15 people deep in every lane and there I sat for 35 minutes while waiting to get to the register. Another lesson in manners....you don't get in line and then send someone out to grab 20 more items you purposely didn't get because you knew the line was going to take a while. RUDE! One item, sure...two items, ok...but not 20!

I felt so bad for the employees..they had people commenting on how unorganized and crowded everything was and how long they had been waiting. People, really....its opening day! Did you expect to get in and out in 5 minutes? I thought everything was as well organized as could be expected and said so to the friendly employee who was working the line trying to sooth the ruffled feathers around me. Poor woman, they are not paying you enough to deal with this...I understand customer service completely. Sometimes they don't pay me enough to deal with the crap I get from patients (by the way, my new favorite slogan is: RN - trained to save your a**, not kiss it!). I left the store and decided that I would wait for a few weeks until I went back, but I am still thankful they opened.

In other news, I'm working on my Guatemala support letters for this next year. I can't believe it's time again, but it is. I also feel uncomfortable sending these kinds of letters out, I feel like I'm begging for money. I know that people like to donate and that it's not money for me, but for a very good cause, but I still feel uncomfortable. Last year, my whole trip was paid for by donations, and I'm hoping for the same this year. I'm going to put word out at work, and at church, so hopefully, some of those single people with extra money want to donate. Look for your letter soon!

Camping Trip to Camano Island

Back in July, my friends Abby and Beth and I went camping at Camano Island State Park. The campground was very nice, the beach was very rocky and a loooonnngggg hike from the campground (it actually was just steep, not long). Abby and I came over on Friday and then Beth came Saturday night. The weather held until Sunday morning when it poured. We managed to pack up the camp (everything except the tents was put in the car the night before in anticipation of rain, this is Washington after all), in just under 30 minutes. Then we went to some cafe for lunch where I had the biggest club sandwich ever...I mean EVER! It was about 8 inches tall (ask the girls if you don't believe me) and I was only able to eat one fourth of it. I wish I had gotten a picture of this sandwich, just so people would believe me. Anyway, here are some pictures from our trip.


An early version of the headlamp.

I was trying to look coy, but instead I managed to look very evil, especially since my black coat blended in with the night. Scary!











I'm king of the world! It was really windy.

Trip to the Zoo

Yesterday Mom, Jenni, and I took Ethan and Gwen to the Zoo. The weather was great..overcast and cool in the AM and then sunny and warm around lunch time. I think we managed to see everything we wanted (except the nocturnal house as there was a line!). The kids even got to pet goats at the "petting zoo". Whatever happened to a variety of animals, such as pigs, cows, chickens, etc....just goats! That hardly counts as a zoo. Here are some pictures from our trip.



The kids riding the Komodo Dragon


Mom and the kids on the Monkey sculpture...they couldn't stop climbing for a good picture.



Gwen and I riding the baby elephant (don't worry, no baby elephants were harmed in the taking of this picture)