Catching Up

First things first. I moved. Currently I live about three blocks uphill from my work. This is great right now and will really be annoying in the winter. I will try to track the number of bruises from slipping then. For now I enjoy seeing the beautiful sky on the way down hill to work, and I like working off my frustrations on the way up hill to home. Other than that the current draw back is no internet access at home. It likely won't get it set up for another month, maybe more.
Forth of July was nice, though I miss the fireworks in my favorite aunt's small town. A really good friend came up that weekend and it was nice to have a girlfriend around again. I did get to see fireworks, but it wasn't impressive.
I'm still working too much. My computer system at work has decided to go haywire. The day we discovered the scope of it I nearly cried. All the work I had done over the previous month, all the long hours and lost weekends, down the drain. I had manager after manager call and ask what had happened to the pricing. Finally the pricing manager sent out a message explaining what had gone kablewy. Sadly that was July 3. Not a great start to the holiday. On the flip side when I told my boss that I was taking a the afternoon off his only response was "me too, don't tell."
My boss is great. He got an iphone and was so impressed with himself when he finally downloaded a song that he announced it to everyone. He even walked from cube to cube to show us. It was cute.
I went camping this past weekend for the first time in a very long time. My favorite tour guide's entire extended family goes every year. That was interesting. For the most part I had fun just hanging out with him, and occasionally one of his cousins. His mother is still campaigning for a wedding, but she's getting better about being subtle. Largely I pretend I don't notice and try to chalk it up to her being nice.
There's more, but it will have to wait. The cafe I'm at is closing.

Playing catch up

School: For the most part I like it. My prof is great. He has two different MBA's and a law degree. He leads the class discussion well and I love the subject matter. I enjoy the class discussions more now that it is not just myself and two others talking. The draw back is my classmates don't talk to me. When I pass them at break they turn away slightly. Not much, but enough to discourage me from joining the conversation. I'm hoping the fall will be better.

Birthday: Very good. My boyfriend and I met some friends at my favorite wine bar on the night of my birthday. The next day a really good friend and I went on a weekend cruise. It was my first cruise and I really liked it. I had to pretend that I was on a spaceship in order to fall asleep at night. It also helped to do that when we hit rough water.

Work: Overwhelming. I know enough now to get stuff done, I just can't seem to do so. It drives me nuts and I don't know where to start. My co-workers are better now that the character who used to help me is gone. Without his continually antagonizing ways the department gets along as a whole much better. It has meant a lot more cooperation between everyone so we're doing much more cross training than before. Mostly I like that the tension in the department has dropped and its really nice.

Home life: I've found a new place to live. Right now I have the best roommate I've ever had. The only problem is she is engaged and her fiance owns our home. That means that when the get married he is going to be living here. So, I will be moving July 4th weekend to a place much closer to work. I will be renting a daylight basement with a walk in closet and a full bathroom. It is close enough to work that I'll be able to walk there. Better yet, I'll be able to walk to church.

Favorite Tour guide: Make me laugh all the time. We went to the Ballard Locks again yesterday. The sun was out and it was gorgeous out. I finally managed to tickle him by twirling a blade of grass against his skin. He took my toy away from me and tickled me back. It was a lot of fun. We sat and talked for hours enjoying the sunshine and each other's company. Then we went to a friend's house for a bbq. Dinner was filled with more laughing and really good food.

Best for last: My younger sister is on her way to the hospital to have her baby!

Sometimes the best we can do is breathe and reboot. SJP

CA girl at heart

It is beautiful here. Washington is aptly named the evergreen state, and the number of views here are countless. At least this is what I tried to remind myself when my jeep got covered in snow yesterday. The snow is gone now. Today was slightly warmer, and it rained as well, so it cleared it out. However, I know its going to come back. It’s barely December and we have the whole of winter to get through.

I wasn't really caught off guard by the snow. Not only did I know that it snowed here before I moved, it snowed the weekend I visited Seattle a year ago. That was when, in spite of the snow and frigid temperatures, I fell in love with this place. However, as a California native a part of me still believes that snow is something you are supposed to visit, not live in.

I still love it here, but I'm thinking this may be the end of the honeymoon period.

Leaving Friday

After what feels like forever I am finally moving this Friday. Most of my belongings are packed up, but it feels like I'm just moving to yet another apartment somewhere in town. Except that I've been slowly saying good-bye to all my friends. Normally I don't see my friends around move dates as they are trying to avoid the ever present request for moving help that all twenty-somethings face. Its a bit odd to actually have friends call me up to make plans while I'm surrounded by full cardboard boxes. A part of me keeps thinking, "what's the big deal, I'll see you next week?" Except that I won't. Next week I'll be living in the rain soaked northwest, far from the incredible people I have met here. So between packing up my bakeware and looking for a job I'm going to dinner and drinks and saying good-bye. This may or may not turn out to be the best decision I've made, but either way I leave Friday.

My favorite thing is to go where I've never been. -Diane Arbus