Life's a joke, and the joke's on...

I drive a soft top Jeep. Basically that means I drive a giant Tonka Toy. I can remove the back windows, remove the roof, remove the back seat, remove the doors, pop the hood, and fold down the windshield (not kidding) without the need of the car key. Locking my car doors is only a source of amusement for me when my friends do so out of habit.

My favorite incident of this involved a childhood friend of mine. We had just returned to my car and after I put my bags behind my seat I climbed in. The whole time my friend had been speaking to me. When I looked over to the passenger seat I realized she had been speaking to me while standing next to the car. It was summer, the roof was off my car, and both front windows were rolled down. When I asked her why she was just standing there she told me she was waiting for me to unlock the car.

I paused. My brain simply couldn't compute what she said in the current circumstance. When I started laughing she asked me what was funny. Once I calmed down a bit I pointed out there was no roof or windows! All she had to do was stick her arm inside the car, which I never lock, and open the silly door. I think she was bright red for a good half hour.

The point of this is that I have no way of preventing people from getting into my car. To counteract this I have a club that locks the steering wheel and a removable face plate on my radio. I also buy cheap radios. Investing in a high quality one seems to be an exercise in frustration. Two or three thefts and one death by water balloon (long story) only confirm this. So I wasn't surprised that after two years only half the buttons on the latest model worked at all, those when they wanted to, and even then didn't always do what they were labeled.

Previously my radio used to bring up a number of different options if you press a series of buttons in the correct order. If I were more of a music snob I could have made the radio do all sorts of nifty things. Most of these nifty things were discovered recently when I pressed the button for station two and saw gibberish appear on the screen. Half the time the on button worked when it was good and ready to and not before. Getting the face plate to go on had become a challenge, and removing then replacing it only made the on button crankier. Switching between radio and CD often resulted in switching between FM and AM. Just so you know, AM doesn't work well in the very hilly area of Seattle in which I now live.

Fortunately since it always eventually turned on or did whatever other command I issued I didn't really care. Which is why it didn't really bother me to discover this morning that my radio no longer lived inside my dashboard. Someone had decided they wanted it more than I did and took it. Considering the radio's recent behavior I've decided the jokes on them.

Found it!

I came to Seattle a few years ago to visit a friend. While here I was shown around Seattle Pacific University. It is a beautiful campus, and I was impressed by one court yard in particular. The acoustics of the court yard were set up so that if you stood in the middle it would amplify your voice and everyone sitting on the surrounding steps could hear you easily.

I've wanted to go back and see it. Mostly because it is the one place here that I knew. It is something I could show to someone else for once. There are signs posted clearly (for once) on a couple streets I use pointing the way towards SPU. I never followed them, I only seemed to spot them when I was expected somewhere.

Yesterday my church group met at Gas Works Park for a bbq. I grabbed directions off the net and went straight from work. Starting out I drove up a steep hill and just over the other side was a view that took my breath away. Two blocks later I found SPU. Somehow I wound up driving through the center of it by accident. I was so excited when I found it I stopped the car. Fortunately no one was around. A couple blocks farther I found a road I knew and eventually I made my way to the bbq. That means I'll be able to find my way back.

Should have known that it would be in the last neighborhood I explored.

First day of school

My first day of school was on Thursday. To celebrate my favorite tour guide took me to lunch. He also gave me a brand new lunch box. It is shiny black and has a skull and cross bones on it. The skull also has an eye patch. I love it. Reminds me of the gold eye patch with sequins I got my tour guide as a gag gift. Class itself was good and my classmates seem interesting. I'm not sure what I think of either just yet.

After class I met my tour guide for a late dinner. He wanted to take a first day of school picture so after dinner we grabbed my book and my new lunch box and walked to a local square. We took a couple photos and I have to say they were cute.

There were also a couple local musicians in the square practising. One was playing an accordion, and the song reminded me of being in Paris. It had rained earlier making the pavement shine and the blossoms in the trees sparkle. I set my belongings down and we danced until the musicians eventually wandered towards their gig, playing the song as they walked away. It was perfect, and I can't think of a better way to start grad school.

Random moments

I had to post this picture of chickens. They are in the front yard of a house just a few houses down from the townhouse where my community group meets. The townhouse is not out in the country, it is in the middle of the city. This struck me as funny, and I didn’t think anyone would believe me, so I took a picture.
For date night a couple weeks ago we went to one of my favorite restaurants, The High Life, and then to a movie. Once we were seated my favorite tour guide told me that at first the theater owners couldn’t decide what to call their company. Eventually they named it Elttaes, which is Seattle spelled backwards. After the movie we started to walk a few blocks to his car. Halfway there he picked me up and carried me for a bit. What can I say? My guy is romantic and shares my love of trivia.
My orientation for class is Saturday. Once I’ve completed it I can sign up for the Pre-Calc course I want to take. I’m hoping to get it and Business Calc over with as soon as possible. As much as I’m dreading taking any kind of math course again I am looking forward to starting school. Partly in order to make friends, partly to enjoy being in class again.
The best for last: A few months ago I was visiting my family. As usual we were had a family dinner and afterwards my sister said she had presents for everyone. There didn’t seem to be a special reason but I didn’t really think anything of it. She then handed a children’s book to each of my parents. My mom got Katie No Pockets, which is her favorite. While she was flipping through the pages my dad softly called her name and told her to read the inscription on the first page. After she did my older sister and I got books as well. Mine is one of my favorites, Corduroy. In it she had written “For G, To read to your new niece or nephew.”
I couldn’t believe it. My younger sister is pregnant with her first baby! Since she’s discussing it on her blogs, I’m guessing it’s safe to talk about it on mine. She and her husband are very happy and are going to be great parents. They recently found out that they are having a boy, and I can’t wait to hold my brand new nephew. They won’t tell me what his name is yet, and I’m enjoying looking forward to being introduced to him all at once.

Somewhere Betwen Raising Hell and Amazing Grace

A lot has happened since I last posted. The most entertaining is that today the Denny's in Ballard was been declared a historic landmark. I'm not kidding. Ballard is my favorite neighborhood due to things like this. It’s a quirky area that still sports "Free Ballard" shirt, bumper stickers, and posters. A few weeks ago I went to a wine bar there with my boyfriend and a few friends. We each ordered different wines and sampled each other's choice. We also split a cheese platter and chacutrie. It felt like I was back in Paris.
I also had two really good friends come and visit me. The first was a friend that I've known since I was 13. We got sushi for dinner and it was great to actually have someone around that enjoys the stuff. Afterwards we went to my friend's house to hang out. My boyfriend arrived just after we did. Before the front door opened he had caught my attention, walked up to us, and picked up my friend (literally) and turned her upside down. He has a wicked sense of humor. Luckily she found this hilarious and the two of them got along.
The second friend is the person who inspired me to move to Seattle. She is also a great cook and gave me a couple of cooking lessons while she was here. We went to Pike Place Market for our supplies and had fun poking around the stalls. I discovered a couple of hidden alleys that have really great shops. Everything there is produced locally and is cheaper than going to the grocery store. To an extent the market is a tourist destination, but a lot of locals use it for their weekly shopping. As much fun as shopping was the best part was having girlfriends around again. I love my life here, but I miss having girlfriends closer than on the other end of the phone.
One of the best things to happen recently is that I finally found a church to call home. For the first time in years I found a church where I feel comfortable. I don't believe blindly, and this church encourages questions. It’s also the first time that I've heard a new approach to verses I've heard all my life. They also have small groups, somewhat like a bible study group, for different age groups. I've contacted one of them and hopefully it will be a way to make Christian friends.
In other news work is getting better. I’m learning now in leaps and bounds and I’m making headway. The mountain of work doesn’t seem to decrease any, but that’s okay. I’m just happy that I can function somewhat on my own. Sadly the old guy that I used to work with has decided that because I’m now getting trained by someone he profoundly dislikes that I have gone to the dark side. When he told me this I laughed and told him, “of course I did, they have cookies.” He didn't find that as funny as I did. Mostly because he thought he was missing out on actual cookies.
As for Valentines it was great, but the week started off pretty bad. My boyfriend had been having headaches for weeks. When he finally went into the doctor the doctor became concerned it could be a blood vessel causing the problem. A couple appointments and an MRI later it was discovered that it was a nerve that got infected. He was put on a round of steroids and everything is fine now. The unfortunate result of all this is that he was unable to go on a business trip.
Since he was in town he had to be point man for those that did go and told me that he would have to work late. He called me about eight that night. He told me that he had just got home and asked if I wanted to do a late dinner. I said yes and he asked that I call him when I was leaving. A few min later I grabbed by coat, set the alarm, and then opened my front door with my phone in hand. Sitting in front of my door was a bouquet of flower, a box of chocolates, and a chocolate espresso bar. He was standing around the corner and grinning.
We went to dinner at a local place and he was chatty through the whole thing. This is a guy that has been nicknamed “Silent Bob” by my friend from college. He was also bouncing in his seat and fiddling with everything. When I took the last piece of silverware away from him he finally told me that the side effect of his meds was abundant energy. I laughed and then offered to take him for a walk. After a long tour of the area we ended up at a two story book store. So while the week started off rocky, the holiday for me consisted of roses, chocolate, dinner, wine, and books. I couldn’t have asked for a better night.

Starting to feel pretty

All my life my dad has made funny faces, and its only natural that as I kid I would try to mimic him. He looks like Abe Lincoln normally, so when he wiggles his eyebrows or scrunches up his nose kids tend to laugh. I can't begin to count the times he's done things like that to the amusement of any child in close vicinity. Its part of what made him a fun dad when I was a kid, and what makes him a fun grandpa now.
Before I go on I have to point out that I don't particularly like my nose. It is too big and is often red as a result of the sun in the summer, and the cold in the winter. Drawing attention to it wouldn't seem logical, but I don't obsess over my nose so its not a big deal. I've learned to put make up on so that I can feel that I look better, and to go on with life. Scrunching my nose like a rabbit and all.
Now that I am an adult I have the habit of doing a "rabbit nose" in an attempt to amuse someone. Its not really something I think about. To me its just another facial expression. So imagine my surprise when my boyfriend noticed me doing this, and pointed out that he thought it was cute. Before I could react he quickly kissed the tip of my nose. It startled me so much that I laughed. My nose cute? Never thought I'd hear that one.
Well, this has become somewhat of a thing between us. If I happen to do the "rabbit nose" when he's close he'll kiss the tip of my nose. Sometimes he'll kiss my nose just to startle me. Its not a big thing, but I laugh every time.

Climb inside the purple sky

The sunset today was absolutely gorgeous. On my way home I was stopped at a light and when I looked in my mirror all I could see was this gorgeous view of the Sound. The mountains were varying shades of purple, the sky was shades of copper and gold and the water looked like silver. I love that every day on my way home I have a view like that. It won't last, I know. Eventually winter will set in and I'll be whining about how icky it is. For now though I'm thoroughly enjoying the view every time I come and go from home.

the title is from Painter Song by nora jones

I was born under a wandering star...

One of my all time favorite movie quotes is "howdy parson, welcome to hell." Out of context the line isn't funny, but the scene always has me in stiches. It’s from the musical Paint Your Wagon in which Clint Eastwood sings. The most surprising thing isn't that he is in a musical; it's that he can actually sing well. Who knew?

While I'm not sure what I expected in this move, I'm happily surprised to find how easily I am slipping into this new life. I've been going on interviews and I may actually have a job next week. It is a bit up in the air but it looks good. I am making friends, or at least meeting people. My roommate so far seems pretty cool and has even invited me to a party on Sunday to introduce me to people. I've found a great bbq place just down the road, and I've managed to find my way home without help on a regular basis.

The best surprise in this move has been how beautiful it is here. I can't seem to get over it. I don't have a view from my apartment, but I have a gorgeous one every time I leave my place. There are two roads down the hill that I can take to get anywhere, and both offer views of Puget Sound that are absolutely beautiful. The last few days have been sunny and clear so I got to see Mt. Rainier at its best. I even got to see Green Lake at night with a full moon shining on it. I don't know when the newness of this move will wear off, but for now I'm enjoying being continually surprised by the natural beauty of this place.