Where to start?

Christmas was wonderful. I flew home a few days beforehand and was able to celebrate a friend's graduation from college with her. Even better the celebration lunch was at a fantastic Mexican restaurant. It was nice to finally get some decent Mexican food. I hadn't had any since my family's Mexican Thanksgiving. Afterwards I got to spend time with a good friend, and later had good sushi with a couple of gal pals. It wasn't until I was there that I realized how much I miss have close girl friends near by. I've met some great people here, I'm just not as close to them as to the wonderful friends I left in CA.

The best part of Christmas though was just spending time with my family. No matter what I seem to do to my apartments just don't feel like home. Or at least not completely like home. Don't get me wrong, I like living on my own. I like being able to decorate the places I live, and I look forward to getting back to my own bed after I've been away.

Still, I get homesick. Its not something I really notice until I'm on the road to my parents, and its worse when I'm leaving them. When I first went away to college I used to call my friends on my cell as I was heading out. I would have them distract me until I was too far away to turn back. Its not really any easier to leave now. The only real difference is planes don't wait for reluctant passengers, and my dad can't just drive me home like he did when I missed my train.

After returning to Seattle for a few days I flew to Kauai a spent a week there with a friend. The weather was a huge welcome change and the air there was so incredibly soft. We went all over the island mostly just enjoying each other's company. New Year's was spent in our room watching a good movie and drinking champagne. Before you think that's pathetic you should know beach was twenty feet from my room. Hanging out there was not boring or a hardship in the least.

I think the best part of the week was when we went snorkeling. We paid for passage on a catamaran and took a tour of the Napali coast, which is only accessible by boat and is breathtakingly beautiful. On our way back up the coast towards where we would actually snorkel we saw humpback whales. They weren't very close but we got to see a couple of them breaching and I loved it.

Returning to work was not fun. Things are going better and I'm learning more every day. I'm now working without help, and to my horror I'm discovering that my help created a number of problems. Granted, he was more help than hindrance, but now I have to figure how he did what he did, and then undo it. On the upside my coworkers are warming up to me and I now have people to talk to. I'm also getting to know my boss and he's pretty entertaining. This week he started singing "Mercedes Benz" by Janis Joplin.

The only really odd thing is that I haven't seen my roommate in about three weeks. Between my trips out of town and hers we keep missing each other. It feels like I live with a ghost. At times its nice. I like having the apartment to myself and not having to worry about waking her as I get ready for work in the morning. To celebrate I've been turning the radio up so that I can hear it as I wander from room to room getting ready. Its nothing big, but its a luxury I miss from when I lived alone.

The only other thing I have to update is that I finally had time while I was in Kauai to do some reading. Its been far too long since I had the chance to get lost in a book and drown out the world. I finished five books while I was there and I'm almost done with a sixth. To some that may sound like a waste of a vacation, but to me it was paradise. Actually, I think I'm going to go finish my book now. I should have just enough time before I have to go to dinner. If not, I hope I'll hear the phone when my tour guide calls to ask where I am.

Where the lovelight gleams

One of my all time favorite Christmas songs is "I'll be home for Christmas." I'm not sure why I've loved it so much. I've spent every single Christmas that I can remember with my family. This Christmas will very happily be no exception. However, it will be the second Christmas that I can remember where I won't wake up at the crack of dawn with my younger sister. It was an odd sensation last year to wake up at a decent hour, and to wonder out to join my parents. I'm used to my sister waking me up when it is still dark and going to see what Santa left in our stockings. We aren't extremely close, but I did miss her last year and I'm glad that she and her husband will be spending the holiday with our family.
In other holiday news I helped host a holiday dinner last weekend. I made a chocolate cake that has a pound of chocolate in just the frosting, and a bruschetta pizza that was better than I had thought it would be. Our friends brought food and we laughed and talked as we prepared everything. While some of us were in the kitchen others had turned on the Wii and were playing some sort of Mario Brothers game. For some reason instead of turning it off they decided to leave it on while we ate. So instead of Christmas music playing in the background, my holiday dinner party was serenaded by Donkey Kong, Yoshi, Daisy, Mario and others. When someone finally commented on it we all cracked up. Most of the people there were hard core gamers, but all of us had played Nintendo growing up. The music hasn't really changed in all these years and we all had stories about the music driving parents crazy.
There was one upside. After dinner I was helping to clean up while others finished playing the game. When I went to grab something off the table my boyfriend teased me by trying to poke my belly button. I laughed and tried to spin away while grabbing his hand to stop him. He spun me back around and we ended up dancing and laughing in the middle of the kitchen. All in all it was a great night.

Wine is bottled poetry

I never really drank in high school. I may have had a sip or two of wine that an uncle had brought to dinner, but that was it. It wasn't until I was twenty and attending summer school in Paris that I started drinking. While I was there I learned to appreciate wine. Kind of hard not to when you're visiting the regions wines are named after. Since then I've had good wine, just nothing like I had last week.

My favorite tour guide and I were invited to his roommate's birthday dinner last Tuesday. The roommate is half Japanese, and his father is this adorable tiny Japanese man who can cook native Hawaiian dishes. The food was all made from scratch and utterly fantastic. Best out of all he prepared was the best duck I've had since I was served it at Chateau Chenonceau. That is the only dish whose name I can remember. Well, that and the incredible chocolate cake, but who is going to forget that?

As wonderful as the food was, the wine was better. It started off with champagne that tasted great even thought it was brut. After that we had merlots, cabernets, and a pinot noir that smelled so good I wanted to eat the air. Our host was so delighted that he had guests that appreciated wine he kept bringing out different bottles. We didn't get drunk. Those of us that weren't driving may have gotten a tad fuzzy, but that's it. Our host only poured enough to be appreciated each time.

The pièce de résistance was the port that was served with dessert. I've never had it before, so I was given a crash course. Just like with wine there are a number of different types. Unlike with wine, the different types are an indicator of quality. The top of the line is vintage port, and one of the absolutely best years is 1977. That's the year the roommate was born, which is why the host had a bottle of it. He purchased it that year and kept it for his son's 30th birthday.

All in all dinner was wonderful.

A feast is made for laughter, and wine maketh merry
Ecclesiastes 10:19

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.

Sky high

First the bad news: According to the news today's high was 45 degrees, and tomorrow is not looking better.

Now the good news: This weekend was a completely different story.

It wasn't all that warm, but it was absolutely beautiful. Since the sun was out Saturday it made exploring much more fun this time around. We went to Golden Gardens Park which has a sandy beach, a boat marina, and gorgeous views. One of the best views we discovered while walking along one of the park paths. It was a tree that eats kites, kinda like the one in the Charlie Brown comic strips. I spotted one whole one, two tatters remains, and possibly a fourth.

Further on the path, where the park met the beach, we spotted two little boys with their dad trying to fly a kite. The dad would throw it up into the air, and one of the little boys would jerk the string back and forth. Sometimes it would hover, but mostly this would result in the kite making an arch and crashing into the ground. As much fun as they seemed to be having they didn't really stand a chance of getting the kite in the air. There was a slight breeze, but not enough to get it airborne. Still, I'm thinking I'm going to have to buy a kite soon.

Further on the path we spotted another kid. This one was completely bundled up. He had on a windbreaker with a hood, a pair of gloves, a scarf that wound around his face, and a beanie. The cutest part was that he kept turning around and telling his dad, "stay there, I'm okay." Then he would turn back around and keep walking. Every few steps his dad would move forward, and almost immediately the boy would turn back around to make sure he hadn't. It was like watching a little boy try and train his puppy.

Sunday was just as beautiful and I spent most of it wandering around downtown trying to get gift ideas. Eventually I decided I'd had enough of people and went to Ballard to bug my favorite tour guide. Once he completely woke up from his nap he decided to show me around the U district. Its the area in Seattle near the University of Washington, and is the stereotypical college district. As cute as it looks I want to go back and wander around some since we didn't get far this trip. My guide made the mistake of taking me to a large book store. The best part is that he was so entertained by my reaction he is actually planning on taking me to another one.

Yeah. I've got the best tour guide ever.

Simple pleasures

Last Saturday the sun decided to come out to play. At least it did around mid-morning. Unfortunately my hair needs a bit of encouragement to stay blond these days so I was stuck at the hair dresser. By the time I was done it was around two in the afternoon, but the sun was still out so I was happy. My tour guide was as happy as I was to see the sun, but had no idea where to go to enjoy it. We'd been to all the obvious places around the city and he wanted to take me somewhere new. After poking around the net he realized I hadn't been to Gas Works park yet so off we went.

Gasworks used to be a refinery plant and is now a great park. Its the kind of park that would make my nephew's head explode with the sheer number of things to climb. I wish I'd had a kite with me to fly out over the lake, and that the sun had stayed out. Sadly by the time we got to the park it had disappeared again leaving me with a very stubborn tour guide and a bright red nose. In spite of that I had fun. My favorite part was the giant sundial on top of the hill. You have to stand on today's date and by using the chart engraved next to it you can tell the time fairly accurately. Or you can when the sun is out and casting shadows.

After a full tour of the park we went to Chinook Beach Park. To my amusement the term "beach" is used very liberally here. Its is a cute park with hiking trials we chose not to explore (at least this time) and a rocky shore with a great view of the setting sun. We stayed there for a bit and I found out that even in the height of summer people catch hypothermia swimming there in less than an hour. So it looks like the only time I'll be wading in will be on a visit home.

After my tours we went to this great pizza place that does only more traditional Italian style pizza. Before our pizza showed up this guy that works for the restaurant came over to our table and did card tricks. Even though my sister used to do them all the time, and showed me how some are done, I'm still easily impressed by them.

For one of them he had us pick out a card and showed it to us, then had my tour guide sign the front of it. That card was shuffled back into the deck. Then he drew a stick figure which was supposed to be his assistant on the back of a random card. He told me to add to it so I drew hair that stuck straight up on top of his head, kinda like Bart Simpson. Through magic the assistant jumped from the back of one card to another until he stopped at the card my guide had signed. He then gave us the card and he wandered off to entertain someone else. I mistakenly thought the tricks were over when I put the card in my guide's shirt pocket, but somehow it managed to appear in my coat pocket when I got home later that night.

I must pause now to tell you about something that by simply existing makes the world a better place. It the Italian gelato that's served for dessert there. The chocolate gelato was absolutely incredible. It was served with a shot of espresso of impressive quality, even by Seattle standards. I very happily lingered over it, and I'm currently trying to figure how to get back there.

Other than that things have been quiet here. Its getting colder and I'm spending more time cuddled up indoors. Fireplaces seem to be as standard issue up here as air conditioners were in Sacramento, and I'm thoroughly enjoying this. Still, the sun is supposed to be out for most of the weekend and I'm looking forward to it. I'm told there's another great park I have to check out, even if it is almost winter.

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.