Parties, People and Precipitation

Its raining. And the drops against the window are music to my ears. Living in Western Washington for 20+ years has bred in me a love for dark, dreary, clothes soaking precipitation. Its when I feel most at peace.

This weekend has, by far, been one of my best. Friday night was Christmas in October. I was Daria and JR was Trent. Favorite costume of the night was Ray's. Who dressed up as a gay Jewish DJ. He pulled it off fantastically. His crocheted ringlets were probably my favorite part. And might I add that Ryan's home made cider was some of the best I've had.

Last night was the Toga Party. I found a way to tie my toga that meant I really could go without having to wear a tshirt or shorts underneath. And it stayed tied all night, no slippage or loosening. Those Greeks really knew how to party. I tell you what. The music selection made me wish Joey or his friend could be my personal DJ's all day every day. The mix consisted of dance hits from the 60's and 70's. I, of course, boogied the night away along with everyone else. And afterwards the crew watched 300 at Ryan's.

Seriously. From beginning to end, I thoroughly enjoyed this weekend. I don't think it could have been any better. And I can't get over how much I like the new friends I've made in the past month. Utah, I may not always call you my favorite, but you've done great things for me. Thank you. Sincerely. Thank you.

Not a shopping blog, Ross.

Fall is here. Tonight was crispy as I took Avery home. I said goodbye to her. It's probably the last I'll see her at least until Christmas (assuming I come home for that, if not, it might be a year). We chatted all evening while I began the dejunking process. I have five garbage bags of old letters, photos, mix cds, clothes, and just plain garbage - anything with a negative conotation really. I'm ready to let go of the baggage.

If need be, I could have my entire room packed into my car by the end of tomorrow. I can't tell if this makes me feel better or worse. Or maybe just the same. Lighter though. That, for sure.

I'm anxious about applying for schools. I'm worried about saving up enough money to support myself without any help from my parents. I'm panicking about finishing my Book of Mormon class. I'm nervous about all the changes happening and overanalyzing even the simplest things. But even so, I'm happy I'm finally moving forward. I'm tired of living someone else's idea of my life. I'd like to practice being me the way I see myself.

Whatever that means.

San Diego in 7 days. It's going to be so fun. And a welcome break from my worries. After that, it's just a matter of being patient until my move. I hope I can make it.

Hello Sunshine

I. LOVE. SUMMER.

aaaah, finally - FINALLY- it's warm out. I put on the old swimsuit and shorts, grabbed a magazine and sunglasses, and flip-flopped my way out my backdoor to our big patio on the lake. Who needs resort getaways when you've got parents who live on Lake Tapps? haha! And there have only been a few boats out today so the lake isn't raging with noise, but relatively calm instead.

The water was freezing, so I only stepped in for a few minutes, but just sitting in the sun reading my magazine for over an hour was enough for me. I've even got a little pink on my freckled shoulders already. If only it were in the 70's all the time.

Supposedly they're expecting snow this Friday, but as long as nice weather like today is on its way, I'll live! Yay summer!

And to top it all off, for the first time in... gosh... three... four years? I won't be working Saturdays. So I'll actually be able to enjoy where we live every weekend. Wahooooo!!

Upside down and round and round

It has been an extremely bizarre day. It's the end of March (a.k.a. spring) yet we've suddenly got an inch to two inches of snow sitting on our back porch. And a friend came out of the closet unexpectedly this afternoon.

Life seems a bit topsy-turvy lately. Not bad. Just not quite usual. Though I guess, when is it ever?

And right now I'm watching an Oprah about packrats. It's insane.

Blacking out the friction

What is going on?? Southern California has been flooding and much of it is without power. This is just months after their huge wild fires. China has evacuated 850,000 people from blizzards. Pouring rain caused a bunch of car accidents in Argentina. A volcano erupted in Colombia last Thursday. A few weeks ago a volcano erupted in Chile. There have been tornadoes in Arkansas. Unexpected snow in the southeast.

When I start reading about the death tolls and the amount of damage done by these natural disasters, my heart just breaks for the families stuck in the middle of all this. And it just seems like lately there have been a lot of freak weather changes. So weird.

I woke up to a couple of inches of snow today. Nothing disastrous. Yet. It's supposed to get worse tonight. Particularly because it's a bit warmer with the cloud coverage, which means some of the snow melts, then when the sun goes down it all freezes over and is impossible to drive on. Fun times. Sigh.

So I'm reading Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. It's an easy read. I can't decide yet if the instability in voice is intentional or not. I find that when the narrator is recalling childhood memories, the story has a soft fluidity about it, but as soon as the narrator brings it back to her present or recent past, the voice is clunky and I come out of my reading reverie. I guess I'll have to finish it to decide.

Oh! My coat came this weekend! I love it! I'll have to put some pictures up later, but it's better than I'd hoped for! Yay!

I felt like I was back in high school the other day when I found out Death Cab for Cutie are releasing a new album this May. Hah. I remember just being so excited I could barely breathe when I found out Plans was coming out. It didn't quite hit that peak this time, but I am still really excited. I don't listen to them that often anymore (Plans honestly wasn't that great), but I obsessed over them for so long in high school and early college that I just can't help myself. It's that same giddy feeling I got when Ben Gibbard came on the stage last spring. I couldn't keep from grinning and just loving the music.

And also on the topic of things I'm excited about, I cannot wait for 19 days from now. Central Coast Cali, here I come! (Please don't rain on me).

Fo-tah-graf-ee

Well, the crocheting has begun! My Relief Society is doing a service project where we knit or crochet 9"x 7" squares that will be sewn into blankets for "Warming up America" or something like that. So my mom taught me tonight how to crochet. I'm pretty excited. I think I'll do an afghan after we've got enough squares done. I'm surprised at how easy it is! I got this swatch done in about two hours (I started off very slow). I'm quite enjoying myself!

It has thankfully warmed up a bit here. But sadly that is at the expense of the sun. It was very rainy today. I could barely see to the other side of the lake. I kind of loved it though hah.

Someone recently told a story about giving their young child (or maybe their parents had given them as a young child) a camera. Mentioning how neat it is to see what children take pictures of and what things look like from their perspective.

So when Brock wanted to play with my camera the other night, I decided to just let him do it. At first he just liked that pushing the button made the flash go, but he soon figured out that if he pointed it at something, a picture of that thing would show up on the screen in the back. Then he figured out that if he went up to something and pointed the camera at that thing, then pressed the button, the thing he wanted to take the picture of would show up on the back of the camera. Hah!

I left the room for a few minutes and came back in and he was walking up to the curtains and taking pics, to the tv, to the lamps.

Kids are just so smart. I mean he's not even 2 and he's figured out how to take pictures. He even tried to take pictures of my mom, of Tod, he got a couple of me. I love watching children learn and grow, it's just an amazing thing! Being an older sister is really fun sometimes!

Frozen things

Poor Brocky is not happy. I'm babysitting tonight. We brushed his teeth, said prayers and when I put him to bed, he went right down. Then as I closed the door I realized I'd forgotten to turn his fan on, so I ran back in to turn it on and of course that upset him. After about ten minutes of crying I realized I'd also forgotten to put his footy pajamas on over his regular ones. Sigh. So I went back in just as he was settling down finally and put those on so he wouldn't freeze to death all night. He cried a bit more but thankfully he's settled down now. It makes me so sad when they cry like that.

Today was... cold. Very cold. When I got to work the office was that temperature that makes your skin hurt it's so cold. It's been very sunny, which I absolutely love, but the lack of cloud coverage also means it hovers right around freezing all day. I had my little space heater on, which for the most part kept my legs warm as long as they were in it's direct path, but my fingers were burning cold all day (you Utah people know what I mean). I had to take breaks from typing to thaw them out under the desk.

I've been getting the most random application invitations on Facebook today. Earlier it was "What Disney Princess are you?" and then "What Disney song best describes you?" and now it's "What Beatles song best describes your life right now?" I haven't subscribed to any of them, so I sadly can't definitively say what princess, Disney song or Beatles song I am at the moment. I know you were waiting on pins and needles to find out, so I'm sorry to disappoint. Maybe next time.

Also in the vein of random questions, when editing my blogspot profile, there's an option at the bottom of the page that says "give me a new question." If I check the selection box, then press save, it gives me a new random question. One of my most recent ones was "You can punch a hole in an apple with a straw. How do you suppose that makes your milkshake feel?" All I can think of in answer is, "taken advantage of."

What's your answer?