a week in the life

Sunday: day off. start the finishing touches in kitchen. apply first coat of matte black paint to ugly brass light fixture. take jill out to lunch as a thanks for helping.

Monday: day off. install trim in kitchen. grout. apply another coat of paint to light fixture. go to friends house and play mahjong. win one game. go home. sleep.

Tuesday: back at work. get the mail and everything ready for boss's return home. speak to boss after he's landed in chicago. make boss laugh. boss is very sleep deprived. go to bar friend works at and have dinner and drinks with more friends. go home. sleep

Wednesday: work. write checks. visit with boss (who is at work at an early time of 8:00). go home. rearrange furniture in bedrooms and living room. do this in the three hours between the time i get home and time i have to leave for knit night. go to knit night. eat chili...mmmm, yummy chili. get my knit on with my foul mouthed knitter friends. laugh a lot. go home. sleep.

Thursday: make appointment for dog at vet (6 month check up). work. call potential employees to set up interviews. meet a/c guy downtown. climb through some poor girl's office window to access our a/c unit on the roof. watch as a/c guy disassembles unit. take field trip with a/c guy and his wife (our former employee) to check if we need a new motor as he predicted. find out it's electrical. must call different a/c guy to come out and figure it out. take stills of thief from day before. jackass. get home in time to go to friends pumpkin carving party. drink vodka and cranberry (with a splash of tonic). carve pumpkin before drinking too many of those (although i made them really weak...shhhh!!). light candles in pumpkins on friend's front stoop. oooh and ahhhh. go home, taking pumpkins with. sleep.

Today: work. I am going to call the a/c people about our unit and getting it fixed. I know, you're wondering why we're having it fixed now, with winter coming. Well the store is a little hot box and I don't want my staff to bake. I also have paychecks to write. Tonight we're invited to two parties, but I am still on the fence about going. I want to hand out candy in the hood here because last year we got kids coming by!! Kev is thinking after the candy delivery we could go, but the parties are in Northeast and North Portland (about a 35 minute drive away). On any other night, I'd be there. But this week has been chock full (read above) and an evening at home sounds perfect to me...we'll see.

when life gets in the way

Words elude me.

Legs are tired.

Body follows.

Drinks tonight, indeed.

Off the next two days.

Happy.

sore thighs and tiny pies

It's not like you think.

Kevin just got home from two and a half days of hiking and camping. He and two friends were dropped off at Eagle Creek trail head late on Saturday. They hiked in four miles and set up camp. Yesterday morning they got up, packed up, and hiked up. They hiked UP for about 10 more miles before setting up camp for the night. That meant they had fourteen miles to hike DOWN today. Kev's in a bit of pain. But he had a lot of fun, and that is what matters.

Yesterday I got up and went to my friend's house and we made five dozen tiny pies. Our other friend joined us, otherwise it would've only been four dozen. We each got 8 chicken pot pies, several apple, a few peach and a couple pear/apple. What are tiny pies? You take 8 oz wide mouth canning jars and line them with crust (you can let the crust hang over because after you fill it, you flip it up as a top crust). You can fill then with anything you want. Although we don't suggest custard pies (not that we've tried them). You can either freeze them or put them in the fridge for a week or so and then you bake them on 400 for 45-60 mins. If you freeze them, put them in the oven as you preheat, then keep an eye on and pull when the crust is golden through the side of the jar.

Now Kev's home and we're going to sit and relax together. It was a lovely quiet two days, but I'm glad he's home...so are the trio. Each have taken their turn meowing, sniffing, ribbing against the closed bathroom door, waiting for him to emerge.

today, with updates

Today will consist of the following (in no particular order)

1. Yarn shopping (what, there is a sale that starts today and I took the day off work...because it's my birthday). Yarn purchased. Enough for a sweater for a baby, some bibs for that same baby, and a really cool hat for...that very baby. I also scored on some yarn for a dress I'd like to make for myself to wear in my friend's wedding next summer. It's gorgeous (and sadly the camera died as I was attempting to take my first photo to share. not the kind of died that charging fixes, either).

2. Coffee drinking (that can happen only until about mid morning if I ever want to sleep again). Now it's the time of the day where if I drink more coffee, I will not sleep tonight. Most people think that I couldn't possibly be that touchy to it, but I am. Trust me.

3. Baby knitting (I'm almost done with the first baby jacket for the newest member of my family). I finished, except for seaming up the sides and sleeves (which will take zero time on a baby sweater) and I have to find a really great button, well...two really great buttons.

4. Sushi eating (this will commence this evening with a few friends). Done and done. Greatest meal!

5. Bones watching (I am officially addicted to that show. I've not watched any of this season, we are getting caught up on the former seasons). Done with this as well. Didn't allow myself to watch all day, but I did get quite a few episodes into the season I'm watching.

Other than that, I'm not really sure. I think I'll let the day play out as it is supposed to. I have my list for the yarn shop (remarkably, there is some yardage listed that isn't for the Blob and is in fact for me).

Hope everyone has a great day!!

life

Isn't it interesting how life sometimes seems to fly by? I mean you blink and we're near the middle of October already.

Work has been a bit stressful for me. Yep, in the world of comfort shoes, there can be stress. My boss is out of the country until the 28th, leaving me in charge of the check books. My co-manager was away for a few days. This was the perfect time for someone to get sick. So they did. I worked an 11.5 hour day on Thursday. I'm taking it slow this morning and going in when the store where the office is opens at 11:00. I have to close my old haunt tonight. Then, I am getting a day off!

Tomorrow we have potential plans to meet up with Jill and Mark at Sweetness Bakery, plans to go to Wolfgang's first birthday (he's a baby of some friends of ours), and plans to hang out with Shannon and Kiley.

I am looking forward to every single minute of tomorrow. I am also hoping to go get some yarn to start making a baby sweater for a very special someone in my life (sorry, not disclosing at this time, other to say it is NOT me). I am over the moon, however.

Today is going to be an easier day. It's going to be a less stress filled day. It is going to fly by like yesterday did (I got to work all day at my store...the one downtown that I worked at full time for five years).

So, I am going to go heat up another cup of coffee, scratch Chloe's back a bit more, and maybe take a bath.

morning

every morning

Without fail every morning my dear Chloe will come up to me as I sit in front of the computer eating my breakfast and drinking my coffee. She will stand on her back legs, front paws on my leg. She chirps. She chirps until I reach down and scratch her back. Only then is she happy. Of course, she does this repeatedly in the morning until I tell her she's had enough.

This is the face I get to see every single morning...

I rake my fingers up and down her spine and she just purrs. I look at her and think, "she can't be 11 years old." She acts more and more like a kitten each and every day.