Tikishla Sunrise

When was the last time you watched The Big Chill?

2009-07-07T20:55:00.002-08:00

I'm in a bar in Cooper Landing, while the soundtrack from The Big Chill plays behind the noise of slope workers playing darts. What a fantastic movie!

There are forest fires in the area, so the air is thick with smoke - and heat. It was 85 degrees F in the shade tonight, after dinner, when we went to get ice cream. In the shade! I was sliding off my deck chair with perspiration. I suppose after last summer, I cannot complain.

So long! So overdue!

2009-02-24T18:32:00.004-09:00

I should stop procrastinating on my posts, so that they all aren't titled with such titles. A goal.
Anyhow, we've just come back from a wonderful, wonderful 4 days in San Francisco. So fun! God, I enjoyed the whole bit (except for Thursday afternoon, when we were walking back from the Ferry Terminal, and it was hot, and I was wearing a black turtleneck, and we had a meeting to go to, and I was anxious for that, and I hadn't gotten much sleep, and I was hungry, and, and, and.....).

In any case, what a Fun City. Can't wait to go back. Here are two small pictures:

New Year's Eve

2009-01-01T18:13:00.006-09:00

Some photos from last night:
Isn't my apron sweet? I borrowed it from Jim:Friends socializing...Jim was chef de amazing. He made bacon-wrapped scallops. These ain't your little storebought tiny frozen blobs, either - nice big ole plump Alaska scallops. (Credit where credit is due: he also made New York steaks, four of them. Yowza!) Here he is basting the scallops with a syringe of butter (I love this man):
We're cookin'! I'm steaming clams in white wine, garlic, and butter; Kristin is washing asparagus. Matt brought a bar bag. Not an overnight bag, a bar bag. Good man. He made negronis - here is Ingrid looking a wee bit skeptical:And here she is tasting it:Of course I like it! It's a martini! (sorry, Brittania - it's with gin)
Ahhhhhh......guilty pleasures. Kristin and me with Jim's bacon-wrapped scallops - look at those puppies! My "grin" is due to the fact that I had just shoved an entire lovely bacon-wrapped scallop into my maw...
Happy New Year, everyone!!

Coincidence?

2008-12-08T09:04:00.002-09:00

How strange is this? Over the weekend I received an email from my first disgruntled employee (didn't like his seating assignment). I responded by email this morning, since I'm not in town. I shut down the computer and went out to my rental car. When I opened the back door to put my bag in the back seat, I saw a book there that I hadn't noticed yesterday: "You Want Me to Work with Them? How to get along with others at work." or something to that effect. Who has been planting appropriate books in my car??

Old Style Ski Race

2008-12-03T20:29:00.005-09:00

Check out these fine folks participating in the Sons of Norway annual race at Russian Jack! (I couldn't find my ski boots - but Megan is riding Mom's wedding skis, and Jim is on Dad's!)

Winter Wonderland

2008-11-16T19:51:00.002-09:00

We went up to Glen Alps today to play in the new snow that's been falling! Also, we bought cross-country touring boots last spring for a song, and wanted to try them out. Jim's are great; mine pinch my feet (why did I buy women's instead of men's??), so we didn't get all that far. Still, it was fun to get up there and see the mountains covered in snow, although they were a bit windswept. Then we came home, Jim changed the oil (thanks!), and went to see the new James Bond movie. O, Daniel Craig...

Reneging

2008-11-10T20:56:00.002-09:00

I just reviewed the extensive list of post topics, and I am just going to let that be as a list of things that have happened. By now, I've talked to you all and you know how it all turned out.

We did have a trip to Montana in September, complete with a fantastic trip to Wapiti, Wyoming, which I love to say. Wapiti. WOPitti. I rode a horse, which was fun and completely freaky! I definitely have no desire to explore that further, which I suppose is good, as horsing around (har har) is pricey up here. Britt is my hero for falling off a horse and, literally, getting right back on. I would not have been able to do that.

I have decided that we need to be done with obligation trips, though. Montana is fun, but it's not much of a vacation any more - it's a series of visits that we "need" to do, that we don't really need to do. We talked of driving the motorcycles down next time; making the journey the destination. How fantastic would that be? With the in-laws traveling up here to see their granddaughter, we'll see them regularly. We shall see.

It has become my latest and most nerdy goal to erg one million meters. I think you must say it like Doctor Evil - one MILLION meters! I log them on the Concept2 website, and I'm about 450,000 meters in - it's a lifetime accumulation, and I guess I started charting it last winter or the winter before. But with World Masters Games in Australia next October, the desire for a dedicated effort this winter is very strong. Plus, at the end of the year party (which I missed), I won the award for the best 2K time (woman). Yeah! A nerd and a buff nerd at that!

Snap, Crackle, Pop

2008-11-10T20:47:00.002-09:00

..goes the fire. Little did I know that spruce pops as it burns, and likes to freak The Loon and I out by throwing small bombs of flaming embers onto the hearth. My duty is to sit on the couch and make sure the fire doesn't set the living room on fire. Not a bad job, even if it does make me jump out of my skin every few minutes.

I was sick, sick, sick over Halloween weekend, but this past week I recovered. Amazing what a lot of sleep, vitamin C, and tea will do. Yesterday, Jim and I took the clap skates out to Potter Marsh and skated around in the cold and the wind. Very Nordic, I was laughing as I was tripping over the frozen cattails and falling on the lip of ice near a hole where someone had fallen in the weekend before.

New job..new responsibilities..not enough time in the day. I really like the new responsibility of the job, but the part I haven't gotten used to yet is how I'm not getting any billable work done. No doubt, I need to spend some after hours time on miscellania or on billable work, because the days are filled with the "urgent unimportant" interruption.

This post, if you haven't figured it out yet, is a random assimilation of topics. C'est la vie.

ERVA made me a most wonderful CD and I cannot get enough of it, especially a particular song called "coin operated boy." Very fun. I've been trying to take note of fun songs to add to a yet-to-be-made erging compilation. So far I have "toot toot beep beep" and "I need a lover who won't drive me crazy," which was pretty funny to explain to Jim why that was written on my calendar. Honestly, it's a song.

So, I promised a long list of blogging topics, didn't I? I should tackle them individually so the entire chore is not so daunting. I do love checking things off my list.

She's Bonafide!

2008-11-10T20:29:00.006-09:00

It's official - I'm a nerd.

This was supposed to be a costume, but doesn't it look like me in 9th grade? Even though I never had braces, it still looks an awful lot like my 14-year-old self. They're Jim's glasses, not mine.

And, of course, just like 9th grade: check out my stylish pals (SpockGirl, Carmen, Skeleton). And the Jellyfish!

Energy Audit

2008-09-11T07:59:00.004-08:00

Nothing like neglecting the old "to do" list and starting right with the fresh stuff. Yesterday afternoon I had my energy audit performed. I set up my laptop at the kitchen table and actually got some work done at the same time, which I was very proud of. The energy audit took about 3 hours, and involved the auditor walking around the outside of the house and looking at every single room, closet, and corner of the house, taking notes and drawing up a floor plan. He measured every window and noted the location of every light switch. He poked around in the attic, he visited the garage. Then he set up a blower/sucker contraption to the front door, which Luna thought was very intriguing. It's a vinyl piece of material stretched over adjustable frame that fits within the door frame so it's airtight, or mostly. Must be pretty darn close to airtight, since that's the whole point. The vinyl has a special hole for a large fan (about 2.5 feet in diameter) that is hooked up to a computer, and basically it takes readings on how much air loss the house has when the fan is sucking air out of the house. The auditor performed the test and then left the fan on as we walked around the house, feeling all the drafty places where we've been essentially throwing money away by heating the outdoors. The fireplace could have knocked you over, the draft was so severe (not even the main chamber itself, but these weird vents on the side of the chimney). The light switches blow air, as do the electrical outlets. The attic door is like a (cold) hair dryer. All the windows, even the vinyl window in the bedroom that I thought was new. The light in the upstairs bathroom, which the auditor said probably wasn't even insulated. (Which means we've potentially been pumping hot, humid shower air up into the space above the ceiling and below the roof...not good.) It was quite astonishing to me how drafty it all is.

The audit cost $400, $325 of which is reimbursed by the state program. We'll end up with a report that lists potential energy saving improvements we could do to the house, and supposedly it will be ranked in order of cost effectiveness. Re-insulating the attic? Probably pretty high on the list. Increasing the thickness of the outside walls by pulling off the house siding and adding extra insulation and wood? Probably not too high on the list. The state program will reimburse up to $10,000 of improvements, so long as they're on the list and help our house get from it's current energy star rating (auditor said we might rank a 2 star out of 5) to a higher rating. I don't think that's going to be a problem. I think the problem will be deciding where to stop. Is this when we decide to re-do the second story, push out the wall that is currently over the middle of the garage, and add a real pitch to the roof? And re-do all the siding? If we decided to do that, it would obviously be more than $10,000, but we'd likely get $10,000 toward that work, and we'd be in construction mode anyway...that kind of thinking. I need to relax until this report shows up and then let my mind wander on all the possibilities, but it is certainly an exciting prospect nonetheless.

Don't worry, I'll keep you posted (har, har).

Quite neglected

2008-09-08T17:44:00.002-08:00

..you are. My apologies! For the love of lists and the lack of time I'm feeling now, I thought I'd present a list of topics I'd like to post about (and hopefully will in the near future):
- my utterly fantastic and gorgeous new clutch, whose name is Bess (I didn't even make that up, that's the model name!);
- the joy I got out of receiving great birthday presents from The Roommate, all within the 2008 Birthday Budget, and how good it feels to have a birthday budget in general;
- (potential) work excitement;
- birthday weekend at the fox farm;
- general excitement regarding what is to be soon regarded as My Year of Culture: a membership to the Anch. Museum and season tickets (you-pick) to the Anch. Concert Association;
- All Things Loon Related;
- I'm sorry, did I mention the purse yet?
- Reading a book that my newly-93-year-old grandmother has enjoyed so much that she read twice (and which I could hardly get to the end of);
- Halibut fishing girls weekend!
- Taiko drumming
- The visit by the in laws;
- the anniversary;
- Luna's third birthday;
- Rowing on Trail Lake;
- Biking up Hatcher Pass;
- Head of the Kenai;
- MS 150 bike ride;
- observing Grandpa Bob's passing;
- energy audits;
- Montana, Omaha, North Carolina, San Fransisco, Italy, Deadhorse by motorcycle, Australia! (a.k.a. trips planned in the next 13 months)

I suppose that is all for now. Good pictures coming soon, and a fulfillment of a birthday resolution to blog more (here's at'cha, Captain Colossal)!

Love,
B's Knees

Ridiculous

2008-08-29T08:00:00.001-08:00

This is just....ridiculous!

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/30/us/politics/29palin.html?_r=1&hp=&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&adxnnlx=1220025700-MIwhe5GnGwICdvHt1z+9aA

Got It

2008-07-11T15:08:00.004-08:00

Yesterday I took (and passed) my motorcycle road test - Hoorah! Jim and I went over to the DMV after work the day before and practiced doing the figure-8s and u-turns and quick stops, which was infinitely helpful to me. I now have a brand new drivers license with a really crappy picture, since I didn't want to smile and show off my braces that I'll only have for ONE MORE YEAR!! Instead of looking like a closed-mouth smile, though, it looks as though I've got this tired, I've-just-been-pulled-over smirk on. At least it will be accurate if I ever am pulled over!

On Top of the World!

2008-07-09T18:34:00.004-08:00

Here are some quick recent photos from our trip up to the top of Jumbo Mine in Kennicott - can you believe people used to mine copper out of these mountains, waaaaaaay up here??

Kelly, Jim, and Erika on the way to the top. This is right before we start climbing the talus slope.
The talus slope going up. Can you find Erika in this picture?
Erika at the top of the talus slope. There is still maybe 300 more vertical feet up before reaching the mine. The Jumbo Mine! It is, of course, collapsed. But you're looking at the bunkhouse and tram beginnings:
From the ridge above the mine, we looked down onto this spectacular rock glacier. That's the Kennecott and Root glaciers beyond (Kennecott is dark; Root is light):

All the parks in the world...

2008-06-26T16:11:00.003-08:00

...and this jerk had to walk into mine.
Jessy and I went running yesterday at Bicentennial Park, which is full of bears and moose and runners and mountain bikers and horses and other people and animals generally recreating. It's well traveled, but still gets a good dose of car break-ins at the trailhead and such. Jessy and I noticed a dog, a Chow mix, hanging around the trailhead when we left for our run, but there were several other cars in the lot, and a number of people milling around, loading or unloading themselves and their gear from their vehicles. When we came back from our run, an hour later, the dog was still there, and there were considerably fewer vehicles: just my bike, Jessy's truck, a big van, and a Subaru. Jessy knows the guy with the van, he was out biking with his Airedale. The Subaru appeared vacant.

Anyhow, this dog was obviously hanging around, not very friendly, very skittish, and very skinny. No tags. No collar. And Chows are notorious for being biters. So we were hesitant to try to touch him. We decided to call animal control, since it looked quite likely that someone had come and dropped their unwanted pet off at the trailhead.

While Jessy was on hold with information, the guy with the van came back. We described the situation to him, and he agreed with our plan of action. He had some dog treats, and was trying to lure the Chow into his van, because none of us thought it would be a good idea to try and pick the dog up (strange dog, biting breed, etc). As the dog was almost getting into the van, this man appears, exclaiming "What, are you trying to steal my dog?" in a very accusatory tone. We all were surprised, explained the situation, and expressed our relief that the Chow had an owner. Apparently, this guy had been sleeping in his car and just let his uncollared, untagged, unidentified dog wander around while he slept. He even said that his dog had bitten people for less than what we were doing, so he was glad the dog didn't bite us. Um, yeah, me too! Why would you let your unidentified, uncollared, biting dog wander around while you sleep in your car at a trailhead?!?!?! Call me crazy, but you're the guy in the wrong, buddy!

He was so peeved and indignant that it just turned me right off. I thought of all sorts of nasty things to say to him as I rode home, but since I was too late, I thought I'd just write it in this post. Some people!!!

We're the big Wieners!

2008-06-16T09:51:00.002-08:00

The Alaska Run for Women was this past Saturday. It's an all-women annual running event that raises money for breast cancer research and education, and this was my 8th year, I think. The folks at my office sponsored a port-a-potty this year, which we decorated. I made the scales and the head and helped put it together, and thought it was so great that I took the head home with me when it was all done. Lo and behold, we won the decoration contest! I hear the prize is a toilet seat. So proud!

The little motorcycle that could

2008-06-06T07:57:00.003-08:00

The verdict is in - 64 mpg!

Takin' the lead

2008-06-04T13:14:00.003-08:00

I've been put in stroke seat of the boat for the last 5 practices (each practice of the season thus far), which means I'm leading the boat for rhythm, rate, and technique. It's been a very interesting experience. Typically, I row 6 seat. The boat is set up with every other rower being a port or starboard, and the 8 seat (stroke) is port. So 8, 6, 4, and 2 seats are port; 7, 5, 3, and bow (1) are starboard. In 6 seat, I can support the stroke seat by not rushing and by minimizing the rush that might be coming up from the bow of the boat. I can carry the rhythm of stroke seat back into the bow by mirroring stroke seat's movements as closely as I can. I can also apply a lot of power, since the middle four seats of the boat are the most stable, and I can really "stand up on it" and not worry so much about affecting the set (the keel balance) of the boat.
In stroke seat, there's more pressure. I've always liked 6 seat because it seems to be more of a behind-the-scenes seat than the stroke seat. A good stroke has to be confident in their technique, power, timing, and stamina, because there's no getting sloppy in stroke seat. If you're sloppy, the boat falls apart. If you're in any other seat and are sloppy, the other seats can absorb and compensate for you.
The team's typical stroke seat is away for 6 weeks, on a cross-country RV trip. She's great, and I love rowing 6 seat behind her. But while she's gone, the coach is trying me out at stroke. He has given me good pointers and plenty of encouragement, and I agree with his thought that the team needs to be developing strokes for multiple boats. Our typical stroke is in her early 40s. Racing categories are by age, and it would be great if the team had a seasoned stroke for the 50-plus-rowers as well as the 30-somethings. We only have one or two 20-somethings, so they row with us old gals. I suppose I'm being groomed for this 30-something stroke seat.
The biggest problem with this that I see is that I'm facing the coxswain the whole time. Often, I'm helping a new coxswain or rower sitting in as cox to call out the drills, make turns, and keep everyone in line. The problem comes that if the boat isn't being as attentive as I think they should be (I realize this is relative), then I get snappy. And I end up taking that feeling out on the coxswain. Really, we all know how to set the boat, we all know how to hit particular stroke ratings, and we all know when we're not doing those two things. But somehow it takes the cox to remind everyone of those duties before people start paying attention and actually doing them. I have to remind myself that not everyone on the team is in it for the same reasons that I am, and honestly, that not everyone on the team knows what it feels like to have a crew working together that feels quick and light, like flying across the surface of the water. That's the goal. That's the feeling we're working toward.

Bike rides in springtime

2008-06-04T09:54:00.003-08:00

Spring has finally sprung here - it always feels as though it will never come, and then one day I find myself wondering when all the green leaves unfolded. I rode my bike to work this morning, saw a moose, and could smell these incredible white lilac trees that are planted along the bike trails. The kind of ride that makes me wonder why I don't do this every day - but then I think about my errands, and remember why I ride the motorcycle or even the station wagon.

The motorcycle has been good, very good. I rode Jim's 650 cc the other day, and although it runs a little rougher than my 225, the extra weight of the cycle felt much better on corners and going 45 mph. I noticed yesterday, as I was riding the 225, that I was suddenly more confident taking corners. Thanks, 650!

It's a crazy week for me, but things should calm down next week. My rowing club is having our annual fundraiser on Sunday, and I've become the committee chair. I really need to delegate more next year. The good news is that everything seems to be on track to raise $18,000. We will likely spend about $6,000 putting it on, so that's a pretty tidy net. We'll see. Things always happen at the last minute (like my sister in law pulling her participation yesterday - the race is Sunday), and there are several days of last minute left before the Big Day.

And yes, I know I've been lagging in posts - I was lecturing myself this morning as I rode through the lilac air...

Reality is easier at 6:45 am

2008-05-01T07:53:00.001-08:00

The six month body fat report is in, and the results are looking good! Very good: 22.76%. I had a different technician this time, one who really knew her stuff and was very helpful. No way had I blown out all my air last time - last time, I had a water weight reading of 0.2 kg. The first time I did it this morning, it was 0.2 kg, and then the tech told me to blow air bubbles under water until I had nothing left. She also had me configured slightly differently in the metal cage. My final water weight reading? 1.6 kg! Quite a bit of difference.

Anyhow, I'm psyched! We had this great conversation about BMI and what a crock it is, and got to discussing rowing, and organic foods, and how she's moving to Corvallis soon, and on and on. An overall much better experience than last time! She encouraged me to do it again at the end of the rowing season. At $35 a pop, I'm not sure I want to do this too often, but I think twice a year is reasonable.

Certainly a nice way to start off the day!

New York celebrates MHC

2008-04-30T21:23:00.002-08:00

The first night, Mom and I went to the American Museum of Natural History, to attend a celebration for MHC. I love that the college logo is projected past the blue whale! Saturday night I skipped the group dinner and went out to Brooklyn to visit the Big Brother. Odd that Brooklyn seemed like "reality" after what I'd been eyeballing in Manhattan! People were wearing color!
Here's the BQE at night:
And my first NYC rat!
The conclusion of the trip? Art is everywhere.

New York Art Weekend, continued

2008-04-30T21:11:00.004-08:00

Our group, outside a private gallery of Dutch masters, on Madison Ave (aren't the flowering trees great?): Looking up Madison Avenue:
The foyer at Christie's - loved this!
MHC class of '64, patiently waiting for our tour of the Greek and Roman galleries at the Metropolitan Museum of Art:One-third of the group, having a tour of the Roman works by one of the department curators at the Metropolitan (that's a porphry bathtub!):
Dinner at the home of the tour organizer, MHC class of '64:
Look at all of these Uncommon Women!

Art Adventure, MoHo Style

2008-04-30T20:52:00.008-08:00

I am dying to provide a New York Art Weekend Update. However, until I am able to compare notes with Mom and others in the group, I'm going to have to just post some photos from my amazing visit. Incredible, incredible, incredible. I've been on a cloud for weeks!

The first thing Mom and I did when I arrived was eat lunch. I felt as though I were in a movie! It was 75 degrees and we were in this wonderful West Village cafe:
Then we wandered around the West Village, which I loved. Here are some of my observations:
Look! Over there! Architecture!

This is the park memorial for the Stonewall protests:

And here is the Palazzo, which we happened upon, that I had just read about in Vanity Fair (the big pink building top):

Here is the view from the sofabed where Mom and I stayed (in a suite! with a view of the East River!):

The following morning, we met the group at the Whist Club (where they apparently still do play whist! Who knew?):
Ladies lunching (well, coffee at 10 am):

Obviously, we had no idea what we were in for....

Luna Update

2008-04-30T20:46:00.003-08:00

On with the joys of dog ownership...
One week ago, Luna got up for breakfast as usual. She went outside to the front yard to "do her business" also as usual, and went tearing across the (fenced) yard after a dog that was being walked down the street (also usual). The not so usual part is that in the process of tearing across the yard, she managed to tear her left hind "ring toe" nail off the nailbed. This was not such a pretty sight when she came back inside. I wasn't too keen on another trip to urgent care, so I waited 40 minutes until the vet clinic opened for the day, and fortunately they could see her that morning. She was sedated (this makes it the third time I've signed a wonderful "if your dog dies under sedation it's not our fault" waiver) and they shaved her toe and removed the torn toenail. It looks terrible, like the tip of a red marker instead of a toenail - essentially, it's just raw quick with no nail on top. She had to wear this little bootie for the first few days (tore it off once tearing around the yard again), and has caused it to resume bleeding all over the floor only a few times. Can't wait to see how much of the $230 vet bill the pet insurance folks will cover!
(I'd attach a photo, but am afraid it would be too gross.)

Motorcyclin'!

2008-04-30T20:42:00.004-08:00

Jim has been very patient with me and even counseled me through a meltdown last week (I was driving around with the choke out and it turns out that's not so good if you don't want to stall all the time). We're just back now from a trip across town, where I unsuccessfully tried to show off my cool getup to two pals (neither of whom were home). Oh well, it was still grand!

Here's the First Big Trip: home to Point Woronzof weekend before last.
Safety First!

Passing time...

2008-04-30T20:40:00.001-08:00

Well, since I'm not getting anything productive done right now, I thought I might work on one of my to-do list tasks. I like how "to-do" is close to "ta-da" and sometimes if I read it quickly, my brain reads the latter and has a little jump of excitement. Perhaps if I finished all the tasks on my to-do list I could exclaim Ta Da! and be done with it. Not the case right now. I have been making to-do lists daily for about a week. The only difference seems to be the date I assign to the top of the list – yes, still the same list. No, didn't get any of these tasks finished up yesterday. It's not much, just small things that take personal time that I don't want to give, but at this point it's becoming more of a to-do that these items are hanging out on the list than it is to just buckle down and do them.

Of course, several of the tasks have to do with rifling through files and checking up on insurance claims and settling some money accounts, which on one hand is a great task because it would be a really good and important one to finish, but on the other hand is a lousy task because it will involve a lot of confusion and calling around and pointing out the insurance company that one claim was for me and the other claim, that they're saying is "suspected duplicate," is actually for the same service on the same day, but for my dependent spouse (eye exam). If they actually read the fax cover page that accompanied the claim, then they'd know that and could stop fielding my calls! I've only called once. It was great, they said they'd take care of it right away, and apologized for the mistake and the delay. The next day I saw it was in pending status, and the day following was denied for "possible duplicate." Right. This will be more fun to call them the second time.

Rowing season is right around the corner, and I've been attempting to spend a few minutes thinking about what I want to get out of the season. The fees aren't cheap, and I'm on super budget, so the first conversation I have to have with myself is whether or not participating in rowing is really worth it. I've decided it is. Even when rowing in a crappy boat with a bunch of people who don't know what they're doing and end up jerking you all over the place, there are always a few moments of good glide on the water that feel great. Not to mention, a good boat with synchronized teammates is ecstatic feeling. I've been erging all winter, and pulled a 2,000 m time last weekend that I'm quite pleased with, so I may as well indulge myself. I just have to be careful not to complain about club politics to Jim so much, I think it wears on him.

So I'm not going to any Outside regattas this year, and I'm missing one of the two in-state regattas for the MS bike ride, so my racing opportunities are obviously quite limited. I'm hoping that if I'm a good sport, then I'll get to practice in racing boats even if I'm not racing, instead of being boated in more of a misfit ship. I've been talking with some friends about arranging a 4 to row once a week so we can have some guaranteed good water time.

Tomorrow morning I'm doing round two of the hydrostatic body fat test. It's strange to think it's been 6 months since the first one! This time I have all the rules about not eating and drinking, and have a good mind to adhere to them. Suppose I'll be posting the results for all of you tomorrow; be sure to tune in for the next update.

Red Dress

2008-04-28T20:58:00.002-08:00

Here are those pictures I promised from the work awards ceremony:

Getting Ready

2008-04-08T20:20:00.002-08:00

I was talking on the phone this afternoon to Mom and got completely excited about the New York trip! I'm leaving tomorrow night, which means tonight becomes a frenzy of procrastination: one more episode of SATC, clean the house, do the laundry, pack the clothes...that's the plan, anyway. Currently, I've done the first task and am sitting with my mug of Red Zinger and listening to the best of JJ Cale. Life is good.
I'm approaching this trip with a new idea, a new mindset. It's personal, it's likely boring to all others, but it's pretty exciting to me. I'm going to track my food and ww points this week, even knowing I'll go over my dailies. I'm going to stick to my quite limited budget, and essentially try not to buy anything. It sounds ridiculous; more to the point, it begs the "WHY?!" question. But I am going to New York to look and be on a tour, not to buy things. And what would I buy? I've so far identified my two mine zones as the museum gift shops and the bar. Figure I'll make a list of things from the gift shop (and then turn it over to Jim around my birthday), and make Alex buy all my drinks. Fair warning. So, I have a food and money budget. I'm quite excited.

In other news..cleaned the office today: a clear sign of procrastination. I've been working a lot lately; last week we had the feds in town to give legal advice on a big project I've been working on (for the last 4 years), so there was a field trip and lots of meeting coordination and good discussion going on, not to mention staying a bit later and checking email and generally following up on the rest of work. I'm officially finished with my year as chair of the national committee of my company's employee recognition program, which is good. A year is the right amount of time for that. And the presidents of the company (we have two) and the CEO and the head of HR all signed a very nice letter thanking me for all my hard work and finesse - yes, I think they used that word, I'll check tomorrow - getting the committee through it's first major budget increase in 14 years. Original signatures and everything. I have honestly never seen these signatures in pen, they're always scanned and printed. It was presented to me at our annual awards ceremony (which I mc'd, in a flaming red evening dress, pictures to come when I get them), and I was totally surprised. The letter was matted and framed, so now it's on the wall of my office. I wouldn't have matted and framed it, but there you have it.
Anyhow, I cleaned the office - divided the enormous African violet, repotted some other plants that badly needed it, wiped down all the desk surfaces and computer with germ killer wipes. I have this wood goose mobile, the kind with a string that you pull to make the wings flap, that used to hang in my family's cabin when I was growing up, hanging over my desk. Because of the way I engineered the hanging apparatus, it's been facing the corner for about 2 years - until today, when I finally got up there and moved that paper clip in the acoustic tile and now my goose is looking out at the office. A little bit of feng shui that actually made a huge difference!
I felt I was allowed a little procrastination, since I worked 9 hours on Sunday and 5 or so on Saturday, trying to make up for this Thursday and Friday when I will be in NYC. Those days were so productive, it almost - almost - made me want to trade out a weekend day for a weekday on a regular basis.
So, that's enough rambling for now. I promise I'll post a picture of the red dress (on loan from a colleague) when I get some, and I'll post NYC pics when I return. Not taking the laptop and pretty darned excited about that!

Maxin' and Relaxin', Luna-style

2008-03-19T20:59:00.005-08:00

Turns out, when you eat two ample piles of moose droppings that have recently melted out of the yard's snow, you become completely constipated until the middle of the night/mid-morning (must be when someone is not being attentive), at which point you spontaneously combust in your laundry room abode (which, fortunately, your kind hosts have barricaded you into for the night). The fascinating, yes, fascinating part of this process is that the elimination still is most obviously moose nugget, just in the shape of dog excrement.

After your hosts clean things up a few times, cursing you for being so prolific, and, having not yet made the connection between moose nuggets and tastiness, wondering why on earth you're doing this most awful action, you act guilty and sulk around (while at the same time refusing to step on the portions of soiled carpet which have been thoroughly scrubbed).

Then, the hosts have an epiphany about the moose droppings-tastiness correlation. All makes sense in the world! Of course moose nuggets are tasty! It's like chewed up wood! And of course the dog would eat it! Why on earth not?

So, the end result: the droppings that are still identifyable in the yard have either been pitched out of the fence perimeter or sprayed down with a bitter apple/tabasco combination. And, reward of all rewards, a new bed is purchased (since the old one showed signs of severe discomfort):
Yes, we're very pleased with ourselves.

North Carolina

2008-03-19T20:47:00.010-08:00

I've recently returned from a bit of a family reunion in North Carolina. I was there for a socioeconomic training course, and in the meantime was able to visit with my grandmother, parents, brother, and brother's gay wife (sorry, Vanessa. Had to spill the beans.)

The transportation between the designated hotel (which I didn't stay at) and the campus where the course was being held was via the Bio Bus - a 1970-something Mercedes Troop Transport bus with these fantastic folding seats. There's a Durham outfit that runs shuttles that had found the bus in someone's old barn with only 15,000 miles on it or something similarly outrageous. They converted it to Biodiesel and voila! we were riding in style. It really was a great way to transport 17 people.

In the meantime, I had this little beaut:

While there, we celebrated Dad's 60th birthday party. He was appropriately humble:
Grandma Bess was looking chipper and likely thinking "60? Try 90, you whippersnapper."All in all, an excellent trip. I was able to enjoy some true springtime weather, see my family whom I adore, and even learn a thing or two. I was also lucky enough to wedge college pal Jennie and new pal Alexis/Loocie into the back seat of my sweet ride:

Wonders in White

2008-03-07T18:59:00.002-09:00

After my last session at the DDS, and my shock at how stained my rubber bands were, I decided maybe I should take a wee lesson and work a bit on not staining my new bands quite so quickly. True: I drink coffee. I am not about to stop, so I've taken to developing a bit of a slurp to try and get the coffee past my front teeth and onto my tongue. So far, pretty good. If I put cream in it, I can drink it through a straw (thanks for the tip, ERVA!).

I also drink wine, and prefer red. I thought this might be a good time to explore white wine, since just looking at a glass of deep red wine is enough to make me grip my toothbrush. So far, I've tried chardonnay and sauvignon blanc. The chardonnay gave me a headache, twice. No more chardonnay for me. Sauvignon blanc seems to be a bit more to my liking, though. I need to learn some wine vocabulary so I can accurately describe what it is I like and don't!

More to come, I'm sure.

Iditarod!

2008-03-07T18:55:00.004-09:00

Last weekend, Jim and I were downtown in the thick of the action, at the ceremonial start of the Iditarod:Look at that handsome devil!

Tucson, Too

2008-02-26T21:29:00.005-09:00

Oh yeah - and we got some sunshine in Tucson. The meeting was a success and I can move on to being past-chair (relaaaaax) instead of Chair (eeeek!) of these meetings. I ate Carne Seca (dried beef, apparently) several times and loved it. On Friday night, we were able to observe how it is dried:This was hanging from a hook above the open-air restaurant, above our table. Here I am with my committee's retiring corporate advisor (and the useful, stylish, fashionable hat I gave him as a present and then insisted he wear all night):And finally, the largest tortilla I've ever seen!

Week 5 of Braces

2008-02-26T21:14:00.007-09:00

I'm sorry I haven't been better about posting my mouth updates. Today I went to the DDS to have some wires clipped that had come loose, as well as have the rubber bands in the front brackets changed for new bands that aren't curry-colored. Here is how things looked when I returned:Now, I don't know why my mouth looks enormous, and why my lips look like sausages, but I'm grateful to Jim for taking the picture all the same. I love how you can really see the difference between the coffee-and-curry-colored rubber bands on the bottom teeth and my new clear bands on the top. Of course my teeth still look crooked, but it's progress from this:Not to mention - my front teeth on top? The ones I see disappearing in photographs? Look how much of an arch they're coming into:(remember, we're looking at the top teeth, not the still-very-crooked bottom teeth). My DDS was completely enthusiastic with how fast things were moving. I wish I had a copy of his pictures; one is from inside my mouth looking up at the top front teeth - they are very, very crooked in that shot. The teeth actually angle into the mouth, instead of angling out as they are supposed to (and as they will!).
This is, I believe, the first week when I can really, definitely, see progress. Hooray!

On another note, my book club is reading Bridge of Sighs and discussing it this Friday; I'm 2/3 of the way through and wanting to skip work to stay home and read it...so it's off to bed and book for me!

Long time no update

2008-02-19T21:57:00.002-09:00

Here I go, complaining about people not updating their blogs, and I haven't posted in a week. For shame!
I've been just fine, in case anyone was worried (didn't think so). Faith taught me how to use my sewing machine last week, which sent me on a mission to turn our "library" (junk room) into a craft room. I must say, it's looking about a thousand times better than it was. I have some furniture moving to do (both in and out) and some bookcase problems to solve, but those will have to wait until I get back from Mexico.
Okay, I'm teasing. We're only going to Mexico for a day, as a side trip from Tucson. I'm leading a meeting in Tucson Thursday afternoon and all day Friday, and staying the weekend. For once in the history of my invovlement with this program (this will be my sixth meeting in three years), Jim is able to come with me. We're planning a day trip into Nogales, seeing as my spiffy new electronic passport did, indeed, arrive in time for travel. I'm excited to see some sunshine, since last week it was in the teens-below-zero and today it was 42 degrees above zero, which in either case is just sad, sad, sad for February.
The Ramblins. Anyhow, I'm leading this meeting, which means I have to create a day and a half of power point presentation, and rehearse running 12 hours of meeting, and figure out what I'm going to wear that won't show the huge pit-stains I'm sure to get, and not let the ten cups of coffee I had this morning get to me....and so posting has seemed a bit elusive.
I did bathe the dog on Sunday. She is so soft and smells so good, and knows it, it's really fun. She's being very cuddly. Tonight I made a fire for us (me and The Loon) and some pork chops (for me and The Jim) and worked on my power point while listening to Symphony No. 2 by - I think - Dvorak on the radio, and thought, again, how good my life is. Hopefully I can remember that tomorrow after eleven cups of coffee.
For now, it's off to bed.

Quick Post

2008-02-12T13:19:00.001-09:00

Isn't it funny how different two days can be? Yesterday I just was doowwnn in the duuummmps. Started off with coming downstairs in the morning to pee and poo on the carpet (thanks, Luna!). Then Luna decided not to obey by her typical breakfast routine (we make her wait to bum-rush her food bowl until we say OK), so I had to reprimand her again and take her food away. Came to work and there was a huge fire regarding this meeting that I'm in charge of that is next week. There are 53 attendees from across the country, and there was panic that some thought the meeting was the following week. It's all fine, but it took several phone calls and heart attacks to determine this.

I babysat my little niece yesterday afternoon, although I was so riled up from my anxious morning that I'm afraid I was to restless. She just wanted to be held, and I wanted to actually do something - read a book, play with the plastic ball, anything - but hey, she's only 4 months old, so her primary pleasures are eating, sleeping, peeing, and being held. She did all of these things. The experience did not make me want to have children (didn't turn me off, just didn't turn on the baby emotion).

Blah blah blah, enough of Monday. Jim made me a delicious dinner and gave me hugs and was very nice to me all evening, as he ususally is. I was able to wake up this morning with a more positive outlook, and feeling much more relaxed. It feels as though yesterday was much more than a day away.

So this afternoon I'm off to the "Forum on the Environment" where my company is hosting a booth. We're all dressed up in our little company vests, looking very uniform and corporate (and quite sharp, I must admit). TOnight it is a going-away party for my brother-in-law's cousin, who is moving to Sequim. Say hi to Barbara, would ya?

Luna Can't Reach her Mulva

2008-02-06T20:11:00.000-09:00

Oh, poor The Loon. Her mulva is in terrible shape, somehow, and she can't reach it to clean it, so it's driving her bananas. Completely distressing her. I can't assign a better word than "distressing" to her condition. She will be fine, doing normal Loon things (like begging, or lying next to the fire) when suddenly she will JOLT! and ZIP! and go tearing around the room as though her bottom (or mulva) is on fire. She'll do this for a few minutes and then collapse, exhausted, onto the rug.

Dogs have this charming anatomical feature known as anal glands, where they store identifying scents that also help lubricate things along in the rear caboose. Typically, dogs are able to express (don't you love that) these glands through their normal course of play, sniffing, etcetera. Active running is supposed to be good for expression. Sometimes, however, certain doggies perhaps aren't exposed to enough expressionism, and they require forcible expression. Don't you wish this could be performed on stodgy old conservatives, forced expression? Say, prolonged exposure to The Vagina Monologues or a lecture on Mapplethorpe’s nudes? By the end of the series, the subject would certainly be begging to express themselves in whatever media they saw most fitting.

Well, dogs yearn to express through stinky old glands, apparently. So this is what I thought must be bothering the poor Loon. My friend tried to express them (can you imagine the scene? include rubber gloves and vaseline.) but was unsuccessful; in fact, she thought they didn't require expression. Yesterday morning, this topic was most obviously on The Loon's mind. She was so distressed, in fact, that I called in late to work (isn't my DOG a DEPENDENT?!) and phoned the vet for an appointment, post haste. We were booked for 9 am. Good.

Seeing as it was 7:00 in the morning, and it would have taken me a full 60 minutes to drive to work, drive home, pick up The Loon, and drive to the vet (not to mention driving The Loon home and returning to work), I decided to spend some QT with said distressed dog. She immediately went back to bed. I decided to peel an acorn squash for a vindaloo recipe I was planning for that evening.

Unbeknownst to me, my disposall, El Badger, does not like squash. He revolted and spewed chopped squash peel all over the inside of the lower cabinet. I truly felt like the Domestic Goddess when I was pulling out the seventy or so cleaning products (and pet stain removal products) from under the sink, wishing I'd had the foresight to store this myriad of chemicals in a nice tidy bucket. I successfully dismantled the plastic drain piping and scraped out the offending squash, but then became perplexed at the prospect of fitting it all back together again. So I left it. Best The Roommate supervise my effort and give a nice quality-control sign-off on the work, lest I assume I've done it correctly and then run the dishwasher (all over the floor).

(Did I mention that the night before, as I was diligently flossing my teeth, the bottom wire of my braces came unconnected to the last bracket?)

So The Loon and I traipsed off to the vet, where we learned that she is plenty expressed. Instead, she has an irritated mulva. Oh, Poor Loon! I don't even like to imagine, and I have seen it up close. Good thing I love my dog, since I'm cleaning things I never imagined I would clean...(okay, at some point I fantasized that I would have a dog, and I tried to imagine all the downsides to that - and this was pretty close to one of the downsides.).

To wrap it all up, the ortho technician snapped my wire back on in less than 30 seconds, and I managed to fit all the plastic drain pipe back together at the end of the day when I returned home from work. But it was remarkably exhausting, doing all of that. Most of all, emotional trauma resulting from concern that my dog was not adequately expressing herself!

Read into it what you like, people....should have read my horoscope for the day.

Week One and One-Half

2008-02-03T21:47:00.001-09:00

Wow, does anyone think this actually looks straighter?
The HUGE plus to this is that I can chew. I was eating a complete total diet of applesauce, tomato soup, yogurt, and pudding (not to mention tea, coffee, fudgesicles, creamsicles, beer, wine, and martinis) for 10 days before I could honestly chew. And I'm not kidding around - chew includes things like egg substitutue, rice, very soft cookies, and generally everything in this world that is good and delicious.

So, last night I went out for dinner with some girlfriends, and not only was it a great Bon Voyage for our guest of honor, but I completely indulged and ate almonds! olives! with pits! bread! with cheese! meatballs! artichoke hearts! The whole deal. It was a tapas restaurant, and it was Exactly What the Doctor Ordered. Ahhh.....

The Initiation

2008-01-28T20:03:00.000-09:00

I suppose it was a matter of time before I fell prey to the blogging games people play: tagging. I think I actually clapped my hands and exclaimed excitedly when I saw that Renee had tagged me. Here goes:

Since I've been largely a blog observer, I can only surmise how this works. Fortunately, the rules are fairly simple:

1) Link to the person who tagged you.
2) Post the rules on your blog.
3) Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself.
4) Tag at least three people at the end of your post and link to their blogs.
5) Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
6) Let the fun begin!

1) Done. Hah!
2) Done again. I'm a go-getter!
3) Six non-important things about myself. Well, isn't it all important? In the grand scheme? How about just six random things about myself:
1. I just ate refried beans with cheese on top for dinner, and it was the best thing I've eaten in 5 days.
2. I can sing along to the opening sequence of "Bridget Jones' Diary" as well as do the gestures and air guitar.
3. I loooooooove striped socks.
4. My college friends, although smart, interesting, engaging, and caring, are generally terrible about keeping in touch.
5. I bought a Greek cookbook for someone who is half Greek. Cliche? or cool?
6. Yes, yes, you were waiting for it: I love All Things Bulldog.

4) Hmm, let's see. Apparently not being prompt about keeping in touch extends beyond the college pals, because there are five blogs I can think of right now that aren't updated often enough to justify tagging. So, at the risk of these fine people thinking I'm cheesy, I'll tag The Greek, The New Parents, and this very interesting, smart blog that I am completely addicted to. And for good measure, here's one for Sunday's Workout Partner.

Five Hundred More Days to Go?

2008-01-27T19:12:00.000-09:00

Day one with braces wasn't bad. That night for dinner, I ate soup that had noodles and meatballs. It was canned soup, so the meatballs and noodles were pretty soft, and it went well. I also ate a bunch of banana cream pudding. By a bunch, I mean a whole box. I think that's four servings, but who cares? It was fantastic.

So, flossing - wow. I mean, WOW. It took me 30 minutes to brush my teeth and floss that first night. I have to thread the floss behind the arch wire (the horizontal wire that goes across the front of my teeth and is mounted to the brackets by tiny rubber bands) and floss the tooth, then pull the floss out, go to the next tooth, and re-thread. Not so bad in the front, but when you're trying to hold your mouth open, lips back, and thread floss behind a wire on your last molar, it's a little tricky. I definitely want to be doing this, too, since bad oral hygiene with braces will leave marks on my teeth.

So, I woke up on day two and was thrilled that I had been able to sleep well. The only problem was that I couldn't chew. Not at all. My bite surfaces are so tender that I had to mash my scrambled eggs to the roof of my mouth with my tongue before I could swallow. And then, when I brushed and flossed, a disgusting amount of egg came out of my mouth.

I've spent the last four days eating yogurt, applesauce, and pureed soup (butternut squash, tomato, carrot, creamed corn, etc). Last night I spent a few hours completely lusting after the smorgasbord of sushi and sashimi that was spread at Trinity's birthday party. I did manage to have a few bites of white king sashimi, but it was a bit of a waste on me. I made major damage to the pot of miso soup, though!

Conclusion: so far, so good. I've been getting great positive reinforcement from everyone, and no one has decided I'm such a dork that they can't be my friend anymore (juvenile but very real fear).

Oh, and it's -10 degrees outside. Braces make my mouth very, very cold when I'm breathing with my mouth open!

Day 1

2008-01-23T18:06:00.000-09:00

Well, I did it! Today is day one with metal mouth. I have ceramic mounts on the top center, which I'm really pleased with. They're not as obvious as I feared they might be.
The installation was easy - it took about an hour and a half, but it wasn't painful, just strange. I had several contraptions in my mouth to remove saliva and keep my lips away from my teeth.
So far, no pain - just a bit achey. The wires really highlight the crookedness!

The Last Supper

2008-01-22T23:01:00.000-09:00

Jim treated me to a fantastic Last Supper tonight: dry-rub barbequed ribs and corn on the cob.

John and Trinity came over to enjoy the last hurrah, and brought caramel apples!

Let me tell you, these babies were T-U-F-F to eat! Even without braces!

Speaking of without braces, here's the Big Before:

Luna at Play

2008-01-21T23:23:00.000-09:00

I know, the Bulldog may be best suited for Rest. I stayed up late last night to see the Bulldog segment on PBS' Nova that featured the Bulldog, and somehow they seemed to imply that the Bulldog is a whimsy dog, instead of a "working" dog. I beg to differ - I think that the job of a Bulldog is to inspire laughter, smiling, and goofiness, which we all need more of in our lives. And Bulldogs are very, very good at performing this work.

Here are examples of The Loon at Play (aka Work):

Doors of New York

2008-01-21T23:03:00.000-09:00

Who knows? I just felt like taking pictures of doors. There are about seven hundred thousand different doors, that I saw, in Brooklyn.

Row for the Cure

2008-01-21T22:56:00.000-09:00

A couple of pictures from the Women's 8+ (that means with a coxswain) at the Portland, Oregon Row for the Cure last September. Awesome venue, right on the Willamette River, with navy vessels and city skylines all around. I think there were four bridges, too! I had the best cheering squad: five people with trumpets and noisemakers on the bridge. Hooray for fans!

The Effects of Sourdough Bread

2008-01-15T10:01:00.000-09:00

Small update - after a fantastic weekend of eating pea soup and sourdough bread, I went to my weekly weigh in meeting: up 2.2 pounds. Apparently bread, although delicious, isn't necessarily the best for keeping trim. Hm.

I Did It! Sourdough Bread

2008-01-11T18:51:00.000-09:00

I've always admired good bread. When I was in Norway, my next door neighbor (from Denmark) had this amazing rye bread that took two days to make. It was so dense and delicious, it was a meal in every slice. I learned how to bake plain wheat bread when I was there, and was quite satisfied with the small, almost-unrisen loaves I would produce. They didn't have a lot of flavor, but American bread generally doesn't, so I didn't feel that I was missing out on too much. Plus, I was baking! This was incredible!

When we bought this house, we had a great housewarming/engagement party. Many, many folks from various spheres of our lives came to celebrate with us, and a neighbor and coworker of mine was one of them. He gave us a sourdough starter that was from an old Homer family. I think the starter originated something like 80 years prior! I thought it was a fantastic gift and promptly stuck it in the fridge, forgot about it, and tossed it two months later when I discovered the layer of blue mold on the surface (come to find out, I could have scraped the mold off and fed the starter and it would have been fine). I've long regretted my neglect of that starter, and been too embarrassed of my neglect to 'fess up and ask for more.

So, I was saved when another friend offered me some of his homemade sourdough starter. I think he even did the "float-a-piece-of-toast" method to collect wild yeast. In any case, it was "new" starter, and I gladly accepted it. I diligently fed it every week, even if we never made anything from it. When we did cook with it, it was pancakes and waffles. We even toted it to Prince William Sound last summer for a sourdough pancake cook-off on the last morning of our week trip, along with another cohort's starter. His were sour. Mine were delicious. His had dried blueberries. We gorged ourselves that last, rainy morning, and I was so proud that I had sourdough starter that I cared enough for to bring it on this trip.

So, I know I'm obsessing about the starter. Something about the care and the history of it really appeals to me. It's like being gourmet without seriously trying, and I do love that.

Anyhow, it's not as though I've stopped buying bread from the store while I've had this starter. In fact, I haven't made sourdough bread once in my life. In college, when I returned from Norway, I tried to recreate my whole-wheat bread baking process using the toaster oven in my dorm room, and you might imagine the not-so-exciting results. I've been thinking about sourdough bread lately, though, and even had a fantasy that I would make tiny loaves to give to friends for Christmas with some homemade spread or something. Never happened. I got as far as reading the FOURTEEN PAGES of bread baking instructions in the Joy of Cooking and became completely overwhelmed. Just the basic sourdough bread recipe needed 36 hours! Plus, how does a novice bread baker know how flexible one can be with timing, rising temperatures, and the lot? What if I had to go to work, and so couldn't let the dough rise for 2 to 4 hours, but instead had to leave it for 6? Or eight? Would all be lost?

The other day I decided to go for it. I had made a triple batch of starter and suddenly had more starter begging to be used than I knew what to do with. Short of making enough pancakes to feed my office, I knew my option was to try bread. The 36 hour recipe called for two cups of starter, and I had three and one-half. So, one cup went back in the fridge:

(This is the stone crock I keep the starter in. The starter instructions are adamant about not putting the starter in contact with metal.)

I used two cups of starter and set out to follow the instructions for Joy of Cooking's White Sourdough Bread (which, by the way, references not only two instructional sections of the "bread" chapter, but also two different recipies). I decided that perhaps I wouldn't end up with the most incredible bread on earth because I didn't have the timing to follow the instructions to the letter, but it would be pretty close - and as long as pretty close was synonymous with edible, I'd be satisfied.

After an internet search to try and discern the difference between bread flour and all purpose flour, I embarked on this adventure. That was night before last. And tonight, the result:

Check out that crust! Check out that lovely doneness! The two pieces were two loaves that merged into one, much like a delicious dinner roll. And WOW does it taste good! It actually had a real crust! The inside is spongy and dense but full of air - and, best of all, it actually tastes like sourdough. I think we're on to something here, folks!

Two last things:
1. Is there really anything better than warm bread with butter?
2. Bread flour apparently has more gluten, and so results in a better rise and crust. Everything I read and have now experienced indicates you can use all-purpose flour instead of bread flour, but not the other way around.

Moussaka in yummy new pan

2008-01-07T19:42:00.000-09:00

Yum..moussaka...

New Living Room Rug!!

2008-01-06T23:17:00.000-09:00

I love our new rug...hope you do, too.

It wasn't $3500 - it was $137 at the grocery store, and we thought it would be just fine until we saved enough for a quality rug. Then, when we got it home, we thought - yes! Why did we wait so long, even for an interim rug? It's a delight - sets off the living room, feels good on the feet, and most importantly, the Loon LOVES it. She walks around the edge of it in order to not step on the --ooh! cold! --floor.

More fun pictures to post soon. Roommate has given me the old laptop all for myself, so as soon as I get his files off, I can completely dominate the laptop!! And learn more! I have pictures of Eggplant Moussaka (WW) that I made tonight in our new deep dish ceramic coated cast iron lasgane pan (fantastico) and some random but good pics from our vacation.

Until then, cheers...

Resolutions

2008-01-05T14:21:00.000-09:00

Here it is, 2008. Amazing. The only real New Year Resolution I made was:

Take Luna for more walks.

Aside from that, I do have goals for the new year. Things I'd like to accomplish. Tasks I'd like to check off the list. This list includes, in no particular order:

Go to the library. Both the Roommate and I have been discussing using that darned library card, and Brother turned Roommate onto graphic novels, which are apparently pricey and easily obtainable through the library.

Get rugs for the house. At a minimum, a living room rug and a back hall runner. Roommate and I just went to a local shop that claims they're closing the store and that rugs are 60 to 80 percent off; well, the 8x10 rugs were still $3600. Not in the cards, or the budget, at this point. So I imagine we'll get a Costco or Fred Meyer lovely and wait on the investment rug.

Redo the downstairs bathroom. This includes caulking around the tub, getting a real shower curtain, getting a new light, replacing the vanity/mirror/towel bar/toilet paper bar/all wood and fake brass accessories, and painting the walls. Potentially replacing the floor, but that's really the least of my concerns with the bathroom. My hope is that I could do this for less than $1,500, but I haven't really checked into it for reality.

That's it for now. Oh yeah, get braces. Do well at work. Be healthy. Exercise regularly. Cook at home more. Save money. And on and on and on and on...

Stay Tuned...

2007-12-11T18:29:00.000-09:00

Yes, I've been a bit obsessed with the braces thing lately. I keep feeling my teeth and wondering if I'm incredibly self-absorbed and vain, or if this is a good, self-rewarding and beneficial thing to do that I've been thinking about for a long time. The big testimony is that every single adult I've spoken with who has had braces says DO IT! It's amazing! You'll be so glad you did!

No one more than the woman who started ArchWired. Yes, I've read her entire journey blog. And I hope hope hope I don't have to get 4 teeth pulled and wear braces for three years!

But I did decide to go with DDS1, who(m?) I liked better than DDS2. My next appointment, where they'll make casts of my teeth, is January 8. So, stay tuned.

Couldn't help myself

2007-12-11T18:19:00.000-09:00

Isn't this the GREATEST?!?!?!?!

Rest In Peace, Bozo

2007-12-11T18:09:00.000-09:00

My Most Expensive Fish Ever, Bozo the clown plecostomus ($11), has apparently gone to the fishtank in the sky. He was so cool! I wonder if living with all the ammonia waste-spewing goldfish finally did him in. Or maybe it was that I never did get him any Spirulina tablets. Those of you in town may remember my 6-month-long Saint Patrick's Day fishtank, the result of an incessant algae bloom that I could not get to go away. I ended up performing a complete tank change - even washed the inside of the tank with Simple Green (and then rinsed it about one hundred times). And the fish seemed to love it! They were psyched! This was maybe a month ago? Right before in-laws came to visit? So I know it can't be that to inspire Bozo to bite it. The other fish (Fishie, Nice Fishy, and Bruiser) are hanging out on the opposite side of the tank. They're not even eating him. Tells me they must have liked Bozo - they ate the Otto fish that I used to get.
This all reminds me of the first time I fish-sat for Brother and his girlfriend at the time. They had a "fancy" goldfish (=looked like a golf ball with fins) that was black. I think his name was Max. They really liked this fish. Anyhow, I had absolutely no idea how much to feed Max, so I think I covered the surface of the 10-gallon tank with flake food. Every day. Max died either right when they got home or right before. I hope Brother knew that about my fish-killing tendencies. I'd hate for this to be a nasty surprise.

Hard Core Metal

2007-12-04T17:58:00.000-09:00

I'm embarking on a new adventure - braces! For the tooths, not the legs. I had a consultation this morning with an orthodontist that I really liked (actually, I had two consultations, one with a DDS that I liked, one with a DDS that I did not like). The cost is do-able, insurance will cover $2K of it (wow), and I'm looking at an 18 month committment. Sounds reasonable to me! The only glitch I see right now is that DDS1 said there was no need to pull teeth; DDS2 said we'd need to pull up to 4 teeth. Hello, how many teeth do I have in my mouth total???? 32???? Pull out 12.5% of my teeth?!?!?! But aside from the obvious discomfort of having bones pulled out of ones head, my main concern is just the discrepancy in diagnoses. Was DDS1 telling me what he thought I wanted to hear, and in fact my teeth will go crooked again later because we didn't pull teeth? Is DDS2 eager for blood and gore? Would DDS2's job be easier if we pulled teeth? I just want good care - ok, I want great care. I want a beautiful office with friendly staff and a doctor I like who has good bedside manner. I want to understand what is going on and I don't want false hopes.
So I emailed the technician at DDS1 and reported the findings of DDS2. I asked that DDS1 revisit my file with this in mind and let me know if he sees anything he didn't catch the first time. And I tried to frame it in the context that I need to calculate how much money to put in my flex spending account for 2008 - obviously, pulling teeth isn't going to be free.
I have to submit my final allocations Monday, so hopefully I'll get a reply soon. Figure I'll call in 2 days if I don't get a message back. Here's hoping that DDS1 is just so much more progressive with orthodontia than DDS2 and can achieve long-lasting results without pulling teeth!

Home Sick

2007-11-25T11:54:00.000-09:00

Ugh, what a way to spend a four day weekend: sick. On Wednesday morning I woke up with a slightly sore throat, but it went away quickly. Thursday morning, however, I woke up feeling as though the back of my throat were raw and bloody. The part of the throat that you feel when you swallow, that's what hurt. Friday the coughing started in. Here it is Sunday, I'm feeling marginally better, although I have to wonder how much of that is due to the diet of cold and mucus pills I've been eating every 4 hours. And the real kicker is that I have (had?) work to do this weekend, work that's due tomorrow, that I won't be ready to turn in. Grrr....

Things I Love

2007-11-21T18:38:00.000-09:00

- Sitting by a fire (that I made myself, thank you very much) with my Bulldog curled up on my feet

- Looking through old pictures and laughing

- New Yawk (the Loon loves it, too - see?)

And finally...the Loon!

2007-11-21T18:03:00.001-09:00

SantaFe Railroad

2007-11-21T17:54:00.000-09:00

Some pictures from my trip to San Diego in February (I know, so late!):

Hallows Eve 2006

2007-11-21T17:44:00.000-09:00

Recently, I found some long-lost pictures that I thought I'd share. Here is "Devil in a Blue Dress" from last year: And here is Kern, Anne, and Baby Drake:

Gift of Life

2007-11-16T14:24:00.000-09:00

The Bloodmobile came to work today! I've never donated in it before, and it was waaay more fun than at the main branch. The techs were singing and joking around, and all the donors were having a little competition to see who could fill their bags fastest. I'm not sure if we had any choice in how fast we filled the bags. The record was 3 minutes 13 seconds! Wow. I filled my bag in 4:45 which they said was still plenty fast. They said I had great veins. And my hematocrit, which has been low in the past (causing me to be turned away from donating) was at 39%!

It must be the ski at lunch with Ingrid. That was really spectacular. We hopped on the trail across the street from work and skate skiied to Westchester Lagoon. It was sunny and empty of people and the snow is just right, except there isn't enough snow to fill the tunnels yet so we had to take our skis off quite a bit. A lovely mid-day jaunt!

Swimming

2007-11-15T09:44:00.000-09:00

I'm on week one of The Fitness Routine. I figured that I could stick to a regular fitness routine for the last months of 2007 and then evaluate what is needed for the new year. So Monday and Wednesday I'm at the erg room, and Tuesday and Thursday mornings I'm at the pool. My intention is to do pilates on Tuesday and Thursday evenings as well, but with family in town that has proven too much a glitch in the evening schedule.

Swimming Tuesday morning was a huge chore. I don't think I'd been in a pool since May. I don't think there's anything quite like swimming to make one feel like a heavy barge. But today was much better; I swam a 500-yard piece without stopping. It is important for me to remember that when I first began swimming, that was fairly impossible. I remember not being able to swim 50 yards without stopping at the end of the lane. So, progress is relative.

I'm also on a bit of a buckle-down period at work (as evidenced by the fact that I am blogging at work). I've been tasked with a writing assingment for a fast-tracked EIS, and this is really my chance to respond well to the pressure. So, that said, I'm signing off.

Oh, one more thing: it's been snowing and it's absolutely beautiful outside. I will take some pictures soon, I promise.

2007-11-08T18:36:00.001-09:00

Dr. Aloha

2007-11-07T19:35:00.000-09:00

Not sure I want to write about Dr. Aloha just yet. Not sure if ever. But we're looking at December 1 for a memorial service. Only cried once today. Lost count of how many times yesterday. I'm having a bit of a hard time merging the idea of what happened from the fact that it was a person that I knew. Both are sad. I feel like I start to feel "okay" about the idea of what happened and then I remember who specifically it was, and I lose that "okay" feeling. Friends and family have been wonderful and I'm trying to take this as an opportunity to tell everyone that I love them and care about them.

Drat, that makes two times today.

Old Picture, New Floor

2007-11-02T11:03:00.000-08:00

Not sure if I shared this picture of our new floor downstairs (and new paint on the walls). Many thanks to pals who helped us install it.

Oh What A Feeling!

2007-10-31T21:45:00.000-08:00

Thanks, Grandma Bess! We're proud owners of an amazing new bed. I can't believe how well I've slept on it. And it's beautiful - by far the nicest piece of anything we have. The movers came over yesterday and assembled it (with the sales rep there, too) and last night I felt like the princess and the pea, minus the pea. We've ordered low-profile box springs for it, but until they arrive we have regular sized springs from the store, on loan. Which means the top of the bed is about 4 feet off the ground. It's wonderful!

Most Colorful Costume Award

2007-10-31T15:06:00.000-08:00

Today I won the prize for "most colorful costume" at work. The prize was a candy bar, which I did not accept. I congratulated myself all the way back to my desk for my appetite resolve; unfortunately, it's all I've been thinking about since!

The Big Wiener:

Reality is difficult at 5:45 am

2007-10-26T07:29:00.000-08:00

I took the plunge this morning - literally - by participating in a voluntary hydrostatic test for body fat percentage. I've long thought that although my weight is typically at the high end of the "healthy" range, that I'm fit and have a fairly dense body (read: must have lower body fat than some couch potato who weighs the same). I still think that BMI is completely inaccurate for many people, myself included, and does nothing to take fitness into account. So to test this theory, and also to give myself a starting point to gauge fitness, I did the hydrostatic test.

First, I had to fast for something like 8 to 10 hours. I wrote down these instructions and lost them. I had a beer at 11 pm last night. The test was at 5:45 this morning. Probably can't blame too much on the lack of strict adherence to the instructions.

Second, I took off all my jewelry and put on a swimsuit. The technician weighed me (air weight: 165 lbs) and measured my height very carefully (5 feet 7.25 inches, Mom). Then we went into a small room with a raised platform with a tub in it - the tub was maybe 5 feet cubed. It had a white wire cage in it, submerged, that was suspended by a cable from the ceiling. The top and sides of the cage were open, so really it was a wire floor with corner supports. I climbed into the tub and got into the cage, sitting on the floor with my toes against the far corners. I held on to the corners with my hands. I inhaled, exhaled all the air I could, and stuck my head underwater. Apparently the whole thing has to stop moving for 1 second for them to get a reading. It probably took 10 seconds. We did this three times.

After exiting the cage, we sat down at the computer and the technician entered all the info into a forumula: age, air weight, height, gender, water weight. The three readings from the cage all were the same: -.2. I'm not sure what the units are. Anyway, it spat out my percent body fat at just over 36%. Thirty-six percent! I was/am shocked. I realize I'm not at my lightest (but also not at my heaviest), and I'm not at my fittest (but not at my most sluggly), but that percent body fat put me in the bottom 10 percent for their distribution. "Very Poor" is my category. The formula also gave me the lean muscle weight and the fat weight: my fat weight is almost 60 pounds.

The technician ran the numbers to see how I'd need to tweak the formula to get "average" body fat percentage (24%). I'd need to weigh 136 pounds. This seems completely unreasonable. But, that's what I've said about BMI. I suppose at some point I'll need to recognize that all of these measurement tools can't be wrong. I don't think I want to be 136 pounds. But I do see that I need to get back on we*ght watch*rs and step up my aerobic program, which is fairly nonexistent at this point. Drinking tropical cocktails and eating chocolate-covered macadamia nuts certainly hasn't helped the last two weeks.

So, it's back on plan, starting today. I'll have to do this dunk tank thing again at the end of the winter and hopefully see some progress.

Spelling, spelling everywhere

2007-10-26T07:25:00.000-08:00

I always enjoy finding spelling errors and typos in published media. Although it annoys me (a part of me thinks "who let THIS get past the copyeditor?"), it feels good to find it myself. I try and use these situations as reminders to myself to always have a fresh set of eyes review documents before they are deemed "final."

Case in point: I read yesterday's blog and was troubled by the spelling of the author of In the Heart of the Sea (which I also misrepresented the title). It looked strange. I googled "Nathaniel Philbrook" on Amazon and found this: http://www.amazon.com/Mayflower-Nathaniel-Philbrook/dp/1419390031 but when I clicked on the author's name, no additional books popped up. I then googled "whaleship essex" and found the correct spelling of the author's name: Nathaniel Philbrick. Sorry, Nate. My mistake.

Lifestyle Inversion

2007-10-25T08:58:00.000-08:00

So we're back from the tropics (Hawaii) and into the arctic. We were delayed leaving Seattle and ended up landing in Anchorage at 3:00 am instead of midnight, and in the middle of a snowstorm. It was actually great to see snow - after 10 days of heat, the cool air felt wonderful. There's something about getting on the plane in sandals and a skirt and getting off in an environment so completely inappropriate for your clothing. It's been snowing every night since we've been back, and without snow tires on my car or even an ice scraper, it's made for interesting (and late) mornings.

I'll post some Hawaii pictures when I can; I didn't take any pictures myself so will have to borrow some from my resident photog. We did have lots of fun snorkeling and playing with the new underwater housing for the new camera - great turtles!

I read Nathaniel Philbrook's The Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex on the plane on the way home - fantastic. I can't believe the survivors went out to sea again! It made me want to read Moby Dick - I can't recall if I've ever read it.

The new bed is being delivered on Tuesday, the college fair is Monday and Tuesday, the Halloween party is this Saturday, and I have a hydrostatic body fat test tomorrow morning (where you are submerged in water).

But the big news is that I'm an auntie!

Hawaii Bound

2007-10-10T15:05:00.000-08:00

We're off tonight for ten days in paradise - Hawaii!
Can't wait to feel that warm, moist air. It's 25 degrees here, and there's not a speck of moisture in the air at all. I can feel the moisture leave my skin when I step outside!

Anyhow, we're off. I'll post some photos of the adventure upon our return.

Bon Voyage!

Elllllllllliottttttttt Highway

2007-10-02T21:25:00.000-08:00

That's right, Elliott with two L's and two T's. One $700 car rental (go, Ford Taurus sedan!), one flat tire, $300 in gasoline, and about 6 pounds of dust got me from Fairbanks to Manley Hot Springs in July. That's bug season, apparently.

Zee Road (that's Minto Flats in the distance):

Manley Hot Springs Slough:

Manley Hot Springs!

Aaahhhh, a soak in the concrete retaining structure, anyone?

'Cause You've Gotta Have Faith

2007-10-02T21:15:00.001-08:00

What would we ever do without a little Faith?

...and a little ERVA?

Attempted bear print

2007-10-02T19:30:00.001-08:00

Well, use your imagination. It was a small bear, the print only about 7 inches in diameter. But fresh-freshy-fresh! Right near those fascinating splash cups...

Beware - nerdy plants ahoy!

2007-10-02T18:51:00.000-08:00

some wonderful plants from my July trip to the Elliott Highway:

Splash cups! These plants are amazing. They are shaped like a tiny cup (maybe 1/2 cm in diameter) with their seeds (the red beans) resting unattached in the bottom of the cup. They wait for a raindrop or a water splash to enter the cup, which then scatters the seeds! Talk about evolution.

Lovely ferns...these are only about 8 inches high. Mini-Boston. Boston-lite?

The money shot - lying on my belly in a field of Eriophorum - aka cottongrass - while the bugs feasted!

First Post

2007-10-02T10:21:00.000-08:00

A few of my favorites...