Friday, August 7, 2009

General Update

I have neglected this blog for a while! Whoa!

Well, here is a bullet list of what's going on. I'll elaborate more, hopefully I'll have some time this weekend. With pictures!

  • I was just in Louisiana for 2 1/2 weeks, dog/house-sitting while my parents went to Peru. They said the trip was amazing, exhausting, exhilirating, and many other -ings. Thanks to my manager for letting me telecommute while I was out there!
  • My mom brought me back lots of goodies from Peru. A crystal necklace, a Shaman's ceremonial hat (which I am sure was for her, but she said she wasn't going to use it; maybe it will stay on my head while I ski - the pom pom on top is pretty wild), another hat, and over a kg of alpaca yarn in various weights. I also brought home part of a dish set that belonged to my grandma (surprisingly, nothing broke), and an alpaca hide rug. It needs some fixing, but is beautiful and oh-so-soft to roll around on.
  • I am home for 10 days, several of which have already passed. I leave August 13 for Tokyo, Japan! I am so excited! I haven't seen Daniel since we met in Hawaii several months ago, and I intend to make good use of our time together. :)
  • While in Japan, we're going to climb Mt. Fuji. Climb. Mount. Fuji. Hopefully I will be OK. I warned Daniel I'd have all my four-letter words in a row before we started, because y'all know how I like to have the Tourette's outbursts when picking heavy things up off the ground or other exhausting Crossfit-induced workouts.
  • After I get home from Japan (August 30), my sister and brother in law will be coming out to Seattle & Portland! Hooray! Paul asked for kayaking, and he shall have it. I would also like to take them to the ice caves, if they are in good condition.
  • I still haven't finished warping my loom. Sigh. Jen is out at Sock Summit this weekend, so she wasn't available to help. I finished tying on the back beam, I just need to do the front beam.
  • I received my July RSC kit; LOVE IT! It's inspired by heirloom tomatoes.
  • I also bought a bunch of other crap: Bose noise-cancelling headphones (refurbished, shipped from China. Hopefully they aren't fake, but they seem to work fine. They were specifically for the 10.5 hour flight to Japan, but they seem like they will come in handy at other times), a few new books from the Interweave "hurt book sale", and a Starbucks Barista espresso machine with included conical burr grinder! (That last one was off Craigslist, and I got the pair for $150. New, the pair would have been over $450, so I don't think I did too badly). I also justified it by thinking that if I make my own coffee instead of going out, I will save money AND be able to use better quality ingredients. For instance, I really like Stumptown beans. They are roasted in Portland, and delivered up here just a few days after roasting. They also make a Panamanian blend, so I can, you know, support the Motherland. I also use a vat-pasteurized half and half, from a local dairy, and I buy raw milk when I can get it (although I don't know how raw milk will behave under the steam wand of the espresso maker). Truth be told, I know I have lots of room to grow using the espresso maker, but dang if it doesn't turn out a great latte! I even managed to get some pretty fine foam on the milk.
  • I am almost done knitting a baby hat to go with the baby booties I am making for a friend who's wife is due to pop one out soon.
  • I ordered Clearwire, which is a local wireless internet service, but my reception isn't looking too good right now, and I may need to send it back and cancel my service. I was hoping to save money by not having a landline and ditching Qwest, but it doesn't look like that is a possibility.
  • After a couple of weeks of struggling to understand some coding at work, my coworker showed me a much easier way to write a script. I am glad that is working, because it was starting to cause me a little stress!!

OK, now it's off to an annual physical for more anti-baby pills! Hoorah!

No comments: