just laura

Today I spent some time at the lake, some time showing my apartment to a potential roomie, and then went on a picnic at Lake Union. The potential roommate is Evan, a lovely young man who goes to college and works as a bike messenger. He did a year of national service a while back, is vegetarian, and seems like an all around nice guy. Should be fun! The picnic at Lake Union was in pretty nice surroundings. We from the Arboretum over to the lake and found a sunny patch near the water. As we ate, we got to wave at the boats going by and watch other walkers moon the drunks boating by. Was a good meal. Andrew actually joined Kathy and I as he stopped by on his way home from work. Lovely surprise!

When I left the picnic, Erin and I went to see the Jason Webley concert at the Paradox. Was pretty bizarre, but entertaining in the end. I’m not sure Erin had the most fabulous time, but the music was pretty good. Jason actually did a few songs I hadn’t heard in over a year so that was pretty cool for me! One of those songs went a little like this: “How can we enjoy the flavor in our mouth when already we’re thinking of the taste of our next bite…” Love that sing-a-long!!! So great! I went to the website tonight to order the new CD and just realized for the first time that you can actually get the lyrics to all of his songs online! You can even listen to real audio clips of all of them too! How fabulous! I wonder if others already know about this??

Oh! And how can I forget? Kathy and I had a small dinner party Friday night. Just invited some of her friends and some of my friends (tons won’t fit in the apartment). We ate dinner and played some board games… was a pretty fun evening I thought! It was pretty good to see folks in one place… I do miss that whole circle of friends idea. :)

To clarify since a few of you have asked… no, my roommate isn’t moving. I’m moving. I just moved into my current apartment about two months ago and wasn’t looking for a new place. However, when I saw a great place advertised in a friend’s building, I couldn’t pass it up! I found a 2 bed, 2 bath apt that has more amenities, is more central, and is $100 less than my current place!! I’ll have a washer and dryer, a dishwasher, covered parking, bike storage, a big balcony with view of mountains, lake, and downtown, etc. It’s closer to the bus, closer to work and downtown, and has grocery stores and cafes all within two blocks! How could I resist? I know I’ve only been in my current apartment for two months, but it’s a great little apartment and it shouldn’t be too hard to find someone to move into my room. :)

And in other news… today Kathy and I went hiking on Tiger Mountain. [The mountain is part of Tiger Mountain State Forest, encompassing over 13,000 acres with 80 miles of hiking, mountain biking, and horseback riding trails]. We did a short 5 mile hike to the top… was a great viewpoint, even if it was pretty cloudy and kinda rainy today. Ah well… was still nice to get out and explore more trails! It’s about a 2,200 ft climb over 2.6 miles… A big thanks to Kathy for being a fabulous roommate and taking me on hikes with her!! Can’t believe I’m moving out already! Crazy!

And have I mentioned lately that my parents rock?! Not only did they go with me to Houston and help me get my stuff out of my storage unit in April, but last weekend they held a garage sale on my behalf, selling all of the stuff I decided not to bring to Seattle. They moved tons of stuff, sat out in the sweltering heat and sun, and bargined with folks for my stuff to be sold! They got rid of the washer/dryer, my couch, kitchen goods, books, furniture, etc. I didn’t have time to hold one when I was home for that short weekend, and they did it for me, even while I was a thousand miles away in Seattle. They donated all of their labor and hard work and I really appreciate it! Let’s hear a big hooray for my mom and dad! Yeah!!

It’s colder again today, barely even 50 degrees. I’m going to go walk all over town and compare prices at Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods. Wohooo… what an exciting life I live!

I put some pics up from my last trip to Texas… I am slowly catching up! Of course, I should be packing this week since I’m moving this coming weekend, but why do it in advance when it can wait till the last minute? I’ve got lots of old pics to post!

Too funny!! I was just invited to go skinny-dipping with my roommate… and her church youth group! They’re skipping the youth group meeting on Tuesday night to go skinny-dipping! I’m tickled pink at the idea! Life is grand!

I feel like I haven’t wrote for a while, and while I’m not trying to make up for it now, I’m feeling the need to write! Tonight Dieter and I went and picked up FREE coffee tables and end tables. Jody, a lovely woman who debated moving into my Greenlake room but decided against it, offered the tables to me for FREE and I took her up on them. They’ll be lovely for the new apartment as Evan has two couches, but no tables. Yeah! Let’s here it for humanity!

More, more, more!! I want to tell stories, lots of stories! Probably not tonight, but remind me later to tell y’all about the birds in the office, the lesbians, and more!

And did I even mention yet that Isabel confirmed today that she will be up in Seattle visiting me next week?!? Yeah! It feels like it has been forever since Texas friends last visited, though I guess it’s only been since December. Sure, six months is kind of a while, but I’ve been back home twice since then so I guess all is forgiven. I’ll say it here in writing, just in case anyone was ever wondering, I always love visitors! I get lots of time off work, and I’ve got two couches for people to sleep on!

What else to say? I’m listening to Weezer right now… and as my favorite song plays on (“Pink Triangle”), I’m reminded on one of my favorite Seattle moments… going to the Weezer Cover Night at the Sit N’ Spin with lovely Beal at my side. Saw lots of Seattle bands, all playing fun Weezer hits. The crowd was friends, Matthew’s Peter Parker played, the crazy Norwegians showed up, and all was great! What a fun memory!!

Tonight Andrew and I grilled on his rooftop deck again. Was a warm, sunny evening… good viewing for the eclipse. We did the pinhole in a piece of paper trick and it worked… you could totally see the moon partially blocking the sun. Of course, you could just stare at the sun, and that worked just as well. Anyway, nice evening. Now I’m home and stuck thinking about relationships. Hate that… Lucky for me, I’ve got other things to distract me… like this email received today from a guy who wants to be my future roommate. Read on: “I’m 26, I don’t smoke or drink, Very nice, very clean person, and a man of God. I currently am working for Amden Corp. As an account exec. in Southern California/ Manhattan Beach. I am originally from Seattle, and I am transferring to Seattle and will be there Saturday the 15th of June. I am very interested in becoming your roommate.
My Number in California is 310-764-xxxx
If your unable to call long distance my voice mail number is 206-xxx-3078. You can leave a message anytime.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Love
Shawn“. Question… is this guy scary to anyone other than me?? Anyway, I’m content with my pick for a future roomie. He’s pretty laid back and seems like a cool guy. Now if only Kathy could decide on a roomie… then I wouldn’t be stuck paying a full month’s rent. :)

Another fabulous community event tonight for the last of the three neighborhoods where we work! The south end group put on a talent and art showcase featuring the four elementary schools down there… how fun and entertaining! The kids sang, rapped, danced, and acted! They were fabulous! It was fun, but I put in a 14 hour day which means I shouldn’t work for the rest of the week! (Of course I will work for the rest of the week, but it doesn’t mean I should. :) Anyway, it’s 10pm, I’m now home, and I think I’m going to eat some dinner and maybe pack a box or two. Wish me luck!

It’s past midnight and I should go to bed since tomorrow is Friday and I have a meeting in the morning. But, before I do, I wanted to Blog. I had a great time with Dieter today… the weather was up in the 80s and we drove up to Bellingham, went hiking, swam in the lake, spent a fabulous day together from breakfast in the morning to dessert at 10pm. However, when the day came to an end, I felt like a kid leaving an amusement park. Wanting to cry because I’d had so much fun I just didn’t want it all to end. Craziness… I need to get over that. Anyway, was a good day. And when I got home Charles wanted Ice Breaker and Team Builder ideas… made me feel nice and useful on an already good day. :) Yeah!

Today I began the move to Fremont… tomorrow I will finish the move to Fremont! Thanks to my great new roommate Evan and his super fabulous dad, I was able to avoid renting a UHAUL and was able to use the truck they used. Further, they both helped me move all of my big stuff to the new apartment… bookcases, bed stands, bed, entertainment center, kitchen appliances, desks, etc! What a great family! I’m much indebted! Tomorrow I have Erin and Trista coming over and we’re going to move the rest of the boxes of misc. bedroom and kitchen stuff… should be pretty painless! Yeah!

In other fabulous news to round out the day, it was also Kathy’s birthday (yeah Kathy!!) and my buddy Kirk also threw a BBQ picnic. I love summer!! What a great time of the year!

Isabel’s last day visiting is today, and we’ve seen all of the important stuff already! :) More to come later… right now it’s sunny and we’re going to get back outdoors! Take care!

Today I went to the Fremont Fair. Tonight I’m wallowing in my sunburn. Yes, I continually reapplied SPF 30! No, it didn’t help! Guess I’m not too adjusted to this crazy Sun thing that’s been MIA these last nine months! That’s okay! Tomorrow I get to go to Kathy’s birthday, and then go see the Lyle Lovett concert in the evening! Yeah!

Tonight’s Lyle Lovett concert (at Summer Nights at the Pier) was absolutely fabulous!! I’d never seen him live before, but now I understand why everyone loves him so much! He was totally in touch with the crowd… chatting it up between songs, answering questions from the crowd, commenting on his cast and crutches (and the bull that brought on both). What a super nice guy! Love the fellow Texans!

Crazy thing about summer time in Seattle… because we’re so far north, the days are much longer. Instead of light around 7am, it is always light by 5am when the sun starts to wake me up. And in the evening, I don’t have any concept of dinner time since it doesn’t get dark till 10pm. My body seems to think if it’s light out, I don’t need food. Eventually my body and mind both notice the clock that says 9:30 and simultaneously we discover that we missed a respectable dinner time by a few hours. Yikes. Needless to say, I type this at 10:30pm to distract me from my hunger as Dieter runs to the store to get us food for our late dinner. Hungry!!

The whole alumni base of the University of Texas seems to already know about these news stories… but for the rest of you not yet familiar with the egg roll cart the fencing bust this past weekend, read on! Crazy to think… my staple food source in college merely exhisted to sell stolen goods. Funny how the world works!

http://www.austin360.com/aas/metro/062102/0621eggroll.html

http://www.austin360.com/auto_docs/epaper/editions/saturday/news_1.html