just laura

After a 2.5 hour flight delay, I eventully made it to San Fran and then home to Seattle last night a bit later than expected. Sadly, my luggage wasn’t that lucky and it’s currently somewhere in United’s giant missing luggage corral in the sky. Hopefully it’ll get here before too long as Suzan is coming up from Portland and we’re going to hit Vancouver before she flies back to Houston on Tuesday night. Not too much exciting going on here. I’m just unpacking, repacking, reading mail, and paying bills before I head to the train station to pick up Suzan. Hope everyone had a lovely weekend. Take care!

Got back from Vancouver last night. Got Suzan to the airport for her red eye flight. Went to work today. Ate dinner. Am exhausted. Am going to bed. Yes, it’s only 9:47pm. More later when I have energy. G’night…

I started my new p/t job this week and have been working double shifts since getting back from vacation. (Double as in go to one job for 8 hrs at a desk, then go to the next job for 5 or 6 hours on my feet). Needless to say, I’m exhausted and realize I haven’t blogged in a while. I did see a crowd break dancing downtown to live drum and sax music tonight which was very cool. Oh, and the people at the office today threw a huge shin dig (relatively speaking) for the two of us with December birthdays… tons of holiday decorations, tons of candles, music, dryer’s peppermint ice cream, cake, magic shell, M&Ms at every place setting, etc. Quite a surprise to see them do so much, and it was really nice. Sweet day. Otherwise have anything too exciting to report (as usual). So I guess I’ll end this now. Oh, one more exciting thing I guess. UPS delivered an Amazon.com package for me this week. No card or note or anything, but the billing address was from Chris and Alyssa so I’ll assume my new steamer/rice maker bday/xmas gift was from them! Many thanks to the generous Hedges who sent the gift! Completely unnecessary, but very thoughtful! Okay, that’s all the excitement I have. I really am going to crash now. Take care!

Last night Andrew and I went to the Pearl Jam concert and it was fantastic! One reason I went was because Pearl Jam performed for free and ticket sales benefited lots of nonprofits around the Northwest. Another reason I went was because they rocked! So did Steve Earl who opened the set for them! Anyway, must get working. More later!

Nothing crazy going on this chilly Tuesday morning. Nothing too exciting happening in the last week really, though it has been nice. Dieter and I watched Volume 2 of TV Nation… always a fun time. :) Joseph and I hung at the Elysian earlier in the weekend and I even got to ride in his bio-diesel Chevette that runs on veggie oil recycled from a Mexican restaurant. Quite snazzy! Andrew and I saw Pearl Jam, as I mentioned yesterday. I saw break dancers downtown dancing to a live drum and sax duo. Very cool. I bought some great stamps from the Post Office web site. They’ve got a photography series out that’s super cool, and I really did the Greetings from America series with old tourism looking state logos. Too fun! What else to report?? The city seems to be in full holiday mode, with a carrousel in Westlake Center and tons of folks taking carriage rides around downtown. Seattle Center a mile away also has a carousel, but they’ve got the cool new ice-skating rink as well. (Thursday are 1/2 price, so you can guess where I’ll be this week on Thursday night before GameWorks!). Hmmm… speaking of merry-go-rounds… did you know that dictionary.com says you can spell carrousel with one r or two r’s? Good to know! Okay, I really should be heading to work now. Hope everyone is well. Take care and stay warm!

Southwest has flights from Austin to Seattle right now offered for only $99 each way. They’re good for end of December through the end of their schedule. Not a bad deal!

Sign a protestor was waving near the highway in Seattle: “Holidays are Murder on Turkeys!” Gotta love Seattle! (In other news, the Hostess factory was smelling heavenly tonight!)

I must have been on a contact sugar high when I got home from work last night because I totally forgot to tell y’all about the most exciting event of the day… Cara gave me a surprise birthday gift… the amazing “Gluten Free Baking!” My hardest things to avoid with wheat and gluten allergies are breads and baked goods… not just because I like to eat them, but because I like to bake. Now, I have an entire cookbook dedicated to just baking… Apple Cream Cheese Coffee Cake, Banana Peanut Butter Bread, Chocolate Pecan Pie, etc. Wow! Many thanks to Cara for the fabulous book! Too fun!

Many thanks also go out to my mom and dad for sending my Christmas gift… and for sending a fabulous wallet! I’d been searching for one that has a window to put an ID in (in addition to credit card slots and money area) so now I can just flash the bus driver my bus pass without having to fumble around and take it out every time I get on or off the bus. Now I’m set! Thanks Mom!

Hmmm… kind of a rush of gift giving since it’s both birthday and Christmas season. One of the guys at work has a little boy with a December birthday and they do a little something on his birthday, but they also celebrate his half birthday in the summer so he can hang with friends, do stuff outside, etc. I think it’s a great idea and always wanted to do that too, but never managed to change the calendar. Ah well. I’ve accepted my birthday a long time ago and might as well be content with where I am on the calendar.

Am I crazy for thinking this Sylvia cartoon by Nicole Hollande is the funniest thing I’ve seen in ages?!

Oh! Also should mention… I posted pictures from Thanksgiving in San Diego. Enjoy! (Now I just have to post the ones from the beach, from Vancouver, from Pearl Jam, from the Disco party, and for holiday festivities… I’ll warn y’all now I might be a bit slow in getting them posted). Take care!

Last night Dieter and I watched Ocean’s Eleven and it was a pretty enjoyable little movie. :) I think perhaps the funniest scene was when Danny and Rusty meet back up at the very end of the movie and there’s the comment about Ted Nugent then his comeback. Too funny!

Last night a bunch of us went to the Gregg’s Holiday Party. It was at the Beach Club at Shilshole Marina and it was pretty entertaining. There was a nice meal, a live band, door prizes, and lots of fun Gregg’s folks. I even got to wear one of my formals and I wasn’t overdressed! Wohoo! (Not that everyone was dressed up, but many folks had on fancy dresses and there was a tux or two in the room. Mind you, many folks also wore jeans… either way, it was a good mix). Dieter was fancy with new red nail polish, Andrew’s date Carrie was very cool, Niki was a good date, and Jeremy was super nice and gave me his little Gregg’s employee gift (so sweet!). A nice evening all in all.

Tonight I shall start my stack of Christmas cards… if I can find enough of the addresses and potentially even find some photos to send. (The photo part if kind of doubtful since I was living without my digital camera from April to November). Hmm… we shall see.

Here are my thoughts for this rainy Seattle day. I was at a training this morning on the 40 developmental assets identified as essential for healthy kids and was the audience at this training was made up of school program providers like myself (community learning centers, after school tutoring or mentoring programs, the science center, etc). At one point someone shared a story of 9 year old girls fist fighting at their school and how the other kids around them had a mob mentality and were super quick to turn on them and shout “kill her” or “kick her in the head.” Everyone shook their heads in dismay and agreed about how ‘kids are different now’ as demonstrated by how quick they are to turn on their classmates. However, I kept quiet, thinking to myself about how often times adults I know as just as quick to turn on a friend or team member. Maybe they won’t throw a punch or advocate killing, but just this week I saw another two folks on my team have a fight about something stupid and declare their friendship “dead.” Just like that. One night of drinking, one verbal fight, and now they’re no longer friends, the end. We’ve seen this happen at least three times with different pairs on my team this year and the year is only a third of the way done. Hmmm… and we all talk about being role models for the youth we work with. I wonder what kind of example that sets for them when we’re so quick to turn our backs on our own friends?

As the program supervisor, I don’t make a practice of interfering with their personal lives and relationships and telling them how to act on their off the clock time. They all know they are adults and can do what they want as long as it doesn’t affect their work on the team. However, how can ending those friendships not affect their work as a team? Why should I keep my mouth shut when they start this immature fighting and writing off each other from their lives? We complain with disdain about kids being “different” nowadays because of all of the fighting, but sometimes I don’t always see how the “adults” out there are much different or much better about avoiding fights than the kids we work to serve… Crazy world it is we live in. Crazy world…

My Texas license expires in 4 short days so today I made a little visit to the DOT. I passed the vision test without my glasses, I passed the computerized drivers test with breaking a sweat, and I was then awarded my first ever Washington driver’s license (complete with less than flattering photo). Let’s hear it for life’s little pleasures. :)

Tonight Dieter and I celebrated my birthday!! He kept all of the plans top secret so the whole night was a total surprise! I was just told to be ready to go by 6pm. Just after 6, a taxi showed up and whisked us away (Dieter in a taxi? Crazy!!). We ended up in Capital Hill at my favorite Thai restaurant, Ayutaya. I don’t think I’ve been there since I moved away from Capital hill and it was grand! They make the best Tom Kha soup ever and tonight was no exception!! So far, so lovely! Following the great dinner, Dieter led me downtown to the Paramount Theater for a performance of the holiday classic… the Nutcracker performed by the Pacific Northwest Ballet. Wow! Talk about fancy! The sets were gorgeous! The costumes were fabulous! The music was fantastic! And the dancers were great! Look for more pictures to come soon!!

There’s nothing too crazy going on to report right now… hence the lack of blogs lately. However, I did receive another generous birthday gift in the mail yesterday… this one was a hat, scarf, and gloves set from my big brother. I actually just got a few other hats and a fabulous scarf earlier this very month, but the set they sent is nice soft fleece so I might end up keeping them. Not really sure yet if I need that many hats and scarves, but they’re from Land’s End and I know I can find something in their catalog that would be lovely if I decided to exchange. Either way, many thanks to Charlie and Stef for thinking of me on my birthday! I’m still working lots, though I do have a few days off coming up! Wohoo! I don’t work tomorrow on my birthday, and I don’t work either Christmas Eve or Christmas day. I will probably work New Years Eve, but have off that night and the whole next day. Wohoo! Let’s hear it for time to eat, sleep, relax, and reconnect with friends I’ve bad about calling back!

Other stuff happening in life… Last night after working both jobs, I actually mustered up the energy to hang with Pete and Maggie at the Galway Arms. It was fun to see them outside the office, though the band playing there was hideously loud and made conversation kind of hard at some points. Despite that, it was fun and I was happily home in bed by 2am. Yeah! Today I’m hopefully going to see my old roomie Kathy… she’s joining us for the Sonics game on Jan 8th. (Side note: if other Seattleites are interested in joining us for the same game, we’ve got a group rate of $10 just let me know by Mon if you want to go. laurakoehn at hotmail). Okay, that’s all of the exciting updates I can stand for the day! I’m off to attempt a little Xmas shopping since I don’t actually work till this afternoon. Take care!

Oh my goodness! I just opened the mail Kathy brought over that has still been going to my old apartment. I got a check in the mail from work to “thank me for my contribution!” Wow! Not big, but a nice gesture! I also got an Organic Style magazine from Mary in WI… cool! Now I’ve got reading to keep me entertained on my upcoming days off! Thanks Mary!

Whoa… more random acts of kindness to report! How could I have forgotten to mention this earlier? I was waiting for the bus last night after work and this guy walks up and waited next to me for his bus. He had his hands full of giant silver/mirror Christmas ornaments. And by giant, I don’t mean 2 or 3 inches, I mean about 8 inches across! We started chatting and ends up the store he works for was getting rid of their old holiday decorations from last year. He decided they were kind of cool, and claimed one for himself. He apparently decided to then make it a pair, then added a few more, and ended up with an arm full by the time he left. I told him I thought he made a good choice since they seemed pretty cool. What’s he do? Offers me one. Too sweet! The kid was a high schooler, and I while I generally tend to get along well with high school boys, it was just nice to see a random act of sharing… from a young kid both social and generous. Who says kids today lack social graces?

Oh, random side note. His age came up since we were talking about getting off work at our respective retail jobs. He never has to work late, apparently, as minors in WA state can’t work past a certain hour. Not a bad deal! Anyway, it was nice. Just thought I’d share.

Yesterday was the birthday and it was lovely and relaxing! Got calls from a bunch of good folks including my parents, Rod, Chris in Boston, Suzan, and Chris, Alyssa, Charles, Kat, and Mike. Nice friends! I got to finally do some Christmas cards, Dieter and I watched bike movies, and it was really just a lovely excuse to rest for a day on my couch. Ahhhhh.

Happy Dec 24th!

Just added pictures from the Nutcracker! Enjoy!

Today I made chocolate chip cookies from my new gluten free baking book… yum! I also posted pictures from the Pearl Jam show. :) Not bad for a Wednesday!

Yesterday was a good day too. :) I decided to brave the rain and the cold and headed downtown in the morning to do a little shopping. After that, Niki came over and we hung out and hit some grocery stores. We’re both sick, so we both got some yummy teas and some EmergenC. Here’s to us. :) Sundi came over later, and Susan eventually joined us at my apartment too. It was perfectly laid back… just what I wanted! We made fudge, watched the Simpsons, ate dinner, and watched Legally Blonde (btw, what a great movie!!). Was nice to be relaxing and lovely to be with friends. I even got a call from Dieter before heading to bed. So nice.

The mayfly project asks you to sum up your year in 20 words or less. So, here goes:

     Found a job. Lost my love. Gained a friend. Live in independence, like it or not. Must now find myself.

How was your year?

I know I should go to sleep. I mean, really, I’m going to be exhausted tomorrow working a double shift from 8am-4pm and from 4:30-11pm. However, I don’t really want to go to bed. If I did, I’d be asleep at 2am, not still blogging and visiting Mitch’s website and writing more Christmas cards. Hmmm. What’s wrong with me?

Speaking of nothing in particular, there are tons of near January birthdays that I have a feeling are all going to sneak up on me. Namely, I know but will probably not remember in time the following fabulous people’s fabulous days…

Chris H 12/30, Mike 1/7, Beal 1/10, Mitch 1/12, and Chris B 1/16. Yikes! Happy early birthdays just in case!

This year, I celebrate the Holidays without a Ritual, without a tree. Without gifts, without a big dinner, without my whole family. This year, I celebrate the Holidays with throwing a bunch of old crap away, mental crap as well as physical crap. This year, there’s a lot of spirit/s in the air, but none of the Holiday kind.

I think the above blog from kissmyfishnet pretty much sums up the entry I need to make for 12/25.

Just talked to Ivy G and heard tons of exciting news! Not only are she and John getting married this March, she’s probably moving to Chicago in the fall to do law school! Wow! Congrats Ivy!!! Looks like 2003 is going to be another good year for weddings!

Met a very intriguing young man this evening while waiting for the bus. He’s a high school student at a 50-person school for Natives. (He’s Blackfoot and his people are from the Plains). He told me lots of his life story in the half hour that we talked… about his father’s death a year ago, about reuniting with his absent, alcoholic mother, about getting into (and back out of) dope. He told me about his focus on school and his dream to be a writer so he can educate and talk about the injustices in the world. He talked about wanting kids someday (he explained that his people must breed if they hope to survive). We talked about him cutting off his Mohawk because girls today don’t really dig them. We talked some politics, about the crazy war our “leaders” are waging, about the segregation that still exists, and about the giant growing gap that helps the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. He talked a lot about how “his people” this or how the “no offense, white people and Christians” do that. (I offered my discovery of good religious folks recently, compared to some religions in the south that do more to judge and control that they do to serve. He’s from Reno and had only known the judging folks… sad, but hopefully he’ll meet the others someday. I think right now he equates white with Christian and equates both of those with bad people, justly so from what both groups have done to his people and his land). He talked back to an older, white man on the bus who made racist comments at him, then apologized to me if he’d said anything offensive. The only thing offensive about the night was that scummy people still exist who continue their racist ways and would stoop to aiming that hatred at a young kid on the bus. Kudos to my new friend for being strong enough and educated enough that he could choose to, and did, fight back. He’s my new hero and I wish him the best of luck finishing school and pursuing his dream of becoming a writer . :)

And in other fun news, I ran into Jen last night at work! She moved to MA last year, but was back in Seattle visiting for a few days over the holidays. Nice. :) I invited her to join me and Erin for dinner on Sunday, but who knows. Anyway, take care!

The good news: I finally got around to make potato soup… so yummy in the cold winter weather!

The sad news: The new thank you cards I bought and mailed all came back to me today. (Apparently they don’t meet the post office size standards as they are too wee). Hmmm… seems the big question now is whether to reenvelope or rewrite… Either way, expect delays on thank yous.

The brag news: One manager at work today told me I was her favorite person to work with… I’m apparently the nicest. :) Another manager (the guy who’s often pissy) told me I couldn’t leave tonight since I was the “only good person we’ve got.” Shucks, I know it’s only retail, but it’s still nice to be appreciated. *head growing bigger* :)

Anyone else have news they’d like to share? Post away! :)

Oh, I should also mention, Alyssa and Chris just posted their new Hedge family website. It’s got tons of pictures on it and I’ve been having fun in my spare time checking stuff out. Her raspberry cake totally makes me want to cook and her house redecorating makes me want to paint! One of these days perhaps I’ll have time to do both. :)

Photo: Tree shimmering in wetness on a rare sunny day

I remember having a dream last night! It was something about rock stars giving back to the community by working at local nonprofit agencies a couple times a week or month. I apparently worked with a rock star guy who liked to get on the intercom and make silly announcements to customers. He was really good with people… folks loved him. Hmmm. I’m going back to sleep now. At least for a few more minutes. Am too tired to think…

Yesterday was Chris Hedge’s birthday… so many warm wishes go out to Mr. Hedge on his very special 27th birthday! (geez… and I thought I was getting old after my birthday last week!). ;)

Yesterday was also a no post, pass out from exhaustion kind of day. Well, I didn’t actually pass out, but I did fall asleep on the bus ride from one work shift in the U-district to the other work shift downtown. When I woke up, it was like my body shut down in a rebellious attempt to get me to not go to work. I went anyway, but then my body decided it was going to make me cry in a further attempt to embarrass me or attempt to bring me pity. I guess if I wouldn’t skip work, it’d hope to convince someone else to send me home. Crazy body. It almost worked too… the senior manager took one look at me and told me to go home if needed, take extra breaks, and just take it easy. I decided to stay cause I knew I’d be the only cashier all evening. So, after a short crying stint in the break room at work (damn hormones!), I got up, drank some water, and clocked in. Work wasn’t bad… in fact, I worked at a different location in the store and it was all different and new. Keeps things interesting, I guess. I also got to work side by side with Josh for an hour (he’s the only cute, straight guy we’ve got working there, so it was fun chatting with him and debating if I should try flirting someday). :) Gotta love interesting boys. Anyway, I survived the work shift then came home and went to bed early. Whew!

Today I only worked during the day, so tonight I’m off to a party at Nitza’s for New Years Eve. It’s even been requested that I bust out the fondue pot for the snazzy little shindig, so chocolate fondue it is. :) If we muster up the energy and the courage to brave the cold, rainy weather, we might head out from the party to the Seattle Center for their annual fire works display off the Space Needle. If we don’t (a very good possibility), I hope to come home and cuddle up to my comforters and get a long, fabulous night’s sleep. Ahhh… now that’s the right way to ring in new years… good friends, chocolate fondue, and a warm bed!

Okay, and in the final news of today, Captain Mike confirmed that his birthday is indeed January 11th, proving just how wrong Charles and I were.

I just won a bid on ebay and got a new pair of blue jeans! I’ve been wanting new ones for many months, but my favorite jean store doesn’t have a site in Seattle so I took to the internet. I couldn’t find my favorite ones in my size, but I found a pair of new Gap ones, boot cut, button fly for only $5. Sweet! I’ve worn the same Gap size since I was a freshman in high school, so I figured it’d be safe to order them online instead of the store. Well, I won the bid and they arrived in the mail today!

The good news: I’ve worn the same Gap size since I was 14, but these were too big.

The sad news: I’ve worn the same Gap size since I was 14, but these were too big.

I think I must still be a bit thinner these last few months (or the jeans could be a bit big, a very real possibility). I guess I should be excited that I need a size smaller, but I kinda just wish I had a pair of jeans that fit! Lame! Looks like I might have to enlist the help of Suzan (when she returns from her new year’s trip to NY Times Square). She wears my same favorite brand of jeans and could probably be convinced to buy a pair and ship them to me. Ah… it’s good to have friends. :)

Anyway, Sarah just called and said she was heading over shortly so I should go and get dressed for the party! Take care and happy new years!!