Three More Days

I'm sitting here listening to Jamie Cullum sing "Blame It On My Youth", taking swigs of my Raspberry Lemonade Gatorade and sporadically eating Circus Animal cookies.

And I wish someone else could be here to live this moment with me.

Em would appreciate the music, possibly the cookies. Jen would like just chilling out and not stressing about work. Felix would be looking over my shoulder at what I'm typing, and possibly mocking me for my words. Or he'd be giving me a shoulder massage. Shawn would be rummaging through the things on my desk, eventually finding something he could fiddle with. He'd also take a handful of the cookies. Mom would be sitting in the big chair, reading a mystery book. Dad wouldn't want to stay too long in my room... because Dad's don't spend time in their daughter's rooms past a certain age. And I wouldn't let him have any cookies, he's not allowed - doctor's orders. Kim from SF would be looking at my school books and making a face. Kim from YFU would be tapping her feet or drumming her fingers, because she's impatient and can't sit still for too long. Devin would be digging the music, as well as taking a handful of cookies. He'd also be checking out the "artwork" on my walls and smiling at some of the pictures on my laptop. All my Delta Psi Sisters would be talking to each other, gossiping, as well as munching on my cookies. And it would be good to see them again and hear their voices.

Suddenly, I'd be out of cookies and I'd snap myself back to the real moment. Of me, now tired and sleepy-eyed and ready for bed, where I'd dream about many more moments I wish I could have.

Weekend with Felix

This is Felix. And me. On a ferryboat. In Seattle.
















This is Seattle. From the ferryboat.
















This was a dog. At Nicole's art studio tour. On Bainbridge Island. He was old and tired. But still loves balls.
















This is Mount Rainier. From the ferryboat. Looks better in person.
















This was at Endfest, a rock concert. This is the lead singer of The Subways. He crept across the scaffolding. One side to the other. It was cool.
















This is Rock Kills Kid. They are very cool. And I love their music. They are better in person. Ditto with The Subways.
















Felix took this picture. It's me. At Endfest. Eating a spicy dog.




















Felix took this picture too. We took pictures of each other. I like this one. I don't like the one I took of him. So, it's not here.

What The F Bomb?

Let's recap Liz's life so far.

She was born with a crooked spine and hammer toes.
She wanted to be Peter Pan and "flew" off the jungle gym, only to scrap her nose on the way down.
She met her best friend, Jen, at age 8 and never looked back.
Her mom taught her how to shave her legs at age 13. She was terrible at it. Still is sometimes.
She made a fool of herself at her 16th birthday party, where nobody came and the presents sucked.
She made a fool of herself again when she drank too much alcohol for the first time and nearly threw up on some guy's shoes.
While at college, she had her first real boyfriend, who completely understood her and now rarely ever calls, even though he claims to be one of her best friends.
Also while at college, she alienated some people, while endearing others. She's still amazed at how this endearment process happened.
She decides to go back to school for her Masters, which is causing her to have migraines and no social/love life.
And while at her summer job in Seattle, a bad waxing experience causes her chin and eyebrows to swell up with the worst acne you've ever seen, which leads to half her right eyebrow hairs falling out.

Yeah, I skipped some stuff. I've archived it for your future referencing.

Needless to say, I'm in a pretty deep hole and have no idea how to get out of it. On top of this, the book I just read was the definition of an open ending. The main character is up and down with emotions and I'm completely hooked until right at the end when you think it might be resolved, THE END. So, I emailed the author and told her the ending was terrible and she'd caused me to waste a good night of sleep over her crap book. Thank God I only bought it for $5 on the bargain shelf.......

It's 3:30 in the fucking morning. Help me.

AKA Liz.... snuck from the nuthouse earlier this evening....

I know. There was this strange woman who overtook my body and told everyone that there would be pictures uploaded soon. You heard from her, did you? She was coming around here, just causing all sorts of trouble for the neighborhood. Yeah... they took her away to the crazy place with bars. And pills.

Honestly, I'd rather be at some mental institution. At least I wouldn't have all the stress that I have now. After Thursday, I will not be going anywhere other than work and yoga and shopping for food. I have absolutely no time left in order to write my paper, but I'm gonna try.

Add to that the stress of being Jen's best friend right now. Lordy lordy! That girl is reliving her high school days when all she did was swear up and down that she wasn't doing anything wrong, while the men in her life grew to hate and resent her because she was so damn sneaky and deceptive. This whole weekend I was in Portland rolling my eyes at her antics and her excuses for them. Luckily, Devin was there to keep me sane and well masseused. Thank you Dev Dev!

As per my previous post, I do promise some sort of picture motif. My camera's full now anyway, so I have to sooner or later.

Nine Days Later

You mean I've had a life and haven't posted anything on my blog?!

Quelle strange!

Or rather - Go Liz go!

I'm about to upload some photos of Victoria, which was extremely hot! Not kidding. At least 96 degrees on the cool side. And humid as all get out! But gorgeous and it was actually really great to spend time with my father. The ferry ride over, we saw some whales. Just their top fins, but it was tres cool and very inspiring. Whales are cool like that. Even if you're not interested in them as animals, you can't help but look at them. Not in a train wreck kind of way. More like that moment when you glance at someone and they actually look back at you to grin or nod their head in greeting.

Yeah, those moments are cool. And so are whales. I'm going on about it b/c I don't have a photo. Figures.

But we went out to eat once we got to Victoria. I drove! Everywhere! Dad said: Well, how old are you now? Old enough to drive in a foreign country? Yeah right, foreign. OK Dad, sure, whatever. And we had dinner and walked and people watched on Government St. on the Inner Harbor (which is spelled Harbour over there - darn those foreign Canadians). Very pretty downtown area. And then we went back to our hotel room, which did not have AC. Suck.

But I got a really good last minute deal - $90 and I booked it the day before checking in and it was a Saturday night. And it was pretty much downtown, where every other hotel is like at least 150. I'm so good.

Anyway, we went to the BC History Museum, which has an exhibit on the First Peoples of British Columbia and Vancouver Island in particular. Super cool totem poles, masks, artwork, clothing, canoes, baskets, tools, jewlery, and photos taken from the turn of the century. They divide it up into Pre-Westerners and Post-Westerners essentially. So, it makes an impact on how Europeans coming to BC truly effected these people and how selfish the government was in regards to land.

And they have an IMAX film to go along. Which was nice for Dad, to take a breather and sit down. And then we went shopping. Crazy amounts of money were spent. Dad went to this market by the water off in an alley - walking only. And got Mom and I camping soap, which smells a little like coconuts, but really like a super strong soap. Like take your everyday Dove soap bar and ratch it up ten notches. :) But it was a nice gesture.

I bought some LUSH facial moisturizer for myself. So yummy-smelling. Amulets for everyone at the office. So, they're little touchstones which give you "power" depending on what syumbol is carved on the front of the stone. A T-shirt and canvas bag for Mom and a T-shirt for myself. It's very subtle - bright red with a huge maple leaf on the front and block letters spelling CANADA on the back.

But tax there was like 13%!!!! Ouch!

But it was money well spent. And on the way back to the ferry, we stopped at Butchart Gardens, which is a beautiful place. And it was at peak hotness while we were there on Sunday, but worth it to walk through the Rose Garden. The heat just makes the fragrance even more intense. And in July, come on, roses are blooming and at their peak as well. It was absolutely beautiful. They also have a Japanese Garden and a Bog, where everything is peet moss and long grasses and I took a picture of some deer sculptures made from the moss. Cute. And just lots of other stuff, but we were both sweating like crazy, so we left with plenty of time to make the ferry and go through customs.

And while we were waiting, they always have a little shop for food and souvenirs, etc. Well, they had a shelf with used books at half price. I bought two. Ten bucks very well spent. One is Mary Higgins Clark "Daddy's Little Girl" which is similar to the Martha Moxley case that involved a Kennedy relative who killed her. Interesting. And the other is Barbara Michaels "Stitches in Time", which I've started first. Excellent read. I'm nearly done and I only bought it on Sunday. It's about as close to knitting/sewing/whatever as I'll ever get.

So just wait for the pictures, which I'll post tomorrow maybe. I'm starting to get tired. I can't wake up in the mornings anymore. Makes me worry that I'm getting depressed or sick or something else.

Thomas (the tank engine)

My dad arrived today. He's in town until next Thursday. So, that's cool. I'll have a killer post to put up after this weekend. We're going up to Victoria on the ferry from Anacortes, so I'll have great pictures - evn if it's raining. But I don't think it will be.

But we went out to dinner tonight and I realized how much I miss him. I roll my eyes sometimes when he insists on calling everyday to see how I am. But I knew this was because of his recent hospital stay and his inability to do anything but hang out. And now that he's been to the LA convention and he's up here to do some business, he feels better. We're alike that way. I cannot sit around and do nothing. My mind is always going and it sucks to be unable to do the things you want to do. Or are thinking about doing.

So, tonight we had fantastic pasta at Mamma Melina's in the U-district. It's a small little place on Roosevelt Ave NE, underneath the Green Gables Theater, which is a super cool cinema - now showing "Who killed the electric car?" or something similarly titled. I could barely finish my Penne Siciliano, which was penne in tomato sauce with eggplants and melted mozzarella cheese. Crazy good.

And tomorrow night, we'll be going out with Kim, Vic and Kim's mother. Kim could be called notoriously talkative and lively, so I think it'll be a great evening. Especially if her mother is the same. It'll be good for Dad to meet some of the people I've met up here.

He had a great Dad moment when he saw the house I'm living in. It's not that it's in a bad neighborhood, but it's right off the freeway in the middle of university aged students, so it's not the prettiest looking community. But it is safe and the people are great. But he said, as we were walking to dinner, "You haven't had any problems with robbery?" "No, dad. No problems with robbery." "OK, good. I mean, there are six of you in the house. Safety in numbers." Honestly, it was the cutest thing my dad could have ever said to me at that point.

More to come....

A picture of me with my cute, new haircut.

Dish about more dad time and yummy dinners.

Pictures of Victoria.

And then there were....

Yes, as I promised: Pictures of Seattle.

This is the Space Needle! I took this pic while waiting for the bus. Yeah, I'm still being lazy. Sorry. Sue me. Except don't because I have no money to pay lawyers.










And this is a view of Mount Rainier from the driveway. As you can see, it was a very clear day. Hasn't looked like this since I took this picture, which was last week.

Lately, it's been overcast and it even rained today! I think I need to sue the weather gods because I have an inkling that somebody's paying off the rainmaker.....





And I did have a picture of a cute little frog sculpture from my cousin's garden, but I accidentally deleted it.

IN OTHER NEWS....

I took my first yoga class tonight. Amazing and I'm completely hooked. That's kinda all I have to say. Oh and I have a purple mat.

We've been making placements like crazy and work is good once again. :)

"..Dingelback Thumptyhorn, Slutbung Walla, Engelbert Humperdink, Groterback Fishtybuns.... wait, wait go back one"

We got a goodie bag in the office today. It was full of gumdrops, sweet apples, pears, these incredibly yummy lemon-butter cookie things, and mixed nuts. It was from headquarters. As a cheerleader move. Boost our spirits, etc. It was very well appreciated. And I forgot lunch, so nearly almost gone before the end of the day.

I wish I could get more goodie bags! Like from parents or friends! Didn't we used to do that when we were younger? Wasn't it called mail? I remember putting cute stickers all over the letters I would send my summer camp friends during the school year.

I've re-read that sentence. I'm officially a nerd. :)

Oh yeah.... Money

So, July 4th has come and gone. And I was down in Tenino to hang with the fam.

This is Christian. He is the son of my cousin's boyfriend. He's 14 and all those fireworks are his. He was very proud of them. And his hands and elbows were all black from shooting off bottle rockets. Then, he rolled around on the living room carpet with the dog and made a huge mess. And had to clean it up. HA!












Then there's the family I haven't seen in more than ten years. Yeah, try not seeing your cousin for thirteen years.

That's Brian, my cousin and his wife, Marisol and their sons, William and Alex. They were shooting off bottle rockets and flares from that metal box. Which happened to be the electric. Yeah, we're pretty smart people!







This is Sparky. A girl dog, lab and Aussie terrier mix. She was ok with individual firecrackers or bottle rockets, but once everyone went outside and it was really loud and continuous, she bolted inside. And then she would get anxious because she wasn't where everyone else was. So, then she'd come outside again and get scared again. She's only seven months old.

Cutest thing, but kinda dumb. And she digs up the garden, which pisses Tianne off to no end. Tianne's the cousin.

Anyway, I also shot off some bottle rockets and firecrackers and my hands also got black as night. Fun stuff. Jesse and Christian has this narrow plastic pipe thing, duct taped one end and would shoot bottle rockets out of it like a Bazooka. Kinda fun. Except that sometimes the sparks would fly back to you and burn your skin a bit. Not so fun.

But I overate, like any good American citizen. Hamburgers, pasta salad, green bean casserole, biscuits, hot dogs, soda, chips and salsa, cookies. I was literally contemplating being bulemic for a night just to not be doubled over with aches and pains, I was that full.

But I managed, without the bulemia. And drove home at midnight, got home at one a.m. and didn't want to wake up this morning for work.

I should have stayed home because work was hell on earth. It's complicated, but someone who thinks she's important was confusing all us little people with her "explicit" and "completely clear" emails regarding the new criminal background checks we have to do. Whatever. So, there was that and a host family in Southern California who needed student profiles, but I had to resend the email like three times because they can't open PDF or WORD attachments. Who can't open WORD attachments nowadays? At an AOL address too.... Roll of my eyes. But he was a nice guy and very patient with me. Oh yeah, and a Field Director wants me to do a mass mailing for him. 400 people. Like I haven't got enough of those to do this summer. I just did a 300 person mailing for him last week. I've got a mailing for all volunteers to finish by the end of next week, that's like 1000+ people. I hate paper.

My heart is literally beating super fast just from having that day at work. No coffee. Barely a salad and smoothie for lunch.

Why am I here?

I googled myself....

And found out that I did indeed exist prior to this life.

Zirk, Elizabeth A. 1898-1979

How fucked up.... her middle name is probably Anne. I was born two years later people! Crazy! I have been reborn!

This was from the Saint Luke's Evangelical Lutheran Church Cemetary in Monroe county, wherever that is.... and knowing me, I'm wanting to find out.

I also found this, which is much more heartening:

Judianne Albertson, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Gerry L. Albertson of Birmingham, Ala., was married yesterday to Kenneth Robert Zirk, a son of Anton Zirk of Thousand Oaks, Calif., and Elizabeth Duddleston of Warwick, N.Y. Msgr. Francis Bellew performed the ceremony at the Church of St. Ignatius Loyola in New York.
The bride, 29, graduated from Skidmore College. She is a vice president in the capital markets division of Citibank in New York.
The bridegroom, 33, graduated from Rutgers University and is a vice president in Philadelphia of Koll Management Services Inc., a real estate consulting company. He is a stepson of Lois Zirk and Bob Duddleston.

Quickies

* I hate floods. They ruin the headquarters of businesses and bring down nationwide servers, which allows you to do nothing but mass mailings instead of reading email, etc. I can only say, that I am grateful I don't live on the Maryland coast and that I have internet at home. :)

* My fingers hurt. I invited myself to go rock climbing with Jacob, which was not necessarily a mistake. But I did fail my Belay test (then again, I haven't climbed for a couple years) and my arms wore out pretty quick. But he's a cool guy and didn't tease me about it.

* Gatorade is my best friend. It is f'cking HOTT in herrrre! You're outside in shorts and a tank and you can barely breathe.... I wouldn't mind as much if there was a breeze now and then, but COME ON! Can't a brother get a goddamn breeze! And water isn't enough, so I am being friendly with my local Walgreens attendant, who clues me into the liquid special of the week.

* In regards to the previous asterisk.... You people are just dirty to take the words "liquid special" and make it into something sexual. Oh wait, that's me. :)

* Andy... yeah, the guy who was into me first and we went on a date... doesn't want to be in a relationship and just wants to hang out and be friends. Quoi?

* Somehow I coerced the messiest housemate and resident arrogant prick to help me clean the kitchen. It must have been my awesome Jedi mind trick powers! I literally don't know how it happened. Angie was in shock.

* I feel bad for the Russian referee who called the Portugal-Netherlands game on Sunday. And then again, I don't. Two players from each team were red-carded. Not in the they-did-the-most-horrible-thing-imaginable way, but because there were so many yellow cards. And as we all know (smile and nod), two yellow cards and you earn a red card, which kicks you out of not only that game, but the next one. So, Portugal has to battle England without two of its most valued players. Strike that, 3! Because one of them was injured. All this, however, creates an advantage for England (something I like), but now there's a blackish cloud hanging over all the upcoming games. :(

* I learned a new card game: Fool. And I can't go into details of how to play. Mostly because it's complicated, and partly because writing about how to play a card game is impractical. Cards are visual things. But I can tell you that it's a whole lotta fun!

* I bought an amazingly well-fitted dress at Old Navy on Saturday. For twenty bucks and it's purple! Happy me!

* Random but true: Hearing gay guys talk about other gay people is hysterical. Nobody else can use the word FAG or FLAMER quite like a witty and sarcastic gay man.

* I got a pedicure and I think I'm allergic to something in the lotion because I've got little bunps on the tops of my feet and it's the same lotion as when I got a manicure in SF. That Lanolin Aloe stuff. Maybe it's the Lanolin.

* To leave on a high note, sit at a piano and hold down the farthest key to your right. Have a nice day!

The Date

Ah yes, my date with Andy. The heavenly three hours of my Saturday.

The rest of Saturday was ok. I spent an hour and a half getting ready for meeting him at 8pm and before then, I had to buy food. Because... well... I didn't have anymore. And I ended up going to the mall as well and buying cool stuff from Bath and Body Works (sale galore!) and Target. Getting ready consisted of the following:

bath in new Sweet Pea Bubble Bath Mix
shower
moisturizing with White Tea and Ginger Body Cream
nail painting in Tart color (dark red) with sparkle finish
Mint Citrus Hand Lotion (for both hands and feet)
black boatneck shirt
jeans
black cardigan
brown flats
brown headband
silver flower earrings
silver necklace with "diamond" pendant
four silver bangle bracelets
brown watch
curly-cue ring
brown and gray eye shadow
black mascara
black eye liner
sparkly cotton candy lip stuff

I smelled really super good and looked very nice. I didn't want to over do it, mostly because we were meeting at a pub and going from there. But I looked like I was on a date. Big step forward from previous date of six years ago.

Anyway, I was running a bit late, only fifteen minutes. And when I got to the pub, I couldn't find him at first. He was tucked away in a corner table. He already had a beer and had drunk half of it. I sat down and he ordered me a beer. He brought water to the table too, since we hadn't eaten yet. He looked nice as well. Jeans and nice brown shoes. And one of those warm, fuzzy sweaters with a zipper at the neck. It was begging to be touched. I'm not sure if that was sly wit on his part, or if it was just his cleanest and most presentable sweater.

So, we're drinking and talking. We talked about the World Cup games, about the paper I have to finish for my incomplete from fall semester. It was adorable. The author's name of the play I'm writing about in that paper is WEDEKIND. And I guess I either didn't say it loud enough or he just couldn't say it properly, but every time he mentioned the name, he kinda inflected his voice - as if to say, is that right? And I would correct him if it wasn't. Then, finally, he said it right. I got all excited. And then he said: Well, I thought about Darth VADer and then tried saying the rest of the word. :) :) The first syllable is said like: VADE. It was so cute. And he would grin really big and be excited since he could say it too now. Painful adorableness.

Anyway, it was after nine by the time we tought about food and most of the places on the Ave were probably closing, so we decided to just eat there. I had a ginormous baked potato. For like 3 bucks. I ate the whole thing of course. He had a sandwich called the Pink Cadillac. Rye bread, avocado, salsa, turkey and mild cheddar. Since it had salsa in the spread, it came with tortilla chips and he put them inside his sandwich. Again, cute. He asked before doing so. I used to put chips inside my sandwiches all the time when I was a kid, so not weird at all.

We talked about food in England, America, telling funny stories. It was incredibly easy to talk with him. Love that. Since we both have relatives in England, we talked about our families a bit. I told him about Steve's wedding to Becky. And how he's called a Muppet - kinda like being called a buffoon. And he told me about his university days. He's 27, 28? Turns 28 soon, yeah. Bioengineering. Was in Australia prior to Seattle, for four or five years. Before that, he was in England finishing his uni degree. He's here until the end of next year for sure and then he has to worry about work visas, etc. But it'll probably be renewed.

He paid for everything. Definitely a date. But then, I wanted some ice cream. So, we walked back towards where I live to the Haagen Dazs and got some yummy stuff. I paid that. I got mint chip and he got zesty lemon sorbet. And I love lemon sorbet as well, so I asked him if I could have some. And he said sure and sorta pushed it towards me. I kinda looked at it for a second and looked up at him. He didn't really get it, so I said: Feed Me. :) :)

He fumbled for a second and then fed me a spoonful. And then I fed him some of mine. It wasn't really a sexual, romantic moment - more ha ha funny and kinda cute. I guess we're both more like that than sexy, romantic. So, we were already walking towards my house and we past by an Italian restuarant. Andy had been there before and he said it was a great place. So I said we'd have to go there next time. OOPS. Uh... I mean, if there's a next time. And he kinda looked at me, smiled slightly and looked away. You have to cross I-5 to get to my house from where we were, so it was a bit cold and I linked arms with him and his lovely sweater. He was actually kinda cold for a guy. Normally, they're a bit more warm-blooded. So, then we get to my door and he looks down and stands back a bit. I hadn't finished my ice cream and thought we should get rid of that before any goodnight stuff. So, I said politely, not at all flirty: Do you wanna come in? And he says: Uh... I better pop off to home. And I realize what he thinks I said: Well, do you want to come in and help put my ice cream away in the freezer? Oh right, OK!

So, we go in and it's dark, but it's only 11pm on a Saturday. Nobody else is home and their doors are closed anyway. But he's whispering. I tell him he doesn't have to, but it's nice to know he would do that right off the start. And then I walk back to the front door and we stand there for a moment and then he says: I had a really nice dinner tonight. Thank you for looking so pretty. Big smile from me. And I say: I had a really nice time too. And then we leaned into each other for a couple of quick, nice goodnight kisses. And as he's leaving, he says: I'm hanging out with a bunch of friends from Australia this weekend, but I'll call you during the week and we'll make plans? Yes! I say. Goodnight. Goodnight.

And that was it. I went downstairs and washed off my makeup and smiled for about an hour before falling asleep.

Yeah me! I had a date and it went really well! No awkwardness and no fumbling on my part! And I did not think of jumping him for one minute, mostly because I didn't want to go that far yet, but also because it was just so nice to hang out and be laidback cool with him. Laidback cool on a first date! What nonsense! But it worked. Old-school dates. I like em. :) :)

I'm still smiling.

Is Angie OK?

Last night, I asked Brittany if she could be at the house next Tuesday when the cable guy comes over to hook us up. She said she would and then Angie was in her room and got excited that we would finally have internet. The conversation proceeded to my call with Andy just then (he asked me out and I said yes), which turned into Angie and I getting girly girl about clothes. We're going shopping Friday for my Saturday date.

Tangent: How am I going on a date? How long have I been here? Why is it that wherever I'm not permanently planted I meet guys? Let's not forget the last time Liz got asked out, she didn't realize it and dressed sloppy. We ended up driving around for a while after dinner because he wasn't sure of what to do if and when he ever brought me back to my dorm. Yeah.... no calls from him after that. But then again, I wasn't attracted to him and hence didn't realize it was a date.

Then, Angie and Brittany started talking about pot. I knew Brittany smoked and Angie was talking about how she got way stoned over the weekend (when I was in fab Portland). Brittany looks at us and invited us to her room for a puff. Fine by me. It's been five years, but hey..... if it's offered and I have nowhere else to be right then....

So, Angie's all paranoid because she works at Boeing and they might give her a drug test. I get the munchies. Angie had ginger snaps from Trader Joe's (YUM) and cream cheese frosting. We made little sandwiches. And Brittany is just laughing her head off at Angie. Why? Because she's hysterical when high. She reached into a sandwich bag of apple slices and her hand got kinda stuck. Out comes the song: My hand's in a bag, my bag's in a hand, hand in a bag, bag, bag, hand, etc. Then she wanted a picture taken of her lighting the pipe. Her camera is super cool and we took countless shots of Angie with pipe, smoke, et al. Talk about the polar opposite of being paranoid that your boss might ask for a drug test. And then she was trying to walk down the hallway and was falling all over herself.

Shawn came home then and it got kinda giggly after that. For some reason, Shawn and I were talking about sex and relationships for a while. I could have sworn that he would mumble every now and again "But I like you, Liz." Then again, I was sleepy and munching out... so.... I'm pretty sure that was my big-ego subconscience being overly positive since I had just been asked out.

So raise your glasses and say a toast to Liz: May she be worthy of all cool shit that is happening to her at the moment. And may her ego not get bruised when she realizes that she's just an average girl from San Fran.

Tougher Than Leather

I love this picture! I look so good in this jacket.... I just might have to look around the second-hand and vintage shops on the Ave to buy one just like it. The only problem is that it didn't zip up and I was cold for the latter parts of my night with DevDev.

Pictures #2

Jen is the curly-haired lovely in the front and Rachel is in the background. Jen is sweeter than sweet and Rachel is well.... direct to a fault. But they are both fantastic and fun to hang out with. Well, their friend Andy dropped by for the food and a drink and we all hit it off and decided to go out for a drink. So, we headed down the Ave to anywhere that was open. Mind you, this is Thursday and I have to get up the next day for work. We ende up at The Brewery, where I am not sure if they brew their own beer or not. They had mostly IPA's and Belgian ambers and stouts.

Here's Jen and I about to pound down a pint! Boy, I had fun. Actually, I just got a slight buzz since I only had one and a half beers. Andy, however, got a bit more than buzzed.

I'm not really sure what we were trying to do here, but needless to say, Andy (who in this picture doesn't look that great) was... let's say.... interested in me. Not in a bad way, like eww get off me or I'll call the cops. But more like, saying silly things and being really flirty.

Well, we left the bar at closing (I never stay up that late anymore... ever) and walked home. Jen was obviously trying to leave the two of us alone and I was desparately trying to catch up to her. Andy was trying to spin me and dance with me while walking. It was.... funny? And he tried to kiss me and I said: I don't kiss guys who are this drunk. And he said: Right, I bet you send all sorts of guys away. They just are always asking you out for a drink and you just keep saying "Fuck off!" I thought he was angry, but then he would smile. And then he explained that he was so smashed because he was so nervous talking to me at the pub.

Please, weigh in on this. Is he pathetic or is he sweet? I'm completely torn. He was really drunk and probably saying things which he may or may not mean. Then again, it's a lame excuse and kinda creepy. Plus, he's English. Why can't he hold his beer?

Anyway, I tell him he's not going home alone in this condition and he has to crash at our place. He stumbles into the doorway and nearly falls over. He's ill practically all night and smells terrible. And right before I just left him be due to me having to sleep before going to work that morning, he asked me if I would go out with him for a drink. I said NO, but if he called I might consider dinner. He agreed and then promptly passed out next to the bathroom door.

Oh yes, I attract some winners.

But then came the weekend! Portland! I always love going to Portland and this time was no exception to the very-cool-weekend rule.

First, I spent the night at my cousin's plce in Tenino and had a massage Saturday morning. Then, I drove down to Portlnd from there and Jen called to say she was sick. No! But that just emant she had more time to hang out with me. Prior to this, I had called Devin, the Field Director of Oregon who lives in Portland. And we had made plans to have dinner and then I would go see his improv show. Jen came along with me and we ate sushi.

Here's my wonderful DevDev, as I call him. He's been the FD for four years now and does a great job at it! He's a super-duper human being and lots of fun. Then DevDev had tickets for me and him to see a show downtown: The Mountain Goats. It was so effin' cool! I dig it completely from only one show and you should check him out.

Then, Dev and I rode around on his super cool motorcycle until DAWN! I know... I'm being bad all over the place with my sleeping habits, but I'm young. I'll bounce back.

Pictures #1

Last week started with a fizzle. Which is nice, since starting anything with a bang can be traumatic to ears.

Here are two of my co-workers:

The more lovely-than-ever Chantal, who was telling me not to take the picture as I took it. I love me too.

And Rafe. The ever-performer who was turned away from me when I walked in and after I asked him if I could take a photo, whipped around into diva position. My reflexes need work, so this is post diva position. Sorry.

Work was good. Busy week for placing kids with families. Twelve placements in four days! I was a happy Liz, even if I was busy. It's better for placements to happen now than a day before the kids arrive in the US, right?

So, to offset the busy week, which ended with a bang (always better since ears have acclamated to the environment), the housemates (Jen specifically) had a BBQ. I was invited, even though I could have invited myself since it was at our house.

The girls set up the BBQ all by our lonesome. No burly boys allowed to help. And it turned out pretty good. Although, I did end up driving to Safeway twice. Once to get lighter fluid and the second time to get more wine.

Yummy grilled chicken! I can't for the life of me remember this girl's name. She's from Japan and her name meant... Damn... part of it was the name of the mountain where her father had grown up and half of it meant "beautiful" or "pleasing". But when you put it together, it doesn't necessarily mean anything. Japanese is therefore cool as shit.

We were drinking pretty well and then it was just Jen, Rachel, Andy and me. To be continued....

Nearly Awake

So the job is treating me well. And so are my co-workers. Except for Rafe. He's mean. :)

Not really, he's quite sarcastic and witty and I adore him for it. Of course, I don't adore him when he tries to wrestle me for first dibs on the copier machine. Whatever. Like he could ever beat me with his two lame feet. Poor guy. I feel sorry for him, but not so much that I let him have the copier first. Pity isn't in my work ethics vocab.

The room I moved into is cool. It's bigger than I expected, which is nice. I finally taped stuff up on the walls to make it seem not so empty and large. The housemates are cool-o as well. Rachel was the girl I subletted from and she was BF's with Jen who was next door until Friday, when a guy named Jacob moved in. Jen and Rachel are from Bristol. They're currently touring British Columbia until next weekend. And the new guy Jacob seems quite nice. Clean, not loud, smart. And he's kinda cute to boot. Well done. The other guy who lives downstairs is Ryan, who is the eldest housemate. And he should pay the comcast bill today or I'll kill him in his sleep. The cable got turned off yesterday and we still don't have internet in the house.

Upstairs is Angie, Shawn and Brittany. Angie is cool. Aerospace chica from North Dakota. Shawn is a big spoiled brat who didn't get along with any of the housemates all year apparently. I like to hang out with him so I can practice being cynical and bitchy. :) Brittany is really quiet and keeps to herself. So, I don't know much about her.

And that's that.

I'll be posting pictures of the BBQ Jen had before she and Rachel left for Canada. And then I'll talk about my crazy weekend in Portland. Oh yes... another weekend in Portland. I think I'm an addict.

Seattle or Bust

Well, I made it! I'm in one piece and I'm living in Seattle now!

Things to ponder:
- Liz gets sunburn in Moses Lake on 25th birthday. Mother Nature upset at her lack of recycling?
- Liz's car breaks down as she's moving in to her apartment. Volvo karma for not spending time in Sweden while she was in Norway last year?
And finally....
- Why is the sky blue?