January 28th, 2008 - Planting seeds...

It started off just a little clipping from another plant. Today it graduated from a jam jar to a real pot (One that was decorated by our nephews)

January 27th, 2008- Warm & Fuzzy

Today was all about things that are warm & fuzzy.
The day was spent with an extra fluffy robe, (Thanks Bree's mom!) a good book, and a kitty! Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm....

January 26th, 2008 - Melissa!

My sweet friend surprised us with a visit. She moved back to California about a year ago. It was wonderful to see her!

January 25th, 2008 - Take a closer look...

I took this photo from my window at work today.
What is wrong with this photo?

This man fell down and was bleeding. We called 911 as soon as we saw it.

The guy in the blue hat is helping him, the guy on the phone is calling 911, but the woman, she is having a snack while she is watching it all go down! Some people see blood and get grossed out, some rush to help, some think, "Snack time!"

The man was all right, he just had a fall and head wounds look a lot worse than they are. The fire dept came and cleaned him up and left. I hope he made it home OK. he didn't seem too steady on his feet.

January 24th, 2008 - Birds & Beacons

He was watching me watching him...


A beacon.

January 23rd, 2008 - "Love?"

Nothing says "I love you" like an isle full of pink crap.

January 22nd, 2008 - Frozen sunshine

It was deceptively beautiful outside today. One might have seen the blue sky and sun shining and thought it was spring, but everything was frozen over.
This is a birdbath I walked past today. It conjured images of teeny birds in teeny ice skates.

January 21st, 2008 - Full Moon

The moon was HUGE and pretty this evening. I don't know if it was full, but if it wasn't it will be soon. This is the moon hiding behind a tree that still had some leftover holiday lights.

January 20th, 2008 - The Auers

This was technically taken early Sunday morning at around 1AM, so it qualifies for Sunday's photo of the day. It pretty much sums up our Sunday anyhow. We were just hanging out being silly, watching movies, etc...

January 19th, 2008 - Happy 30th Birthday Shauna!

It was our beautiful friend, Shauna's birthday. She had a party in the Moe Bar VIP room. Here she is in all of her sassiness. Much loves to you dear one!

January 18th, 2008

The day ended with good friends, good food, and a little bit of coloring!


I love this tree. It has a great "Face".

January 17th, 2008 - Rambutans

Rambutans! They look like something out of sci-fi or Sea Urchins. I am tempted to try them, but I'm still reeling from the Dragon fruit incident.

And look at the description!!! Steamy!

January 16th, 2008 - Carl's Birthday

Our dear friend and superb neighbor celebrated his birthday today, so of course he gets to be photo of the day. Happy Birthday Carl!!

This was the runner up:

January 15th, 2008 - Snow Day!

Today we have a tie. It snowed overnight making the morning commute a little more interesting than usual.
I took this photo on my walk to work.

This photo is in my cube at work. Let's just call it wishful thinking...

January 14th, 2008

The never ending process of home improvements....
Got new shelves, starting to touch up the yellow paint (The old desk touched the wall and left marks) and finally alphabetized the DVDs.

January 13th, 2008 - The new hutch is here!

Got the new desk for the computer today. I already love it a thousand times more than the old one. Now I really can't wait for the new couch. I almost feel like we should have a housewarming party after we get it!

January 12th, 2008

This is the couch we purchased today! The red color swatch on my lap is the color we are getting it in. We also ordered it as a hide-a-bed, so to encourage the Mills to come visit again! ;-)
It gets delivered in about 8 weeks! (They have to build it first.)
I'm so excited! It is super comfy and just what we had in mind. Our new computer hutch is getting delivered tomorrow as well. It is about time. I've been itching to be able to just have a nice big hutch that we can close the doors on when we are not using the computer.
The guy sitting with me on the couch is our buddy, Dustin. He bought a new TV today! It was pretty much a shopping day all around. This is the best time of year for it. Everything is on sale!

January 11th, 2008 - Blue Sky

Finally, a day of clear blue sky!

January 10th, 2008 - Boom, Boom, Boom...

Today I tried out the new neighborhood noodle joint, Boom Noodle. It was yummy!

January 9th, 2008 - Mashers!

On a cold, rainy Wednesday, there's nothing better than homemade mashers!

January 8th, 2008

The hard life of a cat.

January 7th, 2008 - Daydreaming...

Mondays are always hard after vacations. The sun was coming through my window all afternoon making me wish I could go outside and play.

January 6th, 2008 - Everything Bread

Today we went couch shopping, hit a book store, and did some cleaning.
The most fun I had today was making Everything Bread, so I am making it photo of the day.
I bought some blueberries that were on sale, but they were way too bitter to just eat on their own. I thought they would be great for cooking.
I took a basic zucchini bread recipe tweaked it a bit, added the blueberries and a grated green apple.
It turned out delicious! Almost like a cake!

EVERYTHING BREAD
2 c. sugar
1/3 c. oil
3 eggs (or 1 egg plus the two egg equiv in egg substitute)
2 c. white flour
1 c. whole wheat flour
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1.5 tsp. cinnamon (add to taste)
2.5 c. grated fresh zucchini (About 3 average sized zucchinis)
1 grated small tart green apple (Or 1/2 larger apple)
1 18 oz container of sour blueberries
zest of 1 Lemon
Juice of 1 Lemon
2 tsp. powdered vanilla
1/4 tsp of liquid vanilla

Mix dry ingredients together - mix wet ingredients together, add fruits & zucchini to dry ingredients and then slowly add liquids while mixing on low speed.
Bake at 350 degrees, 50-55 minutes. Makes two large loaves.

FUN FACT ABOUT BAKING SODA/POWDER

Rubbernecking roving eye guy

I have to complain about this for just a minute.
I just got back from getting coffee and then running over to the store to pick up some things for dinner this evening. While I was there, I was walking around minding my own business when I passed a young man in the cereal isle who did the head nod "hello" at me. I smiled back politely.
No big deal.
I walked to the next isle where I was looking at olive oil when I spied the same guy again. This time he was looking at me in that way that guys do when they are looking for an "opening" to come talk to you. I grabbed my oil and walked the opposite direction. I was not in the mood for making small talk with some random dude.
I wandered through the store some more and came up behind the same guy again with his girlfriend. (I'm figuring it is his girlfriend because he had his arm around her and they were discussing what they wanted for breakfast food for the next week.) When he saw me he dropped his arm and started giving me the eye while his girlfriend was still looking at different types if bagels and not quite paying attention to what he was up to. (And before you say it is all in my head, I KNOW when a guy is giving me the eye, he was doing that uncomfortable extended stare/leering thing with that cocky half smile that guys do.)
It instantly pissed me off. His girlfriend was pretty, she looked like a nice girl, what kind of sleazeball goes shopping with his girlfriend all the while trying to get the attention of some stranger when she has her head turned?!? Had she caught him, it would have been uncomfortable for her, it WAS uncomfortable for me, and he should be ashamed of himself for acting like such a pig! It got me so flustered and ticked off I just went straight to the checkout because I didn't want to run the risk of running into him in the store one more time.

Now, if this was an isolated incident, it would bother me, but not as much. The thing is, this sort of thing happens all of the time. Ask any woman. If you go out on your own, you will always run into rubbernecking roving eye guy. It is sad, and it makes me angry. Don't people have any kind of manners anymore? I mean it is just common courtesy to not try and pick up other women when you are out with your significant other. They should all know better!

And with the very recent, seemingly random murder of the single women who was coming home from the grocery store only a few blocks from here, it is already very uncomfortable, as a women, to go out on my own! The police have no leads, so everyone looks suspicious! Women do not need to be made to feel any more uncomfortable in this neighborhood right now. It is just wrong. On so many levels.

End rant.

January 5th, 2008

Today I helped a very good friend move into our building. I thought this was the perfect fortune cookie to get after a full day of moving!

January 4th, 2008

The sun showed up today! For a minute it looked like Spring.


This one was today's honerable mention. The phone was pretty busy today.
I think people finally woke up from their holiday vacations!

January 3rd, 2008

Rain rain go away...

January 2nd, 2008

Back to work! Out with the old year, in with the new...

January 1st, 2008 - Mmmmmm Pizza...

Mellow day. Worked on video edits and watched movies.

Happy New Year!

(I'm going to try to do at least one photo per day in 2008. We will see how long it lasts.)

Alaska

While I was back in Alaska earlier this month I shot a couple of videos. People always ask me what it is like up there, so I thought it would be fun to string them together and give you a little glimpse.
Most of this video was taken on the drive from my mother's house to the Airport. The song is one that I wrote the lyrics to with my old band, Dear John Letters.
I hope you enjoy my little video blog!

In Between Days

This photo of Jon (My husband) from YEAH! Magazine #17, February 1989. Jon was featured as a valentine in a Tiger Beat spoof. Photo by Jill Goodejohn.:

and This (My biggest crush from the 80's):


A coincidence? I think not! ;-)

Cool Yule...

We had a very mellow holiday, just like I like them!

Bree came over with her son, Oliver to do some baking on Sunday. Darian had a friend over too and they made bread while Oliver made chocolate chip cookies. I made hot spiced cider and wine. The whole house smelled like Christmas.
We watched Muppet Christmas and then called it a night. The next day they came over for a big Christmas Eve turkey dinner. Since I was SO very sick on Thanksgiving, it was really fun for me to pull out all of the stops and make a big old dinner. It was kind of my Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner all rolled into one. Delicious!

Darian really made out like a bandit in the gifts department this year. By the time she opened her last gift she actually had tears in her eyes, a giant smile and she said she could cry she was so happy.
She got a huge stack of video games for all of her various game systems, some movies, and a bunch of other stuff, but her big gift this year was a Wacom Intuos3 USB Tablet - 6x8. This is something she has been wanting for a very long time. She's become quite the little artist and this will help her in that pursuit. She has already started working with it, and has made some really cool stuff in Photoshop. I have a feeling this tool will help take her art to the next level.

Something else that Darian got was Singstar for her PS2. If you are not familiar with this game, it is like Guitar Hero but with microphones and singing. You sing along with music videos and you try to get your voice as close as possible to the singer in the video. She got the 80's version, so of course, Jon and I were gonna have some fun with it as well. Christmas Eve and Christmas morning turned into a sing off. Jon, having the clear advantage, beat me by 30 points singing Madonna, Like a Virgin and Blondie, Heart of Glass.
I beat Jon by almost 100 points singing Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go by Wham (More than once! Guess I got some GM in my soul? Haha!) I also beat him singing a Twisted Sister song called We're Not Gonna Take It.
So, I won on the boys and he won on the girls. This makes no sense to me. Darian said that it is because he has a high voice and I have a low voice.
Nice.
Now we can't wait to get them all! I see many Singstar parties in our future!

So, that was our Christmas. Now on to the New Year!

Many warm fuzzy blessings to all of you who read this. I hope you have a beautiful New Year!

All in a day's work.

Some months seem longer than others. They fly by, but the amount of stuff you squeeze into a very small time frame warps the time perception when you look back over the previous days. You remember days that lasted a week just because your brain can't wrap itself around the idea that you actually squeezed that much stuff in such a limited time frame.

So far, this month, I've been to a gazillion holiday parties, been to Alaska, and worked on some of the biggest issues of the year which had all of us keeping long hours in the office.
I still have a ton of Christmas shopping to do this weekend. I've already picked it all out and made a list, it is just a matter of spending a day going around and making my purchases.

I think I will just touch on the highlights for now:
Strangercrombie: The Posies package brought in over $700 and the auction as a whole made over $60,000 for Fare Start! This is amazing! The winning bidder is having them cover a Bob Dylan song.

Alaska: It was an incredible trip. It is the first time I've traveled back to Alaska on my own in ages. I am usually accompanied by my husband or my daughter or both.
This homecoming was filled with a lot of joy, reflection, firsts, friends new and old and interesting surprise adventures!
I got to spend some time with my dear friend, Debbie and her daughter, (my daughter's older sister) Winter. (Winter turns 17 today!!) We always have such a nice time hanging out. It was neat spending time with Winter. She reminds me a lot of Darian. There was a day where I took her shopping for her birthday and we went to a movie together. Every now and then I would catch her out of the corner of my eye and forget that I wasn't out with my own daughter. It is interesting to me how similar they turned out growing up so far apart. They have so many of the same talents and hobbies. They have similar mannerisms and even the same favorite color! There are certainly differences as well, but it is just amazing to see the kind of women they are turning out to be. I could not be prouder of either of them!


Quilt: Before I left, I told my friend, Basil I would knit him a baby quilt while I was on my trip. (He and his wife Gillian are expecting any day now)
There tends to be a lot of downtime when I travel to Alaska, so I figured it would be a fun thing to do.
Well, I told my mom that I was going to make one and she thought I should quilt one since I have never made a fabric quilt before and since I was at her house and could totally utilize her master quilting studio. I was game. I figured that the worst case scenario is that it would turn out really bad, I could go back to knitting one and no one would be the wiser.
Since I have never quilted before, I had my own ideas about how a baby quilt for a "future musical prodigy" (of course) should look.
I'm pretty proud of how it turned out (They seemed to like it too!):


I'm not sure that I will be making any more quilts any time soon. It was a fun challenge, but really does take a lot of space. Our little place would be way too small to take on such a task. But, I'm glad for the experience, and now I know how to do it, so you never know... It is something that I may do again down the road!

AK Nightlife: There are a couple of really funny Alaska "night out" stories that deserve a blog all their own. When I get those photos uploaded I will write that entry. Highlights: Monster trucks, Men of Steel, punk rock, and hip hop. That is all I am saying for now.


Now that I am home, we are rushing around getting ready for the holidays. This is the first year in quite a while that I am really looking forward to Christmas. I've been struck by the holiday bug in a big way. Maybe it was the trip home, the snow, the old friends, or maybe it is just that I didn't want to be visited by three ghosts? Whatever the case may be, I'm doing great, my family and extended family are all healthy and happy, life is good.

If I don't get around to it until after the big day, Happy Holidays to you all and to all a good rest of your month!

*Loves*

Stay Warm!

Time to Bid!!!!

Remember that auction I mentioned a few weeks ago? It is time to start bidding!

CLICK HERE TO BID!! :


The Posies Cover the Song of Your Choice
Actually, Ken Stringfellow and Jon Auer will each cover the same song— Two covers for the price of one! The winner will also receive a copy of their split EP Private Sides. Priceless!

(The auction says it has to be picked up, but that is just a catch all we are writing on everything. The MP3s and CD can easily be sent to you!)

More at:
www.thestranger.com/strangercrombie

If only life were as easy as pie.

If there were a movie that I could most closely relate to when thinking about the time of my life when Darian was first born, it would be the movie; Waitress. Darian and I both LOVED this movie!
I mean, I didn't have an affair with my doctor. I was working in a crappy sandwich shop, not a pie shop while I was pregnant. And I realized how in love with my baby I was a bit sooner than she did in the movie. But, the story still fit like an abstract poem telling the story trying to hide the identities of the real characters it was based upon. I don't think I have ever related to a movie more than I did to this one. I give it my highest recommendation!
It is so heartbreaking that the writer/director/actress, Adrienne Shelly was brutally murdered just before Waitress came out. She was a truly inspiring artist and created something really wonderful. I would have loved to see more from her.

More Bread Baking

Since yesterday's Banana bread was such a success we decided to make Zucchini bread today. This recipe made 3 loaves. You could easily add nuts or chocolate chips, they would both be good additions.

ZUCCHINI BREAD
2 c. sugar
1 c. oil
3 eggs
3 c. flour
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1.5 tsp. cinnamon (add to taste)
2.5 c. grated fresh zucchini (About 3 average sized zucchinis)
zest of 1 Lemon
1 tsp lemon juice
2 tsp. vanilla

Mix ingredients together - in order! Bake at 350 degrees, 50-55 minutes.

Snow, Snow, Snow!!!!!

Today is our very first snow day! Bree, Darian and I were at Smith trying out their new Brunch menu for the very first time (I will get to that in a minute) when the snow started to fall. At first it was a surprising light sprinkle, but by the time we payed the bill, it was a full on blizzard! (OK, I might be exaggerating a tad, but it was coming down pretty fast, and sticking!)

We had plans today, but having dealt with Seattle drivers on snow days we cancelled them right away and decided to do "at home" stuff today.

As for brunch at Smith; the place was empty, it took forever to get our food, the menu choices were strange and there were no basic breakfast option (ie. Eggs, toast, pancakes) Just a lot of weird stuff wrapped in stuff. The closest was steak and eggs, making it not too kid friendly.
When I got my food, after waiting for almost 30 minutes, it was ice cold.
But, the waiter was super nice! He was everything you would want in a waiter, polite, funny, attentive.
So yes, if they improve the menu I will be back just on the good the customer service, but for now, we will probably stick to 22 Doors (Which have been hit and miss as well) or else Coastal Kitchen (Who always have a loooong wait on the weekends.)

Since it was snowing and I had some over ripe bananas on hand I decided to make this easy banana bread!
The only thing I changed in the recipe was that I added about a tsp of cinnamon and a 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder to lighten it up. It worked like a charm!
It has a very light smooth taste to it. I personally prefer my breads with a smooth texture but this recipe would lend well to add ins. I bet dried fruits like cherries or cranberries, nuts or even chocolate chips would be good in this one!
The other thing I liked is that I didn't have to go to the store. This is all pretty common stuff to have on hand and it takes very little effort to make. So, the next time you have three bananas that have gone past their prime on hand, I suggest you make this bread instead of throwing them away.
As an added bonus, it fills the house with the amazing scent of baked banana bread. It smells like Christmas!

EASY BANANA BREAD

3 bananas, well mashed
1 c. sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 c. vegetable oil
2 c. flour (1 c. can be whole wheat)
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mash bananas in mixing bowl. Add sugar, eggs and oil, mixing well each time. Sift dry ingredients together and add to banana mixture. Pour in greased 5x9 loaf pan and bake 55-60 minutes.

SEATTLE: Give something up and give something back!

Do something good.
The other night, when my daughter and I were at The QFC I noticed that they have the pre-packed holiday donation bags out on the shelves again.
I grabbed a $10 bag and threw it on my cart without a second thought.

Darian looked at me and asked, "What is that, Mom?"
"Oh, well, these bags have food in them and when we buy a bag it gets donated to a homeless shelter or a food bank." I explained
"What does it have in it?" she asked
"Well, probably canned goods and non-perishable items. You know, stuff that can last without being refrigerated, but is still nutritious."
"Wow, that is really cool, Mom. I hope everyone does this! It seems so easy!"
"I'm sure everyone does, they have $5 and $10 bags, people spend that on coffee in a day!"

Then we got to the checkout and we purchased our groceries and our bag and Darian grabbed the bag excited to turn in our donation.
The checker pointed at the large barrels at the front of the store and she skipped over to it to put the bag in. When she got to the barrel she stopped and looked at me with a look of confusion.
"Mom, it is empty." she said flatly
I walked over to her and looked in the barrel. She was right, there were two bags in there and one of them was the one we just donated. While, on the other hand, the store is bustling with people and we are at a store that is on the edge of one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in Seattle.
I asked if they had just been emptied. The checker said, "No."

As we were walking home, Darian and I got to talking about why I donate. I explained to her that when she was just a brand new baby I didn't have a lot. And when I moved to Seattle to go to school, she and I were really on our own in the new city and sometimes we really had to rely on the kindness of friends and strangers. I'm lucky, because I have a family that will always be there for me if I need them, I just try not to lean on them unless absolutely necessary. So, when I was on my own in a new city with a small child and not a relative in sight, it meant that I had to turn to outside assistance a few times in those first years. And because of those organizations, I was able to find safe daycare and go to school and make the very good life that I have now.

Darian then asked me why people didn't just give up their Lattes or cigarettes for one day and buy a bag of food. If everyone did that, they would fly through those bags.
And you know what? She is right!

Why don't we give up some $5-10 daily comfort habit for one day and use that money to purchase one of these bags?

See, when I was originally purchasing the bag, I just threw it into my cart without saying anything and had my inquisitive daughter not asked me about it, I might have purchased it and never thought about it again. I'm glad she asked questions, because it opened a dialogue and made her feel like she was a part of the giving process.
If you give something up, that you are used to having, for that one day you will be reminded of why you are giving it up and it will give you an opportunity to reflect on your life and community and how blessed you are to have the option of having comfort items in your life. For some people, good food is a comfort item!

Also, I asked the store manager, and he told me that when you buy one of these bags, that donation stays in your neighborhood! It goes to the closest food bank or mission to that store! So, you will be giving directly to your neighbors! That has to make you feel good!

So, between now and Dec 31st, I challenge you:
Give something up and give something back!

Here is the blurb about the program that is on the http://www.foodlifeline.org website (The people in charge of this)
Nov. 1, 2007 -Dec. 31, 2007

Share Your Feast this Holiday Season
Share Your Feast at your local QFC store beginning November 1! Keep your eye out for the pre-packed $5 and $10 bags of groceries to purchase and donate to Food Lifeline. Food Lifeline volunteer groups have been working hard at our Shoreline Repack Center packing bags for this annual holiday drive held by QFC. If you prefer, you can shop for specially marked items throughout the store or simply make a donation at the register when you check out.

Full Sail Brewery and Kendall-Jackson Wines are again partnering with QFC, so be sure to look for Share Your Feast items when you're buying your holiday beverages. Food Lifeline will receive $1 from each case of beer sold and $2 from every case of wine sold.

It's not about the cookies...

This beautiful article by Megan Seling is something that I was thankful for over this past holiday weekend. This is one of my favorite features in all of the years I've been reading The Stranger. It is honest and well written.
I actually cried a little when I read it.

Thank you, Megan.

And to everybody else:
If you have not read it yet, you really should!