The year my partner turned into a Kevin Bacon character

Dear Friends,

It’s January 2012 and it has been far too long since I’ve written a blog. My last blog was written when we were still living in our house in Shoreline in Spring/Summer 2010 and we have since moved to California, moved from California to the Tri Cities and bought a house. Needless to say, it has been a productive year.

I have been back in school for a year working on prerequisites for my Master’s. I applied to grad school on Monday and am currently trying not to think about whether or not I will be accepted. I think I will but don’t want to set myself up for disappointment, blah blah blah.

On a more delightful topic, my house is super cool! I LOVE MY HOUSE. For those of you who have graced its wooden floors with your presence, you know why. For those of you who haven’t:

My wooden living room.

The sweat lodge.

Gas fireplace for all of my fireplace needs.

The bedroom hallway

My side of the bedroom.

Our house is a 1953, midcentury modern home with lots of fun details. I’ll have to show pictures of the kitchen and the basement another post. The basement is a story all on its own.

Goodnight,

Katie

 

Rainy Days and Mondays

It’s raining, it’s pouring, my grass is getting watered for free! Hooray for the simple pleasures in life.

I have been spending a lot of time lately out in the yard weeding; watering; finding interesting bugs, larvae, etc. I have always heard that doing yard work is a never-ending task but I guess I foolishly assumed that if I thoroughly weeded a patch of flowerbed once, I would not have to weed again for a REALLY LONG TIME. Such a fool I am. They are all back, with a vengeance, and are HUGE!  I had to quickly dig my fledgling lavender bushes out of a throng of weeds after I neglected to even look at them for about two months. I am such a bad caretaker.

Nonetheless the weeding has resumed and I have pictures of some lovely spots in my yard taken earlier this week:

You Light Up My Life

The sun is out and I am feeling motivated again. The auction project is done, the accompanying photo album is done and tomorrow is the auction! Finally I have time for my own projects and for cooking new meals.

Here’s our project:

"Interdependency of Space, Moon and Sea"

I want to make these again soon because they are so delicious and the recipe calls for a food processor AND I got one for Xmas but have not removed it from the box yet.

I also want to try this out but use only veggies.

I need to get back to my 25 things list because it has been neglected. I have been jwalking (that’s short for jog/walking) pretty regularly and feel ready to take part in an official running event. If I can get my act together and sign up it might actually happen! Let me know if you want to do one with me.

Now I just have to figure out what I am going to wear to the auction.

Spring Is in the Air

My spring flowers are emerging in my garden. I guess it’s really April; we’re just confused.

Does this mean I have to start cleaning?

What is Trash?

Today two of my students gave a report on trash: where it goes, how it’s produced and it’s impact on the world. The report culminated in a discussion about which country produces the most garbage per capita. The general consensus was that the US and China make the most trash. My initial thought was the U.S.A. of course! But that may be my biased and patriotic knowledge that the US is always the BEST at everything it does. After some very poor researching I found a guy that cited a legit international organization that does statistical research of participating countries, it is called the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Well, apparently the US, Denmark, Ireland and Norway produce the most trash per person per year at a whopping 1600 to 1700 lbs of garbage per person! Canada comes in at a close 24th place with 900 lbs per person. WTF is Canada doing? Caring about the Earth?! Well, anyway atleast we aren’t alone, although if you compare the populations of the four top producers, we kick ass at gross national production of junk. U.S.A! U.S.A! U.S.A! U.S.A!

Alright, back to focussing on the State of the Union.

Monday, Monday

I’m feeling very nervous about the state of the world and want to cry most days, but don’t. It’s hard to keep a balance between wanting to live life to the fullest and fearing the earth’s demise. Thank you Thomas L. Friedman, you have done your job.

I think that optimism is winning out so far. I just try to appreciate all of the beauty that we still have. I am just so happy to live in the PNW and can’t imagine that many other places could be as diverse (socially, geologically, etc.) as this place.

This Saturday I went up to Bellingham with the man and it was so beautiful! The day started out as overcast and turned sunny. Sometimes I enjoy the serenity and calm of a cool, clammy, overcast day more than a bright sunny day. It feels like home. We have had lots of those lately and it finally feels like the PNW winters of my childhood minus really great thunderstorms.

Bellingham Bay

I am also feeling like I really want to kick some ass musically and I wish that I had more time to dedicate to making music. I am so happy to have friends that love music as much as I do and I feel like there could be a future in the BFFE super band. If only we could go back to summers between school when we had no jobs and then inject motive and means to create music but then also be cool and older. Wait, let’s all quit our jobs and wander the country with our instruments toed behind our bikes playing on highways and back-roads, in the woods and on the streets. I just need to play without fear of what others think. I am trying to write music and not feel dumb about it but it’s so hard not to.

I was thinking about a recent conversation about loving/hating flying (I was on the hating side of the convo.) and I realized that I feel the same love for riding the bus to work everyday that others feel for flying. There is that same sense of timelessness and unaccountability. “Sorry I am late for work, my bus was delayed.” Everyone is offered the same amenities, people sleep in public and reveal personal things about themselves to strangers. Even though I feel like I don’t enjoy riding the bus most days, I think it is the points of entry and exit that I despise the most. Being on the bus, listening and watching is really pretty relaxing.

There is a new baby in the house, a Gibson pedal steel from the ’50s. The man’s working on fixing it up and so far it sound really great!

I’m keeping my eye out for a used violin in hopes that I can pick it back up.

Here comes my list, 25 things to do before I turn 25:

1. buy a violin and relearn how to play

2. learn and record 5 songs on the drums and sing too.

3. go rock climbing.

4. go snow-shoeing. ( Went to Steven’s Pass Pacific Crest Trail.)

5. eat fresh for a week.

6. climb (part of) Mt. Saint Helens

7. swim in the ocean

8. plant a vegetable garden/clean up the yard. ( I cleaned my yard AND did not plant vegetables, but I have basil in my kitchen…)

9. learn to can/preserve from my grandma.

10. go to Moroccan where I can eat with my hands

11. take a tap dancing class.

12. eat a pomegranate

13. learn to play guitar.

14. learn to play piano.

15. make pho

16. sew a skirt or dress from a pattern. (I made a skirt, but it started to fall apart when I wore it.)

17. create a work of art/paint on canvas. (I’ve been painting a lot! Started out with birds).

18. go camping in/near a national park.

19. make eco-friendly vegetable/fruit bags for me and my friends and host a eco-cleaning recipe party.

20. look for planets through a telescope.

21. participate in a race.

22. organize my music collection.

23. write a letter to President Obama and govt officials in WA state. (I emailed Obama and he/his reps got back to me!)

24. try an ethnic food that I have not had before.(Morroccan)

25. Go on a road trip.

Leaves!

Today has been a great day so far!

When I got to work I found out that we were going to walk to Greenlake for lunch and go for a little walk/hike afterward. We did our regular morning work until about 11:30 when we left for our walk. The kids’ mission was to find different classifications of leaves according to shape and veination. It was so fun! We walked down streets lined with beautiful trees, went through Woodland Park and ended up having lunch at the steps by the Small Craft Docks at Greenlake.

In the lake there are little orange bouys spread throughout.  As we were sitting for lunch these guys were taking turns hanging out on the bouys and hunting for fish. One would dive into the water and emerge about a minute later (sometimes sooner) with a small fish in its mouth.  As I looked across the patch of lake that I could see, there were atleast 8 cormorants occupying a different bouy at the same time!

After lunch we walked to a park where I got to spin the Merry-go-round way too many times but they kept asking me to do it because apparently my spins were the fastest. A few kids fell off (even after I told them not to hang any parts of their bodies off the side) and I had to rescue them before they were knocked out.  I thought those things were outlawed from playgrounds at some point…

On our way back one girl wasn’t looking forward as she walked and she ran into a garbage can. Nobody but me noticed and once she started laughing about it I couldn’t help but laugh too. It was really nice how she handled it; some other six-year-olds would be mortified.

To top it all off it didn’t rain, the sun came out on our way back and we didn’t get back to school until it was time for dismissal. So basically I spent four hours of work hanging out and walking around Greenlake!

Now I am going to make banana bread. So there! If only every Monday/day could be like this!

Katie

p.s. I have pumpkins that need to be carved (and seeds to toast).

Attics Are for Friends

Dear Friends,

I am officially joining you in the world of blog. This coming week I will be moving to a house in Shoreline and this post will be dedicated to sharing my hopes and dreams for my attic space. Hopefully in the next few days I can get some pictures up of the empty attic, followed by the decorated attic.

My new house has three levels: the basement level has a small guest room, Aaron’s large studio area and a bathroom; the main floor has our small bedroom, the living/dining area, the kitchen and another bathroom; the attic has a double-sloped ceiling, a freshly-painted wood floor and lots of built-in shelves and lovely nooks and crannies just waiting for me to fill them.

The larger side of the attic space I imagine will have a sofa and area rug, as well as a tv and my sewing table. The smaller side will be my reading nook and will (eventually) have a comfy armchair, small rug, ottoman and reading lamp. The best part about it is the small built-in shelves that are tucked away in the corner behind the stair landing. I mentioned that the attic space is painted but I did not mention that the whole thing from top to bottom is painted a lovely cream color with off-white trim. It feels like I am stepping into a really nice doll-house whenever I go up there. I already love that room and there isn’t even anything in it yet! Above all, I imagine that this space will be an amazing hang-out spot for me and my gals. Craft night, here we come.

Well that’s it for now. I really hope to add some pictures soon.

Love, Katie