Stuff

It's a funny thing, the stuff you own. You're never forced to sit and really think about it until you are forced to move it all and they you usually, universally, find yourself asking the following question:

"WHY DO I HAVE ALL THIS CRAP?"

Like a VCR and VHS movies. I thought I gave all those away. And what do you do with old cds and cassette tapes? Is there a charity that takes them to 2nd/3rd world countries so they can enjoy the musical stylings of Color Me Badd? How about all those books I got for free on the 21 Immutable Laws of Marketing and the Whiskey Distilleries of Scotland. I've never read them. Why do I keep them?

Once you realize you have to pack up, lift and carry everything, it really makes the decision making process much faster. I've already taken 4 bags of clothes, shoes, and books to Goodwill.

But it's the random little things that build up over time...like the extra camera batteries, the books that have been read and loved, the sweatshirt that you know you should throw away (Stacey and Clayton would be appalled!) but you love it so much you can't let it go...these are thing that make our lives comfortable, if not slightly crowded.

I just moved from a 1 bdrm apartment to a 3 bdrm house and can't believe the amount of un-needed crap I have kept and yet already know I need to buy a lot more stuff to fill up my new house. I can't even begin to imagine what it will be like when I move out of this place someday...

Home Owner!

For those who have been following along on the Twitter feed this is old news but as of last Thursday, I am officially a home owner! After years of saving and scouring the real estate websites like a scavenger, I finally have a piece of land to call mine.

That's right. It's not a condo. I OWN LAND.

I bought a 1950's rambler in North Seattle. It's on a cute little dead end street with a front yard, a back yard, and an attached one car garage. I have a neighbor named Sarah. I have trees. BIG TREES. I OWN BIG TREES. I have 3 bedrooms. I have a kitchen and a bathroom. I OWN A GARAGE. A garage! It seriously belongs to me. That idea blows my mind. Like, it's all mine. You can pick a flower in my yard. I OWN THE YARD...AND THE FLOWERS. This is big people! My little house needs some cosmetic updates but all in all, it's move in ready and I gotta tell you:

It's already a lot of work.

Once I got over the high of owning big trees (AND A LAWN MOWER!) I came down to realize that I had completely forgot what a PAIN IN THE ASS moving is...and I had a lot of help. I had amazing help! The Kyrsa Painting and Moving Operation helped on Friday. The Cheech and Brea Painting Crew took over on Saturday and on Sunday, the Jamey and Kate Moving Crew helped complete what the rest had started. But the hours were long, the muscles are sore, and the work is far from complete.

(Yeah, I know I need more men in my life but the women handled things JUST FINE ok?)

I painted three rooms on Monday and my hand was literally cramped around the paint brush by the end of the day. (I can now paint a trim a line with the best of them though!) Last night after work I had to finish cleaning and moving out of my old place - the odds and ends - and didn't get home until 9:30 pm. I got to my new house and was so tired I couldn't be bothered to put anything away in the new place. I am currently wearing outfits to work that can only be described as pieced together from clean clothes I could find. I don't look like a homeless person, but I kinda feel like one in these clothes.

The thing I hate about moving is that even though you are moved out, it takes FOREVER to move in.

But I now have 1300 sq. feet all to myself. I have a "Restful" green living room and a "Sun Light" yellow and white kitchen. The ugly two tone green bedroom is now a lovely soft pale lavendar and my bedroom and bathroom are a soft blue.

I'll post photos soon. For now, I have to go home and sit in MY LIVING ROOM and cook some food in MY KITCHEN and keep unpacking because I'm not homeless...and a home owner should dress better than this.

Friday Kick Ass Clip of the Week

In honor of my late night visitor the other night, I wanted to post some cute raccoon video. Raccoons have tons of personality, they do smart funny things, I figured there was some YouTube something somewhere, right?

What I learned is that there is a surprising amount of people who keep raccoons as pets...and the majority of them have southern accents.

I'm not sayin, I'm just sayin.

However, instead of sharing with you the multitude of coons taking baths, eating birthday cake, stealing cat food and playing with the family dog, I am instead choosing a some what mellow video of a neighborhood bandit getting some treats. It's cute. It's how I like my raccoons (OUTSIDE the house) and that's all I can really say about it.



That, and I am NOT installing a dog door without one of those electric sensors that only let's the dog wearing the collar in. Raccoons in my house. Eek!

Living in the Northwest

Last night, I noticed that THIS guy was watching me as I watched TV.

I now know what a zoo animal must feel like.

Our interaction was short and curious. I watched him watching me for about 10 seconds until he/she moved along. I think we should name him/her.

Suggestions?

So Eloquent...

Really? The main point of national political discussion is around an old colloquialism "lipstick on a pig"? It's pure diversionary tactics. It's the GOP getting people to talk about something inane and common rather than key issues like national security or the economy.

"Hey hey American voting public! Look over here!! We're talking about pigs and lipstick!! Let's focus on that and not the fact that my proposed vice president has zero political experience on a national, let alone global level!!!"

BTW - If you go to You Tube and type in "Lipstick on a Pig" and "McCain" you will find at least 3 videos of McCain using the exact same phrase.

So yes. The bleeding hear liberalism will continue to be a theme until Obama is elected. The below beautifully captures some of my thoughts on current matters. The full op/ed can be found here.

"Yes, McCain made a decision (picking Palin) that revealed many appalling things about him. In the end, his final concern is not national security. No one who cares about national security would pick as vice-president someone who knows nothing about it as his replacement. No one who cares about this country's safety would gamble the security of the world on a total unknown because she polled well with the Christianist base. No person who truly believed that the surge was integral to this country's national security would pick as his veep candidate a woman who, so far as we can tell anything, opposed it at the time.

McCain has demonstrated in the last two months that he does not have the character to be president of the United States. And that is why it is more important than ever to ensure that Barack Obama is the next president. The alternative is now unthinkable. And McCain - no one else - has proved it."

What I Learned This Weekend

• Paint color choices can be overwhelming. It's harder than you might think to decided on a shade of yellow...without being too yellow...let alone what colors you want the rest of the house.
• Cherryride wants a hot pink bedroom.
• They sell cabinet knobs and drawer pulls at Target and they're priced better than Lowe's.
• You can get really sick of watching home improvement shows.
• I can improve my golf swing...and have!
• Marymoor Park is an awesome concert venue, especially on a warm September evening.
• John Butler Trio is better live than on the cd and you should all be big big BIG fans.

Friday Kick Ass Clip of the Week

Well, if I'm back I better be BACK. Here's your Friday kick-ass clip of the week. Keeping this week's political theme...Enjoy!

Break's Over

Just like those sunny summer days, my blog break is over. It's sad when I typed my address into my OWN address bar and it wasn't there. A sure sign that I've been gone long enough.

And I gotta say, I MISSED YOU GUYS!!! How ya been? Whatcha been doing? Who ya been seeing?

Many things to update all of you on including CherryRide completely ignoring me for pretty much the entire extent of Pest Fest, my foray into the Seattle housing market (closing pending!) and my new status as resident expert on what everyone should think about Sarah Palin.

I'll address the Palin thing simply by saying this...it's a fake of course but I think it gets the point across. Oh, and I guess I should clarify that she wasn't Miss Alaska, she was Miss Wasilla, and up until a few short years ago she was mayor of Wasilla. A town with a current population of just under 9000 people.

Someone with that kind of political experience is definitely ready to lead one of the most powerful countries in the world should the 72 year old President have some type of health issue. Don't you agree? Can't ya just see her going toe to toe with Putin and successfully negotiating with China?

Vote accordingly.

More soon and on a regular basis!

Hiatus

For those who haven't figured it out, this blog is on summer hiatus. I may be back for a fall season, I'll keep you posted.

If you just can't stand to be without, the Twitter is being updated ----------------->
You can follow me there.