Just Jake....

My friend Sarah sent me a link for a KOMO news story that had the headline "Toddler Overcome By March Madness." Turns out that her son Jake got some of his pictures put up on KOMO's younews. He's so funny! I just had to post this!
http://www.komonews.com/younews/41589407.html

The Neverending Day...

Have you ever had one of those days that seemed to last forever? The ones that seem jam packed full of activities and has you driving everywhere under the sun? That pretty much was my Saturday.

My day started out earlier than I would have liked as I had to be in Fremont by 9am on the only day off I had from school during the weekend. Add to the fact that I'm so NOT the morning person... made for a groggy sort of start to my day. So I headed off Saturday morning and low and behold...snow...AGAIN! I was determined to make it to Seattle though and drove threw what could only be described as a scene from Star Wars when they are going so fast that it looks like stars are shooting by. Okay...so it was just little snowflakes...but you get the idea. I made it to Fremont Abbey where I found out that I was actually going to be there until 1pm and not noon like I had thought. At least there were snacks and coffee.

After the CCP Saturday session, I had to book it down to Auburn to make it to Scarlet's 4th birthday party. I finally got to relax a little and kids are so darn cute! Scarlet had a princess themed party complete with a castle cake compliments of her talented master baker mom Anna. Fortunately, I was able to stay long enough to see the games, pinata, cake, and the opening of presents. However, I again had to motor right afterwards.

The next stop was I guess sort of Ballard/Crown Hill/Greenwood. I'm not really sure as I don't know the area that well. Pretty much you take I-5 until 85th street and then go hella left until you reach Kasbah. Got there just in time to see my friend Shiori do her bellydancing. This was her first time doing bellydancing publicly. She looked amazing and was really good! Again I was fortunate enough to be able to see the whole show because I was off and running again after that.

I got outside to jump in the car. Low and behold it was that darned snow AGAIN! My car was covered in it. I thought...should I just stay here or go home? That determination popped up yet again as I went off to head back to Fremont for the second time that day. This time to meet up with people to see the circus as Jessica had the hook up for free tickets to Circus Contraption.

As I was held up with the bellydancing, I had told everyone to go ahead and that I'd meet them there. The unfortunate thing is that I didn't have an address and I didn't really know the part of Fremont where I was going. After circling the block for a street I swear didn't exist....I finally stopped to try to call Jessica or Piper to get directions. However....no answer. Darn it! That determination rose again and after several botched attempts I found it in the back of a factory. Yay! Had a lot of fun and was amazed and creeped out by some of the stuff I saw at the circus.

After the circus it was finally time to go home. Sadly I realized we were all losing an hour because of Daylight Savings Time and had to be in class the next morning. I was not a happy camper but headed home. When I got to Issaquah...I saw a familiar sight...snow yet again. Have I mentioned that I'm REALLY getting sick of snow? Anyway...got all the way to the top of my hill and to my driveway and I couldn't get up it. I had to get the shovel and cat litter out to clear the way to get my car in the garage. Let me just tell you I have never been so excited to see my bed in my life. The neverending day was finally finished!

One day at a time...

Well it's been about a month since I left my job and yet it seems like it's been much longer. This month has just flown by and things are still pretty busy around here. I really thought after quitting my job that I would have all this free time. That totally has not been the case! I guess school, my change project, and volunteering keep me a lot busier than I thought it would. I honestly don't know how I used to keep up with everything with a full-time job!

Well my change project is coming along nicely. The working title for our service project is called Conversations for Social Action (CSA) and our focus is to help people in career transition. As the unemployed population seems to be growing each day, it seems like the timing of our project comes at a good time.

Recently, I've been getting more involved with the local and national Organizational Development networks. It's been nice to network and get to know others in my field. I've also signed up to volunteer with Community Consulting Partnership (CCP). I think this will be a great experience and I'm really looking forward to starting this next week.

Other than school and volunteering, I have enjoyed having a little more time to see my friends and family. It's nice feeling so much less stressed and having the time to hang out from time to time. I was even able to go out last Sunday after class with other people in my cohort...which I haven't done in over 6 months. So all in all...I'm quite enjoying the not working thing and being able to focus just on school and other things.

Another day, but not another dollar...

It's been awhile since my last update. Here's a quickie version of some of the events over the last few months. Got snow...got some more...and then got snowed in. Snow cleared right before the holidays came and went. Then my birthday came and went. Friends from out of state also came and went during this time. Oh and I quit my job. I think that about sums it up.

So it's been a little over a week since I left my full-time job to focus on grad school. School folks were really supportive and actually cheered that I left my job. What was surprising was how supportive my former co-workers were which really made me feel better about my decision and eased my guilt a bit. It's a weird feeling not having a job. Everyone keeps asking me how it feels, but to be honest...I haven't really gotten a chance to really feel unemployed yet. After my last day of work last week, I ended up getting really sick and being in bed and then jumped right into school.

As I was telling Nifer the other day...not working kind of feels like when you take vacation or have a sick day so you're off from work, but none of your friends have the day off. Although I'm slowly starting to lose track of time where I can't tell one day from the other...not working is slowly allowing me to slow down and appreciate things. I'm finally finding time to do things and see people I was always too busy to find time for before which is nice. It's also nice to not feel so stressed out all the time.

It's not to say I won't be busy as my calendar is already filled with the various meetings, lectures, working on my change project, and other misc. activities. I actually sometimes wonder how I used to fit a full-time job into this mix as it doesn't seem to be possible to fit one in.

So this is where I'm at. I'm not really sure what the next few months have in store for me, but I'm looking forward to the journey and ready to face whatever comes my way.

Mirage...

A friend once called me a mirage. He said that it got to a point where he never saw or heard from me anymore so he began to wonder if I was a mirage because I didn't seem to really exist. This is kind of how I've been feeling lately. I run around so much and things are so crazy that I don't have time to see or talk to people. Needless to say...I haven't had time to update the good old blog either.

This last October was the one year mark as far as graduate school and with this came the realization that I will be done with my program this spring. I can't begin to tell you how much anxiety this caused! While I will be happy to be done with school...I worry that I won't be ready or have learned all that I need to. I guess this comes with the territory when you end up completely switching fields career wise so it's a good thing that I really enjoy what I'm heading into.

The only challenge right now for me is juggling working full-time and going to graduate school full-time. Yes I know this is something I've dealt with for a year, but this is different. Many of my specialized courses require so much more time and effort on my part. I'm really enjoying some of the hands on experience working with other organizations and all the other things I've gotten the chance to experience, but I'm starting to run myself ragged which is probably how I ended up as sick as I am right now. Plus, I'd really like to have some time to volunteer to gain more experience and the chancer to work with senior consultants. I have a feeling I'll be needing to make some life changes in the near future.

Summer School...

While others were having some summer fun this weekend, I started summer quarter at school. I wasn't really looking forward to school again as the last quarter kind of kicked my butt. I knew when I started graduate school that my program would mean I would lose one summer, but things like this always seem so far away in the future. Going into this weekend there were a few positive things. I no longer have school for 4 days in a row. Yay! I now have Saturdays with no school. I kind of wish all of my classes were in a row though, but one less day is better than nothing. Plus I knew that I would now be taking classes specific to my program which I was sure would be awesome.

Classes have actually been pretty great! So far....all the content in classes has been pretty fascinating stuff for me! Sadly I really do get excited learning about Conflict Management. I'm such a geek! The other cool thing is that I am getting the chance to work with people that I haven't worked with in the past but wanted to and working again with people I only got to work with for a short amount of time. Let me just say though...that it was nice to have such a good experience considering how my week started with medical drama.

A brief recap of my medical drama:

• Lost hearing in left ear last weekend that began to get sore
• Made an appointment and went to new doctor
• New doctor used water irrigation that fixed hearing
• New doctor is crazy because I also made to go have lab work, EKG, and chest x-ray done even though I came in for ear issue
• Lost hearing again a few days later and had intense pain in left ear
• Skipped crazy doc this time and went to ENT doctor
• ENT doctor said I developed severe ear infection from what crazy doc did earlier in the week and I now needed antibiotics

Other than school and ear issues I've had a quiet last week or so. Friday was Katrina's birthday so I headed down after class to celebrate with her Kent style. Saturday I spent studying and then decided to give myself the night off and did a movie and wine night with Anna & Sarah. We were celebrating the start of Anna's new life and new condo.

A funny thing happened though. Anna had discovered a box of old highschool stuff in her move and found a box of memories I had made for her. Sadly there were a couple of things she and I couldn't even remember why I had put in the box. I guess I should have put labels or a note. Who knew our memories would be so bad!?

Happy Birthday America...

Once again...the 4th of July was upon us and this time we even got a 3 day weekend. The last week or so has been pretty busy. Gina was in town from NYC so I spent some time hanging out and catching up with her. I took a half-day off of work so we could do the total relaxation day with manis and pedis followed with happy hour and hanging out at Madison Park. It was so good to see her! I really miss her being across the country!

Well as for the 4th of July itself. Mine started down at Steve & Airi's for some BBQ goodness. Kim was in town from England so it was good to see her and catch up! Got to hangout with baby Mia and baby Lauren who are two of the cutest babies!

Afterwards I headed out to the Cababtits for more 4th of July festivities. Joe was in town from NYC for the holiday so it was good to see him! Had the usual relaxed hanging out...BBQ...fireworks...and just a good time all around as is the norm at the Cabatits.

Back Again...

So it was brought to my attention that it may have been awhile since I've updated the blog. I guess that is true. Welp...it's now summer and life has been a blur.

I am enjoying the last of my break before I start summer quarter. I am about at the half-way mark with school with 1 more year to go. Woohoo! Work has been....well....work. Never anything that exciting on the work front. I did start doing some volunteering with the Metrocenter YMCA with their career mentoring program for at-risk youth. Other than that...have just been enjoying catching up with people and hanging out. Oh...and enjoying the fact that we actually have been getting somewhat of a summer. Yay!

Spring Fever...

So I think it's been quite awhile since I updated the good old blog. I'm actually just getting over an awful cold of some sort that I picked up at the office. What a way to bring in the Spring season, huh?

Well as you probably imagined...I didn't really have that great of a Spring Break from classes as I was passed out on cold meds for the couple of weeks I had off from school. I guess it's better than being sick during school.

I started classes again this weekend, but it was actually a pretty good weekend. I have some amazing classes with some instructors that are also quite amazing so far! I'm pretty excited heading into this quarter. The reality of getting to work in a field I love seems to be a little more real now. There is a light at the end of the tunnel!

Other than being sick, going to work, and going to class....I've mainly just been trying to catch up with people. Not very exciting. I had a little reunion with my Argosy friends out in Monroe and had to dig out my car beneath an inch or so of snow. Gotta love that Global Warming huh? I also ended up finally getting to go to Bahama Breeze. I went with Anna to celebrate her birthday. She's one of my BFF's from highschool and we've been friends for about 20 years. Anywho...Bahama Breeze has some mighty fine drinks! The only weird thing was the guy they had playing music in the bar. It was a little cheesy. It was one lone guy with a guitar with steel drums synthesized into his music. He took us on a little trip while we were there. We went to Jamaica with One Heart, then to Kokomo, Key Largo, and even journeyed to Hotel California. See what I mean about cheesy?

Anyway....I think that's it for now. I so need to get some sleep tonight! I stayed up way too late last night and fought sleep all day in class today. This was even after a Full Throttle Fury energy drink and a quad-shot soy latte. We're talking...needing toothpicks to keep my eyes open!

A Funny Thing Happened...

So I thought I'd share a funny thing that happened to me. A few days ago, I had plans to meet a friend for dinner. We agreed that we'd meet at Cedars Restaurant after work. Now I'd never been to Cedars, but vaguely remembered passing by it during one of my excursions to the U-district. So after work I headed north to the area around the University Ave. thinking that I would easily find the restaurant. Okay so the restaurant wasn't on the street corner I thought it was on. My next thought was maybe to find parking and then plan my next course of action. Bad news...parking sucked that night! During one of my various circlings of the area, I finally spotted the restaurant on 43rd. Now all I needed was parking still. I do a time check and realize I was going to be late. I was just about to call my friend when my phone rang.

My friend was calling to say she was having parking problems as well. She asked if I saw parking. I said...no and asked if she saw anything...she said no, but she thought she saw something by Safeway. Okay so this totally puzzled me as Safeway was on the other side of 45th from where I was so in my mind...she was still far. I asked if she was still on her way. She said she was circling the restaurant. Now I was really confused. I asked if she was still by Safeway. She said yes and I said she was not where she was supposed to be. This exchange went on for awhile. We both stated that we were by Cedars Restaurant near Brooklyn Ave. Eventually I made my way over to my friend as she'd been to the restaurant and thinking I'd been confused.

It turns out there are two different locations for Cedars. Neither one of us had realized that there were more than one of them. My friend only knew the location on Brooklyn Ave by the Safeway and I only knew the location on 43rd Ave.

The moral of the story is to make sure that everyone is on the same page when making plans to meet. Oh and check that you are actually going to the SAME location.

Procrastination...

So I've noticed a pattern that I have lately. It seems that I tend to procrastinate during times when I really need to not be procrastinating. This is one of those times. I've got a huge assignment that needs to be done, but just seem to try to find things to distract myself from doing it. I've searched the web, checked all my email accounts, channel surfed, worked my way through calls I needed to make, and now it's time for updating my blog.

Well...I survived yet another residency weekend at school. It feels really good to have a few things behind me like our presentations. There was one negative thing that came out of this weekend. This was the loss of Jackie from our program. I know this was a loss that was felt by my whole cohort, but it was one that was very personal for me. When I entered the program, the first people I met were Jackie and Cindy as we were assigned to carpool together to our retreat in Seabeck. My whole experience has been one that has been shared with them so it is difficult moving forward without Jackie. She's an amazing person who truly cares about everyone and was one of those people who always made you smile or laugh. I'm sure we'll keep in touch, but I'm sad that I won't get to share the rest of my experience in the program with her. Despite this negative factor, I am feeling good about my classes. I feel that we are finally moving to a place where we are gaining a lot of applicable knowledge and experience. At least for my program and goals anyway.

Due to the tight deadlines and incredible amount of time I've had to spend on school the last few weeks, I haven't had time for much else. Well...even less time if you consider how much I have to work.

I did take a break for a nice night out to dinner and movie with Katrina and Laurie a week or so ago. We checked out this really great Thai place down the hill from my place. I'd heard it was the best Thai place in Issaquah. It was really good, but to be fair...there are only really 2-3 Thai restaurants in Issaquah overall.

One other thing I did was go to a presentation in a Global Issues series. The speaker was a Sustainable Business Consultant. Okay so I had no idea what that was but it sounded interesting. What I found out was that the speaker works with businesses that are trying to be more green and helps them implement processes or gives suggestions on how to improve the Ecological Footprint. The speaker also provided background information on Global Climate Change and its impacts on businesses. There were some scary statistics he shared about what's going on in the world. I won't go into details on this, but overall it was an amazing presentation.

Well...I think that's it for now. I think I should probably do SOME of my work so hopefully the procrastination bug won't bite again.

Some Random Thoughts...

Well this new year has gotten off to a hectic start! We just started the new quarter last week and this one seems to be jam packed with work in a short amount of time. Since our quarter started so late this time, we have major deadlines that have to be met in like 3 weeks instead of the 4 or more weeks we'd usually get between in class time. The strange part is that I feel a lot more calm than I did last quarter despite the pressure we're under. Maybe I'm just used to it all now.

So my latest frustration in all the chaos of school...has to do with my laptop. While I love the laptop itself, I'm still struggling to get used to Windows Vista. On top of that...my laptop came with Microsoft Works. Okay so I don't even remember the last time I had to use a computer with Works on it. Yes..it's been that long. The only problem is...all of my homework has to be posted online in Word. So I've been having to do all my assignments and then converting them so I can post them. While it may not sound like it's a lot of work, it tends to get annoying. I have 3 classes which require weekly postings of assignments for each class. I decided I couldn't take much more of this so my brother is going to install Microsoft Office on my laptop. So yay for computer/tech savvy siblings!

Other than working crazy hours and school...I haven't been up to much else. Laurie and I did go check out XXX Rootbeer Drive-in down the hill from us in Issaquah. Okay if you like Rootbeer or Rootbeer floats...you totally have to check this place out! I got a "regular" size Rootbeer float and the big old frosty mug was ginormous! I can't imagine what the bigger size was like. Anyway...they have like the really good old fashioned Rootbeer with soft serve vanilla in it that is like really thick and creamy. Seriously...it was REALLY good!

I think that's it for now. I'll leave you with a few facts that I learned about Brazil in the last week or so because I just feel like sharing.

Random Facts:

- Brazil has the largest population of Japanese people outside of Japan.

- The most common language spoken in Brazil is Portuguese which makes it different from most South American countries that speak Spanish.

- Shares common boundaries with every South American country except Chile and Ecuador.

-The only country to have played in every World Cup soccer tournament.

-Has more species of monkeys than any other country.

Another year done...

Well a new year is upon us once again! The last few weeks went by way too quickly! There were so many things to do and so many different people to see. Unfortunately, I didn't get to do everything I wanted to or see everyone I wanted to. That's the problem with the holidays...you try to fit in so much into such little time. Fortunately, I did get to see a lot of people I hadn't seen in awhile and got to visit with folks that came out here for a visit during the holidays.

Christmas was pretty low key this year. Well part of the reason for that was that I ran myself ragged from all my activities and wound up getting sick on Christmas Eve. I always have such great timing! Had a lovely dinner at Steve & Airi's and felt so bad at how sickly I felt and ended up eventually just heading to mom's for a nice night's sleep. Was going to visit Anna & Sarah's parents on Christmas day, but was pretty feverish and I didn't want to expose the little ones to my germs. So Christmas mainly involved a lot of laying around and relaxing with the fam.

With the passing of Christmas it usually means that New Year's and my birthday are right around the corner. As I was still sick...I really hadn't been looking forward to either. I decided to pass on the parties this year. I ended up having a nice relaxing evening with Anna and Sarah for a wine, cheese, and movie night. Perfect for my sickly self! After midnight, they brought out some champagne, presents, and the cutest little cake for my birthday.

The next day I had another lazy day with the fam. We did eventually get our butts in gear though and my mom, my bro, and I ended up heading to Seattle for dinner. My mom had just bought a new car a few days earlier so we were taking it for a spin. We ended up actually hopping the bridge and going to dinner in Bellevue. Yep we went to good old Crabpot which I love when I crave seafood. It was a pretty good day. Oh! One of the best things about the day was that my mom and brother bought me a laptop for my birthday! I couldn't believe it! They thought it would be easier for me for school. That was pretty awesome since I'd been saving up and looking for a laptop for myself for a couple of months!

Not much else has been going on. Still trying to fight this cold and just get back into school mode as we start in another week. I have an insane amount of pre-reading to do so hopefully I can get it done! To quote one of my classmates..."Nothing says Happy Holidays more than 700 pages or so of pre-reading for class!"

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas...

I can't believe there is only a few days left until Christmas! I feel like I am so behind this year because of school. Christmas cards went out late...Christmas baking was late...and Christmas shopping was delayed. Man! At times I kind of felt like a hamster or gerbil in one of those little wheels they run in...just running and getting nowhere. I do love this time of year though so it's all worth the stress for me!

As you can imagine....the last couple of weeks have flown by! Nifer and I did our usual Holiday Stockings for Homeless Children volunteering again this year. I did another donation box this year for the program and had a lot of coworkers donate this year which was very cool. The volunteering was a little frantic as usual, but I still love doing it and seeing all the kids coming out to make sure other kids have a great Christmas. It's very inspiring! Oh and this year I ended up having to deliver to a shelter out in the b00nedocks in North Bend. Boy was that an adventure! I got to venture way east into a part of North Bend I'd never been to before through dark wooded areas with icy, windy roads. I was determined that my little Corolla would make it to deliver the stockings for the kids though. Not sure if I ever want to visit that neck of the woods again, but mission accomplished.

Another Christmas related activity I took part in was a concert at Benaroya Hall. Anna & Sarah (my two closest friends from highschool) bought tickets to take me to The Coats Christmas concert this year. This was an a capella group that we first saw way back in highschool when they were fairly new. Now these guys are winning competitions, playing at Benaroya Hall, and even have songs play on WARM 106.9 during the holiday season. The concert was amazing and so much fun! I think the best part was when the entire audience broke out into song and sang a lovely round of Silent Night. It was quite beautiful actually.

Last weekend, a bunch of school friends took out a few classmates who are fairly new to the area. We met up in the International District to hang out and have lunch. It was a lot of fun just hanging out and sharing the newness of the whole International District with people who haven't been there before. We realized just how big Uwajimaya really is as we continued to lose eachother in the store. All in all it was another good time had and we even finished our day with some roasted chestnuts. You can't get more Christmasy than that!

School Daze...

It seems like I've been in a daze lately where I was living and breathing just school. I've been awful at keeping in touch with most friends and have only occassionally seen my family. The only people I see other than school folks are my coworkers and that's just because I have to see them everyday 5 days a week. That's pretty sad! Since I finished my last essay in the wee hours of the morning earlier in the week....hopefully I can rejoin the real world.

One very cool thing happened a few weeks back when we got hit by some snow in Seattle during class one weekend. Our classmate James is from Indonesia and just moved to the U.S. back in October. He'd never seen snow before so some of us dragged him outside to play in the snow a bit. It was amazing to experience someone's first experience with them!

Despair Humor...

A couple people told me about this website for Despair, Inc. (http://www.despair.com) so I thought I'd share because I thought some of these were pretty funny.

Changes...

Okay so...It seems that time just seems to slip by me lately and it's so hard to catch my breath and catch up. The last month or so has been a blur of activity.

As far as my move...I was able to find a place, get myself packed up, and get moved. I had an awesome moving crew that consisted of Nifer, Jeff, and some of my work buds. They were so awesome and I so appreciated everyone taking time out to come out to help! I ended up moving to the Issaquah Highlands which is a bit farther than I had wanted to move, but I'm slowly getting used to the commuting and distance from everything.

It's so weird being in a house again after being in condos and apartments for so long. The first night I was here I couldn't get over how quiet it was. No sounds from loud neighbors upstairs or next to me. It helps too that it's a huge 4 bedroom house with only 3 people living in it. The only weird thing about this house is that it totally causes me to be sleepy. No..seriously! I used to be this person that went to bed on average like at 2am or so and now I rarely stay up past 1am. Not sure what to make of this. Maybe the place is too quiet and relaxing.

On the school front, I am going into the 2nd month and am officially halfway through my 1st quarter of Grad School. Balancing school with the move and with work has been somewhat of a challenge. I've never taken 4 classes at the same time while working full-time. There have been some bad times trying to balance it all, but some not so bad times as well. It helps that I absolutely love the people in my cohort, really like the instructors, and am really interested in the classes.

The one thing that has emerged from school that I wasn't expecting is how connected I feel to all my classmates in my cohort. I mentioned before how I had even felt connected during a short week with them, but now that feeling has grown over the last month or so. A short time back, I was having a tough time and I was just blown away by how much support I received from everyone. These people are some of the most wonderful people I have ever met. I can not express how much all their support means to me. I feel very fortunate to be part of such a wonderful group of people!

I think that's about it as far as updates and changes. Well we did end Daylight Savings time and I was happy to get my extra 1 hour of sleep. So yay for that!

The Real World - Seabeck...

I arrived back from my little Seabeck adventure last night. I was very happy to see my bed again as I feel like I haven't slept in days and days. The retreat was mentally, physically, and at times emotionally draining. However, the entire trip was fantastic and so much better than I could have ever hoped for!

When I set off on my adventure Monday morning, I had no idea what to expect. I was assigned to a carpool with a couple other students. That first day felt oddly like the begnnings of an MTV Real World or Road Rules episode. My carpool arrived to pick me up...then we picked up someone else on our way down. Really Real World/Road Rules like sort of scenario.

Anyway we arrived at the conference center and let me tell you....it gave me the creeps a little. Think haunted campgrounds! It didn't help that my room had an old picture of a woman staring at me from the foot of my bed. Plus, one of the girls in my carpool had been talking about campground hauntings on the way down so that didn't help. We met up with all the other students as well as the faculty members so I felt better. Strength in numbers and all that so I was a little less freaked out.

We had very long days while we were out there. Our days were pretty scheduled for us and filled with activity after activity. Some of them were just mentally draining and others quite physically draining. Fortunately, we did not have any kumbaya moments or activities which I was quite happy about. For the most part, the activities were good and some even fun. However, I feel like we were all quite overwhelmed by the amount of things we did, the amount of information we had to process, and the amount of time we had to constantly be together.

In the end though, I think it was a wonderful experience and quite a unique one at that. It's hard to explain all that we experienced to someone, but it's something I am glad I got to experience. I met some of the most wonderful people, spent time with my future instructors who are fabulous, and am really excited about starting my graduate program with all of these wonderful people.

Kumbaya...

So it's been about a week since I got back from NY, but here I am packing again. Tomorrow I'm off toward the Kitsap peninsula to the little town of Seabeck to attend a new student retreat for students in my program. I don't know all that much about Seabeck other than the fact that my brother's ex-girlfriend was from there.

The retreat is 3 days long and we will be staying at the Seabeck Christian Conference Center. From what I can gather...the grounds will most likely resemble the location of many 5th & 6th grade camps. The only problem is that I'm not a very outdoorsy sort of gal. Which was shown by my aversion to camping over the years. I'm hoping it won't be too bad as we will be in cabins (I think & hope) and there will be bathrooms/showers.

Not sure what it will be like, but hopefully it will be okay. I've had visions of them making us hold hands around a campfire singing Kumbaya. Let's hope that doesn't really happen because I don't think I could handle that!

Blog On...

Okay....I've finally got a bit of time for the good old blog. The last few weeks have gone quickly and I believe as of last Friday we have officially transitioned from Summer to Fall.

A few weeks back we had a wonderful Girls' Night dinner at the Melting Pot. Fondu is so yummy!!! I love myself some cheese! Oh and the chocolate of course!

Last week I ventured across the country to New York to visit Gina and to get away for a few days before I started school. I had such a fabulous, fabulous time! Gina actually didn't have all that many rehearsals while I was there so we did get to spend a lot of time together. She was also nice enough to do some of the touristy things with me like the Empire States Building. We did the Chinatown thing and even had time to hit a Festival in Little Italy which was awesome!

I found out something awesome on my trip! The bars in NY stay open until 4am!!! So needless to say... it was very rare that we would go to bed before 5am. I'm actually still a little tired from so many days of that.

The only real bad thing was that on the flight home, we had a 3 hour delay. It seemed that the pilot for our plane was stuck on another plane due to bad weather. They couldn't get any other pilots because the new regulation stated that pilots were limited as to how long they flew in a day and all the pilots available had flown from the westcoast so they couldn't fly us back. They did try to make it up to us by buying everyone on the plane pizza so that was nice. The only thing was that I didn't get home until 2am.

The day I got back was the day of Kim's Farewell Thanksgiving Dinner over at Chez McCarthy. The dinner was fabulous thanks to the wonderful chef Nifer and her assistant Jeff! It was a great dinner and we were even fortunate enough to have Henry join us!

The next few weeks will probably end up zipping by as well. I will be in full school mode beginning with orientation this Friday and the 3 day retreat next week. Classes will also start next week. In the meantime, I'm filling my time with packing, cleaning, and combing through ads to find myself a new home. Hopefully I'll be able to juggle everything and keep my sanity!