Yam Leakage

Just had a freak out Yam incident...white beads of liquid appeared from it when I cut the ends off...glad this guy had the same experience about a year ago...I was freaked out!

Back to cooking now...

It's tough sometimes!!

Exhaustion is a killer.

It's been an exciting week in a lot of ways...I started my job as Visual Designer, and was loving that, and then of course getting engaged was a huge rush as well...but I am really tired.

On my birthday Kenzie got sick too, I actually left work early that day to pick her up and take her to the doctor, who fortunately said it just looks like a little cold. Fever lasted close to three days though, and after Tuesday night...it was like holding my adorable little girl 24/7, even at night, she was with me but just tossing and turning..and really hot.

I guess I forgot how trying it can be to be what so many moms are...staying at home full time with a child is not an easy thing to do. When I did this and she was an infant, her first year she was with me every day, (I was really lucky to have been able to make ends meet by selling things I inherited on ebay that first year), I remember how much of an effort I made to stay social...I took walks, I went to baby yoga classes, I went to a handful of places all the time so I knew people there and could say hi.

The last few days have been TOUGH in this regard because I don't usually stay at home with her, and since she was sick there was only so much we could do. A lot of my 'social' life, or maybe I should call it 'adult conversation' happens at work, and of course with Geoff and friends after work. So it was tough to not be communicating much, or to have places to go to find people I knew. Finally on Thursday I did go to Barnes and Noble, where I held her for just over two hours while I read a wedding planning book or two. Imagine being excited to place an order for coffee...or ask for a book to talk to someone?

Irony being..there is SO much to talk about!! I have friends and family I can call, (of course)
, but when you are carrying a munch...and whatever else you are carrying...it's hard to hold a phone too, not to mention that the people I know work full time and can't just 'hang out' during the week understandably, I'm usually in the same boat.

I LOVED spending time with Kenzie, chasing pigeons, riding the scooter etc. What I missed was having conversations with grown-ups and people who...I enjoy talking to. So what I really was craving was less a need to be alone, than to grow my social network of friends outside of the working 9-5 crowd.

It was an interesting week, that is for sure.

Proposal story...

...Kristin's 27th Birthday...It all started out as a very 'normal' birthday celebration, Kenzie was with Candace at home, and Geoff and I went to our favorite sushi restaurant called Mashiko in West Seattle...

Mashiko also happens to be the location of our very first date.

Also for me, Kristin, it is special because it is also included in the memories I have of the night that I met Geoff (July 26, 2007). It was a (rare) night that my friend Candace was babysitting Kenzie AND I did NOT have a date because I'd recently stopped the internet dating, result being I decided to take myself out on a date that started at Mashiko, and then eventually led me to the local Pub called Beveridge which is where I met Geoff that night.

...Back to the proposal though..we happily chowed through the "Large expert assortment" and the "Regular assortment" of sushi, as well as sharing some beer and sake...we decided to order 2 more rolls, I got my usual ikura and he got something too. When our last order came out, I saw the rolls on one plate, and on another smaller plate was a really pretty arrangement of a lemon on some seaweed salad (yum1) and the lemon appeared to have the top sliced off!

My first thought was yumm...I bet it is some kind of birthday sorbet desert special or something...citrusy flavors always ARE my favorite..this will be good!!

So I grab the top of the lemon happily and say "What's this??!" and ... there was a ring inside!! I was just completely smiling my head off...and I think I said something to him about if he had a question and he asked me to marry him to which I (obviously) said YES!!!

Geoff handed me a print out of the email he had received from my dad after asking permission to ask me for my hand in marriage...and also told me about the phone call he'd had with my mother the day before.

A big big long hug followed this, and we thanked the sushi chef, a waiter, waitress, and then I sent out the message to my parents & sister..."I said yes :-D . . . it's going to be on 8/8/08 . . . Details to come later."

Picture of us!!

So...Here's a picture of this Geoffy Bear that I'm planning on marrying in a few months...not a great picture of Kenzie but as far as pictures of 'us' there aren't many...usually it's one or the other of us behind the camera, so yeah...more to come!!

Engaged now!

Talk about a dinner surprise! Last might Geoff proposed to me at Mashiko, which is where i ate (alone) the night we met and also where WE ate for our first date last year and of July. It was a suprise and i loved it, I'm with Kenzie and she's happy 2

Happy Birthday!

Wow! So many Happy Birthday wishes! I think I lost count here at work plus of course mom, grandma, step-mom, Geoster, sister and more too! I got some book yogatoes yesterday and today flowers a new hire lunch and some exciting plans for dinner wi Geo

Final Support Lunch!!

I've spent the last year working with a wonderful group of people in Support and I'm going to miss them!! I recently got hired to be a Visual Designer in our Product Development team and while I will miss the team I am VERY excited to get started over there pulling together my training and job experience to move forward with the improvement and development of some SOLID SaaS user experiences.

Obama Mama!

After watching a few forums and taking a bunch of quizzes my vote is definitely with Obama. . .I believe he will best represent and lead the US to a place where we can be proud to be American again instead of having to sew Canadian flags onto our backpacks when we go overseas.

Philly - Last Stop

On our way to the bus stop V and I decided that we MUST visit the Frida Kahlo exhibit at the Philadelphia Art Museum...we might never have this opportunity again!!

I am so so so glad that we went to do this, it was one of those showings where we waited in line, then we were given headphones with the information about Frida Kahlo and her paintings and wow...it was so powerful. I loved seeing her work and hearing all the stories behind it. I love that she was able to fight through so much pain and make an impression on the world, it gave me motivation to do my part too...telling stories about all that I've been through and that women are still going through today.

I need to paint more!!! Some of my neighbors have informed me of some painting display opportunities so if everything plays out ... then I'll have my chance to get started!!

I had soo much fun but I'm glad to be back in Seattle...

Museum

One last stop in Philly. .

I want this

NYC - Sore!!!

It's amazing how long my body is staying so so so sore! Tuesday I saw a trainer, worked my arms into a pulp, and then on Wednesday I jogged...Thursday walked from 59th down to 34th...and yesterday, hmm, didn't do much but did go from the Party down to the village.

So funny how wimpy I am now!! I moved away from the city and I really don't walk much anymore since I moved to Seattle. There just isn't the same kind of accessible places to walk that are far enough away from each other and interesting enough to be significant. Here it is so regular, you just walk!

Last night was a lot of fun, went out with 2 people from the alumni party down to the red lion where I used to go sometimes with friends when I lived here. V met us there too which was awesome...it was so much fun dancing!! That's another thing I haven't done forever...maybe that led to some soreness...lol.

wah wah, done complaining. I'm sure my muscles will heal up and I'll be so strong (at some point...maybe tuesday next week?).

I miss my little girl though...definitely want her with me next time I take a trip and hopefully the G Bear too.

NYC - WA square park

It's the same. . .but i guess it is privatized? I don't know but that is what my alumni folk say. . .TBC. . .

Faculty. . .

:-D map of life

NYC - Small world

So far i've met up with 3 people i know. . .and bumped into 2 more. It is so so true what they say about this being a big city yeah, but a small world too. . .

On the corner in the middle of this picture...under the orange part there used to be a really yummy restaurant, I remember going there when looking for vegan food. I also remember back in 1999 when I was 18, about to apply to Parsons School of Design (now called "Parsons the New School of Design") and frantically drawing pictures of things like the handrails and fire hydrants in this park when I realized a day (or two?) before the interview that most of the artwork I brought was useless...as most of it was pretty abstract. I'm glad that I made it in though, sure made for a lot of good, bad, and unforgettable memories!!

NYC - QU1

It's nice to be back here, i miss Kenzie though, feels odd to be where we spent so much time together and not have her with me. I hear she's having a blast though, yesterday with Haley and today tomorrow and Sunday with Grandma.

I got two wonderful text messages today too spreading some big news!! At work was the all hands meeting and the Employee of the Quarter was announced...actually BOTH of us were! That was fun, so much going on at the same time...my last few days in support I'm announced as one of the 2 employees of the quarter on the same day as my reunion...life is good...

Secretary...?

I'm thinking that I will need a secretary at some point...I'm getting worse at seemingly 'regular' things that need to be done..say..buying airplane tickets. Or remembering to carry my phone. Or to stop me from scheduling a training session for a Friday afternoon...at least I remembered to put in my application for that Un-expected opportunity that popped up about a month ago...

Today was great but I am exhausted...my lovely man kept me up late last night (I have a hard time turning down a foot massage) and boy have I been paying for it. Work was really busy, lots and lots of cases for some reason (still in my final days of support before moving over to focus on Visual Design) and a lot of people were out today..or there and sick which made the morning a little overwhelming. Logic escaped me when I scheduled a Friday afternoon training session...first one in probably six months (at least) too. I had a great session, it's a new trainer who went pretty easy on me but I bet I'm sore tomorrow...I feel more like a gummy spider though at this point. So I managed to get baby girl and go home, then to the park then home again but....yeah, forgot my phone at the office. Bummer, kind of need that.

So..I won't get into the airplane ticket story, everything has worked out pretty much...I *might* have a Philly adventure to talk about sometime next week...we'll see.

Have a good weekend!!!