halloween - our excuse to dress up

On Saturday we had people over to Dan's house for a halloween party/potluck...we all dressed up and had awards for best costume, most creative costume and most creative food. Mom (Kathy) won the best costume ("gorgeous"), Kateen won the most creative (Freudian slip) and Jasmine won the most creative food (peanut-butter balls decorated as eyeballs).

We also had three groups of people pick a fairy tale (three billy goats gruff, little red riding hood and hansel and gretel) and change the story to have an alternate ending or to change the perspective of the story being told (and act it out). We awarded best actress to Jolyn.

We had a fun time - costumes are great fun!

Jeff the scary scare-crow and Teresa as Pippi

job search...

I am looking for a job. I have interviewed for two thus far. One I don't want, the other I do. One would be an insane job. The other a perfect fit. I haven't heard yet the outcome of either. Which one will it be. The one that I will hate and grudgingly work at? Or the one that was practically made for me?
We will see. Maybe neither!

who i am going to be for halloween...

our weekend....

This weekend we went over to Bremerton and then to Olympic National Park with papa and mum Brady.
On Friday night while leaving the Edmonds ferry dock, the sun was setting and made the water look muddy. It was very weird. Sort of like the Mississippi.

"Survival Craft Embarkation Station" -embarkation is a great word!

Our drive out to Soleduck Hotsprings was beautiful!!! We love the fall!

Snow!


The only gas within miles...


Our first view of Lake Crescent:

We stopped before we got to the hotsprings to hike up to Marymere falls.

We need to have a bridge like that on our land someday!

oh, but what is an iq

When I took the IQ test a few years ago I scored 128.
I took the same test last night and got 118 (at 11pm -what was I thinking?)
I took it once more today at 3pm and scored 125. (with no looking up answers since last night, it was still probably skewed from having taken it last night)
I know I was tested when I was very young (5ish?) and scored higher than any of those numbers.

So I am wondering. What's in an IQ? What does it mean when a person varies so much over a 20 years? Or is there a 'grace' bracket of 10+ points?

I guess a person's IQ drops dramatically when fatigued, that makes sense. For all of us fibromyalgics, chronic fatiguers...I wonder how very brilliant we really are!

hope for joy

As a newborn babe I am impotent.
I struggle to have just a little strength.
I grasp at clouds of hope.
Pleading for stability.

At times I gain a little understanding,
I learn how to be gloriously happy.
But after a few short days
I have forgotten again.

Each time I sigh, I lose still more
Of the hope I had gathered to me.
I am soaked to the skin in my own tears.
The theft leaves me trembling.

I cannot withstand the gravity
And I fall to the earth
Where after a time,
I gather the courage to try again.

I begin my search once more for hope
I find that within the depths of madness,
There lies a better understanding,
That the deepest sorrow, can birth beautiful joy.

here is the craigslist ad...

This is the ad written by the guy we bought Forest from...Thought I would add it just to give you an idea of the bloke that we spent 4 hours with, in the same 5 square feet.

"Stay off the sidewalks & don't even think about entering the crosswalk on a red hand when you see this thing, yuppies. Look how green this car is. Ha ha. It's dark green.

CALL 425 - 922 - 5646. If you're looking for a great truck, suv, or all purpose vehicle, this is the one that says BAD MOTHER F#*KER

Legal with tabs, plates & emissions slip 'til May '08

New:
Battery, Alternator, heavy duty belts,
starter, ignition, plugs, wires,
filters (all), fluids (all),
wiper blades, 34" Michelins (all 4 + matching spare).
Barely a scratch on it.
Husky heavy duty rubber back floor liner
fold down seats in the rear.
10 disc Sony plus matching sony cassette deck with built in amp
Thule ski rack holds surf & snowboards. Pack a 12 foot woody on this thing.
Averages around 20 m.p.g.
Great daily commuter
Moving out of this cold ass rainy but beautiful state, must sell
Runs so smooth, it's like riding a
Well whatever you ride that's real smoov, playa!

Soccer Mom driven for the first 13 years of it's adolescent life, then literally stolen by me for $2400 just over a month ago. This thing will run for ever. They really build things well in japan. (see: everything ever built in Japan). The Germans would say, "Wunder Kaarzen run fo' evahz!" If they were half Hawaiian.
Get laid, or get paid, or bail hay or visit your cousin Ray Ray to say hey or pack Sha nay nay's kids in this mo'fo, it's got some cargo space.
10 disc sony changer & even a tape deck, old-schooler, for your Rock 'N' Roll or Dance hits of the 80's or Booty Jams or Hair Spray music. Even tolerates some occasional classical but dies suddenly when Dido or Kenny G or Celine Dion or anything fruiter than that gets played. Flying Purple People Eaters excluded.

Plus tax, title, & license, registration, insurance, gas, oil, tolls, fees, surcharges, late fees, dues, parking, tickets, & Halliburton shipping fees (If applicable in the futuristic state of Iraqistan)

Price possibly negotiable, if you can prove you eat red meat.
The real Man's Joke of the day:
What do you call a vegetarian with diarrhea? Salad Shooter. (Presto)"

the diary of anne frank

Today I finished reading Anne Frank's diary. I had never read it before, but had watched one of the movies. I am very impressed. Anne wasn't just a random ordinary girl whose diary was found and published because it was about a family in hiding from the Nazis. Her writing is much more than just a documentation of those events. It expressed the joy of life even while hiding for fear of death. It is absolutely amazing that Anne was able to find pleasure in so many small things while living in a few rooms day in and day out for two years.

I am convinced, as she declared that she someday wanted to be a great writer, that she had the ability. If she had the chance she would have went on to do just that. Not to mention that her diary (of which she was going to rewrite after the war to complete a book on her experiences) was written so well that it was complete for publication.

Of course, reading her thoughts on her own character and of those around her reminds me of myself. I do wish that I had read this when I was her age. I wonder how often I would of said, "I completely agree with that! How true! No one understands me either!"

the ordeals of obtaining a 'Forest'

This morning, at 9:30 am, Jeff called me (woke me up) to ask me if he should take the rest of the day off work to go look at a Trooper. (Last Sat. we looked at one and we loved it except that it had multiple problems...generally beat up.) I was of course really groggy but I said sure, we could look at it. Jeff then left work, stopped by the bank, picked up cash, picked up me and off to Sammamish to check out this 1994 green Isuzu Trooper (w/brown interior!).

When we showed up after a 50 minute haul (Jeff freaking out about getting there before it was taken - since it was a very very good deal) the Trooper was just pulling out of the driveway. The guy that owned it jumped out (John) and told us he would be right back, another guy stopped by to test drive it. After about 15 -20 minutes they come back, the other guy walks around the car inspects it...starts talking about his football job at the local high school and that he needs to see that an insurance check went through, then he will be back to pay for the car. (This last part is while we are standing outside our ranger shivering in the cold staring at them...a little peeved that we drove all this way and maybe the car is gone) John shakes the guy's hand and he is off.

We test drive it. Of course we like it. John gives us his spiel (never-ending) about the car as we are driving (with jokes of course, generally off-color and his phone (off-color ring-tone) going off every five seconds). We find out that he never even registered the title in his name so he calls a local dmv and figures out what he has to do. Then the guy calls back (Ed, who was test-driving the car when we showed up), he was ready to buy it. John told him that we showed up, cash in hand and that we had called first, so we got it. Ed wasn't happy. Anyway, we got back to John's house, and got directions to the licensing place in Kirkland.

We get to the auto licensing place after missing it a few times (now we are getting low on gas). We finally get there and are told that we have to go for an emissions test, as it hasn't had one in the last year. They give us directions.
The directions were completely weird, and only by luck do we find the place. Then during the test, where you are to run the car at 25mph, Jeff couldn't get it to do that so the technician (Japanese? with accent anyway.) had to jump in and try it (of course he is a short guy, Jeff=tall, he was straining for the gas). Anyway, the good-0l-trooper passed emissions and we went on our way back to auto licensing.

We missed it once again. Got there and then everything goes wrong. Something about a double transfer of the title and pending...and the computer locked down and wouldn't let it all go through. We hadn't had lunch or water for quite some time by then (2:30) and we all were starving. While they were trying to figure out the problem Jeff and John went and got Subway. By the time they got back, the auto-licensing place decided that we would have to come back another day to process the title transfer. So we jumped back in the car (Jeff driving) . John and I ate our subway, while Jeff drove us back home.

We got home (finally!) at 5pm. And we now have a new addition to the family.A beautiful green Isuzu trooper w/brown interior. Dubbed 'Forest'. Lovely :).

an absolutely grand day

10:30am wake up to find pancakes and bacon ready for me in the fridge along with a sweet note from Jeff
11:00am do email sort of things...set up for a massage...clean up a bit
1pm give a massage
2:30pm go grocery shopping
3:30pm get home and hang out with Jeff
5:00pm make homemade pizza with all the good toppings
6:00pm carve pumpkins
9:00pm volleyball game
10:00pm hang out with Jeff

is this not the best?

the woes of summer, yeah fall!

This summer was not so very helpful in creating business. Everyone out of town, in the sun...not on my table. Even the %off the already cheap massage wasn't incentive enough. I am almost at the stage of giving massage away free, just so I won't be bored anymore.

I am looking for someone that needs an office to replace me at mine. I am in a lease so I have to find someone to take it over...know anyone? Besides that I am now looking for a job...something in a medical office, massage related or not. Part time. Some income to pay the rent on the office. Sort of depressing no?

On a brighter note, it is getting colder and darker. People won't be out enjoying the rain (except for a few wackos - called out with love :), and hopefully on my table.

I am very happy to have dug out all of my various scarves and long-sleeve shirts. This time of year makes me reminiscent of when I first moved to Seattle. Started massage school. Lived in a tiny little guest-house with hundreds of spiders...

I am very happy to be eating butternut squash and potatoes. Looking forward to carving a pumpkin tonight. Lots of time to spend indoors drawing, singing, writing lyrics... Then walks in the crisp air.

YEah!

'God grew tired of us'

We just finished watching the documentary, 'God grew tired of us.' It is about three of the lost boys from Sudan and their struggle to survive. It is very good to watch, it gives a good perspective of how good we have it in America, but also of some things that our culture is missing.

some wedding photos

Here are a few pictures from our wedding (6 months late :)...something like 1400 were taken, thanks to a hardworking brother-in-law, so it's hard to pick just a few great photos :). Enjoy!

our music theme...

pots of gold

the programs that took forever to make!

wonderful musicians! Thanks June, Lane and Heidi!

Dennis's nose.

Almost everyone that was at the wedding

Curiously Strong

Lindsey starting out her music career

if we must...

Even email seems to be out of date these days...the only way to find out how people are doing is to look for a blog. And of course the requests from countless admirers require us to post the details of our lives (fame can be so tiring). So we give in!
Please understand that we cannot divulge our secrets to success, but we will plan on providing just enough information that you will turn green with envy. ;)
Cheers!