#66: See an orca in the wild

This summer I visited San Juan Island with my brother while he was in town. I hoped and hoped we would catch the orcas while we were there and they didn't disappoint! We caught a ferry and headed straight to Lime Kiln Point State Park on the west side of the island, where you're most likely to see passing whales. After waiting a while with no whales in sight, we retreated to the car to eat our lunch away from the bees of the park (BEES! THEY'RE EVERYWHERE! Name that movie.)

When we got back out, we overheard someone mention that a park ranger had radioed in and said the whales would be at the park in 10 minutes! This was proven by the line of cars streaming through the parking lot. Good thing we got there early! Richard and I ran back to one of the vantage points right in time to see a group of five whales approaching. They were a little far off but still close enough to catch a good look. Such magnificent creatures! 

I was SO happy we got to see them. There's obviously no guarantee they'll be around when you're around and as I had basically promised Richard some whales, I was really hoping they'd show up. 

Brendan didn't seem as excited about the whales as I was.

Then we drove up to Roche Harbor on the northern part of the island. Super cute little community if you get a chance to go. And good ice cream! This is why I love adventuring with my brother: he's game for anything. We only had a little over an hour to get up to Roche Harbor, look around, and get back to catch the return ferry. The time crunch only left us 15-20 minutes to run around Roche Harbor. Most people would say, eh, not worth it, but Richard said sure, let's do it! I love that attitude.

Roche Harbor

 

On the ferry

The day was so memorable, and all the more special because we could spend it with Richard. We got back around 7pm and had grilled salmon, potatoes and green beans for dinner. A perfect Seattle summer day.

#51: Have a baby (part 2)

When I left off, I'd requested an epidural.

It was probably about 6:45 a.m. by the time I requested it. While the anesthesiologist was sought, we were moved into a a labor room and introduced to a new nurse. She told us we were definitely having this baby today, and for sure by the time her shift ended at 3 p.m.

The resident anesthesiologist came in to explain the procedure of the combined spinal/epidural: you get quick pain relief from the spinal block and much longer pain relief from the epidural through one procedure. I found it funny that they explain the procedure, its potential side effects and who knows what else to the woman in labor. I remember looking at him and thinking, I know he's talking to me and I am trying so hard to listen but these darn contractions just keep on coming and I can't focus on anything else! He left to get the drugs ready (you can't do that before the pep talk?) and I got hooked up to an IV to receive antibiotics since I tested positive for a common strain of strep. I had asked my doctor if the insertion of the IV was painful (I'd never been in the hospital before) and she said something along the lines of "Well, it's not the most painful thing you'll be experiencing that day." She also said that about checking the cervix. All very true yet not encouraging at the time.

The resident anesthesiologist came back along with the head anesthesiologist and the meds. I sat on one side of the bed and hugged a pillow, trying to hunch my back and relax like the anesthesiologists said. Contractions kept rolling and it was hard to keep such an unnatural position. The insertion of the needle was uncomfortable but I kept telling myself it would be over soon and the pain would be gone, so I could handle five more minutes of pain and discomfort! If you've seen "Finding Nemo," remember that part with the little girl at the dentist? She's banging on the glass of the aquarium and the starfish is losing his grip and saying, "Find a happy place, find a happy place!!" That's how I felt.

But the needle pokes kept coming and I felt fluid flowing down my back, which I imagined at first to be blood but later learned it was spinal fluid. I was not a very good judge of time at this point but it seemed like the procedure was taking a lot longer than previously billed. I heard afterward that the resident couldn't get the needle in the right spot and the chief anesthesiologist took over. He got the needle in and told me that I might feel a jolt as the medicine took effect. The sensation that followed was BY FAR the worst part of labor for me: what felt like an electric current flashed painfully through my back and down my left leg. The shock scared me so much that I actually screamed.

After that trauma, the anesthesiologist said I'd feel one more and then I wouldn't feel any more pain. What he meant was I'd feel another contraction but I thought he meant I'd feel another shock. I lost it, sobbing and saying some nonsensical things (I really can't remember what). Then Mark told me he meant one more contraction and I thought PRAISE GOD, a contraction I can handle. It came and went and then... relief. I could've hugged those anesthesiologists! Well, maybe not the resident. They told me afterward that I had a tricky curvature to my spine. Who knew!

The difference between the hour leading up to the epidural and the moments after it took effect was stunning. I felt like Dorothy when she left her black and white world behind and entered one of Technicolor. I know there are a lot of people who choose to receive no pain medication but I always knew I wouldn't be one of them. I don't regret it at all, even after experiencing the electric jolt, which they told me only 10 percent of people experience.

After the epidural, around 7:40 a.m., I was helped into bed and encouraged to order some chicken broth and juice to get up some energy for pushing. I even got in a nap! A couple hours went by and the resident doctor who had previously checked my cervix came in, along with my OB who thankfully happened to be on call that day. She and I laughed that I'd managed to "plan" my delivery on a day that she was on call. She said I was progressing well and that she'd be in and out during the pushing stage since there were other patients on the floor who were as far along as I was.

They left and my nurse gave me a crash course on what pushing would look like. I never took any labor classes so I soaked up the instruction and hoped I could do a fast job. The resident came back shortly after and checked my cervix again, which was much more pleasant with an epidural. During the check, my water broke. I heard the pop in time to see the resident's shocked face and felt (and stifled) a strong urge to laugh. I don't think that had ever happened to her before. Then I was told I had made it to 10 centimeters and it was time to start pushing!

Nothing could have prepared me for the physicality of pushing. My doctor told me that pushing out the baby would be one of the most physical things I'd ever do but I had no idea how hard and taxing it would be. Mark fed me Clif Shot Bloks (energy chews) in between pushes and I can honestly say those little snacks saved me. If you're pregnant, stock up on Shot Bloks. After about an hour of pushing, my doctor came back along with a slew of nurses who started readying the room for the arrival of a baby. That's how I knew he must be close! Well, that and they kept telling me I was SO close to being done and just keep going!

At this point we were out of Shot Bloks and I didn't know how I was going to go on much longer. They asked if I wanted a mirror (no thanks) and if I wanted to feel the baby's head (um, no, I know he's there, but thanks). I couldn't believe that some women can push for hours on end. I never knew exhaustion until those final pushes when I felt him slip out, which was the most relieving and emotional feeling I can't even come close to describing. I burst into tears the moment he was out; I wasn't conscious of anything else except how exhausted I was and that our boy was crying. They placed him on top of me and the first thought I had was of how big he was! That and he was covered in fine dark hair. No one warns you how potentially hairy babies can be!

You can't see all the hair.

I could barely reconcile that this tiny human had just come out of me. It didn't make sense. When they told us he weighed eight pounds and 12 ounces, I felt a rush of gratefulness that doctors screen for gestational diabetes. He might have been huge had I not been monitoring my blood sugar! We decided on his name, Brendan, while he lay on my chest and the doctors stitched me up.

Brendan was born exactly at noon on August 24, 2014. The next hours were a whirlwind of nurses, family, and barely being able to keep my eyes open. We had to stay in the delivery room for a while because the recovery rooms were full but that was fine with me - the room was huge.

Mac and cheese!

Mark's dad and Brendan

I couldn't believe that we had spent so much time thinking of when the baby would come and that the moment was finally here. It was so surreal. Even now, eight weeks post-birth, it's hard to believe that we are post-birth and not still preparing. For instance, I'd made some meals in advance and frozen them "for when the baby comes" and I feel like I have to give myself permission to eat those meals because the baby is now here and that's why I made them.

I also want to write posts on recovering from birth and transitioning to parenthood but all in good time. I feel like every time I sit down to start writing, Brendan wakes up. I guess that's life!

#51: Have a baby (part 1)

Oh man. When I first made my 100 List, having a baby seemed SO far away. And I wanted it that way.

But now I can't imagine our life without this little guy!

Brendan Abbett Seymour

The day before Brendan's birth, a Saturday, was what every Saturday should be. I started out the day with breakfast with my friend Jessica at the Hi-Life in Ballard. If you haven't been there for breakfast, you're missing out on the most wonderful smashed potatoes that are fried to golden perfection. Kind of like tater tots, but better! Then Mark and I took books to one of our favorite parks in Seattle, Carkeek Park, and read on the beach. I had a feeling that this day may be the last day we could do that, whether because of the arrival of baby or the arrival of terrible weather. After the beach, Mark and I got takeout from our new favorite Thai restaurant in north Seattle, Chada Thai, and chowed down at home. I hear spicy food sends people into labor so I thought I'd take that for a test drive. The spicy food was a backup measure though because by 3 p.m. I started experiencing my first real contractions, which were very different than the small contractions I'd had in the previous weeks. They were manageable though and about 20 minutes apart. Manageable enough where I thought, hey, this isn't so bad! By the time dinner rolled around, the contractions had become even farther apart so it didn't look like we were going to the hospital just yet. Even so, I started tracking when they occurred and their duration so I had a record of the pattern.

Carkeek Park

I had irregular contractions for several hours after dinner but they still weren't getting closer together so we headed to bed. They woke me up about every hour but I could still sleep in between them until 3 a.m. when they took a turn for the worse. I knew I was progressing when breathing through them started to get harder (my natural inclination was to hold my breath through the pain). When one particularly painful contraction hit I shut my eyes to concentrate on breathing through it but I had to let out a few tears into my pillow. You should know that I approach most situations anticipating the worst but hoping for the best. I thought of labor the same way: I knew it could be really painful and intense but I truly hoped I would be one of those exceptions who would turn out to have an incredible pain tolerance or something. In that moment though, I realized that if I was only in the early stages, this was going to be bad.

I kept noting when the contractions hit and watched them come 20 minutes apart, then 18 minutes apart, then 15 minutes apart, then 12 minutes apart. By that time 5 a.m. had rolled around and I hadn't slept a wink since the contractions started getting closer together. I told Mark I was getting in the shower and to get his bag together! The hot water helped immensely, as did standing up as opposed to laying down, and my contractions became eight minutes apart, then six minutes. At 6 a.m. we left for the hospital. My water still hadn't broken but in the absence of that occurrence, my doctor told me to head to the hospital when contractions were five minutes apart and about a minute long. It seemed to me that I was progressing rather quickly, and I was so thankful that we were making the hospital drive early on a Sunday morning instead of in rush hour! The drive only took about 10 minutes. Thanks to the hospital tour, we knew exactly where to park and what elevators to take. Seriously, TAKE THE HOSPITAL TOUR - at 6:15 a.m., the lobby of the hospital was a ghost town. We would have had to call labor and delivery to figure out where to go since there was no one to ask. As we made our way slowly toward labor and delivery, I kept stopping to grab anything I could - a wheelchair, a guardrail - to support myself through another contraction. Mark asked if I wanted to take the wheelchair and for some reason I said no. If you find yourself in a similar position, just take the darn wheelchair.

Once at labor and delivery, we were shown into a triage room and I was attended to by a truly wonderful nurse. At this point the pain was reaching considerable proportions and I was also getting hit by waves of nausea. All advice I had read said to eat before you get to the hospital but I'm so thankful I didn't. I'm sure I would've thrown it all up! The contractions seemed to be coming every three minutes but no doctors were available to check how dilated I was; the nurse told me that despite the quiet of the floor, there were actually several other women readying for birth and the doctors were swamped. I said I had to go to the bathroom. She helped me into the adjoining bathroom and my body started to shake uncontrollably. It was the weirdest thing to watch - I felt like my body was freaking out and I couldn't do anything about it. I didn't even feel that bad when I wasn't going through a contraction but my body shook just the same. The shaking seemed to be a turning point because the nurse left again and returned with one of the residents. The resident checked my cervix and informed me that my water was still intact and I was six centimeters dilated. Six! We were over halfway to pushing time. The resident left and I asked the nurse at what point people normally get an epidural if they want one. She said I could get it at any time. I said oh good, I'll take it right now, please!

Tomorrow: part 2

#48: Go to the Guinness Storehouse in Ireland

We ended up in Dublin three times during our recent UK/Ireland trip and had four flights in or out of the Dublin Airport! Seattle/Dublin, Dublin/London, Bristol/Dublin, and Dublin/Seattle. That airport became old hat after a while. This might make more sense if I explained our itinerary:

Fly into Dublin
Drive immediately to Galway (2 nights)
Drive to Portrush and the Giant’s Causeway (1 night)
Drive to Belfast (1 night)
Drive to Dublin (1 night)
Fly to London (4 nights)
Bus to Bath (1 night)
Train to Oxford (1 night)
Fly to Dublin (3 nights)

When we vacation, we go hard! The itinerary was ambitious but I never felt like we were moving too fast. We reserved the same Airbnb host for the one night we had to spend in Dublin before flying to London as well as the last three nights before flying back to Seattle. Already knowing how to get where we were staying was really helpful by the end of the trip – by that time you’re getting tired of navigating and feeling lost.

One of the highlights of Dublin is the Guinness Storehouse. Whether you’re a fan of the beer or not, it’s a fun place to visit! The top of the storehouse is a bar with 360-degree views of Dublin where you can enjoy your pint of Guinness. The storehouse is in a more industrial section of Dublin, away from the throngs of tourists. On the way we encountered a teenager whose brogue was SO strong we could barely understand what he was saying. We finally figured out that he was asking us to buy beer for him and had to turn him down. Ha.

#16: Repaint the kitchen

I knew moving into our house that the first repainting job would be the kitchen. Not that it was particularly bad. But I wasn't quite feeling the mid-toned gray that was in there - it made the kitchen unnecessarily dark. We lived with it for over a year while I tried to decide what color I wanted in there instead. A light sandy tan to go with the tile? Classic white?

Here are some terrible cell phone pictures of what it looked like with the gray (after taping).

Then I saw these images on Pinterest.

And my interest in mint was born. The tile in the inspiration pictures was very similar to ours, we also had white cabinets, and I found the mint color intriguing. I worried it might be too trendy but I figured we could always repaint at some point if we got sick of it. I ran it by Mark and he was surprisingly on board. So I bought a few samples and slapped them on the wall and we eventually decided on Breath of Spring by Behr.

For my first ever attempt at painting walls, we definitely chose the hardest room. We had tons of cutting in to do around cabinets and trim, not to mention the taping beforehand. However, since the kitchen mainly consists of cabinets, there wasn't really much surface area to paint. Just lots of prep work! We spent one evening taping, the second evening painting the first coat, and a third evening painting the second coat and removing tape. The whole process was relatively painless, or at least much less of a pain than I thought it would be! 

I love the end result. There is just enough surface area to make the mint a nice focal point, but still subdued. Plus, it's so much brighter in there!

#62: Create a gallery wall

I really love the look of mismatched frames on the wall and thought it would be a great collage idea for our living room, which still had a lot of empty wall space a year after moving in. Frames can get expensive but that's where the mismatched frames come in handy - I picked up most of these from Ross or Marshalls on sale! No need to matchy match when you're going for this type of look.

Here's my gallery wall. Not quite a full wall but you get the point.

The pictures are all from our travels or from our wedding. I like that they all have a personal connection - a story in each frame.

Speaking of stories, funny story: Mark happened to look over my shoulder and burst out laughing as I was writing this post. I said what, one of my 100 list items was to create a gallery wall, so here it is! And he said the reason why he was laughing was because in his cursory glance of the photo, he thought oh, that's a nice living room, not even realizing that it was ours! Made me laugh.

#61: Stay in a bed-and-breakfast with Mark

I love how when I originally wrote my 100 List, I specified that I must stay at a B&B with Mark. Who else would I stay with?

On our recent vacation to Ireland and England, we stayed in a lovely B&B up in Portrush, Northern Ireland, near the rock formation of the Giant's Causeway. We found it on Airbnb, a website we've often used for travel, where users post their spare rooms or empty houses/apartments for rent. That's a whole other post by itself, which I swear I'll get to someday (spoiler: we love it). Portrush happens to be a major golf destination, home to one of the best golf courses in the world. I didn't know it was such a popular little place when I booked it -- I actually just looked at a map, found the Giant's Causeway, thought Portrush looked near it and decided we'd stay there. Little did I know we'd be surrounded by posh golfers!

We drove up to Portrush from Galway, which is on the west coast of Ireland. The drive took nearly five hours, but driving through Ireland is definitely the way you want to see the country-- stone fences, lots of sheep, and beautiful green hills! Really, Ireland is SO worth your time. I didn't think I'd love it as much as I did. We visited the Giant's Causeway before heading to the B&B, and by the time we got to Portrush in late afternoon the sun was trying to come out. We upgraded to a water view for five pounds (necessitating driving around Portrush for a while trying to exchange euros for pounds, since we'd exited Ireland for Northern Ireland and Northern Ireland uses pounds).

The B&B was cute and accommodating, a welcome reprieve from a five-hour car ride and traipse along the Giant's Causeway. They had a tray of tea fixings and an electric kettle waiting in the room, a perfect way to unwind from the day. The owners recommended a lovely restaurant for dinner where we had what I thought was the best meal of the trip. I had the sea bass with a chili aioli and roasted red peppers atop a sweet potato gratin. Yes. It was amazing. And of course some wine! The restaurant was where we found all the posh golfers vacationing with their families. I kept expecting to see my boss any minute!

A B&B stay wouldn't be complete without breakfast. That night the owners had us fill out a menu of sorts where we basically requested what we wanted for breakfast. Can someone do that for me every day, please? Cook me breakfast to order? It was all delicious, and such a wonderful experience. Northern Ireland has had a bad reputation through the years (and for good reason) but the environment has changed a lot and it's worth a visit. Even in Belfast, our destination after Portrush. I have nothing but good things to say about Belfast too, but that's another post.

#93: The Color Purple

I recently finished “The Color Purple” by Alice Walker, which won the Pulitzer for Fiction in 1983. The book is written as a series of letters: letters from the main character to her sister and vice versa, and from the main character to God. I wasn’t sure initially if the peculiar narrative style was my jam but I got used to it. There didn’t seem to be a plot, really, as the letters followed this particular woman throughout her life.  I was very close to losing interest but pushed on until the end, and can say without a doubt that this is one of the most redeeming books I’ve ever read. Never have I been so glad I’ve finished a book! I would definitely recommend it, but only if you are intent on finishing it (though who starts a book without the intent of finishing it?) Just do it.

I’ve now read seven on my Pulitzer list; 79 remain. See my original post here.

#93: To Kill A Mockingbird

I've already updated my original post by crossing off the 1961 classic To Kill A Mockingbird. I remember this book was on my sophomore year reading list in high school but for whatever reason, our class didn't get to it. It's an important book - I really liked it. I haven't decided what book is next. Steinbeck perhaps?

#93: Read through the list of Pulitzer-Prize winning nonfiction and fiction books

Time to finally get a post up that I can refer back to when I cross a book off my reading list! I'll come back here and edit the list whenever I finish another one. A separate post will be dedicated to the nonfiction list.

Currently read: 7
To go: 79

List of Pulitzer Price fiction winners, as taken from Wikipedia:

• 1917: no award given
• 1918: His Family by Ernest Poole
• 1919: The Magnificent Ambersons by Booth Tarkington
• 1920: no award given
• 1921: The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
• 1922: Alice Adams by Booth Tarkington
• 1923: One of Ours by Willa Cather
• 1924: The Able McLaughlins by Margaret Wilson
• 1925: So Big by Edna Ferber
• 1926: Arrowsmith by Sinclair Lewis (declined prize)
• 1927: Early Autumn by Louis Bromfield
• 1928: The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder
• 1929: Scarlet Sister Mary by Julia Peterkin
• 1930: Laughing Boy by Oliver La Farge
• 1931: Years of Grace by Margaret Ayer Barnes
• 1932: The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck
• 1933: The Store by Thomas Sigismund Stribling
• 1934: Lamb in His Bosom by Caroline Miller
• 1935: Now in November by Josephine Winslow Johnson
• 1936: Honey in the Horn by Harold L. Davis
• 1937: Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell (read in 2011)
• 1938: The Late George Apley by John Phillips Marquand
• 1939: The Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings (read circa 1995-1996)
• 1940: The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
• 1941: no award given^[3]
• 1942: In This Our Life by Ellen Glasgow
• 1943: Dragon's Teeth by Upton Sinclair
• 1944: Journey in the Dark by Martin Flavin
• 1945: A Bell for Adano by John Hersey
• 1946: no award given
• 1947: All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren
• 1948: Tales of the South Pacific by James A. Michener
• 1949: Guard of Honor by James Gould Cozzens
• 1950: The Way West by A. B. Guthrie, Jr.
• 1951: The Town by Conrad Richter
• 1952: The Caine Mutiny by Herman Wouk
• 1953: The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway (read in 2000)
• 1954: No award given
• 1955: A Fable by William Faulkner
• 1956: Andersonville by MacKinlay Kantor
• 1957: No award given^[4]
• 1958: A Death in the Family by James Agee (posthumous win)
• 1959: The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters by Robert Lewis Taylor
• 1960: Advise and Consent by Allen Drury
• 1961: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (read in 2014)
• 1962: The Edge of Sadness by Edwin O'Connor
• 1963: The Reivers by William Faulkner (posthumous win)
• 1964: No award given
• 1965: The Keepers of the House by Shirley Ann Grau
• 1966: The Collected Stories of Katherine Anne Porter by Katherine Anne Porter
• 1967: The Fixer by Bernard Malamud
• 1968: The Confessions of Nat Turner by William Styron
• 1969: House Made of Dawn by N. Scott Momaday
• 1970: The Collected Stories of Jean Stafford by Jean Stafford
• 1971: No award given^[5]
• 1972: Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner
• 1973: The Optimist's Daughter by Eudora Welty
• 1974: No award given^[6]
• 1975: The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara
• 1976: Humboldt's Gift by Saul Bellow
• 1977: No award given^[7]
• 1978: Elbow Room by James Alan McPherson
• 1979: The Stories of John Cheever by John Cheever
• 1980: The Executioner's Song by Norman Mailer
• 1981: A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole (posthumous win)
• 1982: Rabbit Is Rich by John Updike
• 1983: The Color Purple by Alice Walker (read in 2014)
• 1984: Ironweed by William Kennedy
• 1985: Foreign Affairs by Alison Lurie
• 1986: Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
• 1987: A Summons to Memphis by Peter Taylor
• 1988: Beloved by Toni Morrison
• 1989: Breathing Lessons by Anne Tyler
• 1990: The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love by Oscar Hijuelos
• 1991: Rabbit at Rest by John Updike
• 1992: A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley
• 1993: A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain by Robert Olen Butler
• 1994: The Shipping News by E. Annie Proulx
• 1995: The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields
• 1996: Independence Day by Richard Ford
• 1997: Martin Dressler: The Tale of an American Dreamer by Steven Millhauser
• 1998: American Pastoral by Philip Roth
• 1999: The Hours by Michael Cunningham
• 2000: Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri
• 2001: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon
• 2002: Empire Falls by Richard Russo
• 2003: Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides (read in 2010)
• 2004: The Known World by Edward P. Jones
• 2005: Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
• 2006: March by Geraldine Brooks
• 2007: The Road by Cormac McCarthy (read in 2010)
• 2008: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz
• 2009: Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
• 2010: Tinkers by Paul Harding
• 2011: A Visit From the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
• 2012: No award given.
• 2013: The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson

#18: Attend my 10-year high school reunion

Well… 10 years went by pretty quick.  Not sure how I feel about that. We flew to Colorado at the end of June to hit up my 10-year reunion and get in some family time. Second time to Colorado in two months! That must be some sort of record since college. Since there was a snowstorm in May while I was there, I hoped for some great weather and my wish was granted! It was absolutely gorgeous the whole time. This was also Mark’s first time to Colorado in the summer. I KNOW. How is that even possible? Many of his trips have looked something like this:

I kept telling him, Mark, it’s SO NICE in the summer! Like SO NICE. Now he can finally believe me. I wanted to go to the mountains at least once but the weekend proved a little too busy, plus the weather didn’t look that great up there anyway. On Friday I got to have breakfast with a friend of mine and visit her house in Denver. One part of growing up that I’ve really enjoyed is seeing childhood friends create lives and families of their own. I don’t know why I find it so interesting; I guess I just think back to third grade and even though my friends are 28, I can still see the 8-year-olds in them! Friday night we went out with Richard to a couple of bars in downtown Denver, one of which had live music. And there was a thunderstorm! We don’t get those very often in the northwest.

The next day we headed to Greeley for the reunion. It was a small turnout – eight people (out of a class of 26) plus spouses and kids. There were more kids than there were graduates! Even though it was small, I really enjoyed getting to visit with the friends who came. A couple I hadn’t seen in at least eight years. We held the event at a park so people could come and go and bring their families if they wanted. It worked perfectly – kids had room to run around while their parents chatted and caught up.

After the reunion was over, we headed back to my mom’s place to have dinner with her and my uncle. The original plan was to stay the night in Greeley and go back to Denver on Sunday but it ended up being easier to just go back to Denver with Richard on Saturday night.

On Sunday Richard took us to the most delicious Creole café for brunch! It seemed very popular (tons of people outside waiting) but it didn’t take long to get a seat. I had the Cajun breakfast, comprising poached eggs (I GOTTA start poaching me some eggs), red beans with meat, potatoes, and the most amazing biscuit you’ve ever tasted. If you’re in Denver (they also apparently have locations in Fort Collins and Boulder), you have to go! Reasonably priced, too.

I had a great time in my homeland! My friend is going back to Denver for her high school reunion next weekend and I want to stow away… maybe I will.

A 100 List Update

I was browsing my 100 List the other day and I think it’s about time I updated it! I believe it’s been two years or so since I came up with it and after learning more about myself, there are some changes I need to make.

#9: Attend soccer matches in South America, Africa, and Europe

I suppose I shouldn’t close the door on Africa, but I was probably the most motivated to visit when my friend Nicole lived there for about two years. She’s now back in Seattle and since we didn’t take the opportunity to go when she was there, it’s not high on our priority list now. So I’m now only including South America and Europe. And actually, I’ve already fulfilled Europe. I can’t believe I forgot to post on it! That post is forthcoming.

#16: Own a cat

Cats are OK, I guess. But our neighbor has three of them and while I don’t hate them by any means, they track dirt all over the car, poop in our yard, and creep me out by peering into our basement windows when I least expect them. Friends may swear by how sweet their kitty is, but what’s to stop them from ripping up the leather couch or scratching my beautiful (yes, I love it more than I should) dining room table? It’s just too risky. I know I can train dogs but a cat is more of a loose cannon. I’m changing #16 to re-painting the kitchen.

#32: Own a Newfoundland, like in Peter Pan

Now that I’ve done research on the type of dog I want to own, I realize a Newfoundland wouldn’t be a good fit for me. They are too big and have way too much hair for me to handle. I want a dog who can run with me, and Newfoundlands would probably overheat. But I still think they’re cute! #32 is being simplified to owning a dog in general.

#62: Live in NYC at least once

Not saying this could never happen. But at this point it isn’t a realistic enough goal to focus on, so off it goes. #62 is now to create a gallery wall. But I’m kinda cheating because I already did this and just need to post about it… ha.

#93: Read through the list of Pulitzer-Prize winning nonfiction books

Well… I was going to change this to fiction instead of nonfiction but I think I’m just going to add the fiction winners also to #93. Because I like reading!

#34: See the Nutcracker in Seattle

Mark surprised me with tickets to see the Pacific Northwest Ballet's performance of the Nutcracker here in Seattle! I've been wanting to see this for YEARS because I was obsessed with the music of the Nutcracker as a child. I had a tape of the music that I listened to every night when I went to bed. Really, every night. I actually wore out the tape because I listened to it so much. My favorite Christmas special on TV as a kid was "Care Bear Nutcracker," where the Care Bears have to go into Toyland and save Christmas (I think) and the storyline is based on the Nutcracker. I tried to find it on YouTube but I could only find a clip of the last four minutes and MAN is it cheesy. But I loved it.

Back to the Nutcracker in Seattle: what a beautiful performance! The orchestra was amazing and the show was everything I thought it would be. Of course, I forgot to take the camera so we didn't get any pictures except a blurry cell phone shot that I'll spare you from seeing. Afterward we went to a Thai restaurant in lower Queen Anne called Bahn Thai where I had some stellar noodle kee mao. You should try it: noodles and TONS of vegetables in a spicy, salty sauce. Delicious.

#92: Randomly meet a celebrity

I look way more thrilled... ha.

I finally, FINALLY got to meet a celebrity yesterday in a chance encounter at a FedEx office. Not only is he a Sounders player, he also happens to be the CAPTAIN. Oh yeah. That just happened.

So here’s the story. I was standing in line at FedEx waiting to pick up a print job (this sounds like a FedEx commercial) and I saw a guy standing off to the side filling out some shipping paperwork. I caught a glimpse of his profile and thought OH MY GOODNESS that looks like Mauro Rosales. But then he turned his back to me (how dare he) and I couldn’t get another glimpse of him without being a total stalker. So I continued in line and picked up my print job, but during that wait I became convinced that I needed to figure out whether he really was Mauro because if he was, there was no way I was missing this perfect opportunity. PLUS I just happened to have my camera in my purse. So I did what any normal person would do and lingered near the front of the store and pretended to “browse” while keeping him in my sights (stalker much?)

Finally I just decided to bite the bullet and walk over to where he was, but let me tell you, that was a hard decision. There wasn’t really any place to browse or look normal where he was standing, so as soon as I was over there, it would be quite obvious that I was checking him out or something. But I figured, meh, if he’s not Mauro Rosales then I’ll just run away and never see him again (no shame!) and if he IS Mauro Rosales… well, I’d cross that bridge when I came to it. So I walked over and kind of rounded the corner of the kiosk where he was standing and caught his eye… and as soon as I did, it was very clear he was indeed who I thought he was. And then I had to say something because I was standing so awkwardly between him and a wall.

“Hi… are you Mauro Rosales?” (DUH.)

He answered affirmatively and was super sweet about the whole encounter, which is what I was most nervous about because you never know if people don’t want to be bothered or are going to be jerks or something. I told him my husband and I had season tickets and were big fans and blah blah blah (I really don’t remember what I said, I got so flustered) and he thanked me for the support and blah blah blah (again… don’t really remember). So then I pulled out my camera and asked if we could please take a picture. He said sure, but will my husband get jealous? I said, oh believe me, only jealous that I got to meet you and he didn’t! So he flagged down a FedEx guy who took our picture. And then I thanked him and tried to act cool and went back to my office, where I couldn’t stop blabbering about it for the next half hour. My lucky co-workers.

#8: Make sushi

I mentioned this event on Facebook but forgot to post it on here and update my 100 List! We made a foray into the world of homemade sushi all in the name of… a baby shower. My pregnant friend Samantha loves sushi but hasn’t been able to eat it for a while (obviously) so we thought it’d be fun to have some fishless sushi rolls at her shower. I wanted to do a test run though to guarantee success the day of the shower (you know how it goes – you try something new the day you need it and it’s a disaster). I didn’t quite know what to expect; I’d heard that making sushi was difficult the first time around and that rolling it correctly takes some effort. So I bought a bamboo rolling mat at an Asian grocery store for about $4, watched two instructional videos on YouTube, and gave it my best shot.

And what do you know, it actually worked! We used salmon, cucumber, avocado, a bit of cream cheese, and sesame seeds for our first attempt, but I only used cucumber, avocado, and sesame seeds for the shower sushi rolls. There’s definitely a flavor difference between homemade rolls and those found at our favorite sushi place (Umi’s Sake House in Belltown) so I’m convinced there must be some secret ingredient that normal people don’t know about. But for homemade sushi, I thought it was pretty good and fairly easy. Rolling the sushi takes some concentration to make sure you don’t roll in the plastic wrap or squish out the sushi innards but the process was much easier than I expected. The possibilities are endless!

#59: Decorate a themed Christmas tree

Since this is as themed as it's going to get, here's my submission for 100 List #59: decorate a themed Christmas tree. Our tree is (mostly) red and gold with a few accents thrown in, and this also marks the first tree of ours that has sported white lights instead of colored lights. Every year I forget to take stock of our Christmas decorations and every year I find myself making a trip during the actual decorating of the tree to Walgreens/Target/wherever to pick up additional decorations I thought I had! This year was no different - I thought I'd finally amassed enough white lights but I ended up buying three more strands. And I still think it could use more lights!

The tree is a noble fir, and I think it's about 7 feet tall. I struggled to get the star up there, even with a chair, because I was too impatient to wait for Mark to come home and do it. This is also the first year we've had a topper on the tree and I love it!

#26: New Bride Chicken Curry

After convincing myself that after this holiday weekend’s food extravaganza I REALLY shouldn’t be ordering us pizza (especially considering I did no cooking at all), I decided to tackle another recipe from my Indian cookbook last night. The curry, made with onions, tomatoes, garlic and an assortment of spices, turned out a little more soupy than I thought it would but that could be because I decided to use boneless chicken instead of bone-in chicken like the recipe said, cutting down the simmering time by about 20 minutes. I used boneless because that's what I happened to have on hand. I thought the broth had excellent flavor but all that flavor was lost in the brown basmati rice I made to accompany the curry. So maybe the curry would be better all on its own, sans rice? It still tasted okay on the rice, just very mild.

Substitutions/omissions: I used one onion instead of two so Mark wouldn’t be completely overwhelmed, and I also cut back the cayenne pepper since a teaspoon and a half seemed like a whole lot of spice to me. I think I could’ve thrown in the extra half teaspoon though, especially since I’m now nursing a cold! And as mentioned earlier, I subbed out bone-in chicken pieces for boneless thighs.

Mistakes: I don’t think I made any!

Repeat: Probably but without the rice. Maybe next time I’ll use rotisserie chicken to save more time.

#14: Visit the San Juans

Mark and I took a mini vacation up to Orcas Island last weekend to celebrate our third anniversary, so I got to cross #14 off my 100 list! I've heard such great things about the San Juan Islands and I can't believe it has taken me eight years of living in the northwest to visit one. I didn't have a specific reason for choosing Orcas other than I had some friends who had gone before, and I secretly hoped to see an orca whale while we were there. That didn't pan out unfortunately but I have no regrets. This little trip reminded me that while we talk a lot about world traveling, there are still plenty of locales worth visiting that are close to home!

I've posted more pictures after the jump: click the link below to expand the post.

#46: Pop popcorn on the stove

Can you believe I've never actually done this before? I didn't know I was such an anomaly until we had some friends over for a movie the other night and I asked them if they wanted some popcorn. Claire, a vegan, said she normally pops her own so she can omit the butter, and another friend said she was used to popping hers on the stove, too. Then last night, someone ELSE said, "Oh yeah, we always pop it on the stove - it's way cheaper." How have I never known this?

It's pretty easy, really. You all probably know how to do this already.

1. Coat a pot with some cooking oil and spread corn kernels on the bottom in a single layer. Good thing Claire was with me when we did this or I would've put FAR too many in there and made a huge mess. A certain Calvin and Hobbes strip comes to mind where they pour in a load of kernels and pop them without a lid, so the kitchen is buried in a few feet of popcorn. Anywho.

2. Cover said pot and wait for the popping! Once the popping starts, gently lift and shake the pot to get the kernels moving so they don't stay in one place and burn. Set the pot down for a few seconds, then shake again. Repeat until the popping subsides.

3. Pour and serve with desired accoutrements.

Still shocked at how easy this was.

Emily assisted. :) Claire played photog and coach.

And since we were talking about Calvin and Hobbes:

Courtesy of: GoComics

#60: Go on another mini-vacation with my brother

Last weekend I got the opportunity to drive down to Portland with my brother, Richard, to watch the Colorado Rapids play the Portland Timbers. The original plan was for Richard to fly into Portland and I would drive down and join him but we decided that was silly since he could fly into Seattle and join me on the drive! Saturday morning we met up with a friend of his from college and then hit the road south. We arrived in Portland with enough time to roam around downtown for a bit and gather with the rest of the Rapids fans at a tailgating event and then a pub near the stadium.

The Rapids boasted an excellent contingency of fans considering they had to fly two and a half hours to get to the game, and their energy made the match a lot of fun. My only concern was the setting off of smoke bombs near the end of the game, one of which exploded into the back of my legs - it felt like getting snapped by a giant rubber band. My jeans still reek of smoke too, even after a round in the wash! Maybe the Rapids owe me a new pair of pants. :)

We stayed at Mark's parents house outside of Portland and spent Sunday relaxing before we had to drive back to Seattle. Then Richard got to hang out with me until Thursday, when I had to take him back to the airport. Richard, it was so much fun getting to spend time with you!

From our first mini-vacation together in Toronto, July 2008.