Snow in Tacoma???

I was told when I moved out here it would never get as hot as the Texas summers or snow like Michigan winters. Well, uhh, they were wrong. It's been snowing non-stop since Thursday with small respites, then back to snow. They sand here, barely plow the main arterials... I keep making fun of the road crews out here, saying it would never still look this way in Michigan!

In the one pic, it is hard to see but most of the roads going through the hilltop are blocked off to prevent people from sliding down. So the kids and adults have turned my street (23rd) from the top of the hill (Yakima) to the bottom of the hill (Tacoma) into an urban sledding hill. Pretty hilarious! And sleds are in short supply, so they are using boxes, bikes, and even cookie sheets...

It has made for eventful driving the past few days. I can put it in 4-wheel drive to get out through the alleyway that is flat and then make it over 2 blocks to a main arterial that has sort of been de-iced. (It is the route for the hospital...) I learned my lesson after the first day after I half-slid, half-fishtailed down part of hill to a flat street. (I passed the building manager who was working on some of the unfinished development and he kind of mouthed to me: Are you ok? I gave him the thumbs up as I went sliding by. Little did he know that I'm a sort of pro at crap weather driving.)

So most Christmas cards/presents will be delayed. Mike's going to help me get chains (hopefully) tomorrow since the snow is still coming down as we speak. What little bit we did go out this weekend we took his FJ since it handles way better than my jeep surprisingly.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

So the conversation starts at work:

Co-worker (with incredulous disbelief): "You have NEVER had a real tree in your entire life?"
Me: "Umm, nope. Always had a fake one."
Co-worker: "You do realize we live in the largest area known for growing Christmas trees?"
Me: "Duh..."

So Sunday was spent trekking through Cox Christmas tree farm in Eatonville, where I dragged Mike and his dad, Don, through row upon row of trees to find that right one. I would reject one for not being full enough, Mike would reject one for not being tall enough, Don would reject it for leaning.

But we did finally find one... And Mike quickly sawed it down (I did offer to cut it down myself but was gently pooh-poohed...since the signs everywhere say ONLY ADULTS may carry and use saws) and then the two men half dragged/carried it to the baler, while Mike loaded it on his FJ (which again I offered to help do and was told kiddingly by Mike, "Just stand there and look pretty.")



And once we got it home, cleaned up some of the needles and stood it in the holder (which I also had to buy since I didn't have one of those either)- it sure is a beauty: A Fraser Fir...(oh come one, you know I had to go for a designer tree as my first one!)

So let the decorating begin! And the cats well.. they don't know what to think of this strange smelling monstrosity that is taking up the corner of THEIR living room.

Why I am making sure I get my absentee ballot in the mail

Read this article from Rolling Stone!!! It's an interesting commentary that has been circulating amongst friends. There is also a piece on McCain that I haven't had a chance to digest yet but from the Palin piece... "Sarah Palin is a symbol of everything that is wrong with the modern United States."

Great writing and I couldn't agree with the author more!

From one of the comments on the RS board:

"Sarah Palin represents the ultimate seduction of women’s vote. It was obvious McCain had no redeeming qualities to incite the female vote. It just proves that the powers that be, will go to any lengths, even to the embarrassment of the Republican party, to protect their kingdom. Our suffragette ancestors are rolling over in their graves while women across this county are being baited like lambs to slaughter. They say history repeats itself, damn if that might be the case with Sarah Palin, a pawn in an insidious patriarchal game of chess. She doesn’t have a clue how she is being used. Intelligent women are affronted by her brainless, boring, egocentric maverick-ing. Most, I contend, are not buying the giddy-up."

God, I hope so... All I have to say is "WAKE-UP PEOPLE..."

I'm the biggest women-first, women-can-do-anything kind of person but sheesh... Give me someone with substance to support that is not a Republican puppet....

Funny thing happened on the way NOT to the altar...

So I get this email from my pet sitter this week as I try to square away some bookings for upcoming trips...

"Hi Liz:
Rumor has it you've gotten married. True?

If so, is there a name change we need to deal with and/or a new contact person to add to your list?"

Uh...no, I haven't gotten married....I just started dating the guy... sheesh.

But (as I have come to laugh about in the last year with my doppelganger) is that my friend and coworker Liz Shaw (same given name also Elizabeth Anne...) did get married this summer. It was her bbq that I hosted at my house.

At the time of her wedding, I don't know who was more excited about her becoming a Fontaine... LOL....there was massive confusion when we sent out the evites for the bbq and who it was for and who it was bring hosted by.

But Mike did get a chuckle out of the email from the petsitter when I told him...or I think he did :)

We were this close...

For Spring Awakening the other night (11 rows center from the stage)... and all I can say is wow!!! We were running (ahem, not my fault this time) a bit behind so Mike and I opted for some Thai food at the Pacific Place mall.

Wild Ginger is an institute around here and all I can say about the meal is "mehhh..." The rice was warmer than my stirfry. I've eaten here in the past year a few times and the quality has gone waaaaaay down... (It makes me want to eat better Thai, like Chili Thai over in University Place...I'm lusting over their Drunken noodles and this awesome squid dish of theirs right now...which begs the question has Thai and Vietnamese become the new Chinese?)

It's a musical (and I can hear the snorts from the Sports guys now) but so much more.

Very edgey, very cool and the touring actors can sing. This is not your mother's A Chorus Line.

From the Seattle Times preview: "The show has transformed Frank Wedekind's caustic 1891 play "Spring Awakening" into a work of great sincerity with an edgy rock beat, explosive dancing, and a frank, timely exploration of teen pregnancy, suicide and abortion."

I've seen some good musicals and I've seen some bad and well this has taken over Miss Saigon, and Wicked in my books!

Can February get here any sooner?

So I loved her books... and then the trailers started popping up throughout Gossip Girl and 90210...

And I can't believe Isla Fisher is going to be Rebecca Bloomwood. Whohoo....

Guess who got hired after Sept. 1?

As if I didn't already sell my soul to the paper for the last year, hear is another kick in the pants...


DATE: August 14, 2008
TO: All Employees
SUBJECT: Wage Freeze
*********** continues to manage through an economic downturn that is having an unprecedented negative effect on revenues, and, therefore, our financial health. While we have taken many steps to reorganize and streamline operations to respond to changing business models and these economic challenges, we need to do more to control expenses.
As an important part of that effort, we are implementing an across-the-board, one-year wage freeze effective Sept. 1, 2008.* This means that if you are scheduled to receive a merit or salary review between September 1, 2008 and August 31, 2009, your review will occur one year later than scheduled. For example, if your next salary review date is March 1, 2009, the salary review will be postponed until March 1, 2010. You will, however, receive regularly scheduled performance reviews during this period.
This freeze is being instituted across all of McClatchy, including at corporate and McClatchy Interactive. Employees for whom salary reviews are pending or whose scheduled salary review dates fall before the September 1, 2008 effective date remain eligible for their reviews. The freeze doesn't affect salary increases related to promotions or minimum wage adjustments.
We have avoided taking this step as long as possible. We know this freeze comes at a time when the economy is putting stress on your personal expenses and when you are working hard to adapt to our changing business model. We greatly appreciate all that you do for **********, and we hope we can continue to count on you as we manage through this very difficult period. We are confident that all of the efforts and cost control measures being made will result in a far more stable and financially healthy company in the future.

Oh the places I have gone....

So sorry that I have been away for awhile but as usual uber-busy.

This post is going to keep it lean... and I know I have many phone calls, emails, facebook requests, etc. to catch up on.

So where have I been the last couple months...well, running, cooking, bbq, working lots and just trying to get out and enjoy the gorgeous (yet too short) PNW summer.

-- Ran a few more 5ks since my last post (ShoreRun, Four on the Fourth, SummeRun) all were improved times, lengths and amazing mornings. But it is an AMAZING morning when I can get up before 9!

-- Went to my friends Liz and Scott's fab outdoor wedding at Point Defiance Park. Note to self: Garden there in July IS a perfect wedding spot.

-- Proceeded to get a bit too tipsy at said wedding and well, had a rocking good time flirting a bit too much (uh sorry Geoff!) and thanks a plenty to Rich again for dragging my sorry butt all over north Tacoma (I swear to God I had no idea I was sitting ON my keys!)

-- Had a blast cooking, and throwing a bbq reception for the new newlyweds and it gave me a chance to talk to some new peeps and showoff the ever changing Hilltop. So many coworkers told me horror stories about the area back in the day (One's wife Lisa did a double take on the address invite and said 'No Waaaaay!' and I had to giggle when she said it!)

-- Been to a few Mariners games and man, they still suck! (I'm 1-4 I think...) Had a great time meeting a really cool couple (Bill and Kim) who used to work at the TNT and now work for the Times. Kim and I have tentative plans to do dinner (she's a vegetarian who also does seafood too!) at Cafe Flora -- which I am extremely excited about since they were just featured in Vegetarian Times.

-- Had a chance to catch up with Leila, an old DMN co-worker who came to town with her friend, Ashley. Plenty of good food, and drinks and girl conversation!

-- Work has kept me super busy, in fact, I'm in the middle of 11 straight, then day off, then another 10 straight. Olympics, football sections, a baseball series, some redesigns. I'll be going, going, going at least through October.

-- And drum roll..... uh, dating. Yeah, I took that step a few weeks ago and met someone who has been super sweet, kind, attentive and pretty darn flexible with my off the wall schedule. It is still in the new, getting to know you stages but I have to say he seems to have NO baggage (never married, no kids, parents still together, making his way up the corporate ladder with hard work, ex-Army who was lucky to not have to be in harms' way). Holy crap, ladies, there are still men out there like this. WHO KNEW????? But he's also a sort-of workaholic too so he stays busy. And to cut down on travel time to do things, he...uh, lives across the street. Bought into the condo development across from me a few months before me. So since it is pretty darn new, I'm not going to jinx it by saying too much more... (I know, I know cynical me... always waiting for the other shoe to drop since well, I seem to have the crappiest dating luck in more recent years... Note to Dave: You are excluded but dude, you moved to Hong Kong so ummm... LOL....) And he even still found me cute/sexy AFTER my face completely blew up from a BAAAD allergic reaction to a new moisturizer (note to self: check all the ingredients before putting on skin!)... all I have to say is I looked like angry bees attacked my entire face.

-- In just the short time I've spent with the new boy I've seen more of the Puget Sound with him, then on my own in the previous 9 months. (Joke at work is I've been to Spain and Ireland but not south to Olympia yet!) Had a great date last week at Mt. Rainier/Paradise area -- really beautiful scenery and took tons of pics. I'll have to post later.

-- And all the farmers markets??? I've eaten my weight in fruits and veggies this summer and am loving it! Been hitting all the Tacoma ones and even a few Seattle ones here and there. I wish I could get this kind of produce all the time and have frozen so many berries my freezer is bursting at the seams!

-- Speaking of weight, all the exercise, and good food has paid off... drum roll... I've lost a total of 16 so far (1 lb. away from my 10 percent!!!) and after that last pound comes off (hopefully this week since I have another 5k Saturday) I'll set another goal (who knows maybe I will get back to close to my high school weight!) But I've given away all the larger clothing sizes to a couple of friends and can happily say I'm back in another smaller size 10... whohoo! New wardrobe and did I mention I've been doing some clothes shopping???

Well I guess I can hang up the keyboard and hit the pillows...

Hi to all and I miss talking to ya....

Another 5k, some sun and an awesome farmer's market....

Another PB for me! Whohoo.... 35:17... yeah, yeah I know slow... but for me, it was this surreal, emotional moment crossing the finish line on Saturday.

I did the Komen Race for the Cure 5K (women's only race) and watching all these women's backs with signs dedicating their runs to family, friends, so many women who have made it past breast cancer and who have not.

I silently ran for my late step-grandmother Connie, and two others I know who have made it past this disease (both were diagnosed at too young of an age.)

And this was my first big cancer race/event. What I found amazing was all the sponsorship/swag they give away and well, all that money of trinketey crap could be put to better use, in my opinion. I know sponsors want to get out there and promote their stuff since they are giving money to sponsor the event, but please....who needs another canvas bag? or magnet?

After the race, I was going to go try dresses on for an upcoming wedding but being all hot, sweaty and just not in the mood... (and I was up in Seattle so plenty of opportunities abounded) and instead I decided to head over to one of their local farmer's markets.

Which did not disappoint.. I was in foodie heaven!!!! Tons and tons of local farmers produce (cherries, strawberries -- which i regret only buying a pint of!, japanese cukes, spring garlic...)

And this creamery that locally everyone raves about -- Estrella Creamery of Montesano -- was there! She shoots, she scores after waiting in a long line with a very pushy, indecisive woman in front of me whose kid I wanted to tie up to the tree with a dog leash. And this is the same Creamery that's coming to the market near me in July! Whohoo!

I love my local markets, but the U-district one is out of this world. It is all food (no handicrafts, all local and set up perfectly). Tacoma could take note, and I hope the upcoming one on 6th is set up in somewhat the same fashion.

And I have a new favorite local bakery -- Tall Grass. Its based out of Ballard, so its going to have to be a haul occasionally up there or to this U-district market. I ended up going with their pumpernickel -- and oh, wow... the loaf is almost gone as I speak.

I've shared some of the bread and cheese with co-workers and they gave it a thumbs up.
And I was able to make my lunches for the past two days with all local produce! Whohoo (salads with local made balsalmic vinegar, smoked salmon with goat cheese and pumpernickel bread, lots of fruit -- apples, rainier cherries, these amazing sugar snap peas -- some of the best yet I've had) ... keep the weather coming...Now I need to get creative with some of my other stuff i got from the CSA I belong to.. They've been a bit slow with some of their growth and this week it was lots of kale... which i know is a superfood but haven't really ever thought of it for more than just soups.

Anyone have any ideas? I've been trolling the internet for some recipes and it looks like pesto and soup and maybe throw in some shrimp quesadilas.

Bloody Monday...

We had heard rumblings for months. And I started getting phone calls and emails at 9 a.m. this morning. And in typical Liz fashion, I slept through the first two hours of it.

Well, my newspaper announced today that they are laying off 84 people, 5 in the newsroom. And even though there are numerous openings that have recently been vacated (two in my own sports department, leaving me now as THE only woman in two weeks... sigh...) they are still going to cut people from the newsroom, either through buyouts or layoffs.

According to one boss: "The voluntary portion of the newsroom layoffs will come from defined “work groups”. Folks with similar job titles and work responsibilities regardless of department make up a work group (e.g., team leaders, copy editors, reporters, photographers, page designers). A work group has to have two or more people in it to be considered. Selected work groups in the newsroom will be offered voluntary severance. If there are enough voluntary takers to meet the required number of cuts there won’t be involuntary layoffs. If enough employees don’t take the voluntary option, then involuntary layoffs will occur based (sic) the employees in the work group with the least tenure."

Read through the lines: Last one in, first one out. But I've heard rumblings that not one page designer is going to be cut. Uh, (a very weak) yay!

As I get through another buyout/layoff situation -- again -- in less than two years, I have to wonder: Is this industry worth it anymore? The aftermath of the second round of Dallas was hard enough to sit through and left some long-ranging blows.

There has been so much debate just amongst ourselves (with managers and with fellow low-totem colleagues) these past weeks, and I can see how unhappy everyone is. While I am truly grateful to still have a job, (as I have a mortgage to pay...) I wonder if it will still be here in say 5, 10, 15 years?

Our paper wasn't the only one to get hit today... the entire McClatchy chain took a massive throat-slasher (link here)

I'm just glad I was off today (i spent it enjoying the sun!, running errands and biking around downtown) and I'm off tomorrow (spending the day hanging out with Mindi in Seattle).

The funny thing is I was already planning on taking a few web courses online starting Wednesday. But this announcement makes it more imperative that I refocus where my career is headed. (I overheard part of this conversation at dinner at the Harmon Pub tonight where I could only nod my head and agree: people are age can no longer expect to stay in the same job from the time they graduate to their retirement. The days of a one-place career -- as many of our parents had -- are long gone...)

Run, Forest... errr, Liz, Run!

I did my third 5k today! And yes, I had another PB! Finished in 36:07 (ok, so that's turtle slow for some... but for me that's an 11 1/2 minute mile -- down from my 12-plus!)

And I almost didn't make it as oh, I overslept. Thank god I laid out my clothes and shoes the night before. I even set my alarm early but lately have been sleeping hard and didn't hear it.

I woke out of a dead sleep at 7:52(!) The Sound to Narrows race started at 8:30 and the drive across town and parking was going to take at least 15 to 20 minutes. (Funny story: I was so out of it and in such a hurry I wore my sports bra entirely the wrong way inside out for the entire run and didn't know it until I showered later in the day. Had to laugh at my dumbass-ness on that one...)

So i ran... and ran down the hill to the starting line... making it with three minutes to start. My quads are killing me now, and I know I am going to be walking funky tomorrow but man, was it worth it. I was running with a friend, who ran into some coworkers and in typical Liz fashion, they all had to laugh at the fact that I overslept and was running late as usual....

Exercise has become a priority for me the last several weeks as i rejoined Weight Watchers after Ireland. (All that weight I worked on last year was slowly creeping up again) and I can say I've lost 10 more pounds since I rejoined. Benefits of losing a stone of weight means new clothes shopping! All my stuff is getting way to loose to stay up even with a belt and you know you need new underwear when it is falling down around your ankles as you walk...LOL...)

So needless to say... this is one area of my life I can control right now and it makes me feel better. And today's run was way smoother not carrying around that extra bowling ball of weight. (I've also been going to a chiropractor for a couple weeks to work on my hip and neck since running and sitting at a computer have been doing some damage of late... I'm already getting early arthritis in my neck -- thanks internet and technology!)

And I've found that everyone out here is into some form of biking, running, hiking, etc. so that's been an incentive. Even had my 12-year-old little commuter/mountain bike (thats oh, my size and I love it) tuned up, outfitted with a new seat and I've been taking it for a spin. So the routine of late has been eating better also since the local farmers' markets are in full swing (I hit one on Thursdays and usually walk/bike to it downtown) and the other on Saturday across town is where I pick up a veggie share that i participate in from an local, organic farm

I'm starting to finally warm up to this Pacific Northwest lifestyle. Maybe the sun will stick around more often now!

Next week: Race for the Cure 5k in seattle, and then two the following week (Sunday is another cancer 5k walk up in seattle and July 4 is a four mile race in Lakewood!)

Learn words and feed people

There are downtimes at work where I have to look away from the page and the software I'm using is driving me insane.

But I need to still be sitting there. And well I stumbled across this site from one of my many mags.

Feed others [Now edited and fixed the link as Anna pointed out (thanks!) I had it wrong]

Not only does it build word skills but you help feed people. And I'm Polish so I always love to feed people: in real life and virtually.

When in Ireland....

Drink, drink, drink....

Some thoughts on my week through the land of 40 shades of green:

-- There is no such thing as queues outside of US. Shove, push and try to make your way to the boarding area as best as you can.

-- Alcohol oversees is waaaaaay stronger. You are no longer a college kid. You can not keep up with them. Bulmer's irish cider: tastes like perfume going down, feels like sewage the next day.

-- Family is awesome. This was a great weekend getting to know cousins who are younger and have had some of the same life experience as well as different perspectives on things.

-- My grandmother can still get it on. She saw more action and flirtation than I did. You go Gram! And the girl can dance!

-- Sleep. What sleep? Jet lag and so many things to do kind of put a crimp in that one. We closed the bars a few night in a row. Who knows when I will do that again? And walking down the street at 3 a.m. giggling with everyone as we try to stay upright and not trip... priceless.

-- Europe is freaking expensive. We stayed on a somewhat budget, but still... the dollar is so weak, it made me cry to part with the money. And the locals say they are struggling because of our weak dollar. They experienced a 25 percent increase in cost of living a couple years ago, and well wages never caught up.

-- Service in restaurants... non-existant. We weren't really in a hurry, but most of the time we had to chase down servers for water and the check. At least they don't expect tips.

-- When you can talk to the locals, wow, talk about interesting conversations! We had this really awesome bartender in Cork one night who talked our ear off. He was adorable but, not my type... I was still trying to guess what team he played for.

-- You never know who you will run into. While in Dublin on this amazing tour of the Kilmainham Goal (a jail used up until 1924 and is the sight where 16 where executed for their part in the 1916 rebellion against the government), I had a CMU experience. I was being grilled by the tour guide in front of the group about how many snakes where on the front of the building and i sort of blanked. A woman behind the tour guide holds up her hand to signal five. Later as we are all waiting for the bus, we find out she is from East Lansing and a Chippewa grad. Small, small world as she graduated with people way back in the day who would later become some of my college mentors.

So all in all, a pretty whirlwind week. Hope to post some pictures soon!

Cough.hack.wheeze

Been awhile, but I am back in the States after an amazing trip to Ireland. I hope to post more, but am feeling pretty crappy right now.

After avoiding the plague that swept our department the past few months, I managed to get bronchitis while traveling through the Irish land. Coughing, wheezing, jet lag and lots of drugs have wrecked havoc on my sleep. I want to sleep and am trying to tire myself out. But I lay down and the coughing racks my body full of spasms and .. oh well. I'll try again.

Just to back track....

Thing have been kind of a whirlwind again. April is flying by and I'm off to Ireland soon. My eyes are improving each day, the weather here is well... up and down. We've had snow/rain/hail/sun in a 24-hour period. Sheesh.

I can blog about this now but at the time a few weeks ago I was so emotionally overwhelmed and drained. After coming off several long stretches for the past few months of working, I had just come from this amazing long 4-day weekend in Dallas: catching up with everyone, having these great conversations, seeing old and new places.

And then I come back to Tacoma, where I proceed to work an extra long week, my mother and I have another disagreement because as usual she jumped to the wrong conclusion and then my grandmother dies.

Since I'm the only full-time woman on the desk, there is a lot of stuff said back and forth that really most other departments wouldn't get away with. But's is still sort of a 'good ol'boys' network back there and I can roll with the punches because what is said is in good fun and no one is personally attacked.

Well this didn't happen to me, it happened to one of our two part-time female writers (who happened to be helping us that night on the desk and doing some agate for another co-worker).

It was a heated comment during the Final Four semis during the Kansas game (the guy is a Kansas alum.) He misunderstood that she was agreeing with him that the tv announcers were stupid and just out of nowhere yells,"You F---ing Bitch!" and then proceeds to throw trash at her.

Needless to say, we were all SHOCKED! He has been one of the nicest people to me since I moved here (he's in his late 50s) and the rest of the desk was stunned.

Another male colleague reported it. Some of the people who were not there that night are not taking it as seriously as they should. I have never been so humiliated for another woman in my life as well as sad. The offender was punished. He has apologized to both of us women who were there. I can forgive him, but told him that if it ever happened again.... The person who was the victim in all of this is doing well. She's keeping a low profile, but the sad thing is that it has only poisoned her thoughts on this place even more so. Frankly, I don't blame her.

For awhile there (after this happened) I was having doubts as to whether I can stick this job out. Up until that moment, I was liking my job, even getting to laugh at some of my (grumpy) co-workers. Everyone seemed to like my work and I have so many ideas and things I want to accomplish here.

I need this vacation and the time away from the desk to just sort of let things go by. Hopefully it will have gotten better when I get back.

I can see!!!!

20/20 that is...

The surgery went great (drugs are goooooooddddd!) and I managed to get a positive check-up today. I'm getting tired as we speak since I've been oh, up early for me at 9 and never did get around to taking a nap.

Thanks again to Mindi for being my seeing eye-person and ride... And highly recommend Masa for lunch to everyone... We had a fad dining experience (yummy guac and salsa, superb fish taco and awesome quesadillas!). I still wonder where Divish and Pacey were going? We saw you too....

But the day was gloriously sunny and I wanted to take advantage of the new sight with sunglasses in tow...

And I was jonesing for some sort of ice cream float.shake.soda and found this little place over in Fife (after making the mistake of hitting rush hour north on the 509). It was the darling little dairy-esque shack ... and if the weather was not so cool, it is great with some picnic tables for sitting and chilling.

Tomorrow a Y 5K and the daffodil parade to conquer.

What kind of karma is that?

The Dali Lama will be in SeaTac for the next few days for a conference and free tickets have been gone for quite some time.

So people have resorted to selling them on craigslist for up to $200.

All I have to say to those who are trying to make a buck from this:

What will you be reincarnated into in the next life?

How's your bracket??????

Mine was fab. Thanks for asking!

I can brag since I won the office pool -- and some moolah. And i plan to share with my colleagues at a future date and by some pizza.

Thanks Kansas for making it one nail-biter of a game....

Sad news...

My grandmother Connie passed away this afternoon in Michigan after a short illness.

Her health had been deteriorating the past few years and well... I think she just found it all a little too overwhelming. She lost her long-time partner a few years ago (he passed away after a decline in health) and it seems as if she kept falling further into the past.

While she may not have been my grandmother in blood (she was my grandfather's errr... second wife), she has always made me feel no less. And she was never one of those grandmother's who treated you as a child even when you were a child.

I'll have great memories of her and her partner, Al. They would take cousins and I every year to the large Shrine Circus... She was part of my early (bug-bitten) travel trips on a train ride to Ann Arbor. Her funky house out in the country and those large, large cats (the size of medium dogs!) And her adventures in her younger years of travel and glamor were always relished.

The last time I was home, we were cleaning out some boxes and came across one from her pile that had long been forgotten. In it were old menus from trips from around the world, back in the days were dining was an event and an adventure. I know some of the menus my mom did save. And I think I may have taken a couple for myself. Now I just need to find them and collage them.

As glamorous as her days were before I was born (she and my grandfather split when I was a toddler), her later last years would become a routine. She was always cold in the large rambling house of my parents and every year I bought her these silk thermal underwear. It became a running joke in the family of when she would actually not wear them and I think we actually got her out of them before the 4th of July one year... Although we could not get her out of them at Christmas time in Florida one year.

And she was so proud of all of her grandkids and their accomplishments. She was keeping my job intact by reading the paper every day from cover to cover. And when I worked for the Detroit papers, she saved all the special sections I worked on.

I sent her cards at Christmas and for her birthday and I would get updates on her from other family members. And she had read them and in typical Connie fashion had put them in her pile of 'to do' stuff that never really seem to get smaller.

But i know in my heart, I was next.

The things we share...

So it is always refreshing to talk anything but sports when I am working.

And when an older colleague ran across an Austin City Limits show featuring KT Tunstall (the same show I was at in Austin and was a great outdoor performance!), and he found it even more amazing that she was from St. Andrews, Scotland and NOT a golfer, I just had to share my wealth of music of Ms. Tunstall with him.

And it gets me listening AGAIN to just a great breezy, sunny album at the edge of spring in the PNW. I have a tendency to listen to one album over and over again for a few weeks (even with my vast music collection and ipod)

Who says we can't share music? I do... with joy.

P.S. Said ipod is starting to die (a long and slow painful ending...) Why can't they make something that will last more than 2 years?

Countdown...

36 hours until arrival in Dallas... Yippeee!!!

Plans are already shaping up...

Sun, sun, glorious sun!!!!

An open letter....

Dear sir on the treadmill next to me:

If you are sick, please do not go to the Y, then proceed to sneeze and cough and hack... then blow your nose into your towel, then use said towel to wipe of the treadmill....

Haven't you learned about how germs are transmitted?

Sincerely,
Grossed out and hopes you get leg cramps

80s flashback...

Wow.. this takes me back...

Graphics have come a long way... can you spot where some of the logos are from?

Selection Sunday... has come and gone...

And I am still wide awake!!!! And it is not from planning out my bracket. Believe me... my Chippewas kind of stunk it up in the MAC this year so I'll have to adopt one of my co-workers almamaters....hmmm, let's see....

Can you say Rock! Chalk! Baby!!!!!

KU's got a fighting chance -- but its a No. 1 seed and well, could go down in flames....

I owe my support to my co-worker Arn and his beloved Jayhawks -- without him I would not be drinking Guinness in a few weeks in that lovely Irish land....

I actually loved the design work I did (as usual -- at the last minute, crammed into a week of OT, prototypes, lots of meetings and a judging stint) so when I get the chance I'll post some pages and maybe even update the woefully outdated portfolios (two of which are scattered throughout the cyberworld: one can be viewed here and here)

The curse of Liz's travels....

"Demonstrations against Chinese rule in Tibet on Friday — the most violent riots there in nearly two decades — left at least 30 protesters dead, according to a Tibetan exile group. China ordered tourists out of Tibet’s capital and troops patrolled the streets Saturday....."

As the Associated Press is reporting....

This truly sucks as it is a beautiful and friendly region and I have some many great memories from this summer of being there. I'm starting to feel like this is my own version of the Sports Illustrated cover curse...

I visit somewhere and something happens afterward -- Peru's earthquake after I am there, London's terrorist attacks after I have just gotten back from Europe, Hurricane Katrina after a jaunt to New Orleans that spring....and well I could go on.

At least I never lose my luggage....

Check...uh, check...check...

Finally have a day off to try to cram as much as I can get done.

Things on the priority list for today:

-- Pick up a couple of CDs I've been wanting from the library (have to say that Tacoma's system is pretty first-rate and oh, free...)

-- Finish planning Ireland trip (already booked our Dublin apartment! yay! Bring on the beer!)

-- Go to this little Russian deli in Fircrest where my lovely Russian massage therapist says they have all that I am craving and if they are not nice to me to come bring her along on my next trip!

-- Maybe make a trip to Seattle to finally get see if this table I have been oggling online is really the one I want.

-- Set three alarms so I actually get up and enjoy the sunshine that is forecasted!

Wish me luck!

Memories.....

Sometimes I wish I was the one who invented facebook.... but as we all know I'm a procrastinator in the worse way sometimes when it comes to keeping in touch.

So as people keep adding me to their friends list -- former coworkers, college buds, high school friends...it has gotten me thinking about the past and the present.

What got these ramblin' thoughts going is I stumbled upon a series of old college friends blogs and it is hard to believe that college was already a decade ago. Some have married, had kids, divorced (all three, some of the above, etc.) Some are in serious relationships. Some are not.

In the 10 years since CM Life and college roommates and all... how much have i changed? is my life still headed in the right direction? or do i keep repeating the same mistakes -- always with disasterly results and nothing gained.

When celebrities have too much time on their hands...

So some of us in the office are Sarah Silverman fans. And by now most of you have seen the hilarious video she did with Matt Damon, which has spawned this cultural phenom with bumper stickers and everything.

So i finally got to watch Jimmy Kimmel's response to it (as I briefly come up from the shadowy confines of my cubicle and the monster that is known as prep state basketball tournaments.)

Oh my god... you have to watch it. How on earth did they get all those people to agree to it???? I almost peed my pants when Josh Groban started singing.

It's a good laugh for the day... and a good distraction from all the brackets. One more week of high schools and then its college time. Oy vay!

What goes around....

Ran across some industry news in the past few days that intrigued me.

Our "sort of" (McClatchy owns 49 percent of them) sister paper, Seattle Times, is going to switch from its CCI publication system to a new one: EidosMedia’s Methode.

The whole reason this intrigues me is that I have a personal and professional love/hate relationship with that three-initial publishing system. It was one of the reasons why I landed in the SeaTac area and I'm curious as to what is going to happen to the unnamed ex-lover who took a job out here to work for that paper's system.

Hmmm.... since we don't speak, I wonder what kind of turmoil that department is in and what he may be dealing with personally. For him to go back to Dallas would be a death sentence.... i know how much he dislikes Texas.

And frankly from a professional standpoint I wonder where this publishing system came from and if it will be better. It is the first US company to use it -- so that will be an interesting test case to watch.

I'll have to pick a friend's brain when I see him next who works there and test the waters for all the newsrooom talk.

Things I miss about Detroit...

Pierogis. Pierogis. Pierogis.
The Dirty Show.
Olga's Kitchen pita bread
The Firehouse after the car show.
Coney runs.
The Magic Bag.
Afterwork dancing.
Robin's loft.
Johns at 2 a.m.
The Magic Stick. Rock and Bowl.
Armandos seafood tacos.
Detroit beer company.
Ferndale eclectic vibe.
The Fox. The Masonic.


*** Recent nostalgia as i tried to have some little polish dumplings shipped to the PNW -- estimated cost: $235 (that works out to a little less than $4 per pierogi...) Uh... I'll think I'll pass.

Makes me wonder....

Going through some backlogged emails.... and i sent a belated one to an ol' CM LIFE coworker and friend who informed me that he's leaving the journalism industry and well, darn it, he's had it with papers and he and the wife are packing up, heading out and going to teach in Korea for a year.

This wasn't a surprise -- or something off the wall -- since he's at least the 10th friend in the industry who has said the heck with it .... and now they are off teaching/working abroad, peace corps, working in the private sector.

What happened to my generation of journalists? Have we already become so disenchanted in our 20s and early 30s or is the rocky road of print journalism just too much to take? Can we already see into that crystal ball and see that the future is nil?

Sigh... better start polishing up my web skills some more or I may be left in the dust.

Sad day for musicophiles....

I just got the word that No Depression magazine is folding after its next issue. Whhhhaaaaaaaaahhhhh!!!!

As a closet music junkie, I was turned onto this mag several years back by an ex (thanks Steve!) and it has been a great resource for those under the radar bands.

Read more here

What am I going to do now? Paste is ok. Rolling Stone is getting too preachy... sigh... Hopefully NoD's continuing website will kick ass!

I feel like a feeble old man...

Mindi and I finally made it to snowboarding up at Snoqualmie Pass Tuesday. And today I am paying for it. Every part of my body aches... and it takes effort just to put on my shoes and socks.

I did manage to stay on the board with two feet strapped in, but talk about a different sensation after skiing for all these years. They teach you in the first lesson with one strap only on and it was definitely daunting to be sharing the bunny slopes with 5- and 6-year-old skiers. But there were some older adults on the lifts. At least I still somewhat look younger... I hope. I even shut down the tow rope when I missed the landing area... and a teenager had to stop the moving sidewalk (snicker, snicker...)




But all in all, a beautiful day on the slopes and great company who also was landing on her butt as well.





I've got two more days/lessons left so I plan on trying it out at least for the rest of the season. I do want to go skiing up there at some point also...

Before it was my house...

Google satellite is a little outdated (at least two years) but I stumbled across what the lot looked like before all the construction in my new neighborhood.

Dallas was a blast!

Little sleep was worth it! Seeing everyone at the Monk, driving around Dallas, eating some wonderful meals at the Mansion on Turtle Creek, Dallas Fish Market, dinner with Ted at Mi Piaci (which was comical in itself as the backup for Valentine's Day night was already in force) and great tex mex at Matt's... what more could a girl ask for?

I did get the upgrades to first class which became ground zero for sleep... and as I drove around Dallas it felt as if I had been gone on just a long vacation. The sun, the crazy drivers all in their big ol' SUVs they can't drive, the pretty, enhanced blondes on their cellphones not paying attention to traffic... I was home.

Update on a few things...

Countdown to Lasik: 60 days! Got the time off and Mindi has graciously agreed to be my driver! Talked to another co-worker who said the benefits are worth it but get a double dose of valium as it felt like his eyeballs were going to explode.. great.. i can ponder that for the next two months.

Countdown to say farewell to Anna: In 4 days, i'll be back in Dallas -- seeing all the peeps and sending off Anna to Hong Kong with some good meals under her belt... and a great bar night at Lee Harvey's -- I miss that place! And warmer weather....

Drumroll... I have all of my window coverings now.. Yeah! The sheets have come down from the windows and I feel less trailer trash-esque. The new bamboo shutters are gorgeous... and they should be for the pretty penny I paid for them.

Also in the works - furniture! Most of the stuff I was holding off on purchasing until I found stuff I liked, the house was really mine and I'm kind of on this whole Pacific NW sustainabilty, greener kick -- since there are so many kinds of options like this out here.

Super Bowl may be over but man, work is getting busier and with less space to work with. We've had these teeny, tiny sections lately -- sigh, I'm learning to do more with less --- A few things on my radar are the NBA all-star game, tons of prep state coverage plans, some Mariners spring training and that little thing down the road called March Madness. February is going to fly right by.

"Ladies and gentleman...."

I am not a complete cyber idiot.... I blog to you wirelessly (and three months after I bought the router) from my third floor guest bedroom.

The router is on the first floor (in the den) and after about 2 hours of beating my head against a wall and then sucking it up and calling D-Link... I can now surf the net and not steal from my neighbor! Whohoo....

Next mission: Wirelessly hooking up my printer and my laptop.

It may even take me less time... Wish me luck!

Four-eyes may be a thing of the past

Went for a consult today up in Renton to see if I was still a candidate for Lasik. I am -- and it is within my budget (I actually planned for it this year and put money aside in my flex spending account!)

The procedure will take all of 10 minutes. The prep time -- almost three hours though.

Now finding the time to get work off (i need at least two days and they only do surgery on Thursday-Saturday: key sports days!) so I'll be working on fitting that into a schedule...

And finding a wonderful friend who can spend four hours of their morning driving my temporarily blind butt to and from the Renton office two days in a row...

I like my new neighbors...

as i gave up trying to wifi my house a few months ago. I really need to get it done. But then i discovered one of the new neighbors forgot to lock down their wi-fi -- whohoo! I can put off my slackerness for awhile and surf the net in the living room!

When Tacoma rates in the news....

I actually missed this one... and caught it on one of the News Tribune's blogs about Tacoma and its going-ons....Here's the link

And who says we are the underdogs to Seattle?

There might be blood, sweat and sore muscles....

So we postponed the snowboarding trip for later in February. The Snoqualmie Pass was shut down because of all the snow and thank god we didn't even attempt it as avalanche unfolded burying some dumb asses who did try to attempt to cross through it. seattlepi.nwsource.com/transportation/349334_pass31.html


So instead I met friends for "There will be blood," a title that I was a little leery about as I don't like the sight of blood or lots of violence. There is some violence, but Daniel Day Lewis turns in this performance of such a loathsome character -- I can see why the movie is getting accolades. Which brought up the question -- Can DDL ever play a normal character? And is he anything like some of the characters he plays?


And I finally got around to signing up for the Y -- where Mindi and I spent a couple hours. I ventured into my first spin class in a loooong time and all I can say is my butt and legs are killing me now.... If I attempt that again I need to invest in some padded butt shorts....but I'm actually tired as I type this and am going to attempt to try and go to bed before 3 a.m.

Ryan Adams...and a few forgetful moments

Got a chance to finally see Ryan Adams live at the Paramount Theatre in Seattle Saturday night (whohoo! a weekday night off!).

Sometimes I wonder where my head is... I was supposed to meet up at (former) Trib coworker Jeff's house about 5:30, but I left a wee bit late and had to turn back for the tickets that were sitting on my computer desk.

Weather (which turned gray and rainy after several days of sunshine and clear skies) was a hamper but I made it there in time to choose: dinner or trying to catch his roommates gig. We chose diner ... which was some really great conversation, good Thai food and losing track of time... And again, my brain was in retrograde as I thought the show was at the Moore, and as we were driving by the Paramount, thank god Jeff noticed the marquee....

And I thought we had plenty of time since the tickets said 8 and most acts don't go on until sometime after. But we showed up about 20 minutes into a show that ACTUALLY started on time. Both of us have been to our fair share of live shows, so what? really? a rock star starting on time? Holy crap!

The show was a blast and mellow and these girls in front were laughing hysterically in front of me which made me laugh.....

Adams was loopy, of course. Sober? Maybe. A lot more mellow than previous reported performances of being too drunk and rude to the crowd.

Here's a link from an activity that he made us do:


All in all it was a great night.. good music, great company... and it wouldn't be a 'Liz night' if I didn't get lost in Seattle trying to get back home. I'm ok in the day time up there, but still get thrown by the night time and lack of a grid to follow. At least the lighted Sky Needle acted as a beacon to point me in the right direction.

Homeowner.. at last!

The calls and emails started rolling in this afternoon...

I AM OFFICIALLY A HOMEOWNER!!!

My wonderful broker was the first to call (Thanks Jeri Lynn, you've been amazing!) and then Robin, my real estate agent.

And oh wait, the title company called about 5 hours later.. Uh, thanks for the prompt message.... (snicker, snicker....)

But all in all, I'm alternating between giddy and scared shitless.

It's a big step -- and i never thought I would get here. The whole settling down for now... kind of makes me want to bolt. But I'm here for a few years at least.

Work is going really well so that's not an issue of not having to worry about where my mortgage payment is coming from... I'm about to start Super Bowl preview stuff and then we go into prep tournaments and basketball playoffs, then winter World Cup, followed by March Madness, Mariners preview.. and well there is never a down time.

And they handed me a final bill for all of my moving costs today... so all this OT will come in handy.... and they know they'll get their money's worth out of me....

So sad....

I was truly shocked when I was flipping through channels tonight... and caught part of the ticker on E! news... What? I had to wait and see it run in full again.

Heath Ledger? Dead? At 28? Huh?

That cold chill just ran through my body. All you can think is -- what about his daughter? Another young life and talent gone too soon.

His first American movie '10 things I hate about you' was filmed in my newest locale -- and as someone who has a (closet) thing for teen movies -- I know the movie well and have had fun tracking down some of the sights used (and the high school -- Stadium High -- is quite impressive!)

For our local take: www.thenewstribune.com/news/updates/story/262180.html

'You take the good, you take the bad...'

I signed the paperwork today for the townhouse!!!!! We close on Thursday. Whohoo! Three months later.....but at least the end is within the sight line.

On the 'this is how my life has been going' note: The city numbered ALL of our townhouse wrong, giving out the wrong permit numbers to the lots. So that means my address is changing.... AGAIN! The pissed off part that gave me a killer headache is I had to find this out at the close signing when the builder knew THREE weeks ago it was changing and did not inform me of this.

I just FINALLY got the Post office, Fed Ex and UPS -- along with the utility companies -- to deliver, recognize, pick-up garbage and send to the 709 address. It took three months to untangle the fiasco of all of that.. and now this... sigh....(What a time sucker that was -- and now i know where all of my limited time off has gone.)

And all the builder rep can say is 'uh, sorry.' And 'well, when we get around to it, we'll change the house address eventually.'

So for now, I'm sticking with telling people I live at the 709 address until we can get this all straightened out. I'll keep ya in informed when it switched to the newer address -- look for emails and postcards in the mail!

Warning to all of you musicphiles....

I learned this the hard way when I went to recently go grab some music from my external hard drive last week and found out that it was dead to my Mac. Wouldn't mount it, wounldn't read it, basically it was coming up blank.

What??? Noooooooo.....Years of music, pictures that I purposely had transferred to the external to get more space, and in a hurry had not done a second back-up onto DVDs.

My 160G Seagate external that was supposed to have been Mac and PC compatible had converted itself back to a MS-DOS format (for the computer-challenged) that means I am sooo screwed. This is actually a more common thing than I realized and happens when the external is improperly ejected (argh!)

A few hours searching in Mac help forums, trying to piggy back it through a PC and then finally succumbing to defeat and one last ditch effort, which to plagarize from the credit card ad:

$299 for a new 500G LaCie hard drive (Mac-Approved/format friendly drive)
+
$99 for a disk recover program
+
1 sleepless night
+
praying that I would at least get the pictures back
=
never forgetting to back-up again!

It looks like I've gotten back the music, photos and some of my old portfolio pages, design examples, etc.

Some programs may be lost but I can at least replace them with the newer upgrades.

So if anyone can learn from my lesson, I share this with you all as I reorganize it all! Back-up and format the drive to the most appropriate drive!