Like, for REAL.
Queenie and I have traveled around a bit, always having a good time, often getting weird looks from strangers and usually laughing. And over the course of our travels, we have come to the conclusion that there are MANY things in life, for which we are properly prepared, thanks to Band Camp.
For those of you who are unaware, yes, I was in the band in high school and yes, I went to band camp. Our entire HS marching band went to camp together for a week each summer to do marching band stuff.
And at various points in my adult life, I have had the occasion to think - and then exclaim - THIS is just like band camp!
A train in France was just like band camp, in that there was a woman chaperoning a school group on our train who scolded us much like the infamous band moms of our past.
Peru was just like band camp, in that we walked a lot and ate meals as a group. And we had sherpas carrying our things around for us. (Although at band camp, the sherpas were freshmen and they were free. In the Andes, we had to pay for that. There were no freshmen around.)
And Singapore is like band camp in that you walk a lot, get sweaty and no one really cares, because everyone else is walking a lot and is just as sweaty as you. So that's cool.
Of course, this means Singapore is also like band camp in that you need Band-Aids, sunscreen, baby powder and athletic tape, for the blisters, sunburn, heat rash and sprained ankles that come along with.
Showing posts with label PattyCake. Show all posts
Showing posts with label PattyCake. Show all posts
Saturday, August 18, 2012
Monday, January 3, 2011
"Before you see it on Facebook...."
Things our parents never had to deal with: phone calls from friends that begin with "I just needed to tell you something before you saw it on Facebook".
Generally this statement prefaces some big news (engaged, married, pregnant, divorced) and generally I'm grateful for the heads up. I dont mind learning big news about long-lost friends this way, but close friends, I would rather hear from personally. In fact, I have warned friends who I expect to have big news soon, that this news should be conveyed personally. Fritha, Conan, Rosie, Frannie, PattyCake, Pickle - I'm looking at you.
I had two such "before it's on Facebook...." conversations recently: one was a dear friend who was telling me she's engaged (so excited for them!!!) and one was a friend telling me she's expecting twins. (TWINS!!!) And this is very exciting news.
It's just such a sign of the times that these conversations take place. We are all so addicted to the internet (by "we" I mean "me and hopefully y'all too, but I say we so I'm not alone in my psychosis") that it's the source of information gathering, news sharing, meeting, dating, buying, selling, learning, telling.....you get the point. And while it's often very efficient to share news on Facebook, because you can quickly reach a large number of people, there are still some of us who like the phone call.
So any of you about to share big news, make at least a few phone calls before putting it on Facebook. If you call me, I promise to respond with an appropriate amount of emotion and support. Possibly even an overload of emotion and support. I mean, you know how I do.
Generally this statement prefaces some big news (engaged, married, pregnant, divorced) and generally I'm grateful for the heads up. I dont mind learning big news about long-lost friends this way, but close friends, I would rather hear from personally. In fact, I have warned friends who I expect to have big news soon, that this news should be conveyed personally. Fritha, Conan, Rosie, Frannie, PattyCake, Pickle - I'm looking at you.
I had two such "before it's on Facebook...." conversations recently: one was a dear friend who was telling me she's engaged (so excited for them!!!) and one was a friend telling me she's expecting twins. (TWINS!!!) And this is very exciting news.
It's just such a sign of the times that these conversations take place. We are all so addicted to the internet (by "we" I mean "me and hopefully y'all too, but I say we so I'm not alone in my psychosis") that it's the source of information gathering, news sharing, meeting, dating, buying, selling, learning, telling.....you get the point. And while it's often very efficient to share news on Facebook, because you can quickly reach a large number of people, there are still some of us who like the phone call.
So any of you about to share big news, make at least a few phone calls before putting it on Facebook. If you call me, I promise to respond with an appropriate amount of emotion and support. Possibly even an overload of emotion and support. I mean, you know how I do.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Korean Monkey Baby is greatly pleased
Last night was Family Dinner #4. Modifying a recipe from PattyCake, I made white chicken enchilada casserole, with chips & salsa and rice & beans.
Evidence that it was pretty bangin':
- everyone went back for seconds
- I greatly pleased Korean Monkey Baby
- I got 4 high fives and a slap on the ass
- The Tad* said it was good...twice**
- FrankieWayne mumbled (through a mouthful) that it was really good
- they asked if we could have this again next time, too
In case I havent mentioned lately that I LOVE family dinner...let me just say it now. I LOVE FAMILY DINNER!
*The Tad is generally referred to as "my idiot friend". However, there are two subjects about which I will always trust The Tad: the internet and food.
**The Tad does not give compliments. The Tad generally makes fun of you using slightly offensive references to show his superiority over you.
Evidence that it was pretty bangin':
- everyone went back for seconds
- I greatly pleased Korean Monkey Baby
- I got 4 high fives and a slap on the ass
- The Tad* said it was good...twice**
- FrankieWayne mumbled (through a mouthful) that it was really good
- they asked if we could have this again next time, too
In case I havent mentioned lately that I LOVE family dinner...let me just say it now. I LOVE FAMILY DINNER!
*The Tad is generally referred to as "my idiot friend". However, there are two subjects about which I will always trust The Tad: the internet and food.
**The Tad does not give compliments. The Tad generally makes fun of you using slightly offensive references to show his superiority over you.
Monday, June 1, 2009
Gathering Dust
I've been partially through several books for a while now. Somehow I just keep finding other things to do besides reading.
But today I FINISHED A BOOK! I was waiting for the bus this morning (which was about 15 minutes late and therefore crowded and slow all the way in to the office) and I opened up the book that was stashed in my bag. And I READ IT!
A few months ago (ok, maybe it was last summer...time goes by so quickly at my age) I was having snacks on the patio at the Red Lion Hotel with Fritha and Conan (and I think Pickle and PattyCake and Traskinator? and maybe some others?) when Conan reminded me of an author I hadnt read in years. We were discussing medical conditions and mitochondrial diseases came up and Conan said "isnt that what the boy in A Wrinkle in Time had?"
I LOVED that book as a kid. In fact, I loved the whole series, particularly the third book, A Swiftly Tilting Planet. Re-read it several times. Upon sharing that with Conan, he informed me that I am a big nerd and that reading sci-fi/fantasy books like that thoroughly stamped my geek card.
Not that I deny my geekdom. Despite having been told "I don't really get the geek vibe from you" I really am a geek and I embrace it. After discussing Madeleine L'Engle's books with Conan and Fritha, I went searching the trilogy to re-re-read it. Unfortunately those books still live at home with mom and dad. After unsuccessfully searching the intertubes for a downloadable version, I gave up.
At Conan's last weekend, I was sitting on the deck, enjoying a nice 7 & 7 and wishing for a nice book to read. Since he didnt have any US Weeklys lying around, I hit the bookshelf, where I found A Swiftly Tilting Planet. Yay! I picked it up and began reading. And enjoyed it just as much this time as all those times before.
AND I can finally mark a book "100%" in my new reading progress chart! Maybe now I'll get around to finishing the other books that are stacked by my bed, on my kitchen counter, desk and coffee table.
But today I FINISHED A BOOK! I was waiting for the bus this morning (which was about 15 minutes late and therefore crowded and slow all the way in to the office) and I opened up the book that was stashed in my bag. And I READ IT!
A few months ago (ok, maybe it was last summer...time goes by so quickly at my age) I was having snacks on the patio at the Red Lion Hotel with Fritha and Conan (and I think Pickle and PattyCake and Traskinator? and maybe some others?) when Conan reminded me of an author I hadnt read in years. We were discussing medical conditions and mitochondrial diseases came up and Conan said "isnt that what the boy in A Wrinkle in Time had?"
I LOVED that book as a kid. In fact, I loved the whole series, particularly the third book, A Swiftly Tilting Planet. Re-read it several times. Upon sharing that with Conan, he informed me that I am a big nerd and that reading sci-fi/fantasy books like that thoroughly stamped my geek card.
Not that I deny my geekdom. Despite having been told "I don't really get the geek vibe from you" I really am a geek and I embrace it. After discussing Madeleine L'Engle's books with Conan and Fritha, I went searching the trilogy to re-re-read it. Unfortunately those books still live at home with mom and dad. After unsuccessfully searching the intertubes for a downloadable version, I gave up.
At Conan's last weekend, I was sitting on the deck, enjoying a nice 7 & 7 and wishing for a nice book to read. Since he didnt have any US Weeklys lying around, I hit the bookshelf, where I found A Swiftly Tilting Planet. Yay! I picked it up and began reading. And enjoyed it just as much this time as all those times before.
AND I can finally mark a book "100%" in my new reading progress chart! Maybe now I'll get around to finishing the other books that are stacked by my bed, on my kitchen counter, desk and coffee table.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
STILL Can't. Focus.
But can breathe. My sinus infection thing is mostly gone, just a bit of a lingering cough. The lack of focus has more to do with my (self-diagnosed) ADD than a stuffy nose or associated medicines.
As usual, my illness struck at the most inopportune time: busy week at work and out-of-town guest. So I had to drug up and power through. Which I did and now I'm fine. Yay.
Despite my stuffy nose and cold meds, Maid Marian and I had a lovely visit. She got in on a Wednesday night and spent the next couple of days exploring the city, hitting the Market, the flagship Nordstrom, other lovely city spots. We ate at such fabulous places as Collins Pub and Pesos, visited the Space Needle (at sunset, ftw!) and loitered about.
Maid Marian got to meet Pie and Fritha and Conan and partake of Conan's delicious kabobs. She also got to meet The Tad, FrankieWayne, PattyCake, Pickle and others (about whom she had heard many stories).
This was all fun, but probably the highlight of the trip was the lovely hike we took...by accident.
Seattle has ferryboats. Ferryboats are cool. We thought it'd be fun to ride one. So we looked up the ferry schedule and prices and figured out where the ferry terminals were and decided that we'd take the ferry to Vashon Island. I'd heard it was fun.
So we purchase passenger fares and walk on to the ferry. We have a lovely ride, see some great views and land on Vashon, where we start walking toward downtown. We walk (at approximately a 6% grade) for 30 minutes or so and come upon the Vashon Island Realty Office, which advertises maps and ferry schedules. We stop in to pick up maps and schedules and the guy says "You girls walkin' to town?" And we say "Yes sir." (we're good Southern girls...of course we said Yes sir).
To which he replied "You thought it was close to the ferry terminal, didn't you?"
Uh...blink blink. "We didnt really know...we're just adventurin'."
"Yeah, town's about 4 more miles from here."
Uh...blink blink.
By this point, we figure we've walked that far, we might as well keep walking. Plus, it was nice weather and we didnt have anything else we had to do. So we kept walking.
We passed 3 houses, a retirement center, a cat store (where you could buy cats, not stuff for cats), lots of trees, some fields and a couple of horses. We're pretty sure the horses were laughing at us. Much like the drivers of the cars who kept passing us.
Something like 55 minutes passes and we walk upon an Episcopal Church that is also a bus stop. I remember someone (JazzHands I think) telling me that town was "a little ways" from the ferry terminal and thinking I should have asked "Whatchu mean 'a little ways'?"
By this point, we are hot, thirsty, in need of "facilities" and just plain over it. We hop the bus back to the ferry terminal and realize that there's this dumpy looking Mexican resturant on the water, so we head in to wait for the ferry. We found a nice little table on the deck, ordered (delicious) nachos and margaritas and spent the next couple of hours reminiscing about our accidental hike.
I really should send her this as a reminder of our outing.
As usual, my illness struck at the most inopportune time: busy week at work and out-of-town guest. So I had to drug up and power through. Which I did and now I'm fine. Yay.
Despite my stuffy nose and cold meds, Maid Marian and I had a lovely visit. She got in on a Wednesday night and spent the next couple of days exploring the city, hitting the Market, the flagship Nordstrom, other lovely city spots. We ate at such fabulous places as Collins Pub and Pesos, visited the Space Needle (at sunset, ftw!) and loitered about.
Maid Marian got to meet Pie and Fritha and Conan and partake of Conan's delicious kabobs. She also got to meet The Tad, FrankieWayne, PattyCake, Pickle and others (about whom she had heard many stories).
This was all fun, but probably the highlight of the trip was the lovely hike we took...by accident.
Seattle has ferryboats. Ferryboats are cool. We thought it'd be fun to ride one. So we looked up the ferry schedule and prices and figured out where the ferry terminals were and decided that we'd take the ferry to Vashon Island. I'd heard it was fun.
So we purchase passenger fares and walk on to the ferry. We have a lovely ride, see some great views and land on Vashon, where we start walking toward downtown. We walk (at approximately a 6% grade) for 30 minutes or so and come upon the Vashon Island Realty Office, which advertises maps and ferry schedules. We stop in to pick up maps and schedules and the guy says "You girls walkin' to town?" And we say "Yes sir." (we're good Southern girls...of course we said Yes sir).
To which he replied "You thought it was close to the ferry terminal, didn't you?"
Uh...blink blink. "We didnt really know...we're just adventurin'."
"Yeah, town's about 4 more miles from here."
Uh...blink blink.
By this point, we figure we've walked that far, we might as well keep walking. Plus, it was nice weather and we didnt have anything else we had to do. So we kept walking.
We passed 3 houses, a retirement center, a cat store (where you could buy cats, not stuff for cats), lots of trees, some fields and a couple of horses. We're pretty sure the horses were laughing at us. Much like the drivers of the cars who kept passing us.
Something like 55 minutes passes and we walk upon an Episcopal Church that is also a bus stop. I remember someone (JazzHands I think) telling me that town was "a little ways" from the ferry terminal and thinking I should have asked "Whatchu mean 'a little ways'?"
By this point, we are hot, thirsty, in need of "facilities" and just plain over it. We hop the bus back to the ferry terminal and realize that there's this dumpy looking Mexican resturant on the water, so we head in to wait for the ferry. We found a nice little table on the deck, ordered (delicious) nachos and margaritas and spent the next couple of hours reminiscing about our accidental hike.
I really should send her this as a reminder of our outing.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Old, Older, Oldest
Last week was my birthday. I turned another year older.
I loved my birthday this year. It was on Friday the 13th (which is awesome) and I got to go to work! (I love going to work on my birthday...everyone has to be nice to me!)
PattyCake wrangled a fun crew (Pickle and G-Funk and Shanks) for a birthday lunch, because she said "no one should have to eat Lean Cuisine on her birthday." We headed to Collins Pub, where my steak sandwich was fantastic, both glasses of wine were delicious and the waitress brought us a birthday dessert.
Back at the office, my Big Purple Cup was returned to me, I was toasted at our "staff meeting" and after a couple glasses of wine, PattyCake and I headed out. We got on a bus to go to my birthday party, missed our stop but managed to find our way home from wherever we got off the bus.
After changing into a Sparkly Sweater Dress, I headed to the Nabob, where Rosie, Frannie, Bullwinkle, Fritha, Conan and Pie were all waiting with gifts. I got a tape measure, a flask, a Big Fat Llama and cupcakes. Yay!
Over the course of the evening, we had a great time just mingling with each other and the other fantastic friends who joined us: Jazz Hands, Sigma, Traskinator, FrankieWayne, Pickle and Skater among others.
And since we're not spring chickens anymore, we headed home around 11:30pm and got a good night's sleep.
2009 birthday cupcake count: 9 (major improvement over 2008)
All in all, an EXCELLENT birthday.
I loved my birthday this year. It was on Friday the 13th (which is awesome) and I got to go to work! (I love going to work on my birthday...everyone has to be nice to me!)
PattyCake wrangled a fun crew (Pickle and G-Funk and Shanks) for a birthday lunch, because she said "no one should have to eat Lean Cuisine on her birthday." We headed to Collins Pub, where my steak sandwich was fantastic, both glasses of wine were delicious and the waitress brought us a birthday dessert.
Back at the office, my Big Purple Cup was returned to me, I was toasted at our "staff meeting" and after a couple glasses of wine, PattyCake and I headed out. We got on a bus to go to my birthday party, missed our stop but managed to find our way home from wherever we got off the bus.
After changing into a Sparkly Sweater Dress, I headed to the Nabob, where Rosie, Frannie, Bullwinkle, Fritha, Conan and Pie were all waiting with gifts. I got a tape measure, a flask, a Big Fat Llama and cupcakes. Yay!
Over the course of the evening, we had a great time just mingling with each other and the other fantastic friends who joined us: Jazz Hands, Sigma, Traskinator, FrankieWayne, Pickle and Skater among others.
And since we're not spring chickens anymore, we headed home around 11:30pm and got a good night's sleep.
2009 birthday cupcake count: 9 (major improvement over 2008)
All in all, an EXCELLENT birthday.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)