Listing

It might look like I’m sitting here doing nothing other than staring off into space, staring back at my screen, off into space, back at my screen, off into space, back at my screen…

But really, the cogs are moaning and groaning and slowly finding their intended interconnections. As a result, thoughts are forming! Plans are getting planned. Lists are straightened up (does anyone get that pun besides me?) and typed with bullet point precision on my brain, with imminent transferal to the screen looming. I’m printing maps; I’m calculating drive times. I’m heading off to Bet’s next weekend for the annual gingerbread house fete.

Since middle school, with just a few years missed here and there, Bet and I have made gingerbread houses every Christmas. They haven’t always been the biggest, the grandest, the neatest, or the greatest, but they’ve always been the most sincere. Linus would like ‘em.

And what could be the icing on top of the icing? I get to meet Murr! I love her writing, her point of view, her self-accepting style. The thought of meeting her gives me butterflies. I get to go eat at the popular girls’ table. Heaven help me.

Lists. I’m going to Powell’s, which requires updating my list of Books that I have/Books that I don’t have/Books I need to have/Books I might need to have.

Lists. I’m likely to hit the Sur la Table kitchen store near Powell’s, which requires updating my list of Tools that I have/Tools that I don’t have/Tools I need to have/Tools I might need to have.

Lists. I need a map to Bet’s. I need a map to Portland. I need a map of Vancouver in case I decide to go see the Fort again.

Lists. CANDY! Our houses will need red-hots, M&Ms, gum drops, chocolate rock candy, peppermint swirls, mulit-colored sunflower seeds…

Lists.

Lists.

Lists.

Oh my.

Meet Steeeve

Some years ago, about eight or so I guess, I scored some really cheap tickets to fly south to visit my side of the family in Southern California in February.  Heaven, I thought.  Totally heaven.  The round trip tickets from Seattle to San Diego were under a hundred dollars total.  Not each way, mind you, but total.  The tickets were the right price, and leaving our below zero degrees for weeks and fogged in for months home wasn't a bit hard to do....or so I thought!

My first inkling of a problem showed up in my inbox.  The message was something along the lines of Danger Will Robinson, Danger. Please call now.  Turned out, the flight was cancelled, but they could put us on another one.  This flight left from the airport at 5 am.  Not a big deal, unless that airport is about three hours away...

Oh, and now there's a layover in San Francisco. Okay...

Still, for a hundred bucks round trip, not a big deal. 

The helpful man on the phone in the call center told me his name was Steeeve.  I asked him, because I was curious, which part of India he was from.  "The call center." he replied.  Oh.  "What's your real name?" I asked.  "Steeeve," he said. "My name is St-eeeve."

So, when this pretty little lady showed up at our house the other day, I asked Chirp Chirp what we should call the new houseguest.  The immediate answer was Steeeve.  Okay then.

Meet Steeeve, the gravid praying mantis.

"Thank you for calling. My name is Steeeve.  How may I help you today?"

Any day now, she'll lay her eggs.  Now we just need to come up with 10-400 names for all the little Steeeves.

Glass beads for boring people

Yesterday evening found us sitting around trying to figure out what to do this weekend.  I came up with the great idea to get in the car and drive to Crater Lake.  We could be halfway there before bedtime, spend a couple more hours driving on Saturday, spend the day in the park, and then return home that night.  In 24 hours, I said, we could be sitting right back here with a trip to Crater Lake under our belts.

Nobody else was willing to entertain the thought.  Not even a little bit.  Not even in the teensiest little bit.  IN fact, the idea was shot down before it completely left my mouth.

In return, I pointed out just how annoyingly boring they were.

Mr. Boom said we could do whatever I wanted to do as long as it didn't entail spending the entire weekend in the car driving to a large hole in the ground that the weather service had a 100% chance of rain for the entire  weekend.

It was at that point I remembered seeing something online that I really wanted to try...

Thus, we spent our Friday night learning how to make glass beads from broken bottles.

A few hours later we had these two beads to show for the effort.

I can't wait to try a few things...

I'm thinking icicles for the Christmas tree, maybe little pendants for gifts, maybe enough made that someday I could make a little bracelet or necklace...who knows?

Blogger is giving me grief, even though I'm logged in as the administrator this evening.  I'll try to explain the process of bead-making sometime, but I've spent hours just getting these photos uploaded and this little bit of text inserted into the post. In fact, it has taken me longer to write this post than the entire bead project itself took!

In the meantime, take a look at this Instructable to get a really good feel for the process.

Also, don't forget that sometime tomorrow I'll be posting the winner of our one-year giveaway!

PS Anyone want to go to Crater Lake???! I'll drive!

Westward ho! (by Kat)

And we're off...again!
This time to the beach.
This time I'm taking my espresso maker.
This time tomorrow, I'll be on a veranda overlooking Puget Sound...
These are the good times!

Bet, blog something, okay?
'mkaaay???

PS This video has been in my head all day. You're welcome!

Back from the Tetons (by Kat)

This past weekend was a bittersweet journey for us. Mr. Boom has the dearest, sweetest, most fun aunt, who just happens to live in the prettiest place I know. She and her husband built their log home from scratch on five acres at the base of the Tetons many years ago, and their they raised two amazing boys.

Amazing? How about spectacular!

The oldest boy just married a girl he met at helicopter school in Hawaii. She's such a sweetheart, and a babe to boot. They stayed in a cabin that the younger son built this summer. From wood he cut in the forest. And hauled back to the house, and stripped, and hewed out at the ends, and stacked, and chinked, and roofed, and holy heck how did he do that?!

The younger son, having given up his cabin to his older bother and brand spankin' new sister in law, stayed in the tipi he built the year before. And by tipi, I mean a 12 foot tall, 12 foot wide, stone-floored, sewn canvas, antler buttons to attach the canvas to the poles, mansion of a tipi.

The younger son followed the older son to Hawaii, though, and now mom and dad are following. So this weekend was a combination wedding reception and farewell to the Teton Valley party.

Did I get any photos of the tipi, the cabin, the beautiful yard? No. My photos are filled with the faces I love that I won't see again for a very long time. Therefore, I don't have a lot to show you, which kinda sucks.

But you know what? I learned a great deal this weekend. I saw awesomeness in action. I'm not the kind of person to put up with a lot of whining if people aren't willing to make changes. Now, I do whine quite a bit myself, but that's different, right?

So, here's Mr. Boom's aunt and uncle, complaining about the long (and I do mean loooooong) winters. So what do they do? They both quite their good-paying and very secure jobs, sold the house and everything in it, and they're following their sons to Hawaii.

Just. Like. That.

They're not sitting around saying "how could we ever move from this home we built by hand" and "this isn't the economy in which to quit a good job" nor "how will we ever find a place to stay in Hawaii." They're saying "watch out, here we come!"

Cowabunga, dude!

Isn't that cool?

Okay, so here are the few and the ugly. My vacation photos from the Tetons, the worst you'll ever see on the web!

A whole lot of gorgeous nothing near Salmon, Idaho

A house with a great view. I'd love to live here.

A moose on the outskirts of Driggs, Idaho.

A near-full moon lit the world and our tent the last night there.

Early morning view of the Tetons from our pillows in the tent.

A view of the Teton Valley from Horseshoe Canyon Road

An old farmstead up the Horseshoe. I'd like to live here, too.

Amazing light show on these aspen trees, but I couldn't capture it.

After the last fire in the pit, a little light shining up from
the top of the tipi, the son's cabin in the background, all lit by moonlight.
(This shot was taken after midnight w/out flash!)

On your mark, get set...(by Kat)

The Forester is packed to the gills!
We pick up Mr. Boom's mom in fifteen minutes, and then we're off on another adventure.
The views will rival Cascade Pass, but this time we'll have lots of family to share it with.
I can't wait for this day to be over, as the entirety of it will be spent driving.
If you guys beg, Bet might write a post....
Otherwise, see y'all later!

There's something in my yard...(by Kat)

There's something in my yard...

Besides an artichoke or three...

Besides a zuchinni or two...


Besides the hen who won't stay out of the raised beds.

Whatever it is, it's been eating cherries and service berries...

I think the trail cam goes back out tonight!

On another note, Mr. Boom and I are headed up the North Cascades loop this weekend. Do you have any recommendations on good trails, good spots to roll out a sleeping bag (or maybe even a hotel), or other can't-miss places? I'm just hoping Dwight Schrute doesn't rear his ugly head again. This is a trip we've been wanting to go on for years, and for some reason we just never have--until now. Chirp-chirp is safely ensconced at her cousins' home, and we're doing the Pretend-We're-Young-and-Childless thing. Should be lots of fun!

We have $300 for gas and food, courtesy of my folks who decided I needed to get away from it all after my Grandpa passed away. This is not what my Grandpa would have done with the money, but he's not here, so there! This is also not what my parents had in my mind, but again, they're not here, so there! So, what would you do????

Triskelion of kitties

I fell in love with the trislekion when visiting France the summer between 9th and 10th grades. I was lucky enough to befriend a girl at school who was born in France, but lived in the States. That summer, her mom took me along on their annual trip home for the summer.

We spent one glorious week up in Brittany, and I have always wanted to return. The triskel is an important cultural icon to the Celts, and signifies three forces. Which three forces? Pretty much any three you want. Sometimes earth, wind, and sea; sometimes mind, body, and spirit.


In this case we have destruction, mayhem, and allergens. My sweet triskelion of kitties.

Scurrying (by Kat)

I'm scurrying, scurrying, scurrying today!

Tomorrow morning (can you really call it morning when it's still dark?) we head far and away.

In fact, we're leaving the country altogether.

Neither Mr. Boom nor Chirp Chirp have ever been to Victoria, B.C., so that's where we're going for spring break. We're taking the Clipper from Seattle, so we won't have a car. We're relying on the local bus system, backed up by the good reviews I've been looking for but haven't found on the internet.

Our hotel is two blocks from the dock where we'll alight. I'm hoping those are nice short blocks, and without significant elevation change. I've found that no matter how light I pack, hauling luggage just isn't fun. We stayed in Friday Harbor once, when Chirp Chirp was about two years old. From the dock to the B&B was only five blocks or so, but they were vertical blocks. I swear, climbing a ladder with her in one arm and our stuff in the other arm would have been easier than scaling that hill. Yes, look-ma-no-arms ladder-climbing would have been easier. Mr. Boom doesn't look back at that vacation fondly...

So, yes, we'd like a flat walk to the hotel, and a room with a waterfront view. I'd also like to meet the queen. Yeah. I'll settle for one out of three!

We all want to visit Butchart Gardens. Getting to it on the bus should be an adventure. I've read we should plan on 20 minutes to 1.5 hours for the trip. Okaaaaay. Pack food! Got it.

I don't want to go to the wax museum (still have nightmares from the trip there in middle school), they don't want to go to the museum. We might split up for a while and go our separate ways.

High tea? Not with my family, and not at those rates ($40+). Maybe when I meet the queen she'll invite me in for a nosh?

Have you been to Victoria recently? What do you recommend? How are the buses? Most importantly, is Dwight anywhere around?

See ya' next week!

PS Hey Bet, now would be a really good time to post :)