Happy Holidays!

--------> X-mas List <--------

okay, some folks wanted me to come up with an x-mas list, and I put it of for a long time, but here it is:

•the new iPod Nano, the one with the video camera built in!
•some new soccer shorts and/or new soccer socks, mine are getting a little beat up
•renew my subscription to Saveur
•a Seattle Art Museum membership for H. and I
•Books! like Soccernomics, or good cookbooks, or comic books, or a decent world atlas.
•Cds and DVDs are good too, i especially like TV shows on dvd
•we could also use new RAM for our computer and I need a dresser for the bedroom, but those things are kind of impossible to get as gifts.

(and of course season tickets to the Sounders would be greatly appreciated.)

Merry Solstice!

kimchi and beyond

I love kimchi. I started eating it regularly in the Marshall Islands, my favorite kind was sold in a bag and had pickled garlic in it. I know, really no surprise if you know me at all. I was intrigued when my Yoga Journal magazine had a recipe for quick kimchi. Kimchi is really good for you, especially in the cold and flu season, it has vitamin C, vitamin A, iron, calcium and lactic acid (to name just a few of the health benefits). I feel very lucky to be married to someone who will try anything! So, we decided to make kimchi at home! It is delicious! And so easy to make...

Then my mom came to visit! We went to Bainbridge, see top photo and here she is at Matador Happy Hour by the fire. We mostly laid low, hung out and took it easy...

Then today we finally got to make a recipe I have been wanting to try, Kimchi Quesadillas!!! They were so good! Surprisingly good, actually....I recommend this recipe! Cheers!

blogging is for the birds...

Sorry parents, we have been spending a lot less time on the computer lately. We have been reading, books, comics and magazines, that is...and doing other things not on the apple. It has been good for music and listening to NPR. I have the day off and was glad to hear this story, perfect for Veteran's Day. More sometime...

oh my goodness!

meet Sprocket!

jets to brazil

I am sitting on the couch with a heating pad on my back trying to watch Breakfast at Tiffanys. I have never seen it and so far, I am not sure what the big deal is. Though I noticed the "Jets to Brazil" poster in Holly's apartment. On Wednesday morning at 4 am I woke up in blinding pain. My back and neck spasming and tighter than something very very tight. Since then I have been sleeping or propped up on the couch, with a heating pad and on muscle relaxers. Yesterday I ventured out to get a massage, which I think helped, but the outside world was really too much for my condition.

I have had time to watch the first season of True Blood, the sixth season of Buffy, The Women remake and the original, Little Children and Breakfast at Tiffanys. I am feeling much better today, but I did actually move around the house this morning and worked a little on an iep that I need to finish by Tuesday, and now I am hurting, so it's back to the drugs, heating pad and couch. I was going to go to the shelter today to volunteer, but there is no way that was a good idea. I hope that I fully recovered by next weekend, so I can volunteer.

I can knit a little, but mostly I have seriously been doing a whole lot of nothing. I am pretty sure I can blame all this on a stupid basket that I was filling with work crap and it weighed a million pounds...it will be purely decorative from now on.

rain city

the rain is back. i hired some dude to come and detail my car today, after the sap storm attacked it last month, it was about time. now it is on and off pouring rain, i told him to wait until next weekend. hopefully it won't be raining this hard then. i don't have any plans this weekend. i have one iep to write, knitting to do and the sounders are playing today at 5. i am entertaining the idea of baking something...we'll see if that happens. rain seems like buffy weather.

yesterday after school i had an iep meeting and ended up staying later at work then i planned, talking to some co-workers. my classroom is coming together this year. i have been spending a lot of time getting trained, prepping and then reflecting on teaching science. right now we are learning about organisms and it is going well. it has been a little exhausting, but the results have already been good. it is s different way of teaching, compared to how we do math and reading, by front loading or an anticipatory set, so the students get to actually do their own investigations and observations without a lot of help from us.

to make a short story long...when i got home topher, who had friday off, had made a delicious salad and poured me a glass of wine. then we decided to go on a date to palace kitchen, where we had steamed clams and oysters on the half shell. then we went to see zombieland, which was entertaining, it had 2 of my favorite actors in it, woody harrelson and bill murray and of course zombies!!!

Legos!

intensify

This morning we are hanging out listening to Reggae and drinking coffee. Topher is making pancakes, I am knitting and also haphazardly cleaning/organizing our house. This week we both stayed home one day with a 24 hour bug. The house is still recovering. We are feeling better and today is jam packed with possibilities. Brickcon is happening in lower queen anne, it is a Lego nerd conference and the general public is invited today and tomorrow. It happens to also be the educator preview day at the Pacific Science Center, which means I get in free and can bring a guest. We also are going to head to capitol hill to get burritos at Bimbo's later and I really want to pick some candles and long sleeve shirts, as Fall has arrived in Seattle.

Last night we had sushi at a new restaurant, Obasan, they messed up our order so we got a super deal and it was delicious! Then we went to SIFF, also in lower queen anne and saw ALIEN on the big screen! It was amazing! Tonight we are seeing ALIENS, which we are really excited about too. We also decided to become SIFF members, in part so we can see More Than a Game, which is open to SIFF members only on Wednesday. The movie took 7 1/2 years to make and follows LeBron and his high school team to the state championship!

got some champagne for a 40 oz frown

Sorry about the hold up...here are some of my favorite photos from our trip to OZ...

busy busy

We have been really busy out living our lives. We went to Australia and it was great! Then we came home and I started work. We have been doing a lot more around town and trying to get out to enjoy the weather and each other more than we had been. At some point I will share some photos here, but in the meantime, we are all good.

Monday and Tuesday under construction!

Monday: We ate breakfast at home and then drove over to West Seattle to walk on Alki Beach. It was beautiful and warm...then it was the obligatory trip to Target with Mom...then we headed to Jolly Roger for dinner and an early birthday dinner for Topher! They are moving to a new location soon, so we took some photos to commemorate the occasion.


Monday: We ate breakfast at home and then drove over to West Seattle to walk on Alki Beach. It was beautiful and warm...

Tuesday: Mom and I shopped in Ballard and ate lunch at La Carta de Oaxaca. We were tired and hot, it was hot again. All three of us laid low until we headed downtown via public transportation for a 10 course meal at Earth & Ocean...
1. "W Sexy Fries" (Perfectly cooked fries with truffles and pecorino romano cheese)
2. Plate of hand crafted dry, cured meats
3.
4.
5. Tuna Tar tare (pacific ahi, smoked steelhead roe, sizzling garlic)
6.
7. Pacific Oysters (radish and celery mignonette)
8. Cured Salmon (This was my favorite)
9. Pasta with duck and
10. Peanut butter chocolate ?, Key Lime Trifle and 3 different kinds of sorbet with fresh fruit

SUNDAZE

We walked around Discovery Park in the morning. Then we drove over to Capital Hill to visit the Seattle Asian Art Museum. Then we were starving and headed over to Chinook's for dinner, which was mostly oysters. Yum! Then we came home and watched The Simpsons with Topher, who was out doing his own thang. It was hot again and we were lazy, though Mom and I did yoga before heading to bed.

go sounders! go whedon!

Saturday we got to babysit Esther! She was very well behaved and both Topher and I got her to take naps! She is very cute and did well with my mom too! We watched the Sounders play Chelsea online, while Esther's parents were at the game and it was exciting to see even more people pack into the stadium!


Topher and I went to the annual Serenity geek out benefit on Saturday night. This year it was quite an affair; Serenity, dinner and Dr. Horrible's Sing-A-Long Blog on the big screen! Next year we are going to have to dress up, we forgot this year. It was so fun to see it again and I am ready to watch Firefly again....Equality Now is the organization which Joss works to support through these annual screenings and the Seattle Browncoats made their target this year!!!

Update!

Friday: Mom and I took the bus downtown. First we stopped by Earth & Ocean to say hello to Topher! Then we went to the Seattle Art Museum and saw Andrew Wyeth; Remembrance and Painting Under Attack 1949- 78. The shows were amazing. It was a very hot day and when Topher met us at SAM and said that we should be prepared, we decided to stay inside the SAM building....so he went to the bar at TASTE and we continued wandering around the freezing cold galleries and eventually made our way to TASTE. We had a delicious dinner including but not limited to; oysters, chickpea frites, ling cod, scallops and bisteca. (This our first time back after we ate there after getting married! Almost a year later!)

another fun Thursday!

We took it easy on Tuesday...Mom mostly read and napped. Yesterday was Topher's day off and we ate breakfast at Sunlight Cafe, got baked in the sun at Kubota Gardens and then went to 3rd Place Books for my knitting night. Today I actually slept in and Mom and I went to Peet's for the Matcha Green Tea Freddo and we are going to head over to Ballard to eat lunch and see The Proposal. Topher is back at work and he has Soccer tonight, so Mom and I am going to have a lot of time to hang out together!

Wednesday

Monday

Sunday!

I did not take photos. We walked to Fremont, it was cooler and a bit rainy. We had snacks at The Flying Apron and went to Showpony to do a little shopping. Then we walked home and decided to take it easy and ate leftovers from our cookout on Friday before the Storm game. The Storm played the Chicago Sky and damn they were good! 2 of the Sky's players Kristie Toliver and Candice Dupree were pretty much unstoppable. The Storm kept up, but ended up losing, it was still a fantastic time and we had excellent seats! I also went ahead and got Topher and I tickets for several more games throughout the Summer, so we can continue to enjoy our local basketball team! By the time we got home, it was time to call it a night.

We have been enjoying Flight of the Conchords, mom has never seen it and loves it as much as us! Yesterday, Monday Eileen and I went up to Mount Rainer for the day. It was beautiful and socked in, but still lovely. When we got home I made Spring Rolls and we were all beat again, watched a F of the C and then called it a night! Photos to come...

Saturday