Reader Question, Answered

Keep your questions coming here!

BeeHive asked:

Do you ever miss Pensacola?

Great question! The answer is yes, and no. There are tons of things I definitely don't miss, including (but not limited to), sweet tea, Southern accents, the oppressive heat and humidity, bugs, fear of hurricanes, and more sweet tea.

Yet, I've realized there are several things that I do miss about Pensacola:

1) That it was a big city. Pensacola had tons of restaurants, stores, bars, and other important city components. Even though the geography of the city could make traveling from one part to another a bit of a challenge, it was still all there. And Anacortes just can't compete there.

2) That it had a fairly substantial sized airport. Traveling home (or anywhere) was vastly simpler when we lived in Pensacola. Drive twenty minutes to the airport, and hop a flight. Now, it's a two hour drive to the aiport in Seattle. Additionally, the Pensacola airport had lots of flights to Wisconsin, which was great for us.

3) That it was relatively closer to home than where we are now. Traveling from Wisconsin to Northern Florida is totally do-able. NavyGuy and I drove it in two days. Flights were a simple jump to Atlanta, then a short connecting flight to Milwaukee. Pensacola is also in the Central Time Zone, so it was easy to keep in touch with friends and family back home - no irritating math to try and figure out if I'm going to wake someone up or interrupt someone's workday. Northwest Washington to the Midwest is a different ball of wax - basically, you have to allot an entire day just for the trip, which cramps my jet-setting style.

4) That it had beaches. Lots of beaches. If you're going to get technical, Washington has beaches. But if I have to wear a wet suit and winter coat to go swimming, it ain't really a beach.

5) That Pensacola meant I could see lots of NavyGuy. Let me explain. When NavyGuy and I were in Pensacola together, he was still in flight school, so he'd go several days without having to do much of anything. Maybe show up for muster at 8am and then back home for the rest of the day. One or two flights a week. So, I got used to having him around. And I'll always associate Pensacola with us. It's where we started our Navy journey, and despite all the struggles, sweat (literally), and sweet tea - I'll always miss Pensacola just a little bit.

Where have you previously lived that you can now look back on fondly?

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Poppy Seed Challenge

Guess what happens when you spend much of your free time diddling online?

You stumble upon crazy things! Crazy like a craft blogger whom I've been following for some time... who I only this week discovered also lives in Anacortes!!!!

I KNOW!

Oh, that's right. Many (most) of you are not paper crafting nutties and this is probably where you're going, oh great, no good story today, just a dumb artsy fartsy post... wonder if Dooce has anything new up...

But stick with me! Lisa Johnson, of Poppy Paperie, made a random reference to the "nice weather in Anacortes" a few days back and I though, huh, that's funny. I wonder what other state has a city named Anacortes. Cuz there's no way that this fabulous crafter, who DESIGNS stamps for a major rubber stamp company, lives in the same Anacortes that I do. Well Google me this and Google me that - lo and behold - Lisa lives in MY ANACORTES! (Wow, all of a sudden the town in which I cried when I first arrived has become MY town.) CRAZY! I mean, as if she wasn't cool enough already with her amazing cards, now I find out she has been stamping and crafting in the same zip code as me! (Whoa, I am not worthy.)

Disclaimer: I am not stalking this woman. I mean she does have a photo up on her blog, so should I happen to see her and recognize her at Safeway, I would in no way go up to her screaming, "OH MY GOD you're the Poppy crafty lady with the awesome designs who lives in MY TOWN!"

Anyway, this story had a point. Oh - so Lisa Johnson, of Poppy Paperie, has started some challenges on her blog. Obviously, being "neighbors" and all, I wanted to participate. The idea behind the challenges is that she gives you a few "seeds" of inspiration. The first week was to use crystals, a flower stamp, and a hint of yellow on a card.Here's my humble attempt (finished just under the wire, as they're due to be posted by 10am PST!):

I couldn't decide which flower stamp to use, but then I remembered this cherry blossom. I had originally purchased it from JoAnn's intending to use it for wedding invitations, but after a few practice runs, I realized it was a wee bit too complicated to use on 125 invitations (my invite helpers were troopers but asking them to color in 125 large cherry blossom branches may have ended the friendships). I still love this stamp though, and as we've basically officially entered spring here in Anacortes, with the dogwood/cherry blossom trees in full bloom, I was inspired.

Here's a close up shot of the stamped image. I used blender pens to lightly watercolor the flowers and branch. (Sorry for the sketchy photo quality - NavyGuy has absconded with the good camera. Grrr.) The hint of yellow required is the card base, and I was sadly out of crystals, so I substituted small crystal-like pearls to add a little bling to the flowers. So there's my first Poppy Seed Challenge. Hopefully Lisa doesn't read this and a) take out a restraining order, b) put her children into a witness protection program, or worst of all, c) disqualify my card for lacking appropriate crystals!

Thanks non-crafters for sticking this out - I'll try to post something NOT involving paper later on in the day. :)

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A Weather Rant

I have lost all patience with this nonsense.

Yesterday, I got home from work and decided to take Tally for a walk. We had a nice stroll through the neighborhood and even ventured up into the woods for some off-roading. Doesn't that sound like a nice picture? An adorable puppy dog and a woman in a short sleeve t-shirt and jeans taking in the late morning air... I'll wait. Go ahead and reread that sentence. Um, yeah.

I went for a walk yesterday - January 20th - in a short-sleeve t-shirt. SHORT SLEEVES! SHORT SLEEVES!!! No mittens, no hat, no scarf, no boots, no freezing boogers in my nose. No frost-bitten fingers, no blustery wind, no snow, no ice, no jacket. No material covering my forearms!

That was the last straw. I want seasons back. Where the hell is winter? I am sick to death of spring weather in January. I know I know - most of you readers have been mired in frigid temps and snowy winter for months, so how dare I complain about our 50 degree days. But seriously - this is ridiculous. January should not feel the same as April, June, and October! I've worn the same clothing for the past year. There's no switching out summer clothes for winter clothes; you just add or take off a raincoat depending on the hour of the day. There's no rush of excitement when the temps reach 40 and it's starting to feel like winter may be reaching it's end. There's no scorching, humid summer day when your butt is sweating and your makeup is melting off your face, and you find an air-conditioned place that provides a solace like no other. There's no joy in the first crisp fall day when you get to pull out your favorite sweater and have some soul-warming oatmeal for breakfast.

I haven't decided on a course of action yet... but something must be done...

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TWP Guest Post: Part 2

Scroll down to see Part 1 of TWP's trip to Anacortes.

Day 2: Day 2 begun with the fulfillment of my one and only travel request: a trip to the San Juan Islands (okay there were more requests, but this one was the biggest!). NavyWife played along after many assurances that nature would not at any point touch her, that there was chocolate on the islands and that shopping opportunities would be ample. The ferry ride alone was so gorgeous that it made the trip for me and the awkwardly warm weather even allowed us to ride the ferry home with just t-shirts on!

View of Friday Harbor, San Juan Island.

Cute, overpriced souvenirs were bought by all, I tricked NavyWife into eating at a local organic restaurant with promises that it was "cute and trendy" (read overpriced and organic) and Meatball was a model traveler. We also learned a thing or two after finding out that there are a plethora of lavender farms in the Pacific Northwest. I even made up for the abundance of nature by getting NavyWife and I a chocolate-chocolate chip cookie ice-cream sandwich with chocolate lavender ice-cream. Sounds slightly disgusting, but it was amazing! Later NavyWife's mom questioned my unceasingly "wild" influence after finding out that we paid $5.00 for said ice cream sandwich....

Meatball eats organic, much to the horror of her Fairy Godmother.

After our return to Anacortes, Meatball and I had a much needed nap while NavyWife retrieved her groom from a two-week stint on a testosterone-ridden carrier plane. There were videos, technical jargon, and in-depth accounts of the trip, but I unfortunately tuned out shortly after learning that "Danger Zone" does not in fact play on a loop on the boat. Boring.

We rounded out with a stop at the local drive-in burger joint, a long trip to the world's greatest park and way too much ice-cream from the "Happy Donut".

Waving to the ferry

Cheers: To reliving my decade long childhood dream of becoming a marine biologist. If it weren't for the crippling motion sickness and irrational fear of drowning in a large body of water I'd be riding a whale at this very moment.

To NavyGuy's awkward football hold of Macy. He doesn't bat an eyelash at flying a multi-million dollar plane and protecting our nation, but nearly peed when asked to pick up a one year old. Little did he know that by week's end she'd be following him around the house asking to go uppy and he'd be putty in her hands.

To the greatest park ever! An Anacortes gem complete with clubhouses, pirate ship, an Orca whale-shaped sandbox, disgustingly cute kids drawings and paintings and a hand-painted trout stream leading the way up to the slides. I wanted to pack it up in my suitcase and bring it home with me.

Jeers: To the $3.00 dollar juice I bought Meatball to placate her on the ride back on the ferry only for her to drink a total of three sips of it. I then tried to get her to drink it each subsequent day of the trip, forgot I left it in my purse and had my bags searched by TSA before our departing flight.

To the random kid at the park. Meatball has yet to figure out how to get her chubby legs to sit down at the top of slide and cute little boy came over and offered to "help". After his sweet little angel face proclaimed "I know how to get babies to go the slide", he ran up behind her and ever so thoughtfully pushed her down the slide and skipped away.

Enjoying the unseasonably warm weather while sprinting across the ferry deck.

Stay tuned for the final installation of our trip West... for sightseeing, shopping and trying not to offend the United States Navy!

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TWP Guest Post:

Hi there! We have one last guest post as part of our celebration of 500 posts. This final installment comes from TWP. She's one of my oldest friends, my unofficial wedding planner, overall source of hilarity and support, and her daughter (FlowerGirl, FG) is my godchild. Love them both to death. The two of them visited NavyGuy and I last week, and TWP has chosen to recap their vacation for her guest post... crazy good times. Enjoy her version of our week together! :)

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatball: Our Trip to Anacortes
The Highs and Lows of Traveling with A Toddler

Part I:

The Cast of Characters:

TWP: Me! I'm one of NavyWife's BFF's. I've known her since we were in 4th grade and both had hideous clothes and even more hideous glasses. I've been doing my best to corrupt her ever since the day we met.

Meatball: Otherwise known throughout the blog world as "FG" or the Flower Girl. My daughter and NavyWife's goddaughter. So named because 1) while I was pregnant with her I majorly craved meatballs. Not with pasta or sauce or anything, just meatballs. Bowls and bowls of them and 2) her head is an adorably huge, perfectly round, baby ball of chunk that looks like a giant meatball. She's a 20 month old hilarious bundle of craziness and can be best described by saying that her current favorite food is Caesar salad...go figure.

Nice Roommate: One of the oddballs currently making NavyWife's house messy. He basically played on the computer for five days straight during our visit except for a brief respite to play Rockband.

Weird Roommate: The current bane of NavyWife's home organization existence. He made pasta the first day we got there and it was still sitting on the stove when we left. He also wore nothing more than boardshorts (that's right no shirt...EVER) during our entire trip and says "dude" every other word. After eating perhaps his tenth "well-balanced" meal of chicken and rice during our stay he proceeded to give me a lecture about how I really shouldn't drink soda because the high fructose corn syrup is bad for me. I would have thrown the can at him, but I would never waste a precious drop of my Diet Coke on such a Tool.

And so, the adventure begins...

Day 1: We wake at the mind-numbing hour of 5am to depart from St. Paul. Meatball is oddly chipper for this early hour, I manage the SuperHuman feat of packing Meatball and I into ONE, count it ONE, suitcase (mothers worldwide: it's possible!) and we make it out the door on time. The plane ride was smooth, no one vomited, and I survived changing a diaper blowout in the airplane bathroom. NavyWife met us at the airport, Meatball slept the entire car ride to Anacortes and we had lunch at an adorable place, Gere-A-Deli: yummy desserts, delicious chicken salad, and a re-caffienated TWP made for a much better day all around. We hiked the oddly steep hills to the slug-filled park near the NavyFamily's uber-adorable home, drooled at the fabulousness that is about the be the NavyFamily's new home, ordered some yummy pizza for dinner and crafted the night away.

Meatball at the toddler park.

Cheers: To the kindness of strangers.
-To a fellow warrior/mother/angel in the war against squirmy toddlers who waved something shiny in front of Meatball while I attempted to not have my bags searched and messied.
-To the TSA agent who turned a blind eye to my 6 pounds overweight bag because he didn't want to have to charge me the $90.00 overage charge. I love you old TSA man with a big heart! You deserved that $5.00 tip!
-And To the highly tolerant flight attendant who allowed Meatball to play in the exit aisle for over an hour, sparing me and the entire plane from the wrath of a toddler who won't sit in one place for longer than 30 seconds.

Jeers: To the other parents on the flight who thought my presence in the exit row indicated my willingness to provide free child care at 35,000 feet.

And to Meatball's blatant disdain for every single item in the 40 pound "purse" I brought on board to entertain her. I should have known that a free plastic cup and the drink cart would have brought her more joy.

The amazing view!

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An Open Letter

Dear Northwest Washington Weather Patterns,

Hi! I know we only met last October, so we haven't even known each other a full year. But I'm going to go on the record and say, what the hell! I Googled your background, like any good blind date would, and I know that you average temperatures in the mid 60s for the month of July. Typical humidity levels - less than 50%.

So what in god's name is going on around here?!?!?!?! Are you ticked off at us over something, or is this just some kind of elaborate prank to increase fan sales? It has been in the high 80s, with 200% humidity for almost a week. You've made your point, ok? My car thermometer read 115 degrees after sitting outside for twenty minutes while I was in the grocery store. Simply sitting in my bedroom elicits profuse sweating - forget about trying to actually get anything done in my sauna of a house. You, Mother Nature, are a fickle temptress. No residences in Northwest Washington have air-conditioning... which is normally fine for an area that boasts mild summers!!!! Target was sold out of fans yesterday (rumor has it most of Burlington was), but I have an ice maker in my fridge, and I'm not above filling the bathtub with ice and simply chillin' in there until this heat wave is over. I'll do it - you will not beat me.

However, if you could find it in your heart to back off just a little bit, that'd be swell. I have to pack and finish some craft projects and generally be productive the next few days, so if you could see fit to give us a little respite from this oppressive weather, I'd love you forever.

Wishing you lots of clouds and cold fronts,

NavyGirl

P.S. YellowBunnies... is there a rational explanation for this Northwest heat wave, or is this just karmic retribution for all the beautiful weather we got in May?

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Postage Woes

And the vicious cycle continues. Ever since email has become the go-to means of communication, the post office has been suffering. How does USPS battle the online onslaught? Well, by raising the price of stamps of course. In order to continue to make a profit with declining customers (20% fewer letters have been sent in the past 10 years - that's 11 billion pieces of mail), the post office has to increase the cost of stamps. (To be fair, the prices are also increased to offset inflation.) But, what results from the price hike? Some irritated customers... who turn to more email in frustration!

Why am I ranting about this? Because the annual postage increase is throwing a wrench in my wedding mailing plans. The cost of a first-class stamp is going to 44 cents on May 11th. So what? Most of you are probably saying, gee, at least she knows about the change far in advance. Point taken, but, here are the issues. The wedding invitations themselves will be sent before the May 11th rate hike and should be safe from drama; they need to go out towards the end of March. The RSVP envelope, pre-stamped by me, myself, and I, is another story.

Those are supposed to be returned to my mom by May 1st. Knowing however, that people will probably send them back late, I now have to figure out whether to stick with the 42 cent stamp on the RSVP, or play it safe and shell out the extra two cents for each envelope just in case people send them back later. I could go with the Forever stamps on all the RSVPs, but gosh they're ugly. I'm sure that's what I'll end up doing, but it means I have to start stalking the post office in Anacortes to hoard those stamps. Anyone know a good black market contact for Forever stamps? :)

Am I missing any potential problems with this rate hike? Anybody see a flaw in my plan for dealing with the United States Postal Service?

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Martini Madness

NavyGuy and I ventured out to a martini bar tonight. I'd like to say it's because we felt like being young and adventurous, but really, a flight school friend of his was celebrating her birthday, and NavyGuy felt like we needed to make an appearance (and it was a means to get me out of the house).

So we traversed forty-five minutes north to the booming metropolis of Bellingham, WA (making a long and arduous detour along the way to grab some Dairy Queen for dinner... it was ten miles off the highway, but once I set my sights on that oval sign, there's no giving up). The martini bar was located in a hotel and it was clearly the hottest thing going north of Seattle - the place was packed! Luckily another couple had snagged some tables, so we were able to get seats.

Being the "dd" for the evening, I limited myself to one Cosmo, while NavyGuy polished off three manly Dean Martinis (extra dry). My drink arrived at the table still in the shaker, and I got to pour more and more into my cute martini glass, like how at some restaurants, they bring the rest of your chocolate shake out in that metal container :) Our group grew larger and it became a martini tasting all around with people getting crazy concoctions like the Headless Horseman, the Dreamsicle, and the most popular of the night - the Gummi Bear martini! (It came with actual gummi bears in the drink, and the guys at the table decided if they renamed the drink the "Grizzly Bear" it was then butch enough to order.)

Weirdest part of the evening - the toilet paper dispenser in the ladies bathroom. It was motion-sensored! You waved your hand somewhere near it, and half a ream of two-ply came shooting out. Odd, especially considering there was nothing else in the entire bathroom that was motion-sensored. My fellow ladies at the table were also befuddled. Despite the long commute and the flying toilet paper, I am a fan of the Best Western Martini Bar.

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Rockslides and messed up blizzards...

As the federal government has decided that the best way to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr.'s legacy is to stop people from working or learning (or getting mail), I had no subbing opportunities today, and NavyGuy had no rockets to learn. It has been decent weather here the past few days (despite the "air stagnation" warnings - say huh?), but we're stir-crazy regardless. Too much time spent in the house with the Marines. Our solution for this yesterday was to take a hike near the lake by our house. As always, I started out gungho about the adventure, but twenty minutes in had to use the little girls' room (which is NOT, nor will EVER BE, out of doors), and by the end was exhausted, doubled over, grasping the back of NavyGuy's jacket, hoping his momentum would help pull me up the hill to our house (for those of you who are wondering, no, there weren't any accidents).

Clearly in no mood for another hike today, we opted to head north and check out the Bellingham mall and surrounding stores. Long story short - the route home on South I-5 was down to one lane because of a rockslide. A rockslide! Good grief. Luckily, NavyGuy whipped out his trusty Blackberry Storm, and while I was in my new rubber stamping Mecca*, he found an alternative - though slightly longer - route that would avoid the traffic (and, you know, the rocks).

The other blight on my day was the fact that Dairy Queen jacked up my blizzard! Hello!?! I said OREO. And you repeated OREO back to me. How did my order of an OREO blizzard somehow magically end up in my car as an M&M blizzard? Of course, I didn't check the blizzard until we were back on the highway so it was a lost cause. I know, I know. "Oh, poor little unemployed girl had to choke down M&Ms instead of Oreos in her blizzard today... cry me a river." Well you know what - those M&Ms get too cold in the ice cream and they hurt my teeth! And I almost died in a rockslide! (And this is when NavyGuy usually starts to tune out my exagerrated ranting, so feel free to move on if you'd like.)

Not much else to report on the Washington front. Must go rest up for the big to-do tomorrow!

*I'm in big trouble. Big, big trouble. How much crafting money do you think I could get for a kidney?

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Last Dispatch from the Central Time Zone

NavyGuy and I return home tomorrow. I know I'm ready to go back because for the past few days, I've been referring to our house in Anacortes as "home." Apparently, despite my reservations about my new life, home really is just where your heart is (or where you hang your hat... or where you've left your laptop for two weeks). I still am planning to recap some of the best moments of our holidays in Wisconsin, but in the meantime, here are the things I'm most excited to go home for...

1. Going back to Target to purchase all of the bridal shower gifts that were too large to take home on the airplane with us (my beautiful brown ottoman, ah, how I miss you so).
2. Having my laptop back. I miss blogging. I miss surfing. I miss reading celebrity gossip. I miss having constant access to the world.
3. Seeing my friend Brooklet, who I realized I actually missed while home for two weeks, which I take as a sign that I'm actually starting to find a bit of a life in Anacortes.
4. Sleeping in my bed.
5. Not living out of a suitcase.
6. Getting my butt back in gear on my grad school program.
7. Trying out recipes from several of the new cookbooks I received.

I'm sure I'll miss Wisconsin approximately twelve hours after I've gotten back to Washington, but for the time being, I'm going to click my heels together and repeat three times...

There's no place like home. There's no place like home. There's no place like home.

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The Insanity Continues...

Snow Day Watch 2008

Day 5 - Anacortes School District Closed

So the grand total for the week - 2 late starts, three full days off, and one high school full of giddy kids who got to start their Christmas break nearly a week early.

Day 5 - Navy base closed (except for all essential personnel).

NavyGuy is not essential, however he will be going into base tomorrow to take his final test for this portion of training (because the alternative is going on vacation for two weeks, leaking all 97 missiles that he's memorized in the last month out of his ears, and then coming back to take the test in January).

For shame northwest Washington, for shame. You have lost all my respect. (And there are a lot of school teachers in Wisconsin who are ready to dump their snow right on your driveways.)

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Snow Day Watch 2008

Day 4 - schools closed and base closed.

Still snowing. Still no real plows. A whopping 6-8 inches on the ground.

Wimps.

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Think Better Dummy Mind!

I happened to get up early this morning, intending to be uber productive. I was out of the shower by 8:20, and all toweled off when my phone rang.

Mugs: Hello?
Caller: Hi, this is the Anacortes District sub caller. Would you be willing to sub for a high school U.S. history class this morning. We're on a two hour delay (do NOT get me started on the absurdity of this), so you'd need to be there around 9:15.
Mugs: Sure! (Oh my god what am I doing?)
Caller: Great - thanks!

What follows is my stream of consciousness for the next ten minutes:

Okay, whew, thank goodness I showered, okay, breathe, be calm, it's all good, it's history, you can totally fake your way through this, thank god it wasn't calculus or physics or something totally nasty, this way you can always play the what day in history is it game or something, crap nuggets, what was that filler activity mom was talking about the other day? Oh, yeah, how many words can you make from the word Christmas, okay, that'll be the backup plan in case the plans the teacher left are useless, jeez unless there's some politically correct kid who freaks out and we have to use Kwanzaa and Haunauka too, which would really suck cuz I don't know how to spell Jewish Christmas, plus I think there's a spelling of it with a C, yikes, focus, okay, what are you going to wear, rat farts, why didn't I actually do the Jillian Michaels DVD more often so I'd lose a few pounds and be able to fit into my favorite dress pants, cuz they still don't quite button right and I'll die if the pants split on my first day as a sub and I'll forevermore be known by some horrific nickname, so maybe instead I can wear the new dress I got, or is that trying to hard? plus it is kind of cold, and I'm not sure which shoes work with that, and I have no clue if I have nylons that don't have any runs. Okay, maybe these pants, but wait, what do major athletes do before a big competition, they carb up, I need to pack a lunch - agh! All we have is leftover chili and frozen dinners which were fine at my old job because I knew we had access to a microwave, but I can't guarantee that here, so I better take something else, okay, carbs, Cheerios! And a granola bar, that should get me through the day, maybe I'll buy something at the cafeteria too, and my good water bottle is in the car, okay, we're good to go there, now I need to pack my bag, what should I take, oooo, I wish I had taken the time to put together a sub folder so I'd be prepared, bah, I'll take the packet they gave me at the district office and my grad school book to read in case it's a video day, now hair, makeup, okay, plug in straightener, get blowdryer going, now what else does Michael Phelps do before a big race? carb up and visualize - yes, I can do that, okay, breathe breathe, you're going to take your bag, and you're going to get in the car, and drive up to the high school, it's on K street...

OH MY GOD - NAVYGUY HAS THE ONLY CAR THAT I CAN DRIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What have we learned?
1. The sub caller lady is very understanding, and only thinks I'm moderately insane for calling her back 10 minutes after I accepted a job, to unaccept a job. She even chuckled when I explained the situation - thank goodness!
2. Mugs needs to get over her fear of killing someone/breaking NavyGuy's car, and learn to drive a stick shift.
3. At my ripe old age of 26, I clearly need to begin some brain/memory exercises, because if you read closely, you'll noticed I thought about the fact that my good waterbottle was in the CAR, but not until five minutes later did it dawn on me that the car was in fact at the Navy base, and not in our driveway. Sigh.

So, my employment with the Anacortes School District as a substitute teacher is off to a roaring good start...

P.S. Perhaps a family member in the know will share the story behind the title to this post.

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White Christmas!

Our first snow in Anacortes...
I may have to watch White Christmas today to celebrate the event :)

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Thurday's Three Trips

Thursday unintentionally became "3 Trips to Oak Harbor" Day. A quick primer for those of you who are still flummoxed by the geography up here:

Whidbey Island has the city of Oak Harbor, naval base, most of my female friends
Fidalgo Island has Anacortes, our home, little else
Burlington has Target, Michaels, movie theater, civilization

Anacortes sits about in the middle between Oak Harbor and Burlington - approximately a 30 minute drive either way. I am still getting used to blocking off an hour (round trip) to get to my beloved Target. Alas, because of some ill-planned scheduling, I ended up making three separate trips down to Oak Harbor today. Happily, each round was either productive or fun or both!

Round #1 - doctor's appointment
No fears - I'm still hardy midwestern stock, I just needed to update prescriptions with my new doctor here in Washington. The appointment began on time, took exactly twelve minutes (score), and caused me to snort. Why the snort? This exchange:

Sassiest Nurse Ever: Is there any domestic abuse in your home?
Mugs: Ha. No.
Sassy Pants: That's good. Though, at least running away from a bat wielding son of a bitch can count as exercise.
Mugs: SNORT.

I didn't know whether to find her offensive, crass, or positively hilarious. (While domestic abuse is not a funny matter - her comment was funny!)

Round #2 - a lunch date with girlfriends
Chicken Teriyaki + funny ladies = smiles all around. One of my new Whidbey peeps (Miss B) gathered a few of us together to meet for lunch. She brought two new peeps that she had been hanging out with - and surprise surprise - in this small town area of the world where everyone knows everyone else somehow - I "knew" one of the girls! About halfway through lunch, we figured out that one of the girls owned the house that NavyGuy was living in in Pensacola! I met his old landlord! Good grief. (Luckily NavyGuy was a good tenant and it didn't get awkward.) We were both amused, and I was delighted to meet another unemployed teacher.

Round #3 - Stamp Club!
Oh, how I love thee :) My new stamping friend in Oak Harbor is a demonstrator for Stampin' Up (a marvelous stamp company that has already begun to siffon away me meager babysitting income), and she hosts a once monthly stamp club night, where she invites ladies to her home to create cards and other projects. Last night, we made three glittery sparkly Christmas cards and a cute ornament (I'll post pics later), and we had a great time getting glitter everywhere.

The gas tank may have taken a hit from all the travel, but it was worth it :)

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Photography Magic

I wanted to show off a couple of the photographs that NavyGuy took on our wilderness adventure yesterday. He has a fairly fancy camera and has been playing around with an editing process called HDR (High Dynamic Range Imaging). HDR is basically a technique that combines the best lit parts of the same photo, to produce a more true to life image. In order to do this, you have to take three photos of the same shot, each with a specific different light exposure (clearly, I'm not a photographer, so I apologize for the less than technical explanation). For instance, here are the original photographs NavyGuy took of a view from Mt. Erie.


You can see in the photos that each looks different; parts of each photo are darker and lighter. Regardless of which picture you look at, none of them show what NavyGuy and I were really seeing as we stood on top of the mountaing - HDR is way to alleviate that. Check out the photograph once the HDR technique has been applied and the best pieces of each photo have been compiled.Awesome, right? (By clicking on the photo, you should be able to open up a larger image.) In this photo, all of the shadows that showed up in the original images have been omitted, and you can see almost exactly what NavyGuy and I saw :) I included two other HDR photos from yesterday as well:
This is a photo of cliffs in Puget Sound. (If the photo hadn't been HDR'ed either the sky or the water would be significantly darker and less clear.)

Here's a view of the forest atop Mt. Erie.

Any votes on which photo we should turn into a large poster for above our bedroom fireplace?

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Ewww... Nature Touched Me

"Is that a worm!?!" "No - shoelace."

"Ow - stupid branches hit me."

"Jeez, it's cold out here." "Well, we're in the shade on a mountain."

"Wait up!"

"Ugh, I'm hot." "Well, now we're in the sun."

"Agh! What was that!?!" "Rabbit."

"It smells like ocean."

"Oooo, stand over there. No, not with your hands on your hips - you look like Peter Pan. Yeah, that's good. Wait, why won't the camera work? Oh, hold on, okay, yeah, I've got it. Dang, you moved. Or the sun moved. Shift a little to the left."

"I'm losing interest in this."

So if you've ever wondered what happens when NavyGuy and I try to go outdoors and do things - this is a good glimpse into the fun.

NavyGuy arrived home from work early this afternoon armed with a good idea. His good ideas are usually offered in a very upbeat tone of voice, and phrased in a manner that tries to make me feel like I actually have the option to not participate. Today's plan was to explore a few of the nature-y parts of our new home in the Pacific Northwest. It was a gorgeous fall day, and we a) decided we should take advantage of the nice weather before it's gone, b) could get some cool photos of the area, and c) should scout some sites to take our families to when they visit us at Thanksgiving.

So, we headed out first to summit Mt. Erie, the highest point in Anacortes. It was a steep drive to the top (reminiscent of Hwy 1, but less nauseating) but we were treated to a fantastic view once we reached the top. We could see Mt. Baker in the distance, and the view across Deception Pass. Climbing over rocks and ledges, feeling like a hearty mountain climber, I bravely trudged behind NavyGuy as he explored each individual "path" along the side of the mountain (until the rabbits and branches and shoelace worms started attacking me). After I plopped down on a rock and starting picking at my fingernails, NavyGuy sensed my growing impatience at his Ansel Adams impersonation and we headed back down the mountain.

Our next stop was a random road we'd driven by several times, that looked like it led down to the water (there are like 63 different lakes and bays and inlets within a five mile area, so don't ask me what water we were at). The park area we explored was off of a road named Cougar Gap (which sadly, did not make me fear cougars the animal, but instead snort giggle at the idea of a bunch of 40 year old women cougars prowling the park). I believe it was some sort of Deception Pass park (the major bridge crossing from Fidalgo Island to Whidbey Island), because there was a giant statue of the Maiden of Deception Pass (follow the link if you want the crazy story of a woman turning into seaweed or something). We hiked through a few more trails (despite signs posted - Warning, Harzardous Area), and eventually accepted our disappointment that we could not in fact see the Deception Pass bridge from the park.

We headed to our last stop - another park area near Deception Pass. This one had a larger playground area, plus a fun pier that we got to walk out on. It was also a former CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) location - historical note for Farmer Girl -- the CCC did lots in the Washington forests, and CCC alumni erected a bronze statue of a CCC man (shirtless!) near this last park. NavyGuy declined to take a picture - spoil sport. Oh, the CCC was one of the programs that President Roosevelt began during the Great Depression in order to give young men jobs working in the outdoors, improving public spaces. Perhaps we'll see a resurgence of the CCC soon ;)

By the end of our adventure, I was ready to ditch my tennis shoes and outdoorsy winter vest for slippers and a hot bath. As NavyGuy helped me limbo underneath a tree while trekking down a nonexistent trail on Mt. Erie, he commented, "I forget how uncomfortable you are in nature. It's so fun to drag you out and watch you stumble through this. We should do these types of outdoorsy things more often."

Don't worry - I didn't push him over the edge. But he probably deserved it.

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Weekend Wanderings

After our riveting Friday night (unpacking, organizing, Friends reruns, and snoring by 10:15), we we had a bit more excitement on Saturday. NavyGuy received a desperate text from his good friend around 6am asking him to come pick him up in Seattle. Long (and headache-inducing) story short, the friend had been sitting in a hotel lobby all night in downtown Seattle, couldn't get back in the room he was sharing with several other guys, couldn't rent a car, and needed to get the heck out of there. NavyGuy is that kind of nice guy, so he hauled ass down to Seattle to rescue his friend, and I spent the morning setting up my scrapbooking/crafting workstation in the office - yippeeeeeeee!!!!! (NavyGuy was smart enough to return a) proclaiming how glad he was to be out of the single-guy-bar-hop phase of life and b) with donuts.)

Later that day we ventured to the movie theater in Burlington. For those of you who know us well, you know how important this trip was. Next to Target, the movie theater is one of the most frequented places in our lives. We see probably 75-100 movies in the theater each year. We have a specific system employed to count and evaluate trailers before the films (anything less than four trailers and it's a wasted eight dollars). We may or may not have seen one of the Harry Potter films twice opening weekend. What I'm trying to say is, the theater in Burlington is the closest "big" theater, and we were seriously hoping it would live up to our addiction. On most counts, it will suffice. The bathrooms are too far away to make a quick run during the movie, and the projection screens are not the cushy digital ones we got used to in Pensacola, but it does have sixteen screens, good smelling popcorn, and respectable seats (against my better judgment, we did not leave early enough to arrive in time for all the previews, so I can't judge that part yet).

Oh? What did we see? Yeah, I guess that's probably more interesting for most of you ;) NavyGuy and his friend connived me into seeing Appaloosa, the cowboy flick with Ed Harris, Viggo Mortenson, Jeremy Irons, and Renee Zellwegger. Despite my abhorrence of all things Miss Zellwegger (why is her face always schrunchy?), the movie was good. Viggo had sketchy facial hair, diminishing his usual hotness, but the plot was valid, and it was a nice western for a rainy Saturday afternoon. There were also more funny bits than expected.

The other major excitement of the day was right in our own backyard - literally! As I was working in the office, something happened to catch my eye out the window into the front yard. I thought a skinny dog had strayed into our yard, but lo and behold - two deer were strolling across our driveway! Our driveway! People - I could have fired a shot out my front window and had venison stew for dinner! I know, I know - but Mugs, you don't even like nature or animals that aren't little and cute... You are correct, BUT two deer wandered across our driveway, crossed the street, and then slowly meandered down the sidewalk until they finally escaped the rain and headed for the wooded area. That kind of nature entertainment, I like. I scared NavyGuy half to death with all my screaming (was it my fault that he chose the time our house was under attack by wild animals to use the head?), but he too was excited about our country living. So long as these wild beasts don't start gnawing on my pretty pink hydrangeas, I'll leave the shot gun unloaded.

Three more days until the internet at home, three more days, I can do this. (From my whining and carrying on, you'd think I was living without indoor plumbing or oxygen, but you try only checking your email once a day!) Hope everyone else had a weekend full of drama and deer :)

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Quick Blip

As a compliment to yesterday's entry, I feel the need to post an opposites list:

Things I've Found in Anacortes That Do NOT Make Me Happy
1. drivers - as a smaller, touristy town, everyone drives really really really slowly... (I'll give you one guess as to what this does to NavyGuy's blood pressure...).
2. the end of the weather honeymoon - it's rained and been dreary the past two days. I suspect this is the real Anacortes.
3. food prices - for a girl who grew up in the midwest breadbasket, paying $2.25 for the generic grocery store brand bread is a bit of a shock to the system (don't get me started on the ice cream that breaks the seven dollar mark).
4. strolling minstrels - yesterday alone, I saw two different people, walking along streets, playing their guitars, in the rain. Huh? Are they walking to a friend's house but instead of listening to an iPod they're playing a musical instrument? Does this give me license to walk around town busting out "Hot Cross Buns" on my recorder?

Not much else to report from this end of the world. NavyGuy and I dropped off a truckload of boxes at Goodwill, wandered the aisles of Target for a while (new purse alert!), and are heading back to the homestead soon to tackle the office. I predict many "discussions" over how to organize the space, plus some paper cuts. All in all, a pretty rockin' Friday night :)

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Happy Thoughts

Things I've Found in Anacortes That Make Me Happy
1. the public library - it's new, it's big, it's chock full of books, and it has free wi-fi.
2. Safeway - grocery store with an excellent prepared food / deli section up front. So far it's been the best Chinese food we've located.
3. Village Pizza - spicy and hot - just the way we like it ;)
4. view of Mt. Baker - we've been blessed with five sunny, cloudless days in a row, so we've been taking in the scenery.
5. my, er, our house.

Examples of How I Know NavyGuy is Crazy About Me
1. He let me have all the good spaces in our closet (including unlimited shoe room!)
2. He helped unpack all of the kitchen and bedroom, all the while putting up with my cries of "No! Not there - over here!"
3. He has yet to tell me to stop whining about not having cable until next week.
4. Despite our hard and fast rule about always having our own ice cream containers in the freezer (there was an ice cream "raping" a few years back when he dug out all the fudge swirls and peanut butter cups in my ice cream container while I was gone to Book Club, and I vaguely remember a projectile ice cream scoop as a result...). Anyway, we only had one container in the freezer today and he ate out of it following my specific instructions, without gouging any unsightly holes or eating all of the cookie dough chunks!

Unpacking Projects I Still Want to Finish Tonight
1. Arranging the shoes neatly on the closet floor.
2. Locating my bedside lamp.
3. Organizing the jewelry in my jewelry box (which was "carefully" thrown in a box along with a variety of other belongings).

Things I'm Hungry for Right Now
1. Chocolate Oreo Volcano ice cream from Culvers (I blame my mom).
2. a good clementine (hmmmm... cravings for fruit... a sign of the apocalypse, or just scurvy setting in...)

NavyGuy and I are currently camped out at the aforementioned kickass Anacortes Public Library, making good use of our tax-payer funded wi-fi connection. We spent most of the morning and afternoon attempting to locate our bed and/or bedroom floor (I really didn't care which, because the carpet in our room is super soft and I totally would have slept on that if I couldn't unearth the bed). We were successful on both counts - hooray! There's still a bit more organizing to do, but we made lots of progress and added three more boxes to our Goodwill count.

I wanted to give a quick shout out to a new blog that I've put in the "More Reading Material" column. Now that I'm officially a house-dweller, I've been feeling especially domestic, and discovered Hostess with the Mostess blog. I haven't investigated it a lot yet, but it seems to be chock full of decorating ideas, photos, and craft projects - yea! I'm already thinking about where I could use the "paper pumpkin ornaments;" perhaps the entryway? So many new spaces in the house to fill with the craft projects of an easily bored unemployed person! :)

Alas, my wi-fi time is quickly running low, and I was supposed to be using this time to check for the nearest Goodwill site. Ooops... Happy Thursday night Must-See-TV! You all better be watching for me!

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