Anyone wanting to save a buck or two??

I knew it.

Me too!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

That's why I was excited to find out about the promo I'm about to tell you about.... I know it's had its critics: is msft is bribing its customers to use their new search engine? Perhaps. But does it get you presies and save you money in the meantime? Absolutely.

So above first is the "cashback" search on any product that you'd like to buy...not sure how diverse it is, but for the products I've looked for (aka the ZUNE!!!!!), it has saved me $40+ bucks and my coworkers have had the same experience. So try it already! All you have to do is download the live.com search perks app and you'll be set. All you have to do is download this app: here.

Just in case that didn't sell you yet, there is a smaller promo that is kinda cool - for every search you do on live.com (aka instead of google.com), you get 'points' which can be turned into products come April....even for signing up you get 500points :) That app is here and just use live.com for your searches instead of google.com and you'll get credits to turn into prizes soon.

Now lastly (for now anyways - have I mentioned I can't help it???), I'm going to solicit myself a bit... Not sure if I've mentioned it to all of you or not (ginny?!?!), but I wanted to make sure you all know that I can get all msft products for a big discount at the company store (which happens to be literally in my building now), so that means not only vista and office, but any xbox game (scene it or the new acting rock band anyone?) or wireless mouse you'd like - for a VERY reduced cost. SOOOOO....I promise I get no commission, but point being I'd be honored to help any of you out if you're looking to buy xbox, xbox games, zune, office, vista, msft, etc. items for anyone on your cmas list this year - just let me know and it's totally legit!! :D

Ok, if anyone else has any money saving tricks this season (besides the obvious "don't buy me anything" suggestion which I TRULY am abiding by this year...), add it to the comments on this blog and share it with everyone!!!

Love and miss you all :D
E.

It's my party...

...well you know the rest ;) Don't worry tho - I'm not really crying. I am actually excited - I managed to swing myself a date at the department christmas party!! I'm so stoked I can't wait for Saturday. I'm bummed Clay won't be here - but I think I can manage her myself. She's a 4 year old girl :D


FINALLY someone out here took me up on my babysitting offer! She is the daughter of a coworker and soooo precious - I can't wait. More on that to come for sure.

I miss all my kiddies up here!!! I'm afraid I've become some sort of freaky old woman from which people shelter their kids...everywhere I go I stare and them and wave, it's all I can do to not take one of the babies I see in the store and run off with them! Ok, ODDviously I would never do that, but times are desperate out here where not only do I not have any friend's kids, nephews, etc, but it's even at a time when my friends are poppin' out fresh pickens down south!! MAN I wish I could be there to babysit David and watch him grow - same thing for George, Hayden, Grace, Sarah Beth - ALL OF THEM!!!


Ok I've got to quit before I get too emotional ;)


So back to my party...we just had our Christmas party here in the new Visitor Center - cool compared to my prior employers, but I must admit - LAME compared to the other Msft holiday parties. But what do I expect - I AM only in HR after all - not like I'm in a revenue producing group or anything! ;)

REGARDLESS (have I pointed out yet how much I HATE the word irregardless?? It's not a word people!!!!), it was a nice party. I guess. Sick of families and kids on a certain level though - unless you met me yesterday, you KNOW I love kids, but perhaps for once a company party could be aimed at the single folks instead of the parents and kids???????

Ok, I'm sorry everyone. I'll quit.

I love and miss you all.
E.

Clay and Erika invade Vancouver - pt. 2

So I can't believe I left out one of the most critical aspects of our first day in Canada - we OF COURSE did our research to ensure that the Ga/Ga Tech game would be on tv and that we would have absolutely 150% certainty that we could watch and enjoy the good ole' fashion hate up north. So Canada finally did us good by showing the Seattle station that was playing the game. PHEW! That was when we decided we'd stay through Saturday - otherwise I can guarandamntee you we would have fled back to our home country to do so.

So that's the good news - the bad news is that NO bars open up until 11am (not even for us!) and the game started at 9am (which, by the way, is a major setback to living this far west - but then again I guess that's what screwdrivers and bloody mary's are for). No worries - we're flexible and adaptable. So we wake up bright and early, watch the first half of the game on our 11 inch tv in our hotel room and then run out of the hotel at half time and back up to the local sports bar. You thought we were in an urgent American crisis before - but trust me this time was 50 times more serious! This time I was Elizabeth Shue as I burst into the restaurant - "We're American! And Georgian!! Turn it to KIRO ASAP!!!". Phew! All set. So speaking of Bloody Mary's, that's what we order - the bartender says "Well I don't know how my bloody mary is, but my bloody caesar is fantastic." "What's in a bloody caesar", we naively ask. "It's basically the same thing but kalmata juice is used instead of tomato juice. I think to myself I'm not really a big olive fan, but I'll give it a shot - I mean she did say it had celery salt on the rim so that sounds yummy. She gives us a sample of the juice - Clay approves - I guess it's ok too. Watery and a little slimy, but ok - if it's her specialty... Just hurry up and get it and be quiet so I can watch the game!!

She serves us our drinks, I take a sip, and they are pretty good I guess - this salt is super yummy. Go Jackets!! Then Clay asks "So what is in Klamata Juice?" - and here is the horror folks - "tomato and clam juice". Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaattt??? CLAMATA juice??? I thought it was kalamata like the olive!!!!!!!!!! EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!

Clay was so good though - without even skipping a beat he swipes my drink away, tells the bartender he'll drink both of those and that I'll take something else ;) So as I wipe my tongue with my napkin over and over trying to get that nasty slimy sea creature out of my mouth I held back my gag reflex and tried to focus on the game. Eww. Even typing this story out makes me want to go take a shower!!! Gross!


But I digress - back to the game - which was AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

GO JACKETS!!!!!!!!!!!

WOOOOHOOOOOOO - FINALLY WE WIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That game was fantastic!!! MAN I was thrilled. Clay - not so much - but he went and pouted outside while I celebrated at the bar. AWESOME!!!!

Ok I guess I'll quit rubbing it in all y'all dogs faces...for now. Back to Canada....

So after the (amazing) game, we decide to drive up to North Vancouver where there is supposed to be amazing views of the city. So across the really cool Lions Gate Bridge we drive and up the mountain we head in search of said views.

Only one problem - it was so rainy/foggy that we could hardly see 20 feet in front of us, let alone down the mountain or across the river!! So yet again Canada wins this round - but of course we don't quit there. We haven't let Canada defeat us yet, so we drive further west to Horseshoe Bay which is where the ferries come and go from Seattle. Cute little town where we enjoy lunch and more football before we head back to the states. (ps-I'm sure you guys have figured this out by now, but anytime you see a blur of khaki and red in one of my pics, you can rest assured that it's Clay in his standard Seattle uniform ;)

Perhaps the funniest part of this trip was seeing a "self-serve" line in the bar and grill - there are literally gas station-type coolers behind the bar where we saw people going to purchase beer to go after they ate/drank at the pub!!! Ummmm - hello - anyone else think that is a terrible idea???

Ok so we think we've seen all of Canada that we can and been drenched for as long as we can stand, so back to the border we head.

At this point it's about 5pm on Saturday night so surely the border isn't too bad. UHHH yeah right!!! Canada gets us one more time before they boot us out of the country.... Over 3 hours, 2 car battery jumps (luckily not ours), much complaining and confusion, drama dealing with the other drivers around us stuck in such an awful predicament, and a mere 3 questions at the border and finally we're back inside US territory. Talk about frustrating!! Here is the 3rd and final time I wanted to yell "But we're American! Let us back in!!!"

So all complaints aside - we're back home and even more appreciative to be American ;) Or as Donna would say "Home again, home again - jiggity jig" :)

Clay and Erika Do Vancouver - pt. 1

...and we're off!!

...like a herd of turtles...

Who knew that the roads would be so crowded on thanksgiving morning?? Shouldn't these people be with family? Argh. It's driving me nuts. Took us forever to get out of the city, but once we finally did things picked up and we were at the border in about 2 hours. It was cute - Clay was nervous but luckily the canucks let us in no problem. Another half hour or so and we were in Vancouver - it was beautiful!

We checked into our hotel and immediately set out to find the Cowboys/Seahawks game, which we did at a local bar and grill. Immediately upon entering we ask the bartender if the NFL game is on and Clay quickly announces "We're American!". I'm pretty sure that was his way of explaining the desire to watch american football, but to me it brought back the scene from "The Saint" when Elizabeth Shue is running for the American Embassy gates through the rioting crowd and she yells "I'm an American!!" as she runs as fast as she can to the closing gates.... I'm quite sure that our situation wasn't as desparate - but it sure felt like it!

So there we sat and ate lunch while watching the game (Seattle sports teams are a lost cause by the way) and quizing the locals on what we needed to do during our visit. I'm so glad we did because they recommended we go check out Granville Island - an artsy island just across the river from Vancouver. Even more importantly they recommended a restaurant called "The Sand Bar" that was WONDERFUL. The food was great but the heated patio and view were amazing: the patio was covered and enclosed on 3 sides with heat lamps throughout, a huge fireplace on one side, candles everywhere, and tables with big comfy chairs with a blanket thrown over the back of each seat. The view was amazing - here's an example -->

The next day we decided to take the hop on/hop off trolley that went all the way around the city and was equipped with drivers who narrated the tour. It was definitely a good decision as we got the back story on the city, got to see all of the different neighborhoods within the city, and most critically - was covered!! It rained all day Friday and Saturday - you'd think we'd be used to it by now, but it sure puts a bit of a damper on tourist activities! Nevertheless, we managed to check out the city and see beautiful Stanley Park where a few HUGE old trees actually survived the logging era (we can't wait to go back during the spring or summer and see all of the greenery without the rain), trendy Yaletown and Gas Town, and the largest lived in Chinatown in North America.

So that's the good part of our trip. Don't you worry though - there were definitely times that made us not such huge fans of canada...(it wouldn't be a peach in the rain post without some rough time rants!) So after walking around in the rain realizing we could either shop or eat....or eat or shop...we decided we should hit up some museums. So we headed over to the space museum where I wanted to see a planetarium show - easy enough since the trolley is hop on/hop off, right?? Almost. So we get to the museum, hop off our trolley, and go inside. Doh. All the planetarium shows are over!! Fine. We look around in the gift shop and wait a half hour for the next trolley. But don't worry Clay - tonight is the OmniMax - I can't wait to show you how much more amazing it is than a regular IMax and the local theater is the largest in north america!! Ok so we return to our hotel, get ready, and plan to take a cab to the science museum where the theater is located. I do my research - I know what time the shows are - even find that there is a 2 for 1.5 special tonight and both shows (the Alps and Hidden Caves) look awesome. I try to buy tix on the phone but it isn't possible - at least I confirmed the show times, prices, and location!

We go to our concierge and ask for a cab: "Nope" he says "AC/DC concert tonight and no cab companies are even answering the phone anymore." Fine. We can hail one ourselves. Out into the street I go, I hike up my jeans just a tad and flail my arms around at the first available cab that drives by. Woohoo! I rock at this - a real city gal. The cabbie is great and drops us off right at our museum, even a little early.

We go in and find out some bad news: "All sold out" they say, "a big group came in and bought out the entire theater." Whaaaaaaaaaaaaatt????????? How RUDE!!!! Dangit! Well fine. "Any good restaurants around here for dinner?" Hmm....the worker thinks... "other than mcdonalds? not so much."

FINE. Two strikes on this city now. We hike across the street to the local train station and go to the regular imax theater. I question this decision, but Clay insists, very positively suggesting "Let's make the most of tonight - we are already out..." So away we go to the sub par but hopefully good imax. Now admittedly I only wore shoes based on the original plan of cabbing it all night, but regardless what happened next was ridiculous. We get out of the subway station and hike over to the imax building - no biggie. UNTIL we walk, and we walk, and we walk, and we walk......... you see this pic to the left?? You see that pretty building and those pretty white sails??? Yeah. The imax is

ALL -
THE -
WAY -
IN -
THE -
BACK!!!!!

It might not look like it from this pic - but that was a HIKE. So we finally get there and read the marquee for what great adventures lie ahead of us.

Apparently no one informed us it was kiddie week. So it was either Nutcracker in 3-D (45 min) or the Polar Express (2 hrs). Hmmm. Now you might not all know Clay as well as I do, but trust me when I say I knew he would NOT like either. But once again, the trooper that he is, he insisted.

$30 tickets, a $20 coke and nachos later - we were in the imax theater. us and the only other 11 people in Vancouver who thought the Nutcracker in 3D was worth watching at 9pm on a Friday night..... After running away 5 of them from sitting close to the weird adult couple without children, we sat through the entire film. It was neat that it was Clay's first 3-D film, but aside from that I can't say there was a single noteworthy item from the entire flick - it wasn't even the real nutcracker! Instead it was the horrible British version of a girl falling in a frozen lake and dreaming up a trip-influenced nutcracker rip-off. Needless to say the next time I hear "Nutcrackah!! Nutcrackah!! Be Caaahr-ful!!" will be too soon!!!

After that we went back to our hotel where there was a rooftop bar/restaurant that spun around the hotel in hopes that it would finally redeem our day.... One appetizer later and we find out the kitchen is closed, the drinks are severely overpriced, and the music cheesy and too loud. Yet we still managed to have fun and end the day on a high note - "Canada you won't beat us today!!"

So enough of our first impression of her majesty to the north - try not to hold your breath until you hear part 2 tomorrow ;)

Happy Thanksgiving, eh!!!

It's pretty weird to not be with family today - I miss you guys and wish I were back home with you all!!


It's not the first time this has happened though, so I'm trying to channel 1994 when I was lucky enough to go to NY for the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade (AOB, baby!!)... it was super fantastic to be in New York and to be in the parade - we did the tourist activities, shopped, and even saw a show. However....the 26 1/2 hour bus ride each way was TOUGH - especially on the return trip which was on thanksgiving. To this day I'm still not sure if it was a lack of planning or just the only option available, but one thing lead to another and our thanksgiving meal was at a truck stop - no lie. Not only was it a truck stop - but we were 300+ strong, so by the time those of us lucky enough to be at the end of the line got to the counter, there was no food left! Pre-packaged powdered donuts for us! Happy Thanksgiving to us!! :)

But hey, it makes for a good story, right?

That said, Clay and I woke up today and made a decision: if we can't be with family and friends, if we can't have a traditional thanksgiving meal (or even a truck stop meal), well then...we're leaving the country!!

Clay's brand new passport has been burning a whole in his pocket since he got it, we have 4 days off, so let's go to Canada, eh!! :)

ps-the Ga Tech band was in the parade this year so I was definitely thinking of them all day too - but don't worry, I checked their itenerary and they all had a big thanksgiving meal in NY before heading home - hopefully the directors learned a lesson from our trip back in 94 ;)

Mystery Monday

Hi everyone!!

Nothing too entertaining or insightful to post today I'm afraid, but I'm not gonna let that stop me from actually posting ;)

So the question of the day: what the heck is in this picture??? Several of these creatures turned up in the woodsy area by my new building and no one seems to know their purpose, so I thought I would turn to my trusty blogience to see if any of y'all know (or how creative you can be in your guesses)... I call them UFO's, others refer to them as weather balloons, and yet still others try to insist they are lights, although I have walked these woods MANY times in the dark now that it gets dark at noon), and I have yet to see any light beaming from the orb...

What do you think?? -->

Sorry - I can't help it!!

But I have to give you all a big serving of the kool-aid in this post...

I just continue to be amazed at this place. Right now I'm lounging in a cafeteria on a comfy couch with my feet propped up and my free diet coke to my right as I wait for my free transportation to pick me up and take me home. This place is just too cool. I actually drove to work yesterday because I had an appointment after work - and do you know it was the first time I've done so in a month?!? I'm saving so much on gas and wear and tear to my car (even though Clay and I now share a car, we still drive so rarely that my car battery literally died on me when I left my phone plugged in!) and as a kicker I don't have to deal with traffic and I get an extra hour back in my day in which I can work, read, nap, or surf the net.... and I don't even have to go home - you can take any of their buses so I've even taken a different one to another part of the city after work for appointments or dinner or whatever - I just love it! In fact I'm enjoying it so much it is quickly gaining on the FREE medical coverage as my favorite benefit....

So back to the couch I'm sitting on... the culture and work environment never ceases to amaze and amuse me. I'm reminded each day as I walk past (or sit in) cozy little conversation/work areas scattered throughout each building how laid back it is here, what a collaborative and inviting atmosphere they create. Do you know there are literally ping pong tables and fussball tables scattered in most buildings too? And people actually use them! What a great way to step away from the code bug you're stuck on to take a breather before you tackle it again or to run your problem by a coworker. I also love that everyone is welcome in every building on campus - even the high tech research building or the executive center - how cool is that? At shaftrust I couldn't even get into non-HR floors or suites in my very own building!

Ok so my last bit of praise before I lose you all to a sweet tooth toothache is my beloved zune... I know I've raved about it before, but they just made an announcement today that makes it even cooler: not only did they add 2 more free games to download, but they upgraded the "zune pass". The zune pass is a monthly subscription that allows you to download as many songs as you want - the only catch being that once you end your subscription, you lose rights to those songs (so basically you're just renting the songs with the pass). Cool, right? Well now not only do you get to rent as many as you want, but you get 10 songs per month that you can keep now!! Very cool considering the monthly fee is $14 so it's kinda like you pay for one album and get to rent as many as you want for free!! I'm stoked :) I'm not sure if you have to have a zune in order to use the software and the social, but there is a free 14 day trial if you want to check it out - I highly recommend it! You can also look at me and see what I've been listening to, fave songs, most played artists, etc - my tag is erikaleighc.

Ok I guess I'll let you all go now - it's probably time for a cult meeting soon anyways ;)

Love and miss you all,
e :)

Fieldtrips for...ATLANTA!! :)

Clay and I both officially have travel dates for the ATL now!!

Clay arrives 12/12 and I arrive on 12/18 (work is keeping me here a little longer so I can meet my international coworkers - but truth be told I'm actually excited despite the fact that it is keeping me from home) and we both return to Seattle (or should I say "home"??) on 12/29.

We're so super excited!

A few people have asked what we'd like to do when we're back in town (ok....you caught me - it was only my mom....but she puts forth the love of several people - not to mention the fact it makes me feel better, so I'm exaggerating this to a "few" people - ok???), and so far I haven't suggested anything outside the ordinary.

However, I just came across something that looks really interesting to me: you Hotlantans might have heard about this tons before, but it's a first for me: "Dialog in the Dark: Your Senses will Never Be the Same" - it looks super cool!!!

Bottom line I'd love to go - anyone want to join????

Love and miss you all :)
E. :0)

Field Trips Revisited...

So I owe you all a huge apology...

All this time...

We've been venturing out, exploring the city, documenting our travels, yet I've been depriving all y'all of our exploits.

I come to you now for both forgiveness and redemption.

Thus this post: a catch-up on all of our undocumented summer ventures (and yes, I understand this is probably a lame attempt at some sunshine in this dark, rainy night...but such is Seattle.... ) So I can't guarantee these pics to be timely, fully explained, or even sequential.....yet here it goes y'all....

In the past I've taken you all to pike place market at least half a dozen times, exposed you all to the friendly fremont troll, the beauty that is Lake Union and its hundreds of sail boats...brought you along to nearby waterfalls and train depots and ferries... a fire festival, a display of freedom represented mostly by naked peeps, and last but not least....the county hospital.

... and I know what you're all thinking: "what else could possibly be left, our fearless leader"???

Just you wait, kids. Just you wait.

Ok, so I'm sure that's entirely too much of a build-up, but surely it beats sitting at a desk pretending to work like you are surely all doing right this second... (ha! caught you turkeys!!!)

And so begins my first trip down memory lane - and I can promise you all (good or bad) that there will be several more to follow. (But don't worry - I promise to break them up so as not to cause you to read too much at once)

#1 on my agenda is most assuredly Leavenworth, WA:

Enter into evidence our tubin' trip of the NW. You see, Vanessa and I had been planning a get-together of sorts for awhile, and seeing as how it was merely June or July - we knew we had to take advantage of the rare summer weather. So which is it: tubin' down a lazy river or a battle with the rapids in white-water rafting?? Hmmm..... Erika had her vote - and I know you're all surprised - but it did NOT involve lots of hard work or a price tag of over $25. And so I bring you............ (drum roll, please) ........... Tubin' down the Wenatchee.

Now as much as I hate to say it - no pics of the tubes or the four of us lounging in said tubes were officially documented. But don't worry - I'm pretty sure you're much better off in this scenario than you would be in witnessing the not-always-pretty sight of our trip.

And such it begins: typical men that Clay and Bill are, it was left up to the chicaritas to do all planning (I know, such a surprise, right?). And for that I'd say we did pretty well. We had a plan: a destination, a tubin' company, and an approximate timeline. Bill and Clay, on the other hand, just might disagree.

So I admit that we took a little long getting loaded up and headed out of Seattle (the hordes of people in town for the annual weed festival didn't help...no lie.) but we were on the road at a decent hour. One stop at the world's s-l-o-w-e-s-t sub shop and we were getting closer...slowly, but surely. Then comes the mountain drives - curvy and slow, sure. What we had not factored into the time equation was the driver: you see Clay was gracious enough to drive us all, but you have to remember that Clay has probably only driven a total of 15 hours in the 5 months since he moved out to Washington. Needless to say, we had a grandma on our hands. (Insert flashback here to high school when I was driving on a back road and I was stuck behind a slow car... "Let's go, grandpa" I say before whipping around the car in my responsible, yet non-senior citizen like pace.....only to see that - swear to the good Lord above - in the car was really my grandma and grandpa. Doh!)

But I digress...3 hours later we finally made it to Leavenworth. A few phone calls and many, many circles driving around downtown later and we find it! Tube Leavenworth. Let's just say that thank goodness they stayed open an extra hour that day due to the crowds and great weather - lucky for us!!

I have to say this experience was far different from any back home, this was no Hooch folks! For starters the tubes were somethin' way fancier than down south - no simple black tires for us! They were double stuffed, had a bottom and a hammock seat - a cup holder, and even a pillow! Add to that a cooler tube and hooks on each tube to stay close to each other (and more importantly the cooler float) if you wanted to, and some FRIGGIN COLD water, and it was quite a different experience - but it was GREAT.

Once we all thawed out and started to adjust to the non-GA/FL water, we were really starting to enjoy it. A few tee-tiny waterfalls here and there, a deer - no! two, three! - deer later and I was truly feeling relaxed. Ahhhh!! a tee-tiny rapid or three just added a little fun and splash.

But quickly Bill and Clay have made some headway and are a good bit ahead of me and V. "Boys!" "Boys!!" "Where are you going?? That's not the path!!!" Fine. Whatever - V. and I are good sports - so we quickly paddle (with the frisbees provided for the task - and quite handy might I add) toward their detour. Fine... Guys 1, Girls 0.

Ok, this isn't funny kids - this is getting a little shallow. Are you sure we shouldn't have followed the teenagers that are so obviously local kids using the day as an excuse to see each other in their skivies and sneak and hide some beer on the "reeve-er"?? I really think they know what they're doing - unlike us! Ok fine. Fine! No. Really. The rocks are starting to scrape my dragging arse... This is getting un-funnier by the rock boys, but fine I promise I'll be a good girlfriend and play along...

"Ok. SERIOUSLY." Not only is my arse dragging at this point - there are times when I am really STUCK. So up I stand - to literally walk to a deeper point hobbling over the sharp rocks looking to determine which side of the river will be the most forgiving... Ahhh. Finally. The deeper waters are back and the rocks have disappeared... Or so I THOUGHT!!! Gosh darn it here they come again - "Owwww!!!!! This isn't funny!!!"

But no matter how hard I try to convince them otherwise - the boys are laughing hysterically downstream where they've pulled off and parked to watch the spectacle. "Thanks guys!" I holler, "as if I didn't have enough body image issues already!!" This is ridiculous. Quickly visions of a beached whale finally slipping back into the current after a very long 30 day fast quickly flood my brain in a panic... At that thought I quickly stand up, pick up my fancy huge tube, drag it along next to me, and WALK /RUN the rest of their "detour". PUNKS!!!

Ahhhhh finally back in the REAL river - safe from my impending doom and lonely beached life - phew. I see the local teenagers ahead. We must be safe now. And slowly I begin to relax again, this time appreciating the deep water much more than before. A few floaters cruise past, others linger as we lap them at the speed of the tortoise. "This is what I was looking forward to" I say to myself as I lazily drift down the peaceful river...

Another half hour or so and I'm still doing great, but at this point the liquid I've been sipping on has made it's way through my peaceful (yet narrowly-escaped-from-a-very-ill fate) bod. "Uh-oh" you might think...but silly you, you forgot about one of the many thrills of tubing - the lack of a need to actually find a bathroom! Ever wonder why none of your friends have to stop and tinkle on your 3 hour long tubing session?? I don't. And I'm ok to admit it kids. (Sorry!!)

So I strategically make my way ahead of the gang, pull of to a slightly shallower area (but not TOO shallow!!!), let my river flow, and hop back into my tube - the gang none-the-wiser. Back they join me, and sure enough mr. bill has my same concern....but alas, Mr. bill lacked a bit of planning that ms. management major had....

No worries right away - a hop off the tube and although cold - definitely still perfectly within tubing norms. that is....until re-boarding time.

Now to this day I'm quite convinced the upcoming show was for no one but me, but regardless (or shall I say for those less versed in vocabulary and those wanting to chap my hide just a bit more - IRregardless - look it up folks, it's not a real world!!!!) I love him that much more for putting on the show...

Let's just suffice it to say that it can be quite difficult to hop up on a double decker tube with your swimmin' trunks below your crack and no shallow riverbed on which to boost oneself up on!!! For the next 10 minutes I worked off every bit of weight I had felt in shallow waters as I watched Jesus try unsuccessfully to pull himself up on his raft. Oh - the pictures forever burned into all of our brains... I'm not gonna lie to you - it just about made up for the shallow waters they dragged me through just to see cheek after cheek try to flop up on the tire time and time again while the inner-plumber grinned at me in between attempts at launching itself up on the float - all the while arms and legs flailing in the splashes.....

Approximately 8 or 9 minutes later Bill was back up on his tube and we were unable to breathe through the laughter, but were all the happier for having witnessed the spectacle of flailing crackdom....

Thanks Bill!

So alas we were nearing the end and sadly enough the drop off point was inevitable... At that point leave it to Erika to miss the drop off, have to leap out of my double-wide, and swim panic-y against the current to make it back to the exit spot. (Note to those the current gets really strong at the end!!) It was so bad I had to actually dunk my whole body into the frigid water in a moment of survival, but don't worry kids - i also managed to save my drink which stayed above water the entire under-water doggie paddle time, all the while keeping my glasses on my face, so all in all I'd say a successful trip!!! What a blast.

We all made it safely out of the ree-ver, all managed to (gracefully or not so much so) get changed into our dry clothes in the parking lot, and drove back into town. The town is basically like Helen, GA so we ventured to a German Restaurant (Clay's favorite - not!) and proceeded to refuel after the long, long day...

What a fantastic day and a fantastic way to enjoy the Washington outdoors!

So start planning your next trip kids, and remember to request a trip to Leavenworth ;)

Happy Birthday Tanner!!!

That's right folks - I am now the proud aunt of a double-digit igit!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TANNER!!!

I wish I were with you to celebrate, but since I'm not make sure to eat an extra piece of cake for me. I hope you had a great day with papa visiting your school and getting all of the presents you hoped for :)

I love you and miss you TJ!!!

Thank you Dad and Jake...

...and all of the other amazing men and women who have served to protect us all. I can never even begin to imagine what all that means - what it must be like to go to a foreign land and fight for people back home who are not able or not willing to do the same, to literally put your life on the line, to face the horrors that you did, to carry that with you always, and to do so virtually thanklessly...

Thank you seems so hollow and so little for such a gigantic task, but that is all I can think to say.... well that and I'm sending you each a huge virtual hug to accompany the thank you :)

In the spirit of today, I saw this article today and remembered the time I was lucky enough to help these guards lay a wreath on the tomb of the unknown soldier: http://fieldnotes.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/11/10/1667441.aspx. Those guards were amazing: here were 4 6th grade chorus kids incapable of understanding the magnitude of this monument, and the guards were so kind and friendly. He explained to us the exact steps we were to take, the exact moves we were supposed to make - he joked with us, smiled widely, and lined us up. But once we stepped foot outside and began our procession, he turned into a different person - hardly a person at all - more like a moving statue. There was such honor and dedication in his perfectionism. What an amazing experience. If only everyone treated all soldiers with that respect and appreciation....

Thank you Veterans.

Is this thing on?

Just checking.


I'm having flashbacks to lonely days in middle and high school when I would pick up the phone just to make sure there is a dial tone and it's still working...

Admit it - you've all done it at least 3 or 4 times in your lifetime.


Thanks guys. Thanks.


I'm going to go back and cry in my corner now.

War games in dark times....

So not only have both this blog and my entire voting state gone a bit dark politically, but they have both turned in the literal sense as well.

Do you have any idea why time it gets dark around here??

Well let me back up for a minute here, my non-commenting readers: it was back a month or two ago in a large team meeting when it happened. It all started innocent enough - a talk about our move to the new & improved HR building. Ahha, the new building has a parking deck that is a block away from the building. No biggie, right? Well....the walk to the parking deck is through a wooded pathway....so it is fine right now. But when the winter comes and it starts getting dark at 4...

"WHAAAAT?!?!?!?
IT STARTS GETTING DARK AT FOUUURRRRRR???????"

DOH!!! Was that out loud???

Immediately the other 20 people in the room start laughing hysterically at the young, naive southerner. Hahaha - she doesn't know about our Alaska-like seasons!! Teeheehee - she doesn't realize Seattle is simply L.A. - Lower Alaska!!! Haha folks, haha. My manager then says to the director in front of everyone: "Shhh - I wasn't planning to tell her that until our November one on one meeting!!"

Hilarious Seattle, friggin hilarious.

So you know what kids? It's November. And it's dark. REALLY dark. REALLY early. Apparently it's not the worst it's going to get - but I seriously left my office to walk to my bus stop a mere 3 days ago at 5pm...5 P.M. PEOPLE. Should be light, right??

WRONG. Here's what I'm immediately faced with - the picture to the right. I wish there were a time stamp on the pic so you would all believe me. 5:00 in the evening and it is already this dark!!!!

Crazy, eh??? Welcome to Seattle kids, it's dark.
...REALLY dark.
...Before 5pm.
...Seriously!!!

Now it's time for the war games...

The best part of moving to the new HR building: the new company store and visitor center are right there in my building!! Pretty cool! Not only can I shop when I need to stretch my legs, but I can also play with a Surface or see old computers and ancient pics of bill and the other original msft team anytime I want! Awesome!!

But, folks, it gets even better.

You see, Gears of War 2 just released on Friday, which apparently means that it pre-releases at 4pm the day before at our company store. AWESOME. Literally hundreds of gamers lined up for hours before and after 4pm to be the first to get the game (at less than half of retail, btw) and to get the opportunity to play it an extra 24 hours before their fellow gamers.

Hysterical folks :)

It was hard to keep working with this level of people watching around. I know it's hard to tell from this pic - but there were hundreds of them coiled around our newly established lobby and company store - and that's right people...JUST for you - I once again risk life and limb to position myself and snap pictures of these creatures in their natural habitat....

And yes, they saw me taking the pictures and cursed my documentation of the event. Or were they proud?? You be the judge.

ps-there was some cool stuff that happened lately too - I like to pretend we were not as lamo as the gamers or the early darkness, but Clay, Vanessa, Bill (aka Hey-suess), and I recently went to a comedy show that rocked my face off.

Judah Friedlander (aka Frank from "30 Rock" on the left) and Brian Posehn (aka the opera-singing mailman from "Just Shoot Me" on the right) were fabulous and they even hung around to chill with us peeps after the show.

Here are the pics to prove!

Loe and miss you all,

e. :)

Did someone give you all diamonds?

Because you guys are speechless.... Or as Ron White so eloquently put it: "diamonds: that'll shut 'er up."

Hmmmm so it is now up to me to decide if you are all:

• Obama lovers,
• you can't find the comment link on my new format,
• you are all so bored with my blog (and/or my lack of frequent posts these days) that I've lost you,
• or you have turned Washingtonian-ly politically correct via internet osmosis.

So which is it???

Well until I figure it out, I'm trying to stand strong and I'm pretending you are all having internet access problems. Deal? Deal. (and ps-if your answer is #1 then don't tell me - I'm much too fragile right now.....)

i meant no harm

....in blaming or addressing anybody in particular - I'm just unbelievably angry and disappointed where things ended up.

So I'm Done.

I'm returning my recently-acquired Washington license and tags.

As soon as possible.

In return,

I'm demanding they refill my GA license hole that they punched.

ASAP.

My beautifully wonderful GA license must be reinstated.

Immediately.

If not...

I'm moving to Mexico.

Immediately

Warning folks - this is going to get political. and ugly. FAST.

I didn't think I'd get this worked up about this gosh darn election, but here I am: sitting and stewing in fury. Obviously a large part of it is my candidate didn't win (screw the neutral bullcrap I've been bathing in up here - I'm SICK of it!!!) and you add to that the fact that the election was called before my vote had even been counted and this just blows.

I have been absolutely effing sick to my stomach day in and day out living in hippie land with obama b.s. everywhere ALL THE TIME and if I hear one more person say his effing name that sounds way too similar to an effing terrorist I'm going to pop a cap in someone's ass. That's right people: Erika is getting mad. VERY, VERY mad.

• I'm sick of hearing that the economy is all W's fault: it was NOT W who put the b.s. laws in place that mandated low-income mortgages, and the prior incumbents did NOT have the enormously difficult task of dealing with terrorists attacks on our land.
• I'm sick of having to hide my opinion in fear of being ripped to shreds by all of the liberals I work with and share a state with.
• I'm sick of hearing the word "change" without any details - or heaven forbid - any experience to back it up and prove what you stand for.
• I'm sick of ignorant people who are allowed to vote when they don't research the issues.
• I'm sick of a man who served for his country (as did generations in his family both before and after him) being harassed by his opponent about not being able to "use email" or "tie his own shoes" without the explanation that those things are impossible for him now due to injuries sustained during his unimaginable time of service and POW-time he spent standing by his men.
• I'm sick of showmanship being the deciding factor when it should be the issues and voting history of the candidates that matters.
• I'm sick of candidates who promise to use a fundraising cap and then back out when they realize they can swing more votes by spending a ridiculous amount of money on advertising. Advertising is for coke and pepsi - not something this important you idiots!!!!
• I'm sick of people who believe that anything other than "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" to be a right: god-given healthcare, home ownership, and welfare just a few examples!!!
• I'm sick of big fat-head D's growing our national government rather than focusing on states' rights when it is NOT the way it should be - not in the original founding of our country or in my opinion right now.
• I'm sick of a race that became about race when that has absolutely nothing to do with a candidate's character.
• Lastly I'm sick of candidates who stoop to the lowest common denominator - who make incomplete blanket statements so as to sway uneducated voters. Wake up and do your research people!!!

So you know what bullbama? Take it. Take this economy and show us how you can single-handedly make it so amazing when it was so obviously one man who tore it down.

I know I shouldn't be surprised - but damn if I'm not still disappointed in you America.

Falling into Washington...

Well it's official folks - I am a card-carrying Washingtonian. Not only do I have a state license but I even have car tags! (or should I say car "tabs" as they say here...silly Washingtonians). It took me forever but I must admit I was glad to get certified in the fall - it's been my favorite season yet!!

Everyone talks about the beautiful summers - and it truly was. However, something about the fall has impressed me even more: the weather is cooler, the rain hasn't fully started, and the leaves are changing gorgeously. Being the "evergreen state", I admit that I was a little nervous that I'd miss the changing of the leaves we have in North Georgia, but it has definitely rivaled the Blue Ridge Highway (mom, don't laugh - you have to admit the fall in that area is beautiful!! even - dare I say it - more scenic than here! ;).

So now for the rain: apparently the official "rainy season" began about a month ago (yes, it actually has that name and official begin date!). So how do I know this you ask? Well I've mentioned my amazingly awesome free bus rides but I'm not sure I've mentioned the bus stops... To do so I should back up to explain campus a little: we are in the suburbs of Redmond about 10-15 mins outside of Seattle and our campus sprawls out like a college campus: brick buildings everywhere - over 100 of them!!! We have shuttles that run between the buildings all day (mostly hybrids, of course) and there are grassy and wooded areas bigger than half of the colleges I've been to. In fact campus is so big that it even has it's own bus station - that's right, not just a bus stop (there are many of those) - but a bona fide bus terminal. So imagine a big high school with the bus loop but there are public buses and microsoft buses - from "short bus" length all the way up to the tour bus types that go out to the burbs. Since it's so big there aren't shelters for every mini-stop within the station - but I never even noticed or thought anything was missing.

Enter the day before the first official day of rainy season: I walk to my stop in the afternoon as always and I see these obstructive white tents sticking out like 2 sore thumbs in our beautiful campus. Picture a big white tailgating tent with 3.5 sides covered and a see-through plastic "window" complete with white plastic panes. I had to stop and laugh. Silly kids - rain tents are for wimps!! I literally laughed out loud and took a picture. Who cares if people are laughing at me snapping a picture - this HAS to go on my blog!! So here it is :)

So the very next day was officially announced as rainy season day 1 with fresh coffee, juices, bagels, and assorted pastries at our morning bus stop when we got off the bus. How nice, I thought, it is hardly even drizzling!

All is fine and naive until Erika walks back to her bus stop in the afternoon, and folks I have to tell you - I tucked my tale between my legs and crowded into the ghetto rain shelter I had made fun of just the day before.

You live and you learn....

Now if I can just find an official raincoat I'll be set!

Happy Autumn and don't forget to enjoy the sunshine for me!!

Love,

e :)

New Format for the Fall :)

Hi everyone!

So I decided to shake it up a bit and change the format on here for the first time and I updated some of my links on the side while I was at it, hope you likey :)

I promise to blog more soon!!

Imagine...

http://5resolutions.blogspot.com/2008/10/friends-dont-let-friends-fat-talk.html

Football, football, and more football

So it's GAMEDAY and you know what's missing????

Babies. :(

Ok. I guess not every gameday can be like the last the weekend I was in ATL, but I sure miss baby david and baby hayden. Of course I miss all my georgia fam and friends (and by "Georgia", I mean the state and not just UGA OF COURSE)!! Good thing my JACKETS won last week AND this week to help ease the pain ;)

Now while it's nothing to do with ACC or SEC football, nor does it remind me of home (perhaps it what it reminds me of what is missing up here and what is exactly OPPOSITE of home), it has made me want to write about a recent trip: a University of Washington Football Game with Joe!!! While his parents were lucky enough to tour the Italian countryside, I was lucky enough to tour the "U-dub" campus with Mr. Joe: I was so excited - my very first northwestern college football experience!!!!

The differences were obvious right from the start - we took a bus to get there and did no tailgating, pre-game drinking, or flask sneaking. Different but certainly not unacceptable (don't forget - I was in the band). However, what was crazy was that we weren't the exception! We passed a few tailgates but not many at all and I don't think I even smelled beer the entire day. So basically it was the anti-UGA. ;) The stadium also felt very different inside - much more like a high school stadium with a large track around the field, temporary bleachers at one end zone with a soccer and baseball field squeezed in close behind. Very strange, but we had great seats so we could practically see the players' faces.

Then it got even weirder. I thought I understood the magnitude of the hot caffeine addiction up in these parts, and I thought I understood how different the culture was, but going to this game brought this realization to a whole new level. Do you know what the longest line in the whole stadium was for? The hot dogs? Nope. Sodas to spike? Not even a thought on these people's minds. (!) It was for COFFEE!!! I kid you not kids. There it was: a starbucks in a stadium. Not just a carafe or two - not just an option in the regular refreshment stand - an entire Starbucks store, complete with 5 or 6 baristas, the entire menu and all the fancy machines and flavors required to fulfill all of the orders. Crazy!! Add to that a city that just can't get their mind grapes around the fact that Coke is the superior cola by a million miles and I'm at a loss for words. Well...wait...more like full of new rants ;)

But hey - it ended in my first real, live Washington Honeysuckle sighting (and therefore tasting, duh! but alas, I could not get Joe to partake - his loss....) so I guess not all was lost....

So flash back to current day and here I sit in downtown Seattle - South Lake Union's Jillian's Billiards to be exact, and I have to confess I have this wretched black "G" sticker on my cheek. That's right folks - I'm sitting at a sports bar with Clay and the UGA Alumni of Puget Sound - I'm pretty sure this qualifies me for girlfriend of the year - and I'm pretty sure you should all remind Clay..... seriously - a "G" on my cheek!!! Oh the things you to support each other when you are in a city of strangers.....

One GA and one GA Tech win later, I'm back at home and thankful that Clay didn't think to get a picture of me. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go take a shower and was the UGAness off me while singing every GT fight song I can think of... buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz ....

SEA vs. ATL: Which is Home Now??

So thanks to those back in Atlanta whom we bombarded in our whirlwind trip back home - thank you, thank you, thank you! To those of you we didn't get to see, I'm so sorry we didn't get to see you - I feel so unbelievably cliche and pompous in saying so, but I'm sorry we didn't get to hit every hot spot in metro-ATL, but it turns out the city and our family and friends are more wide spread than we thought, not to mention the fact that less than a week is shorter than I would have ever guessed (add to that the insane gas Armageddon and bob's your uncle)!

Just to fill in those in the dark...I tried to surprise everyone back home last Tuesday night with a little bite of completely unexpected Seattle Erika pie: turns out a few bites were prematurely nibbled and all that was left untouched was the rents and gma Decker, but alas those few untouched bites never tasted so good as Tues night. You see there I stood - or shall I say there we stood - Clay and I (albeit nervous was he as he prefers to have previous permission for each such trip, but I knew way better that such a trip was WAY far allowed no matter how unplanned)... KNOCK,knock , knock,KNOCK,KNOCK.....and here she comes to open the door (several texts to Josh gone past to ensure a pizza was well on the way as Clay's tummy was rumble-de-dumpscious)....
I see her open the door,

I see her see me,

I see her...

SCReEeEeEeEeACH!!!!

Yet 15 minutes later my heart still beats entirely too fast trying to slow down to a normal pace to enjoy the moment..... :) SOOOO GREAT!!!! - I GOT YOU!!! :)

and might I add...soooooooooo worth it :)

Sure she'll tell you otherwise, but I was in contact with a third party the entire time and the house looked great, she looked great, and everyone was in town who needed to be. The next morning we got to do the same for grandma D. and I could have gone home a happy girl right then and there. Thanks mom and gma, love you ladies!!! :)

Add to that Clay's family, lots and lots of dearly loved and dearly missed friends, and 2 new amazingly-amazing-angelic, far-too-long-since I've held and not-nearly-enough-time-to-hold babies that I got to meet for the very first time.... OH and the most amazing melt-in-your-mouth queso and pizza to touch my taste buds in 6 months, skies far bluer and clouds far puffier than ever I remember, and a strange mix of the muggy humidity that is all-too-familiar along with the dry drought that I didn't think was possible, the start of a nasty cold, and about 27 bug bites to bring back to Seattle - and my first trip back home was TOTALLY worth it.

So here I am back to my second home of gray skies, staticy radio, cooler weather, my (almost) very own thermostat, TiVo, Microsoft, and a city with the irony of an abundance of gas that we don't really ever use...and I tell you what - I can't really complain in either city. Not a bad life when I have to try to decide which to call home: and just like Clay said as we left Sea-Tac airport headed back to the condo: "can't they both be home"?

Love and miss you all, - e :)

I'm a PC!!! :)

Watch out folks, here comes the biggest kool-aid speech of them all...it all started with with the innocent enough launch of the new Zune and the new Zune software - simply amazing if you ask me. Add to that the company meeting and golly gosh darn it - stick a fork in me, I'm done!

This meeting was like no other - to begin with it was held in Safeco Stadium (where the Mariners play) and over 20,000 employees attended. Seriously - over twenty thousand!!! I guess it's hard not to get pumped up in that environment, but you add to that Rainn Wilson Emceeing (Dwight from The Office), demos from the latest and greatest exciting new products, pyrotechnics, an energetic and inspiring (and yes a little crazy) CEO, and finally some awesome new ads, well I left truly thrilled about my employer. So YES, kids, you are going to have to sit through it now too!

Some of my favorite demos were of course Office 14 and Surface, but something new to me was Mesh (mom - look here - you'll love it! you can sync your pics everywhere in an instant, so easy, so quick - to all pc's in the house, cell phones, digital cameras, tv's, and even digital photo frames! I thought of you immediately when I saw it - I think it was invented for you :).

Now the super-de-doopertie exciting part - the new commercials! They discussed the Bill and Jerry commercials a bit and then unveiled the latest and greatest: I'm a PC!! windows.com. I admit it was cooler on dueling screens about 30 ft. by 30 ft., but still cool! They also showed this older but goodie one for Windows mobile ad here (note the song - I love the song)! Then in MSFT fashion, the meeting ended with free food and drinks and buses back to campus for the eastsiders, while the much cooler seattlites continued to celebrate downtown with a pub crawl back home spreading the word with dozens of "I'm a PC" stickers. (I kid you not - I have even been asked about them since then at my favorite hangout - shy Erika is that excited about this stuff!)

Ok, one last force feed and I promise I'll quit (for now). Love and miss you all, hope to see you all soon!

e :)

Happy Birthday to you....

....Happy Birthday to you....

Happy Birthday Glee Anneigh.....

Happy Birthday to You!!!!!

One day late ;)

I miss you Glee!!! Hope to see you in October, love you and miss you! Hope you had a great day!!!

Georgia Watch Out...

...he's headed back to town. Clay, that is. Just dropped him off at the airport again and I have to admit I'm jealous. I've been planning this whole time to wait until the house sells, but boy 6 months isn't exactly what I had in mind when I first made that plan. :(

6 months seems like a long time, eh?? Sometimes it feels like it was only a month or two ago, but when I stop to think about how much I miss family and friends, or how much I've missed like all the millions of babies everyone is popping out back home, it feels like years have passed without me....not to mention all of the mellow mushroom pizzas consumed, sweetwater beers enjoyed to the last drop, and queso dips slopped up on yummy crispy hole-in-the-wall mexican chips and soft tortillas.....yummmmmm. Man food up here doesn't compare! Oh and the tailgates I've missed!! OHHH and the sun, the glorious poolsides and the Lake boat rides!!! I swear I'm paler than I've been since - well - since my Hewitt days I guess. And contrary to what some might say, pale is NOT the new tan!!!

Sigh....

So everyone treat my clayfus well, redden up his neck for me, and send him back well fed :)

Love and miss you all,
e :)

ps-send back lots of pics with him please!! OH and lots of lots of hugs and kisses!!!

How to insult someone from 3000 miles away...

Anyone want to know how to insult someone from 3,000 miles away? Here's an idea... Offer them less than 75% their asking price on their home, that's how!

WOW. The nerve of some people. Don't get me wrong. I understand a buyer's market, I promise I do! You see, right out of the shoot I had all carpet replaced and the entire outside and downstairs interior repainted all while listing my price 10% lower than market value trying to sell my house "quickly". Pretty damn good I'd say. Right?? Anyone??

Not good enough, eh? FINE. After not selling after 3 months on the market, another appraisal, and lots of additional listings in my neighborhood, I lowered my price an additional 7% AND made a few more improvements. So after all furniture was removed, a few straggling closets had carpets replaced, the final 2 rooms were repainted, and it is practically a new house! So what's left but to what for an offer, right??

HA! Finally the first one landed tonight. LITERALLY less than 75% of my original listing price, less than 70% of the original value....in fact almost the price I originally paid almost 8 years ago. I can't tell you how insulted I am. I have watched shows on tv about snooty buyers who are so insulted by offers that they don't even counter and I was deplored by their smugness.

Yet here I stand. And I won't counter, dagnabbit.

I mean hello people!! I get that's it's a buyer's market, but I'd be better off with a duplicate mortgage payment for another two years than to give in to your offer you rotten stone thrower!

Thanks, but no thanks buddy. And the next time you attempt to make an offer, why don't you think about how horribly awfully awful of a horrible person you are right now and that your first born child might need to be put up for pennies or even 75% of a penny for the next 30 years of his life before you attempt to insult someone who has worked so hard to actually take care of their mortgage and not default like the other irresponsible people in this country who are calling uncle like the other people looking for "change" and seeking "assistance" from the government in their loans or who are running for shelter or chickening out and saying "oops" on their loan so the banks can now sell their house for way less in my neighborhood so that buyers can now buy a home in my neighborhood for half the price of my home even though i am the one who is responsibly trying to sell my home legitimately?????

Ok sorry peeps, I promise not to get back on my high horse for at least another couple of offers - and no telling how many months or years that will take.... ;)

PS-I MISS YOU ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Guess what day it is????

yeah, yeah, I know... "Bad Erika." No posts in an outrageously long time. Awful. I've got so much catching up to do it's overwhelming. Bad, bad Erika. I'm slapping my wrists as I type. I've got pics galore, many many more weekend festivals to fill you in on, and a gripe or two more about Seattlites yet to blog (who would have guessed??).

HOWEVER, that is all going to have to wait for two reasons. #1 it is simply way too daunting to have to face all of that at once - the 7 or 8 draft posts saved in this account will prove this point easily. #2 and FAR more importantly.......

It's . . . . GAMEDAY!!!!!!

Nothing can stop me today - I am so pumped!!! I'm sporting my gold ramblin' wreck shirt and practically marched all the way to my bus stop this morning (da-dadada-da-dadada-da-GO-ja-KETS....) trying to keep my fist from shooting up in the air (da-dadada-da-dadada-da-GO-ja-KETS....) almost peed my pants when a girl stopped me to ask where elliot ave was I was so engulfed in my own parade (da-dadada-da-dadada-da-GO-ja-KETS, FIGHT, WIN!!!!!).

This continued until I made it to my stop where I wondered if there were any other yellow jackets - I looked around at the other softies....nope. Definitely not. But then again maybe their just not awake yet - but HELLOOOO it's GAMEDAY!!! I thought about yelling it once I got on the bus "GAMEDAY!!", but alas I was pretty sure there were no other marching yellow jackets on here and therefore rather than hearing the intoxicating roars of "GAMEDAY"'s in reply, I was sure it would be greeted with stranger stares than normal. But then again - I would almost surely be guaranteed a seat alone for the rest of the year....Hmmmm.....perhaps on the way home today ;)

GO JACKETS!!!!!!

ps-ironically our season opener is against jack state - so sorry Mr. Tyndall, Kelly Walsh, and Meghan Panepento - all band alliances are off - we're gonna squash those gamecocks tonight!!! Let's go tech!!! :)

Just in case you're still reading....

So just in case anyone is still reading, I'm so sorry!!

I promise I'm still here and still alive, and I still love you all...in fact I'm still wanting to blog; it's just this pesky work and staring at a computer all day long that has kept me from being proactive on this site. Ok, ok, I'm sorry - I admit it - perhaps feeling a little distant and lonely for comments but I promise I'm NOT begging for sympathy comments ;) Honestly just working too much and not being lazy couch Erika NEARLY ENOUGH!!!

That said, it is my sincere promise to you to never go another 2 weeks without posting again in the future. Deal kidarooskies??? Deal! :)

Love and miss you all!!!

ps-the rents are out here now and Clay and I have been having a great time with them - I promise pics and stories galore to follow!! in the meantime our bellies are definitely full, Clay is definitely wondering why I don't cook like my mom (in both quality and quantity), I am trying to pull my dad to the MS darkside a little more and more each day, OH and they fixed my freshcape hood!!!!!! Oh yeah, and we've seen some cool sites too...... but HELLO - my hood no longer talks to me when I drive down the road!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D :D :D

A Tale of Three Hospitals

The first hospital is the happiest of 3: George Maxwell Groves is here! Baby George, the first boy grandbaby for the Chet and Rise, was just born out in Texas! This makes Clay a 4 time Uncle and is baby #3 for Shirley and Mike and they seem like total pros!! :) Have I mentioned yet how excited I am to meet all of the summer babies yet??? Because I AM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The second hospital takes a scarier turn. Those of you who know my brothers know they are gluttons for adrenaline - Josh and Kerry being the firefighters and Jake being the cop/air force kid. Even Kerry's wife Mac works on LifeFlight and in ER's - they are all so amazing and work so hard to do so much good for so many people (well that and save cats from trees and eat donuts). So when my mom called yesterday I didn't expect it to be about Josh going to the hospital. Having been around firemen for 15+years now (or is it 20 Kerry???) with (Thank the Lord above) no major injuries, it's all to easy to forget how dangerous their jobs really all are.

So sure enough, Josh got caught in one of those dangerous places yesterday morning while working at Dekalb - here's an article about it. Josh is doing ok now but here is what I've pieced together from the story: he was in the basement of a 5600 sq ft house with his partner - no doors, no windows - could barely see his partner's flashlight 24 inches in front of him. While in this less-than-desirable situation, they got tangled up in all of the wires hanging down from the drop ceiling, when they both ran out of air and got lost in the dark, smoky basement. They finally made it out of the house but they were in pretty bad shape and had to be taken to the hospital and put in a hyperbolic chamber for a few hours.

Talk about a small world - a really great former coworker from SunTrust (rare, I know!) Helen's mom is the nurse at Crawford Long Hospital where Josh and the other firefighters were taken. Crazy, huh? So it was great reassurance that she had heard about the fire and her mom remembered Josh and said they would be ok and that Josh wasn't just being macho :) Turns out a few days rest and one hell of a sore throat and lungs later - they should be ok. So please just get some rest Josh!!

So now for the third hospital - I promise this one is lighter....needless to say - Toto, we're not at Seattle Grace Hospital anymore !!! So there are many, many lessons I've learned out here and trust me when I say finding all new Doctors has certainly proved to be a huge lesson learned! You see, it turns out there are things you just sort of just know after living in a city for decades - such as which hospitals are the friggin county hospitals.

That's right folks. Erika picks out her doctor based on a nice looking hospital in the local medical neighborhood, one associated with the University of Washington with a dedicated woman's clinic, doctors who all went to reputable schools in the past couple decades, and of course one that takes my medical insurance. It's funny how the silly things like "welfare hospital" weren't on my radar during my search... You see - LESSON LEARNED!!

So I leave work early the other day, have my directions on hand, and head for my appointment. I admit as I got closer to the hospital the neighborhood got sketchier, but I rationed that's probably not unusual for a hospital with sirens blaring at all hours and sick people in and out on a constant basis. So here is little Miss. Peach finally pulling up to the building according to their directions and it is definitely a massive structure - but seriously folks - did you have to have me come in where the first sign I see is "KING COUNTY MEDICAL EXAMINER OFFICE"??? Ok. Strange. Seriously. This place is a little creepy. But I finally get to the parking deck - and 25 minutes later I finally find a parking spot. My original thought in this crazy parking structure is a figure 8. But after driving around nearly tossing my cookies after countless loops, turns, dips and dives it definitely turned into a "Drunken octopus" super-quickly. Yikes folks. Dizzily I finally make it up to the main level of this looney bin where I find a maze of not-so-healthy wheelchair patients who appear to be randomly-wheeled-out to smoke among the incoming traffic. And as much as I hate to say it, 'tis just a foreshadowing of what is to come.


After weaving through the smoking wheelchair obstacle course, I make it through the next strange course in county hospital through the rotating doors (warning: don't touch anything!), hop over the sleeping homeless people and around the translators trying to usher the undocumented patients out the exit door. Stop. Where's this nice "women's clinic" I read about online?? Ahh...past the white-dyed beehive lady wearing the red blazer at the information counter and around the bend. SURELY the scenery gets better (and CLEANER) around the bend. RIGHT??? No such luck - unfortunately the picture is no prettier. This is the dirtiest hospital I've ever been in. I mean absolutely no insult to Harborview at all - but suffice it to say that I would never choose Grady to go get my annual checkup, either. I find the "women's clinic" on the ground level and there I wait carefully in line with other women - none of whom I think were in my situation.


Needless to say this waiting room had the most multi-cultural group I've seen since moving to Seattle. I also think I threw them off by even having insurance. So after the fiasco of signing in with that pesky insurance card, I sit down where the only thing louder than all of the various languages being shouted all around me was the one in my head telling me to get the heck out of dodge (where of course my concern was if i'd have to pay as if i were a no show, so i decided to stay against all odds). So I finally get a call for my name (at least a close-enough Japanese version of my name) and after verifying my last name once behind locked doors, I follow the nurse to the exam room. She didn't speak engrish very well......... turns out I was the only one in who knows how long to actually go for an actual yearly preventative check-up - so much so that they couldn't even find the paper work to do so!!!! Crazy!! So first of all I threw them off by even HAVING insurance - let alone being PROACTIVE in my healthcare - they didn't even know where the patient history forms were people!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HELLO???????????

Not only that but by the time the Dr. got there she and I were talking for awhile (which, by the way, wouldn't you know it, she was actually really awesome) she noticed the nurse had only given me a sheet - not even a gown!! She then says "I know were county, but we're not that bad!" But how was I to know based on what I had seen so far?? Right before I finally left thank goodness the Dr. came back for a quick signature on some old records at which point i asked if i needed to wait for the nurse (no, surprise surprise ) - "you can just leave", she says - "exit that way". Wow. I found a bathroom on my way out, (it turns out no sample required at county, folks). Wow again. Thought I had to go - turns out county restrooms make that feeling climb right back up inside you faster than white climbs on rice. Thanks, but I'll just head out and hurry home for a shower instead. I raced out as fast as I could, still in one piece, thank goodness!!

An eye opening experience folks. And remember all of you Atlanta folks - the next time you are looking for a regular doctor - you might want to look somewhere besides GRADY!!!! ;)