Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Speaking of...

...Wednesday...

What? I'm sure someone was. Somewhere...




So, as we have established, it is Wednesday. Today I should have a mondo-sized coffee next to me because it is insanely busy (I mean, I only get to type about 2 or 3 words here before I have to answer the phone again. Sheesh!). In fact, I could use some booze in my coffee, that would help a lot, I'm sure. But I have no coffee left, and I have no booze. How sad.

Oh lighten up. I'm just joking.
Sort of.

Speaking of coffee... I think we have a coffee stand for every 10 persons in this town. They are everywhere. 15 years ago we had maybe three latte stands. They multiply. Like rabbits. Or weasels. (Starbucks is a weasel, in my opinion. No offense, but I am not a fan...) Anyway, a couple years ago I read in the paper that we had something like 256 coffee stands in our county. Which pretty much means in this city, although there actually are a few in outlying areas. I'm sure there are at least another 100 now. It's crazy.

Speaking of stands...I used to pick my coffee stands by proximity. To where I lived, where I worked, that kind of thing. There was an awesome one near where 911 used to be housed (the Public Safety Building morgue basement (used to be the morgue, once upon a time. Cheerful? Not.) I went there primarily because their coffee was okay, but their chai tea was fantastic! They made their own - none of that boxed Oregon Chai crap (sorry, but again, not a fan). Then the owners sold the place and it no longer had that fabulous chai tea. There was much weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth but they finally told me if I didn't stop doing that they were going to call the police, so I quit. And quit going there.

Then our office moved (thank goodness, because now we have windows! Although, we are near the rendering plant now, so it often stinks to high heaven out there.) There is a coffee stand kitty-corner-ish from there, and I started going there just because it was so close. And they had pretty good coffee. But then the girl who used to work mornings left and the owner took over and for some reason she wasn't open half the time in the morning. So I stopped going there, too.

But then I "found" this place.



It is 5 minutes from my house so I can actually have coffee to drink on the way to work! Which is great. And the coffee is great, and reasonable priced. But now I'm sad. Yes, sad.
And not just because I am at work without booze.
No, today I am sad because my favorite coffee girl is leaving.

This is A--. (Names have been shortened to protect the silly.)


She is almost always here when I come through for my "usual". I haven't had to tell her what I drink for the better part of a year (I am such a creature of habit...although she has, from time to time made special, interesting and tasty suggestions for me!) But A-- is leaving to move onward and upward in the world. She has taken a job that hopefully will parlay into a good career for her.
But I will miss her. And her sunny smile. (And her lattes!)
I am lucky, however, that the other girls there are nice as well and also excellent latte makers!

But speaking of A's last day...to wish her well I made her one of my funky, chunky necklaces:


This is a really cool glass pendant that I got at Wonders of the World downtown. I have no idea how they do it, but it looks like flames on the back, which is fun.


Speaking of fun (not)...Secret Agent Man and I are working on putting in a big flower bed out front. I don't think I'm going to quit my day job to work in landscaping, but it is kind of sucky hard painful rewarding. I am taking pictures, hopefully I can post the finished work soon.
The best part of that will be that we are done! Yea!

So...what are you speaking of on your hump day?

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Beauty of Spring Necklace



A little behind on my blogging for beads... but I am finally posting.

The theme this time around was "The Beauty of Spring". I decided on these lovely "Peek-a-Boo" porcelain beads from Artbeads. I also used a variety of Swarovski bi-cone beads, in different blues and greens. I wanted something that had some layers, yet was light and airy feeling. This is what I came up with.



I love the combination of colors, which made me thinks of blue skies and new green leaves. Seemed perfect for spring. Or summer, even, because it's kind of a beachy combination, as well.


I have worn it a couple times and get good comments on it. It was fun, a little different than my usual stuff.

Go here: Blog for Beaders, to see more designs and some fun projects.

Necessary Legal Stuff: I have received the above mentioned products from Artbeads.com and am honestly reviewing them. I have not been paid for my endorsement.

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Me & Etsy

Even though it seems to have become a little too big for it's britches, I still love Etsy. By "too big" I mean that there are a bazillion sellers on there now and it's getting a little hard to sort through everything, sometimes, to find just what you're looking for.

My jewelry shop isn't getting much traffic, but my art shop gets a purchase from time to time. I really wish I could afford to stay home and market my stuff better... but I suppose that will come eventually.

One thing I really like about Etsy is it's sense of community. There's a lot of shout-outs given, and nice communication back and forth by sellers and buyers. For instance, today I got a nice little note from another seller, Leaf Lee. She put together a great Treasury of some of her favorite things and included my very favorite Space Girl, which is doubly cool because it's the only non-clothing item listed!
Awesome!

Go check out the Treasury, and also check out Leaf Lee's Little Sweat Shop. She's got some wicked funky stuff for sale.

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Speaking of...





It's Sunday, which is typically a day of rest. It is, however, not the case around here. I don't know why but Sunday's lately have been awful busy at 911. Don't people have anything better to do on Sunday? Don't people know I have BLOGGING to do!? Sheesh!

Wait...what? I should be working while I'm at work? Pshaw. I'd so rather be home with Secret Agent Man.

Speaking of SAM, he's a lousy husband. I believe he is home right now being lazy and seeding the back hill, paying bills and doing laundry. What a guy! No, seriously he is awesome! He also makes me dinner when I am too tired to do it, takes me purse shopping, and tells me I'm beautiful all the time. Being Mrs. Secret Agent is a pretty good deal.

Speaking of being beautiful, however, I have decided I need to be less beautiful. About 40 lbs less beautiful. (For the record - desk jobs suck.) So SAM and I have been discussing diets and a walking regimen. I clearly need more exercise. Going out for beer and pizza apparently does not count. (Who made that rule, anyway?)

Speaking of exercise, though, we did get a Wii recently. With the intent that we would maybe do some Wii Sports or something. Alas, no. We are completely hooked on a series of Raving Rabbids games.
Oh. My. Gosh. I have not laughed so much in a long time! (Laughing is exercise, right?) For anyone not familiar with the Rabbids, you do crazy things like shoot plungers at them,

race warthogs, and dance dance your booty off! (That's my favorite part...although I checked this morning and sadly, my booty is still all there.)

(For those of you who know and love the little darlings, go here...there's an interesting post about their creation.)
Anyway, it's great fun, but so far it's not doing much to erase my beer and pizza calories.
Damn.

So, still speaking of diets, anyone got any good suggestions? I need a diet I can stick with, that doesn't include fish, brussels sprouts, garlic, cauliflower, zucchini, jelly beans, ice cream, chocolate, donuts, any kind of cupcake...oh wait...I got off track there.

Speaking of cupcakes...
...where I work we have restrooms right across the hall from our main door (I know, stay with me here...). Needless to say, we try to keep air freshener in there at all times. We have to buy our own, so we take turns. A couple days ago a new one showed up, some kind of Febreze something or other.
Now, I am leery of air "fresheners" because they are usually way too strong and give me a headache. But this one....this one.... um, it's just wrong. It smells like vanilla cupcakes.
What the hell Febreze?
I guess it's probably great for the kitchen. But, y' know, I smell a nice vanilla cupcake and hey - I want one!
Kinda disturbing in the bathroom.
I'm just sayin'.

Great, now I want cupcakes and here I am with my rabbit food lunch. It's very frustrating. Think I'll go home and shoot me some Rabbids.





Saturday, May 15, 2010

Duck, Duck, Goose


Today the Washington State Patrol went on a wild goose chase.
Literally.

Apparently a mama and papa goose were taking their little ones for a walk along the freeway. Dozens of people called it in to 911 for fear they would become pate'.






Luckily a Trooper was nearby and was able to herd the little honkers off the freeway and keep an eye on them until a Game Agent was able to get there. Yea!





(All pictures courtesy of the WDOT traffic cameras.)

Monday, May 3, 2010

Just For Fun



I was listening to Bruce Hornsby the other day, and this came on. One of my very favorite songs of his:



I'm here with the elephants, I'm cleaning up mess
I'm trying to be special, but to you
I'm just like all the rest
Look what they've got me doing

Got a high wire act I can show you my skills

Trapeze and a bar across my heart, across my ills

Escape through a trap door and I'll go on my way

Try as I do, I just can't connect anyway

Getting bout as much attention as a...
circus on the moon

Standing tall and lone in my...
circus on the moon...

Saturday, May 1, 2010

Random

So our anniversary was last week. Secret Agent Man and I had a lovely dinner at a downtown restaurant called Churchill's. It's probably as swanky as it gets around here. It has recently re-opened after a fire gutted the place about a year ago, when a photography studio next door had a chemical fire.
We had not been in yet prior to the fire, but I have to say, it's gorgeous! The bar downstairs is particularly nice, and reminds me of some kind of upscale English pub. I tried to take a picture, but it was too dark down there.
The dining room was nice, too, though.



Dinner was fabulous. My only complaint was that, since I am allergic to garlic I couldn't do the garlic mashed potato side, and asked to substitute a baked potato. They couldn't "substitute" so I had to buy one, and it was SEVEN FREAKING DOLLARS!
Now, in the grand scheme of things (meaning it was a pricey dinner) I suppose $7 should not have been a big deal, but it was.
Regardless, it was a nice evening.


Yesterday I decided to be productive on my day off. I picked up dry cleaning, went grocery shopping, did some online shopping and Armor All'd my bra.
What? It was dirty!




Looks much better now.




Thursday we went to a piano bar that does "dueling pianos" on the weekend. I don't really understand the "dueling" part, because there was no "play-off" or anything like one we went to in Vegas once, but it was pretty fun. They take requests for tips. Secret Agent man was giving them tips like "Don't eat bad eggs" and "Buy low, sell high" and "Booze makes life easier"... but we gave 'em money too, so they played some of our requests.
The one that surprised me was when SAM asked them to play The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald - "upbeat". They actually played it!!
Awesome!