Almost there

Have you ever looked in the mirror and thought "I'm a babe"? That didn't happen to me today. But I did think "Hey, I could almost be a babe today if I tried just a little bit harder this morning" when I stared at myself in the mirror. And then I left it at that. Maybe I felt like being an "almost babe" today. But I did decide to paint my nails while watching the new Melrose Place which is putting forth some effort on my part. And I think the extra effort on my part to paint those nails is what set in motion a lady name Linda to call and phone screen me for a job. She must have sensed I was ready to work.

And after she called it went a little like this:

Linda:"did you get a chance to check out our website and see what we do?".

Me:"I did actually. I'll be honest Linda, I'm not sure exactly what you do but it looks like you ...blah blah.".

Linda:"Not exactly......actually we....".

Me:"Ok, right.".

And right then and there I thought I had lost it. But she wants to meet me anyways on Monday. And between the 2 of us she told me my phone number on my resume was wrong so I checked it and it is actually correct. So I guess the two of us are meant to be. I don't exactly know what they do and she is a little number dyslexic. This I can handle.

Don't you hate it when you have a great pair of dark denim jeans and the color bleeds? I'm scared to wear them with anything remotely light colored. And my hands are slightly blue from rubbing my hands on my thighs. They look really...cold.

Alright everybody, let's have golden beets and lentils for dinner, c'mon!

Floor

I used the oven 3 separate times today. Lunch: pizza. Dinner: minted oven roasted farmer's market carrots with curried apple couscous.

Dessert: chocolate chip zucchini cupcakes. And after about the second time I opened the oven door it finally kicked in that when I open the oven door I need to stand away for a second to avoid the wall of heat that comes charging out. Brutal. And I kept thinking "did I just kill a dolphin out there somewhere because I keep turning the oven off and on?". But the food was just so good that I didn't care. I do my part for the dolphins by buying dolphin safe tuna. I think that about covers it.

I was so excited to move into our place here that has bamboo flooring throughout. Finally! Chic and classy looking floors! No more industrial carpet! But then I lived in our house with wood floors for a couple of days. Not so glamorous anymore. They show everything. Dirt, dust, hair, it is all there on public display in little nests in the corners. I can't keep it clean. I CAN'T KEEP IT CLEAN!! Frustrating. And to be honest I miss the sound the vacuum makes when it sucks up dirt. It was so satisfying. And to top it off we have this after dinner ritual occasionally that has been ruined by our wood floors. When we stuff ourselves with something delicious we collapse on the floor to let our bellies rest and recover and the wood just isn't comfortable. That and I refuse to lay on it because of the aforementioned goods that congregate there. Exasperation! But I guess at least we can't get any carpet burns which is favorable.

Anyone have a miracle wood floor trapper of all things gross?

The best things in life are free

I finally felt the burden of it tonight. The BIG it - money. I've never had much of it. But I've almost always had enough to do what I please without incurring debt. But those days are over. Now I truly window shop but mostly through the internet because that way I can't touch it and try it on and see how nice it feels on my skin. And oddly enough I'm ok with that. Our closet is so full already that I wouldn't want to impose the misery of being stuffed in somewhere to a new piece. I've mostly had a problem with food. I like to buy good food, it seems to be my vice lately. So I've committed to going to the store less and eating what we have which is still pretty good. Fine, I can do that.

But the true stab in the heart was tonight while I was talking to my madre on the phone. She asked about the couch we had been planning on getting. Yeah, we can't really swing that right now I told her. I felt like it had taken a tiger claw to my nose and my eyes began to swell. I don't know why I had such a strong reaction to the couch. We could go out and buy one with a little help from our money market but we aren't stupid. It isn't worth it right now. You know, living with a love seat and two chairs isn't soo bad. You just have to decide if watching a movie with your mate by your side is worth it. And if you curl up in a ball and leave either your feet or head hanging over the edge it is pretty comfy.

It's not the couch or the money really that bothers me - ok, yes it is. We live on a fixed income, like old people. Which I can't complain about because the Air-force pays for our living and we don't do anything, yet. But have you ever woken up in the morning and the pair of jeans you wore the day before is suddenly tighter and you don't know how it happened? Its only been 8 hours! Did I eat that much last night? Only you know you've really been eating that much for a while and it finally caught up to you. It's like that.

It's finally caught up to me. Blurg.

A love letter

Dear Ricky,

It seems like my brain is swelling to capacity lately. I have so much to do and so little time and all without the help of a job. Are you in school right now? Are you looking at pictures of things oozing out of people right now? Are you typing on your computer thinking of me too?

I'm sitting at the kitchen table right now and staring out the window at the courtyard. The sun is shinning and casting a lovely golden glow on the trees and the sidewalk down below. It almost makes me forget about the building out back. I think we are getting some new neighbors. Either that or there is a man that keeps walking back and forth in front of our window with boxes and drawers for fun. Maybe he's just serious about exercise and likes to take the stairs a lot. Whatever the case I'm just glad the building is beginning to fill.

I think I'll make vegetarian chile tonight. Remember the last time we ate it? It was SO hot in Arizona but we cranked up the AC and enjoyed it anyways. It was so good we just kept smacking our lips and murmuring sounds of delight. We might not sweat as much this time around but I expect to hear contented sounds none the less.

The clock just turned 4:22pm. Only 38 more minutes until you get in your car and drive the 20 minutes home on Rainier Ave dodging the bus that blocks the right lane. Be careful when you come home, wear your seat-belt!

Can't wait to see you love, I made you peanut butter cookies with whole-wheat pastry flour for your heart.

Love mua

2 for 2

Sometimes it's great when you go 2 for 2 in your season opener. The euphoria can bring fans and players alike together in a frenzy of good cheer. But our season opener didn't go that well. We went 2 for 2 for alright. 2 for 2 in the unlucky car hall of fame.

Exhibit A: Let's put aside the fact that Ricky's car groans and vibrates likes it's relaxing on a massage chair whenever you start it up and head straight to the first win. Yesterday while driving away from the airport after dropping off our darling daughter Stasy Ricky side-swiped a Subaru while changing lanes. 1-0.

Exhibit B: Now let's put aside the fact that my car is peeling apart like sunburned flesh and makes terrible metal on metal grinding noises whenever I accelerate and concentrate on our second victory. Today while spontaneously attending my favorite grocery store, Trader Joes, I locked the keys in my car with the radio running. Awesome. So I bought some groceries while I called Ricky over and over until he got out of class and answered. 40 minutes later and a picnic lunch in a parking garage consisting of pita chips, hummus and chocolate milk

I was let into my car by a nice kid in a UW hat. That makes a 2 for 2 sweep of the September car season! We are definitely in the lead and it looks like we might make it undefeated.

Also my cashier at TJ's told me I looked "very professional". To which I said thanks of course, then told him in no uncertain terms that I was NOT in professional clothing. I was wearing a t-shirt, sweater and jeans. Where is he from?

And to top it all off the joke that I tell everyone about why i bought a reusable shopping bag came true. I kept telling everyone that I had to buy one because I didn't want anyone to punch me for using regular bags like regular people. And on my way back to my radio emitting car I was in the elevator with an old man and his reusable TJ's grocery back and he looked at my regular paper bags and made an audible sigh and said "no reusable bags, huh?". "No. I didn't know I was coming here" stupid old man who drove off in his bio-diesel VW.

And now Rich is going over our expenditures...

Desperately seeking paycheck, Laquina

Where do I begin?

After a great long weekend with the bf Stasy I wanted nothing more than to sit and stare at my computer looking at sample sales and perusing cooking sites whilst checking my email. And while I was romancing all this technology I was sampling and sampling all the various flavors of salt water taffy we picked up on the waterfront today. Mmmmm...pumpkin, banana, eggnog, rootbeer.

And then my email delivered this: blah, blah, blah "At this time, we are moving forward with other candidates who are a closer match with the skills and requirements of the position. " blah blah blah, you suck.

And then I read it word for word to Ricky and then shrugged my shoulders. He said I seemed "pretty happy" in his words and this confused him. "What do you want me to do?" I questioned. " There isn't anything I can really do about it" I finished. Should I cry? Wail and nash my teeth and pound the floor? They didn't want me and because of that I didn't want them.

And by the time I realized it the coffee table looked like this:

The picture is dark because I was too lazy to turn another light on even though I got up to grab my phone to take the picture. Do you think the interviewer figured that out about me and that is why I didn't get the job?

My computer keeps beeping at me now with all the emails Ricky is flooding me with for potential jobs. Doesn't he look dreamy when he job hunts for me?

Hillshire Farms, go meat! - NOT

We were eating dinner (quinoa, go figure) the other night and talking about getting each other surprises. I like to come home and surprise Ricky sometimes with little things I picked up here or there that I think he would like. Case in point: last week I came home from the Great Wall Market with a mango bubble tea for my man. He LOVES bubble tea and he gulped/chewed it down faster than you can say Epiglottal failure. And he likes to surprise me with things that I've picked out. It works for us.

And after our delicious and nutritious meal of quinoa inspired by this recipe from 101cookbooks he surprised me and made my life by uttering this simple phrase, "I never want to eat meat again!". No finer words were ever heard by my ears. "ah!" I gasped. "See? Now you have given me the best surprise ever and I didn't even pick it out!".

I'm not against eating meat, eat it to your hearts content. I'm not even a vegetarian, although I was for a couple of years in high school. I just don't really like meat. I don't like the taste or the texture or the idea. I don't believe that you really need it and you can have a balanced and healthy diet without it. In fact, the only type of meat I actually really like is ground beef and ground turkey. Other than that, thanks but no thanks.

Ricky still likes meat and he will eat it other places - like last night at the Italian place around the corner we had italian sausage on our slices and it was delectable. But I have made such delicious food with grains and veggies that we have no need for it in our house.

Sometimes the simplest things are the best. Come over, I'll prove it.

Yes, this is she

Have you ever just felt like crying because you were so overwhelmed with pressure, stress, nervousness, anger, anything? Sometimes I just get so full of.....of... everything that the only thing that I can manage are some watery eyes. And my throat is soo dry. I just can't get enough liquid to satiate my aching throat. Why is there an abundance of water in my eyes and none in my mouth where it is supposed to be.

I just had a phone interview which is almost worse than meeting with someone in person. You have to impress them with your voice and how sing-songy you can make yourself sound while you try to act casually about how you are a good a something you've never actually done. And I have this problem with becoming monotone when I'm nervous. And I was just so thirsty. I had a water bottle next to me that I kept taking silent gulps from to help ward off the monotone-ness and scratchy throat sounds. I made her laugh a couple of times. That's good, right? Right?

And all I can think about is Quinoa and how I want to eat it and eat it all day and everyday. I just have such a mind for quinoa right now. I want those lovely curlicues to pop in my mouth and fill me with completeness. Good thing the farmers market is today or I might go insane. I'm going to buy beets today. I already decided. I'm intimidated by fresh beets. My only previous experience with beets is fighting with my family over wether to eat pickled or non-pickled beets from the can. Non-pickled beets all the way. Did you know that blue cheese is a natural accompaniment to beets? They say their flavors just meld together beautifully.

Besides dreaming of quinoa and beets (although not together...yet) I guess I just have my head in the clouds. And truth be told sometimes I just like having my head high above my body. There is all this pressure from myself and various other individuals to get on the ball and be something. I'm trying. Truly, I am.

There are a couple movies I like to watch when wanting to escape and today feels like a

Broken English kind of day. Wish me luck with the beets.

Feliz Cumpleaños

Oh...I had SUCH a craving for chocolate chip cookies today. So I made them and of course they were delicious. So when I called my Abuela today to wish her a happy 96th birthday I told her that I made them for her and I was eating them in her honor. And in true Abuela style she turned the conversation around on me and blessed me that I would enjoy the cookies and to hug my husband for her. What just happened? I was trying to send good wishes her way but she ended up overpowering me with her wishes. Man, she is good

I was going to post something all about me, me, me but I changed my mind and decided to write a little story or two about my Abuela in her honor because hello, she is 96.

Her long-term memory is sharp as a tack. She can remember down to the exact day when certain events happened. I have heard hundreds of stories about her working in the fields, digging for clams in the river by her house, taking lunch to her family in a basket on her head miles away and being wanted by all the boys because in her words "I wasn't the prettiest, but I was hard-working and respectable", which I guess was on all the boys lists in pre-war Spain. Also, once she balled her hand into a fist there was no way you could undo her fingers...NO way. Most of those stories I have heard on repeat for the past 10 years. In fact, I remember one summer when we were together that every time we rounded a specific corner of the road I was treated to the same story over and over and over and.....over. I could silently repeat it from the back seat by heart.

But her short-term memory is a little behind and sometimes she forgets where she puts things and gets a little frustrated when she can't find them. Case in point; My parents were out of town one weekend years ago and she had made a couple of loaves of bread. Well, she was missing one loaf and couldn't find it anywhere. So naturally who would she blame? Me, I was the only other person in the house. She was convinced that I had stolen a loaf of bread from her. I mean she could NOT be dissuaded from thinking that I stole a loaf from her. I reasoned and reasoned with her. Why would I steal a loaf instead of just taking a slice? Where would I hide said stolen loaf? Well, if I hadn't stolen it for me then I had stolen it and given it to one of my friends. I wasn't really in the habit of gifting loaves of bread to my friends at that time or ever really but she didn't believe it. It could only be one of two things for her: Either I stole it for me or I stole it for a friend. She was mad at me for hours until finally I went a looking for it. I opened the oven and it was still in there. She had forgotten it in the oven. Simple mistake I guess, just why all the stealing stuff? I just have to remember that when she was growing up in Spain and going through the Spanish civil war that someone just might have stolen a loaf of bread or something even worse. So I brought her the loaf and showed her where it was and then we called it even.

I laugh about it now but I think I was pretty offended at the time that she thought I would steal from her. I reminded her of the story last time I was with her but she didn't remember any of it. So we laughed and laughed about it together over our lunch at the Chinese Buffet she loves so much. She is a great lady.

Her hearing is getting worse but she never ceases to amaze me. Be it being baptized at 92 or always changing who gets what of her jewelry based on our performances that month to lovingly breaking up her dogs hard food with a hammer everyday to hemming all my pants for me.

Te quiero Abuela.

Mine

I was eating the most delicious gala apple from my farmers market the other night and Ricky made a motion that he wanted a bite. I pondered not sharing it for a minute but then realized I was pretty much obligated to give him a bite because I eat his food all the time. "OK, just don't be juicy and just take a little bite" I pleaded. I HATE sharing apples. In fact, in the past when someone asks for a nibble of my crispy apple I politely or un-politely as it happens refuse them. In my opinion sharing apples is the grossest thing you can share with your mouths, besides herpes but that goes without saying. I would rather share my soda with someone a million times over than my apple. There is just so much saliva and biting and sucking and noises involved. There are wayward tongues, juice dribbles and double-bites. I can't do it. I JUST CAN'T DO IT!! So don't ask me for a bite of my apple.

I cleaned the bathroom today. I don't know what came over me, it is only Friday. I clean on Saturdays. It may have been the soft light coming through the frosted window in the bathroom or maybe I just feel so accomplished already today that I wanted to add to it.

And now off to meet Ricky for our first Sushi in Seattle post move. Arigato.

Yipee!

GOOD NEWS!!! Our friends Mike and Whitney are coming to Seattle to visit AND my bf Stasy!!! I'm so excited I can hardly stand it. And sadly we do not have our sofa sleeper couch yet because of the Swine flu. Who knew the flu could stop furniture manufacturing?

And to keep the good news going I've decided to do something with my life AND I actually have a plan. But I'm not telling you because a watched pot never boils.

Ricky and I were driving home tonight and he asked me which turn was our street because it's really hard to see it and I told him to just look for all the people. And then we laughed about how we would describe which street to turn on to someone coming over, "Just look for all the loiterers and then turn right". It might seriously work. Our guests will soon find this out for themselves. Muah-ha-ha.

And just look at this beauty I got at the Salvation Army for $5.

Things are lookin up for 'ole Laquina.