I've always heard that everything that can possibly go wrong during a deployment will go wrong, but I didn't realize just how true that was until 2 nights ago. I posted a while back about Murphy's law and all the random things going wrong for me, but I just wanted to recap, because I'm ready to quit. Deployment is only half over, so if all of this can go wrong in just 3 months, what can possible happen during the next 3 months?
So far:
~my dishwasher has completely died on me
~my dryer is making a strange screeching sound so I'm assuming thats about to die on me too.
~A shelf fell down in Mr. V's closet about 2 weeks after he left. (In that case, I simply looked at the fallen shelf and calmly closed the closet door for him to deal with when he comes back home.)
~Larry, the kitten I'm babysitting for the length of the deployment developed a hernia almost as soon as his owner deployed. Its not a huge problem right now, but he does need surgery eventually. And I'm supposed to be keeping him inactive until he gets the surgery. If someone knows how to keep a 10 month old kitten inactive, without locking him in a tiny carrier, I'd love to hear how.
~My car battery completely died, but I thought "oh well I'll just drive Mr. V's car until I get a new battery."
~Then Mr V's car started making this weird clanking sound underneath it. His alignment is also off, which I can tell just from driving it, and which he knew about before he left, but he didn't tell me (he may not have known) just how bad it was. So when I took the car in to find out why it was making a clanking sound, the guy simply glanced under the car and told me within 5 seconds that I need new tires because they are worn to a dangerous point - all due to the bad alignment. The mechanic told me flat out that I wasn't driving anywhere in that car until it had new tires on it. So great. Apparently, I was driving around a pretty unsafe car for quite some time.
~When I picked the car up, it feels great because of the new tires, but its still making a clanking sound. However, in the parking lot of the auto place, I can't hear the clanking, and neither could the mechanics, which I guess is why nothing is fixed. Of course the loudest sound I've ever heard the car make just miraculously disappears when I bring it to the mechanic and then reappears 5 minutes down the road after picking up the car.
~Our lawnmower doesn't work, nor do I know how to go shopping for a lawnmower. I feel stupid for not knowing anything about lawnmowers, but the fact is, I really don't have a clue, so I wouldn't even know where to start. Luckily I have a friendly 12 year old next door neighbor who wants $10 from me to cut my lawn. I have happily let him take over the care of my lawn.
~2 lights burned out in our living room. Not a huge deal right? I can change a lightbulb. But for some reason, our house came with standard lightbulbs in every room except the living room. The lights in there are a weird size and when we first moved here, it took Mr. V several days and a few stores to finally find the right sized light to fit in there. Of course, the normal sized bulbs couldn't die, it had to be the ones that are hard to find.
~Our hose broke. Honestly? I didn't even know that hoses could break. But somehow, some spots of the hose got a weird bubble in them, which led to a pinprick-like hole which caused the water to come out of all the tiny holes, instead of the actual nozzle. I need the hose because I have a house full of cats, and I have to scrub and bleach the litter boxes weekly, and use the hose outside to do that. OK fine. I'm capable of buying a new hose, but it just adds to the annoyance of random things breaking.
~My sink was clogged a few nights ago. We have a garbage disposal, and sometimes when I wash dishes (by hand of course since our dishwasher is broken), the water starts to build up because there are pieces of food in the sink. Usually as soon as I turn on the garbage disposal, the water drains right away. But that didn't happen this time. I ended up with both sides of my sink completely clogged with standing water and nasty food particles. I thought I was going to throw up several times. 5 hours, yes 5 hours, after noticing that it was clogged, I finally got it to drain after several attempts at making the garbage disposal work and a trip to the store to buy a plunger and some draino. The plunger did absolutely nothing to help. The draino was specifically for standing water and the directions said to give it 15 minutes to work, but 30 for bad clogs. It took over an hour for each side to finally drain once I poured the draino in (and I did each side at different times).
After the clogged sink, I just lost it. My energy and motivation just completely disappeared. I know that in the grand scheme of things, it was just a clogged sink, but for me it was the last straw in a line of things going wrong. I swear that I have never had this much go wrong on me in so little time.
But here's the best part. Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse (which I really need to stop thinking) it did. I discovered 2 nights ago that we have termites. Great. So now I have to get an exterminator, although, maybe if I let the termites eat the house, then we won't have a house anymore, and therefore nothing else can go wrong with the house :-). I think that sounds like a good plan.
Friday, August 21, 2009
Monday, August 17, 2009
Wonderful Washington Day 3 and 4
I'm obviously pretty slow at getting these blogs posted, but here's more updates about my 2 week vacation! Day 3 and 4 were spent on the Olympic Peninsula.
Day 3, Tuesday, July 21: The day started out pretty uneventful, but slowly got a little stressful. We got up fairly early, drove down to the ferry in Coupeville and headed off to the Olympic Peninsula. Its recommended that we get reservations for this ferry, because its a small one, but we decided to take our chances and see if we can get on standby. While checking for reservations the night before we figured out that there were no reservations left, BUT they don't reserve the entire ferry, so there are always standby spots available. We just needed to get there early enough to get a standby spot. So on this day, we had no problem getting on the ferry. I think there were only about 15 cars there, if there were even that many. We were excited about not having to stress about getting on the ferry so we enjoyed the short ride to Port Townsend and then hopped off the ferry to drive to the Olympic National Park. One thing I didn't know about the Olympic Peninsula until I moved here, is that its very unpopulated. From Port Townsend, there is really only 1 main road that will take you down the entire Peninsula. The key is getting on that road in the first place.
We missed the initial exit to get on the road, but thats not a big deal because there are 1 or 2 other places where you can get onto the road. Of course, since we missed that first exit, we managed to get ourselves stuck in construction traffic - the kind where only one lane is open and you have to be led by a lead truck to drive through. Construction is annoying enough on its own, but apparently, in a place where there is only one road, that means that EVERYONE is on this road. My phone has a GPS on it, so I turned it on to see if there were any alternate routes. We discovered then, that it is possible to get very angry at a GPS. We were stuck in one lane construction traffic, and the GPS kept saying "Make the next legal U-turn". Well thats fine. But we couldn't U-Turn because the lanes were only going in one direction thanks to this traffic! Then, at one point the GPS told us to turn left onto a road. We passed that road accidentally, and when we finally did manage to make a U-turn, the GPS was still telling us to turn left, which at this point should have been a right. So after about an hour of yelling at the GPS and cursing the traffic, we finally got ourselves on the right road and headed into Port Angeles for lunch.
This is where the Twilight insanity starts. Since Port Angeles is where Bella and Edward had their first date, it only seems right that a local restaurant called Bella Italia, claimed themselves as the place of their first date. It doesn't matter that this restaurant existed before Twilight. It is now the official home of Bella and Edward's first date. Its only open for dinner hours though, so since it was lunch time we just got to look at it and take pictures, like good Twilight tourists. We were also amused by a sign that said "Unattended children will go to the Volturi" in one of the local stores. If you're a Twilight fan, you'll probably find that funny. If you're not a Twilight fan, then you'll have no clue what that means, so you should take my suggestion and go read the book!
We ate lunch at a small local restaurant in Port Angeles, then we hung out with the locals for a bit:
Then we continued on our trek to Olympic National Park. If you read my post from several months ago about National Parks, you'll know that I'm not a huge fan of National Parks that are nothing but nature. They are beautiful, yes, but the kind of National Park I enjoy the most are the Civil War battlefields that don't exist out here on the West Coast. But with that being said, I LOVE the Olympic National Park. Its one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. The entire park sits on the edge of a rainforest (The Hoh Rainforest is actually part of the park, but we didn't make it that far. I don't think the entire park is part of the rainforest but I could be wrong) and its filled with cascading waterfalls and beautiful crystal clear blue lakes. We hiked up to Marymere Falls first. Then afterward, we sat on a dock by the edge of a lake, and just relaxed. We picked a beautiful day to visit the area. The sun was shining and there wasn't a cloud in the sky, which is pretty unusual for this area. I'm not sure how long we sat there and relaxed but eventually we had to get up and leave, and start making our way back to Port Townsend to hop back on the ferry (we did manage to get reservations for the return trip).
Back in Port Townsend, we ate dinner in a tiny little restaurant in the historic downtown. Port Townsend is a beautiful, historic town that I am definitely going to have to check out one day. We had to make the ferry, so we only had time for dinner, and no exploring.
Day 4, Wednesday, July 22: On this day we headed right back to where we were the day before - the Olympic Peninsula. This time our goal was to visit Forks and La Push to see the crazy Twilight tourism stops in both places, and to see the Pacific Ocean in La Push. This was Alice's first time visiting the West Coast, so seeing the Pacific Ocean was a must! We got a later start than we did the day before. Again, we didn't have reservations on the ferry, but we thought it would be easy to get on, since it was so easy the day before. This time it wasn't. We got VERY lucky. On Tuesday, I guess no one wanted to ride the ferry to Port Townsend. On Wednesday, lots of people did. We were the very last car that they let on for stand by. Talk about good luck! We avoided the construction traffic this time by taking the first exit to get on the road we needed to be on, and made excellent time to Forks. It should take about 3 hours, but it took us about 2 hours and 15 minutes, and I swear we weren't even speeding, so our day was off to a good start! We got to Forks around lunch time and ate at the Forks Coffee Shop, which isn't really a coffee shop, its an old school diner. But they had good food and we were hungry, so we enjoyed ourselves a nice relaxing lunch. We ended up at the Forks visitor center where we were presented with a Twilight tour packet. The packet consists of an official Twilight map (to see places like Bella's house and Forks High School), plus a Twilight quiz, plus a list of restaurants with Twilight themed food (who doesn't want to eat a Bella Burger?)
Oddly enough, the entire time Alice was here visiting, the sun was out and it was abnormally hot by Washington standards. Forks, however, was different. Forks is the wettest place in the continental United States (which is why Stephanie Meyer set Twilight there), and this proved true on the day we were there. Dreary gray skies, cold temperatures, and misty rain made it feel like summer had disappeared on our short trip away from Whidbey. But since we were in the wettest place in the United States, I thought it was quite appropriate, especially since the last time I visited Forks, it was bright and sunny and not at all what I was expecting.
So we did a quick tour of the Twilight stops. We saw Bella's house (which some random family lives in, and claimed as Bella's house), the Cullen house (a bed and breakfast that keeps a message board up so visitors can know what the Cullen's are doing that day), a local drug store that sold souvenirs and had a sign out front saying it was Bella's First Aid station (since Bella is clumsy and always getting hurt, of course), and a few other random places. Then we were off to La Push, where it was equally as gray, cold, cloudy and rainy. La Push is one of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen, and I have to admit that even in the fog it was still pretty neat looking. However, I was disappointed that Alice and Carol didn't get to see the full effect of the place. Out in the ocean are these huge rock structures that just sit out there, but the fog was so thick that they were impossible to see. However, off to the side of the beach, in a little bay were some of these formations, so they saw those, but thats not the same in my mind.
(Local Forks Pharmacy)
(The daily update about the Cullens)
(The border of the Quileute Indian Reservation, where as any good Twilight fan knows, vampires are not allowed to go)
(freezing on the beach in La Push)
(I think this is my favorite picture of Alice from the whole trip. She really wanted to touch the Pacific Ocean, however, the ocean didn't understand that she wanted to do this on her own terms. So after several really small waves came by, this giant wave crashed onto shore, soaking Alice in the process. She was freezing, but she DID get to put her feet in the Pacific Ocean!)
(Twilight graffiti on the driftwood on the beach)
(I didn't write this, but I thought it was funny, so of course I took a picture)
(foggy La Push)
(beautiful, foggy, La Push)
(More fog in La Push)
(We stopped at this coffee stand on the way out of town, and we thought it was funny that even the local coffee places have made themselves part of the Twilight insanity.)
Day 3, Tuesday, July 21: The day started out pretty uneventful, but slowly got a little stressful. We got up fairly early, drove down to the ferry in Coupeville and headed off to the Olympic Peninsula. Its recommended that we get reservations for this ferry, because its a small one, but we decided to take our chances and see if we can get on standby. While checking for reservations the night before we figured out that there were no reservations left, BUT they don't reserve the entire ferry, so there are always standby spots available. We just needed to get there early enough to get a standby spot. So on this day, we had no problem getting on the ferry. I think there were only about 15 cars there, if there were even that many. We were excited about not having to stress about getting on the ferry so we enjoyed the short ride to Port Townsend and then hopped off the ferry to drive to the Olympic National Park. One thing I didn't know about the Olympic Peninsula until I moved here, is that its very unpopulated. From Port Townsend, there is really only 1 main road that will take you down the entire Peninsula. The key is getting on that road in the first place.
We missed the initial exit to get on the road, but thats not a big deal because there are 1 or 2 other places where you can get onto the road. Of course, since we missed that first exit, we managed to get ourselves stuck in construction traffic - the kind where only one lane is open and you have to be led by a lead truck to drive through. Construction is annoying enough on its own, but apparently, in a place where there is only one road, that means that EVERYONE is on this road. My phone has a GPS on it, so I turned it on to see if there were any alternate routes. We discovered then, that it is possible to get very angry at a GPS. We were stuck in one lane construction traffic, and the GPS kept saying "Make the next legal U-turn". Well thats fine. But we couldn't U-Turn because the lanes were only going in one direction thanks to this traffic! Then, at one point the GPS told us to turn left onto a road. We passed that road accidentally, and when we finally did manage to make a U-turn, the GPS was still telling us to turn left, which at this point should have been a right. So after about an hour of yelling at the GPS and cursing the traffic, we finally got ourselves on the right road and headed into Port Angeles for lunch.
This is where the Twilight insanity starts. Since Port Angeles is where Bella and Edward had their first date, it only seems right that a local restaurant called Bella Italia, claimed themselves as the place of their first date. It doesn't matter that this restaurant existed before Twilight. It is now the official home of Bella and Edward's first date. Its only open for dinner hours though, so since it was lunch time we just got to look at it and take pictures, like good Twilight tourists. We were also amused by a sign that said "Unattended children will go to the Volturi" in one of the local stores. If you're a Twilight fan, you'll probably find that funny. If you're not a Twilight fan, then you'll have no clue what that means, so you should take my suggestion and go read the book!
We ate lunch at a small local restaurant in Port Angeles, then we hung out with the locals for a bit:
Then we continued on our trek to Olympic National Park. If you read my post from several months ago about National Parks, you'll know that I'm not a huge fan of National Parks that are nothing but nature. They are beautiful, yes, but the kind of National Park I enjoy the most are the Civil War battlefields that don't exist out here on the West Coast. But with that being said, I LOVE the Olympic National Park. Its one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. The entire park sits on the edge of a rainforest (The Hoh Rainforest is actually part of the park, but we didn't make it that far. I don't think the entire park is part of the rainforest but I could be wrong) and its filled with cascading waterfalls and beautiful crystal clear blue lakes. We hiked up to Marymere Falls first. Then afterward, we sat on a dock by the edge of a lake, and just relaxed. We picked a beautiful day to visit the area. The sun was shining and there wasn't a cloud in the sky, which is pretty unusual for this area. I'm not sure how long we sat there and relaxed but eventually we had to get up and leave, and start making our way back to Port Townsend to hop back on the ferry (we did manage to get reservations for the return trip).
Back in Port Townsend, we ate dinner in a tiny little restaurant in the historic downtown. Port Townsend is a beautiful, historic town that I am definitely going to have to check out one day. We had to make the ferry, so we only had time for dinner, and no exploring.
Day 4, Wednesday, July 22: On this day we headed right back to where we were the day before - the Olympic Peninsula. This time our goal was to visit Forks and La Push to see the crazy Twilight tourism stops in both places, and to see the Pacific Ocean in La Push. This was Alice's first time visiting the West Coast, so seeing the Pacific Ocean was a must! We got a later start than we did the day before. Again, we didn't have reservations on the ferry, but we thought it would be easy to get on, since it was so easy the day before. This time it wasn't. We got VERY lucky. On Tuesday, I guess no one wanted to ride the ferry to Port Townsend. On Wednesday, lots of people did. We were the very last car that they let on for stand by. Talk about good luck! We avoided the construction traffic this time by taking the first exit to get on the road we needed to be on, and made excellent time to Forks. It should take about 3 hours, but it took us about 2 hours and 15 minutes, and I swear we weren't even speeding, so our day was off to a good start! We got to Forks around lunch time and ate at the Forks Coffee Shop, which isn't really a coffee shop, its an old school diner. But they had good food and we were hungry, so we enjoyed ourselves a nice relaxing lunch. We ended up at the Forks visitor center where we were presented with a Twilight tour packet. The packet consists of an official Twilight map (to see places like Bella's house and Forks High School), plus a Twilight quiz, plus a list of restaurants with Twilight themed food (who doesn't want to eat a Bella Burger?)
Oddly enough, the entire time Alice was here visiting, the sun was out and it was abnormally hot by Washington standards. Forks, however, was different. Forks is the wettest place in the continental United States (which is why Stephanie Meyer set Twilight there), and this proved true on the day we were there. Dreary gray skies, cold temperatures, and misty rain made it feel like summer had disappeared on our short trip away from Whidbey. But since we were in the wettest place in the United States, I thought it was quite appropriate, especially since the last time I visited Forks, it was bright and sunny and not at all what I was expecting.
So we did a quick tour of the Twilight stops. We saw Bella's house (which some random family lives in, and claimed as Bella's house), the Cullen house (a bed and breakfast that keeps a message board up so visitors can know what the Cullen's are doing that day), a local drug store that sold souvenirs and had a sign out front saying it was Bella's First Aid station (since Bella is clumsy and always getting hurt, of course), and a few other random places. Then we were off to La Push, where it was equally as gray, cold, cloudy and rainy. La Push is one of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen, and I have to admit that even in the fog it was still pretty neat looking. However, I was disappointed that Alice and Carol didn't get to see the full effect of the place. Out in the ocean are these huge rock structures that just sit out there, but the fog was so thick that they were impossible to see. However, off to the side of the beach, in a little bay were some of these formations, so they saw those, but thats not the same in my mind.
(Local Forks Pharmacy)
(The daily update about the Cullens)
(The border of the Quileute Indian Reservation, where as any good Twilight fan knows, vampires are not allowed to go)
(freezing on the beach in La Push)
(I think this is my favorite picture of Alice from the whole trip. She really wanted to touch the Pacific Ocean, however, the ocean didn't understand that she wanted to do this on her own terms. So after several really small waves came by, this giant wave crashed onto shore, soaking Alice in the process. She was freezing, but she DID get to put her feet in the Pacific Ocean!)
(Twilight graffiti on the driftwood on the beach)
(I didn't write this, but I thought it was funny, so of course I took a picture)
(foggy La Push)
(beautiful, foggy, La Push)
(More fog in La Push)
(We stopped at this coffee stand on the way out of town, and we thought it was funny that even the local coffee places have made themselves part of the Twilight insanity.)And that concludes days 3 and 4. Hopefully my update on days 5 and 6 will be posted faster than this one was!
Friday, August 14, 2009
Wonderful Washington Day 1 and 2
Maybe I can write about my entire trip before months have passed since Alice's visit...
Day 1: Sunday, July 19: Alice and Carol arrived in Seattle late on Saturday, the 18th. They were jetlagged and I was tired, so we slept in on Sunday morning. Then we took the obligatory trip to Deception Pass. Deception Pass was one of the first places I saw when we moved here, and I've been told that its a must see for any visitor to the island. Now, whenever someone visits me, its the first place we go. So off we went to Deception Pass. Alice and Carol were amazed by the beauty of the place. We walked across the bridge (yes I made it all the way across for the second time now), and spent a good deal of time just looking at the scenery. We were lucky that the weather was beautiful, so therefore the views were beautiful (although, in the distance, Mt. Baker was almost completely hidden by a cloud). After our bridge walk, we headed down the beach below the bridge. Again, we just spent some time enjoying the views. Carol put her feet in the cold water, I collected some rocks for my massive Washington rock collection (we are lining our garden with them...slowly), we took some pictures and then headed home.
After a homemade dinner of deli roast beef heated in brown gravy, and mashed potatos made out of potato flakes (which is about as homemade as it gets for me), we drove up to Anacortes and went to Washington Park to watch the sunset over the San Juan Islands. When I first moved here, a college friend of mine who lives in Anacortes, took me to Washington Park. She insisted that it is one of the most beautiful places around, and that I had to see the sunset there. Since that visit, I have taken several visitors there to watch the sunset. Its truly beautiful, especially with all of the small islands doting the background. Alice and Carol had never seen the sun set in the west, so they were impressed by that small novelty, along with the pure beauty of the place.
I collected some more Washington rocks before we left, then we headed home to get some sleep for our long day on Monday.
Day 2: Monday, July 20: On Monday, we visited San Juan Island. We had originally intended on visiting the 3 San Juan Islands that the ferry stops at (Orcas Island, San Juan Island and Lopez Island) but we ending up spending more time we thought we would at San Juan Island, and based on the ferry schedule we were really only able to see the one island. This was ok though, because it was still beautiful, and of the 3 small islands, San Juan Island has the most stuff to do. We hopped on the ferry from Anacortes and spend the 1 hour and 15 minute ferry ride standing outside in the cold wind, continuously taking pictures. There are actually a lot of islands that make up the San Juan Islands, although I'm not completely sure how you get to them all. Obviously you have to get there by boat, since there are no bridges, and the main ferry doesn't stop at all of them, this thought alone fascinated me. Maybe its because I grew up in the most densely populated state, but even after being out of New Jersey for years, I am still in awe of the areas of this country that are so scarcely populated. I honestly can't even imagine how some people can live somewhere where your only way out is by boat. Don't get me wrong. I love to see these places and visit them, but I have to admit that there is a nagging feeling of panic in the back of my mind when I think about actually living in a place like that. I'm just completely intrigued by it, even though I don't think I could ever live like that myself.
Anyway, the ferry ride was beautiful. We had been told that people often see Orca whales during the ferry ride, but we weren't lucky enough for that. We just simply enjoyed the view of all of the islands that we passed and marveled at the thought of living on them as we looked at the scattered houses placed on them. These pictures don't do it justice at all.
The ferry docks in Friday Harbor, which is the largest town on San Juan Island. From there we drove to San Juan National Park, where the Pig War took place (google it - it was a skirmish fought over a pig, and is actually somewhat amusing) in the 1850's, when the United States and England were fighting for control of the San Juan Islands. (end result of the time period, not the Pig War - the United States got most of the San Juan Islands, and England got Vancouver Island, where Victoria, the capital of British Columbia is today). The National Park is located on 2 ends of the island. The American Camp is at one end and the English Camp is at the other end. The first picture is us at the American Camp - we were aiming for a shot of Mt. Baker behind us. The second picture is a description of what the Pig War was. The third picture I just find funny because it was taken at the English camp, yet the American flag is flying over the sign that says "English Camp". There was something really amusing about that to me. The fourth picture is a park ranger getting ready to close the park for the day, and he is taking down the British flag. We were somewhat amused and interested at how this happened. Obviously, there are strict guidelines about how you raise and lower and American flag and how you have to fold it. Apparently, Americans could care less about the British flag because this guy just took it down the flag pole, then bunched it up in his arms, then stuffed into into a small area of his golf cart. I'm not sure why that was so interesting to me, but it was. Then again, I'm a huge nerd.
In between the visits to the American and English Camps, we stopped at the Lime Kiln Lighthouse which is supposed to be a prime viewing location to see Orca whales. But since I am an unlucky person, we didn't see any. We got to the light house at 4:10. The people who work there keep a board up with lists of the latest whale sightings. Of course, a huge pod of whales swam by at 4:00, 10 minutes before we got there. I guess all that means is that one day I need to go back, and actually see whales this time!
So after a long, fun filled day, we headed back to Friday Harbor, ate some dinner, took pictures with the only whale that we did see:
Then we hopped back on the ferry and headed back to Anacortes, then home for the night.
Day 3 and 4 updates will follow soon....
Day 1: Sunday, July 19: Alice and Carol arrived in Seattle late on Saturday, the 18th. They were jetlagged and I was tired, so we slept in on Sunday morning. Then we took the obligatory trip to Deception Pass. Deception Pass was one of the first places I saw when we moved here, and I've been told that its a must see for any visitor to the island. Now, whenever someone visits me, its the first place we go. So off we went to Deception Pass. Alice and Carol were amazed by the beauty of the place. We walked across the bridge (yes I made it all the way across for the second time now), and spent a good deal of time just looking at the scenery. We were lucky that the weather was beautiful, so therefore the views were beautiful (although, in the distance, Mt. Baker was almost completely hidden by a cloud). After our bridge walk, we headed down the beach below the bridge. Again, we just spent some time enjoying the views. Carol put her feet in the cold water, I collected some rocks for my massive Washington rock collection (we are lining our garden with them...slowly), we took some pictures and then headed home.
After a homemade dinner of deli roast beef heated in brown gravy, and mashed potatos made out of potato flakes (which is about as homemade as it gets for me), we drove up to Anacortes and went to Washington Park to watch the sunset over the San Juan Islands. When I first moved here, a college friend of mine who lives in Anacortes, took me to Washington Park. She insisted that it is one of the most beautiful places around, and that I had to see the sunset there. Since that visit, I have taken several visitors there to watch the sunset. Its truly beautiful, especially with all of the small islands doting the background. Alice and Carol had never seen the sun set in the west, so they were impressed by that small novelty, along with the pure beauty of the place.
I collected some more Washington rocks before we left, then we headed home to get some sleep for our long day on Monday.
Day 2: Monday, July 20: On Monday, we visited San Juan Island. We had originally intended on visiting the 3 San Juan Islands that the ferry stops at (Orcas Island, San Juan Island and Lopez Island) but we ending up spending more time we thought we would at San Juan Island, and based on the ferry schedule we were really only able to see the one island. This was ok though, because it was still beautiful, and of the 3 small islands, San Juan Island has the most stuff to do. We hopped on the ferry from Anacortes and spend the 1 hour and 15 minute ferry ride standing outside in the cold wind, continuously taking pictures. There are actually a lot of islands that make up the San Juan Islands, although I'm not completely sure how you get to them all. Obviously you have to get there by boat, since there are no bridges, and the main ferry doesn't stop at all of them, this thought alone fascinated me. Maybe its because I grew up in the most densely populated state, but even after being out of New Jersey for years, I am still in awe of the areas of this country that are so scarcely populated. I honestly can't even imagine how some people can live somewhere where your only way out is by boat. Don't get me wrong. I love to see these places and visit them, but I have to admit that there is a nagging feeling of panic in the back of my mind when I think about actually living in a place like that. I'm just completely intrigued by it, even though I don't think I could ever live like that myself.
Anyway, the ferry ride was beautiful. We had been told that people often see Orca whales during the ferry ride, but we weren't lucky enough for that. We just simply enjoyed the view of all of the islands that we passed and marveled at the thought of living on them as we looked at the scattered houses placed on them. These pictures don't do it justice at all.
The ferry docks in Friday Harbor, which is the largest town on San Juan Island. From there we drove to San Juan National Park, where the Pig War took place (google it - it was a skirmish fought over a pig, and is actually somewhat amusing) in the 1850's, when the United States and England were fighting for control of the San Juan Islands. (end result of the time period, not the Pig War - the United States got most of the San Juan Islands, and England got Vancouver Island, where Victoria, the capital of British Columbia is today). The National Park is located on 2 ends of the island. The American Camp is at one end and the English Camp is at the other end. The first picture is us at the American Camp - we were aiming for a shot of Mt. Baker behind us. The second picture is a description of what the Pig War was. The third picture I just find funny because it was taken at the English camp, yet the American flag is flying over the sign that says "English Camp". There was something really amusing about that to me. The fourth picture is a park ranger getting ready to close the park for the day, and he is taking down the British flag. We were somewhat amused and interested at how this happened. Obviously, there are strict guidelines about how you raise and lower and American flag and how you have to fold it. Apparently, Americans could care less about the British flag because this guy just took it down the flag pole, then bunched it up in his arms, then stuffed into into a small area of his golf cart. I'm not sure why that was so interesting to me, but it was. Then again, I'm a huge nerd.
In between the visits to the American and English Camps, we stopped at the Lime Kiln Lighthouse which is supposed to be a prime viewing location to see Orca whales. But since I am an unlucky person, we didn't see any. We got to the light house at 4:10. The people who work there keep a board up with lists of the latest whale sightings. Of course, a huge pod of whales swam by at 4:00, 10 minutes before we got there. I guess all that means is that one day I need to go back, and actually see whales this time!
So after a long, fun filled day, we headed back to Friday Harbor, ate some dinner, took pictures with the only whale that we did see:
Then we hopped back on the ferry and headed back to Anacortes, then home for the night.
Day 3 and 4 updates will follow soon....
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Wonderful Washington
On July 18th, my friend Alice came out to visit me for 2 weeks. She brought along her roommate, Carol and the 2 of them spent a week here on Whidbey Island with me. Alice has another friend, Elizabeth, who lives in Seattle, so for the second week, we all went down to Seattle to hang out with her. We were joined by another of Alice's friends, Jan, while we were in Seattle. It was tons of fun, and I have to admit that as someone who gets really anxious when meeting new people, I had a great time and absolutely loved Carol, Elizabeth and Jan. I have a lot of stuff to write about the entire vacation (yes it was my vacation too even though I live here), but since it will take a long time, I thought I'd write a quick overview of our fun, and then write blogs about each event separately.
So this is what we did:
Saturday, July 18: Late night pickup of Alice and Carol from the Sea-Tac airport
Sunday, July 19: Slept in a little and then we went on the obligatory visit to Deception Pass, followed by watching a beautiful sunset at Washington Park in Anacortes
Monday, July 20: Visited San Juan Island and enjoyed a beautiful ferry ride through the San Juan Islands to get there. We explored the small town of Friday Harbor, and went to San Juan National Park.
Tuesday, July 21: The Olympic Peninsula - lunch in Port Angeles, afternoon in Olympic National Park, and dinner in Port Townsend before catching the ferry back to Whidbey
Wednesday, July 22: Back to the Olympic Peninsula to visit Forks and La Push, home of Twilight
Thursday, July 23: Spent the day on Whidbey Island, exploring Fort Ebey State Park and Coupeville
Friday, July 24: Early visit to Fildalgo Island/Anacortes to see the view from Mt. Erie, then it was back to Whidbey to explore Fort Casey State Park and the Admiralty Lighthouse
Saturday, July 25: day trip to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada to visit Stanley Park and Lynn Canyon park
Sunday, July 26: A relaxing day that ended in Seattle as we said goodbye to Whidbey and went to go see Elizabeth in Seattle. We ate dinner that night at a fun little bar/grill called the Pig and Whistle.
Monday, July 27: Tour of the Seattle Underground
Tuesday, July 28: I came back to Whidbey to babysit for the day, while everyone else enjoyed a fun sightseeing day in Seattle
Wednesday, July 29: The hottest day EVER in Seattle's history - 103 degrees. We saw Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince in IMAX 3D at the Pacific Science Center, then spent time playing around at the science center. That afternoon/evening we we wedding dress shopping with Elizabeth, who just got engaged, and then ate Indian Food (which I had never eaten before) at the Tandor Hut in Seattle.
Thursday, July 30: A visit to the Seattle Aquarium, the very first Starbucks, Elliot Bay Bookstore, Pike Place Market, and Piroshky's Russian Bakery (thanks for introducing that place to me Mrs. M ;-)), then touristy shopping at cheesy gift shops
Friday, July 31: Day trip to Mt. Rainer National Park
Saturday, August 1: The morning was spent helping Elizabeth out at a homeless shelter/church that she works out, the we visited the animals at the Woodland Park Zoo, and celebrated Jan's birthday that night with dinner at the Space Needle.
Sunday, August 2: Jan left early to fly home to Kentucky and the rest of us spent more time at Pike Place Market and went on a Harbor Cruise in Elliott Bay. Then I went back home to Whidbey and had to say goodbye to my vacation and hello again to the reality of the real world :-(.
I'm going to try to write a blog about each day, so hopefully that won't take me forever to do, and hopefully it will be more interesting to read than just a list of things that I did :-).
So this is what we did:
Saturday, July 18: Late night pickup of Alice and Carol from the Sea-Tac airport
Sunday, July 19: Slept in a little and then we went on the obligatory visit to Deception Pass, followed by watching a beautiful sunset at Washington Park in Anacortes
Monday, July 20: Visited San Juan Island and enjoyed a beautiful ferry ride through the San Juan Islands to get there. We explored the small town of Friday Harbor, and went to San Juan National Park.
Tuesday, July 21: The Olympic Peninsula - lunch in Port Angeles, afternoon in Olympic National Park, and dinner in Port Townsend before catching the ferry back to Whidbey
Wednesday, July 22: Back to the Olympic Peninsula to visit Forks and La Push, home of Twilight
Thursday, July 23: Spent the day on Whidbey Island, exploring Fort Ebey State Park and Coupeville
Friday, July 24: Early visit to Fildalgo Island/Anacortes to see the view from Mt. Erie, then it was back to Whidbey to explore Fort Casey State Park and the Admiralty Lighthouse
Saturday, July 25: day trip to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada to visit Stanley Park and Lynn Canyon park
Sunday, July 26: A relaxing day that ended in Seattle as we said goodbye to Whidbey and went to go see Elizabeth in Seattle. We ate dinner that night at a fun little bar/grill called the Pig and Whistle.
Monday, July 27: Tour of the Seattle Underground
Tuesday, July 28: I came back to Whidbey to babysit for the day, while everyone else enjoyed a fun sightseeing day in Seattle
Wednesday, July 29: The hottest day EVER in Seattle's history - 103 degrees. We saw Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince in IMAX 3D at the Pacific Science Center, then spent time playing around at the science center. That afternoon/evening we we wedding dress shopping with Elizabeth, who just got engaged, and then ate Indian Food (which I had never eaten before) at the Tandor Hut in Seattle.
Thursday, July 30: A visit to the Seattle Aquarium, the very first Starbucks, Elliot Bay Bookstore, Pike Place Market, and Piroshky's Russian Bakery (thanks for introducing that place to me Mrs. M ;-)), then touristy shopping at cheesy gift shops
Friday, July 31: Day trip to Mt. Rainer National Park
Saturday, August 1: The morning was spent helping Elizabeth out at a homeless shelter/church that she works out, the we visited the animals at the Woodland Park Zoo, and celebrated Jan's birthday that night with dinner at the Space Needle.
Sunday, August 2: Jan left early to fly home to Kentucky and the rest of us spent more time at Pike Place Market and went on a Harbor Cruise in Elliott Bay. Then I went back home to Whidbey and had to say goodbye to my vacation and hello again to the reality of the real world :-(.
I'm going to try to write a blog about each day, so hopefully that won't take me forever to do, and hopefully it will be more interesting to read than just a list of things that I did :-).
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Opinions on Babysitting
I don't know why I am having such a hard time making decisions for myself lately, but here's my latest dilemma. I have been babysitting for a lady in town every week, usually 2-3 days a week. She pays me $10 an hour which is what she offered, but its also what I would typically charge anyway. She called me today to ask if she could refer me to a friend of her's. The friend has a 4 month old baby girl, but she can only afford to pay $6-$7 an hour. The lady I babysat for said she wasn't going to recommend me right away because she didn't know if I would be ok with that kind of pay. It would only be an on-call type job - maybe a few days a week, maybe nothing at all for a week. After dealing with the $3 an hour babysitting lady I am a little apprehensive of anyone wanting to pay me less than I usually charge. That might just be because I had a bad experience though.
In this case it seems to be an issue of not being able to afford to pay me more, not that she's just cheap and clueless. I am much more sensitive to that. I typically charge $10-$15 an hour and in every place I have lived so far, I have met people who are unwilling to pay that much, but at the same time I have always ended up with a steady job from at least a few people who are more than willing to pay what I ask for. Also, her baby is only 4 months old. I know that in many ways, infants need a lot more care than older kids do. But at the same time, while they need more care, I'm not exactly going to be overexerting myself chasing a kid around, dealing with an attitude problem, etc. I'm thinking of saying yes to the job. I don't like the idea of working for less than minimum wage ($8.55 in Washington state), but $6-$7 could be worth my while. At $3 an hour, I feel like my time is better spent at home keeping things organized and under control here. But $6-$7 seems reasonable if its all that someone can afford.
Sooooo take the job or not? I'm leaning towards yes.....
In this case it seems to be an issue of not being able to afford to pay me more, not that she's just cheap and clueless. I am much more sensitive to that. I typically charge $10-$15 an hour and in every place I have lived so far, I have met people who are unwilling to pay that much, but at the same time I have always ended up with a steady job from at least a few people who are more than willing to pay what I ask for. Also, her baby is only 4 months old. I know that in many ways, infants need a lot more care than older kids do. But at the same time, while they need more care, I'm not exactly going to be overexerting myself chasing a kid around, dealing with an attitude problem, etc. I'm thinking of saying yes to the job. I don't like the idea of working for less than minimum wage ($8.55 in Washington state), but $6-$7 could be worth my while. At $3 an hour, I feel like my time is better spent at home keeping things organized and under control here. But $6-$7 seems reasonable if its all that someone can afford.
Sooooo take the job or not? I'm leaning towards yes.....
Monday, July 13, 2009
Wedding Picture Opinions Needed
After a long, stressful day, I may be going to bed feeling happy :-). But I need your opinions first...
If you know me well, or heck, if you know me a little, you've probably heard me whine and complain about our horrible wedding photographer. A year and a month after our wedding, I may have finally been appeased as far as my wedding pictures go.
The one picture I wanted more than anything was our sword arch picture. I didn't care about anything else in the wedding. I just wanted the sword arch (and yellow daises). So of course, we ended up with the world's worst wedding photographer who scoffed at Mr. V when Mr. V made a suggestion. The photographer was trying to set up the sword arch looking INTO the sun. I'm far from being a professional photographer, but even I could have told you that the sun should be behind the camera, not in front of it. However, when Mr. V pointed this out, the photographer made some obnoxious comment like "I KNOW what I'm doing." Well...no she didn't. Our picture came out horrible. (and it should be noted that the picture was taken in a courtyard with 4 identical sides, so turning us around in the other direction should not have been an issue.)The one picture I wanted more than anything was the worst looking picture of them all. The entire sword arch is in a giant shadow (which shouldn't have surprised me, but it was still upsetting to see). I tried lightening the picture on my own. I tried going to a professional camera store to see if they could lighten the shadow. But nothing worked. All that lightening it did was lighten the entire picture. So the front of the picture and the sword arch looked a little better, but in contrast to the background, it still looked bad. The entire picture was lighter, but the shadow was still there.
I finally spent some time googling photo restoration companies and I came acorss Yesteryear Memories. I have been emailing back and forth with "Bob" from the company and he may have just solved what I consider to be a problem, with my picture. I wanted to know if there was a way to basically repaint the picture to remove the shadow. There is, but that would make the picture look weird, according to Bob, because the sunlight is already in the background and removing the shadow completely would take away the natural feel and the natural shadows of the picture. He told me he could remove the shadow 90% from the people, to make the people look normal, while leaving the shadow on the ground (removing it slightly though).
I had 2 pictures that I have been having a problem deciding between and Bob solved that problem too. Picture #1 is the better one in general, in my opinion, because all of the sword bearers are facing in the same direction. Picture #2 looks better because Mr. V and me are closer to the front of the arch and its slightly lighter than the first one, but the guy in the front has his head turned towards the camera.
Meanwhile, both pictures look horrible because of the awful shadow. Bob has been very patient with me as I repeatedly ask questions about how the completed photo will turn out. Today he sent me an example to look at it. Its half of the picture (I guess so I can't steal the whole thing) but I think you can see the difference. Bob even went above and beyond what I originally asked him to do, which now makes me love this company! I sent him both of these pictures. In his opinion, the second picture is better, because Mr. V and I are closer to the front of the arch. However, he pointed out the guy facing the camera, which I hadn't noticed at first. Once he pointed it out, I noticed it and didn't like it. So I asked him if he could just focus on the first picture.
This is the result. Bob took the second picture, and replaced the head of the guy with his head from the first picture...so I get the picture of us closer to the front of the arch, and every guy is still looking in the same direction. It never even occurred to me to ask if that could be done, so I was pretty happy that he suggested it! This is what he sent me to look at.
I can still see the shadow, but I do think that the people look much brighter and whiter and clearer. He suggested enlarging it to a 16x24 and no larger, but possibly smaller.
So...now I need opinions. Should I shell out the money to have him fix my picture? The biggest reason I'm asking for opinions is because I'm not convinced that I have the color set on my computer properly. The original picture was already printed darker than I thought it was, so I feel like I need a few more eyes to tell me if this is going to be worth it. And please give me your honest opinions.
I should also note, that I would love to contact my photographer and point out that the price of this picture is going to equal the price of a photo needing "severe restoration". (They do minor, moderate and severe.) I'm fine with that, because at this point, any price is worth it for me to have my dream wedding picture. It just irks me to no end that this woman insisted she knew what she was doing. Yet to make her picture look good enough to frame, I have to pay for severe restoration. To me that doesn't equal knowing what she is doing. Rest assured though, that I already left her a very unhappy review on a few different wedding websites :-).
If you know me well, or heck, if you know me a little, you've probably heard me whine and complain about our horrible wedding photographer. A year and a month after our wedding, I may have finally been appeased as far as my wedding pictures go.
The one picture I wanted more than anything was our sword arch picture. I didn't care about anything else in the wedding. I just wanted the sword arch (and yellow daises). So of course, we ended up with the world's worst wedding photographer who scoffed at Mr. V when Mr. V made a suggestion. The photographer was trying to set up the sword arch looking INTO the sun. I'm far from being a professional photographer, but even I could have told you that the sun should be behind the camera, not in front of it. However, when Mr. V pointed this out, the photographer made some obnoxious comment like "I KNOW what I'm doing." Well...no she didn't. Our picture came out horrible. (and it should be noted that the picture was taken in a courtyard with 4 identical sides, so turning us around in the other direction should not have been an issue.)The one picture I wanted more than anything was the worst looking picture of them all. The entire sword arch is in a giant shadow (which shouldn't have surprised me, but it was still upsetting to see). I tried lightening the picture on my own. I tried going to a professional camera store to see if they could lighten the shadow. But nothing worked. All that lightening it did was lighten the entire picture. So the front of the picture and the sword arch looked a little better, but in contrast to the background, it still looked bad. The entire picture was lighter, but the shadow was still there.
I finally spent some time googling photo restoration companies and I came acorss Yesteryear Memories. I have been emailing back and forth with "Bob" from the company and he may have just solved what I consider to be a problem, with my picture. I wanted to know if there was a way to basically repaint the picture to remove the shadow. There is, but that would make the picture look weird, according to Bob, because the sunlight is already in the background and removing the shadow completely would take away the natural feel and the natural shadows of the picture. He told me he could remove the shadow 90% from the people, to make the people look normal, while leaving the shadow on the ground (removing it slightly though).
I had 2 pictures that I have been having a problem deciding between and Bob solved that problem too. Picture #1 is the better one in general, in my opinion, because all of the sword bearers are facing in the same direction. Picture #2 looks better because Mr. V and me are closer to the front of the arch and its slightly lighter than the first one, but the guy in the front has his head turned towards the camera.
Meanwhile, both pictures look horrible because of the awful shadow. Bob has been very patient with me as I repeatedly ask questions about how the completed photo will turn out. Today he sent me an example to look at it. Its half of the picture (I guess so I can't steal the whole thing) but I think you can see the difference. Bob even went above and beyond what I originally asked him to do, which now makes me love this company! I sent him both of these pictures. In his opinion, the second picture is better, because Mr. V and I are closer to the front of the arch. However, he pointed out the guy facing the camera, which I hadn't noticed at first. Once he pointed it out, I noticed it and didn't like it. So I asked him if he could just focus on the first picture.
This is the result. Bob took the second picture, and replaced the head of the guy with his head from the first picture...so I get the picture of us closer to the front of the arch, and every guy is still looking in the same direction. It never even occurred to me to ask if that could be done, so I was pretty happy that he suggested it! This is what he sent me to look at.
I can still see the shadow, but I do think that the people look much brighter and whiter and clearer. He suggested enlarging it to a 16x24 and no larger, but possibly smaller.
So...now I need opinions. Should I shell out the money to have him fix my picture? The biggest reason I'm asking for opinions is because I'm not convinced that I have the color set on my computer properly. The original picture was already printed darker than I thought it was, so I feel like I need a few more eyes to tell me if this is going to be worth it. And please give me your honest opinions.
I should also note, that I would love to contact my photographer and point out that the price of this picture is going to equal the price of a photo needing "severe restoration". (They do minor, moderate and severe.) I'm fine with that, because at this point, any price is worth it for me to have my dream wedding picture. It just irks me to no end that this woman insisted she knew what she was doing. Yet to make her picture look good enough to frame, I have to pay for severe restoration. To me that doesn't equal knowing what she is doing. Rest assured though, that I already left her a very unhappy review on a few different wedding websites :-).
Friday, July 10, 2009
Murphy's Law Take 2
A quick update on my life during deployment...
Apparently writing about the bad/annoying/really inconvenient things that have happened to me is apparently an open invitation for more bad things to happen.
First...Larry, the kitten that isn't mine, has an umbilical hernia that looks like it will probably require surgery long before his owner comes back home to take him back. Of course it figures that the one cat that has something wrong with him is the one cat that isn't mine. Caring for him has now become a conversation between me, Mr. V and Larry's owner...while all of us are in 3 different places and 3 different time zones. It makes for some hard decision making.
Second...Larry, the kitten that isn't mine, is apparently determined to drive me insane. Not only does he have a hernia, but he also likes to run out the door at every chance he gets. And he's FAST. Almost every single day, I find myself running back and forth in front of the house (I only had to crawl underneath my neighbor's porch once so far), trying to catch him. I still haven't figured out how to keep him from running out the door. Having 9 cats already, I thought it was simple to keep them inside, even when they wanted to go outside. But Larry is quick and even when I think he isn't near me, he still manages to dart out the door in the 5 seconds that I have it open. I bought him a collar and a name tag, which he promptly took off and hid somewhere so I can't find it.
Third...Larry, the kitten that isn't mine, broke my finger. Sort of. A few days ago, in one of my desperate attempts to keep him from running out the door, I slammed the door on my thumb. Needless to say, Larry still escaped and my thumb quickly swelled up and turned a nice shade of purple. Running after a kitten, while trying hard not to scream in pain, wasn't my idea of a fun time. That day I thought that I just badly bruised my thumb. The next day I woke up to a thumb that was even more swollen and more purple. That was yesterday. I debated going to the doctor, but in the end I decided to just try to splint it on my own at home. I think thats the only thing a doctor can do for a broken thumb anyway. As of last night though, I'm not sure if its actually broken. I think it might be dislocated, which sounds better, but for some reason that creeps me out even more. I hate medical stuff and I hate when pieces of my body do things they aren't supposed to do. Last night my thumb was still purple and swollen but that was going down a lot. Then when I tried to move my thumb it started making a popping sound. I don't know why, but that sound just made me queasy, because my thumb isn't supposed to sound like that! Today, the swelling is almost all the way gone and the purple is starting to go away. Its still making a popping sound though and it still hurts like hell when I try to move it. I'm going to give it another day or 2 and then go to a doctor if it won't pop itself back into place on its own.
So needless to say, this cute little kitten is determined to drive me out of my mind, while hurting me in the process!
On a happy note though, I talked to my friend Alice today for about 2 hours. She's coming out to visit in 8 days and I am so excited! Its really starting to get lonely being in this house all by myself. I feel like I need a connection to my life before Washington, so Alice will get here at a perfect time!
Harry Potter is also coming out next week, and this Sunday the movie theater on base is showing a sneak preview of it for free! Mrs. S and I are going to try to go. We're just hoping it won't fill up right away and we'll be able to get seats.
So in a world where Murphy seems happy to visit me almost every day, I have some happy things to look forward to :-).
Apparently writing about the bad/annoying/really inconvenient things that have happened to me is apparently an open invitation for more bad things to happen.
First...Larry, the kitten that isn't mine, has an umbilical hernia that looks like it will probably require surgery long before his owner comes back home to take him back. Of course it figures that the one cat that has something wrong with him is the one cat that isn't mine. Caring for him has now become a conversation between me, Mr. V and Larry's owner...while all of us are in 3 different places and 3 different time zones. It makes for some hard decision making.
Second...Larry, the kitten that isn't mine, is apparently determined to drive me insane. Not only does he have a hernia, but he also likes to run out the door at every chance he gets. And he's FAST. Almost every single day, I find myself running back and forth in front of the house (I only had to crawl underneath my neighbor's porch once so far), trying to catch him. I still haven't figured out how to keep him from running out the door. Having 9 cats already, I thought it was simple to keep them inside, even when they wanted to go outside. But Larry is quick and even when I think he isn't near me, he still manages to dart out the door in the 5 seconds that I have it open. I bought him a collar and a name tag, which he promptly took off and hid somewhere so I can't find it.
Third...Larry, the kitten that isn't mine, broke my finger. Sort of. A few days ago, in one of my desperate attempts to keep him from running out the door, I slammed the door on my thumb. Needless to say, Larry still escaped and my thumb quickly swelled up and turned a nice shade of purple. Running after a kitten, while trying hard not to scream in pain, wasn't my idea of a fun time. That day I thought that I just badly bruised my thumb. The next day I woke up to a thumb that was even more swollen and more purple. That was yesterday. I debated going to the doctor, but in the end I decided to just try to splint it on my own at home. I think thats the only thing a doctor can do for a broken thumb anyway. As of last night though, I'm not sure if its actually broken. I think it might be dislocated, which sounds better, but for some reason that creeps me out even more. I hate medical stuff and I hate when pieces of my body do things they aren't supposed to do. Last night my thumb was still purple and swollen but that was going down a lot. Then when I tried to move my thumb it started making a popping sound. I don't know why, but that sound just made me queasy, because my thumb isn't supposed to sound like that! Today, the swelling is almost all the way gone and the purple is starting to go away. Its still making a popping sound though and it still hurts like hell when I try to move it. I'm going to give it another day or 2 and then go to a doctor if it won't pop itself back into place on its own.
So needless to say, this cute little kitten is determined to drive me out of my mind, while hurting me in the process!
On a happy note though, I talked to my friend Alice today for about 2 hours. She's coming out to visit in 8 days and I am so excited! Its really starting to get lonely being in this house all by myself. I feel like I need a connection to my life before Washington, so Alice will get here at a perfect time!
Harry Potter is also coming out next week, and this Sunday the movie theater on base is showing a sneak preview of it for free! Mrs. S and I are going to try to go. We're just hoping it won't fill up right away and we'll be able to get seats.
So in a world where Murphy seems happy to visit me almost every day, I have some happy things to look forward to :-).
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