Furlough Friday

I had a furlough day on Friday ("Furlough Friday") and have started a small tradition of doing something relaxing on FF. It sort of balances out the anxiety of the economic collapse that led to FF and all that stuff.

So, I took a little road trip up to Whidbey Island. First off, while waiting for the ferry in Mukilteo, I wandered over to the Mukilteo lighthouse. It's been around a long time and has a bunch of historical markers. But what always amazes me is how green their lawn is, and how the grass is edged along the sidewalk (no one edges in the northwest - I mean, no one. Just grows willy nilly everywhere) and how super white they've kept the lighthouse all these years.

Jump forward a bit - I took the ferry, got off, and drove about 8 miles to the "Earth Sanctuary" - filled with replicas of stonehenge, an Osprey nest (indeed, it was mating season), a labyrinth, a Native American Medicine Wheel, Tibetan prayer wheels, among others. It was like an amusement park of spiritual stuff. Just without the cotton candy.

There were also some really pretty hiking trails. And I forgot that this is the time of year that the dive bombing bees or horse flies come out. So I spent most of the time on the hike waving my arms frantically over my head to keep the frickin' things from hitting me. Kinda takes away from the whole serene hike at the Earth Sanctuary feel. Although I suppose dive bombing bees are also in need of spiritual rest and contemplation.
After my time at the Earth Sanctuary I headed over to the Whidbey Institute. I forgot to take pictures there. Actually, I didn't forget, I got lost, so actually didn't find what I would've taken photos of. I imagine there's some metaphor in there somewhere.

So, at this point I decided I'd had enough gloomy, rainy Whidbey, and got back on the ferry.

And we left.
A desperate northwesterner sailing no matter what, dammit, it's spring. It was 40 degrees, raining, and totally overcast.
I love ferries crossing on the sound.
Then I got home, sat in traffic for 2 hours on the way back.

Pics from Dallas

Hi there,

Well, long time no blog. It's been hybernatin' season in Seattle.

I went to Dallas last week for a visit w/Max (and Lissa & Alex, of course), got a chance to see some of Dad's relatives, and then went to an, uhm, leadership training. 30 hours in a hotel room doing soduku puzzles was more like it. It was a test run for the training, really, er, rough draft, and they paid me to be there, so I didn't feel too bad... and I do now know what an innovator and early adopter are. And how very, very many fast food and chain restaurants there are in Dallas.

Here's Max being his cute and active self in the hotel room.
And being his cute and active self at a playground. One of us said "wow" when we got out of the car (it was one of the best playgrounds I've ever seen, really, Dallas does do things big), and Max spent the better part of the 30 min or so we were there saying "woooowwwwww" in the most adorable way ever.
Of course, Lissa got it on video... see her blog for more details.
Max & I spent some time roaming the halls of the hotel, some running, some pushing him around on a luggage cart, some making a b-line for the elevators to push buttons, and mostly heading straight for the business center where he could watch Abby videos on Sesame Street.com. I think that's where we were headed in this photo.
And here's Marlene from Philadelphia. We were a bit slap happy by this point (it was "graduation") and she was decked out in "quality gear" and doing a little dance I like to call "Quality Aerobics."
Now I'm recovering from whatever bug I picked up on the trip. Not sure if it was the guy hacking next to me on the plane there, Max's runny nose, the pollen in TX, or the norovirus going around the hotel.

Random Thoughts

Topic 1:
Between the deaths of Betty Page & Van Johnson this week, people considered to be heart throbs in the 1940's & 50's might want to wear some garlic for a few days until the week ends.

Topic 2:
Our snow/winter storm advisory was changed to a wind advisory. Which is a bit of a bummer because it's kinda pretty around here with the snow. And as we all know, wind storms here can mean weeks w/o power and people barely holding it together w/o their triple venti lattes.

Amidst the weather notice, the following was mentioned:
"The Coast Guard is warning boaters and beachgoers in the Northwest to be cautious in and around the water". It's 30 degrees outside. I am not sure who would be laying out on the frigid rocks, with unnecessary sunscreen, with the 14 degree ocean spray coming down on their bikinis. Although I guess if there is someone willing to do that, they probably do need a weather advisory.

Topic 3:
The former hill is now a partially constructed building. They've started hanging pre-fab granite and stone siding, and ultimately will be hanging floor to ceiling windows. One might question the logic of this given we are prone to earthquakes. Details. But my main concern is now that the winds are kicking up, these poor construction workers are literally holding on to the metal guard rails to keep from flying off of the unfinished floors. Really, I think they should come down.

Topic 4:
I'm starting to think the 10 days of forced furlough in 2009 is a blessing in disguise. I like the idea of 10 days off next year w/o having to take vacation time. Now if they would only change the "unpaid furlough" part to include pay, it'd be even better.

Okay, back to work.

Post Election Life

The Onion rocks...
Obama Win Causes Obsessive Supporters To Realize How Empty Their Lives Are

Let There Be Light

I've been working in the same building for the last 7 years. It's an old building - once the police station, and a TB sanitorium, and who knows what else. But now it holds community probation, various county offices, our HIV program, metro bus folks, civil rights, the auditor, and some human resources offices. Kind of a mish-mash of people. But compared to the other county sky rise office buildings, our's has character.

The county is facing a 90 million shortfall this year, and another 90 million projected for next year. They announced the closure of several public health clinics and the layoff of 255 people this week. Possibly 400 by next July. Luckily my job is federal grant funded, so it isn't affecting me directly. But things are pretty dire for the rest of the county. Last I heard over 40 sheriffs will be laid off. Given there weren't enough to start with, the impact of this alone is hard to fathom.

However, the county invested in one thing this week... after 7 years they FINALLY replaced the flourescent bulb in the women's bathroom. Frankly, it's always been dark, so I just figured that's how it was supposed to be - I didn't even realize there was a bulb to replace. Among other revelations, I had no IDEA how putrid yellow the bathroom stalls and floor tiles are. Nor how much easier it is to stay awake during the day with light in the bathroom. I was trying to imagine the installation today - I was wondering if in the early 70's these faint yellow floor tiles (you know, the 1x1 inch type, solid color, covering the floor and 6 inches of the walls where they meet up with the brown and orange striped wallpaper) were really cutting edge in design, or if they were just what was on sale at the time.

Rumor is we'll be moving to the building which opened last year - otherwise known as the cube farm. No one has doors, the cube walls are low, and no one has more than 5x7 feet of space. But on the up side, the tiles are not puke yellow and the bulbs all work.

Catching Up

So, it's been a while. Or is it "awhile"?

Okay (or OK?), restart.

As most/all of you know, mom's had a long road these last two months. Soon after their trip here she had a routine CT scan which showed the tumor had grown and eroded more of her spine. Based on the amount of pain she was in while here, this wasn't completely surprising, but it was heartbreaking. She made it through the 10+ hours of surgery and the two weeks of inpatient recovering and rehab, and started chemo again a couple of weeks ago, which she has tolerated pretty well. I am very proud of her for her strength and hope through all of this. I am hoping the chemo is able to interrupt the tumor's growth and give her years to do the things she wants to do in this world. Hi Mom :)

I've been traveling a lot - (or alot?) since my last update. I was in Austin for almost 3 weeks - given the nature of my trip I didn't really think much about taking photos, but I did manage to get a few of Max before I left. (How could you not?)

Sleepy in the car:

Playing with Mama in toyland, aka the living room:

While I was in Austin, I learned I was going to receive an award from HRSA, so before returning to Seattle I frantically bought a new outfit (thanks, Mom!) and flew up to DC to attend the ceremony. Here's a pre-ceremony headshot...

The ceremony was nice - I stood up in front of about 50 of my peers from throughout the country, the NQC manager said some nice things about me, and then I shook hands with two men in sharp suits and a public health service woman in full white military garb. I didn't catch their names. They then gave me a nice inscribed plaque that now sits on my bookshelf at work. Here's kind of the best I can do to get it on film (sorry, just tilt your head or the screen):

I flew back to Seattle and was back for a week before flying to Boston to visit my cousin and go to the wedding in Provincetown of my friend Jenny and her (now wife) Kate last weekend.

Provincetown is a very pretty town - on the cape, with lots of flowers and water and sand dunes. It is also a very, very gay town - and it happened to be leather weekend - which meant there were a lot (alot?) of gay men walking around everywhere in leather outfits. All I can say is I'm grateful that it was 40 degrees out, because otherwise there would have been more skin sticking out of the leather outfits - which, depending on physique, can be interesting or traumatizing.

Anyhoo - so there was a dinner at the Lobster Pot, a long walk through the dunes and trees to the beach, the ceremony in the afternoon, some shopping, then a reception on the beach - complete with clam chowder on the beach to watch the sunset, then a lobster dinner across the street (which I found out I just can't deal with the brutality of eating a lobster), then a return to the beach for s'mores, which doubled as their wedding cake. It was a gorgeous weekend, with lots of sun during the day and stars at night. Here are some photos from the weekend:

Rissa, me, Helen



On the way back, I had a 90 min layover in Dallas (yep, Boston to Dallas to Seattle) and it just so happened that the Cowboys were playing. I have never been in a more quiet airport in my life. All 3,000 televisions in DFW were showing the game and every single person there (well, excluding TSA staff) was watching it.

So I've been back less than a week and am starting to get back into my routine. It went from summer to fall while I was gone. I'm a little overwhelmed with how behind I am at work, but it'll all come togehter.

Last night my dear friend J'May threw me a dinner party to celebrate the award. It was great to have people from different parts of my life in the same room, enjoying one another.

Me & J'May
John, me, Frank
Kim, me, Michael
me, Ray, Frank
Taryn, me, Cindy
So, that's it for now!

Not so Easy to Put Lipstick on a Pig