Merry Grinchmas

So I'm not sure if I'm feeling Grinchy from the lack of winter vacation snow, lack of funding around holiday time, the fact that Christmas seemed to sneak up on me, the lack of Tobby or a combination of everything. I have managed to make quite a few batches of peanut brittle, bake a loaf of bread, make chocolate crinkle dough, take a delightful Christmas card photo and prep my garden for the spring. I have plans for more baking tomorrow, it's been almost a week and I can see most of the floor in my room (removed 2 full trash bags of trash and 2 trash bags of clothes to donate) and I have to finish Christmas shopping. When is Christmas? Saturday, yikes.

Fall Quarter

This past quarter at school was supposed to be my hardest quarter yet. Not only is the quarter 2 weeks longer than the other quarters, but I took 20 credits (my last 3 quarters will be 18, 18 and 10 respectively). In addition to being at school for physical class time, I was also at school working. My internship that I had over the summer turned into a work study position so I was getting paid to get experience (bonus!). Somehow I made it through but my g.p.a. went down. Jeremy seems to think if I turned in one of my assignments (the only one out of 4 classes that I "didn't feel like doing") I might have gotten a better grade. Can I object on the grounds of speculation? Here is my final tally:

Unix/Linux 4.0

Intro to data recovery/forensics 4.0

Wide Area Networks 3.8

Operating System Principles 3.1

Winter Gardening

So this past 'sprummer' (late spring, early summer), Jeremy and I attempted to create a garden. We spent the better part of one evening trying to dig up grass on a 10 x 6 plot in Jeremy's back yard. We only got about a foot border dug up before we called it a day and subsequently quit the whole process. Our plan was to plant peas, Roma tomatoes, beans, peppers, multi-colored carrots, strawberries and perhaps potatoes. Well, we did "plant" my Roma tomato plant naked in the light of the full moon. Well, technically I was in a swimsuit on my deck putting it into a topsy-turvy with the deck light on, but it was still a full moon! The strawberries ended up getting planted in a planter on my deck. Neither the tomato plant nor the strawberry plants turned out to be fruitful.

Skip ahead a few months and it brings me to November when our teacher decided it was more important for us to attend a seminar during "Green Week" at school than to learn about 'wirtualization.' I learned a few things at the seminar I attended, Urban Agriculture, which was put on by Seattle Tilth (go to their website!). I learned that planting garlic in the winter is just fine because it'll "hang out" until spring when it is time to sprout. The second thing I learned (and I found most interesting) was how to prepare your garden for spring. See my layered word diagram:

burlap

compost/leaves

newspaper or cardboard

grass

The cool part is the newspaper/cardboard will kill the grass and the compost/leaves will start to make new soil on the disintegrating paper product. The burlap is there to not only protect the under-layers from flying away due to wind, but keep moisture and heat trapped underneath. So Sunday after the Seahawks "game", Jeremy and I put down newspaper, leaves (mixed with some random grass clippings) and put burlap over the top. Now we wait.

Birthday

Earlier this week I made a chocolate zucchini cake. Why? Because this is around the time of Tobby's birthday and she loved chocolate and vegetables. I miss her like crazy and today is her birthday so it's been hard. I hope she's happy.

Power Cooking

Last month I took a "power cooking" class. In a nutshell, you plan a months worth of meals, shop and prep in one day, cook and freeze the next day so you can just pull the meal out of the freezer and heat it up. I sampled 4 dishes and they were good so I got excited about trying it out.

Last Sunday Jeremy and I decided to go for the gusto. We spent approximately 11 hours shopping then cooking and I still ended up having to finish two more meals later that week. So far we've had Mediterranean chicken pockets (AMAZING!), macaroni and cheese (different flavor, but good), lasagna (jury is still out) and paruskys, beef filled pockets (just ok).

I just realized that between what was incorporated in the meal and side dishes that were prepared, I have eaten a significant portion of vegetables for the last 7 days...in a row! Granted, today we had a really fun "extended family" Thanksgiving and I had 2 legit sized helpings of salad, not related to power cooking. My only regret was not eating more salad.

Here's The Scoop

I haven't written an update in a few months, so here it is:

I spent this past summer doing an internship at Highline in the administrative technology department (we fix faculty computers), taking an online class, working at the dive shop and babysitting. When I had a some time off, usually Saturday evening and Sunday, I attempted to go camping with Jeremy. Wally went on his first 2 camping trips this summer and survived a few long car rides like a good boy.

I got my financial aid award letter and since I'm eligible for work study, I turned my internship at the college into a paying job. Now, I'm at school from 9-4 everyday (ignoring the 20-40 minutes I spend trying to find parking). Did I mention I have a Saturday class too? That being said, I have very limited availability for working at the dive shop. Two weeks ago I talked to my boss about it, he knew it was coming, and I'm still an employee for emergency coverage, but I'm no longer on the schedule. At least I still get my discount!

My niece was born on August 30 and I missed Jeremy's (and soon my) niece's birthday which was the same day!

Jeremy and I have been doing little bits of wedding planning. We've researched venues, got some prices for cakes, confirmed the color scheme, got paper samples and I tried on wedding dresses for the first time.

All of this plus going to a few Mariner's games has been quite a challenge. We'll see what the fall has in store.

Our Anniversary

Jeremy + Adriatic Grill = Amazing night

On a Whim...

The 12 inches that were chopped off were donated to Locks of Love

Happy 2nd Birthday Wally!

Baby Indy!

After 9 months of waiting, baby Indy made her entrance into the world at 8:17 pm on August 30, 2010 (Katie's actual due date!)

Wedding Update

Since Jeremy proposed, I've been looking at wedding related stuff (well, I did that before, but this time I'm serious about it). We have managed to make a few decisions already...the most important ones of course:

Date: August 11, 2012

Colors: Hot pink and spring green

Font: Finehand

We've also decided what our invitations will look like.

You may wonder why the date is over two years away. Here is our reasoning:

1. It is on a Saturday

2. I will have graduated from school and hopefully will have had a job for about a year which means (minimal) job security.

3. I thought it would be cool to have my parent's anniversary be August 9, my brother's be August 10 and ours would be August 11. Why is this so cool? There are three chances for a milestone anniversary and what is a better way to celebrate than all of us going on a cruise or a big trip?

4. It will also be easier on the my parents (mainly) to save for a wedding rather than putting a bunch of money on a credit card.

5. If Jeremy and I plan on being together forever (which we do), what is two years in the grand scheme of things? We are definitely committed so waiting two years to make things legal isn't a huge deal.

6. It's our decision and we'll do it when we want.

Anyway, that's all of the updates I have for now. I'm always looking for advice or ideas so let me know!

School Update

Better late than never right? Well, I finished Spring quarter with all A's (hey, an A- is still an A) and I am taking 2 summer classes. One of the classes is online "business and labor relations" which isn't a challenge, but still required for a degree. The other "class" I'm taking is cooperative education where I spend time each week at an internship and write on the discussion board what happened that week or answer a question related to work. I'm only required to take 1 credit which is 30 hours...yes, 3 hours a week. I got an amazing internship in Administrative Technology at Highline and I generally spend between 6 and 10 hours a week there.

I absolutely love my internship! Not only are my co-workers awesome and I'll walk in the door and everybody makes sure to tell you there is some sort of baked good in the break room, but I'm actually putting what I learned in school to use. My teacher told us the first quarter I was in school that we would do IP addressing out our ears...that is so true! I've also done a lot of things that I haven't learned in class and it's really cool. I learned how to image the new iMacs and get them ready for delivery to the faculty. Since I am the only intern (out of 2) that knows how to do it, my supervisor made a comment that I have "job security." I won't get all boring with details of exactly what I do, but I enjoy it.

Since I have the internship at the school, I'll be "working" there until I graduate (I'm only getting credit this quarter because it's required, I don't want to pay to work). Hopefully I'll not only gain lots of experience, but make some good contacts and have some references for when I actually look for a job.

How It Happened

Since Jeremy and I have been going to school, we've pretty much stayed home every night studying and if we went out to diner, it was usually fast food or Applebees if we were feeling fancy. So at work on Saturday Jeremy called me to see if I wanted to actually go somewhere for the weekend. I said ok and we decided to go to Seattle that night, have a nice dinner somewhere, stay at a hotel and the next morning go to the Woodland Park Zoo (we've been trying to go for the last year).

I got home from work, packed and got all gussied up because we only knew we were going to have a nice dinner. Jeremy made reservations at the Mediterranean Inn in Queen Anne. We got to the hotel around 8:30 and we watched some of the Mariner's game before Jeremy thought we could go check out the rooftop terrace at the hotel since dinner at the Melting Pot wasn't until 9:45.

When we got up to the roof, I started taking pictures of the Seattle skyline and Elliot Bay. I was looking at the Space Needle when Jeremy tapped me on the shoulder and said "Kitty." As I turned around to look at him, he was pulling something out of his pocket and started to get down on one knee as he said "I had something else planned, but will you marry me?"

I just stared at him like he was talking Swahili with my mouth open. He's still down on one knee with the ring box opened and said "are you gonna answer?" I squeaked out a little "yes" and he got up and hugged me. I was in total shock! Of course I started crying and I was shaking while I was putting the ring on (Jeremy had just gotten in back from Kay, he already had it sized for me).

After the mushy I love you's, hugs and kisses, we went back to the room so I could fix my makeup. I took a picture message and sent it to my mom, who texted me back so quickly that she misspelled words. I called her and told her the whole story and Jeremy called his mom at the same time to tell her that he did it. After I talked to mom, I called Anna because she has a vested interest in Jeremy and I and since I was in shock, she thought something was wrong. I told her everything and she was super excited. Then I forwarded the picture message to a few more people and changed my status on facebook (that's how you know it's real).

End of important details.

I'm Engaged!

My first post about this will be a short story of pictures. When it's not 2:30 am, I will post more words.

Before

The view right before I turned around to see

The ring!

Hoppy Belated Easter!

Back On The Horse

This is my first post in over a month and I will attempt to get back on the horse.

I took the hiatus because on March 3, my family had to put Tobby to sleep. Needless to say, I was (and still am) devastated that I lost my best friend.

I have a few things that I need to post (better late than never) and hopefully I can get back to my "normal" schedule.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

You would think Wally wouldn't mind wearing hats by now...

We Carried the Stupid Torch

So I show up to class this morning and everybody is outside of the classroom. Sometimes the teacher takes a bit to come from her office to unlock the door for us, nothing abnormal. So we talk amongst ourselves as usual.

So it's getting fairly late (for her) and someone went into the offices and found out that she called in sick today. Not only did she call in sick, but there is a note on the door saying that class was cancelled. So at the same time everyone looks at the door and wouldn't you know, there was a sign saying class was cancelled! Nobody actually looked at the door, we all just stood there waiting!

It was so funny!

Valentine's Day

For Valentine's Day this year, I decided to do something special for my grandparents. Since my Grandpa was still in the hospital (and complaining about the food), I made dinner and brought Grandma up to the hospital so they could have a 'romantic' dinner.

I made pork chops, mashed potatoes, gravy, broccoli, an apple crisp for dessert and even brought plastic champagne flutes for sparkling cider. Pair all of this with the heart shaped plates and the battery operated candle and I thought it was a very 'romantic' dinner.

Unfortunately, I Grandpa said he wasn't hungry, Grandma ate two bites and shortly after this picture was taken Grandpa decided he wanted to go home and I spent 15 minutes trying to keep him in bed while Grandma was getting frustrated.

A for effort right?

Avatar (in 3D of course)

Jeremy and I saw Avatar last Thursday. We got a gift certificate from my brother and sis-in-law for Regal Cinemas and since we had been trying to see a movie for the last 3 weeks (long story), we went to a 10:30 pm showing at the Supermall. I didn't think the movie was the best movie of all time, but it was entertaining. After some thinking, I've decided that Avatar is Ferngully for adults.

Fetus Jacobson

Here is the first 'picture' of my niece/nephew.

I still can't see the "baby."

My Poor Tobby

So Tobby's lump has been getting bigger and bigger and the day before my birthday it stretched the skin so much that it started oozing out blood. My dad and I have been bandaging it everyday and this past Monday, we took Tobby to the vet because it started looking really gross. Needless to say, I had been crying all weekend because my dad mentioned the fact that she is getting old and mom told me what the quotes were if we chose to "take her to a farm."

The vet gave us another option that we hadn't even thought of, amputation. We knew it would be hard on her because we have lots of stairs and she is arthritic. They were going to send us a quote anyway. They did say that our bandaging was good and we could keep doing that and keep her comfortable.

I just looked at the quote for the first time a few minutes ago and I'm certain we are back to square one. The absolute minimum price is $1,974.75 and it could go up to around $2,686.38. If we struggled for the $600 for her other surgery, two thousand is way out of the question.

This sucks.

Like A Compliment Sandwich...

My grandpa had his hip replaced on February 2 and we have had a rough time. I'm going to put the "bad news" portion in between the good news like the compliment sandwich does...but there are no compliments.



He did great in surgery and when he woke up from anesthesia, the first thing he said was "now when can I get up?"

His dementia has been acting up most likely due to the anesthesia and the shock on his system from the surgery.

He fell in the nursing home because he got up by himself and ended up shattering the top portion of his femur.

He can't put any weight on his leg for at least 3 months and that leg is two inches shorter.

The only two options for what to do is hope it heals naturally and doesn't get worse or do an even bigger, more complicated surgery. The family agrees surgery is not an option.

When he's "with it" he makes everybody laugh. Yesterday he was "fiddling" with his catheter because it is uncomfortable and the nurse asked him "Thor, why are you fiddling around down there?" Without missing a beat, grandpa said "Because it's fun." Everybody in the room almost died laughing and the nurse couldn't get out of the room fast enough to tell everyone at the nurses station.



Well, that was a large sandwich that, unfortunately, had a lot of bad filling. I suppose the toothpick that holds the sandwich together is the fact that he is alive. I just hope these next few months go by quickly and easily.

Holy Stress Batman!

These last two weeks have been fairly stressful for me.

• The day before my birthday, I woke up to mom yelling for me at 7 am because Tobby's skin around her lump had stretched so far that she was bleeding and had wandered around the upstairs in panic. After we got Tobby bandaged up, mom and I spent 2 hours cleaning the blood spots off of the carpet (they looked like chicken pox all the way down the hallway). Jeremy and I opted not to go to Ocean Shores overnight for my birthday so I could stay near Tobby.
  
• I had a midterm in my networking class on Feb 1, which I was worried about. Although I did manage to get a 101% on the test...I guess I know more than I give myself credit for.


• On Feb 2, grandpa went in for a hip replacement. I guess he sailed through surgery and when I visited him later that evening, he was the most coherent I have seen in a while. It was like I had my old grandpa back. We were a little worried because after his first hip replacement his memory started to go.


• I went to visit grandpa yesterday and I spent 2 hours trying to tell him that I couldn't get his clothes for him so he could leave, we couldn't stay at a hotel that night and we weren't at the "nurses house," but at the hospital. He was getting frustrated a little with me because I wouldn't get him his pants, but he realized he was confused and would get frustrated with himself.


• Sometime between 6:50 pm when I left home and 7:50 pm when mom got home, Tobby had gone outside and her bandage had fallen off. She proceeded to go into EVERY room in our house, I assume looking for us. So mom had to put a new bandage on her. Now mom and I have a large job ahead of us of cleaning carpet. She even went into the laundry room, my room and my bathroom! Side note: Mr. Clean Magic Eraser works really well to remove blood spots from tile.


• I have another midterm on Monday. I'm worried about that one because I understand all of the concepts, but I haven't read any of the book (maybe I should). It is a super easy class, but the books terms things very specifically and I think that will be my downfall.


• I also haven't been getting my naps in lately and I've been staying up later than I should be so I'm super tired!


• Then add in the typical life drama of my foot has been hurting really bad lately and the new pants I bought don't fit, even though they are the exact same size/brand as I had before.

Ah That's Nasty!

So I'm Hwy 99 today near the Crossings in Federal Way waiting to turn right and I look at the guy in the car behind me. He's driving a Dodge Neon that appears to have been lowered and has some sort of non stock grill. It looks stupid. A man in his early to mid thirties is driving (he probably is trying to be 'young and hip' but isn't succeeding).

I look in my rear view mirror and see his hand go up near his face and then near his mouth. I questioned what I just saw and paid more attention. I watched him explicitly pick his nose with his index finger (he twisted once inside) and then put said finger in his mouth.

He ate his booger! I laughed and was horribly disgusted all at the same time.

Criticisms

Before you comment on my previous post, read this one.

• The only clock that is ticking is the "I want to get married" clock.
• There is a difference between not wanting my own kids and not wanting to be around kids.
• As I have aged, I have come up with better (in my mind) reasoning about why I don't want kids.
• I have felt this way for as long as I can remember and I fail to see how my mind will change "when I see my friends having kids." My friends do have kids or are having kids. I still don't want kids of my own.

I can't think of anything else off of the top of my head as far as possible criticisms are concerned, so you may voice your opinion....................................now.

Not The Mamma!

The recent outbreak of parasitic humans (babies) has caused me to do some in depth thinking about the idea of creating fruit from my loins.

In my current state, mid twenties, unmarried, part part-time job and living with the same roommates for the last 24 (almost 25) years, I do not wish to have a child, nor do I see the want for a mini-me anytime in the next 50 years.

"But don't you want a little girl who looks just like you to dress up in pretty dresses?"
No, I wouldn't want to subject a child to that because I remember how I hated being "dressed up" as a younger child and all of the issues in terms of body image that a girl faces throughout life.
"But don't you want grandchildren?"
No, if I don't want children, why would I want grandchildren?
"But don't you want to pass on your genes?"
No, I don't want the 50% increased risk of my child having a mental disorder, I have trouble with one myself, how the heck would I ever deal with another individual?

It is a known fact that I would rather have a dog than a child. Here is my side by side comparison of the two from my perspective:
Food
Dog-eats the same thing (dry kibble) all of it's life and usually costs about $30 per month. Food only needs to be given twice a day.
Kid-diet progressively changes throughout life including quantity consumed. Food must also be prepared a minimum of 3 times a day.
School
Dog-obedience class is optional.
Kid-grades K-12 then college. The child must have school supplies, school uniforms, lunches packed, etc.
Clothing
Dog-optional and fun!
Kid-required and they grow out of whatever clothes they have sooner than you can get them home from the store.
Babysitter?
Dog-can put in a kennel most of the day or spend money to board them. Able to leave for a few hours in a moment's notice.
Kid-have to coordinate schedules with families, babysitters or day cares.

I am under impression that a dog can provide just as much love as a kid and Christmas and birthdays are a wash because I spoil my dogs. With a dog, I wouldn't have to worry about driver's ed, prom, those terrible teenage years, trying out for sports, the nights spent crying over a lost "love," etc.

As for the physical aspects. Why would I want to subject my body to carrying a parasite for 9 months that causes me to gain extra weight (when I can't even get it off in the first place), over time puts pressure on my bladder and squeezes all of my internal organs in my chest further up so it makes breathing more difficult. Add all of this to increased mood swings, strange cravings and lets not forget the act of birthing (whether natural or surgical).

If you have taken this all into consideration and you still want a kid, good for you, I don't. I'm fairly certain even if I don't reproduce, there will still be enough children in the world to create more and more generations. Get rid of the need for orphanages and foster homes because there are enough parents in the world for children, then we'll talk.

What a Week!

My first week of school was crazy! First off, who decided it was a good idea to build a school on a hill? It is literally an uphill battle to get to class everyday! My networking class is by far the most difficult class so far. For some reason, nothing has "clicked" yet. The computer class where we get to take apart computers, play with their insides and rebuild them is pretty fun and slightly challenging. The books for both classes are boring and give a ton of information! My survey of computing class is very boring! I understand that a little later in the quarter, it will become more challenging, but learning how to create a folder, create a document and put the document in said folder is very boring! The teacher is fun to listen to, so I don't feel the need to doze off.

Homework this week was uber crazy! We went over 2 chapters in my networking class (and 2 online modules), 3 chapters in my computer "fixing" class and 2 (very easy) chapters in my survey of computing class. Now imagine 20 + questions for every chapter all due Monday! I just finished typing everything up and I am waiting for Jeremy to get done with his homework so I can print it out.

Even though I may not understand some stuff and other stuff is mind numbing, I am enjoying school for the first time in...well...ever.

Morning Comes Earlier Now

Or at least for me it does. I have to wake up at 7:30 to start getting ready for school and I must be in class at 9:00 am. Keep in mind that for the last two years, I usually woke up around noon, went to bed around 3 am and napped most days. I also do not like coffee, so I get no caffeine boost.

This quarter I'm taking Introduction to Networks, Microcomputer Systems and Survey of Computing. The first two classes are my morning classes that start at 9 and end at noon (well, 10:50 on Friday). I'm not sure if you realize this, but that is a lot of education for that early in the morning. It is taught by the same teacher, but we have to move 3 classrooms down.

The other class is on Mondays and Wednesdays from 7:15 pm-9:50 pm. This will cause me to miss House and Psych! The teacher is probably in his mid 30's and the way he speaks and acts reminds me of a combination of Loreli and Rory from Gilmore Girls and the way my good friend (or did we decide best friend?) Amber and I talk. He talks pretty fast, goes off on random tangents, uses sound effects and shrugs his shoulders to make a point and is generally hilarious. I am pretty excited because I think I actually understand numerical binary code (on the first day) and he told the class that most people probably won't understand it for a while.

Unfortunately, I don't have any classes with Jeremy (we were taking an online class together, but I got into my wait listed class) this quarter. I know for sure that there is a class we have to take together because they pair up the data forensics students with paralegal students. Jeremy has classes on Tuesday and Thursday nights which means that we don't get to spend every waking minute after work together (sick I know). We just have to remember that it is only temporary and we are both working towards our future.

Big Beef

On New Year's Eve (after a few weeks of looking), Jeremy became the proud owner of a 2000 Focus wagon. He won't let me put the family decal on the back window even though he has a soccer mom car. I nicknamed it Big Beef because the guy he bought it from lived on Big Beef Ave (not kidding).

Christmas 2009

Tobby unwrapped her present (a new box of dog biscuits) and she got paper stuck in her lip. She kept barking at me and wouldn't let me get it off.
My nieces spent Christmas with us and they fought over a toy. It doesn't matter that there is more than one toy, they only want what the other one has.

Wally got a few presents this year (toys, bones, a sweater from Jeremy's parents) and it only took him 5 minutes to destroy the loofa dog.

Jeremy was sad because his parents bought a fake tree this year, so I bought Jeremy a grow your own Christmas tree kit. We planted it Christmas morning. Maybe someday it'll be our Christmas tree.