A question of vital importance. :)

Is the silver car Steve's, or Danny's, or is it a "company"car? kachera and I have been debating, and cannot decide.

hammerhead22! hammerhead22! July 1 at the Wonder Ballroom!

I had a frustrating lesson yesterday. I was off, I was riding a horse I hadn't ridden in a number of weeks, there were multiple lawn mowers going, the wind picked up, lots of challenges and it just didn't go the way I wanted it to. On the way home, kachera asked me what went right, and I really had to think to find something positive. However, I just watched the recording and it wasn't as bad as I thought. There definitely were some challenges, and I definitely was struggling with keeping the horse and myself straight, but there were also good bits. So I'm holding on to that, and all the things TrainerM said, and going to try again this afternoon. Different barn, different horse (&hearts), different day. Here we go.

Next week, I'm challenging myself to get to work at 7:30 every day, and to go to the gym three times. That shouldn't be too hard, should it? ;) Heh.

Work holiday, hooray! Even better, I'm home alone today, so I'm being productive...in between bouts of watching SPN, of course.

Taxes filed, and now I just have to wait for the feds to give me back the small, unexpected refund they owe me and mail off the $5 I owe the state. Not a bad go at it this year. I had been concerned that the contract work I did would wreak havoc, but not so.

Saturday, I had a fabulous riding lesson including my first real go at cantering. MORE ABS. :) Saturday evening, we had lovely dinner and rockband with the regular Squid Rock crewe before heading out for '80s dancing at the Crystal Ballroom. Tons of fun, and 3 hours of dancing is really a fine workout. (The song I was trying to remember on the drive home was Sex Dwarf.)

Yesterday, I was incredibly lazy and spent most of the afternoon napping on the couch pretending to watch the Olympics. And now, I'm off to get some laundry and vacuuming done. For reals.

I swear.

I spent the afternoon exploring the University Park neighborhood with mom, looking at properties, just for fun really. Very cute neighborhood, and lots of properties with potential. The question is, do I want potential and hard work and a 100ish year old house with charm and character and neighborhood diversity or do I want a new condo where everything works? These are things I need to think about.

Sort of relatedly, please keep fingers crossed on Thursday for my mom.

One thing I really miss about my job in California is having every other Friday off. Two-day weekends are really really short, and this three-day weekend just ending is reminding me of that.

I'd really like to curl up in bed and watch more QAF for the rest of the night, but there is laundry and bills to pay and things to do. Things and stuff, stuff and things.

Over the holidays, I decided it was time to move beyond crocheting only straight things like scarves and blankets and learned to read a pattern and make things with shape. First there were the bazillion tiny Christmas
stockings mom and I made. Then I branched out into a tiny iPod cozy and a baby hat that went awry. (I still maintain that the pattern was poorly written, it had nothing to do with my skill level!) Now that I've conquered the baby hat and booties, I'm ready to make myself some fingerless mitts, and I'm heading to the yarn store at lunch to find some appropriate (and pretty!) yarn. Yarn is so expensive though, so a question for you knitty/crotchety types - do you have a favorite on-line place for reasonably priced yarn? Also, everyone is getting iPod cozies for their birthdays this year. ;)

I still can't figure out knitting though. Too many needles, yikes.

If I can make it through another fun day of adventures in education here, I'll be hitting the pub/theatre with kachera and friends for Sherlock Holmes. Tomorrow is riding, then a Saturday evening rockband night, and I intend to be lazy for the rest of the blessedly long weekend. (Please don't remind me of the work I'll be bringing home. Ugh.)

I've also booked myself a lovely long weekend at the Oregon coast for my birthday in March. My Sweden trip is on hold until next year, but I still need to get away. I miss having the beach as close as it was in CA, and haven't been since I've been up here. 4 days should help, I think. I want tidepools and sunsets and sand in my shoes, dammit!

When hammerhead22 says it's windy here, she's not kidding.

This video was taken about 15 minutes east of my house. Poor weather lady.




Back to the spreadsheets for the duration. It's almost the weekend, huzzah!

Happy new year, mes amie. Here's hoping that 2010 is a vast improvement over 2009.

I'm back home after a long holiday weekend at Chez kachera. The kacheras, hammerhead22s and I spent new year's eve eating and drinking and playing rockband, with breaks for gift exchanges and watching the ball drop. New year's day was entertainment provided by youtube, a holiday open house at friends of the kacheras, and ended with a few episodes of Castle. (Oh, Nathan Fillion!) I had my first riding lesson of the new year at a new barn with a new trainer, and I think it went well. It was vastly improved by the riding pants and new gloves Santa brought me. :) Saturday evening was girls' night at the hammerhead22's, where the usual suspects plus shuttergal settled in to watch Velvet Goldmine (oh, Ewan MacGregor! in eyeliner!) Today, another fabulous riding lesson with kachera's trainer - I had a run of trotting where everything was going so well that I couldn't even speak! (Of course, I also had a total brain malfunction and could not remember how to hold the reins at one point, but whatever.) And now I am home, snuggling with Tricky and Jack and pondering the coming year.

2009 was a challenge for so many of us, both good and not-so. It brought me a new job in an entirely new field that I still feel overwhelmed by sometimes. I started horseback riding lessons, something I am truly loving for so many reasons. I've met new people, and am settling in to life in the Rose City. I sang in front of other people for the first time (thanks to beer, hammerhead22, and rockband), and though I am no Peggy Lee, I'll pick up the mic when needed - and will willingly jump in for Time Bomb or Psycho Killer, or just about anything on the Beatles playlist. ;) Travel was strictly limited by my budget, but I did get a few days holiday in BC centered around the U2 concert with the hammerhead22s and my good friend A, and a trip to Washington DC with my dad in the spring. I really need to find some corporate sponsorship so I can travel more! Mostly, I'm just glad to have made it through 2009 and am hopeful for the year to come.

Plans and dreams and hopeful schemes for 2010 include buying my own home, hopefully in time to catch the first-time home buyers tax credit; continue to ride regularly and improve my balance and skill and confidence; get my lazy butt to the gym on a very regular basis; make a concerted effort towards improving my photography skill both in the taking and editing of photos; and be happy, healthy, and at peace. Easy peasy, yeah? My plans for a trip to Sweden with my dad and starting grad school in the fall are on hold for a variety of reasons, but they will happen eventually.

Wrapping up with some of my favorite pictures from this year ( hereCollapse )

Off to bed, back to work tomorrow. Sweet dreams, boysenberries.

Recovering today from yesterday's 8+ hour wait in line and 6+ hours in the venue. The show was awesome, and so worth it, and I promise not to start counting down to the Seattle show next June...at least until we have tickets in hand. :)



Today, we go pick up a rental car, head into the city proper, and start playing tourists. Tonight we'll see Flogging Molly at the Commodore. Yay!

I was stuck next to a chatty cathy on my flight to KC today. He didn't even stop talking to me after I told him I'd taken a valium and was going to sleep. He actually poked me and asked me questions. Seriously. I think he just kept talking even after I fell asleep with my earbuds in and music playing. Ugh.

However, I arrived safely in KC, which is actually much more beautiful than I expected. Rolling hills, multi-colored trees, really very lovely. kare met me at my hotel and drove me around, and we met nothinggold for pizza and gelato for dinner. Good friends and good food are always wonderful! Thank you, ladies. *smooch*

Now I am going to crash because I am exhausted. Tomorrow is working all day, I hope my voice holds out!

I am leaving in a little less than 90 minutes, to get on a plane (eep!) to Kansas City for work. I get to have dinner with kare tonight! Tomorrow I work all day, then Sunday I fly back home. Whirlwind indeed, and I really hope this scratchy throat/stuffy nose thing is allergies. Really really really hope.

Have a fabulous weekend, boysenberries!

What feels like a zillion years later, I am finally getting my iMac back to rights after the HD incident of last spring. Though, I think I'm going to set this project aside and dig into the mountain of homework so I can try to make it out to visit the potential new barn with hammerhead22 and kachera.

Here, have some FOB. One of only two good pictures I took that night.



Also, how did no one tell me that Paul Gross was in a new tv show? Certainly, it's not high drama or anything, but really. Paul Gross! Mmm.

Happy Sunday, boysenberries.

(Oohmygod, HTML is hard today)

Ah, Friday. Finally! I am so wiped out this week, and the weekend is also planned to the hilt. I will sleep tonight, though.

The Killers show last night was absolutely fabulous. Good crowd, great energy, awesome set. My mad love of Spaceman may have expressed itself in teenie-like squealing, but I'll never tell. Brandon (Brenden?) Flowers is the result of some complex mathematical equation something like
[(.83JC x .7362Bono) + 1/8Morrissey]to the power of Dave Gahan's Jacket,
and I love it. "" Guitar-man reminded me of someone specific that I just can't figure out, but hammerhead22 assures me he's just a clone of every 80's guitarist with bad hair and troubling fashion sense. So, yes. The Killers and their glitter and sparkle and flashing lights and confetti canons are awesome, and I am getting to be too damn old for rockin' on a school night.

However, the atmosphere has me all ready to go for U2 next month! The crowd, the singing, the pogoing in unison, the confetti and the loud music...I can't wait!

First, though, work. But also, I swear to dog that I read a Torchwood/Dead Like Me sort-of-crossover, wherein Ianto was a Reaper, and I swear to dog that it was from this year's TARDIS Big Bang, but I'll be damned if I can find it again. I don't suppose any of y'all have any idea what I'm talking about, do you? I fear the TW Storyfinder community more than I fear tight spaces.

Happy Friday, boysenberries!

Am watching SG1 reruns out of the corner of my eye while I work on homework. I'm pretty sure Daniel hasn't said a single work at all in the last 15 minutes, only stood around in the background with his mouth hanging open. Ooh! He speaks! Still love him, though.

(much later)

Getting my final term of school all straightened out. Expect a fair amount of Group Project Bitching. There appear to be two. However, when I make it through this term, I will be certified and will be able to account things. I'm going to take winter term off and decide what to do about grad school. If my employer wants to pay for me to spend more time in school, who am I to say no?

Last night, The Gaslight Anthem at Berbati's. It was about 451321327465314314 degrees in the club, and I wasn't sure I'd make it but so much fun! We made it in time for one of the openers, Murder by Death, who I was quite taken with as well. A bowed string instrument is always a bonus in a rock band, I say. :) Also, they were all SO CUTE! Mmm. Tomorrow night is the Killers, and then on Friday I crash.

Last weekend, I managed to get two riding lessons in. Regular Saturday lesson with ¨kachera, then hammerhead22 and I went out to a different stable on Sunday for another lesson. It was lots of fun, and the trainer gave me some good suggestions that I look forward to putting into practice this Saturday.

Job market continues to suck, mom continues to be unemployed, bah. My house-hunting plan is on hold for the duration. Frustrating indeed, but it's only temporary, right?

( That LJ username, journal title, etc. memeCollapse )

msktrnanny is here this weekend! I get to play tourguide on Sunday :)

You know what LJ really needs? A more complex search system. I want to narrow down the search results by sorting by a second level of interests, you know? Anyway. I need to finish more homework and sleep. Early morning meetings are early tomorrow. Sweet dreams, boysenberries.