kung fu hip

My hip and lower back are killing me and the last flying I did was two weeks ago, or was one, I can't remember.

Yes, I had a bulkhead and yes, I'm sure I put my feet up. I know it is wrong, I shouldn't do it.

However, I can attribute this rash of pain to one thing ...

Kung fu hip - the hip that comes from kung fu kicking and kick box kicks that comes from crushing snails on retaining walls on our daily walks.

Damn, now I'm going to have to pull them off and crunch them, which takes more time and is not as satisfying.

Time to take some more advil.

nm

Musings and rants

Not necessarily the best carbs to load on, Seattle, April 2007.

First of all, I turned to TH yesterday and said "a year ago, would you ever have thought you would be carrying a bikini-clad rubber chicken to the car to entice your dog to follow?".

Seriously.

Next, it is spring here.

I am so happy. I could have done without the downpours of yesterday leaving me with a pile of wet sloppy clothing hanging on the line that I am going to have to take off now, spin and then throw in the dryer. The lilacs are blooming as are the fruit trees. Looks like our old cherry will mostly rejoin us this year. I am relieved.

Sigh.

I need to pack for my half marathon tomorrow. Desitin (don't ask), glide, three pairs of socks, ibuprofen, second skin, some power bars, sunscreen (always hopeful), some water and rain jacket.

Should be fun! Will be treated at the end by TH and Ernest bringing us back to Miss J's car.

Yesterday, I received a terse email from our homeless acquaintance thanking us for the 100 dollar donation we made to the Humane society when he had to surrender his cats for what we believed would be a fostering situation. It paid for their euthanization and cremation since they did not pass the old cat physical.

Nice.

Like, when we found a home for them for the last nine months, kept them in food, litter and vet bills and then tried to find a fostering situation when he was incapable, we were being cruel and thoughtless.

Just call me nm, cat killer.

Sigh.

Serenity now.

You can kill me snail killer. I have been forcing Ernest on long (1 hour walks) in the morning in the hood, just to kill snails. I need to know just how far on someone's property I can creep to pick up snails and bring them to the sidewalk to kill.

Would you as a homeowner be incensed if I was to pick snails off of your retaining wall or rockery or steps (the first two to your garden) to kill them before they get to your hostas?

I need to know.

I don't want someone coming out with their NYT and latte and beating me over the head with it and throwing hot caffeinated coffee at me. I drink decaf, that would be bad.

On that happy note, I'm going to sign off now until tomorrow when I will return to you aglow, in pain and done for the month!

nm, cold blooded killer according to few

daydreaming...

Recently I have been househunting, not for myself but for my parents who are reconsidering life up North.

It has been interesting. My parents took risks in the mid 70's to buy more than they could afford at the time and to give their kids dream house to grow up in Seattle. They sold it to build a house from the ground up - a lovely place with a grand ocean view in So Cal .

They lived in that for while and then decided to downsize. It has been interesting to watch that process, they moved from about 4500 square feet to 3200 in So. Cal. plus another 900 in Seattle. It has been amazing to me to watch them pack up, move, remodel and move again four or five times in the same time I have stayed put here in the 98105.

Now, they are thinking about it again. This time they are looking for more room than they currently have, while keeping to their desire for one story home with a view, very few steps to negotiate and large entertaining spaces. It has been fun to wander the internet typing in requirements and seeing what comes up within or near my zipcode where money is less of an object than it would be for me. For now, I can drive by houses I love and think would be perfect in hopes that a for sale sign will pop up and that they will love it.

Cherry blossoms, Rainier on the five way, April 2007.

We've recovered from Easter. I have found only one egg in the garden. I am impressed. Good job hunters. We missed some of you, next year, there may be an night time hunt.

Right now, I am just overwhelmed by the tax year (oy!), traveling next week and my half marathon on Sunday.

The weather is divine and all I can think of is playing in the dirt.

It is going to have to wait until next Saturday the way the week is shaping up.

nm

found weekend

That which is lost and found, Narcissus, March 2007.

I found a weekend and it was marvelous. I walked off my twice mechanicalized (is this a word?) flight from SEA-SAN and told them to refund my ticket and went home, no problem!

My parents suggested this. I saw them on Tuesday, I will see them again in two weeks and I really couldn't be bothered with another weekend spent away from my own bed.

TH was surprised and so was Ernest. So were the friends that TH was planning on seeing and thought that I was out of town.

It was great. I gardened, walked the boy, cooked a storm, did my eight mile training walk today, saw some great friends, caught up with some reading and enjoyed a weekend watching Spring happen here - rufus hummingbirds buzzing around, jays nesting, ducks swimming in vernal ponds and skunk cabbages in their brilliant yellow, making me smile.

Wow.

Yes, I missed my peeps in the 92037, but honestly, there is no place like home.

nm

Thank someone its friday

Getting to the bottom of it, Ernest the young man, March 2007.

If I liked to drink, that is where I would be -in the bag totally snockered. Instead, I took off relatively early, tired of looking at tiny screens of numbers and took Ernest for a looooooooong walk.

It did us both good.

He even let us eat dinner without interruption.

Wonders never cease.

All I can say is the if the weather this weekend is as nice as it was this afternoon, we're golden.

Rhodendendrons, do or die weekend gardening, taxes!, dog wash, Eats in Westwood village and getting ready for New Year.

TGIF.

nm

No, I am not premenstrual

Dogtooth violets, March 2007, Seattle.

Today Seattle vexed me. I have lived here 38 plus years and sometimes I just can't get over how much people find the mundane things about Seattle to be so freaking charming- traffic, cupcakes, cookware stores and little soap boutiques. I think these noobs as I will categorize them just can't realize that while Seattle tries hard, it isn't New York, so just give it up.

Parking downtown, the lack of affordable housing and the 16 dollar pizza will be the downfall of the city. It could also be the proliferation of the three dollar cupcake, but I'll leave that for the economic analysts to sort out.

In a perfect Seattle world or the one that the city, the blawgs and the chamber of commerce portrays life goes like this... Lets all take the bus or the streetcar to work, unless we can walk or rollerblade. We all want to live in the now artificially created South Lake Union neighborhood ( genetically engineered for only 750,000 to start) and buy everything from expensive boutiques. Heaven help you if you need a pair of of less than 10 dollar underwear or buttermilk after 10 pm or a pad of legal paper in case you have a thought that does not require a computer.

Then again, look at me, I am guilty of some of these things I detest. I got a sixty dollar haircut and two 16 dollar pizzas downtown and then fought traffic for 30 minutes just to get home, because some asshats on Eastlake don't abide by the no parking between 4-6 pm signs. Fuckers, I hope your side view mirrors get taken off by busses. Yes, busses, the bane of my existence in the District and downtown.

Enough of that.

I sometimes long for the pre-development up the ying yang, pre-Nickels, pre-Vulcan Seattle, the one I grew up in and the one I wish to god would return.

I know its gone, I just wish I could have enjoyed it more.

nm

bridges freeze before the roadway

It is cold here in the Emerald City, so cold that we stayed home today because, well we could. Mind you, we worked, but those seven hour walks with Ernest were cold and he wanted to sniff every freaking thing.

However, tomorrow is another thing. We need to go in and in we will go. I hope my locks don't freeze and that the expected snow tomorrow night comes in after I get home. I'm thinking pumpkin soup and since tomorrow night I have to make a dessert for an AIA auction, I better figure it out before I get to work.

Our house is a small citrus holding pen. Not as elegant as a limonaia, but it will work until the weather warms up. The rest of the potted plants are covered with mexican blankets, down comforters and odds and bobs. I hate it, but it is an annual ritual chez nm.

I knew there was a reason we keep such things around.

I hope that you and yours are bundled up and warm.

nm

the heavens opened

Seriously, like three times today. I even went out to check on Ernest to see how he was doing when we had lightning and thunder.

He was asleep.

I love Seattle, I even love this weather, but today, I could use a little sun.

I passed 2,000,000 miles on American Airlines today. I guess my miles from my Tmobile account posted. I guess I'm relieved and as much as I know JK and others won't believe me when I say --I'm taking a break from this game.

I'm pooped.

I may even fly on miles this winter and give TH all my upgrades.

Lucky girl.

nm

chocolat chaud

Chocolat chaud, Marche Raspail Biologique, December 2005.

I love hot chocolate, not too sweet, but very hot and chocolatey. We recently sampled some of EATS hot chocolate at the West Seattle Farmer's Market. TH got some and I was supposed to hold it while she shopped and I chaperoned Ernest the puppy. Well, that hot chocolate didn't last too long around me.

It was yummy.

Today I went to Fran's to pick up some salted caramels and truffles to take to our hosts of the London Mega Do. I declined the caramel with macadamia nuts and she offered me a sample of their hot chocolate.

Yum is all I'm going to say.

TH and I will go to Fran's after perambulating E. the puppy in the Village. He usually is seen jumping into the fountains and woofing at things that squirt him. I get a latte and she gets a mocha. Things may have to change after this new discovery.

Okay, off we go to bed. To the airport in the am, no, my upgrade did not clear. I plan on a nice yogurt parfait from the dilletante, a latte and maybe I'll slice up some of that yummy mouse house cheddar that F&J brought in September.

Travel safe y'all.

nm

motivate me

Hat house, October 2006, South Park.

I have to write a measly 1400 word paper for my preservation planning seminar. I have the topic, I have materials, I have ideas, I just don't give a whack.

I have to be done by tomorrow to finish my AMS extended abstract.

Very interesting topic. I'm looking at a house that a bunch of community members nominated for landmark status and received it, which basically made it impossible for the new owner to short plat the land around it enough to make it economically viable. He felt that the house was not worth saving, the land was valuable, thus the house should be destroyed.

In the process I have learned that this house - very lovely and architecturally significant, was a meth production facility in a old Seattle neighborhood. The house has a happy ending, someone offered to move it to a lot close to its original location and fixed it up very nicely. The house is now being rented for a song if it was say, in my neighborhood, but very expensive for where it is.

The old lot is now a sea of hideous new tract houses.

The landmark is lovely, if not totally out of context in a sea of newly developed market rate townhomes, even with a 10' buffer, it looks strange.

Makes me wonder if things like this are worth preserving when taken away from their original landscape. It also makes me wonder about what motivates people to save things in a neighborhood that is going to change, no matter what.

nm