Ring-a-ding

My dear phone finally bit the big one. It has gone to the greater place in the sky. All cell phones go to heaven. And so I would like to take a moment of silence and remember the time I shared with my beloved LG Voyager.

....

It didn't take long for me to move on, as I am now in a committed relationship with a new celluar device. I am a proud owner of the Blackberry Pearl Flip.

I can openly say that I love my Blackberry. I know understand why they called it a crack berry. Our first few days together we were inseparable. Blackberry and I went everywhere, always letting me know as they happen Facebook notifications, Twitter updates, BBM (Blackberry Messenger), oh and of course phone calls.

But the real story in this post is my bizzaro trip to the Verizon store.

It started out normal. I went into the Verizon store in downtown Seattle, got my name on the list to be seen by a service representative, and took a seat to wait my turn. Thats when it went down hill. As I was sitting, clearly taking up a two seated bench with my purse and bags, a man asked if I would scoot over for him to sit down. All while there was a completely open available bench just across the room. I shifted over allowing him to sit. He then began to ask me about my religion, politics, and the end of the world. And this all ties together because, according to this man, Obama wants to kill all the christians and this was the end of the world. Right.... I was just praying that they would call my name to be next! I couldn't even fake text, because I had no working phone.

Finally they called my name. I went up to the counter to purchase my new love. There at the counter was a mother (50-ish), "son" (25-ish), and a younger girl. The lady while waiting for her new phone to be programmed began to roll her own cigarettes on the counter! Seriously? I don't know much on rolling cigarettes, but I would dare to say it's not that public of an activity. Then between telling her life story about moving to Seattle from Ohio, she would turn to her, what I thought was her son, and start almost violently making out with him. This lady/family/whatever was a real work of art.

I was very glad to finally leave the Verizon shop, new phone in hand, in one living-christian-inbreed-free, piece.

Halloweenie

This year for the festive season, I traveled all the way across the great state of Washington, through the town of Pullman, crossed the boarded into the gem state, and arrived at the foot of Vandal county. Yes, I drove 4.5 hours to see my little brother in Moscow, ID.

The night before Halloween, if falling close enough to the weekend has unofficially become a day to dress up and celebrate the holiday. So, Friday Nathan and I headed to a small house party near his Fraternity. I kind of love the greek system in Moscow.

I dressed up as a boy scout. I found the shirt for this costume at a local Goodwill. I was from Berkley Heights troop in New Jersey. And later Nate informed me that I was a Weebalo (spelling?) Nate went as a sailor, but not just any sailor, an OLD sailor (pulled off with a gray mustachio).

Next on the agenda was U of I's homecoming game. I must say, I am very impressed with how the Vandals "get into" there homecoming activities and spirit. We went to some tailgates then into the beautiful Kibby Dome to watch them take the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs. It was a very exciting game. The Vandal's won by one point in the final seconds of the game. GO VANDALS!

Saturday night (actual Halloween) I dressed up as Minnie Mouse and Nate dressed up as an hombre, ole! The night was filled with crowed frats, "guess my costume", a certain game played on a ping pong table, and many memories. HAPPY HALLOWEENIE!

It was very good to see my brother and a few of his close friends that I have come to adore! I just simply love my hermano!

Working for the Weekend

This post is quite dated, but I felt it necessary to let you know this story. On October 11 I took a day off of work to go to where I work. Confused? I went to the Seahawks versus Jacksonville Jaguars football game at Qwest Field. Normally I would have been working the event, but I really wanted to experience a Seahawk home game.

I went with roomie Heidi, Danielle, Christina, and Christina’s sister Nicole. We started the day with Bloody Mary’s and breakfast at Buckley’s. We caught the bus and rode down to Seahawk nation.

After entering the stadium, we immediately got a few beers, which were sooooo expensive. Then we located our seats. They were on the third row! Ok, just kidding, they were more like three rows from the top. However, it was a pretty cool view. You could see the city skyscrapers if you looked one way and the Puget Sound if you looked another way, oh and you could see the game too!

The game was amazing! We won, but not only did we just win, it was a shut out. Poor Jaguars didn’t even score a point. It was actually their first time ever playing in Seattle. Better luck next time.

It was so interesting to be on the other side of the event as a guest. I of course was looking for our security people to see how good of a job we were doing; quite top notch I might add. It felt great to take a day off and enjoy great company and good football.

Go Seahawks!

Pumpkins

With the changing of the seasons comes a few traditions that I love to uphold. These include dressing up for Halloween, attending football games, and carving pumpkins.

My roomie/cousin Heidi, our friends Danielle, Christina, and Sarah, and myself carved pumpkins. Heidi and I went for the "cinderella" pumpkin, an actual type of pumpkin. We cleaned, gutted, cut, and sculpted our masterpieces.

As a child, we would actually go to a pumpkin patch and search for at least an hour till we found the perfect pumpkin. Much time and "practice sketches" were done before the final product was put into action. Gutting the pumpkin was always the grossest part to me, still is.

I still love this fall activity. Something about putting a smile on a pumpkin, brings one to my face.

Go Griz!

Football season is among us, and I am greatly missing the Griz games. However, this weekend I found a close second to being at the Washington-Grizzly Stadium cheering on the boys. A small dive bar in Kirkland.

The Alumni Association has the game on Satellite there for every game the griz play. I went and watched the game with a few fellow alumni/friends. It was refreshing to be surrounded by Griz diehards. The whole bar was packed with maroon!

On top of all that, the Griz won, in overtime.

GO GRIZ!

Dining Table

If a dining table could talk... can you imagine all the stories it would tell?

So much more than just sitting down to eat happens at our dining tables. Its a place to catch up on your company's day, break good news to another, and sometimes report sad news. Its a place of sharing and conversation, laughing and listening.

Some big moments in my life have happened at the dining table. My littlest brother, Sean was announced at the dining table. College brochures and pamphlets were spread across the dining table when I was decided where to attend. Many birthday cakes, thanksgiving turkeys, and Sunday Roasts were shared with my family.

At home, my family plays a game every night at the dinner table, "High-low". The way High-Low works is someone starts by saying what the high of their day was and what the low was and then passes it on to someone else at the table till everyone has shared. Sounds cheesy, but its fun and a good way to share your day.

The next time you sit down to share a meal with your family or your friends, be thankful for that four-legged piece of furniture that brings you together.

Oktoberfest

Oktoberfest - a sixteen-day festival held each year in Munich, Germany during late September and running to early October.

I wish I was reporting that since my last post I traveled to Germany, drank brew from a stein, and ate brat wurst with the locals. This isn't quite the case. I did however attend Fremont's Oktoberfest.

There was a beer garden with 70 Microbrews for tasting (*Don't worry, I didn't try them all). There was also live music, plenty of crazy outfits, lots of people, and an impromptu game of "Red Rover" initiated by my friends and I. 

Highlights of my time at Oktoberfest include, my delicious creepy (my pronunciation of crepe), tall Australian in a sobreo, getting away with not paying for a few of my adult beverages, eating a pretzel to help a man win a competition, still knowing every word to Coolio's "Gangster's Paradise", and meeting new friends in a long line for the port-o-potty.

Despite the rain (I'm still getting used to it here), its was a wonderful festival and I plan to attend next year, perhaps even dressed as a beer maiden.

Cheers.