Not a momentous weekend, but altogether pretty good. On Friday, I bought the latest Harry Potter book. I wasn't going to; I had hoped I would find someone to borrow from, much like the way that I read the previous four in the series. Alas, no one I knew was going to buy it. It just seems wrong not to finish reading what I've started and Borders had its copies marked to 40% off, so it was a good enough deal to convince me to buy. Maybe some day I will purchase the others. It's a hefty book! I've paid more for books that were considerably shorter, so I feel good that I am getting my money's worth.
Friday and Saturday night, I hung out on the Eastside at Keely and Judy's apartment. I think they invited me over on Saturday just for the pleasure of knowing I would have to drive all the way down to I-90. :) 520 was closed. On Sunday, Dave and I went to Ivars. I didn't know that there was an Ivars just down the road from me! I will definitely be keeping that in mind. Then we went downtown to get donuts...unfortunately, the donut place was closed. So then we ventured to IKEA for the semi-annual sale where I finally bought the corner shelf that I have wanted. I had to get a book shelf of some sort. But now, not to sound like I am complaining, I have too much room! I am sure I will find things to fill it up, though. I always do. My bedroom still needs a thorough cleaning, starting with simply putting the sheets on the bed! I blame this untidiness on being sick all of last week.
The big story of the weekend was Mika escaping the apartment. Friday night Jillian came downstairs to bring me my mail and a nice bottle opener that she got in Vegas from me and we were standing at the threshold chatting. Of course Mika sniffed around, with us nicely shooing her away from the door. Then, with a twitch of her hindquarters, she lept outside, directly under the car in the driveway! It took 20 minutes to get her in. Thank goodness she didn't go far or into the street! We tried several tactics to beguile her back inside: catnip, her favorite string toy, treats...Finally, I threw a treat into the house from outside, which she promptly chased as usual, and I closed the door on her. Phew! Note to self: Get Mika a collar and nametag.
It all started Saturday night. Keely, Judy, and I had walked Hank to Gas Works Park and back. They left and I sat in the hot tub upstairs for awhile. Then, I watched a movie and chilled with the animals. Around 2 am, I started feeling horrible. Coughing and sputtering. Coughing hurt! So, I went downstairs to go to bed and had a hard time getting to sleep because of all the coughing. Finally went to the couch to sleep so I could prop myself up a little more. Next day, still didn't feel so good. The girls came over and we walked to the Fremont Fair. This was a bad decision. It's not really that long of a walk, but when you're sick and coughing it's not so pleasant. Complicate this by the crowd and then the inevitable rain. So after we return and they leave, I take a little nap and then return to the hot tub, hoping that will loosen things up. Then I fell asleep in the hot tub, albeit breifly. By late in the evening, I feel like I can barely breathe. (Oh, I forgot to mention that I was also wheezing a lot after we walked back from Fremont.) By this time I've taken Sudaphed and Robitussin expectorant and nothing has worked, so Tim comes to my rescue and takes me to QFC where I bought Vicks Vapor Rub and different Robitussin, strawberry sorbet, orange juice, and chicken noodle soup. On Monday I felt a little better, but still horrible, so I stayed home and slept more. Yesterday I came to work but broke down and went to the doctor who finally declared....duh duh daaaaahhh....I have pneumonia. This is the third time in a little less than ten years. So he gave me a prescription for some antibiotic that I've never heard of and a new toy: an albuterol inhaler! All in all, it's not as bad as the first time I had pneumonia, but how could it when I went weeks before going to see a doctor that time. So back to my pharmacy reference, yes, my bathroom is like some kind of medical dispensary now. I rarely even take Tylenol, but now I have medicine everywhere in the bathroom. And then, it's all nice outside, and I can't be out to enjoy it. I walk Hank and get out a little at least. Thank goodness he's such a nice dog and waits for me to catch up as I am hacking my way up a hill. AND, pneumonia severely cramped my social calendar for the week, too. Was supposed to have dinner with John and Wendy on Monday night and with Dave tonight. Grr!
My Web site needs an overhaul. Sigh...this is a daunting thought. Part of me wants to redo it in XML so that I can learn XML. I don't know. Does anyone read this anyway?
It's raining again. It's chilly and drizzling and not at all conducive to the bbq we have planned at Golden Gardens tomorrow evening. We'll probably end up having it at my place. That's just not as much fun. At all.
Last night, I met Betsy at Zokas and we worked on our novels together. Of course, given the setting of my book, Triple J would be a better place for me to work from. However, Triple J doesn't allow patrons to plug in their laptop and since I am waiting for my new battery to show up, Zokas or Uptown Espresso is better for me because they have plenty of plugins. Anyway, I'm typing away last night and check my word count. It says something crazy like "6,745." This can't be, I think. I have over 30 pages here. Then I remember. Not all the pages are full. As I typed in scenes from the various writing journals, when a scene ended, I did a hard page break and then continued on to the next scene. Some "pages" have only a paragraph or two. So probably I only have around 20 pages or so. That is a little discouraging when I just read somewhere that it takes 250-500 computer pages to compose a novel. But then, I also am single spacing for the most part, and that count is a double spaced analysis, like what would be turned in to an agent or editor. Maybe it's not as bad as I think then. And I still have plenty of ideas...all is not lost.
Last night I finally got a little disciplined with myself and worked on the novel. It was kind of humorous, working on the laptop in the living room, within site of the desktop in my library. But the good thing about working on the laptop is that there isn't any Internet access, so I am not as tempted to check my e-mail. Of course, I heard the new e-mail alerts sounding on the other computer, but was too burdened by my precarious position on the couch, with my laptop, skewed to the right, balanced on my lapdesk, writing journal, skewed to the left. Glass of water and remote control on the table next to me. Mika clamoring for my attention, of course. However, it was a semi-productive evening; I got up to a whopping 25 pages. (I think that I started at 17.) Of course all of it is just inputting stuff from the journals; it's not that quality. But maybe someday it will be. Have to start somewhere.
Last night, Dave and I went to Sunset Bowl in Ballard. I am impressed that a bowling alley stays open 24 hours, seven days a week! Anyway, we played three games. Now, I am not a good bowler. I like to bowl, but I am not that good. I blame it on being left handed and not being taught. My highest score ever was 150, but usually I hover around the 75 mark. If I can make it to 100, I am ecstatic. First game: Dave: 104, me: 67. Second game: Dave: 100, me: 98. Third game: Dave: 87, me: 90. (I don't think I'm remembering his last score right, but I am pretty sure that mine was 90. Anyway, I beat him at the last game.) It's a very nice establishment. I hear it gets pretty crowded there on the weekend's though. And, it's not too far from my house, so that's always good, too.
Man, it's feast or famine for my social life lately. This weekend I kept myself busy, Monday I went with friends to Discovery Park (which is very nice by the way), last night was bowling, tomorrow night is an Uncapped meeting. The house is clean now, so I can think about writing. I also need to call Dylan about his project. But, I think I need to work on the novel first. Now that I've decided to write it in the present tense, modeling after the latest Mitchard novel, I've made more work for myself. I've also been thinking about axing one of the male characters...the sister's boyfriend. I don't think about their relationship as much as I do the main characters'. I know the end result of their relationship, but I don't feel like expending a lot of energy into it. So, still thinking. Then I have these other two characters that I really like...but not sure how to fit them in either. Writing is so hard sometimes...
For those of you that are on either one of my instant messengers and saw that I was online, and therefore assumed I was cooped up in the house all the time, you are mistaken! In fact, I was hardly home at all! On Friday night, after Erich, Dave, and Kevin ditched me, Tim and I walked around Green Lake once because it was still hot, especially in his apartment. Afterwards, I made my vegetables in the bread thingy and we watched About a Boy. Cute movie. On Saturday, after sleeping in much later than I'd anticipated, I sojourned to Golden Gardens park. It was another scorching day. I've decided that I don't utilize Seattle's many parks; I spend too much time inside. So, I went to the beach. I read and wrote a little. It was very nice. I went wearing a tank top and shorts; when I got there I felt a bit overdressed, though, since nearly all the girls were wearing bikinis. Anyway, later that night, Judy came over and we walked around Green Lake and then watched 8 Mile, since she hadn't seen it. On Sunday afternoon, I discovered that Fremont really isn't that far away from where I live. I walked on the Burke-Gilman Trail and meandered around the market a bit. When I got there, I thought I must be acclimated to long walks now because I made it without feeling tired at all. However, Tim tells me that it's not that long a distance really. Oh well. :) On the way back, I stopped by Gas Works Park, which is a very sweet place. It wasn't too crowded, either. I finished my book and wrote a little, got sunburned a little more. When I returned home, Tim called and invited me to join him and Bill to play ball. So we threw and batted the ball around a bit; practice I desperately need should I be invited to play softball again this summer. They tell me that I much improved. I don't know. I'm definitely not as good as I would like to be. Afterwards, we drank milkshakes at Zokas. All in all, a very nice weekend.
I also discovered that if I put mousse in my hair while it's wet and scrunch it up with my hands and then let it dry, don't brush it, it's kinda wavy. I like having something other than stick straight hair!
Tonight I am meeting some girls and we're walking in Discovery Park. I haven't been there before. It seems like I am hitting all the major parks this weekend!
So, last weekend was Birthday Weekend. I didn't have a lot of expectations, since what I'd really wanted to do, go to Victoria, was not happening. However, it turned out to be a really nice weekend. Friday night, Keely and I checked out Watertown, a club in Seattle. I would say it was higher than mediocre, in my abysmally small club experience, but not as much fun as last year's sojourn to The Last Supper Club. Still, a place I would go back to. Saturday, we met up with Suganthi and Judy and went to the Point Defiance Zoo in Tacoma. It is an awesome zoo. Woodland Park Zoo is quaint but this zoo, despite it's constant roadblocks due to construction, was much more like your "standard zoo." We got to see a lot of interesting things, just by being at the right place at the right time. Like, we saw the polar bears fed...and who knew that polar bears would like carrots and watermelon?? We saw beluga whales performing. We saw the new snow leopard cubs, which were so cute and I wanted to bring home with me. Oh, and we saw sea horses, which I don't think that I've ever seen, other than on tv, before. However, we didn't see other "normal" zoo animals: lions, monkeys, giraffes, zebras, etc. I think this may have been due to the construction blocking our way to these areas or to our lack of time to fully cover every area. Later, we ate at Claim Jumpers, which is always a delectable, stomach stretching experience. Sunday was Keely's birthday, so after church and such, a bunch of people met up at Red Robin for lunch. After that, she, Judy, and I left on our sojourn to Vancouver, BC. It was supposed to be a surprise for me, but...not to incriminate anyone, let's just say that I was told accidentally on Friday night. Anyway. We stayed at the Listel Vancouver, a four star hotel in downtown Vancouver.
Judy, in a display of unprecedented bravery, called up the front desk and said, "We have some birthday girls here. What are you going to do for us?" So, they sent up an awesome fruit basket, a plate of cookies, a container of chocolate covered almonds, and three glasses of milk! We walked around the downtown area, scouting out the stores we wanted to go to the next day when they were opened and then later went to a club. It, too, was okay, although not stellar. There weren't that many people there dancing went in spurts. On my birthday, they ordered us roomservice breakfast, I opened my gifts, and we packed up before leaving to explore the shops. We also went to an area, similar to our Pioneer Square, called Gastown. It's an older part of the city with mostly touristy kinds of shops. But I bought these super cool wine glasses that are frosted and blue at the top. When you put cold liquid in them, they turn clear! That was pretty much the selling point; plus, there were on sale. We headed back to the States and were back home around 9 pm. It felt like I'd been gone a week instead of just a few days! But all in all, it was a very nice birthday. Vastly different from the past two, but still nice.
The new Elizabeth Berg book is out!!!!