Sunday 7/23, I woke up first again and went down to the motor home, but Dad was cutting trees down so he didn’t make me breakfast right away. Pretty soon Kassie came down and we watched Dad from the back bed and talked about some issues she’s having with one of her friends. Then the girls came down and Dad and Don started making breakfast. Dad was in charge of the French Toast and Don was in charge of the eggs and bacon. Everything was super good, in fact I think I ate about 8 pieces of bacon. After breakfast the girls drove down to the place where we put the raft in to see how crowded it was, the report came back that it wasn’t that crowded. We all got ready to go down the river and as we drove to the spot Dad passed two cars in our old beater truck with a raft tied to it, and one of the cars had 2 semi-cute guys in it, so we thought it was hilarious when Dad blew past them. When we got down to the river it was packed, I assume because it took us 45 minutes to get down there and by that time it was about 95° outside even though it was only about 11:30. We loaded into the raft and set off, unfortunately we were next to a whole bunch of kayakers so we had to pass them and put some distance between us and them. We actually caught up with the semi-cute guys that Dad passed, but they were smoking with their gross girlfriends and throwing the butts in the water so that left Kassie and I less than impressed. It was a good trip down the river and it was so hot that I got my legs pretty wet and my feet weren’t even numb from being in the river the whole time. We had a lot of fun, but it was already past when we wanted to be leaving, so we helped bring some of the stuff up from the river then packed up my car and set off to drop Mom, Dad, Deb and Kassie off at their cars and I started my drive home. It was fairly uneventful and I only got stuck in traffic for about 15 minutes this time which was good and ended up making it home in about 2 hours 15 minutes total. I showered when I got there because I had baked on river water all over my body, plus it was very hot and a cold shower is a good way to cool down. I ate an early dinner because I hadn’t eaten lunch, and mostly stayed downstairs because it was so hot in my room. Susan and I watched the Brady show and they had the wedding and I didn’t want it to end because I was entertained. We talked about Andy on the commercials and Susan doesn’t want me to give up and thinks that I should give him another chance. So I’m thinking about what to say to him next time…something like “Maybe you didn’t hear me before, but if you ever want to hang out or MAKE OUT give me a call”. Or just start giving him a hard time about making out every time I go in. Who knows. Time will tell.

Saturday 7/22, I woke up around 10:00 and everyone was still sound asleep so I went into the motor home where Dad made me pancakes and we chatted about the Moody Blues and driving to Minnesota when we were little. I went and got dressed and read inside until Mom came in and asked me if I wanted to go into town to go shopping with her and Deb, I said yes because I was kind of bored and we took off in Don’s new truck. First we went to one of the fruit stands outside Leavenworth and I wanted to buy so much stuff, luckily I left my purse at home and didn’t buy anything. Then we went to the store and picked up some supplies and I saw a cute boy by the deli. We got back to the property at exactly 2:00, which is when Dad told Mom to be back by, but the girls had left to go into Leavenworth so Kassie could get some food. We all got our suits on and went down to the river and to relax. A mosquito flew right in my ear as I was walking down the rocks to the water and because I had a glass of water in one hand and an inner tube in the other I lost my balance and went sliding down the rocks right on my ass. Now my arm hurts. After I recovered and assured Dad that I was ok I sat in a tube and the adults sat in chairs and drank beer. The girls got home at some point and came down as well so Dad blew up two old air mattresses so we could sun bathe on those. We floated around for a long time and finally decided to go up when some mosquitoes came out. Mom got dinner out and we all sat down and had bbq ribs, potatoes, corn on the cob, a mixture of salads from the store (my fav being the tomato and mozzarella) and a regular salad that Mom whipped up. It was all really good and I ate way too much. Kassie and I got into an argument with Morey about global warming and the effect humans have on the Earth and I’ve deduced that he’s an idiot. Mom baked a boysenberry pie for dessert and it was really good, especially with ice cream. The girls sat in the motor home for the rest of the evening chatting away and having Kassie massage each one of us. When it was bed time we all went upstairs and I taught the girls “The Boy Game” and they all loved it and we played with real people first then with celebrities. After a few good rounds we played Mad Libs though I think there was only one good one out of the bunch we did.

Friday 7/21, Mom called me around 8:30 to find out when we were leaving for Leavenworth but the girls weren’t up yet so I went downstairs and watched tv and ate some yogurt until I heard them moving around upstairs so I went up and got them moving for the day. We got the car packed up and set off for Sweet Addition for our breakfast and I had a delicious peach muffin, it was so good. After we finished we set off for Leavenworth and Mom called as we had just gone through Startup and told us she was right behind us in Monroe and picking up some groceries. We timed ourselves and made it from Monroe to the property in exactly an hour and a half, granted there was very little traffic. It was very hot when we arrived so I put my suit on and headed straight down to the little pond with an inner tube. I floated alone for about a half hour with my thoughts and just took in how beautiful it was. The water was warm, the scenery gorgeous, the weather a little warm but not intolerable and the silence was golden. Pretty soon I went up and paged through a magazine then Mom showed up with a whole bunch of groceries that I help put away. I made some lunch and sat with Mom and chatted. The whole group of us girls went down to the river and sat in inner tubes and on a log and enjoyed the coolness of the pond. We all started getting hungry so Mom started making dinner and she made the best burger I think I’ve ever had, it was so juicy and was wrapped in thick bacon. So good. After dinner we went to get ice cream and I got mint chip, then we sat outside and ate it and waited for cute boys to show up. One boy came and he was kind of cute for the girls but they were all distracted and didn’t really get a good look at him. We finally went home and got a fire going and Morey came over and hung out while we talked and made marshmallows. Morey gave us a list of guys we could hook up with along the road and at Gustav’s but most of them consisted of high school seniors or 300 lb. waiters. Slim pickings. Finally around 11:30 when Deb and Don hadn’t shown up or Kassie and Dad, Mom decided it was time for bed so the girls went up to the loft and settled in and about 10 minutes later everyone showed up and we went to bed after listening to some of Dane Cook’s stand up.

Thursday 7/20, I went to Red after work but couldn’t find a parking spot so I just told Kassie I’d meet her at her house. She showed up with Shelby, Megan and Aubs not too long after I did. We hung out there for a while then headed off to dinner at the Wild Mountain Café where we all had a delicious dinner. Afterward we went to Vivace and talked with Nicely for a long time and Kassie gave the guy behind us a hard time for not smiling. We went back to Kassie’s where the girls packed up their stuff and we loaded it into my car and set for home, until I had the idea to drive by Cowgirls Inc to show the girls Andy. We ended up circling 3 times and Aubs took some pictures, then we parked across the street and she tried to zoom in and get some shots. She was getting real saucy saying she was going to go up to him and ask him to be in a picture so at that point I decided it was time to leave. We got home and situated in my room, then watched an episode from Season 2 of OC, then went to sleep.

Wednesday 7/19, After work I rested for about 45 minutes then got ready to go meet Alix for dinner at Applebee’s. We got there right at the same time, had some grub, went over to Shoe Pavilion then over to see the Devil Wears Prada. It was cute, a couple of parts made me a little teary because I was thinking of B, but overall it was a pretty good movie. After it was over I drove Alix back to her car and dropped her off then drove home. After we got out of the movie my phone told me I had a message but since I had turned my phone off I couldn’t see who left it. The message didn’t have anyone talking, just the sound of someone driving or outside or something. I asked Susan if she called me, she said no, then Kassie, another no, so then I start fantasizing that Andy did. Whatever. Susan and I talked for a little bit then I showered, played on the net and went to bed.

Tuesday 7/18, After work I didn’t really do anything and decided that by 7:15 having not heard from Buck yet I would put a pizza in the oven for dinner. As I was preheating he called me and we made plans for me to pick him up later that night to go to Cowgirls Inc. After Susan and I watched WoF and Jeopardy I started doing my makeup and just as I was about done my phone rang and Buck said he was tired after working out, eating dinner and shopping and asked if he could take a rain check. I was a little disappointed because I wanted to see Andy, but also a little relieved that I wouldn’t be staying up half the night entertaining my new out of town friend. Jessica informed me earlier via email that Buck knows everyone in London and that when I come I’ll be totally connected. Yay, plus he told me that he’ll probably be back in late October for a week and a couple of times a year after that and that when he comes back we’ll go on a weekend and get the complete Cowgirls Inc experience. He told me he knew how much I wanted to ride that mechanical bull and that he didn’t want to deny me of it. Ha, yeah, that’s why I go to CI. So I stopped putting my makeup on and watched the Kathy Griffin show and Queer Eye until 11 then read before going to sleep.

Monday 7/17, Jessica called me at work because she knows a guy from London, though he’s American, who is staying in Seattle for the week and he’s bored and would like to be entertained. Naturally she called me for this job. She told me he goes by Buck and is really nice and that she knew she could trust me with him. I didn’t know how to interpret this and was left guessing what kind of guy I would have on my hands. As I was running an errand for work, Buck called and said he would call me later from his hotel when he got back into Seattle from Tacoma. After work I did some very light grocery shopping and then home to shower and lay around waiting to see if Buck called me or not. I ate an apple and some cashews and just as I was mid-cashew my phone rang and it was Buck seeing if I wanted to grab some dinner (it was almost 7:00) so I told him I could be there in about a half hour and that I would meet him at his hotel. I primped up and set out for the Sheraton, found a parking space far away (about 4 blocks) and walked down. I had the bellhop guy call up to his room and tell him I was waiting in the lobby. He came down, we did introductions then we set off. He was tall, like 6’2” about a 7.5 in the looks department and very nice from the get go. We walked back up to my car and headed to Mojito by way of Kassie’s suggestion. I found it ok and we found another good parking space even though Buck was leery of parking in a load/unload spot, but it was after 6:00 so we were golden. We went in and Kassie was right in describing it as “not a date-y place”. We chose a spot by the windows and chatted it up. I ordered the mango chicken from Kassie’s rave review of it and we got some Epinadas (sp?) which were really really good, I would have ordered a whole entrée of those if I could have. The conversation was great and we both learned a lot about each other and that he has a gf, which was a relief because I didn’t want to feel that pressure of anything happening, and has traveled extensively and all sorts of other things, like our somewhat shared stance on children. Then I told him about B a little bit and about Andy and Cowgirls Inc, and surprisingly he’s heard of it and that him and his friends had wanted to go there, so I’m thinking perfect opportunity but that they’re not open on Mondays, but asked if he’d like to go the next night. He did, but was worried about showing up with the girl that gets grope-y hugs from the bouncer. Then he said he would say I’m his sister and like, “Dude, isn’t she hot, look at that body, I’m telling you she can suck the chrome right off a trailer hitch” which had me in stitches. So that got me very excited thinking that I was going to get to see Andy the next night, but hope he doesn’t think I’m a stalker (Andy, I don’t care what Buck thinks). We finally left and drove around for a little bit and decided that we would both call it an early night so that we could live it up the next evening so I dropped him off on the corner and thanked him for dinner. I drove home and took it easy in my room for the remaining hour and a half of the night.

Sunday 7/16, Kay-See and I were first into the motor home for French Toast then C and S came in from their walk, then Kassie. We decided to do river rafting so while Dad and S went over and got the raft the rest of us sat in the sun and read magazines. Our trip finally got underway and since the drop off point is now blocked off we had to unload everything at the top and carry it down, good exercise I guess. We set off and had a fun trip down, pretty uneventful though and were all very hungry by the time we got back. Luckily Mom had whipped up a chicken pot pie before we left and it was still warm so we all dug into that and relaxed. We all packed our things up, loaded up the car and headed down to the drop off point to get something out of Kassie’s car. Said bye to Mom and Dad then went to get a last ice cream cone before heading back over the mountains. I got Moose Tracks this time and it was very good. Chrystol got some pictures of the donkey across the street and the barn then we started our drive. We stopped at the Harry and the Hendersons coffee stand which is right before traffic got bad. We sat in it for probably 35-40 minutes then it cleared up and we made it into Kirkland without incident. Dropped Kay-See off at her house and saw the Roommates fiancée and I was like “Oh my God, there he is, that’s the fiancée” and Chrystol said “That’s weird because he’s totally checking you out” but I didn’t notice because I was trying to drive. We got back to my house, unloaded the stuff, they used the bathroom and headed out. I talked to Susan for a while and made some dinner and hung out for the evening just enjoying being home.

Saturday 7/15, We all woke up early, like 7:45 early, and went in and had Dad make pancakes which were delicious as always. We all walked down to the beach and Dad gave us a ride back up in the back of the pickup then Kay-See and I sat in the sun and C and S went back down to the river to explore. Mom and Dad took off to run errands in Wenatchee and Leavenworth and we all just laid around in the sun for most of the day. At one point Kay-See and I walked down to the river and put our feet in then met C and S on the way back up. Kassie got there around 12:30 and we sat and snacked on Rice Krispie Treats, fruit and other stuff then decided to go back down to the river again where Kassie tried to convince everyone how fun it would be to float down the rapids in the freezing-ass water. We played in the pond for a little while then went back up and Mom and Dad got back not too much later and started making lunch: pork chops, potatoes and corn on the cob. Dee-lish. At some point we went into Plain and got some ice cream (chocolate peanut butter for me) then over to the hardware store where I bought a book of scary stories and a bar of mango scented goat soap. Kay-See and I took a bike ride down the road a little bit and eventually Dad and Mom helped me set up the trampoline but the mosquitoes were out like crazy. Us kids decided to head into Leavenworth to hang out and ended up getting a late dinner at Pavz where I had a strawberry crepe and had nibbles of Kay-See and Kassie’s dinners, which were both very good. We did a little walking around, took some pictures and headed back home. When we got back we all put our pjs on and crawled into bed. Kassie broke out the Mad Libs and we had some really hilarious ones, especially the “Atomic Loaf” and Kay-See being nicknamed “Billy the Pelvis” and that she stole someone’s “Molester’s Nads”. After that we shared some lame scary stories, then everyone went to sleep but Chrystol and I chatted for a little bit.

Friday 7/14, I got off of work early cause I had to deliver something to one of our clients. I called B on the way to make sure everything was ok with their house because there was a house fire in Wallingford earlier that morning. We talked until I got home then we got disconnected but I didn’t feel it necessary to call him back. I showered and packed for the trip over to Leavenworth and even had enough time to take a little nap, which was very refreshing. Schuyler called me around 6:45 to say they were running about 30 minutes behind but would be there around 7:30. Susan and I watched Wheel of Fortune and ate dinner then Schuyler and Chrystol got there and we loaded up my car and hit the road. Luckily there was no traffic and we swung by and picked Kay-See up and were on our way over the mountains. We actually made it over very quickly despite a stop in Monroe for some Mc D’s and the car being weighed down with 4 people and a shit load of stuff. We rolled in right around 10:00 and Morey was just leaving as we sat down around the camp fire with Mom and Dad and chatted for a while. Mom said I was going to have to make my own pancakes in the morning but I was determined not to. We decided to go to bed after a little tour of the motor home and settled onto our designated air mattresses. Kay-See fell asleep quickly while the three of us chatted for a little while, then the sprinkler kept me up and I woke up multiple times in the night from the train and that damn rooster.

Thursday 7/13, I showered when I got home from work because I smelled terrible (charming I know) and then started making Rice Krispie Treats and my dinner. I had quite a bit to accomplish before heading into Seattle to see Chrystol about the pictures and then to Kassie’s to discuss said pictures. I got the treats done then got ready for an evening of dancing and flirting with Andy, though I didn’t really know how that would turn out. I finished getting ready, called Chrystol to tell her I was coming over and was out the door by 8:10. I saw Jason when I walked up and he like pointed to me, like giving me props or something, so I think he likes me now and especially after he asked to see the final prints and was like “wow, nice!” hmm. Weird. Chrystol got everything out and tallied what I owed her and we chatted for a little while then talked with Schuyler downstairs. B graced me with an effortless hello and didn’t even look up when saying good bye to me after I said bye to him. I rolled my eyes and C reprimanded him, though she whispered wishes of good luck to me with Andy. I drove over to Kassie’s and we looked at the pictures and laughed and she wanted me to go to Palace Kitchen with her so she could see her crush but I had to be leaving her house in 20 minutes but she didn’t care. Sean had his baby and Kassie and I talked about childbirth, since she’s seen it firsthand, and can I say for the record: YUCK, I’m never having children. I could barely watch as she demonstrated how the head comes out with her hands. We talked until 10:00 then I left and headed down to Pioneer Square. Susan and I parked next to each other and walked up with me greeting the bouncer with a healthy dose of pep. He seemed startled and then Susan told him that they had the same birthday and that freaked him out, it was kind of funny since he’s this huge guy. We do what we can. Then I turn around and Andy’s standing there looking at me with a smile, so I get my stamp from him and he’s like “How are you?” and I’m like “I’m good” and he just kind of goes in for the hug so I’m like duh, oh yeah, I always get a hug from him, so I made sure to push my boobs into his chest. Ha! Then he gave Susan a hug and I asked him how he was doing and he was all “Ug, they’ve got me working the door tonight” and we exchanged a few more words then the bouncer from outside was frontin Andy and wondering why Andy got a hug and not him. Andy rolled his eyes and I told him that I freaked out the other bouncer by being perky. Susan and I then moved along cause there were more people filing in and we were in the way. S and I hit the bathroom then went to watch people dance and fall off the mechanical bull. There was one guy who looked like a chicken scratching at the ground and bobbing his head back and forth, I couldn’t even look at him because every time I did I had to laugh and he was like a foot and a half away, so that would have been mean. We read all of the ridiculous rules for riding the bull and basically just stood around. At one point I was looking at Andy down in the little entrance pit and he looked up at me and I smiled and he smiled back and we just looked at each other like that for a few seconds, it made me giddy. Still does. I was planning our departure because I wanted to make sure that when we were leaving there wasn’t anyone coming in so I could actually get a few words in with him without getting interrupted or him not doing his job and getting in trouble. I was keeping my eye on the door and we decided to make our getaway, you will find the dialogue below:

Andy: (as he leans in and gives me a hug) You guys leaving?
Susan: Yeah, we’re heading up to your old stomping grounds.
Andy: I need to go up there, I haven’t been there forever.
Us: I know!
Susan: Come on, we’re taking you with us!
Andy: I wish I could, sometimes I just want to get out of here. Mickey and so and so are always trying to get me up there and visit.
Me: Um yeah, you haven’t been there forever!
Andy: I can think of a couple of other good reasons to go (smiles mischievously)
Me: Oh yeah?
Andy: Yeah (still smiling)
Me: (smiling coyly)
Andy: (makes big smile and bunches fists)
Me: See you later Andy…(smiling and touching his arm)

As we left, Susan was like “Ok spill!” and I was jumping up and down and clapping my hands because I was so excited. She was all “Stop, he can still see you!” but I didn’t care. So I told her then we got in our cars and headed up to CH and parked in some handicapped spots that were ok after hours. Walked to Neighbours and told Travers that Andy said hi and that he thinks he’s too cool for Neighbours then went in. Not too much happened last night, though there were some really great songs played, especially the Come On Eileen song. Kyle was there and he said he liked my shoes and that we both looked good so that was nice. There was one cute guy with longer blonde hair that I think Susan talked to a few weeks back, then there was a blonde gay boy who was so cute and Susan told him we loved him and I think it freaked him out because he didn’t dance by us again for the rest of the night. The goth guy that tried to dance with me once was there in a polo shirt and like khakis, really weird. Nothing else interesting really happened. Craig showed up about 15 minutes before we left and as we were going I told him he looked good and that he always looks fabulous and he smiled. Walked back to our cars, drove home and went to bed.

Wednesday 7/12, After work Susan and I got ready to go to dinner with Jason and left the house around 6:00. I was feeling a little weird because I had friended Diana on flickr and had instant access to all of her private pictures, which made me feel very insecure because there were a bunch of B and some with them together and my mind began to wander. All of those insecurities were back and seeing the pictures made me sad. I can’t really explain it. Anyway, so we left around 6:00 and went to Rudy’s first so Susan could flirt with her hair guy and I could buy a ticket for the Grant Lee Phillips show in a couple weeks. We hit the mall after that, but were disappointed to find that the Gap is being remodeled and that I wouldn’t be buying a Favorite T for the weekend. We had to wait a little while at PF Changs before getting seated and then Jason showed up so we waited together and started catching up and laughing then our buzzer buzzed so we went in and were seated. I ordered the double fried noodles or something and they were DELICIOUS. I may have a new favorite. We heard in great detail the goings on of his love life but it was fun because I got to live vicariously through someone who has made out with their crush in the last week. I had a lot of fun and Susan got some good pictures that hopefully she’ll be posting on flickr, ok, only like 2 are good, the rest are ridiculously terrible. We left “The Chang” and talked for a while longer up in the garage and we all agreed to go put comments on each other’s pages, and to make them saucy to perhaps make certain people in our lives jealous. That’s assuming that that person even looks at your profile. Susan and I headed home and retired to our rooms and I read and whatnot for the remainder of the evening.

Tuesday 7/11, I got out of work early so I decided to go on my long walk (a little over 3 miles) when I got home and was really surprised when at about the half way point I wasn’t even tired yet, but by the time I got home I was feeling it. I made some dinner and Susan and I watched our usual shows and toyed with the idea of going down to the Emerald Queen Casino to try out for it. That would be hilarious. She’s really good though, she always gets the puzzles way before any of the contestants do. After our shows she checked plane tickets and decided she wants to go to Oakland for her birthday so she made a call and booked it so I’m going to take her and pick her up when the time comes. Now I’ve got a month to get a cute boy back to my house so we can make out. It’s too bad Troy is so crazy otherwise I’d just call him because making out with him was hot. It’s the turning crazy part that isn’t hot and makes it totally not worth it. I called Chrystol after I got out of the shower because I wanted to warn her that I had said something to B and I didn’t want her to get tangled up in it, so I gave her a heads up and we ended up talking until 11:00 and I was enlightened by some very interesting information but I’m not divulging on here. It’s not that big of a deal anyway. After I got off the phone with her I finished a chapter in my book and next up is “Polynesia”.

Monday 7/10, I hit the store after work for a few work-week necessities then went home and got ready to go on a walk. I did my short one because I was feeling tired but knew that I needed to get out and do something physical. I wish I were doing something physical besides walking if you know what I mean. After I got back I made dinner and Susan and I watched Wheel of Fortune and House Hunters. After they were over I went up to my room and right at about 8:05 my phone rang and it was B. I hesitated before answering but then I thought, I’ve got a lot to say to him and if he’s going to call me and then I might as well give it to him. So we talked for over an hour and I feel a little better because I got to actually tell him how his actions affected me and I think he feels guilty for how he did it. Whether or not he would change anything if given the chance will remain unseen but I would hope that he would. Some of the things he said hurt, but then again I thought most of it was bullshit. He said he got bored when we would sit around and he felt he had nothing to say to me and that he would rather go out and cut the lawn than sit and talk to me. I can’t go into everything on here because there’s just too much, but I basically told him that it was all bullshit and that if he had really wanted to salvage something he would have made some sort of effort to change our relationship though he denies that this would have worked and that he didn’t want to change me as a person. Listen ass, us reading a book together and then discussing it as a means of communicating and sharing interests isn’t you CHANGING me, it’s making both of us better people and expanding our knowledge together and taking our relationship to another level. But again, he didn’t think any of this would have changed anything because there were other inconsequential things he chose to dwell on and use as factors in deciding to break up with me. Whatever, I do feel better because he did express a tiny interest in having a conversation when I come by to see Chrystol. There’s so much more, Kay-See I’ll have to tell you about it because I think you’ll get a kick out of it, like when I told him 3 or 4 times that he made me feel like a piece of garbage, just to really drive the point home. So I’ll save the rest for later. After I got off the phone I went into Susan’s room and we talked about it and apparently she knew I was talking to him because she “heard a few choice words” coming from my room. I felt better and not empty like Mom said I would and that I think maybe I can move to the next step of this grieving process because it sucks where I am right now. I don’t like being depressed about this, I wish it was as easy for me to get over, but it’s not and that’s what makes me me. So we’ll see which direction I go in over the next couple of weeks. Maybe I can let go of some of the anger and realize I’m better off. We’ll see, I shouldn’t get ahead of myself. I read some more of my book before going to sleep and I slept like a baby.

Camping fun!

Sunday 7/9, Kay-See and I got up and started eating our breakfast then AGF emerged and was like “Um loud” or something that made me laugh, cause the voices just carry I guess. We all sat around for a little bit then started cleaning up and packing the cars. We did a couple of garbage runs and pretty soon the site was spotless. Kay-See and I were all packed up and we said our goodbyes and Neil said “See you later hot stuff” so we left and enjoyed the beautiful weather all the way to my house. I unloaded all my shit from her car then took a much needed shower, ate some leftovers and relaxed for the rest of the day. I didn’t even do my grocery shopping, but I did get through a magazine and get a load of laundry done. Susan got home and we chatted in my room for a while then I had some fruit and yogurt for dinner and at 9:00 we watched the Brady show. I stayed up until about 11:00 reading a magazine and playing around on myspace.

Saturday 7/8, I got up when Kay-See and AGF did cause I was already awake and had to go to the bathroom. I broke out the muffins I had made and blueberries and offered one to the park ranger when he came around, but he declined. Eventually everyone was up and we decided to take a walk to the beach to scout out a spot for sunbathing so we walked and talked and found a nice place. We walked back to the campsite and got our suits on, bags packed and sunscreened up for our adventure out. We made our way down to the beach, laid our towels out and began the sunbathing and relaxing. When we got hot we went down to the water and put our feet in, but pretty soon the others wanted to go out to the “island” Kay-See spotted so they waded out while I hung back and let the silt-y sand squish between my toes. I took some pictures, then AGF came back and I put some sunscreen on him, though we would later find out, that that was not soon enough. Everyone came back and we laid in the sun more until Neil and Richie took the floaties down to the water and hung out down there. Richie took his back up and Neil was trying to convince me to get out there and told me to “butch up” and I told him he was one to talk. At one point we were all on our towels chatting and Neil said that I should pick dare when we play but then was like “Oh fuck it, if you would have picked dare I would have dared you to kiss each one of us with your eyes closed and try to guess who was who”. I almost fell over and died. I could feel my face getting red and I was all flustered just thinking about it, oh that Neil. We were down there for quite a while then Kay-See and I had to use the bathroom so we went up to where we saw one in the abandoned campground, but it was locked so we just decided to walk all the way back to our campsite and use the one there and grab a snack. We saw a deer on the way in addition to the one we had seen across the lake. When this hawk flew over head looking for food one of the boys was like “Take one of the kids” and the dad heard I think…hilarious! We hung at the campsite for a little bit then walked back and intercepted the boys who had packed everything up for us and were on their way back. So we all walked back together and relaxed at the campsite when we got back and Richie put aloe on my back, which was nice. We read magazines and one article in particular out loud about the woman who had the face transplant surgery. Neil and Richie left to go get supplies at the store and the three of us snacked and relaxed then Kay-See and I walked back to the abandoned campground and picked up wood for the night’s fire. We got quite a bit, but not enough to keep one of our 8-hour fires going so then Richie and I climbed up the big hill behind our site in our slippers and found this large log that we were going to ride down the mountain like a toboggan but Richie ended up carrying by himself with me picking up the scraps behind. We laughed and giggled all the way down the mountain. Kay-See and I decided to drive to the day use area and look for cute boys and get cell service. There we found cell service but definitely no cute boys. We stopped at a bridge and climbed down to this stream for a minute then back to the campsite. The boys were back and while we were talking Neil told me he thought that we’d have beautiful babies and I almost died. I also almost reconsidered my stance on having children. I told him not to tease me. Eventually all of us sat around and played the “Boy Game” which was so fun and had all of us howling with laughter. Richie kept grabbing my leg when he would laugh, which made me laugh even harder, and apparently Andy and I are supposed to be having a lot of sex. Neil and I would have quite a bit of sex and some money I think and I would have a lot of love and end up with Sean, but also a lot of problems, probably his kid and baby mama. It was pretty funny, we were all proclaiming our love for the game by the time it was over. We eventually got the fire started but got a visit from the park ranger who told us not to put any more wood on because it was too big and outside the rock circle, then they left and we joked that we could just make the circle bigger if that was really the problem. We had our dinner, more hot dogs in addition to some delicious turkey kielbasa and some s’mores. We played T or D throughout the day whenever things would get quiet and started up another round while we were around the fire again and pretty soon it turned into a group thing where someone would come up with a question and we would all go around and answer it which was really interesting because you got to hear everyone’s answer to a question rather than just one. Endlessly fascinating. We went to bed earlier than the night before and I moved my stuff into the little tent with Kay-See and we made our bed up really well so that we wouldn’t freeze and boy did we both sleep soundly. It was fantastic.

Friday 7/7, I went to work early so I could leave at 4:30 but then Jim let me leave at 4:00 so that was nice and meant that I had a chance to wash my hair and shave my legs before going camping. I did a kind of dramatic thing and sent B a message on friendster and said some things I have wanted to say but didn’t think I’d ever have an opportunity. Kay-See was at my house right at 5:00 to pick me up so we loaded up the car and headed to Lake Kachess with only one stop for ice on the way and talked about that dramatic thing I’d done. She could relate. AGF had gone up earlier in the day to get a good spot for us so we found him pretty easily and decided that the spot he picked was a keeper. It was a really big one, close to the bathroom and very private. He had been quite bored so he built a little rock circle around the fire pit and started setting up his tent, which remained unfinished until Neil and Richie showed up and helped us. We snacked while we waited and collected kindling and eventually the other two boys showed up around 8:30 or 9:00 after getting lost. Richie told us a story about some guy with a bloody arm coming up to their car on a dirt road and that Neil really didn’t want to talk about it. I ate it up, but AGF called the bluff and we found out they had just taken the wrong exit and nothing exciting had actually happened. These guys are experienced campers and had their tent and beds set up in like 10 minutes and then had the fire blazing so we relaxed and started playing “T or D” which I’ve never really played but it was fun and it allows you to get to know your company a little better. Richie told us that he likes to play with fire and that we shouldn’t sit there all night saying “Be careful” so I said, “Ok that’s fine, but please be careful”. It was funny. We finally roasted our hot dogs around 11:00 or 12:00 I would guess and those Hebrew National ones are delicious. After dinner we did s’mores and Richie gave everyone some of his Fruity Tang and it was good. Probably the best food item of the weekend though were Kay-See’s cookies, better than Starbucks I dare say. Everyone but me played Taboo and I flipped the timer and we just had a good time laughing and talking around the campfire. There was a mix up with the beds when we decided to go to sleep around 2:00 or 2:30 so I eventually ended up sharing Neil’s air mattress because Richie refused to get off of the ground. At one point when I was trying to convince him to get up there he shot his arm up in the air and began singing loudly with his ipod and I grabbed his arm and hissed at him “It is time to be quiet now” and we both looked at each other for a second and then burst out laughing. It was really hilarious and I think I shocked him. He said it was a total “Mom moment". I finally climbed onto Neil’s air mattress but I didn’t get my sleeping bag situated so it was 1/3 off of the bed and I couldn’t pull it up, so I froze all night and tried to curl up inside it but couldn’t fall asleep but finally did after it started getting light out.

Thursday 7/6, On the way home from work Kay-See called me to see if I wanted to go camping with her, AGF and some other hot gay boys. I said that would be fun, called back the little sister, called Chrystol to find out about going over to look at pictures then went out for my short walk. I must have been hustling because my shins started to hurt, but they’re fine now so it’s all good. When I got back I made one of my trusty salads and leftover chicken from Palace Kitchen then took a shower and got ready to go over to see Chrystol. I left right at 7:30 and traffic was fine so I got there quickly and talked with Peggy about leaving early on Friday. I went in and met Jason’s little brother Tate, who is very cute, saw B who now has a huge beard that, in my opinion, doesn’t look very good at all. Chrystol and I sat on the back porch steps to look at the pictures and there were some really good ones in both batches, but I decided that for purposes of this gift, I preferred the color ones and picked out the three I liked and one backup, and also picked three of the black and white in case Kassie decided that’s what she wants. We decided on picture size, finish and border style. There were some pictures that were so hilarious that I couldn’t stop looking at them and laughing, then I showed C and S the pictures I brought and they laughed equally hard even though I thought they’d already seen most of them, so it was a fun night of laughing at ourselves. We went back inside and both had to go to the bathroom but B was brushing his teeth so we were waiting outside the door but then Tate went in to use the bathroom so the three of us stood outside the bathroom door and were talking about the pictures and at one point I fixed my gaze on B and he looked at me and held my stare for a minute then looked away, but I kept right on looking at him and he looked back and I’m pretty sure he got the gist of why I was looking at him like that. Half the time I didn’t look at him when he was talking, I just turned my head and looked the other direction. I guess I’m still angry and hurt. Just a tad. Finally Tate was done and each of us had our turn to use the bathroom, we talked for a few more minutes in the living room then B went to bed I think, or maybe just left because he felt uncomfortable, and I left soon after that because it was getting late anyway. I stopped at QFC on the way home to pick up camping supplies and talked to Kay-See about what to bring and that I would be baking muffins for breakfast fare. So when I got home I got right down to it and was baking until 10:45 but if the muffins taste half as good as the batter, then I think we’re in pretty good shape. I did some packing and finally got into bed, finished a chapter off and went to sleep.

Wednesday 7/5, I went home for a couple of minutes after work just to touch up my makeup and put my hair back because it had morphed throughout the day and didn’t look good, then I was out the door on my way to AGF’s birthday celebration at Rosebud. I called Dad on the way to thank him for my early birthday present and pulled up outside Honey Hole at exactly 6:00. I made my way back to the patio area of Rosebud and found Kay-See, the Birthday Boy, Melissa and Carina (sp?). We chatted then some of us girls decided to take a field trip to TiB and looked at some of the new items and eventually returned to Rosebud where I got a Shirley Temple that was very good. Kay-See and I were hungry so we went over to Honey Hole and ordered some food to go and just chatted while we waited. She’s such a good friend, she always listens to me bitch about stupid stuff. Kay-See created a diversion when we went back into Rosebud and we both enjoyed our meals for about 20 minutes until the older bartending gentleman asked us to put it away, though I still managed to finish off my fries while they were in the bag, heh heh heh. Some more friends showed up, um, Bill and Nicholas (sp?) and it was nice to just have fun conversation with nice new people and joke around about stuff. I had such a fabulous time, and it got even better when Neil showed up. He looked hot as ever and even complimented my pink Vans, yay! As a group we talked about the Andy debacle a little but I think it’s just kind of funny at this point, like I told Kay-See last week on our hike, I feel like I should be humiliated or something, but I'm not. I think it’s funnier than anything. Here I go out on a limb, but not really because I’m already convinced that he kind of likes me, so I give him my number….and nothing. I’m kind of just like “Whatever” but not even in an irritated way. AGF agrees that it was probably the ex-gf who called me after finding the phone number. That freaks me out, I don’t want her to find me and kick my ass. Anyway, back to the party, a couple more people showed up and two of the guys were talking about guys they had slept with and one said something about sleeping with a whole bunch of random guys and I said “I wrote that book” and then later he said something about old creepy men so I said it again “I wrote that book” and he goes “Thanks, I read that book”. It was funny, because clearly I haven’t slept with a whole bunch of guys, especially old creepy ones. I'm Karrah, I’m hilarious! At about 9:20 I decided to head out and got hugs from lots of cute boys and my good friend Kay-See and headed back over to the Eastside where I found an empty house. I showered and talked to Susan and Dean when they got home, then read some of my book and went to sleep.

Tuesday 7/4, Despite going to bed late I was awake by 8:30, so I got up and did my short walk and enjoyed the sunny weather, though it wouldn’t continue throughout the day. When I got back I had a piece of toast, showered, did my new hair then headed out to run some errands. First was the drug store to develop pictures and pick up a few items, then over to BB&B where I bought a little dust buster so it’s easier to clean the stairs and hard to reach places, then I walked over to Safeway to pick something up. Back home I heated up my leftover omelet, met Susan’s friend Dean then hung out in my room reading and listening to Muse’s Hullaballoo until 3:00 when Kassie called to have me come over. I lounged and read Us while she got ready, which took about an hour and a half, then we packed up and over to Vivace, then to pick up Franklin. Kassie was much more dressed up than me with her cute sundress and Christian Loubitan’s to my jeans, tank and pink Vans. Kind of funny, anyway, apparently all of the Lo Fi guys call Franklin and Kassie “Frassie”, so when we got to the Madison market and heard someone yelling “Kassie” from what we thought was the apartments above, then turned into “Fraaaasiiie” we were all very confused. As we sat there discussing and trying to figure out who the hell was calling “Frassie”, Jason pops out from behind a tree so we all had a good laugh and went in to do some grocery shopping. Picked up some supplies then headed over to Denise’s apartment for a BBQ. We had fun especially at Franklin’s expense because he fucked up the grill by leaving the the scraper inside which melted inside the coals, then when Mike was setting off some little fireworks and the neighbor lady came out and gave him some of hers to light off. Frank made us some delicious burgers with bread crumbs mashed in which we topped with white cheddar and tomatoes. Yum! We left Denise’s to go back to Kassie’s to get some warmer clothing and my car so I could leave directly from Lo-Fi. We got there and went right up to the roof where the fireworks were being set up and people were milling about waiting for it to get dark. We got some sparklers going and Mike and Jason were talking shit to the kiddies on the rooftop next door about their fireworks sucking. Yeah, they were like 8 and having a birthday party. There were quite a few cute guys there and it’s a shame that the cutest one, Tom, didn’t show up until later in the evening. He was like “Are you guys related?” and later thought I was Kassie when I came down off of the roof. The fireworks were really great from the roof, especially the Lake Union ones, but Jason was not to be outdone and kept lighting his off and interrupting our viewing. I guess he really wanted everyone to take notice of his $400 worth of fireworks. After both shows were over the boys lit off the rest of theirs and put on a pretty bitching show. Everybody hung out for a while in the bar area afterward and I stayed until about 11:30 then decided traffic or not I needed to head home. So I did and it wasn’t that bad cause I was so close to the freeway being on Eastlake and all. Got home around midnight and went to bed.

Monday 7/3, After work I went home and showered, though I didn’t wash my hair because I figured Sean would do that, and then left the house around 6:45. I got down there very easily and found a spot right outside BB&B and decided to go in and buy some hangers. After that I went over to the salon and Sean was waiting there and Kassie was hanging out / working while I got my hair cut for moral support. Getting my hair cut by Sean was a fantastic thing, we talked the whole time, which is so easy because he’s hilarious, and it didn’t even feel like he was cutting my hair just snipping here and there and eventually ended up with a great haircut. We talked about astrology, marriage, babies, guys, Stanwood, Boom City, music and a whole slew of other random topics. It was great. Is it weird to have that much fun with your hairdresser? Probably. I will definitely be using Sean from now on. So anyway, after that Kassie and I went back to her house and she talked on the phone for 45 minutes with Dave but I was starving so I was trying to get her off of the phone and out the door to eat dinner. We decided on Palace Kitchen, surprise surprise, and it was really busy when we got there so we didn’t even get seated until like 11:30 or something. It was nuts. I had the burger and nibbled on some of Kassie’s cheese plate and by the time we got out of there it had to be 12:45. We went back to her house and she got ready to go out and I went home and got to bed about 1:30.

Sunday 7/2, Got up around 8:30, went to Costco for gas, then to the carwash and finally to the store for some light shopping. I got ready for brunch when I got home and took off at 10, arriving at the same time as Mom, Grandma and Grandpa. I had a delicious Garden Omelet and pastry goodies from the buffet. On my way home I decided I wanted to go to the park and read while getting some sun so I ran home, grabbed my stuff and headed back out to the Bellevue Downtown park. I read for a while in the sun then called Mom (Kristen) and we talked for a long time then Grandma Dixie and finally packed up and went home. I got sunburned on my lower back where I didn’t apply sunscreen but I’ve been lotioning it up so it doesn’t look so bad now. I showered and did my hair and then laid around waiting for Kassie to call and tell me when she’d be back from Whidbey. Finally we had all of our plans laid out so I left the house at 7:00 to go over to Chrystol’s to pick her up. I went through the house to the back door and I saw B first and he looked at me then looked away, but no one else saw me so he looked up again and said hi, then everyone else said hi and Chrystol showed me her garden and gave me a pea and it was crisp, sweet and delicious. I asked B for my key back and he would barely look at me, but Jason was nice enough to ask how I was doing, I said “You know, alright” and we chatted for a second, then he winked at me, but in a “It’s ok about B” kind of way. Went in the house and talked with Schuyler for a bit before C and I were ready to go. Got to Kassie’s and she was getting ready and we were soon out the door and on our way to Discovery Park for our photo shoot. We had a lot of fun and C is really good at giving direction. It was a beautiful evening and the sun was setting as we were getting the last photos taken. We got a roll of black and white and one of color, then a couple of other ones on some camera called a Holga or something. It was 9:30 by the time we were on our way back to Kassie’s then I drove C home and we talked in the car for a little while after we pulled up. She’s so fun and I love hanging out with her so I look forward to getting to do that more in the near future.

Saturday 7/1, I woke up around 8:00 for Kay-See’s and my hike and was getting ready when she knocked on my door at 8:15, 15 minutes early! But that’s good because we got a head start. There was a lack of cute guys again, but we attributed it to the holiday weekend. It was gorgeous day and we were enjoying soaking up the rays and chatting at the top until some guys started noisily eating plums behind Kay-See so we packed it up and headed back down. We were both exhausted from the climb up which made us wobbly on the way back down, but we made it and on the way home talked about XXX Burger and having a movie night sometime soon. I showered and called Grandma to see what she was up to and went over to visit. I stayed until about 3:00 and left with some goodies and a brunch date for the next day. I laid around for the rest of the day and then as the evening progressed I got very sad about B again and spent the evening crying and looking for therapists online. It was a great evening, let me tell you. I read some great articles in one of the magazines that Susan gave me and did some underlining and note taking on things that related to how I feel about B and the end of our relationship.

Friday 6/30, I got off of work at 3:00 so I went home and relaxed and it felt wonderful. I ate way too much for dinner so I went on my short walk and just took my time. I showered and got ready to go to Comeback and noticed that Tennis Pro posted a bulletin that they were playing at the Comet so I called Kassie and found out she was going to be there so I decided I’d like to go too. Susan and I parked in our usual place for Comeback and we walked to the Comet and found out they weren’t going on until 12:15 and it was only like 11:00 so we walked back over to Chop Suey where the bouncer told me “Hold on there Turbo” when I tried to go in without my stamp. When we got inside it was empty but we hung out and people watched nonetheless. There were a couple of great characters, one guy that looked like a short George Michael wearing a speedo and sunglasses, the other was wearing a puffy white shirt and was dancing all over the place and flailing his arms around. It was endlessly entertaining. Eli showed up and he kissed my hand and eventually when DJ Porq came out we started dancing and Susan and I joked about just walking up to him and going “Meoow” because he was wearing a cat shirt. He was so cute but I was pretty sure he was gay, so finally when Thomas showed up Susan asked him and he was like “Gay. Oh yeah, he’s gay” Dammit! That’s ok, I was going to be seeing Sean soon enough. So we danced some more and Thomas danced with us for a while so that’s always fun, they DJ Fucking in the Streets came back on and played the Rod Stewart classic “Do Ya Think I’m Sexy?” and we danced our asses off. It was then time to leave so we walked back over to the Comet and got in for free, found Kassie and settled into the show. It was pretty fun and Sean looked totally hot on the drums and finally took his sunglasses off halfway through the show. Kassie’s massage friend Dave was like “What are the chances that you’re here?! Were you just in the neighborhood?” and then later spilled beer all over me. He was dancing around hilariously and then one of the other band guys was like “Everybody have a drink” and this girl goes “I would but some drunk guy spilled it” and the band guy goes, “Yes but let’s face it, the drunk guy did have the best dance moves”. After the show I got a hug from Sean and told him good show then him, Kassie, Susan and I ended up outside chatting for a little while and he said he was bummed that he stepped on his glasses as he was exiting the show and then Kassie was like “So what, just go back to 7-11 and get another pair” and he goes “Thanks, no, actually I got them from Urban Outfitters”. It was funny. Then he said something about our stomachs that made us laugh and I told him he was cutting my hair on Monday and I’m pretty sure he’s really excited. Or not so much. Susan and I walked back to the car and drove home.