Wednesday 5/30, Jess got up and left before I woke up and when I finally rose it was about 9:30. I ate, showered, got ready and hit the bricks to meet her at Oxford Circus in front of Nike Town at 11:30. I was a few minutes early so I started walking trying to find it without asking someone but after wandering for about 5 minutes I asked a woman who didn't know but thought that it was back in the direction I had just come from so I headed back. Still not seeing it as I approached where I had come out of the station I asked 3 young-ish looking guys wearing construction vests and the one is like "Right there" pointing behind his back...the direction I'm facing. I was fucking looking at it, like 30 feet away. The problem was that it doesn't say "NIKE TOWN" it just has a big swoosh, which is exactly what I was not looking for. So anyway, to the guys I'm like "Oh you mean that big building RIGHT IN FRONT OF MY FACE?" and the guy is like, "Yeah, right there, right across the street" still thinking I didn't know where it was. I felt like such an idiot so I quickly thanked them and as I'm walking away one of the other ones yells "It was just an excuse to talk to us wasn't it?" and I smiled and said yes but felt like a complete idiot. No wonder they think Americans are such morons. Duuuh, where's Nike town? RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOUR FACE, FOOL. Anyway, Jess wasn't there yet so I checked out all the hot guys passing by and other traffic then contemplated going to H&M across the street when Jess hadn't arrived a half hour after she was supposed to. She finally showed up and I told her my story then we went to H&M where I bought two bras. We then went to Ping Pong which was a delicious Chinese place and I love what Jess ordered me, especially the pork puff pastry and the little hum-bow things and the chocolate ice cream was pretty good too. We walked to the Holborn station and Jess was arranging a meet up with Roberto so he could entertain me for a while because she had a meeting back at work. She ended up figuring out a way to have her conference call and not have to go in so we met up with R at LSE and went to Bar One where Jess got me a yummy fizzy orange juice drink. She took her call so Roberto and I mostly talked and laughed (the waiter there looked just like Teal but with darker and more hair, hot!). I asked him if he had been to Bath and he was like "Uh, I showered this morning...usually I don't get propositioned at 3pm after an orange juice...more like 3am after a few beers" which made me laugh and he was like, "Don’t get me wrong, I'm not saying no, I just thought it was a strange question". That Roberto - so witty. Then I laughed at him when condensation from his glass dripped into his lap and he was like "Ha ha!" and mock pretended to throw his drink into my lap which made me laugh even harder. I love him, he's so funny, plus he's totally smart which is a turn on. Anyway, it was time to go so we parted and I asked how to get to the British Museum and got turned around for about 5 minutes then found it. It was about 4:30 when I got there I headed straight for the Greek art and this French guy comes up to me right away and asks if he can sketch me and that he thought I was Australian and wants to show me the mummies. I was like, um, no thanks I just got here and want to see the Greek art but he kept persisting and telling me he wanted me to remember him and have a memento from my trip to London. I still told him no and he repeatedly said that he wasn't going to pressure me and didn't want to be a pest...even though he was. He finally left and I carried on and saw some of the major things I studied in college so I got some pictures and it was seriously so emotional at one point that I felt like I was going to start crying. This shocked me. Who does that? I cruised through a lot of other stuff and ended up in this room all about Greek culture in art and they had to kick me out at 5:30 because apparently they were closing. I found my way back to the bus stop and caught the 1 all the way back to Jess'. I was home for about an hour before Jessica got home and we watched ANTM and ate El Teuito tortilla chips. We decided to go to Catherine's Wharf to walk around and see the Medieval dinner club. Then we headed over to this other waterfront area so Jess could show me the flat she wants and after that we headed home. I put one of the pizzas in and helped clean then we put on the season finale of OC since Jess hadn't seen it yet. We killed the first pizza so we put the second one in and killed it too. Then we each had a pear. We watched some SatC, did some more cleaning then I read for quite a bit and went to bed.

Tuesday 5/29, We woke up around 10, got ready and headed out the door to Harrods. I paid extra close attention to our route because I would need to get back to the house later by myself and though the way was rather simple I could very easily get turned around. We went to H&M first where I was in heaven and had to hit one area at a time, but we were on a mission for 80's stuff so that helped me stay focused. Jess found some stuff then took off for her client thing while I stayed behind and tried things on then made my purchases and headed to Zara to meet Jess who turned up a little after our scheduled meeting time. We went into Harrods so I could get something to eat and perused the fucking ridiculous amount of luxury items there. It boggles my mind. I got a turkey and cranberry sandwich and ate it while we walked through the grocery area and Jess and I talked about different foods (6P peppers!). I finished my sandwich and Jess wanted ice cream for dessert so we sat down at this ice cream / gelato place and both ordered some dessert. My shake was $11 which is ridiculous for ice cream, but it was really good and so was Jessica's Nutela ice cream. We headed out because she had to go to work for a little bit but she told me which way to go on the Piccadilly line so we split up and I was on my own for the first time. Gulp. I caught the tube no problem but didn't want to ask where the V&A Museum was so I just started walking making sure to remember which way I was going so I could get back there, and what do you know the it soon appeared right in front of me after like 2 minutes. So I went to information and got a little pamphlet and some info from the girl and was on my way looking at Islamic art and artifacts, then Indian and Asian then the Fashion exhibit which was totally fascinating then the Raphael room then up to some of the British art and artifacts and eventually back down to the sculptures which had some of my favorite pieces. I saw quite a bit in the time I was there (a little over an hour) but I wanted plenty of time to get back to Jess' and my back was hurting from carrying all the H&M bags (I had Jess' with me as well). I found my way back to the station ok, boarded the correct train, transferred then caught the right bus and got off where I was supposed to. I had a moment of panic when the key wouldn't turn in her gate but a little cajoling awarded me passage. I hung out and corresponded with Jess on myspace about 80's plans for the night then wrote to Mom about picking me up at the airport and to let her know I made it ok and am not dead. I showered and started getting ready for the night. Jess got home and made some delicious guacamole that we ate with tortilla chips and herb crackers, I liked it, Jess thought it wasn't her finest batch. We finished getting ready, took some pictures then set out for the bus. We couldn't stop laughing at each other but she definitely took the prize for most 80's and at the bus stop people were driving by laughing and so distracted they were missing green lights. I told Jess she looked like an Eastern European hooker or that people at the club wouldn't be able to tell that I was 80's and would say about us "Look at that badly dressed girl and her friend with the bad hair" since my hair looked ridiculous. Then we thought about asking someone what they thought Jessica was and imagined their response would be "Badly dressed?" and I said "Spanish?" So we finally made our way to Punk Soho after many many strange looks, paid the cover and took an inventory of all the people who were not dressed up. To be fair, there were some people dressed up, like the guy with the skin tight leopard print leggings and Motley Crue wig, but we quickly noticed we were the only ones dressed in "Happy 80's" clothing. Throughout the night we realized that the 80's in Britain had to have been VERY different from the valley girl, neon colored clothing 80's of our youth. The people there probably just thought we were super trendy because all of that shit is in fashion here right now. Anyway, so both Jess and I found a bar tender we liked, of course they were not the same one, and the show started but overall was rather disappointing. He didn't even get the "break from the crowd" line right from Hungry Like the Wolf. Oh well, at least it was hilarious people watching. More people showed up as the second band went on which had this little tiny guitar player that we could barely see from our couch and I was like "What is that midget doing on stage?" and that started a whole slew of laughing and leprechaun and gnome jokes. God, no wonder all those serious girls hated us. I was like "I'm going to take you home and put you in my garden!" and Jessica just about lost it. We decided to leave halfway through one of the other bands' brilliant screaming songs and as we're walking to the tube I totally see Gary Lightbody from Snow Patrol and I was like "Hey!" and told Jess who he was and that I had just read an interview with him about how he can walk around London easily because no one recognizes him, but he didn't escape unnoticed by me! As I'm still all riled up from seeing him and his woman we pass this club and the bouncer was all "Hel-lo!" and thinking I must have heard wrong I turned around to look at him and he was totally checking us out so I quickly turn back to Jess laughing like "OMG that guy totally just checked us out in these awful clothes!" and it brought my self esteem up considerably since this bouncer was much cuter than the one from a few evenings earlier plus we looked hilarious. We boarded the tube and continued gathering confused and strange looks from strangers, but as Jessica said at the beginning of the night "Like I said, you just have to own your look" so we did. All the way home. We watched a few episodes of Sex and the City then turned in...about 1:00.

Monday 5/28, We set the alarm for 8:30 to be on the road by 9 to Stonehenge and Bath, but in reality after getting ready and looking over maps and such we didn't get on the road until about 10. We set off and headed toward Stonehenge first. We had one 20 minute detour but otherwise totally found it despite some tricky directions from google and the questionable road map we were using. We followed all these other people toward what we thought was the entrance, but what was actually the fence that kept the non-payers out. We decided to just take pictures from behind the fence and as we headed back to the car Jessica yelled into this shaggy cute looking kid "How is it in there?" and he's all "It's rubbish!" so then we were extra pleased for not having paid the 6 pounds to get in and laughed all the way to the car. We hit the road toward Bath and got turned around a few times but eventually ended up back on the road we were on in the first place and should have trusted our instincts. The countryside was so incredibly beautiful, it's all I could say "OMG, It's so beautiful here!" and that it actually reminded me quite a bit of MN. We arrived in Bath after 2:00 and decided to find parking and a place to eat asap. Parking was ok but then all these pubs were closed so we kept heading into the city center (Bath, btw, is pretty big, surprisingly) and came across this little cafe / restaurant Revolution. We ordered this delicious Camembert with olive oil and balsamic and cranberry chutney, but surprisingly the cheese was warm and there was a TON of it. The like four pieces of bread they served with it didn't even put a dent in the cheese so we decided to cover our lunches with the rest. I couldn't decide on which flat bread sandwich I wanted so I told our semi-cute waiter to decide for me and I was very pleased with the chicken one he picked. I slathered a ton of the camembert from our vat onto my sandwich and even some of the cranberry chutney on a few bites and totally cracked Jessica up when I scooped out the last of it with my sandwich and proudly declared "Look, I got all of it!" like it was some sort of accomplishment. We guessed our waiter probably thought I was a pig because Jess got a sensible salad while I had this huge fatty sandwich with fries (chips!) and was eating all the cheese. We asked our waiter for things to do in the area since we'd just rolled into town and he drew us a little map with sights and interesting things and most importantly where there was a cluster of fudge shops. We paid and headed toward those straight away and found one where I bought a good size chunk of chocolate fudge but then Jess spotted another fudge shop that had a lot more variety so I got a strawberries and cream piece that was about half the size of the first but twice as delicious! Jess liked it the best too. Next we just wandered around and eventually ended up in this huge park and made our way toward the botanical garden which was really pretty, though there was this tent pitched toward one corner of it and we thought it was very strange and imagined a couple of hicks wearing trucker hats sitting in lawn chairs roasting steaks on a bbq. We found a really beautiful smelling bush / plant / tree thing but couldn't find the tag for it, Jess suggested gardenia but I thought it was too big. We walked around a bunch more then headed to the car to drop our things and saw this bizarre brother and sister (apparently) walking up the hill in front of us, then we went back down to the Huntsman where we waited for the Bizarre Bar tour of Bath which is a comedy tour that runs every night in the summer. Jess and I claimed to be students to get the discounted rate and though it was funny and random (the guy blindfolded himself from one landmark to the next and laid down in the street so we could all pass safely without getting hit by taxis) we ended up leaving early. One of my favorite parts was when he came out of the bar in a big purple jacket and said to me "Please don't look at me like that madam, I have to wear it" and Jess totally cracked up. We got back to the car around 9:30 and just happened upon signs to the M4 by total fucking dumb luck. We had such a good time just talking and laughing the whole day in the car and walking around. I love Bath so much and would love to have a home there at some point, it's totally unique and beautiful and charming. I couldn't stop gushing to Jessica, I love this! Though when we passed through this other town earlier in the day and I told Jessica that it was so cute that I wanted to put it over my knee and burp it, the whole fucking town, she totally cracked up and kept saying it for the rest of the day. She also loved my southern impression where I pretended to ask locals where the shitter was. We got back to London around midnight and were both in bed by 1:00.

Sunday 5/27, We didn't get up until after noon, had some cereal and fruit, got online to figure out what to do for the day then headed out around 3. We went to Madame Tussads and there was a long line but we wanted to get Starbucks to warm up so we walked until we found one between the KFC and McDonalds then headed back to the line. We waited forever and just barely got in. All I wanted to see was JT so we cruised through until we found him and I got some pictures and some with Paul, Becks and Freddie Mercury. We saw this weird cartoon show at the end of the museum and I asked the host guy if I could have a picture with him and he was so funny flirting with me and then started to sing a song to me over the loudspeaker "We started off as friends...Seattle!" and then said something about me washing his pants (underwear) or something. We left then headed to the tube to go to Little Venice where our comedy show was to be held later that night. We walked around to find a place to eat and settled on Waterways which was nice and had cute guys so it worked for me. Jess had these delicious beignets with goat cheese, peppers and herbs, yum! We stayed there until it was time for our show so we walked back over, checked in and waited to be let in. We didn't really know what to expect and were both totally surprised / shocked. The Bush / NY accent skit was hilarious as were the Tony Blair, Posh and Becks and amputee skits ("only part of daddy's coming home!"). It was about an hour and as we walked back to find the bus in the rain some older guy started talking to us and was trying to guess our occupations and at first thought we were art students, then bankers then psychologists. Ha, then he tracked us down in the tube to give Jess his card for a psychological head hunter study. No joke. We made it back despite all the rain and watched "Dick in a Box" five times before having lots of girl talk and going to bed.

Saturday 5/26, We got up around 10 and Bora had gotten breakfast and though Jessica dissed it, I thought it was good. We finished watching Dirty Dancing on the computer then got ready and headed out to Canary Warf for lunch and sightseeing. We had lunch at Carlucci's and I got some delicious spinach and gorgonzola gnocchi and the foccacia was magnificent too. We took some pictures then had Starbucks and went to the shoe store in the Citi Group center. We went to this large-ish grocery store and did some shopping then home while listening to Jess' Blink cd, which was surprisingly rather good. Back at their place we watched an episode of House while I updated this thing and checked myspace. Zlatko came over and we decided to go over to Brick Lane for Indian and it's so hilarious because these guys stand outside and try to get you to come into their restaurant and offer you discounts off your meal and free beer and stuff. So we went to this one place that Zlatko wanted to go to anyway and they gave us 20% off our meal. Hot dog! I got the curry to be safe but had bites of everyone else's and everything was really good. Jess however embarrassed me by telling me to eat one of her dishes for that problem we were talking about earlier. Great, thanks Jess! Zlatko was like, "Uh..." and looked all embarrassed. That makes two of us! Jess came up with a new version of “Hog and jog” which is better: Chew em and screw em! Hahahahaaaa, I got it on video. We finished up there and met up with Jalil and Kim (HOT!) and went over to Old Street. We went to this bar and the bouncer seemed to like me and was chatting me up as we all walked in (Kim asked me about it later) and once we all went in I noticed a hearty supply of hot guys. I was ready to move to London right there. They were everywhere, like the ratio of hot guys to girls was totally in my favor. I talked to Zlatko for quite a while about clubs and things then to Kim who played with my camera while everyone danced to 70's songs. Bora had to get up early the next morning so we headed out after not too long and some guy was talking to me as we walked out but I got distracted by the bouncer again (Jessica is telling me to write (right now!): "I have a thing for Middle Eastern men and might leave Bora for a Lebonese waiter named Habib Halla. They're so sexy and they speak French, oh my GOD!" Har har, oh that Jessica) and got a kiss on the cheek. There were all these hot guys milling about outside but soon we were on our way though I was disappointed to see the hottest blonde guy ever walking the other direction and that he didn't hear my brazen cat calling. We drove Zlatko home then went back and all crashed.

Friday 5/25, I landed at Heathrow, which is not really an impressive airport...well at least not Terminal 3 where I landed. I met a woman from Denver as I waited in the customs line and we joked and talked until it was our respective turns to go through. The guy I had was a real ball buster and was asking me all these weird questions especially about Jessica and made me show him my return ticket. But he had a hot accent and was semi-cute so I let it slide. In fact, it made him hotter that he was kind of a dick. I got my luggage very quickly then headed out to wait in front of Marks & Spencer for Jessica as planned. There were guys everywhere and it was like I was in heat, despite being very tired and it only being 7 in the morning. I saw the British version of Eric, only with less tattoos. Jess arrived at a quarter to 8 and we got something to drink then we caught the tube which quickly became very crowded. We laughed and talked all the way and Jess hated this girl wearing too much Burberry. We eventually made it to her house and sat and talked for a while then she took off and I took a nap for a few hours, then showered and got dressed. When Jess got back we watched Dirty Dancing and laughed at the hilarious dialogue, clothing and dancing. Bora came home and we got ready to go out and we watched these neighbor cats run around while tethered to trees. We took off in the Mini to pick up Zlatko who is from Montenegro but was raised in London and has one of the hottest British accents EVER. As we sat in the backseat (after avoiding the kid in the wheelchair and his ball) I just looked at him while he talked, half mezmorized. Hot! He also does this posh British accent on cue that makes Jessica practically pee herself. We parked on a side road and waited for Roberto while Bora was interrogated by the police. Roberto, me and Zlatko crammed into the backseat which is only designed for two which meant we were more than cozy...to say the least. We were off to a Serbian restaurant and let the Serbs go in first to make nice with the staff. All the food was sooo good, I was really really impressed. There was some hilarious music playing on tv so I video-d it. We all stuffed ourselves at the Rec Center then piled back in and drove all over the place and Roberto blamed physics when leaning into me on the turns and roundabouts. If you asked me at the time which guy I would rather make out with between R and Z I wouldn't have been able to pick, but I didn't have to, so anyway, we dropped Z off at a stop light then went back to Jess and Bora's where we had ice cream and finished Dirty Dancing. We then put in Havana Nights and laughed at Bora sleeping and trying to figure out McEnroe in his sleep. The movie stopped playing (too many shit movies according to Roberto) so we took Roberto home while Bora went to bed. Roberto asked us to talk really loudly while dropping him at his place so that his neighbors know that he does in fact occasionally comes home with girls. I was more than happy to oblige. Jess and I made it back to her place without getting lost then talked for a little while longer before turning in around 2:45.

Thursday 5/24, Off to London! Woke up at 5 and headed to Grandma's where Dad was picking me up to take me to the airport. Made it through to my gate with no issues and waited for my flight. while enjoying the new Glamour from Susan. The first flight went fairly quickly and I watched Catch and Release, ehhh. I started reading In the Lake of the Woods, which I've read before but it's been a while so I'm rereading. My layover in Toronto was ok, and the airport is beautiful and new and I continuted to read my book. I had a sandwich and cookie then popped a benadryl which put me to sleep before we took off. The girl next to me handed me my headphones when I woke up because they had fallen on the floor while I was asleep. I ate some food then tried to go back to sleep, I think I slept for an hour or so then couldn't fall back asleep. I listened to a lot of music and finally turned on my personal tv and watched some Arrested Development then started Painted Veil but only made it a half hour in before we started our descent.

Wednesday 5/23, I hit the bank after work to exchange some cash for London then packed and stuff at home. I talked to Dad then tried Kassie then cancelled my cable then talked to Susan for a long time about Jacques plans and OC and stuff. Then I watched From Justin to Kelly, which obviously was not one of my proudest moments.

Tuesday 5/22, Traffic sucked on the way home so it took me a while to get there and I ended up not going on my walk but instead did some reading and prepping of the veggies Kay-See and I were to be consuming for dinner. She got there as I was mid-prep and helped me finish up and get the vegetables roasting in the oven. She brought up again that she wants to take a trip to S. America, and more specifically Chile and Argentina. She then proposed I take this trip with her, so there are a few things that may stand in the way, but we’ll see what I can do. We ate our delicious pesto primavera and salad while watching Blake from AI then I introduced her to the amazingness of Miami Ink. It was fun to ogle the hot guys while watching and laughing at Jacques who was cuddling with the stairs and looked high from his catnip rainbow and eggplant. Kay-See kept saying she was going to leave on the next commercial and finally did sometime after 10. I watched more Miami Ink until midnight.

Monday 5/21, I did my walk after work then did some household things and talked to Susan. Hmm, not much else…went to bed kind of early.

Sunday 5/20, Mom woke me up at 9:30 with plans for brunch so I eventually got out of bed and on the road. We had a nice meal and I ate way too much of course then called Susan to arrange plans for the afternoon. When I got to her house we laid on her bed for a long time talking and I tried to not fall asleep. Around noon we headed out to go see The Ex and caught a matinee then headed back toward her house but decided to stop at Vivace to see Teal. He’s so sweet and said “I have to admit, I have a crush on your friend…Michael. I wanted to make out with him” and I was like, “You should! You’re so hot!” so then Susan and I schemed as we enjoyed our wonderful Teal-created beverages. As we were leaving he was like “Remember what I told you to bring to Neighbours this week!” which made us laugh, but then made me sad because if they do hook up and make out I won’t get to see it. Damn! Why can’t I be going to London next week?! Plus I’ll be missing the week after that too. Oh well, hopefully Susan will have her camera poised for picture taking. Or maybe video…hmm…a girl can hope. I took off when we got to her house and when I got home finished off Season 3 of OC then watched Extreme HM and talked to Susan about my Jacques dilemma then DH and got ready for bed.

Saturday 5/19, I woke up around 8:30 and got gas then back home for some breakfast. I didn’t climb back into bed, but instead settled on top of my bed and watched a couple of OC episodes because I didn’t have anything pressing to do. While I was attending to some chores there was a knock on the door and some confusion with my tile work so I need to call Dale and confirm with him. I went for a semi-new walk at 11 so that felt good to do a longer walk than I’ve done before. I showered when I got back and then, surprise surprise, watched more OC. Talked to Kay-See about plans then headed over to Mom’s for dinner and picked up Grandma on the way. We had her delicious spaghetti and sat and talked until it was time for me to go. I took Grandma home and started getting ready when I got home. I put a new tattoo on, a big dragon one, and wore the same thing that I wore on Thursday, because let’s face it, it worked for me then and I was hoping it would work for me again. I set off for K’s a little before 9 and made it there right on time and we ended up hanging there for about an hour or so, just getting ready and gabbing about boys. We drove over to Stacy’s since we hadn’t heard from her and she had fallen asleep but soon we were on the road and on the prowl. We went to Peso’s but it was totally packed (mostly with HOT guys) so we decided to go down to Belltown instead of deal with irritating girls. We caught a cab (my first one in Seattle, ever) down to Twist but decided to try and get something to eat first so we went to Cyclops (not serving dinner that late) then a guy tried to lick me on our way over to Belltown Pizza where all these couples were taking up the 4-seater tables and the three of us couldn’t fit at a 2-top so we left to go back to Twist where we got a table in the back bar and people watched and I saw one of the news guys from Fox 13. There weren’t very many guys there that were my type but I did see two that would work for K’s fun game. We left and headed down to Belltown Billiards and waited in the long line in the freezing ass cold, but at least the bouncer was cute so that made it a little better and the super drunk girls getting kicked out were pretty fun to watch. We headed straight to the back bar and started checking out the multitudes of hot guys on the dance floor / bar. I thought I saw Eric, but a quick glance to his right arm and the lack of tattoos told me it wasn’t him. As we’re standing by the bar waiting this guy walks by and grabs my arm to look at my tattoo and asks me about it but I confessed that it was fake then he introduced himself as Mike but I eventually took off because it was so crowded and the girls were still getting drinks. This other guy walks by and plays with my ponytail and when I turned to look at him he was like “I like your ponytail thing. It’s cute” and I was like, Um ok, thanks. But he was hot and had a nice smile so I let it slide. We got a bargain at the coat check then headed out to the dance floor passing cute guy after cute guy, and one was like “Gorgeous” shaking his head as we filed by. I couldn’t stop laughing it was so hilarious. I saw this guy that looked like he was 17 with mopish hair and I was like “Hel-lo!” and Stacy was like “That guy looks like he’s 12!” and I smiled and nodded enthusiastically. Heh heh. There was a bachelorette party and they were thoroughly irritating me but I kept pushing back and tried to avoid their sweaty backs and unnecessarily oversized purses. Don’t bring your purses onto the dance floor! It’s totally irritating to get knocked around by your ugly ass purse! I saw this guy making his way over in our direction dancing with random girls and checking out the crowd and K commented “He’s hot. And he knows it.” I rolled my eyes and agreed with her statement. And what do you know, pretty soon he made his way over to us with his cute friend and started dancing with us. Well more specifically he started rubbing his ass on mine and pushing me around with it, so I pushed back with my ass and really shook it. Him and his friend started laughing and it was like an ass-off and we all started dancing. His hands started roaming and I kept moving away from him and rolling my eyes at him then called him “Handsy” which he misheard as “Pansy” and was a little offended. I was like “No, handsy! Handsy!” waving my hands in his face as his friend laughed. I grabbed his nipple to demonstrate and he quickly threatened to even the score. Yikes! He wouldn’t let me out of reach and I kept telling him I hated how he was dancing with me and he would be like “Shut up!” and pull me into him and I would just yell “Jesus Christ!” and roll my eyes again. At one point another one of his friends totally busted me when Handsy was dancing behind me and I was rolling my eyes and totally not into it. Whoops! I pretty much busted his balls all night and it felt fantastic because you can tell he’s one of these guys who’s used to getting girls and has a big ego. At one point he asked for a kiss on the cheek so I gave him one and he immediately asked for another one and I was like “No way, you’re going to turn your head, I know your kind!” and he was all mock-shocked then nodded in agreement. He was like, you’re just not drunk enough, and I agreed and said “Sorry, I’m not a wasted sorority girl” and shrugged, implying that’s who he probably usually bags. At least I think I amused him because he’d just look at me and laugh then get all handsy again and yell “You hate handsy!” and I told him no, not hate, just leery of. Which just seemed to make him more so and I had to repeatedly find creative ways to get out of his kung-fu grip. K and Stacy were dancing nearby with random guys so it seemed we were all having a good time. At 1:40 they turned all the lights up and turned the music off and we were bummed because we probably only got about an hour or so of dancing in. Three of us were standing there as people started filing out and one of the dj guys was like “Ok guys, if you haven’t scored the phone number by now it’s probably not going to happen” and Handsy was all “Is he talking to me? Why is he looking at me?!” so we all laughed and he got his cell out and below is the dialogue that followed:

Handsy: So, uh, do you want to give me your number?
Me: …Why?
Handsy: Um, so I can call you…?
Me: Really? Are you REALLY going to call me?
Handsy: Yeah, I will.
Me: Uh huh. (heavy, slightly irritated sigh)

So I took the phone from him and put my number in and he leans over to K and goes “Boy, I can’t wait to call Pizza Hut on Monday” and she totally cracked up, and I have to admit that is my favorite quote from the last week. He was like, “Well let me give you my number if you don’t believe I’ll call you”, and I’m like “No way, I don’t want your number, what am I going to do with it? Besides I don’t even have my cell” and he’s like “Who doesn’t have their cell on them?!” so I replied “Where would I put it?!” motioning at my lack of a purse, then I said “Well I guess I should have had it in my back pocket because at least I would have had a buffer from your groin!” to which he looked all fake shocked. I said “I don’t even know your name!” so he introduced himself as Josh but said that when he calls me that I can program it in as his nickname and I was like “Handsy?” and he nodded and smiled, so I thought that was cute. He grabbed my ponytail and I was like “Wait a minute, are you the same guy that earlier said you liked my cute ponytail thing?” and he nodded shamefully, so I laughed and was like “I knew you looked familiar!”. I didn’t really say bye to him because the bouncers were trying to herd us out and we headed to the coat check then hit the bricks. We wandered down to the hot dog stand and more mayhem ensued with forward gentlemen everywhere. There was one guy in a suit and K was like “Oooh, the guy in the suit, the guy in the suit!” so I’m like “Hellooo!” and he returns the greeting then his friend says hi and it was just fantastic and I gave another flirty “Hello!” back. What a funny night. My ego was out of control. Then we meet this guy from Manhattan in line and talked to him for a long time and I got his card to help him out with benefits for his new engineering company. I noticed a group of three hot guys walk by us but then got distracted by some guy talking to me and Kay-See was like, “Um Karrah, I just said hi to those guys for you and motioned to you”, but I was preoccupied so there was no follow through. So we’re on the sidewalk eating our dogs but all these guys were watching so I had to turn away and tell Oscar and Luis to go away until I was done…then Oscar offered to buy me another one. I turned him down but did thank him and tell him that no guy has offered to buy me a hot dog before. Then this black guy comes over and asks where we’re from and what we do then says he’s from FL and is a glazer. Of windows, not donuts. I mentioned how much I love donuts and he’s like “Well I’ve got a big black donut for you” and I slapped my knee and started laughing so hard and his friends came over and were like “Come on man. We’re so sorry” but I told them not to worry about it and that I thought it was hilarious. I mean seriously, a big black donut? Those don’t even exist! I give him an A for effort though. And offensiveness. Kay-See couldn’t even look at him she was so shocked and about to bust up. Some other guy came over and insisted that K take his picture and called her Karrah so I started calling her Karrah and saying “Come on Karrah, just take his picture. Karrah.” And he’s like “Yeah, come on Karrah!” ah. It was great. Oscar offered us a ride but we decided to catch a cab instead. We went back to Queen Anne and drove back to K’s gabbing the entire way and laughing hysterically. On my way home I texted Eric though didn’t hear anything back. But then again, it was 3 in the morning. To my delight Kay-See had uploaded all the pictures she took to flickr so I perused and laughed my ass off before going to bed. There was so much more but this is already too f-ing long.

Friday 5/18, I was so tired when I got home but I made myself go on a walk anyway…though I only did my short one. When I got home I showered and relaxed, talked to Susan then updated my blog and started falling asleep. I went to bed a little after 10.

Thursday 5/17, I went on my short walk then RELAXED which felt so good. I sat in my room, on my bed, in the sun and it felt wonderful. I made plans with Susan for dancing and got ready, and did my makeup and hair differently than usual then applied my pirate and parrot tattoo and set off. I contemplated calling Trevor but then thought, why bother? If he wants to talk or see me then he knows where to find me. I need to be done with this nonsense. I got to Susan’s and we talked while she finished getting ready then we set off. We talked to the bouncer on the way in and he wasn’t all handsy which was good. We spotted Darren (birthday boy) then went upstairs. We danced for a bit then took a break where I saw Michael and yelled at him as he walked by. I’m not sure how it happened, but one minute he’s telling us how hot we are and the next I’m making out with him while Susan laughs and takes pictures. It wasn’t entirely hot because I couldn’t stop laughing, which doesn’t help making out ya’ll in case you didn’t know, because he’s gay and it’s been a while since I’ve had a good make out. I was totally shocked and I’m sure it’ll be evident in the picture(s). I did get into it eventually and gave him a little lip bite, in addition to quite a bit of tongue. Mwahaha! After we came up for air he bought me a drink and Susan went off to find Darren (for a little hot gay boy making out of her own I assume) and we talked about Eric (I didn’t bring up the subject!) and I really hope that what he said isn’t true because it breaks my heart. I can’t even convey how much my heart hurts for him. I don’t even want to save him, I just want him to know that I’m his friend and I think he’s better than all this nonsense and worth so much more and capable of so much more. I truly believe he’s a good person and deserves so much. I wonder if his ex knows…or would have any influence…I’ve got some decisions to make…anyway, back to Neighbours. He did mention that back when we were dating that Eric really liked me so that means something to me, that they would have talked about that at some point. Sigh. Anyway, the three of us went out to dance and Michael was being all forward and handsy and totally cracking us up, especially when he fell on the floor and was dancing up by Tye (who some guys had laughed at earlier because he was wearing a referee jersey, so I made a point to give him a hug in their line of sight, jerks). Susan left so naturally Michael and I kissed some more and I believe thoroughly confused those around us. We watched Bun on the new stage and I was mesmerized as usual. But not as mesmerized as I was by the go-go boy in the cage gyrating on the floor and grinding on the bars which Susan captured a good portion of on video. Teal and Jeff showed up and Teal told us we looked good (along with the coat check guy who complimented both of us as well, I guess we did look good) and we all danced together. Michael started making out with some guy and Teal made a sad face and expressed an interest in making out with Michael and I was like “You probably still can, I mean, I made out with him earlier” (shrug) I don’t think this made him feel any better. There was this guy wearing a HUSTLER shirt that I had originally shown an interest in because he was big, but then Susan spotted him making out with a fat girl on the stage and spanking her. Gross. I spotted Max and said hi to him a while later, then he was dancing over by us with a girl (phew) and some guy, who came over and asked me if I wanted to dance but I was like “No thanks!” not realizing he was with Max, so then Max comes over and asks me why I don’t want to dance with his friend (who was probably one of the cutest guys to ever come on to me at Neighbours) and I said I was just dancing with Susan. He goes “He’s from (somewhere) and is a surfer. He’s young, like very young” which apparently is the magic word for me because I was like “Young?! How young?” but he put his finger up like “Tsk tsk, you had your chance” I told Teal and he was like “Um, yeah, you should totally sleep with him. He’s foreign and hot” but I didn’t. The music was pretty decent all night and we danced our asses off, except that Von Trapp didn’t play Freeze Frame as Susan had requested (though it did give me an opportunity to wave to Travers in the dj box). We decided to leave around 1:30 and I got a final kiss from Michael and we headed out just as Craig was pulling up on his bike. I laughed for most of the way to the car thinking about Michael. I called Susan as I got home and she stayed on the phone with me as I walked room to room with a big knife to make sure no one was in my house and going to murder me in my sleep. Or Jacques.

Wednesday 5/16, I went straight down to the U-Village after work and read the graphic Cosmo article again before heading over to my class. I was disappointed to learn we were going to make a rhubarb (and strawberry) pie. Kay-See and Stacy showed up and K told me some things about the teacher then we almost got caught due to an incomplete packet. I had to help roll out the dough and was terrified, but did ok I think. The apple pie was really good but the strawberry rhubarb was superb. I was really surprised since I hate rhubarb but I attribute it to the butter crust, whereas the lard crust was lacking in the flavor department, and surprisingly the flaky dept. since lard is supposed to make it flakier than butter. Plus I prefer the tapioca instead of potato starch. We also made little individual tarts that were very good though I’d put more custard in mine next time. We went to Zao after class and I brought the Cosmo article so we could cringe at some of the entries then talked about sex and I had a near scare with a Kentucky Eric and Stacy’s sister, but luckily it was a false alarm. We stayed there until about 10:30 and made plans to go out Saturday night so I can get some action.

Tuesday 5/15, I headed to Grandma's straight after work to keep her company for the evening. I suggested we go out to dinner and I would treat, so she chose Chinese and we went to her favorite place and the staff were all really nice and packed up her favorite soup on the house. She got a little weepy a few times but she pretty much kept it together. We went back to her house and I ate about 7 chocolates then took Toto out for a walk. Grandma and I sat in the living room and talked and I showed her how to work her AC. I left around 8:15 and did all my little chores and talked to Mom for a while before going upstairs to read and relax for the rest of the evening.

Monday 5/14, I went for my short walk and really pushed it and was back in a half hour so that felt really good. Plus I had a hot guy wave at me. I pretended like it wasn't any big thing but I was secretly hoping he'd make some gesture since I'd passed him on my way up the hill at the beginning of my walk...and sure enough on my way home, passing by again, he waved and smiled. Heh heh. At home I did a little more clean up then took some pictures with the flowers Neil gave me, though just having gotten back from my walk and not having any makeup on I look a little stark. I ate a bunch of cheese...a lot of trifle. I talked to Susan, uploaded pictures to flickr and watched Music and Lyrics or whatever it's called.

Sunday 5/13, I woke up a little before 9 and spent an hour finishing up the kitchen and taking down the decorations and was back in bed by 10. I pretty much didn’t get up for the rest of the day…except to eat trifle. Which I had three helpings of throughout the day. I talked to Mom, Dad, Eliso, Court and Susan three times. I watched about 9 episodes of OC and took a nap. I felt terribly guilty for wasting an entire day. I went to bed after 11 and was totally out.

Saturday 5/12, I woke up a little after 7, got dressed and headed out to Lowe's, picked up the paint brush and returned home to bust ass. I did all my touching up and it looked pretty good then it was onto cleaning the floors. First I swept then got down on hands and knees and scrubbed the entire floor with this heavy duty scrubber, then went back over it with a rag to soak up excess water and for a final once over. Then to the task of the entry stairs, which I first swept then continued with the scrubber. As I was in my underwear scrubbing the stairs with the front door open Kay-See arrived and just laughed at my ass greeting her first thing in the morning. I finished that up then we set out for Whole Foods and constructed our shopping list in the car. It took us a while to do the shopping but we got almost everything and $150 later we were on our way back to start prepping. I was in charge of the cake while Kay-See started slicing and dicing veggies and potatoes. We cooked and baked ALL DAY. We did take a break at one point so I could show her where I work and we could watch JT on SNL ("Oh you bite that lip!"). On the way back we stopped at Albertsons for a few extra items and I commented that Dustin probably wouldn't be there because I think he's only doing student teaching now, but sure as shit as we walked in he was standing at one of the registers and I say to Kay-See "Oh, he IS working" very definitely so I'm sure he could read my lips, so I waved and he waved back. We did our shopping and I said hi to him because we were in a different lane and said bye to him then we set off. We continued cooking and taking pictures. On our menu was garlic rubbed chicken breasts stuffed with gouda, proscuitto and rosemary soaked in a white wine and olive oil marinade. Then were Kay-See's famous roasted potatoes baked with balsamic, olive oil and rosemary. For vegetables we pan fried zucchini, squash and yellow and purple pearl onions with a little olive oil and salt. Lastly were two quiches / frittatas: the first was tomato, zucchini, onion and parmesan, the second was mushroom, caramelized onion and swiss. For dessert we constructed a trifle with chocolate cake, chocolate pudding, homemade whipped cream and toffee served with strawberries on the side. We finally got to a good stopping place and started decorating but had a mini crisis as Kay-See thought we were missing a booklet but thankfully found it. Chrystol called and said that Schuyler's costume was "Tight and fabulous and you're going to love it" to which I squealed and did a little dance. Kay-See and I got ready and were still doing stuff as Susan showed up with the wine. As other guests started arriving I constructed the cheese plate (Cowgirl Creamery Mt. Tam, a sheep / goat / cow milk trifecta, a mild but delicious blue, a mild triple cream brie Kay-See suggested and lastly the Flagship cheese) with pears, apples, grapes, roasted red and yellow peppers and two kinds of baguette. It was sooo good, and probably my favorite of all the food. I told Chris how good the blue was and he devoured it. Like all of it. Neil got me beautiful purple and yellow tulips, I never get flowers from boys! Especially hot boys! We decided to start the game and I continued doing stuff in the kitchen as things got going and soon it was ready, everyone dished up and continued. When everyone was done I started clearing the table and Neil jumped up to help and I told him to go sit back down and have fun and he was like "You're not pissed?" and I was like "Of course I'm not pissed, don't be silly!" I set up the dessert to be enjoyed as they played the final round and I think everyone got a kick out of the cake topper. The killer ended up being Hannibal...I think. It wasn't really clear. Or maybe Madame Garlique. Everyone had a good time and one of my favorite things was when Chris was burst out singing a show tune at a totally random moment and make everyone laugh. Since I did most of the cleanup while everyone was playing there wasn't much to do except wrap stuff up for people to take home because there was so much food left over. An entire trifle wasn't touched...the big one at that. Neil kept eating the onions which was so cute so I wrapped the rest of them up for him with some veggies. Everyone made their way out with Susan and Kay-See being the last ones. J escaped as Susan and I were talking so I got his food and lured him back toward the door where Susan snatched him up! I think Susan as a blonde also lured him over, caliente!

Friday 5/11, I got home from work and admired the tile and grout work, but did not admire that Dale took my only paint brush...he must've thought it belonged to him. This upset me. I did some cleaning then went over to Mom's to pick up extra plates, chairs and a huge dish for the monster cheese plate we were going to construct. I sat there forever, avoiding going home and cleaning, and eventually left right before 10. Called Susan who informed me that Lowe's was closed so I wasn't going to be able to get my paint brush until the morning. I think I ended up going to bed fairly early in anticipation of prep work and the murder mystery party.

You were in the back of a friend's pickup when I walked by. You got out to say hi and gave me a complete body-encompassing hug. We talked for a few minutes until a friend of mine came over and told you this would be your last chance with me. You said it looked like it was time to start growing your hair out again, implying you would be dating people other than me. "I guess that's it," I thought, as you rode away in the back of the truck.

Maybe this is it. Time to move on. Let’s see how long it takes me.

Thursday 5/10, I took my short walk after work then started doing some things around the house including moving everything off the counters because Dale the tile guy was coming Friday to apply the last seal and touch up any grout flaws. I made a pretty healthy dinner because I'm getting fat and not exercising as much as I should so...yeah. I want my August '06 body back! Talked to Susan for a while and firmed up plans for the evening, did some more cleaning and eventually showered and got ready to go out. I went over to Susan's a little after 10 and we talked and I ate sugary treats then I grabbed the large stack of magazine (like 15) and we headed out. Our secret parking place was packed so we had to park on Broadway and walked over. TRAVERS was standing outside giving me a hard time because he says I don't write about him anymore only "I like Eric, la la la" I told him to go check again because he's always in here and Susan even backed me up. Christine carded us...weird. That's the first time in like a year...or more. I saw Richie as soon as we walked in so we talked about the party and a few unfortunate incidents from the week and I told him if there was anything I could do to let me know and that I was so excited about the party and it would be a little bright spot in his week. He's with this girl Erin who introduced herself to me...twice...then was all handsy with my sweatshirt and THOM necklace. So then Ostrich comes over to say hi to Richie but is totally looking me up and down and is like "Good work Richie" and was just staring at me. So I kind of half-smiled at him then looked nervously at Richie and he just laughed. Ostrich told me to watch out for Richie then introduced himself...I think his name was Brian. I'll have to get his bottom line from Richie on Saturday. He's cute enough but those dance moves still freak me out. Richie wasn't feeling 80's Night so he went home...I didn't blame him. I went to find Susan and went upstairs but didn't see her and decided to check the floor and saw Tye who was in black and white and gave me a big hug and asked me where the "other half" was and I said I was looking for her, but what was up with that new stage and the go-go boys dancing in the cage? Finally found her and soon we were on the floor and there were two cute boys with brown hair and black shirts, not together, and we ended up dancing next to them all night in various places on the floor. The one kind of looks like Kassie's Skylar but with big hair. I made eye contact with him for most of the night and would kind of smile at him but then look away and he kept moving from one side of us to the other by passing right between Susan and me so that was pretty funny. He kept looking over then would whisper to the Syphilis Carrier so I didn't know if he was strategizing or what. THEN Studded Belt showed up hot as ever right next to the cute-big hair-guy, and was spastically flailing his cares away. I just sit there and stare at him and laugh at his dance moves and Susan's like "Can you imagine that in bed?" so for the rest of the night I was and totally cracking up. Ostrich had been lurking around and touched me on the back as he walked by at one point, but then was also like almost making out with some guy and following Erin around. I think they were both very drunk. I saw Jeff and he was looking cute and I'd like to see just what's under that hoodie he always wears, but we chatted a little bit and if he were just an inch or two taller I'd probably be all over that action. He took off to dance with Darren...I can't blame him. Darren was looking pretty good, but even hotter were his dance moves. There's a new bartender and he's kind of cute until you get up close and see his tiny and perfectly coiffed mustache. I took a break with my water and as I was walking back toward the floor I looked up and was watching my favorite go-go boy (with the suspenders!) and he looked down at me and was pointing and singing to me and grinding against the bars so I stood there transfixed for a few seconds as the new hot bartender looked on, then I got all shy and gave him an "Oh you!" and waved dismissively at him and returned to the dance floor giddy and reported to Susan. The songs were pretty good for the most part but when the Price impersonator came out we decided to head out and saw Studded Belt outside where Susan determined he's not Graham. Walked to the cars where I found a very sweet text from Richie. I <3 him.

Wednesday 5/9, I had done some research online for organ music but couldn't really find anything consistent so I wrote Trevor for suggestions. After work I drove down to U-Village and hit B&N and luckily they let you scan cds to listen to them so I eventually determined that I liked Bach's pieces as far as sinister-sounding organ music goes. I finally found a good one with the most spooky sounding pieces then met up with Kay-See at J. Crew. We walked back to our cars and drove over to the cooking class. We had a great class and made the most fantastic foccacia I've ever had (outside that one time in Italy...) so I really want to try making that one sometime. I ate SO much of it...seriously like a 1/4 of the whole piece. Then we had donuts that I didn't love, but that didn't stop me from eating mine and most of Kay-See's, then we had cinnamon rolls which were DELICIOUS and by that point I then felt like I was going to throw up because I was so full. Then he brings the bagels out and just the smell was putting me over the edge. I'm sure they were delicious but I was so full that it was making me sick. Serves me right I suppose for eating so much of the rosemary foccacia. So class ends and it's our last one with Kevin which was a bit sad and as we were cleaning up and milling around Stacy was asking him all these questions: "Favorite food to cook right now?" "Favorite tv chef?" etc., so I came up with my own question and waited until the perfect moment, "So Kevin, who's your favorite single chef friend you'd like to set up with one of us hot girls?" and you should have seen Kay-See's and Stacy's faces. Jaws on the floor. Kevin thought it was pretty funny though and when I was like, "No, I'm just teasing, I thought it would be funny to follow Stacy's questions up with mine" and he was like "No, let me think a minute...hmm" so Kay-See got one of her business cards out and wrote my number on the back and her cell on the front and he said he would call us if he had any ideas and wouldn't give it out without our permission and I was like "Whatever, it's been awhile Kevin, let me tell you! I don't mind. Really!" and he's like "Well honesty's a good thing" it was so hilarious. We packed up, thanked him again for the fun classes and took off. When I got home I had 4 messages on myspace and one was from Trevor who had suggested Bach and specifically two pieces that I had really liked and been looking for on the compilations I was listening to. How funny. Then one from Schuyler asking how I knew Andrew. Another from Kay-See who had gotten a message from karaoke Matt but she was feeling optimistic and mentioned our new potential chef bfs. I felt so popular.

Tuesday 5/8, I went to the store for some things and had talked to Auntie Lauryn and planned for her and Grandma to come over after a Toto appointment. This gave me plenty of time to straighten up. Costco is letting me keep the extra ottoman so I moved it up to Kassie's room so she can take it next time she comes, then vacuumed, cleaned the kitchen and did a little dusting. I hung out watching WoF and reading a People Kassie left behind when they showed up. I gave the grand tour, though they've both been there before it had changed very drastically, then we started to whip up dinner. I got the pasta going and Auntie got the potatoes under the broiler and the salad ready. We had a nice dinner and we sat at the dining room table…for me it was the first time in probably 9 months (I think the last time is when Eric cooked for me). They dashed out after dinner in order to make it home before dark and I decided to go up to the Warehouse, which has been changed to FYE Music or something, same inside, just a different name. I wanted to get some super dramatic organ music for the murder mystery party but after checking both the used and new sections I came up empty handed...and pissed off. Onto Plan B: wait until the last minute (ie Friday night) and hope Best Buy has some organ music. Otherwise I'm kind of sol. I updated the blog and read a little of my Q before going to bed.

Monday 5/7, I went to work a little early then left at 10:30, went home, showered, dressed and headed out the door right behind Kassie. I got some flowers at QFC on MI then chatted with Mom and Theresa when I got to Mom’s. Eventually we were off to Kent to the National Cemetery where Grandpa was being buried. There was a little bit of panic as 12:45 approached because Grandma and Auntie Lauryn’s car hadn’t arrived yet, but they pulled in and we were off. They apparently do 30 funerals there a day and they run a very tight ship with keeping everyone on schedule. We were led to a little covered area with beautiful woods behind it and there were six soldiers saluting the coffin as Grandpa was brought out, then Grandma, it was so sweet and touching that it started the tears flowing for me. It was a very touching and moving ceremony and he got the 12 gun salute and the flag was presented to Grandma so it was really nice. We packed up and drove home where the party was being held. Mom had it catered by Kaspar’s and it was really good, though I think Kassie’s cheese plate was my favorite as well as her famous bars. I stayed later than almost everyone and took Dee over to Grandma’s then made plans with Auntie Lauryn for the next day to come over to my house to visit. I went home and changed then headed out to BB&B for frames and lamps then over to Target for a bucket where I saw two hot guys, and not just hot for Issaquah, like really hot. Honest. I went home and did pictures then some cleaning and made some headway. I talked to both Susan and Kay-See for a while before going to bed.

Sunday 5/6, I woke up a little early and talked to Mom about brunch with Auntie Lauryn, Grandma, Daniel, Kima and Dee. It was going to be a little after 11 which was good because that allowed me to run around the house and do chores and laundry. I set out and met Mom there and eventually everyone else showed up too. I ate way too much but it was so good. After brunch I set out to Kay-See's where I got a parking spot RIGHT IN FRONT OF HER BUILDING for the first time, like ever. It was great. She was unloading groceries then we set off for Northgate to go to the Display and Costume Supply store for murder mystery party provisions. And boy, did we make out like bandits. We got spider webs (both black and white), big spiders, tiny little spiders or ants or something, a bride and groom cake topper, some wall decals that look like claws scratching through the wall, more candles, white face makeup so I can look goth, engagement plates and napkins and maybe some other stuff I'm forgetting. We drove back and took Roosevelt to Eastlake where I showed Kay-See the condo I want to buy. We went up to Top Pot and shared a delicious cream filled donut then saw PMT and DJ FitS. We went to an open house that I've been wanting to hit for a few weeks now and I loved it because of all the potential, but needs some work. Then we saw the Twin Gables condo for sale and I didn't love it and lastly one right by Kay-See's place that was bright and airy and a bit modern, but just out of reach of my price range, especially for a one bedroom. We went up to Red Light and Kay-See tried on gaudy and over the top dresses for the party but didn't buy. We finally headed back to her house where she started dinner. I just watched and laid on the floor by the heater. She made her Mom's chicken curry and it was seriously like the best curry I've ever had. It was so good I couldn't stop eating. Plus all the toppings she provided were fantastic. Then she got out the photo albums from college and we ate runts on the floor and looked at those for over an hour just laughing and drooling over Mike Cotton and Aryn Kerr. I went home a little after 8:00 and talked to Susan then watched DH and went to bed.

Saturday 5/5, I got up kind of early to go on a walk and asked Kassie if she wanted to go too, but all she said was "You're tripping" without even opening her eyes. So I went alone and it felt great, with the sun being out and all. When I got back I put on Grant Lee Phillips' new album and cleaned house. I was walking up the stairs at one point and Kassie was standing in her doorway buck-ass naked and asked very sleepily "Will you heat up my scone?" so I did. Cleaned some more and finally showered and got ready to go over to Mom's and packed things up for Erika's birthday party. When we got to Mom's we worked on cleaning up and assembling the memory board with pictures and telegrams and the receipt from the Japanese hotel where Grandma and Grandpa honeymooned. I helped Auntie Lauryn with arranging some of the medals, which he's got about 100 of so they couldn't all be displayed, but we got about 50 of them displayed. Apparently the most important being the Bronze Star and the second most important being the two Purple Hearts. Cripes. Kassie and I got into our outfits and set off before the rest of the family because we had to hit Champion so Kassie could get some 6-shooters and a mustache. We headed over to the boat, but were super early so we drove down to the parking lot across from the Salmon House and I behaved myself. We headed down to the boat and the valet boys were very cute, though they were all business. We boarded and Kassie was definitely the most festive, everyone else's costumes kind of sucked, mostly because there weren't any costumes. But I can't talk because I didn't get into the theme at all. I just wanted to look good. Which apparently worked because I caught the eye of the dj ALL NIGHT. We sat upstairs while people mingled and chatted while sailing around Lake Washington. It was fun, and it was good to catch up with Jerry and Pam. Finally it was time for dinner so everyone filed downstairs where there were about 8 tables set up and we were toward the back, but that was ok because it was very close to one of the buffets with all the bread. Jake ate a yellow chili pepper and threw up over the side of the boat. Fantastic. There were three cakes all incorporated into one art-cake piece, and it looked like three books, Holbein books to be exact, and the flavors were hazelnut, orange with caramel and chocolate with raspberry. I think we all know which one I had. There was dancing upstairs after dinner and apparently the other red head of the night (the dj being the other) kept looking longingly at me while shaking his maracas. Per my mother. I was too busy checking out cute guys on their boats celebrating opening day with Uncle David. The boat docked at 8 and Kassie and I took off to Sean and Tiffany's wedding celebration at Mars Bar and stayed there for a little bit. I met two of Tiffany's friends who were so fun, we talked about how we're going to go cruise construction sites for guys...seriously. Sean said I could use some love but that I could also wait until after I get back from London, so that's what I'm going to do. We took off and headed home where I saw that Dad had sent a beautiful bouquet of various white flowers for Grandma. I went home and was asleep before 11.

Friday 5/4, I got a text at 2 in the morning from Eric that said “wanna come over”, no “I”, no “?”, no "do you" so I wrote back “Not now chief, I’m in bed” but slept like shit after that and kept waking up until I got a phone call from Zach at 7:30 asking if we were still doing breakfast on Saturday…I said no because of Grandpa activities and other plans. We rescheduled for next weekend. After work I found a giant package in my garage and it turns out that my ottoman was delivered but they didn’t pick up the other one so I don’t know what’s going on. Kassie helped me with it and we talked about Jacques’ new rainbow catnip toy before she took off for an evening full of events. I finished painting then got ready to go to the Decemberists’ show. I drove down and parked by Kay-See’s and walked down to the Paramount. I got there between sets and the show started at 9:00. It was amazing and I can’t possible do it justice on here. I’m in love with Colin because he’s amazing and really hilarious. They played Eli the Barrow Boy and The Mariner’s Revenge Song at the encore which made me so sublimely happy. Yay! The set was beautiful, the music wonderful...it was an all around wonderful evening. Even while spending it by myself. The other favorite part was when they played “Your Love,” it was fantastic and everybody sang along. I called Kay-See as I was leaving and hoofed it to her place where we gabbed for about an hour or so…in which time I managed to convince Kay-See to help me choreograph a message to Eric (SI Eric!) which went a little something like this: “I’m in Seattle, let me know if you want to hook up.” While we waited she fed me scones, yummy cheese and turkey. Around midnight I packed up and headed home. Without a reply. Was I surprised? No. I was not. But I was very happy to have had an evening with the Decemberists and Kay-See. Kassie got home not too long after I did and we talked for quite a while then both turned in for bed.

Thursday 5/3, I came straight home after work to start my painting. I painted behind the fridge then moved the washer and dryer, painted behind them, moved them back and put the fridge back. I did all the rest of the edges so I wouldn’t have to get the brush out again then called it a night a little after 8. Made some dinner then went up to my room and talked to Susan until it was time for Scrubs. Showered to remove paint from various areas of my body and went to bed.

Wednesday 5/2, I went down to U-Village after work and hit Barnes and Noble where I picked up the new Q and British GQ with JT on the cover. Kay-See called me and told me to meet her at Anthro then we walked over Pottery Barn so I could get a tuberose scented diffuser. We then hit Pasta and Co for a little dinner then went to our cooking class. We talked about Kevin our teacher and Kay-See promised to write down all the funny things he said throughout the night. On the menu were buttermilk biscuits (like real ones! with lard and chunky buttermilk!), citrus and yellow raisin scones (one of the favorites!), apple and rhubarb cobbler and lastly the most delicious strawberry shortcake I’ve ever had and that I will have for my birthday this year. It was a fun class and I had to help quite a bit on the scones and I gave him a hard time when he was commenting on the size of the scones “Don’t look at me, you cut em!” We finished up and I said bye to the girls. The moon was so gorgeous as I was driving home so when I got there I wrote Eric a text that said “Go outside and look at the moon. I don’t know why it made me think of you.” I didn’t expect to hear back from him, I just wanted him to know that I had thought about him. I’m Karrah, you can’t shake me! I read a little before going to sleep.

Tuesday 5/1, I hit the store for some groceries on the way home then got down with more taping. Susan called and I had trouble pulling the fridge out as I was talking to her but as soon as I hung up I figured out that the cord was caught on the corner of the washer and dryer and fixed it instantly. Yay! It was filthy back there so I spent some time sweeping, dusting cobwebs and cleaning the floor and walls. I let J run around outside and I finally got as much done as I could until I could pull the washer and dryer out. So I think I’ll start on Thursday since Wednesday I have my cooking class.

Monday 4/30, Went to Home Depot after work to see if I could order trim pieces and some doors for my kitchen but they couldn’t give me a definite answer and said they would call me back. At home I did some taping off of the walls in the kitchen then didn’t do a whole lot else…except pay some bills and balance my checkbook, which I really love. I edited some of my blogs from 2005 and laughed at some of the stuff I’d forgotten about, like how Susan and I thought Andy was going to punch her in the face that night at Neighbours for not revealing her bartender but he was really just reaching for his coffee behind her head. I went to bed fairly early because I was exhausted.

Sunday 4/29, I woke up at 6:30 and couldn’t go back to sleep so around 7:00 I flipped open my latest issue of Details and read the Orlando Bloom article then got up and showered and got Kassie moving. The three of us went to the little café in town for breakfast and had a nice meal and headed home to pick up Dad’s stuff and for him to move my fridge so I can paint behind it then set off for the airport. Kassie talked to Mom and there was going to be a family meeting with the doctors about Grandpa at noon so we decided that after we dropped Dad off to head straight down to the base. We got checked in through the visitor’s center without any problems and headed up to Grandpa’s room. We were up there with him by ourselves for about 40 minutes and just sat and talked to him for a long time and noticed how much better he seemed. He had a lot of color in his face, his hands were very warm and his breathing was so calm and a complete opposite from how it was on Friday. It was so quiet and peaceful. It looked like he could have woken up any minute and walked right out of there. Kassie and I alternating between crying and not believing this was the end and laughing and joking at things Grandpa would have found funny. Kima showed up next and talked with us about his condition and that his blood pressure was better because of the machines but that he was running a fever as a result of the brain damage and is quite common…not a good thing though. Dad was next and gave both Kassie and I hugs because we had very obviously been crying. Lastly Auntie Lauryn and Grandma showed up, which was the hardest part of all because Grandma instantly started crying and you could see she was as shocked by all of this as the rest of us and couldn’t believe it. The doctor asked us to all come into this room to talk to us and basically said he had 0% chance of recovering and returning to the man we all knew. It had been decided before that if the report wasn’t good that they would remove the breathing tube and the machines…so that’s what was decided. We waited in the room while it was done so that he was unattached by the time we went in to say goodbye. They warned us that he may live for hours or even days. His breathing was back to being very rough and I couldn’t be there anymore so I told him I loved him while I held his arm and said goodbye. It was so painful and traumatic to watch so I went out into the hall and cried and Kassie followed a few minutes later, then Dad to check on us. Kima came out a few minutes later to tell us he had passed. It happened so quickly, which I suppose is a blessing. We know he didn’t suffer. If you would have told me a week ago that my Grandpa would be dead in the next week I would have said you were smoking crack. It’s unbelievable. I can’t believe it. I’m in shock. Who’s going to take care of Grandma? Who’s going to finish the family tree? Who’s going to bring the apple cider to our Sunday family dinners? Who's going to come over when I blow a fuse or can't figure out why flipping the breakers won't make my microwave come back on? How did this happen? Anyway, it was hard and eventually we all stumbled out of the hospital and headed toward home. We went to Mom’s to check on her and actually had a nice afternoon, considering, talking and joking about Kassie’s engagement ring (a pinecone). Auntie Lauryn came over and we ordered three pizzas for dinner, ate up then saw Grandma and AL on their way. Kassie and I took off too and watched a little AFV together before she left to go out. Susan called and I talked to her for a little while then watched EHM and bawled…not just about the show naturally. I showered on a commercial and cried more then watched Desperate Housewives.

Saturday 4/28, I woke up at 6:00, got ready, gassed up and hit the road to Plain. I arrived at 8:45 so it took me 2 hours exactly, mostly due to it being early and no one on the road. When I got there I grabbed some gloves and started helping Dad by keeping the burn pile burning. I took some pictures and got quite a bit burned and cleaned up so that was good. I helped Dad wash Mom’s car and do other things then laid on the deck because it was warm and so beautiful while Dad packed up his stuff and finished up. We rolled out of there at 1:00 and went to 59er Diner for lunch. We made pretty good time back as well since it was a Saturday and out of season. We took inventory of what we needed once we got home and headed out to Home Depot where we picked up paint, cement compound, hooks and tried to find a saw blade but couldn’t, even after checking at Lowe’s, Fred Meyer and BMC as well. We decided to try and make due with what we had and using painters tape to guide the blade and prohibit splintering of the cabinet skin. We got it done, then hung the mirror in the dining room, cut and attached the cabinet trim on the bottom then he switched out the light switch for the outside light. By the time we finished it was 8:30 and we called in our order to the Chinese place, picked it up and sat down to dinner and Bond a little after 9:00. We didn’t make it all the way through and decided to go to bed around 11:00. Kassie came in after midnight and crawled into bed with me.