updates

october has been a super busy but wonderful month. most importantly, jesse turned 30 years old. crazy! in celebration, we had an entire month's worth of festivities. jesse's friend, tyler, made a surprise visit the first weekend. it was great fun, but was initially met with some drama, when cole decided that he would hate tyler. i think it was on account of tyler's great height. tyler would sit on the couch and feed cole treats, and then when everything seemed resolved, he would stand up, at which point cole would try to bite his bum. then we went outside, where tyler threw the ball for cole. cole would fetch it and happily return it. it seemed that they could finally be friends, so we went back inside. once tyler stepped through the doorway, cole tried for his bum again. after about an hour, it was decided that cole had to spend the weekend with jessica, our dogwalker, so that tyler would be safe. he was missed. we have since signed him up for "growls to great dogs" class, to resolve some issues. in the meantime, cole isn't allowed on the bed or couch anymore, because it shows a lack of dominance on our part. i am trying to baby him a little less, but it is hard work, because cole is really cute.

next we stayed at jesse's favorite hotel, hotel 1000, where we had truffle fries and too much dessert. the weekend after that, we took the clipper ship to victoria, bc. i love victoria. it is beautiful, walkable, and full of canadians. here are some pictures:

our hotel, the empress:

where the canadians do government:

jesse while still 29:

the inner harbor:

we had a wonderful time. after victoria, i had to take a break from jesse's birthday month to go away on a work trip to a judicial conference for 3 days. the hotel was frightening, but it had cable tv, which i don't have at home. it can be very addicting, that is for sure. if i had it at home i would probably sit around and watch "million dollar listing" everyday and gain 50 pounds. that probably sounds pathetic, but there it is. the highlight of the conference (aside from having hotel cable) was eating apple crisp and hanging out with the chief justice of the washington state supreme court. i am a huge court nerd, so that was pretty awesome.

jesse's birthday month is almost over, which is sad, but tomorrow he will be getting one more giant surprise, which i cannot wait for. turning 30 is not so bad.

Light Rail!

the light rail has finally come to seattle! yesterday was opening day, and we were among 45,000 people that came out to take the first trip. it was comfortable, air conditioned, smooth, and far faster than my regular bus route. i am very excited to start riding it home from work everyday. the first leg of the Link starts at westlake center and goes to university street, pioneer square, the stadiums, the international district, beacon hill, columbia city, and on to tukwila, along with a few other stops in between. at the end of the year it will connect to the airport, which will be very convenient indeed. here is a photo of the local beacon hill station:

This is the entrance, though the beacon hill station itself is actually underground, in what is now the deepest excavated tunnel in the US. i think it's 16 stories down or some such thing. Here are some photos of the area underground, and the spacey art everywhere:

here is a picture of elvis on a unicycle entertaining the crowds of people waiting to board the train at the westlake center station:

the trains run every 7 minutes during peak hours, and every 10-15 minutes during non-peak hours, 20 hours per day, everyday.

it's hard to believe that seattle is finally becoming a city with some real mass transit. i am looking forward to the day the capitol hill and u district stations open, among others. the construction has already begun!

also, there is a rooster living in our alley. usually he struts his stuff and cockadoodle doos in plain site, but he ran in the bushes when i tried to take his photo:

ready for planting

i want to thank everyone that contributed to the new planters in the backyard, but most of all i want to thank frank, who thought up the idea and then busted his ass to create them.  it was definitely one of the best birthday presents i've ever gotten.

here is the plot of land after it had been weeded.  we covered it with a weed sheet until the boxes were built.  the big mound of dirt in the back will be for fingerling potatoes: 

leveling the earth to fit the planters:

taking time out to play with cole (who is completely obsessed with frank): 

the weed sheets go under the planters:

the little vegetable babies are excited:

as are the broccoli babies that i started from seed a few weeks ago:

the finished product.  the weird looking stuff around the planters is a grass seed mixture laid down to prevent weeds from popping up:

i planted snap peas and broccoli on the left side, and carrots and two types of lettuce on the right.  i'll be adding string beans sometime in the next few days.  

hopefully spring is really here, and everything will continue to grow properly.  the yard is definitely beginning to show signs that the weather is improving.  one of the rose bushes:

lilacs:

irises:

daffodils:

it will be exciting to see what else pops up.

rock band and family time

i want to make mention of the lovely time i had seeing my sister's band, goodbye gadget, when they came to seattle.  their charismatic ways charmed me both on and off stage.  

 

and of course it would be inappropriate to mention the night without also taking note of this:

but most of all it was great to hang out with both of my sisters at the same time, which almost never happens.

science fairs

a couple of weeks ago i went to my niece and nephew's elementary school science fair.  it was entertaining to see the projects which had obviously been done by the parents as opposed to the ones that were clearly done by the kids. for example, one 7 year old had two large pieces of metal with electric currents shooting between them, while another kid did her project on what would happen if you spit on five pieces of melon and left them out of the refrigerator for a week.  evie did her project on how plants react when they do and do not have sunlight:

that poor little plant on the left makes me feel so sad.  but she was very proud:

we also checked out the kindergarten class projects, since one of evie's friends told her that a kindergartner thinks she's "hot".  we wanted to scope him out.  she wouldn't tell us which boy, though.  also she doesn't know what "hot" means.   anyway, on the way to the kindergarten class i passed a drawing that lukas did of grover cleveland.

he looks like the man who called the computer "devil machine".  more on that later.

lukas did his project on which brand of gum blows the biggest bubble.

here he is being his usual charming self:

we had fun.  

that is sort of an abrupt ending, but i just got really tired and i want to finish the hound of the baskervilles before i fall asleep.  i will write more tomorrow maybe!

when will spring come?

today it hailed quite a bit.  that figures because yesterday i finally got around to planting grass seed along the side of the house, so that i could repair the damage the yard has suffered as a result of cole's enormous paws.  hopefully it was not for nothing.  i am very ready for spring - i have big plans for the garden this year.  last spring i planted 3 zucchini plants, a beginner gardener's mistake, which resulted in an over abundance of zucchini, literally 3 or 4 a day for a month.  this year i will plant only 1 zucchini plant, along with broccoli, carrots, snap peas, and hopefully potatoes.  i've already started the broccoli and snap peas from seed, in my mini greenhouses:

they are mini greenhouses on account of being covered with plastic bags, thus trapping the moisture and heat.  soon little baby broccoli and peas will appear, and it will be adorable.  if anyone wants one, please let me know.  we could trade vegetable starters.

speaking of adorable, cole and julius have become friends:

gustav feels left out:

in other cute animal news, cole's crate has been taken over by the cats.  we don't actually put cole in the crate anymore, since he's proven himself trustworthy enough to roam free in the house while we're away without eating the cats.  he does still like to hang out in there sometimes, though, just for fun. he will now have to fight julius and gustav for that right:

poor cole.  life is so hard.

also, i have been baking crazy.  

cupcakes with an almond frosting (i think maybe the most delicious thing i've ever made):

and hot molten lava cakes with a creme fraiche topping:

i would be happy to pass along the recipes if anyone is interested.