View From my Room

This is what I can see from my 30th floor hotel room in downtown Seattle:

The wide view

Zoomed in on the Space Needle

Off to the west, the "ocean" and mountains behind it at sunset.

It's a beautiful sight. I'm so lucky to have this room.

The Home of Starbuck's

I am safe and sound in my hotel room in Seattle, Washington. I am now officially farther west than I have ever been before in my life. And tomorrow, I will be going farther west, out to the Pacific. I super excited. I really hope that I'll see some killer whales in their natural environment. That would kick butt. Even better would be if I get a picture of said whales. If I am lucky enough to get a photo, I'll post it when I get a chance. I know I always say that, but with my new laptop, all I have to do is insert the camera memory stick in, grab the picture and post.

I've ordered a gourmet pizza with cookie dough Ben & Jerry's for dessert. Awesome.

UPDATE: Apparently, Seattle is NOT the home of Ben & Jerry's. But I did end up going to The Original Starbuck's. I've got pictures to prove it.

Two Things...

First, I fly to Seattle on Saturday for a conference for work. The conference doesn't technically start until Tuesday, though. Sunday, I'm going on a whale watch with the gal who did my job before me and a couple other people. Monday is a Boeing Factory tour, which I am pysched about. I've been to the Boeing Prologue Room here in St. Louis like a million times, so getting to actually see some planes get made will be awesome.

Second, I was turned onto a REALLY funny blog: mom2my6pack.blogspot.com

Now, If you're not a mom (which I'm not, yet), someone who grew up with a few siblings or a teacher, you may not appreciate this blog the way I do. But this mom is So funny... she put up an eBay item for bidding because her kids got her to buy it without her knowing. It's a pack of 40-something Pokemon cards that one of her 6 kids threw into the grocery cart while she wasn't looking, and then she missed picking them out of the cart when purchasing all her other items. So she's selling the cards because her kids were little buttheads. I LOVE it! I would SOOOO do that if my kid pulled that on me. AND, the money would go to charity. Ha, little buttface, your little trick just got some kid a Christmas toy.

Karma Hates Us

Especially my hubby, apparently. Lightning hit our house (possibly the HD antenna or satellite dish) Monday morning at 3:26 a.m. I know this because it was the loudest sound I've ever heard in my life, and it woke me up forcing me to check my clock.

For those of you who don't know me well: You should know that I can sleep through a college marching band parading through my bedroom. So to say that I woke up for a thunderstorm is impressive. That lightning strike was seriously one of the loudest sounds ever.

The lightning seems to have fried the following items in our house:
*two DirecTv DVRs (luckily the Tivo in our bedroom appears to be fine, but the satellite dish isn't getting/sending signal)
*satellite dish
*HD antenna
*VCR (I know you're wondering why the heck we even have one anymore, but we do use it from time to time)
*wireless router
*computer switches (I don't know what they are, but Ben says we need them to use the internet)
*garage door opener (at least I'm getting a little workout every time I leave and return home)
*all of Ben's gaming system consoles ( ALL of them )

And the last one listed up there... that's why Ben and I have determined that karma has it in for him right now.

We keep telling ourselves that at least the house didn't burn down, that we're safe and sound, that Kitty is OK (well, I'm happy for that at least).

Ben has been working with our homeowner's insurance company to get everything fixed and/or replaced. He's awesome. I know it cannot be easy to deal with insurance claim adjustors, especially after many of them got ripped off after Katrina, so I just want everyone to know how much I truly appreciate Ben for taking that task on.

I've got the best husband in the world (even if karma doesn't like him right now).

P.S. I joked with him that this was karma's way of saying "Get busy making babies!" He didn't laugh. Post a comment if you think that was a funny joke... back a girl up here!

Baby Aiden

Baby boy Aiden
Aug. 9, 2007
6 lbs, 2 oz, 17 inches

New Baby in Our Midst

My friends Scott and Robin have been going through an adoption process for the past few months, but were trying to keep most of it under wraps so as not to jinx it. But now, Baby Aiden was born today. He was 6 lbs, 2 oz and 17 inches long. Congrats to the new Mom and Dad!

I'll post pictures as soon as she sends me some.

Home Sweet Home

We arrived home early this afternoon. The flights home weren't bad at all. They certainly were not the fiasco that Friday night turned out to be.

The memorial service for Grampa was nice. Those of us there have collectively agreed that there is nothing sadder than bagpipes at a funeral. They are guaranteed to cause crying as soon as they start up (that is if you were at all close to the deceased). Case-in-point: Got to the church, saw the bagpiper standing in the shade of a large tree at the front of the church. Knew he would be playing. Got out of the car, got halfway across the street and he starts playing. Teared up immediately. Got into the church, couldn't hear him very well in there, then he moves to the door closest to where most people are coming in, and starts playing "Scotland the Brave," my grandfather's favorite song. Both my mom and I start crying. Finally, the end of the service, bagpiper starts playing and the ENTIRE front pew either teared up, began weeping or just outright sobbed. I know that I will not be able to hear bagpipes live and not tear up. It doesn't matter if it's at a wedding or funeral for a complete stranger, because I've now heard bagpipes at both my grandparents' memorials, they will forever be associated with deep sadness.

Anyway, it's nice to be home. Kitty cat has missed us a lot. Which kind of surprises me, but she has been in the same room with us since we walked in the door. Every once in a while, she walks past us just to rub up against us. It's cute. But she'll get sick of us again soon. :)

Back East

Ben and I arrived in Connecticut late Friday night. The flight was a pain in the rear (and a workout to boot), but we got here safely.

We went out for breakfast at Dunkin' Donuts this morning... a highlight for a tough weekend. After that, we returned to the hotel to clean up before going to Grandpa's apartment to go through his things.

While getting showered, I consciously made an effort to steel myself for what I knew was going to be a difficult trip to the apartment. Then, I realized that he had moved to a new apartment, it might not be that bad. Yeah.

When we arrived at the apartment, it wasn't bad until I saw his chair. Empty. I crumbled like a cookie and started bawling. Luckily Ben was right there and could easily comfort me. Of course, that got Katie going as well. After that, though, I did OK. I teared up a couple of times while there, but overall did pretty well.

Also, your thoughts and comments are appreciated. Mary, I'll pass on your hug tomorrow.

Update: NASA launched the Mars Phoenix Lander tonight. Yay! Another successful Mars launch.

In Memoriam

Today, my grandfather passed away. He was 86, almost 87 years old. Bill Carew was a stickler for the rules, but boy did he have a sense of humor. He's now joined his wife, Helen, in the after life.

Have a Manhattan for Bill and Helen. God knows they are! :)

Sorry it's been so long...

Hello all (you know, all 5 of you the read this...)!!

Happy Anniversary (1 day late) to Morgan and Mike!!! 3 years you guys... that's awesome.

I was going to write this big long post... then my computer lost it all. So Happy Anniversary! I love you guys!!