Sweet and Sarcastic: ThursYAY!

Hi Friend!

I’m going to tell you a secret. I love waking up to a cloudy day. Dark and cool, maybe a little sprinkle of rain? Not every day, but after months of blazing sun, to find out that I can cozy up with a blanket and a book, without any guilt that I should be outside making the best of the weather? Glorious.

Nate’s pup Archer is a big fan of catching flies. He’s pretty good at it, too. On September 15^th, he was going for a fly and swatted one of the Lego Disney castle towers and lo and behold, we found the last Easter Egg!

Last week, Jackie told me about BOGO September ThursYays at Starbucks, and I mentioned it to a co-worker and then all of a sudden half the office (okay so 4 of us) were headed out for coffee. And let me tell you, the coffee was fantastic, but getting to join an impromptu social work outing was one of the highlights of my week. #howdoifastforwardtowhenweareallBFFs?

Had a fun weekend with my cousins (Erin, Jen, Kim & Pat) visiting! I started the trip by sending a lengthy google doc of possible activities, because best fun is planned fun! I’m mostly kidding about that, but we did get in a trip to the Space Needle, said “hi!” to the Fremont troll, hit up Pike’s Place Market and then I took them to Capital Hill to the Unicorn where we saw a drag show. Mimosas Caberet: Willy Wonka and the Horror Show (which required very little in the way of adjusting the script to turn it into a “Horror Show.”) Best quote from the afternoon was definitely from Erin who exclaimed, “That’s a man!? WOW!”

We were sitting around chatting one night when the subject of Math came up, and Jen, intending to deliver a complement, called Maureen an Idiot Savant.

Me: Um, She’s a savant maybe, but I wouldn’t call her an idiot savant.

Jen: No, it’s a good thing!

That’s when I explained what an idiot savant was, and that’s also when Jen realized why people gave her weird looks when she has called them idiot savants her whole life and then tried to convince them that it was a good thing! Really!

We called Maureen to tell her the story and then filled her in on our other adventures, and then Erin tried to convince us that there was a food called Gooba Gabba and that we were the weird ones for never hearing of it.

Last night, I headed over to Zach’s friend Tristan’s house. Zach told Dawne to call me because I would be more likely to say yes. But the truth is, Dawne happened to call me before I had completely decompressed into couch and pajamas – but just barely – because even if it’s only a 3 minute drive, peeling yourself out of a cocoon of blankets and puppy and putting real pants on can be unsurmountable. Thus, the timing aligned, and I headed over to play some games. As soon as I walked in, Tristan’s 2-year-old looked at me and asked, “Puppy?” The truth is, I’m not sure she even knows my name, she just knows I’m the girl with the tiny dog and by how many times she said “Puppy?” to me, I’m fairly certain I’m pretty worthless without him.

Let’s see, two years ago this week I took my first solo vacay up to Fairbanks, Alaska for the weekend. This trip had two purposes, the first was to check off my 49^th state and the second was to see the northern lights. I also drove around looking for Moose, and then when I got back to the B&B I was staying at, they were totally just hanging out in the back yard. Naturally, I knocked on the door of the strangers next door and was like, “MOOSE!” and they, surprisingly, appreciated my random knock! I tried for two nights in a row to see the lights and had to leave at 2am to catch my flight out, sad that I hadn’t seen them. BUT THEN, I got on the plane and the whole sky was lit up with the Northern Lights and it was absolutely spectacular. Now, I just need someone to go to Alabama with me and I’ll have experienced all 50 states!

My iphone couldn't fully capture the glory, but you know here's some "proof":