1. Navy Men
Mom and Dad took me to a nearby naval base on Monday. We went to the naval exchange. Think small department store with lower prices and no sales tax. I always loved going to the base exchange (BX) on Mather Air Force Base in California, and hadn't been in one of these places in years. It was great. I stocked up on make-up and a few other things.
And I wore my eyes out staring at Naval Officers. Holy cow! A man in uniform is a very good thing. Even men who are somewhat ordinary-looking look fan-tas-tic in a uniform.
2. Old Navy
When I got back to the States, I immediately managed to rip a huge hole in the knee of my favorite jeans. My only jeans. Yikes! Then I found a pair I had left when I went to England, and was able to wear those for a while, but I was in some serious need of new jeans. I'm picky--I like jeans from Old Navy because they are comfortable, stylish, and cut in a way that kind of flatters my body.
I looked up Old Navy's web page and was astonished to find that the nearest store was in Seattle. That's way too far to make it a convenient trip. I had gotten spoiled in Folsom, with an Old Navy practically in my back yard.
When we were in Utah a couple weeks ago, Dad let me stop at an Old Navy. I had 20 minutes, then we had to be at my aunt's house for breakfast. I raced through, trying on jeans and buying two pairs. But there were tons of cute clothes, and I couldn't take the time to look.
Imagine my surprise when yesterday we found our way to a Petsmart in nearby Silverdale (and it is not listed on Old Navy's site) and I saw an Old Navy! I let out a huge shriek (sorry, Dad). I have an Old Navy in convenient distance to my home!!
3. A Fabulous Day with Summer
Met up with Summer on Friday in Seattle. We had a lovely day and it was so good to see her. We did a tremendous amount of walking, but made up for it by stopping for ice cream and a long sit-down in the afternoon.
We wandered to Pioneer Square and looked in the Elliot Bay Book Company. What a fantastic store! It's a gigantic book store with character dripping from every shelf. It has new, used, and hard-to-find books. They even had a book of photography by Viggo Mortensen (yeah, Aragorn), that Borders and Barnes and Noble don't carry. It's a book of photos of horses, and it is gorgeous. But I'm going to get it from amazon, because it's much cheaper there.
Here's Summer and I on the waterfront:
I was excited to see a California friend after so long, and I found today that I have another visit to look forward to...
4. A Cosmo-filled Weekend with Heather
Yep! Heather's coming to visit in mid-September. The plan so far is to show off how gorgeous the area is and introduce her to the two newest members of the household (they're fine, by the way--still adorable).
I'm excited to show off our area to someone (Summer, unfortunately, didn't get to see it, just Seattle). It will be a great weekend and we have plans for a movie night featuring Sex and the City episodes, Pride and Prejudice, and the Bridget Jones movies.
5. An Adorable Bathroom
When I got back from England, I immediately noticed a light-blue glass bowl Mom had placed on the counter in my bathroom. I thought it looked so good against the taupe-ish colored counter, that I decided to do my bathroom in those tones. I haven't spent a tremendous amount of money, but WalMart and Target have turned out some great vases, candle holders, towels and jars to make my bathroom really cute. Then I found a picture and an anchor on sale at a craft store (50% off!) and the bathroom is complete!
6. A Nice Bedroom
My room is coming together. I need new bed linens and I'm still deciding where to hang my pictures. That reminds me, I need to find my Chico diploma. I like to display it. But I have the furniture set up in a way I like.
7. Playful, Purring Putty Tats--and Healthy, too!
Bella and Duchess are adorable, and according to the vet, quite healthy. We took them to a nearby animal hospital yesterday for a check-up and some shots. They were troopers. It's not nice having your temp taken in your bottom.
We have them on a kitten plan, at the end of which comes the neutering. They're still a bit too young. Millie was done at 8 weeks (about a month before I got her), out of necessity because she was exposed to many other cats. The shelter I got her from didn't like doing it that young, but had no choice. Fortunately, these babies can wait a couple more months.
They're more and more trusting, and they are a regular part of the household now. We're not letting them hide in the guest room anymore. They are doing just fine with this.
8. A New Barclay's Card
Silly Meg...I left my bank card in a Bank of America machine a week-and-a-half ago. It took me a couple of days to figure out it was missing. I called B of A and sure enough, their machine had destroyed it.
I had to call Barclay's bank, but of course, I had to take into consideration their business hours--and an 8-hour time difference. I got a hold of them on Thursday and they cancelled my card and arranged to send me a new one. "Expect it in 10-14 days."
Oy vey!
In other words, expect to have no access to your money whatsoever until it arrives. I have money (I got one last paycheck on the 26th), but no way of accessing it without a card.
I have been borrowing cash from Mom and Dad on an as-needed basis. Today I borrowed $20 and went to the video store. I got home and Dad said, "I think your new card came." Sure enough, there it was. Instead of 10-14 days, it was less than one week!
I'm impressed, and I'm back in business. : )
Now that I can access my money, I need to think about an American bank account.
9. A Cute Little Phone
I have finally caught up with the cellular revolution:
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It's so tiny! And it stays charged for a week, unlike my old dinosaur of a phone I used in Sacramento.
10.Possibilities
Okay, the job front is looking a teensy bit scary right now. I can't be in a classroom, even as a sub, until I have a Washington certificate. It doesn't matter that I'm more than qualified to teach in California, or that even another country hired me.
But--I'm not letting it get me down. The local school district put me in contact with a lady who knows just what to do and I can definitely fast-forward through the process because I'm credentialed in another state already. I just need to get finger-printed (understandable) and perhaps take a basic educational skills test (though how it can possibly be different than the California version I passed in 2000, I don't know).
Meanwhile, the local video store is now hiring. : P
11. Viggo Mortensen
I rented "Hidalgo" at the above-mentioned video store. I've seen it before, and it's a nice little movie. The best bit is Viggo. On. Horseback.
Now that is worth celebrating.
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