Why do all crackhead women sound exactly the same?

Right now it's a pretty amazing day in Seattle. I've got a few things lined up for next week that actually involves getting a paycheck. A town not far from here that I love closed school for the day due to sun. And in a few hours I'll be celebrating a friend's birthday in the only way you can celebrate it - with hot dogs and yogurt and asian desserts.

And as I type this I'm sitting at a park where the variety of people is up there with what you would see in the middle of Central Park. Except this park is about .00000001 the size.

To my right there's an Asian mother and son. The stupid kid is running circles around a water fountain, while the mother stares and shouts things I can't understand real fast like.

Next to her is a grizzly man who hasn't shaved his beard in about 50 years. He keeps sneezing and says to himself, "Bless me." He's about 15 feet away from me, but I can still smell his lack of showering.

Behind me, there's someone sleeping. I can't tell if it's a guy or a girl because he/she is covered by a huge red sleeping bag. It looks like he's been sleeping since yesterday. And it's 2 pm right now.

Behind him, there's a wheelchair. There's no one in this wheelchair of course. It's just there. Hanging out.

Then there's a normal looking guy, with his shoes off, simply relaxing. I wonder if he's been recently fired like me. I see a lot of people during the day, now that i have the luxury of doing nothing. I keep thinking, do these people work? Why are there so many of us at the gym at 10:30 am? How are we all affording this? Why do we all look so happy?

In front of me, there's an overweight lady finishing her crossword puzzle. She has a shopping cart that she's resting her feet on. I'm pretty sure that shopping cart was a few blocks away from this park 2 hours ago.

Then, to my far left there's the typical loud talking bum crowd. They are yelling about who knows what. Actually, as I type this one of the men scream out, "I want some fucking ass corn flakes! Meh! Ahh! Meh! ALJDLSFAL! IWANNA! SHIT!" Seriously, that is exactly what he just said. Word for word. There was a couple sitting with them, and at one point the woman, who this title is named after, just wouldn't stop talking about nonsense. I think someone did her wrong and she just couldn't deal anymore. She, like the corn flakes guy, thought it was necessary to talk REALLY LOUD.

I am of the opposite persuasion when it comes to talking in public. Dominic has to say, "What?" about a million times during a dinner date or when we're walking around because I just don't want other people listening to me. People who talk to me on the bus know this all too well. And more likely than naught, I hang up on you the second I'm sitting next to someone - because god forbid they hear me talking about what I've done with my day.

Like they care.

And away we goooooooo

Trying to remember everything is so hard. Especially when there were so many highlights. Here’s what my brain is retaining after a week-long vacation with the one and only, Dominic.

-After driving a few hours, we were both starving and the town Dominic turned into was my personal Hell. Every single “restaurant” was a fast food chain. I picked Subway, had my shitty sandwich and restarted my no fast food calendar (I had gone 6 years until this day).

-I wore jeans with a jean jacket.

-We bumped into someone after a hike, while waiting for the bathroom, who happens to live 2 blocks away from us. The t-shirt she was wearing tipped Dominic off and we realized how small this world really is.

-After a freak thunderstorm that derailed our original dinner plans (all of Moab was out of power) we drove 30 minutes along the Colorado River during sunset. This ride was unbelievable and ended with a family of deer grazing near the restaurant.

-Running every morning with just me, my ipod and the canyons as my view.

-Making my own cairn (little rock formations that act as trail guides).

-Driving to Arizona was pretty spectacular, except I got sick and drank so much tea that our pit stops nearly doubled. One of the stops included an Indian jeweler on the side of the highway who told us that where we were marked where Forrest Gump stopped running. We looked again, nodded in agreement, took pictures and truly felt like we on some great American road trip.

-Our Native American tour guide led us through Antelope Canyon, took our cameras straight from our hands, took a picture and would show us all, saying, “This is a beautiful picture. See. It’s beautiful. Isn’t that beautiful?” He was pretty awesome.

-Horseshoe Bend. Go. Now.

-Grilled the ranger at Glen Canyon Dam to find out what Dams are. I’m still not quite sure.

-Then, grilled burgers we bought in Moab. Elk burgers to be exact.

-Saw rocks that looked like Toadstools and plants that looked edible, but Dominic wouldn’t let me eat them.

-Drove by the Neon Graveyard. Forgot my camera and kept on driving.

-Played lots of pinball machines at the Pinball Hall of Fame. Dominic and I tied for best pinballer.

-Got massages together in Vegas and the ladies just couldn’t get enough of Dominic. Grrr!

-Sat in a Jacuzzi, sweated in a steam room and sauna and covered my eyes with cucumbers for 3 whole hours!

-Saw Ka (or what I kept calling, Ka Kaw). Glad I finally got a Circus O’Lay out of my system. Now I never have to do that again.

-Had some fine dining sushi where the wasabi cost $10! This was okay by me, since we had been eating our breakfast and lunch from our groceries for 5 days straight. We were allowed to splurge on green glob at this point.

-Gambled for a total of an hour and only lost $20 at Paigow. I’m so not a risk taker.

So there you have it. I could actually write a book about this trip. We did so damn much and saw even more! This year is already booked up, but I’m hoping next year we’ll go to New Mexico or Alaska with the same road trip mentality. We already have a Pacific Coast Highway roadtrip in the works and I’m already itching to plan it, even if it is a year away.

Here’s to happy adventures and a beautiful summer!

Third Time's A Charm?

A few weeks ago I was laid off. Yep, second time since moving to Seattle. Apparently both times had nothing to do with me, which is a good thing as I was very clear that if it was me I would want to know so I can fix whatever it was I was doing wrong. Whew!

I've got to say though, that the second time around is great. Sure there are like no jobs at all right now, but I'm not nearly as freaked out. I always keep myself busy (maybe even busier). I have done all the necessary steps like unemployment, Cobra, headhunters, Linkedin, blah blah blah without all the legwork I had to endure the first time I was laid off over a year ago.

In fact, this time around feels more like a paid vacation. For instance, today I went to my first winery! We got the royal V.I.P. private tour thanks to Dominic's brother-in-law and I even got an uber expensive bottle from him because he's the sweetest brother-in-law ever.

And to think, with a silly little job, I wouldn't have been able to go. I wouldn't be able to go to the spa tomorrow or to do a podcast this weekend or to teach at an ad school in April or to finish a site Dominic and I have been trying to complete for over a year now or learn how to sew! I wouldn't be able to go to Deception Pass with a friend next Friday or just walk around the city when it's beautiful and sunny outside or get a friend's husband a little good luck on passing the bar gift or see a 9pm movie with Dominic ON A SUNDAY.

I'm sure one of these days my life will have to go back to normal. But for now I'm living in the moment. I'm happy and most of all, I will survive.

It's like everyday is Saturday

There's definitely been a difference between being on vacation and being in Seattle. Now that I'm all rested and I visited friends all in one night and got my birthday out of the way, I'm like now what?

Well, here's what I do:

-Workout. This isn't anything new, but now I include yoga or pilates to my routine. It's something I always wished I had more time to do, and voila! Now I do.

-Play on the internet. This is something I do a lot of. Especially if it's crappy outside. I'm either looking for apartments or emailing perspective job people.

-Take a bath. I know I'm wasting tons of water, but it's just so damn relaxing. And what else do you do when it's raining all day long?

-Walk around.

-Think up ideas for Dominic to turn into websites.

-Get through the mail that piled up while I was on vacation.

-Start going through the apartment and eliminate some clutter. I really don't have much in the clutter department, but I always seem to find something to get rid of. And since I do have to move doing this is logical.

-See apartments. I'm trying to find the right one, but it's weird to look for a place when I know in my gut I could be moving immediately after that. But I have to. Just in case...

-Knit! I actually haven't done this since the plane ride home, but I'm going to visit some knitters tonight and eat poutine. I'm not quite sure what this cheese/fries/gravy combo is going to do to my stomach. I'm pretty sure bad, bad things. But I'm also a sucker for unusual food items so I'm compelled to try it.

And that's it. Sometimes it's boring, but most of the time it's pretty awesome. Don't get me wrong. I love working. Thinking shit up and laughing with people. My job is fun. But I also love doing whatever I want all day long, not really having a schedule and waking up at 7:30 am instead of 6.