The Greenhouse - Wave 1

greenhouse - wave 1 - qwickening

All I have to say right now is, "Heliotrope, why do you hate life so?"

Nummy

Two things...

First, I tried on Vera. It was divine.

Second, I like the idea of Hydrangea petals instead of rose petals.

That is all... for now.

Damn good cheese and crackers (and shrimp)

Tonight we made a trip to Uwajimaya to look at folding screens. We didn't come home with one, but we came home with two pounds of shrimp which we promptly breaded and fried ala Emeril. We chickened out of making a full pound - so we needed a little extra to fill us up. Jason broke out the cheese and crackers. We had a little slice of heaven from PCC called Ewephoria Gouda, a Sheep's Milk Gouda. And Jason had picked up a package of rice crackers who-knows-where that I had never tried before. They were so good that I had to go out the kitchen and look at the label. I have to say, my new favorite gluten-free cracker is the Edward and Sons Unsalted and Plain Brown Rice Snaps. They're not too salty and have a fuller flavor than white rice crackers, IMHO. Anyway, both were so good that I had to blog about them... which, given my low blogging frequency, says a lot!

a comment on marriage by melville dewey

a comment on marriage by melville dewey - qwickening

as an escape, i wandered through the aisle of the local library on sunday.

i have to confess that i have a fair amount of fear about getting married -- and the close proximity of the wedding books to the books on mummies didn't make it easier to sleep at night.

Plan vs Execution

Plan

3:45 Leave desk

3:50/54 Catch 41 in the tunnel at Pioneer Station. [3:50 = ID; 3:54 = University Station; No timestop for Pioneer Station.]

4:10 Arrive at Northgate transit center

4:14 Depart via the 75

4:30 Jump off the 75 at 115th

Trundle downhill to my house and wander in the door around 4:36 pm.


Execution

3:45 Leave desk.

3:52 Arrive in tunnel just as a light rail train pulled away northbound

3:54 Catch 41 in the tunnel at Pioneer Station. FWIW, I believe this may have been my originally intended bus since it was labeled "Northgate only" and my planned bus 3:50/3:54 doesn't go to LCW.

4:14 Leap off the back of the 41, flash my badge to the driver in the front, and RUN-HANDS-IN-THE-AIR after the 75, just BARELY missing it pull away from the bay, as in, I almost touched the back of the bus...

4:15 *sigh*

4:17 Catch the next 41 to LCW from the Northgate transit center. (Alternative: Wait until 4:44 for the next 75 and get home around 5:02.)

4:30 Hop off the bus at 125th and 30th.

Speed walk in the cold for 16-18 minutes until I walked in the door at 4:48 pm


Action Items

Clearly, for this plan to ever succeed, I need to catch an earlier 41.

i like

From adorn.

i would like this shot - with a different dog and a different bride and groom

From junebug weddings.

i heart the blue and gray

Inspired by this blog post by Carissa of JL Designs, I have to confess a love of alliums... but I would much rather have blue than purple any day. From Brecks.



I also like curl willow used in moderation.



And finally, I love this little gray succulent boutonniere Carissa made! (It's just a simple succulent accented by some cream colored reindeer moss and finished in off white grosgrain according to her comment here.)

cute cute cute

Yesterday, Jason was sitting on the back porch watching the birds, and he commented, "It's like living in a bird sanctuary."

Our number one common love is plants, but just being outside and enjoying the sun and the sound of the birds is probably somewhere in the top ten.

Too bad these cards are $1 each. [etsy] They're adorable.

the dress that got away

It is terribly unfortunate that this dress is probably too short for the future in-laws.

Style PL238 | Priscilla of Boston

It is also unfortunate that it's only name is PL238. It needs a cute - but scandalous - girl's name like Trixie

Let's get serious

The boy is away tonight.

He worked hard last weekend taming the lilac trees in the backyard.



So tonight he's out with his friend Rishi.



And I'm getting serious about the wedding planning.

It helps that this OJ isn't just OJ.



Last night, while we were cuddled in bed, I tried looking at evening gowns at Nordstrom's to get inspired. You see, I've reached white-poofly-marshmallow-overload with real wedding dresses. I desperately needed to see something in color.

Jason then suggested that I look at various other sites like bliss because he had thought he had seen some cool dresses there. (We realized later that we just liked the photography and there were few "inspirational" dresses to be found there.)

But... BUT!

This got me thinking that I need to start collecting ideas. I'm running out of time, and I need the wedding to be perfect.

It's time to get serious folks. No more kittens for this blog. It's time to talk weddings.

Two for one special on... kittens!!

This just in from the Seattle Animal Shelter volunteer email list... They're having a 2-for-1 special on kittens!

-----
Hi Everyone!

As many of you know, this Sunday from 10am-12noon, we will have a special kitten adoption event here at the shelter. [...]

Also, starting with this event and running through September, we will be doing a 2-for-1 adoption fees on all pairs of cats or kittens that are adopted. Total cost will be around $129 instead of $214 for two. Licensing fees still apply for both cats.

Of course, the screening process is still the same, but we hope this convinces adopters to take home two kittens instead of one. It's better for the kittens to have a buddy to grow up with.

----

Whooo! Hurry on down to get your basket full of kittens!

Thanks for being so "helpful"

Frank and Aaron aren't at work today, so I have no way of venting my frustration other than to blog about it.

I asked folks at work about finding someone to service a commercial range. The responses have ranged from somewhat helpful to downright annoying.

Here's my first email request:

This is a long shot, but why not…

Does anyone on this list have a commercial stove in their home?

If so, who do you get to service it?

FWIW, it turns out a lot of folks licensed to work on commercial stoves in commercial installations don’t want to touch them in residential installations,

Here's the first "helpful" response - not too bad really:

Liability is probably why they don’t touch them. Commercial stoves are not as well insulated as residential ones, and therefore get much hotter on their outer surface. I have heard a couple horror stories involving children when these stove/ovens were used residentially.

Here's my clarification email where I try to steer back to my question:

> Liability is probably why they don’t touch them.

Yep. Agreed. I’ve read all about them.

For those that are curious and want to know more about pros and cons of commercial stoves, this is a great resource:
http://ths.gardenweb.com/faq/lists/appl/2004064556019303.html

People do have them though.
e.g. http://www.redfin.com/WA/Seattle/811-14th-Ave-E-98112/home/135289
(This is NOT the house I’m buying, btw.)

We are inheriting one with our new house, and the only “con” that we are finding difficult to deal with is the servicing.
FWIW, we know Seattle Home Appliance in Bothell will take a look at them, but it would be good to have a second opinion.
(We’ve asked the sellers to have it serviced before closing.)

Thanks for any solid leads on servicing you guys can provide!

And HERE is the one that set me off and caused me to feel the need to blog my frustration with "helpful" people:

At one time I was the housemate of a guy who’d had a catering business, and he had moved its commercial stove into the house when the business ended. It was an unbelievable nuisance. Using that thing for anything like normal home cooking was a nightmare. It got way too hot (this was Texas, too), and it was so large that it was actually physically difficult to work around. We actually ended up using the gas grill in the yard for a lot of cooking!

If it hadn’t been the last vestige of a bankruptcy, it would have seemed like an preposterous indulgence, like putting a mounted polar bear in the bathroom or something.

Yeah. You read it right.

Mounted polar bear.

WTF?

Thanks for your "help" finding someone to SERVICE THE STOVE.

Arson dog!

The most exciting post I've found on Everyblock so far:

Incident type Arson dog assisting other district

This occurs when the fire department sends the arson dog and the captain of the fire investigation unit to assist another jurisdiction.
Units MAR50

http://seattle.everyblock.com/fire-dispatch/by-date/2009/6/2/729814/

Who could resist that face!!!

From yesterday's photo shoot at the shelter...

Sam

More pictures from the shelter

Thomas


Roxie
I have to admit. I really liked Roxie. She reminded me of Grete in some indescribable way.

Don't wake me. I must be dreaming.

Last night we got to a verbal agreement with the sellers of our dream home. I'm still in shock.

It was such a roller coaster evening. We just got home from doing another walk through, and I thought for sure the sellers were going to walk away from our offer. I was down in the dumps. Then our mortgage broker called. We were on the phone with our mortgage broker who alerted us to the craziness that happened in the markets / 30 year rates -- and then our agent (mid mortgage broker call) finally called with their offer and we accepted it. Hopefully fear of raising rates didn't cloud our vision. I really don't think it did. The house is really a dream home. I keep saying that -- and someday you will all believe me. :-)

Regarding rates... Apparently the 10-year Treasury yields spiked because of massive debt being sold off, and that sent the 30 year mortgage rates up. [1] Here's a slightly better explanation of the yield issue and some alluding to the future. [2]. There is a potential for the rates to inch back down. We'll see. In any event, for now, we locked in 5.125% with no points. (APR 5.1719) We're pretty sure there isn't a better deal in town that can be sure to close in time. *knock on wood*

Jason blogged about the house here Thirty-eight, and the pictures are here: Thirty-eight Set on Flickr.

Really... it is a dream house. We would never be able (both mentally and financially) to afford a remodel like this. We're just to frugal. However, when the end result is presented in a format we can afford... it is just too beautiful to resist.

Branching out...

I've recently joined the Seattle Animal Shelter's digital photography team. Last Tuesday was my first shift, but my regular shift will be on Sundays. Someday, I hope to be as cool as The Food Lady at Three Woofs and a Woo, but until then... here are my first three shelter pictures.


Cheeky



Howie


Laurah


There were two more cats, but I can't find them which means they were already adopted. Yay!

Disconnected

We've subscribed to the Seattle Times via the Kindle. I've been feeling more "in touch" with news. Or so I thought...

This afternoon my physical therapist mentioned flooding in the Midwest, and I told her about the Fargo flood of 97 that I survived in college. I figured not much could top that.

Tonight I went online. Wow. The flood in Fargo / Moorhead going on right now is much worse than the flood of 97 -- many feet worse. Tonight, my college closed and asked everyone to evacuate. That area of town is "protected" and in 97, we never shut down. (Students were excused to volunteer to go sandbag the homes of friends, family, and professors, but the college did not close.)

Clearly, I need a better and/or more personalized national news source than the Seattle Times if I'm going to be truly connected.

The Quest for Cubic Feet

[Reposting because I accidentally left this in draft mode when adding a vehicle to the list]

Before it gets lost in the sea of useless information on my hard drive, here are the alleged cubic feet of most of the AWD SUVs (and one or two minivans) that I've at one time or another considered. I find it humorous and a little unbelievable that the Sienna has more room behind its 3rd seat than I have in my entire Golf.

My Current Tiny Car: VW Golf
Cargo to 3 NA
Cargo to 2 18.0
Cargo to 1 41.8

BMW X5
Cargo to 3 NA
Cargo to 2 21.9
Cargo to 1 61.8

Subaru Forester
Cargo to 3 NA
Cargo to 2 30.8
Cargo to 1 63.0

Ford Escape
Cargo to 3 NA
Cargo to 2 29.2
Cargo to 1 66.3

Grand Cherokee
Cargo to 3 NA
Cargo to 2 29.5
Cargo to 1 66.8

Dodge Journey
Cargo to 3 NA
Cargo to 2 37.1
Cargo to 1 67.6

Jeep Commander
Cargo to 3 7.5
Cargo to 2 36.3
Cargo to 1 68.5

Jason's Subaru
Cargo to 3 NA
Cargo to 2 36.1
Cargo to 1 69.5

Mazda Mazda5
Cargo to 3 NA
Cargo to 2 44.4
Cargo to 1 70.9

Volkswagon Toureg
Cargo to 3 NA
Cargo to 2 31
Cargo to 1 71

Subaru Tribeca
Cargo to 3 8.3
Cargo to 2 37.6
Cargo to 1 74.4

Toyota 4runner
Cargo to 3 NA
Cargo to 2 42.2
Cargo to 1 75.1

Nissan Pathfinder
Cargo to 3 16.5
Cargo to 2 49.2
Cargo to 1 79.2

Chevy Trailblazer
Cargo to 3 NA
Cargo to 2 41.0
Cargo to 1 80.1

2007 Highlander Hybrid
Cargo to 3 10.5
Cargo to 2 39.7
Cargo to 1 80.6

Jeep Wrangler Unlimited
Cargo to 3 NA
Cargo to 2 46.4
Cargo to 1 82.0

Lexus 400h
Cargo to 3 NA
Cargo to 2 38.3
Cargo to 1 84.7

Ford Explorer
Cargo to 3 NA
Cargo to 2 45.1
Cargo to 1 85.8

Ford Taurus-X
Cargo to 3 20.8
Cargo to 2 47.0
Cargo to 1 85.5

Honda Pilot
Cargo to 3 18.0
Cargo to 2 47.7
Cargo to 1 87.0

2009 Highlander Hybrid
Cargo to 3 10.3
Cargo to 2 42.3
Cargo to 1 94.1

Mazda CX-9
Cargo to 3 17.2
Cargo to 2 48.4
Cargo to 1 100.7

Chrysler Aspen
Cargo to 3 19.0
Cargo to 2 67.25
Cargo to 1 102.4

Ford Expedition
Cargo to 3 ..
Cargo to 2 55
Cargo to 1 106.3

Saturn Outlook
Cargo to 3 24.1
Cargo to 2 68.6
Cargo to 1 115.9

GMC Acadia
Cargo to 3 21.4
Cargo to 2 68.9
Cargo to 1 116.9

Chevy Traverse
Cargo to 3 26.1
Cargo to 2 68.3
Cargo to 1 117.9

Toyota Sequoia
Cargo to 3 18.9
Cargo to 2 66.6
Cargo to 1 120.8

Toyota Sienna
Cargo to 3 43.6
Cargo to 2 94.5
Cargo to 1 148.9