House of ick

Benjamin has been home all week sick with the flu or a very bad cold. It's sad to see the one you love so miserable. I'm glad I'm not sick too, for both our sake. This was at least one of us has the energy to go to the drugstore and do the dishes.

Big improvements to my 'hood

My neighborhood is about to get oh-so-much better from my perspective. One of my closest friends Claire and her husband Erik just had their offer accepted on a house only 14 blocks from my house. Whoohoo!!!

This is a crappy photo, but it's a pretty cute house. It's a 1940's house and not super special in its design, but the lot is gargantuan by city standards and the location is prime.

They're bringing something excited with them when they move as well: a bun in the oven. Claire is about 4 months pregnant now with their second child. Very exciting times.

I just can't wait to have them living so close by--I'll be over there so much they're gonna have to kick me out when they want some privacy. ;-) When I told Benjamin about Claire's move he was excited, but had a realization: "We're never moving, are we?" Tee he he.

Asha rainbow feet

Asha rainbow feet by Corinne S.

This afternoon Maple and I met Leanne and Asha Ruby for a walk in the park. Asha likes Maple and alternately calls her "baby" and "arf arf." Asha is fast as lightening running around on her nearly 18-month-old legs.

Sunny days

It's been sunny and beautiful in Seattle this week. It's the traditional week in Seattle late winter that gives hope to all of us who've been suffering through the dark months.

Typically this brief sin break is followed by weeks of seemingly endless rain. We shall soon see if this year holds to that pattern.

Mabry's new hat

Mabry's new hat by Corinne S.

My mom knitted this cute hat for little Mabry.

Sun worshipper

Sun worshipper by Corinne S.

Maple and I have certain things in common. The enjoyment of a good nap in the sun is one of them. :-)

Swim, refresh

Went swimming at Medgar Evers pool today because they have lap swim all day on Saturdays and that's an unusually open schedule for the public pools.

It was low key at the pool today and I got a lane to myself for half an hour. Also very unusual. Now I'm relaxed, tired, and ready for a good dinner.

Big day

(God I love the view from this building. This isn't where my office is though.)

Today I gave a presentation to the CEO of my company walking through key user scenarios for the new feature I'm working on. It was a good experience. I did fine and he was nice. The feedback was mixed, but nothing I need to take personally.

Next week will be another busy week exploring the changes. Good thing I have a relaxing weekend ahead first. I just pray none of the lurking germs catch me. Airborne--save me!

I caucused

I caucused by Corinne S.

I'm not sure you can use caucus as a verb, but I will anyway. ;-) My caucus was in the gym of the local elementary school and there were 12 precints meeting there. It was very crowded and steamy hot--a lot busier than our 2004 caucus. There were about 100 people in my precinct and we had 5 delegates. We sent 4 for Obama and 1 for Clinton. I put forward a resolution to choose our delegates using the primary instead of a caucus for greater inclusiveness and to avoid the "rounding" that happens at the precinct level. The caucuses are interesting, invigorating, and build a sense of local community. I still think primaries are the way to go Gor delegate allocation though. Hell, if I had my druthers we'd abandon the delegate system altogether and have a populist vote nationally. I'd also love to see all of the state primaries on the same day across the country. It would be harder on the candidates in terms of visiting all the states, but it would even the field in terms of influence between the states.

'Twas a dreary night

It was a dreary day in Seattle weather-wise. Dark and rainy when I left the office. Good thing home offered warmth, pizza, and 2 new episodes of House to watch with my hubby and the dog.

Late night

I'm preparing for a presentation to the Sr. VP of my group tomorrow, so today is a long day. Been here 13 hours and now I'm finally headed home for an extremely late dinner.

The good news: the presentation is ready and I'll have time to make revisions tomorrow if the light of day reveals I've missed something. ;-)

P.S. The power did stay today on after the one outage.

Lights out

Lights out by Corinne S.

The power is out for a huge chunk of downtown where my office building is (Spokane to Cherry St, 4th to 15th). Not much happens in a high tech company without power. We do have some lights on a generator and the wireless network is still up. The made an announcement on the PA that the ETA for power restoration was 5pm and we should go home. 15 seconds later, the power came back on. Is it here to stay?

Playing with the babe

Mabry's best friend by Corinne S.

I got a chance to play with Mabry at the pool tonight while her mommy was swimming laps. She's a right bit of fun. It's easy to get her to smile, but the mirror is a sure-fire winner.

The only downside to the mirror playtime is that she kept bonking her head on the mirror. It wasn't hard, but I think it started to get to her after a bunch of times in a row. ;-) We found something else to do after that.

Sunday, doggy Sunday

Dog day by Corinne S.

I took "the girls" to the park on Sunday.

Saturdays at the Farmer's Market

I have a new Saturday ritual and Benjamin usually comes along. We go to the Farmer's Market after sleeping in late. (Yes, we're getting old.) While we're there, we get hot, local, organic soup for "brunch" and we buy some yummy locally grown groceries. We've only been going since new year's, so the fruit and veggies are limited. We have gotten beef, pork, lamb sausages, winter greens, carrots, apples, cheese, yogurt, crackers, bread, granola, jam, fruit spread, dried fruit, and some other stuff. We're ridiculously addicted to the dried apricots. There may be digestive hell to pay if we keep this up, but so far so good. ;-)

New cozy scarf!

New cozy scarf! by Corinne S.

This is my newest scarf from my mom. Snuggly and attractive. :-)

Microsoft Offers $44.6B for Yahoo

Apparently Microsoft is aggressively trying to buy Yahoo! while the latter's finances are slumping. I can't help but wonder what that would mean forpoor Flickr... Microsoft Offers $44.6B for Yahoo