Recent Posts

Sunday, June 30, 2013

#Italy2013

Just checking in real quick:

I'm in Italy.

So far we've done Rome, Sorrento, the Amalfi Coast, Matera, Lucera, and I bead back to Rome for a few extra days on Tuesday because I can't imagine not seeing it again.

 There hasn't been a bad day yet. I've had 2 of the best meals of my life. The beauty, the history, the people, the food, the wine, the love, the generosity, kindness, and warmth is beyond anything I could have ever imagined.

I don't know how I'm going to get back on the plane to Seattle. I really don't. I'm pretty sure I'll be the crazy person crying at take off.

I'll write real posts (there's A LOT to say) when I get back.

Ciao Ciao!




Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Countdown: 5 Days - That Moment

So this has all been happening:

That awkward moment when you have to write on a white board in a room full of colleagues in a dress that is just shy of work appropriate but you'd thought you'd risk it anyway...bad day to take that risk.

That awkward moment when your boss tries to help you "mingle" with your work crush(es) and you manage for about 15 minutes before you "have to go and keep working".  Because being an awkward introvert is really what all the men love....sigh.

That fascinating moment when you get home and discover a collection of bras at the base of the couch because all you can do at the end of the days when you're so sick is fall over and simultaneously remove clothing.

That unfortunate moment when you look in your fridge and notice that the broccoli you bought 2 weeks ago looks rather inedible so you opt for frozen waffles toasted topped with peanut butter for the third day in a row....because at least it's protein.....yeah adulthood?

That terrible moment when you run out of lotioned kleenex and have to settle for sandpaper-like toilet paper in a runny nose head cold situation. My first world sensitive skin is about to have a rough (pun intended) night.

Take off in 5 days.  I might make it.....maybe.  50/50 chance.

Thursday, June 6, 2013

Commence Countdown

We are 10 days away from take off!  I'm headed to (one of) the motherland!  I'll try to keep you updated along the way depending on internet access.


Week 1: Rome
Week 2: Sorrento (plus Naples, Pompeii, Salerno, all along the Amalfi Coast)
Week 3: Foggia, Gargano National Forest, Bari (Mediterranean Coast)

We've reserved an agriturismo in Sorrento, staying at a villa in Foggia, and riding the rails to get from place to place.

Two beautiful ladies for 3 weeks in Italy....what kind of trouble can we possibly get into?! I've got a couple ideas.

Now, to survive the next 10 days....


Monday, June 3, 2013

An Update


  • I've been listening to a lot of old school music.  And by old school I mean from when I was in college.  Classic J. Lo, Destiny's Child, Usher, Smashing Pumpkins, some good ole slow jams, etc.  But I've almost been listening to JT's new album non-stop. NON-STOP. Like I can't stop listening to it.  When I went to the record store I bought Macklemore's The Heist, JT's 20/20 Experience and Patty's new album, American Kid.  The clerk looks at me and in the least non-judgmental way as you can says, "You have eclectic taste." Yes, I am one of the few people who still buys CDs.  However my criteria for CD purchasing is strictly measured against the road trip threshold. I don't have an AUX adapter in my car so all CDs I buy must fit perfectly into the image of sunroof down, bass bouncing, and sing along capability.  


  • Mom had her third surgery today since her fall.  Drs. seem to think this time she's really on the mend.  The drugs they have her on are helping with the pain but also making her super loopy.  She's hallucinating, seeing people, having conversations with people who don't exist, doesn't have a short term memory, and even just being awake is difficult. I know that's why she doesn't like taking them. So that's interesting to watch and care for. In the mean time we have contractors coming in to remodel the downstairs to make it more handicap accessible/less dangerous. We'll then have a stair lift installed.  This has made it clear that that time has arrived.  I'm up at the care center most nights which just reminds me how much I hate commuting in Seattle. And how much I don't want to get old and die in a hospital/care facility.  I'm doing what I can, Dad's real tired and a man a little patience so our health care system is really testing him. I think we're all just tired. So apologies to everyone who encounters the consequences of that.  We really do appreciate all that everyone one is doing. 


  • I saw the Great Gatsby.  I loathed it. I tried to like it, I just couldn't. I try not to think about it because it just makes me sad. 


  • I'm on a flower kick.  I just disperse a couple bouquet all around the apartment and it perks the place right up.  



  • One of my favorites came to town.  We don't get to hang out very often but when we do it's such a treat, and not just because there is usually ice cream involved.  He gets it, I get it.  And it's nice to talk to people who just get it.  So much goodness in this pic. 



  • Countdown to 3 weeks on the coasts of southern Italy.  It really is happening......YIPEE! All the accommodations are set and as far as I'm concerned, that's all that needs to happen.
That's the update.  
Thanks for coming by!

Sunday, June 2, 2013

Burden-less

Because I like to jump right into new adventures, we took off on the bike this weekend for quite awhile. As in nine hours. And in the course of that time we circumnavigated Mt. Rainier going over mountain passes, along country roads, through po-dunk hick towns (who are very big fans of the confederate flag), along rivers, over the bridges and through national forests. We picnicked in the forest then got right back on and kept riding.

As we rode I saw things so differently.  A bald eagle flew over and it seemed so close.  We hugged corners and turns and just as you think you won't come up, you do. You go 95 mph to pass cars and trucks and semis and you think if you just keep going faster you might break some sort of dimension. You are so detached from the world and all the should be doings and the rat race and the not good enough and the constant going, doing, achieving.

When I'm on the back of that bike, arms around him holding on, I have inexplicable trust in him (Side note: this isn't just a breezy sentence to be glossed over, I inherently trust no one explicitly, so this is fascinating).  I think at the root of that trust is that I'm not in control in any fashion. Whatsoever. Maybe the every day feeling of needing to be in control in my own life is so burdensome (and not having anyone to share that burden with) that when I am in the complete lack of control, and thus burden-less, it so refreshing and a type of release that I had yet to know. Until now. In those moments when we ride I some how let it all go, and not necessarily handed it over to him, but given it up to the universe to just say, hold on a sec...please excuse me while I let this all go for a few hours.

As we rode into the sunset, me holding a little extra tight, I thought to myself, this life, my life, feels a little bit like a movie and its pretty friggin' sweet.

The man and the mountain.


As we walked into the apartment after the long day, I felt the control come back, the burden come back.  I felt all the worry about mom, and stress of work, and the cleaning to be done, and the events and trips to be planned, all that weight come back.  It was all I could do to not walk right back out that door and keep going.