More pictures and then this is probably it.

Sculpture outside of the aquarium in Stanley Park Fountains in front of this biodome situation in Queen Elizabeth Park Bridge scene, Queen Elizabeth Park I can't remember what it is called EXACTLY but it is a lumbermen's monument in Stanley Park
Another view of downtown from the Granville Public Market

Vancouver in pictures

Here's a happy Diablo digging her new digs (and yes, that is a bag of Ketchup Chips you see there) On the way to our hotel we passed Joyce Street. Fun! Here's that Marsha marvelling at the size of the peas in Granville Public Market One of many fabulous views from Stanley Park
And one inside Queen Elizabeth Park. Park Day was sunny.

Vancouver - a brief trip report

So we left Beaverton at about 7:30 Saturday morning and headed north. The trip itself didn't take very long, maybe 5 hours if you don't include stopping to pee/smoke/get more coffee, and if you don't include sitting at the border going in to Canada for about an hour. Maybe less. Maybe it was more like 30 minutes. Vancouver/Whistler is the site of the 2010 Winter Olympics, so there is some construction - and Google Maps kinda sucks outside of the US. Check in time for our hotel - the Days Inn Vancouver Metro - was at 3pm - we made it there at 2:40pm.

The room was fine. It was. But for the price, good Lord. Things are expensive north of the border. But it was centrally located and had parking and really, we didn't spend any time there. We freshened up and drove east on Kingsway to that Mexico Way's neck of the woods, about a 20 minute drive depending on traffic, weather and driver skill.

Her apartment flipping rocks! She's been in there like a week or something and it is practically finished - fully furnished, stuff on the walls, maybe one or two boxes that need storing away, but I didn't even notice them, she had to point them out. A very cute place, and the kits and doggin seem to be acclimating quite nicely. Oh and the human, too. Like that matters.

We had some hard cider and chatted and shit and then went for some sushi (sin queso), then headed out to meet her brother and his fiance and some other folks at a place called Joey's in what wasn't downtown but I thought was, until later, when I saw what downtown really was. It was bitchin - big open ceiling, outdoor-ish seating, Stella. Got to spend some quality time with her brother (a hoot) and some character that immediately intended to impress us by talking about the $100K exhaust system he put on his Lamborghini (I had forgotten that shit like that doesn't impress me but remembered immediately - thanks Tate or whatever your name was!). He was kind of funny, though. Then a couple of Elizabeth's friends came and we drank some shots and stuff and I think we got home around 1:30, I wasn't smashed drunk or anything, I just don't remember. It was a long day - good, but long.

Sunday we went to Granville Island - there is a huge public market there. It was raining like a big fat son of a bitch, but that's cool, I mean, we all live in this area. So what if it's August? Here's a picture from the market looking at some downtown condos etc.
Pretty much hit the whole dang market (it is HUGE and way bitchin, I have other photos, I will do more on a separate post because, you know, I don't want this one to be really long or anything), and then stopped and had a coffee at Starbucks (imagine). Marsha and I had wanted to try Vij's, as seen on the Travel Channel, and so at some point we set out to find it. We did find it, at like 5pm, and had huge parking karma and the line of people waiting for it to open (no reservations) looked about as nice as we did after a day of walking around in the rain, so we decided to plug the meter and stay. It opened at 5:30 - the line was half way up the block by the time it did open, but we were seated right away.

The waitress said, "You can't come to Vij's without trying the lamb popsicles" so we did. All of us. Huge food situation. But you know, how do you know? I mean, it had all these write ups and everything and you figure you may get like little mini-foods and leave starving. Wrong. Here are our three main courses.
We also had an appy. The ambiance was a bit run down, but the food was specTACular. Seriously, if you are ever in Vancouver, go there. It flipping rocked.

This is getting really long. Monday was park day, and actually sunny. Liz picked us up and we drove around the water front and then over to Stanley Park. Beautiful. Huge. Amazing park. I have pictures, you'll see them soon. We spent some good time there, and then went to lunch downtown on Robson, I bought a sweatshirt at Roots, and then swung over to her dad's gelato shop/factory. We met her aunt and dad and took a little mini tour but the best part bar none was the ice cream. Mother. That was some good shit.

From there we took a little driving tour of Liz's past and then on up to Queen Elizabeth Park. Stanley Park was big and grand and pretty and all that, Queen Elizabeth Park was absolutely gorgeous. Teaser.

We spent good time there too, and Liz even went rock-climbing. Kinda.

Lots of walking and sunshine and fresh air later, we stopped at home to freshen, then went down to her mom's house for dinner. LOVED her house. She cooked the hell out of a home cooked meal, I never have those, and we chatted and chilled and looked at pictures and stuff, very nice evening. Slept really hard that night.

Tuesday (um, I'm losing it), Marsha and I went sola and hit the Metrotown Mall (it's like 3 in one, it's huge, but the parking was free and it was on the Skytrain) and got some waxing done (I actually got my eyebrows and lip threaded - didn't know much about it, now I do). Took the Skytrain downtown and realized how fabulous Liz is as a tourguide, bought the farm at the Bay (a department store), bumbled around some, and then came back to Burnaby and got the car. It started to rain just as we got to the hotel, and continued all night. Deana was in town briefly from Cancun, we all four had dinner at a nice little restaurant, and got home in enough time to get some quality sleep.

Wednesday, up and at 'em, hit the road after breakfast at like 10am, got OUT of Canada at like 1:45 in time to hit the obviously never ending traffic in Seattle, and got back to Beaverton at around 6:30.

So there you have it.

I'll post more pics later. I can't believe I have been sitting here this long.

Back

My good GOD there are a ton of blogs to catch up on.

I am back in the City of Roses (well, not exactly THERE, but close enough). I will be uploading pictures and giving you a little informational tomorrow, but I would like to say immediately that ELIZABETH is the BEST TOURGUIDE/HOSTESS we could have ever asked for. We were bumbling, stumbling fools the one day we did not have her accompaniment downtown. Bumbling, stumbling, and cranky.

And I am also quite shocked she didn't post her Vij picture yet. Hm.

We had a great trip, and yes, Paul, I am quite sure the little ones are distraught at the whole "favorite aunt passing them by without even a glance" situation, but I doubt it will leave a lasting impression. Plus, um, you live like REALLY FAR from I-5, and after 2 1/2 hours at the border, we were ready for faster speeds. So sorry my friend.

Okay then, off to catch up on reading and doing laundry!

Kitty fix

I see these little rascals every day in every moment (and I mean that) that I am in my home. But you, why, you don't ever get to see them! So because I have been doing much of nothing these days, I thought I would post a few pics.

They still hate the camera, and said camera is still a piece of shit, but here they are.

This little bunny is Secadora. Seca is slowly but surely losing her mind. She's quite rambunctious about 98% of the time. Here she is in that precious 2%.

You know, I was trying to figure out which one was which, but at this angle it's hard even for me to tell.

Here is Seca again. You can tell by the markings on her side there.

Ummm yeah, Seca again. Seriously she is never this calm. Odds are good she probably just crawled out of the fireplace here and decided to take a little break.

And here is my little Lavadora. This was probably about day three of our time here in the new casita. Exploring her digs and wondering what kind of mischief they can get into while I am at work all day.

Though I dream of a day that I can take pictures of them full in the face, I am happy to have those precious few moments when they aren't pulling my clothes off their hangers in the closet or exploring the top of the fridge.

On another note, that Marsha and I are driving on up to BC tomorrow morning. My (shitty) camera is full of memory card and stocked with batteries, so I hope to have much to share in a few days' time. It was weird not shopping for Crystal Light before a trip, but I did pick up some Valentina for a friend. See you on the other side!

Hot.

Hi.

So it's been a relatively uneventful week, working at the 2-person office (that we are closing, it turns out, mid-September). This time it was with Whitney, so I didn't even once feel like throwing a chair through a window or beating someone senseless with a two-hole punch. Just a chill week. Not one bento. Chill.

And it's hot out. Hot. Like I think in the 100s. Somewhere I saw where yesterday was like 104 or something and today is supposed to be like 105 or something, I don't know. Hot. And with a twinge of humidity. Not like Yucatan-style, or for that matter even Cleveland-style, but a twinge, just enough for it to get all muggy in your living room while you watch, YET AGAIN, reruns of America's Next Top Model, the cycle where Danielle won and the whole time everyone was giving her shit about her southern accent, about how no one can understand her, but you know when you think about it, nobody could understand that horrific Natalya or whatever her name was, the mail-order bride? but nobody ever gave her any shit for it. Whatever.

Because you KNOW, there is another cycle upon us. Soon.

And so even though I have not been blogging much around here, I do have a link to my brother-in-law's blog, where I have guest-posted. It's here: The Last Great Road Trip. You should go over there and look. I mean, not just because this is a link to something that I wrote for him, but also because his blog isn't all about driving his rig up and down ice roads and shit. It's actually got some good categories about diversity and humankind and all that. Happy stuff.

I am in some kind of a mood today, not sure what, but right now, all the way down the hall, I can smell the kitty litter box. Or maybe it's just the smell of their new adult kitty food. I didn't tell you they graduated this week, did I? Yep. Adult ages 1-7, indoor cat formula. It smells like the ranch I used to spend my summers on when I was a kid. Kinda livestock-y. They eat it, but I am wondering if it is just because they have no other options. Nicky claims the pet food reps hang out at the PetSmart on Saturdays, so once my hair dries and I finish this post I am going to run over there and see. Because they allegedly hand out samples. So yeah, I got that going on today.

Next week, that Marshy and I are going to drive up to Canada. We're going to see that Mexico (Out of the) Way and drink and see the city of Vancouver and all that. I've never been to Canada. I'm excited.

I'll be downtown Monday and Tuesday of this coming week and then I'll be back in the new and expanded Lincoln Tower for the rest of it, and then vacations. Sort of. I was asked to work the Thursday and Friday of it to cover someone who wanted those days off. I'm kind of not in a position to turn that down. I'm the only float left and I feel like if I piss them off or something... I don't know. I could use a crystal ball. Or Bridie.

Off to do my Saturday. Look at what has been regurgitated! My goodness!

Enjoy the silence

Yeah, um, sorry, kids, but I really haven't had anything blog-worthy to post about lately. I haven't even had any deep thoughts or theories that I wanted to write down (well, once I did, but you know, miles away from a computer and all that, and with my developing late-stage Adult ADD, I completely forget both the deep thought/theory AND the desire to write about it by the time my computer comes in to view). I'm thinking that life right now in this here town is pretty much rolling along and I am rolling right along with it.

Surely there will be more later, but for now I just wanted to make sure I still know how to post.

OH!

And to the commenter who directed me to Dr. Horrible - I LOVE YOU. That was PHENOMENAL. But I can't figure out who you are, so tell me so I can give credit where it's due and then we can talk about how fabulous that thing was!

No time for me time

I like Annette (at work), I really do. She's a great gal. But her desk is, well, quite a desk. Though I didn't have a ton of files close last week, I sure worked like I did.

So she closes for a real estate agent that my brother Joey has known since the UofO, and I don't have to tell you it's been like 40 years. Actually she closes for like three guys he has known that long. Steve M. was in a transaction, well, he still is, until Monday (by God that file is GOING TO CLOSE on Monday), and he had to sign some papers with his mom, who is like 82 or something and it's just kind of a pain in the ass for her to come up to the office and sign them. So since Annette had agreed to sign them at their home in Woodburn (30 miles away or something), since she was on vacation, I agreed to do it. I mean, it's not like I don't know the guy. In theory, I've known him since I was two years old. So that was Wednesday. Thursday we were supposed to get loan documents on the transaction, but they of course didn't come, I waited until around 6:30 Thursday night for them but left when I realized the girl doing them had left for the day about an hour and a half earlier. Nobody tells escrow anything.

Friday I waited some more, and finally got the docs around 3pm. The buyer works as a truck driver, and though I would have liked to have signed him Friday night, his wife said he would be in bed at that point, as he had to work Saturday. So I arranged to meet them at 3pm on Saturday (yes, Saturday, and I'm a floater, so tell me what is up with me?) after I picked up my mom from the airport. I worked the file up, found I needed more money, and phoned the wife at around 5:30pm. She said, Hey! He doesn't have to work tomorrow! So we decided, what the hell, let's meet at the TA truck stop in Aurora and get these babies signed! We did, I got home around 8 or so, and felt immensely better. I think they did too.

Saturday I was up and out the door at 9:30 - went to the office, did the send back on the file, called the processor (her role was to take the packages to Fedex so the lender and the recorder would have their docs in time to fund on Monday), chatted for a bit with her, and then went over and took Tom to the Fred Meyers for some grocery shopping (because on top of being dedicated, I am also really nice). I dropped him off, and hit the road to the airport for the 12:59pm pickup. Unfortunately I had not checked on the flight status prior to doing anything earlier, so on a whim I phoned my sister Maura in Washington and had her check the status (Tom doesn't have a computer at home).

Scheduled time: 12:59pm
Estimated time: 3:40pm

What is with the flipping airlines these days? Apparently the original plane was leaking oil (what is it, a 62 Buick?) so they had to switch aircraft. I mean, that's good, you want that, but what about the people that came IN on this plane? Good Lord. I got this news of course while in the tunnel on Hwy 26, so I just got on I-5 south and went home (brief stop at Shelia's to check it out with my own eyes). (Not that I didn't believe Maura, but, well, I guess I didn't). So I got all the way home, had a bite to eat, and left an hour and a half later. At this point the pick up was smooth, but we had to make some stops along the way and I got home at 6:45 at the end of it all. Exhausted. I never have this flurry of activity on a Saturday.

The bummer of it is that Dave E. is in town from Wisconsin (well, not really "in" town, he's in McMinnville, which is like 4000 miles away, or 30 if you don't exaggerate) and I had been threatening to go meet up with him since Thursday. Now it is Sunday, all my obligations are met, and I will go meet him at around 2:30.

Busy week/weekend. I guess that's a good thing, all that lazy laying around was kind of getting to me.

Now you're caught up. Maybe later I will tell you about how much money I have spent on gas in the last four days. But talking about how broke I am doesn't make me feel any better.