The day is here

After a whirlwind weekend, the last day is here. I'm still a little dazed from all the activity over the past few days, so I'm going out in a bit of a cloud.

Left the city for Kirkland on Friday afternoon, and spent the evening there with my DH. Saturday, we each took a list of items to pick up at grocery stores - he went to an Indian specialty store, and I headed over to Safeway. Then we came back to the city where he cooked and I cleaned in preparation for dinner and gaming - D&D&D. Anyway, it was great fun, and the food was fabulous. I ate too much - of course, but I don't regret a thing.

Then last night, we went to see friends who practically built their 100yo house. They took it down to the framing and built it back up into a stunning home - cozy and interesting. It's just delightful - and so are they. I ate too much there, too - pretty bad being bad 2 days in a row, but that's life. Anyway, I don't regret that, either. Sometimes you just need to let loose.

Tonight is Jazz Alley with my DH, and then tomorrow, I'm heading up to the community college to do some research on classes there. I have a benefit from work that will reimburse me for classes up to a good amount, but I want to see what I can complete. The courses I was going to take at the university here would be more than the reimbursement cap AND they wouldn't be completed soon enough to help with an immediate job search, so I may have to bag that idea and do something more practical. So hard to choose.

One more bag of junk to tote home from the office, and that's it. I'll have to get used to heading to the outplacement company instead of the office just to give myself some sort of routine. In the meantime, I need to sign up for unemployment.

Geronimo!

Time for a review

Once again reviewers have led us astray. When Beverly Hill Chihuahua came out, we heard great things about it and how funny it was. What a stinker! It was too painful to even watch all the way through. It was beyond stupid. If we had very small children, we could have forced our way through it, but we don't, so we hit the "Next" button and watched some old Numb3rs episodes that Netflix also sent.

We thought, briefly, about paying full price and heading to Jazz Alley, but it would have been 45 bucks for the two of us without the drink minimum. That's just too much right now. We'll go on Monday when it's a cheap night to see the competitors in the Kobe competition. Every year, singers from Seattle compete to win a place in the Kobe, Japan competition. Last year was amazing. There was a singer who was still in high school, and we thought she was better than some headliners we've heard. She was fantastic. Anyway, we'll get a night out together then.

This weekend is shaping up to be a busy one. Saturday, we'll be in Kirkland where we'll make dinner and finish the D&D game that we started with a couple of friends of ours. Sunday, we'll have dinner with friends we haven't seen in a long time at their beautiful place in the city. Then, Monday, I'll turn in my computer, have my last free espresso, and go out to lunch with friends from work. Tuesday, I think I'll collapse!

Speaking of which, early to bed...

Comedy and Dinner

Well, last night certainly made up for the theater disappointment last Sunday. We went to the Moore Theater and saw Ron White doing his latest show. He's filming a new special in Seattle, and this concert is part of that. He was outstanding! His old-style delivery, standing there with his cigar and a scotch just telling stories...wonderful. I'm just sorry it had to be on a Thursday night, because I'm awfully tired this morning!

Before the show we went to the Buenos Aires Grill (http://www.buenosairescuisine.com/). The food was superb! I had the filet mignon with sweet potato fries and grilled veggies. Mark had their Argentinian grill, which is basically a sample of all the meats they roast there. Since we were in an Argentinian restaurant, I had to try an Argentinian wine - it's a rule, right? It was a malbec-syrah, and delightful. My DH liked it, too - always a plus when we like the same wine. We had so many leftovers - there's just so much meat we could eat at one time! I think they have tango dancing some evenings. We'll have to see if we can make a date for one of those nights. This is definitely a restaurant we will want to visit again and again. And, it's on the passport card (http://www.passportunlimited.com/), which gives us a little bit of a break.

Altogether a wonderful evening.

Dinner and Theater

I was sick for a solid 5 days, but I want to get this down before I forget.

We went out to one of the FareStart Thursday Night Guest Chef nights. The chef was from Bengodi, and I thought the food was spectacular, and well-portioned. My DH thought everything needed salt, but was pleased, too, I think. I like going to FareStart(http://www.farestart.org/index.html) because I admire their contribution to the community by training people in the food service industry so that they can get jobs and get out of the cycle of homelessness. So it was good for the palate and soul at the same time.

Then we went to see Spring Awakenings at the Paramount Theater. The music had a Rent-like rock-and-roll sound that I liked, but the story was more like a tragic opera - incest, child abuse, a woman who'd rather see her daughter dead than pregnant, forcing her to have an abortion. Sound like a fun night out? It was a very strange experience, but the tickets were partially a donation to the Seattle Mens' Chorus, so I just bought them without researching the play. Not that it would have mattered. I'd have gone anyway. My poor DH! I think he really disliked it.

Sunday we saw some outstanding theater at the Seattle Rep - The Night Watcher. Charlayne Woodard is a marvelous storyteller. I think she gets better with every performance. This is the 3rd or 4th we've seen, and we've loved everything she's done. It's a cohesive performance of a series of stories about the children in her life, though she does not have any children of her own. In the discussion with Charlayne Woodard following the performance, she said that the question of why, even though she has such profound relationships with other children, why she chose not to have any of her own, was very important in the play's development. You can see that thread through the stories, and I think it does enrich the experience of this theater piece. It is one of the best things I've seen this year.

Next theater experience will be The Three Musketeers, also at the Seattle Rep. I love that story, and am looking forward to the show. Dangerous having high expectations, but I just can't help myself! We'll be heading there with friends, and I'm guessing we'll probably head somewhere for dinner, so there'll be more dinner/theater comments coming soon!

This picture is of our hotel in Ptuj, Slovenia.