12/13/07

'tis the season!

last night we attended the PNB (Pacific Northwest Ballet) performance of The Nutcracker. one would think we'd be sick of it with the number of times we hear it/play it each year. Turns out it's been 15 or so years since either of us had been - Matt actually has seen the PNB perform it, i never have. We were given tickets by my financial advisor - they were having their christmas event there.

there was a beer/wine/cokes bar, and a number of yummy hors d'ouvers. during the intermission they served coffee/tea and desserts. a few of the girls from the production were there in costume, having pictures taken with children of families. and then after the show we were taken backstage. we could see sets, saw the hall from the perspective of the stage, all that. it was pretty cool.

they are still using the maurice sendak sets. i think they'll use them until they stop dancing that production! it was really incredible! it was fun to hear the children ooh and ahh... there was a little girl behind us and when the 'giant' rat came onstage she was like "oh no!" you couldn't help but smile and giggle! there was a time when i would've been all 'geez mom, teach your child to be quiet during a performance' but this time it was different. it was as if i was watching it for the 1st time, too. i found myself responding just the way the little ones were! kind of like seeing it through their eyes, i guess. the peacock was fantastic (arabian danse) and the pas de deux at the end was just fantastic! one of the things that really impressed me was the very last 'position' they did, she was up on his shoulder. he set her down as the crowd applauded - but he moved her so slowly and gracefully, you didn't even realize he was putting her down until she touched the floor! i'm so glad we went. it was probably the best performance of Nutcracker i've ever seen.

12/3/07

well no sooner had i published the blog on saturday when the phone rang and the gals were like 'lets leave now' just becuase the snow was accumulating so fast and we had a good drive ahead of us. as it turns out, once we got south of seattle city limits the snow turned to rain. and it rained. and rained. and rained. by the time we got back to seattle the rain had melted the snow - it looked like any other december night in seattle! but it's rained ever since. and today we're in state of emergency with all the flooding. a couple of friends reported in they had flooded rooms/basements, we had a swimming pool downstairs, all the rivers are above flood level, sandbags and red cross emergency shelters are available. don't remember where but a McD's and BK (they're side by side on teh street) have flooded, many roads closed - even in town. downtown woodinville's flooded, cat 3 strength winds have felled very old (like 500+ year old) trees on the WA/OR coast. pretty intense. but matt's stressing a whole lot more than i am. weird. last year (before diagnosis) i'd have been a total wreck, stressed, worried, upset about stuff... and i'm so not stressed about any of this today! yeah it's a pain in the ass, but i'm alive to deal with it! really is weird how a potentially terminal diagnosis can change you - even if we did catch mine as early as we did.

5.38pm:
we learned that our neighbors to the east had their bsmt flood today, too. not sure about anyone else - haven't seen anyone today since i've holed myself up in the badroom. did "lose" bubble for a few hours today. a couple doors were opened after brad and dude showed up and we couldn't find her. we were sure she was somewhere in the house but she was staying 1 step ahead of us as 3 of us went through the rooms looking for her! boy did she have her dad worried! (and her mom!)

so dude's down there and brad and matt and he moved ALL of the furniture out of den so dude could start sucking water up out of the persians. then he's sucking water up out of the 'high traffic' areas. then he and a crew will be back tomorrow to move ALL the furniture basically OUT OF THE BSMT so they can 'float' the carpets. for those of you who don't know what that means. it means $$$$$$$ :-) they pull up hte carpets, pull up the pads, put fans underneath to dry out pads/carpets from below as well as from above, then relay the carpets. matt and i need to decide in the next 24 hours or so if we want them to relay the carpets or if we want to go pick out tile. i never did like that carpet, but this is not really the way i wanted to get rid of it!

here's what the bill says: mind you, it's only an estimate...
'water damage rest. emergency response' - 120
250 sq ft extract flood water from carpets - 225
78yds disengage carpeting from strip - 468
install 3 airmovers [fans] for 3 days - 270.20
install 2 industrial delux midifiers [???] for 3 days - 390
78 yds re-install carpet - 546
750 sq ft steam extract and rinse all carpeting - 225
- - - - - - - -

GRAND TOTAL: $2,244.20
YIKES!!!!!

oh well. so in a day or 2 we'll be ablet o get downstairs, but in the meantime the girl's food and water - and toilet are up here, and we've closed off the steps so they can't get downstairs. i'm glad we have a new tv up in teh bedroom as it seems we'll be spending a bit of time up here. but matt has to work on his book, so i' not sure what he's going to do since the only pc that has all the apps on it is in hte office - downstairs!

for anyone curious to know how bad the rains have been, check out www.king5.com there's a link to 'road closures and info' which i've found very amusing to check in on today. there's also links to pictures of damage etc....

12/1/07

not much to report. everything's the same as it has been the past 2 weeks. we were hoping to get out on the bike today. we thought it was supposed to be frikkin cold, but that's all. last night i went to top (top foods, a grocery store) and i have this huge tub of cookie dough under 1 arm, and i'm reaching in to grab a ben&jerry's carton when i have this amusing thought. here i am, a single female in a grocery store at 10pm on a friday night, it's 35f outside, and i have a huge tub of cookie dough and a thing of ice cream only in my hands. that's got to mean 1 of 2 things, right? LOL. i wonder how many people thought i was pregnant -or buying for a pregnant person, and how many thought i had just broken up with my boyfriend! oh well. anyway, i knew if it rained overnight we'd get snow it was so cold out. i woke up briefly around 6 this am. there was just enough daylight to see white on the green trees through the window. sure enough, when we woke up there was a couple inches of snow on the ground. guess we won't be going out on the bike today. in case there was any doubt, around 1pm this afternoon it started snowing again. huge flakes, and lots of them! it's been snowing solid ever since and right now there's no sign of it letting up. for december 1st it's rather wonderful. i'd love nothing more today than to stay on the couch, watch movies and hockey, fire burning in the fireplace... but i agreed to sub for a wedding tonight in puyallup. yay. for those of you who don't know where that is, imagine my place in ft. worth, picking up someone at hulen mall, then driving to NE dallas for a gig. gig starts at 7.30, i have to leave my house at 4, what with the snow and all. at least it's a saturday and we won't have rush hour traffic. whew! oh well, it's a paying gig and i haven't had many of them this year. i'm really going to have to get out and pound the pavement to let people know i'm back in the gig-taking mode next year. i really wold like to be able to earn at least a somewhat respectable earning for at least 1 year doing music. in fact, i better start paying attention to the time, i've less than an hour until i have to leave...