Ramble On... Sing my Song

69 Days Sober

Tuesday, September 28, 2010 10:13 AM Posted by Erica , 1 comments

Labels: boring , Dad , day to day , plans

Tuesday. Again... I blog on you of all days. According to my horoscope I am testy today and not in the mood for frivolous, flighty conversations. I guess I do feel a bit like that today. I just have mucho weighing on my mind....


I spent the weekend doing fun things like going to the dentist and painting and shopping and walking! I have just been in the mood for lots of activities lately and I wish I knew more people who had painting/refinishing/project-craft things to be done. There isn't anything much more satisfying than completing a task to me. I love doing it from start to finish.


BTW. My dentist told me to get Botox to help me stop grinding my teeth. Grr. I really hate this guy. I need an impression made for a nightguard to stop grinding/clenching my teeth. I think I'll go with one of those "Doctor's Nightguards" until then.


Sunday morning I got up super early and just could not contain my curiosity about Target's Sunday ad. I decided to go to Target RIGHT when it opened. Bad idea. It is creepy to be the only person in Target shopping. But it was relaxing and soothing. I looooove to shop. I bought some essentials and some new work pants. You know what I really need though, BOOTS. For the rain and to be cute this fall.


This weekend is the Puget Sound Heart Walk and I am excited. My team, the Hormann Hotties, has 8 members and is ready to walk that 5K in the gross humidity that will be Saturday. I need to organize a few more things, but all-in-all I think I'm ready to go.

^ Me, my Dad, and Allison. ^

Tuesday. 63 Days Sober

Tuesday, September 21, 2010 10:41 AM Posted by Erica , 1 comments

Labels: Bad Mood? , boring , day to day

badLately I have been moody. Irritable. Really irritable. Why you may ask? I'll tell you why. I am hiding from myself. Hiding from dealing with certain things that are bothering me. It's easier to push them/you away by being a bitch than to deal with how you/they make me feel.

Today not so much. I'm putting it out of my mind and am determined to have a good, productive day. Today is Tuesday, I have therapy today and then I will go see a Sneak Peek of that movie Social Network or whatever it's called. It's free, so it will be automatically not *that* bad. Tuesday.... how I typically loathe thee. You aren't the middle of the week, but you're not Monday... you are some inbetween-day. No definition of your own. You are crowded on the bus and you have no good TV on either! And beyond that, for me you suck because I have an appointment every single one of you. An appointment that makes me have headaches and feel like garbage before and after. Oh therapy, how I loathe thee as well sometimes.

All in all, therapy isn't too awful. It's come quite in handy. Things have changed alot for me since I began going. I have learned much about myself and have gained a better understanding of how I work and react in my environment. I'm thankful for the opportunity I have to go. I am not thankful though for the amount of tears I have shed in that small, hot office... or the amount I have spent on copays.

There is therapy in a nutshell for me. It's good for me and I'm happy I go. But I'm looking forward to the days when I don't need to go any longer. I'm looking forward to the day I don't need so much help figuring myself out.

^^^^^I have a crush on Danny Carey. I don't care that he's 49. I'm pretty sure my heart would beat right out of my chest if I met him in person. All 6 feet 5 inches of glorious viking-man, drumming god foxiness. Danny Care. How I love thee.

This is more for me than anyone else.

6:23 AM Posted by Erica , 0 comments

Labels: Bad Mood?

A real update is coming soon. Today! I shall write..

Sunday, September 19, 2010 7:22 PM Posted by Erica , 0 comments

Labels: Quote

I need to remember the days like this.

Wednesday, September 15, 2010 11:44 AM Posted by Erica , 3 comments

Labels: day to day

Today has gone swimmingly.



Yeah. Vanity is awesome.



I awoke to my alarm and immediately exited my bed and jumped into a much-needed shower. I showered Sunday. Today is Wednesday. Sounds nasty, right? It wasn't too bad. But boy do I love showering the days away with new bodywash and shampoo. I checked my email, put on my face, dressed and did my hair... All perfectly on time. No running around frantic trying to find keys or badge or lunch... and better yet, no standing around wishing I spent more time on one thing so I wasn't bored!

On my way to bus stop #26480 I pulled out my disappointingly empty iPod nano and switched it to radio mode. Interesting, I thought. Usually I dislike the radio. Occasionally it proves worthwhile. The reception on the nano is not great, I'll admit that. But when you're outside and desparate for 'tunes it's pretty much the only thing you can do! I clicked my wheel to Movin' 92.5 because they always have something fun that brings back memories. Gnarls Barkley is on... Crazy. GRRR. I go with the flow because I know the song can't last forever. My iPod tells me Shoop - Salt n Pepa... weird. Maybe that's coming next? Gnarls winds down... the next song starts up. It's..... Usher's YEAH. It doesn't get much better than that? Immediately I have goosebumps and it's hard to resist the urge to dance down the street for the remainder of the song.

SIGH. After that, nothing worthwhile.




Sometimes THIS is how I think people see me

 I got a harebrained idea that I needed snacks for the day and that ONLY the Harvard Market QFC could provide me with what I so desparately longed for. I didn't want a packaged snack. I vowed to not get anything I would tear open, eat once and then throw so-unceremoniously into the trash.... bananas on my mind. String cheese. Carrots! YOGURT! ANYTHING that wasn't candy or trail mix or chips. I strolled into a freshly cleaned side entrance; employees were still windexing surfaces down and so lovingly buffing their surfaces with disposable paper towels (tsk tsk). As I picked up my black plastic basket I ran over a quick shopping list in my head. I wanted bananas for sure. Those were 29 cents a pound! I picked up a bag of baby carrots, a bag of cole slaw, two dressings and some bulk trail mix consisting of mostly nuts (some honey roasted!!), cranberries and raisins for my sweet tooth fix. Snacks for the day/week.. DOWN. I felt good. I felt even better when I ordered my Starbucks and it was like the barista sensed that I regretted not ordering a quad-venti when she accidentally added one anything and asked me if I still wanted the drink. My face lit up. My mind buzzed with the rush of the impending caffeine boost I so wanted and needed.


Even better? The 60 came RIGHT on time to swoop me up, groceries in tow and deposit me at work in the nick of time to clock in and start my day.....



I'm not sure it gets much better. Oh wait. I'm having a good hair day too!!!

Saturday...In the park

Saturday, September 11, 2010 6:54 PM Posted by Erica , 2 comments

Most epic span of ROCK

Thursday, September 9, 2010 9:44 PM Posted by Erica , 0 comments

After my trip to Mexico I just couldn't stop. I had to venture up into America's hat... Canada.We went for a good reason. TOOL. We purchased Vancouver tickets before knowing that they would add a Seattle date. What to do now you ask? GO TO BOTH SHOWS. That's what. 

My first time over the border since I was 12! This time I had a passport. 

Obviously I was excited to be Canada. I miss my hair. 

Oh yeah. Tim came with. He hates tourists.

Our hostel room was the only one on the floor without air conditioning. It was 7 AM. Eighty+ degrees F in our room and THIS is what woke us up. A Damnable pigeon cooing his precious heart out... 

 Here is Spoonie. We gave him Loonies and Toonies to play us songs on his spoons. He even came when called. 

Can you tell about 10,000 degrees in our room? Right. Holly looks good. 

 

I preferred to stay in the relative shadows. 

 

Skeptical Tim is skeptical.

The TOOL show was beyond words awesome. Beer in a straw awesome. Free-love joint awesome. Amazing rocking awesome. We repeated the performance the next night in Seattle. We frightened the neighbors.

That sums up July. Nothing could top it....

Let's go back....

9:09 PM Posted by Erica , 0 comments

So I have done much in the past 8 months. It's hard to even keep track of it all.

In February I took a fantastic weekend cabin trip with lots of girls. Imagine 6 girls, an amazing a-frame cabin, and one steamy hot tub! What a trip. We drank a gallon of rum, a gallon of vodka and probably 3 cases of beer.... Oh boy. And we managed to get an all-day, bird themed shoot out of the way. I went with a great friend, shown on the left and right; Holly! 

March passed on by with nary a lick of an event... just a 1st birthday party for a gorgeous sweet little girl named Lilliana :) April brought about *my* niece's 18th birthday and at the end of the month I took ANOTHER glorious vacation trip to Port Townsend/surrounding areas with my greatest girl-love HOLLY. We collaborated for more than a month beforehand for costumes and makeup for her culminating project. We created a monstrous Pan/Satyr costume complete with horns and 6" heels! I took a starring role as the master of Flamingos in a wonderful beach/dune setting. More wonderful than that? The areas of Fort Flagler, Port Townsend and Port Gamble! So gorgeous and green and lush and empty. I fell in love. That's where I want my moss-covered cabin to be :)

That capped off my first quarter of the year and then right off the bat I started to schedule another grand outing. This time it was for my Boo-Bear's grandmother, Anny. She was diagnosed with liver cancer shortly after her sister, Anna, passed away from leukemia in November. She decided one last hurrah was sorely needed for her family and we quickly went to work planning a 7 day cruise to Baja Mexico! Flights, tickets, passports! All of this had to be arranged in less than 3 weeks. We accomplished it though. And 7 of us flew to San Pedro via Los Angeles to embark on the Mariner of the Seas from Royal Caribbean's fleet. It was a gorgeous ship. 14 floors on one end. 12 on the other. Two HUGE pools. At least 5 hot tubs. Buffet for as far as the eye could see. There was an ice rink, karaoke, a casino! Bars everywhere. Gift shops with diamonds and watches and knick-knacks. Purses and formal dinners! And that was just what was ON the boat.

Off the boat we had there ports of call. The first was Cabo San Lucas. Teal-blue, crystal clear waters splashing on sunbaked rocks. Seals and tropical fish! Permanent Spring Break. We took a short excursion off at this port and took a tour in a Semi-Submersible boat. We were half underwater staring at gorgeous fish.

This was a relatively short day for us. It was hot. We were sweaty. There was free buffet food onboard! The next day we had a much longer adventure planned. Our next port of call was Mazatlan. Home of Pacifico Clara brewery, lots of shrimp and a delightful power plant. We took what they called an "Estuary Tour". It involved a delightfully rickety boat manned by a father-son-son team with a cooler full of beer (baby bottles of Pacifico) and Mexican Sprite!

Mazatlan as seen from the boat. Wonderful run rays!

Coconut Plantation! This stretched on for miles and miles....

They had a pet crocodile on the plantation. Her name was Lorena :)

Our excursion ended on the beach. I got a GIANT margarita and sat out on the hot white sand. I would LOVE to go back to Mazatlan! Our last port of call was Puerto Vallarta. But I have no pictures of that. We hung out in the pool. Who needs to see that?! I lie. Here is ONE

Back on the boat we did many things. Including having gourmet dinner every night. Formal dinners were so much fun! We had the same table and waiter every single night and the menu changed as well. You could order as much as you liked, even the whole menu! There was an extensive wine list and cocktails too. All of our needs were anticipated and we never had to ask for a thing. They even made special foods for Lili every night and made her delicious fruit and cheese plates!

Because of Anny's health issues she missed the Captain's Dinner and was quite disappointed. Every morning there was a morning show with our cruise director, Casey and he would read letters from the guests onboard. Trudy sent one to him requesting something special to be done for her because of her poor health. They arranged for us to meet Captain Per! He was, of course, Norwegian and quite a gentleman!

Captain Per really enjoyed Lu's company. He has small children of his own waiting at home :)

What a happy portrait.

That is it up until May. We spent 7 lovely days without responsibilities; having our beds made and our breakfasts served to us in style. We even saw whales, dolphins, seals and flying fish from our balcony on the ship! It was lovely. I have had a lovely year.

Wednesday, September 1, 2010 12:11 PM Posted by Erica , 0 comments