Homegirl meets the animals

I hadn't seen homegirl since she was actually homeinfant.  Nowadays she's living up to her name.  Her sweet mama came back from Sin City to run with her high school crew (and okay, her family too) for a little while and we hit River's Wish so E could meet the animals.

Kelly likes the goats and the goats like Kelly.

Gah - I haven't posted about RW since they took in Precious the sheep and her buddies.  Precious is the most aptly named animal in the world.  She was abused pretty horrifically before being rescued and is the most loveysquishybabydoll in all the world. 

I could show you a picture of us just like this from 15 years ago.  But it's in a scrapbook in some box in the basement, and I'm comfortable on the couch.  Another time. 

 S

Kit's in the throes of auction prep right now.  I'm taking a break from it this year and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't glad.  I do get itchy to pitch in when I see the work going on, but that's not any way to cure burnout.  So this year I'll attend as a guest and I will eat and drink and bid my bank account dry.  It's gonna be good.

Love, J

Crossfit is creepy

I once saw a friend post "crossfit is creepy" on his facebook page.  Not only do I understand his position but I absolutely agree with it.  However, I love crossfit in spite of everything that makes it creepy, because the awesome > the creepy.

* I just wrote a long rant on crossfit and its pros/cons and myths/truths and then deleted it because the internet does not need a millionth post like that.  You are welcome.*

Instead here are some clips of the hubs from when we competed in the Open this spring.  I'm jealous of his double unders, but not the muscle ups because those are too flashy for me.

The guy judging the hubs is Kenny.  Kenny is a quiet, funny nurse who always shares his gum.

The blonde doing muscle ups is Bri.  She went to high school with us and is one of my most fun friends because she will jump in and dance and/or sing karaoke with me without even having to get drunk first.  And actually so will her mom Jodi, who is the woman filming and yelling at Bri.  Jodi is cool anyway but she does crossfit and that makes her even cooler.

Love, J

Oprah, I'd like my prize car to be red, please

You know how attorneys have a reputation for being pretty abrasive? In my experience, practicing for a few years tends to mellow them out. We are at the pinnacle of our jackass-ness when we are in law school.

Take the most competitive, type-A person you know, multiply that by 5, and add in extreme sleep-deprivation (and a smidge of any number of personality disorders), and you'll get a picture of the average law student.

Now trap that person and 600 others like her in a building together for 60+ hours a week and pit them against each other in direct competition. Tell them they need straight A's to land a salary capable of taking on the mountain of debt they've been accumulating. Then only give about 10% of them A's in anything. For fun, hold extra-curricular competitions in writing and mock trials. It's just a recipe for crazy.

This being the friend pool I was fishing in, it surprised me when during law school I found a handful of really good friends. Mellow, kind people who lucked their way into and through our school, all of whom at some point realized they were probably better suited for something less cutthroat than the law, but by then were too far in to turn around.


Hubs and I were treated with an overnight visit by one of these friends, who is on his way across the country with his new wife (another very cool person), to begin work at a big, fancy firm in Chicago next month. Like, BIG and FANCY. And scary. And he knows it's scary and that makes me love him all the more.

But he will obviously kill it in his new job, because he's a rockstar. He earned his J.D. and his Masters at the same time. That means he made it through four years of law school. Three almost killed me. And then he went on to pass the IL bar exam and then take the WA bar (results pending) in under a year. And clerk for some fancy judge on the west side. See? Rockstar.


Don't worry, L. Just work for them for a little while, pocket the fists full of cash they give you, and then get out, just like you've been planning. Then come back to WA and set up shop and we'll run the coolest little boutique immigration/adoption/legal aid clinic around.

Love, J

PS ~ Just don't get so busy at work that you can't camp out for Oprah tickets with us when we come to visit, okay?

Another visitor

Yay for old friends visiting!

Kel & I scored an evening of this gal's time when she flew back to Spokane for the first time in ages. It was pretty trippy to be chatting & laughing just like old times while her three boys sat around us on the stoop, eating Otter Pops.

Early summer 2002

Summer 2010

I say we look mostly the same as we did. Less... giddy, in the second photo, but it was really late on a weeknight. (Not that I have any idea what day of the week it is anymore.)

And while I was in the photo album, I flipped to the next page and found a picture of my high school change-hunting crew. I forgot this existed, or I would have used it to illustrate my post the other day!

(Sorry you're not in it, Mal - probably you were the one who took it?)

Love, J

Breakfast at the Skyway Cafe

Love, J

PS ~ No baby yet.

Free therapy for you

Dear Natalie,

I'm sorry a rabbit bit you when you were small. Lily gives me bunny kisses all over my face every day. She doesn't nip very often at all, and it doesn't hurt, it just startles me. (I have the lowest pain threshold in the history of the planet, so you can trust me on that.)

She told me to tell you that if you come visit us when you're in Spokane next, she will help you get over your childhood trauma.

Love, J & L

PS ~ Thanks for the luck wishing!

Because 'success' is totally subjective:

The craft fair was an extraordinary success. I sold practically nothing, but it wasn't my fault. I think maybe 20 people passed our little booth all day on Saturday. And a lot of those people were family we had invited to come visit us.

But I could not have had more fun, visiting with my friend. I think we may have scared away the few people who did stop by our table, since we spent a lot of the day falling out of our chairs and crying from laughing so hard. And then we both played hooky on Sunday (probably along with most of the other vendors), since Saturday's turnout was so spectacularly lame.


I do think that craft fairs would be a fun holiday season tradition, though, so next year I'll plan a bit ahead and try to get into a few that actually have customers!

Love, J

All dressed up and somewhere to go

I love cool fall nights, costumes, trick-or-treaters, parties, decorating for parties, and friends. Saturday had all of those things.

The menfolk are totally riveted. Must be football, right?

Wrong. They're watching Ice Age.

That's cool, though. The womenfolk have this decorating thing down.

The hubs & our host do a celebratory dance once the house is all party-ready.

So happy it's Halloween!



Costume time.


My first year not trick-or-treating with G (she wanted to go with friends instead). It's fun to pick a costume without having to worry about being warm enough!


Note the door pumpkin's pose, a little homage to MJ.


Popeye, Luigi, Matt Foley, Rambo, and Captain Jack Sparrow.


They for sure had the most elaborate/fancy homemade costume.



Enjoy this photo while it's up. I'm sure he'll make me take it down as soon as he sees it here. Do you think this is really how Rambo dances?



How great is this costume? It even really dispensed wine out the side spout.

The drag queen in the background is my high school friend's 'little brother,' who I haven't seen since he was about 13. He's sure grown up!


Goin' to the 'gun show'

Her belly seems a lot smaller when you compare it to his!

Best moment of the night was seeing his pregnant dancing.
Second best was watching the Franzia box play beer pong.

The whole day was pretty awesome. I was bummed when G said she didn't want us to come trick-or-treating with her, but it turns out that grown-up Halloween is pretty fun too! It got the holiday season off to a great start. Hopefully there are a lot more parties in the next couple of months!

Love, J