Nailed It!

Late last month, my daughter K and I went to Emerald City Comicon.  You might remember that we went last year.  No?  There’s a post sometime last year about it if you’re interested.  That trip wasn’t planned very well but was so much fun in spite of that.  I LOVE people watching and Comicon is one of the best places to do that.  We enjoyed our single day so much last year that we made an event of it this time – renting a hotel room for two nights and spending most of our day there for three days in a row!

Friday we bused into Seattle, cheated a bit by taking an escalator up a block and then hiked the last STEEP block to our hotel where we were pleased to find our room was ready.  After unpacking and then stowing the stuff we thought we’d need into one of the backpacks, we headed out.  And it was raining.  Of course it was; this is Seattle after all.  Traffic was bumper to bumper so getting a cab that morning wouldn’t have been any faster than we could walk.  So we each took an umbrella from the hotel and hoofed it the six long, mostly-level, city blocks to the convention center.  After that morning though we opted for the cab every single time! 😉

Don’t worry, I’m not going to drone on and on about the minutiae of our weekend.  Suffice it to say we had an AWESOME time!  One of the souvenirs we brought home was nail art.  “Nail art?” you ask.  “What is this nail art you speak of?”  Okay, so you didn’t ask that.  Too bad, I’m going to tell you.

Espionage Cosmetics is this cool company out of Tacoma that sells – you guessed it – makeup!  Not just any makeup either, NERD makeup!  They offer color palettes inspired by the sci fi, fantasy, paranormal and gaming cultures.  I haven’t explored those myself because I don’t wear much makeup, but the colors look very cool.

However, at Comicon they introduced something called Nailed It! and K and I each grabbed a package to try at home.  Nailed It! are decals for nails but these are no ordinary decals.  Just visit the link above and check out all the excellent choices they offer!  Like these glittery masks:

This past Sunday we tackled the application and here are the results!  K loves the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – aren’t these Turtley Awesome! 😀

Turtles gotta have pizza!

 

Nom nom nom

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’m not much of a gamer but I do enjoy a good round of Tetris® so this was a perfect choice:

And here’s a close up of the thumb:

One last awesome turtle pose:

 

 

 

 

 

Apologies for my lousy photography skills but I think you can get the idea, right?  Now go get yourself some nail art!  Ooh look!  They have Doctor Who!

Ciao peeps, enjoy the weekend!

 

 

 

Toes

Spring has come to Seattle.  Trees are full of fresh, bright leaves; a variety of flowers (annuals I believe they’re called) are blooming.  I myself have a dozen or so coral tulips struggling to survive the weed-infested flower bed out back.  The sun is shining!  It should be in the 60s this weekend! Woo hoo!

If anyone had told me 16 years ago that I would be excited by temperatures in the 60s I’d have slapped them silly.  Hell, I was born and raised in southern California.  Where if it dropped below 70 we might put on a sweater.  But Spring is finally here even if just around the edges.

The Mariners played their opening game earlier this week.  That’s a sure sign of Spring for a lot of people.  Me?  I don’t even know who won.

Today I wore only a light fleece jacket on my commute.  First time this year, and it’s my very favorite sign of Spring.  No more bundling into a heavy coat and having to carry that sucker home!

So that’s it peeps.  I’m excited about 60s and sunshine and Spring.  And of course I had to share.  I’m a giver that way y’know?

…

What are you still doing here?

…

The post is over.  Done.  Finis.

…

What?  You thought there’d actually be something here about toes?  Just because it was the title?

…

Hmm, I guess if you won’t go I’ll have to figure something out.

…

[Rustles in the closet; digs through galoshes, slippers, boots…]

Eureka!  Here we go.

 

TOES are busting out all over!

I think it’s time for a pedicure!  (And I WISH those were my legs! LOL!)

 

 

 

I whined too soon

The Universe loves me again!  We have hot water!

HALLELUJAH!

Last night after I’d gone to bed, Hubs started cleaning the kitchen (LOVE that man).  A few minutes and some clattering later, he stuck his head in the bedroom door and announced that it seemed like the water was getting warm again.  All we can figure is he must have pressed a reset button or something.  I’m inclined to take this as a sign that we need to consider (and save up for) replacing the Beast in the near future.  Wait, what?  Did I say Beast?  Oh no, no, NO!  What I meant to say was our lovely and talented water heater has worked hard for so very long that we really should be planning its well-deserved retirement.  Yes, that sounds so much nicer.  (You never know who is listening, and I’m not about to tempt Fate!)

So the things that come in threes?  I guess this time that would be my posts – three days in a row baby!  Which is a record lately.  And that record will probably stand for a long time.  Unless Fate deals us another blow I need to rant about.

Happy weekend everyone!

Two weeks to Emerald City Comicon and counting…

Fate 2 – Bubbe Zip

So y’all are up to date on our almost break-in, right?  Well, that was yesterday’s news (or maybe it was the day before, I get them all mixed up when I’m sneaking in these random visits from my IRL job).

They say stuff happens in threes and Fate has now scored for a second time while I’ve got a big ol’ goose egg.  I’m trying to remain positive in the face of this, really I am.  But part of me keeps listening for that third shoe to fall.  I know, right?  Who knew Fate had three feet!

When I arrived home yesterday Hubs greeted me with his usual jocularity:  “You probably won’t want to shower here for a while.”  Oh joy, now what?

“Why is that?” I dared to ask.

“The water heater’s broken.”

“Shit.”

This is the very same water heater that leaked for heaven knows how long, soaking the carpet in the front bedroom and causing us to haul everything into the (already crazy messy) living and dining rooms!  The leak was repaired and things were rosy.  Operative word there:  were.

Seriously, how could Fate do this to me?  I’ve been trying as hard as I can to stay upbeat and positive in the face of Hubs’ on-again/off-again black hole-level depressions.  I don’t bite his head off.  I make soothing noises and tell him it will all be okay.  I get up, go to work, come home and repeat – Every. Frickin’. Day.  And I will continue to do so until I’m dead – it’s unlikely I’ll ever be able to retire.  But am I whining?  Noooo.  Well, yeah, I’m whining here, but I don’t whine to Hubs about it.    Much.  Not nearly as much as I whine about it in my head.

My reward for all that positivity?  No hot water.  Not a drop.  Nada.  You get the idea.  Grump.  Growl.  Boo. Hiss!

Fate can suck it!

Our Dogs Rock!

Saturday we spent several hours at daughter A’s house because our niece H was visiting from Southern California; it was also an opportunity to spend some time with Mom.  We came back to this:

Nice, huh?  To be clear, the door was NOT open when we got home.  The would-be breaker and enterer did not actually break and enter – YAY!  But not for lack of trying apparently.  From the evidence, whoever it was tried to pry open the door. See the small light-colored, almost triangular mark in the upper right side of the photo?  That’s a pry mark according to the nice police officer who came and took the report.

And the door jamb did give way a bit, but fortunately for us the deadbolt held!  It might have only taken another try to get the door open.  However, we believe (I am absolutely certain) that the noise from his prying efforts alerted our dogs, who then proceeded to bark their little heads off (they bark when someone closes a car door in the next driveway).  Between the door not giving way easily and the noisy dogs, the felon-in-the-making decided it wasn’t worth the risk and took off.  YAY again!

The locksmith came yesterday and evaluated the situation and made some recommendations.  Once Hubs picks up the supplies (nice guy that locksmith; he said he could supply the locks, etc., but if we got them ourselves at Lowe’s they wouldn’t cost as much) the locksmith will be back to install everything, including some dealio that will repair the cracked door jamb.  That’s supposed to happen tomorrow morning.

In the meantime, we have something heavy and bulky sitting against the front door – it still locks and the deadbolt works fine; it’s more for peace of mind.

Here are our little rockers:

Thankfully the budding burglar had no idea that they’d probably just lick him to death!

😀

Aging Gracefully

This morning I found my first gray hair.  Seriously, the very first one I’ve seen and I’m fifty-cough years old.  I think I have my parents to thank for that.  Through the wonderful mystery of genes I have this lovely ash blond hair that naturally hides the gray.  (Boy does that sound like a hair color commercial!)  It must be hiding it; there’s no way I have only one!  Hell, I’ve been seeing gray in my eyebrows off and on for years now!  I’ve also discovered that “gray” is open to interpretation.  When I first spotted it in my hand it reflected the light with a gleam, so I’d say it’s more silver than gray.  Silver’s cool.

Lately, I’ve noticed my face looks older too and that’s something I’m willing to live with.  Every once in a while I’ll stand in front of the mirror and play “what if”, pulling back a bit at the sides near my eyes to smooth out the lines.  But there’s no way I’d have anything DONE.  Not only do I have better things to spend my money on, I’ve seen enough hack jobs that I’m so NOT willing to risk it.  Not to mention how stabby I get when I think of anyone coming near my face with a sharp object!  (See what I did there?  Stabby…sharp – come on, work with me here!)

There was a BC cartoon on Sunday that addressed aging gracefully and it seemed like a perfect choice to include here.  However, I haven’t requested permission and in the wisdom that accompanies age, I’m choosing not to violate copyright law.  I’m sure you can find it online if you’re really interested.  (Go here.)  Don’t say I never gave you nuthin’! 😀

I’ll leave you with this (non-copyrighted as far as I can tell) thought:

She’s better!

Life gets in the way

I didn’t want to just vanish into the ether, even temporarily, hence this post.  I’m finding it more and more difficult to make time for the blog.  I really need to be away from the computer for awhile.  I’ve been getting almost no exercise, and if I want to maintain the weight loss, not to mention drop a few more (LOTS more) pounds I need to get moving.  I sit in front of the computer at work most of the day.  Not all of it is work and I find myself using free time to search for that elusive pattern I want, or another recipe…or to blog.  At home I don’t go online much at all but we spend entirely too much time on our behinds on the sofa.  Last year’s knee surgery will have been pointless if I don’t get up and move!  With the holidays approaching and all the grazing and busyness that brings, it’s only going to get worse.

So I’m going on hiatus for awhile.  No idea how long “awhile” is but I’ll see you when I see you.

I’m going to try not to go online at all unless it is for a very specific purpose.  Being online is addictive to me and if I allow myself to get sucked in, before I know it hours will have passed.  Some of you have my email address so please, please, please feel free to drop me a line.  If you don’t have my personal email address but want to stay in touch while I’m away, shoot me an email at bubbe.blathers@gmail.com and I promise I’ll try to check that inbox now and again.

This isn’t the end (I don’t think) but this blogger needs a break.

If I don’t talk at you between now and then, have a wonderful and warm Thanksgiving and a spectacular Christmas everyone!

Thanks for reading.

So this happened yesterday

I went out at lunch – no that is not the headline-worthy event, though I’ll be the first to admit it IS unusual.  I’ve been meaning to shop for decent, comfortable work shoes (interpretation: expensive).  Down the street from my office is a shopping center with a Romax shoe store so I went to browse.  I had intended to visit The Walking Company store because I’d viewed them online and done some research there but when I got off the bus (what?  It’s SEVERAL CITY BLOCKS from my office!) I was just across the plaza from Romax so I stopped there figuring I could always hit The Walking Company on the way back.

While I was sashaying around inside trying on shoes, the coolest thing I’ve seen in the city caught my eye out the store window:

No, not the guy’s ass.  Though now that I’m paying attention, it isn’t bad, is it?  But I digress.  How cool is that chess set?!  We’ve all seen the people playing chess in the park right?  At least I’ve seen it on television and in movies.  I have never seen people playing giant chess.  Now I get it, I do.  Chess isn’t all that exciting a game.  But tell me it isn’t cool when it’s played like this?  By hot guys?  I almost wished I’d brought my lunch so I could stay to see who won.

Does anyone else do this?

Most of my readers (I think I have 4 who stop by occasionally) are also blogging with WordPress.  When I check my blog in the morning WordPress opens to my reader page where any new posts will appear from the blogs I “follow”.  This morning I was greeted with a photo of Baby Gus (Grammy’s newest grandbaby).  It was a great beginning to my day.  Not only because Gus is a cutie, but because a post from my pal Grammy is almost always going to make me smile.

Then I’ll scroll down to see some of my other internet friends:  CJ of awesomesauciness, Ghostie from Ghostcat Chronicles, Denise of RJ Keith, and Katherine from I’m begging my mother not to read this blog, plus a few new ones I just started reading.  A few of the blogs I follow aren’t on WordPress (waving to Dana and Mayor Gia and Jen [even though Jen doesn’t read my blog; probably doesn’t know I’m alive – gulp, sob!]).  I’m not talking about those posts since they do not show up on my Reader page.

So here’s what I’m wondering – do any of you who blog on WordPress scan your Reader page, see something that looks cool or interesting and think, “So and So will really like this when she sees it!”  But you don’t send them the post.  Not because you don’t want to share it, but because you think that the bloggers you follow, the ones showing up on your Reader page, can actually SEE your reader page too!

Or is that only me?

Figures.

Sigh.

Well, have a happy weekend anyway.  Y’all rock!

😀

It’s so hard!

And it’s only day 2.  Ha!  I’ll bet I know what you were thinking!