A Pickle Quest and Some Touristy Activities

I woke up Saturday morning and I absolutely needed a sour dill pickle. Not the kind from some jar, but the kind from a barrel, a vat of pickles, the kind where you are maybe not sure what is in or what has been in the barrel, but the pickle is so good that you just don't care, you know.

Anyway, the pickle love isn't just a pregnancy thing. I have always loved pickles. And the ones I like the best used to be available at the Safeway in Danville, up the street from my parent's house. They had the absolute perfect crunch to sour ratio. I would eat like two of them in a weekend. So, while the pickle thing isn't new, the urgency with which I needed one is pretty pregnancy related, or at least I can say it is in order to get Rob out of bed at 8:00 in the morning to drive on a pickle quest. 

So first I yelped Dill Pickles, and then proceeded to go to most of the Delis in downtown Seattle and then to Pike Place Market in search of Pickles. Everyone sells the same dill pickle. Boar's Head. Now, don't get me wrong, Boar's Head Pickles are good. They have a very satisfying crunch and are fantastic on sandwiches, but they just aren't very sour. And I am in need of a pucker inducing pickle. Anyway, we never found the right pickle, but we had a lovely morning wandering and sampling our way through the market. Yum.

That evening we went over to Becca and Amanda's for a housewarming gathering, where I got to watch people drink. It was actually a lovely evening with good company and delicious snacks.

This afternoon, Sunday, we (Rob, Becca, Fernando, Hillory, Julia, Sean, and Leila) went on an Electric Boat Ride on Lake Union. If you haven't been on one, you should. It is a great way to see Seattle. We love them!

The following are a smattering of pictures from the weekend. Enjoy.

Monorail tracks in the early morning.

Mmmm. Delicious fresh produce at the market. No Pickles, but we got an amazing mango.

Me and Rob on the boat.

Julia in a Pita Chip bag and me with a big fat pregnant belly. Six Months!!

The ladies with the Fremont Troll.

The ladies, two of our men, and the troll.

Boating is very relaxing.

An old fashioned paddle boat, that I managed to shoot without its paddle. Whoops.

Green Lake in the Fall

Well, it has been quite a week. I turned in my first two assignments and took my first quiz. I definitely don't feel confident about any of them, but oh well, there's nothing to be done about those exact assignments now. We watched one helluva debate. Back and forth, same old thing. I know I should want to pay more attention to these two men, but, I just don't feel like we are getting any new information. It's all he did this, and he said this, and 20 years ago I did this. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.  I am just ready to cast my ballot for Obama, and get on with it already.

So, now, after a lovely walk at Green Lake this morning, I am baking cookies and watching Arrested Development. My walk at Green Lake was interesting. It was sunny the whole time, but by the time I had walked halfway around the lake, it had started to pour. Sunny with a chance of rain. Apparently it was hailing also, but I must have been on the wrong side of the lake for that.

These turtles sun themselves on this specific log whenever they get the chance. 

This was pre-rain storm.

The leaves are slowly changing. Notice the blue sky.

Reflection.

And then the storm began. Do you see the little bubbles? 

They took an oddly long time to pop.

I think the baby is a hippie...

...because I swear he is playing hackey sack in there. And I think he is using my bladder as the sack. Seriously, it has become a seemingly constant thump thump thump. Paying attention in economics was super hard today. The hippie fest going on in my belly was far more interesting.

Rob has to feel it soon. I think that it has become an issue of timing now. He just hasn't been in the room when future man is going nuts. Maybe he'll have to come to econ with me sometime.

You might get sick of this view, but I won't.

This is my favorite tree. Also, my favorite moon, after Callisto.

Looking west, I can't get those pinks quite right.

Same problem.

One of the reasons we have stayed in our small apartment, despite the impending baby, is our incredible view. I am just not ready to part with it. With our big picture windows, it really is like having a constantly changing landscape as part of our interior design. It changes season to season, day to day, even hour to hour. We watch the weather come in or pass by. When it rains, downtown looks like an abstract of itself. 

Anyway, since I love this changing view, sometimes I take too many pictures of it. I often think I should just set up a tripod and take one picture of the view a day. That would involve remembering, so my system thus far is to take pictures when the mood strikes. Sometimes the day is so striking, I can't help but remember.

Our view is the reason I need a better camera. The distance shots just don't translate. I have been coveting a Digital SLR for a long time now, but if you refer to the previous post, you'd know that extra cash flow is not currently one of my problems. So, I will gladly make do with what I have, and every once in a while,  I will make my way down Glazer's and stare longingly into their camera case. Sometimes, I might even get a little wild and ask to hold one.

So, I shoot what I can with my (actually Rob's) Canon PowerShot. I need to work on my composition anyway before I can be trusted with a powerful camera. I really enjoy my friend Drew's photography. You can see some of his work by clicking on the Super Chiaro to the right of these words. 

Anyway, back to the pictures, above and below are a couple sunset shots. I would have liked to take more time with them, but it was so cold and windy on the roof, I just shivered, shot, and ran back inside. 

West.

This is our somewhat mundane roof deck, I just love the way the sun hits it and the shadows.

Downtown.

West through the window.

Here are some things I worry about.

My dad and my husband playing Wii.

Their tennis game, poorly photographed.

My ability to be a productive student.

Sometimes, I would rather just read some fiction than long case studies or economic theory. And more often than that, I find myself wrapped up in some crappy television show (I'm sorry Judge Alex, but I might have to break up with you). It's a very good thing we don't have cable, but I am always amazed at what I find to watch on the few channels we have.

My computer.

It is so shaky, but I just love it.  I just wish I could still use it as a portable computer and not a really small desk top.

My apartment's ability to withstand the wind.

Our building is currently shaking. It feels as if all the washers and dryers in the building are on at the same time. More so than our building, I worry about the proximity of trees to our windows. I don't want to be smashed in the face by a tree branch and tiny shards of glass as I sleep. Maybe I'll switch sides with Rob. At least then, I would only be the secondary target of such an attack.

The size of our apartment.

Babies are small, right? How much room do they really need? The couple that lives below us has a 13 month old in the same amount of living space and they are just fine. We should be just fine also. I just have to get over my American desire for more Although, I hear New York apartments are super tiny also.

Money.

I know I'm not the only one with this worry, but I really meant to finish grad school, get a super awesome job, and then have the baby. I expected to have a dual income household, not one job and a drain-on-society grad school student household and have a baby. Oh well, if Sarah "I make no sense when I talk" Palin can have half a dozen kids and still fuck up the state of Alaska and possibly the nation, than I can too!

The Wii.

I was reminded today that we have a video game system. I don't use it much. Well, I used the wii fit for a while and plan to use it again once my balance is restored, but other than that I never really paid much attention to it. Now I realize that it is yet another tool in my arsenal of procrastination! Its not even as even as productive as cleaning. Awesome.

What else? I'm sure there is more. I can't think of them at this exact moment.

In other news, we went to the UW vs Cal volleyball game on Friday. It was actually really fun. Cal won in three games, but all three were super close. I was torn though. Even though I have no association with Cal Berkeley, and by all accounts, I got out of California as soon as it was feasibly possible, I still miss it and tie my identity very strongly to being from California. So part of me wanted to cheer for Cal, but the other part of me, the part that realizes that technically I am a Husky, wanted to cheer for UW. I ended up just eating snacks and cheering for all the good plays regardless of team.

Speaking of snacks, I would like to take this opportunity to give a shout out to Katie Loberstein and say, snacks at college sporting events are way cheaper than professional, AND the cover charge (some call it a ticket) is also way cheaper. So lets hit up some Husky games soon.

Happy October- A blog about the weather

Well, we made it to October and Rob and I are about 23 weeks pregnant. Over half way.  Future man is kicking and punching like the tiny little ninja I know he is. Some people want soccer players, but as an accomplished, albeit non practicing martial artist, I want a ninja. He's stealthy too, Rob still hasn't felt him. We imagine it will be soon though.

So, on Monday and Tuesday of this week, the last two days of September, were absolutely beautiful. In the mid seventies, beautiful Green Lake walks. Incredible.

Yesterday, we woke up to a thick fog. I love fog. I think it feels...uh...magical. I think I may have even figured out how this whole picture thing works. No, I didn't figure it out, my wonderful friend Angela gave me some great tips, and I think they helped. Anyway, here is the view out our window yesterday morning. Downtown is usually where that big white wall is.

I haven't quite given up on the flip flops yet, but my toes were pretty cold, it might be about time to put on some closed toed shoes. And when that day does finally arrive, I will cry, to mourn the passing of summer, like I do every year.

This morning, we woke up to rain. Rob hasn't been feeling well, and I think the changing of the seasons is stirring up the germs. I hope he gets better, cause I'm not really the motherly type. I might have to work on that. I should be nice to my sick baby...er...I mean husband.

So my procrastination activities this morning have so far included: laundry, dishes, straightening, cleaning counters, cleaning the bathroom, sorting through our piles of mail, watching the view, trying on the maternity clothes I got from Old Navy, and finally now I am blogging with the movie Super Bad on in the background. This movie is making me nervous about having a boy, because someday, we'll have a teenage boy. I mean, I know a girl would have eventually turned into a teenage girl, which is equally if not more terrifying, but these boys get into their fair share of shenanigans as well.

Let's see, what else... My dad is in town, kinda... He is in Tacoma doing some workshop for Apple. So we spent the day together yesterday. We met Rob downtown and ate at a delicious restaurant. It's called Palomino and it is incredible. I enjoyed my crab-stuffed cod immensely. But then again, I like pretty much any animal stuffed inside another animal. Yum. Then we went on a brisk walk around Green Lake, where my dad was astounded/terrified but the sheer number of strollers occupied by babies and pushed by mothers or fathers. I'm telling you, there is something in the water here in Seattle. 

So, I may have run out of procrastination options, which means I will have to start my readings for next week. Of course, maybe I'll take a nap. Pregnant ladies need naps.

Animals

Here are some pictures of animals that I have taken/enjoy.

There must be a better way to display these, right?