Friday the 29th began like any other day. I got up, I got dressed, I pondered the deeper meaning in Julie's comment on my facebook status (which was "I got a rock.") and why she would ask if he went to Jarret's. And suddenly, comprehension dawned. Good one, Julie! I'm just slow. And then I went to work at the funeral home. It was pretty much business as usual. Had oatmeal with Rebecca for breakfast. Then headed to pick up Lea for library work. As usual, we conversed the whole ride down. And when we got to the break room to drop off our stuff, I was met by my library birthday decorations! Rona brings in balloons for everyone on their birthday (I had meant to bring them home on Friday, but I totally forgot to...).
And there was a banner hanging on the wall for me. I think it's funny I'm right up against the trash can. hahaha. Looks like I'm hugging it. While I was doing the mail run, I got a phone call from my former church leader, Ladonna (you may have seen her picture with me a few months back when she passed through here and we met up for a couple of hours to visit). She called to wish me a happy birthday, and I thought that was really sweet. She knew it wasn't on Friday, but she also knew it would be a busy weekend full or trick-or-treating and other stuff, so she called a day early.
During break, we got into my birthday cheesecake. Karen makes a cheesecake for everyone's birthday there. Mine was a pumpkin cheesecake, because she heard me say that I love pumpkin pie. Which I thought was really nice. Lea and I put a nice dent in this cake. Between the 2 of us, I think we ate almost a quarter of it... And it was delicious.
So we left the library and I dropped Lea off at home. Rebecca was ready to walk, but I wanted to run the piece of cheesecake in to my mom that I had brought for her. Well, that was not part of the plan, but nobody stopped me, so I walked into the funeral home offices and found my area decked out! And I'm thinking, "Okay, why did I decide this was a no make-up day!?! What a dumb idea!" Which is what I was saying right when my mom snapped this picture.
They also got me a cake. Of which I almost forgot to take a picture! But we snapped it at the last minute. They got me the princess cake because one of the decorations had princess on it as well... It was yummy. Though very very sweet. And maybe that's just because I'd already had cheesecake...
So here are a few shots of my desk area and gifts. Sue gave me a lip gloss/lip stick and a card. I got a snuggie from a bunch of people. Which is funny to me. They all signed the box, and it is hilarious. Please note all the cross-word puzzles strewn about my desk. This is because Bob and I always work on cross-words. Although, not as much lately, as there hasn't been much time!
And here I am posing with my birthday suit. Hahaha. Rebecca labelled it thusly.
And this was after I decided it was foolish to have not put on makeup, so I went to my car, got my make-up bag, and rectified that.
People wanted me to try on the snuggie, so I complied.
Even though the funeral home was quite toasty that day, plus we were busy, so I was warm from all the moving around... But this thing will be nice! I love to snuggle under blankets :).
And here I am holding my "crown" atop my head while I pose with Bob. Bob gave me a $5 card to a little coffee shop that sells these fabulous orange cream Italian sodas. I will look forward to getting one of those :).
Again, posing in the snuggie. That has hand pockets. Though I'm not using them...
I told Rebecca that, if I put on the snuggie, she had to pose with me for a picture. So she decided to pretend to give me a cup of hot cocoa since it was obviously chilly enough for a snuggie ;). I actually drink cocoa out of that mug every morning at the funeral home. Except for in the summer when it gets really really hot. Which is only for about 2 weeks.
And then we took a "for real" picture.
And then I put on my birthday suit, because everyone wanted to see me in it. And it was funny.
Rebecca even labelled it "birthday suit" in case anyone doubted...
And on last shot with me and Rebecca. That girl is a hoot! She has been an awesome addition to the funeral home. And on good days, we walk the park and get exercise.
Friday evening found me shopping for ingredients. We had all the Halloween party stuff to make, as well as dessert and salad for Marvelous Monday Meals. And knowing my Saturday would be spent in Seattle, I decided it was best to do my shopping on Friday evening. I'm going to go ahead and say it... I'm not a shopper. At all. I have very little patience (and I don't care if it is a virtue, I don't possess it!). And so when I don't find what I need or whatever, I get pretty sick of the shopping thing pretty fast. And I was annoyed that it took me until 9 at night to do all that shopping. Because I was tired, people. And I knew I'd be getting up early to catch the ferry the next morning. But, I got what I needed. Except for strawberry sherbet. Which I tasked my mom with doing on Saturday, since I figured she'd have a little more time to find some. And so yeah, I got home, got a shower, read my blog and learned that I'd put down the wrong day for my birthday. Rectified that. Read just a little, and went to bed. Sometime around 1 in the morning. So much for getting a good night's sleep! (I might as well confess that I wasted plenty of time on the internet...).So the following morning, I got up and got dressed for the day. Spoke briefly with my mom before heading off to Lea's house. Lea's husband took us to the ferry terminal. But first they made me open one of my presents. It is a banner that says, "It's only fun... when it's fun!" And it's awesome. And you will see pictures later one (if you haven't seen them on facebook already). And one day, one glorious day, I will have my own place and that banner will hang on the wall surrounded by pictures that prove that it is, in fact, only fun when it's fun. Because I have 30 years of life under my belt now. And let me just say that I have plenty of evidence that that statement is true. So Lea and I caught the 9:45 ferry and spent the hour boat ride chatting and laughing and telling stories. I explained to her about my blog title posts and song title posts. I explained to her the one entitled "Toot Sweet." And she laughed. Mission accomplished. My goal in life is to make people laugh. Hahaha. And sometimes I'm only the one who does. But that's good enough ;). So the ferry docked and we walked off. And we decided to walk to the Seattle Public Library, because Lea had never been there. This is seriously a massive library. It has something like 10 floors! So we explored a bit and then took a picture among the stacks. Because we are so cool like that. Lea even tried to get a paper with a Seattle Public Library stamp on it. Alas, they no longer had stamps. Lame. But I guess the proof is in the picture -- we were there at SPL. We really were.
Then it was back out into the rain. Because even though the weather was predicted to be only PM showers, it rained all day long. But it's Seattle. You might as well expect it. And so we just enjoyed the walk in the rain. Cold, but all part of the experience :). It was close to lunch-time by this point, so we decided to hike down to Pike Place Market and get some macaroni and cheese from Beecher's Hand-Made Cheese. This stuff was wonderful! And so warm and creamy. Unfortunately, everyone had the same idea and wanted to eat inside and that place really isn't made for a lot of people to stay and eat. So there were no seats. And so we took our mac and cheese (and breadzels -- bread braids with a lot (too much) of Italian seasoning -- which we didn't care for) across the street into the market proper and found a window ledge to rest by and eat. And we interrupted some random stranger to take our picture. And don't I look lovely all drowned-rattish with my wet hair?
After finising lunch and leaving Pike Place Market, we decided to head toward the Macy's, because closeby there was where the monorail would pick us up to take us to the Pacific Science Center. So we started walking again. And Lea pointed out a Bed, Bath, and Beyond. I love that store. And there isn't one closer to me. And this one was 2 stories (aka upstairs downstairs). And we thoroughly enjoyed just window shopping. It was exciting :). And I don't care if that's dorky :). So we finished looking there, and walked another block up to where we could see the monorail end. This was at Westlake Center. And then I remembered November 2005 when we had done this same thing! Funny the things you forget! I had forgotten about the food court in this big mall where the monorail picked up and dropped off! Worked out good for us too, because we were really thirsty. And thank goodness we found a place that sold lemonade! Because I mentioned that a place in there (back in 2005) had fresh-squeezed lemonade. And it turnst out, that place is not there anymore... And I was craving some lemonade at that moment! So anyway, we got our lemonades, got our tickets, and caught the monorail. And here we are, riding the monorail. (I look like such a tourist...)
So, we got right off at Seattle Center. And Lea shot this picture of me outside of the Science Center. Currently, the Science Center has a huge Harry Potter Exhibit. And so we decided we would do this. The one big downfall is that we were not allowed to take any pictures inside. Bummer. But we did go, and it makes me want to watch the movies marathon-style. For the record, I still haven't read the 7th book. And I've still managed to not have it spoiled for me. So don't tell me! I will be reading it before long, I promise. It's on my list. The list I am sticking to... most of the time :).
Also in the insect area was a staff member playing with a huge cockroach out of its tank. That was gross. He had it crawling all over his hands. Eewwww. We avoided him. But we did go into the Tropical Butterfly House. I've been in one before in Georgia (Callaway Gardens). But Lea never had been, so we gave it a go. Only got one picture before I looked at the time and saw that we had to hurry over to the Harry Potter Exhibit (we were scheduled for a specific time).
I do have to say the Harry Potter thing was pretty cool. They give a few kids an opportunity to sit on a stool and "wear" the sorting hat (they don't actually put it on the kids' heads, but hold it right above). We saw actual costumes and such that were from the movies. Those actors and actresses (the main characters) are short! That was my impression anyway. So it was pretty darn cool, really. Worth it to go one time. And we took a picture by this sign, because it was the best we were going to get...
We went back to the rest of the Science Center and saw Naked Mole Rats (they are ugly), touched a starfish or two (they do not feel squishy like you think they would), and tested reaction time, strength, and sense of smell (I kept smelling vanilla...). And then we were done. So we left the Science Center and asked another random guy to take a picture of us with the Space Needle as backdrop. I need to learn mor about photography. It would have been so much easier to get the majority of the important part of the Needle if we had been closer to the camera. Ah well... Live and learn. And hopefully remember.
So we got back on the monorail, went back to Westlake Center, and decided we would walk to the waterfront. We figured we would look for a place to eat dinner somewhere along the way. Only problem was, as we got closer and closer, we weren't hungry, and nothing stood out to us. Plus it was getting dark. And there are some freaks in Seattle. I'm just sayin'. So we decided we should just go to the ferry. But first we got another random person to take our picture in front of the Pike Place Market sign.
And as we walked along, we passed a couple taking pictures with this sea otter. And so we decided to ask them to take our picture. I don't know why. It's random. But that's part of it being fun :). And you can see we were pretty wet by this point. And it probably didn't even top 55 during the day. So yeah, cold too.
So we make it to the ferry terminal and sit and wait. Because we'd missed the last ferry by about 10 or 15 minutes. So we grab some turf in the mostly-empty terminal. And we sit there and chit chat. And these two security guards walk by. And one of them is cute. Though they are both wearing those dorky Smokey the Bear hats... And though we don't converse about it, we just happen to both be watching this guy walk by. And all of a sudden he stops and turns around and starts walking towards us. And he says, "Do you know whose bag this is?" Well, someone had left a bag a couple seats down from us under the seat. We hadn't even noticed it! We told him as much, he came over, took the bag over to the information desk. Lea and I proceed to discuss that he was cute. And we keep looking at him over at the info desk. And so when he looks our way (probably informing the others where he found the bag), there we are looking right back. Hahaha. I think we might have appeared suspicious. But we were only guilty of thinking he was a hottie. Anyway, so Lea is telling me I should smile and wink at him when he comes back by. Ha! I don't roll that way. And so she says, "You chicken!" And as we both happen to look back forward at that moment, he is like 3 feet away coming right for us! Gulp! So he says to me, with a slight smile on his face, "If that guy comes back, let him know his bag's at the info desk." Good grief, I could have crawled under a rock. Hahaha. Lea is like, "Girl, I think I was invisible, because he was only talking to you!" So we spent the rest of the time in the ferry looking at cute security dude. Who later came and leaned on the ticket desk with his back facing us. It was funny. And maybe you just had to be there... And just like that, according to Lea, I went from being just 30 to being 30 and flirty. Now to somehow figure out how to throw thriving in there, I'll be golden.
On the inside, she wrote "Hila's" and then glitter-stickered in "Crazy Eyes" and glued in some silly eyes. Because when I get passionate about something and get up on my soapbox, I usually get crazy eyes, according to her. I get passionate about a library system that spends between 11 and 13 thousand dollars to change it's logo. I think that is insane. Especially when insurance premiums are going up and we, the little people employees who don't work full-time, will get to eat the cost difference. Yippee Skippy! So anyway, here I am doing my crazy eyes look, hence the pointing finger. "And you want to know what else?..." Hahaha. A famous Nilla phrase when I'm really riled up.
And ah, the aforementioned banner. Because it is only fun when it's fun. Apparently Lea's husband, who knows the guy who makes these, got razzed for this statement. That's okay. That guy just doesn't know how cool the phrase is. One day, you're going to see it in lights ;). You just wait. And if you really want to know where the phrase came from... Well, that came from the genius (I mean scary) place called my brain. I was heading in to work at the library one day early on in our friendshop and it was a day when Lea and I weren't working the same shift. And I told Lea that it was a bummer we weren't working the same shift, because it's only fun when it's fun. I texted her that. And then I realized just how dumb of a statement I'd made. But you know, it stuck. And you want to know what else!?! It's true! And here's the proof!
So I left Lea's around 9ish, because I knew I had to get home and get a shower and all that. I also had my birthday presents at home I hadn't yet opened. So I talked to my dad on the way home. Then I opened my presents. This one is from Donna. I think it is so sweet! She sent me this pillow that says "We plant the seeds. God blesses us with the harvest." She sait it is to remember my first garden. Donna is one of the greatest people I have ever had the privelege to know. I'm so glad I got to work with her at Troy and that we have remained friends.
Julie got me a gift card to Best Buy. And they are having a fabulous DVD sale right now. And I love DVDs. So I may just have to go and browse the store this week and treat myself to some new movies :). Julie sure does know my love for movies :).
And April, Greg, Courtney, the bun in the oven, and the kitties all got me a box full of goodies. An 80s mixed CD, a packet of Ghiardelli double chocolate cocoa, mint chocolate moon pies, a Rainbow Brite notepad with pencils, a box of Retro 80s candy, and some 80s leg-warmers (which I wore for the Halloween party and you will see in some of my pictures in the near future... when I get around to writing it).
Then it was back out into the rain. Because even though the weather was predicted to be only PM showers, it rained all day long. But it's Seattle. You might as well expect it. And so we just enjoyed the walk in the rain. Cold, but all part of the experience :). It was close to lunch-time by this point, so we decided to hike down to Pike Place Market and get some macaroni and cheese from Beecher's Hand-Made Cheese. This stuff was wonderful! And so warm and creamy. Unfortunately, everyone had the same idea and wanted to eat inside and that place really isn't made for a lot of people to stay and eat. So there were no seats. And so we took our mac and cheese (and breadzels -- bread braids with a lot (too much) of Italian seasoning -- which we didn't care for) across the street into the market proper and found a window ledge to rest by and eat. And we interrupted some random stranger to take our picture. And don't I look lovely all drowned-rattish with my wet hair?
After finising lunch and leaving Pike Place Market, we decided to head toward the Macy's, because closeby there was where the monorail would pick us up to take us to the Pacific Science Center. So we started walking again. And Lea pointed out a Bed, Bath, and Beyond. I love that store. And there isn't one closer to me. And this one was 2 stories (aka upstairs downstairs). And we thoroughly enjoyed just window shopping. It was exciting :). And I don't care if that's dorky :). So we finished looking there, and walked another block up to where we could see the monorail end. This was at Westlake Center. And then I remembered November 2005 when we had done this same thing! Funny the things you forget! I had forgotten about the food court in this big mall where the monorail picked up and dropped off! Worked out good for us too, because we were really thirsty. And thank goodness we found a place that sold lemonade! Because I mentioned that a place in there (back in 2005) had fresh-squeezed lemonade. And it turnst out, that place is not there anymore... And I was craving some lemonade at that moment! So anyway, we got our lemonades, got our tickets, and caught the monorail. And here we are, riding the monorail. (I look like such a tourist...)
So, we got right off at Seattle Center. And Lea shot this picture of me outside of the Science Center. Currently, the Science Center has a huge Harry Potter Exhibit. And so we decided we would do this. The one big downfall is that we were not allowed to take any pictures inside. Bummer. But we did go, and it makes me want to watch the movies marathon-style. For the record, I still haven't read the 7th book. And I've still managed to not have it spoiled for me. So don't tell me! I will be reading it before long, I promise. It's on my list. The list I am sticking to... most of the time :).
Grrr. In my haste to get moving on this (I've been writing this post literally all day long, and it's almost 11 pm), I was deleting and accidentally deleted my next picture. And it's way too much hassle to upload it again. Just imagine me and Lea as midgets (or little people). We stood in front of one of those distortion mirrors. And it was hilarious, especially Lea's little dance. And if you're friends with me on facebook, you can see it there...
Our next stop was the insect exhibit. Part of that had those things you can stick your head through. Only this one had a mirror on the inside (it was a box and each side of the box had a hole with a mirror opposite on the inside). And so here is the result. And we laughed so hard!
Also in the insect area was a staff member playing with a huge cockroach out of its tank. That was gross. He had it crawling all over his hands. Eewwww. We avoided him. But we did go into the Tropical Butterfly House. I've been in one before in Georgia (Callaway Gardens). But Lea never had been, so we gave it a go. Only got one picture before I looked at the time and saw that we had to hurry over to the Harry Potter Exhibit (we were scheduled for a specific time).
I do have to say the Harry Potter thing was pretty cool. They give a few kids an opportunity to sit on a stool and "wear" the sorting hat (they don't actually put it on the kids' heads, but hold it right above). We saw actual costumes and such that were from the movies. Those actors and actresses (the main characters) are short! That was my impression anyway. So it was pretty darn cool, really. Worth it to go one time. And we took a picture by this sign, because it was the best we were going to get...
We went back to the rest of the Science Center and saw Naked Mole Rats (they are ugly), touched a starfish or two (they do not feel squishy like you think they would), and tested reaction time, strength, and sense of smell (I kept smelling vanilla...). And then we were done. So we left the Science Center and asked another random guy to take a picture of us with the Space Needle as backdrop. I need to learn mor about photography. It would have been so much easier to get the majority of the important part of the Needle if we had been closer to the camera. Ah well... Live and learn. And hopefully remember.
So we got back on the monorail, went back to Westlake Center, and decided we would walk to the waterfront. We figured we would look for a place to eat dinner somewhere along the way. Only problem was, as we got closer and closer, we weren't hungry, and nothing stood out to us. Plus it was getting dark. And there are some freaks in Seattle. I'm just sayin'. So we decided we should just go to the ferry. But first we got another random person to take our picture in front of the Pike Place Market sign.
And as we walked along, we passed a couple taking pictures with this sea otter. And so we decided to ask them to take our picture. I don't know why. It's random. But that's part of it being fun :). And you can see we were pretty wet by this point. And it probably didn't even top 55 during the day. So yeah, cold too.
So we make it to the ferry terminal and sit and wait. Because we'd missed the last ferry by about 10 or 15 minutes. So we grab some turf in the mostly-empty terminal. And we sit there and chit chat. And these two security guards walk by. And one of them is cute. Though they are both wearing those dorky Smokey the Bear hats... And though we don't converse about it, we just happen to both be watching this guy walk by. And all of a sudden he stops and turns around and starts walking towards us. And he says, "Do you know whose bag this is?" Well, someone had left a bag a couple seats down from us under the seat. We hadn't even noticed it! We told him as much, he came over, took the bag over to the information desk. Lea and I proceed to discuss that he was cute. And we keep looking at him over at the info desk. And so when he looks our way (probably informing the others where he found the bag), there we are looking right back. Hahaha. I think we might have appeared suspicious. But we were only guilty of thinking he was a hottie. Anyway, so Lea is telling me I should smile and wink at him when he comes back by. Ha! I don't roll that way. And so she says, "You chicken!" And as we both happen to look back forward at that moment, he is like 3 feet away coming right for us! Gulp! So he says to me, with a slight smile on his face, "If that guy comes back, let him know his bag's at the info desk." Good grief, I could have crawled under a rock. Hahaha. Lea is like, "Girl, I think I was invisible, because he was only talking to you!" So we spent the rest of the time in the ferry looking at cute security dude. Who later came and leaned on the ticket desk with his back facing us. It was funny. And maybe you just had to be there... And just like that, according to Lea, I went from being just 30 to being 30 and flirty. Now to somehow figure out how to throw thriving in there, I'll be golden.So we got back and ate dinner at this place called Fritz's. They are famous for their fries, and Lea's husband loves that place. We aren't sure why, now that we've tried it. It didn't knock our socks off. But we made up for that by going to Coldstone Creamery right around the corner. Because I had a free coupon for my birthday. And so we both enjoyed cake batter ice cream with cookie dough mixed in. It's the only way to go. And we enjoyed girl talk. And then Chuck came and picked us up. (We don't want to pay $8.00 for parking, which is why we didn't drive ourselves to the ferry terminal).
So we get back to Lea's house, and she has one more present for me to open. And it is awesome. It is a photo album and she labelled it with glitter stickers "Hila and Lea's Excellent Adventures" (to go along with Bill and Ted from the awesome 80s).
On the inside, she wrote "Hila's" and then glitter-stickered in "Crazy Eyes" and glued in some silly eyes. Because when I get passionate about something and get up on my soapbox, I usually get crazy eyes, according to her. I get passionate about a library system that spends between 11 and 13 thousand dollars to change it's logo. I think that is insane. Especially when insurance premiums are going up and we, the little people employees who don't work full-time, will get to eat the cost difference. Yippee Skippy! So anyway, here I am doing my crazy eyes look, hence the pointing finger. "And you want to know what else?..." Hahaha. A famous Nilla phrase when I'm really riled up.
And ah, the aforementioned banner. Because it is only fun when it's fun. Apparently Lea's husband, who knows the guy who makes these, got razzed for this statement. That's okay. That guy just doesn't know how cool the phrase is. One day, you're going to see it in lights ;). You just wait. And if you really want to know where the phrase came from... Well, that came from the genius (I mean scary) place called my brain. I was heading in to work at the library one day early on in our friendshop and it was a day when Lea and I weren't working the same shift. And I told Lea that it was a bummer we weren't working the same shift, because it's only fun when it's fun. I texted her that. And then I realized just how dumb of a statement I'd made. But you know, it stuck. And you want to know what else!?! It's true! And here's the proof!
So I left Lea's around 9ish, because I knew I had to get home and get a shower and all that. I also had my birthday presents at home I hadn't yet opened. So I talked to my dad on the way home. Then I opened my presents. This one is from Donna. I think it is so sweet! She sent me this pillow that says "We plant the seeds. God blesses us with the harvest." She sait it is to remember my first garden. Donna is one of the greatest people I have ever had the privelege to know. I'm so glad I got to work with her at Troy and that we have remained friends.
Julie got me a gift card to Best Buy. And they are having a fabulous DVD sale right now. And I love DVDs. So I may just have to go and browse the store this week and treat myself to some new movies :). Julie sure does know my love for movies :).
And April, Greg, Courtney, the bun in the oven, and the kitties all got me a box full of goodies. An 80s mixed CD, a packet of Ghiardelli double chocolate cocoa, mint chocolate moon pies, a Rainbow Brite notepad with pencils, a box of Retro 80s candy, and some 80s leg-warmers (which I wore for the Halloween party and you will see in some of my pictures in the near future... when I get around to writing it).
And of course, thank you to all who have emailed, called, texted, or wall-posted me on facebook and wished me a happy birthday (on both days ;)). It was so greatly appreciated. You are so important to me, and it is you who make my life fun (when it's fun :)).
So yeah, I'm 30 now. And it's a whole new decade. Let's see what kind of adventures await me now :).
No comments:
Post a Comment